Book of Songs
Gu Feng
Anonymous
习习谷风
以阴以雨
黾勉同心
不宜有怒
采葑采菲
无以下体
德音莫违
及尔同死
行道迟迟
中心有违
不远伊迩
薄送我畿
谁谓荼苦
其甘如荠
宴尔新昏
如兄如弟
泾以渭浊
湜湜其沚
宴尔新昏
不我屑以
毋逝我梁
毋发我笱
我躬不阅
遑恤我后
就其深矣
方之舟之
就其浅矣
泳之游之
何有何亡
黾勉求之
凡民有丧
匍匐救之
不我能慉
反以我为雠
既阻我德
贾用不售
昔育恐育鞫
及尔颠覆
既生既育
比予于毒
我有旨蓄
亦以御冬
宴尔新昏
以我御穷
有洸有溃
既诒我肄
不念昔者
伊余来塈
Translation
The valley wind blows steadily, bringing clouds and rain. We should have worked with one heart; there should not have been anger. When gathering turnips and radishes, do not reject them for their lower parts. If good words and affection are not betrayed, I would die together with you. I walk the road slowly, my heart full of grievance. You did not send me far away; you only saw me to the near boundary. Who says bitter greens are bitter? Compared with my grief, they are sweet as shepherd's purse. You feast with your new bride, close as brothers together. The Jing seems muddy because of the Wei, yet around the islet the water is clear. You feast with your new bride, and no longer care for me. Do not go to my fish weir. Do not open my fish trap. I myself cannot find rest; how can I care for what comes after me? Where it was deep, I crossed by raft and boat. Where it was shallow, I swam and waded across. Whatever we had, whatever we lacked, I struggled to seek it. When common people suffered loss, I crawled forward to rescue them. You could not cherish me; instead, you made me your enemy. You blocked my virtue, like goods taken to market but not sold. In former days of hardship and distress, I overturned together with you. Now that you have lived and raised a household, you compare me to poison. I had good stores laid up, to guard against winter. You feast with your new bride, and used me only against poverty. Fierce and raging, you have left hardship to me. You do not remember the former days, when it was I who came to comfort you.
Analysis
"Gu Feng" is one of the major abandoned-wife poems in the Book of Songs. It gives voice to a woman cast aside by her husband after he takes a new bride. The poem is long, emotionally complex, and unusually explicit in its moral accounting. The speaker does not merely lament abandonment; she reviews the whole history of the marriage: loyalty, labor, hardship, usefulness, and betrayal. The opening image is a valley wind that brings cloud and rain. This is not a fresh, liberating wind. It is damp, heavy, and oppressive. It sets the emotional weather of the poem: a marriage darkened by resentment and loss. "We should have worked with one heart; there should not have been anger." The speaker begins from the principle of marriage. Husband and wife should cooperate, not turn against each other. Her complaint is grounded in an ethical expectation, not in mere jealousy. "When gathering turnips and radishes, do not reject them for their lower parts" is one of the poem's key metaphors. Some parts of a plant may be imperfect, but that does not make the whole plant worthless. Likewise, a person should not be entirely rejected because of some perceived flaw. The wife is arguing against total abandonment. The second stanza moves to the scene of her departure. She walks slowly because her heart resists. Her husband does not even send her far; he only sees her to a nearby boundary. The limited farewell reveals the thinness of his affection. "Who says bitter greens are bitter? Compared with my grief, they are sweet as shepherd's purse." This is a devastating expression of pain. Her suffering is so bitter that bitter food tastes sweet by comparison. The repeated phrase "You feast with your new bride" contrasts his pleasure with her exclusion. His new intimacy intensifies her abandonment. The poem is not simply about losing a husband; it is about being displaced by another woman after years of shared labor. The water image, "The Jing seems muddy because of the Wei, yet around the islet the water is clear," can be read as a defense of the speaker. Even if others claim impurity or disorder, there remains clarity. She insists that she should not be judged or discarded simplistically. The lines about the fish weir and fish trap mark a boundary. Since he has rejected her, he should no longer use what belongs to her. This is a powerful moment of self-protection: the abandoned woman asserts control over what remains of her life. The fourth stanza reviews her capability and care. Deep water, shallow water, lack, need, disaster — she has dealt with all of it. She has worked, improvised, provided, and helped others in distress. She is not useless. She is a person of labor and virtue. The fifth stanza becomes more accusatory. He does not cherish her; he treats her as an enemy. He blocks recognition of her virtue. She remembers the old days of hardship, when she endured collapse and danger with him. Now that life has stabilized, he treats her as poison. This is the poem's harshest moral charge: he used her in adversity and rejected her in prosperity. The final stanza develops this further. She had stored good provisions for winter — a sign of foresight and household care. But he used her only as protection against poverty. Once he no longer needed her, he turned fierce, left burdens behind, and forgot the days when she was the one who comforted him. "Gu Feng" is powerful because it gives the abandoned woman a full argumentative voice. She remembers, compares, reasons, accuses, and defends her worth. She is not only a victim; she is a witness against betrayal. The poem exposes the injustice of a marriage in which a woman's labor is accepted in hardship but discarded when prosperity arrives.
About the Author
"Gu Feng" comes from the "Bei Feng" section of the "Airs of the States" in the Book of Songs. Its author is unknown. The Book of Songs is the earliest anthology of Chinese poetry, containing more than three hundred poems from roughly the early Western Zhou to the mid-Spring and Autumn period. "Bei Feng" preserves songs associated with the region of Bei and the state of Wei, many of which concern marriage, family conflict, politics, war, emotional distress, and social ethics. "Gu Feng" is one of the anthology's most important abandoned-wife poems, notable for its detailed moral indictment of a husband who forgets shared hardship and replaces an old wife with a new bride.