Book of Songs
有狐
佚名
Xīn zhī yōu yǐ, zhī zǐ wú cháng.
Xīn zhī yōu yǐ, zhī zǐ wú dài.
Xīn zhī yōu yǐ, zhī zǐ wú fú.
Translation
A fox moves slowly along, there by the bridge over the Qi. My heart is troubled: that person has no lower garment. A fox moves slowly along, there by the ford of the Qi. My heart is troubled: that person has no sash. A fox moves slowly along, there beside the Qi. My heart is troubled: that person has no clothing.
Analysis
“You Hu” is a subtle and somewhat enigmatic poem. Each stanza opens with a fox moving slowly by the Qi River. The image is lonely and faintly unsettling. In early poetry, the fox can suggest wildness, solitude, or marginal existence. It appears near a bridge, a ford, and the riverbank — all unstable threshold places. The speaker’s anxiety centers on the repeated line: “that person has no garment,” “no sash,” “no clothing.” The lack of clothing may suggest poverty, social disorder, exposure, or the absence of proper care. The poem does not explain the situation directly. Instead, it lets the missing articles of dress stand for a deeper incompleteness. The movement from bridge to ford to riverbank, and from lower garment to sash to clothing, creates an accumulating pattern of concern. The slow fox and the improperly clothed person reflect one another, forming an atmosphere of vulnerability and unease. The poem’s power lies in what it withholds: its meaning is not fully stated, but felt through repetition.
About the Author
“You Hu” is an anonymous poem from the Airs of Wey. The Qi River appears frequently in the Wey poems as a landscape of memory, movement, and emotional uncertainty. This poem uses the image of a fox and the absence of proper clothing to suggest vulnerability and concern. Though its author is unknown, it offers a striking example of early Chinese symbolic lyricism.