COMPANION TO CANTO LIII

CITATION FORMATS

Annotations in the List of Works Cited:

Author’s last name, first name. “Title of the Article or Individual Page.” Title of the Website, Name of the Publisher [if different from website name], Date of Publication in Day Month Year format, URL. [MLA 8 format].

Preda, Roxana. The Online Companion to The Cantos of Ezra Pound. The Cantos Project, 2016-.

or

Preda, Roxana. “Companion to Canto IV.” The Cantos Project, 5 August 2016. thecantosproject.ed.ac.uk/index.php/a-draft-of-xvi-cantos-overview/canto-iv/companion-to-canto-iv

In–text references

Abbreviation

OCCEP – The Online Companion to The Cantos of Ezra Pound

([Contributor name], OCCEP IV: n.no).

Example: (Bressan OCCEP IV: n.3). If no name is indicated, the gloss or translation was written by Roxana Preda. In this case, the citation will have this format: (OCCEP IV: n.13).

References to The Cantos

As The Cantos Project is numbering the lines of The Cantos, references to cantos already glossed will be by canto number and line(s), as standard with classical works. Example: III: ll.7–17.

For cantos that are not yet glossed within the project, the references will be by canto number slash page number, as standard in the research on the poem. Example: III/12. The page number refers to the American edition of The Cantos by Ezra Pound. New York: New Directions, 1998.

©Roxana Preda. Canto LIII, 24 December 2020

Updated October-November 2024

Note on the Romanization of Chinese names and Translation of Titles

In the cantos dedicated to Chinese history, Pound used the French romanization of his source, Jacques de Mailla’s Histoire générale de la Chine. To read the names in the poem with any degree of accuracy, the reader needs to follow the rules of French pronunciation. Occasionally, Pound also used the Wade/ Giles system, which brings a certain degree of confusion to our understanding of the text.

In the scholarly tradition interpreting these cantos, researchers have used the Wade-Giles romanization system, which was generally followed before the standardization of the pinyin notation in 1986. 

The Cantos Project is thus including the names in sinograph and pinyin in the annotation of these cantos for the first time, so as to align the poems with current usage and spelling. Names of emperors are given in Pound’s French source and further notated in brackets in Chinese characters followed by the equivalent in Wade Giles and pinyin as notated in Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and New World Encyclopaedia. The Chinese characters are in their traditional, not simplified versions. This editorial decision brings in a certain consistency with Pound’s quotations from Chinese classics, also with the writing used by Pound’s sources, whether French or British. 

When the annotator uses the romanization of a Chinese name in the notes, it will be in pinyin.

The pinyin transcription adopted in the notes will include the tones by means of accents, where appropriate. The tone indicators are as standard:

1. ¯; 2. ´; 3. ˘; 4. `. No accents will be used in proper names.

In this Companion, the annotator is also adopting Pound’s own translations of the titles of the Confucian classics, as found in his own collection, Confucius (1951): 大學 (Daxue) The Great Digest; 中庸 (Zhongyong), The Unwobbling Pivot; and 論語 (Lunyu) The Analects.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

 Before History: The Cultural Heroes 

1. Yeou – YEOU TSAO·CHI (有巢; W/G Yu Chao; pinyin: Youchao), legendary culture hero, the first of the Four Shi (tribes) leaders: The four are Yaochao, Suiren, Fuxi, and Shennnong: Pound mentions them all below.     
   Youchao is said to have stopped vagabondage and taught people how to make huts with branches and mud. C n.1; Nolde 29-30; Histoire I: 2-3.
   Achilles Fang remarked that “Yeou” is an impermissible abridgement – the name should have been abbreviated to Yeou-tsao. Materials I: 91.

2. Seu Gin – SOUI-GIN-CHI (Zh. 燧人; W/G Sui Jen; pinyin: Suiren, “the fire maker”), legendary sovereign. He is said to have introduced the use of fire and cooked food; accounting, (by tying knots in a string), and trade.
   De Mailla mentions that Suiren used to teach and exhort his subjects from a stage Histoire I: 3-4; Nolde 30.     
   Fang pointed out that the name of the emperor should be corrected to “Soui Gin,” the way it is presented in the French text. Materials I: 92.

3. Fou Hi – FOU–HI (Zh. 伏羲; W/G Fu Hsi; pinyin: Fuxi, r. 2952-2837 B.C.), first of the five emperors of China’s legendary period. He is said to have taught his people to hunt, fish, and keep flocks. He invented a calendar, formed musical instruments, developed marriage contracts, and invented the trigrams that would be further developed inro the hexagrams of the Classic of Changes [易經, pinyin: Yijing]. C n.3; Nolde 30; Histoire I: 5-10.         
   Both Fang (Materials I: 92) and Nolde pointed out that de Mailla does not associate the reign of Fuxi with the cultivation of barley, which is done by his successor, Shennong. 

4. 2837 ante Christum – The reign of Fuxi is the first to receive a historical date in de Mailla’s Histoire. According to it, he reigned for 115 years (2953-2837 B.C.) and lived for 197 years. The dates for his reign have shifted, however: The encyclopaedias now situate Fuxi a century later, 2852-2737 BC.
   Pound’s line is confusing, as he seems to have dated the cultivation of barley around this time. Actually, de Mailla was summing up Fuxi’s reign around the time of his death. Histoire  I: 10. Nolde 30.

5. his tomb – The survival of key tombs of the legendary emperors and their care over millennia starts with the tomb of Fuxi in the Henan province: 
   “He died at Tchin-tou, where he held court after a reign of 115 years and he was buried at the north of this town, which still exists under the name of Tchin-tcheou, at three li from the walls [1,500m]; even today we see his tomb which is conserved with great care; it is decorated by tall cypresses and surrounded by walls well maintained” (Histoire I: 10).   
   Fuxi’s Mausoleum is in the district of Huaiyang (Henan) and it is a place of pilgrimage today. New World Encyclopedia. 

6. FIVE grains – De Mailla lists Shengnong’s five grains as wheat, rice, millet, barley, and peas. Nolde 31; Histoire I: 11.

7. Ching Nong – CHIN-NONG (Zh. 神農; W/G Shen Nung; pinyin: Shennong, r. 2737–2698 B.C.), second of the five emperors of legendary China. He taught the art of agriculture and was known as the “Prince of Cereals.” He also studied the properties and effects of herbs. His name means “divine agriculturalist.” Histoire I: 10-18. 

8. gros blé – F. “large wheat.” Term that Pound took over untranslated from de Mailla. It probably refers to barley. 

9. Kio-feou-hien – Qufu (Zh. 曲阜). The town of Qufu, in the Shandong Province, East China. Today, it is famous for being the place where Confucius lived and taught. Qufu is also the birthplace of the legendary Xuanyuan, who would become Huangdi, the “Yellow Emperor.”
   “Before the wide adoption of pinyin, the name of the city (often viewed as a county seat, i.e. Qufu xian) was transcribed in English in a variety of ways, such as Ch’ü-fou-hien, Kio-feu-hien, Kio-fou-hien, Kiu-fu, Kiuh Fow, Keuhfow, Kufow, and Chufou” Wikipedia: Qufu.

10. Souan yen bagged fifteen tigers – Xuan Yuan (Zh. 軒轅; W/G: Hiuen-Yuen or Hsüan Yüan; pinyin: [Gongsun] Xuanyuan), (fl. 2722 B.C.), one of the governors serving under Emperor Shennong. This is the personal name of the future Yellow Emperor (Huangdi). C LIII: n.8; See also n.12-15.        
    Writing about the youth of the future Yellow Emperor, De Mailla mentioned that Xuanyuan found ways to tame wild animals such as bears, wolves, and even tigers to use them in the army (Histoire I: 15).        
    Fang and Nolde pointed out that there is no mention of 15 tigers in the Histoire but that Pound, working from his notebook, mistook the page reference for Souan-yen in the source for the number of tigers killed. See Materials I: 92; Nolde 32. 

11. made signs out of bird tracks – The Yellow Emperor “ordered Chang Chieh, a man of great genius… to labor constantly on the composition of characters [following the rules set down by Fuxi] … Chang Chieh, strolling one day in the country, saw in the sand which bordered a river, a number of tracks of birds. Thinking then of the characters that he had been ordered to invent, he examined these with care… and drew them on a small strip of bamboo with a kind of “brush of the same material.” Nolde 33; Histoire I: 19-20.

12. Hoang Ti – HUANGDI: (Zh. 黃帝; W/G Hoang-Ti; pinyin: Huangdi, r. 2698-2597 B.C.), the “Yellow Emperor” from whom all later kings and princes of China claimed descent.
    “A practical and beneficent ruler, he fought successfully against barbarians. He started official historiography, invented bricks, introduced calendar reform, designed carts and musical instruments, and devised the ‘well-field’ method of dividing up a plot of land into a ‘latticework’ system, with the outer sections tilled by individual families and the center by all in common” C LIII: n.9; Nolde 32;  Histoire I: 18-29.
    Legendary emperors:

    Reign dates in the Histoire	Imperial title in the Histoire	Name in the canto	Wade /Giles	Zh.	Pinyin
    2698-2598 B.C.	HOANG TI	Hoang TI	Huang Ti	黃帝	Huangdi
    2598-2514 B.C.	CHAO HAO	Chan	Shao Hao	少昊	Shaohao
    2514-2436 B.C.	TCHUEN HIO	Tchuen	Chuan Hsü	顓頊	Zhuanxu
    2436-2366 B.C.	TI KO	Ti Ko	Ti Ku	帝嚳	Diku
    2366-2357 B.C.	TI TCHI			帝摯	Dizhi
    2357-2258 B.C.	YAO	Yao	Yao	堯	Yao
    2255-2205 B.C.	CHUN	Chun	Shun	舜	Shun

     

13. Syrinx – In Greek mythology, Syrinx was a nymph pursued by Pan, the god of the woods; when she changed into a tuft of reeds, Pan fashioned them into pipes, creating the Pan flute. Pound draws the parallel to a similar instrument invented in China at the time of Huangdi.

14. Twenty-six (that was) eleven – Fang observed that the correct date mentioned by De Mailla is 2601 B.C. Histoire I: 24. Materials I: 92.

15. Kiao-Chan – Mount Qiao (Zh. 橋山; W/G Ch’iao-shan; pinyin: Qiao shan). Mount Qiao, in Huangling County near the town of Yan’an, in the Shaanxi Province. It is the place where according to legend, Huangdi ascended to heaven. Today the temple of the Yellow Emperor is a cultural site and a destination of cultural pilgrimage. Materials I: 92. Wikipedia: Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor.

16. Ti Ko – TI KU (Zh. 帝嚳; W/G Ti K’u; pinyin: Diku, r. 2436-2366 B.C.). Legendary emperor, descendant of Huangdi. See table at n.12. Histoire I: 36-42. 

17. Tung Kieou – Dun Qiu (Zh. 頓丘; W/G Tun-ch’iu; pinyin: Dun Qiu). The tomb of Diku is in the Suiyang district, near Shangqiu, Henan. Diku Mausoleum. Fang corrected Pound’s “Tung Kieou” to “Tun Kieou.” Materials I: 93.

18. twenty-fifth century a.c. – Fang pointed out that looking at the dates of Diku’s reign, “twenty-fifth” is not correct; “a.c.” stands for “ante Christum” (L. “before Christ”). Materials I: 93.

19. YAO – Emperor YAO (Zh. 堯, W/G Yao; pinyin: Yao, r. 2357-2258 B.C.). Son of Diku,  Yao is considered one of the ideal emperors of China, against whom all emperors are measured. Histoire I: 44-85. De Mailla said about him:
    “His spirit as prudent as the purest, as luminous as the sun on the most beautiful day; like the clouds that make the lands fertile, he inspired hope in his subjects.” Histoire I: 44.
    On the eve of his death, Yao passed over his own incompetent son and named Shun as his successor. However, Shun did not accept the succession immediately, but only after three years of mourning, during which time he let Yao’s son reign. Histoire I: 85.

20. YU – Yu the Great (Zh. 大禹, W/G Ta Yü; pinyin: Da Yu, r. 2255-2197 B.C.). It was Shun who first brought Yu to the attention of Emperor Yao, who assigned him the task of controlling the floodwaters of the Yellow River. He was so successful that Shun had him serve as his vice-regent and offered him the throne in place of his own son. Like Yao and Shun, Yu is one of the standards by which all Chinese emperors are measured.   
    During the reign of Emperor Yao, Yu devised a system of taxation, which Pound details below. He divided imperial provinces into classes, depending on their geographical character, the quality of their soil and the specificity of their resources (Nolde 35-6. Histoire I: 68-74). The taxes were in kind, not money, hence Pound’s reference to ammassi, see n.22 below.
    Yu is the founder of Xia, the first historical dynasty in China.

21. Shantung – Shandong, coastal province in Eastern China.   
    Though the geographical indications are scarce, punctuated by the capitals and tombs of the emperors, as well as Yu’s taxation system, Pound nevertheless sketches out the geographical layout of Chinese civilisation in the regions covered today by the lower part of the Yellow River, in the provinces of Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, northern Jiangsu, Henan, and Shaanxi. See also Central Plains. 

