Sacred Books of the East/Volume 3/The Shih/Odes of the Temple and the Altar/The Sacrificial Odes of Kâu/Decade 3/Ode 11

 

Ode 11. The Pan.

 

Celebrating the greatness of Kâu, and its firm possession of the kingdom, as seen in the progresses of its reigning sovereign.

In the eighth piece of the first decade we have an ode akin to this, relating a tentative progress of king Wû, to test the acceptance of his sovereignty. This is of a later date, and should be referred, probably, to the reign of king Khăng, when the dynasty was fully acknowledged. Some critics, however, make it, like the three preceding, a portion of what was sung at the Wû dance.

Oh! great now is Kâu.
We ascend the high hills,
Both those that are long and narrow, and the lofty mountains.
Yes, and (we travel) along the regulated Ho,
All under the sky,
Assembling those who now respond to me.
Thus it is that the appointment belongs to Kâu.