The duke no judge's help will need,
As calm and truthful here they plead
Their claims before his court.
7 They draw their bows, with bone made strong. How whiz the arrows fleet !
Their cars of war dash swift along,
Eager the foe to meet.
Drivers and footmen weary not,
Till o'er the tribes of Hwae is got
A victory entire.
Your plans, O prince, be firm and true!
So shall you all those tribes subdue,
And quench rebellion's fire.
8 On wing they come, those owls, and rest
The college trees among.
Our mulberry fruits they eat with zest,
Grown birds of sweetest song.
So shall the Hwae tribes change their minds,
And bring their tribute in all kinds
Of produce rich and rare ;—
The ivory tusks, the tortoise big,
The metals from their mines they dig ;-
Their fealty to declare.
The Peih kung; narrative. IN PRAISE OF DUKE HE, AND AUSPICING FOR HIM A MAGNIFICENT CAREER OF SUCCESS, WHICH WOULD MAKE LOO ALL THAT IT HAD EVER BEEN:-WRITTEN PROBABLY ON AN OCCASION WHEN HE HAD REPAIRED ON A GRAND SCALE THE TEMPLES OF THE STATE, OF WHICH PIOUS ACT HIS SUCCESS WOULD BE THE REWARD.
There is no doubt that duke He is the hero of this piece, and the Hesze mentioned in the last stanza as the architect under whose superintendence the temples had been put into good repair was his brother, whom we meet with elsewhere as "duke's son, Yu." The descriptions of various sacrifices prove that the lords of Loo, whether permitted to use royal ceremonies and sacrifices or not, did really do so. It was not for the writer, a minister, probably, of Loo, to call into question the legality of celebrations in which he took part and which he considered to be the glory of the State. He was evidently in a poetic rapture as to what his ruler was and would do. The piece is a genuine bardic effusion.
The poet traces the lords of Loo to Këang Yuen, and her son How-tseih,
the legend about whom we have read already, in III. ii. I. He then, in the 2nd stanza, comes to the establishment of the Chow dynasty, and under it of the marquisate of Loo. The next stanza brings him to duke He, the son of duke Chwang (B.C. 692-661), and he dilates on his sacrificial services, the military power of Loo, and the achievements which He might be expected to accomplish in subjugating all the territory lying to the east, and a long way south, of Loo.
Mount T'ae is well known. Kwei and Mung were two other hills in Loo; as were also Hoo and Yih,-both of them in the present district of Tsow. The Man and the Mih were properly the wild tribes of the south and the north; but we can only understand by the terms here the wild hordes south of the Hwae. Chang was a city with some adjacent territory, in the present district of Tăng, which had been taken from Loo by Ts'e; and Heu, called in the Ch'un Ts'ëw, "the fields or lands of Heu," lay west from Loo, originally a royal gift, but which had been parted with to Ch'ing in B.C. 710. Tsoo-lae and Sin-foo were two hills in the present department of T'ae-gan.
1 Solemn the temples' stand, and still,
Strong, built throughout with nicest skill.
From them our thoughts to Keang Yuen go,
The mother of our Chow and Loo.
She grandly shone with virtue rare
That nought could bend. So did she share
God's favour, and How-tseih she bore,
Without a pang, or labour sore,
Just when her carrying days were o'er.
On How-tseih then all blessings came.
That millets' times were not the same,
This ripening quickly, and that slow,
He knew, and first the pulse to sow,
And then the wheat, where each should grow.
Soon called a State, though small, to rule,
It under him became a school,
Where husbandry men learned to know,
To sow, to reap, to weed, to hoe.
Millets, the early, black, and red,
And rice that loves the watery bed;-
All these through all the land were known,
And of Yu's toils the worth was shown.
2 Long after How-tseih, in his line,
King T'ae arose, quick to divine
Heaven's will, who eastward came and dwelt
South of mount K'e. There first was felt
The power of Chow, and Shang's fierce sway
Began to dwindle and decay.
From him we pass to Wan and Woo,
Continuing T'ae's great work to do,
Till in the plain of Muh 'twas given
To see th' accomplished will of Heaven.
