The LÎ KÎ (THE BOOK OF RITES) (2)

THE LÎ KÎ.
A COLLECTION OF TREATISES ON THE RULES OF PROPRIETY OR CEREMONIAL USAGES.

BOOK 1. KHÜ LÎ.
SUMMARY OF THE RULES OF PROPRIETY.
SECTION I. PART I.
Ch. 1. 1. The Summary of the Rules of Propriety says:-Always and in everything let there be reverence; with the deportment grave as when
[On the names of the whole work and of this book, see the Introduction, pp. 9-12 and 15-17.
Part I is occupied with general principles and statements about Propriety rather than with the detail of particular rules. It may be divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-one paragraphs,
Ch. 1. 1, tells how reverence and gravity, with careful speech, are essential in Propriety; and shows its importance to a community or nation. 2. 2, specifies habits or tendencies incompatible with Propriety. 3. 3-5, gives instances of Propriety in superior men, and directions for certain cases. 4. 6, 7, states the rules for sitting, standing, and a mission to another state. 5. 8-22, sets forth how indispensable Propriety is for the regulation of the individual and society, and that it marks in fact the distinction between men and brutes. 6. 23-26, indicates how the rules, unnecessary in the most ancient times, grew with the progress of society, and were its ornament and security. 7. 27-31, speaks of the different stages of life, as divided into decades from ten years to a hundred; and certain characteristics belonging to them.]
one is thinking (deeply), and with speech composed and definite. This will make the people tranquil.
2. 2. Pride should not be allowed to grow; the desires should not be indulged; the will should not be gratified to the full; pleasure should not be carried to excess.
3. 3. Men of talents and virtue can be familiar with others and yet respect them; can stand in awe of others and yet love them. They love others and yet acknowledge the evil that is in them. They accumulate (wealth) and yet are able to part with it (to help the needy); they rest in what gives them satisfaction and yet can seek satisfaction elsewhere (when it is desirable to do so). 4. When you find wealth within your reach, do not (try to) get it by improper means; when you meet with calamity, do not (try to) escape from it by improper means. Do not seek for victory in small contentions; do not seek for more than your proper share. 5. Do not positively affirm what you have doubts about; and (when you have no doubts), do not let what you say appear (simply) as your own view[1].
4. 6. If a man be sitting, let him do so as a personator of the deceased[2]; if he be standing, let him do so (reverently), as in sacrificing. 7. In
[1. The text in the second part of this sentence is not easily translated and interpreted. I have followed in my version the view of Kang, Kû Hsi,.and the Khien-lung editors. Callery gives for'the whole sentence, ' Ne donnez pas comme certain ce qui est douteux, mais exposez-le clairement sans arrière-pensée.' Zottoli's view of the meaning is probably the same as mine: 'Dubiu's rerurn noli praesumere, sed sincerus ne tibi arroges.'
2 On the personator of the deceased, see vol. iii, pp. 300, 301, According to the ritual of Kau, the representatives of the dead always sat, and bore themselves with the utmost gravity.]
(observing) the rules of propriety, what is right (for the time and in the circumstances) should be followed. In discharging a mission (to another state), its customs are to be observed.
5. 8. They are the rules of propriety, that furnish the means of determining (the observances towards) relatives, as near and remote; of settling points which may cause suspicion or doubt; of distinguishing where there should be agreement, and where difference; and of making clear what is right and what is wrong. 9. According to those rules, one should not (seek to) please others in an improper way, nor be lavish of his words, 10. According to them, one does not go beyond the definite measure, nor encroach on or despise others, nor is fond of (presuming) familiarities. 11. To cultivate one's person and fulfil one's words is called good conduct. When the conduct is (thus) ordered, and the words are accordant with the (right) course, we have the substance of the rules of propriety. 12. I have heard that it is in accordance with those rules that one should be chosen by others (as their model); I have not heard of his choosing them (to take him as such). I have heard in the same way of (scholars) coming to learn; I have not heard of (the master) going to teach. 13. The course (of duty), virtue, benevolence, and righteousness cannot be fully carried out without the rules of propriety; 14. nor are training and oral lessons for the rectification of manners complete; 15. nor can the clearing up of quarrels and discriminating in disputes be accomplished; 16. nor can (the duties between) ruler and minister, high and low, father and son, elder brother and younger, be determined; 17. nor can students for office and (other) learners, in serving their masters, have an attachment for them; 18. nor can majesty and dignity be shown in assigning the different places at court, in the government of the armies, and in discharging the duties of office so as to secure the operation of the laws; 19. nor can there be the (proper) sincerity and gravity in presenting the offerings to spiritual Beings on occasions of supplication, thanksgiving, and the various sacrifices[1]. 20. Therefore the superior man is respectful and reverent, assiduous in his duties and not going beyond them, retiring and yielding;-thus illustrating (the principle of) propriety. 21. The parrot can speak, and yet is nothing more than a bird; the ape can speak, and yet is nothing more than a beast 22. Here now is a man who observes no rules of propriety; is not his heart that of a beast? But if (men were as) beasts, and without (the principle of) propriety, father and son might have the same mate. 22. Therefore, when the sages arose, they framed the rules of propriety in order to teach men, and cause them, by
[1. Four religious acts are here mentioned, in connexion with which the offerings to spiritual Beings were presented. What I have called 'various sacrifices' is in Chinese Kî sze. Wû Khang says: 'Kî means sacrificial offerings to the spirit (or spirits) of Earth, and sze those to the spirits of Heaven. Offerings to the manes of men are also covered by them when they are used together.'
2 We know that the parrot and some other birds can be taught to speak; but I do not know that any animal has been taught to enunciate words even as these birds do. Williams (Dict. p. 8og) thinks that the shang shang mentioned here may be the rhinopithecus Roxellana of P. David, found in Sze-khüan; but we have no account of it in Chinese works, so far as I know, that is not evidently fabulous.]
their possession of them, to make a distinction between themselves and brutes.
6. 23. In the highest antiquity they prized (simply conferring) good; in the time next to this, giving and repaying was the thing attended to[1]. And what the rules of propriety value is that reciprocity. If I give a gift and nothing comes in return, that is contrary to propriety; if the thing comes to me, and I give nothing in return, that also is contrary to propriety. 24. If a man observe the rules of propriety, he is in a condition of security; if he do not, he is in one of danger. Hence there is the saying, 'The rules of propriety should by no means be left unlearned.' 25. Propriety is seen in humbling one's self and giving honour to others. Even porters and pedlers are sure to display this giving honour (in some cases); how much more should the rich and noble do so (in all)! 26. When the rich and noble know to love propriety, they do not become proud nor dissolute. When the poor and mean know to love propriety, their minds do not become cowardly.
7. 27. When one is ten years old, we call him a boy; he goes (out) to school. When he is twenty, we call him a youth; he is capped. When he is thirty, we say, 'He is at his maturity;' he has a wife[2]. When
[1. Compare with this paragraph the state of 'the highest antiquity' described in the Tâo Teh King, chapters 18, 19, et al.
2 When it is said that at thirty a man has a wife, the meaning must be that he ought not to reach that age without being married. Early marriages were the rule in ancient China, as they are now. Confucius was married when barely twenty. In the same way we are to understand the being in office at forty. A man might take office at thirty; if he reached forty before he did so, there was something wrong in himself or others.]
he is forty, we say, 'He is in his vigour;' he is employed in office. When he is fifty, we say, 'He is getting grey;' he can discharge all the duties of an officer. When he is sixty, we say, 'He is getting old;' he gives directions and instructions. When he is seventy, we say, 'He is old;' he delegates his duties to others. At eighty or ninety, we say of him, 'He is very old.' When he is seven, we say that he is an object of pitying love. Such a child and one who is very old, though they may be chargeable with crime, are not subjected to punishment. At a hundred, he is called a centenarian, and has to be fed. 28. A great officer, when he is seventy, should resign (his charge of) affairs. 29. If he be not allowed to resign, there must be given him a stool and staff. When travelling on service, he must have the attendance of his wife[1]; and when going to any other state, he will ride in an easy carriage[2]. 30. (In another state) he will, style himself 'the old man;' in his own state, he will call himself by his name. 31. When from another they ask (about his state), he must tell them of its (old) institutions[3].
[1. Perhaps we should translate here in the plural--'his women,' which would include his wife.
2. An 'easy carriage' was small. Its occupant sat in it, and did not stand.
3. It is supposed here that the foreign envoys first question the ruler, who then calls in the help of the aged minister.]
PART II
1. 1. In going to take counsel with an elder, one must carry a stool and a staff with him (for the elder's use). When the elder asks a question, to reply without acknowledging one's incompetency and (trying to) decline answering, is contrary to propriety[1].
2. 2. For all sons it is the rule :--In winter, to warm (the bed for their parents), and to cool it in summer; in the evening, to adjust everything (for their repose), and to inquire (about their health) in the morning; and, when with their companions, not to quarrel.
3. 3. Whenever a son, having received the three (first) gifts (of the ruler), declines (to use) the carriage and horses, the people of the hamlets and smaller districts, and of the larger districts and neighbourhoods, will proclaim him filial; his brothers and relatives, both by consanguinity and affinity, will proclaim him
[Part II enters more into detail about the rules of Propriety. It has been divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-two paragraphs.
Ch. 1. 1, speaks of a junior consulting an elder. 2. 2, describes services due from all sons to their parents. 3. 3, shows a filial son when raised to higher rank than his father. 4. 4-16, contains rules for a son in various circumstances, especially with reference to his father. 5. 17-26, gives the rules for younger men in their intercourse with their teachers and elders generally, and in various cases. 6. 27, is the rule for an officer in entering the gate of his ruler or coming out by it. 7. 28-32, deals with a host and visitor, and ceremonious visiting and intercourse generally.
3. The reply of Tsang Shan to Confucius, as related in vol. iii, pp. 465, 466, is commonly introduced in illustration of this second sentence.]
loving; his friends who are fellow-officers will proclaim him virtuous; and his friends who are his associates will proclaim him true[1].
4. 4. When he sees an intimate friend of his father, not to presume to go forward to him without being told to do so; nor to retire without being told; nor to address him without being questioned:--this is the conduct of a filial son, 5. A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he is going); when he returns, he must present himself before them. Where he travels must be in some fixed (region); what he engages in must be some (reputable) occupation. 6. In ordinary conversation (with his parents), he does not use the term 'old' (with reference to them)[2]. 7. He should serve one twice as old as himself as he serves his father, one ten years older than himself as an elder brother; with one five years older he should walk shoulder to shoulder, but (a little) behind him. 8. When five are sitting together, the eldest must have a different mat (by himself)[3]. 9. A son should not occupy the south-west corner of the apartment, nor sit in the
[1. The gifts of distinction, conferred by the sovereign on officers, ministers, and feudal princes, were nine in all; and the enumerations of them are not always the same. The three intended here are the appointment to office, or rank; the robes belonging to it; and the chariot and horses. We must suppose that the rank placed the son higher than the father in social position, and that he declines the third gift from humility,--not to parade himself as superior to his father and others in his circle.
2. Some understand the rule to be that the son is not to speak of himself as old; but the meaning in the translation is the more approved.
3. Four men were the proper complement for a mat; the eldest of the five therefore was honoured with another mat for himself.]
middle of the mat (which he occupies alone), nor walk in the middle of the road, nor stand in the middle of the doorway[1]. 10. He should not take the part of regulating the (quantity of) rice and other viands at an entertainment. 11. He should not act as personator of the dead at sacrifice[2]. 12. He should be (as if he were) hearing (his parents) when there is no voice from them, and as seeing them when they are not actually there. 13. He should not ascend a height, nor approach the verge of a depth; he should not indulge in reckless reviling or derisive laughing. A filial son will not do things in the dark, nor attempt hazardous undertakings, fearing lest he disgrace his parents. 14. While his parents are alive, he will not promise a friend to die (with or for him)[3], nor will he have wealth that he calls his own. 15. A son, while his parents are alive, will not wear a cap or (other) article of dress, with a white border[4]. 16. An orphan son, taking his father's place, will not wear a cap or (other article of) dress with a variegated border[5].
5. 17. A boy should never he allowed to see an
[1. The father is supposed to be alive; the south-west part of an apartment was held to be the most honourable, and must be reserved for him. So of the other things.
2. This was in the ancestral worship. A son, acting such a part, would have to receive the homage of his father.
3. I have known instances of Chinese agreeing to die with or for a friend, who wished to avenge a great wrong. See the covenant of the three heroes of the 'romance of the Three Kingdoms,' near the beginning.
4. White was and is the colour worn in mourning.
5. The son here is the eldest son and heir; even after the regular period of mourning is over, he continues to wear it in so far. The other sons were not required to do so.]
instance of deceit[1]. 18. A lad should not wear a jacket of fur nor the skirt[2] . He must stand straight and square, and not incline his head in hearing. 19. When an elder is holding him with the hand, he should hold the elder's hand with both his hands. When the elder has shifted his sword to his back and is speaking to him with the side of his face bent, down, he should cover his mouth with his hand in answering[3]. 20. When he is following his teacher 4, he should not quit the road to speak with another person. When he meets his teacher on the road, he should hasten forward to him, and stand with his hands joined across his breast. If the teacher speak to him, he will answer; if he do not, he will retire with hasty steps. 21. When, following an elder, they ascend a level height, he must keep his face towards the quarter to which the elder is looking. 22. When one has ascended the wall of a city, he should not point, nor callout[5]. 23. When he intends to go to a lodging-house, let it not be with the feeling that he must get whatever he asks for. 24. When about to go up to the hall (of a house), he must raise his voice. When outside the door there are two (pairs
[1. This maxim deserves to be specially noted. It will remind the reader of Juvenal's lines:--
'Maxima debetur puero, reverentia. Si quidTurpe paras, nec tu pueri contempseris annos.'
To make him handy, and leave him free to execute any service required of him.
2. The second sentence here is difficult to construe, and the critics differ much in dealing with it. Zottoli's version is--'Si e dorso vel latere transverso ore (superior) eloquatur ei, tunc obducto ore respondebit.'
3. 'Teacher' is here I the one born before him,' denoting I an old man who teaches youth.'
4. And thus make himself an object of general observation.]
of) shoes[1], if voices be heard, he. enters; if voices be not heard, he will not enter. 25. When about to enter the door, he must keep his eyes cast down. As he enters, he should (keep his hands raised as high as if he were) bearing the bar of the door. In looking down or up, he should not turn (his head). If the door were open, he should leave it open; if it were shut, he should shut it again. If there be others (about) to enter after him, while he (turns to) shut the door, let him not do so hastily. 26. Let him not tread on the shoes (left outside the door), nor stride across the mat (in going to take his seat); but let him hold up his dress, and move hastily to his corner (of the mat). (When seated), he must be careful in answering or assenting.
6. 27. A great officer or (other) officer should go out or in at the ruler's doors[2], on the right of the middle post, without treading on the threshold.
7. 28. Whenever (a host has received and) is entering with a guest, at every door he should give place to him. When the guest arrives at the innermost door (or that leading to the feast-room),
[1. It was the custom in China, as it still is in Japan, to take off the shoes, and leave them outside the door on entering an apartment. This paragraph and the next tell us how a new-comer should not enter an apartment hastily, so as to take those already there by surprise.
2. It is necessary to translate here in the plural. Anciently, as now, the palace, mansion, or public office was an aggregate of courts, with buildings in them, so that the visitor passed from one to another through a gateway, till he reached the inner court which conducted to the hall, behind which again were the family apartments. The royal palace had five courts and gates; that of a feudal lord had three. Each gate had its proper name. The whole assemblage of buildings was much deeper than it was wide.]
the host will ask to be allowed to enter first and arrange the mats. Having done this, he will come out to receive the guest, who will refuse firmly (to enter first). The host having made a low bow to him, they will enter (together). 29. When they have entered the door, the host moves to the right, and the guest to the left, the former going to the steps on the cast, and the latter to those on the west. If the guest be of the lower rank, he goes to the steps of the host (as if to follow him up them). The host firmly declines this, and he returns to the other steps on the west[1]. 30. They then offer to each other the precedence in going up, but the host commences first, followed (immediately) by the other. They bring their feet together on every step, thus ascending by successive paces. He who ascends by the steps on the cast should move his right foot first, and the other at the western steps his left foot. 31. Outside the curtain or screen[2] (a visitor) should not walk with the formal hasty steps, nor above in the hall, nor when carrying the symbol of jade. Above, in the raised hall, the foot-prints should be alongside each other, but below it free and separate. In the apartment the elbows should not be held out like wings in bowing. 32. When two (equals) are sitting side by side, they do not have their elbows extended crosswise. One should not kneel in handing anything to a (superior) standing, nor stand in handing it to him sitting.
[1. The host here is evidently of high dignity, living in a mansion.
2 The screen was in front of the raised hall, in the courtyard; until they passed it visitors might not be in view of their host, and could feel at ease in their carriage and movements.]
PART III.
1. In all cases of (a lad's) carrying away the dirt that has been swept up from the presence of an elder, it is the rule that he (place) the brush on the basket, keeping his sleeve before it as he retires. The dust is not allowed to reach the elder, because he carries the basket with its mouth turned towards himself. 2. He carries the (elder's) mat in his arms like the cross-beam of a shadoof 3. If it be a mat
[Part III continues to lay down the rules for various duties and classes of duties. It extends to sixty-seven paragraphs, which may be comprised in twenty-one chapters.
Ch. 1. 1-4, describes a youth's ways in sweeping for an elder and in carrying and placing his mats. 2. 5-7, relates to host and guest. 3. 8-19, is about a youth, especially a pupil, in attendance on his elders. 4. 20-26, is about his ways in serving a superior. 5. 27-29, is about the shoes in visiting. 6. 30-39, gives rules about not interfering with people's private affairs, and avoiding, between male and female, what would cause suspicion. 7. 40, is a message of congratulation to a friend on his marriage. 8: 41, is about consideration for the poor and the old. 9. 42-46, gives rules for the naming of sons and daughters. 10. 47-51, describes the arrangement of the dishes, and the behaviour of the host and guests, at an entertainment. 11. 52, we have a youth and his host eating together. 12. 53, shows how people, eating together, ought to behave. 13. 54-58, is about things to be avoided in eating. 14. 59, shows us host and guest at the close of the entertainment. In 15. 6o, we have a youth and elder drinking together. 16. 6 1, is about a gift from an elder. 17. 62, shows how the kernel of a fruit given by an elder is to be dealt with in his presence. 18. 63, 64, relates to gifts at a feast from the ruler, and how they are to be used. 19. 65, is about a ruler asking an attendant to share in a feast. 20. 66, is about the use of chopsticks with soup. 21. 67, gives the rules for paring a melon for the ruler and others.]
to sit on, he will ask in what direction (the elder) is going to turn his face; if it be to sleep on, in what direction he is going to turn his feet. 4. If a mat face the south or the north, the seat on the west is accounted that of honour; if it face the east or the west, the seat on the south.
2. 5. Except in the case of guests who are there (simply) to eat and drink, in spreading the mats a space of ten cubits should be left between them[1]. 6. When the host kneels to adjust the mats (of a visitor), the other should kneel and keep hold of them, declining (the honour)[2]. When the visitor (wishes to) remove one or more, the host should firmly decline to permit him to do so. When the visitor steps on his mats, (the host) takes his seat. 7. If the host have not put some question, the visitor should not begin the conversation.
3. 8. When (a pupil) is about to go to his mat, he should not look discomposed. With his two hands he should hold up his lower garment, so that the bottom of it may be a cubit from the ground. His clothes should not hang loosely about him, nor should there be any hurried movements of his feet. 9. If any writing or tablets of his master, or his lute or cithern be in the way, he should kneel down and remove them, taking care not to disarrange them. 10. When sitting and doing nothing, he should keep quite at the back (of his mat); when eating, quite at the front of it[3] . He should sit quietly and keep
[1. To allow space and freedom for gesticulation.
2. Two or more mats might be placed over each other in honour of the visitor.
3. The dishes were placed before the mats.]
a watch on his countenance. If there be any subject on which the elder has not touched, let him not introduce it irregularly. 11. Let him keep his deportment correct[1], and listen respectfully. Let him not appropriate (to himself) the words (of others), nor (repeat them) as (the echo does the) thunder. If he must (adduce proofs), let them be from antiquity, with an appeal to the ancient kings. 12. When sitting by his side, and the teacher puts a question, (the learner) should not reply till (the other) has finished. 13. When requesting (instruction) on the subject of his studies, (the learner) should rise; when requesting further information, he should rise. 14. When his father calls, (a youth) should not (merely) answer 'yes,' nor when his teacher calls. He should, with (a respectful) 'yes,' immediately rise (and go to them). 15. When one is sitting in attendance on another whom he honours and reveres, he should not allow any part of his mat to keep them apart[2], nor will he rise when he sees others (come in) of the same rank as himself. 16. When the torches come, he should rise; and also when the viands come in, or a visitor of superior rank[3]. 17. The torches should not (be allowed to burn) till their ends can be seen. 18. Before an honoured visitor we should not shout (even) at
[1. Here, and in some other places, we find the second personal pronoun; as if the text were made up from different sources. I have translated, however, as if we had only the third person.
2. He should sit on the front of his mat, to be as near the other as possible.
3. The torches were borne by boys. They were often changed, that the visitors might not be aware how the time was passing.]
a dog. 19. When declining any food, one should not spit.
4. 20. When one is sitting in attendance on another of superior character or rank, and that other yawns or stretches himself, or lays hold of his staff or shoes, or looks towards the sun to see if it be early or late, he should ask to be allowed to leave. 21. In the same position, if the superior man put a question on a new subject, he should rise up in giving his reply. 22. Similarly, if there come some one saying (to the superior man), 'I wish, when you have a little leisure, to report to you,' he should withdraw to the left or right and wait. 23. Do not listen with the head inclined on one side, nor answer with a loud sharp voice, nor look with a dissolute leer, nor keep the body in a slouching position[1]. 24. Do not saunter about with a haughty gait, nor stand with one foot raised. Do not sit with your knees wide apart, nor sleep on your face. 25. Have your hair gathered up, and do not use any false hair[2]. 26. Let not the cap be laid aside; nor the chest be bared, (even) when one is toiling hard; nor let the lower garment be held up (even) in hot weather.
5. 2 7. When (going to) sit in attendance on an elder, (a visitor) should not go up to the hall with his shoes on, nor should he presume to take them off in front of the Steps. 28. (When any single visitor is leaving), he will go to his shoes, kneel down and take them up, and then move to one side. 29. (When the visitors retire in a body) with their
[1. The style and form of 23-26 differ from the preceding. Perhaps they should form a paragraph by themselves.
2. Which women were accustomed to do.]
faces towards the elder, (they stand) by the shoes, which they then, kneeling, remove (some distance), and, stooping down, put on[1].
6 . 30. When two men are sitting or standing together, do not join them as a third. When two are standing together, another should not pass between them. 31. Male and female should not sit together (in the same apartment), nor have the same stand or rack for their clothes, nor use the same towel or comb, nor let their hands touch in giving and receiving. 32. A sister-in-law and brother-in-law do not interchange inquiries (about each other). None of the concubines in a house should be employed to wash the lower garment (of a son)[2]. 33. Outside affairs should not be talked of inside the threshold (of the women's apartments), nor inside (or women's) affairs outside it. 34. When a young lady is; promised in marriage, she wears the strings (hanging down to her neck)[3]; and unless there be some :great occasion, no (male) enters the door of her apartment[4]. 35. When a married aunt, or sister, or daughter returns home (on a visit), no brother (of the family) should sit with her on the same mat or eat with her from the same dish. (Even) the father and daughter should not occupy the same mat[5]. 36.
[1. The host would be seeing the visitors off, and therefore they would keep their faces towards him.
2. Concubines might be employed to wash clothes; delicacy forbade their washing the lower garments of the sons.
3. Those strings were symbolic of the union with and subjection to her husband to which she was now pledged.
4. Great sickness or death, or other great calamity, would be such ant occasion.
5. This is pushing the rule to an extreme. The sentence is also (but wrongly) understood of father and son.]
Male and female, without the intervention of the matchmaker, do not know each other's name. Unless the marriage presents have been received, there should be no communication nor affection between them. 37. Hence the day and month (of the marriage) should be announced to the ruler, and to the spirits (of ancestors) with purification and fasting; and (the bridegroom) should make a feast, and invite (his friends) in the district and neighbourhood, and his fellow-officers :--thus giving its due importance to the separate position (of male and female). 38. One must not marry a wife of the same surname with himself. Hence, in buying a concubine, if he do not know her surname, he must consult the tortoise-shell about it[1]. 39. With the son of a widow, unless he be of acknowledged distinction, one should not associate himself as a friend.
7. 40. When one congratulates (a friend) on his marrying, his messenger says, 'So and So has sent me. Having heard that you are having guests, he has sent me with this present.'
8. 41. Goods and wealth are not to be expected from the poor in their discharge of the rules of propriety; nor the display of sinews and strength from the old.
9. 42. In giving a name to a son, it should not be that of a state, nor of a day or a month, nor of any hidden ailment, nor of a hill or river[2]. 43.
[1. Not to find out what her surname is, but to determine whether it be the same as that of the gentleman or not.
2. Such names were so common, that if it became necessary to avoid them, as it might be, through the death of the party or on other grounds, it would be difficult and inconvenient to do so.]
