The 3d dynasty, the one that
followed
the Shang, is known as the Chou dynasty.
A-Companion-to-the-Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound-II
XXIV, 54].
Bona- giunta of Lucca asks Dante if he is the one "who brought forth new rhymes, beginning: Ladies that have understanding of love?
" Dante answers him, "I am one who, when Love inspires me, takes note, and goes set?
ting it forth after the fashion which he dic- tates within me" [Singleton].
137. Cheou . . . aerumnas: L, "Chou inflicts calamities. " This Chou is the last emperor of the Shang dynasty. In the spring at the ford of Meng, Wu Wang spoke to his officers and people: "Heaven and earth are the parents of all things; and of all things, man alone has reason. He who is most intelligent and per? spicacious becomes the supreme sovereign; and the supreme sovereign becomes the par? ents of the people. Now Chou [Che6u], the emperor of Shang, does not stand in awe of heaven above and inflicts calamities on the people below. " .
138. Ideogram: Ts'oung, ts'ung [M6916], "astute. "
139. Ideogram: Tan [M6048]'''sincere. ''
140. Ideogram: Ming [M4534], "intelli- gent. " This character is central to Pound's idea of divinity manifesting itself through the intelligence of man [CON, 20].
141. tso iuen heou: French for tso [M6780], "to make"; yuan [M7707], 'Ichief, great"; hou [M2144J, "king. " "To be a great sovereign. "
142. "Gentlemen . . . : King Wu (chief ruler of the West) went On to tell his people (from the western states) more reasons why heaven desired him to overthrow the emperor and become ruler of all the Middle Kingdom. Legge translates: "Oh' my valiant men of the West, Heaven has enjoined the illustrious courses of duty, of which the several charac? ters are quite plain. "
112. chung . . . : Chung
result"; wang [M70451, "in vain"; hsien
[M2692], "seems. " "The result seems to have been in vain. "
113. Imperator . . .
peror. Just as wine and must" [see 115 below].
114. directio: L, "direction," Evokes "di? rection of the will," a major theme of the poem. The word does not occur in Cou- vreur's Latin. Instead of combining it with "voluntatis," as he usually does [77:57], Pound combines it here with a Chinese word for will: "tcheu," or chih [M971], "determi- nation; will. "
115. fennentum . . . : L, "fermentation and fruit [seeds/grain]. " These words, along with the Latin in 113 above, are fragments of a whole sentence of Kao Tsung to Vueh which says: "Be to me as the yeast and the malt in making sweet spirits; as the salt and the prunes in making agreeable soup. "
116. study . . . hawk: More ofYueh's advice to the emperor.
117. tao tsi: French translation for tao [M6136], "truth" and chi [M500], "store up. "
118. T? xv7]: H [context of 49 above], "skill in an art. "
[MI500],
"the end
mustum: L,
"The ern?
? 476
85/552-554
85/554-555
477
143. Ideogram: Hsien [M2692], "mani- fest. " Legge translates as "quite plain"; Pound says "perfectly clear. "
144. Ideogram: Wu [M7195], "warlike; fierce. " The title of the first ruler of the Chou dynasty. One day Wu came to the borders of Shang and addressed his army: "In his left had he carried a battle-axe, yel- low with gold, and in his right he held a white ensign, which he brandished, saying, 'Far are ye come; ye men of the Western regions. ' "
145. "e canta la gallina"; I, "and the hen crows. " Couvreur's Latin gives "Gallinae rna? tutinus cantus est domus exinanitio. " In French, "Le chant de la paule Ie matin an- nonce la ruine de la famille" ("The crowing of a hen in the morning indicates the ruin of the family"). King Wu [in the speech in 144 above] is showing that Emperor Chou ("Cheou" in the canto) erred in following the counsel of his women rather than at? tempting to follow the will of heaven. Pound may have put it in Italian because the phrase recalled an old "skipping rope song": "trene? ta, quaranta / la gallina canta / e canta nel pollaio, / e cana nel cortile" [Mondolfo, Pai,
3-2, 286].
