The LÎ KÎ (THE BOOK OF RITES) (3)

BOOK III. THE ROYAL REGULATIONS[1]
SECTION I
1. According to the regulations of emolument and rank framed by the kings, there were the duke; the marquis; the earl; the count; and the baron [2]:--in all, five gradations (of rank). There were (also), in the feudal states, Great officers[3] of the highest grade,-the ministers; and Great officers of the lowest grade; officers of the highest, the middle, and the lowest grades:--in all, five gradations (of office).
2. The territory of the son of Heaven amounted to 1000 lî square; that of a duke or marquis to 500 lî square; that of an earl to 79 lî square; and that of a count or baron to 50 lî square[4]. (Lords) who could not number 50 lî square, were not
[1. See the Introduction, chapter iii, pages 18-20.
2. Most sinologists have adopted these names for the Chinese terms. Callery says, 'Les ducs, les marquis, les comtes, les vicomtes, et les barons.' See the note on Mencius, V, i, 2, 3, for the meaning given to the different terms.
3. 'Great officers' are in Chinese Tâ Fû, 'Great Sustainers.' The character fû (###) is different from that for 'officer,' which follows. The latter is called shih (###), often translated 'scholar,' and is 'the designation of one having a special charge.' Callery generally retains the Chinese name Tâ Fû, which I have not liked to do.
4. A lî is made up of 360 paces. At present 27.8 lî = 10 English miles, and one geographical lî = 1458.53 English feet. The territories were not squares, but when properly measured, 'taking the length with the breadth,' were equal to so many lî square. The Chinese term rendered 'territory' is here (###), meaning 'fields;' but it is not to be supposed that that term merely denotes 'ground that could be cultivated,' as some of the commentators maintain.]
admitted directly to (the audiences of) the son of Heaven. Their territories were called 'attached,' being joined to those of one of the other princes.
3. The territory assigned to each of the ducal ministers of the son of Heaven was equal to that of a duke or marquis; that of each of his high ministers was equal to that of an earl; that of his Great officers to the territory of a count or baron; and that of his officers of the chief grade to an attached territory.
4. According to the regulations, the fields of the husbandmen were in portions of a hundred acres[1]. According to the different qualities of those acres, when they were of the highest quality, a farmer supported nine individuals; where they were of the next, eight; and so on, seven, six, and five. The pay of the common people, who were employed in government offices[2], was regulated in harmony with these distinctions among the husbandmen.
5. The officers of the lowest grade in the feudal states had an emolument equal to that of the husbandmen whose fields were of the highest quality; equal to what they would have made by tilling the fields. Those of the middle grade had double that of the lowest grade; and those of the highest grade double that of the middle. A Great officer of the lowest grade had double that of an officer of the highest. A high minister had four times that of
[1. The mâu is much less than an English acre, measuring only 733 1/3 square yards. An English acre is rather more than 6 mâu.
2. But held their appointments- only from the Head of their department, and were removable by him. at pleasure, having no commission from the king, or from the ruler of the state in which they were.]
a Great officer; and the ruler had ten times that of a high minister. In a state of the second class, the emolument of a minister was three times that of a Great officer; and that of the ruler ten times that of a minister. In small states, a high minister had twice as much as a Great officer; and the ruler ten times as much as a minister.
6. The highest minister, in a state of the second class, ranked with the one of the middle grade in a great state; the second, with the one of the lowest grade; and the lowest, with a Great officer of the highest grade. The highest minister in a small state ranked with the lowest of a great state; the second, with the highest Great officer of the other; and the lowest, with one of the lower grade.
7. Where there were officers of the middle grade and of the lowest, the number in each was three times that in the grade above it.[1]
8. Of the nine provinces embracing all within[2], the four seas, a province was 1000 lî square, and there were established in it 30 states of 100 lî (square) each.; 60 of 70 lî; 120 of 5o lî:-in all, 210 states. The famous hills and great meres were not included in the investitures[3]. The rest of the
[1. Some of the critics think that this sentence is out of place, and really belongs to paragraph 5 of next section. As the text stands, and simple as it appears, it is not easy to construe.
2 The expression 'the four seas' must have originated from an erroneous idea that the country was an insular square, with a sea or ocean on each side. The explanation of it in the R Ya as denoting the country surrounded by 'The 9 Î, the 8 Tî, the 7 Zung, and the 6 Man,' was an attempt to reconcile the early error with the more accurate knowledge acquired in the course of time. But the name of 'seas' cannot be got over.
3. That is, these hills and meres were still held to belong to all the people, and all had a right to the game on the hills and the fish of the waters. The princes could not deny to any the right of access to them; though I suppose they could levy a tax on what they caught.]
ground formed attached territories and unoccupied lands of the eight provinces (apart from that which formed the royal domain), each contained (the above) 210 states[1].
9. Within the domain[2] of the son of Heaven there were 9 states of 100 lî square; 21 of 70 lî; and 63 of 50 lî:-in all, 93 states. The famous hills and great meres were not assigned[3]. The rest of the ground served to endow the officers, and to form unoccupied lands.
10. In all, in the nine provinces, there were 1773 states, not counting in (the lands of) the officers of the chief grade of the son of Heaven, nor the attached territories in the feudal states.
SECTION II.
1. (The contributions from) the first hundred lî (square) of the son of Heaven served to supply (the needs of) the (various) public offices; (those from the rest of) the thousand lî were for his own special use[4].
2. Beyond his thousand lî, chiefs of regions were appointed. Five states formed a union, which had
[1. This statement must be in a great degree imaginary, supposing, as it does, that the provinces were all of the same size. They were not so; nor are the eighteen provinces of the present day so.
2. The character in the text here is different from that usually employed to denote the royal domain.
3. The term is different from the 'invested' of the previous paragraph. The tenures in the royal domain were not hereditary.
4. Such seems to be the view of the Khien-lung editors. Callery translates the paragraph substantially as I have done.]
a President. Ten formed a combination, which had a Leader. Thirty formed a confederation, which had a Director. Two hundred and ten formed a province, which had a Chief. In the eight provinces there were eight Chiefs, fifty-six Directors, one hundred and sixty-eight Leaders, and three hundred and thirty-six Presidents. The eight Chiefs, with those under them, were all under the two Ancients of the son of Heaven. They divided all under the sky between them, one having charge of the regions on the left and the other of those on the right, and were called the two (Great) Chiefs[1].
3. All within the thousand lî (of the royal domain) was called the Tien (or field Tenure). Outside that domain there were the Zhâi (or service territories) and the Liû (or territory for banished persons).
4. The son of Heaven had three dukes[2], nine high ministers[2], twenty-seven Great officers, and eighty-one officers of the chief grade.
5. In a great state there were three high ministers[3], all appointed by the son of Heaven; five Great
[1. Of these two great chiefs, we have an instance in the dukes of Kâu and Shâo, at the rise of the Kâu dynasty, the former having under his jurisdiction all the states west of the Shen river, and the other, all east of it. But in general, this constitution of the kingdom is imaginary.
2. Compare the Shû V, xx. The three dukes (Kung) were the Grand Tutor, Grand Assistant, and Grand Guardian. The nine ministers were the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Instruction, Religion, War, Crime, and Works, with the junior Tutor, junior Assistant, and junior Guardian added. The six ministers exist Still, substantially, in the six Boards. The titles of the three Kung and their juniors also still exist.
3. These appear to have been the Ministers of Instruction, War, and Works. The first had also the duties of Premier, the second those of minister of Religion, anti the third those of minister of Crime.]
officers of the lower grade; and twenty-seven officers of the highest grade. In a state of the second class there were three high ministers, two appointed by the son of Heaven and one by the ruler; five Great officers of the lower grade; and twenty-seven officers of the highest grade. In a small state there were two high ministers, both appointed by the ruler; five, Great officers of the lower grade; and twenty-seven officers of the highest grade.
6. The son of Heaven employed his Great officers as the Three Inspectors,--to inspect the states under the Chiefs of Regions[1]. For each state there were three Inspectors.
7. Within the domain of the son of Heaven the princes enjoyed their allowances; outside it they had their inheritances[2].
8. According to the regulations, any one of the three ducal ministers might wear one additional symbol of distinction,--that of the descending dragon[3].
[1. The Khien-lung editors think that this was a department first appointed by the Han dynasty, and that the compilers of this Book took for it the name of 'the Three Inspectors,' from king Wû's appointment of his three brothers to watch the proceedings of the son of the last sovereign of Yin, in order to give it an air of antiquity. Was it the origin of the existing Censorate?
2. Outside the royal domain, the feudal states were all hereditary. This is a fact of all early Chinese history. In the domain itself the territories were appanages rather than states. Yet they were in some sense hereditary too. The descendants of all who had served the country well, were not to be left unprovided for. Compare Mencius I, ii, 5, 3.
See the Shih, Part I, xv, Ode 6. x, with the note in my edition of 'the Chinese Classics.' The old symbols of distinction gave rise to 'the Insignia of Civil and Military Officers' of the present dynasty, called Kiu phin (###). See Williams' Dictionary, p. 698. This paragraph is in the expurgated edition of the Lî Kî, used by Callery, and he gives for it, unfortunately, the following version:--'Il est de règle que les trois ministres (qui d'habitude n'appartiennent qu'au 8e ordre de dignitaires), en montant un degré portent I'habit des dragons en broderie. Si, après cela, il y a lieu de leur accorder de nouvelles récompenses, on leur donne des objets de valeur, car on ne va pas au delà du 9e ordre.'