Sons and daughters should have their (relative) ages distinguished[1]. 44. A son at twenty is capped, and receives his appellation[2]. 45. Before his father a son should be called by his name, and before his ruler a minister[3]. 46. When a daughter is promised in marriage, she assumes the hair-pin, and receives her appellation.
10. 47. The rules for bringing in the dishes for an entertainment are the following:--The meat cooked on the bones is set on the left, and the sliced meat on the right; the rice is placed on the left of the parties on the mat, and the soup on their right; the minced and roasted meat are put outside (the chops and sliced meat), and the pickles and sauces inside; the onions and steamed onions succeed to these, and the drink and syrups are on the right. When slices of dried and spiced meat are put down, where they are folded is turned to the left, and the ends of them to the right. 48. If a guest be of lower rank (than his entertainer), he should take up the rice[4], rise and decline (the honour he is receiving). The host then rises and refuses to allow the guest (to retire). After this the guest will resume his seat. 49. When the host leads on the guests to present an offering (to the father of cookery), they will begin
[1. As primus, prima; secundus, secunda, &c.
2 The appellation was thus the name given (at a family meeting) to a youth who had reached man's estate. Morrison (Dict. i. 627) calls it the name taken by men when they marry. Such a usage testifies to the early marriages in ancient China, as referred to in note 2, p. 65.
3. There might be some meaning in the appellation which would seem to place its bearer on the level of his father or his ruler.
4. The rice is called 'the principal article in a feast.' Hence the humbler guest takes it up, as symbolical of all the others.]
with the dishes which were first brought in. Going on from the meat cooked on the bones they will offer of all (the other dishes)[1]. 50. After they have eaten three times, the host will lead on the guests to take of the sliced meat, from which they will go on to all the other dishes. 51. A guest should not rinse his mouth with spirits till the host has gone over all the dishes.
11. 52. When (a youth) is in attendance on an elder at a meal, if the host give anything to him with his own hand, he should bow to him and eat it. If he do not so give him anything, he should eat without bowing.
12. 53. When eating with others from the same dishes, one should not try to eat (hastily) to satiety. When eating with them from the same dish of rice, one should not have to wash his hands[2].
13. 54. Do not roll the rice into a ball; do not bolt down the various dishes; do not swill down (the soup). 55. Do not make a noise in eating; do not crunch the bones with the teeth; do not put back fish you have been eating; do not throw the bones to the dogs; do not snatch (at what you want). 56. Do not spread out the rice (to cool); do not use chopsticks in eating millet[3].
[1. This paragraph refers to a practice something like our 'saying grace.' According to Khung Ying-tâ, a little was taken from all the dishes, and placed on the ground about them as an offering to 'the father of cookery.'
2 As all ate from the same dish of rice without chopsticks or spoons, it was necessary they should try to keep their hands clean. Some say the 'washing' was only a rubbing of the hands with sand.
3 A spoon was the proper implement in eating millet.]
57. Do not (try to) gulp down soup with vegetables in it, nor add condiments to it; do not keep picking the-teeth, nor swill down the sauces. If a guest add condiments, the host will apologise for not having had the soup prepared better. If he swill down the sauces, the host will apologise for his poverty[1]. 58. Meat that is wet (and soft) may be divided with the teeth, but dried flesh cannot be so dealt with. Do not bolt roast meat in large pieces.
14. 59. When they have done eating, the guests will kneel in front (of the mat), and (begin to) remove the (dishes) of rice and sauces to give them to the attendants. The host will then rise and decline this service from the guests, who will resume their seats.
15. 60. If a youth is in attendance on, and drinking with, an elder, when the (cup of) spirits is brought to him, he rises, bows, and (goes to) receive it at the place where the spirit-vase is kept. The elder refuses (to allow him to do so), when he returns to the mat, and (is prepared) to drink. The elder (meantime) lifts (his cup); but until he has emptied it, the other does not presume to drink his.
16. 61. When an elder offers a gift, neither a youth, nor one of mean, condition, presumes to decline it.
17. 62. When a fruit is given by the ruler and in his presence, if there be a kernel in it, (the receiver) should place it in his bosom[2].
[1. The sauce should be too strong to be swallowed largely and hurriedly.
2. Lest he should seem to throw away anything given by the ruler.]
18. 63. When one is attending the ruler at a meal, and the ruler gives him anything that is left, if it be in a vessel that can be easily scoured, he does not transfer it (to another of his own); but from any other vessel he should so transfer it[1].
19. 64. Portions of (such) food should not be used as offerings (to the departed). A father should not use them in offering even to a (deceased) son, nor a husband in offering to a (deceased) wife[2].
20. 65. When one is attending an elder and (called to) share with him (at a feast), though the viands may be double (what is necessary), he should not (seek) to decline them. If he take his seat (only) as the companion of another (for whom it has been prepared), he should not decline them.
21. 66. If the soup be made with vegetables, chopsticks should be used; but not if there be no vegetables.
22. 67. He who pares a melon for the son of Heaven should divide it into four parts and then into eight, and cover them with a napkin of fine linen. For the ruler of a state, he should divide it into four parts, and cover them with a coarse napkin. To a great officer he should (present the four parts) uncovered. An inferior officer should receive it (simply) with the stalk cut away. A common man will deal with it with his teeth.
[1. A vessel of potter's ware or metal can be scoured, and the part which his mouth has touched be cleansed before the ruler uses it again.
2. The meaning of this paragraph is not clear.]
PART IV.
1. When his father or mother is ill, (a young man) who has been capped should not use his comb, nor walk with his elbows stuck out, nor speak on idle topics, nor take his lute or cithern in hand. He should not eat of (different) meats till his taste is changed, nor drink till his looks are changed'. He should not laugh so as to show his teeth, nor be angry till he breaks forth in reviling. When the illness is gone, he may resume his former habits. 2. He who is sad and anxious should sit with his mat
[Part IV contains fifty-two paragraphs, which have been arranged in ten chapters, stating the rules to be observed in a variety of cases.
Ch. 1. 1, 2, treats of the ways of a young man who is sorrowful in consequence of the illness or death of a parent. 2. 3-26, treats of the rules in giving and receiving, and of messages connected therewith. The presentations mentioned are all from inferiors to superiors. 3. 27, 28, does not lay down rules, but gives characteristics of the superior man, and the methods by which he preserves his friendships unbroken. 4. 29, 30, refers to the arrangement of the tablets in the ancestral temple, and to the personators of the dead. 5. 31, tells how one fasting should keep himself from being excited. 6. 32-34, sets forth cautions against excess in the demonstrations of mourning. 7. 35, 36, speaks of sorrowing for the dead and condoling with the living. 8. 37, 38, gives counsels of prudence for one under the influence of sympathy and benevolent feeling. 9. 39-48, describes rules in connexion with mourning, burials, and some other occasions. 10. 49-52, describes gradations in ceremonies and in the penal statutes; and how a criminal who has been punished should never be permitted to be near the ruler.
1. Does the rule about eating mean that the anxious son should restrict himself to a single dish of meat?]
spread apart from others; he who is mourning (for a death) should sit on a single mat[1].
2. 3. When heavy rains have fallen, one should not present fish or tortoises (to a superior)[2]. 4. He who is presenting a bird should turn its head on one side; if it be a tame bird, this need not be done. 5. He who is presenting a carriage and horses should carry in his hand (to the hall) the whip, and strap for mounting by[3]. 6. He who is presenting a suit of mail should carry the helmet (to the hall). He who is presenting a staff should hold it by its end[4]. 7. He who is presenting a captive should hold him by the right sleeve[5]. 8. He who is presenting grain unhulled should carry with him the left side of the account (of the quantity); if the hull be off, he should carry with him a measure-drum[6]. 9. He who is presenting cooked food, should carry with him the sauce and pickles for it. 10. He who is presenting fields and tenements should carry with him the writings about them, and give them up (to the superior). 11. In every case of giving a bow to another, if it be bent, the (string of) sinew should be kept upwards; but if unbent, the horn.
[1. Grief is solitary. A mourner afflicts himself.
2 Because the fish in such a case are so numerous as not to be valuable, or because the fish at the time of the rains are not clean. Other reasons for the rule have been assigned.
3. The whip and strap, carried up to the hall, represented the carriage and horses, left in the courtyard.
4. For convenience; and because the end, going into the mud, was not so honourable.
5. So that he could not attempt any violence.
6. The account was in duplicate, on the same tablet. The right was held to be the more honourable part. 'Drum' was the name of the measure.]
(The giver) should with his right hand grasp the end of the bow, and keep his left under the middle of the back. The (parties, without regard to their rank as) high and low, (bow to each other) till the napkins (at their girdles) hang down (to the ground). If the host (wish to) bow (still lower), the other moves on one side to avoid the salutation. The host then takes the bow, standing on the left of the other. Putting his hand under that of the visitor, he lays hold of the middle of the back, having his face in the same direction as the other; and thus he receives (the bow). 12. He who is giving a sword should do so with the hilt on his left side[1]. 13. He who is giving a spear with one hook should do so with the metal end of the shaft in front, and the sharp edge behind. 14. He who is presenting one with two hooks, or one with a single hook and two sharp points, should do so with the blunt shaft in front. 15. He who is giving a stool or a staff should (first) wipe it. 16. He who is presenting a horse or a sheep should lead it with his right hand. 17. He who is presenting a dog should lead it with his left hand. 18. He who is carrying a bird (as his present of introduction) should do so with the head to the left[2]. 19. For the ornamental covering of a lamb or a goose, an embroidered cloth should be used. 20. He who receives a pearl or a piece of jade should do so with both his hands. 21. He who receives a bow or a sword should do so (having his hands covered) with his sleeves[3]. 22. He who has
[1. That the receiver may take it with his right hand.
2. Compare paragraph 4. In this case the bird was carried across the body of the donor with its head on his left.
3. A different case from that in paragraph 11. It is supposed that here the two things were presented together, and received as on a cushion.]
drunk from a cup of jade should not (go on to) shake it out[1]. 23. Whenever friendly messages are about to be sent, with the present of a sword or bow, or of (fruit, flesh, and other things, wrapped in) matting of rushes, with grass mats, and in baskets, round and square, (the messenger) has these things (carried with him, when he goes) to receive his commission, and deports himself as when he will be discharging it[2]. 24. Whenever one is charged with a mission by his ruler, after he has received from him his orders, and (heard all) he has to say, he should not remain over the night in his house. 25. When a message from the ruler comes (to a minister), the latter should go out and bow (to the bearer), in acknowledgment of the honour of it. When the messenger is about to return, (the other) must bow to him (again), and escort him outside the gate. 26. If (a minister) send a message to his ruler, he must wear his court-robes when he communicates it to the bearer; and on his return, he must descend from the hall, to receive (the ruler's) commands.
3. 27. To acquire extensive information and remember retentively, while (at the same time) he is modest; to do earnestly what is good, and not become weary in so doing:--these are the characteristics of him whom we call the superior man. 28. A superior man does not accept everything by which another would express his joy in him, or his devotion to him[3]; and thus he preserves their friendly intercourse unbroken.
[1. Because of the risk to a thing so valuable.
2. A rehearsal of what he would have to do.
3. E. g., it is said, festive entertainments and gi fits.]
4. 29. A rule of propriety says, 'A superior man may carry his grandson in his arms, but not his son.' This tells us that a grandson may be the personator of his deceased grandfather (at sacrifices), but a son cannot be so of his father[1]. 30. When a great officer or (other) officer sees one who is to personate the dead (on his way to the ancestral temple), he should dismount from his carriage to him. The ruler himself, when he recognises him, should do the same[2]. The personator (at the same time) must bow forward to the cross-bar. In mounting the carriage, he must use a stool.
5. 31. One who is fasting (in preparation for a sacrifice) should neither listen to music nor condole with mourners[3].
6. 32. According to the rules for the period of mourning (for a father), (a son) should not emaciate himself till the bones appear, nor let his seeing and hearing be affected (by his privations). He should not go up to, nor descend from, the hail by the steps on the east (which his father used), nor go in or out by the path right opposite to the (centre of the) gate. 33. According to the same rules, if he have a scab on his head, he should wash it; if he have a sore on his body, he should bathe it. If he be ill, he should drink spirits, and eat flesh, returning to his former
[1. The tablets of a father and son should not be in the same line of shrines in the ancestral temple; and the fact in the paragraph--hardly credible--seems to be mentioned as giving a reason for this.
2. The personator had for the time the dignity of the deceased whom he represented.
3. The fasting and vigil extended to seven days, and were intended to prepare for the personating duty. What would distract the mind from this must be eschewed.]
(abstinence) when he is better. If he make himself unable to perform his mourning duties, that is like being unkind and unfilial. 34. If he be fifty, he should not allow himself to be reduced (by his abstinence) very much; and, if he be sixty, not at all. At seventy, he will only wear the unhemmed dress of sackcloth, and will drink and eat flesh, and occupy (the usual apartment) inside (his house).
7. 35. Intercourse with the living (will be continued) in the future; intercourse with the dead (friend) was a thing of the past[1]. 36. He who knows the living should send (a message of) condolence; and he who knew the dead (a message also of his) grief. He who knows the living, and did not know the dead, will send his condolence without (that expression of) his grief; he who knew the dead, and does not know the living, will send the (expression of) grief, but not go on to condole.
8. 37. He who is condoling with one who has mourning rites in band, and is not able to assist him with a gift, should put no question about his expenditure. He who is enquiring after another that is ill, and is not able to send (anything to him), should
[1. This gives the reasons for the directions in the next paragraph.. We condole with the living--to console them; for the dead, we have only to express our grief for our own loss. P. Zottoli's translation is:--'Vivis computatur subsequens dies; mortuo computatur praecedens dies;' and he says in a note :--'Vivorum luctus incipit quarta a morte die, et praecedente die seu tertia fit mortui in feretrum depositio; luctus igitur et depositio, die intercipiuntur; haec precedit ille subsequetur.' This is after many, critics, from Kang Khang-khang downwards; but it does great violence to the text. I have followed the view of the Khien-lung editors.]
not ask what he would like. He who sees (a traveller), and is not able to lodge him, should not ask where he is stopping. 38. He who would confer something on another should not say, 'Come and take it;' he who would give something (to a smaller man), should not ask him what he would like.
9. 39. When one goes to a burying-ground, he should not get up on any of the graves. When assisting at an interment, one should (join in) holding the rope attached to the coffin[1]. 40. In a house of mourning, one should not laugh. 41. In order to bow to another, one should leave his own place. 42. When one sees at a distance a coffin with the corpse in it, he should not sing. When he enters among the mourners, he should not keep his arms stuck out. When eating (with others), he should not sigh. 43. When there are mourning rites in his neighbourhood, one should not accompany his pestle with his voice. When there is a body shrouded and coffined in his village, one should not sing in the lanes. 44. When going to a burying-ground, one should not sing, nor on the same day when he has wailed (with mourners). 45. When accompanying a funeral, one should not take a by-path. When taking part in the act of interment, one should not (try to) avoid mud or pools. When presenting himself at any mourning rite, one should have a sad countenance. When holding), the rope, one should not laugh, 46. When present on an occasion of joy, one should not sigh. 47. When wearing his coat of
[1. The rope here may also be that, or one of those, attached to the low car on which the coffin was drawn to the grave. Compare paragraph 45.]
mail and helmet, one's countenance should say, 'Who dares meddle with me?' 48. Hence the superior man is careful to maintain the proper expression of his countenance before others.
10. 49. Where the ruler of a state lays hold of the cross-bar, and bends forward to it, a great officer will descend from his carriage. Where a great officer lays bold of the bar and bends forward, another officer will descend. 50. The rules of ceremony do not go down to the common people[1]. 51. The penal statutes do not go up to great officers[2]. 52. Men who have suffered punishment should not (be allowed to) be by the side of the ruler[3].
[1. Not that the common people are altogether freed from the rules. But their occupations are engrossing, and their means small. Much cannot be expected from them.
2. It may be necessary to punish them, but they should be beyond requiring punishment. The application of it, moreover, will be modified by various considerations. But the regulation is not good.
3. To preserve the ruler from the contamination of their example, and the risk of their revenge.]
PART V.
1. 1. A fighting chariot has no cross-board to assist its occupants in bowing; in a war chariot the
[Part V contains forty-eight paragraphs, which may be arranged in ten chapters.
Ch. 1. 1-10, relates to carriages, especially to war chariots, and the use of them with their banners and other things in an expedition. 2. 10, gives the rules in avenging the deaths of a father, brother, and friend. 3. 11, shows the responsibility of ministers and officers generally in maintaining the defence and the cultivation of their country. 4. 12-14, relates to sacrifices,--the sacrificers, their robes, the victims, &c. 5. 15-21, gives rules about avoiding the mention of certain names. 6. 22-27, is on the subject of divination,--of divining, especially, about the days for contemplated undertakings. 7. 28-33, describes the yoking the horses to a ruler's chariot, his taking his seat, and other points. 8. 34-35, is about the strap which the driver banded to parties who wished to mount the carriage. 9. 36, gives three prohibitive rules:--about a visitor's carriage; a woman riding in a carriage; and dogs and horses. 10. 37-48, relates various rules about driving out, for the ruler and people generally.]
banner is fully displayed; in a chariot of peace it is kept folded round the pole. 2. A recorder should carry with him in his carriage his implements for writing[1]; his, subordinates the (recorded) words (of former covenants and other documents). 3. When there is water in front, the flag with the green bird[2] on it should be displayed. 4. When there is (a cloud of) dust in front, that with the screaming kites. 5. For chariots and horsemen, that with wild geese in flight[3]. 6. For a body of troops, that with a tiger's (skin). 7. For a beast of prey, that with a leopard's (skin). 8. On the march the (banner with the) Red Bird should be in front; that with the Dark Warrior behind; that with the Azure Dragon on the left; and that with the White Tiger on the right; that
[1. The original character denotes what is now used for 'pencils;' but the ordinary pencil had not yet been invented.
2. Some kind of water-bird.
3. A flock of geese maintains a regular order in flying, and was used to symbolise lines of chariots and horsemen. Khung Ying-tâ observes that chariots were used in the field before cavalry, and that the mention of horsemen here looks like the close of the Kin dynasty. One of the earliest instances of riding on horseback is in the Zo Kwan under the year B.C. 517.]
with the Pointer of the Northern Bushel should be reared aloft (in the centre of the host):--all to excite and direct the fury (of the troops)[1]. 9. There are rules for advancing and retreating; there are the various arrangements on the left and the right, each with its (proper) officer to look after it.
2. 10. With the enemy who has slain his father, one should not live under the same heaven. With the enemy who has slain his brother, one should never have his sword to seek (to deal vengeance). With the enemy who has slain his intimate friend, one should not live in the same state (without seeking to slay him).
3. 11. Many ramparts in the country round and near (a capital) are a disgrace to its high ministers and great officers[2]. Where the wide and open country is greatly neglected and uncultivated, it is a disgrace to the officers (in charge of it).
4. 12. When taking part in a sacrifice, one should not show indifference. 13. When sacrificial robes are worn out, they should be burnt: sacrificial vessels in the same condition should be buried, as should the tortoise-shell and divining stalks, and a victim that has died. 14. All who take part with the ruler in a sacrifice must themselves remove the stands (of their offerings).
[1. 'The Red Bird' was the name of the seven constellations of the southern quarter of the Zodiac; 'the Dark Warrior' embraced those of the northern; 'the Azure Dragon,' those of the eastern; and 'the Tiger,' those of the western. These flags would show the direction of the march, and seem to suggest that all heaven was watching the progress of the expedition.
2. As showing that they had not been able to keep invaders at a distance.]
5. 15. When the ceremony of wailing is over[1], a son should no longer speak of his deceased father by his name. The rules do not require the avoiding of names merely similar in sound to those not to be spoken. When (a parent had) a double name, the avoiding of either term (used singly) is not required. 16. While his parents (are alive), and a son is able to serve them, he should not utter the names of his grandparents; when he can no longer serve his parents (through their death), he need not avoid the names of his grandparents. 17. Names that would not be spoken (in his own family) need not be avoided (by a great officer) before his ruler; in the great officer's, however, the names proper to be sup pressed by the ruler should not be spoken. 18. In (reading) the books of poetry and history, there need be no avoiding of names, nor in writing compositions. 19. In the ancestral temple there is no such avoiding. 20. Even in his presence, a minister need not avoid the names improper to be spoken by the ruler's wife. The names to be avoided by a wife need not be unspoken outside the door of the harem. The names of parties for whom mourning is worn (only) nine months or five months are not avoided[2]. 21. When one is crossing the boundaries (of a state), he should ask what are its prohibitory laws; when he has fairly entered it, he should ask about its customs; before entering the door (of a house), he should ask about the names to be avoided in it.
[1. After the burial. Till then they would not allow themselves to think of the departed as dead.
2. As, in the first place, for uncles; and in the second, for cousins and grand-uncles.]
6. 22. External undertakings should be commenced on the odd days, and internal on the even[1]. 23. In all cases of divining about a day, whether by the tortoise-shell or the stalks, if it be beyond the decade, it is said, 'on such and such a distant day,' and if within the decade, 'on such and such a near day.' For matters of mourning a distant day is preferred; for festive matters a near day[2]. 24. It is said, 'For the day we depend on thee, O great Tortoise-shell, which dost give the regular indications; we depend on you, O great Divining Stalks, which give the regular indications.' 25. Divination by the shell or the stalks should not go beyond three times. 26. The shell and the stalks should not be both used on the same subject[3]. 27. Divination by the shell is called pû; by the stalks, shih. The two were the methods by which the ancient sage kings made the people believe in seasons and days, revere spiritual beings, stand in awe of their laws and orders; the methods (also) by which they made them determine their perplexities and settle their misgivings. Hence it is said, 'If you doubted, and have consulted the stalks, you need not (any longer) think that you will do wrong. If the day (be clearly indicated), boldly do on it (what you desire to do).'
7. 28. When the ruler's carriage is about to have the horses put to it, the driver should stand before
[1. The odd days are called 'strong,' as belonging to the category of yang; the even days 'weak,' as of the category of yin.
2. 'A distant day' gave a longer period for cherishing the memory of the departed; 'a near day' was desired for festive celebrations, because at them the feeling of I respect' was supposed to predominate.
3. To reverse by the one the indication of the other.]
them, whip in hand. 29. When they are yoked, he will inspect the linch pin, and report that the carriage is ready. 30. (Coming out again), he should shake the dust from his clothes, and mount on the right side, taking hold of the second strap[1]. he should (then) kneel in the carriage[2]. 31. Holding his whip, and taking the reins separately, he will drive the horses on five paces, and then stop. 32. When the ruler comes out and approaches the carriage, the driver should take all the reins in one hand, and (with the other) hand the strap to him. The attendants should then retire out of the way. 33. They should follow quickly as the carriage drives on. When it reaches the great gate, the ruler will lay his hand on that of the driver (that he may drive gently), and, looking round, will order the warrior for the seat on the right to come into the carriage[3]. In passing through the gates (of a city) or village, and crossing the water-channels, the pace must be reduced to a walk.
8. 34. In all cases it is the rule for the driver to hand the strap (to the person about to mount the carriage). If the driver be of lower rank (than himself) that other receives it. If this be not the case, he should not do so[4]. 35. If the driver be of the lower rank, the other should (still) lay his own
[1. In a carriage the ruler occupied the seat on the left side; the driver avoided this by mounting on the right side. Each carriage was furnished with two straps to assist in mounting; but the use of one was confined to the chief occupant.
2. But only till the ruler had taken his seat.
3. This spearman occupied the seat on the right; and took his place as they were about to pass out of the palace precincts.
4. That is, I suppose, he wishes the driver to let go the strap that he may take hold of it himself.]
hand on his (as if to stop him). If this be not the case (and the driver will insist on handing it), the other should take hold of the strap below (the driver's hand).
9. 36. A guest's carriage does not enter the great gate; a woman does not stand up in her carriage dogs and horses are not taken up to the hall[1].
10. 37. Hence[2], the ruler bows forward to his cross-board to (an old man of) yellow hair; he dismounts (and walks on foot) past the places of his high nobles (in the audience court)[3] . He does not gallop the horses of his carriage in the capital; and should bow forward on entering a village. 38. When called by the ruler's order, though through a man of low rank, a great officer, or (other) officer, must meet him in person, 39. A man in armour does not bow, he makes an obeisance indeed, but it is a restrained obeisance. 40, When the carriage of a deceased ruler is following at his interment, the place on the left should be vacant. When (any of his ministers on other occasions) are riding in (any of) the ruler's carriages, they do not presume to leave the seat on the left vacant, but he who occupies it should bend forward to the cross-board[4]. 41. A charioteer
[1. The carriage halted outside in testimony of the guest's respect. A man stood up in the carriage; a woman, as weaker, did not do so. For horses, see the rules in Part IV, 5. Dogs were too insignificant to be taken up.
