Shijing question for readers of Chinese

[hilary]

About Song 245, the one on the conception and birth of Houji, Lord Millet.

Legge's translation:

"When she had fulfilled her months ,
Her first-born son [came forth] like a lamb .
There was no bursting , nor rending ,
No injury , no hurt ; --
Showing how wonderful he would be .
Did not God give her the comfort ?
Had He not accepted her pure offering and sacrifice ,
So that thus easily she brought forth her son ?"

Clear enough... she made offerings to Di, God, and God was pleased, and so the birth of Houji was miraculous. Another example of humans and gods being in harmony in the golden age.

Then I find the same Song being used by Michael Puett as an example of humans - Hou Ji's mother - pitched against Di. First she made the offering to compel Di to descend so she could become pregnant. Then her son was born with divine powers:

'And then she completed her months,
The first giving birth was like sprouting.
[There occurred] no bursting, no rending.
without injury, without harm,
Thereby manifesting his numinous nature (ling)'

But Di is really not pleased:

'The high Di was not serene
And not pleased with the yin and si sacrifices.
[But] tranquilly she gave birth to the child.'

Puett further suggests that it's because of Di's anger that Hou Ji had to be abandoned. (He says his translation owes a lot to Karlgren's. Does anyone know how he translated this bit?)

So. Major translation problem here...

'The high Di was not serene
And not pleased with the yin and si sacrifices.'

- translates the same lines as

'Did not God give her the comfort ?
Had He not accepted her pure offering and sacrifice ,
So that thus easily she brought forth her son ?'

And in Waley's version, the negative disappears altogether. It's really quite eerie to watch the meaning 'morph'.

I wish the Chinese would post here, but it won't. It does contain the negative, bu, and to the completely-untutored eye, it looks like Di not being pleased. It's online at
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/chinese/shijing/AnoShih.html
- you can go straight to it by searching the page for '245' and skimming down 5 lines.

So... is the seminal story of the Zhou's first ancestor a story of a cunning woman appropriating Di's power against his will? (A bit like Yu's father Gun, but with more success?) Or of harmony and divine blessing? This might make a difference to a few Yi interpretations - not least Hexagram 10, whose name appears in this Song.

 

[cal val]

Hilary...

I've got Waley's Shijing at home (which I ordered through your site btw). And I just printed out your post to take home with me to compare. Ya made me look... *grin*

I'm curious as can be about this Puett book. It sounds delicious, and I want to order it. Do you have an amazon link set up for it, so you can get credit? If so, please direct me at your earliest conveience.

Thanks!

Love,

Val

 

[hilary]

Um, yes.
'God on high gave her ease.
So blessed were her sacrifice and prayer
That easily she bore her child.'

A little different from 'the high Di was not serene' etc.

Where are Brad and Harmen when you need them?

The Michael Puett book - ah, you need to read the blog (where I wrote about Yi persuading me to buy it).

The book ranges from Shang to Western Han, so it naturally begins with the belief system behind scapulimancy, and later on will get to a lot of ideas familiar from the Wings. (There's a section on the Dazhuan in its historical context, at a time when some writers were arguing against divination. (Haven't got to that bit, though: only just read as far as the Zhou conquest.)

It's a strictly academic tome, the kind that feels obliged to list everyone else's theory scrupulously before getting on to what the author might think (sometimes just in a footnote). The discussion of how the ancient Chinese thought seems secondary at times to the discussion of how scholars categorise and reason about the ancient Chinese.

No Amazon link, sorry. I normally only get round to those after writing a review - which could take a while with this one.

Michael J Puett
To Become a god: Cosmology, sacrifice, and self-divinization in early China
Harvard-Yenching Institute monographs series 57.

I wish you good teeth.

 

[cal val]

LOL...

Line 27.2 The hillocks of the molars are not worn down. Must be a young one.

LOL...

