Book of Songs
Xiong Zhi
Anonymous
雄雉于飞
泄泄其羽
我之怀矣
自诒伊阻
雄雉于飞
下上其音
展矣君子
实劳我心
瞻彼日月
悠悠我思
道之云远
曷云能来
百尔君子
不知德行
不忮不求
何用不臧
Translation
The cock pheasant is flying, its feathers spread in easy motion. I think of him, and bring upon myself this pain of separation. The cock pheasant is flying, its cry rises and falls. Truly, that noble man wearies and troubles my heart. I gaze at the sun and moon; my thoughts stretch on and on. The road is so far — when will he be able to come? You many noble men do not understand virtuous conduct. If one neither envies and harms nor greedily seeks, what would not be good?
Analysis
"Bei Feng · Xiong Zhi" is often read as a poem of a woman longing for a distant husband or beloved. Yet it is not only a love poem. It begins in longing and ends in moral reflection, moving from the sight of a flying pheasant to a judgment on what true gentlemanly conduct should be. The opening image is the male pheasant in flight, its feathers spreading smoothly. The bird's freedom contrasts with the speaker's separation. The bird can move through space; she remains bound by distance and longing. "I think of him, and bring upon myself this pain of separation" suggests that longing itself has become a burden. The speaker does not simply blame the absent man. She recognizes that her own attachment deepens her suffering. The second stanza shifts from sight to sound. The pheasant's cry rises and falls. This sound intensifies memory and emotion. The "noble man" she thinks of is real and admirable, yet he also "wearies" her heart because his absence causes prolonged distress. The third stanza expands the feeling into time. The sun and moon are visible signs of days passing. Her thoughts continue without end. The question "when will he be able to come?" is simple, but it contains the whole pain of waiting: distance, uncertainty, and helplessness. The final stanza turns unexpectedly toward ethics. "You many noble men do not understand virtuous conduct." This may criticize men who pursue office, ambition, rivalry, or gain while neglecting proper moral conduct and personal obligations. The closing line gives a compact ethical ideal: do not envy or harm; do not greedily seek. If a person avoids jealousy, injury, and grasping desire, what could be lacking in goodness? The speaker's longing thus becomes linked to a larger moral expectation. The poem's depth lies in this combination of emotion and ethics. The speaker longs for the absent man, but she also cares about what kind of man he is. She wants return, but also virtue. In this way, "Xiong Zhi" is both a poem of separation and a poem about the moral burden placed on the idea of the "junzi."
About the Author
"Bei Feng · Xiong Zhi" 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 love, marriage, family, politics, war, labor, exile, and social distress. "Xiong Zhi" is notable for joining a woman's longing for a distant noble man with a broader reflection on virtue, jealousy, desire, and moral conduct.