Song of the Catapult

Song of the Catapult

We cut bamboo,

To make arrow and bow!

We run and run, clouds of dust behind,

Shooting arrows to hunt!

This song, from a book compiled during the 1st century AD, is dated to the reign of the legendary ancient Chinese ruler Huang Di (“Yellow Emperor”). Written simply, the song has four lines, with each line made up of two syllables (in the original, not in translation). Researchers believe that the song suggests a phase of two-syllable verse in the development of Chinese poetry of the remote past. The catapult was made by attaching a strip of bamboo as the string to a bamboo frame.