The Yi gave me an answer this morning to your good wishes, and I didn't realize it until just now. I asked the Yi a question and the answer was 27.2. I read Rutt's book (I had it out with the others looking for interpretations of 14.1 for Candid's CHF), and it didn't really relate as an answer except to indicate the person's approximate age (approximate being young versus old... *grin*) which I already knew. Then I read your post... and burst out laughing when I got to the last line...

I wish you good teeth too.

I have thoughts on "trod on the toe of God's footprint" in a bit. First I want to put the Chinese version of the ode to the sage young man who so far has enjoyed translating my offerings. Let's hope he's still in the mood. I'm excited to explore the possibilities here.

Love,

Val

 

[yly2pg1]

The first birth of [our] people

Hou ji

 

[yly2pg1]

jue2

Whay 'fainting' has to do with 'the beginning of time'? Lacking of air?

 

[yly2pg1]

The legend of Hou ji ... story

 

[yly2pg1]

It is said Hou Ji's mother, Jiang Yuan steps into a Giant's step one day in the countryside ,and after this incident conceives and gives birth to Hou Ji.

Believing the bad omen this child might bring about, Jiang Yuan has abondoned Hou Ji on several occasions but failed ... When he grows up, his name "Hou Ji" was awarded by the Emperor Shun4 for his talent and contributions in agriculture.

 

[hilary]

Aha... a Chinese speaker! The question here isn't so much what Jiang Yuan did or what became of Hou Ji - all the translations are agreed on that. The question is what Di thought of it all.

Now... how do you get Chinese text to display here...?

上 帝 不 寧 。 不 康 禋 祀

Question: was Di happy?

 

[yly2pg1]

(1)how do you get Chinese text to display here...?

(2)was Di happy?

I go through the 'whole paragraph' several times, i think the key lies in the last sentence prior to this one.

 

[yly2pg1]

 

[hilary]

The two translations also interpret that preceding sentence very differently. Puett says 'manifesting his numinous nature' meaning the nature of Hou Ji, which meant he could be born without harm to his mother. Waley says,
'To make manifest his magic power,
God on High gave her ease.'
(Note magically-disappearing bu)
Ie he thinks the quality is Di's; Puett thinks it's Hou Ji's.

 

[cal val]

Hi Hilary...

I finally got around to reading your blog. And I loved it. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that bookstore.

I had just finished reading it and was in the process of opening amazon.com to buy the book when a new employee came in to be interviewed for a bio I'm writing on him for our website. I was trying to disengage from the whole book buying process and shift into the writing process when I said to him, "Quick! Give me a number between 1 and 64." He said 5... because it was his favorite number. I had to laugh because I had no other option. I HAD to wait! At least until the interview was finished. And now... with no further interruptions... I'm going to buy the book.

Thanks!

Love,

Val

 

[yly2pg1]

ling2 means souls/spirit or intelligence.

Refer to the meaning of jue2 i posted above.
jue2 also means Its/His but the usage is rarely used to refer ordinary people.

The combination of both characters gives:
jue2_ling2: His soul

and also implies the meaning
The souls of a specific group of being (which will faint in earth surroundings)- the DI species

 

[yly2pg1]

To show the grandness and power of His clique/species, Di has to sacrifice his time and effort to help Jiang Yuan fulfills her wish to give birth to Hou Ji, without accepting the offers.

 

[yly2pg1]

When she had fulfilled her months ,
Her first-born son [came forth] like a lamb .
There was no bursting , nor rending ,
No injury , no hurt ;

Could be advanced cearsarian delivery?

 

[hilary]

So you think the ling is Di's, not Hou Ji's - but you also think he wasn't pleased and didn't accept the offerings. Well, well. That makes 3 interpretations.

The miraculous birth without injury - reminds me of the birth of Christ. Maybe it's a standard mythological motif.

 

[lindsay]

Puett is wrong: Di was indeed pleased by the birth of Hou Ji. Three lines of analysis ? independent of the inconclusive morass of Chinese historical linguistics ? support this claim: (1) tradition, (2) textual evidence, and (3) historical considerations.

