LIII

  1. Yeou taught men to break branches

  2. Seu Gin set up the stage and taught barter,

  3. taught the knotting of cords

  4. Fou Hi taught men to grow barley

  5. 2837 ante Christum

  6. and they know still where his tomb is

  7. by the high cypress between the strong walls.

  8. the FIVE grains, said Chin Nong, that are

  9. wheat, rice, millet, gros blé and chick peas

  10. and made a plough that is used five thousand years

  11. Moved his court then to Kio-feou-hien

  12. held market at mid-day

  13. ‘bring what we have not here’, wrote an herbal

  14. Souan yen bagged fifteen tigers

  15. made signs out of bird tracks

  16. Hoang Ti contrived the making of bricks

  17. and his wife started working the silk worms,

  18. money was in days of Hoang Ti.

  19. He measured the length of Syrinx

  20. of the tubes to make tune for song

  21. Twenty-six (that was) eleven ante Christum

  22. had four wives and 25 males of his making

  23. His tomb is today in Kiao-Chan

  24. Ti Ko set his scholars to fitting words to their music

  25. is buried in Tung Kieou

  26. This was in the twenty fifth century a.c.

  27. YAO like the sun and rain,

  28. saw what star is at solstice

  29. saw what star marks mid summer

  30. YU, leader of waters,

  31. black earth is fertile, wild silk still is from Shantung

  32. Ammassi, to the provinces,

  33. let his men pay tithes in kind.

  34. Siu-tcheou province to pay in earth of five colours

  35. Pheasant plumes from Yu-chan of mountains

  36. Yu-chan to pay sycamores

  37. of this wood are lutes made

  38. Ringing stones from Se-choui river

  39. and grass that is called Tsing-mo’ or μῶλυ,

  40. Chun to the spirit Chang Ti, of heaven

  41. moving the sun and stars

  42. que vos vers expriment vos intentions,

  43. et que la musique conforme

  44. emperors and kao yao1


  45. abundance.

  46. Then an Empress fled with Chao Kang in her belly.

  47. Fou-hi by virtue of wood;

  48. Chin-nong, of fire; Hoang Ti ruled by the earth,

  49. Chan by metal.

  50. Tchue was lord, as is water.

  51. CHUN, govern

  52. YU, cultivate,

  53. The surface is not enough,

  54. from Chang Ti nothing is hidden.

  55. For years no waters came, no rain fell

  56. for the Emperor Tching Tang

  57. grain scarce, prices rising

  58. so that in 1760 Tching Tang opened the copper mine (ante Christum)

  59. made discs with square holes in their middles
  60. and gave these to the people

  61. wherewith they might buy grain

  62. where there was grain

  63. The silos were emptied

  64. 7 years of sterility

  65. der im Baluba das Gewitter gemacht hat

  66. Tching prayed on the mountain and

  67. wrote  MAKE IT NEW

    53 ideograms 1

  68. on his bath tub 

  69. Day by day make it new
  70. cut underbrush,

  71. pile the logs

  72. keep it growing.

  73. Died Tching aged years an hundred, 

  74. in the 13th of his reign.

  75. ‘We are up, Hia is down.’

  76. Immoderate love of women

  77. Immoderate love of riches, 

  78. Cared for parades and huntin’.

  79. Chang Ti above alone rules.

  80. Tang not stinting of praise:

  81. Consider their sweats, the people’s 

  82. If you wd/ sit calm on throne. 

  83. 53 ideograms 2

    Hia! Hia is fallen

  84. for offence to the spirits

  85. For sweats of the people.

  86. Not by your virtue

  87. but by virtue of Tching Tang

  88. Honour to YU, converter of waters

  89. Honour Tching Tang

  90. Honour to YIN

  91. seek old men and new tools

  92. After five hundred years came then Wen Wang

  93. B.C. 1231

  94. Uncle Ki said: Jewels!

  95. You eat nothing but bears’ paws.

  96. In marble tower of Lou Tai doors were of jasper

  97. that palace was ten years in the making

  98. Tan Ki, palace, lit by day with torches and lanthorns

  99. Now Kieou’s daughter

  100. was baked in an ox and served.

