32 Pr e - q i n t i m e s
He frightened away the Kun barbarians— 混夷駾矣 (kūn yí tuì yĭ )
48 Ah, how they panted in exhaustion. 維其喙矣 (wéi qí huì yĭ )To cause the Yu and the Rui to pledge peace, 虞芮質厥成 (yú ruì zhì jué chéng)
50 King Wen quickened their yielding natures. 文王蹶厥生 (wén wáng guì jué shēng)
I say he brought those estranged to follow him; 予曰有疏附 (yù yuē yŏu shū fù)
52 I say he drew those from front and back to him; 予曰有先後 (yù yuē yŏu xiān hòu)
I say he caused those with petitions to rush to him; 予曰有奔奏 (yù yuē yŏu bēn zòu)
54 I say he brought his defamers to his defense. 予曰有禦侮 (yù yuē yŏu yù wŭ)
[MSZJ 16.4b–7b]Although this poem is primarily expositional in style, it opens with an affective
image that suggests the “woven and unbroken” history of the Zhou people, as por-
trayed in the “Da ya” section. This poem contains an account of Dan Fu, the grand-
father of King Wen. The most detailed account of his life and rule can be found in
the “Basic Annals of the Zhou” in Sima Qian’s (145–86? b .C.e.) Shiji (Records of the
Grand Scribe):The ancient honorable Dan Fu again cultivated the enterprise [to establish the
Zhou dynasty] of Hou Ji and Gong Liu, accumulated virtue, and carried out
justice. The people of the capital all supported him. When the Xunyu and the
Rong-Di attacked him, desiring to obtain wealth and goods, he gave it to them.
Again they attacked, desiring to obtain his territory and his people. The people
were all angry and wanted to give battle. The ancient and honorable one said,
“The people enthrone a lord in order that he will bring benefits to them. Now
the reason the Rong-Di are attacking and battling us is to take my territory
and people. For the people to be with me or for them to be with those others,
what is the difference? The people want to give battle because of me, but I
cannot bear to kill people’s fathers and sons to keep myself their lord.” Thus
he left Bin [the capital] with his personal attendants, crossed the Qi and the Ju
rivers, traversed Mount Liang, and stopped at the foot of Mount Qi. Every per-
son in Bin, holding up their elders and carrying their children, again submit-
ted themselves to Dan Fu at the foot of Mount Qi. When other, neighboring
states learned of the ancient honorable one’s humanity, many indeed submit-
ted to him. At this, the ancient honorable one then abandoned the customs of
the Rong-Di, built city walls and residences, and settled the people in various
cities. He appointed officials for the five offices. The people all put this to song
and music to praise his virtue.8
Thus Dan Fu (literally, Generous Man) is the leader of the Zhou who broke with
the barbarian customs and moved his people away from the Rong-Di to what is
modern southeastern Shaanxi. The other parallels to the more general Shiji ac-
count provide a running commentary to this poem. It is only necessary to add that
walls were built in the early Zhou era by tamping earth between wooden planks
lashed together with ropes (lines 29–33).