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Jiao Rite Petition for Sangwon (上元) — Third Cup, Blue Text (靑詞)上元醮禮文 三獻靑詞

Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) 東國李相國集 · Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 1 passages · 104 Chinese characters · reading time 1.1 min

Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 40 The collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and enlarged by his grandson Yi Ikbae in 1251. It holds poems and rhapsodies, memorials and reports sent up to the king, records written for temples and pagodas, stele and tomb inscriptions, letters and prefaces, and the state letters that passed to and from the Mongols during the invasions. The Lay of King Dongmyeong, which sings the founder of Goguryeo, stands in volume 3 of the first collection, and the daily life of a man who called himself the White Cloud Layman — with his wine, his zither and his verse — fills the later collection. The book closes with the last poem he wrote as his eyes failed and he laid down the brush, and with the dirge and tomb inscription others made for him after his death.

道常宅於希夷。迎隨不見。神若存於怳惚。禍福無常。念眇眇之資。臨元元之衆。克艱王業。居多夕惕之心。寅奉天威。嘗畏日臨之鑒。况屬群仙之校錄。宜邀上帝之保持。恭按眞科。式嚴凈醮。仰冀冥然之聽。優加惠我之私。擁茨福之方。將永于多享。保蘿圖於可久。展也大成。

The Way dwells ever in what cannot be heard or seen, so that whether we meet it or follow after it we do not see it; the divine seems to be present within a dazzled haze, and calamity and blessing are not fixed.

I consider that with a paltry endowment I have come to rule over the multitude of the people. Holding the ruler's task to be hard, my heart is full of dread until evening; reverently upholding the majesty of Heaven, I have long feared the scrutiny that draws near day by day. How much more, since this belongs to the time when the host of immortals reconciles their ledgers, ought I to welcome the protection of the Lord on High.

Reverently looking to the true observances, I keep this clean jiao rite strictly.

Looking up, I pray that you hear from afar and add in full measure the grace of your kindness to me. Let me embrace the way of accumulated blessing and so long enjoy abundance; and guard the foundation of the state so that it may endure, and truly bring it to greatness.

‹ Jiao Rite Petition for Sangwon (上元) — Preliminary InvocationContentsJiao Rite Petition for Sangwon (上元) — Second Cup ›Listen to this piece