Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Greater Odes of the Kingdom, Decade of Wen Wang

[x_los]

 * I found the best option for the weekly reminder emails, via Gmail. The external service options are more involved than our purposes require. Does anyone know anything about how to arrange an Apps Script? Basically all it has to do is tell ten people, on Saturdays, to come and get their juice/poems.

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* If you haven't read it yet, chapter one, on tetrasyllabic shi poetry, in How to Read Chinese Poetry is hugely useful for the Book of Odes, imo. 

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* Every week I search the poems' English results to see if I can find any scholarship or neat bits and pop the results in Resources. Here is this week's collection.
**NEXT BATCH MAY 24.** 

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241. 皇矣 - Huang Yi

[x_los]

皇矣上帝、臨下有赫。
監觀四方、求民之莫。
維此二國、其政不獲。
維彼四國、爰究爰度。
上帝耆之、憎其式廓。
乃眷西顧、止維與宅。

Great is God,
Beholding this lower world in majesty.
He surveyed the four quarters [of the kingdom],
Seeking for some one to give settlement to the people.
Those two [earlier] dynasties,
Had failed to satisfy Him with their government;
So throughout the various States,
He sought and considered,
For one on which he might confer the rule.
Hating all the great [States],
He turned His kind regards on the west,
And there gave a settlement [to king Da].

作之屏之、其菑其翳。
脩之平之、其灌其栵。
啟之辟之、其檉其椐。
攘之剔之、其檿其柘。
帝遷明德、串夷載路。
天立厥配、受命既固。

[King Da] raised up and removed,
The dead trunks, and the fallen trees.
He dressed and regulated,
The bushy clumps, and the [tangled] rows.
He opened up and cleared,
The tamarix trees, and the stave-trees.
He hewed and thinned,
The mountain-mulberry trees.
God having brought about the removal thither of this intelligent ruler,
The Chuan hordes fled away.
Heaven raised up a helpmeet for him.
And the appointment he had received was made sure.

帝省其山、柞棫斯拔、松柏斯兌。
帝作邦作對、自大伯王季。
維此王季、因心則友。
則友其兄、則篤其慶。
載錫之光、受祿無喪、奄有四方。

God surveyed the hills,
Where the oaks and yu were thinned,
And paths made through the firs and cypresses.
God, who had raised the State, raised up a proper ruler for it; -
From the time of Da-bo and king Ju [this was done].
Now this king Ji,
In his heart was full of brotherly duty.
Full of duty to his elder brother,
He gave himself the more to promote the prosperity [of the country],
And secured to him the glory [of his act].
He accepted his dignity, and did not lose it,
And [ere long his family] possessed the whole kingdom.

維此王季、帝度其心、貊其德音。
其德克明、克明克類、克長克君。
王此大邦、克順克比。
比于文王、其德靡悔。
既受帝祉、施于孫子。

The king Ji,
Was gifted by God with the power of judgement,
So that the fame of his virtue silently grew.
His virtue was highly intelligent; -
Highly intelligent and of rare discrimination;
Able to lead, able to rule, -
To rule over this great country;
Rendering a cordial submission, effecting a cordial union.
When [the sway] came to king Wen,
His virtue left nothing to be dissatisfied with.
He received the blessing of God,
And it was extended to his descendants.

帝謂文王、無然畔援、無然歆羨、誕先登于岸。
密人不恭、敢距大邦、侵阮徂共。
王赫斯怒、爰整其旅、以按徂旅、以篤于周祜、以對于天下。

God said to king Wen,
' Be not like those who reject this and cling to that;
Be not like those who are ruled by their likings and desires; '
So he grandly ascended before others to the height [of virtue].
The people of Mi were disobedient,
Daring to oppose our great country,
And invaded Ruan, marching to Gong.
The king rose majestic in his wrath;
He marshalled his troops,
To stop the invading foes;
To consolidate the prosperity of Zhou;
To meet [the expectations of ] all under heaven.