146. ganged up: Wu accuses Chou of having for ministers and officers men "who are only the vagabonds of the empire, loaded with crimes . . . making them great officers and nobles. "
147. "6 steps . . . fugitives": Wu's speech to the army continues with instructions on how to fight: "In today's business, do not ad- vance more than six blows, or seven blows; and then stop and adjust your ranks. . . . Do not rush on those who fly to us in sllb~ mission. "
concern the 'decisive battle at which King Wu defeated the forces of Cheou: "[Cheou] led forward his hosts like a forest, and as~ sembled them in the wilderness of Muh. "
151. quasi silvam convenit: L, "like a forest assembled. "
152. jo lin: Jo [M3126], "like. " Ideogram: lin [M4022], "forest. " "Like a forest. "
153. "Liking . . . no man. ": The sources not provide this precise sentence, which may be Pound's summary judgment of the ac~ tions ofWu.
154. The 4th part: Refers to Book IV, Part IV of Couvreur's Chou King, which is called "The Great Plan. " The chapter con- cerns details, "marginalia," about the duties of government.
. . .
156. T'oung . . . chenn: Ideogram: t'ung [M6618], "pain"; Ideogram: kuan [M3560], "cause distress"; Ideogram: nai [M4612], "however"; Ideogram: shen [M5718], "the body. " King Wu is giving advice to his younger brother, Fung: "Oh! ' " Fung . . . it is as if some disease were in your person. . . . Where you go, employ all your heart. "
157. ou iu chouei: French for wu [M7180], "not"; yu [M7643]' "in"; shui [M5922]' "water. "
[M839],
glass of other people. " And then asks: "Ought we not to look much to it as our glass, and learn how to secure the repose of Ollr time. "
162. Ideogram: T'u [M6532], "land"; Ideo- gram: chung [M1504], "center. " These two characters begin a break in the text from Chap. X to Chap. XII of Couvreur. The duke of Chou is telling the king to bring his gov- ernment to the city of Lo, "the center of the land. " In the text these characters are sepa~ rated from the following ones, which are "gists" and do not form a sentence.
163. Ideogram: Tan [M6037], "dawn. " Here the name of the duke of Chou. Ideo- gram: Yueh [M7694], "said". "Tan said. "
164. Ideogram: P'ei [M5019], "worthy"; Ideogram: huang [M2283], "sovereign. " These characters do not occur together in the Chinese text of Couvreur. Pound may want them construed as "mate of heaven. " Legge gives: "Tan said, 'Now that this great city has been built, from henceforth he [the king] may be the mate of great heaven. ' "
165. XIII, 9: Couvreur, Chap. XlII, sec. 9 of Book IV.
166. k'i p'eng: Ideogram: ch'i [M525], "his"; Ideogram: p'eng [M5054], "compan- ion"; 1<: huo [M2395], "fire"; cho (~"a) [MI256], "burn. " The duke of Chou is giv- ing advice to his young son and says he should have friends and companions but not have favorites or be partial or indulgent: "If you do so, the consequences hereafter will be like a fire, which . . . blazes up, and by and by cannot be extinguished. "
167. Ideogram: Ching [M1l38], "rever- ence. " The duke tells his son if he will "Go and be reverent," one of his rewards will be "to know the sincere. "
168. Tch'eng T'ang: Ch'eng T'ang [53:40], with the gold engraved bathtub, who was the founder of the Shang dynasty.
169. X: ko [M3358], "spear. " This char- acter does not appear alone in the Couvreur text but as a component in the next charac~
ter, pj(: ch'eng [M379], "to perfect. " r~: t'ang [M6101], "hot water. " The founder of the Shang dynasty. Thus Pound put together some elements that say: "With his spear, Tch'eng T'ang overthrew Hia. "
170. Hia: The Hsia dynasty, 2205-1766.
171. Praestantissimos . . . : L, "most out~ standing men to rule. " The Latin and Chi~ nese tags in this and the next several lines are from a speech by the duke of Chou, who, in an address to the remaining officers of the house of Shang, enumerates those character~ istics of the deposed Shang dynasty upon which the new Chou dynasty (founded by Wu Wang) has been established: (I) an origi- nal charge from heaven, (2) rule only by the best-qualified men, (3) the emperor's desire to make virtue illustrious throughout the empire, (4) attention to the sacrifices and to the favor of god, and (5) a sincere attempt by the emperor always to manifest a good~ ness corresponding to that of heaven. The ultimate object is the welfare (tranquillity) of the people. Pound incorporates all these characteristics into the sensibility (ling2 ) , which he subsequently defines as "the feel
of the people" [86/560].