But if such an addition were made (to his eight symbols), it must be by special grant. There were only nine symbols (in all). The ruler of a state of the second class wore only seven of them, and the ruler of a small state only five.
9. The high minister of a great state could not wear more than three of the symbols, and the ministers below him only two. The high ministers of a small state, and Great officers of the lowest class, wore only one.
10. The rule was that the abilities of all put into offices over the people should first be discussed. After they had been discussed with. discrimination, the men were employed. When they had been (proved) in the conduct of affairs, their rank was assigned; and when their position was (thus) fixed, they received salary.
11. It was in the court that rank was conferred, the (already existing) officers being (thus) associated in the act[1]. It was in the market-place that punishment was inflicted; the multitude being (thus) associated in casting the criminals off. hence, neither the ruler, nor (the head of)a clan, would keep a criminal who had been punished about; him; a Great officer would not maintain him; nor would an officer, meeting
[1. The presence of the officers generally would be a safeguard against error in the appointments, as they would know the individuals.]
him on the road, speak to him. Such men were sent away to one of the four quarters, according to the sentence on each. They were not allowed to have anything to do with affairs of government, to show that there was no object in allowing them to live[1].
12. In their relation to the son of Heaven, the feudal princes were required to send every year a minor mission to the court, and every three years a greater mission; once in five years they had to appear there in person.
13. The son of Heaven, every five years, made a tour of Inspection through the fiefs[2].
14. In the second month of the year, he visited those on the East, going to the honoured mountain of Tâi. There he burnt a (great) pile of wood, and announced his arrival to Heaven; and with looks directed to them, sacrificed to the hills and rivers. He gave audience to the princes; inquired out those who were 100 years old, and went to see them: ordered the Grand music-master to bring him the poems (current in the different states)[3] 3, that he might see the manners of the people; ordered the superintendents of markets to present (lists of prices), that he might see what the people liked and disliked, and whether they were set on extravagance and loved
[1. It has been said that these were rules of the Yin or Shang dynasty. The Khien-lung editors maintain that they were followed by all the three feudal dynasties.
2. Compare vol. iii, pp. 39, 40.
3. These would include ballads and songs. Perhaps 'Grand music-master' should be in the plural, meaning those officers of each state. Probably these would have given them to the king's Grand music-master.]
what was bad; he ordered the superintendent of rites to examine the seasons and months, and fix the days, and to make uniform the standard tubes, the various ceremonies, the (instruments of) music, all measures, and (the fashions of) clothes. (Whatever was wrong in these) was rectified.
15. Where any of the spirits of the hills and rivers had been unattended to, it was held to be an act of irreverence, and the irreverent ruler was deprived of a part of his territory. Where there had been neglect of the proper order in the observances of the ancestral temple, it was held to show a want of filial piety and the rank of the unfilial ruler was reduced. Where any ceremony had been altered, or any instrument of music changed, it was held to be an instance of disobedience, and the disobedient ruler was banished. Where the statutory measures and the (fashion of) clothes had been changed, it was held to be rebellion, and the rebellious ruler was taken off. The ruler who had done good service for the people, and shown them an example of virtue, received an addition to his territory and rank.
16. In the seventh month, (the son of Heaven) continued his tour, going to the south, to the mountain of that quarter[1], observing the same ceremonies as in the east. In the eighth month, he went on to the west, to the mountain of that quarter[2], observing the
[1. Mount Hang; in the present district of Hang-shan, dept. Hang-kâu, Hu-nan.
2. Mount Hwa; in the present district of Hwa-yin, dept. Thung-kâu, Shen-hsî.]
same ceremonies as in the south. In the eleventh month, he went on to the north, to the mountain of that quarter[1], observing the same ceremonies as in the west. (When all was done), he returned (to the capital), repaired (to the ancestral temple) and offered a bull in each of the fanes, from that of his (high) ancestor to that of his father[2].
17. When the son of Heaven was about to go forth, he sacrificed specially, but with the usual forms., to God, offered the Î sacrifice at the altar of the earth, and the Zhâo in the fane of his father[3]. When one of the feudal princes was about to go forth, he offered the Î sacrifice to the spirits of the land, and the Zhâo in the fane of his father.
18. When the son of Heaven received the feudal princes, and there was no special affair on hand, it was (simply) called an audience. They examined their ceremonies, rectified their punishments, and made uniform what they considered virtuous; thus giving honour to the son of Heaven[4].
19. When the son of Heaven gave (an instrument of) music to a duke or marquis, the presentation was
[1. Mount Hang; in the present district of Khü-yang, dept. Ting-kâu, Kih-lî.
2. I have followed here the view of Khung Ying-tâ. It seems to me that all the seven fanes of the son of Heaven were under one roof, or composed one great building, called 'the Ancestral Temple.' See p. 224.
3. The meaning of the names of the different sacrifices here is little more than guessed at.
4. The second sentence of this paragraph is variously understood.]
preceded by a note from the signal box[1]; when giving one to an earl, count, or baron, the presentation was preceded by shaking the hand-drum. When the bow and arrows were conferred on a prince, he could proceed to execute the royal justice. When the hatchet and battle-axe were conferred, he could proceed to inflict death. When a large: libation-cup was conferred, he could make the spirits from the black millet for himself. When this cup was not conferred, be had to depend for those spirits (as a gift) from the son of Heaven.
20. 'When the son of Heaven ordered a prince to institute instruction, he proceeded to build his schools; the children's[2], to the south of his palace, on the left of it; that for adults, in the suburbs. (The college of) the son of Heaven was called (the palace of) Bright Harmony, (and had a circlet of water). (That of) the princes was called the Palace with its semicircle of water.
[1. A representation of the signal box is here given (i). The note was made by turning the upright handle, which then struck on some arrangement inside. The hand-drum is also represented (2). It was merely a sort of rattle only that the noise was made by the two little balls striking against the ends of the drum. It is constantly seen and heard in the streets of Chinese cities at the present day, in the hands of pedlers and others.
2. That; is, the children of the princes; but an impulse was thus given to the education of children of lower degree.]
21. When the son of Heaven was about to go forth on a punitive expedition, he sacrificed specially, but with the usual forms, to God; offered the Î sacrifice at the altar of the Earth, and the Zhâo in the fane of his father. He offered sacrifice also to the Father of War (on arriving) at the state which was the object of the expedition. He had received his charge from his ancestors, and the complete (plan) for the execution of it in the college. He went forth accordingly, and seized the criminals; and on his return he set forth in the college his offerings, and announced (to his ancestors) how he had questioned (his prisoners), and cut off the cars (of the slain)[1].
22. When the son of Heaven and the princes had no (special) business in hand, they had three huntings[2] in the year. The first object in them was to supply the sacrificial dishes with dried flesh; the second, to provide for guests and visitors; and the third, to supply the ruler's kitchen.
23. Not to hunt when there was no (special) business in the way was deemed an act of irreverence[3]. To hunt without observing the rules (for hunting) was deemed cruelty to the creatures of Heaven.
24. The sop of Heaven did not entirely surround (the hunting ground)[4]; and a feudal prince did not
[1. Compare paragraph 17, and vol. iii, pp. 392, 393.
2. The huntings were in spring, summer, and winter, for each of which there was its proper name. In autumn the labours of the field forbade hunting.
3. Irreverence, in not making provision for sacrifices; disrespect, in not providing properly for guests.
4. He left one opening for the game. This paragraph contains some of the rules for hunting]
take a (whole) herd by surprise. When the son of Heaven had done killing, his large flag was lowered; and when the princes had done, their smaller flag. When the Great officers had done, the auxiliary carriages were stopped[1]; and after this, the common people fell a hunting (for themselves).
25. When the otter sacrificed its fish[2], the foresters entered the meres and dams. When the wolf sacrificed its prey, the hunting commenced. When the dove changed into a hawk, they set their nets, large and small. When the plants and trees began to drop their leaves, they entered the hills and forests (with the axe). Until the insects had all withdrawn into their burrows, they did not fire the fields. They did not take fawns nor eggs. They did not kill pregnant animals, nor those which had not attained to their full growth. They did not throw down nests[3].
26. The chief minister determined the expenditure of the states, and it was the rule that he should do so at the close of the year. When the five kinds of grain had all been gathered in, he then determined the expenditure;-according to the size of each territory, as large or small, and the returns of the year, as abundant or poor. On the average of thirty years he determined the expenditure, regulating the outgoing by the income.
[1. These were light carriages used in driving and keeping the game together.
2. See the next Book, where all these regulations are separately mentioned.
3. The Chinese have a reputation for being callous in the infliction of punishment and witnessing suffering; And I think they are so. But these rules were designed evidently to foster kindness and sympathy.]
27. A tenth of the (year's) expenditure was for sacrifices. During the three years of the mourning rites (for parents), the king did not sacrifice (in person), excepting to Heaven, Earth, and the Spirits of the land and grain; and when he went to transact any business, the ropes (for his chariot) were made of hemp (and not of silk)[1]. A tithe of three years, expenditure was allowed for the rites of mourning. When there was not sufficient for the rites of sacrifice and mourning, it was owing to lavish waste; when there was more than enough, the state was described as affluent. In sacrifices there should be no extravagance in good years, and no niggardliness in bad.