2. We do not see the connexion indicated by the 'hence.'
3. Leaving the palace, he walks past those places to his carriage. Returning, he dismounts before he comes to them.
4. The first sentence of this paragraph has in the original only four characters; as P. Zottoli happily renders them in Latin, 'Fausti currus vacante sinistra;' but they form a complete sentence. The left seat was that of the ruler in life, and was now left vacant for his spirit. Khung Ying-tâ calls the carriage in question, 'the Soul Carriage' (hwan kü). A ruler had five different styles of carriage, all of which might be used on occasions of state; as in the second sentence.]
driving a woman should keep his left hand advanced (with the reins in it), and his right hand behind him[1]. 42. When driving the ruler of a state, (the charioteer) should have his right hand advanced, with the left kept behind and the head bent down. 43. The ruler of a state should not ride in a one-wheeled carriage[2]. In his carriage one should not cough loudly, nor point with his hand in an irregular way. 44. Standing (in his carriage) one should look (forward only) to the distance of five revolutions of the wheels. Bending forward, he should (do so only till he) sees the tails of the horses. He should not turn his head round beyond the (line of the) naves. 45. In the (streets of the) capital one should touch the horses gently with the brush-end of the switch. He should not urge them to their speed. The dust should not fly beyond the ruts. 46. The ruler of a state should bend towards the cross-board when he meets a sacrificial victim, and dismount (in passing) the ancestral temple. A great officer or (other) officer should descend (when he comes to) the ruler's gate, and bend forward to the ruler's horses[3]. 47.
[1. The woman was on the driver's left, and they were thus turned from each other as much as possible.
2. Common so long ago as now, but considered as beneath a ruler's dignity. So, Wang Tâo. See also the Khang-hsî dictionary ### under (kî).
3. The text says that the ruler should dismount before a victim, and bow before the temple. The verbal characters have been misplaced, as is proved by a passage of the commentary on the Official Book of Kâu, where one part is quoted. The Khien-lung editors approve of the alteration made in the version above.]
(A minister) riding in one of the ruler's carriages must wear his court robes. He should have the whip in the carriage with him, (but not use it). He should not presume to have the strap handed to him. In his place on the left, he should bow forward to the cross-board. 48. (An officer) walking the ruler's horses should do so in the middle of the road. It he trample on their forage, he should be punished, and also if he look at their teeth, (and go on to calculate their age).
SECTION II. PART I.
1. When a thing is carried with both hands, it should be held on a level with the heart; when with one hand, on a level with the girdle. 2. An article belonging to the son of Heaven should be held higher than the heart; one belonging to a ruler of a state, on a level with it; one belonging to a Great officer, lower than it; and one belonging to an (inferior)
[This Part I contains thirty-three paragraphs, which have been arranged in sixteen chapters.
Ch. 1. 1-5, describes the manner of carrying things belonging to superiors, and standing before them. 2. 6, relates to the not calling certain parties by their names. 3. 7, 8, to designations of themselves to be avoided or used by certain other parties. 4. 9, prescribes modesty in answering questions. 5. 10, 11, gives rules about the practice of ceremonies in another state. 6. 12, is a rule for an orphan son. 7. 13, 14, is for a son in mourning for his father, and other points. 8. 15-17, describes certain offences to be punished, and things to be avoided in the palace; and in private. 9. 18, shows us a superior man in building, preparing for sacrifice and cognate matters; 10. 19-21, a great or other officer, leaving his own state to go to another, and in that other 22, 23, officers in interviews with one another and with rulers. 12. 24-26, gives the rules for the spring hunting; for bad years; and for the personal ornaments of a ruler, and the music of officers. 13. 27, is about the reply of an officer to a question of his ruler; 14. 28, about a great officer leaving his state on his own business. 15. 29, tells how parties entreat a ruler, and others, not to abandon the state. 16. 30-33, gives rules relating to the king: his appellations, designations of himself, &c.]
officer should be carried lower still. 3. When one is holding an article belonging to his lord, though it may be light, he should seem unable to sustain it. In the case of a piece of silk, or a rank-symbol of jade, square or round, he should keep his left hand over it. He should not lift his feet in walking, but trail his heels like the wheels of a carnage. 4. (A minister) should stand (with his back) curved in the manner of a sounding-stone[1], and his girdle-pendants hanging down. Where his lord has his pendants hanging at his side, his should be hanging down in front; where his lord has them hanging in front, his should descend to the ground. 5. When one is holding any symbol of jade (to present it), if it be on a mat, he leaves it so exposed; if there be no mat, he covers it with (the sleeve of) his outer robe[2].
2. 6. The ruler of a state should not call by their names his highest ministers, nor the two noble ladies of her surname, who accompanied his wife to the harem[3]. A Great officer should not call in that way an officer who had been employed by his father, nor
[1. The sounding-stone which the writer had in mind could not have been so curved as it is ordinarily represented to be in pictures, or the minister must have carried himself as Scott in his 'Fortunes of Nigel,' ch. 10, describes Andrew the Scrivener.
2 p. Zottoli translates this paragraph by.--'Deferens gemmas, si eae habent sustentaculum, tunc apertam indues diploidem; si non habent sustentaculum, tunc clausam.' The text is not easily construed; and the commentaries, very diffuse,.are yet not clear.
3. When a feudal prince married, two other states, of the same surname as the bride, sent each a daughter or their ruling house to accompany her to the new harem. These are 'the noble ladies' intended here.]
the niece and younger sister of his wife (members of his harem)[1]. (Another) officer should not call by name the steward of his family, nor his principal concubine[2].
3. 7. The son of a Great officer (of the king, him self equal to) a ruler, should not presume to speak of himself as 'I, the little son[3]. The son of a Great officer or (other) officer (of a state) should not presume to speak of himself as 'I, the inheriting son, so-and-so[4].' They should not so presume to speak of themselves as their heir-sons do. 8. When his ruler wishes an officer to take a place at an archery (meeting), and he is unable to do so, he should decline on the round of being, ill, and say, 'I, so-and-so, am suffering from carrying firewood[5].'
4. 9. When one, in attendance on a superior man, replies to a question without looking round to see (if any other be going to answer), this is contrary to rule[6].
5. 10. A superior man[7], in his practice of ceremonies
[1. The bride (what we may call the three brides in the preceding note) was accompanied by a niece and a younger sister to the harem.
2. This would be the younger sister of the wife, called in the text the oldest concubine.'
3. So the young king styled himself during mourning.
4. The proper style for the orphan son of such officer was, 'I, the sorrowing son.'
5. Mencius on one occasion (I. ii. 2. 1) thus excused himself for not going to court. The son of a peasant or poor person might speak so; others, of higher position, adopted the style in mock humility.
6. The action of Dze-lû in Analects 9, 5. 4, is referred to as an instance in point of this violation of rule.
7. The 'superior man' here must be an officer, probably the head of a clan or family. Does not the spirit of this chapter still appear in the unwillingness of emigrants from China to forget their country's ways, and learn those of other countries?]
(in another state), should not seek to change his (old) customs. His ceremonies in sacrifice, his dress during the period of mourning, and his positions in the wailing and weeping, will all be according to the fashions of-his former (state). He will carefully study its rules, and carry them exactly into practice. 11. (But) if he (or his descendants) have been away from the state for three generations, and if his dignity and emoluments be (still) reckoned to him (or his representative) at the court, and his outgoings and incomings are announced to the state, and if his brothers or cousins and other members of his house be still there, he should (continue to) send back word about himself to the representative of his ancestor. (Even) after the three generations, if his dignity and emoluments be not reckoned to him in the court, and his outgoings and incomings are (no longer) announced in the state, it is only on the day of his elevation (to official rank) that he should follow the ways of his new state.
6. 12. A superior man, when left an orphan, will not change his name. Nor will he in such a case, if he suddenly become noble, frame an honorary title for his father[1].
7. 13. When occupied with the duties of mourning and before the interment of (a parent), (a son) should study the ceremonies of mourning, and after
[1. The honorary title properly belonged to men of position, and was intended as a condensed expression of their character and deeds. A son in the position described would be in danger of styling his father from his own new standpoint.]
the interment, those of sacrifice. When the mourning is over, let him resume his usual ways, and study the pieces of music. 14. When occupied with the duties of mourning, one should not speak of music. When sacrificing, one should not speak of what is inauspicious. In the ruler's court, parties should not speak of wives and daughters.
8. 15. For one to have to dust his (collection of). written tablets, or adjust them before the ruler, is a punishable offence; and so also is it to have the divining stalks turned upside down or the tortoiseshell turned on one side, before him[1]. 16. One should not enter the ruler's gate, (carrying with him) a tortoise-shell or divining stalks, a stool or a staff, mats or (sun-)shades, or having his upper and lower garments both of white or in a single robe of fine or coarse hempen cloth[2]. Nor should he do so in rush sandals, or with the skirts of his lower garment tucked in at his waist, or in the cap worn in the shorter periods of mourning. Nor, unless announcement of it has been made (and permission given), can one take in the square tablets with the written (lists of articles for a funeral), or the frayed sackcloth, or the coffin and its furniture[3]. 17. Public affairs should not be privately discussed.
9. 18. When a superior man, (high in rank), is about to engage in building, the ancestral temple should
[1. These things indicated a want of due preparation and care.
2 All these things were, for various reasons, considered inauspicious.
3. A death had in this case occurred in the palace, and the things mentioned were. all necessary to prepare for the interment; but still they could not be taken in without permission asked and granted.]
have his first attention, the stables and arsenal the next, and the residences the last. In all preparations of things by (the head of) a clan, the vessels of sacrifice should have the first place; the victims supplied from his revenue, the next; and the vessels for use at meals, the last. Those who have no revenue from lands do not provide vessels for sacrifice. Those who have such revenue first prepare their sacrificial dresses. A superior man,. though poor, will not sell his vessels of sacrifice; though suffering from cold, he will not wear his sacrificial robes; in building a house, he will not cut down the trees on his grave-mounds.
10. 19. A Great or other officer, leaving his state[1], should not take his vessels of sacrifice with him across the boundary. The former will leave his vessels for the time with another Great officer, and the latter his with another officer. 20. A Great or other officer, leaving his state[2], on crossing the boundary, should prepare a place for an altar, and wail there, looking in the direction of the state. He should wear his upper garment and lower, and his cap, all of white; remove his (ornamental) collar, wear shoes of untanned leather, have a covering of white (dog's-fur) for his cross-board, and leave his horses manes undressed. He should not trim his nails or beard, nor make an offering at his (spare) meals. He should not say to any one that he is not chargeable with guilt, nor have any of his women approach him. After three months he will return to his usual dress. 21. When a Great or other officer has an interview with the ruler of the state (to whom he has been sent),
[1. And expecting to return.
2. This is in case of exile.]
if the ruler be condoling with him on the toils of his journey, he should withdraw on one side to avoid (the honour), and then bow twice with his head to the ground. If the ruler meet him (outside the gate) and bow to him, he should withdraw on one side to avoid (the honour), and not presume to return the bow.
11. 22. When Great or other officers are having interviews with one another, though they may not be equal; in rank, if the host reverence (the greater worth of) the guest, he should first bow to him; and if the guest reverence the (greater worth of the) host, he should first bow. 23. In all cases but visits of condolence on occasion of a death, and seeing the ruler of one's state, the parties should be sure to return the bow, each of the other. When a Great officer has an interview with the ruler of (another) state, the ruler should bow in acknowledgment of the honour (of the message he brings); when an officer has an interview with a Great officer (of that state), the latter should bow to him in the same way. When two meet for the first time in their own state, (on the return of one from some mission), the other, as host, should bow in acknowledgment (of the service). A ruler does not bow to a (simple) officer; but if it be one of a different state, he should bow to his bow. A Great officer should return the bow of any one of his officers, however mean may be his rank. Males and females do (? not) bow to one another[1].
[1. The text says that they do bow to one another; but it is evident that Kang Khang-Khang understood it as saying the very opposite. Lû Teh-ming had seen a copy which had the character for 'not.']
12. 24. The ruler of a state, in the spring hunting, will not surround a marshy thicket, nor will Great officers try to surprise a whole herd, nor will (other) officers take young animals or eggs. 25. In bad years, when the grain of the season is not coming to maturity, the ruler at his meals will not make the (usual) offering of the lungs[1], nor will his horses be fed on grain. His special road will not be kept clean and swept[2], nor when at sacrifices will his musical instruments be suspended on their stands. Great officers will not eat thc large grained millet; and (other) officers will not have music (even) at their drinking. 26. Without some (sad) cause, a ruler will not let the gems (pendent from his girdle) leave his person, nor a Great officer remove his music-stand, nor an (inferior) officer his lutes.
13. 27. When an officer presents anything to the ruler of his state, and another day the ruler asks him, 'Where did you get that?' he will bow twice with his head to the ground, and afterwards reply[3].
14. 28. When a Great officer wishes to go beyond the boundaries (of the state) on private business, he must ask leave, and on his return must present some offering. An (inferior) officer in similar circumstances,
[1. The offering here intended was to 'the father of cookery;' see the first note on p. 80. Such offering, under the Kâu dynasty, was of the lungs of the animal which formed the principal dish. It was not now offered, because it was not now on the ground, even the ruler not indulging himself in such a time of scarcity.
2. The road was left uncared for that vegetables might be grown on it, available to the poor at such a time.
3. The offering must have been rare and valuable. The officer had turned aside at the time of presenting it to avoid an), compliment from his ruler.]
must (also) ask leave, and when he comes back, must announce his return. If the ruler condole with them on their toils, they should bow. if he ask about their journey, they should bow, and afterwards reply.
15. 29. When the ruler of a state (is proposing to) leave it, they should (try to) stop him, saying, 'Why are you leaving the altars of the spirits of the land and grain?' (In the similar case of) a Great officer they should say, 'Why are you leaving your ancestral temple?' In that of an (inferior) officer, they should say, 'Why are you leaving the graves (of your ancestors)?' A ruler should die for his altars; a Great officer, with the host (he commands); an inferior officer, for his charge.
16. 30. As ruling over all, under the sky, (the king) is called 'The son of Heaven[1].' As receiving at court the feudal princes, assigning (to all) their different offices, giving out (the laws and ordinances of) the government, and employing the services of the able, he styles himself, 'I, the one man[2].' 31. When he ascends by the eastern steps, and presides at a sacrifice, if it be personal to himself and his family[3], his style is, 'I, so-and-so, the filial king;' if it be external to himself[4], 'I, so-and-so, the inheriting king.' When he visits the feudal princes[5], and sends to make announcement (of his
[1. Meaning, 'Heaven-sonned; constituted by Heaven its son, its firstborn.'
2. An expression of humility as used by himself, 'I, who am but a man;' as used of him, 'He who is the one man.'
3. In the ancestral temple.
4 At the great sacrifices to Heaven and Earth.
5 On his tours of inspection.]
presence) to the spirits (of their hills and streams), it is said, 'Here is he, so-and-so, who is king by (the grace of) Heaven.' 32. His death is announced in the words, 'The king by (the grace of) Heaven has fallen[1].' In calling back (his spirit), they say, 'Return, O son of Heaven[2].' When announcement is made (to all the states) of the mourning for him, it is said, 'The king by (the grace of) Heaven has gone far on high[3].' When his place is given to him in the ancestral temple, and his spirit-tablet is set up, he is styled on it, 'the god[4].' 33. The son of Heaven, while he has not left off his mourning, calls himself, 'I, the little child.' While alive, he, is so styled; and if he die (during that time), he continues to be so designated.
[1. A great landslip from a mountain is called pang, which I have rendered 'has fallen.' Like such a disaster was the death of the king.
2. This ancient practice of calling the dead back is still preserved in China; and by the people generally. There are many references to it in subsequent Books.
3. The body and animal soul went downward, and were in the grave; the intelligent soul (called 'the soul and spirit,' 'the essential breath') went far on high. Such is the philosophical account of death; more natural is the simple style of the text.
4 The spirit-tablet was a rectangular piece of wood, in the case of a king, a cubit and two inches long, supposed to be a resting-place for the spirit at the religious services in the temple. Mang says that the deceased king was now treated as 'a heavenly spirit,'--he was now deified. p. Zottoli translates the character here--Tî--by imperator; but there was in those times no 'emperor' in China.]
PART II.
1. The son of Heaven has his queen, his helpmates, his women of family, and his ladies of honour. (These) constituted his wife and concubines[1].
2. 2. The son of Heaven appoints the officers of Heaven's institution[2], the precedence among them belonging to the six grandees:--the Grand-governor; the Grand-minister of the ancestral temple; the Grand-historiographer; the Grand-minister of prayers; the Grand-minister of justice; and the Grand-divine These are the guardians and superintendents of the six departments of the statutes. 3. The five (administrative) officers of the son of Heaven are:--the minister of instruction; the minister of war; the
[Part Il consists of twenty-one paragraphs, which are distributed in eight chapters.
Ch 1, describes the members of the royal harem. 2. 2-6, relates to the various ministers and officers appointed by the king with their departments and duties. 3. 7-10, gives the names and titles, applied to, and used by, the chiefs of regions, provinces, and of the barbarous tribes. 4. 11-16, is about audiences, meetings, and covenants, and the designations of the princes and others in various circumstances. 5. 17, is about the demeanour of the king and others. 6. 18, 19, is about the inmates of the harems, and how they designated themselves. 7. 20, is about the practice of sons or daughters, and various officers, in designating themselves. 8. 21, is about certain things that should not be said of the king, of princes, and of superior men.
1. See the very different translation of this paragraph by p. Zottoli in his Cursus, iii. p. 653. It is confessed out of place here, should belong to paragraph 18, and is otherwise incomplete.
2. So described, as 'Powers that be ordained' by the will of Heaven, equally with the king, though under him these grandees are not all in the Kâu Kwan.]
minister of works; the minister of offices; and the minister of crime. These preside over the multitude in (each of) their five charges. 4. The six treasuries of the son of Heaven are under the charge of the superintendent of the land; the superintendent of the woods; the superintendent of the waters; the superintendent of the grass; the superintendent of articles of employment; and the superintendent of wares. These preside over the six departments of their charges. 5. The six manufactures of the son of Heaven are under the care of (the superintendents of) the workers in earth; the workers in metal; the workers in stone; the workers in wood; the workers in (the skins of) animals; and the workers in twigs. These preside over the six departments of stores. 6. When the five officers give in their contributions, they are said to 'present their offerings[1].'
3. 7. Chief among the five officers are the presidents[2], to whom belong the oversight of quarters (of the kingdom). In any message from them transmitted to the son of Heaven, they are styled 'ministers of the son of Heaven.' If they are of the same surname as he, he styles them 'paternal uncles;' if of a different surname, 'maternal uncles.' To the feudal princes, they designate themselves, 'the ancients of the son of Heaven.' Outside (their own states), they are styled 'duke;' in their states, 'ruler.' 8. The head prince in each
[1. Who are the five officers here? Those of paragraph 3? Or the feudal dukes, marquises, earls, counts, and barons? Both views have their advocates. The next paragraph favours the second view.
2. Such presidents were the dukes of Kâu and Shâo, at the commencement of the Kâu dynasty.]
of the nine provinces, on entering the state of the son of Heaven, is styled 'pastor.' If he be of the same surname as himself, the son of Heaven calls him 'my paternal uncle;' if he be of a different surname, 'my maternal uncle.' Outside(his own state) he is called 'marquis;' in it, 'ruler,' 9. The (chiefs) among (the wild tribes of) the Î on the east, the Tî on the north, the Zung on the west, and the Man on the south, however great (their territories), are called 'counts.' In his own territories each one calls himself. 'the unworthy one;' outside them, 'the king's ancient.' 10. Any of the princelets of their various tracts[1], on entering the state of the son of Heaven, is styled, 'Such and such a person.' Outside it he is called 'count,' and calls himself 'the solitary.'
4. 11. When the son of Heaven stands with his back to the screen with axe-head figures on it, and the princes present themselves before him with their faces to the north, this is called kin (the autumnal audience). When he stands at the (usual) point (of reception) between the door and the screen, and the dukes have their faces towards the east, and the, feudal princes theirs towards the west, this is called Khâo (the spring audience)[2]. 12. When feudal, princes see one another at a place and time not agreed on beforehand, the interview is called 'a meeting.' When they do so in some open place agreed on beforehand, it is called 'an assembly.'
[1. It is held, and I think correctly, that these princelets were the chiefs of the wild tribes.
2. There were other audiences called by different names at the other two seasons.]
When one prince sends a great officer to ask about another, it is called 'a message of friendly inquiry.' When there is a binding to mutual faith, it is called 'a solemn declaration.' When they use a victim, it is called 'a covenant.' 13. When a feudal prince is about to be introduced to the son of Heaven, he is announced as 'your subject so-and-so, prince of such-and-such a state.' He speaks of himself to the people as 'the man of little virtue.' 14. If he be in mourning (for his father), he is styled 'the rightful eldest son, an orphan;' if he be taking part at a sacrifice in his ancestral temple, 'the filial son, the prince of such-and-such a state, the prince so-and-so.' If it be another sacrifice elsewhere, the style is, 'so-and-so, prince of such-and-such a state, the distant descendant.' 15. His death is described by the character hung (disappeared). In calling back (his spirit), they say, 'Return, sir so-and-so.' When he has been interred and (his son) is presented to the son of Heaven, the interview, (though special), is said to be 'of the same kind as the usual interviews.' The honorary title given to him is (also) said to be 'after the usual fashion.' 16. When one prince sends a message to another, the messenger speaks of himself as 'the ancient of my poor ruler.'
5. 17. The demeanour of the son of Heaven should be characterised by majesty; of the princes, by gravity; of the Great officers, by a regulated composure; of (inferior) officers, by an easy alertness; and of the common people, by simplicity and humility.
6. 18. The partner of the son of Heaven is called 'the queen;' of a feudal prince, 'the helpmate;' of a Great officer, 'the attendant;' of an (inferior) officer, 'the serving woman;' and of a common man ' 'the mate[1].' 19. A duke and (one of) the feudal princes had their helpmate, and their honourable women, (which) were their mates and concubines. The helpmate called herself, before the son of Heaven, 'the aged servant;' and before the prince (of another state), 'the small and unworthy ruler.' To her own ruler she called herself 'the small maid.' From the honourable women downwards (each member of the harem) called herself 'your handmaid.'
7. 20. To their parents, sons and daughters called themselves by their names. A Great officer any of the states, entering the state of the son Heaven, was called 'the officer of such-and-such state)' and styled himself 'your subsidiary minister.' Outside (his own state), he was called 'sir;' and in that state, 'the ancient of our poor ruler.' A messenger (to any state) called himself 'so-and-so.'
8. 21. The son of Heaven should not be spoken of as 'going out (of his state)[2].' A feudal prince should not be called by his name, while alive. (When either of these things is done), it is because the superior man[3] will not show regard for wickedness. A prince who loses his territory is named, and also one who extinguishes (another state ruled by) lords of the same surname as himself.
[1. Here should come in paragraph 1.
2. All the states are his. Wherever he may flee, he is still in what is his own land.
3. This 'superior man' would be an upright and impartial historiographer, superior to the conventions of his order.]
PART III.
1. 1. According to the rules of propriety for a minister, he should not remonstrate with his ruler openly. If he have thrice remonstrated and is still not listened to, he should leave (his service). In the service of his parents by a son, if he have thrice remonstrated and is still not listened to, he should follow (his remonstrance) with loud crying and tears. 2. When a ruler is ill, and has to drink medicine, the minister first tastes it. The same is the rule for a son and an ailing parent. The physic of a doctor in whose family medicine has not been practised for three generations at least, should not be taken.
2. 3. In comparing (different) men, we can only do so when their (circumstances and conditions) are of the same class.
[Part Ill contains twenty paragraphs, which may be comprised in eleven chapters.
Ch. 1. 1, 2, contains the rules for a minister and a son in remonstrating with a ruler or parent; and also in seeing about their medicine when ill. 2. 3, gives the rule in making comparisons. 3. 4, 5, gives the rules to be observed in asking about the age and wealth of different parties from the king downwards. 4. 6-10, is about sacrifices: those of different parties, the sacrificial names of different victims, &c. 5. 11, 12, gives the terms in which the deaths of different men, and of animals, are described. 6. 13, 14, gives the names of near relatives, when they are sacrificed to, and when they are alive. 7. 15, tells how different parties should look at others. 8. 16, 17, is about executing a ruler's orders, and things to be avoided in the conduct of business. 9. 18, is about great entertainments. 10. 19, is about presents of introduction. 11. 20, contains the language used in sending daughters to different harems.]
3. 4. When one asks about the years of the son of Heaven, the reply should be--'I have heard that he has begun to wear a robe so many feet long[1].' To a similar question about the ruler of a state, the reply should be--'He is able to attend to the services in the ancestral temple, and. at the altars of the spirits of the land and grain,' if he be grown up; and, if he be still young, 'He is not yet able to attend to the services in the ancestral temple, and at the altars of the spirits of the land and grain.' To a question about the son of a Great officer,--the reply, if he be grown up, should be--'He is able to drive;' and, if he be still young, 'He is not yet able to drive.' To a question about the son of an (ordinary) officer, the reply, if he be grown up, should be--'He can manage the conveying of a salutation or a message;' and, if he be still young, 'He cannot yet manage such a thing.' To a question about the son of a common man, the reply, if he be grown up, should be--'He is able to carry (a bundle of) firewood;' and, if he be still young, 'He is not yet able to carry (such a bundle).' 5. When one asks about the wealth of the ruler of a state, the reply should be given by telling the extent of his territory, and the productions of its hills and lakes. To a similar question about a Great officer, it should be said, 'He has the lands allotted to him, and is supported by the labour (of his people). He needs not to borrow the vessels or dresses for his sacrificial occasions.' To the
[1. This would seem to imply that the king was still young.]
same question about an (ordinary) officer, the reply should be by giving the number of his carriages; and to one about a common man, by telling the number of the animals that he keeps.
