its being of the time of king Yew); in Book v., the Seaou pran, the K'eaou yen, the Ho jin sze, the Heang pih, the Kuh fung, the Luh go, the Ta tung, and the Sze yuch, the date of all of which is with Choo uncertain; in Book vi., the Pih shan, the Woo tseang ta keu, the Seaou ming, the Koo chung, the Ts'oo tsʻze, the Sin nan shan, the Foo t'een, the Ta t'een, the Chen pe Loh e, and the Shang-shang chay hwa, of all which Choo denies the assigned date, excepting in the case of the Koo chung; in Book vii., the Sang hoo, the Yuen yang, the Kwei peen, the Keu heah, the Tsing ying, the Pin che tsoo yen, the Yu ts'aou, the Ts'ae shuh, the Keoh kung, and the Yuh lew,-but of these Choo allows only the Pin che tsoo yen to be capable of determinate reference to the time of Yew; and in Book viii., the Too jin sze, the Ts'ae luh, the Shoo meaou (referred by Choo to the time of king Seuen), the Sih sang, the Pih hwa, the Meen man, the Hoo yeh, the Ts'een tseen che shih, the Teaou che hwa, and the Ho ts'aou pah hwang, but Choo only agrees in assigning the Pih hwa and the Ho ts'aou puh hwang to Yew's reign.

In Part III., Book iii., two pieces ;-the Chen jang and the Shaou min.

[xi.] Of the time of king P'ing

In all 28 pieces, viz.—

In Part I., 1 in Book iii.,-the Luh e; 3 in Book v.,the K'e yuh, the K'aou pran, and the Shih jin, but Choo considers the date of the Kaou pran to be uncertain; 6 in Book vi.,-the Shoo le, the Keun-tsze yu yih, the Keun-tsze yang-yang, the Yang che shwuy, the Chung kuh yew t'uy, and the Koh luy, of which Choo agrees in the assignment of one only, the Yang che shwuy; 7 in Book vii.,-the Tsze e, the Tseang chungtsze, the Shuh yu t'een, the Ta shuh yu t'een, the Kaou k'ew, the Tsun ta loo, and the Neu yueh ke ming, of which Choo allows the assignment of the Tsze e, the Shuh yu t'een, and the Ta shuh yu t'een; 7 in Book x.,— the Shan yew ch'oo, the Yang che shruy, the Tseam leaou, the Chow mow, the Te too, the Kaou k'ew, and the Paou yu, of which Choo agrees in the assignment only of the Yang che shwuy and the Tseaou leaou 4 in Book xi.,-the Sze t'eeh, the Seaou jung, the Keen kea, and the Chung nan, Choo allowing only the Seaou jung.

[xii.] In the reign of king Ping, or king Hwan Seven pieces, all of Part I., Book ix., and all, according to Choo, of uncertain date ;-the Koh keu, the Hwun tseu joo, the Yuen yew t'aou, the Chih hoo, the Shih mow che keen, the Fah t'an, and the Shih shoo.

[xiii.] In the reign of king Hwan Thirty-two pieces, all of Part I., viz.—

17 in Book iii. :-the Yen yen, the Jih yuch, the Chung fung, the Keih koo, the K'ae fung, the Heung che,

the P'aou yer k'oo yeh, the Kuh fung, the Shih we, the Maou kew, the Keen he, the Ts'euen shwuy, the Pih mun, the Pih fung, the Tsing neu, the Sin t'ae, and the Urh tsze shing chow, of which Choo allows only the date assigned to the Yen yen, the Jih yuch, the Chung fung, and the Keih koo; 4 in Book iv.,—the Ts'eang yew tsze, the Keun-tsze keae laou, the Sang chung, and the Shun che pun pun, in regard to all of which but the Sang chung Choo coincides ; 5 in Book v.,—the Măng, the Chuh kan, the Hwan lan, the Pih he, and the Yew hoo, all acc. to Choo of uncertain date; 3 in Book vi., -the Too yuen, the Ts'ae koh, and the Ta keu, also of uncertain date with Choo; 2 in Book vii.,-the Yew neu t'ung keu, and the Keen shang, with him uncertain; and 1 in Book xii.,-the Moo mun, whose date Choo in the same way does not think can be determined.

[xiv.] Of the time of king Chwang Fifteen pieces, all in Part I., viz.—

1 in Book vi.,-the Kew chung yew ma, with Choo uncertain; 8 in Book vii., all with Choo uncertain,— the Shan yew foo soo, the Toh he, the Keaou t'ung, the Fung, the Tung mun che shen, the Fung yu, the Tsze k'in, and the Yang che shwuy; and 6 in Book viii., the date and occasion of the 2nd and 3rd of which only are deemed uncertain by Choo,-the Nan shan, the Foo teen, the Loo ling, the Pe kow, the Tsae k'eu, and the E tseay.

[xv.] of the time of king Le Five pieces, all in Part I., viz.—

B.C. 695-681.

680-676.

3 in Book vii., all with Choo uncertain,-the Ch'uh ke tung mun, the Yay yew man tsaou, and the Tsin wei; 2 in Book x., the date assigned to the former of which is admitted by Choo, the Woo e, and the Yew te che too [xvi.] Of the time of king Hwuy

Twelve pieces, all in Part I., viz.—

...

:..

5 in Book iv., all admitted by Choo,-the Ting che fang chung, the Te tung, the Seang shoo, the Kan maou, and the Tsae ch'e; 1 in Book v., with Choo uncertain, -the Muh kra; 1 in Book vii., admitted by Choo, the Tsing jin; 2 in Book x., with Choo uncertain,-the Koh sẵng and the Ts'ae ling; 2 in Book xii., with Choo uncertain, the Fang yew ts'eoh ch'aou, and the Yuch ch'uh; and 1 in Book xiv., also with Choo uncertain,the Fow yer.

