But you have nothing to make you looked up to! 2 How your blows on the drum resound, At the foot of Yuen-k'ëw! Be it winter, be it summer, You are holding your egret's feather! 陳一之十二 TITLE OF THE BOOK.-陳一之十二, district of Hwae-ning (准寜), dep. Chin 'The odes of Ch'in; Book XII. of Part I.' Ch'in was one of the smaller feudal States of Chow, and its name remains in the dep. of Ch'in-chow chow. His marchioness is said to have been fond of witches and wizards, of singing and dancing, and so to have affected badly the manners and customs of the people of the State;-a perplexes many of the critics. (陳州), Ho-nan. It was a marquisate, and its character of her, a daughter of king Woo, which lords traced their lineage up to the verge of historic times, and boasted of being descended from the famous emperor Shun, so that they had the surname of Kwei (). At the rise of the Chow dynasty, one of Shun's descendants, called Ngoh-foo (闊), was potter-in-chief to king Woo, who was so pleased with him that he gave his own eldest daughter () to be wife to his son Mwan (), whom he invested with the principality of Ch'in. He is known as duke Hoo (胡公), and established his capital near Ode 1. Narrative. THE DISSIPATION AND PLEASURE-SEEKING OF THE OFFICERS OF CH'IN. The Preface says the piece was directed against duke Yew (幽公;B.C. 850-834), and Maou interprets the 子 in st. 1 of him. Choo, how ever, says that there is no evidence of Yew's dissipation but in the bad title given to him after his death, and that 'he does not dare to believe' that the ode speaks of him. To make the refer to him supposes a degree of familiarity with his ruler on the part of the the mound called Yuen-k'ew, in the present | writer, which is hardly admissible. Yet we 1 [There are] the white elms at the east gate. 2 And the oaks on Yuen-k'ew; The daughter of Tsze-chung Dances about under them. A good morning having been chosen For the plain in the South, She leaves twisting her hemp, And dances to it through the market-place. may infer from st. 1, 1.4 that the subject of the piece was an officer, a man of note in the State, and a representative, I assume, of his class. 東門之粉 ware. We find it used of a vessel for holding wine, and a vessel for drawing water. It is used also, as here, for a primitive instrument of music. 無冬無夏無間(or論), St. 1. I have mentioned that Maou refers the 子 to duke Yëw. Ching, however, supposesit 冬夏, with the meaning I have given. 值 is addressed to some‘great officer;’——which is 一植or持, ‘to hold in the hand.' We genermore likely. 湯 is taken as 蕩‘dissipated,’ 宛丘 'unsettled.' Maou, after the Urh-ya, understands as ‘a mound, high on the 4 sides, and depressed in the centre;' while Kwoh Puh gives just the opposite account of the name, as ‘a mound rising high in the centre. Evidently, however, we need not try to translate the words. Whatever was its shape, Yuen-k'ew was the name of a mound, inside, some say, the chief city of Ch'in, certainly in its immediate neigh | ally translate by 'heron;' but according to Kwoh, who says that both from the crest and from the back arose a plume of long feathers, we must understand the bird here to be the Great White Egret (Ardea Egretta). Those feathers, either single or formed into fans, were carried by dancers, and waved in harmony with the movements of the body. The rhymes are–in st. 1, 湯上望 cat. bourhood, and a favourite resort of pleasure-10: in2,鼓下,夏* 羽, cat. 5, t. 2: in seekers. 有情 is here about=our word 3.知道cat. 3. t. 2. ‘jolly.’ Stt. 2,3. followed by the descriptive #, is intended to give the sound of the blows on Ode 2. Narrative. WANTON ASSOCIATIONS OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF CHIN. The Preface says the piece was intended to express detestation of the lewd disorder of the State. Këang 握貽如視鬷越于穀 3 The morning being good for the excursion, They all proceed together. 'I look on you as the flower of the thorny mallows; You give me a stalk of the pepper plant. III. Hăng mân. 樂可洋泌樓可之衡 衡 飢以洋之遲以下門 門 1 Beneath my door made of cross pieces of wood, I can rest at my leisure; By the wimpling stream from my fountain, I can joy amid my hunger. Ping-chang explains it of some celebration by witches and wizards, of which I can discover no trace in the language. St. 1. Going out at the east gate, it would appear, parties proceeded, to the mound of Yuenkëw, as the great resort of pleasure-seekers. ,--see x. VIII. 1. The Tsze-chung was one of the clans of Ch'in, and we must understand that a daughter of it is here introduced. This is much more likely than the view of Ch'ing, whe takes as 枒ig. 榆x.II.1; 栩一 -'that man 子 1(男子): Indeed, we must take as feminine, if the same person be the sub ject of the 3d line in st. 2. 婆娑 is explained 舞貌 the app. of dancing. The ac as= make the excursion. 鬷=衆,‘all,'or, as Ching says, 總 ‘all together! 