4. 6. The son of Heaven sacrifices (or presents oblations) to Heaven and Earth[1]; to the (spirits presiding over the) four quarters; to (the spirits of) the hills and rivers; and offers the five sacrifices of the house,--all in the course of the year. The feudal princes present oblations, each to (the spirit pre-siding over) his own quarter; to (the spirits of) its hills and rivers; and offer the five sacrifices of the house,-all in the course of the year. Great officers present the oblations of the five sacrifices of the house,--all in the course of the year. (Other) officers present oblations to their ancestors[2]. 7. There should be no presuming to resume any sacrifice which has been abolished (by proper authority)[3], nor to abolish any which has been so established. A sacrifice which it is not proper to offer, and which yet is offered, is called a licentious sacrifice. A licentious sacrifice brings no blessing. 8. The son of Heaven uses an ox of one colour, pure and unmixed; a feudal prince, a fatted ox; a Great officer, an ox selected for the occasion; an (ordinary) officer, a sheep or a pig. 9. The son of an inferior
[1. There were various sacrifices to Heaven and also to Earth. The great ones were--that to Heaven at the winter solstice, and that to Earth at the summer solstice. But all the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth were confined to the king.
2. The king offered all the sacrifices in this paragraph. The other parties only those here assigned to them, and the sacrifices allowed to others of inferior rank. The five sacrifices of the house will come before the reader in Book IV and elsewhere.
3. The 'proper authority' would be the statutes of each dynasty.]
member of the harem cannot offer the sacrifice (to his grandfather or father); if (for some reason) he have to do so, he must report it to the honoured son, (the head of the family). 10. According to the 'rules for all sacrifices in the ancestral temple, the ox is called 'the creature with the large foot;' the pig, 'the hard bristles;' a sucking-pig, 'the fatling;' a sheep, 'the soft hair;' a cock, 'the loud voice;' a dog, 'the soup offering;' a pheasant, 'the wide toes;' a hare, 'the clear seer;' the stalks of dried flesh, 'the exactly cut oblations;' dried fish, 'the well-considered oblation;' fresh fish, 'the straight oblation.' Water is called 'the pure cleanser;' spirits, 'the clear cup;' millet, 'the fragrant mass;' the large-grained millet, 'the fragrant (grain);' the sacrificial millet, 'the bright grain;' paddy, 'the admirable vegetable;' scallions, 'the rich roots;' salt, 'the saline, briny substance;' jade, 'the admirable jade;' and silks, 'the exact silks.'
5. 11. The death of the son of Heaven is expressed by pang (has fallen); of a feudal prince, by hung (has crashed); of a Great officer, by zû (has ended); of an (ordinary) officer, by pû lû (is now unsalaried); and of a common man, by sze (has deceased). (The corpse) on the couch is called shih (the laid-out), when it is put into the coffin, that is called kiû (being in the long home). 12. (The death of) a winged fowl is expressed by hsiang (has fallen down); that of a quadruped, by zhze (is disorganised). Death from an enemy in fight is called ping (is slain by the sword).
6. 13. In sacrificing to them, a grandfather is called 'the sovereign grandfather;' a grandmother,' the sovereign grandmother;' a father, 'the sovereign father;' a mother, 'the sovereign mother; a husband, 'the sovereign pattern.' 14. While (they are) alive, the names of father (fû), mother (mû), and wife (khî) are used; when they are dead, those of 'the completed one (khâo),' 'the corresponding one (pî),' and 'the honoured one (pin).' Death in old age is called 'a finished course (zû);' an early death, 'being unsalaried (pû lû).'
7. 15. The son of Heaven does not look at a person above his collar or below his girdle; the ruler of a state looks at him a little lower (than the collar); a Great officer, on a line with his heart; and an ordinary officer, not from beyond a distance of five paces. In all cases looks directed above to the face denote pride, and below the girdle grief; directed askance, they denote villainy.
8. 16. When the ruler orders (any special business) from a Great officer or (other) officer, he should assiduously discharge it; in their offices speaking (only) of the official business; in the treasury, of treasury business; in the arsenals, of arsenal business; and in the court, of court business. 17. At court there should be no speaking about dogs and horses. When the audience is over, and one looks about him, if he be not attracted by some strange thing, he must have strange thoughts in his mind. When one keeps looking about him after the business of the court is over, a superior man will pronounce him uncultivated. At court the conversation should be according to the rules of propriety; every question should be so proposed, and every answer so returned.
9. 18. For great entertainments[1] there should be no consulting the tortoise-shell, and no great display of wealth.
10. 19. By way of presents of introduction, the son of Heaven uses spirits of black millet; feudal princes, their symbols of jade; a high minister, a lamb; a Great officer, a goose; an (ordinary) officer, a pheasant; a common man, a duck. Lads should bring their article, and withdraw. In the open country, in the army, they do not use such presents;--a tassel from a horse's breast, an archer's armlet, or an arrow may serve the purpose. For such presents women use the fruits of the hovenia dulcis, or of the hazel tree, strings of dried meat, jujube dates, and chestnuts.
11. 20. In presenting a daughter for (the harem of) the son of Heaven it is said, 'This is to complete the providers of sons for you;' for that of the ruler of a state, 'This is to complete the providers of your spirits and sauces;' for that of a Great officer, 'This is to complete the number of those who sprinkle and sweep for you.'
[1. Instead of 'for great entertainments,' p. Zottoli has 'summo sacrificio;' but the Khien-lung editors decide in favour of the meaning which I have followed.]
BOOK II. THE THAN KUNG.
SECTION I. PART I.
I. At the mourning rites for Kung-î Kung-dze, Than Kung (was there), wearing the mourning cincture for the head, Kung-dze had passed over his grandson, and appointed one of his (younger) sons as his successor (and head of the family). Than Kung said (to himself), 'How is this? I never heard of such a thing;' and he hurried to Dze-fû Po-dze at the right of the door, and said, ' How is it that Kung-dze passed over his grandson, and made a (younger) son his successor?' Po-dze replied, 'Kung-dze perhaps has done in this, like others, according to the way of antiquity. Anciently, king Wan passed over his eldest son Yî-khâo, and appointed king Wû; and the count of Wei passed over his grandson Tun, and made Yen, his (own) younger brother, his successor. Kung-dze perhaps did also in this according to the way of antiquity.' Dze-yû asked Confucius (about the matter), and he said, 'Nay, (the rule is to) appoint the grandson[1].'
[On the name and divisions of this Book, see the Introduction, pp., 17, 18.
1. Important as showing the rule of succession to position and property. We must suppose that the younger son, who had been made the head of the family, was by a different mother, and one whose position was inferior to that of the son, the proper heir who was dead. Of course the succession should have descended in the line of the rightful heir. Po-dze evaded the point of Than Kung's question; but Confucius did not hesitate to speak out the truth. On other matters which the paragraph might suggest we need not enter.]
2. In serving his father, (a son) should conceal (his faults), and not openly or strongly remonstrate with him about them; should in every possible way wait on and nourish him, without being tied to definite rules; should serve him laboriously till his death, and then complete the mourning for him for three' years. In serving his ruler, (a minister), should remonstrate with him openly and strongly (about his faults), and make no concealment (of them); should in every possible way wait on and nourish him, but according to definite rules; should serve him laboriously till his death, and should then wear mourning for him according to rule for three years. In serving his master, (a learner) should have nothing to do with openly reproving him or with concealing (his faults); should in every possible way wait upon and serve him, without being tied to definite rules; should serve him laboriously till his death, and mourn for him in heart for three years[1].
3. Kî Wû-dze had built a house, at the bottom of the western steps of which was the grave of the Tû family. (The head of that) asked leave to bury (some member of his house) in it, and leave was granted to him to do so. (Accordingly) he entered the house (with the coffin), but did not dare to wail (in the usual fashion). Wû-dze said to him, 'To bury in the same grave was not the way of antiquity. It was begun by the duke of Kâu, and has not been
[1. On differences in the services rendered to a parent, a ruler, and a master or instructor.]
changed since. I have granted you the great thing, and why should I no tgrant the less?' (With this) he ordered him to wail[1].
4. When Dze-shang's mother died, and he did not perform any mourning rites for her, the disciples of (his father) Dze-sze asked him, saying, 'Did your predecessor, the superior man, observe mourning for his divorced mother?' 'Yes,' was the reply. (And the disciples went on), 'Why do you not make Pâi also observe the mourning rites (for his mother)?' Dze-sze said, 'My progenitor, a superior man, never failed in pursuing the right path. When a generous course was possible, he took it and behaved generously; and when it was proper to restrain his generosity, he restrained it. But how can I attain to that? While she was my wife, she was Pâi's mother; but when she ceased to be my wife, she was no longer his mother.' It was in this way that the Khung family came not to observe mourning for a divorced mother; the practice began from Dze-Sze[2].
5. Confucius said, 'When (the mourner) bows to (the visitor), and then lays his forehead to the ground,
[1. This Wû-dze was a great-grandson of Kî Yû, the third son (by an inferior wife) of duke Kwang of Lû (B.C. 693-662), and the ancestor of the. Ki-sun, one of the three famous families of U. It would appear that he had appropriated to himself the burying ground of the Tû family.
2. Dze-shang, by name, Pâi, was the son of Dze-sze, and great-grandson of Confucius. What is related here is important as bearing on the question whether Confucius divorced his wife or not. If I am correct in translating the original text by 'your predecessor, the superior man,' in the singular and not in the plural, and supposing that it refers to Confucius, the paragraph has been erroneously supposed to favour the view that he did divorce his wife.]
this shows the predominance of courtesy. When he lays his forehead to the ground, and then bows (to his visitor), this shows the extreme degree of his sorrow. In the three years' mourning, I follow the extreme (demonstration)[1].'
6. When Confucius had succeeded in burying (his mother) in the same grave (with his father) at Fang, he said, 'I have heard that the ancients made graves (only), and raised no mound over them. But I am a man, who will be (travelling) east, west, south, and north. I cannot do without something by which I can remember (the place).' On this, he (resolved to) raise a mound (over the grave) four feet high. He then first returned, leaving the disciples behind. A great rain came on; and when they rejoined him, he asked them what had made them so late. 'The earth slipped,' they said, 'from the grave at Fang.' They told him this thrice without his giving them any answer. He then wept freely, and said, 'I have heard that the ancients did not need to repair their graves.'
7. Confucius was wailing for Dze-lû in his courtyard. When any came to condole with him, he bowed to them. When the wailing was over, he made the messenger come in, and asked him all about (Dze-lû's death). 'They have made him into pickle,' said the
[1. In the former case the mourner first thought of his visitor; in the latter, of his dead and his own loss. The bow was made with the hands clasped, and held very low, the head being bowed down to them. They were then opened, and placed forward on the ground, on each side of the body, while the head was stretched forward between them, and the forehead made to touch the ground. In the second case the process was reversed.]
messenger; and forthwith Confucius ordered the pickle (in the house) to be thrown away[1].
8. Zang-dze said, 'When the grass is old[2] on the grave of a friend, we no (longer) wall for him.'
9. Dze-sze said, 'On the third day of mourning, when the body is put into the coffin, (a son) should exercise sincerity and good faith in regard to everything that is placed with it, so that there shall be no occasion for repentance[3]. In the third month when the body is interred, he should do the same in regard to everything that is placed with the coffin in the grave, and for the same reason. Three years are considered as the extreme limit of mourning; but though (his parents) are out of sight, a son does not forget them. Hence a superior man will have a lifelong grief, but not one morning's trouble (from without); and thus on the anniversary of a parent's death, he does not listen to music.'
10. Confucius, being quite young when he was left fatherless, did not know (his father's) grave. (Afterwards) he had (his mother's) body coffined in the street of Wû-fû. Those who saw it all thought that it was to be interred there, so carefully was (everything done), but it was (only) the coffining. By inquiring of the mother of Man-fû of Zâu, he succeeded
[1. Dze-lû had died in peculiar circumstances in the state of Wei, through his hasty boldness, in B.C. 480. It was according to rule that the Master should wail for him. The order about the pickled meat was natural in the circumstances.
2. The characters in the text imply that a year had passed since the friend's death.
3. The graveclothes and coverlet. The things placed in the grave with the coffin were many, and will by-and-by come before the reader at length.]
in burying it in the same grave (with his father) at Fang[1].
11. When there are mourning rites in the neighbourhood, one should not accompany his pestle with his voice[2]. When there is a body shrouded and coffined in his village, one should not sing in the lanes[2]. For a mourning cap the ends of the ties should not hang down.
12. (In the time of Shun) of Yü they used earthenware coffins[3]; under the sovereigns of Hsiâ, they surrounded these with an enclosure of bricks. The people of Yin used wooden coffins, the outer and inner. They of Kâu added the surrounding curtains and the feathery ornaments. The people of Kâu buried those who died between 16 and 19 in the coffins of Yin; those who died between 12 and 15 or between 8 and 11 in the brick enclosures of Hsiâ; and those who died (still younger), for whom no mourning is worn, in the earthenware enclosures of the time of the lord of Yü.
13. Under the sovereigns of Hsiâ they preferred what was black. On great occasions (of mourning), for preparing the body and putting it into the coffin, they used the dusk; for the business of war, they used black horses in their chariots; and the victims which they used were black. Under the Yin dynasty they preferred what was white. On occasions
[1. This paragraph is generally discredited. The Khien-lung editors say it is not to be relied on.
2. These two rules are in Book I, i. Pt. iv, 43, page 89.
3. In a still earlier time, according to the third Appendix of the Yî (vol. xvi, p. 385), they merely covered the body on the ground with faggots.]
of mourning, for coffining the body, they used the midday; for the business of war they used white horses; and their victims were white. Under the Kâu dynasty they preferred what was -red. On occasions of mourning, they coffined the body at sunrise; for the business of war they used red horses, with black manes and tails; and their victims were red.
14. When the mother of duke Mû of Lû[1] died, he sent to ask Zang-dze[2] what (ceremonies) he should observe. Zang-dze said, 'I have heard from my father that the sorrow declared in the weeping and wailing, the feelings expressed in the robe of sackcloth with even or with frayed edges, and the food of rice made thick or in congee, extend from the son of Heaven to all. But the tent-like covering (for the coffin) is of (linen) cloth in Wei, and of silk in Lû.'
15. Duke Hsien of Sin, intending to put to death his heir-son Shan-shang, another son, Khung-r, said to the latter, 'Why should you not tell what is in your mind to the duke?' The heir-son said, 'I cannot do so. The ruler is happy with the lady Kî of Lî. I should (only) wound his heart.' 'Then,' continued the other, 'Why not go away?' The heir son replied, 'I cannot do so. The ruler says that I wish to murder him. Is there any state where the (sacredness) of a father is not recognised? Where should I go to obviate this charge?' (At the same time) he sent a man to take leave (for him) of Hû
[1. Duke Mû was marquis of Lû from B.C. 409 to 376.
2. This was not the disciple of Confucius, but his son, also named Shin like him; but the characters for the names are different.]
Tû, with the message, 'I was wrong in not thinking (more) of your words, my old friend, and that neglect is occasioning my death. Though I do not presume to grudge dying, yet our ruler is old, and his (favourite) son is (quite) young. Many difficulties are threatening the state, and you, old Sir, do not come forth (from your retirement), and consult for (the good of) our ruler. If you will come forth and do this, I will die (with the feeling that I) have received a (great) favour from you.' He (then) bowed twice, laying his head to the ground, after which he died (by his own hand). On this account he became (known in history as)'the Reverential Heir-son'.'
16. There was a man of La, who, after performing in the morning the ceremony which introduced the 25th month of his mourning, began to sing in the evening. Dze-lû laughed at him, (but) the Master said, 'Yû, will you never have done with your finding fault with people? The mourning for three years is indeed long.' When Dze-lû went out, the Master said, 'Would he still have had to wait long? In another month (he might have sung, and) it would have been well.'
17. Duke Kwang of Lû fought a battle with the men of Sung at Shang-khiû. Hsien Pan-fû was driving, and Pû Kwo was spearman on the right. The horses got frightened, and the carriage was broken, so that the duke fell down[2]. They handed the strap
[1. The marquis of Zin, who is known to us as duke Hsien, ruled from B.C. 676 to 651. Infatuated by his love for a barbarian captive from among the Lî, he behaved recklessly and unnaturally to his children already grown up. One very tragical event is the subject of this paragraph.
2. The text would seem to say here that the army of the duke was defeated; but the victory was with the duke. See the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 684, and there was a different reading, to which Lû Teh-ming refers on the passage, that leaves us free to translate as I have done.]
of a relief chariot (that drove up) to him, when he said, 'I did not consult the tortoise-shell (about the movement).' Hsien Pân-fû said, 'On no other occasion did such a disaster occur; that it has occurred to-day is owing to my want of courage. Forthwith he died (in the fight). When the groom was bathing the horses, a random arrow was found (in one of them), sticking in the flesh under the flank; and (on learning this), the duke said, 'It was not his fault; and he conferred on him an honorary name. The practice of giving such names to (ordinary) officers began from this.
18. Zang-dze was lying in his chamber very ill. Yo-kang Dze-khun was sitting by the side of the couch; Zang Yüan and Zang Shan were sitting at (their father's) feet; and there was a lad sitting in a corner holding a torch, who said, 'How beautifully coloured and bright! Is it not the mat of a Great officer?' Dze-khun (tried to) stop him, but Zang-dze had heard him, and in a tone of alarm called him, when he repeated what he had said. 'Yes,' said Zang-dze, 'it was the gift of Kî-sun, and I have not been able to change it. Get up, Yüan, and change the mat.' Zang Yüan said, 'Your illness is extreme. It cannot now be changed. If you happily survive till the morning, I will ask your leave and reverently change it! Zang-dze said, 'Your love of me is not equal to his. A superior man loves another on grounds of virtue; a little man's love of another is seen in his indulgence of him. What do I seek for? I want for nothing but to die in the correct way.' They then raised him up, and changed the mat. When he was replaced on the new one, before he could compose himself, he expired.
19. When (a father) has just died, (the son) should appear quite overcome, and as if he were at his wits' end; when the corpse has been put into the coffin, he should cast quick and sorrowful glances around, as if he were seeking for something and could not find it; when the interment has taken place, he should look alarmed and. restless, as if he were looking for some one who does not arrive; at the end of the first year's mourning, he should look sad and disappointed; and at the end of the second year's, he should have a vague and unreliant look.
20. The practice in Kû-lü of calling the (spirits of the dead[1]) back with arrows took its rise from the battle of Shang-hsing[2]. That in Lû of the women making their visits of condolence (simply) with a band of sackcloth round their hair took its rise from the defeat at Ha-thâi[3].
21. At the mourning for her mother-in-law, the Master instructed (his niece), the wife of Nan-kung Thâo[4], about the way in which she should tie up her hair with sackcloth, saying, 'Do not make it very high, nor very broad. Have the hair-pin of hazel-wood, and the hair-knots (hanging down) eight inches.'
22. Mang Hsien-dze, after the service which ended
[1. See p. 108, par. 32; p. 112, par. 15; and often, farther on.
2. In B.C. 638. See the Zo Kwan of that year.
3. See in the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 569.
4. This must have been the Nan Yung of the Analects, V, 1, 2.]
the mourning rites, had his instruments of music hung on their stands,. but did not use them; and when he might have approached the inmates of his harem, he did not enter it. The Master said, 'Hsien-dze is a degree above other men[1].'
23. Confucius, after the service at the close of the one year's mourning, in five days more (began
to) handle his lute, but brought no perfect sounds from it; in ten days he played on the organ and sang to it[2].
2.4. Yû-dze, it appears, after the service of the same period of mourning, wore shoes of (white) silk, and had ribbons of (white) silk for his cap-strings[3].
[1. The sacrificial service on the final putting off of the mourning dress; and to which reference is here made, was called than (###). It will come several times before us hereafter. It is celebrated at the end of the 'three years' mourning' for a parent; that is, at the end of twenty-seven months from the death: see the Introduction, p. 49. Wang Sû of the Wei dynasty contended that the mourning was put off at the end of twenty-five months, and the editors of the Khang-hsî dictionary rather approve of his decision: see their note under the character than. I do not think the controversy as to the exact time when the mourning ceased can be entirely cleared up. Confucius praised Hsien-dze, because he could not forget his grief, when the outward sign of it was put off.
2. The sacrificial service here is called by a different name from than; it is hsiang (###); and in mourning for parents there was 'the small hsiang,' at the end of the first year, and 'the great hsiang,' at the end of the second. The character here probably denotes the mourning for one year, which is not continued beyond that time. Music was not used during any of the period of mourning; and it is doing violence to the text to take hsiang here as equivalent to than.
3. In condemnation of Yû-dze (see Analects, 1, 2), as quick to forget his grief.]
25. There are three deaths on which no condolence should be offered:--from cowardice; from being crushed (through heedlessness); and from drowning[1].
26. When Dze-lû might have ended his mourning for his eldest sister, he still did not do so. Confucius said to him, 'Why do you not leave off your mourning?' He replied, 'I have but few brothers, and I cannot bear to do so.' Confucius said, 'When the ancient kings framed their rules, (they might have said that) they could not bear (to cease mourning) even for (ordinary) men on the roads.' When Dze-lû heard this, he forthwith left off his mourning.
27. Thâi-kung was invested with his state, (and had his capital) in Ying-khiû; but for five generations (his descendants, the marquises of Khî) were all taken back and buried in Kâu. A superior man has said, 'For music, we use that of him from whom we sprang; in ceremonies, we do not forget him to whom we trace our root.' The ancients had a saying, that a fox, when dying, adjusts its head in the direction of the mound (where it was whelped); manifesting thereby (how it shares in the feeling of) humanity.
28. When the mother of Po-yü died, he kept on wailing for her after the year. Confucius heard him, and said, 'Who is it that is thus wailing?' The disciples said, 'It is Lî.' The Master said, 'Ah! (such a demonstration) is excessive.' When Po-yü heard it, he forthwith gave up wailing[2].
[1. The third death here must be supplemented, as I have done the second.
2. Compare paragraph 4, and the note on it. Lî, designated Po-yü, was the son of Confucius, and it has been supposed that his mother had been divorced, so that his protracted wailing for her gave occasion to the rebuke of his father. But while his father was alive, a son did not wail for his mother beyond the year. The passage does not prove that Confucius had divorced his wife, but the contrary; though he might have shown more sympathy with his son's sorrow.]
29. Shun was buried in the wilderness of Zhang-wû, and it would thus appear that the three ladies of his harem were not buried in the same grave with him[1]. Kî Wû-dze said, 'Burying (husband and wife) in the same grave appears to have originated with the duke of Kâu.'
PART II.
1. At the mourning rites for Zang-dze, his body was washed in the cook-room[2].
2. During the mourning for nine months[3] one should suspend his (musical) studies. Some one has said, 'It is permissible during that time to croon over the words (of the pieces).'
3. When Dze-kang was ill, he called (his son), Shan-hsiang, and addressed him, saying, 'We speak of the end of a superior man, and of the death of
[1. From the first part of the Shû King we know that Shun married the two daughters of Yao. The mention of 'three' wives here has greatly perplexed the commentators. Where Zhang-wû was is also much disputed.
2. The proper place for the operation was the principal chamber. There is only conjecture to account for the different place in the case of Zang-dze.
3. In relationships of the third degree: as by a man for a married aunt or sister, a brother's wife, a first cousin, &c.; by a wife, for her husband's grand-parents, uncles, &c.; by a married woman, for her uncle and uncle's wife, a spinster aunt, brothers, sisters, &c. See Appendix at the end of this Book.]
a small man. I am to-day, perhaps, drawing near to my end (as a superior man).'
4. Zang-dze said, 'May not what remains in the cupboard suffice to set down (as the offerings) by (the corpse of) one who has just died?'
5. Zang-dze said, 'Not to have places (for wailing) in cases of the five months' mourning[1] is a rule which sprang from the ways in small lanes.' When, Dze-sze wailed for his sister-in-law, he made such places, and his wife took the lead in the stamping. When Shan-hsiang wailed for Yen-sze, he also did the same.
6. Anciently, (all) caps were (made) with the seams going up and down them; now the (mourning cap) is made with the seams going round. Hence to have the mourning cap different from that worn on felicitous occasions is not the way of antiquity[2].
7. Zang-dze said to Dze-sze, 'Khî, when I was engaged in the mourning for my parents, no water or other liquid entered my mouth for seven days.' Sze-sze said, 'With regard to the rules of ceremony framed by the ancient kings, those who would go beyond them should stoop down to them, and those who do not reach them should stand on tip-toe to do so. Hence, when a superior man is engaged in mourning for his parents, no water or other liquid
[1. In relationships of the fourth degree: as by a man for his grand-uncle and his wife, a spinster grand-aunt, a second cousin, &c.; by a wife for her husband's aunt, brother or sister, &c.; by a married woman, for her spinster aunt, married sister, &c. See Appendix.
2. This paragraph does not seem to contain any lessons of censure or approval, but simply to relate a fact.]
enters his mouth for three days, and with the aid of his staff he is still able to rise.'
8. Zang-dze said, 'If, in cases coming under the five months' mourning, none be worn when the death is not heard of till after the lapse of that time, then when brethren are far apart there would be no wearing of mourning for them at all; and would this be right?'