  101. And they worked out the Y-king or changes

  102. to guess from

  103. In plain of Mou Ye, Cheou-sin came as a forest moving

  104. Wu Wang entered the city

  105. gave out grain till the treasures were empty

  106. by the Nine vases of YU, demobilized army

  107. sent horses to Hoa-chan

  108. To the peach groves

  109. Dated his year from the winter solstice.

  110. Red was his dynasty.

  111. Kids 8 to 15 in the schools, then higher training

  112. mottoes writ all over walls

  113. ‘Use their ways and their music

  114. Keep form of their charts and banners

  115. Prepare soldiers in peace time

  116. All is lost in the night clubs

  117. that was gained under good rule.’

  118. Wagon with small box wherein was a needle

  119. that pointed to southward

  120. and this was called the South Chariot.

  121. Lo Yang in the middle Kingdom and its length

  122. was 17200 feet. Saith Tcheou Kong: True sage seeks not repose.

  123. Hope without work is crazy

  124. Your forebear among the people

  125. dressed as one of the people

  126. Caring for needs of the people,

  127. old when he came to the throne

  128. Observing the solstice.

  129. Died eleven o six ante Christum

  130. are still bits of his writing

  131. ‘A good governor is as wind over grass

  132. A good ruler keeps down taxes.’

  133. Tching-ouang kept lynx eye on bureaucrats

  134. lynx eye on the currency

  135. weight of the tchu was one 24th of an ounce

  136. or one hundred grains of millet

  137. cloth bolt and silk bolt

  138. to be two feet two inches by four tchang (one Tchang equals four feet)

  139. reigned till 1079

  140. and was peace for the rest of his reign.

  141. Called for his hat shaped as a mortar board

  142. set out the precious stones on his table

  143. saying this is my will and my last will

  144. Keep peace

  145. Keep the peace, care for the people.

  146. Ten lines, no more in his testament.

  147. Chao Kong called the historians,

  148. laid out white and violet damask

  149. For the table of jewels, as when Tching-ouang received princes.

  150. On the table of the throne of the West

  151. laid out the charters

  152. constitutions of antient kings and two sorts of stone

  153. Hong-pi and Yuen-yen

  154. And on the East table he put the pearls from Mt Hoa-chan

  155. and pearls from the islands and the sphere of Chun

  156. that showeth the places of heaven. And the dance robes of In

  157. the old dynasty and the great drum that is 8 feet high

  158. these he put in the place for music. The pikes, bows,

  159. bamboo arrows and war gear he set to the East.

  160. The mats of the first rank of rushes bordered with damask

  161. of the second of bamboo and the third rank

  162. of tree bark.

  163. A gray fur cap for the crowning, and 20 ft halbards.

  164. (Ten seven eight ante Christum)

  165. ‘Left in my Father’s orders, By the table of jewels

  166. To administrate as in the law left us

  167. Keep peace in the Empire

  168. Ouen Ouang, and Wu Wang your fathers.’

  169. Thus came Kang to be Emperor.

  170. White horses with sorrel manes in the court yard.

  171. ‘I am pro-Tcheou’ said Confucius

  172. ‘I am’ said Confucius pro-Tcheou in politics

  173. Wen-wang and Wu-wang had sage men, strong as bears

  174. Said young Kang-wang:

  175. Help me to keep the peace!

  176. Your ancestors have come one by one under our rule

  177. for our rule.

  178. Honour to Chao-Kong the surveyor.

  179. Let his name last 3000 years

  180. Gave each man land for his labour

  181. not by plough-land alone

  182. But for keeping of silk-worms

  183. Reforested the mulberry groves

  184. Set periodical markets

  185. Exchange brought abundance, the prisons were empty.

  186. ‘Yao and Chun have returned’

  187. sang the farmers

  188. ‘Peace and abundance bring virtue.’ I am

  189. ‘pro-Tcheou’ said Confucius five centuries later.

  190. With his mind on this age.

  191. 53 ideograms 4In the 16th of Kang Ouang died Pé-kin

  192. Prince of Lou, friend of peace, friend of the people

  193. worthy son of Tcheou-kong

  194. And in the 26th Kang Ouang, died Chao-Kong the tireless

  195. on a journey he made for good of the state

  196. and men never thereafter cut branches

  197. of the pear-trees whereunder he had sat deeming justice

  198. deeming the measures of lands.

