| Chinese Text Project |
《玄鳥 - Xuan Niao》 | English translation: James Legge [?] | Library Resources |
| 1 | 玄鳥: |
天命玄鳥、降而生商、宅殷土芒芒。 古帝命武湯、正域彼四方。 方命厥后、奄有九有。 商之先后、受命不殆、在武丁孫子。 武丁孫子、武王靡不勝。 龍旂十乘、大糦是承。 邦畿千里、維民所止、肇域彼四海。 四海來假、來假祁祁、景員維河。 殷受命咸宜、百祿是何。 |
| Xuan Niao: |
Heaven commissioned the swallow, To descend and give birth to [the father of our] Shang. [His descendants] dwelt in the land of Yin, and became great. [Then] long ago God appointed the martial Tang, To regulate the boundaries throughout the four quarters. [In those] quarters he appointed the princes, And grandly possessed the nine regions [of the kingdom]. The first sovereign of Shang, Received the appointment without any element of instability in it, And it is [now] held by the descendant of Wu-ding. The descendant of Wu-ding, Is a martial king, equal to every emergency. Ten princes, [who came] with their dragon-emblazoned banners, Bear the large dishes of millet. The royal domain of a thousand li, Is where the people rest; But there commence the boundaries that reach to the four seas. From the four seas they come [to out sacrifices]; They come in multitudes; - Jing has the He for its outer border. That Yin should have received the apppointment [of Heaven] was entirely right; - [Its sovereign] sustains all its dignities. |
URN: ctp:book-of-poetry/xuan-niao