ODE 6. THE SZE KÂI.
THE VIRTUE OF WAN, WITH HIS FILIAL PIETY AND CONSTANT REVERENCE, AND THEIR WONDERFUL EFFECTS. THE EXCELLENT CHARACTER OF HIS MOTHER AND WIFE.
Pure and reverent was Thâi Zan[5], The mother of king Wan. Loving was she to Kâu Kiang [6];--
[1. As a cup of such quality was the proper receptacle for the yellow, herb-flavoured spirits, so was the character of Wan such that all blessing must accrue to him.
2. It is the nature of the hawk to fly and of fishes to swim, and so there went out an influence from Wan unconsciously to himself.
3. Red, we have seen, was the proper colour for victims in the ancestral temple of Kâu.
4. As it was natural for the people to take the wood and use it, so it was natural for the spirits of his ancestors, and spiritual beings generally, to bless king Wan.
5. Thâi Zan is celebrated, above, in the second ode.
6. Kâu Kiang is 'the lady Kiang' of ode 3, the wife of Than-fû or king Thâi, who came with him from Pin. She is here called Kâu, as having married the lord of Kâu.]
A wife becoming the House of Kâu. Thâi Sze [1] inherited her excellent fame, And from her came a hundred sons [2].