first sovereign of Shang[1] Received the appointment without any element of instability in it, And it is (now) held by the descendant of Wû-ting[2].
The descendant of Wû-ting Is a martial sovereign, equal to every emergency. Ten princes, (who came) with their dragon-emblazoned banners, Bear the large dishes of millet.
The royal domain of a thousand lî Is where the people rest; But the boundaries that reach to the four seas commence there.
From the four seas[3] they come (to our sacrifices); They come in multitudes. King has the Ho for its outer border[4]. That Yin[5] should have received the appointment (of Heaven) was entirely right;—(Its sovereign) sustains all its dignities.
Ode 4. The Khang Fâ.
Celebrating Hsieh, the ancestor of the House of Shang; Hsiang-thû, his grandson; Thang, the founder of the dynasty; and Î-yin, Thang's chief minister and adviser.
It does not appear on occasion of what sacrifice this piece was made. The most probable view is that of Mâo, that it was the
- ↑ That is, Thang.
- ↑ If this ode were used, as Kăng supposes, in the third year after Wû-ting's death, this 'descendant' would be his son Zû-kăng, B.C. 1265 to 1259.
- ↑ This expression, which occurs also in the Shû, indicates that the early Chinese believed that their country extended to the sea, east, west, north, and south.
- ↑ Kû Hsî says he did not understand this line; but there is ground in the Zo Kwan for our believing that King was the name of a hill in the region where the capital of Shang was.
- ↑ We saw in the Shû that the name Shang gave place to Yin after the time of Pan-kăng, B.C. 1401 to 1374. Wû-ting's reign was subsequent to that of Pan-kăng.
