1. Contextual setting.
This is a typical alarming contextual setting, wherein a mention of a
distressing event (here a threatening dream) is followed by a cyclical
date on which the conversation took place. There seems to be a gap
between the dream and the conversation suggesting that an auspicious day
was appointed for the latter. It appears that the text itself is the
remedy, inviting the audience to re-experience the repelling of a
disastrous threat faced by King Wen.
維文王告夢，懼後祀之無保，庚辰詔太子發曰：
King Wen made an announcement concerning a dream. He feared that his heirThe Shi lüe 史略 (Outline of History) preserves a citation from the opening passage of a different recension of the text. In this alternative version, housi 後祀 (later sacrifices) is written as housi 後嗣 (heir) (Gao Sisun n.d., 6.8a). I follow this reading in my translation. would have no preservation. On day geng-chen (17/60) [he] summoned Heir Apparent Fa, saying:
2. Chains of causation in people’s inclinations.
This part discusses the changeability of people and the consecutive
consequences of their desire of profit. The first two elements in this
chain, if read literally, are obscure: “profit” (li 利)
engenders “suffering” (tong 痛), and suffering engenders
“music” (yue 樂). However, the last four elements—music, ritual
propriety (li 禮), rightness (yi 義) and humaneness
(ren 仁) are clearly positive. It would be justified to assume
that the first two elements are also positive and that tong 痛
(*l̥ˤoŋ-s) does not stand for “suffering” but for a positive term, such
as tong 通 (*l̥ˤoŋ, “comprehension”) or yong 踊 (*loŋʔ,
“agitation”). This suggestion can be corroborated by the second part
that contains a similar generative chain, this time consisting of
consistently negative notions: “partiality” (si 私), “defiance”
(kang 抗), “seizure” (duo 奪), “chaos” (luan
亂),“deprivation” (wang 亡), and “death” (si 死).
汝敬之哉！民物多變。民何嚮非利？
利維生痛，痛維生樂，樂維生禮，禮維生義，義維生仁。
“Be reverent towards this! People and material resources are very changeable.
What do people aim for if not profit?
As for profit, it engenders agitation;The character here is probably either corrupt or used as a loan for a more positively laden term. Tang Dapei 唐大沛 (fl. 1836) suggests yong 庸 (to use), Yu Yue 俞樾 (1821–1906) proposes tong 通 (to connect), while Chen Hanzhang 陳漢章 (1864–1938) suggests yong 用 (also “to use”) (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 232–33). All these suggestions are problematic as they still lead to cryptic readings. Following the same line of reasoning, I would suggest yong 踊 (“to leap” which I read as “agitation”) as the most consistent with the argument flow. as for agitation, it engenders music; as for music, it engenders ritual propriety; as for ritual propriety, it engenders rightness; as for rightness, it engenders humaneness.
嗚呼！敬之哉！民之適敗，上察下遂。信何嚮非私？
私維生抗，抗維生奪，奪維生亂，亂維生亡，亡維生死。
Wuhu! Be reverent towards this!
When people move towards collapse, superiors examine and subordinates follow.This passage is obscure. Tang Dapei and Zhu Youzeng 朱右曾 (1800–?) interpret cha 察 (examine) as a reference to insufficient examination by superiors, that is, the opposite of what is literally written in the text (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 233).
Verily,The use of character xin 信 (trustworthy) here is unusual: normally one would expect an animate noun or a personal pronoun to precede the rhetorical pattern 何X非Y. Pan Zhen 潘振, Chen Fengheng 陳逢衡 (1778–1855), Tang Dapei and Zhu Youzeng read it as part of the previous sentence (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 233). This would result in the following reading: shang cha, xia sui xin 上察下遂信 (Superiors examine, and subordinates thereupon entrust themselves). However, this is difficult to accept considering that sui 遂 is used later in the text as an emphasized term, and reading it as “thereupon” would bring compositional dissonance into the text. what do [they] aim for if not [their] private interests?
As for private interest, it engenders defiance; as for defiance, it engenders seizure; as for seizure, it engenders chaos; as for chaos, it engenders deprivation; as for deprivation, it engenders death.
3. Request to preserve the instruction.
Having developed the positive and negative generative chains in people’s
inclinations, the text shifts to the edifying message. The audience,
encouraged here to associate themselves with King Wu, is told to
preserve the instruction and to insist that it is practised
unceasingly.
嗚呼！敬之哉！
汝慎守勿失，以詔有司，夙夜勿忘。
若民之嚮引，汝慎何非遂？
遂時不遠，非本非標，非微非煇，壤非壤不高，水非水不流。
Wuhu! Be reverent towards this!
Cautiously preserve [these plans] and do not lose them! Inform those who are in charge about them so that they, from morning till night, are not neglectful!
As for the people’s aiming and being attracted [towards something], what would you be cautious aboutThe original text reads ru shen he fei sui 汝慎何非遂, which breaks the familiar pattern 何X非Y. I suspect that this passage may be influenced by the previous sentence: ru shen shou wu shi 汝慎守勿失, where the characters ru shen appear in a sequence. Therefore, following Lu Wenchao, I read this passage as ru he shen fei sui 汝何慎非遂 (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 234). if not [who and what they] follow?
The following—it is not far away. If there is no root, there is no crown of the tree. If there are no tiny [things], there will be nothing splendid. If a hill is not a hill, it will not be tall. If water is not water, it will not flow.
4. Concluding formulas.
The concluding formulas are typical of royal colloquies. The formula
mentioning “the Zhou in relation to the people’s …” (Zhou yu min
zhi 周于民之…) is obscure, and even a close parallel in chapter
“Xiao kai” does not help much in its interpretation.
嗚呼！敬之哉！倍本者槁。
汝何葆非監？
不維一保監順時，維周于民之適敗，無有時蓋。
後戒後戒，謀念勿擇。
Wuhu! Be reverent towards this! The one who turns his back on the root withers away.
What would you safeguard if not the exercise of authority?
If [you] do not, in a wholehearted manner, safeguard the exercise of authority and comply with [proper] times,Considering the oft-emphasized theme of timeliness and seasonality in royal colloquies, I prefer to read shi 時 here as “time”, and not as an indicative pronoun, which is how I have read it in the previous section. then Zhou, in what relates to the people's movement towards collapse, will have no timely protection.It is possible that this phrase is related to a passage from “Lü xing” that also seems to speak of the relationship between the ruler and his subjects: 群后之逮在下，明明棐常，鰥寡無蓋 (In the ruler’s condescension towards subordinates, if the bright luminance is not constant, then widows and orphans will have no protection). I follow Karlgren in reading qunhou 群后 as junhou 君后, but I cannot agree with his interpretation of the passage overall (Karlgren 1949, 178–79).
Posterity, beware! Posterity, beware! Plan and think! Do not be weary!I follow Ding Zongluo 丁宗落 (1771–1841) in reading ze 擇 (to select) as yi 斁 (to be weary) (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 235).