母,否。衣私。歸。氏 I cut it and I boiled it, And made both fine cloth and coarse, 111 Which I will wear without getting tired of it. 3 I have told the matron, Who will announce that I am going to see my parents. I will wash my private clothes clean, And I will rinse my robes. Which need to be rinsed, and which do not? I am going back to visit my parents. Wang Yin-che coincides with Choo He. Wang|自審之詞非告師氏也 Taou would take it in the 1st line as= 我 L.5. 害(read loh)=何‘what.' 否 simply particle in both. The 師氏 here is difft. =不, the negative. L.6.寜安,ie,問 from the officer so styled in the Chow Le,, 'to inquire after their wellbeing.' and as a particle in the 2nd. I regard it as a Books VIII. and XIII. That was a teacher of morals attached to the emperor and the youths The rhymes are—in Stt.1,2, E, F, of the State; this was a matron, or duenna, cat. 3, whose business it was to instruct in woman's t. 3: in 1,,,, cat. 15, t. 1 : in 2, 1, 萋 飛喈 virtue, woman's words, woman's deportment,... and woman's work.' Childless widows 50 cat 5, t. 1: in 3, were, acc. to Ying-tah, employed for the office., cat. 15, t.1;. #,, cat. 1, t. 2. There would be not a few such matrons in the harem, and the one intended in the text would be the mistress of them all. The 1st is to be understood of the lady's announcement to the matron; the 2nd, of the matron's announcement to the king. Maou is led by his interpretation of the whole Ode to understand as 蹜 'to be married,' but we must take it as synonymous with the same term, in the concluding line. 6 an L1.3.4. jij, ace.' to Choo He,=, slightly. It is better to take it, as a particle, with Maou, and Wang Yin-che, who calls it, a initial sound.', 'dirty,' is used for 'to cleanse,' just as we have disorder,' in the sense of, 'good order,' 'to govern.' This cleansing was effected by hard rubbing, whereas denotes a gentler operation, simply rinsing. The El as opposed to, is understood of the private or ordinary dress, whereas the other term refers to the robes in which T'ae-sze assisted at sacrificial and other services or in which she went in to the king. All this and what follows, is to be taken as a soliloquy, and not what Tae-sz' told the matron INTERPRETATION; AND CLASS. The old interpreters held that the one was of Tae-sze in her virgin prime, bent on all woman's work; and thus interpreted, it is placed among the allusive pieces. The first two stanzas might be so explained; but the third requires too much straining to admit of a proleptical interpretation as to what the virgin would do in the future, when a married wife. Choo He makes it a narrative piece (t), in which the queen telle first of her diligent lahours, and then how, when they were concluded, she was going to pay a visit of duty and affection to her parents. If we accept the traditional reference to Tae-sze, this, no doubt, is the only admissible interpretation. The imperial editors preter Choo He's view in this instance, and add: The Le of Tae only speaks of the personal tendance of the silkworms by the queen and other ladies of the harem; but here we see that there was no department of woman's work, in which they did not exert themselves. Well might they transform all below them. Anciently, the rules to be observed between husband and wife required the greatest circumspect.on. They did not speak directly to each other, but employed internuncios, thus showing how strictly reserved should be intercourse letween men and women, and preventing all respectul aliart. When the whe was III. Keuen-urh. 玄陟懷金虺陟寘 頃 采 黃R彼 隤彼彼筐,采 維我 以姑嵬。行。我耳。耳 永彼馬 I was gathering and gathering the mouse-ear, But could not fill my shallow basket. With a sigh for the man of my heart, I placed it there on the highway. 2 I was ascending that rock-covered height, 3 I was ascending that lofty ridge, But my horses turned of a dark yellow. about to lie in, the husband took up his quar- | vessels are like a mouse's ears, and prickly, ters in a side apartment, and sent to inquire about her twice a day. When the wife wished to visit her parents, she intimated her purpose through the matron. Inside the door of the harem, no liberty could be taken any more than with a reverend guest. Thus was the instruct sticking to people's clothes. L. 2. The 頃筐 was a shallow basket, of bamboo or straw, depressed at the sides, so that it could be easily filled. L.3. 