The Ting Che Fang Chung

At dusk the Ting star passed on to the west,
And field-work for the year was laid to rest.
At Ts‘oo the duke his palace took in hand,
And by the sun fixed how its walls should stand.
All round about he planted many a tree,—
Hazels and chestnuts, t‘ung, and tsze, and e,
And varnish trees. The grove would yield ere long
Abundant wood for lutes, to aid the voice of song.

He climbed those ruined walls, thence to inspect
The site he wished for Ts‘oo-k‘ew to select.
His glance the land from Ts‘oo to T‘ang mapped out,
Noting the hills and smaller heights about.
He then came down, the mulberry trees to view,
And judged the soil, and learned its nature true.
These things once done, he asked the tortoise-shell,
Answer auspicious got,—and all succeeded well.

Thereafter, when there fell the copious showers,
He often called his groom, and in the hours
Of early dawn a-field by starlight drove
Among the labourers, and to cheer them strove.
And many ways be had, not this alone,
In which his character distinguished shone,
To duty bound, assiduous in his cares ;—
And blessing came,—three thousand steeds and mares.