1. Contextual setting.
The king secretly summons the Duke of Zhou and shares his anxiety about
the inability to overcome Shang.
維王一祀二月，王在酆，密命訪於周公旦曰：「嗚呼！余夙夜維商密不顯，誰和？告歲之有秋， 今余不獲其落，若何？」
In the king's first ritual cycle, in the second month,The summary in the Shi lüe preserves an alternative rendering of the introductory passage, which mentions the “twelfth month” 十有二月 instead of the “second month” 二月. See (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 258; Grebnev 2022, 236). the king was at Feng. He secretly ordered a visit from Duke of Zhou Dan, saying:The Shi lüe includes an additional character wen 聞, which changes the meaning of the passage: 王在酆，聞密命訪于周公旦曰 (The king was at Feng, he heard about the secret command; when visited by Duke of Zhou Dan, he said …). See (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 258; Grebnev 2022, 236). “Wuhu! I am from morning till night [perplexed that] the secrets of Shang are not exposed. How [do I put my mind] at peace?Sun Yirang suggests that mi bu xian 密不顯 (keep secrecy without revealing) should be read as bi bu xian 毖不顯 (be careful not to reveal), while the following phrase shui he 誰和 (who to accord with?) should be modified to read shui heng 誰桓, where the second character in turn stands for xuan 宣 (to announce), giving the phrase the meaning “who shall declare it?” The whole passage then should read: “If the [Shang] secrets are not revealed, who shall announce them?” Sun’s modifications are based on the assumption that King Wu is talking about the secret intentions of Shang. This interpretation is informed by the early commentary ascribed to Kong Chao: yan yu yi hui, song zhi Shang mi 言欲以毀，送之商密 ([Here] it says that [King Wu] wants to destroy it, sending him the secrets of Shang). This commentary is not entirely clear, but the secrets concerned clearly belong to Shang, which makes Sun Yirang’s emendations necessary. In my translation, I propose to read the entire passage as King Wu’s reflection on his own secret activities in preparation for the overthrowing of Shang. This reading accords with other royal colloquies, which demonstrate a pervasive concern with secrecy and timeliness of action under the circumstances of contested legitimacy. This reading does not require any modification of the text. See (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 258–59). The year’s harvest is announced,The Shi lüe records ruo 若 instead of gao 告, which gives the passage a slightly different meaning: “It is as if during the year’s harvest I am not gathering the fallen fruit now.” See Grebnev (2022, 236). but I am not gathering the fallen fruit now. How is it?”
2. Preliminary response; the king specifies his question.
The Duke of Zhou gives a schematic general response to the king’s query,
which encourages the king to ask a more specific question. Amusingly,
the king appears to know much of what he is asking about: he asks the
Duke about a series of numerical lists, of which the king already knows
the titles, but somehow doesn’t seem to have been introduced to their
contents.
周公曰：「茲在德敬在周，其維天命，王其敬命。遠戚，無十和，無再失，維明德無佚，佚不可還。
維文考恪勤戰戰。何敬、何好、何惡？時不敬殆哉！」
王拜曰：「允哉！余聞國有四戚、五和、七失、九因、十淫，非不敬不知。今而言維格，余非廢善以自塞，維明戒是祗。」
The Duke of Zhou said: “What you are asking about is in de-virtue and reverence assisting Zhou!My translation is based on the Shi lüe (Grebnev 2022, 236), where the phrase zi zai de jing zai Zhou 茲在德敬在周 is rendered as zi zai de jing you Zhou 茲在德敬右周. I prefer this reading because it meaningfully emphasizes the de-virtue and reverence (jing 敬), which indeed are highlighted in the following lines of the Duke of Zhou’s response. It is the Mandate of Heaven—may the king revere the Mandate! To distance oneself from the associatesChen Fengheng 陳逢衡 (1778–1855) suspects that the character wu 無 is missing at the beginning of this passage (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 260). If so, the passage would read: wu yuan qi 無遠戚 (do not distance yourself from associates). is not to have the ten accords.It is unclear what the “ten harmonization” refer to. Ding Zongluo 丁宗洛 (1771–1841) and Zhu Youzeng 朱右曾 (1800–?) emend shihe 十和 (ten accords) with ganhe 干和 (interfere with harmonious relations). However, it remains unclear how this relates to the following text. See (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 260). You should not repeat mistakes. As for the bright de-virtue—you should not lose it, and if you lose it, you will not be able to recover it.Similar to Chen Fengheng and Zhu Youzeng, Sun Yirang understand the phrase 維明德 as “the one who possesses the bright de-virtue” (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 260). He also proposes to read huan 還 as ta 遝, which in turn stands for dai 逮 (to chase). This results in a slightly different reading: “As for the one who possesses the bright de-virtue, he should not be lax; if one is lax, he will not be able to chase [what he lets go of].” Our late Father Wen was diligently laborious, in fear and trembling. What did he revere? What did he like? What did he hate? If timeliness is not treated with reverence, one is imperiled!”
