Text of Confucianism Part 01

SR No.: 007675
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: James Legge
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1879
Total Pages: 2829
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 50 MB

Page 365

328
THE SHIH KING.
DECADE 111.
ODE 10. THE WO. SUNG IN THE ANCESTRAL TEMPLE TO THE MUSIC REGULATING THE
DANCE IN HONOUR OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF KING WO. This account of the piece, given in the Preface, is variously cor
roborated, and has not been called in question by any critic. Perhaps this brief ode was sung as a prelude to the dance, or it may be that the seven lines are only a fragment. This, indeed, is most likely, as we have several odes in the next decade, all said to have been used at the same occasion.
Oh! great wast thou, O king Wû, Displaying the utmost strength in thy work. Truly accomplished was king Wăn, Opening the path for his successors. Thou didst receive the inheritance from him. Thou didst vanquish Yin, and put a stop to its cruelties ;-Effecting the firm establishment of thy merit.
The Third Decade, or that of Min Yü Hsiao Zze.
ODE 1. THE Min Yü.
APPROPRIATE TO THE YOUNG KING KHĂNG, DECLARING HIS SENTIMENTS
IN THE TEMPLE OF HIS FATHER. The speaker in this piece is, by common consent, king Khăng.
The only question is as to the date of its composition, whether it was made for him, in his minority, on his repairing to the temple when the mourning for his father was completed, or after the expiration of the regency of the duke of Kâu. The words little child,' according to their usage, are expressive of humility and not of age. They do not enable us to determine the above point.
Alas for me, who am a little child, On whom has devolved the unsettled state! Solitary am I and full of distress. Oh! my great Father, All thy life long, thou wast filial.
Thou didst think of my great grandfather, (Seeing
Digitized by Google