  199. And you will hear to this day the folk singing

  200. Grow pear-boughs, be fearless

  201. let no man break twig of this tree

  202. that gave shade to Chao-Kong

  203. he had shadow from sun here;

  204. rest had he in your shade.

  205. Died then Kang Wang in the 26th of his reign.

  206. Moon shone in an haze of colours

  207. Water boiled in the wells, and died Tchao-ouang

  208. to joy of the people.

  209. Tchao-ouang that hunted across the tilled fields

  210. And MOU-OUANG said:

  211. ‘as a tiger against me,

  212. a man of thin ice in thaw

  213. aid me in the darkness of rule’

  214. then fell into vanity

  215. against council led out a myriad army and brought back

  216. 4 wolves and 4 deer

  217. his folk remained mere barbarians.

  218. Yet when neared an hundred

  219. he wd/ have made reparation

  220. Criminal law is from Chun,

  221. from necessity only 

  222. In doubt, no condemnation, rule out irrelevant evidence.

  223. Law of MOU is law of the just middle, the pivot.

  224. Riches that come of court fines and of judges’ takings

  225. these are no treasure

  226. as is said in the book Lin hing of the Chu King.

  227. And the governor’s daughters, three daughters,

  228. came to the river King-Ho,

  229. For ten months was the emperor silent

  230. and in the twelfth month, he, KONG, burnt the town

  231. and got over it

  232. Song turned against Y-wang, great hail upon

  233. Hiao wang

  234. killing the cattle, Han-kiang was frozen over.

  235. And in his time was the horse dealer Fei-tsei

  236. industrious, of the fallen house of Pe-y

  237. who became master of equerry, who became Prince of Tsin.

  238. Li WANG avid of silver, to whom a memorial

  239. ‘A Prince who wd/ fulfill obligation, takes caution

  240. à ce que l’argent circule

  241. that cash move amongst the people.

  242. ‘Glory of HEOU-TSIE is clouded

  243. Deathless his honour that saw his folk using their substance.

  244. The end of your house is upon us.’

  245. Youi-leang-fou, in memorial.

  246. Said Chao-kong: Talk of the people

  247. is like the hills and the streams

  248. Thence comes our abundance.

  249. To be Lord to the four seas of China

  250. a man must let men make verses

  251. he must let people play comedies

  252. and historians write down the facts

  253. he must let the poor speak evil of taxes.

  254. Interregnum of Cong-ho. Siuen went against the west tartars

  255. His praise lasts to this day: Siuen-ouang contra barbaros

  256. legat belli ducem Chaoumoukong,

  257. Hoailand, fed by Hoai river

  258. dark millet, Tchang wine for the sacrifice.

  259. Juxta fluvium Hoai acies ordinatur nec mora

  260. Swift men as if flyers, like Yangtse

  261. Strong as the Yangtse,

  262. they stand rooted as mountains

  263. they move as a torrent of waters

  264. Emperor not rash in council: agit considerate

  265. HAN founded the town of Yuei

  266. and taught men to sow the five grains

  267. In the 4th year of Siuen,

  268. Sié was founded.

  269. and there were four years of dry summer.

  270. RITE is:

  271. Nine days before the first moon of spring time,

  272. that he fast. And with gold cup of wheat-wine

  273. that he go afield to spring ploughing

  274. that he plough one and three quarters furrows

  275. and eat beef when this rite is finished,

  276. so did not Siuen

  277. that after famine, called back the people

  278. where are reeds to weave, where are pine trees

  279. Siuen established this people hac loca fluvius alluit

  280. He heard the wild geese crying sorrow

  281. Campestribus locis

  282. here have we fixed our dwelling

  283. after our sorrow,

  284. our grandsons shall have our estate

  285. The Lady Pao Sse brought earthquakes. TCHEOU falleth,

  286. folly, folly, false fires no true alarm

  287. Mount Ki-chan is broken.

  288. Ki-chan is crumbled in the 10th moon of the 6th year of Yeou Ouang

  289. Sun darkened, the rivers were frozen....

  290. and at this time was Tçin rising, a marquis on the Tartar border

  291. Empire down in the rise of princes

  292. Tçin drave the tartar, lands of the emperor idle

  293. Tcheou tombs fallen in ruin

  294. from that year was no order

  295. No man was under another

  296. 9 Tcheou wd/ not stand together

  297. were not rods in a bundle

  298. Sky dark, cloudless and starless

  299. at midnight a rain of stars

  300. Wars,

  301. wars without interest

  302. boredom of an hundred years’ wars.