172. Ideogram: Tien [M6350], "to rule. "
173. Ti I: Penultimate emperor of the Shang dynasty, 1191-1154.
174. nullus . . . -sociavit: L, "Everyone made it [virtue] illustrious. Everyone allied him- self [with the will of heaven]. "
175. ut benefaceret: L, "so that he might benefit. "
176. k'i tche: French for ch'i [M525], "his"; che [M277], "benefit. "
177. Tcheou: Usually Pound gives Cou- vreur's "Cheou" for this last Shang emperor, Chou Hsin. Do not be confused.
The 3d dynasty, the one that followed the Shang, is known as the Chou dynasty. Its first king was Wu Wang, who was honored and served by the duke of Chou. These people are not to be confused with this Chou, who is the last, weak emperor of Shang, Chou Hsin.
French "cheu," chih [M939], "stop". ,deogram: T'si, Ch'i
[M560], "adjust. "
149. n. i tcheu t'si: "And then stop and adjust [your ranks]. "
150. Cheou's host . . . jo lin: These lines
148. Ideogram:
155. Liu dogs
Part V is entitled "Le Chien de Liu" [Legge, "The Hounds of Liu"]. In it, the grand counselor Cheu advises King Wu not to ac~ cept the hounds as a gift from tribes under his rule.
: Couvreur
Book IV,
158. Ideogram:
min [M4508], "mankind" or "the people. "
159. Ideogram: "oversee. ) J
Kien,
chien
Transcription
error for
160. 10. 12: Chap. X, sec. 12, of Part IV, Couvreur.
161. . . . thy mirrour . . . : Wu tells Fung that the Ancients have said: "Let not men look only into water; let them look into the
do
R,
~
1
? 478
85/555-557
85/557-558
479
178. Ling2 : [cf. I and 133 above].
179. Ideogram: P'i [M5137]' "great. " This goes with the ideogram for ling on the previ- ous page: "great sensibility" [cf. 9 above].
180. The arrow . . . points: A thematic statement for The Cantos as a whole, and the point of 85 in particular. The Chou King (or Book ofHistory) is made up of a number of odes. Said Pound: "The Master Kung col- lected the Odes and the historical documents of the ancient kings, which he considered instruments worthy of preservation.
"We find two forces in history: one that divides, shatters, and kills, and one that con- templates the unity of the mystery. 'The arrow hath not two points. ' There is the force that falsifies, the force that destroys every clearly delineated symbol, dragging man into a maze of abstract arguments, de- stroying not one but every religion" [A Vi- siting Card, 1942; SP, 306]. Legge gives the king's remark as: "We have followed no double aims. " Maybe "have not gone in two directions" would be closer.
181. pou eul cheu: French for pu [M5379], "not"; Ideogram: erh [M1752], "double"; shih [M5822], "go. " "Two directions. "
182. "0 "numbreux officiers: F, "0 numer- ous officers," The title of a chapter in Cou- vreur and a phrase used often by the duke of Chou as he addresses the officers of the conquered Shang dynasty.
Shang, who ruled 1324-1265. Just as with ''T'ai Meau" above, the characters to the left are his name: Ideogram: Wu [M7195] ;Ideo- gram: Ting [M6381].
188. cognovit aerurnnas: L, "He has known hardships. " The phrase does not corne from the relevant Latin of Cauvreur, but it applies to both the ancient emperors just cited as well as to Tsou Kia, to come. In their early years they "toiled away. , . from the court" and "lived among the inferior people" and, indeed, knew hardships. These experiences later made them compassionate rulers.
189. T s a u KIA: Legge gives us: "In the case of Tsoo~Kea, he . . . was at first one of the inferior people. When he came to the throne, he understood the law of the sup- port of the inferior people, and was able to exercise a protecting kindness towards their
to the new. Pound conceives one of the functions of The Cantos as to pass on the tradition-the great tradition. But in this case it is the tradition of the East that he would pass on to the West. As he stated it at 13/60: "The blossoms of the apricot / blow from the east to the west, / And I have tried to keep them from falling" [13:32].
