: Ma [M4311], used as
question
mark.
A-Companion-to-the-Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound-II
45. WEv6o,," . . . 7rE7rVU/lEVOC:: H, "he will not tell a lie for [he is], wise indeed" rOd. III, 20]. Athene is talking to Telemachus about old Nestor.
46. ich bin am Zuge: G, "I am on the march" or "I'll get there," meaning get to the Sheng U or The Sacred Edict, which is the Source of most of the rest of this canto and of Canto 99 [cf. 60 below].
47. iY. PX~: H, "in the beginning. "
48. Shensi: A province of old China.
49. Ouang: For "Wang," :E, the first char? acter of the salt commissioner's name; the two following characters "Iu" and "p'uh," the rest of his name, are given in the text.
SO. volgar' eloquio: J, "popular speech," an Italian rendering of Dante's Latin title De Vulgari Eloquentia.
51. The King: A pun on wang, which is the word for "king. " Wang's job was to bring the wisdom of The Sacred Edict to the common man.
52. Sagetrieb: [85:194].
53. Hsuan: Wi [M2870], "warmth. "
54. Ideogram: Shih [M5788], "to mani. fest" or "to proclaim. "
55. Ideogram: Pen [M5025], "root" or "source. "
56. Ideogram: Yeh [M7321], "teachings" or "instruction. " The heart of Neoconfu- cianism is the ethics of human relations in the family, in civil life, and in military life. From sunrise to sunset, the warmth of hu- man relations should be the guide for all behavior. This central message of The Sacred
Edict must be made manifest to the world. Combined with the art and skill to create things, it is the root and source of all good
40. "noi
class citizens [bourgeois] . "
borghesi:
I, "we other middle?
41. Consigliere: I, "councillor. "
42. in piazza": I, "in the square. " In con- trast with Mussolini, whose public speaking overwhelmed the masses.
? ? 630
98/687
teaching [Edict, passim]. In order that the message be proclaimed continuously, the emperor required that the people of every town be called together once a month to hear it read. For over a century this was presumably done. [From here on, citations to the source will be given by chapter num? ber of the Edict followed by the page num?
ber in the Baller edition. Cf. 124 below. ]
57. TEXVT1: H, "art" or "skill. "
58. Ari: Aristotle said that philosophy was the business of old men who could base their conclusions on a sufficient phalanx of parti~ culars.
the practices of later followers. So with Taoism, which also preached asceticism in the beginning. Later, Taoist priests pre? tended to do miracles and to be able to produce "the Elixir of Gold, a mystical com- pound by means of which the Taoist al- chemists professed themselves able to pro? duce gold, and confer the gift of immortal- ity" [VII, 75]. In a section called "Taoist Delusions," we read a list of such miracles, which, the Edict says, "is a pack of lies. " People ought to show more sense because no
one ever sees them do the things they pro? mise, or if they do, "it. is all a parcel of magic, a device for hoodwinking you" [VII, 84]. The Sacred Edict appeals to reason: "Who has seen them go to the Western Para- dise? or fly up in broad daylight? manifestly it is all humbug! " [VII, 76].
62. S human relations: "From time imme- morial to the present what has been ortho- dox? Nothing more than (the observance of) these Five Relationships-emperor and min- ister, father and son, husband and wife, elder and younger brother, friend and compan- ion" [VII, 72].
63. mules . . . farmsteads: A long passage in the source concerns grandfathers who toiled, hoarded, and saved a fortune only to have children and grandchildren who, "having no sense, squander it at pleasure" and in keep- ing up appearances. "If they see this one wears silk, they must wear satin; if that one rides horseback, they must ride in a chair. " After they squander the money, what then? "The next thing is to sell off the farmsteads"
[V, 56-67]. How does this happen? In Chap. VI, entitled "The Value of Educa- tion," we have the answer: "If people are uneducated, though they dress well and live well, their minds are stupid and sordid; like mules or horses: (it is) all in vain they are saddled with good saddles, and trappings, they are still animals" [VI, 62? 63].
64. Ideogram: Fu [MI982], "living priests" or "Bhud-foes" [DG, Pai, 3-2,185].
65. Bhud-foes: Chap. VII, entitled "Ortho- doxy," has a number of subsections with
such titles as, "Evils of Promiscuous Meet- ings," "Follies of Idolatrous Ritual," "Bud- dhist Incantations," "Taoist Delusions," etc. , all concluding that these heretical sects do not help with the emperor's work.
66. external . . . gold pill: "As to Taoism it speaks of plans for asceticism (such as) grasping mercury in lead; the dragon moan- ing; the tiger screaming; the internal and the external pill" [VII, 75].
. . .
77. Stock: Noel S. , Australian poet and crit? ic who, as a young man, wrote Pound at SI. Elizabeths and for a time championed his ideas and causes and visited him in Italy after Pound's return there. Author of numer- ous articles about Pound. as well as The Life o f Ezra Pound, Reading The Cantos, etc.
78. god . . . gilded? : "As to His Celestial Excellency [the Buddha] . . . he is taking it easy in paradise; do you suppose he needs you to model him a gilded image, and build him a house to live in? " [VII, 79].