There met the hosts, both well arrayed,
And when Woo feared, his general said,
"Let not a doubt your mind possess !
With you is God, your arms to bless."
The troops of Shang defeat sustained;
Woo's men, all fire, grand victory gained.
His son, king Ching, next wore the crown,
And said to Tan of wide renown,
Still as the duke of Chow well known,
"Your eldest son, O uncle great,
I will appoint to rule the State
Of Loo, and there on you bestow
A territory that shall grow,
And help afford our House of Chow."
3 Thus first did Loo a ruler get,
Who marquis in the east was set.
The lands and fields, each stream and hill,
Were granted to him, at his will
To hold, and many States attached,
Whose fealty jealously he watched.
From him derived, our present chief,
Son of duke Chwang, now holds the fief.
With dragon banner raised aloft,
Grasping the pliant reins and soft,
Here comes he sacrifice to pay.
In spring and autumn, no delay
He makes; but soon as dawns the day,
Correct his offerings appear;-
The victims, red and pure, are here:-
First for the great and sovereign Lord,
Then for How-tseih, our sire adored.
The victims these enjoy and own,
And send abundant blessings down.
Nor they alone, O prince, do
But from the duke of Chow gifts flow,
And all your sires their grace bestow.
4 In autumn comes th' autumnal rite,
With bulls, whose horns in summer bright
Were capped with care:-one of them white,
For the great duke of Chow designed;
One red, for all our princes shrined.
And see! they set the goblet full,
In figure fashioned like a bull;
The dishes of bamboo and wood;
Sliced meat, roast pig, and pottage good;
And the large stand. Below the hall
There wheel and move the dancers all.
O filial prince, your sires will bless,
And grant you glorious success.
Long life and goodness they'll bestow
On you, to hold the State of Loo,
And all the eastern land secure,
Like moon complete, like mountain sure.
No earthquake's shock, no flood's wild rage,
Shall e'er disturb your happy age.
And with your aged nobles three
Unbroken shall your friendship be,
In long and firm security.
5 A thousand are the cars of war.
Aloft on each, seen from afar,
Rise the two spears, with tassels red.
In each two bows in case are laid,
To frames with green strings firmly bound.
Guarding those cars, and all around,
March thirty thousand footmen bold,
And on their helmets can be told
The shells, strung on vermilion string :-
Such is the force our State can bring.
We'll quell the tribes both west and north,
And against King and Shoo go forth.
O prince, the Spirits of your dead
With blaze of glory crown your head!
Give you long life, and riches great,
And round you trusty helpers set,
Of wrinkled back and hoary hair,
With counsel wise for every care!
You may those Spirits prosper thus,
And make your old age vigorous,
For thousands, myriads of years,
With bushy eyebrows, free from fears!
6 To us belongs T'ae's frowning height,
For all in Loo the grandest sight.
Both Kwei and Mung we safely keep;
To farthest east our sway shall sweep,
Till all the States along the sea
To Loo obedient shall be.
The tribes of Hwae will own our might,
Proud to our prince their faith to plight.
Such the memorial he shall leave!
Such deeds our marquis shall achieve !
7 Both Hoo and Yih he shall maintain,
And victory over Seu shall gain,
Till all the States along the sea
To him obedient shall be.
The tribes of Hwae, the Mih whose home
Is in the north, the Man who roam
The south, and tribes more southern still
Shall bow, submissive to his will.
Prompt they shall answer to his call,
And homage pay, his subjects all.
8 Oh! Heaven our prince will greatly bless,
And he the eyebrows shall possess,
That show long life, and Loo maintain;
Both Chang and Heu he shall regain.
Whatever land belonged of yore
To Tan, our prince shall soon restore.
Then shall his joy at feast be told
To his good wife, and mother old.
There too his chiefs, of virtue rare,
Each in his place, the joy shall share.
He thus shall all our region rule;
His cup of blessing shall be full.
Like child's his teeth shall still be seen,
With hoary hair,-an old age green!
9 The pines from Tsoo-lae's hill were brought, And cypresses on Sin-foo sought.
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