Comments and Annotations

This song is recorded in Records of the Unusual: With Sketches (《集异记逸文》), which is compiled by Xue Yongruo(薛用弱, ?-?) of the Tang Dynasty. The introductory remarks of the book are roughly as follows: Jiang Chen, a teacher, often goes fishing. One night, he witnessed a gathering of the water gods, at which the God of the Taihu Lake rose from his seat and sang the song while dancing. By likening the people to the waters, which are capable of supporting the boats as well as turning them over, the song offers the rulers a warning in the form of a parable that they should not be too cruel to the people, otherwise they are bound to destruction.