Before proceeding to the argument, let me say Puett is correct about one thing: there is an enigma at the heart of Song 245. One needs to see a bit more of the song than Hilary quoted to see the problem. I have found to fresh and reliable translations of 245 in two sources that are currently authoritative. The first occurs in Anne Birrell?s ?Chinese Mythology? (pp. 117-118), where there is a discussion of how the miraculous birth of Hou Ji fits in with world-wide typology of mythological themes. Suffice it to say that Anne Birrell thinks the logic of myth requires Di to be pleased. A second rendering of 245 can be found in Stephen Owen?s remarkable ?An Anthology of Chinese Literature, Beginnings to 1911? (Norton, 1996). Owen is Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Harvard University. His anthology has an extensive chapter devoted to presenting key documents of the Zhou Founding, one of which is Song 245 (pp. 12-14):

She who first bore the folk ?
Jiang it was, First Parent.
How was it she bore the folk? ?
she knew the rite and sacrifice.
To rid herself of sonlessness
she trod the god?s toeprint
and she was glad.
She was made great, on her luck settled,
the seed stirred, it was quick.
She gave birth, she gave suck,
and this was Lord Millet.

When her months had come to term,
her firstborn sprang up.
Not splitting, not rending,
working no hurt, no harm.
He showed his godhead glorious,
the high god was greatly soothed.
He took great joy in those rites
and easily she bore her son.

She set him in a narrow lane,
but sheep and cattle warded him.
She set him in the wooded plain,
he met with those who logged the plain.
She set him on cold ice,
birds sheltered him with wings.
Then the birds left him
and Lord Millet wailed.
This was long and this was loud;
his voice was a mighty one.

These three stanzas are the first half of Song 245, but already the problem is evident. In stanza 2 we see Di ?greatly soothed? and showing ?great joy? in Hou Ji?s conception and birth ? but in stanza 3 the baby?s mother Jiang tries to abandon him three times ? in a narrow lane, in the forest, and on the ice in the wilderness. Each time Hou Ji is saved miraculously by wild animals or rough men.

Why would Jiang abandon Hou Ji, her first-born son, the son of Di? That is the big question. But why is it important?

This question takes on special poignancy and importance in the light of Song 300 (Waley #251, pp. 269-270):

Holy is the Closed Temple,
Vast and mysterious;
Glorious was Jiang Yuan,
Her power was without flaw.
God on high succoured her;
Without hurt, without harm,
Fulfilling her months, but not late,
She bore Hou Ji,
Who brought down many blessings,
Millet for wine, millet for cooking, the early planted and the late planted,
The early ripening and the late ripening, beans and corn.
He took possession of all lands below,
Setting the people to husbandry.
They had their millet for wine, their millet for cooking.
Their rice, their black millet.
He took possession of all the earth below,
Continuing the work of Yu.

Descendant of Hou Ji
Was the Great King
Who lived on the southern slopes of Mount Qi
And began to trim the Shang.
Till at last came King Wen and King Wu,
And continued the Great King?s task,
Fulfilled the wrath of Heaven
In the field of Mu ?

And so on. Two things are apparent from Song 300. First, Di ?succoured? Jiang and caused the birth of Hou Ji to be an easy one. It is pretty apparent Hou Ji had the approval of Heaven, which leads to the second point: Hou Ji is a direct ancestor of Wen and Wu. Just as Heaven loved Hou Ji, so too did Heaven favor his descendants, the Zhou. Political propaganda, anyone?

Lord Millet justified the legitimacy of the Zhou, explained why they (as opposed to others) received the Mandate of Heaven when Shang imploded from incompetence and corruption. None of this would make sense if Di was unhappy with the birth of Hou Ji. Now we know why the myth of Hou Ji was so important ? oh yes, there was the small matter of the invention of agriculture, too ? but Hou Ji was a lynchpin in the rationale of the Zhou establishment showing divine favor.

