Book of Songs
郑风·扬之水
佚名
扬之水，不流束楚。
终鲜兄弟，维予与女。
无信人之言，人实诳女。
扬之水，不流束薪。
终鲜兄弟，维予二人。
无信人之言，人实不信。
Translation
The flowing water is too gentle to carry away a bundle of thornwood. In the end, there are few brothers or kin; there is only you and me. Do not trust what others say—they are deceiving you. The flowing water is too gentle to carry away a bundle of firewood. In the end, there are few brothers or kin; there are only the two of us. Do not trust what others say—people are not truly trustworthy.
Analysis
“Flowing Water” is a subdued poem of warning and dependence. Unlike the brighter love songs of the “Airs of Zheng,” it speaks from a place of insecurity. The speaker urges the other person not to trust outside voices, insisting that only the two of them can rely on each other. The opening image is water that flows too weakly to carry away a bundle of wood. This is not a powerful river but a slow and ineffectual current. It creates an atmosphere of heaviness and limited movement, fitting the poem’s sense of constrained circumstances. The central line, “there is only you and me,” gives the poem its emotional weight. Kinship support is scarce, and outside speech is dangerous. Trust between the two people becomes not merely romantic, but necessary for survival. The repeated warning not to trust others suggests fear of slander, betrayal, or social pressure. The poem is therefore not simply about love, but about the fragile bond that must be protected when the surrounding world is unreliable.
About the Author
The anonymous regional songs of the Book of Songs preserve a wide range of early Chinese social experience. They include not only courtship and love, but also kinship, rumor, trust, vulnerability, and social pressure. The “Airs of Zheng” are especially rich in emotional variety.