9. On the mourning rites for Po-kâo, before the messenger from Confucius could arrive, Zan-dze had taken it on him, as his substitute, to present a parcel of silks and a team of four horses. Confucius said, 'Strange! He has only made me fail in showing my sincerity in the case of Po-kâo[1].'
10. Po-kâo died in Wei, and news of the event was sent to Confucius. He said, 'Where shall I wail for him? For brethren, I wail in the ancestral temple; for a friend of my father, outside the gate of the temple; for a teacher, in my chamber; for a friend, outside the door of the chamber; for an acquaintance, in the open country, (some distance off). (To wail) in the open country would in this case be too slight (an expression of grief), and to do so in the bed-chamber would be too great a one. But it was by Zhze that he was introduced to me. I will wail for him in Zhze's.' Accordingly he ordered Dze-kung to act as presiding mourner on the occasion,
[1. We know almost nothing of the Po-kâo (the eldest son, Kâo) here. From the next paragraph it does not appear that his intimacy with Confucius had been great. Zan-dze had taken too much on himself. Perhaps the gift was too great, and sympathy cannot well be expressed by proxy. The parcel of silks contained five pieces.]
saying to him, 'Bow to those who come because you have a wailing in your house, but do not bow to those who come (simply) because they knew Po-kâo.'
11. Zang-dze said, 'When one during his mourning rites falls ill, and has to eat meat and drink spirits, there must be added the strengthening flavours from vegetables and trees;' meaning thereby ginger and cinnamon.
12. When Dze-hsiâ was mourning for his son, he lost his eyesight. Zang-dze went to condole with him, and said, 'I have heard that when a friend loses his eyesight, we should wail for him.' Thereupon he wailed, and Dze-hsiâ also wailed, and said, 'O Heaven, and I have no guilt!' Zan-dze was angry, and said, 'Shang, how can you say that you have no guilt?'
'I and you served the Master between the Kû and the Sze'; and (after his death) you retired, and grew old in the neighbourhood of the Western Ho, where you made the people compare you with the Master. This was one offence.
'When you mourned for your parents, you did so in such a way that the people heard nothing of it. This was a second offence.
'When you mourned for your son, you did it in such a way that you have lost your eyesight. This is a third offence. And how do you say that you have no guilt?'
[1. These were two streams of Lû, near which was the home of Confucius. I thought of this passage when I crossed at least one of them on my way to Khü-fû, 'the city of Confucius,' about twelve years ago.]
Dze-hsiâ threw down his staff, and bowed, saying, 'I was wrong, I was wrong. It is a long time since I left the herd, and lived apart here.'
13. When a man stops during the daytime in his inner (chamber), it is allowable to come and ask about his illness. When he stops outside during the night, it is allowable to come and condole with him. Hence a superior man, except for some great cause[1], does not pass the night outside (his chamber); and unless he is carrying out a fast or is ill, he does not day and night stop inside.
14. When Kâo Dze-kâo was engaged with the mourning for his parents, his tears flowed (silently) like blood for three years, and he never (laughed) so as to show his teeth. Superior men considered that he did a difficult thing.
15. It is better not to wear mourning at all than not to have it of the proper materials and fashion. When wearing the sackcloth with the edges even (for a mother), one should not sit unevenly or to one side, nor should he do any toilsome labour, (even) in the nine months' mourning[2].
16. When Confucius went to Wei, he found the mourning rites going on for a man with whom he had formerly lodged. Entering the house, he wailed for him bitterly; and when he came out, he told Dze-kung to take out the outside horses of his carriage, and present them as his gift. Dze-kung said, 'At the mourning for any of your disciples, you have
[1. 'A great cause:'--such as danger from enemies, or death and the consequent mourning, which, especially in the case of a father's death, required the son thus to 'afflict himself.'
2. The whole of this paragraph seems overstrained and trivial.]
never taken out those horses (for such a purpose); is it not excessive to do so for a man with whom you (merely) lodged?' The Master said, 'I entered a little ago, and wailed for him; and I found (the mourner) so dissolved in grief that my tears flowed (with his). I should hate it, if those tears were not (properly) followed. Do it, my child[1].'
17. When Confucius was in Wei, there was (a son) following his (father's) coffin to the grave. After Confucius had looked at him, he said, 'How admirably did he manage this mourning rite! He is fit to be a pattern. Remember it, my little children.' Dze-kung said, 'What did you, Master, see in him so admirable?' 'He went,' was the reply, 'as if he were full of eager affection. He came back (looking) as if he were in doubt.' 'Would it not have been better, if he had come back hastily, to present the offering of repose?' The Master said, 'Remember it, my children. I have not been able to attain to it.'
18. At the mourning rites for Yen Yüan, some of the flesh of the sacrifice at the end of (? two) years was sent to Confucius, who went out and received it, On re-entering he played on his lute, and afterwards ate it[2].
19. Confucius was standing (once) with his disciples,
[1. We are willing to believe this paragraph, because it shows how the depths of Confucius' sympathy could be stirred in him. He was not in general easily moved.
2. This paragraph has occasioned a good deal of discussion. The text does not make it clear whether the sacrifice was that at the end of one, or that at the end of two years. Why did Confucius play on his lute? and was he right in doing so?]
having his hands joined across his breast, and the right hand uppermost. They also all placed their right hands uppermost. He said to them, 'You do so from your wish to imitate me, but I place my hands so, because I am mourning for an elder sister.' On this they all placed their left hands uppermost (according to the usual fashion).
20. Confucius rose early (one day), and with his hands behind him, and trailing his staff, moved slowly about near the door, singing--
The great mountain must crumble;The strong beam must break;The wise man must wither away like a plant.'
Having thus sung, he entered and sat down opposite the door. Dze-kung had heard him, and said, 'If the great mountain crumble, to what shall I look up? If the strong beam break, (on what shall I lean)[1]? If the wise man wither like a plant, whom, shall I imitate? The Master, I am afraid, is going to be ill.' He then hastened into the house. The Master said, Zhze, what makes you so late? Under the sovereigns of Hsiâ, the body was dressed and coffined at the top of the steps on the east, so that it was where the deceased used to go up (as master of the house). The people of Yin performed the same ceremony between the two pillars, so that the steps for the host were on one side of the corpse, and those for
[1. The original of this supplement has dropt out of the text. it is found in the 'Narratives of the School;' and in a Corean edition of the Lî Kî.]
the guest on the other. The people of Kâu perform it at the top of the western steps, treating the deceased as if he were a guest. I am a man (descended from the house) of Yin[1], and last night I dreamt that I was sitting with the offerings to the dead by my side between the two pillars. Intelligent kings do not arise; and what one under heaven s able to take me as his Master? I apprehend I am about to die.' With this he took to his bed, was ill for seven days, and died.
21. At the mourning rites for Confucius, the disciples were in perplexity as to what dress they should wear. Dze-kung said, 'Formerly, when the Master was mourning for Yen Yüan, he acted in other respects as if he were mourning for a son, but wore no mourning dress. He did the same in the case of Dze-lû. Let us mourn for the Master, as if we were mourning for a father, but wear no mourning dress[2].'
22. At the mourning for Confucius, Kung-hsî Khih made the ornaments of commemoration. As the adornments of the coffin, there -were the wall-like curtains, the fan-like screens, and the cords at its sides, after the manner of Kâu. There were the flags with their toothed edges, after the manner of Yin; and there were the flag-staffs bound with white silk, and
[1. It is well known that the Khung family was a branch of the ducal house of Sung, the lords of which were the representatives of the royal house of Shang. The Khungs were obliged to flee from Sung, and take refuge in Lû in the time of the great-grandfather of Confucius.
2. It is doubtful whether this advice was entirely followed as regards the matter of the dress.]
long streamers pendent from them, after the manner of Hsiâ[1].
23. At the mourning for Dze-kang, Kung-ming made the ornaments of commemoration. There was a tent-like pall, made of plain silk of a carnation colour, with clusters of ants at the four corners, (as if he had been) an officer of Yin[2].
24. Dze-hsiâ asked Confucius, saying, 'How should (a son) conduct himself with reference to the man who has killed his father or mother?' The Master said, 'He should sleep on straw, with his shield for a pillow; he should not take office; he must be determined not to live with the slayer under the same heaven. If he meet with him in the market-place or the court, he should not have to go back for his weapon, but (instantly) fight with him.'
'Allow me to ask,' said (the other), 'how one should do with reference to the man who has slain his brother?' 'He may take office,' was the reply, 'but not in the same state with the slayer; if he be sent on a mission by his ruler's orders, though he may then meet with the man, he should not fight with him.'
'And how should one do,' continued Dze-hsiâ, 'in the case of a man who has slain one of his paternal cousins?' Confucius said, 'He should not take the lead (in the avenging). If he whom it chiefly concerns is able to do that, he should support him from behind, with his weapon in his hand.'
[1. See the full description of a coffin and hearse with all its ornaments in Book XIX.
2. In honour of the Master, though Dze-hang himself could not claim to be descended from the kings of Yin.]
25. At the mourning rites for Confucius, his disciples all wore their head-bands of sackcloth, when they went out. For one of their own number, they wore them in the house (when condoling), but not when they went out.
26. Keeping (the ground about) their graves clear of grass was not a practice of antiquity[1].
27. Dze-lû said, 'I heard the Master say that in the rites of mourning, exceeding grief with deficient rites is better than little demonstration of grief with superabounding rites; and that in those of sacrifice, exceeding reverence with deficient rites is better than an excess of rites with but little reverence.'
28. Zang-dze having gone on a visit of condolence to Fû-hsiâ, the chief mourner had already presented the sacrifice of departure, and removed the offerings. He caused the bier, however, to be pushed back to its former place, and made the women come down (again), after which (the visitor) went through his ceremony. The disciples who accompanied Zang-dze asked him if this proceeding were according to rule, and he said, 'The sacrifice at starting is an unimportant matter, And why might he not bring (the bier) back, and 'let it rest (for a while)?'
The disciples further asked the same question of Dze-yû, who said, 'The rice and precious shell are put into the mouth of the corpse under the window (of the western chamber); the slighter dressing is
[1. Some would interpret this sentence as if it were--'changing the grave' (### and not ###); but the Khien-lung editors say that this practice, originating in geomancy, arose in the time of Sin, and was unknown during the Han dynasty.]
done inside the door, and the more complete one at (the top of) the eastern steps; the coffining takes place at the guests' place; the sacrifice at starting in the courtyard; and the interment at the grave. The proceedings go on in this way to what is more remote, and hence in the details of mourning there is a constant advance and no receding.' When Zang-dze heard of this reply, he said, 'This is a much better account than I gave of the going forth to offer the sacrifice of departure.'
29. Zang-dze went an a visit of condolence, wearing his fur robe over the silk one, while Dze-yû went, wearing the silk one over his fur. Zang-dze, pointing to him, and calling the attention of others, said, 'That man has the reputation of being well versed in ceremonies, how is it that he comes to condole with his silk robe displayed over his fur one?' (By-and-by), when the chief mourner had finished the slighter dressing of the corpse, he bared his breast and tied up his hair with sackcloth, on which Dze-yû hastened out, and (soon) came back, wearing his fur robe over the silk, and with a girdle of sackcloth. Zang-dze on this said, 'I was wrong, I was wrong. That man was right.'
20. When Dze-hsiâ was introduced (to the Master) after he had put off the mourning (for his parents), a lute was given to him. He tried to tune it, but could hardly do so; he touched it, but brought no melody from it. He rose up and said, 'I have not yet forgotten my grief. The ancient kings framed the rules of ceremony, and I dare not go beyond them?' When a lute was given to Dze-kang in the same circumstances, he tried to tune it, and easily did so; he touched it, and brought melody from it. He rose up and said, 'The ancient kings framed the rules of ceremony, and I do not dare not to come up to them.'
31. At the mourning rites for Hui-dze, who had been minister of Crime, Dze-yû (went to condole), wearing for him a robe of sackcloth, and a headband made of the product of the male plant. Wan-dze (the brother of Hui-dze), wishing to decline the honour, said, 'You condescended to be the associate of my younger brother, and now further condescend to wear this mourning; I venture to decline the honour.' Dze-yû said, 'It is in, rule;' on which Wan-dze returned and continued his wailing. Dze-yû then hastened and took his place among the officers (of the family); but Wan-dze also declined this honour, and said, 'You condescended to be the associate of my younger brother, and now further condescend to wear for him this mourning, and to come and take part in the mourning rites I venture to decline the honour.' Dze-yû said, 'I beg firmly to request you to allow me (to remain here).'
Wan-dze then returned, and supporting the rightful son to take his position with his face to the south, said, 'You condescended to be the associate of my younger brother, and now you further condescend to wear this mourning for him, and to come and take part in the rites; dare Hû but return to his (proper) place?' Dze-yû on this hastened to take his position among the guests'.
[1. The object of Dze-yû in all the movements detailed here is supposed to have been to correct some irregularity in the proceedings on the occasion. Kang Hsüan thinks that Wan-dze was supporting a grandson, instead of Hû, his deceased brother's rightful son, to be the principal mourner, and consequently to succeed Hui-dze as his representative and successor. Hui-dze and Wan-dze (called Mei-mâu) were of the state of Wei.]
32. At the mourning rites for the general Wan-dze, when the first year's mourning was at an end, there came a man from Yüeh[1] on a visit of condolence. The chief mourner, wearing the long robe (assumed on the completion of the first year's mourning), and the cap worn before that, wailed for him in the ancestral temple, with the tears running from his eyes and the rheum from his nose. Dze-yû saw it, and said, 'The son of the general Wan is not far from being (a master of ceremonies). In his observances at this time, for which there is no special rule, his proceeding is correct.'
33. The giving of the name in childhood[2], of the designation at the capping, of the title of elder uncle or younger uncle at fifty, and of the honorary title after death, was the practice of the Kâu dynasty.
The wearing of the sackcloth head-bands and girdles, to express the real (feeling of the heart); the digging a hole in the middle of the apartment (over which) to wash (the corpse); taking down the (tiles of the) furnace, and placing them at the feet (of it)[3]; and at the interment pulling down (part of the wall on the west of the door of) the ancestral temple, so as to pass by the upper side (of the altar to the spirit)
[1. A distant state, south of Wû, on the seaboard.
2 Three months after birth.
3. To show the deceased had no more occasion for food, and to keep the feet straight, so that the shoes might be put on at the dressing of the corpse.]
of the way, and issue by the great gate;--these were the practices of the Yin dynasty, and the learners (in the school of Confucius) followed them.
34. When the mother of Dze-liû died, (his younger brother) Dze-shih asked for the means (to provide what was necessary for the mourning rites). Dze-liû said, 'How shall we get them?' 'Let us sell (the concubines), the mothers of our half-brothers,' said the other. 'How can we sell the mothers of other men to bury our mother?' was the reply; 'that cannot be done.'
After the burial, Dze-shih wished to take what remained of the money and other things contributed towards their expenses, to provide sacrificial vessels; but Dze-liû said, 'Neither can that be done. I have heard that a superior man will not enrich his family by means of his mourning. Let us distribute it among the poor of our brethren.'
35. A superior man said, 'He who has given counsel to another about his army should die with it when it is defeated. He who has given counsel about the country or its capital should perish with it when it comes into peril.'
36. Kung-shû Wan-dze ascended the mound of Hsiâ, with, Kü Po-yü following him. Wan-dze said, 'How pleasant is this mound! I should like to be buried here when I die.' Kü Po-yü said, 'You may find pleasure in such a thought, but allow me (to go home) before (you say any more about it)
37. There was a man of Pien who wept like a
[1. Was there anything more than a joke in this reply of Po-yü? The commentators make it out to be a reproof of Wan-dze for wishing to appropriate for his grave the pleasant ground of another.]
child on the death of his mother. Confucius said, 'This is grief indeed, but it would be difficult to continue it. Now the rules of ceremony require to be handed down, and to be perpetuated. Hence the wailing and leaping are subject to fixed regulations.'
38. When the mother of Shu-sun Wû-shû died, and the slighter dressing had been completed, the bearers went out at the door (of the apartment) with the corpse. When he had himself gone out at the door, he bared his arms, throwing down also his cap, and binding his hair with sackcloth, Dze-yû said (in derision), 'He knows the rules[1]!'
39. (When a ruler was ill), the high chamberlain supported him on the right, and the assigner of positions at audiences did so on the left. When he died these two officers lifted (the corpse)[2].
4o. There are the husband of a maternal cousin and the wife of a maternal uncle;-that these two should wear mourning for each other has not been said by any superior man. Some one says, 'If they have eaten together from the same fireplace, the three months' mourning [3] should be worn.'
41. It is desirable that affairs of mourning should be gone about with urgency, and festive affairs in a
[1. He should have made his preparations before, and not have had to throw down his cap on the ground.
2 The text of this paragraph would make the assisting parties to be the chief diviner and the chief archer. The translation is according to an emendation of it from the Kâu Lû.
3 Worn in relationships of the fifth degree: as by a man for his great-grand-uncle and his wife, a spinster great-grand-aunt, the son of a mother's brother or sister, &c.; by a wife for her husband's great-great-grand-parents, &c. See Appendix.]
leisurely way. Hence, though affairs of mourning require urgency, they should not go beyond the prescribed rules; and though festive affairs may be delayed, they should not be transacted negligently. Hurry therefore (in the former) becomes rudeness, and too much ease (in the latter) shows a small man. The superior man will conduct himself in them as they severally require.
42. A superior man is ashamed[1] to prepare (beforehand) all that he may require in discharging his mourning rites. What can be made in one or two days, he does not prepare (beforehand).
43. The mourning worn for the son of a brother should be the same as for one's own son: the object being to bring him still nearer to one's self. An elder brother's wife and his younger brother do not wear mourning for each other: the object being to maintain the distance between them. Slight mourning is worn for an aunt, and an elder or younger sister, (when they have been married); the reason being that there are those who received them from us, and will render to them the full measure of observance.
PART III.
1. When (the Master) was eating by the side of one who had mourning rites in hand, he never ate to the full.
2. Zang-dze was standing with (another) visitor by the side of the door (of their house of entertainment), when a companion (of the other) came hurrying out.
[1. Lest he should seem not to be wishing individuals to live long.]
'Where are you going?' said Zang-dze; and the man replied, 'My father is dead, and I am going to wail for him in the lane.' 'Return to your apartment,' was the reply, 'and wail for him there.' (The man did so), and Zang-dze made him a visit of condolence, standing with his face to the north.
3. Confucius said, 'In dealing with the dead, if we treat them as if they were entirely dead, that would show a want of affection, and should not be done; or, if we treat them as if they were entirely alive, that would show a want of wisdom, and should not be done. On this account the vessels of bamboo (used in connexion with the burial of the dead) are not fit for actual use; those of earthenware cannot be used to wash in; those of wood are incapable of being carved; the lutes are strung, but not evenly; the pandean pipes are complete, but not in tune; the bells and musical stones are there, but they have no stands. They are called vessels to the eye of fancy; that is, (the dead) are thus treated as if they were spiritual intelligences[1].'
[1. The Khien-lung editors say on this:--'To serve the dead as he served the living is the highest reach of a son's feeling. But there is a difference, it is to be presumed, between the ways of spirits and those of men. In the offerings put down immediately after death, there is an approach to treating the deceased as if he were still a (living) man. But at the burial the treatment of him approaches to that due to a (disembodied) spirit, Therefore the dealing with the dead may be spoken of generally as something between that due to a man and that due to a spirit,--a manifestation of the utmost respect without any familiar liberty.' We should like to have something still more definite. Evidently the subject was difficult to those editors, versed in all Chinese lore, and not distracted by views from foreign habits and ways of thinking. How much more difficult must it be for a foreigner to place himself 'en rapport' with the thoughts and ways of men, so far removed from him in time and in mental training! The subject of these vessels, which yet were no vessels, will come up again.]
4. Yû-dze asked Zang-dze if he had ever questioned the Master about (an officer's) losing his place. 'I heard from him,' was the reply, 'that the officer in such a case should wish to become poor quickly, Oust as) we should wish to decay away quickly when we have died.' Yû-dze said, 'These are not the words of a superior man.' 'I heard them from the Master,' returned Zang-dze. Yû-dze repeated that they were not the words of a superior man, and the other affirmed that both he and, Dze-yû had heard them. 'Yes, yes,' said Yû-dze, 'but the Master must have spoken them with a special reference.' Zang-dze reported Yû-dze's words to Dze-yû, who said, 'How very like his words are to those of the Master! Formerly, when the Master was staying in Sung, he saw that Hwan, the minister of War, had been for three years having a stone coffin made for himself without its being finished, and said, "What extravagance! It would be better that when dead he should quickly decay away." It was with reference to Hwan, the minister of War, that he said, "We should wish to decay away quickly when we die." When Nan-kung King-shû returned (to the state), he made it a point to carry his treasures with him in his carriage when he went to court, on which the Master said, "Such an amount of property! It would have been better for him, when he lost his office, to make haste to become poor." It was with reference to Nan-kung King-shû that he said that we should work to become poor quickly, when we have lost office."'
3. Zang-dze reported these words of Dze-yû to Yû-dze, who said, 'Yes, I did say that these were not the words of the Master.' When the other asked him how he knew it, he said, 'The Master made an ordinance in Kung-tû that the inner coffin should be four inches thick, and the outer five. By this I knew that he did not wish that the dead should decay away quickly. And formerly, when he had lost the office of minister of Crime in Lû, and was about to go to King, he first sent Dze-hsiâ there, and afterwards Zan Yû. By this, I knew that he did not wish to become poor quickly[1].'
5. When Kwang-dze of Khin died, announcement of the event was sent to Lû. They did not want to wail for him there, but duke Mû[2] called Hsien-dze, and consulted him. He said, 'In old times, no messages from Great officers, not even such as -were accompanied by a bundle of pieces of dried meat, went out beyond the boundaries of their states. Though it had been wished to wail for them, how could it have been done? Nowadays the Great officers share in the measures of government throughout the middle states. Though it may be wished not to wail for one, how can it be avoided? I have heard, moreover, that there are two grounds for the wailing; one from love, and one from fear.' The duke said, 'Very well; but how is the thing to be managed in this
[1. Confucius sent those two disciples, that he might get their report of King (or Khû), and know whether he might himself go and take office there as be wished to do.
2. B.C. 409-377.]
case?' Hsien-dze said, 'I would ask you to wail for him in the temple of (a family of) a different surname;' and hereon the duke and he wailed for Kwang-dze in (the temple of) the Hsien family.
6. Kung Hsien said to Zang-dze, 'Under the sovereigns of the Hsiâ dynasty, they used (at burials) the vessels which were such only to the eye of fancy, intimating to the people that (the dead) had no knowledge. Under the Yin they used the (ordinary) sacrificial vessels, intimating to the people that (the dead) had knowledge. Under the Kâu we use both, intimating to the people that the thing is doubtful.' Zang-dze replied, ' It is not so! What are vessels (only) to the eye of fancy are for the shades (of the departed); the vessels of sacrifice are those of men; how should those ancients have treated their parents as if they were dead?'
7. An elder brother of Kung-shû Mû, by the same mother but a different father, having died, he asked, Dze-yû (whether he should go into mourning for him), and was answered, 'Perhaps you should do so for the period of nine months.'
A brother, similarly related to Tî Î, having died, he consulted Dze-hsiâ in the same way, and was answered, 'I have not heard anything about it before, but the people of Lû wear the one year's mourning in such a case.' Tî Î did so, and the present practice of wearing that mourning arose from his question'.
8. When Dze-sze's mother died in Wei, Liû Zo said to him, 'You, Sir, are the descendant of a sage.
[1. Confucius gives a decision against mourning at all in such a case, excepting it were exceptional,--in the 'Narratives of the School,' chapter 10, article 1.]
From all quarters they look to you for an example in ceremonies; let me advise you to be careful in the matter.' Dze-sze said, 'Of what have I to be careful? I have heard that when there are certain ceremonies to be observed, and he has not the necessary means for them, a superior man does not observe them', and that neither does he do so, when there are the ceremonies, and he has the means, but the time is not suitable; of what have I to be careful[1]?'
9. Hsien-dze So said, 'I have heard that the ancients made no diminution (in the degrees of mourning on any other ground); but mourned for every one above and below them according to his relationship. Thus Wan, the earl of Thang, wore the year's mourning for Mang-hû, who was his uncle, and the same for Mang Phî, whose uncle he was.'
10. Hâu Mû said, 'I heard Hsien-dze say about the rites of mourning, that (a son) should certainly think deeply and long about them all, and that (for instance) in buying the coffin he should see that, inside and outside, it be (equally) well completed. When I die, let it be so also with me[2].'
11. Zang-dze said, 'Until the corpse has its ornaments put on it, they curtain off the hall; and after the slighter dressing the curtain is removed.' Kung-liang-dze said, 'Husband and wife are at first all in
[1. Dze-sze's mother, after his father's death, had married again into the Shû family of Wei. What mourning was Dze-sze now to wear for her? Liû Zo seems to have apprehended that he would be carried away by his feelings and would do more than was according to rule in such a case. Dze-sze's reply to him is not at all explicit.
2. This record is supposed to be intended to ridicule Hâu Mû for troubling himself as he did.]
confusion[1], and therefore the hall is curtained off. After the slighter dressing, the curtain is removed.'
12. With regard to the offerings to the dead at the time of the slighter dressing, Dze-yû said that they should be placed on the east (of the corpse). Zang-dze said, 'They should be placed on the west, on the mat there at the time of the dressing.' The placing the offerings on the west at the time of the slighter dressing was an error of the later times of Lû.
