Sacred Books of the East/Volume 3/The Shih/The Minor Odes of the Kingdom/Decade 4/Ode 6

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

The Minor Odes of the Kingdom, Decade iv, Ode 6: The Wû Yang, Stanza 4

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Wú Yáng (無羊) corresponds to "have no sheep" in the first line (not given here).

3744569Sacred Books of the East, Vol. III, The Shih King — The Minor Odes of the Kingdom, Decade iv, Ode 6: The Wû Yang, Stanza 4James Legge

Ode 6, Stanza 4. The Wû Yang.

The Wû Yang is supposed to celebrate the largeness and excellent condition of king Hsüan's flocks and herds. The concluding stanza has reference to the divination of the dreams of his herdsmen.

Your herdsmen shall dream,
Of multitudes and then of fishes,
Of the tortoise-and-serpent, and then of the falcon, banners^[1].
The chief diviner will divine the dreams;—
How the multitudes, dissolving into fishes,
Betoken plentiful years;
How the tortoise-and-serpent, dissolving into the falcon, banners,
Betoken the increasing population of the kingdom.

↑ The tortoise-and-serpent banner marked the presence in a host of its leader on a military expedition. On its field were the figures of tortoises, with snakes coiled round them. The falcon banners belonged to the commanders of the divisions of the host. They bore the figures of falcons on them.

[1] The tortoise-and-serpent banner marked the presence in a host of its leader on a military expedition. On its field were the figures of tortoises, with snakes coiled round them. The falcon banners belonged to the commanders of the divisions of the host. They bore the figures of falcons on them.

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