[1. This is a prayer. The worshipper, it is in view of the majesty of
Heaven, shrank from assuming that God would certainly accept his
sacrifice. He assumes, below, that king Wan does so.]

piece was, when those compilations were made, considered to be the work
of the duke of Kau; and, no doubt, it was made by him soon after the
accession of Wu to the kingdom, and when he was making a royal progress
in assertion of his being appointed by Heaven to succeed to the rulers
of Shang. The 'I' in the fourteenth line is, most probably, to be taken
of the duke of Kau, who may have recited the piece on occasion of the
sacrifices, in the hearing of the assembled princes and lords.

Now is he making a progress through his states; May Heaven deal with him
as its son!

Truly are the honour and succession come from it to the House of Kau. To
his movements All respond with tremulous awe. He has attempted and given
rest to all spiritual beings [1], Even to (the spirits of) the Ho and
the highest hills. Truly is the king our sovereign lord.

Brilliant and illustrious is the House of Kau. He has regulated the
positions of the princes; He has called in shields and spears; He has
returned to their cases bows and arrows[2]. He will cultivate admirable
virtue, And display it throughout these great regions. Truly will the
king preserve the appointment.

[1. 'All spiritual beings' is, literally, 'the hundred spirits,' meaning
the spirits presiding, under Heaven, over all nature, and especially the
spirits of the rivers and hills throughout the kingdom. Those of the Ho
and the lofty mountains are mentioned, because if their spirits Were