28. If in a state there was not accumulated (a surplus) sufficient for nine years, its condition was called one of insufficiency; if there was not enough for six years, one of urgency. If there was not a surplus sufficient for three years, the state could not continue. The husbandry of three years was held to give an overplus of food sufficient for one year; that of nine years, an overplus sufficient for three years. Going through thirty years (in this way), though there might be bad years, drought, and inundations, the people would have no lack or be reduced to (eating merely) vegetables, and then the son of Heaven would every day have full meals and music at them.
SECTION III.
1. The son of Heaven was encoffined on the seventh day (after his death), and interred in the seventh month. The prince of a state was encoffined
[1. Such is the meaning of the text here given by the Khien-lung editors. It is found also in the Khang-hsî dictionary, under the character ###, called in this usage hwo.]
on the fifth day, and interred in the fifth month. A Great officer, (other) officers, and the common people were encoffined on the third day, and interred in the third month. The mourning rites of three years (for parents) extended from the son of Heaven to all.
2. The common people let the coffin down into the grave by ropes, and did not suspend the interment because of rain. They raised no mound, nor planted trees over the grave. That no other business should interfere with the rites of mourning was a thing extending from the son of Heaven to the common people.
3. In the mourning rites they followed (the rank of) the dead; in sacrificing to them, that of the living. A son by a concubine did not (preside at) the sacrifices[1].
4. (The ancestral temple of) the son of Heaven embraced seven fanes (or smaller temples); three on the left and three on the right, and that of his great ancestor (fronting the south):--in all, seven. (The temple of) the prince of a state embraced five such fanes: those of two on the left, and two on the right, and that of his great ancestor:--in all, five. Great officers had three fanes:-one on the left, one on the right, and that of his great ancestor:--in all, three. Other officers had (only) one. The common people presented their offerings in their (principal) apartment[2]
[1. Even though he might attain to higher rank than the son of the wife proper, who represented their father.
2. The technical terms (as they may be called) in the text make it impossible to translate this paragraph concisely, so as to make it intelligible to a foreign reader unacquainted with the significance of those terms. The following ground-plan of an ancestral temple of a king of Kâu is given in the plates of the Khien-lung edition of the Lî kî:--after Kû Hsî. I introduce it here with some condensations.
Entering at the gate on the south, we have, fronting us, at the northern end, the fane of the grand ancestor to whom, in the distant past, the family traced its line. South of his fane, on the right and left, were two fanes dedicated to kings Wan and Wû, father and son, the joint founders of the dynasty. The four below them, two on each side, were dedicated to the four kings preceding the reigning king, the sacrificer. At the back of each fane was a comparatively dark apartment, called khin (###) where the spirit tablet was kept during the intervals between the sacrifices. When a sacrifice was offered, the tablet was brought out and placed in the centre of a screen, in the middle of the fane. As the line lengthened, while the tablets of the grand ancestor and joint ancestors always remained untouched, on a death and accession, the tablet of the next oldest occupant was removed and placed in a general apartment for the keeping of all such tablets, and that of the newly deceased king was placed in the father's fane, and the other three were shifted up, care being always taken that the tablet of a son should never follow that of his father on the same side. The number of the lower fanes was maintained, as a rule, at four. Those on the east were called Kâo (###) and on the west Mû (###), the names in the text here. See the Chinese Classics, I, pp. 266, 267, and the note there.]
5. The sacrifices in the ancestral temples of the son of Heaven and the feudal princes were that of spring, called Yo; that of summer, called Tî; that of autumn, called Khang; and that of winter, called Khang[1].
6. The son of Heaven sacrificed to Heaven and Earth; the princes of the states, to the (spirits of the) land and grain; Great officers offered the five sacrifices (of the house). The son of Heaven sacrificed to all the famous hills and great streams under the sky, the five mountains[2] receiving (sacrificial) honours like the honours paid (at court) to the three ducal ministers, and the four rivers[2] honours like those paid to the princes of states; the princes sacrificed to the famous hills and great streams which were in their own territories.
7. The son of Heaven and the feudal lords sacrificed to the ancient princes who had no successors to
[1. The names of some of these sacrifices and their order are sometimes given differently.
2. For four of these mountains, see pages 217, 218, notes. The fifth was that of the Centre, mount Sung, in the present district of Sung, department Ho-nan, Ho-nan. The four rivers were the Kiang, the Hwâi, the Ho, and the Kî.]
preside over the sacrifices to them, and whose possessions now formed part of the royal domain or of their respective states.
8. The son of Heaven offered the spring sacrifice apart and by itself alone, but his sacrifices of all the other seasons were conducted on a greater scale in the fane of the high ancestor. The princes of the states who offered the spring sacrifice omitted that of the summer; those who offered that of the summer omitted that of the autumn; those who sacrificed in autumn did not do so in winter; and those who sacrificed in winter did not do so in spring[1].
In spring they offered the sacrifice of the season by itself apart; in summer, in the fane of the high ancestor[2]; in autumn and winter both the sacrifices were there associated together.
9. In sacrificing at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain, the son of Heaven used in each case a bull, a ram, and a boar; the princes, (only) a ram and a boar. Great and other officers, at the sacrifices in their ancestral temples, if they had lands, sacrificed an animal; and, if they had no lands, they only presented fruits. The common people, in the spring, presented scallions; in summer, wheat; in autumn, millet; and in winter, rice unhulled. The scallions were set forth with eggs; the wheat with
[1. The princes who omitted one sacrifice in the year would probably be absent in that season, attending at the royal court. They paid that attendance in turns from the several quarters.
2. If in this summer service the seasonal and the sacrifice in the fane of the high sacrifice were associated together, the rule for the princes was the same as for the king. There was the ordinary associate sacrifice, and 'the great;' about which the discussions and different views have been endless.]
fish; the millet with a sucking-pig; and the rice with a goose.
10. Of the bulls used in sacrificing to Heaven and Earth, the horns were (not larger than) a cocoon or a chestnut[1]. Those of the one used in the ancestral temple could be grasped with the hand; those of the ox used for (feasting) guests were a foot long.
Without sufficient cause, a prince did not kill an ox, nor a Great officer a sheep, nor another officer a dog or a pig, nor a common person eat delicate food.
The various provisions (at a feast) did not go beyond the sacrificial victims killed; the private, clothes were not superior to the robes of sacrifice; the house and its apartments did not surpass the ancestral temple.
11. Anciently, the public fields were cultivated by the united labours of the farmers around them, from the produce of whose private fields nothing was levied. A rent was charged for the stances in the marketplaces, but wares were not taxed. Travellers were examined at the different passes, but no duties were levied from them. Into the forests and plains at the foot of mountains the people went without hindrance at the proper seasons. None of the produce was levied from the fields assigned to the younger sons of a family, nor from the holy fields. Only three days' labour was required (by the state) from the people in the course of a year. Fields and residences in the hamlets, (when once assigned), could
[1. The victims must all have been young animals; 'to show,' says Wang Thâo, 'that the sincerity of the worshipper is the chief thing in the view of Heaven.']
not be sold. Ground set apart for graves could not be sought (for any other purpose)[1].
12. The minister of Works with his (various) instruments measured the ground for the settlements of the people. About the hills and rivers, the oozy ground and the meres, he determined the periods of the four seasons. He measured the distances of one spot from another, and commenced his operations in employing the labour of the people. In all his employment of them, he imposed (only) the tasks of old men (on the able-bodied), and gave (to the old) the food-allowance of the able-bodied.
13. In all their settlements, the bodily capacities of the people are sure to be according to the sky and earthly influences, as cold or hot, dry or moist. Where the valleys are wide and the rivers large, the ground was differently laid out; and the people born in them had different customs. Their temperaments,
[1. Compare Mencius III, i, 3, 6-9, et al.; II, i, 5, 2-4; I, i, 3, 3, 4; III, i, 3, 15-17; with the notes. I give here also the note of P. Callery on the first sentence of this paragraph:--'Sous les trois premières dynasties, époque éloignée où il y avait peu de terrains cultivés dans l'empire, le gouvernement concédait les terres incultes par carrés équilatères ayant 900 mâu, ou arpents, de superficie. Ces carrés, qu'on nommait Zing (###), d'après leur analogie de tracé avec le caractère Zing, "a well," étaient divisés en neuf carrés égaux de 100 mâu chacun, au moyen de deux lignes médianes que deux autres lignes coupaient à angle droit à des distances égales. Il résultait de cette intersection de lignes une sorte de damier de trois cases de côté, ayant huit carrés sur la circonférence, et un carré au milieu. Les huit carrés du pourtour devenaient la propriété de huit colons; mais celui du centre était un champ de réserve dont la culture restait bien à la charge des huit voisins, mais dont les produits appartenaient à 1'empereur.']
as hard or soft, light or grave, slow or rapid, were made uniform by different measures; their preferences as to flavours were differently harmonised; their implements were differently made; their clothes were differently fashioned, but always suitably. Their training was varied, without changing their customs; and the governmental arrangements were uniform, without changing the suitability (in each case).
14. The people of those five regions-the Middle states, and the Zung, Î, (and other wild tribes round them)--had all their several natures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called Î. They had their hair unbound, and tattooed their bodies. Some of them ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the south were called Man. They tattooed their foreheads, and had their feet turned in towards each other. Some of them (also) ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the west were called Zung. They had their hair unbound, and wore skins. Some of them did not eat grain-food. Those on the north were called Tî. They wore skins of animals and birds, and dwelt in caves. Some of them also did not eat grain-food.
