Zai Shan

Preface: "Zai Shan" is a poem about plowing the royal fields in spring and offering sacrifices to the gods of land and grain.

Clearing away weeds and felling trees, the sound of plowing the fields is rhythmic. Thousands of pairs of farmers toil in the fields, some heading to the low-lying wetlands, others to the paths along the field edges.

There are the lord, the eldest son, the many younger sons, the clan's younger generations, the strong and robust, and the old and weak helpers.

Many people bring food; the women who bring the meal are beautiful, and the farmers who eat it are at ease.

The plowshares are sharp, and the southern fields begin to be cultivated. Various grains are sown, and the seeds are full of vitality.

Seedlings emerge one after another, and sturdy seedlings grow particularly vigorously. The young plants are lush and orderly, and weeds in the fields are continuously removed.

At harvest time, there are many people, and the piled grain is abundant. The amount reaches thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of millions.

Clear wine and sweet wine are brewed, offered to the ancestors and ancestresses, to accompany the various rituals.

The offerings have a rich fragrance; this is the glory of the state.

The offerings have the fragrant aroma of pepper wine, which can bring peace to the elderly.

It is not only here that such things occur, nor only today that such circumstances exist; it has been so since ancient times.

"Zai Shan" has one stanza, consisting of thirty-one lines.