194. Sagetrieb: G, a Pound-invented word that has had a number of interpretations. David Gordon, having had the benefit of hearing Pound talk about it in the context of writing both Rock-Drill and Thrones, says it means "Pass on the tradition. "
195. Ideogram: Cheu, shih [M5780], "de- pends"; Ideogram: ngo [M4778], "1, me, we, us. " "It depends on us. "
196. XVI. 4: Chap. XVI, sec. 4, Couvreur, where we read: "O! you said, 0 Prince, 'It depends on ourselves. ' I also do not dare to rest in the favour of God. "
197. We flop . . . : Pound's
Legge's sentence continued from above: "The favour of Heaven is not easily pre- served. Heaven is hard to be depended on. Men lose its favouring appointment because they cannot pursue and carry out the rever- ence and brilliant virtue of their fore- fathers. "
198. Diuturna . . . : L, "Think of the fu- ture. " Sec. 10 Couvreur, goes on: "Think of the distant future, and we shall have the decree in favour of Chou made sure. "
199. respect . . . men: Legge: "If you can but reverently cultivate your virtue, and bring to light our men of eminence, then you will resign to some successor in a time of established security. "
200. Ideogram: Ming [M4534], here "train"; ngo [cf. 195 above), "our"; Ideo- gram: tsiun (chun) [Mln7], "superior," or "fit. " Couvreur has the character for "men"
[M4508] in this group.
means "will of God" or "life-destiny. " Pound believes that divinity manifests in the intelligence of all men great and small. The duke of Chou is explaining why the Hsia dynasty fell: "God sent down correction on Hea, but the sovereign only increased his luxury and sloth, and would not speak kind- ly to the people. . . . He kept reckoning on the decree of God in his favour, and would not promote the means of the people's support. "
202. subsidia: L, "support. "
203. "And don't pester . . . fights": Legge gives us, politely; "Do not err in regard to the litigations aqd precautionary measures;-let the proper officers regulate them. " The numbers in the margins refer to the appropriate chapters and sections of Couvreur.
204. Hio Kim jou kouan: Legge says: "Study antiquity in order to enter on your offices. " Pound likes his "mot juste" line better.
205. Ideogram: Touan, tuan, [M6547]: "stop" or "cut off. " In the Ta Hsio ("Ta Seu"), Pound translates this character as "cut the cackle" because he sees the right component as an ax and the left components as the archives tied up with silk [CON, 77].
. . .
183. Imperator affirms. "
ait: L, "The
emperor
184. Ideogram: I [M3037], "city. " Here the new capital of Lo.
185. Iterum dieD: L, "I say again. "
207. nor laws . . . : Legge
on your power to exercise oppression; do not rely on the laws to practise extortion. "
208. Not all things . . . : Legge: "Be not passionate with the obstinate, and dislike them. Seek not every quality in one indi- vidual. "
209. Ideogram: Pei4 [M4997], "prepare. " This character appears in the passage from which 208 is cited.
186. T A l MEOU: Posthumous
Teheou Koung (Chung-Tsung), 7th emperor of the Shang dynasty, who ruled 1637-1562. T'ai [M6020], a term of respect in titles; Ideogram: Meou Wu [M7197], "Heavenly Stem,"
187. au TING: Posthumous title of Kao Tsoung (Kaou-tsung), 20th emperor of the
title of
masses . . . .
joyed the throne for thirty years. "
Thus it was that
190. Ideogram: Wei [M7066], "only";
Ideogram: Cheng [M351], "right"; Ideo- gram: chih [M935], personal pronoun; Ideo- gram: kung [M3710], "contribution. " From a statement about King Wan: "from the vari- ous states he received only the right amount of contribution," "Contribution" is a word for taxes. King Wan taxed justly and "en- joyed the throne for fifty years. "
191. invicem docentes: L, "teaching and learning in turn. "
192. Ideogram: Siu, hsil [M2835], "all, to- gether. "
193. Ideogram: Chlao, kia6 [M719], "teach, instruct. " This character has particu- lar implications. Pound uses it along with "Sagetrieb," the German word he created to mean "pass on the tradition. " The word and phrase have moral and social implications. It is the moral duty of this generation to pass on the wisdom received from the previous generation to the young of the next. That was what Confucius did. He gathered the best of all the odes and history and music from the old generation and organized it into new forms so that it could be passed on
rendition of
Tsoo-Kea en-
'-
character,
ming2 [M4534] in 200 above. This one
201. Ideogram: This
[M4537], should not be confused with
ming4
206. A wareness
"Practise them [reverence and econo- my] . . . and your minds will be at ease. . . . Practise them in hypocrisy, and your minds will be toiled. "
fatiguing:
Legge says,
says: "Do not rely
? ? ? 480
210. Ideogram: Yung2 [M7560], "forbear-
anee. " This character is the ioung in the next gloss, which "is, in some cases, charity. "