22. Ammassi – I. “accumulate, amass, hoard.” Ammassi was part of the agricultural policy of the fascist state: grain and animals were bought from farmers by the government at a fixed price, deposited in collection centres, and redistributed in times of duress or calamity. The practice was first established in ancient China: grain was stored and redistributed in times of drought or famine. Price imbalances were evened out to help farmers. Pound stated in 1940:  
    “AMMASSI. Another of these terrible tyrannies enforced of the bogey fascismus.
              Peasants HAVE to sell their grain to a centre; i.e. they have to be sure of getting a price for it. No chance of having an unsold crop, (which is of course an assault on the kind of liberty Wells and the liberal hits insist on).   
              The price is the guessed “computed” just IF the state pool makes a profit, that profit is later divided between the growers.          
             Rossoni said publicly that with such a system of ammassi it wd/ be possible completely to change the tax system” (Townsman June 1940 in P&P VIII: 37).

23. Siu-tcheou – Xuzhou (Zh. 徐州; W/G Hsü chow; pinyin Xuzhou). (Materials I: 93).         
    “Xuzhou was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in Chinese historical texts such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya, and Rites of Zhou. The Yu Gong [Tribute of Yu] records: “The Sea, Mount Dai (ancient name of Mount Tai), and the Huai River served as the boundaries of Xuzhou.” […] Based on these descriptions, the ancient Xuzhou covered an area that roughly corresponded to the regions in modern south-eastern Shandong (south of Mount Tai) and northern Jiangsu (north of the Huai River)” Wikipedia: Xuzhou.

24. Yu-chan – Feather Mountain (Zh. 羽山; W/G Yü Shan; pinyin: Yushan) in the province of Xu (see “Siu-tcheou” in the previous note). See Materials I: 93.   
    “The tribute consisted of 1. soils in five colours and plumages of pheasants in various colours that could be found on the Yu mountain which served to decorate the ensigns and banners.” Histoire I: 72.
    See also “The Tribute of Yu” in The Book of Documents Legge 107.

25. Yu-chan – Mount Yi (Zh. 嶧山; W/G Yi-shan; pinyin: Yishan). Mount Yi, also called the Eastern Mount Tai, is one of main peaks of the Tai-Yi mountain range in Shandong.
    Although “Yu chan” is repeated in the canto, the Yushan and Yishan are different mountains, whose populations paid different tributes. See Materials I: 93.
    The tribute is “wood of the sycamore from Mount Yi suitable for musical instruments.” Nolde 35; Histoire I: 72.
    See also “The Tribute of Yu” in The Book of Documents, Legge 107.       
    In his notebook, Pound transcribed the name as in the source, Ye-Chan, so “Yu-chan” can be considered a print error (Notebook 32, 9).

26. Se-choui river – Si River (Zh. 泗水; W/G Ssu-shui; pinyin Si shui), river in the Shandong province and a major tributary of the Huai river in ancient times. Materials I: 93.
    The third item of Yu’s tribute was “sounding stones from the Si river, which served for music.” See Histoire I: 72.      
    Note that “shui” means “water” in Chinese. Achilles Fang remarked that De Mailla himself knew little Chinese and that a part of Pound’s textual awkwardness in this canto is due to his full reliance on his source.

27. Tsing-mo – Garlic chive (Zh. 菁茅 W/G Tsing-mao, pinyin: jīng máo) three ribbed rush used for straining the wine at sacrifices (Materials I: 93). The plant, also called Chinese chive, is still used in cooking.

28. μῶλυ – H. “moly” the magic herb Hermes gave Odysseus to counteract Circe’s drugs (Od. X, 305).

29. Chun – SHUN (Zh. 舜; W/G Shun; pinyin Shun, r. 2255-2205 B. C.). After serving a 28-year apprenticeship, Shun was chosen by Emperor Yao as his successor, though they were not related by blood. Yao had been looking for someone worthy – he gave Shun his daughters to marry and observed his activities in administration. Shun was noted as a governor, an astronomer, and as one who regulated the order and ceremony of religious service. Histoire I: 77-78.

30. Chang Ti – Shangdi (Zh. 上帝; W/G Shang Ti; pinyin: Shangdi) is the Chinese concept for Supreme Deity. On his accession, Shun sacrificed to him:          
    [“Shun wanted to begin his government by offering a grand sacrifice to Shang Ti on the first day of the first moon; he did that with great magnificence and reverence. He sacrificed afterwards to the Liu Tsung, that is, to the six celestial spirits that preside over the sun, the moon, the planets, the seasons and the earth.”]. Nolde 36-7. Histoire I: 78-9.

31. moving the sun and stars – Pound gives his own poetic homage to Shangdi assimilating him to Dante's idea of God as supreme love: the last line of the Divine Comedy reads: “l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle” [“the love that moves the sun and other stars”]. Paradiso XXXIII: 145.

32. que vos vers expriment vos intentions, / et que la musique conforme – F. “that your verse expresses your intentions and that the music conforms.”
    Shun is instructing his music superintendent: “que vos vers experiment vos intentions et que la musique y soit analogue: quelle soit simple et naturelle.” [“That your poetry expresses your intentions and that the music be related: simple and natural.”] Histoire I: 93.

33. YAO 堯/ Chun 舜/ Yu 禹/ Kao-Yao 臯陶/ abundance – By inserting the names of the three legendary emperors in large font sizes, Pound is summing up the pages in the Histoire which delineate the duties and priorities of the sovereign, aligning them with the Social Credit values essential to his own economics: distribution of the products of sky and earth so that everyone has enough for their needs (Histoire I: 98) and abundance, whose symbol, the white rice, was embroidered on the emperor’s garment as a sacred reminder of his imperial responsibility. Histoire I: 115. Notebook 32 10.                    
    Pound also adds the name of a famous minister under Emperor Shun, Gao Yao (d. 2204 B.C.). He was the first to introduce laws for the repression and punishment of crime. Histoire I: 100, 112.

    
    The first dynasty: The Xia
    Note: In the canto, Pound mentions only Yu and Shao Kang out of the 17 rulers of the Xia dynasty 

    Posthumous names (Shi Hao 諡號)1
    Order	Reign2	Chinese	Pinyin	Chronology in the Histoire	Notes
    1	45	禹	Yǔ	2205-2197 B.C.	Also Yu the Great (大禹; Dà Yǔ) Founder of Xia dynasty
    2	10	啟	Qǐ	2197-2188 B.C.	Son of Yu
    3	29	太康	Tài Kāng	2188-2159 B.C.	Son of Qi
    4	13	仲康	Zhòng Kāng	2159-2146 B.C.	Son of Qi and younger brother of Tai Kang
    5	28	相	Xiāng	2146-2118 B.C.	Son of Zhong Kang
    6	21	少康	Shào Kāng	2118-2057 B.C.	Son of Xiang Restored the Xia dynasty
    7	17	杼	Zhù	2057-2040 B.C.	Son of Shao Kang
    8	26	槐	Huái	2040-2014 B.C.	Son of Zhu
    9	18	芒	Máng	2014-1996 B.C.	Son of Huai
    10	16	泄	Xiè	1996-1980 B.C.	Son of Mang
    11	59	不降	Bù Jiàng	1980-1921 B.C.	Son of Xie
    12	21	扃	Jiōng	1921-1900 B.C.	Son of Xie, younger brother of Bu Jiang
    13	21	廑	Jǐn	1900-1879 B.C.	Son of Jiong
    14	31	孔甲	Kǒng Jiǎ	1879-1848 B.C.	Son of Bu Jiang, nephew of Jiong and cousin of Jin
    15	11	皋	Gāo	1848-1837 B.C.	Son of Kong Jia
    16	11	發	Fā	1837-1818 B.C.	Son of Gao
    17	52	桀	Jié	1818-1766 B.C.	Son of Fa Also Lu Gui (履癸, Lǚ Guǐ)
    1 The reign name is sometimes preceded by the name of the dynasty, Xia (夏), for example Xia Yu (夏禹).
    2 Possible length of reign, in years. Mostly based on Zizhi Tongjian Waiji.

    Sources: Wikipedia: The Xia Dynasty.
    Histoire générale I: 119-168.

34. Empress – Empress Ji, wife of Emperor Xiang of Xia. Her name, Min, in de Mailla, may be an error. Histoire I: 141. 
    When Xiang was killed by the usurper Han-tsuo, she fled from the capital and gave birth to Xiang’s rightful successor, Shao Kang, who grew up hidden, and in constant need of protection. Through her personal sacrifice, she saved the Xia dynasty, and educated her son to reclaim his birth right. Nolde 39. Histoire I: 141-51.

35. Chao Kang – Shao Kang ( Zh. 少康; W/G Shao K’ang; pinyin: Shao Kang, r. 2079-2055 B.C). The son of empress Ji, he came to the throne after an interregnum of forty years, which began when the rebel Han-tsuo defeated and killed his father, Emperor Xiang. Shao Kang was the sixth emperor of Xia: he restored the dynasty by conquering his kingdom back from Han-tsuo and his sons. Nolde 39. Histoire I: 141-51. 

36. by virtue of wood – Pound returns in time to sum up the important legendary figures that preceded the first dynasty (Xia) and connect them to the five elements theory, whereby each emperor was correlated with a natural element: wood, metal, fire, water, and earth. Emperor Fuxi was associated with wood (see n.3); Shennong with fire (n.7); Huangdi [the Yellow Emperor] with earth (nn.10-12); Shaohao with metal (n.37); Zhuanxu with water (n. 38). See also the tables of Cultural Heroes (n.1) and Legendary emperors (n.12).

37. Chan – As the Histoire shows, this is a reference to Emperor Shaohao, son and successor of the Yellow Emperor:         
    “We read in the annals that Fuxi reigned by the virtue of wood, Shengnong by that of fire; Huangdi by that of earth Shaohao by that of metal; and Tchuen by water” Histoire I: 172.
    Achilles Fang pointed out that “Chan” is an error and that the full name cannot be abbreviated to “Chao.” Materials I: 95. See also C 35 for a correct identification of Chan and the table of Legendary emperors at n.12.

38. Tchuen – Zhuanxu (Zh. 顓頊; W/G Chuan Hsü; pinyin: Zhuanxu, r. 2514-2436). Legendary ruler of China, grandson of Yellow Emperor and an ancestor of both Shun and Yu. See table at n.12.
    
    

    The Shang dynasty (1766-1112 B. C.)

    Note: In canto 53, Pound mentions the founder of Shang, Cheng Tang, and the last king of the dynasty, Di Xin.
    In canto 85, he also mentions Dai Jia, Pan Geng, and Wu Ding. 

    Order	Name of kings	Reign	Chronology in the Histoire
    1	Cheng Tang	1675–1646 B.C.	1766-1753
    2	Wai Bing	1646–1644 B.C.
    3	Zhong Ren	1644–1640 B.C.
    4	Tai Jia	1535–1523 B.C.	1753-1720
    5	Wo Ding	1523–1504 B.C.	1720-1691
    6	Tai Geng	1504–1479 B.C.	1691-1666
    7	Xiao Jia	1479–1462 B.C.	1666-1649
    8	Yong Ji	1462–1450 B.C.	1649-1637
    9	Tai Wu	1450–1375 B.C.	1637-1562
    10	Zhong Ding	1375–1364 B.C.	1562-1549
    11	Wai Ren	1364–1349 B.C.	1549-1534
    12	He Dan Jia	1349–1340 B.C.	1534-1525
    13	Zu Yi	1340–1321 B.C.	1525-1506
    14	Zu Xin	1321–1305 B.C.	1506-1490
    15	Wo Jia	1305–1280 B.C.	1490-1465
    16	Zu Ding	1368–1336 B.C.	1465-1453
    17	Nan Geng	1336–1307 B.C.	1453-1408
    18	Yang Jia	1307–1290 B.C.	1408-1401
    19	Pan Geng	1290–1262 B.C.	1401-1373
    20	Xiao Xin	1262–1259 B.C.	1373-1352
    21	Xiao Yi	1259–1250 B.C.	1352-1324
    22	Wu Ding	1250–1192 B.C.	1324-1265
    23	Zu Geng	1192–1165 B.C.	1265-1258
    24	Zu Jia	1165–1138 B.C.	1258-1225
    25	Lin Xin	1138–1134 B.C.	1225-1219
    26	Kang Ding	1134–1147 B.C.	1219-1198
    27	Wu Yi	1147–1112 B.C.	1198-1194
    28	Wen Ding	1112–1102 B.C.	1194-1191
    29	Di Yi	1101–1076 B.C.	1191-1154
    30	Di Xin or Zhou Xin	1075–1046 B.C.	1154-1122

    Sources: Thought.co.
     Histoire générale I: 169-260 

39. Tching Tang – Tang of Shang (Zh. 成湯; W/G Ch’eng T’ang; pinyin: Cheng Tang), the founder of the Shang dynasty. He was a model king who subordinated every passion and feeling to the good of his people. On his washbasin he inscribed the admonition: “Remember to renew yourself every day, several times a day,” or as Pound reformulated it, “Make it new” Histoire I: 175.

40. der in Baluba das Gewitter gemacht hat – G. [the white man] “who made the storm in Baluba.” Pound’s own remark, associating Cheng Tang's bringing of rain with an episode recounted by Frobenius in Erlebte Erdteile V: 49-53. See further information at OCCEP XXXVIII n.33. 

