us-and-them.jpg

Us and Them

It was a tiny town, just a few neighbours. 使 使 They gave us machines to produce ten times more, but we wouldn't use them. So they threatened to kill us, but we didn't cut and run. 輿 Even if we had ships and wagons, there was nowhere to go. Even if we had armour and weapons, that was no way to resist. 使 Then they made us pay taxes, but they took it all for themselves.

Our food was delicious, our clothes were beautiful, our homes were peaceful, our ways were friendly. Neighbouring towns within sight of each other, our chickens and dogs could hear one another. Neighbours died of old age and weren't cruel or kind to each other.

Notes

I think this poem tells a story of long ago and far away, when human was ascendant, when people weren't colonizing and exploiting each other, when the rich and powerful weren't violent, dangerous thugs, and when normal people didn't do terrible things to each other to get ahead, or just to survive, and acts of kindness weren't heroic, just a matter of course.

I also think that, while this poem is a lament, it's also an affirmation of the inevitability and immanence of a human of good neighbours who share the beauty and joy of peace and contentment .

In the Yijing, is the back and forth of wishy-washy indecision, of the destructive motion of a violent earthquake, of the rhythm of well water as seasons change. Here I think it's what neighbours do to and for each other. It's our very personal response to the twists and turns of the deadly, inescapable, invincible, impersonal forces that shape us.

and are, "There was nothing [towards/against] which we could [sail/haul/pit] our [boats/wagons/army]."

is remit talking knots, referring to a method of using knotted cords to keep track of [social obligations and benefits?].

Vocabulary

1 + 3
no, not; un-; negative prefix
zhī
4 + 3
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
chéng
4 + 9
ride, ascend; avail oneself of; numerary adjunct for vehicles
shén
9 + 2
file of ten soldiers; mixed, miscellaneous
9 + 5
older brother; father's elder brother; senior male 'sire'; feudal rank 'count'
使
shǐ
9 + 6
cause, send on a mission, order; envoy, messenger, ambassador
lái
9 + 6
come, coming; return, returning
9 + 7
social customs; vulgar, unrefined
bīng
12 + 5
soldier, troops
12 + 6
his, her, its, their; that
30 + 13
receptacle, vessel; instrument
guó
31 + 8
nation, country, nation-state
ān
40 + 3
peaceful, tranquil, quiet
guǎ
40 + 11
widowed; alone, friendless
xiǎo
42 + 0
small, tiny, insignificant
44 + 5
live, dwell, reside, sit
wǎng
60 + 5
go, depart; past, formerly
60 + 8
move one's abode, shift, migrate
60 + 9
return; repeat; repeatedly; hexagram ䷗
suǒ
63 + 4
place, location; numerary adjunct
yǒu
74 + 2
have, own, possess; exist
74 + 4
clothes; wear, dress
wàng
74 + 7
to look at, look forward; to hope, expect
75 + 11
happy, glad; enjoyable; music
78 + 2
die; dead; death
mín
83 + 1
people, subjects, citizens
86 + 8
negative, no, not; lack, have no
quǎn
94 + 0
dog; radical number 94
gān
99 + 0
sweetness; sweet, tasty
yòng
101 + 0
use, employ, apply, operate; use
jiǎ
102 + 0
armor, shell; fingernails; 1st heavenly stem
xiāng
109 + 4
mutual, reciprocal, each other
jié
120 + 6
knot, tie; join, connect
shéng
120 + 13
rope, string, cord; measure, restrain
měi
123 + 3
beautiful, pretty; pleasing
lǎo
125 + 0
old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
ér
126 + 0
and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
wén
128 + 8
hear; smell; make known; news
shēng
128 + 11
sound, voice, noise; tone; music
zhì
133 + 0
reach, arrive; extremely, very; Kangxi radical 133
zhōu
137 + 0
boat, ship; Kangxi radical 137
輿
159 + 10
cart, palanquin; public opinion
dào
162 + 9
path, road, street; method, way
yuǎn
162 + 10
distant, remote, far; profound
lín
163 + 12
neighbor; neighborhood
zhòng
166 + 2
heavy, weighty; double
chén
170 + 8
exhibit, display; plead; surname
suī
172 + 9
although, even if
172 + 10
chickens; domestic fowl
shí
184 + 0
eat; meal; food; Kangxi radical 184