211. IOU ioung te nai ta: Legge gives: "Have forbearance and your virtue will be great. "
212. Ideogram: Chong, sheng [M5738], "to beget, be born. " Ideogram: heou: hou [M2147], "virtuous, good.
137. Cheou . . . aerumnas: L, "Chou inflicts calamities. " This Chou is the last emperor of the Shang dynasty. In the spring at the ford of Meng, Wu Wang spoke to his officers and people: "Heaven and earth are the parents of all things; and of all things, man alone has reason. He who is most intelligent and per? spicacious becomes the supreme sovereign; and the supreme sovereign becomes the par? ents of the people. Now Chou [Che6u], the emperor of Shang, does not stand in awe of heaven above and inflicts calamities on the people below. " .
138. Ideogram: Ts'oung, ts'ung [M6916], "astute. "
139. Ideogram: Tan [M6048]'''sincere. ''
140. Ideogram: Ming [M4534], "intelli- gent. " This character is central to Pound's idea of divinity manifesting itself through the intelligence of man [CON, 20].
141. tso iuen heou: French for tso [M6780], "to make"; yuan [M7707], 'Ichief, great"; hou [M2144J, "king. " "To be a great sovereign. "
142. "Gentlemen . . . : King Wu (chief ruler of the West) went On to tell his people (from the western states) more reasons why heaven desired him to overthrow the emperor and become ruler of all the Middle Kingdom. Legge translates: "Oh' my valiant men of the West, Heaven has enjoined the illustrious courses of duty, of which the several charac? ters are quite plain. "
112. chung . . . : Chung
result"; wang [M70451, "in vain"; hsien
[M2692], "seems. " "The result seems to have been in vain. "
113. Imperator . . .
peror. Just as wine and must" [see 115 below].
114. directio: L, "direction," Evokes "di? rection of the will," a major theme of the poem. The word does not occur in Cou- vreur's Latin. Instead of combining it with "voluntatis," as he usually does [77:57], Pound combines it here with a Chinese word for will: "tcheu," or chih [M971], "determi- nation; will. "
115. fennentum . . . : L, "fermentation and fruit [seeds/grain]. " These words, along with the Latin in 113 above, are fragments of a whole sentence of Kao Tsung to Vueh which says: "Be to me as the yeast and the malt in making sweet spirits; as the salt and the prunes in making agreeable soup. "
116. study . . . hawk: More ofYueh's advice to the emperor.
117. tao tsi: French translation for tao [M6136], "truth" and chi [M500], "store up. "
118. T? xv7]: H [context of 49 above], "skill in an art. "
[MI500],
"the end
mustum: L,
"The ern?
? 476
85/552-554
85/554-555
477
143. Ideogram: Hsien [M2692], "mani- fest. " Legge translates as "quite plain"; Pound says "perfectly clear. "
144. Ideogram: Wu [M7195], "warlike; fierce. " The title of the first ruler of the Chou dynasty. One day Wu came to the borders of Shang and addressed his army: "In his left had he carried a battle-axe, yel- low with gold, and in his right he held a white ensign, which he brandished, saying, 'Far are ye come; ye men of the Western regions. ' "
145. "e canta la gallina"; I, "and the hen crows. " Couvreur's Latin gives "Gallinae rna? tutinus cantus est domus exinanitio. " In French, "Le chant de la paule Ie matin an- nonce la ruine de la famille" ("The crowing of a hen in the morning indicates the ruin of the family"). King Wu [in the speech in 144 above] is showing that Emperor Chou ("Cheou" in the canto) erred in following the counsel of his women rather than at? tempting to follow the will of heaven. Pound may have put it in Italian because the phrase recalled an old "skipping rope song": "trene? ta, quaranta / la gallina canta / e canta nel pollaio, / e cana nel cortile" [Mondolfo, Pai,
3-2, 286].
146. ganged up: Wu accuses Chou of having for ministers and officers men "who are only the vagabonds of the empire, loaded with crimes . . . making them great officers and nobles. "
147. "6 steps . . . fugitives": Wu's speech to the army continues with instructions on how to fight: "In today's business, do not ad- vance more than six blows, or seven blows; and then stop and adjust your ranks. . . . Do not rush on those who fly to us in sllb~ mission. "
concern the 'decisive battle at which King Wu defeated the forces of Cheou: "[Cheou] led forward his hosts like a forest, and as~ sembled them in the wilderness of Muh. "
151. quasi silvam convenit: L, "like a forest assembled. "
152. jo lin: Jo [M3126], "like. " Ideogram: lin [M4022], "forest. " "Like a forest. "
153. "Liking . . . no man. ": The sources not provide this precise sentence, which may be Pound's summary judgment of the ac~ tions ofWu.