There is one more important account of Di, Jiang, and Hou Ji written much later in the ?Chronicles of Zhou? section of Sima Qian?s ?Historical Records? (ca. 145-85 BC). Again, I quote Owen (pp. 14-15), although Birrell (p. 118) has the same passage:

?Lord Millet (Hou Ji) of Zhou has the given name Qi, ?the Castoff.? His mother was the daugher of the ruler of Tai and was named Jiang ?Yuan? [?first parent?]. Jiang was the principal consort of Emperor Gao. Jiang Yuan went forth into the wilderness and saw the print of a huge man. Her heart was filled with delight and she wanted to step into it. When she stepped into it, her body stirred like one pregnant. After her term, she bore a son. She thought of him as ill-omened and cast him away into a narrow lane, but the horses and cattle that passed by stood out of his way and did not step on him. She moved him and put him in the forest, but he encountered many people in the forest. She carried him elsewhere and cast him on the ice of a ditch, but birds in flight came to cover him with their wings. Then Jiang Yuan thought of him as a god, took him back, and raised him. Since she had first wished to cast him off, she named him Qi, the Castoff.?

Here is the official answer to the riddle of why Jiang abandoned Hou Ji. Not because Di was displeased, but because Jiang was under the delusion that Di was displeased. Jiang regarded the baby as ?ill-omened? and tried to abandon Hou Ji three times. Note that outright infanticide, a common practice in China, was not contemplated. Instead, Hou Ji was put in harm?s way, and each time Heaven intervened to save him miraculously. What better could show the favor of Di to the Zhou?s great ancestor?

So I believe the truth is quite contrary to Mr. Puett?s interpretation. The documentary evidence supports my view (not his) as does tradition and the historical situation of the need to justify Zhou legitimacy.

 

[bruce]

I also see a comparative to the birth of Christ, as well as the birth of Moses. I do believe it is a standard mythological motif.

I?m surprised to see terms like ?holy?, ?God? and ?the God on high?. I was under the impression that no such words existed in ancient China.

Lindsay, thank you for making this palatable to this unliterary mind.

 

[hilary]

Very, very good stuff, Lindsay, thank you. I'd forgotten that Anne Birrell quoted the Song. Now I look it up, I see that she goes with Legge and takes the 'not' as a rhetorical question: 'did not God give her an easy birth, was he not well pleased with her sacrifice?' I wonder how Karlgren originally translated it... anyone got a copy?

I think Birrell refers to abandoned infant heroes as a common mythological motif (think Moses, or Romulus and Remus). Infants miraculously surviving trials are another (Heracles, Jesus). I wonder whether the original motif comes with reasons for abandonment, or whether it's always a post-hoc rationalisation to get an 'official answer'?

To be fair, I should give more of Puett's argument - I'm quoting the poor man out of context.

First, Jiang Yuan 'was able to perform the yin sacrifice, and she was able to perform the si sacrifice, so as to no longer be childless. She stepped on the big toe of Di's footprint...'
This, for Puett, implies that through her abilities with the sacrifices she made Di descend, so that she could step in his footprint and '[absorb] some of his potency.'

This meant Hou Ji was born with divine powers, and his birth was 'without injury, without harm, thereby manifesting his numinous nature.'

Di was angry - 'not serene', 'not pleased', in the simplest and most literal translation possible of those lines - because Jiang Yuan had used the sacrifices to make him descend. 'Hou Ji, in other words, was born of a transgression, in which Di's potency was appropriated through a deceitful use of the sacrifices.'

And that would explain why Jiang Yuan 'was forced to give up Hou Ji.'

...

Though I can't help noticing that it really doesn't explain why he was miraculously protected by animals and birds. I've never heard of the wills of earth and heaven being pitted against one another elsewhere in Chinese lore.

Heaven versus man is another matter, though. In Puett's version, Jiang Yuan reminds me of Gun, Yu's father - who stole the self-renewing soil to dam up the floodwaters.