13. Hsien-dze said, 'To have the mourning robe of coarse dolichos cloth, and the lower garment of fine linen with a wide texture, was not (the way of) antiquity.'
14. When Dze-phû died, the wailers called out his name Mieh[2]. Dze-kâo said, 'So rude and uncultivated are they!' On this they changed their style.
15. At the mourning rites for the mother of Tû Khiâo no one was employed in the house to assist (the son in the ceremonies), which was accounted a careless omission.
16. The Master said, 'As soon as a death occurs, (the members of the family) should change their lambskin furs and dark-coloured caps, though they may do nothing more.' The Master did not pay a visit of condolence in these articles of dress.
17. Dze-yû asked about the articles to be provided for the mourning rites, and the Master said, 'They should be according to the means of the family.'
[1. Settling places for the wailers, &c. But this explanation is deemed unsatisfactory.
2. The name was used only in calling the spirit back immediately after death; the wailing was a subsequent thing.]
Dze-yû urged, 'How can a family that has means and one that has not have things done in the same way?' 'Where there are means,' was the reply, 'let there be no exceeding the prescribed rites. If there be a want of means, let the body be lightly covered from head to foot, and forthwith buried, the coffin being simply let down by means of ropes. Who in such a case will blame the procedure?'
18. Pan, superintendent of officers' registries, informed Dze-yû of his wish to dress his dead on the couch. 'You may,' said Dze-yû. When Hsien-dze heard of this, he said, 'How arrogant is the old gentleman! He takes it on himself to allow men in what is the proper rule[1].'
19. At the burial of his wife, duke Hsiang of Sung[2] placed (in the grave) a hundred jars of vinegar and pickles. Zang-dze said, 'They are called "vessels only to the eye of fancy," and yet he filled them!'
20. After the mourning rites for Mang Hsien-dze, the chief minister of his family made his subordinates return their money-offerings to all the donors. The Master said that such a thing was allowable.
21. About the reading of the list of the material contributions (towards the service of a funeral), Zang-dze
[1. On death, the body was lifted from the couch, and laid on the ground. When there was no response to the recalling of the spirit, it was returned to the couch and dressed. A practice seems to have arisen of slightly dressing it on the ground, which Pin did not wish to follow. Dze-ya ought to have told him that his proposal was according to rule; whereas he expressed his permission of it,-a piece of arrogance, which Hsien-dze condemned.
2. Hsiang died in B.C. 637.]
said, 'It is not an ancient practice; it is a second announcement (to the departed)[1]!'
22. When Kang-dze Kâo was lying ill, Khang went in to see him, and asked his (parting) commands, saying, 'Your disease, Sir, is severe. If it should go on to be the great illness, what are we to do?' Dze-kâo said, 'I have heard that in life we should be of use to others, and in death should do them no harm. Although I may have been of no use to others during my life, shall I do them any harm by my death? When I am dead, choose a piece of barren ground, and bury me there.'
23. Dze-hsiâ asked the Master (how one should deport himself) during the mourning for the ruler's mother or wife, (and the reply was), 'In sitting and stopping with others, in his conversation, and when eating and drinking, he should appear to be at ease[2].
24. When a stranger-visitor arrived, and had nowhere to lodge, the Master would say, 'While he is alive, let him lodge with me. Should he die, I will see to his coffining[3].'
25. Kwo-dze kâo[4] said, 'Burying means hiding
[1. The contributions had been announced by the bier, as if to the departed, and a record of them made. To read the list, as is here supposed, as the procession was about to set forth, was a vain-glorious proceeding, which Zang-dze thus derided.
2. The supplements in this paragraph are from the 'Narratives of the School.' Some contend that the whole should be read as what Dze-hsiâ said, and that the Master gave him no reply, disapproving of his sentiments.
3. This paragraph, like the preceding, appears in rather a different form in the 'Narratives of the School.'
4. Kwo-dze Kâo was the same as the Khang-dze Kâo of par. 22. Kwo was the surname, and Khang the posthumous title. It is difficult to decide between Kwo-dze Kâo and Kwo Dze-kâo.]
away; and that hiding (of the body) is from a wish that men should not see it. Hence there are the clothes sufficient for an elegant covering; the coffin all round about the clothes; the shell all round about the coffin; and the earth all round about the shell. And shall we farther raise a mound over the grave and plant it with trees?'
26. At the mourning for Confucius, there came a man from Yen to see (what was done), and lodged at Dze-hsiâ's. Dze-hsiâ said to him, 'If it had been for the sage's conducting a burial, (there would have been something worthy to see); but what is there to see in our burying of the sage? Formerly the Master made some remarks to me, saying, "I have seen some mounds made like a raised hall; others like a dyke on a river's bank; others like the roof of a large house; and others in the shape of an axe-head." We have followed the axe-shape, making what is called the horse-mane mound. In one day we thrice shifted the frame-boards, and completed the mound. I hope we have carried out the wish of the Master.'
27. Women (in mourning) do not (change) the girdle made of dolichos fibre.
28. When new offerings (of grain or fruits) are presented (beside the body in the coffin), they should be (abundant), like the offerings on the first day of the moon.
29. When the interment has taken place, everyone should make a change in his mourning dress.
30. The gutters of the tent-like frame over the coffin should be like the double gutters of a house.
31. When a ruler succeeds to his state, he makes his coffin, and thereafter varnishes it once a year, keeping it deposited away.
32. Calling the departed back; plugging the teeth open; keeping the feet straight; filling the mouth; dressing the corpse; and curtaining the hall: these things are set about together, The uncles and elder cousins give their charges to those who are to communicate the death (to friends).
33. The (soul of a deceased) ruler is called back in his smaller chambers, and the large chamber; in the smaller ancestral temples and in the great one: and at the gate leading to the court of the external audience, and in the suburbs all round.
34. Why do they leave the offerings of the mourning rites uncovered? May they do so with the flesh of sacrifice[1]?
35. When the coffining has taken place, in ten days after, provision should be made for the materials (for the shell), and for the vessels to the eye of fancy.
36. The morning offerings should be set forth (beside the body) at sunrise; the evening when the sun is about to set.
37. In mourning for a parent, there is no restriction to (set) times for wailing. If one be sent on a mission, he must announce his return (to the spirits of his departed).
38. After the twelfth month of mourning, the (inner) garment should be of white silk, with a yellow
[1. This short paragraph is difficult to construe. The Khien-lung editors seem to approve of another interpretation of it; but even that is not without its difficulties. The flesh of sacrifice, it is said, left uncovered, would become unfit for use or to be sold.]
lining, and having the collar and the edges of the cuffs of a light purple. The waist-band should be of dolichos cloth; the shoes of hempen string, without the usual ornaments at the points; and the ear-plugs of horn. The lining of the deer's-fur (for winter) should be made broader and with longer cuffs, and a robe of thin silk may be worn over it[1].
39. When (a parent's) corpse has been coffined, if the son hear of mourning going on for a cousin at a distance, he must go (to condole), though the relationship would only require the three months' mourning. If the mourning be for a neighbour, who is not a relative, he does not go.
At (the mourning) for an acquaintance, he must pay visits of condolence to all his brethren, though they might not have lived with him.
40, The coffin of the son of Heaven is fourfold. The hides of a water-buffalo and a rhinoceros, overlapping each other, (form the first), three inches in thickness. Then there is a coffin of Î wood[2], and there are two of the Rottlera. The four are all complete enclosures. The bands for the (composite) coffin are (five); two straight, and three cross; with a double wedge under each band (where it is on the edge).
[1. The outer sackcloth remained unchanged; but inside it was now worn this robe of white silk, a good deal ornamented. Inside this and over the deer's-fur in winter might be worn another robe of thin silk, through which the fur was seen. Inside the fur was what we should call the shirt, always worn.
2 Tracing the Î tree, through the dictionaries from synonym to synonym, we come at last to identify it with the 'white aspen;' whether correctly or not I do not know.]
The shell is of cypress wood, in pieces six cubits long, from the trunk near the root.
41. When the son of Heaven is wailing for a feudal prince, he wears the bird's-(head) cap[1], a headband of sackcloth, and black robes. Some one says, 'He employs an officer to wail for him.' While so engaged, he has no music at his meals.
42. When the son of Heaven is put into his coffin it is surrounded with boards plastered over, and (rests on the hearse), on whose shafts are painted dragons, so as to form a (kind of) shell. Then over the coffin is placed a pall with the axe-heads figured on it. This being done, it forms a plastered house. Such is the rule for (the coffining of) the son of Heaven[2].
43. It is only at the mourning rites for the son of Heaven that the feudal princes are arranged for the wailing according to their different surnames.
44. Duke Âi of Lû eulogised Khung Khiû in the words, 'Heaven has not left the old man, and there is no one to assist me in my place. Oh! Alas! Nî-fû[3]!'
45- When a state had lost a large tract of territory
[1. This cap, it is said, was of leather, of the dark, colour of a male sparrow's head. Hence its name.
2 See Book XIX.
3. Confucius' death took place on the 18th of the fourth month of duke Âi's 16th year, B.C. 479. The eulogy is given somewhat differently in the Zo Kwan under that year: 'Compassionate Heaven vouchsafes me no comfort, and has not left me the aged man, to support me, the One man, on my seat. Dispirited I am, and full of distress. Woe is me! Alas! O Nî-fû. There is no one now to be a rule to me!' Khiû was Confucius' name, and Kung-nî his designation.' After this eulogy, Nî-fû was for a time his posthumous title.]
with its cities, the highest and other ministers, and the Great and other officers, all wailed in the grand ancestral temple, in mourning caps, for three days; and the ruler (for the same time) had no full meal with music. Some one says, 'The ruler has his full meals and music, but wails at the altar to the spirit of the land.'
46. Confucius disliked those who wailed in the open fields[1].
47. (A son) who has not been in office should not presume to give away anything belonging to the family. If he should have to do so[2], he ought to have the order of his father or elder brother for the act.
48. When the (ordinary) officers[3] are all entered, then (the chief mourner and all the others) fall to their leaping, morning and evening.
49. After the service on the conclusion of the twenty-fourth month of mourning, the plain white cap is assumed. In that month the service on leaving off mourning is performed, and after another month (the mourners) may take to their music[4].
50. The ruler may confer on any officer the small curtain (as a pall for his father's coffin).
[1. It was the rule to mourn in the open country for an acquaintance. See p. 134. There must have been some irregularity in the practice adverted to.
2. That is, supposing him to have been in office; though some suppose that the necessity might arise, even in the case of a son who had not been in office.
3. Of course the higher officers must also be. there. This refers to the mourning rites for a ruler.
4. See the note on page 130. It is difficult, notwithstanding all the references to it, to say definitely in what month the than sacrifice was performed.]
SECTION II. PART I.
I. (At the funeral of) a ruler's eldest son by his acknowledged wife, who has died under age, there are three (small) carriages (with the flesh of sacrifice to be put in the grave). At that of an eldest son by one of his concubines, dying under age, there is one such carriage; as at the funeral of the eldest rightful son of a Great officer in the same circumstances[1].
2. At the mourning rites for a feudal lord, his chief officers who had received their appointments. directly from him, carried their staffs.
3. When a Great officer of a state was about to be buried, its ruler (went to) condole with (his son) in the hall where the coffin was. When it was
[1. This refers to a strange custom which was practised at the burial of men of rank, or of others who were treated as such, as in the cases here. 'The carriages employed in it,' says Ying-tâ, 'were very small. When the funeral car was about to set off from the temple, and all to be done at the grave was arranged, they took portions of the bodies which had supplied the offerings put down by the coffin, broke them in small pieces, wrapped them up, and placed them in these carriages, to be conveyed after the car. At the grave the little bundles were placed one by one, inside the outer shell at its four corners.' The number of these small carriages varied according to the rank of the deceased. We shall find the practice mentioned again and again. It is not easy for a foreigner fully to understand it, and I have found great haziness in the attempts of native scholars to explain it. 'The eldest sons' would have died between sixteen and nineteen.]
being taken out, he ordered some one to draw the (bier-carriage) for him. This moved on for three paces and stopped; in all for three times; afterwhich the ruler retired. The same proceeding was gone through, when the bier entered the ancestral temple, and also at the place of (special) grief[1].
4. Men of fifty, who had no carriage, did not make visits of condolence beyond the boundaries (of their states).
5. When Kî Wû-dze was lying ill in his chamber, Kiâo Kû entered and appeared before him without taking off the mourning with its even edges (which he happened to wear). 'This practice,' said he, 'has nearly fallen into disuse. But it is only at the gate of the ruler that an officer should take off such mourning as I have on.' Wû-dze replied, 'Is it not good that you should act thus[2]? A superior man illustrates the smallest points (of propriety).'
At the mourning rites for Wû-dze, Zang Tien leant against his gate and sang[3].
6. If a Great officer pay a visit of condolence
[1. Where visitors had been lodged during the mourning rites, outside the great gate.
2. Wû-dze was the posthumous title of Ki-sun Suh, the principal minister of Lû in the time of duke Hsiang (D.C. 572-543). He was arrogant, and made other officers pay to him the same observances as to the ruler; but he was constrained to express his approval of the bold rectitude of Kiâo.
3. This is added by the writer, and implies a condemnation of Zang Tien, who did not know how to temper his censure of the minister, as Kiâo Kû had done. But there must be an error in the passage. Tien (the father of Zang Shan) could have been but a boy when Wû-dze died.]
(to an ordinary officer), and he arrive when (the latter) is occupied with the business of the occasion, an apology is made (for not coming to the gate to receive him).
7. When one has paid a visit of condolence, he should not on the same day show manifestations of joy[1].
8. A wife should not go beyond the boundaries of the state on a visit of condolence.
9. On the day when he has made a visit of condolence, one should not drink spirits nor eat flesh.
10. When one pays a visit of condolence, and the arrangements for the funeral are going on, he should take hold of the ropes (attached to the car). Those who follow to the grave should take hold of those attached to the coffin.
11. During the mourning rites, if the ruler send a message of condolence, there must be some one to acknowledge it, by bowing to the messenger. A friend, or neighbour, or even a temporary resident in the house, may perform the duty. The message is announced in the words:--'Our unworthy ruler wishes to take part in your (sad) business.' The chief mourner responds:--'We acknowledge your presence with his message[2].'
12. When a ruler meets a bier on the way, he must send some one to present his condolences (to the chief mourner).
[1. Or it may be, 'should not have music;' toning one of the characters differently.
2. It is supposed that the deceased had left no son to preside at the mourning rites.]
13. At the mourning rites for a Great officer, a son by an inferior wife should not receive the condolences[1].
14. On the death of his wife's brother who was the successor of their father, (the husband) should wail for him in (the court of) the principal chamber[2]. He should appoint his (own) son to preside (on the occasion). With breast unbared and wearing the cincture instead of the cap, he wails and leaps. When he enters on the right side of the gate, he should make some one stand outside it, to inform comers of the occasion of the wailing; and those who were intimate (with the deceased) will enter and wail. If his own father be in the house, the wailing should take place (before) his wife's chamber. If (the deceased) were not the successor of his father, the wailing should take place before a different chamber.
15. If a man have the coffin of a parent in his hall, and hear of mourning going on for a cousin of the same surname at a distance, he wails for him in a side apartment. If there be no such apartment, he should wail in the court on the right of the gate. If the deceased's body be in the same state, he should go to the place, and wail for him there.
16. When Dze-kang died, Zang-dze was in mourning for his mother, and went in his mourning dress
[1. But if there be no son by the wife proper, the oldest son by an inferior wife may receive the condolences. See the Khien-lung editors, in loc.
2. For some reason or other he has not gone to the house of the deceased, to wail for him there.]
to wail for him. Some one said, 'That dress of sackcloth with its even edges is not proper. for a visit of condolence.' Zang-dze replied, 'Am I condoling (with the living)?'
17. At the mourning rites for Yû Zo, duke Tâo[1] came to condole. Dze-yû received him, and introduced him by (the steps on) the left[2].
18. When the news was sent from Khî of the mourning for the king's daughter who had been married to the marquis, duke Kwang of Lû wore the nine months' mourning for her. Some have said, 'She was married from Lû[3]; therefore he wore the same mourning for her as for a sister of his own.' Others have said, 'She was his mother's mother, and therefore he wore it.'
19. At the mourning rites for duke Hsien of Zin, duke Mû of Khin sent a messenger to present his condolences to Hsien's son Khung-r (who was then an exile), and to add this message:--'I have heard that a time like this is specially adapted to the
[1. B.C. 467-431. Yû Zo had been a disciple of Confucius, and here we find the greater follower of the sage, Dze-yû, present and assisting at the mourning rites for him.
2. That is, the prince went up to the hall by the steps on the east, set apart for the use of the master and father of the house. But the ruler was master everywhere in his state, as the king was in his kingdom. An error prevailed on this matter, and Dze-yû took the opportunity to correct it.
3. That is, she had gone from the royal court to Lû, and been married thence under the superintendence of the marquis of that state, who also was of the royal surname. This was a usual practice in the marriage of kings' daughters; and it was on this account the lord of the officiating state wore mourning for them. The relationship assigned in the next clause is wrong; and so would have been the mourning mentioned, if it had been correct.]
losing of a state, or the gaining of a state. Though you, my son, are quiet here, in sorrow and in mourning, your exile should not be allowed to continue long, and the opportunity should not be lost. Think of it and take your measures, my young son.' Khung-r reported the words to his maternal uncle Fan, who said,' My son, decline the proffer. An exile as you are, nothing precious remains to you; but a loving regard for your father is to be considered precious. How shall the death of a father be told? And if you take advantage of it to seek your own profit, who under heaven will be able to give a good account of your conduct? Decline the proffer, my son.
On this the prince replied to his visitor:--'The ruler has kindly (sent you) to condole with his exiled servant. My person in banishment, and my father dead, so that I cannot take any share in the sad services of wailing and weeping for him;--this has awakened the sympathy of the ruler. But how shall the death of a father be described? Shall I presume (on occasion of it) to think of any other thing, and prove myself unworthy of your ruler's righteous regard?' With this he laid his head to the ground, but did not bow (to the visitor); wailed and then arose, and after he had risen did not enter into any private conversation with him.
Dze-hsien reported the execution of his commission to duke Mû, who said, 'Truly virtuous is this prince Khung-r. In laying his forehead on the ground and not bowing (to the messenger), he acknowledged that he was not his father's successor, and therefore he did not complete the giving of thanks. In wailing before he rose, he showed how he loved his father. In having no private conversation after he arose, he showed how he put from him the thought of gain[1].'
20. The keeping the curtain up before the coffin with the corpse in it was not a custom of antiquity. It originated with the wailing of King Kiang for Mû-po[2].
21. The rites of mourning are the extreme expression of grief and sorrow. The graduated reduction of that expression in accordance with the natural changes (of time and feeling) was made by the superior men, mindful of those to whom we owe our being[3].
22. Calling (the soul) back is the way in which love receives its consummation, and has in it the mind which is expressed by prayer. The looking for it to return from the dark region is a way of seeking for it among the spiritual beings. The turning the face to the north springs from the idea of its being in the dark region.
2S. Bowing to the (condoling) visitor, and laying the forehead on the ground are the most painful demonstrations of grief and sorrow. The laying the forehead in the ground is the greatest expression of the pain (from the bereavement).
[1. Fully to understand this paragraph, one must know more particulars of the history of Khung-r, and his relations with his father and the duke of Khin, than can be given here in a note. He became the ablest of the five chiefs of the Khun Khiû period.
2. This was a prudish action of the young widow, but it changed an old custom and introduced a new one.
3. This has respect to the modifications adopted in regulating the mourning rites for parents.]
24. Filling the mouth with rice uncooked and fine shells arises from a feeling which cannot bear that it should be empty. The idea is not that of giving food; and therefore these fine things are used.
25. The inscription[1] forms a banner to the eye of fancy. Because (the person of) the deceased, can no longer be distinguished, therefore (the son) by this flag maintains the remembrance of him. From his love for him he makes this record. His reverence for him finds in this its utmost expression.
26. The first tablet for the spirit (with this inscription on it) serves the same purpose as that (subsequently) placed in the temple, at the conclusion of the mourning rites. Under the Yin dynasty the former was still kept. Under the Kâu, it was removed[1].
27. The offerings to the unburied dead are placed in plain unornamented vessels, because the hearts
[1. This inscription contained the surname, name, and rank of the deceased. It was at first written, I suppose, on a strip of silk, and fastened up under the eaves above the steps on the cast. In the meantime a tablet of wood called Khung, the first character in the next paragraph, and for which I have given 'The first tablet for the spirit,' was prepared. The inscription was transferred to it, and it was set up on or by the coffin, now having the body in it, and by and by it was removed to the east of the coffin pit, where it remained till after the interment.
The observances in this paragraph and the next remain substantially the same at the present day. 'The bier,' writes Wang Thâo, 'is placed in the apartment, and the tablet with the inscription, as a resting-place for the spirit, is set up, while the offerings are set forth near it morning and evening. After the interment this tablet is burned, and the permanent tablet (###) is made, before which the offerings are presented at the family sacrifices from generation to generation. Thus "the dead are served as the living have been."']
of the living are full of unaffected sorrow. It is only in the sacrifices (subsequent to the interment), that the principal mourner does his utmost (in the way of ornament). Does he know that the spirit will enjoy (his offerings)? He is guided only by his pure and reverent heart.
28. Beating the breast (by the women), and leaping (by the men) are extreme expressions of grief. But the number of such acts is limited. There are graduated rules for them.
29. Baring the shoulders and binding up the hair (with the band of sackcloth) are changes, (showing) the excited feeling which is a change in the grief. The removal of the (usual) ornaments and elegancies (of dress) has manifold expression, but this baring of the shoulders and the sackcloth band are the chief. But now the shoulders are quite bared, and anon they are covered (with a thin garment);--marking gradations in the grief
30. At the interment they used the cap of plain white (silk), and the headband of dolichos fibre; thinking these more suitable for their intercourse with (the departed) now in their spirit-state. The feeling of reverence had now arisen. The people of Kiu use the pien cap at interments; those of Yin used the hsü[1].
[1. The 'Three Rituals Explained' ###), ch. 238, give the figures of these caps thus:--
The hsü {illustration}. The pien {illustration}.]
31. The gruel of the chief mourner (the son), the presiding wife[1], and the steward of the family (of a Great officer) is taken by them at the order of the ruler lest they should get ill.
32. On returning (from the grave) to wail, (the son) should ascend the hall (of the ancestral temple);--returning to the place where (the deceased) performed his rites. The presiding wife should enter the chamber;--returning to the place where he received his nourishment.
33. Condolences should be presented (to the son) when he returns (from the grave) and is wailing, at which time his grief is at its height. He has returned, and (his father) is not to be seen; he feels that he has lost him. (His grief is) then most intense. Under the Yin, they presented condolences immediately at the grave; under the Kâu, when the son had returned and was wailing. Confucius said, 'Yin was too blunt; I follow Kâu.'
34. To bury on the north (of the city), and with the head (of the dead) turned to the north, was the common practice of the three dynasties:--because (the dead) go to the dark region.
35. When the coffin has been let down into the grave, the chief mourner presents the (ruler's) gifts (to the dead in the grave[2]), and the officer of prayer (returns beforehand) to give notice of the sacrifice of repose[3] to him who is to personate the departed.
[1. This would be the wife of the deceased, or the wife of his son.
2. These were some rolls of purplish silks, sent by the ruler as, his parting gifts, when the hearse-car reached the city gate on its way to the grave.
3. Where was the spirit of the departed now? The bones and flesh had returned to the dust, but the soul-spirit might be anywhere (###). To afford it a resting-place, the permanent tablet was now put in the shrine, and this sacrifice of repose (###) was offered, so that the son might be able to think that his father was never far from him. For a father of course the personator was a male; for a mother, a female; but there are doubts on this point.]
36. When he has returned and wailed, the chief mourner with the (proper) officer inspects the victim. (In the meantime other) officers have set out a stool and mat with the necessary offerings on the left of the grave[1]. They return, and at midday the sacrifice of repose is offered[2].
37. The sacrifice is offered on the day of interment; they cannot bear that the departed should be left a single day (without a place to rest in).
38. On that day the offerings, (previously) set forth (by the coffin), are exchanged for the sacrifice of repose. The (continuous) wailing is ended, and they say, 'The business is finished.'
39. On that day the sacrifices of mourning were exchanged for one of joy. The next day the service of placing the spirit-tablet of the departed next to that of his grandfather was performed.
40. The change to an auspicious sacrifice took place on that day, and the placing the tablet in its place on the day succeeding:--(the son) was unable
[1. For the spirit of the ground.
2. If the grave were too far distant to allow all this to be transacted before midday, then the sacrifice was performed in the chamber where the coffin had rested. So says Wang Thâo on the authority of Zan Yî-shang ({###)).]
to bear that (the spirit of the departed) should be a single day without a resting-place.
41. Under the Yin, the tablet was put in its place on the change of the mourning at the end of twelve months; under the Kâu, when the (continuous) wailing was over. Confucius approved the practice of Yin.
42. When a ruler went to the mourning rites for a minister, he took with him a sorcerer with a peach-wand, an officer of prayer with his reed-(brush), and a lance-bearer,--disliking (the presence of death), and to make his appearance different from (what it was at any affair of) life[1]. In the mourning rites it is death that is dealt with, and the ancient kings felt it difficult to speak of this[2].