我懷 ion of the people made to commence from the 我之所懷者(the man (or men) of smallest matters, with a wonderful depth of wisdom!" Ode 3. LaMENTING THE ABSENCE OF A CHER18HED FRIEND. Referring this song to Tae-sz', Choo thinks it was made by herself. However that was, we must read it as if it were from the pencil of its subject. St.1. L.1.采 both by Maou and Choo, is taken as in I.3; the repetition of the verb de noting the repetition of the work; Tae Chin explains 采采 as="numerous, 'were many;’| which also is allowable. There are many names Maou calls it the for the 卷 (2d tone)耳 荟耳: Choo, the 枲耳, adding that its leaves are like a mouse's ears, and that it grows in bunchy patches. The Pun-ts'aou calls it 耳, which, acc. to Medhurst, is the luppa minor' whom I think, whom I cherish in my mind.' Who this was has been variously determined ;-see on the Interpretation, L.4.窴(now written置) =, to set aside.' 周行,this phrase oc curs thrice in the she. Here and in II. v. Ode IX., Choo explains it by, the great or high way,' while Maou and his school make it 一周之列位,the official ranks of Chow.' In II. i. Ode I., they agree in making it=大 道or至道, meaning 'the way of righteousness.' Tae Chin takes 周一徧 and the whole line I would place them everywhere in the official rank3. Choo's explanation is the best here. There was anciently no difference in the sound of, however it might be applied. It The Urh-ya yih (爾雅翼) says that its seed- woull rhyme with 筐 in all its significations. 痛我 矣。僕 4 我 陟傷。不維兕 永以觥。 馬矣。彼 I will now take a cup from that rhinoceros' horn, Hoping I may not have long to sorrow. I was ascending that flat-topped height, But my horses became quite disabled, and. The Urh-ya quotes the passage 云何盱矣, which St.2. L.1. Choo, after Maou, gives it were formed from as 'a hill of earth, with rocks on its top,' whereas the Urh-ya gives just the opposite account of the phrase. The Shwoh-wan explains 'large and lofty,' and by by 'rocks on a hill'; Wang T'aou would still explain in the same way as Maou does his reading. The rhymes are—in st. 1,,, cat. 10: cat. 15, t. 1: in 3,, in 2, and I have translated accordingly. L2. PF, cat. 5, t.1. INTERPRETATION; AND CLASS. The old interpreters thought that this ode celebrated Taesze for being earnestly bent on getting the court of Chow filled with worthy ministers; for sympathizing with faithful officers in their toils on distant expeditions; and for suggesting to king Wăn to feast them on their return. The 1st st. might be interpreted in this way, taking think of, and would place them in the official the 2d and 3d lines as 'I sigh for the men I Sun Yen (孫炎) of the Wei dyn. L.3. 姑 -A, and together, indicate a purpose to do something in the meantime,='now', 'temporarily. The was made of wood, carved so as to represent clouds, and variously gilt and ornamented. L.4. has here a degree of force,==' only.' Followed by, they together express a wish or hope, ranks of Chow. They are quoted in the Tso Chuen (after IX. xv. 2), with something like this meaning, and by Seun King(); = = for long.' L.3. The is the rhinoceros, a wild ox, with one horn, of a green-though without any reference to Tae-sze. To ish colour, and 1000 catties in weight;' and the make the other stanzas harmonize with this, however, 我 must be taken, now as equal to my prince or husband,' and now as equal to my officers abroad on their commissions,' than which no interpretation could be more licentious. It is astonishing that the imperial editors should lean to this view;on which the piece belongs to the allusive class. Choo ascribes the ode to T'ae-sze. Her hus band, the man of her heart,' is absent on some toilsome expedition; and she sets forth her Choo explains to sigh sorrowfully. The VOL. IV. |