79. hua4 . ? ? : Hua4 [M2215], "words";
5 9 . Kcx. 8o'Aov: whole. "
H, " g e n e r a l l y "
o r
" o n
t h e
t'ou 2 [M6489], "head"; "something to talk abou t. "
[M2215-15]:
60. Y ang
Son of K'ang Hsi [59:21] and emperor of China, 1723-1735. There were 3 versions of the Edict: (I) The original document, made up of 16 7-character platitudes, which was
set forth by Emperor K'ang Hsi; (2) the Wen-Ii, or literary text, done by Yung Cheng, which was a lengthy commentary explaining with examples the intentions of the original edict; and (3) a still later and more elaborate commentary done in the lan- guage of the people by Wang Iu? p'uh. The Wen-Ii asks a question of all Buddhists of Yung Cheng's time who were out begging money and gifts to build palaces for the Buddha to live in: Since Buddha himself (Gautama Siddhartha) abandoned the splen- did palace of his father, the king, "and hid
himself in the heights of a snowy mountain to practice asceticism. " would he be likely to "prize the religious houses and monas- teries you build? " [VII, 79].
61. Taoist priests . . . : The Neoconfucians were against the Buddhist priests because they seemed to encourage idleness and col- lected money by sending their followers out with begging bowls. But that was not an idea of Buddha himself. The main idea of Buddha was different: "What is Buddha? Buddha is the heart. . . . if your heart is good this is Buddha" [VII 74]. The Sacred Edict distin- guishes the original ideas of founders from
Tching:
Y ung
Cheng
80. whiteness of bones: The bones of those "Bhud-foes" or other devotees who have thrown themselves off a precipice [DG, Pai, 4-1, 135J. "Again) there is a set of extreme- ly foolish people. It may be on account of their parents' illness they vow to devote their body. As soon as the parents are well, they go up to the mountain to publicly burn incense . . . On arriving at the summit, they throw themselves down the precipice, and are either killed, or maimed" [VII, 80].
8! . celestial . . . not get it: "If he [the Buddha] is divine will he long to have your silver and . . . protect you in consequence? And if you fail to offer money . . . he will be angry. . . ? then he is a despicable fellow [a hsiao jen]" [VII, 81].
82. Gemisto: [23:3; 83:3].
83. Ideogram: Hsiao [M2605] , "little. " 84. Ideogram: Jen [M3097], "man. "
85. And the language . . . : "But all the incantations of the Buddhist books are in the barbarous lingo of Buddha's country" [Vll,83].
[60:73].
98/687-688
631
67. Is
emperor is at much pain to explain that the evil tactics and promises of the priests were not an idea of Buddha himself: "Y ou ignora- muses are all ignorant that their Buddhist books say that Buddha was the Heir Appar- ent of the King of Fan. Grown weary of the cares of the world, he hid himself in the heights of a snowy mountain to practice asceticism. Parents, children, and wife he alike neglected: is it likely he will concern himself about all you people and expound his tenets to you? Besides, he gave up his Harem, the Dragon Chamber, and the Phoe? nix Hall; will he on the other hand prize the religious houses and monasteries you build? " A footnote explains that a "feng koh" is an abode of royalty [VII, 78-79].
sound of
the Bhud
likely
nunneries: The
. . .
68. ch'i'd
the 2 characters following.
'em: A play on the
69. ;;;:: Ch'i [M550], "abandon. "
70. if: She [M5700], "reject. "
71. ~!
: Ma [M4311], used as question mark. The left component is the character for "mouth," the right for "horse. "
72. <j;vmv TaD BEaD: H, "the nature [phys- ics] of the god. "
73. Procopius: D. ca. A. D. 562? Byzantine historian who is alleged to have written the scurrilous Secret History unmasking the evil life of Empress Theodora [96:90].
74. old Peabody: [101/724; 10118]. 75. Antaninus: [78:56].
76. Leo: [96:270].
86. fan 1: [M 1790] , "foreign. " 4
87. hua : [M22l5], "talk. "
88. If you don't . . . out: "If none of you people believe these heretical sects, they will
? ? ? ? 632
98/688-690
98/690-691
633
not wait to be driven aut, they will become extinct naturally" [VII, 87] ,
89, Ideogram: Wang-iu [cf. 49 above], the salt commissioner. Wang-iu-p'uh . . . feeling that the style was still too abstruse . . . ren- dered this exposition [the Wen-Ii, cf. 128 below] into colloquial" [Baller, Edict, fore? word, iii] .
90. K'ang-hsi: [Cf. 60 above].
91. grits in the mortar: The Wen-Ii was done by a literary man whose language, making no connection with the real life of the people, contained impediments to understanding, so Wang Iu-p'uh, after this unintentionally inef- fective effort, started over again {DG, Pat, 4-1,137-139].
92. Ideograms: 14 [M3002], "righteous-
to the influence of climate and locality on character: suh, is composed of 'man' and 'a valley' " [ibid. ].
101. feelings . . . nature: "Observe the well- bred man; he conforms to custom with both grace and sincerity; this is the real thing in courteousness" [IX, 102]. Again Pound re- lies on ideas elicited by some of the charac- ters, as in the next line.
