Classic Poem

In long trains ever increasing grow the gourds
When our people first sprang,
From the country about the Cu and the Qi rivers,
The ancient duke Tanfu,
Made for them kiln-like huts and caves,
Ere they had yet any houses.

The ancient duke Tanfu
Came in the morning, galloping his horses,
Along the banks of the western rivers,
To the foot of Mount Qi;
And there, he and the lady Jiang
Came, and together looked for a site on which to settle.

The plain of Zhou looked beautiful and rich,
With its violets and sowthistles sweet as dumplings.
There he began with consulting his followers;
There he singed the tortoise-shell, and divined
The responses were — there to stay, and then;
And they proceeded there to build their houses.

The plain of Zhou looked beautiful and rich,
With its violets and sowthistles sweet as dumplings.
There he began with consulting his followers;
There he singed the tortoise-shell, and divined
The responses were — there to stay, and then;
And they proceeded there to build their houses.

He called his superintendent of works;
He called his minister of instruction;
And charged them with the building of the houses
With the line they made everything straight;
They bound the frame-boards tight, so that they should rise regularly.
Uprose the ancestral temple in its solemn grandeur.

Crowds brought the earth in baskets;
They threw it with shouts into the frames;
They beat it with responsive blows;
They pared the walls repeatedly, and they sounded strong
Five thousand cubits of them arose together,
So that the roll of the great drum did not overpower
The noise of the builders.

They set up the gate of the enceinte ;
And the gate of the enceinte stood high
They set up the court gate;
And the court gate stood grand.
They reared the great altar to the Spirits of the land,
From which all great movements should proceed.

Thus though he could not prevent the rage of his foes,
He did not let fall his own fame
The oaks and the yi trees were gradually thinned,
And roads for travelling were opened
The hordes of the Kun disappeared,
Startled and panting.

The chiefs of Yu and Rui were brought to an agreement,
By King Wen's stimulating their natural virtue.
Then, I may say, some came to him, previously not knowing him;
And some, drawn the last by the first;
And some, drawn by his rapid successes;
And some, by his defence of the weak from insult.