Sacred Books of the East/Volume 3/The Shih/Odes of the Temple and the Altar/The Sacrificial Odes of Kâu/Decade 1/Ode 3

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Sacred Books of the East, Vol. III, The Shih King
translated by James Legge

Odes of the Temple and the Altar, The Sacrificial Odes of Kâu, Decade i, Ode 3: The Wei Khing

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Wéi Qīng (維清) is the first half of the first line. Wéi is an emphatic or rhythmic particle here; Qīng provides the literal meaning for "Clear".

3742883Sacred Books of the East, Vol. III, The Shih King — Odes of the Temple and the Altar, The Sacrificial Odes of Kâu, Decade i, Ode 3: The Wei KhingJames Legge

Ode 3. The Wei Khing.

Appropriate at some sacrifice to king Wăn, and celebrating his statutes.

Nothing more can, with any likelihood of truth, be said of this short piece, which moreover has the appearance of being a fragment.

Clear and to be preserved bright,
Are the statutes of king Wăn.
From the first sacrifice (to him),
Till now when they have issued in our complete state,
They have been the happy omen of (the fortunes of) Kâu.