TSING NEU

1 How lovely is the retiring girl!

She was to await me at a corner of the wall.

Loving and not seeing her,

I scratch my head, and am in perplexity.

St. 3. Foxes and crows were both creatures of evil omen. Everything about Wei was of evil suspice. 莫赤匪狐, =無有赤而非狐, 'there is nothing red which is not a fox'.

The rhymes are—in st. 1, 涼, 雱, 行*, cat. 10: in 2, 喈,霏, 歸, cat. 15, t. 1: in 3, 狐, 鳥, 車*, cat. 5, t. 1: in all the stanzas, 邪*, 且*, ib.

Ode 17. Narrative. A GENTLEMAN DEPLORES HIS DISAPPOINTMENT IN NOT MEETING A LADY ACCORDING TO ENGAGEMENT, AND CELEBRATES HER GIFTS AND BEAUTY. This is the first of many odes, more or less of a similar character, in the interpretation of which the new and old schools greatly differ. Acc. to Maou, it describes the virtues of a correct and modest lady, who would make a good mate for a prince; acc. to Choo, it refers to a licentious connection between two young persons.The account of it in the 'little Preface' may be made to agree with either interpretation. All that is there said is that 'the piece is directed against the age. The marquis of Wei had no principle, and the marchioness no virtue'. On Choo's view we have only to say,'Like rulers, like people'. On Maou's that we have a description of what the marchioness should have been.The imperial editors give both views in their notes,inclining themselves to maintain that of Maou. It will be seen from the notes below that I do not agree with them. It is allowed on all hands that Choo's interpretations are the most natural deductions from the words of the odes; but it is alleged that he is superficial, and that the deeper we dig, the more do we find to support the older views. Here and elsewhere I have tried to follow Maou and his advocates in all their researches; but it is often impossible to assent to their conclusions without the entire surrender of one's own judgment.

St. 1. 靜 means 'still', 'quiet', 'retiring'. The idea which it conveys is of one who is modest and correct;and this is held to be inconsistent with Choo's view.Still, the speaker would not be likely to give a bad character to the lady, who was bestowing her favours on him. Ts'aou Suychung (曹粹中; Sung dyn.) distinguishes between 靜女 and 游女, or 'the rambling girls' of i. I. X. The latter were girls of the common people, whose circumstances did not allow them to keep themselves immured in the harem, whereas the former were daughters of the officer's families, who could and did keep themselves so retired. On this view靜 in the text need not say anything of the character of the lady. 姝=美色, 'beautiful'. 城隅,—'a corner of the city wall'. 踟躕, denotes the 'app. of a man stopping as he walks', and hence is used to signify 'irresolute','perplexed'.—Morrison quotes the stanza under 姝,and remarks on the last line:—'It is curious to mark the similarity which exists among men of every clime and every age.

2 How handsome is the retiring girl!

She presented to me a red tube.

Bright is the red tube;—

I delight in the beauty of the girl.

3 From the pasture lands she gave me a shoot of the white grass,

Truly elegant and rare.

It is not you, O grass, that are elegant;—

You are the gift of an elegant girl.

Man, when vexed and embarrassed, scratches his head with his hand, in China as in Europe, both in ancient and modern times.'

Let us see what Maou makes of the stanza. '靜denotes correct and quiet. When a lady's virtue is correct and quiet, and she acts according to law and rule, she is one to be pleased with. 姝 means beautiful;俟 means to wait. We have 'a corner of the city wall'to express what was high and could not be passed over'. This is all we have from Maou. Expanding and explaining his view, Ying-tah says, 'The meaning is,There is a correct and modest girl, who is beautiful,and could be submissive and obedient to her husband,waiting till she is assured of its propriety before doing anything, guarding herself as by a city wall, which is high and cannot be passed over. Such is her virtue,and therefore I love her, and wish she were the ruler's mate. Since I love her in my heart, and cannot see her, I scratch my head, and look perplexed.' I am persuaded the student who cares to read this with attention will pronounce it to be mere drivelling. The meaning which it is thus attempted to force on the 2d line is simply ridiculous.

St. 2. 孌,—as in XIV. 1. 貽—'to present to'. 彤管 is 'a red reed or tube'; but what article is denoted by it, we of course, cannot tell. The bamboo tubes, with which pencils are now made, are called 筆管. There might be many things of small tubes, painted or varnished red,among a young lady's possessions, one of which she might present to a friend or admirer. Maou makes the'red read' to have been an instrument used by a literate class of ladies in the harem, who acted as secretaries to the mistress, and recorded the rules and duties for all the inmates; and then he says that the presenting the red reed is equivalent to acquainting the speaker with the exact obedience she paid to the ancient regulations of the harem! The mere statement of this view is its refutation. Choo says that 煒 means 'redlike'; but it is the brilliance of the colour, and not the colour itself, which is intended. 說, (=悅) and 懌 are cognate in meaning, 'to be please with', 'to delight in'. 女美=女之美, 'the beauty of the girl'.

St. 3. 牧=牧地, 'pasture grounds'. ='歸貽, to give','to send to';—as in Ana. XIII. i. 1. '荑 means a plant just sprouting'. It is accepted, here, that the plant was the 茅, or 'white grass' of ii. XII. 洵,—here, as often,an adverb, meaning 'truly'. 女=汝, 'you', addressed to the grass. 匪,='非, it is not', not simply=不, 'not', as frequently.

The rhymes are—in st. 1, 姝*, 隅*, 躕*, cat. 4, t. 1;in 2, 孌, 管, cat. 14; 煒, 美, cat. 15, t. 2: in 3, 異, 貽,cat. 1, t. 1.