The great God displays
Liberality deep as the sea;
But the devil has injured man,
In a most outrageous manner.
God is therefore displeased,
And has sent his Son
With orders to come down into the world,
Having first studied the classics.
In the Ting-yew year [1837]
He was received up into Heaven,
Where the affairs of Heaven
Were clearly pointed out to him.
The great God
Personally instructed him,
Gave him odes and documents,
And communicated to him the true doctrine.
God also gave him a seal,
And conferred upon him a sword
Connected with authority
And majesty irresistible.
He bade him, together with the elder brother,
Namely Jesus,
To drive away impish fiends
With the coöperation of angels.
The poem goes on from this point to relate how the king of Hades envied him and displayed much malignity, but God instructed His son (Hung) how to subdue him and his "imps," which he eventually did, ascending again to heaven to receive God's further commission to return to the world and carry out his mission, promising to be with him and superintend everything.
We cannot be certain who were the adversaries he met in this first battle. The poem records what appears to be something different from the mere hostile or cynical attitude of members of the family or village, and may possibly refer to some earlier disturbances with rivals, such