The king bowed and said: “Truly so! I have heard that the country has four proximal relations, five agreements, seven losses, nine causations,The “four proximal relations” 四戚 and the “five agreements” 五和 are also mentioned in chapter 8 “Da wu” 大武 and chapter 23 “Xiao kai” 小開. The “nine causations” are mentioned in “Xiao kai”, but they are understood there as the sum of the “five agreements” and the “four proximal relations”. For a discussion of such discrepancies in the numerical lists of the Yi Zhou shu, see Grebnev (2020). and ten corruptions. It is not that I am irreverent—I do not know [these]. The words you are saying now are felicitous! I am not [the one] to reject good so as to satisfy myself! It is the illuminating admonitions that I venerate!”
3. The Duke exposes numerical lists.
After the king has mentioned the numerical lists, the Duke proceeds to
expose their contents one by one. Before he does so, however, he reminds
the king that Zhou had already received the Heaven’s Mandate as part of
a revelation at Cheng. The revelation at Cheng is the theme of a
different text known as “Cheng wu” (Revelation at Cheng), an unpreserved
chapter of the Yi Zhou shu known from medieval citations and,
in a complete form, from the recently published Tsinghua manuscripts.
The Duke’s mention of the revelation at Cheng is therefore an
inter-textual reference, which assumes that the audience is familiar
with the contents of “Cheng wu”, a mystical text with esoteric
connotations.
周公拜曰：「茲順天，天降寤于程，程降因于商，商今生葛，葛右有周，維王其明用開和之言，言孰敢不格？
The Duke of Zhou bowed and said: “What you are asking about is compliance with Heaven. Heaven sent down the revelation at Cheng.This passage probably refers to the story of the conferral of the Mandate of Heaven to Zhou recorded in chapter “Cheng wu” 程寤 (Dream revelation at Cheng), a text that used to be part of the Yi Zhou shu but was lost in the received recension. The text has been partly preserved in medieval citations (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 183–85); besides, a counterpart has been discovered in the Tsinghua manuscripts (Li Xueqin 2010, 6-7; 47-54; 135-141). In both these witnesses, “Cheng wu” records a story of a dream revelation received by King Wen’s wife Taisi 太姒, who dreamt about the growth of mysterious plants in the courtyard of the Shang kings. This dream was interpreted as the token of the transfer of Heaven’s benevolence from Shang to Zhou. For a translation and study of the text, see Shaughnessy (2018). The Cheng [revelation] was caused by Shang. Now the vines grow in Shang, and these vines assist the domain of Zhou. The king should brightly employ the words of instruction and agreement. [When saying] these words—who would dare not to be felicitous [in them]?
四戚：一內同外，二外婚姻，三官同師，四哀同勞。
五和：一有天維國，二有地維義，三同好維樂，四同惡維哀，五遠方不爭。
七失：一立在廢，二廢在祗，三比在門，四謟在內，五私在外，六私在公，七公不違。
九因：一神有不饗，二德有不守，三才有不官，四事有不均，五兩有必爭，六富有別，七貪有匱，八好有遂，九敵有勝。
十淫：一淫政破國；動不時，民不保。A variant of this passage preserved in the Beitang
shuchao 北堂书钞 includes an additional nai 乃, to the
effect that the passage reads: 民乃不保 (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007,
265). This emendation would make the phrase more consistent
with the following text.二淫好破義；言不協，民乃不和。三淫樂破德；德不純，民乃失常。四淫動破醜；醜不足，民乃不讓。五淫中破禮；禮不同，民乃不協。六淫采破服；服不度，民乃不順。七淫文破典；典不式，教民乃不類。八淫權破故；故不法，官民乃無法。九淫貸破職；百官令不承。十淫巧破用；用不足，百意不成。
The first: [those on the] inside should be of the same family name.I follow the emendation proposed by Pan Zhen 潘振 who suggests that wai 外 (external) should be replaced with xing 姓 (family name; Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 263).