41. Tching prayed on the mountain – Pound is making specific refence to Cheng Tang’s prayer to Heaven after seven years of drought, which is memorably dramatized in the Histoire I: 174.            
    After having tried ineffective expedients, like coining and distributing money, Cheng Tang finally took personal responsibility for the calamity. Heaven was punishing him directly for having rebelled against his sovereign, the last king of Xia, and for having destroyed his dynasty. Therefore, Cheng Tang’s prayer to Heaven (“Punish me, but don’t punish the people, who are innocent”) is the first instance of the ideology of the Mandate of Heaven, a state of affairs to which Pound would return in canto 85, where he wrote: “All there by the time of Y Yin” (85/ 563). Y Yin was Cheng Tang’s minister, who educated his royal successors that as long as the king is virtuous, society and nature will be in balance. Heaven gives the king a Mandate, to ensure prosperity for his people through his personal virtue. When the Mandate is not fulfilled because the king made a moral error, natural disaster will follow as a punishment. The legend says that after the prayer, rain finally came.
    
    Fang pointed out that Cheng Tang’s name cannot be abbreviated to “Tching” but only to “T’ang.” Materials I: 95.

42. 新日日新 – Zh. 新日日新 (W/G hsin ji ji hsin; pinyin: xīn rì rì xīn). “Renew daily, renew” is an phrase in The Great Digest 1 (Con 34, 36). Pound translated 新 (xīn, new) and 日 (rì, sun, day), as “make it new, day by day make it new.”  
    The full quote of the passage: 湯之盤銘曰：「茍日新，日日新，又日新。 (Da Xue, I.6) with the translation by James Legge can be found here.  The reference to the "bathing tub" ["On the bathing tub of Tang, the following words were engraved: "If you can one day renovate yourself, do so from day to day. Yea, let there be daily renovation." ] indicates that Pound was familiar with Legge's translation.     
    There is a printing error in the presentation of the xīn ideogram, where a comma is included into the character. Nolde 42. 
    See Table of Chinese characters for this and other instances where the two sinographs appear in The Cantos. 

43. cut underbrush/ pile the logs/ keep it growing – The lines are based on Pound’s analysis of the ideogram 新 (xīn, “new”).           
    Pound may have referred to the combination of radicals in the sinograph: 斤 (radical 69, axe), 立 (radical 117, “to stand”), and 木 (radical 75, “wood”). Arch Chinese.com.
    He explained: “The character from the Confucian incitement to never-ending revolution, is composed of hatchet, to erect, and wood. It is to cut down, to renew, renovate, improve the state of it; it applies to the daily increase of plants. There is the growing tree at the base (left), the orderly arrangement above it, and the axe for cutting away encumbrance” (Con 96). 
    
    The phrasing of the line indicates that the character may have reminded Pound of his grandfather, Thaddeus Coleman Pound’s arduous and prolonged efforts to develop his lumber business into building a railway line in Wisconsin in the 1870s. See also OCCEP XXI. n.22; XXII nn.1-2.

44. Hia – Xia dynasty (Zh. 夏; W/G Hsia; pinyin Xia). Xia, the first dynasty, founded by Yu the Great and the predecessor of Shang. See table below n. 33.

45. YIN – Yi Yin (Zh. 伊尹; W/G I Yin; pinyin: Yi Yin), wise minister to the founder of the Shang dynasty, Cheng Tang.    
    After the death of Cheng Tang, his successor was his grandson, Tai Jia, who was still young and in need of guidance. He received it from Yi Yin, whose advice detailing the reasons for Xia’s downfall and Shang’s ascent to power outlines the political concept of the Mandate of Heaven, which Pound presents in the following lines. Histoire I: 176-85.     
    See also canto 85/563, where Pound goes into more detail concerning Yi Yin and his education of the king.

46. 

    Wen Wang – King Wen of Zhou (Zh. 周文王; W/G Chou Wen Wang; pinyin: Zhou Wen Wang). His birth name Ji Chang (Zh. 姬昌), he was the Count of Zhou, a small state along the Wei river during the late Shang Dynasty. Although it was his second son, Ji Fa (Wu Wang) who rebelled against the Shang and defeated it at the Battle of Muye, Ji Chang was posthumously honoured as the founder of the Zhou dynasty and titled Wen Wang, “The Civilizing King.”           
    It is to be noted that here Pound diverges from the French spelling of Wen’s name, which is Ouen Ouang. Histoire I: 239-44.

47. B.C. 1231 – The year Wen Wang was born, in De Mailla’s chronology. Histoire I: 224.

48. Uncle Ki – Qi Ze (Zh. 萁子; W/G Chi Tzu; pinyin: Qi Ze), was the uncle and prime minister of Di Xin, the depraved last emperor of the Shang dynasty. He bravely criticized his nephew, saying, “You drink only out of jewelled vases and live off bear’s paws and blood from the stomach of leopards.” Nolde 45. Histoire I: 235. 

49. Lou Tai – The Deer Terrace Pavilion or “Stag Tower” (Zh. 鹿臺; pinyin: Lutai) was a palace built by the last king of Shang, Di Xin, for his mistress, Daji. It was the scene of torture, sexual orgies, and crime. Histoire I: 236.

50. Tan Ki – Daji (Zh. 妲己; W/G Ta-chi; pinyin Daji), favourite consort of Emperor Di Xin, the last king of Shang. She was an instigator to corruption, greed, debauchery, and cruelty. After the Shang dynasty’s defeat at Muye, she was executed on Wu Wang’s order. Histoire I: 235-8. Daji in Chinese Tales.
    Achilles Fang observed that “Tan Ki” is an error in Pound’s source. It should read “Ta chi” (Materials I: 95).

51. Kieou’s daughter – Jiu Hou (Zh. 九侯; W/G Chiu Hou; pinyin: Jiu Hou), was a nobleman who served Emperor Di Xin. His daughter disapproved of the evil emperor and his concubine, Daji, so they had her killed, quartered, cooked, and served up to her father for dinner. There is no mention of an ox in the source. Fang commented that the “ox” was rather an oven: “ils eurent encore la cruauté barbare de couper son corps par quartiers, de le faire cuire, & d’envoyer ce mêts horrible à son père.” [They even had the barbarian cruelty to cut her body in quarters, cook them, and send the horrible dish to her father.] Quoted in Materials I: 95-96. Histoire I: 237-8.
    Pound may have seen this atrocity as a parallel to the story of Procne, who served her own son to her husband for dinner, as revenge for his raping and mutilating her sister. See also OCCEP IV: n.9.

52. Y–king or changes – I Ching. (Zh. 易經; W/G I Ching; pinyin: Yijing). The Book of Changes, a book of divination and one of the oldest Chinese classics.    
    As reported in De Mailla’s Histoire, Ji Chang (the future King Wen of Zhou) was denounced to the emperor for expressing indignation at the fate of Lord Jiu and his daughter: he was arrested and imprisoned. While his sons made every possible effort to get him out, especially by using their political influence at court and bringing rich presents to the king, Ji Chang developed the first eight trigrams (bagua), devised by Emperor Fuxi, into the 64 hexagrams that are now in the Book of Changes. He also wrote the interpretation of the trigrams while in prison. De Mailla commented: “he used these images to let posterity know the misfortunes of his century, the remedies necessary to so many ills and the conduct to be followed to preserve virtue.” See also nn.3 and 46. Histoire I: 239-40.
    
    Pound seems to disagree with his source about King Wen’s authorship of the Book of Changes, placing its creation in the hands of many anonymous contributors. Contemporary historians bear him out:     
    “Tradition has it that the Zhou yi [“Zhou changes,” better known in the West as the Yijing “Book of Changes”] was composed by King Wen while he was imprisoned at Youli, and perhaps was completed by Zhou Gong [Duke of Zhou, King Wen’s son, see n.62]. In fact, formal and linguistic comparisons between the text and both the Shi Jing [Book of Odes] and bronze inscriptions shows the Zhou yi to have achieved its present form no earlier than the late Western Zhou” (Shaughnessy 338).

53. plain of Mou Ye – Muye: Field in N Honan, in the country of Ji, where the rebel of Zhou, Ji Fa (Ji Chang’s eldest surviving son) and the army of the last emperor of Shang, Zhou Xin, met for the final battle. In the Histoire, the year of the battle is 1122 B.C. whereas in the current sources, it is considered to have taken place ca. 1046 B.C. The Shang was defeated, and the dynasty brought to an end. Histoire I: 259.             
    Reviewing what Pound tells us of the Shang dynasty, we see that he dedicated a group of lines to its founder, Cheng Tang (ll.55-73); a group of lines to Counsellor Yi Yin’s education of his successor (ll. 74-90), then “after five hundred years” to its last emperor, Di Xin, whose life and decisions dramatize why the Mandate of Heaven was passed on to the new dynasty of Zhou.

54. Cheou Sin – King Zhou of Shang (Zh. 紂辛; W/G Chou Hsin; pinyin Zhou Xin), who, according to De Mailla’s chronology reigned 1154-1122 B.C., was the last emperor of the Shang (or Yin) dynasty. His career was marked by extravagance, lust, and cruelty. After his defeat at the battle of Muye, Zhou Xin withdrew to the Stag Tower, set it on fire and perished in the flames. Histoire I: 260. 
    
    The Western Zhou dynasty, 1046-771 B.C.

    Note: Pound mentions all the kings of the Western Zhou, with the exception of the 9th, Yi of Zhou.

    Name		Reign according XSZ Project	Chronology in the Histoire*
    Personal	Posthumous
    Fa 發	King Wu 周武王 Zhou Wu Wang	1046–1043 B.C.	1122-1115 B.C.
    Song 誦	King Cheng 周成王 Zhou Cheng Wang	1043–1021 B.C.	1115-1078 B.C.
    Zhao 釗	King Kang 周康王 Zhou Kang Wang	1021–996 B.C.	1078-1052 B.C.
    Xia 瑕	King Zhao 周昭王 Zhou Zhao Wang	996–977 B.C.	1052-1001 B.C.
    Man 滿	King Mu 周穆王 Zhou Mu Wang	977–922 B.C.	1001-946 B.C.
    Yihu 繄扈	King Gong 周共王 Zhou Gong Wang	922–900 B.C.	946-934 B.C.
    Jian 囏	King Yi 周懿王 Zhou Yi Wang	900–892 B.C.	934-909 B.C.
    Pifang 辟方	King Xiao 周孝王 Zhou Xiao Wang	892-886 B.C.	909-894 B.C.
    Xie 燮	King Yi 周夷王 Zhou Yi Wang	886–878 B.C.	894-877 B.C.
    Hu 胡	King Li 周厲王 Zhou Li Wang	878–841 B.C.	878-841 B.C.
    Gonghe Regency 共和		841–828 B.C.	841-828 B.C.
    Jing 靜	King Xuan 周宣王 Zhou Xuan Wang	827–781 B.C.	827-781 B.C.
    Gongsheng 宮湦	King You 周幽王 Zhou You Wang	781–771 B.C.	781-770 B.C.

    Sources: Wikipedia: Western Zhou; The XSZ Chronology Project.
    Histoire générale I: 261- II: 50;  Nolde, 435-436.

    * The two chronologies converge at the time of the Gonghe regency, 841 B.C.

55. Wu Wang – King Wu of Zhou (Zh. 武王; W/G Wu Wang; pinyin Wu Wang). Born as Ji Fa, Ji Chang’s second son, he continued his father’s effort to overthrow the Shang, which culminated in the dynasty's defeat at the Battle of Muye [see nn.46 and 53]. Ji Fa thus established the new dynasty of Zhou and received the title of Wu Wang, “The Martial King.” Pound would return to this decisive battle by dramatizing details of Ji Fa’s speeches to the army in canto 85.    
    Pound adopted the Wade Giles romanization here, as he had done in the case of King Wen. In De Mailla’s spelling, the name should be Ou-ouang. 

56. the city – Yin [Zh. 殷] the capital of the Shang dynasty and one of the major historical capitals of China. The move to Yin was made by King Pan Geng (1290-1263 B.C.), who changed the name of the Shang dynasty to Yin. Pound alludes to the move in canto 85/568.
    Today, Yin is a World Heritage archaeological site in northern Henan, near the modern city of Anyang.

57. by the nine vases of YU – Nine Tripod Cauldrons. 
    Sacred bronze tripod vessels (Zh. 鼎; pinyin: dĭng) representing the nine Chinese provinces in Yu the Great’s time, and mentioned in the Book of Documents [書經] in the chapter “Tribute of Yu.” See references to these in nn.20-28. Securing the nine vases of Yu was the fundamental legitimation of the new dynasty – Wu Wang had them transported to his own capital in the Zhou. Histoire I: 265.           
    Pound suggests that the vases acted as a sacred promise that the army would be disbanded, and the country would have no more war.

58. sent horses to Hoa-chan/ to the peach groves – De Mailla had recourse to The Book of Documents which indicated the immediate measures Wu Wang adopted after taking up power: 
    “he disbanded his troops and sent the horses of his army to pasturage on Mount Hua and the oxen to T’ao Lin so as to make it clear to all the empire that he no longer wished for war and that he longed only for peace.” Histoire I: 265. Nolde 48.
    Mount Hua (Zh. 華山, pinyin: huá shān, “Magnificent Mountain”) in the Shaanxi Province is the Mountain of the West, one of the five sacred mountains of China.                
    John Nolde observed that De Mailla does not translate “T’ao Lin” but James Legge does, in a note to this passage in his edition of The Book of Documents Part V, Book III pt. 3, where he clarifies the location of “T’aou-lin” and calls it the “peach forest.” The passage thus indicates that Pound verified de Mailla and consulted Legge’s translation of the Book of Documents.

