The Decade of King Wen

1. Read through the original once to feel the rhythm of seven stanzas of eight lines, then go stanza by stanza with commentaries to understand the words.
2. Read alongside other poems in the Greater Odes to compare how the image of King Wen is presented in different poems.
3. When reading aloud, observe the pauses at each stanza of eight lines and appreciate the solemn, relaxed tone of the odes.
4. After reading, try to summarize the main idea of each stanza in your own words to check whether you have grasped the emphasis of the praise.

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.