18 Pr e - q i n t i m e s
of You, Zhong Zi [Mao no. 76]), the second poem in the state of Zheng section and
among the best known of these three hundred verses:C 1. 4
I Beg of You, Zhong Zi 將仲子 (qiāng zhòng zĭ)
I beg of you, Zhong Zi, 將仲子兮 (qiāng zhòng zĭ xī)
2 Don’t cross into my hamlet. 無踰我里 (wú yú wŏ lĭ)
Don’t break my planted willows, 無折我樹杞 (wú zhé wŏ shù qĭ)
4 Could I care so much for them? 豈敢愛之 (qĭ găn ài zhī)
It’s father and mother I dread. 畏我父母 (wèi wŏ fù mŭ)
6 Zhong, you’re embraceable... 仲可懷也 (zhòng kě huái yě)
But the talk of my father and mother is 父母之言 (fù mŭ zhī yán)
8 Indeed something dreadful. 亦可畏也 (yì kě wèi yě)I beg of you, Zhong Zi, 將仲子兮 (qiāng zhòng zĭ xī)
10 Don’t climb over my wall. 無踰我牆 (wú yú wŏ qiáng)
Don’t break my planted mulberries. 無折我樹桑 (wú zhé wŏ shù sāng)
12 Could I care so much for them? 豈敢愛之 (qĭ găn ài zhī)
It’s all my brothers I dread. 畏我諸兄 (wèi wŏ zhū xiōng)
14 Zhong, you’re embraceable... 仲可懷也 (zhòng kě huái yě)
But the talk of all my brothers is 諸兄之言 (zhū xiōng zhī yán)
16 Indeed something dreadful. 亦可畏也 (yì kě wèi yě)
I beg of you, Zhong Zi, 將仲子兮 (qiāng zhòng zĭ xī)
18 Don’t leap into my garden. 無踰我園 (wú yú wŏ yuán)
Don’t break my planted hardwoods. 無折我樹檀 (wú zhé wŏ shù tán)
20 Could I care so much for them? 豈敢愛之 (qĭ găn ài zhī)
I dread others will talk too much, 畏人之多言 (wèi rén zhī duō yán)
22 Zhong, you’re embraceable... 仲可懷也 (zhòng kě huái yě)
But others’ talking too much is 人之多言 (rén zhī duō yán)
24 Indeed something dreadful. 亦可畏也 (yì kě wèi yě)
[MSZJ 4.8a–9a]Whereas joyous anticipation dominated the poems examined earlier, this is a
poem of anticipation and anxiety. Although the persona may secretly welcome her
lover’s approach, she is concerned about the reaction of her family and her village
to her love affair. Zhong Zi (Second Son), whom we assume to be the singer’s
paramour, is warned in lines 1–3 of the first stanza to keep his distance, but as the
persona tries to explain to him (and perhaps to herself ) why she is putting him
off (lines 4–8), Zhong Zi takes advantage to come nearer, so that by line 2 of the
second stanza he has progressed from the edge of the hamlet to the wall around
her home.
The images in these first lines are of transgression (crossing and breaking),
reinforced by the sharp consonantal endings (-eg in reconstructed ancient pro-