"The Book of Songs: Thoughts on Prose"

Thinking about Hou Ji will be worthy of that day.

Establish me to support the people, Mo Feiji.

I came to Mu, and the emperor ordered me to lead my education.

There is no such boundary.

Chen Changyu Shixia.

Notes:

1. Text: Wende, that is, the merit of governing a country and developing the economy. Houji: The ancestor of the Zhou people, his surname was Ji, his given name was Qi, and his name was Houji. During the Shun period, he was an agricultural official.

2. Gram: Yes. To share: To enjoy together, that is, to receive sacrifices together.

3. Li: Tong "grain", rice food. It is used here as a verb, meaning to nurture. Hao Min: all the people.

4. Ji: Extreme, this refers to immeasurable merit.

5. Yi: legacy. Come: wheat. Mou: barley.

6. Rate: use.

7. Chen: everywhere. Chang: routine, this refers to agricultural affairs. Time: This. Xia: China.

Translation:

Reminiscing about the merits of our ancestor Hou Ji,

I am not ashamed to be worthy of heaven.

Having raised hundreds of millions of us,

Who wouldn’t remember this incomparable kindness in their hearts?

Leave us fine wheat seeds,

Destiny is used to ensure the continuity of hundreds of races.

Farming does not have to be divided into boundaries.

Agricultural policies should be promoted across the country to build a paradise.

Appreciation:

"Weiqing" has only five sentences to offer sacrifices to King Wen; this article to offer sacrifices to Hou Ji has only eight sentences. The reason is that the great achievements of the previous kings of the Zhou Dynasty are already well-known to every household and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so there is no need to repeat them. As far as this article is concerned, Hou Ji's legendary experience and the immeasurable merits of "bringing good seeds" and "harvesting the same acres" to the people and giving them hundreds of grains are described in detail in "Shengmin", which also belongs to the "Classic". Praise. Even if "Shengmin" was not written before "Siwen", its mythological content must have been widely circulated among the people.

Songs of Zhou (including "Si Wen") are all works of the early Western Zhou Dynasty. In this specific historical period, the praise of the ancestors of the Zhou Dynasty was particularly enthusiastic. King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty used "three hundred taels of military chariots and three hundred men of tigers and men" to kill King Zhou in the Muye area, who "brought violence to the people and raped the merchants with treachery" ("Shang Shu - Mu Shi"), established the Western Zhou Dynasty, and saved the country. All peoples are in water and fire. The royal family wanted to honor their ancestors, and the people were grateful for their liberation. This resulted in a grand occasion of enthusiastic praise for the new regime, and naturally also for the new regime's ancestors.

Perhaps it is based on the above reasons that many scholars in the past dynasties have formed a strong political understanding of "Si Wen" for Zhou Gong. The poem is an ode to the prosperous dynasty, and the author is a great sage of the prosperous dynasty. The formation of this political consciousness is also very natural. The authorship of many articles in "The Book of Songs" is attributed to Zhou Gong, which is not discussed here, but this may not be the case for the article in "Si Wen".

Confucius quoted "Guoyu" and said that "Zhou Wengong (i.e. Zhou Gongdan) praised it as 'Siwen'", which is actually incorrect. In a passage written by Rui Liangfu in "Guoyu - Zhouyu 1", the original text is: "Therefore, the poem says: 'Think of Wen Houji, and conquer the other world. Establish me to protect the people, and don't betray yourself.'" There is no word. It was done by Duke Zhou. It was not until Wei Zhao's annotation that it became "The Duke of Zhou thought of the virtuous Hou Ji, whose merits could match those of Heaven." However, the original intention of Wei's Notes is only to say that the content of "Si Wen" reflects the "thoughts" of Zhou Gong, but does not mean that it was written by Zhou Gong. It should not be difficult to distinguish. It seems that Confucius mistakenly merged the original text of "Guoyu" with the annotations, implicating the Duke of Zhou, and determined that "Siwen" was written by the Duke of Zhou. This misunderstanding had such a great and far-reaching influence that it became the common sense of many scholars in later generations. Although it is harmless, it still makes people feel a little regretful. It's harmless because "Siwen" does reflect Zhou Gong's thoughts. The Duke of Zhou assisted King Wen, King Wu, and King Cheng for three generations, and made outstanding contributions to strengthening the country, destroying merchants, and quelling chaos. Emphasizing agriculture and protecting the people was the political principle he always adhered to. It can be seen that in terms of understanding the meaning of "Siwen", it is indeed possible and should be contacted to contact Duke Zhou; however, it is ultimately undesirable to identify Duke Zhou as the author.

To confirm that Zhou Gong is the author of "Siwen", there must be conclusive evidence that is earlier than or at least concurrent with "Guoyu", because the existing confirmation is nothing more than an unreliable misidentification based on "Guoyu". If there is no conclusive and sufficient evidence in the Book of Songs but it is attributed to Zhou Gong, we can view it this way.

According to the "Preface to Mao's Poems", "Siwen" is the song of "Houji matches the sky". The reason why Hou Ji is "matched by Heaven" is clearly stated in the preface to "Shengmin": "Hou Ji was born in Jiang Yuan, and his literary and military achievements originated from Hou Ji, so he is considered worthy of Heaven." The sacrifice of "Hou Ji Peitian" is called Jiao, that is, the sacrifice of God in the southern suburbs. When ancient people offered sacrifices to heaven (i.e. God), they often shared the sacrifices with the deceased kings. This was because the human king was regarded as the son of the emperor, and communication between heaven and man was realized through sharing. The king's power was further confirmed by heaven, and the originally empty sacrifice to heaven was consolidated. The specific implementation of the content of the political power has become a political activity with important meaning. Although this kind of effort to communicate between heaven and man may seem too primitive and rigid today, in ancient times, especially when politics were relatively clear and the economy was developing smoothly, its role in unifying thoughts and uniting people cannot be underestimated. Just imagine, the sacrificial process proceeds slowly to the tune of a music song (here it is "Siwen") (according to Wang Guowei's "Ode to Zhou"), and the short lyrics are repeated over and over again. The atmosphere is so solemn, and people will feel like they are surrounded by magical power. Under the control of God, the pride and honor of participating in the ceremony and the piety of shouldering the mission of God are closely integrated here.

Because of this, Houji’s merits of pioneering farming and raising the people were also accomplished under God’s instructions: “The emperor ordered education.” From the perspective of the creative structure, there is a gap between “Heaven” and “Emperor” It is a kind of close connection and echo; in terms of creative intention, it is also a conscious deepening of the impression of communication between heaven and man. After the formation of the concept of "man's determination to conquer heaven", the ideas of communication and induction between heaven and man still persisted and always occupied an orthodox position, let alone before its formation. At the time when "Si Wen" was produced, the communication between heaven and man should have had a strong infectious power even without any artistic means (of course, this does not mean that "Si Wen" has no artistic quality).

At that time, the Western Zhou Dynasty was already a political power that dominated the world. "There is no such boundary, and Chen Chang is in the summer" is naturally an authoritative declaration, but it is also a kind of gentleness that upholds the destiny of the people and educates all the people. A prosperous and progressive regime will not forget to establish virtue while establishing its power, and the Western Zhou Dynasty regime also maintained this wisdom.