The second: [those on the] outside are the ones to marry.
The third: officials should have the same masters.
The fourth: in grief, there should be the same consolation.
The first: the presence of Heaven regulates the country.
The second: the presence of earth regulates propriety.
The third: common affections regulate joy.
The fourth: common aversions regulate grief.
The fifth: [in relations with] distant tribes, there should be no disputes.
The first: establishing where [something is] abandoned.
The second: abandoning where [something is] venerated.
The third: associating [with people] at the gates.This probably refers to the violation of rules of social hierarchy and subordination.
The fourth: flattery is on the inside.Lu Wenchao 盧文弨 (1717–1796) emends tao 謟 (flattery; suspicion) with chan 諂 (to slander). Both give acceptable readings (Huang Huaixin et al. 2007, 264).
The fifth: private [interests] are on the outside.
The sixth: private [interests] are in the public [sphere].
The seventh: in public [matters], there should be no transgressions.
The first: some spirits do not take offerings.
The second: some de-virtues are preserved.This passage does not fit the context, so Lu Wenchao emends 所 with 不, which inverts the meaning: 德有不守 (of the de-virtues, some are not preserved).
The third: some talented people are not made officials.
The fourth: some affairs are not commensurate.
The fifth: if two possess [something simultaneously], they are bound to contend.
The sixth: the rich have divisions.
The seventh: the avaricious have depletion.
The eighth: some good is followed.
The ninth: some enemies win.
The first: corrupt governance ruins the country;
if the actions are not timely, people will not be preserved.
The second: corrupt affections ruin rightness;
if the words are not agreeable, people will not be in harmony.
The third: corrupt music ruins the de-virtue;
if the de-virtue is not pure, people will lose their customary rules.
The fourth: corrupt actions ruin shame;
if shame is not sufficient, people will be unyielding.
The fifth: corrupting the balance ruins ritual;The term zhong 中 (here translated as “balance”) has attracted much attention in the wake of publication of *“Bao xun” 保訓 from the Tsinghua manuscripts. See Chan (2012).
if ritual is not performed together, people will not be in agreement.
The sixth: corrupt colors ruin ceremonial robes;
if ceremonial robes do not accord with grades, people will not be obedient.
The seventh: corrupt writing ruins authoritative institutions;
if authoritative institutions are not treated as models in education, people will be disorderly.
The eighth: corrupt power ruins precedents;
if precedents are not treated as rules, officials and people will be unruly.
The ninth: corrupt grants ruin official duties;
commands issued to the hundred officials will not be carried out.
The tenth: corrupt craftsmanship ruins practicality;
if practicality is not sufficient, the hundred intentions will not be accomplished.
4. Concluding exchange.
After the exposition of individual lists, the Duke of Zhou reassures
King Wu that Shang has reached the perilous condition that necessitates
its overthrowing by Zhou. It becomes clear that the lists presented in
this text are not only models to follow in the building of one’s own
state, but also an analytical tool to assess the capacity of an enemy
state to sustain itself. In particular, the violation of the “ten
unrestraints” by Shang signals that it is ready to be subdued by
Zhou.
嗚呼！十淫不違，危哉！今商維茲，其唯第茲，命不承殆哉！
若人之有政令，廢令無赦；乃廢天之命，訖文考之功緒，忍民之苦，不祥。
若農之服田，務耕而不耨，維草其宅之，既秋而不穫，維禽其饗之，人而獲飢，云誰哀之？」
王拜曰：「格乃言。嗚呼！夙夜戰戰，何畏非道？何惡非是？不敬殆哉！」
Wuhu! If the ten corruptions are not countered, it is dangerous! Now the Shang are like this. You are the one to succeed to it. If the command [from Heaven] is not carried out, it is perilous!
It is like someone's receiving of a government order: if he neglects the order, there is no pardon [for him]. Now to neglect the Mandate of Heaven, cut short the meritorious initiatives of deceased Father Wen, and condone to people's suffering—[this] is inauspicious!
It is like a peasant’s toiling of fields: if he applies himself to tilling but does not weed, only wild grass will dwell there. When autumn comes, he will not gather harvest, and wild birds will feast there. As for the man, he will reap hunger—say, who shall pity him?”
The king bowed and said: “Felicitous are your words! Wuhu! From morning till night I am in fear and trembling! What should one treat with awe if not the dao? What should one loathe if not these [corrupt influences discussed above]? If one is not reverent, it is perilous!”