The people of the Middle states, and of those Man, Zung, and Tî, all had their dwellings, where they lived at ease; their flavours which they preferred; the clothes suitable for them; their proper implements for use; and their vessels which they prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers),--in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, Tî-tîs[1]; and in the north, interpreters.
15. In settling the people, the ground was measured for the formation of towns, and then measured again in smaller portions for the allotments of the people. When the division of the ground, the cities, and the allotments were thus fixed in adaptation to one another, so that there was no ground unoccupied, and none of the people left to wander about idle, economical arrangements were made about food; and its proper business appointed for each season. Then the people had rest in their dwellings, did joy fully what they had to do, exhorted one another to labour, honoured their rulers, and loved their superiors. This having been secured, there ensued the institution of schools.
SECTION IV.
1. The minister of Instruction defined and set forth the six ceremonial observances[2]:--to direct and control the nature of the people; clearly illustrated the seven lessons (of morality)[3] to stimulate their virtue; inculcated uniformity in the eight objects of government[2], to guard against all excess; taught the
[1. I cannot translate Tî-tî. It was the name of a region (Williams says, 'near the Koko-nor'), the people of which had a reputation for singing.
2. See the last paragraph of these Regulations, at the end of next Section.
3. It has become the rule, apparently with all sinologists, to call the minister in the text here, Sze Thû, by the name of 'The minister of Instruction.' Callery describes him as 'Le ministre qui a dans ses attributions l'instruction publiquee et les, rites.' And this is correct according to the account of his functions here, in the Kâu Lî, and in the Shû (V, xx, 8); but the characters (###) simply denote 'superintendent of the multitudes.' This, then, was the conception anciently of what government had to do for the multitudes,--to teach them all moral and social duties, how to discharge their obligations to men living and dead, and to spiritual beings. The name is now applied to the president and vice-president of the board of Revenue.]
sameness of the course (of duty) and virtue, to assimilate manners; nourished the aged, to secure the completion of filial piety; showed pity to orphans and solitaries, to reach those who had been bereaved; exalted men of talents and worth, to give honour to virtue; and dealt summarily with the unworthy, to discountenance wickedness.
2. He commanded that, throughout the districts[1], there should be marked and pointed out to him those who were disobedient to his lessons. (This having been done), the aged men were all assembled in the school[2], and on a good day archery was practised and places were given according to merit. (At the same time) there was a feast, when places were given according to age. The Grand minister of Instruction[3] conducted thither the eminent scholars of the state and along with them superintended the business.
[1. That is, the six districts embraced in the royal domain, each nominally containing 12,500 families.
2. The great school of the district. The aged men would be good officers retired from duty, and others of known worth.
3. Here we have 'the Grand minister of Instruction;' and it may be thought we 'should translate the name in the first paragraph in the plural. No doubt, where there is no specification of 'the grand,' it means the board or department of Education.]
If those (who had been reported to him) did not (now) change, he gave orders that they who were noted as continuing disobedient in the districts on the left should be removed to those on the right, and those noted on the right to the districts on the left. Then another examination was held in the same way, and those who had not changed were removed to the nearest outlying territory. Still continuing unchanged, they were removed, after a similar trial, to the more distant territory. There they were again examined and tried, and if still found defective, they were cast out to a remote region, and for all their lives excluded from distinction.
3. Orders were given that, throughout the districts, the youths who were decided on as of promising ability should have their names passed up to the minister of Instruction, when they were called 'select scholars.' He then decided which of them gave still greater promise, and promoted them to the (great) college[1], where they were called 'eminent scholars[2]. ' Those who were brought to the notice of the minister were exempted from services in the districts; and those who were promoted to the (great) school, from all services under his own department, and (by and by) were called 'complete scholars[2].'
4. The (board for) the direction of Music gave all honour to its four subjects of instruction[3], and
[1. This would be the college at the capital.
2. Have we not in these the prototypes of the 'Flowering Talents' (Hsiû Zhai ###) and Promoted Men' (Kü Zan ###) of to-day?
3. In the text these are called 'the four Arts' and 'the four Teachings;' but the different phrases seem to have the same meaning.]
arranged the lessons in them, following closely the poems, histories, ceremonies, and music of the former kings, in order to complete its scholars. The spring and autumn were devoted to teaching the ceremonies and music; the winter and summer to the poems and histories[1]. The eldest son of the king and his other sons, the eldest sons of all the feudal princes, the sons, by their wives proper, of the high ministers, Great officers, and officers of the highest grade, and the eminent and select scholars from (all) the states, all repaired (to their instruction), entering the schools according to their years.
5. When the time drew near for their quitting the college, the smaller and greater assistants[2], and the inferior director of the board, put down those who had not attended to their instructions, and reported them to the Grand director, who in turn reported them to the king. The king ordered the three ducal ministers, his nine (other) ministers, the Great officers, and the (other) officers, all to enter the school (and hold an examination). If this did not produce the necessary change; the king in person inspected the school; and if this also failed, for three days he took no full meal nor had music, after which the (culprits) were cast but to the remote regions. Sending them to those of the west was called 'a (temporary) expulsion;'
[1. The Khien-lung editors say that ' in spring and autumn the temperature is equable and the bodily spirits good, well adapted for the practice of ceremonies and moving in time to the music, whereas the long days of summer and long nights of winter are better adapted for the tasks of learning the poems and histories.'
2. The smaller assistants of the Grand director of Music were eighteen, and the greater four. See the Kâu Lî, XVII, 21. Their functions are described in XXII, 45-53.]
to the east, 'a temporary exile.' But all their lives they were excluded from distinction.
6. The Grand director of Music, having fully considered who were the most promising of the 'completed scholars,' reported them to the king, after which they were advanced to be under the minister of War, and called 'scholars ready for employment[1].'
7. The minister of War gave discriminating consideration (to the scholars thus submitted to him), with a view to determine the offices for which their abilities fitted them. He then reported his decisions concerning the best and ablest of them to the king, to have that judgment fixed[2]. When it was, they were put into offices. After they had discharged the duties of these, rank was given them; and, their positions being thus fixed, they received salary.
8. When a Great officer was dismissed as incompetent from his duties, be was not (again) employed in any office to the end of his life. At his death, he was buried as an (ordinary) officer.
[1. Exactly the name to the candidates of to-day who have succeeded at the triennial examinations at the capital the; 'Metropolitan Graduates,' as Mayers (page 72) calls them.
2. It is strange to find the minister of War performing the services here mentioned, and only these. The Khien-lung editors say that the compilers of this Book had not seen the Kâu Lî nor the Shû. It has been seen in the Introduction, pages 4, 5, how the Kâu Lî came to light in the reign of Wû, perhaps fifty years after this Book was made, and even then did not take its place among the other restored monuments till the time of Liû Hsin. To make the duties here ascribed to the Minister of War (literally, 'Master of Horse,' ###) appear less anomalous, Kang and other commentators quote from the Shû (V, xx, 14) only a part of the account of his functions.]
9. If any expedition of war were contemplated, orders were given to the Grand minister of Instruction to teach the scholars the management of the chariot and the wearing of the coat of mail.
10. In the case of all who professed any particular art, respect was bad to their strength. If they were to go to a distant quarter, the), had to display their arms and legs, and their skill in archery and charioteering was tested. All who professed particular arts for the service of their superiors, such as prayermakers, writers, archers, carriage-drivers, doctors, diviners, and artizans,--all who professed particular arts for the service of their superiors, were not allowed to practise any other thing, or to change their offices; and when they left their districts, they did not take rank with officers. Those who did service in families (also), when they left their districts, did not take rank with officers.
11. The minister of Crime adapted the punishments (to the offences for which they were inflicted), and made the laws clear in order to deal with criminal charges and litigations. He required the three references as to its justice (before the infliction of a capital punishment)[1]. If a party had the intention, but there were not evidence of the deed, the charge was not listened to. Where a case appeared as doubtful, it was lightly dealt with; where it might be pardoned, it was (still) gravely considered.
12. In all determining on the application of any of the five punishments[2], it was required to decide
[1. See the Kâu Lî, XXXVII, 45, 46.
2. Branding; cutting off the nose; Cutting off the feet; castration; death. See vol, iii, p. 40.]
according to the judgment of Heaven. Inadvertent and redeemable offences were determined by (the circumstances of) each particular case[1].
13. When hearing a case requiring the application of any of the five punishments, (the judge) was required to have respect to the affection between father and son[2], or the righteousness between ruler and minister[3] (which might have been in the mind of the defendant), to balance his own judgment. He must consider the gravity or lightness (of the offence), and carefully try to fathom the capacity (of the offender) as shallow or deep, to determine the exact character (of his guilt). He must exert his intelligence to the utmost, and give the fullest play to his generous and loving feeling, to arrive at his final judgment, If the criminal charge appeared to him doubtful, he was to take the multitude into consultation with him; and if they also doubted, he was to pardon the defendant. At the same time he was to examine analogous cases, great and small, and then give his decision.
14. The evidence in a criminal case having thus been all taken and judgment given, the clerk reported it all to the director (of the district), who heard it and reported it to the Grand minister of Crime. He also heard it in the outer court[4], and then reported it to the king, who ordered the three ducal ministers,
[1. Vol. iii, pp. 260-263. The compilers in this part evidently had some parts of the Shû before them.
