They leave their wooden huts on the plain,
And in boats they ferry across the Wei
To fetch back iron and stone again

To build them houses which ne'er decay.
No hovels squalid and mean and small
Were seen in the bounds of his capital.
Thus the people increase and they multiply;
Both sides of the valley they occupy,
Till the land is too narrow for them, and so
To the farther bank of the Juy they go.

PURE WATER 6

1.

There are waters beside the roadway,
Defiled by the mud they lie,
Till each traveler, hot and thirsty,
Will pass them untasted by.

2.

Yet these waters when clean and filtered

We use when we cook our rice,

And to wash out the sacred vessels
For our holiest sacrifice.

3.

If a monarch, though young and foolish,

Is courteous and kind, we may

Behold him called by his people

Their father, defense, and stay.

6 Liu Yuan adopts the following explanation of this otherwise simple poem: "Pool water is muddy, but, when properly filtered, it can be used even in sacred and sacrificial rites. So the people are ignorant; but if the king is kind and condescending, they will look up to him as their parent and their model, and will become efficient servants of the State." He infers that Duke Shao is singing in this poem the praises of King Cheng, who made good officers out of men who originally were stupid and ignorant.

THE DROUGHT IN THE TIME OF KING HSUAN 7

1.

The king looked up with streaming eyes;
He sought for help from the starlit skies.
It was all in vain. 'Twas a cloudless night,
And the river of heaven flowed clear and bright,
Till he cried aloud in his grief and pain,
"Ah me, what crime to my charge is laid,
That death and disorder my realm invade,
And famine tortures again and again?
Is there one god I have failed to pay
The reverence due, or a gift so rare

I have grudged to give it, or would I spare
Our holiest tokens whene'er we pray?

But the heavens above me are deaf to my prayer.

2.

"The fiery blasts of this heat increase,

And the drought torments us, and will not cease.
What altar has failed of its offering,

From the tiny shrines in the forest wild,

To the royal fane reserved for the king?
Each has its sacrifice undefiled.

Of the gods above and below is none
To whom due homage has not been done.
Yet to help us is great Hou Chi afraid,
And God, omnipotent, grants no aid.
Would my kingdom's ruin but fell on me,
Me only, leaving my people free.

3.

"I may not hope to escape this ill,

This terrible drought, which afflicts us still,

7 We now arrive at a poem full of human interest, one of the best and most suggestive in the whole classic.

The composition of this piece is assigned to Jeng Shu, apparently an officer of the court, and the drought mentioned in it may be ac

Though I know the danger, and full of dread
I wait as men wait for the thunder's crash,
When the storm's o'erhead, and the lightning's flash
May come in a moment to strike them dead.
Of the black-haired people, Chou's mighty clan,
Will be scarce left living one single man.
Nor will heaven above exempt e'en me
From this cruel fate, though men shake to see
The king destroyed, and his royal line,
And ancestral rites, which they thought divine.

4.

"Fierce burns the drought with a fiery glow,
No refuge we find in this time of woe;
When I find, alas, that my end is near,
There is nothing left, there is no one here.
Ye shades of great men of days gone by,
Bring ye no hope to your tortured land?
Oh, my parents' spirits, who dwell on high,
Will ye not stretch out a helping hand?

5.

"Our hills are scorched, and our rivers dry,
For the dire drought demon is passing by.
O'er all the nation his fatal breath
Is scattering fire and flames and death;
Till my heart, too, feels as if set on fire.
Deaf are the ghosts of the mighty dead.

Thou who ruledst this world, forego thine ire
Against thy slave, who would fain retire

To hide in the deserts his humbled head.

6.

"But though realm be lost, and destruction nigh,
From the post of fear shall a brave man fly?

cepted as having occurred in 821 B.C., the sixth year of King Hsuan, who reigned from 827 to 782 B.C.

Stanza 1, "the river of heaven," literally the Yun Han. The River Han in the clouds is "the Milky Way."

I know not whence my misfortune came,
To what sin of mine to impute the blame.
Was I late in making the prayers of spring,
When we pray to heaven for a fruitful year?
Did I fail at the autumn thanksgiving,

When we thank the god for our harvest cheer? As the gods see men, and high heaven knows all, "Tis hard that on me should their anger fall.

7.

"Because this ruin pervades the land,
My sway is weak. With a feeble hand
I hold the reins which should guide the State,
And my nobles groan 'neath a heavy weight;
Though there is not one man who will not try
From my statesmen of highest dignity,
To the youngest servant within my gate-
To help me to banish this misery.

From heaven above us some aid I'd borrow
To draw me out from this gulf of sorrow.

"I look to the skies But all I can see is

8.

above this night,

the stars shine bright.

Oh, nobles, oh, friends, beloved by me,

Who have done whatever such men can do,

Though your king is waiting for death's decree,

Relax not the efforts begun by you.

'Tis not for me only such pains ye take,

Your work is done for my people's sake.

For me, my prayer is, May I find peace
In the silent grave, where all sorrows cease."

THE SHIH KING

PART IV

HYMNS AND EULOGIES

HYMN ONE

HYMN TO KING WAN 1

Solemn and still the pure ancestral fane;
And many a lord and officer of State,

Who strive to share the virtues of King Wan,
Whose hearts with love and reverence are imbued,
Stand round to aid us in the sacrifice.

They haste to do him service at his shrine,
Wishing to be on earth as he in heaven.
For famed and honored is his glorious name,
A name whereof mankind will never tire.

HYMN TWO

HYMN TO KING WAN

High heaven's mysterious statutes
No change, no error know.
And oh, King Wan's great virtues,
How gloriously they show!
We gratefully acknowledge

His favor to our State.

May we and each descendant

These virtues emulate!

1 This is an unrhymed hymn or anthem to King Wan. The commentators say that when the eastern capital at Lo was finished, King Cheng went thither and consecrated the newly erected royal ancestral temple by a solemn sacrifice, at which a red bull was offered to the shade of King Wan, and another to the shade of King Wu. There is, however, nothing in this hymn, or in the following one, to indicate when they were sung. The Preface seems to be the authority on which the commentators mainly rely in fixing certain appropriate occasions to these hymns.