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Shi Jing Introduction Table of content – The Book of Odes

The oldest collection of Chinese poetry, more than three hundred songs, odes and hymns. Tr. Legge (en) and Granet (fr, incomplete).

Section I — Lessons from the states
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15
Chapter 9 — The odes of Wei

107 108 109 110 111 112 113

Shijing I. 9. (112)

Kan-kan go his blows on the sandal trees,
And he places what he hews on the river's bank,
Whose waters flow clear and rippling.
You sow not nor reap ; –
How do you get the produce of those three hundred farms ?
You do not follow the chase ; –
How do we see the badgers hanging up in your court yards ?
O that superior man !
He would not eat the bread of idleness !

Kan-kan go his blows on the wood for his spokes,
And he places it by the side of the river,
Whose waters flow clear and even.
You sow not nor reap ; –
How do you get your three millions of sheaves ?
You do not follow the chase ; –
How do we see the three-year-olds hanging up in your court yards ?
O that superior man !
He would not eat the bread of idleness !

Kan-kan go his blows on the wood for his wheels,
And he places it by the lip of the river,
Whose waters flow clear in rippling circles.
You sow not nor reap ; –
How do you get the paddy for your three hundred round binns ?
You do not follow the chase ; –
How do we see the quails hanging in your court yards ?
O that superior man !
He would not eat the bread of idleness !

Legge 112

Chop ,chop ,we cut down the elms
And pile the wood on the bank,
By the waters clear and rippling.
They neither sow nor reap;
How then have they three hundred sheaves of corn?
They neither hunt nor chase;
How then do we see badgers hanging in their courtyards?
Ah,those lords
They do not need to work for their food!

Chop, chop, we cut wood for wheel-spokes
And pile it on the shore,
By the waters clear and flowing.
They neither sow nor reap;
How then have they three hundred stacks of corn?
They neither hunt nor chase;
How then do we see bulls hanging in their courtyards?
Ah, those lords
They do not need to work to eat!

Chop, chop, we cut hard wood for wheels
And pile it at the river's brink,
By the waters clear and dimpling.
They neither sow nor reap;
How then have they three hundred ricks of corn?
They neither hunt nor chase;
How then do we see quails hanging in their courtyards?
Ah, those lords
They do not have to work to live!
Gregor Kneussel – 2004/12/04
Shi Jing I. 9. (112) IntroductionTable of content
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The Book of Odes – Shi Jing I. 9. (112) – Chinese on/offFrançais/English
Alias Shijing, Shi Jing, Book of Odes, Book of Songs, Classic of Odes, Classic of Poetry, Livre des Odes, Canon des Poèmes.

The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
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