65 Muye

A4.15

On the morning of the Jiazi day of February, King Wu arrived at the outskirts of Shang and swore an oath to his troops. He held a yellow axe in his left hand and a white flag ornamented with ox tail in his right hand, and used them to command. King Wu said, "You have worked hard on the journey, my soldiers from the west!" King Wu continued, "Ah! My friendly monarchs, Situ the Minister of Education, Sima the Minister of War, Sikong the Minister of Works, and other Ministers, and the Chief of Thousands, the Chief of Hundreds, as well as the Yong people, the Shu people, the Qiang people, the Mao people, the Wei people, the Lu people, the Peng people, and the Pu people, please raise your halberds, line up your shields, and hold up your spears. And let us swear an oath together." King Wu said, "The ancients often said, 'A hen does not crow at the dawn. A hen’s dawn leads to a family ruined.' Now Zhou the Tyrant only listens to whatever his concubine says, he has given up the sacrifices to his ancestors and no longer cares about them. He has abandoned the affairs of state and does not employ his brothers. Instead, he has summoned criminals and fugitives from all countries, and he respects them, values ​​them, trusts them, employs them, and indulges them. He was rampant among the people, and as a result, the politics of the Shang was controlled by treacherous and cunning people. Today, I will respectfully carry out the punishment from heaven. Today we go to attack Zhou the Tyrant. Every six or seven steps forward, we must stop and reorganize the team. Try hard, soldiers! Each stab must not exceed four, five, six, or seven times. You must stop and reorganize the team. Try hard, soldiers! I hope everyone will be brave and powerful, just like tigers, bears, jackals, and chi. We will be fighting in the suburbs of Shang, and don't attack those who come to surrender, have them obey the orders of us who come from the west. Try hard, soldiers! If any of you don't, the punishment of death will be waiting for you. " After the oath, the princes' army that came to meet had 4,000 chariots and all lined up together in Muye.

二月甲子昧爽，武王朝至于商郊牧野，乃誓。武王左杖黄钺，右秉白旄，以麾。曰：“远矣西土之人！”武王曰：“嗟！我有国冢君，司徒、司马、司空，亚旅、师氏，千夫长、百夫长，及庸、蜀、羌、髳、微、纑、彭、濮人，称尔戈，比尔干，立尔矛，予其誓。”王曰：“古人有言‘牝鸡无晨。牝鸡之晨，惟家之索’。今殷王纣维妇人言是用，自弃其先祖肆祀不答，昏弃其家国，遗其王父母弟不用，乃维四方之多罪逋逃是崇是长，是信是使，俾暴虐于百姓，以奸轨于商国。今予发维共行天之罚。今日之事，不过六步七步，乃止齐焉，夫子勉哉！不过于四伐五伐六伐七伐，乃止齐焉，勉哉夫子！尚桓桓，如虎如罴，如豺如离，于商郊，不御克奔，以役西土，勉哉夫子！尔所不勉，其于尔身有戮。”誓已，诸侯兵会者车四千乘，陈师牧野。