2. Which might make either party conceal the guilt of the other.
3. Which might in a similar way affect the evidence.
4. The text says, 'Under the Zizyphus trees.' These were planted in the outer court of audience, and under them the different ministers of the court had their places.]
with the minister and director, again to hear it. When they had (once more) reported it to the king, he considered it with the three mitigating conditions[1], and then only determined the punishment.
15. In all inflictions of punishments and fines, even light offenders (that were not doubtful) were not forgiven. Punishment may be compared to the body. The body is a complete thing; when once completed, there cannot be any subsequent change in it[2]. Hence the wise man will do his utmost (in deciding on all these inflictions).
16. Splitting words so as to break (the force of) the laws; confounding names so as to change what had been definitely settled; practising corrupt ways so as to throw government into confusion: all guilty of these things were put to death. Using licentious music; strange garments; wonderful contrivances and extraordinary implements, thus raising doubts among the multitudes: all who used or formed such things were put to death. Those who were persistent in hypocritical conduct and disputatious in hypocritical speeches; who studied what was wrong, and went on to do so more and more, and whoever increasingly followed what was wrong so as to bewilder the multitudes: these were put to death. Those
[1. Callery gives for this, 'qui pardonne trois fois.' The conditions were-ignorance, mistake, forgetfulness.
2. There is here a play upon the homophonous names of different Chinese characters, often employed, as will be pointed out, in the Lî Kî, and in which the scholars of Han set an example to future times. Callery frames a French example of the reasoning that results from it: 'Un saint est un ceint; or, la ceinture signifiant au figuré la continence, il s'ensuit que la vertu de continence est essentielle à la sainteté!']
who gave false reports about (appearances of) spirits, about seasons and days, about consultings of the tortoise-shell and stalks, so as to perplex the multitudes: these were put to death. These four classes were taken off, and no defence listened to.
17. All who had charge of the prohibitions for the regulation of the multitudes[1] did not forgive transgressions of them. Those who had rank-tokens, the long or the round, and gilt libation-cups were not allowed to sell them in the market-places; nor were any allowed to sell robes or chariots, the gift of the king; or vessels of an ancestral temple; or victims for sacrifice; or instruments of war; or vessels which were not according to the prescribed measurements; or chariots of war which were not according to the same; or cloth or silk, fine or coarse, not according to the prescribed quality, or broader or narrower than the proper rule; or of the illegitimate colours, confusing those that were correct[2]; or cloth, embroidered or figured; or vessels made with pearls or jade; or clothes, or food, or drink, (in any way extravagant); or grain which was not in season, or fruit which was unripe; or wood which was not fit for the axe; or birds, beasts, fishes, or reptiles, which were not fit to be killed. At the frontier gates, those in charge of the prohibitions, examined travellers, forbidding such as wore strange clothes, and taking note of such as spoke a strange language.
18. The Grand recorder had the superintendence of
[1. These would be, especially, the superintendents of the markets.
2. The five correct colours were--black, carnation, azure, white. and yellow.]
ceremonies. He was in charge of the tablets of record, and brought before the king what (names) were to be avoided', and what days were unfavourable (for the doing of particular affairs)'. The son of Heaven received his admonitions with reverence[2].
19. (The office of) the accountants[3] prepared the complete accounts of the year to be submitted to the son of Heaven which were reverently received by the chief minister. The Grand director of Music, the Grand minister of Crime, and the (chief) superintendent of the markets, these three officers, followed with the completed accounts of their departments to be submitted to the son of Heaven. The Grand minister of Instruction, the Grand minister of War, and the Grand minister of Works, reverently received the completed accounts of their several departments from their various subordinates, and examined them, then presenting them to the son of Heaven. Those subordinates then reverently received them after being so examined and adjudicated on. This being done, the aged were feasted and the royal sympathy shown to the husbandmen. The business of the year was concluded, and the expenditure of the states was determined.
[1. See pages 93, 180, et al.
2. Some of the functions here belonged to the assistant recorder, according to the Kâu Lî, but the two were of the same department.
3. This office was under the board of the chief minister, and consisted of sixty-two men of different grades under the Kâu dynasty (the Kâu Lî, I, 38; their duties are described in Book VI). It is not easy to understand all the text of the rest of the paragraph. about the final settlement of the accounts of the year.]
SECTION V.
1. In nourishing the aged, (Shun), the lord of Yü, used the ceremonies of the drinking entertainment; the sovereigns of Hsiâ, those at entertainments (after) a reverent sacrifice or offering[1]; the men of Yin, those of a (substantial) feast; and the men of Kâu cultivated and used all the three.
2. Those of fifty years received their nourishment in the (schools of the) districts; those of sixty, theirs in the (smaller school of the) state; and those of seventy, theirs in the college. This rule extended to the feudal states. An old man of eighty made his acknowledgment for the ruler's message, by kneeling once and bringing his head twice to the ground. The blind did the same. An old man of ninety employed another to receive (the message and gift for him).
3. For those of fifty the grain was (fine and) different (from that used by younger men). For those of sixty, flesh was kept in store. For those of seventy, there was a second service of savoury meat. For those of eighty, there was a constant supply of delicacies. For those of ninety, food and drink were never out of their chambers. Wherever they wandered (to another place), it was required that savoury meat and drink should follow them.
[1. The commentators make this to have been a Barmecide feast, merely to show respect for the age; and Callery, after them, gives for the text: 'La dynastie des Hsiâ faisait servir un repas qu'on ne mangeait point.' But Ying-tâ's authorities adduced to support this view do not appear to me to bear it out. See the commencing chapter of Book X, Section ii, where all this about nourishing the aged is repeated.]
4. After sixty, (the coffin and other things for the mourning rites) were seen to be in readiness, (once) in the year; after seventy, once in the season; after eighty, once in the month; and after ninety; every day they were kept in good repair. But the bandages, sheet, and coverlets and cases (for the corpse) were prepared after death,
5. At fifty, one begins to decay; at sixty, he does not feel satisfied unless he eats flesh; at seventy, he does not feel warm unless he wears silk; at eighty, he does not feel warm unless there be some one (to sleep) with him; and at ninety, he does not feel warm even with that.
6. At fifty, one kept his staff always in his hand in his family; at sixty, in his district; at seventy, in the city; at eighty, (an officer) did so in the court. If the son of Heaven wished to put questions to (all officer) of ninety, he went to his house, and had rich food carried after him.
7. At seventy, (an officer) did not wait till the court was over (before he retired); at eighty, he reported every month (to the ruler's messenger) that he was still alive; at ninety; he (had delicate food sent) regularly to him every day.
8. At fifty, a (common) man was not employed in services requiring strength; at sixty, he was discharged from bearing arms along with others; at seventy, he was exempted from the business of receiving guests and visitors; and at eighty, he was free from the abstinences and other rites of mourning.
9. When one was fifty, he received the rank (of a Great officer)[1]; at sixty, he did not go in person to the college; at seventy, he retired from the service of the government; and in mourning, he used only the dress of sackcloth (without adopting the privations of the mourning rites).
10. (Shun), the lord of Yü, nourished the aged (who had retired from the service) of the state in (the school called) the higher hsiang, and the aged of the common people (and officers who had not obtained rank) in (the school called) the lower hsiang. The sovereigns of Hsiâ nourished the former in (the school called) the hsü on the east, and the latter in (that called) the hsü on the west. The men of Yin nourished the former in the school of the right, and the latter in that of the left. The men of Kâu entertained the former in (the school called) the eastern kiâo, and the latter in (what corresponded to) the hsiang of Yü. This was in the suburb of the capital on the west[2].
11. The lord of Yü wore the hwang cap in sacrificing
[1. See Book X, Section ii, i. This was, say the Khien-lung editors, a lesson against forwardness in seeking office and rank, as retirement at seventy was a lesson against cleaving to these too long.
2. It is wearisome to try and thread one's way through the discussions about the schools, called by all these different names. One thing is plain, that there were the lower schools which boys entered when they were eight, and the higher schools into which the passed from these. But in this paragraph these institutions are mentioned not in connexion with education,. but as they were made available for the assembling and cherishing of the aged. They served various purposes. A school-room with us may do the same, occasionally; it was the rule in ancient China that the young should be taught and the old ministered to in the same buildings.]
(in the ancestral temple), and the white robes in nourishing the aged. The sovereigns of Hsiâ used the shâu cap in sacrificing, and the upper and lower dark garments of undress in nourishing the aged. During the Yin, they used the hsü cap in sacrificing, and the tipper and lower garments, both of white thin silk, in nourishing the aged. During the Kâu dynasty, they used the mien cap in sacrificing, and the dark-coloured upper and lower garments in nourishing the aged.
12. The kings of the three dynasties[1], in nourishing the old, always had the years of those connected with them brought to their notice. Where (an officer) was eighty, one of his sons was free from all duties of government service; where he was ninety, all the members of his family were set free from them. In cases of parties who were disabled or ill, and where the attendance of others was required to wait upon them, one man was discharged from those duties (for the purpose). Parties mourning for their parents had a discharge for three years. Those mourning for one year or nine months had a discharge for three months. Where an officer was about to move to another state, he was discharged from service for three months beforehand. When one came from another state, he was not required to take active service for around year.
13. One who, while quite young, lost his father was called an orphan; an old man who had lost his sons was called a solitary. An old man who had lost his wife was called a pitiable (widower); an old woman who had lost her husband was called a poor
[1. Hsiâ, Shang or Yin, and Kâu.]
