God said to king Wan [1], 'Be not like those who reject this and cling to that; Be not like those who are ruled by their likings and desires;' So he grandly ascended before others to the height (of virtue). The people of Mî [2] were disobedient, Daring to oppose our great country, And invaded Yüan, marching to Kung[3]. The king rose, majestic in his wrath; He marshalled his troops, To stop the invading foes; To consolidate the prosperity of Kâu; To meet the expectations of all under heaven.
He remained quietly in the capital, But (his troops) went on from the borders of Yüan. They ascended our lofty ridges, And (the enemy) arrayed no forces on our hills, On our hills, small or large, Nor drank at our springs, Our springs or our pools. He then determined the finest of the plains, And settled on the south of Khî[4], On the banks of
[1. The statement that 'God spake to king Wan,' repeated in stanza 7, vexes the Chinese critics, and they find in it simply an intimation that Wan's conduct was 'in accordance with the will of Heaven.' I am not prepared to object to that view of the meaning; but it is plain that the writer, in giving such a form to his meaning, must have conceived of God as a personal Being, knowing men's hearts, and able to influence them.
2. Mî or Mî-hsü was a state in the present King-ning Kâu, of Phing-liang department, Kan-sû.
3. Yüan was a state adjacent to Mî,--the present King Kâu, and Kung must have been a place or district in it.
4 Wan, it appears, made now a small change in the site of his capital, but did not move to Fang, where he finally settled.]
the Wei, The centre of all the states, The resort of the lower people.
God said to king Wei, 'I am pleased with your intelligent virtue, Not loudly proclaimed nor pourtrayed, Without extravagance or changeableness, Without consciousness of effort on your part, In accordance with the pattern of God.' God said to king Wan, 'Take measures against the country of your foes. Along with your 'brethren, Get ready your scaling ladders, And your engines of onfall and assault, To attack the walls of Khung[1].'
The engines of onfall and assault were (at first) gently plied, Against the walls of Khung high sand great; Captives for the question were brought in, one after another; The left ears (of the slain) were taken leisurely [2]. He had sacrificed to God and to the Father of War [3], Thus seeking to induce
[1. Khung was a state, in the present district of Hû, department Hsî-an, Shen-hsî. His conquest of Khung was an important event in the history of king Win. He moved his capital to it, advancing so much farther towards the east, nearer to the domain of-Shang. According to Sze-mg Khien the marquis of Khung had slandered the lord of Kâu, who was president of the states of the west, to Kâu-hsin, the king of Shang, and our hero was put in prison. His friends succeeded in effecting his deliverance by means of various gifts to the tyrant, and he was reinstated In the west with more than his former power. Three years afterwards he attacked the marquis of Khung.