Poem About Civic of Studies

The Balled of Civic Studies

General He Jian, the well-armed educator,
Has told us what in schools he'd like to see.
First comes a course that's known as "civic studies."
Perhaps you wonder what that course might be.

Good people all, I beg you to be patient
While I compile a textbook just for you.
It's not an easy thing to be a subject:
You must be very careful what you do.

Start by accepting all they they hand out:
Sweat like a pig, toil like a buffalo,
Work while you live, be eaten when you're dead,
Or if diseased, be rendered down to tallow.

Next you must grasp the art of the kowtow
First to the mighty general, our great head,
Next to that old fellow called Confucius,
Or else you're surely bound to end up dead.

Thirdly, no love: free marriage is just crap.
Better to be the nineteenth concubine,
Uphold morality, be sold for thousands,
And be to you poor parents a gold-mine.

Fourthly, do always just what you are told,
And carry out the great man's least commands,
For many are the duties of the subject :
None but the great man really understands.

But there is one more warning I must give you:
Don't cling too closely to this text of mine
In case the great man changes his ideas
And labels me "reactionary swine".

                                                                 Published in Dec. 1931