(widow). These four classes were the most forlorn of Heaven's people, and had none to whom to tell their wants; they all received regular allowances.
14. The dumb, the deaf, the lame, such as had lost a member, pigmies, and mechanics, were all fed according to what work they were able to do.
15. On the roads, men took the right side and women the left; carriages kept in the middle. A man kept behind another who had a father's years; he followed one who might be his elder brother more closely, but still keeping behind, as geese fly after one another in a row. Friends did not pass by one another, when going the same way. (In the case of an old and a young man, carrying burdens,) both were borne by the younger; and if the two were too heavy for one, he took the heavier. A man with grey hair was not allowed to carry anything, though he might do it with one hand.
16. An officer of superior rank, of the age of sixty or seventy, did not walk on foot. A common man, at that age, did not go without flesh to eat.
17. A Great officer, (having land of his own), was' not permitted to borrow the vessels for sacrifice; nor to make vessels for his own private use before he had made those for sacrifice.
I& A space of one lî square contained fields amounting to 900 mâu[1]. Ten lî square were equal to 100 spaces of one lî square, and contained 90,000 mâu. A hundred lî square were equal to 100 spaces of ten lî square, and contained 9,000,999 mâu. A
[1. See note as to the size of the mâu on page 218.]
thousand lî square were equal to 100 spaces of 100 lî square, and contained 900,000,000 mâu.
19. From mount Hang[1] to the southernmost point of the Ho was hardly 1000 lî. From that point to the Kiang was hardly I000 lî. From the Kiang to mount Hang in the south was more than 1000 lî. From the Ho on the cast to the eastern sea was more than 1000 lî. From the Ho on the east to the same river on the west was hardly 1000 lî; and from that to the Moving Sands[2] was more than 1000 lî. (The kingdom) did not pass the Moving Sands on the west, nor mount Hang on the south. On the east it did not pass the eastern sea, nor on the north did it pass (the other) mount Hang. All within the four seas, taking the length with the breadth, made up a space Of 3000 lî square, and contained eighty trillions of mâu[3].
2o. A space of 100 lî square contained ground to the amount of 9,000,000 mâu. Hills and mounds, forests and thickets, rivers and marshes, ditches and canals, city walls and suburbs., houses, roads, and
[1. See notes on pages 217, 218. I have said below '(the other) mount Hang;' but the names, or characters for the names, of the two mountains are different in Chinese.
2. What is now called the desert of Gobi.
3. As it is in the text =80 x 10000 x 10000 x 10000 x 10000 mâu. A translator, if I may speak of others from my own experience, is much perplexed in following and verifying the calculations, in this and the other paragraphs before and after it. The Khien-lung editors and Wang Thâo use many pages in pointing out the errors of earlier commentators, and establishing the correct results according to their own views, and 1 have thought it well to content myself with simply giving a translation of the text.]
lanes took up one third of it, leaving 6,000,000 mâu.
21. Anciently, according to the cubit of Kâu, eight cubits formed a pace. Now, according to the same, six cubits and four inches make a pace. One hundred ancient mâu were equal to 146 of the present day and thirty paces. One hundred ancient lî were equal to 121 of the present day, sixty paces, four cubits, two inches and two-tenths.
22. A space of 1000 lî square contained 100 spaces of 100 lî square each. In this were constituted thirty states of 100 lî square, leaving what would have been enough for other seventy of the same size. There were also constituted sixty states Of 70 lî square, twenty-nine of 100 lî square, and forty spaces of 10 lî square; leaving enough for forty states of 100 lî square, and sixty spaces of 10 lî square. There were also constituted a hundred and twenty states of 50 lî square, and thirty of 100 lî square, leaving enough for ten of the same size, and sixty spaces of 10 lî square.
The famous hills and great meres were not included in the fiefs; and what remained was assigned for attached territories and unoccupied lands. Those unappropriated lands were taken to reward any of the princes of acknowledged merit, and what was cut off from some others (because of their demerit) became unappropriated land.
23. The territory of the son of Heaven, amounting to 1000 lî square, contained 100 spaces of 100 lî square each. There were constituted nine appanages of 100 lî square, leaving ninety-one spaces of the same size. There were also constituted twenty-one appanages of 70 lî square, ten of 100 lî, and twenty-nine spaces of 10 lî square; leaving enough for eighty of 100 lî square, and seventy-one of 10 lî There were further constituted sixty-three appanages of 50 lî square, fifteen of 100 1î, and seventy-five spaces of 10 lî, while there still remained enough for sixty-four appanages of 100 lî square, and ninety-six spaces of 10 lî each.
24. The officers of the lowest grade in the feudal states received salary sufficient to feed nine individuals; those of the second grade, enough to feed eighteen; and those of the highest, enough for thirty-six. A Great officer could feed 72 individuals; a minister, 288; and the ruler, 2880.
In a state of the second class, a minister could feed 216; and the ruler, 2160.
A minister ' of a small state could feed 144 individuals; and the ruler, 1440.
In a state of the second class, the minister who was appointed by its ruler received the same emolument as the minister of a small state.
2 5. The Great officers of the son of Heaven acted as 'the three inspectors.' When they were inspecting a state, their salary was equal to one of its ministers, and their rank was that of a ruler of a: state of the second class. Their salaries were derived from the territories under the chiefs of regions[1].
26. The chiefs of regions, on occasion of their appearing at the court of the son of Heaven, had cities assigned them for purification[2] within his domain like those of his officers of the chief grade.
[1. See page 212, paragraph 2, and note 1, page 213.
2. The text says, 'Cities for bathing and washing the hair;' but preparing by mental exercises for appearing before the king is also intimated by the phrase.]
27. The (appointed) heir-sons[1] of the feudal princes inherited their states. Great officers (in the royal domain) did not inherit their rank. They were employed as their ability and character were recognised, and received rank as their merit was proved. Till their rank was conferred (by the king), (the princes) were in the position of his officers of the chief grade, and so they ruled their states, The Great officers of the states did not inherit their rank and emoluments.
28. The six ceremonial observances were:--capping; marrying; mourning rites; sacrifices; feasts; and interviews. The seven lessons (of morality) were:--(the duties between) father and son; elder brother and younger; husband and wife; ruler and minister; old and young; friend and friend; host and guest. The eight objects of government were:-food and drink; clothes; business (or, the profession); maintenance of distinctions; measures of length; measures of capacity; and definitely assigned rules[2].
[1. A son, generally the eldest son by the wife proper, had to be recognised by the king before he could be sure of succeeding to his father.
2. See page 230, paragraph 1.]

BOOK IV. THE YÜEH LING
OR
PROCEEDINGS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE DIFFERENT MONTHS.
SECTION 1. PART 1.
1. In the first month of spring the sun is in Shih, the star culminating at dusk being Zhan, and that culminating at dawn Wei[1].
2. Its days are kiâ and yî[2].
[1. In this month the conjunction of the sun and moon took place in Shih or a Alarkab Pegasi. Zhan is a constellation embracing Betelguese, Bellatrix, Rigel, {gamma}, {delta}, {epsilon}, {zeta}, {eta}, of Orion; and Wei is {epsilon}, {mu}, of Scorpio. Shih is called in the text Ying Shih, 'the Building Shih,' because this month was the proper time at which to commence building.
2 Kiâ and yî are the first two of the 'ten heavenly stems,' which are combined with the 'twelve earthly branches,' to form the sixty binomial terms of 'the cycle of sixty,' that was devised in a remote antiquity for the registration of successive days, and was subsequently used also in the registration of successive years. The origin of the cycle and of the names of its terms is thus far shrouded in mystery; and also the application of those terms to the various purposes of divination. The five pairs of the stems correspond, in the jargon of mysterious. speculation, to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and, as will be seen in his Book, to the seasons of spring, summer, the intermediate centre, autumn, and winter. Whether there be anything more in this short notice than a declaration of this fact, or any indication of the suitableness of 'the days' for certain 'undertakings' in them, as even the Khien-lung editors seem to think, I cannot say.]
3. Its divine ruler is Thâi Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is Kâu-mang[1].
4. Its creatures are the scaly[2].
5. Its musical note is Kio, and its pitch-tube is the Thâi Zhâu[3].
6. Its number is eight[4]; its take is sour; its smell is rank.
[1. Thâi Hâo, 'the Grandly Bright,' is what is called the dynastic designation' of Fû-hsî and his line. By the time that the observances described in this Book had come into use, Fû-hsî and other early personages had been deified and were supposed to preside over the seasons of the year. To him as the earliest of them was assigned the presidency of the spring and the element of wood, the phenomena of vegetation being then most striking. He was the 'divine ruler' of the spring, and sacrificed to in its months; and at the sacrifices there was associated with him, as assessor, an inferior personage called Kâu-mang (literally, 'curling fronds and spikelets'), said to have been a son of Shâo Hâo, another mythical sovereign, founder of the line of Kin Thien (###). But Shâo Hâo was separated from Thâi Hâo by more than 1000 years. The association at these sacrifices in the spring months of two personages so distant in time from each other as Fû-hsî and Kâu-mang, shows how slowly and irregularly the process of deification and these sacrifices had grown up.
2. The character for which I have given ' creatures' is' often translated by 'insects;' but fishes, having scales, must form a large portion of what are here intended. 'The seven (zodiacal) constellations of the east,' says Wû Khang, I make up the Azure Dragon, and hence all moving creatures that have scales belong to (the element of) wood.'