102. en' : [MI743], "grace. "
103. ch'ing2: [MI170], "feelings. "
104. Ford: Ford Madox F. [74: 165].
105. "De tribus": L, "concerning tribe. " Originally, "three. " Refers to De tribus im- postoribus [On the three imposters], attri- buted (prob. falsely) to Frederic II [97:272]. The great deceivers in the treatise are Moses, Christ, and Mohammed [JW].
106. "Aulentissima": [79:44].
107. "ver restate": The last half of the opening line of A1camo's poem [97:270] is, "ch'apari inver' la state" ("which appears toward the summer"). Pound may have used "ver" rather than "inverno" because the word means "spring" in Latin [JW] .
108. more solid . . . cassia: The continuous tradition that "a man's paradise is his own good nature," from Kati [93:2] to K'ang Hsi, is "more solid. . . . "
109. i4 : [M3002], "morality. "
110. ch'i4: [M554], "breath. "
111. Kang: [M3278]' "peace. "
112. Hi: Hsi: [M2451] , "bright. " The name of the Manchu emperor. The characters to- gether mean "the King of Peace. "
113. two 1/2s . . . : As with the tally-sticks [77:56].
114. "De libro Chi-king": L, the Latin edi- tion of the Shih Ching [59:2,6] done by Lacharme [59:Sources]. ~
115. his father: Shun Chih, the father of K'ang Hsi [59:20].
116. "Ostendit, incitaque:. L, "show and in- cite. " The odes do so "ad lumen rationis" ("by the light of reason") so that we may reach enlightenment, or "reap in the sun- light" [Lacharme, preface, xi].
117. Plotinus: [cf. 20 above].
118. Gemisto: [cf. 21 above]. Gemisto de- fined divinity as hilarity and speed in com- munication [DG, Pai, 3-2, 178; cf. 22 above].
ready-made expressions will add a vivacity to his style" [Edict, foreword, iv].
131. "Don't send . . . ": A Chinese proverb often quoted. "By all means go and pay your taxes yourself; don't commission some- body else to take them" [XIV, 151].
132. Delcroix: Carlo D. [88:46; 92:49].
133. Baller thought . . . : "Nothing but Divine motive power can raise fallen hu- manity" [Edict, foreword, iv].
134. 2muan I bpo: [112:6]. A Na-khi cere- mony to be developed at length in Cantos 110-113.
135. meaning . . . Emperor: Each chapter of The Sacred Edict opens with this formula: "The meaning of the Emperor: (he) says. " The first chapter goes on: "-Our Imperial Ancestor, the Benevolent Emperor ruled the empire for sixty-one years. " A note to the word "Emperor" says: "Lit. Lord of 10,000 years" [I, I] .
136. heart's . . . say: Pound's literal render- ing of several characters in the opening of The Sacred Edict: i4 [M2960], "idea"; hsin 1 [M2735], "heart"; yin l [M7418], "tone"; szul [M5580J, "think"; shuo1 ? S [M5939], "say" [ibid. ].
137. Ideogram: Ching: [MI138], "rever- ence"; Ideogram: hsiao [M2601], "filial piety. " From which comes order in the state. The latter character is used with Sage- trieb [cf. 123 above] to mean passing on the tradition from father to son or from one generation to the next.
ness"; shenI
[M5719], "profound. "
93. Ideogram: Li3-4 [M3865], "inside. "
94. Ideogram: Yuan2 [M7725], "source. "
The characters are from the Edict: "The law contains a profound meaning and was pri- marily drawn up in accordance with . . . hu- man nature" [VIII, 92]. The characters for "small . . . white . . . under cover" are com- ponents of yuan2 , all helping to express the idea thav"justice issues from human "nature"
[DG, Pai, 4-1, 139].
95. Ideogram: T'ai4 [M6020], "great. "
96. Ideogram: P'ing2 [M5303], "peace. " "The peace of the Empire depends entirely upon the existence of good manners and customs" [IX, 99].
. . .
98. tso: [M6776], "is. "
99. feng: J1l [MI890], "wind. "
100. suh: [M5497], "customs. " A footnote reads: "The Chinese attach great importance
97. Earth and water
reaction to some of the characters in the source: "All this is the result of climatic influences [Lit. , imbued with the wind breath of the water and soil] hence it is spoken of as 'feng' [or breath of nature]"
[IX, 99].
: Pound's
visual
[105: 16].
by mind, mens ipsa sola, one can understand
the nature of divinity, "and that the pre- sence of memory, intelligence and love in man is a mirror-image, speculum, of the Di- vine Trinity"[ibid. ].
120. john barleycorn: An epithet for a far- mer in England. Vegetation / mystery rites connections are implied [Moody, Pai, 4-1, 56? 65; 88:62].
121. Je tzu: Je [M3094], "incite. " Tzu [M6939], "son. " A pun on the name Jesus.
122. Byzance: [Cf. 18 above].
123. Sagetrieb: [Cf. 52 above and inside
front cover of the journal Sagetrieb].
124. Baller: Frederick William B.
