O sun, O moon, From the east that come forth! O father, O mother, There is no sequel to your nourishing of me. How can he get his mind settled? Would he then respond to me contrary to all reason?
Ode 15, Stanza 1. The Pei Măn.
An officer of Wei sets forth his hard lot, through distresses and the burdens laid upon him, and his silence under it in submission to Heaven.
I go out at the north gate, With my heart full of sorrow. Straitened am I and poor, And no one takes knowledge of my distress. So it is! Heaven has done it[1];—What then shall I say?
Book IV. The Odes of Yung.
See the preliminary note on p. 433.
Ode 1. The Pai Kâu.
Protest of a widow against being urged to marry again, and her appeal to her mother and to Heaven.
This piece, it is said, was made by Kung Kiang, the widow of Kung-po, son of the marquis Hsî of Wei (B.C. 855—814). Kung-po having died an early death, her parents (who must have been the marquis of Khî and his wife or one of the ladies of his harem) wanted to force her to a second marriage, against which she protests. The ode was preserved, no doubt, as an example of
- ↑ The 'Complete Digest of Comments on the Shih' warns its readers not to take 'Heaven' here as synonymous with Ming, 'what is decreed or commanded.' The writer does not go on to define the precise idea which he understood the character to convey. This appears to be what we often mean by 'Providence,' when we speak of anything permitted, rather than appointed, by the supreme ruling Power.
