"Mighty
is God on High"
The following poem is from the Shih
Ching. It is the the 255th poem appearing in commentator
Mao's ordering of the Shih Ching, but is often numbered
242nd in English versions of that anthology. Like "King
Wên is on High," this poem recounts the passing
of old dynasties and their replacement with new ones, and offers
didactic advice to Zhou rulers regarding appropriate behavior.
Mighty
is God on high,
Ruler
of His people below;
Swift
and terrible is God on high,
His
mandate has many statutes. 1
Heaven
gives birth to the multitudes of the people, 2
But
its mandate cannot be counted upon.
To
begin well is common;
To
end well is rare indeed.
King
Wên said, "Come! 3
Come,
you Yin and Shang! 4
Why
these violent men?
Why
these slaughterers?
Why
are they in office? Why are they in power?
Heaven
has sent down to you an arrogant spirit;
What
you exalt is violence!"
King
Wên said, "Come!
Come,
you Yin and Shang,
And
hold fast to what is seemly and fitting;
Your
violence leads to much resentment.
You
support slanders and also,
To
thieves and bandits you give entry,
Who
curse, who use evil imprecations,
Without
limit or end."
King
Wên said, "Come!
Come
you Yin and Shang!
You
rage and seethe
in Chung Kuo 5
You
count the heaping up of resentment as inward power;
You
do not make bright your power,
So
that none backs you, none is at your side.
No,
your merit does not shine bright,
So
that none cleaves to you nor comes to you."
King
Wên said, "Come!
Come
you Yin and Shang!
Heaven
did not flush you with wine. 6
Not
good are the ways you follow;
Most
disorderly are your manners.
Not
heeding whether it is dawn or dusk
You
shout and scream,
Turning
Day into night."
King
Wên said, "Come!
Come
you Yin and Shang!
You
are like grasshoppers, like cicadas,
Like
frizzling water, like boiling soup;
Little
and great you draw near to ruin.
Men
long to walk in right ways,
But
you rage in the Middle Kingdom,
And
as far as the land of Kuei. 7
King
Wên said, "Come!
Come
you Yin and Shang!
It
is not that God on high did not bless you;
It
is that Yin does not follow the old ways.
Even
if you have no old men ripe in judgment,
At
least you have your statutes and laws.
Why
is it that you do not hear,
But
upset the Mandate of Heaven? 8
King
Wên said, "Come!
Come,
you Yin and Shang!
There
is a saying among men:
'When
a towering tree crashes,
The
branches and leaves are still unharmed;
It
is the trunk that first decays.'
A
mirror for Yin is not far off;
It
is the times of the Lord of the Xia."
9
1.
The word I translate here as "mandate" and which
Waley translates as "charge," is Ming. See
note number eight to Tian Ming, below.
2.
The word translated here as "Heaven" is tian
in Mandarin Chinese. The written symbol for tian
literally means "The highest," and can refer to
both "the sky" and "the gods." The written
ideograph shows an inverted V shape with two horizontal lines
crossing the top, the highest of which hold blank space, indicating
that there is nothing above this highest point.
3.
The word Wên is not a common name in Mandarin.
We do not know precisely what it means, but it may be related
to a similar pictographic symbol which can represent "culture"
and "pen," and it is used as an antonym for wu
(war). It may be, as Waley suggests in Appendix IV of The
Book of Songs, that it represents refinement and book-learning,
as opposed to battle-prowess. Thus, the poem may speak of
"King Culture." The name Wên, though
not in common use, does appear hundreds of times in inscriptions
and monuments as a stock epithet for ancestors. It may not
be significant, but when the symbol for wên is
placed on top of the symbol for "heart," it creates
the word "strong." Likewise, when the symbol for
wên is placed on bottom of the word "day,"
creates the a symbol used as a synonym for "heaven."
See Arthur Waley, The Book of Songs: The Ancient Chinese
Classic of Poetry, Appendix IV, note number 1.
4.
Yin and Shang refer to two dynasties that existed
before the Zhou dynasty, the current ruling dynasty
in China at the time of this poem's creation. Yin is
pronounced "yeen," and rhymes with the end of the
English word "machine." Shang is pronounced
"Shong," and rhymes with English "long."
5.
Chung Kuo refers to China, and literally means the
"Middle Kingdom." The term implies that China was
the center of earth.
6.
During the Zhou dynasty, wine would probably be a part of
religious libations, or offerings poured out to the spirits
of the ancestors. The line implies that the Shang however,
used alcohol as an everyday beverage. The charge of drunkenness
is continually brought against the Shang, as Arthur Waley
notes. See The Book of Songs: The Ancient Chinese Classic
of Poetry, page 253, note number one. One suspects that
Zhou officials were rather puritanical about such matters.
7.
It is uncertain what region this refers to. Arthur Waley suggests
it may refer to eastern Kansu. See The Book of Songs: The
Ancient Chinese Classic of Poetry, page 253, note number
two. I wonder, however, if it may be linked to the supernatural,
but have yet to find any compelling evidence to support that
suspicion. The previous imagery of grasshoppers, cicadas,
and boiling soup are all images linked to violent, steaming
passion, purposeless noise, and mindless, bustling activity.
This imagery is a contrast to the calmness, serenity, and
focus expected of a ruler.
8.
Tian Ming ("the mandate of heaven") represents
the divine right to rule the Chinese people, a right that
could be revoked at any time. A ruler earns the mandate of
heaven by being an ethical, fair, and just ruler. As long
as he behaves in that manner, it is a sinful, evil act for
the people to disobey him. However, as soon as the rulers
stop being ethical, fair, and just, they lose the mandate
of heaven.
9.
The Yin destroyed the ancient house of Xia (also transliterated
as Hsia) because of the Xia's wicked ways. Now the Zhou dynasty
is destroying the Yin for the same reason. See The Book
of Songs: The Ancient Chinese Classic of Poetry, page
254, note number one.