59. South Chariot – More commonly called the “South-pointing Chariot.” The ancestor of the mariner’s compass, the chariot is said to have been invented by Zhou Gong (the Duke of Zhou, see n.62). It was not a magnetic compass, as Mailla supposes, but rather a system of gear wheels which would keep an original pointing. 

60. Lo Yang – Luoyang, (Zh. 洛陽) city in N Honan Province, E central China. Founded around 1036 B.C. by the Duke of Zhou, surveyed and planned by the Duke of Shao, it served as capital through several dynasties and is one of the four great historical capitals, alongside Beijing, Nanjing, and Xi’an. The city was originally named Lo, or Luo (Book of Documents, IV: Announcement of the Duke of Shao, pt.2).
    
    “In 1036 BC a settlement named Chengzhou (成周) was constructed by the Duke of Zhou for the remnants of the captured Shang nobility. The Duke also moved the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to Chengzhou from the Zhou dynasty capital at Haojing. A second Western Zhou capital, Wangcheng (also: Luoyi) was built 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Chengzhou. Wangcheng became the capital of the Eastern Zhou dynasty in 771 BC. The Eastern Zhou dynasty capital was moved to Chengzhou in 510 BC. Later, the Eastern Han dynasty capital of Luoyang would be built over Chengzhou. Modern Luoyang is built over the ruins of Wangcheng, which are still visible today at Wangcheng Park.” Wikipedia: Luoyang.        
    Pound commemorates the founding of the city by the Duke of Zhou in canto 85 (85/574).

61. middle kingdom – The capital of the dynasty was moved from Haojing to Chengzhou during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou (1101 B.C. in de Mailla's chronology, 1038 B.C. in current chronology). As it was surrounded by several vassal principalities bearing the title of “kingdom,” the Zhou state at the confluence of the Wei, Luo, and Yellow rivers in the Luoyang region, became the “Middle Kingdom” (“Zh. 中国; W/G Chung Kuo; pinyin: Zhongguo”). De Mailla contends that it was never called like that before this date. Histoire I: 326-7. 

62. 

    Tcheou Kong – Duke of Zhou (Zh. 周公; W/G Chou Kung; pinyin: Zhou Gong, r. 1042-1035). Ji Dan, Wu Wang’s younger brother and regent to his son Cheng Wang, who was very young when Wu Wang died in 1043 B.C., three years after founding the dynasty. The Duke of Zhou went down the ages as a model statesman wholly devoted to the welfare of the dynasty. He elaborated the concept of Mandate of Heaven, instructed his nephew in virtuous governance, and stepped aside when Cheng Wang reached adulthood and was ready to become king. Idolized by Confucius, the Duke of Zhou became one of the measuring standards for the greatness of any ruler. Moreover, like the ancient emperors, he is considered a culture hero, credited with the foundation of the eastern capital at Chengzhou (Luoyang), with inventing the South-pointing Chariot, as well as writing down the Book of Changes and The Book of Rites. Nolde 49; Histoire I: 300-9. 

63. Your forbear – On his deathbed, the Duke of Zhou told King Cheng to remember the example of his grandfather, King Wen:
    “… have we not seen your grandfather Wen Wang, dressed in the habit of a common man, go to ease people’s lives? He disguised himself as a labourer to procure life’s necessities and he found nothing too difficult to lessen his pain. The unfortunate, the widow and orphan were the first subjects of his attentions. Every day starting in the morning, without taking the time for a meal, he occupied himself with the needs of the people. Neither pleasures nor hunting could tempt or distract him from his essential obligations: although advanced in age when he took the reins of government, he ruled for another fifty years. Imitate this illustrious model, oh Prince and never forget the dying words of your most loyal subject.”] Nolde 52; Histoire I: 330.

64. eleven 0 six ante Christum – 1106 B.C., the year in de Mailla’s chronology when the Duke of Zhou died.

65. Tching-ouang – King Cheng of Zhou (Zh. 周成王; W/G Chou Ch’eng Wang; pinyin: Zhou Cheng Wang, r. 1115-1078 B.C). Son and successor to Wu Wang, Cheng Wang was the second king of the Zhou dynasty. He fostered land cultivation and reclamation, brought good ministers into government, and regulated the measure of money and cloth. Histoire I: 331-334.

66. cloth bolt and silk bolt / to be two feet two inches by four tchang (one Tchang equals four feet) – Achilles Fang corrected Pound’s measurements, as a zhang is historically equivalent to roughly ten feet (chi) in length. The value of the zhang fluctuated slightly over time and is now measured at 3.1/3 meters. Fang quoted Mailla's text, which read: “Il régla encore que la toile, & les pièces de soie, seroient larges de deux pieds deux pouces, & longues de quatre tchang, & quatre pieds.” [He also directed that cloth and pieces of silk should be two feet and two inches (wide), and have the length of four tchang and four feet. (44 feet)] Pound’s misunderstanding may have derived from Mailla’s “&” [and] which Pound may have misread as “equals.” Materials I: 95. Histoire I: 333.

67. Chao Kong – Duke of Shao (Zh. 召公; W/G Shao Kung; pinyin: Shao Gong, d. 1000 B.C.), half-brother to Wu Wang and the Duke of Zhou and founding father of the Zhou dynasty. The Duke of Shao (personal name Ji Shi 姬奭) ensured the smooth transition of power at the death of Cheng Wang to his son, Kang Wang. The Duke of Shao was famous for dispensing justice from his seat under a wild pear tree. The next 23 lines give details of the celebration he arranged for the coronation of Kang Wang. Nolde 55; Histoire I: 334-42.

68. Hong-pi – Hong bi (Zh. 弘璧; W/G: hung pi; pinyin: hóng bì). A bi [璧] is a disc of jade with a hole in the middle, also called annulus, and used as an insignia of rank (M 2380, 5115). Materials I: 96.
    “The application of yù bì [Zh. 玉璧, ‘jade bi’] was remarkably extensive, serving not only as a symbol of power and social hierarchy but also as an item for personal adornment, a burial offering, and a gift or token exchanged in social interactions.” (Li, October 2024).

    A bi could be of varying sizes, but the imperial bi was 弘 [hóng] or 大 [dà], large, great, magnificent. Initially undecorated, during the Zhou dynasty it became incised with patterns, either geometrical, or with the shapes of dragon and phoenix. 

69. Yuen-yen – (W/G: yüan yen; pinyin: yuàn yăn). Error of transcription in de Mailla’s text. Referring to the passage in the Book of Documents (Book XXII point 19), he should have written “wen yen” (Zh. 琬琰; pinyin: wăn yăn) to refer to an oblong jade tablet signifying ministerial power. Histoire I: 335.
    

    “They were also called 玉珪 (yù guī, or jade gui） or 玉圭 （yù guī, or jade gui), a type of jade artifact with a long, narrow, and pointed shape. The function is to signify the rank and status of the lords. [...] To facilitate governance, the Zhou king ordered the vassal lords to pay regular homage in order to receive and follow the royal mandates of the Zhou dynasty. To signify their rank and status, the Zhou king bestowed upon each lord a jade artifact, to be held during the homage as a symbol of their position. For instance, varying sizes of gui (ceremonial jade tablets) distinguished the different ranks, from the king down to the marquises. Additionally, the gui of different sizes were given distinct names (such as Zhen Gui, Huan Gui, Xin Gui, and Gong Gui), further reflecting the Zhou dynasty's belief in its principles of governing and securing the state” (Li, October 2024).

70. Mt Hoa-chan – Mount Hua (Zh. 華山, pinyin: huá shān, “Magnificent Mountain”) in the Shaanxi Province is the Mountain of the West, one of the five sacred mountains of China.  See also n. 58.

71. sphere of Chun – Though the canto includes a reference to Emperor Shun’s sacrifice to Heaven (l. 40), Pound does not mention de Mailla’s information on Shun’s elaborate astrolabe that was built at the time of his coronation. He mentions it here, as having been carefully preserved through the ages.
     
    “Shun bid [the mathematicians] come and he told them to build a machine representing the roundness of the sky divided by degrees, with Earth in the centre and the sun, moon, planets and stars in their rightful places, giving them a movement, as we see in the sky. Shun chose from the treasure of precious stones to mark the poles, the sun, the moon and the planets; pearls were used for the stars.” Histoire I: 78.

72. dance robes of In – Zh. 胤之舞衣 (Book of Documents XXII p.19). Achilles Fang specified that Yin [Zh. 㣧] was a vassal kingdom of the Zhou, not the previous Shang dynasty, which was also called Yin [Zh. 殷]. Materials I: 96. 
    Though this principality does not show in the maps of the Zhou, The Book of Documents mentions a “prince of Yin” at the start of Part III Book IV, to which Legge also makes reference. See Yin’s punitive expedition [胤征].

73. Ouen Ouang – For some unclarified reason, Pound now uses the French spelling of Wen Wang’s name. See also n.46.

74. Kang Ouang – KANG WANG (Zh. 康王; W/G Kang Wang; pinyin: Kang Wang), third ruler of the Zhou dynasty, son and successor to Cheng Wang (1078-1052 B.C.). Histoire I: 334-42.   
    Pound also spells his name Kang-wang (l.173) and Kang Wang (l.204). 

75. Chao Kong the surveyor – the Duke of Shao, see n. 67. De Mailla presents his surveying activities:
    “Ce ministre actif, conformément au précepte de Ouen-ouang, fit la visite de toutes les terres de l’empire pour les mesurer; il assigna à chacun ce qu'il en pouvoit labourer, mit partout des limites, & établit des règlemens pour terminer les différends qui pourroient survenir à leur occasion.” Histoire I: 339.
    [This dilligent minister, conforming to the precepts of Wen Wang, visited all the lands of the empire to measure them; he assigned to each what it could produce, he set borders and established regulations to resolve possible ensuing conflicts.]

76. pro Tcheou in politics – Confucius admired the Western Zhou dynasty [de Mailla romanisation “Tcheou”; W/G “Chou”] and set it up for his own time as a golden age to emulate. 
    Achilles Fang pointed out that Pound was quoting from Analects Book III. §14. In his 1950 own translation of The Analects, Pound rephrased: “He said: ‘Chou revised the two dynasties, how full and precise was its culture, I follow Chou’” (Con 203). 

77. Confucius – Confucius. Latinization of Zh.孔夫子(pinyin: Kong fu zi, “Master Kong,” ca. 551-479 B.C.). Chinese philosopher of antiquity whose actual name was Kong Qiu (Zh. 孔丘). His family would have called him by his courtesy name, Zhong Ni (Zh. 仲尼), indicating he was the second son.

78. Pe-kin – Bo Qin (Zh. 伯禽; W/G Po-ch’in; pinyin: Boqin, 1043-998 B.C.). Eldest son of the Duke of Zhou, founder and ruler of the principality of Lu with the capital at Qufu, in today’s Shandong province. Lu acquired great cultural prominence along Chinese history as the home state of Confucius and Mencius. See n.9 on Qufu and the position of Lu on the map at n.61. See more on Lu and the Duke of Zhou.

79. Tchao-ouang – King Zhao of Zhou (周昭王; W/G Chao Wang of Chou; pinyin: Zhou Zhao Wang) the fourth king of Zhou. He allowed the government to become weak and the prosperity of the country to decline. He was drowned while his troops were crossing the Han River after a defeat. Histoire I: 342-4.

80. MOU-OUANG – King Mu of Zhou (Zh. 穆王; W/G Mu Wang; pinyin: Mu Wang), fifth ruler of the Zhou dynasty, who is known for his failed military campaigns and his law code, included in The Book of Documents. Histoire I: 345-49. 
             
    “Beginning about the reign of King Mu (r. 956—918 B.C.), a reign ushered in by a disastrous defeat in which the preceding king (King Zhao, r. 977—957 B.C.) was killed and the royal army was decimated, there emerge signs of an incipient bureaucracy: bronze inscriptions commemorate the appointment of individuals - often without any apparent relationship to the king – to court positions with specific responsibilities and powers” (Shaugnessy 293). 

81. book Lin hing of the Chu King – The Law of King Mu can be found in the Lü-Hsing, [Lüxing 呂刑, “The Prince of Leu upon Punishments,” in Legge’s translation] which is Chapter XXVII in Part IV [The Book of Zhou] of the Book of Documents [Shujing 書經]. At pt. 21 of the code, we find the text that Pound phrased as “Riches that come of court fines and judges’ takings / These are no treasure.” This is a passage singled out by De Mailla in Histoire II: 9 as part of his own summary of the Lüxing. 
    Legge translated the same passage as “Gain got by the decision of cases is no precious acquisition; it is an accumulation of guilt, and will be recompensed with many evils: — you should ever stand in awe of the punishment of Heaven” (Lüxing §21, Legge 610).

82. King-Ho – Jing River (Zh. 涇河; W/G King-ho; pinyin: Jing He). Tributary of the Wei, which is in turn a major tributary to the Yellow River. The Jing flows in Gansu and Shaanxi, where it joins the Wei.

