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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 III — ¤j ¶® Greater odes of the kingdom
1 2 3
Chapter 1 — ¤å ¤ý ¤§ ¤° Decade of Wen Wang

235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244

Shijing III. 1. (244)

King Wen is famous ;
Yea, he is very famous.
What he sought was the repose [of the people] ;
What he saw was the completion [of his work].
A sovereign true was king Wen !

King Wen received the appointment [of Heaven],
And achieved his martial success.
Having overthrown Chong,
He fixed his [capital] city in Feng.
A sovereign true was king Wen !

He repaired the walls along the [old] moat :
His establishing himself in Feng was according to [the pattern of his forefathers],
It was not that he was in haste to gratify his wishes ; –
It was to show the filial duty which had come down to him.
A sovereign true was [our] royal prince !

His royal merit was brightly displayed,
By those walls of Feng.
There were collected [the sympathies of the people of] the four quarters,
Who regarded the royal prince as their protector.
A sovereign true was [our] royal prince !

The Feng-water flowed on to the east [of the city],
Through the meritorious labour of Yu.
There were collected [the sympathies of the people of ] the four quarters,
Who would have the great king as their ruler.
A sovereign true was the great king !

In the capital of Hao he built his hall with its circlet of water ;
From the west to the east,
From the south to the north,
There was not a thought but did him homage.
A sovereign true was the great king !

He examined and divined, did the king,
About settling in the capital of Hao.
The tortoise-shell decided the site,
And king Wu completed the city.
A sovereign true was king Wu !

By the Feng-water grows the white millet ; –
Did not king Wu show wisdom in his employment of officers ?
He would leave his plans to his descendants,
And secure comfort and support to his son.
A sovereign true was king Wu !

Legge 244

Shi Jing III. 1. (244) IntroductionTable of content
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The Book of Odes – Shi Jing III. 1. (244) – 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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