邁一行 to go.' Ll.3,4 in st.3 give the words of some gentleman of the party addressed to a lady. There is a difficulty about them, because 1.3 is directly addressed to the lady, whereas 1.4 is narrative, unless be taken in the imperative which no critic has ventured to do. I have called the thorny mallows,' after Medhurst. This is, indeed, a literal translation of another name for the same plant,-荆葵 The figure of it is evidently that of one of the malvacea. The rhymes are–in st.1, 栩下 * cat.5,t.2: in2,差麻娑cat.16; Twan also makes 原 rhyme here, by poetic license, but unnecessarily: in 8,逝邁 bright. sarily: in 8, 逝邁, cat.15,t.3; 荍,椒, tion in this stanza is subsequent to that in the two others. Stt.2,3.穀 =善,‘good;" here = bright. 差 is explained by 擇, ‘to choose.” The dict. refers to this passage, under the pronunciation of差 as ch'ae, which it cannot have here. 于 is the expletive particle. L.2, st.2. Maou takes as a surname or clan-name, and understands 原 by the line'a lady of the Yuen clan living in the south. Gow-yang was the first to discard this unnatural construction. The plain in the south’was, probably, at the foot of Yuen-k'ew, and to reach it, the parties went through the city, and out at the east gate. In st.3, 越以 must be taken as a compound particle; like 以in al.逝=往‘to cat. 3, t. 1. Ode 3. Narrative. THE CONTENTMENT AND HAPPINESS OF A POOR RECLUSE. These simple verses, sufficiently explain themselves. The Preface, however, finds in them advice, thus metaphorically suggested to duke He (僖公; B. C.830-795), whom some one wished to tell that, though Ch'in was a small State, he might find it every way sufficient for him. We need not take that view, and go beyond what is written. St. 1. 衡門 is an apology for a door,–one or more pieces of wood placed across the opening in a hut or hermitage. The meaning of Ti 下 is not to be pressed. 棲遲lit, ‘roost 二章 必宋之子 豈其取 必河之鯉 豈其食 必齊之 豈其取 必河之魴 豈其食魚 妻。鯉。 2 Why, in eating fish, 姜。妻魴魚 Must we have bream from the Ho? Why, in taking a wife, Must we have a Këang of Ts'e? 3 Why, in eating fish, Must we have carp from the Ho? Why, in taking a wife, Must we have a Tsze of Sung? IV. Tung mûn che ch'e. 可可 東可 彼可 與美以門與美 晤淑漚之晤淑漚 姬。 宁。池。歌姫麻。池。 1 The moat at the east gate Is fit to steep hemp in. That beautiful, virtuous, lady Can respond to you in songs. 2 The moat at the east gate 東門之池 and be at leisure'泌一毖 in iii. XIV. 1, the | And so, one could be happy with a wife, though app. of water bubbling up from a spring.' The she were not a noble Keang or Tsze. term here, however, refers us more to the spring The rhymes are in st. 1, 遲,飢, cat.15 itself. 洋洋 gives the idea of a gentle flow t.1:in2,魴姜cat.10: in3鯉子, of the water, which then spreads itself out ( 流廣長貌). The last line is expanded 1, t.2. cat. Ode 4. Allusive. THE PRAISE OF SOME VIETUOUS AND INTELLIGENT LADY. Choo thinks by Choo-亦可以玩樂而忘飢也,that in this piece we have a reference to a meet 'I can still enjoy myself, and forget my hunger.' Stt. 2, 3. The marquises of Ts'e had the surname of Keang, and the dukes of Sung that of Tsze. Not bream or carp only could be eaten; one might be satisfied with fish of smaller note. ing between a gentleman and lady somewhere near the moat at the eastern gate; but the K'ang-he editors remark correctly that there is nothing in the language indicating any undue familiarity. The Preface says it was directed 晤可淑彼漚 之 言與姫美菅以池。門 3 The moat at the east gate Is fit to steep the rope-rush in. That beautiful, virtuous lady Can respond to you in conversation. V. Tung mûn che yang. 明昏其 東用 星以葉 門星 哲 倉肺 煌 其葉牂牂 昏以爲期 東 晳。期。肺。楊。煌。期牂楊。楊 1 On the willows at the east gate, The leaves are very luxuriant. The evening was the time agreed on, And the morning star is shining bright. 2 On the willows at the east gate, The evening was the time agreed on, against the times, and the writer is thinking of | Ll. 1, 2, in all the stt. From its association with the east gate, the here is understood of the, or moat surrounding the wall. 漚一漬,‘to sonk, to steep' The stalks of the hemp had, of course, to be steeped, preparatory to getting the threads or filaments from them.紵 is described as ‘a species of hemp,' a perennial, and not raised every year from seed. In the Japanese plates, it is, evidently, the boehmeria, or nettle from which the grasscloth is made. The resembles the Strings, and cordage generally, could be made from the fibres of the long leaf. It produces a white flower. L1.3.4. 姬-Ke was the surname of the lineage, indeed, up to Hwang-te, just as Këang was the surname of the House of Ts'e, and of all descended from the still more ancient Shinnung. These were the most famous surnames in China; and hence to say that she was 'a Ke,' or 'a Këang,' was the highest compliment that could be paid to a lady. So Ying-tah explains the 姬 here. Choo explains 晤by解 to explain,'-intelligently. I prefer the explanation of Ching,一對,‘responsively. The rhymes are–in st. 1, 池麻歌, cat. 17: in 2, 紵語, cat. 5,t.2: in 3,管言 cat.14. Ode 5. Allusive. THE FAILURE OF AN ASSIGNATION. The old and new schools differ here as they do in the interpretation of vii.XIV. Here, as there, I prefer the view of Choo. Why should we suppose that there had been any contract of marriage between the parties? or embarrass ourselves with speculations as to the time of the year for the regular celebration House of Chow, –of all who could trace their of marriages? VOL. IV. 27 |