83. KONG – King Gong of Zhou (Zh. 共王; W/G Kong Wang; pinyin: Gong Wang). Mu Wang’s son and sixth ruler of the Zhou dynasty. De Mailla retells an episode recounted by Sima Qian in The Records of the Grand Historian. While on a hunting party, the governor of the state of Mi introduced his three daughters to the emperor, who was very moved by their beauty and commanded their father to bring them to the palace to serve as his concubines. The father, seeing the mistake he had made in introducing them, took the precaution of sending them away from his state. The emperor thought of the girls for a full year, expecting his official to comply. Seeing that the girls’ father was not willing to do so, he sent a party to kidnap them and bring them to his palace. The men did not find the girls, as expected. Hearing the news, the emperor flew into a rage and ordered the whole of Mi to be destroyed. He regretted the deed afterwards, after he had cooled off. Histoire II: 11-12.  
             
    Achilles Fang contested the version of the story as recounted by de Mailla:  
    “when Duke K’ang of Mi was in the suite of King Kung who was travelling on the Ching river (King-ho), three girls wanted to be presented to the king, but the duke refused to let them come to the king’s presence. The king was vexed and eventually destroyed the dukedom of Mi” (Materials I: 98).

84. Y-Wang – King Yi of Zhou. (Zh. 懿王; W/G I Wang; pinyin: Yi Wang), son of King Gong and seventh ruler of the Zhou dynasty. De Mailla characterized him as mediocre, idle, and unfit to rule. Poems, songs and satires began to circulate in the empire, prodding him to more effort.       
    Pound uses here the Wade/Giles romanization instead of the French one in De Mailla, which is Y-Ouang. Histoire II: 13. 

85. Hiao Wang – King Xiao of Zhou. (Zh. 孝王; W/G Hsiao Wang; pinyin: Xiao Wang), eighth Zhou ruler, son of Mu Wang, brother to Gong Wang and uncle to Yi Wang. He was a weak ruler like his nephew: Heaven showed its displeasure by hail, storms, and frost. Xiao’s reign was marked only by his award of land to the horsebreeder Feizi, whose descendants would later overthrow the Zhou dynasty. Histoire II: 14-5.      
    As before, Pound diverges from de Mailla in the spelling of the name: it is Hiao-Ouang in his source. 

86. Han-kiang – Han River [汉江; pinyin: Han jiang], the longest tributary to the Yangtze river. It flows through Shaanxi and Hubei provinces and into the Yangtze at Wuhan.
    
    

87. Fei-tsei… prince of Tsin – Feizi, (Zh. 非子, fl. 900 B.C.), a horse breeder with an ancient lineage from Pe-y (Zh. 伯益), a husbandman who had helped Yu control the great flood. Feizi was much appreciated by King Xiao, who tasked him with breeding horses for the Zhou army and also with caring for his personal studs. Around 897 B.C, as a reward, the king gave Feizi a small portion of land in what is present-day Gansu Province (Qingshui County), whose chief town was Qinyi. He founded the kingdom of Qin: 700 years later, Feizi’s descendants would rebel against the Zhou and overthrow the dynasty in 221 B.C. See also nn.113-117.

88. Tsin – Qin (Zh. 秦; W/G Ch’in; pinyin: Qin), small state at the Western edge of the Zhou. See map at n.61.

89. Li WANG – King Li of Zhou (Zh. 厲王; W/G Li Wang; pinyin: Li Wang), tenth Zhou ruler, known as greedy and tyrannical. Because of his abuses, the population rebelled, and Li was sent into exile in 842 B.C. Until he died in 828 B.C., the so-called Gonghe Regency was established to rule the country until Li’s son came of age and succeeded him as King Xuan (see n.96). See also n.95 on the "interregnum of Cong-Ho." Histoire II: 18-28.      
    
    The date of King Li’s exile is crucial for Chinese historiography:           
    “The year 842 B.C. is the earliest commonly accepted ‘absolute’ date in Chinese history. According to the Shiji of Sima Qian (Records of the Grand Historian, ca. 145—86 B.C.), it was in this year that King Li of Zhou (r. 857-828, according to the chronology used in this book) was forced to vacate the Zhou capital near present-day Xi’an and go into exile at Zhi (in present-day Shanxi province); it is this event that the Shiji uses as a touchstone for the genealogies (shi jia) of the various local lineages that were then developing into what would be the independent states of the Eastern Zhou period (e.g., Qi, Jin, Qin).” Shaughnessy 21.
     
    Sima Qian’s genealogies are now amended by contemporary historians who also take the Zhushu jinian [“Bamboo Annals”], the inscriptions on bronze vessels and oracle bones, as well as the scientifically established dates of solar and lunar eclipses into account. The X[ia]S[hang]Z[hou] Project takes 841 B.C. as the start of the Gonghe Regency - this is also the year when de Mailla’s chronology converges with contemporary historical dating of events and emperors in ancient Chinese history.

90. à ce que l’argent circule – F. “[so] that money circulates.” 
    Seeing that Li Wang was taking measures to tax the poor out of the little silver they had so as to hoard for his own use, his official Rui Liangfu admonished him:          
    “Un prince qui veut bien remplir ses obligations, doit être extrêmement soigneux à ce que l’argent circule entre les mains de ses peoples. Il doit craindre sans cesse qu’ils ne tombent dans la misère, de peur que leur misère ne le précipite lui-même dans les dernier des malheurs. La gloire dont Heou-tsie s’est couvert, et l’honneur immortel qu’il s’est fait dans tout l’empire, ne viennent-ils pas de l’attention qu’il a eue à procurer aux peuples les moyens d’avoir abondamment leur subsistence.” Histoire II: 22-3.          
    [“A prince who wants to fulfil his obligations needs to be extremely careful that money circulates among the people. He needs to dread incessantly that they don’t fall into extreme poverty, for fear that their misery precipitates him into the darkest misfortune. The glory which covered Hou Ji, the immortal honour that he made for himself throughout the empire, comes for having procured people the means to earn their abundance.”]

91. HEOU-TSIE – Hou Ji (Zh. 后稷; W/G: Hou Chi; pinyin: Hou Ji), minister of agriculture and animal husbandry under Emperor Yao and legendary culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity. Millet was the original staple grain of northern China, prior to the introduction of wheat. Hou Ji’s name, translating as “Lord of Millet” was a posthumous title bestowed on him by Cheng Tang, the founder of the Shang dynasty. Ho Ji was credited with service during the Great Flood in the reign of Yao and continued to serve under Emperors Shun and Yu. He was venerated as a god of grain and given the title Highest Ancestor of the Ji clan, which became the ruling family of the Zhou dynasty. The Lord of Millet.

92. Youi-leang-fou – (Zh. 芮良父; W/G Jui Liang-fu; pinyin: Rui Liangfu, fl. 860 B.C.) was one of the first officers of the empire under Li Wang. Histoire II: 22. See also n.90 and Shaughnessy 342.

93. Chao-kong – Hu, Duke of Shao (Zh. 召公胡; pinyin Shao Gong Hu) minister of Li Wang, the interregnum, and the reign of King Xuan. (See also nn. 89-105). He was a descendant of the Duke of Shao [half-brother to King Wu and a founding father of the Zhou dynasty, see nn. 67, 75].         
    When Li Wang suppressed dissent though terror, the Duke of Shao drew his attention to the connection between good government and freedom of speech, comparing the latter with a torrent for which the emperor should dig a wide berth to avoid flooding. Histoire II: 25-6.      
    Li Wang was not wise to listen to his minister – three years after this discourse, in 842 B.C., a furious peasant revolt broke through the palace and the emperor took flight into permanent exile. De Mailla reports that the Duke of Shao hid Li’s son in his house and when the mob reclaimed him, he sacrificed his own child to maintain the dynasty. 

94. four seas of China – Zh. 四海 [pinyin: sì hăi]. This is Pound’s intervention, not to be found in Duke of Shao’s speech to Li Wang, as reported by De Mailla. The four seas correspond to the four cardinal points: The East China Sea; The South China Sea; Qinghai Lake in the west and Lake Baikal in the north. To be “Lord of the Four Seas” meant to be Emperor of the whole of China. However, in the times of Li Wang, the seas in the north and west were symbolic; they would be discovered during the Han dynasty. Wikipedia. 

95. Interregnum of Cong-ho – Gonghe Regency (Zh. 共和, W/G Kung-ho; pinyin: Gonghe, “Joint Harmony”), historical name for an interregnum from the date of Li Wang’s exile and his death (842-828 B.C.). According to traditional historiography, de Mailla reports that it was a shared regency between two officials, the Duke of Shao and the Duke of Zhou. Histoire II:27.

96. Siuen – King Xuan of Zhou (Zh. 宣王; W/G Hsüan Wang; pinyin: Xuan Wang), the son of Li Wang and eleventh ruler of the Zhou dynasty. The kingdom was attacked by Tatar tribes in the west, and Xuan managed to repel them with royal troops. In 826, King Xuan also fought rebellious vassal states in the south, sending the Duke of Shao to subdue the peoples along the Huai river, a military expedition that was sung in the Shijing. Histoire II: 28-44.

97. contra barbaros /legat belli ducem – L. “against the barbarians / he appoints a leader in war.” 
    From Alexander Lacharme’s notes to Ode no. 8 in his Latin translation of the Shijing, Liber Carminum:             
    “Suen-ouang imperator contra barbaros australes ducem Chao-mou-kong legat.” Lacharme, 308             
    [“[In 826 B.C.] Emperor Xuan Wang appoints Shao Mu Gong as leader in the war against the barbarians of the south.”]

98. Chaomoukong – Shao Gong Hu (Zh. 召公胡), see n.93. He brilliantly won one of the three imperial campaigns against the southern states. After his death, he received the title of Duke Mu of Shao. Histoire II: 29.

99. Hoai – Huai River (Zh. 淮河; pinyin: Huai He), river in S Honan and NW Anhui provinces which in ancient times drained into the Yellow Sea, but at present flows into the Yangtze. The Huai is considered to be a natural border between Northern and Southern China. 

100. dark millet Tchang wine – King Xuan made a ceremonial present to the Duke of Shao: a jade urn, ladle, and aromatic dark millet wine (Zh. 鬯; pinyin: chàng) to give sacrifice to his ancestors and to emphasize that he does honour to his illustrious lineage. The award is mentioned in The Book of Odes (Part III Ode 8 stanzas 4 and 5). The ambiguity of the line derives from Pound’s relying on the Latin notes of Lacharme, where he found: “milium nigrum quod in sacrificiis utebantur; et vinum Tchang, vinum odorum in sacrificiis (“dark millet to be used in sacrifices; and Tchang aromatic wine in sacrifices.”) Lacharme 308.      
     
     The king commanded Hu of Shao: So widespread, so broadcast!
     “Wen and Wu received the mandate, Shao Gong was the support.
     Don’t say ‘I am a young son.’
     You are just like Shao Gong.  
     You have initiated and persevered in martial accomplishments,
     And therefore I award you blessings.
     I grant you a tessera and a ladle,
     And a bucket of black-millet fragrant-wine.” 
     (Book of Songs 250-1, quoted in Shaughnessy 334)
     
     When he translated the Odes, Pound rendered strophe 5 of Ode 8 in this manner:   
     “Measured to you that you should measure in turn,
     by sceptre-spoon, wine from the holy urn,
     clear jade to lift out the black millet’s breath
     that Wen above (spirits above) may know in Earth beneath
     hills lands and fields are set in your account
     as from the ancestral fount in just accrue
     take up this charge from Chou (in Chou).”
     As the grain bows, Hugh bowed then:
     “Ten thousand years, Sky’s son, to be thy span” (Con Odes 191)

101. Juxta fluvium Hoai acies ordinatur nec mora – L. “By the river Huai the battle line is drawn up without delay” (Lacharme, III, 3, ode 9, st. 4). As Achilles Fang observed, the passage in Lacharme reads: “Juxta fluvium Houai dictum ordinantur acies, nec mora” (Materials, I: 99).

102. Swift men as if flyers – Pound’s rendering of Part III: Ode 9, st. 5 of the Shijing. The lines below (ll.259-62) are the first translation from the Odes that he attempts by using Lacharme’s Latin prose crib. The Book of Odes was the current title of the Shijing in Pound’s time. 
     
     Here is Pound’s version of the same passage in his later translation of the Shijing:
     Many and thick moved the king’s troops       
     as the wings of birds flying     
     (as the red plumes of the pheasant);              
     as flood of the Kiang and Han,                        
     as the gnarled roots of the mountains                     
     as rivers o’erflowing (Con Odes 193).

103. Yangtse – Yangtze. The longest river in Asia, flowing from its source in the Tibetan Plateau southwards to Yunnan, where it turns back towards the north, then from west to east to drain in the East China Sea at Shanghai. In ancient times, it was called Kiang (Zh. 江; pinyin: jiang). 

104. agit considerate – L. “he leads with deliberation” [Lacharme, III, 3, ode 9, st. 3].

105. HAN – Han Hu, (Zh. 韓侯, pinyin: Han hou, Marquess of Han, fl. 800 B.C.), military officer during the time of King Xuan of Zhou. For his services in battle, he was given land which he developed into important principalities, Yue (Zh. 越) and Me, roughly corresponding with present day Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu. Histoire II: 30.