154. The 4th part: Refers to Book IV, Part IV of Couvreur's Chou King, which is called "The Great Plan. " The chapter con- cerns details, "marginalia," about the duties of government.
. . .
156. T'oung . . . chenn: Ideogram: t'ung [M6618], "pain"; Ideogram: kuan [M3560], "cause distress"; Ideogram: nai [M4612], "however"; Ideogram: shen [M5718], "the body. " King Wu is giving advice to his younger brother, Fung: "Oh! ' " Fung . . . it is as if some disease were in your person. . . . Where you go, employ all your heart. "
157. ou iu chouei: French for wu [M7180], "not"; yu [M7643]' "in"; shui [M5922]' "water. "
[M839],
glass of other people. " And then asks: "Ought we not to look much to it as our glass, and learn how to secure the repose of Ollr time. "
162. Ideogram: T'u [M6532], "land"; Ideo- gram: chung [M1504], "center. " These two characters begin a break in the text from Chap. X to Chap. XII of Couvreur. The duke of Chou is telling the king to bring his gov- ernment to the city of Lo, "the center of the land. " In the text these characters are sepa~ rated from the following ones, which are "gists" and do not form a sentence.
163. Ideogram: Tan [M6037], "dawn. " Here the name of the duke of Chou. Ideo- gram: Yueh [M7694], "said". "Tan said. "
164. Ideogram: P'ei [M5019], "worthy"; Ideogram: huang [M2283], "sovereign. " These characters do not occur together in the Chinese text of Couvreur. Pound may want them construed as "mate of heaven. " Legge gives: "Tan said, 'Now that this great city has been built, from henceforth he [the king] may be the mate of great heaven. ' "
165. XIII, 9: Couvreur, Chap. XlII, sec. 9 of Book IV.
166. k'i p'eng: Ideogram: ch'i [M525], "his"; Ideogram: p'eng [M5054], "compan- ion"; 1<: huo [M2395], "fire"; cho (~"a) [MI256], "burn. " The duke of Chou is giv- ing advice to his young son and says he should have friends and companions but not have favorites or be partial or indulgent: "If you do so, the consequences hereafter will be like a fire, which . . . blazes up, and by and by cannot be extinguished. "
167. Ideogram: Ching [M1l38], "rever- ence. " The duke tells his son if he will "Go and be reverent," one of his rewards will be "to know the sincere. "
168. Tch'eng T'ang: Ch'eng T'ang [53:40], with the gold engraved bathtub, who was the founder of the Shang dynasty.
169. X: ko [M3358], "spear. " This char- acter does not appear alone in the Couvreur text but as a component in the next charac~
ter, pj(: ch'eng [M379], "to perfect. " r~: t'ang [M6101], "hot water. " The founder of the Shang dynasty. Thus Pound put together some elements that say: "With his spear, Tch'eng T'ang overthrew Hia. "
170. Hia: The Hsia dynasty, 2205-1766.
171. Praestantissimos . . . : L, "most out~ standing men to rule. " The Latin and Chi~ nese tags in this and the next several lines are from a speech by the duke of Chou, who, in an address to the remaining officers of the house of Shang, enumerates those character~ istics of the deposed Shang dynasty upon which the new Chou dynasty (founded by Wu Wang) has been established: (I) an origi- nal charge from heaven, (2) rule only by the best-qualified men, (3) the emperor's desire to make virtue illustrious throughout the empire, (4) attention to the sacrifices and to the favor of god, and (5) a sincere attempt by the emperor always to manifest a good~ ness corresponding to that of heaven. The ultimate object is the welfare (tranquillity) of the people. Pound incorporates all these characteristics into the sensibility (ling2 ) , which he subsequently defines as "the feel
of the people" [86/560].
