The wisdom of Confucius as a social reformer, as a teacher and guide of the Chinese people, is shown in many ways. He not only gave them a code of personal deportment, providing them with rules for the etiquette and ceremony of life, but he instilled into them that profound spirit of domestic piety which is one of the strongest features in the Chinese character. He took measures to secure also the intellectual cultivation of his followers, and his Five Canons contain all the most ancient works of Chinese literature, in the departments of poetry, history, philosophy, and legislation. The Shi-King is a collection of Chinese poetry made by Confucius himself. This great anthology consists of more than three hundred pieces, covering the whole range of Chinese lyric poetry, the oldest of which dates some eighteen centuries before Christ, while the latest of the selections must have been written at the beginning of the sixth century before Christ. These poems are of the highest interest, and even nowadays may be read with delight by Europeans. The ballad and the hymn are among the earliest forms of national poetry, and the contents of the Shi-King naturally show specimens of lyric poetry of this sort. We find there not only hymns, but also ballads of a really fine and spirited character. Sometimes the poems celebrate the common pursuits, occupations, and incidents of life. They rise to the exaltation of the epithalamium, or of the vintage song; at other times they deal with sentiment and human conduct, being in the highest degree sententious and epigrammatic. We must give the credit to Confucius of having saved for us the literature of China, and of having set his people an example in preserving the monuments of a remote antiquity.
While the literatures of ancient Greece and Rome have largely perished in the convulsions that followed the breaking up of the Roman empire in Europe, when the kingdom of China fell into disorder and decrepitude this one great teacher stepped forward to save the precious record of historic fact, philosophical thought, and of legislation as well as poetry, from being swept away by the deluge of revolution. Confucius showed his wisdom by the high value he set upon the poetry of his native land, and his name must be set side by side with that of the astute tyrant of Athens who collected the poems of Homer and preserved them as a precious heritage to the Greek world. Confucius has given us his opinion with regard to the poems of the Shi-King. No man, he says, is worth speaking to who has not mastered the poems of an anthology, the perusal of which elevates the mind and purifies it from all corrupt thoughts. Thanks to the work of modern scholarship, English readers can now verify this dictum for themselves.
Epiphanus Wilson.
THE SHI-KING
Part I.Lessons from the States
BOOK I.THE ODES OF CHOW AND THE SOUTH. Celebrating the Virtue of King Wan's Bride Celebrating the Industry of King Wan's Queen In Praise of a Bride Celebrating T'ae-Sze's Freedom from Jealousy The Fruitfulness of the Locust Lamenting the Absence of a Cherished Friend Celebrating the Goodness of the Descendants of King Wan The Virtuous Manners of the Young Women Praise of a Rabbit-Catcher The Song of the Plantain-Gatherers The Affection of the Wives on the Joo
BOOK II.THE ODES OF SHAOU AND THE SOUTH. The Marriage of a Princess The Industry and Reverence of a Prince's Wife The Wife of Some Great Officer Bewails his Absence The Diligence of the Young Wife of an Officer The Love of the People for the Duke of Shaou The Easy Dignity of the Officers at Some Court Anxiety of a Young Lady to Get Married
BOOK III.THE ODES OF P'EI. An Officer Bewails the Neglect with which He is Treated A Wife Deplores the Absence of Her Husband The Plaint of a Rejected Wife Soldiers of Wei Bewail Separation from their Families An Officer Tells of His Mean Employment An Officer Sets Forth His Hard Lot The Complaint of a Neglected Wife In Praise of a Maiden Discontent Chwang Keang Bemoans Her Husband's Cruelty
[Books IV., V., and VI. are omitted]
BOOK VII.THE ODES OF CH'ING.- The People's Admiration for Duke Woo A Wife Consoled by Her Husband's Arrival In Praise of Some Lady A Man's Praise of His Wife An Entreaty A Woman Scorning Her Lover A Lady Mourns the Absence of Her Student Lover-
BOOK VIII.THE ODES OF TS'E. A Wife Urging Her Husband to Action The Folly of Useless Effort The Prince of Loo
BOOK IX.THE ODES OF WEI. On the Misgovernment of the State The Mean Husband A Young Soldier on Service
BOOK X.THE ODES OF T'ANG. The King Goes to War Lament of a Bereaved Person The Drawbacks of Poverty A Wife Mourns for Her Husband
BOOK XI.THE ODES OF TS'IN. Celebrating the Opulence of the Lords of Ts'in A Complaint A Wife's Grief Because of Her Husband's Absence Lament for Three Brothers In Praise of a Ruler of Ts'in The Generous Nephew
BOOK XII.THE ODES OF CH'IN. The Contentment of a Poor Recluse The Disappointed Lover A Love-Song The Lament of a Lover
BOOK XIII.THE ODES OF KWEI The Wish of an Unhappy Man
BOOK XIV.THE ODES OF TS'AOU. Against Frivolous Pursuits
BOOK XV.THE ODES OF PIN. The Duke of Chow Tells of His Soldiers There is a Proper Way for Doing Everything
Part II.Minor Odes of the Kingdom
BOOK I.DECADE OF LUH MING. A Festal Ode A Festal Ode Complimenting an Officer The Value of Friendship The Response to a Festal Ode An Ode of Congratulation An Ode on the Return of the Troops
BOOK II.THE DECADE OF PIH HWA. An Ode Appropriate to a Festivity
BOOK III.THE DECADE OF T'UNG KUNG. Celebrating a Hunting Expedition The King's Anxiety for His Morning Levee Moral Lessons from Natural Facts
BOOK IV.THE DECADE OF K'E-FOO. On the Completion of a Royal Palace The Condition of King Seuen's Flocks
BOOK V.THE DECADE OF SEAOU MIN. A Eunuch Complains of His Fate An Officer Deplores the Misery of the Time On the Alienation of a Friend
BOOK VI.THE DECADE OF PIH SHAN. A Picture of Husbandry The Complaint of an Officer
BOOK VII.DECADE OF SANG HOO. The Rejoicings of a Bridegroom Against Listening to Slanderers
BOOK VIII.THE DECADE OF TOO JIN SZE. In Praise of By-gone Simplicity A Wife Bemoans Her Husband's Absence The Earl of Shaou's Work The Plaint of King Yew's Forsaken Wife Hospitality On the Misery of Soldiers
Part III.Greater Odes of the Kingdom
BOOK I.DECADE OF KING WAN. Celebrating King Wan
[Book II. is omitted]