106. Sie – Achilles Fang identified Sie as 薛 (W/G Hsueh; pinyin: Xue; M 2653), an ancient principality in the region of Shandong. Histoire II: 30. Materials I:99.

107. hac loca fluvius alluit – L. “the river nourishes these places.”

108. Campestribus locis – L. “in country places.”

109. Lady Pao Tse – Bao Si (Zh. 褒姒; W/G Pao Ssu; pinyin: Bao Si). Consort of the last king of Western Zhou, You Wang. Earthquakes preceded her coming to the throne and the great eclipse of the sun on 29 August, 775 B.C., followed it. She captured his mind to such degree that he divorced his queen and sent his own son into exile. (Shaughnessy 349-50).

110. folly, folly, false fires no true alarm – “The story–obviously fanciful but too important in the Chinese historiographical tradition not to retell–goes that, on one occasion, a nervous sentinel manning the defense lines thought that the Quan Rong were attacking and lit a warning beacon that communicated this news back to the capital. Those lords who were still loyal to the Zhou court came rushing to defend the capital only to find that this was a false alarm; Bao Si, usually of quite dour demeanor, is supposed to have burst out laughing. King You was so pleased with this result that he had the warning beacons lit repeatedly. Needless to say, even those few lords still loyal to the king soon tired of this game, and quit coming to the rescue. When, in King You’s eleventh year of reign, 771 B. C., the Quan Rong really did attack, there was no one to defend against them. They sacked the capital, killed King You, captured Bao Si, and brought the great Western Zhou dynasty to an all too human end.” (Shaughnessy 350)

111. Mount Qi-shan is broken – Mount Qi (Zh. 岐山) was the ancestral site of the Ji family, the founders of the Zhou dynasty. Heaven was giving the signs of the dynasty decadence by natural catastrophe. Histoire II: 46. Nolde 74.

112. Yeou Ouang – King You of Zhou. (Zh.幽王; W/G Yu Wang; pinyin: You Wang, r. 781-771 B. C.), the twelfth and last emperor of Western Zhou. Natural catastrophe, like the crumbling of Mount Qi, earthquakes, freezing rivers in summer were signs that the Mandate of Heaven was being withdrawn from the Zhou. Histoire II: 45-9.

113. Tçin rising – Duke Xiang of Qin (Zh. 秦襄公, W/G Chin Hsiang Kung; pinyin: Qin Xiang Gong, r. 777-766 BC). Qin was a vassal state on the Western border of the empire; Duke Xiang was constantly fighting for land with the Tartar tribes, called the Quanrong. See the location of the Qin state on map of Zhou at n. 61. See also n.87.

114. Empire down in the rise of princes – You Wang greatly loved his consort, Bao Si and had a son by her, Bofu. Under her influence, the king decided to exile his queen and first born son, Yijiu, and choose Bofu for succession. The queen escaped to her parents’ home in Shen, a small vassal state at the Western border of the Zhou and governed by her father, the Marquess of Shen. You Wang demanded Yijiu’s head or his return to be executed. The marquess refused, allied himself with the Quanrong, and defeated You Wang in 771 BC at Mount Li. You Wang and Bao Si died as a result of this defeat and You Wang’s first son was restored to succession, governing the Zhou under the name of King Ping. Histoire II: 50.
     As the Western Zhou capital, Haojing, was destroyed and too far west to be protected against the Tartars, King Ping moved it east to Wangcheng (present-day Luoyang)  and thus inaugurated a period known in history as the Eastern Zhou (771- 221 B.C.). See also n. 60. 

115. lands of the emperor idle – After the defeat of You Wang, the ancestral lands of the Zhou around Mount Qi were under the control of the Quanrong, thus uncultivated.
     King Ping greatly trusted Duke Xiang of Qin to protect the empire from the incursions and political pressure of the Tartars and promised him the land west of the Qishan county if he was able to regain the Zhou lands from the nomads. Xiang and his son, Wen, did indeed succeed in driving the Quanrong away from Qishan in 750 B.C. but aquired great power and additional territory for the Qin state as protectors of the empire on the western border. See also Duke Wen of Qin.

116. Tartars – Tartars, or Tatars, were nomadic tribes on the borders of Chihli, Shanxi, and Gansu provinces, called Quanrong (Zh. 犬戎). They contributed greatly in the defeat of King You, and relying on the weakness of the empire, began to demand half of it from his successor. At that time, the Quanrong had control over Haojing, the capital of the Zhou, as well as over the dynastic ancestral lands around Mount Qi. Duke Xiang of Qin attacked and gained a victory over them in 770, thus firmly establishing the position of the new king. De Mailla commented that King Ping of Zhou had to pay dearly for Xiang’s victory, as the state of Qin acquired great power and privilege during his reign to the detriment of the other vassal states. Histoire II: 51-52.

117. 9 Tcheou wd/ not stand together – De Mailla commented that King Ping’s decision to trust the Duke of Qin more than any other nobleman to protect the empire led to envy and refusal of fealty of the other vassal states to the Zhou. In 745 B.C., each prince asserted independence and the nine original states of the Zhou empire were split into 21 parts. Histoire II: 59-60.

118. Wars without interest – Pound’s remark here indicates a red thread that runs through his whole approach to Chinese history in his cantos, namely his lack of interest in the political shaping of history through war. Pound is interested in what happens in peacetime, hence his dismissal of periods of civil war or imperial expansion and focus on emperors who are good administrators. The Spring and Autumn period (770-481 B.C.) he is now about to handle is a time of constant warfare. If in recounting the history of Western Zhou (1036-771 B.C.), Pound had focused on individual emperors, he now shifts his attention to a selection of events from the histories of the regional states of Song, Lu, Qin, Chu, and Jin to illustrate the disintegration of the imperial power of the Zhou. 

119. at midnight a rain of stars – a phenomenon in 687 B.C. became a symbol for an era:
     “Is it any wonder that heaven was annoyed by the murder and treason? The people had become so hardened to suffering that they regarded these events as inseparable from the evil situation in which the empire found itself. In the meantime, on the fifth day of the fourth month, heaven gave signs that were unequivocable. The evening on the same day, although there were no clouds, not a single star appeared. But at midnight, a flood of stars was seen to fall which, upon nearing the earth, immediately vanished.” Histoire II: 83. Nolde 77.

120. And in Siang – Siang is not a place, but the name of the Duchess Dowager of the ancient state of Song, the widow of the former ruler, Duke Xiang of Song (Zh. 宋襄公, W/G Sung Hsiang Kung; pinyin: Song Xiang Gong, r. 650-637 B.C.). Pound, following De Mailla, calls her “princess,” which is not exactly the right title for her. (Note that “princes” in the current ND edition is a typo). 

121. killed a bad king for a good one – Pound refers to the murder of Duke Xiang’s grandson, Duke Zhao of Song (Zh. 宋昭公) in 611 B.C., so that his more virtuous brother could take his place.
         
     Pound’s retelling of the story relies on Histoire II: 152-3:           
     “There was a great famine in the state of the Duke of Chao, Prince of Sung. His brother Wen Kung, who by his kindness had won the hearts of the people, saw to the distribution of all the grain that he had. […] The princess Hsiang who was of the imperial family, […] charmed by his good character, made them known. […]. The Duke of Chao on the contrary a prince without virtue and motivated only by cupidity, was happy to remain where he was and scarcely concerned himself with governing his estates.  […] The princess Hsiang, especially, could not bear the Duke of Chao. The hate that she had for him was so deep that, for love of the public welfare or for other reasons, she decided to have him killed. A hunting party that the Duke of Chao was going to take to the shores of Lake Meng-chou provided the princess with the occasion to carry out her plan. No sooner had he left than she ordered the captain of the guards to follow him with troops and destroy him – an order which was promptly carried out.” Nolde 78.   
     
     Pound retells the story much clearer and with no errors in his Notebook 32 (Nolde 78 n.18):

     And then Siang, princess imperial
     killed off a bad king
     that a good one shd rule      
     this was Ouen Kong
     ruler in Sung
     Siang had Tchao Kong        
     killed when out hunting      
     and Ouen Kong        
     cherished the people.

122. Ouen kong – Duke Wen of Song (Zh. 宋文公; W/G Sung Wen Kung; pinyin: Song Wen Gong r.610-589 B.C.), the brother of Duke Zhao and grandson of Duke Xiang of Song. He was a benevolent and capable ruler who distributed grain to the people in time of famine, as De Mailla mentions in his Histoire II: 153. See also preceding notes. See also Wikipedia: Song (state).

123. Sung land – Song (state). (Zh. 宋; W/G Sung; pinyin song).Ancient state just north of the lower valley of the Huai River. It was founded after the Zhou defeat of the Shang dynasty and had its capital at Shangqiu. Song survived until it was annexed by the state of Qi in 286 B.C. See map at n. 117.

124. Siang had been killed – This time, “Siang” refers to the depraved Duke Zhao of Song (Zh. 宋昭公) whom de Mailla described as “a prince without virtue and motivated only by cupidity” with no care for his estates (Histoire II: 152). He was killed by order of Duchess Dowager Xiang while on a hunting trip. This event made it possible that his benevolent brother Wen could take the throne of Song.

125. States of Lou – Lu (state). State north of Song, in the present Shandong. It was established by the Duke of Zhou at the start of the dynasty and first governed by his son Boqin. See n.78 and maps at nn. 61 and 117. Lu had its capital in Qufu and is particularly important because it was the home state of Confucius and Mencius. Lu survived until 249 B.C., when it was annexed by the state of Chu. 

126. Their Richards – Allusion to Richard III, who in spite of being Lord Protector, ordered the secret murder of his two nephews, the sons of King Edward IV and rightful successors to the throne of England. The crime happened in the Tower of London upon the Edwards’s death in 1483. 

127. Ouen Kong – Duke Wen of Lu (Zh. 魯文公; W/G Lu Wen Kung; pinyin: Lu Wen Gong). After his death in 609 B.C., his two eldest sons by his first wife were murdered by an official with the connivance of the duke’s second wife.See details in Histoire II: 154-155.

128. Ling Kong – Duke Ling of Qin (Zh. 秦靈公; W/G Ch’in Ling Kung; pinyin: Qin Ling Gong, r. 621-607) was a depraved Prince of Qin whose only pleasures lay in harming people and eating bears’ paws. De Mailla describes him as “without virtue, without sense, his heart drawn naturally to evil, he took pleasure only in doing harm to others.” He died in his own plot at a banquet in 607 B.C. when he was trying to murder an annoying counsellor. Histoire II: 155-157. See also history of the Qin state. 

129. By the Nine Urns of Yu –  Nine Tripod Cauldrons (Zh. 九鼎; pinyin: jĭu dĭng) bronze vessels symbolizing the nine provinces in Yu the Great’s time and transmitted along the ancient dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou as symbols of imperial power. The Duke of Zhou had moved the vessels to Chengzhou, the ceremonial capital of the dynasty in 1036 B.C. See nn. 57 and 60.     
     
     In his line, Pound conflates two episodes in the Histoire concerning the continuation of imperial power: one related to the possession of the urns through military means, and the other by peaceful co-existence through diplomacy. Pound’s lines suggest that the music of the dynasty was as powerful as the nine vases in ensuring the viability and continuation of the Zhou.          
     
     Concerning the nine vases, de Mailla recounts a famous episode that happened in 606 B.C. when one of the five hegemons, King Zhuang of Chu, passed through the imperial domains of King Ding of Zhou after a war against the Tartars. His troops just outside Chengzhou were met by a royal councillor, Wangsun Man (Zh. 王孫滿), sent by King Ding to congratulate Zhuang on his victory and help ensure peace (i.e. ensure that Zhuang does not attack the Zhou). Aware of the balance of military power, Zhuang enquired about the nine urns:         
     “how these nine vases of YU the Great were made; whether they were large or small; light or heavy; adding that he has some curiosity to see them. That amounted to intending to declare himself emperor since possessing these vases inevitably amounted to holding the imperial sceptre.      
     Wangsun Man, who understood his thought, replied:   
     ‘Prince, the dignity of those who govern peoples cannot be obtained by the possession of vases, whether large or small, heavy or light, but only by virtue. The vases that the founding father of the Xia dynasty (Yu the Great) has left to his successors were cast with all the riches that all the peoples, even the most remote, contributed as a homage to the Xia empire. These vases were passed on to Shang and from Shang to Zhou only because their emperors had abandoned virtue. A prince who practices it, even in the smallest state, is powerful. By contrast, a prince who neglects it, no matter how large his estate, has little to fear: Heaven does not give its benefits to vice. Even if the Zhou dynasty has lost a lot of its glory, Heaven has not rejected it; this is why it is useless to ask how the vases of Yu are made.’            
     This response ended the ambitions of the Chu prince who henceforth only thought of withdrawing to his state.” Histoire II: 158-9. See also Nolde 79-80 for partial translation of this passage.