43. The ceremony in the mourning rites of (the coffined corpse) appearing in the court (of the ancestral temple) is in accordance with the filial heart of the deceased. He is (supposed to be) grieved at leaving his chamber, and therefore he is brought to the temple of his fathers, and then (the coffin) goes on its way.
Under the Yin, the body was thus presented and then coffined in the temple; under the Kâu the interment followed immediately after its presentation (in the coffin).
44. Confucius said, 'He who made the vessels
[1. When visiting a minister when alive, the ruler was accompanied by the lance-bearer, but not by those other officers;-there was the difference between life and death.
2. I suspect that the sorcerer and exorcist were ancient superstitions, not established by the former kings, but with which they did not care to interfere by saying anything about them.]
which are so (only) in imagination, knew the principles underlying the mourning rites. They were complete (to all appearance), and yet could not be used. Alas! if for the dead they had used the vessels of the living, would there not have been a danger of this leading to the interment of the living with the dead?'
45. They were called 'vessels in imagination,' (the dead) being thus treated as spiritual intelligences, From of old there were the carriages of clay and the figures of straw,--in accordance with the idea in these vessels in imagination. Confucius said that the making of the straw figures was good, and that the making of the (wooden) automaton was not benevolent.--Was there not a danger of its leading to the use of (living) men?
PART II.
1. Duke Mû[1] asked Dze-sze whether it was the way of antiquity for a retired officer still to wear the mourning for his old ruler. 'Princes of old,' was the reply, 'advanced men and dismissed them equally according to the rules of propriety; and hence there was that rule about still wearing mourning for the old ruler. But nowadays princes advance men as if they were going to take them on their knees, and dismiss them as if they were going to push them into an abyss. Is it not good if (men so treated) do not head rebellion? How should there be the observance of that rule about still wearing mourning (for old rulers)?'
[1. Of Lû, B.C. 409-377.]
2. At the mourning rites for duke Tâo[1]. Kî Kâo-dze asked Mang King-dze what they should eat (to show their grief) for the ruler. King-dze replied, 'To eat gruel is the general rule for all the kingdom.' (The other said), 'It is known throughout the four quarters that we three ministers[2] have not been able to live in harmony with the ducal house. I could by an effort make myself emaciated; but would it not make men doubt whether I was doing so in sincerity? I will eat rice as usual.'
3. When Sze-thû King-dze of Wei died, Dze-hsiâ made a visit of condolence (to his house); and, though the chief mourner had not completed the slight dressing (of the corpse), he went in the headband and robe of mourning. Dze-ya paid a similar visit; and, when the chief mourner had completed the slight dressing, he went out, put on the bands, returned and wailed. Dze-hsiâ said to him, 'Did you ever hear (that) that (was the proper method to observe)? I heard the Master say,' was the reply, 'that until the chief mourner had changed his dress, one should not assume the mourning bands'.'
4. Zang-dze said, 'An-dze may be said to have known well the rules of propriety;-he was humble and reverent! Yû Zo said, 'An-dze wore the same (robe of) fox-fur for thirty years. (At the burial of
[1. B.C. 467-431.
2. The heads of the Kung-sun, Shû-sun, and Ki-sun families; whose power Confucius had tried in vain to break.
3. In this case Dze-yû was correct, according to rule, following the example of the chief mourner. Sze-thû was a name of office,--the ministry of Instruction; but it had become in this case the family name; from some ancestor of King-dze, who had been minister of Instruction.]
his father), he had only one small carriage (with the offerings to be put into the grave[1]); and he returned immediately from the grave (without showing the usual attentions to his guests). The ruler of a state has seven bundles of the offerings, and seven such small carriages for them, and a Great officer five. How can it be said that An-dze knew propriety?' Zang-dze replied, 'When a state is not well governed, the superior man is ashamed to observe all ceremonies to the full. Where there is extravagance in the administration of the state, he shows an example of economy. If the administration be economical, he shows an example of (the strict) observance' of all rules.'
5. On the death of the mother of Kwo Kâo-dze, he asked Dze-kang, saying, 'At the interment, when (all) are at the grave, what should be the places of the men and of the women?' Dze-kang said, 'At the mourning rites for Sze-thû King-dze, when the Master directed the ceremonies, the men stood with their faces to the west and the women stood with theirs to the east.' 'Ah!' said the other, 'that will not do;' adding, 'All will be here to see these mourning rites of mine. Do you take the sole charge of them. Let the guests be the guests, while I (alone) act as the host. Let the women take their places behind the men, and all have their faces towards the west[2].'
[1. See the note on paragraph 1, page 161. An-Sze was the chief minister of Khî.
[2. 'The master' here would seem to be Confucius; and yet he died before Sze-thû King-dze. There are other difficulties in parts of the paragraph.]
6. At the mourning for Mû-po (her husband), King Kiang wailed for him in the daytime, and at that for Wan-po (her son), she wailed for him both in the daytime and the night. Confucius said, 'She knows the rules of propriety[1].'
At the mourning for Wan-po, King Kiang (once) put her hand on the couch (where his body lay), and without wailing said, 'Formerly, when I had this son, I thought that he would be a man of worth. (But) I never went with him to the court (to see his conduct there); and now that he is dead, of all his friends, the other ministers, there is no one that has shed tears for him, while the members of his harem all wail till they lose their voices. This son must have committed many lapses in his observance of the rules of propriety!'
7. When the mother of Kî Khang-dze died, (her body was laid out with) her private clothes displayed. King Kiang (Khang-dze's grand-uncle's wife) said, 'A wife does not dare to see her husband's parents without the ornament (of her upper robes); and there will be the guests from all quarters coming;--why are her under-clothes displayed here?' With this she ordered them to be removed.
8. Yû-dze and Dze-yû were standing together when they saw (a mourner) giving all a child's demonstrations of affection. Yû-dze said, 'I have never understood this leaping in mourning, and have long wished to do away with it. The sincere feeling (of sorrow) which appears here is right, (and
[1. It is said, 'She mourned for her husband according to propriety; for her son according to her feelings.']
should be sufficient).' Dze-yû. replied, 'In the rules of propriety, there are some intended to lessen the (display of) feeling, and there are others which purposely introduce things (to excite it). To give direct vent to the feeling and act it out as by a short cut is the way of the rude Zung and Tî. The method of the rules is not so. When a man rejoices, he looks pleased; when pleased, he thereon sings; when singing, he sways himself about; swaying himself about, he proceeds to dancing; from dancing, he gets into a state of wild excitement[1]; that excitement goes on to distress; distress expresses itself in sighing; sighing is followed by beating the breast; and beating the breast by leaping. The observances to regulate all this are what are called the rules of propriety.
'When a man dies, there arises a feeling of disgust (at the corpse). Its impotency goes on to make us revolt from it. On this account, there is the wrapping it in the shroud, and there are the curtains, plumes (and other ornaments of the coffin), to preserve men from that feeling of disgust. Immediately after death, the dried flesh and pickled meats are set out (by the side of the corpse), When the interment is about to take place, there are the things sent and offered (at the grave); and after the interment, there is the food presented (in the sacrifices of repose). The dead have never been seen to partake of these things. But from
[1. Evidently there is a lacuna in the text here; there should be some mention of stamping. Many of the critics have seen this, especially the Khien-lung editors; and various additions have been proposed by way of correction and supplement.]
the highest ages to the present they have never been neglected;--all to cause men not to revolt (from their dead). Thus it is that what you blame in the rules of propriety is really nothing that is wrong in them.'
9. Wû made an incursion into Khan, destroying the (places of) sacrifice, and putting to death those who were suffering from a pestilence (which prevailed). When the army retired, and had left the territory, Phî, the Grand-administrator of Khan, was sent to the army (of Wû). Fû Khâi (king of Wû) said to his internuncius Î, 'This fellow has much to say. Let us ask him a question.' (Then, turning to the visitor), he said, 'A campaign must have a name. What name do men give to this expedition?' The Grand-administrator said, 'Anciently, armies in their incursions and attacks did not hew down (trees about the) places of sacrifice; did not slay sufferers from pestilence; did not make captives of those whose hair was turning. But now, have not you in this campaign slain the sufferers from pestilence? Do they not call it the sick-killing expedition?' The king rejoined, ' If we give back your territory, and return our captives, what will you call it?' The reply was, 'O ruler and king, you came and punished the offences of our poor state. If the result of the campaign be that you now compassionate and forgive it, will the campaign be without its (proper) name[1]?'
[1. This incursion must be that mentioned in the Zo Kwan under B.C. 494. Various corruptions and disruptions of the text of the paragraph have to be rectified, however; and the interpretation is otherwise difficult.]
10. Yen Ting[1] deported himself skilfully during his mourning. Immediately after the death (of his father), he looked grave and restless, as if he were seeking for something, and could not find it. When the coffining had taken place, he looked expectant, as if he were following some one and could not get up with him. After the interment he looked sad, and as if, not getting his father to return (with him), he would wait for him[2].
11. Dze-kang asked, saying, 'The Book of History says, that Kâo Zung for three-years did not speak; and that when he did his words were received with joy[3]. Was it so?' Kung-ni replied, 'Why should it not have been so? Anciently, on the demise of the son of Heaven, the king, his heir, left everything to the chief minister for three years.'
12. When Kih Tâo-dze died[4], before he was buried, duke Phing was (one day) drinking along with the music-master Kwang and Lî Thiâo. The bells struck up; and when Tû Khwâi, who was coming in from outside, heard them, he said, 'Where is the music?' Being told that it was in the (principal) apartment, he entered it; and having ascended the steps one by one, he poured out a cup of spirits, and said, 'Kwang, drink this.' He then poured out another, and said, Thiâo, drink this.' He poured out a third cup; and kneeling in the hall, with his face to the north, he drank it himself, went down the steps, and hurried out.
[1. An officer of Lû.
2. Compare above, paragraph 17, p. 137 et al.
3. See vol. iii, p. 113. The Shû is not quoted exactly.
This was in B.C. 533. Kih Tâo-dze was a great officer of Zin. See the story in the Zo Kwan under that year.]
Duke Phing called him in again, and said, 'Khwâi, just now I thought you had something in mind to enlighten me about, and therefore I did not speak to you. Why did you give the cup to Kwang?' 'On the days (Kiâ-)dze and (Kî-)mâo,' was the reply, 'there should be no music; and now Kih Tâo-dze is (in his coffin) in his hall, and this should be a great dze or mâo day. Kwang is the grand music-master, and did not remind you of this. It was on this account that I made him drink.'
'And why did you give a cup to Thiâo?' Tû Khwâi said, 'Thiâo is your lordship's favourite officer; and for this drinking and eating he forgot the fault you were committing. It was on this account I made him drink.'
'And why did you drink a cup yourself?' Khwâi replied, 'I am (only) the cook; and neglecting my (proper work of) supplying you with knives and spoons, I also presumed to take my part in showing my knowledge of what should be prohibited. It was on this account that I drank a cup myself.'
Duke Phing said,' I also have been in fault. Pour out a cup and give it to me.' Tû Khwâi then rinsed the cup, and presented it. The duke said to the attendants, 'When I die, you must take care that this cup is not lost.' Down to the present day, (at feasts in Sin), when the cups have been presented all round, they then raise up this cup, and say, 'It is that which Tû presented.'
13. When Kung-shû Wan-dze died, his son Shû begged the ruler (of the state) to fix his honorary title, saying, 'The sun and moon have brought the time;--we are about to bury him. I beg that you will fix the title, for which we shall change his name.' The ruler said, 'Formerly when our state of Wei was suffering from a severe famine, your father had gruel made, and gave it to the famishing;--was not this a roof of how kind he was? Moreover, in a time of trouble[1], he protected me at the risk of his own life;--was not this a proof of how faithful he was? And while he administered the government of Wei, he so maintained the regulations for the different classes, and conducted its intercourse with the neighbouring states all round, that its altars sustained no disgrace;--was not this a proof of how accomplished he was? Therefore let us call him "The Faithful, Kind, and Accomplished."'
14: Shih Tâi-kung died, leaving no son by his wife proper, and six sons by concubines. The tortoise-shell being consulted as to which of them should be the father's successor, it was said that by their bathing and wearing of their girdle-pendants the indication would be given. Five of them accordingly bathed and put on the girdle-pendants with their gems. Shih Khî-dze, however, said, 'Whoever, being engaged with the mourning rites for a parent, bathed his head or his body, and put on his girdle-pendants?' and he declined to do either, and this was considered to be the indication. The people of Wei considered that the tortoise-shell had shown a (true) knowledge.
15. Khan Dze-kü having died in Wei, his wife and the principal officer of the family consulted together
[1. This was in B.C. 512. Twice in the Analects (XIV, 14, 19) Kung-shuh Wan-dze, 'Kung-shu, the accomplished,' is mentioned. Whether he received the long honorary title given in the conclusion of this paragraph is considered doubtful.]
about burying some living persons (to follow him). When they had decided to do so, (his brother), Khan Dze-khang arrived[1], and they informed him about their plan, saying, 'When the master was ill, (he was far away) and there was no provision for his nourishment in the lower world; let us bury some persons alive (to supply it).' Dze-khang said, 'To bury living persons (for the sake of the dead) is contrary to what is proper. Nevertheless, in the event of his being ill, and requiring to be nourished, who are so fit for that purpose as his wife and steward? If the thing can be done without, I wish it to be so. If it cannot be done without, I wish you two to be the parties for it.' On this the proposal was not carried into effect.
16. Dze-lû said, 'Alas for the poor! While (their parents) are alive, they have not the means to nourish them; and when they are dead, they have not the means to perform the mourning rites for them.' Confucius said, 'Bean soup, and water to drink, while the parents are made happy, may be pronounced filial piety. If (a son) can only wrap the body round from head to foot, and inter it immediately, without a shell, that being all which his means allow, he may be said to discharge (all) the rites of mourning.'
17. Duke Hsien of Wei having (been obliged to) flee from the state, when he returned[2], and had
[1. Khan Dze-khang was one of the disciples of Confucius, mentioned in the Analects I, 10; VII, 25. It is difficult to follow the reasoning of the wife and steward in justification of their proposals.
2 Duke Hsien fled from Wei in B.C. 559, and returned to it in 547.]
reached the suburbs (of the capital), he was about to grant certain towns and lands to those who had attended him in his exile before entering. Liû Kwang said, 'If all had (remained at home) to guard the altars for you, who would have been able to follow you with halter and bridle? And if all had followed you, who would have guarded the altars? Your lordship has now returned to the state, and will -it not be wrong for you to show a partial feeling?' The intended allotment did not take place.
18. There was the grand historiographer of Wei, called Liû Kwang, lying ill. The duke said[1], 'If the illness prove fatal, though I may be engaged at the time in sacrificing, you must let me know.' (It happened accordingly, and, on hearing the news), the duke bowed twice, laying his head to the ground, and begged permission from the personator of the dead, saying, 'There was the minister Liû Kwang,--not a minister of mine (merely), but a minister of the altars of the state. I have heard that he is dead, and beg leave to go (to his house).' On this, without putting off his robes, he went; and on the occasion presented them as his contribution (to the mourning rites). He also gave the deceased the towns of Khiû-shih and Hsien-fan-shih by a writing of assignment which was put into the coffin, containing the words:--'For the myriads of his descendants, to hold from generation to generation without change.'
19. When Khan Kan-hsî was lying ill, he assembled his brethren, and charged his son Zun-kî,
[1. The same duke Hsien of Wei. Khan Hâo and others condemn his action in this case. Readers may not agree with them.]
saying,--When I am dead, you must make my coffin large, and make my two concubines lie in it with me, one on each side.' When he died, his son said, 'To bury the living with the dead is contrary to propriety; how much more must it be so to bury them in the same coffin!' Accordingly he did not put the two ladies to death.
20. Kung Sui died in Khui; and on the next day, which was Zan-wû, the sacrifice of the previous day was notwithstanding repeated (in the capital of Lû.). When the pantomimes entered, however, they put away their flutes. Kung-nî said, 'It was contrary to rule. When a high minister dies, the sacrifice of the day before should not be repeated[1].'
21. When the mother of Kî Khang-dze died, Kung-shû Zo was still young. After the dressing[2], Pan asked leave to let the coffin down into the grave by a mechanical contrivance. They were about to accede, when Kung-kien Kiâ said, 'No. According to the early practice in Lu, the ducal house used (for this purpose) the arrangement looking like large stone pillars, and the three families that like large wooden columns. Pan, you would, in the case of another man's mother, make trial of your ingenuity;-could you not in the case of your own mother do so? Would that distress you? Bah!' They did not allow him to carry out his plan[3].
[1. See this incident in the Chinese Classics, V, i, pp. 301, 302, where the account of it is discussed in a note.
2. This must be the greater dressing.
3. Pan and Zo were probably the same man; but we know that Pan lived at a later period. The incident in this paragraph therefore is doubted.]
22. During the fight at Lang[1], Kung-shu Zu-zan saw (many of) the men, carrying their clubs on their shoulders, entering behind the shelter of the small wall, and said, 'Although the services required of them are distressing, and the burdens laid on them heavy, (they ought to fight): but though our superiors do not form (good) plans, it is not right that soldiers should not be prepared to die. This is what I say.' On this along with Wang Î, a youth, (the son) of a neighbour, he went forward, and both of them met their death.
The people of Lû wished to bury the lad Wang not as one who had died prematurely, and asked Kung-ni about the point. He said, 'As he was able to bear his shield and spear in the defence of our altars, may you not do as you wish, and bury him as one who has not died prematurely?'
23. When Dze-lû was going away from Lû, he said to Yen Yüan, 'What have you to send me away with?' 'I have heard,' was the reply, 'that, when one is leaving his state, he wails at the graves (of his fathers), and then takes his journey, while on his return to it, he does not wail, but goes to look at the graves, and (then) enters (the city).' He then said to Dze-lû, 'And what have you to leave with me here?' 'I have heard,' was the reply, 'that, when you pass by a grave, you should bow forward to the cross-bar, and, when you pass a place of sacrifice, you should dismount.'
24. Shang Yang, director of Works (in Khû), and
[1. The fight at Lang is mentioned in the Khun Khiû under B.C. 484. Zo's description of the battle gives the incident mentioned here, but somewhat differently.]
Kan Khî-kî[1] were pursuing the army of Wu, and came up with it. The latter said to Shang Yang, 'It is the king's' business. It will be well for you to take your bow in hand.' He did so, and Khî-kî told him to shoot, which he did, killing a man, and returning immediately the bow to its case. They came up with the enemy again, and being told as before to shoot, he killed other two men; whenever he killed a man, he covered his eyes. Then stopping the chariot, he said, 'I have no place at the audiences; nor do I take part in the feasts. The death of three men will be sufficient for me to report.' Confucius said, 'Amidst his killing of men, he was still observant of the rules of propriety[3].'
25. The princes were engaged in an invasion of Khin, when duke Hwan of Zhâo died at their meeting[4]. The others asked leave to (see) the plugging of his teeth with the jade, and they were made to enshroud (his corpse)[5].
Duke Hsiang being in attendance at the court of King, king Khang died[6] . The people of King said to him, 'We must beg you to cover (the corpse
[1. Khî-kî was a son of the king of Khû, and afterwards became king Phing. Khû, in B.C. 534, reduced Khan to be a dependency of itself, and put it under Khî-kî, who became known as Khî-kî of Khan.
2. The king's business;' that is, the business of the count of Khû, who had usurped the title of king.
3. It is not easy to discover the point of Confucius' reply. Even Dze-lû questioned him about it (as related in the Narratives of the School), and got an answer which does not make it any clearer.
4. In B.C. 578.
5. Probably by the marquis of Zin--duke Wan--as 'lord of Meetings and Covenants.'
6. In B.C. 545.]
with your gift of a robe).' The men of Lû (who were with him) said, 'The thing is contrary to propriety.' They of Khû, however, obliged him to do what they asked; and he first employed a sorcerer with his reed-brush to brush (and purify) the bier. The people of King then regretted what they had done'.
26. At the mourning rites for duke Khang of Thang[2], Dze-shû King-shû was sent (from Lû) on a mission of condolence, and to present a letter (from duke Âi), Sze-fû Hui-po being assistant-commissioner. When they arrived at the suburbs (of the capital of Thang), because it was the anniversary of the death, of Î-po, (Hui-po's uncle), King-shû hesitated to enter the city. Hui-po, however, said, 'We are on government business, and should not for the private affair of my uncle's (death) neglect the duke's affairs.' They forthwith entered.
PART III.
1. Duke Âi sent a message of condolence to Khwâi Shang, and the messenger met him (on the way to the grave). They withdrew to the way-side, where Khwâi drew the figure of his house, (with the coffin in it), and there received the condolences[3].
Zang-dze said, 'Khwâi Shang's knowledge of the
[1. King was another name for Khû. Duke Hsiang went from Lû in B.C. 545; and it was in the spring of the next year, probably, that the incident occurred. The sorcerer and his reed-brush were used when a ruler went to the mourning for a minister (see Part i. 42), so that Khû intending to humiliate Lû was itself humiliated.
2 Duke Khang of Thang died in B.C. 539.
3. This must have been a case for which the rule is given in Part i. 12.]
rules of ceremony was not equal to that of the wife of Khî Liang. When duke Kwang fell on Kû by surprise at Thui, Khî Liang met his death. His wife met his bier on the way, and wailed for him bitterly. Duke Kwang sent a person to convey his condolences to her; but she said, 'If his lordship's officer had been guilty of any offence, then his body should have been exposed in the court or the market-place, and his wife and concubines apprehended. If he were not chargeable with any offence, there is the poor cottage of his father. This is not the place where the ruler should demean himself to send me a message[1].'
2. At the mourning rites for his young son Tun, duke Âi wished to employ the (elm-juice) sprinklers, and asked Yû Zo about the matter, who said that it might be done, for his three ministers even used them. Yen Liû said, 'For the son of Heaven dragons are painted on (the shafts of) the funeral carriage, and the boards surrounding the coffin, like the shell, have a covering over them. For the feudal princes there is a similar carriage (without the painted dragons), and the covering above. (In both cases) they prepare the elm-juice, and therefore employ sprinklers. The three ministers, not employing (such a carriage), and yet employing the sprinklers, thus appropriate a ceremony which is not suitable for them; and why should your lordship imitate them[2]?'
[1. See the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 550, the twenty-third year of duke Hsiang. The name of the place in the text (To, read Thui by Kang Hsüan) seems to be a mistake. See the Khang-hsi dictionary on the character To (###).
2. There is a good deal of difficulty and difference of opinion in the interpretation of this paragraph. According to the common view, the funeral carriage used by the king and princes was very heavy, and difficult to drag along. To ease its transit, a juice was prepared from the elm bark, and sprinkled on the ground to make it slippery. But this practice was because of the heaviness of the carriage; and was not required in the case of lighter conveyances.]
3. After the death of the mother of (his son, who became) duke Tâo, duke Âi wore for her the one year's mourning with its unfrayed edges. Yû Zo asked him, if it was in rule. for him to wear that mourning for a concubine. 'Can I help it?' replied the duke. 'The people of Lû will have it that she, was my wife.'
4. When Kî Dze-kâo buried his wife, some injury was done to the standing corn, which Shan-hsiang told him of, begging him to make the damage good. Dze-kâo said, 'The Mang has not blamed me for this, and my friends have not cast me off. I am here the commandant of the city. To buy (in this manner a right of) way in order to bury (my dead) would be a precedent difficult to follow[1].'
5. When one receives no salary for the official duties which he performs[2], and what the ruler sends to him is called 'an offering,' while the messenger charged with it uses the style of our unworthy ruler;' if such an one leave the state, and afterwards the ruler dies, he does not wear mourning for him.
6. At the sacrifice of Repose a personator of the
[1. This Kî Dze-kâo was Kâo Khâi, one of the disciples of Confucius. Shan-hsiang was the son of Dze-kang; see paragraph 3, page 132.
2. Such was Dze-sze in Lû, and Mencius in Khî. They were 'guests,' not ministers. Declining salary, they avoided the obligations incurred by receiving it.]
dead is appointed, and a stool, with a mat and viands on it, is placed (for him). When the wailing is over, the name of the deceased is avoided. The service of him as living is over, and that for him in his ghostly state has begun. When the wailing is over, the cook, with a bell having a wooden clapper, issues an order throughout the palace, saying, 'Give up disusing the names of the former rulers, and henceforth disuse (only) the name of him who is newly deceased.' This was done from the door leading to the chambers to the outer gate.
7. When a name was composed of two characters they were not avoided when used singly. The name of the Master's mother was Kang-Zâi. When he used Zâi, he did not at the same time use Kang; nor Zâi, when he used Kang.
8. When any sad disaster occurred to an army, (the ruler) in plain white robes wailed for it outside the Khû gate[1]. A carriage conveying the news of such disaster carried no cover for buff-coats nor case for bows.
9. When the (shrine-)apartment of his father was burned, (the ruler) wailed for it three days. Hence it is said, 'The new temple took fire;' and also, 'There was a wailing for three days[2].'
10. In passing by the side of mount Thâi, Confucius came on a woman who was wailing bitterly by a grave. The Master bowed forward to the cross-bar, and hastened to her; and then sent
[1. The Khû (arsenal or treasury gate) was the second of the palace gates, and near the ancestral temple. Hence the position selected for the wailing.
