周發商湯
zhōu fā shāng tāng
"Fa of Zhou and Tang of Shang"
This is not a line I would have immediately figured out on my own, because I didn't recognize any of the names. 周發, "Fa of Zhou", is 周武王, King Wu of Zhou, founder of the Zhou dynasty (which I have heard of!) sometime around 1046 BCE. 商湯, "Tang of Shang," is 成湯 Cheng Tang, founder of the Shang dynasty, established around 1600 BCE. The Shang dynasty was overthrown by what would become the Zhou dynasty.
Based on the previous line, these two rulers did right by their people. In the next couple of lines, we'll find out how they accomplished this.
If you wanted to read this line for amusement alone, you could interpret 周發 as "sending in circles" and 商湯 as "business soup." Combined, these images make me think of a protracted business dinner, with dishes constantly revolving on a lazy Susan between guests.
微臣
史大偉
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