3. Kio is the name of the third of the five musical notes of the Chinese scale, corresponding to our B (?); and Thâi Zhâu is the name of one of the twelve tubes by which, from a very early date, music was regulated. The Thâi Zhâu, or ' Great Pipe,' was the second of the tubes that give the 'six upper musical accords.'
4. The 'number' of wood is three, which added to five, the number' of earth, gives eight, the 'number' of the months of spring; but this, to me at least, is only a jargon.]
7. Its sacrifice is that at the door[1], and of the parts of the victim the spleen has the foremost place[1].
8. The east winds resolve the cold. Creatures that have been torpid during the winter begin to move. The fishes rise up to the ice. Otters sacrifice fish. The wild geese make their appearance[2].
9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Khing Yang (Fane); rides in the carriage with the ph渘ix (bells), drawn by the azure-dragon (horses), and carrying the green flag; wears the green
[1. This was one of the sacrifices of the house; see paragraph 6, page 116, and especially the seventh paragraph of Book XX. As the door is the place of exodus, it was the proper place for this sacrifice in the spring, when all the energies of nature begin to be displayed afresh. Among the five viscera,--the heart, the liver, the spleen, the lungs, and the kidneys,--the spleen corresponds to the element of earth, and therefore it was made prominent in this service, in the season when the earth seems to open its womb beneath the growing warmth of the year.
2. These are all phenomena of the spring. The third of them is differently expressed in Hwai-nan Dze, the Tâoist grandson of the founder of the Han dynasty (see Book V of his works), and in the Hsiâ Hsiâo Mang, showing that this text of the Lî Kî was taken from Lü Pû-wei, if the whole Book were not written by him. They read ###, which Professor Douglas renders, Fish mount (to the surface of) the water, bearing on their backs pieces of ice.' But the meaning of the longer text is simply what I have given. Ying-tâ says, 'Fishes, during the intense cold of winter, lie close at the bottom of the water, attracted by the greater warmth of the earth; but, when the sun's influence is felt, they rise and swim near to the ice.' ### = 'with their backs near to the ice.' What is said about the otter is simply a superstitious misinterpretation of its habit of eating only a small part of its prey, and leaving the rest on the bank. The geese come from the south on the way to their quarters during the warmer season in the north.]
robes, and the (pieces of) green jade (on his cap and at his girdle pendant). He eats wheat and mutton. The vessels which he uses are slightly carved, (to resemble) the shooting forth (of plants)[1].
[1. The Khing Yang ('Green and Bright') was one of the principal divisions in the Hall of Distinction of Book XII. We must suppose that the sovereign went there (among other purposes) to give out the first day of the month, and did so in the apartment indicated, and in the style and robes and ornaments of the text, in the first month of spring. The ancient Shun, it is said, set the example of the carriage with bells, whose tinkling was supposed to resemble the notes of the lwan, a bird at which we can only guess, and which has been called the ph渘ix, and the argus pheasant. Horses above eight feet high were called dragon steeds. The predominating green colour suits the season and month; but what made wheat and mutton then peculiarly suitable for the royal mat, I do not know the fancies of Tâoism sufficiently to be able to understand.
In the plates to the Khien-lung edition of our classic, the following rude ground-plan of the structure is given to illustrate the various references to it in this Book:--
{illustration}
The building is made to consist of nine large apartments or halls; three fronting the different points of the compass, and one in the centre; making nine in all. That in the centre was called 'The Grand Apartment of the Grand Fane;' south from it was 'The Ming Thang Grand Fane;' on the east 'The Khing Yang Grand Fane;' on the west 'The Zung Yang Grand Fane;' and on the north 'The Hsüan Thang Grand Fane.'
In the second month of the seasons, the king went the round of the Grand Fanes. The four corner apartments were divided into two each, each one being named from the Grand Fane on the left or right of which it was. Commencing with the half on the left of the Khing Yang Fane, the king made the circuit of all the others and of the Fanes, returning to the other half on the right of the Hsüan Thang Fane in the twelfth month. The Grand Apartment in the centre was devoted to the imaginary season of the centre, between the sixth and seventh months, or the end of summer and beginning of autumn.]
10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of spring. Three days before this ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, 'On such and such a day is the inauguration of the spring. The energies of the season are fully seen in wood. On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-purification, and on the day he leads in person the three ducal ministers, his nine high ministers, the feudal princes (who are at court), and his Great officers, to meet the spring in the eastern suburb[1];
[1. We are not told what the ceremonies in the inauguration of the spring were. The phrase li khun (###) is the name of the first of the twenty-four terms into which the Chinese year is divided, dating now from the sun's being in the fifteenth degree of Aquarius. Kang Hsüan thought that the meeting of the spring in the eastern suburb was by a sacrifice to the first of 'the five planetary gods,' corresponding to Jupiter, 'the Azure Tî, called Ling-wei-jang' But where he found that name, and what is its significance, is a mystery; and the whole doctrine of five planetary Tîs is held to be heresy, and certainly does not come from the five King.]
and on their return, he rewards them all in the court[1].
11. He charges his assistants[2] to disseminate (lessons of) virtue, and harmonise the governmental orders, to give effect to the expressions of his satisfaction and bestow his favours; down to the millions of the people. Those expressions and gifts thereupon proceed, every one in proper (degree and direction).
12. He also orders the Grand recorder to guard the statutes and maintain the laws, and (especially) to observe the motions in the heavens of the sun and moon, and of the zodiacal stars in which the conjunctions of these bodies take place, so that there should be no error as to where they rest and what they pass over; that there should be no failure in the record of all these things, according to the regular practice of early times.
13. In this month the son of Heaven on the first (hsin)[3] day prays to God for a good year; and afterwards, the day of the first conjunction of the sun and moon having been chosen, with the handle and share of the plough in the carriage, placed between the man-at-arms who is its third occupant and the driver, he conducts his three ducal ministers, his nine high ministers, the feudal princes and his Great officers, all with their own hands to plough the field of
[1. This rewarding, it is understood, was that mentioned in paragraph 15, p. 217.
2. These assistants are supposed to be the 'three ducal ministers.'
3. This took and takes place on the first (###) in day, the first day commencing with that character, the eighth of the ' stems.']
God. The son of Heaven turns up three furrows, each of the ducal ministers five, and the other ministers and feudal princes nine[1]. When they return, he takes in his hand a cup in the great chamber, all the others being in attendance on him and the Great officers, and says, 'Drink this cup of comfort after your toil.'
14. In this month the vapours of heaven descend and those of the earth ascend. Heaven and earth are in harmonious co-operation. All plants bud and grow.
15. The king gives orders to set forward the business of husbandry. The inspectors of the fields are ordered to reside in the lands having an eastward exposure, and (see that) all repair the marches and divisions (of the o-round), and mark out clearly the paths and ditches. They must skilfully survey the mounds and rising grounds, the slopes and defiles, the plains and marshes, determining what the different lands are suitable for, and where the different grains will grow best. They must thus instruct and lead on the people, themselves also engaging in the tasks. The business of the fields being thus ordered, the guiding line is first put in requisition, and the husbandry is carried on without error[2].
16. In this month orders are given to the chief director of Music to enter the college, and practise the dances (with his pupils)[3].
[1. The services described here are still performed, in substance, by the emperors of China and their representatives throughout the provinces. The field is generally called 'the imperial field,' through error. The grain produced by it was employed in the sacrifices or religious services of which God (Shang Tî) was the object, and hence arose the denomination.
2. Compare vol. iii, pp. 320-322, 370-373.
3. 'The chief director of Music' would be the same as the Tî Sze Yo of the Kâu Lî, Book XXII. There were dances of war (wan), and dances of peace (wân); but neither is in the text. But either term may include both classes of dancing. Callery translates by 'faire des évolutions.']
17. The canons of sacrifice are examined and set forth, an d orders are given to sacrifice to the hills and forests, the streams and meres, care being taken not to use any female victims[1].
18. Prohibitions are issued against cutting down trees.
19. Nests should not be thrown down; unformed insects should not be killed, nor creatures in the Womb, nor very young creatures, nor birds just taking to the wing, nor fawns, nor should eggs be destroyed.
20. No congregating of multitudes should be allowed, and no setting about the rearing of fortifications and walls[2].
21. Skeletons should be covered up, and bones with the flesh attached to them buried.
22. In this month no warlike operations should be undertaken; the undertaking of such is sure to be followed by calamities from Heaven. The not undertaking warlike operations means that they should not commence on our side[3].
[1. Not to destroy the life unborn. At 'the great sacrifices,' those to Heaven and Earth, and in the ancestral temple, only male victims were used, females being deemed 'unclean.' The host of minor sacrifices is intended here.
2. Such operations would interfere with the labours of husbandry.
3. War is specially out of time in the genial season of spring; but a state, when attacked, must, and might, defend itself even then.]
23. No change in the ways of heaven is allowed; nor any extinction of the principles of earth; nor an), confounding of the bonds of men[1].
24. If in the first month of spring the governmental proceedings proper to summer were carried out, the rain would fall unseasonably, plants and trees would decay prematurely, and the states would be kept in continual fear. If the proceedings proper to autumn were carried out, there would be great pestilence among the people; boisterous winds would work their violence; rain would descend in torrents; orach, fescue, darnel, and southernwood would grow up together. If the proceedings proper to winter were carried out, pools of water would produce their destructive effects, snow and frost would prove very injurious, and the first sown seeds would not enter the ground[2].
