ChinesePod

Shījīng 》yǔ 《ZuǒZhuàn 》zhōng dōu yǒu Dōngyuè cáng bīng de jìzǎi ，cháotíng zhōng yǒu zhuānmén de guānlì fùzé měinián hándōng shí záoqǔ bīngkuài cúnfàng zài “bīngshì ”huò “bīngjǐng ”lǐ ，děngdào shèngxià shíjié zài qǔchū 。

There are records of winter ice in the Book of Songs and Zuo Zhuan. A special official in the court is responsible for picking up ice cubes during the winter and storing them in the "ice room" or "ice well” for use in the summer.

Go to Lesson

那么先看春秋时期，春秋时期的外交辞令简言之就是以“吟诗”为主要形式，这儿的“诗”，指的正是我国第一部诗歌总集《诗经》，《诗经》是周礼的象征，工于委婉，这与外交语言需符合“礼”的观念不谋而合，以至于在《左传》中所记录的外交辞令中“引诗七十五则”，引用《诗经》数量之多也让后人叹为观止。

nàme xiān kàn chūnqiū shíqī ，chūnqiū shíqī de wàijiāo cílìng jiǎnyán zhī jiùshì yǐ “yínshī ”wéi zhǔyào xíngshì ，zhèr de “shī ”，zhǐ de zhèngshì wǒguó dì yī bù shīgē zǒngjí 《shījīng 》，《shījīng 》shì Zhōu Lǐ de xiàngzhēng ，gōngyú wěiwǎn ，zhè yǔ wàijiāo yǔyán xū fúhé “lǐ ”de guānniàn bùmóuérhé ，yǐzhìyú zài 《zuǒzhuàn 》zhōng suǒ jìlù de wàijiāo cílìng zhōng “yǐn shī qīshí wǔ zé ”，yǐnyòng 《shījīng 》shùliàng zhī duō yě ràng hòurén tànwèiguānzhǐ 。

So, first let's look at the Spring and Autumn Period. In simple terms, the diplomatic rhetoric of the Spring and Autumn Period was mainly in the form of reciting poetry. Here "poetry" refers to China's first anthology of poems, the Book of Songs (Shijing). The Shijing was a symbol for the Rites of Zhou, with its ability for euphemism, this diplomatic language needed to be in line with the concept of rites, to the extent that there are 75 instances of nobles citing poems in diplomatic rhetoric recorded in the Commentary of Zuo, the amount of references to the Shijing is amazing to see looking back.

Go to Lesson

晋侯设宴招待两位诸侯，为表达欢迎恭敬之意，引用《诗经.大雅.嘉乐》“嘉乐君子，显显令德，宜民宜人，受禄于天”以此来赞美两位诸侯。见此刻气氛不错，陪同齐侯出使的大夫便引用《诗经.小雅.蓼萧》中“既见君子，孔燕岂弟，宜兄宜弟”来表达齐侯是为卫侯而来，也希望晋侯能像对待兄弟一般对待各诸侯。

jìnhóu shè yàn zhāodài liǎng wèi zhūhóu ，wèi biǎodá huānyíng gōngjìng zhī yì ，yǐnyòng 《shījīng .dàyǎ .jiālè 》“jiālè jūnzǐ ，xiǎnxiǎn lìngdé ，yímínyírén ，shòulù yú tiān ”yǐcǐ lái zànměi liǎng wèi zhūhóu 。jiàn cǐ kè qìfen bùcuò ，péitóng qíhóu chūshǐ de dàifu biàn yǐnyòng 《shījīng .xiǎoyǎ .lǎoxiāo 》zhōng “jì jiàn jūnzǐ ，kǒngyàn kǎitì ，yí xiōng yí dì ”lái biǎodá qíhóu shì wèi wèihóu ér lái ，yě xīwàng jìnhóu néng xiàng duìdài xiōngdì yībān duìdài gè zhūhóu 。

The Marquis of Jin put on a feast to welcome the two dukes out of respect and quoted Jia Le from the Greater Odes of the Kingdom in the Book Of Songs, "Of our admirable, amiable, sovereign, Most illustrious is the excellent virtue. He orders rightly the people, orders rightly the officers, And receives his dignity from heaven," to praise the two dukes. Seeing that the atmosphere was so good, when he was accompanying the senior official dispatched abroad the Duke of Qi he quoted Liao Xiao in the Minor Odes of the Kingdom in the Book of Songs, "Now that I see my noble men, Grandly we feast, delighted and at ease. May their relations with their brothers be right!" to express that the Duke of Qi had come for the Duke of Wei, and to express hope that the Marquis of Jin would treat the dukes as brothers.