172. Ideogram: Tien [M6350], "to rule. "
173. Ti I: Penultimate emperor of the Shang dynasty, 1191-1154.
174. nullus . . . -sociavit: L, "Everyone made it [virtue] illustrious. Everyone allied him- self [with the will of heaven]. "
175. ut benefaceret: L, "so that he might benefit. "
176. k'i tche: French for ch'i [M525], "his"; che [M277], "benefit. "
177. Tcheou: Usually Pound gives Cou- vreur's "Cheou" for this last Shang emperor, Chou Hsin. Do not be confused.
The 3d dynasty, the one that followed the Shang, is known as the Chou dynasty. Its first king was Wu Wang, who was honored and served by the duke of Chou. These people are not to be confused with this Chou, who is the last, weak emperor of Shang, Chou Hsin.
French "cheu," chih [M939], "stop". ,deogram: T'si, Ch'i
[M560], "adjust. "
149. n. i tcheu t'si: "And then stop and adjust [your ranks]. "
150. Cheou's host . . . jo lin: These lines
148. Ideogram:
155. Liu dogs
Part V is entitled "Le Chien de Liu" [Legge, "The Hounds of Liu"]. In it, the grand counselor Cheu advises King Wu not to ac~ cept the hounds as a gift from tribes under his rule.
: Couvreur
Book IV,
158. Ideogram:
min [M4508], "mankind" or "the people. "
159. Ideogram: "oversee. ) J
Kien,
chien
Transcription
error for
160. 10. 12: Chap. X, sec. 12, of Part IV, Couvreur.
161. . . . thy mirrour . . . : Wu tells Fung that the Ancients have said: "Let not men look only into water; let them look into the
do
R,
~
1
? 478
85/555-557
85/557-558
479
178. Ling2 : [cf. I and 133 above].
179. Ideogram: P'i [M5137]' "great. " This goes with the ideogram for ling on the previ- ous page: "great sensibility" [cf. 9 above].
180. The arrow . . . points: A thematic statement for The Cantos as a whole, and the point of 85 in particular. The Chou King (or Book ofHistory) is made up of a number of odes. Said Pound: "The Master Kung col- lected the Odes and the historical documents of the ancient kings, which he considered instruments worthy of preservation.
"We find two forces in history: one that divides, shatters, and kills, and one that con- templates the unity of the mystery. 'The arrow hath not two points. ' There is the force that falsifies, the force that destroys every clearly delineated symbol, dragging man into a maze of abstract arguments, de- stroying not one but every religion" [A Vi- siting Card, 1942; SP, 306]. Legge gives the king's remark as: "We have followed no double aims. " Maybe "have not gone in two directions" would be closer.
181. pou eul cheu: French for pu [M5379], "not"; Ideogram: erh [M1752], "double"; shih [M5822], "go. " "Two directions. "
182. "0 "numbreux officiers: F, "0 numer- ous officers," The title of a chapter in Cou- vreur and a phrase used often by the duke of Chou as he addresses the officers of the conquered Shang dynasty.
Shang, who ruled 1324-1265. Just as with ''T'ai Meau" above, the characters to the left are his name: Ideogram: Wu [M7195] ;Ideo- gram: Ting [M6381].
188. cognovit aerurnnas: L, "He has known hardships. " The phrase does not corne from the relevant Latin of Cauvreur, but it applies to both the ancient emperors just cited as well as to Tsou Kia, to come. In their early years they "toiled away. , . from the court" and "lived among the inferior people" and, indeed, knew hardships. These experiences later made them compassionate rulers.
189. T s a u KIA: Legge gives us: "In the case of Tsoo~Kea, he . . . was at first one of the inferior people. When he came to the throne, he understood the law of the sup- port of the inferior people, and was able to exercise a protecting kindness towards their
to the new. Pound conceives one of the functions of The Cantos as to pass on the tradition-the great tradition. But in this case it is the tradition of the East that he would pass on to the West. As he stated it at 13/60: "The blossoms of the apricot / blow from the east to the west, / And I have tried to keep them from falling" [13:32].
194. Sagetrieb: G, a Pound-invented word that has had a number of interpretations. David Gordon, having had the benefit of hearing Pound talk about it in the context of writing both Rock-Drill and Thrones, says it means "Pass on the tradition. "
195. Ideogram: Cheu, shih [M5780], "de- pends"; Ideogram: ngo [M4778], "1, me, we, us. " "It depends on us. "
196. XVI. 4: Chap. XVI, sec. 4, Couvreur, where we read: "O! you said, 0 Prince, 'It depends on ourselves. ' I also do not dare to rest in the favour of God. "
197. We flop . . . : Pound's
Legge's sentence continued from above: "The favour of Heaven is not easily pre- served. Heaven is hard to be depended on. Men lose its favouring appointment because they cannot pursue and carry out the rever- ence and brilliant virtue of their fore- fathers. "
198. Diuturna . . . : L, "Think of the fu- ture. " Sec. 10 Couvreur, goes on: "Think of the distant future, and we shall have the decree in favour of Chou made sure. "
199. respect . . . men: Legge: "If you can but reverently cultivate your virtue, and bring to light our men of eminence, then you will resign to some successor in a time of established security. "
200. Ideogram: Ming [M4534], here "train"; ngo [cf. 195 above), "our"; Ideo- gram: tsiun (chun) [Mln7], "superior," or "fit. " Couvreur has the character for "men"
[M4508] in this group.