Actually, this is also a precedent for a child becoming a hero, despite his parent going against heaven. Another would be Yi Yin, whose mother was a Chinese version of Lot's wife: told by a spirit in a dream to flee her city and not look back, she did indeed flee, but looked back after ten leagues. She was transformed into a hollow mulberry, and Yi Yin was found in the tree - and went on to an exemplary career as a good minister. So it's not impossible that Di could be angry with Jiang, but favour Hou Ji for his own innate qualities.

 

[lindsay]

Very persuasive, Hilary. I like the idea that Di may have been irked with Jiang Yuan for manipulating his power through the sacred rites, even though he also loved and protected his son Hou Ji. What punishment could be more exquisitely cruel than forcing Jiang to abandon her baby three times? That?s just the kind of thing that happens to people who try to trick the gods.

We need not think of Jiang Yuan as Lady Macbeth. It certainly takes a lot of effrontery or naivete to try to seduce God. Perhaps it was a case of Meng (Hex 4). I can almost hear Di saying, ?It is not I who seek the ignorant wench, the ignorant wench seeks me. . .?

From the point of view of Zhou, this sort of thing fit the bill perfectly. Always nice to have a whiff of scandalous color in the family tree. And imagine the cachet of having an illustrious ancestress who actually outwitted God himself! That?s almost as good as being descended from Hou Ji, inventor of beer (and therefore mankind?s benefactor). Clearly the Zhou were a family to reckon with.

With the Di/Jiang Yuan/Hou Ji story, we come very close to the spiritual life of the early Zhou. This stuff was in the air when the Zhouyi was composed. I would like to propose an idea. Hex. 38 has always seemed a little confused to me. The central idea just doesn?t seem to shine through oddly matched lines about lost horses, tattooed foreheads, mud-covered pigs, and wagons full of devils. Almost as though the various lines were lumped together from various sources under Kui.

Take Line 2, for example: ?One meets one?s lord in a narrow lane. No blame.? My mental picture always encompassed the embarrassment of meeting one?s boss in a compromising situation, like sneaking out of a brothel or engaged in illicit trade. But how many references can there be to ?narrow lanes? in ancient Chinese tradition? As we have seen, there is such a reference in Song 245, in which Hou Ji is abandoned in a ?narrow lane?. What if 38.2 is a reference to meeting one?s lord Hou Ji in a narrow lane? What would one do? Would one try to protect him or avoid contact? The situation is something like asking what one would do if one met the homeless baby Jesus searching for a place to stay in your town?

 

[yly2pg1]

So you think the ling is Di's, not Hou Ji's - but you also think he wasn't pleased and didn't accept the offerings.

Hmm...
I am not sure if Di is not pleased.
After all he does not need the offerings.

But I recapture something in the background of the story after i read through the thread again. It could be about DI's plan!

 

[yly2pg1]

quote:
There is one more important account of Di, Jiang, and Hou Ji written much later in the ?Chronicles of Zhou? section of Sima Qian?s ?Historical Records? (ca. 145-85 BC).

Sima Qian ...
This guy reminds me of Shan_Hai_Jing.

Yes!!!
Hou Ji also appears in the last paragraph of the last Chapter in Shan Hai Jing.

So, it could be true that there is a big plan underway then ... let me go thru Shan Hai Jing again, cotto matte.

 

[yly2pg1]

walk_history and Resume

 

[yly2pg1]

A research about Jiang Yuan by a student in Beijing University.

 

[yly2pg1]

Conclusions of the research:

 

[yly2pg1]

Tian Di is moved by Jiang Yuan's devotion
Thus He shows his step
Jiang Yuan walk on it (lu3)
Conceive and give birth to Hou Ji

[denoted by [17]]

 

[lindsay]

Want to be myth-informed?

 

[hilary]

Yly, could you possibly translate all those conclusions for us?

Thanks!

 

[hilary]

Lindsay - OUCH.
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