Poems from the Classic of Songs:

[The Classic of Poetry, sometimes called The Confucian Odes, is an anthology of poetry collected during the Period of the Warring States in China. Many of the poems refer to the earlier Zhou Dynasty and are handed down from those ancient times. The following are translations of poems that refer to sacrificial rites; they may have been hymns used during rituals.]

Let robes be of bright silk,
Caps reverent worn.
From hall to gate-house base,
From ram to bull,
From great tripod to small
Bear the great rhino-horn of holy curve.
Sweet the wine,
Be gentler still they mind. If now
Thy thought be sage
It shall sustain thee in thine old age.

Truly, those southern hills—
It was Yu who fashioned them;
Those level spaces, upland and lowland—
The descendant tills them.
We draw the boundaries, we divide the plots,
On southern slopes and eastern we set out acres.

A great cloud covers the heavens above,
Sends down snows thick-falling.
To them are added the fine rains of spring.
All is swampy and drenched,
All is moistened and soft,
Ready to grow the many grains.

The boundaries and balks are strictly drawn;
The wine-millet and cooking-millet give good yield,
To be harvested by the descendant;
That he may have wine and food
To supply the Dead One and the guests,
And so get life long-lasting.

In the midst of the field are the huts;
Along the boundaries and balks are gourds.
He dries them, pickles them,
And offers them to his great forefathers.
So shall the descendant live long,
Receiving Heaven’s favour.

He makes libation with clear wine,
Then follows with the Ruddy Male,
Offering it to the forefathers, to the ancients.
He holds the bell-knife
To lay open the hair;
He takes the blood and fat.
So he offers the fruits, offers the flesh
So strong-smelling, so fragrant.
Very hallowed was this service of offering,
Very mighty his forefathers.
They will reward him with great blessings,
With span of years unending.

Poem 272, translated by Stephen Owen

We have in hand our offerings;
These are sheep, these the cattle,
May Heaven favor them.
This act is patterned on King Wen’s rules,
Which daily bring peace to all the land,
Exalted be King Wen!—
He favors us by feeding on them.
May we, early and by night,
Stand in dread of Heaven’s might,
And in this way preserve it.

Poem 131, translated by Stephen Owen

[This poem is a lament for the sacrifice of three members of the Zi-ju clan, who were killed and buried with Lord Mu.]

Jiao cries the yellow bird,
it stops upon the briar.
Who goes with Lord Mu?
Yan-xi of the Zi-ju.
And this man Yan-xi
was the finest of a hundred,
but standing by the pit
he trembled in his dread.
You Gray One, Heaven,
you slay our best men.
If this one could be ransomed,
for his life, a hundred.

Jiao cries the yellow bird,
it stops upon the mulberry.
Who goes with Lord Mu?
Zhong-hang of the Zi-ju.
And this man Zhong-hang
could hold against a hundred,
but standing by the pit
he trembled in his dread.
You Gray One, Heaven,
you slay our best men.
If this one could be ransomed,
for his life, a hundred.

Jiao cries the yellow bird,
it stops upon the thorn.
Who goes with Lord Mu?
Qian-hu of the Zi-ju.
And this man Qian-hu
could ward against a hundred,
but standing by the pit
he trembled in his dread.
You Gray One, Heaven,
you slay our best men.
If tis one could be ransomed,
for his life, a hundred.

Poems are from:
The Confucian Odes, translated by Ezra Pound. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1954.
The Book of Songs, translated by Arthur Waley. New York: Random House, 1978.
An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911 edited and translated by Stephen Owen. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996.