means "will of God" or "life-destiny. " Pound believes that divinity manifests in the intelligence of all men great and small. The duke of Chou is explaining why the Hsia dynasty fell: "God sent down correction on Hea, but the sovereign only increased his luxury and sloth, and would not speak kind- ly to the people. . . . He kept reckoning on the decree of God in his favour, and would not promote the means of the people's support. "
202. subsidia: L, "support. "
203. "And don't pester . . . fights": Legge gives us, politely; "Do not err in regard to the litigations aqd precautionary measures;-let the proper officers regulate them. " The numbers in the margins refer to the appropriate chapters and sections of Couvreur.
204. Hio Kim jou kouan: Legge says: "Study antiquity in order to enter on your offices. " Pound likes his "mot juste" line better.
205. Ideogram: Touan, tuan, [M6547]: "stop" or "cut off. " In the Ta Hsio ("Ta Seu"), Pound translates this character as "cut the cackle" because he sees the right component as an ax and the left components as the archives tied up with silk [CON, 77].
. . .
183. Imperator affirms. "
ait: L, "The
emperor
184. Ideogram: I [M3037], "city. " Here the new capital of Lo.
185. Iterum dieD: L, "I say again. "
207. nor laws . . . : Legge
on your power to exercise oppression; do not rely on the laws to practise extortion. "
208. Not all things . . . : Legge: "Be not passionate with the obstinate, and dislike them. Seek not every quality in one indi- vidual. "
209. Ideogram: Pei4 [M4997], "prepare. " This character appears in the passage from which 208 is cited.
186. T A l MEOU: Posthumous
Teheou Koung (Chung-Tsung), 7th emperor of the Shang dynasty, who ruled 1637-1562. T'ai [M6020], a term of respect in titles; Ideogram: Meou Wu [M7197], "Heavenly Stem,"
187. au TING: Posthumous title of Kao Tsoung (Kaou-tsung), 20th emperor of the
title of
masses . . . .
joyed the throne for thirty years. "
Thus it was that
190. Ideogram: Wei [M7066], "only";
Ideogram: Cheng [M351], "right"; Ideo- gram: chih [M935], personal pronoun; Ideo- gram: kung [M3710], "contribution. " From a statement about King Wan: "from the vari- ous states he received only the right amount of contribution," "Contribution" is a word for taxes. King Wan taxed justly and "en- joyed the throne for fifty years. "
191. invicem docentes: L, "teaching and learning in turn. "
192. Ideogram: Siu, hsil [M2835], "all, to- gether. "
193. Ideogram: Chlao, kia6 [M719], "teach, instruct. " This character has particu- lar implications. Pound uses it along with "Sagetrieb," the German word he created to mean "pass on the tradition. " The word and phrase have moral and social implications. It is the moral duty of this generation to pass on the wisdom received from the previous generation to the young of the next. That was what Confucius did. He gathered the best of all the odes and history and music from the old generation and organized it into new forms so that it could be passed on
rendition of
Tsoo-Kea en-
'-
character,
ming2 [M4534] in 200 above. This one
201. Ideogram: This
[M4537], should not be confused with
ming4
206. A wareness
"Practise them [reverence and econo- my] . . . and your minds will be at ease. . . . Practise them in hypocrisy, and your minds will be toiled. "
fatiguing:
Legge says,
says: "Do not rely
? ? ? 480
210. Ideogram: Yung2 [M7560], "forbear-
anee. " This character is the ioung in the next gloss, which "is, in some cases, charity. "
211. IOU ioung te nai ta: Legge gives: "Have forbearance and your virtue will be great. "
212. Ideogram: Chong, sheng [M5738], "to beget, be born. " Ideogram: heou: hou [M2147], "virtuous, good.
