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How pure and still are the solemn temples, |
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In their strong solidity and minute completeness! |
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Highly distinguished was Jiang Yuan, |
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Of virtue undeflected. |
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God regarded her with favour; |
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And without injury or hurt, |
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Immediately, when her months were fulfilled, |
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She gave birth to Hou-ji. |
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On him were conferred all blessings, -- |
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[To know] how the millet ripened early, and the sacrificial millet late, |
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How first to sow pulse, and then wheat. |
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Anon he was invested with an inferior State, |
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And taught the people how to sow and to reap, |
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The millet and the sacrificial millet, |
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Rice and the black millet; |
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Ere long all over the whole country; -- |
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[Thus] continuing the work of Yu. |
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Among the descendants of Hou-ji, |
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There was king Da, |
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Dwelling on the south of [mount] Qi, |
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Where the clipping of Shang began. |
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In process of time Wen and Wu, |
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Continued the work of king Da, |
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And [the purpose of] Heaven was carried out in its time, |
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In the plain of Mu. |
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'Have no doubts, no anxieties, ' [it was said]; |
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'God is with you. ' |
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[Wu] disposed of the troops of Shang; |
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He and his men shared equally in the achievement. |
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[Then] king [Qing] said, ' My uncle, |
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I will set up your eldest son, |
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And make him marquis of Lu. |
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I will greatly enlarge your territory there, |
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To be a help and support to the House of Zhou. ' |
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Accordingly he appointed [our first] duke of Lu, |
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And make him marquis in the east, |
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Giving him the hills and rivers, |
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The lands and fields, and the attached States. |
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The [present] descendant of the duke of Zhou, |
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The son of duke Zhuang, |
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With dragon-emblazoned banner attends the sacrifices, |
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His six reins soft and pliant. |
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In spring and autumn he does not neglect [the sacrifices]; |
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His offerings are all without error. |
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To the great and sovereign God, |
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And to his great ancestor Hou-ji, |
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He offers the victims, red and pure. |
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Then enjoy, they approve, |
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And bestow blessings in large number. |
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The duke of Zhou, and [your other] great ancestors, |
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Also bless you. |
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In autumn comes the sacrifices of the season, |
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But in summer the bulls for it have had their horns capped. |
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They are the white bull and the red one; |
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[There are] the bull-figured goblet in its dignity; |
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Roast pig, minced meat, and soups; |
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The dishes of bamboo and wood, and the large stand; |
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And the dancers all-complete. |
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The filial descendant will be blessed. |
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[Your ancestors]will make you gloriously prosperous! |
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They will make you long-lived and good, -- |
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To preserve this eastern region, |
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Long possessing the State of Lu, |
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Unwaning, unfallen, |
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Unshaken, undisturbed! |
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They will make your friendship with your three aged [ministers], |
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Like the hills, like the mountains! |
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Our prince's chariots are a thousand, |
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[And in each] are the vermilion tassels and the green bands of the two spears and two bows. |
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His footmen are thirty thousand, |
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With shells no vermillion-strings adorning their helmets. |
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So numerous are his ardent followers, |
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To deal with the tribes of the west and north, |
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And to punish [those of] King and Shu, |
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So that none of them will dare to withstand us. |
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May [the Spirits] make you grandly prosperous! |
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May they make you long-lived and wealthy! |
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May the hoary hair and wrinkled back, |
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Marking the aged men, be always in your employment! |
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May they make you prosperous and great! |
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May they grant you old age, ever vigorous, |
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For myriads and thousands of years, |
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With the eyebrows of longevity, and ever unharmed! |
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The mountain of Da is lofty, |
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Looked up to by the State of Lu. |
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We grandly possess also Gui and Mong; |
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And we shall extend to the limits of the east, |
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Even the States along the sea. |
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The tribes of the Huai will seek our alliance; -- |
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All will proffer their allegiance: -- |
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Such shall be the achievements of the marquis of Lu. |
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He shall maintain the possession of Hu and Yi, |
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And extend his sway to the regions of Xu, |
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Even to the States along the sea. |
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The tribes of the Huai, the Man, and the Mi, |
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And those tribes [still more] to the south, |
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All will proffer their allegiance: -- |
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Not one will dare not to answer to his call, |
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Thus showing their obedience to the marquis of Lu. |
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Heaven will give great blessing to our prince, |
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So that with the eyebrows of longevity he shall maintain Lu. |
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He shall possess Chang and Xu, |
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And recover all the territory of the duke of Zhou. |
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Then shall the marquis of Lu feast and be glad, |
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With his admirable wife and aged mother; |
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With his excellent ministers and all his [other] officers. |
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Our region and State shall be hold, |
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Thus receiving many blessings, |
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To hoary hair, with a child's teeth. |
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The pines of Cu-lei, |
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And the cypresses of Xin-fu, |
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Were cut down and measured, |
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With the cubit line and the eight cubits line. |
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The projecting beams of pine were large; |
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The large inner apartments rose vast. |
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Splendid look the new temples, |
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The work of Xi-si, |
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Very wide and large, |
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Answering to the expectations of all the people. |