  303. And in Siang, the princes impatient

  304. killed a bad king for a good one, and thus Ouen Kong

  305. came to their rule in Sung land

  306. and they said Siang had been killed when hunting

  307. Ouen cherished the people.

  308. States of Lou were unhappy

  309. Their Richards poisoned young princes.

  310. All bloods, murders, all treasons

  311. Sons of the first wife of Ouen Kong.

  312. Ling Kong loved to shoot from the hedges

  313. you’d see him behind a wall with his arrows

  314. For fun of winging pedestrians

  315. this prince liked eating bears’ paws.

  316. By the Nine Urns of Yu, King Kong

  317. made an alliance at hearing the sound of Tcheou music

  318. This was the year of the two eclipses

  319. And Cheou-lang that held up the portcullis

  320. was named ‘hillock’ because of a lump on his head

  321. Man of Sung, and his line of Lou land  

    chung ni1

  322. and his second son was Kung-fu-tseu


  323. Taught and the not taught. Kung and Eleusis

  324. to catechumen alone.

  325. And when Kung was poor, a supervisor of victuals

  326. Pien’s report boosted him 

  327. so that he was made supervisor of cattle

  328. In that time were banquets as usual, Kung was inspector of markets

  329. And that year was a comet in Scorpio

  330. and by night they fought in the boats on Kiang river

  331. And King Wang thought to vary the currency

  332. μεταθεμένων τε τῶν χρωμένων

  333. against council’s opinion,

  334. and to gain by this wangling.

  335. Honour to Fen-yang who resisted injustice

  336. And King Kong said ‘That idea is good doctrine’

  337. But I am too old to start using it.

  338. Never were so many eclipses.

  339. Then Kungfutseu was made minister and moved promptly against C. T. Mao

  340. and had him beheaded

  341. that was false and crafty of heart

  342. a tough tongue that flowed with deceit

  343. A man who remembered evil and was complacent in doing it.

  344. LOU rose. Tsi sent girls to destroy it

  345. Kungfutseu retired

  346. At Tching someone said:

  347. there is man with Yao’s forehead

  348. Cao’s neck and the shoulders of Tsé Tchin

  349. A man tall as Yu, and he wanders about in front of the East gate

  350. like a dog that has lost his owner.

  351. Wrong, said Confucius, in what he says of those Emperors

  352. but as to the lost dog, quite correct.

  353. He was seven days foodless in Tchin

  354. the rest sick and Kung making music

  355. ‘sang even more than was usual’

  356. Honour to Yng P the bastard

  357. Tchin and Tsai cut off Kung in the desert

  358. and Tcheou troops alone got him out

  359. Tsao fell after 25 generations

  360. And Kung cut 3000 odes to 300

  361. Comet from Yng star to Sin star, that is two degrees long

  362. in the 40th year of King Ouang

  363. Died Kung aged 73

  364. Min Kong’s line was six centuries lasting

  365. and there were 84 princes

  366. Swine think of extending borders

  367. Decent rulers of internal order

  368. Fan-li sought the five lakes

  369. Took presents but made no highways

  370. Snow fell in mid summer

  371. Apricots were in December, Mountains defend no state

  372. nor swift rivers neither, neither Tai-hia nor Hoang-ho

  373. Usurpations, jealousies, taxes

  374. Greed, murder, jealousies, taxes and douanes

  375. 338 died Hao tse Kong-sung-yang

  376. Sou-tsin, armament racket, war propaganda.

  377. and Tchan-y was working for Tsin

  378. brain work POLLON IDEN

  379. and Tchao Siang called himself ‘Emperor of the Occident’

  380. Sou Tsi thought it badinage

  381. Yo-Y reduced corvées and taxes.

  382. Thus of Kung or Confucius, and of ‘Hillock’ his father

  383. when he was attacking a city

  384. his men had passed under the drop gate

  385. And the warders then dropped it, so Hillock caught

  386. the whole weight on his shoulder, and held till his

  387. last man had got out.

  388. Of such stock was Kungfutseu.

53 ideograms 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

b.c. 1053

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

b.c. 860

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

b.c. 479