Chinese poem illustration: 周南 樛木/ Zhou Wind – Jiu Wood by Anonymous
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Zhou dynasty is by bloodline and affinity. The building block of the dynasty is lord(君 or 君子) of different levels who was assigned with a piece of land. The king was the lord of whole country, the state lords were just under the king, there were much more junior lords under the state lords.
Jiu wood(樛木) is considered as an unknown huge wood with its hairy branches stretching downward. Another possibility is that it does not refer to a dedicate wood but a wood with vines surrounded and covered. Like a simple folk song at the first glance, but very sophisticated writing showed when dig into the wording. Metaphor and loan words were employed, make this beautiful anthem full of folkloric, meaningful with goodwill and blessing. The key value of Zhou people is indicated and repeated in this poem: fortune and law(福履，履=礼)
周南 樛木
佚名
南有樛木，葛藟累之。
乐只君子，福履绥之。
南有樛木，葛藟荒之。
乐只君子，福履将之。
南有樛木，葛藟萦之。
乐只君子，福履成之。
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