Chinese poem illustration: 小雅 蓼莪/ Xiaoya – That Is Me by Anonymous
Full video also availbale at Bilibili: 小雅 蓼莪
One of the most popular condolence poem in Shijing, very likely the the real words from a son to his passed away parents, touching and sentimental. A deep dive to the tradition value Filial Piety(孝道) is illustrated to help on the understanding to this poem: how the two way relation between parents and children was defined and excercised in Zhou dynasty , which was finally turned into a almost one-way relation by Confucianism.
A new explaination is put forward based on the dailect of Xi‘an(秦腔), where the Zhou capital used to be located. The key character 莪（e2) is a loan character of 我 by pronouciation, for example 蓼蓼者莪, 匪莪伊蒿 equals 蓼蓼者我, 非我以高.
小雅 蓼莪
佚名
蓼蓼者莪，匪莪伊蒿。
哀哀父母，生我劬劳。
蓼蓼者莪，匪莪伊蔚。
哀哀父母，生我劳瘁。
瓶之罄矣，维罍之耻。
鲜民之生，不如死之久矣。
无父何怙？无母何恃？
出则衔恤，入则靡至。
父兮生我，母兮鞠我。
抚我畜我，长我育我。
顾我复我，出入腹我。
欲报之德。昊天罔极！
南山烈烈，飘风发发。
民莫不穀，我独何害！
南山律律，飘风弗弗。
民莫不穀，我独不卒！
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