130. King Kong – Duke Jing of Jin (Zh. 晉景公; W/G Chin Ching Kung; pinyin: Jin Jing Gong, r. 600-581), the prince of the north-western Jin state, was a powerful warrior involved in many battles with neighbouring states. In 584 B.C., he noticed a war prisoner wearing a Southern style cap and found out that his name was Zhong Yi, a musician from the state of Chu. The duke asked him to play a tune and was so moved by the music that he freed him and sent him home. King Gong of Chu, learning of the delight that the music had given to the Duke of Jin, sent the musician back to him to further the friendship between the two states. King Gong (600-560 B.C.) was the son of Zhuang of Chu, mentioned in the preceding note. The story is recorded in the Zuozhuan, or Zuo’s Commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals. See also Histoire II: 167 and note on Zhong Yi at Reed.edu.
     The entente did not last long. The states of Jin and Chu were arch-rivals and fought a battle at Yanling in 575 B.C. where Chu was defeated. Wikipedia: King Gong of Chu.  
     Pound writes the name of the Chu state as “Tcheou” assuming that this legendary music belonged to the cultural patrimony of the Zhou kingdom. The error was noticed by Achilles Fang, who pointed out that the name of the state was Chu (Zh. 楚), not Zhou (Zh. 周). See Materials I: 101, and map at n. 124.

131. Cheou lang – Shuliang He (Zh. 孔紇; pinyin: Kong He, or Shuliang He [Zh: 叔梁紇; pinyin: Shuliang He], 622 B.C .– 548 B.C.), was a military officer of the State of Lu and father of Confucius. De Mailla mentioned that he was originally from the state of Song but that his ancestors had come to Lu. Histoire II: 180. See also nn. 123, 125, and the map at n. 124. 

132. held up the portcullis – “On the 69th day of the fourth lunar month of the year 563 BCE, Shuliang He was supposedly responsible for holding open the gates of Bi Yang (Zh. 偪阳), so that soldiers from his side who had already entered Bi Yang could escape.” Wikipedia: Shuliang He.
     The episode, mentioned in the Zuozhuan, is not included in the Histoire, but Pound may have found it in other sources. In his edition of Chinese Classics,  vol. I, James Legge offers a biography of Confucius and has this to say about his father:

     “Fang-shu gave birth to Po-Hsia, and from him came Shû-liang Hêh, the father of Confucius. Hêh appears in the history of the times as a soldier of great prowess and daring bravery. In the year B.C. 562, when serving at the siege of a place called Peh-yang, a party of the assailants made their way in at a gate which had purposefully been left open, and no sooner were they inside than the portcullis was dropped. Hêh was just entering; and catching the massive structure with both his hands, he gradually by dint of main strength raised it and held it up, till his friends had made their escape.” Chinese Classics I: 58. Nolde 81, n.19.
     Pound's reliance on Legge's narration, however, is a matter of speculation, as the spelling of Shuliang He’s name in the canto is French, but different from de Mailla’s. Compare Pound’s “Cheou lang” with “Chou-leang-hé” in Histoire II: 180.

133. was named ‘hillock’ – It was not Shuliang He who was named “hillock” but Confucius himself. His mother gave him the name “Qiu” (Zh. 丘) which means “hillock” because of a small protuberance on his head. Histoire II: 181.

134. and his second son was Kung-fu-Tseu/ Chung Ni 仲尼 – Confucius was the second son to his father and received the courtesy name Zhong Ni (Zh. 仲尼), to signify that.

135. Taught and the not taught. Kung and Eleusis – a reprise of a line from canto 52 (“Between KUNG and ELEUSIS”), this dychotomy between East and West, ethics and religion, is used in another sense than in the previous canto, and emphasizes the arduous journey that people who choose to know and understand both the Confucian philosophy and the Eleusinian mysteries must undertake. Eleusis was a town in Greece where the Mysteries of Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture were held. Originally a fertility festival, the mysteries were celebrated underground and were closed to the worshippers. The line, also supported by evidence from Pound's Notebook 32, suggests that Kung’s philosophy was “taught,” as Pound had amply shown in his canto XIII. Eleusis, on the other hand, was not taught, had to be understood intuitively and emotionally. See Nolde 81. See also notes on Eleusis in OCCEP LII: n.32 and XLV: n. 31.

136. catechumen – initiates.

137. Kung was poor – Confucius was a late child and lost his father early: Shuliang He died in 548 B.C. when Confucius was just three years old, and his mother Yan Zhenzai died in 535 B.C. when he was 16.

138. supervisor of victuals – Even if he grew up just with one parent, young Confucius was known to Zhao, Duke of Lu (Zhao Gong, r. 541-510 B.C.] who assigned him minor civil servant positions when he reached adulthood.

     “Confucius, although only nineteen years old [532 B.C.], already had a great reputation in the principality of Lu. But he was very poor. Chao Kung, in order to give him some means of living, made him Supervisor of Food, a position of little importance but lucrative enough. […] Since he conducted himself with much wisdom, Chao Kung raised him to Supervisor of Animals.” Histoire II: 190. Nolde 82. 

139. Pien’s report – The Histoire indicates that a year before he got his first position, Confucius married “Pien-kuan-shih” (Zh. 亓官氏; pinyin: Qi Guan Shi) from the state of Song and had a son, “Peh-yu” (Zh. 博宇; pinyin: Boyu). This is the courtesy name of Confucius’ firstborn, Kong Li (Zh. 孔鯉, 532-483 B.C.).    
     “Pien’s report” may be a case of Pound’s improvising on the back of misreading his notes. See Histoire II: 190. Nolde 82. Materials I: 102.

140. That year was a comet in Scorpio/ and by night they fought in the boats on Kiang river – In the winter of 525 B.C. a great comet in the constellation of Scorpius spread to the west as far as the Milky Way. This was a highly inauspicious sign that governed over a fierce battle between the states of Chu and Wu on the Yangtze River. Histoire II: 193. Nolde 83.

141. Kiang river – Yangtze River.

142. King Wang – King Jing of Zhou (Zh.  周景王; W/G Chou Ching Wang; pinyin: Zhou Jing Wang, r. 544-520 B.C.), the 13^th king of Eastern Zhou. 

143. μεταθεμένων τε τῶν χρωμένων – H. [“metathemenon te ton kromenon”], change the currency. 

     Textual motif that Pound found in Aristotle’s Politics:

     “But at other times, on the contrary, it is thought that money is nonsense, and nothing by nature but entirely a convention, because when those who use it have changed the currency it is worth nothing, and because it is of no use for any of the necessary needs of life and a man well supplied with money may often be destitute of the bare necessities of subsistence.” Politics Book I section 1257b. 

     Pound had referred to the disastrous effects of changing the value of money in Canto 38, by quoting Dante who in his turn thought of the King of France, Philip the Fair: “il duol che sovra Senna / induce, falseggiando la moneta” (“the sorrow that upon the Seine/ he brings by falsifying the coin”) (Paradiso XIX ll.118-19). See the French case explained in OCCEP XXXVIII n.1. Starting with canto 53, Pound would use Aristotle’s phrase as a shorthand leitmotif for this idea, as in cantos 74/460, 77/488, 78/501, and 97/691. See a discussion of Aristotle and money in Liebregts 165-81. 

144. Against council’s opinion – In 524 B.C., Jing Wang, thinking he could make a profit by changing the value of the currency, did so even though warned by his council that it would ruin commerce and impoverish the people. 

     “Jing Wang, in the 21^st year of his reign, planning to change the currency and cast large deniers, persuaded himself that he would gain considerable profit. He proposed the matter to his council, which disapproved of it. It pointed out to him that the situation was so explosive in his states that it would be very difficult to impose this currency; that if the subjects of other princes did not receive it, the peoples of the empire would become more miserable by the ruin of their trade, and that he would be in danger of seeing his own subjects deprived of the barest necessities. Jing Wang, who had asked for the council’s advice only as a matter of form, was not deflected by these reasons, and gave to the contrary orders to cast the large deniers, as he had planned.” Histoire II: 194. Nolde 83.

     De Mailla does not indicate clearly in what way the king wanted to change the value of money, whether to bring its value down (inflation) or up (deflation). However, the historian uses the term “gros deniers” (large deniers) which suggests a deflationary measure whereby the value of money would be increased by having fewer, high value coins in circulation. Economic experience throughout centuries has shown that deflation is the worst possible financial instrument that political authorities can use, since it leads to scarcity of money, poverty, and potentially, to social unrest. Note that the council did not object to the measure on those grounds, but only pointed out the difficulties of distributing the new coin throughout the empire in the volatile political situation and the scarcity of money and general disorder of trade that would ensue out of the process. 

     Note that after WWI, the British Government introduced deflationary measures in 1925, to return the pound sterling to its pre-war value. The self-made economic crisis brought about by deflation was a fresh memory of Pound’s when canto 53 was written in 1938. 

145. Fen yang who resisted injustice – Fen Yang, general and adviser to Jing Wang. Pound honors him because in 520 B.C., when he got the order to murder an innocent prince, he warned the victim by a messenger, allowing him to flee to another state. Fen Yang then reported to the king that his intended target had escaped. Histoire II: 195-96. Nolde 84. 

146. King Kong – Duke Jing of Qi (Zh. 齊景公; W/G Ki Ch’i Ching Kung; pinyin: Qi Jing Gong, r. 547-490), prince of the regional state of Qi, at the north of Confucius’s home state of Lu. De Mailla located Confucius’ visit to his court in 510 B.C., but other scholars are less sure, dating it in 517, or even 505 B.C. See Chin 187. Histoire II: 204. Nolde 84-85. See map at n.124. 

147. that idea is good doctrine/But I am too old to start using it – The lines may be a conflation of two subchapters of The Analects, 12.11 and 18.3, not specifically referring to the Histoire, whose summary is more general. We find “that idea” to be a major principle of Confucian politics, reflected in the phrase 正名 (pinyin: zhèng míng, the rectification of names, see Analects 13.2-6):

     齊景公問政於孔子。孔子對曰：君君，臣臣，父父，子子。
     “Duke Ching of Ch’i asked Kung-Tze about government.          
     Kung-Tze replied: ‘Prince to be prince; minister, minister; father, father, son, son.’” (Analects 12.11 in Con 246).       
     In Analects 18.3, we see Duke Jing reflecting on how he should employ Confucius and what status to give him. He decided he was too old to start using his doctrine, so the philosopher left the state of Qi. Con 280.       
     
     By 1938, when writing the canto, Pound was very familiar with The Analects, which he had first read in French translation around 1917. He introduced sections of the book in his canto 13 (1923) and in Guide to Kulchur (1937). The ideograms for zhèng míng form the conclusion to his Fifth Decad of Cantos (42-51, 1937). 

148. Never were so many eclipses – The line appears as a conclusion to Duke Jing’s refusal to adopt Confucius’ counselling. Heaven was giving signs about the bad government reigning in the states of the Eastern Zhou through the eight eclipses between 527 and 497 B.C. De Mailla refers to them in his Histoire II: 192, 193, 196, 200, 204, 209. Nolde 85.

149. moved against C.T. Mao – In the year 497 B.C., Confucius finally acquired the post of Minister of State in Lu. He promptly arrested and executed another official, Shaozheng Mao. According to de Mailla, when Confucius’ disciples asked about his severity, he replied:           
     “There are five vices that make men more criminal than if they were highwaymen. A false heart, deceitful conduct, a flow of language full of lies and falseness, a memory happily oblivious to vice, and finally, a natural affinity for evil.” Histoire II: 209. Nolde 85.

150. LOU rose. Tsi sent girls to destroy it/ Kungfutseu retired – reference to an episode that happened while Confucius was minister in Lu. Seeing that Lu prospered under Confucius’s governance, Duke Jing of Qi thought of ways to weaken it by undermining the moral standing of Duke Ding of Lu. As shown above in notes 146 and 147, Duke Jing was well familiar with Confucius’s politics and ethics, thus tailored his effort to the person. Under the pretext of renewing friendship, he sent the Duke of Lu beautiful dancing girls with good voices to entertain him. The duke spent three days in their company and forgot about the affairs of state. Seeing this happen, Confucius resigned and went into exile in 496 BC. Histoire II: 209-210. Nolde 86.

151. Tching – Zheng (state). Zheng was a regional state to the west of Lu which Confucius visited during his peregrinations in exile between 496-and 484 B.C. When Confucius was strolling near the Eastern Gate of Xinzheng, someone saw him and told Duke Sheng of Zheng that a man, wandering about like a lost dog, had the forehead of Yao, the neck of Gao Yao, the shoulders of Zichan, and the height of Yu. See Histoire II: 211. Nolde 86-87. See also nn. 19, 20, and 33. The identification of Zichan relies on Materials I: 103.

152. foodless in Tchin – Pound refers to the year 493 B.C. when Confucius and his disciples suffered intense deprivation in Chen. Histoire II: 212. Nolde 87.     
     Chen [Zh. 陳] was a regional state during the period of the Zhou dynasty, to the south of Zheng and Song. It was merged into neighbouring Chu state in 479 B.C. See maps at nn. 124 and 151.