2. See the Khun Khiû, under B.C. 588.]
Dze-lû to question her. 'Your wailing,' said he, 'is altogether like that of one who has suffered sorrow upon sorrow.' She replied, ' It is so. Formerly, my husband's father was killed here by a tiger. My husband was also killed (by another), and now my son has died in the same way.' The Master said, 'Why do you not leave the place?' The answer was, 'There is no oppressive government here.' The Master then said (to the disciples), 'Remember this, my little children. Oppressive government is more terrible than tigers.'
11. In Lû there was one Kâu Fang[1], to whom duke Âi went, carrying an introductory present, and requesting an interview, which, however, the other refused. The duke said, 'I must give it up then.' And he sent a messenger with the following questions:--'(Shun), the lord of Yü, had not shown his good faith, to the people, and yet they put confidence in him. The sovereign of Hsiâ had not shown his reverence for the people, and yet the people revered him:--what shall I exhibit that I may obtain such things from the people?' The reply was:--'Ruins and graves express no mournfulness to the people, and yet the people mourn (amidst them). The altars of the spirits of the land and grain and the ancestral temples express no reverence to the people, and yet the people revere them. The kings of Yin made their solemn proclamations, and yet the people began to rebel; those of Kâu made their covenants, and the people began to distrust them. If there be not the heart
[1. This Kâu Fang must have been a worthy who had withdrawn from public life.]
observant of righteousness, self-consecration, good faith, sincerity, and guilelessness, though a ruler may, try to knit. the people firmly to him, will not all bonds between them be dissolved?'
12. While mourning (for a father), one should not be concerned about (the discomfort of) his own resting-place[1], nor, in emaciating himself, should he do so to the endangering of his life. He should not be the former;--he has to be concerned that (his father's spirit-tablet) is not (yet) in the temple. He should not do the latter, lest (his father) should thereby have no posterity.
13. Kî-dze of Yen-ling[2] had gone to Khî; and his eldest son having died, on the way back (to Wû), he buried him between Ying and Po. Confucius (afterwards) said, 'Kî-dze was the one man in Wû most versed in the rules of propriety, so I went and saw his manner of interment. The grave was not so deep as to reach the water-springs. The grave-clothes were such as (the deceased) had ordinarily worn. After the interment, he raised a mound over the grave of dimensions sufficient to cover it, and high enough for the hand to be easily placed on it. When the mound was completed, he bared his left arm;
[1. Referring, I think, to the discomfort of the mourning shed. But other interpretations of the paragraph are to be found in Khan Hâo's work, and elsewhere.
2. This Ki-dze is better known as Kî Kâ (###), a brother of the ruler of Wû. Having declined the state of Wû, he lived in the principality of Yen-ling. He visited the northern states Lû, Khî, Zin, and the others, in B.C. 515; and his sayings and doings in them are very famous. He was a good man and able, whom Confucius could appreciate. Ying and Po were two places in Khî.]
and, moving to the right, he went round it thrice, crying out, "That the bones and flesh should return again to the earth is what is appointed. But the soul in its energy can go everywhere; it can go everywhere." And with this he went on his way.' Confucius (also) said, 'Was not Kî-dze of Yen-ling's observance of the rules of ceremony in accordance with (the idea of them)?'
14. At the mourning rites for the duke Khâo of Kû-lü[1], the ruler of Hsü sent Yung Kü with a message of condolence, and with the articles to fill the mouth of the deceased. 'My unworthy ruler,' said he, 'hath sent me to kneel and put the jade for a marquis which he has presented into your (deceased) ruler's mouth. Please allow me to kneel and do so.' The officers of Kü replied, 'When any of the princes has deigned to send or come to our poor city, the observances have been kept according to their nature, whether simple and easy, or troublesome and more difficult; but such a blending of the easy and troublesome as in your case, we have not known.' Yung Kü replied, 'I have heard that in the service of his ruler one should not forget that ruler, nor be oblivious of his ancestral (rules). Formerly, our ruler, king Kü, in his warlike operations towards the west, in which he crossed the Ho, everywhere used this style of speech. I am a plain, blunt man, and do not presume to forget his example[2].'
[1. Khâo should probably be Ting. Duke Khâo lived after the period of the Khun Khiû, during which the power of Hsü had been entirely broken.
2. Here was Yung Kü, merely a Great officer, wishing to do what only a prince could do, according to the rules of propriety. He defends himself on the ground that the lords of Hsü claimed the title of King. The language of the officers of Kû shows that they were embarrassed by his mission.]
15. When the mother of Dze-sze died in Wei, and news of the event was brought to him, he wailed in the ancestral temple. His disciples came to him. and said, 'Your mother is dead, after marrying into another family[1]; why do you wail for her in the temple of the Khung family?' He replied, 'I am wrong, I am wrong.' And thereon he wailed in one of the smaller apartments of his house.
16. When the son of Heaven died, three days afterwards, the officers of prayer[2] were the first to assume mourning. In five days the heads of official departments did so; in seven days both males and females throughout the royal domain; and in three months all in the kingdom.
The foresters examined the trees about the various altars, and cut down those which they thought suitable for the coffins and shell, If these did not come up to what was required, the sacrifices were abolished, and the men had their throats cut[3].
17. During a great dearth in Khî, Khien Âo had food prepared on the roads, to wait the approach of hungry people and give to them. (One day), there came a famished man, looking as if he could
[1. Literally, 'The mother of the Shû family is dead,' but the interpretation of the text is disputed. The Khien-lung editors and many others question the genuineness of the whole paragraph.
2. The officers of prayer were divided into five classes; the first and third of which are intended here. See the Official Book of Kâu, ch. 25.
3. Great efforts are made to explain away this last sentence.]
hardly see, his face covered with his sleeve, and dragging his feet together. Khien Âo, carrying with his left hand some rice, and holding some drink with the other, said to him, 'Poor man! come and eat.' The man, opening his eyes with a stare, and looking at him, said, 'It was because I would not eat "Poor man come here's" food, that I am come to this state.' Khien Âo immediately apologised for his words, but the man after all would not take the food and died.
When Zang-dze heard the circumstances, he said, 'Was it not a small matter? When the other expressed his pity as he did, the man might have gone away. When he apologised, the man might have taken the food.'
18. In the time of duke Ting of Kû-lü[1], there occurred the case of a man killing his father. The officers reported it; when the duke, with an appearance of dismay, left his mat and said, 'This is the crime of unworthy me!' He added, 'I have learned how to decide on such a charge. When a minister kills his ruler, all who are in office with him should kill him without mercy. When a son kills his father, all who are in the house with him should kill him without mercy. The man should be killed; his house should be destroyed; the whole place should be laid under water and reduced to a swamp. And his ruler should let a month elapse before he raises a cup to his lips.'
[1. This duke Ting became ruler of Kû in B.C. 613. Some interpret the paragraph as if it said that all the officers, as well as the whole family of a regicide or parricide, should be killed with him. But that cannot be, and need not be, the meaning.]
19. (The ruler of) Zin having congratulated Wan-dze on the completion of his residence, the Great officers of the state went to the house-warming[1]. Kang Lâo said, 'How elegant it is, and lofty! How elegant and splendid! Here will you have your songs! Here will you have your wailings! Here will you assemble the representatives of the great families of the state!' Wan-dze replied, 'If I can have my songs here, and my wailings, and assemble here the representatives of the great families of the state, (it will be enough). I will then (only) seek to preserve my waist and neck to follow the former Great officers of my family to the Nine Plains.' He then bowed twice, laying his head also on the ground.
A superior man will say (of the two), that the one was skilful in the expression of his praise and the other in his prayer.
20. The dog kept by Kung-nî having died, he employed Dze-kung to bury it, saying, 'I have heard that a worn-out curtain should not be thrown away, but may be used to bury a horse in; and that a worn-out umbrella should not be thrown away, but may be used to bury a dog in. I am poor and have no, umbrella. In putting the dog into the grave, you can use my mat; and do not
[1. It is doubtful how this first sentence should be translated. Most naturally we should render Hsien-wan-dze of Zin having completed his house, but binomial honorary titles were not yet known; and the view seems to be correct that this Wan-dze was Kâo Wû, a well-known minister of Zin. The 'Nine Plains' below must have been the name of a burying-place used by the officers of Zin. There seems to be an error in the name in the text, which is given correctly in paragraph 25.]
let its head get buried in the earth. When one of the horses of the ruler's carriage dies, it is buried in a curtain (in good condition)[1].'
21. When the mother of Kî-sun died, duke Âi paid a visit of condolence to him. (Soon after), Zang-dze and Dze-kung arrived for the same purpose; but the porter declined to admit them, because the ruler was present. On this they went into the stable, and adjusted their dress more fully. (Shortly) they entered the house, Dze-kung going first[2] . The porter said to him, 'I have already announced your arrival;' and when Zang-dze followed, he moved on one side for him. They passed on to the inner place for the droppings from the roof, the Great officers all moving out of their way, and the duke descending a step and bowing to them. A superior man has said about the case, 'So it is when the toilet is complete! Immediately its influence extends far[3].'
22. A man-at-arms at the Yang gate (of the capital of Sung) having died, Dze-han, the superintendent of Works, went to (his house), and wailed for him bitterly. The men of Zin who were in Sung as spies returned, and reported the thing to
[1. The concluding sentence is found also in the 'Narratives of the School,' and may have been added to the rest by the compiler of this Than Kung. We are not prepared for the instance which Confucius gives of his poverty; but perhaps we like him better for keeping a dog, and seeing after its burial.
2. Because he was older than Zang-dze.
3. This concluding sentence is much objected to; seeming, as it does, to attribute to their toilet what was due to the respectful demeanour of the two worthies, and their established reputation. But the text must stand as it is.]
the marquis of Zin, saying, 'A man-at-arms at the Yang gate having died, Dze-han wailed for him bitterly, and the people were pleased; (Sung), we apprehend, cannot be attacked (with success).'
When Confucius heard of the circumstances, he said, 'Skilfully did those men do their duty as spies in Sung. It is said in the Book of Poetry,--
"If there was any mourning among the people,I did my utmost to help them."
Though there had been other enemies besides Zin, what state under the sky could have withstood one (in the condition of Sung)[1]?'
23. At the mourning rites for duke Kwang of Lû, when the interment was over, (the new ruler) did not enter the outer gate with his girdle of dolichos cloth. The ordinary and Great officers, when they had finished their wailing, also did not enter in their sackcloth[2].
24. There was an old acquaintance of Confucius, called Yüan Zang. When his mother died, the Master assisted him in preparing the shell for the coffin. Yüan (then) got up on the wood, and said, 'It is long since I sang to anything;' and (with this he struck the wood), singing:--
It is marked like a wild cat's head;It is(smooth) as a young lady's hand which you hold.'
The Master, however, made as if he did not hear, and passed by him.
[1. The whole narrative here is doubted. See the Shih, I. iii. Ode 10. 4. The reading of the poem, but not the meaning, is different from the text. The application is far-fetched.
2. The time was one of great disorder; there may have been reasons for the violations of propriety, which we do not know.]
The disciples who were with him said, 'Can you not have done with him?' 'I have heard,' was the reply, 'that relations should not forget their relationship, nor old acquaintances their friendship[1],'
25. Kâo Wan-dze and Shû-yü were looking about them at the Nine Plains[2], when Wan-dze said, 'If these dead could arise, with whom would I associate myself?' Shû-yü asked, 'Would it be with Yang Khû-fû[3]?' 'He managed by his course,' was the reply, 'to concentrate in himself all the power of Zin, and yet he did not die a natural death. His wisdom does not deserve to be commended.'
'Would it be with uncle Fan[4]?' Wan-dze said, 'When he saw gain in prospect, he did not think of his ruler; his virtue does not deserve to be commended[4]. I think I would follow Wû-dze of Sui[5]. While seeking the advantage of his ruler, he did not forget himself; and while consulting for his own advantage, he was not forgetful of his friends.'
The people of Zin thought that Wan-dze knew men. He carried himself in a retiring way, as if he could not bear even his clothes. His speech
[1. We have another instance of Confucius's relations with Yüan Zang in the Analects, XIV, 46. He was evidently 'queer,' with a sort of craze. It gives one a new idea of Confucius to find his interest in, and kindly feeling for, such a man.
2. See paragraph 19 and note.
3. Master of duke Hsiang B.C. 627-621, and an important minister afterwards.
4. See in paragraph 19, Part i. But scant measure is dealt here to 'uncle Fan.'
5. Wû-dze of Sui had an eventful life, and played an important part in the affairs of Zin and Khin in his time. See a fine testimony to him in the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 546.]
was low and stuttering, as if he could not get his words out. The officers whom he advanced to responsible charges in the depositories of Zin were more than seventy. During his life, he had no contentions with any of them about gain, and when dying he required nothing from them for his sons.
26. Shû-kung Phî instructed (his son) Dze-liû (in the rules of ceremony); and when he died, Dze-liû's wife, who was a plain, blunt woman, wore for him the one year's mourning and the headband with its two ends tied together. (Phî's brother), Shû-kung Khien spoke to Dze-liû about it, and requested that she should wear the three months' mourning and the simple headband; saying, 'Formerly, when I was mourning for my aunts and sisters, I wore this mourning, and no one forbade it.' When he withdrew, however, (Dze-liû) made his wife wear the three months' mourning and the simple headband[1].
27. There was a man of Khang, who did not go into mourning on the death of his elder brother. Hearing, however, that Dze-kâo was about to become governor of the city, he forthwith did so. The people of Khang said, 'The silkworm spins
[1. Shû-kung Phî was the first of a branch of the Shû-sun clan, descended from the ruling house of Lû The object of the paragraph seems to be to show, that Dze-liû's wife, though a plain simple woman, was taught what to do, by her native feeling and sense, in a matter of ceremony, more correctly than the two gentlemen, mere men of the world, her husband and his uncle. The paragraph, however, is not skilfully constructed, nor quite clear. Kang Hsüan thought that Dze-liû was Phî's son, which, the Khien-lung editors say, some think a mistake, They do not give definitely their own opinion.]
its cocoons, but the crab supplies the box for them; the bee has its cap, but the cicada supplies the strings for it. His elder brother died, but it was Dze-kâo who made the mourning for him[1].'
28. When Yo Kang, Dze-khun's mother, died, he was five days without eating. He then said, 'I am sorry for it. Since in the case of my mother's death, I could not eat according to my feelings, on what occasion shall I be able to do so?'
29. In a year of drought duke Mû[2] called to him Hsien-dze, and asked him about it. 'Heaven,' said he, 'has not sent down rain for a long time. I wish to expose a deformed person in the sun (to move its pity), what do you say to my doing so?' 'Heaven, indeed,' was the reply, 'does not send down rain; but would it not be an improper act of cruelty, on that account to expose the diseased son of some one in the sun?'
'Well then,' (said the duke), 'I wish to expose in the sun a witch; what do you say to that?' Hsien-dze said, 'Heaven, indeed, does not send down rain; but would it not be wide of the mark to hope anything from (the suffering of) a foolish woman, and by means of that to seek for rain[3]?'
[1. The Dze-kâo here was the same as Kao Khâi; see the note on paragraph 4. The incident here shows the influence of his well-known character. He is the crab whose shell forms a box for the cocoons, and the cicada whose antennae form the strings for the cap.
2. 'Duke Mû and Hsien-dze;' see Section I. Part iii. 5.
3. In the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 639, duke Hsî of Lû makes a proposal about exposing a deformed person and a witch like that which is recorded here. Nothing is said, however, about changing the site of the market. Reference is made, however, to that practice in a work of Tung Kung-shu (second century, B.C.), Of which Wang Thâo ventures to give a geomantic explanation. The narrative in the text is probably taken from the Zo Kwan, the compiler having forgotten the time and parties in the earlier account.]
'What do you say then to my moving the marketplace elsewhere?' The answer was, 'When the son of Heaven dies, the market is held in the lanes for seven days; and it is held in them for three days, when the ruler of a state dies. It will perhaps be a proper measure to move it there on account of the present distress.'
30. Confucius said, 'The people of Wei, in burying husband and wife together (in the same grave and shell), leave a space between the coffins. The people of Lû, in doing the same, place them together;--which is the better way.
APPENDIX TO BOOK II.
THE reader will have been struck by the many references in the Than Kung to the degrees and dress of mourning; and no other subject occupies so prominent a place in many of the books of the Lî Kî that follow. It is thought well, therefore, to introduce here, by way of appendix to it, the following passage from a very valuable paper on 'Marriage, Affinity, and Inheritance in China,' contributed, on February 8th, 1853, to the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, by Mr. W. H. Medhurst, jun., now Sir Walter H. Medhurst. The information and subjoined illustrative tables were taken by him mainly from the Ritual and Penal Code of China, a preliminary chapter of which is devoted to the subject of 'The Dress of Mourning:'--
The ideas of the Chinese as to nearness of kin, whether by blood or marriage, differ widely from our own. They divide relationships into two classes, Nêi khin (###) and Wâi yin (###), terms analogous to our "consanguinity" and "affinity," but conveying, nevertheless, other associations than those which we attach to these words. The former (Nêi khin) comprehends all kindred derived from common stock with the individual, but only by descent through the male line; the latter (Wâi yin) includes what the Chinese designate mû tang (###) and nü tang (###) three terms best translated, perhaps, by "mother's kin," "wife's kin," and "daughter's kin," and understood by them to mean a mother's relatives, relatives of females received into one's kindred by marriage, and members of families into which one's kinswomen marry. Thus, for example, a first cousin twice removed, lineally descended from the same great-great-grandfather through the male line, is a nêi-khin relative; but a mother's parents, wife's sister, and a sister's husband or child, are all equally wâi-yin kindred. The principle on which the distinction is drawn appears to be, that a woman alienates herself from her own kin on marriage, and becomes a part of the stock on which she is grafted; and it will be necessary to keep this principle distinctly in mind in perusing any further remarks that may be made, as otherwise it will be found impossible to reconcile the many apparent contradictions in the theory and practice of the Chinese Code.
'The indication of the prohibited degrees (in marriage) depends then upon a peculiar genealogical disposition of the several members of a family with respect to the mourning worn for deceased relatives; and this I shall now proceed to explain. The Ritual prescribes five different kinds of mourning, called wû fû (###), to be worn for all relatives within a definite proximity of degree, graduating the character of the habit in proportion to the nearness of kin. These habits are designated by certain names, which by a species of metonymy come to be applied to the relationships themselves, and are used somewhat as we apply the terms "1st degree," "2nd degree," and so on; and plans, similar to our genealogical tables, are laid down, showing the specific habit suitable for each kinsman. The principal one of these tables, that for a married or unmarried man, comprises cousins twice removed, that is, derived by lineal descent from a common great-great-grandfather, that ancestor himself, and all relatives included within the two lines of descent from him to them; below the individual, it comprehends his own descendants (in the male line) as far as great-great-grandchildren, his brother's as far as great-grand children, his cousin's as far as grandchildren, and the children 'of his cousin once removed. In this table nêi-khin relationships will alone be found; mourning is worn for very few of the wâi-yin, and these, though actually, that is, in our eyes, ties of consanguinity; and deserving far more consideration than many for which a deeper habit is prescribed, are classed among the very lowest degrees of mourning.
'Six tables are given in the Ritual to which the five habits are common; they prescribe the mourning to be worn by
1st, A man for his kinsmen and kinswomen;2nd, A wife for her husband's kinsfolk;3rd, A married female for her own kinsfolk;4th, A man for his mother's kinsfolk;5th, A man for his wife's kinsfolk;6th, A concubine for her master's kinsfolk.
'A seventh table is given, exhibiting the mourning to be worn for step-fathers and fathers by adoption, and for step- and foster-mothers, &c.; but I have not thought it necessary to encumber my paper by wandering into so remote a portion of the field.
'To render these details more easily comprehensible, I shall class the relationships in each table under their appropriate degrees of mourning, and leave the reader to examine the tables at his leisure. It need only be borne in mind, that, excepting where otherwise specified, the relationship indicated is male, and only by descent through the male line, as, for example, that by "cousin" a father's brother's son alone is meant, and not a father's sister's son or daughter.
'The five kinds of mourning, the names of which serve, as has been said, to indicate the degrees of relationship to which they belong, are:--
1st, Kan-zui (###), nominally worn for three years, really for twenty-seven months;
2nd, Dze-zui (###), worn for one year, for five months, or for three months;
3rd, Tâ-kung (###), worn for nine months;
4th, Hsiâ-kung (###), worn for five months;
5th, Sze-mâ (###) worn for three months.
'The character of each habit, and the relatives for whom it is worn, are prescribed as follows:--
'1st, Kan-Zui indicates relationships of the first degree. The prescribed habit for it is composed of the coarsest hempen fabric, and left unhemmed at the borders. It is worn:--
'By a man, for his parents; by a wife, for her husband, and husband's parents; and by a concubine, for her master.
'2nd, Dze-zui indicates relationships of the second degree. The prescribed habit for it is composed of coarse hempen fabric, with hemmed borders. It is worn for one year:--
'By a man, for his grandparents; uncle; uncle's wife; spinster aunt; brother; spinster sister; wife; son (of wife or concubine); daughter-in-law (wife of first-born); nephew; spinster niece; grandson (first-born son of first-born); by a wife, for her husband's nephew, and husband's spinster niece; by a married woman, for her parents, and grandparents; and by a concubine, for her master's wife; her master's parents; her master's sons (by wife or other concubine), and for sons. It is worn for five months:--
'By a man, for his great-grandparents; and by a married woman, for her great-grandparents. It is worn for three months:--
'By a man, for his great-great-grandparents; and by, a married woman, for her great-great-grandparents.
'3rd, Tâ-kung indicates relationships of the third degree. The prescribed habit for it is composed of coarse cotton fabric[1]. It is worn:--
'By a man, for his married aunt; married sister; brother's wife; first cousin; spinster first cousin; daughter-in-law (wife of a younger son, or of a son of a concubine); nephew's wife; married niece; and grandson (son of a younger son, or of a concubine's son); by a wife, for her husband's grandparents; husband's uncle; husband's daughter-in-law (wife of a younger son, or of a concubine's son); husband's nephew's wife; husband's married niece; and grandson; by a married woman, for her uncle; uncle's wife; spinster aunt; brother; sister; nephew; spinster niece; and by a concubine, for her grandson.
'4th, Hsiâo-kung indicates relationships of the fourth degree. The habit prescribed for it is composed of rather coarse cotton fabric. It is worn:--
'By a man, for his grand-uncle; grand-uncle's wife; spinster grand-aunt; father's first cousin; father's first cousin's wife; father's spinster first cousin married female first cousin; first cousin once removed spinster female first cousin once removed; second cousin; spinster female second cousin; grand-daughter-in-law (wife of first-born of first-born son); grand-nephew; spinster grand-niece; mother's parents; mother's brother; mother's
[1. In the very brief account of this preliminary chapter in the Penal Code, given by Sir George Staunton, in his translation of the Code (page lxxv), he gives for the material 'coarse' linen cloth. The Chinese character is simply 'cloth.' I suppose the material originally was linen; but since the use of cotton, both of native and foreign manufacture, has increased in China, it is often substituted for linen. I have seen some mourners wearing linen, and others wearing cotton.]
sister'; by a wife, for her husband's aunt; husband's brother; husband's brother's wife; husband's sister; husband's second cousin; spinster female second cousin of husband; husband's grand-nephew; and spinster grandniece of husband; by a married woman, for her spinster aunt; married sister; first cousin; and married niece; and by a concubine, for her master's grandparents.
'5th, Sze-mâ indicates relationships of the fifth degree. The prescribed dress for it is composed of rather fine cotton cloth. It is worn:--
'By a man, for his great-grand-uncle; great-granduncle's wife; spinster great-grand-aunt; married grandaunt; grandfather's first cousin; grandfather's first cousin's wife; spinster first cousin of grandfather; married female first cousin of rather; father's first cousin once removed; wife of father's first cousin once removed; father's spinster first cousin once removed; first cousin's wife; married female first cousin once removed; first cousin twice removed; spinster first cousin twice removed; married female second cousin; second cousin once removed; spinster second cousin once removed; grand-daughter-in-law (wife of son of a younger son,- or of son of a concubine) grand-nephew's wife; married grand-niece; third cousin spinster third cousin; great-grandson; great-grand-nephew; spinster great-grand-niece; great-great-grandson; aunt's son; mother's brother's son; mother's sister's son; wife's parents; son-in-law; daughter's child: by a wife, for her husband's great-great-grand-parents; husband's great-grand-parents; husband's grand-uncle; husband's spinster grand-aunt; father-in-law's first cousin; father-in-law's first cousin's wife; spinster first cousin of father-in-law; female first cousin of husband; husband's second cousin's wife; married female second cousin of husband; husband's second cousin once removed; husband's
[1. These names and others farther on, printed with spaced letters, all belong to the Wâi-yin relationships.]
spinster second cousin once removed; grand -daughter-in-law (wife of own or a concubine's grandson); husband's grand-nephew's wife; husband's married grand-niece; husband's third cousin; spinster third cousin of husband; great-grandson; great-grand-daughter-in-law; husband's great-grand-nephew; spinster great-grand-niece of husband; and great-great-grandson: and by a married woman, for her grand-uncle; spinster grand-aunt; father's first cousin; spinster first cousin of father; spinster first cousin; second cousin; spinster second cousin.'