Go to Lesson

举个例子，《左传·襄公二十七年》中记载，齐景公和郑简公为解救被晋国拘禁的卫献公而带领侍从出使晋国。在如此微妙的外交情境中，其中的外交辞令引用了无数《诗经》之语。

jǔ gè lìzi ，《Zuǒzhuàn ·Xiānggōng èrshí qī nián 》zhōng jìzǎi ，Qíjǐnggōng hé Zhèngjiǎngōng wèi jiějiù bèi jìnguó jūjìn de Wèixiàngōng ér dàilǐng shìcóng chūshǐ jìnguó 。zài rúcǐ wēimiào de wàijiāo qíngjìng zhōng ，qízhōngde wàijiāo cílìng yǐnyòng le wúshù 《shījīng 》zhī yǔ 。

As an example, in the records of the 27th year of the reign of Duke Xiang of Lu in the Commentary of Zuo, to rescue Duke Xian of Wei from imprisonment by the Jin, Duke Jing of Qi and Duke Jian of Zheng led a delegation to Jin. In such particular diplomatic circumstances, the diplomatic rhetoric made innumerable references to poems in the Shijing.

Go to Lesson

随后郑伯的陪同大夫也心领神会吟诵《诗经.郑风.缁衣》中“适子之馆兮，还予授子之粲兮”，意思是，我家郑伯前来也是为卫侯之事，希望晋侯看在二位诸侯面子上，释放卫侯，二人将十分感激。

suíhòu zhèngbó de péitóng dàifu yě xīnlǐngshénhuì yínsòng 《shījīng .zhèngfēng .zīyī 》zhōng “shì zǐ zhī guǎn xī ，huán yǔ shòu zǐ zhī càn xī ”，yìsi shì ，wǒjiā zhèngbó qiánlái yě shì wèi wèihóu zhī shì ，xīwàng jìnhóu kàn zài èr wèi zhūhóu miànzi shàng ，shìfàng wèihóu ，èr rén jiāng shífēn gǎnjī 。

Following this, the senior official accompanying the Duke of Zheng intuitively recited the line "We will go to your court, And when we return home, we will send you a feast!" from Zi Yi from the Odes of Zheng in the Book of Songs, which meant, my Duke of Zheng has come here for the Duke of Wei, and we hope that out of respect for these two nobles, you will release him and we shall be very grateful for it.

Go to Lesson

郑国大夫不失时机吟诵《诗经.郑风.将仲子》中“仲可怀也，人之多言，亦可畏也”。意在表达，如果晋国不放卫侯，将会引起众怒，不但影响晋国国威也牵连晋侯形象，人言可畏啊。至此，经过多轮“吟诗”，晋侯终于点头，答应放人。

zhèng guó dàifu bùshī shíjī yínsòng 《shījīng .zhèngfēng .qiāngzhòngzǐ 》zhōng “zhòng kě huái yě ，rén zhī duō yán ，yì kě wèi yě ”。yì zài biǎodá ，rúguǒ jìnguó bù fàng wèihóu ，jiāng huì yǐnqǐ zhòng nù ，bùdàn yǐngxiǎng jìnguó guówēi yě qiānlián jìnhóu xíngxiàng ，rén yán kě wèi ā 。zhìcǐ ，jīngguò duō lún “yín shī ”，jìnhóu zhōngyú diǎntóu ，dāying fàngrén 。

The senior officials from the Kingdom of Zheng seized the opportunity to recite the line "You, O Zhong, are to be loved, But the talk of people, Is also to be feared." from Jiang Zhong Zi in the Odes of Zheng in the Book of Songs. This was to express that if the Kingdom of Jin did not release the Duke of Wei, it would inspire the wrath of the people, not only affecting the national prestige of Jin, but also affecting the image of the Marquis of Jin himself, and that gossip is a thing to be feared. At that point, after several rounds of poetry recitation, the Marquis of Jin finally gave the nod and agreed to release him.

Go to Lesson

由此可见，大夫们引用《诗经》都是十分客气委婉又恰如其分地表达了两位诸侯此行的目的。几轮交锋过后，晋侯始终未表态，但已有所动摇。

yóucǐ kějiàn ，dàifu men yǐnyòng 《shījīng 》dōu shì shífēn kèqi wěiwǎn yòu qià rú qí fèn de biǎodá le liǎng wèi zhūhóu cǐ xíng de mùdì 。jǐ lún jiāofēng guòhòu ，jìnhóu shǐzhōng wèi biǎotài ，dàn yǐ yǒusuǒ dòngyáo 。

From this one can see that when the senior official quoted the Book of Songs it was an indirect and appropriate way of expressing the motive of the visit by the two dukes. After several confrontations, the Marquis of Jin didn't declare his position, but was swayed to some extent.

Go to Lesson