153. honour to Yng P the bastard – Pound refers to Prince Ying [Zh. 郢], the son by a second wife of Duke Ling of Wei (r. 534-492 B.C.). On his father’s death in 492 B.C., Lady Nanzi, the duke’s widow, wanted to place him on the throne, according to his father’s wishes. The prince refused, saying that such a choice would dishonour the ancestors and that there was a more rightful successor in his nephew Zhe, who succeeded Duke Ling as Duke Chu of Wei. Histoire II: 213. Nolde 87. See also Legge, Chinese Classics V: 798 Par.3.       
     Pound reproduces here two errors in his source, first in the spelling of Prince Ying’s name as Yng-Pi, and then in the statement that he was a bastard. See Materials I: 103-104.
     The Histoire mentions this episode as part of Confucius’ biography, possibly to flesh out the influence of his ideas despite his exile and imply that at this time (ca. 492 B.C.), the philosopher may have been in Wei. Indeed, a visit to Lady Nanzi is mentioned in The Analects 6.28 which records Confucius’ bowing to her in spite of her questionable reputation and against the disapproval of his disciples (Chin 95). In his turn, Pound takes up the episode in canto 80 where he writes: “‘and I be damned’ said Confucius: / This affair of a southern Nancy” (80/515). This connection between Nanzi and Nancy Cunard was noticed by Fang in Materials I: 104.

154. Tchin and Tsai cut him off in the desert – Around 489 B.C., Confucius received an invitation from the King Zhao of Chu (r. 515-489 B.C.). On his way to Chu, he was detained by followers of the princes of Chen and Cai who feared that Chu might increase its power under the philosopher’s guidance. Confucius found a way to transmit a message to Chu and the king sent troops to rescue him. Histoire II: 214-215. Nolde 88.         
     Note that Pound writes again “Tcheou” (Zh. 周; pinyin Zhou) instead of “Tchou” (Zh. 楚; pinyin: Chu) as he had done in an earlier instance. See note 130. 

155. Tsao fell – Cao regional state. Cao (曹) was a small state to the northwest of Song, founded in 1122 B.C.. Its last ruler, Earl Yang of Cao (Zh. 曹伯陽; pinyin: Cao Bo Yang) fell under the influence of an adviser who told him he should follow hegemonic policy and insult his more powerful neighbours. The state of Song thus attacked Cao and incorporated it into Song in 487 B.C. Histoire II: 216-217. Nolde 88.

156. cut 3000 odes to 300 – Confucius returned to Lu from his exile in 483 B.C. At home, he established himself as a teacher and editor. It is traditionally acknowledged that he selected 305 odes out of the existing 3000 for the Classic of Poetry (Zh. 詩經; pinyin Shijing), which includes poems from the beginnings of the Western Zhou dynasty in 1046 B.C. up to ca. 700 B.C. Histoire II: 220. Nolde 89.

157. Comet from Yng star to Sin star – The appearance of the comet in 480 B.C. is presented as a harbinger of Confucius’s death a year later. Histoire II: 222-223. Nolde 88.

158. King Ouang – King Jing of Zhou (Zh. 周敬王, r. 519-477) 15th ruler of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. In the 41st year of his reign, 479 B.C., Confucius died at the age of 73. See Histoire II: 223. Fang Materials I: 104.

159. Min Kong’s line – Duke Min of Chen (Zh. 陈湣公; r. 501-478). In the year following Confucius’ death, the state of Chen was destroyed and its territory incorporated by the neighbouring Chu. The Chen state had lasted since 1045 B.C., so for six centuries. However, it had just 24 princes, not 84. See Histoire II: 223. Nolde 89.

     Even though Pound does not mention it explicitly, after the death of Confucius in 479 B.C. and that of King Jing of Zhou two years later, Chinese historiography, based on Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, signals a new era, called Warring States period (476-221). As a result of constant warfare and redrawing of borders, in two hundred years the number of states existing at the time of Confucius’s exile was reduced to seven: Yan, Zhao, Qin, Chu, Qi, Wei, and Han. Pound sketches these developments through a number of vignettes from the states of Yue, Jin, Wei and Qin. 

160. Swine think of extending borders/ Decent rulers of internal order – Pound’s summary and conclusion to several pages in the Histoire detailing the efforts of the prince of Yue, Goujian, to wage war on its neighbours and extend territory by any means possible. In 473 B.C., he managed to annex the state of Wu. 

161. Fan li sought the five lakes – Fan Li (Zh. 范蠡) was an influential minister to the prince of Yue who was steadily embroiled in wars with neighbouring Wu. He was instrumental in Yue’s victories over Wu, for example in the battle of Lize in 478 B.C. In 474 B.C., Fan Li decided that his position was both exhausting and too dangerous. He took the initiative of retiring secretly to the five lakes (Zh. 五湖; pinyin: wŭ hú) to save his life. Histoire II: 229. Nolde 91.
     “The Five Lakes most commonly refer to are five freshwater lakes in eastern and central China: Lake Tai in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Hongze Lake in Jiangsu, Lake Chao in Anhui, Poyang Lake in Jiangxi, and Dongting Lake in Hunan.” In ancient times, the phrase referred mostly to Lake Tai. Wikipedia: Five lakes. 

162. Took presents but made no highways – The line refers to a different episode that happened in the state of Jin in 458 B.C. The prince of Jin, Duke Chu was incapable of governing and was defeated by a rebellion that divided the state among the four strongest local clans. The most ambitious and enterprising rebel, Zhi Yao, whom de Mailla called Tchi-pé (Zh. 知伯; pinyin Zhi Bo, “Count Zhi”) wanted to annex Tartar land that was separated from Jin by a mountainous region. He thought of a stratagem: he made the Tartars an offer of alliance and a huge bell as a present – he only requested that the Tartars smooth out the road for transport. The Tartar prince was advised by his wise councillor to refuse the bell, as the road would make a military invasion possible. However, the prince was too flattered to listen and fell victim to the ruse. His land, Qiuyou, was annexed by Count Zhi. Histoire II: 236. Nolde 91.

163. Snow fell in mid summer – Strange portents in nature are seen to signal the decline of the Zhou dynasty: eclipses, comets, snow in summer, fruit in winter. 

164. Mountains defend no state – Pound is reiterating the Confucian principle that it is not by conquering territory that true sovereignty is achieved and exercised but by the moral virtue of the state. He refers to a conversation between the Prince of Wei and his minister in 386 B.C.     
     “The prince of Wei once remarked complaisantly that the mountains and rivers would protect his state from attack. His minister disagreed:      
     ‘You deceive yourself prince… The strength of a state consists of virtue and not in deep rocks nor in the swiftness of rivers. The place that Chieh, the last Hsia emperor chose for his residence, did it not have on the right the Yellow River and on the left the Chi river? Was it not protected in the middle by the Tai Hua and the Chiu Mountains? But because he trampled virtue under foot, he lost the empire.’” Histoire II: 258-259.  Nolde 91-92.

165. Tai Hia – Mount Hua (Zh. 華山; pinyin Hua Shan, “The Splendid Mountain”). Designated as the “Mountain of the West,” Mount Hua is situated in Southern Shaanxi and is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of China. Its gigantic plateau was traditionally called Dai Hua Shan (Zh. 太華山, Magnificent Mountain).

166. Hoang Ho – The Yellow River (Zh. 黃河 pinyin: Huánghé) second longest river in China. Its basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization. According to traditional Chinese historiography, the Xia dynasty originated on its banks around 2100 BC. See also n.21.

167. douanes – Fr. customs, tariffs, taxes.

168. Hao-sung-yang – Gongsun Yang (Zh. 公孫鞅, 390-338 B.C.), also known as Wei Yang (Zh. 衞鞅) or Shang Yang (Zh. 商鞅), was born in Wei but became minister of the Qin state. He is considered the father of the legalist doctrine and introduced a strict legal system, wherein among other measures, each person received the same punishment for an offence, irrespective of social position and family. He also standardized measures and reformed the Qin army, making it possible for soldiers to acquire land based on military success (and nobles to lose it if they refused military service). Under his direction, Qin’s laws and administration were reorganized and the foundations were laid for the eventual victory of Qin over its rivals. However, when the next ruler of Qin, King Huiwen, came to power, he took revenge for the harsh punishment that Gongsung Yang had administered to him for a crime, at the time he was still crown prince. He accused him of treason, stripped him of his role and had him executed together with his whole family in 338 B.C. Gongsun Yang’s laws and reforms, however, were kept. Histoire II: 280. Nolde 93.
     Gongsun Yang's ideas were continued and expanded by Han Feizi, another Legalist scholar, to form the judicial, military, and political armature on which the Qin Empire was built. 
     
     Terrell signals an error in earlier versions of The Cantos: “Note that the Faber edition reads ‘280 died Hao tse.’ The ‘280’ refers to the page number in Mailla, II. ‘Hao tse’ may be Pound’s abbreviation of ‘hao Han tzu [‘tse’ in Mailla], meaning ‘a true Chinese man,’ literally ‘a good son of Han’; or he may have intended ‘good prince,’ Mailla using ‘tse’ frequently in this sense.” C I: n.181.

169. Sou-tsin – Su Qin (380-284 B.C.), wandering scholar-diplomat of the Warring States period. He is mostly known for his efforts to forge a “Vertical Alliance” against King Huiwen of Qin, the same who executed Gongsun Yang in 338 B.C. According to the Histoire, Su Qin visited Qin in 333 B.C. but the new king rejected his advice and humiliated him. Thereafter, the counsellor travelled extensively among the states of the Zhou, trying to persuade them to ally against Qin. Histoire II: 282-288. Nolde 93.

170. Tchan-y – Zhang Yi (Zh. 張儀, before 329-309 B.C.), military strategist and philosopher in the service of the state of Qin. Advocating a “Horizontal Alliance” to King Huiwen in 329 B.C., his ideas served the Qin state to fracture and defeat the Vertical Alliance advocated by Su Qin, by sowing dissensions among Qin’s enemies. Histoire II: 286 ff. Nolde 93-94.

171. POLLON IDEN – H. πολλῶν ἴδεν, [“pollón íden,” “he saw many.”] Pound’s compression of line 3 of Homer’s Odyssey: Book I. Through this shorthand, Pound evokes the full line, well-known to his readers at the time of writing: “πολλῶν δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω,” [“pollón d᾽ anthrópon íden ástea kaí nóon égno,” “Many were the men whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned”]

     Thinking of Odysseus’s wanderings on the Mediterranean, Pound implicitly compares them to Su Qin’s peregrinations among the six states outside Qin, presented in detail in Histoire II: 282-288. See n.169.

172. Tchao Siang – King Zhaoxiang of Qin (Zh. 秦昭襄王, pinyin: Qin Zhao Xiang Wang, 325-251 B.C.). The son of King Huiwen of Qin, he acceded to the throne in 307 B.C. and in his many wars with contending states, he destroyed the Eastern Zhou dynasty. 

     “King Zhaoxiang reigned as the King of Qin for 57 years and was responsible for the state of Qin achieving strategic dominance over the other six major states. During his reign, Qin captured the Chu capital Ying in 278 BC, conquered the Xirong state of Yiqu in 272 BC, slaughtered a 450,000-strong Zhao army at Changping in 260 BC, and overthrew the Eastern Zhou dynasty in 256 BC. These aggressive territorial expansions and the strategic weakening of other rival states paved the path for Qin's eventual unification of China proper three decades later by his great-grandson Ying Zheng (Qin Shi Huang).” Wikipedia: King Zhaoxiang of Qin. 

173. Sou Tsi thought it badinage – possible reference to Su Dai, Su Qin’s younger brother, and minister of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. De Mailla describes him as “un des plus grands seigneurs de sa cour” [“one of the most powerful lords of his court”]. According to King Zhaoxiang, the state of Qin, with all its new conquests, justified the new title of “Di” (Zh. 帝, “Emperor”) for himself. As Qi was Qin’s most powerful rival state, Zhaoxiang proposed that he should assume the title “Emperor of the West,” whereas King Min of Qi could claim the name “Emperor of the East.” In 288 B.C., Su Dai carried this message to the state of Qi. When he heard it, King Min burst out laughing, thinking it was a joke. Nevertheless, as he was immensely arrogant, he accepted the title. Successive defeats after this moment made both kings give up the new exalted denomination and revert to their former titles. 

     It was the king of Qi, not Su Dai, who called the title “un simple badinage.” Histoire II: 315. The title of “Emperor” would only be successfully assumed by King Zhaoxiang’s great-grandson, Qin Shi Huang Di in 221. B.C.

174. badinage – Fr. joke.

175. Yo-Y – Yue Yi (Zh. 樂毅, fl. 284 B.C.) minister and general of Yan, a feudal state at the north of Qi. Four years after King Min of Qi had assumed the title of “Emperor of the East,” his state was invaded by Yan. The capital was sacked, the king had to flee and was later executed. Yue Yi, by contrast, took care of the population, was moderate with taxes, and protected the people against the abuses of the military. Seeing such moral conduct in war, seventy cities of Qi which he had not conquered, surrendered willingly. Histoire II: 318-319. 

176. corvées – Fr. forced labour exacted from a peasant as duty to feudal lord or as payment of taxes. 

177. Thus of Kung or Confucius, and of ‘Hillock’ his father – Pound closes the canto by returning to an earlier episode in history which he had briefly mentioned at ll. 319-320: “And Cheou-lang that held up the portcullis / was named ‘hillock’ because of a lump on his head.” This time, he provides more detail and dramatism so as to stress the lineage of the philosopher, a line made noble by courage, strength, and camaraderie, not by birth. As shown above in n.133, it is Confucius, not his father who was named “Hillock.”

178. Chou 周 - The Zhou dynasty.