依其在京、侵自阮疆、陟我高岡。
無矢我陵、我陵我阿。
無飲我泉、我泉我池。
度其鮮原、居歧之陽、在渭之將。
萬邦之方、下民之王。

He remained quietly in the capital;
But [his troops] went on from the borders of Ruan.
They ascended our lofty ridges,
And [the enemy] arrayed no forces on our hills,
On our hills, small or large,
Nor drank at our springs,
Our springs or our pools.
He then determined the finest of the plains,
And settled on the south of Qi,
On the side of the Wei;
The centre of all the States,
The resort of the lower people.

帝謂文王、予懷明德、不大聲以色、不長夏以革。
不識不知、順帝之則。
帝謂文王、詢爾仇方、同爾兄弟、以爾鉤援、與爾臨衝、以伐崇墉。

God said to king Wen,
'I am pleased with your intelligent virtue,
Not loudly proclaimed nor pourtrayed,
Without extravagance or changeableness,
Without consciousness of effort on your part,
In accordance with the pattern of God.'
God said to king Wen,
'Take measures against the country of your foes.
Along with your brethren,
Get ready your scaling ladders,
And your engines of onfall and assault,
To attack the walls of Chong.'

臨衝閑閑、崇墉言言。
執訊連連、攸馘安安。
是類是禡、是致是附。
四方以無悔。
臨衝茀茀、崇墉仡仡。
是伐是肆、是絕是忽。
四方以無拂。

The engines of onfall and assault were gently plied,
Against the walls of Chong high and great;
Captives for the question were brought in one after another;
' The left ears [of the slain] were taken leisurely.
He sacrificed to God, and to the Father of war,
Thus seeking to induce submission;
And throughout the kingdom none dared to insult him.
The engines of onfall and assault were vigorously plied,
Against the walls of Chong very strong;
He attacked it, and let loose all his forces;
He extinguished [its sacrifices], and made an end of its existence;
And throughout the kingdom none dared to oppose him.'

Re: 241. 皇矣 - Huang Yi

[x_los]

Again, sounding v monotheistic?

"some one to give settlement to the people." odd phrasing

"From the time of Da-bo and king Ju [this was done].
Now this king Ji," who's Ju? Ji isn't King Da, is he? why did we suddenly switch subjects?

And then we move to King Wen, and I'm not sure why. Are we following a line of descent? Are we skipping around to unrelated rulers with the Mandate?

"' Be not like those who reject this and cling to that;" well that's vague!

"And [the enemy] arrayed no forces on our hills,
On our hills, small or large,
Nor drank at our springs,
Our springs or our pools.
He then determined the finest of the plains,
And settled on the south of Qi,
On the side of the Wei;
The centre of all the States,
The resort of the lower people." what's this all about?

"The engines of onfall"?

Re: 241. 皇矣 - Huang Yi

[superborb]

Baike:

"some one to give settlement to the people" is esp odd because the vernacular translation is saying that the sufferings of the people have been revealed? The gloss says that the last char is suffering, but some say stability, which might be where Legge gets that from?

Da-bo is the eldest son of Tai wang, Tai Bo. Second son was Yu Zhong, third son Ji Li. The king loved Ji Li most, so Tai Bo and Yu Zhong fled south to establish Wu state. After Tai wang died, Ji Li became king, known as Wang Ji. (Unclear why Wang/king is first here, since that's not what was used previously?) Tai wang, Wang Ji, and Wen wang founded the Zhou dynasty, which is why they're the three being referenced. I think maybe there is a typo and the line "From the time of Da-bo and king Ju" should read "From the time of Da-bo and king Ji" -- the line in Chinese refers to both Da Bo and Wang Ji.

"Be not like those who reject this and cling to that;" it has in modern Chinese the meaning of domineering/tyrannical, but the gloss says to linger, to dither and not move forward.

The vernacular translation puts the section "And [the enemy] arrayed no forces on our hills,
On our hills, small or large,
Nor drank at our springs,
Our springs or our pools." in quotes, I think to imply that it's an instruction given. Then it's describing the location Wen wang occupies.

The engines of onfall and assault seem to be how Legge is rendering these two names of military vehicles. One has a watchtower used either to keep a lookout or to provide the high ground in a siege. The other can attack the bottom of the city wall