[xvii.] Of the time of king Seang

In all thirteen pieces, of which 9 are in Part I., viz.1 in Book v., admitted by Choo,-the Ho kwang; 5 in Book xi., of which Choo admits only the first and fourth, the Hwang neaou, the Shin-fung, the Woo e, the Wei yang, and the Keuen yu; 3 in Book xiv., of

which Choo accepts only the first,-the How-jin, the She-kew, and the Hea ts'euen.

In Part IV., the 4 pieces of Book ii., in the occasion assigned for the first and last of which Choo agrees,the Keung, the Yew peih, the Pran-shwuy, and the Pei kung.

[xviii.] Of the time of king Ting

Two pieces in Part I., viz.—

the Choo lin, admitted by Choo, and the Tsih pʻo in Book xii.

B.C. 605-585.

The editors of the imperial edition of the present dynasty say: "The dates of the composition of the odes it was found difficult to examine thoroughly after the fires of Ts'in, and so we find them variously assigned by the writers of the Han, T'ang, and other dynasties.

"But the old Preface made its appearance along with the text of the Poems, and Maou, Ch'ing, and K'ung Ying-tah maintained and defended the dates assigned in it, to which there belongs what authority may be derived from its antiquity.

"When Choo He took the She in hand, the text of the poems was considered by him to afford the only evidence of their occasion and date, and where there was nothing decisive in it, and no evidence afforded by other classical Books, he pronounced these points uncertain ;-thus deciding according to the exercise of his own reason on the several pieces.

"Gow-yang Sew followed the introductory notices of Ch'ing, but disputed and reasoned on the subject at the same time. Heu Keen, and Lew Kin followed the authority of Choo, now and then slightly differing from him.

"In the Ming dynasty appeared the 'Old meanings of the text of the She,' chronologically arranged by Ho K'eae, adducing abundance of testimonies, but with many erroneous views. We have in this work collected the old assignments of the Preface, supported by Maou, Ch'ing, and K'ung; and given due place to the decisions of Choo. The opinions of others we have preserved, but have not entered on any discussion of them."

CHAPTER III.

THE RHYME AND METRE OF THE PIECES; THEIR POETICAL VALUE; PRINCIPLE ON WHICH THE PRESENT VERSION OF THEM HAS BEEN MADE; CERTAIN

PECULIARITIES IN THEIR STRUCTURE.

1. I HAVE written at length on the Prosody of the Book of Poetry in my larger work. In this volume, in-. tended for English readers, it is not necessary to say much about it.

Rhyme has always been a characteristic of verse in China; and all the earliest attempts at poetical composition were of the same form,-in lines con- Metre and sisting of four words, forming, from the Rhyme. nature of the language, four syllables. Wherever there is any marked deviation from this type, the genuineness of the piece as a relic of antiquity becomes liable to suspicion.

This line of four words is the normal measure of the She, but it is not invariably adhered to. We have in one ode, according to the judgment of many native scholars, a line of only one word in each of its stanzas. Lines of two, of three, of five, of six, of seven, and even of eight characters, occasionally occur. When the poet once departs from the normal law of the metre, he often continues his innovation for two or three more lines, and then relapses into the usual form. He is evidently aware of his deviation from that, and the stanzas where it takes place are in general found to be symmetrically constructed and balanced.

2. The pieces, as printed, appear divided into stanzas ; -and properly so, though the Han scholars say that such division was first made by Maou Chang. He did his work well, guided mainly by the rhyme, and by the character of the piece as narrative, allusive, or metaphorical.

Stanzas.

In most pieces the stanzas are of uniform length, and

frequently quatrains; but the authors allowed themselves. as much liberty in the length of the stanza as in that of the line. Stanzas of two lines are very rare; and those of three lines, or triplets, are only less so. One ode occurs, made up of stanzas of two lines, and in another three such stanzas follow three quatrains. We have three odes made up of triplets, and this stanza is occasionally introduced among others of greater length. Stanzas of five lines occur, but not often. They sometimes form the structure of whole pieces, and are sometimes intermixed with others. Stanzas of six lines, of eight, of ten, and of twelve are frequently met with. Some are found extending to fourteen lines, and even to sixteen and seventeen. Those of seven lines, of nine, and of eleven, are all unusual. Generally speaking, stanzas with an even number of lines greatly outnumber those with an odd.

In the present metrical version, wherever I could conveniently attain to it, I have made the stanzas of the same length as in the original Chinese. Some expansion, however, has frequently seemed to be necessary; condensation has seldom been possible.

3. The manner in which the rhymes are disposed has Disposition of received much attention from the Chinese the Rhymes. critics; and the following cases, among others, have been pointed out :

[i.] Where lines rhyme in succession; two, three, four lines, &c., occasionally up to twelve.

[ii.] Where the rhyming lines are interrupted by one or more lines intervening, which do not rhyme with them; those intervening lines rhyming differently together, or not rhyming at all.

[iii.] Where the stanza contains only one rhyme.

iv.] Where the stanza contains two or more rhymes. v. Where the different rhymes alternate, with more or less of regularity. Some pieces are made up of quatrains proper, the first and third lines rhyming together, and the second and fourth. In stanzas of five lines, the first and third will sometimes rhyme, and then the second, fourth, and fifth. In others of six lines, the first and third will rhyme, and then the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth. The regularities, or rather irregularities, of this kind are very numerous.