PART II.
I. In the second month of spring, the sun is in Khwei, the star culminating at dusk being Hû, and that culminating at dawn Kien-hsing[3].
2. It s days are kiâ and yî. Its divine ruler is Thâi Hâo, the attending spirit is Kâu-mang. Its
[1. Compare what is said in the fifth Appendix to the Yî King, paragraph 4 (vol. xvi, pp. 423, 424). The next paragraph is the sequel of this.
2. Such government would be comparable to the inversion of the seasons in the course of nature. Compare Proverbs xxvi. 1.
3. The constellation Khwei contains {beta} (Mirac), {delta}, {epsilon}, {zeta}, {mu}, {nu}, {pi} of Andromeda, and, some stars of Pisces. Hû or Hû Kih contains {delta}, {epsilon}, {eta}, {kappa}, of Canis Major; and {delta}, {omega}, of Argo; and Kien-hsing, {nu}, {xi}, {pi}, {rho}, {sigma} of Sagittarius' head.]
creatures are the scaly. Its musical note is Kio, and its pitch-tube is the Kiâ Kung[1].
3. Its number is eight; its taste is sour; its smell is rank. Its sacrifice is that at the door, and of the parts of the victim the spleen has the foremost place.
4. The rain begins to fall[2]. The peach tree begins to blossom. The oriole sings. Hawks are transformed into doves[3].
5. The son of Heaven occupies the Khing Yang Grand Fane[4]; rides in the carriage with the ph渘ix bells, drawn by the azure dragon-(horses), and bearing the green flag. He is dressed in the green robes, and wears the azure gems. He eats wheat
[1. Kiâ Kung, 'the double tube,' is the second tube of the six lower accords.
2. Literally, 'There commence the rains.' 'The rains' is now the name of the second of the twenty-four terms (February 15 to March 4).
3. This is the converse of the phenomenon in page 277, paragraph 3. Both are absurd, but the natural rendering in the translation is the view of Kang, Ying-tâ, Kâo Yû (the glossarist of Hwâi-nan Dze), and the Khien-lung editors. Seeking for the actual phenomenon which gave rise to the superstitious fancy, Professor Douglas renders the corresponding sentence of the Hsiâ Kang by 'hawks become crested hawks,' and thinks that the notice is based on the appearance of the hawks when 'the rearing instinct becomes excessive, and birds of prey become excited.' It may be so, but this meaning cannot be brought out of the text, and should not be presented as that of the writer of the Book.
4. See the note on p. 252. The three apartments (two of them subdivided) on the east of the Hall of, Distinction, all received the general designation of Khing Yang, 'the Green and Bright,' as characteristic of the season of Spring. It was now the second month of that season, and the king takes his place in the principal or central apartment, 'the Grand Fane.]'
and mutton. The vessels which he uses are slightly carved, (to resemble) the bursting forth (of nature).
6. In this month, they keep both the young buds and those more advanced from being disturbed; they nourish both the young animals and those not fully grown; they especially watch over all orphans.
7. The fortunate day is chosen, and orders are given to the people to sacrifice at their altars to the spirits of the ground[1].
8. Orders are given to the (proper) officers to examine the prisons; to remove fetters and handcuffs; that there shall be no unregulated infliction of the bastinado; and that efforts shall be made to stop criminal actions and litigations.
9. In this month the swallow makes its appearance[2]. On the day of its arrival, the son of Heaven sacrifices to the first match-maker with a bull, a ram, and a boar. He goes to do so in person, with his queen and help-mates, attended by his nine ladies of honour. Peculiar courtesy is shown to those whom he has (lately) approached. Bow-cases have been brought, and a bow and arrows are given to each before (the altar of) the first match-maker.
10. In this month day and night are equal[3]. Thunder utters its voice, and the lightning begins
[1. The sacrifice here was not that to Earth, which it was competent to the king alone to offer; nor to the spirits of the territories of the different states. It was offered by the people generally to the spirits presiding over their fields.
2. The swallow is, 'the dark-coloured bird,' of the third sacrificial ode of the Shang dynasty; see Vol. iii, p. 307.
3. The vernal equinox.]
to be seen. Insects in their burrows are all in motion, opening their doors and beginning to come forth.
11. Three days before the thunder[1], a bell with a wooden tongue is sounded, to give notice to all the people. 'The thunder,' it is said, 'is about to utter its voice. If any of you be not careful of your behaviour, you shall bring forth children incomplete; there are sure to be evils and calamities.'
12. At the equinox they make uniform the measures of length and capacity; the weight Of 30 catties, the steelyard, and the weight of 120 catties. They correct the peck and bushel, the steelyard weights and the bushel-scraper[2].
13. In this month few of the husbandmen remain in their houses in the towns. They repair, however, their gates and doors, both of wood and wattles; and put their sleeping apartments and temples all in good repair. No great labours, which would interfere with the work of husbandry, should be undertaken[3].
14. In this month (the fishermen) should not let the streams and meres run dry, nor drain off all the water from the dams and ponds, (in order to catch all the fish), nor should (the hunters) fire the hills and forests.
[1. We are not told how they knew this third day.
2. A catty (kin) at present = 1 1/3 lb. avoirdupois. The khün, or 30 catties, = 40 lbs. av.; and the shih, or 120 catties, = 160 lbs. av.; see Williams' Commercial Guide, pp. 278-231. The tâu (or peck, in use in the market) contains 10 catties of dry, cleaned rice, and measures 30 cubic zhun, or inches; and the hû, or bushel, = 5 tâu. The bushel-scraper is a piece of wood or roller used to level the top of the hû. But see Williams, pp. 281, 282.
3. Compare vol. iii, pp. 368-373.]
15. The son of Heaven at this time offers a lamb (to the ruler of cold), and opens the (reservoirs of) ice. Before (using it generally), they offer some in their principal apartment or in the ancestral temple[1].
16. On the first ting day[2] orders are given to the chief director of Music to exhibit the civil dances and unfold the offerings of vegetables[3] (to the inventor of music). The son of Heaven, at the head of the three ducal ministers, his nine high ministers, the feudal princes (at court), and his Great officers, goes in person to see the ceremony. On the second ting[2] day orders are given again to the same chief to enter the college, and practise music (with his pupils).
17. In this month at the (smaller) services of supplication[4] they do not use victims. They use offerings of jade, square and round, and instead (of victims) skins and pieces of silk.
18. If in this second month of spring the governmental proceedings proper to autumn were observed,
[1. Compare vol. iii, page 445. Where there was an ancestral temple, the ice would be presented there. The people who had no such temple might present it before the spirit-tablets of their deceased in their principal apartment, where these were set up.
2. The fourth and fourteenth cycle days.
3. The offerings were small and scanty in this month, fruits not yet being ready for such a use. Cress and tussel-pondweed are mentioned among the vegetables which were presented on this occasion.
4 The received text here means not 'services of supplication,' but sacrifices. That which I have adopted is, found in Zhâi Yung, and is approved by the Khien-lung editors. It is a necessary alteration, for in paragraphs 9 and 15 we have instances of victims used this month at sacrifices. The change in the text is not great in Chinese, the character ### for ###.]
there would be great floods, in the states; cold airs would be constantly coming; and plundering attacks would be frequent. If those of winter were observed, the warm and genial airs would be insufficient; the wheat would not ripen; and raids and strifes would be rife among the people. If those of summer were observed, there would be great droughts among the people; the hot airs would come too early; and caterpillars and other insects would harm the grain[1].
PART III.
1. In the last month of spring, the sun is in Wei, the constellation culminating at dusk being Khih hsing, and that culminating at dawn Khien-niû[2].
2. Its days are kiâ and yî. Its divine ruler is Thâi Hâo, and the attending spirit is Kâu-mang. Its creatures are the scaly. Its musical note is the Kio, and its pitch-tube is the Kû Hsien[3]. Its number is eight. Its taste is sour. Its smell is rank.
3. Its sacrifice is that at the door, and of the parts of the victim the spleen has the foremost place.
[1. Before this and the corresponding paragraphs in the Parts of the Book that follow, we must always understand paragraph 23 of the last Part, of which these concluding paragraphs are supposed to be the natural sequence.
2. Wei is the seventeenth of the twenty-eight Chinese constellations (longitude in 1800, 44?81' 17" corresponding to Musca borealis. Khih-hsing is understood to be {alpha} (Alphard) of Hydra, and small stars near it. Khien-niû corresponds to certain stars ({epsilon}, {mu}, {nu}) in the neck of Aquila.
3. Kû Hsien, 'the lady bathes,' is the third of the tubes that give the six upper musical accords.]
4. The Elaeococca begins to flower[1]. Moles are transformed into quails[2] . Rainbows begin to appear. Duckweed begins to grow.
5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Khing Yang (Fane); rides in the carriage with the ph渘ix bells, drawn by the azure dragon-(horses), and bearing the green flag. He is dressed in the green robes, and wears the azure gems. He eats wheat and mutton. The vessels which he uses are slightly carved, (to resemble) the bursting forth (of nature).
6. In this month the son of Heaven presents robes yellow as the young leaves of the mulberry tree to the ancient divine ruler (and his queen)[3].
7. Orders are given to the officer in charge of the boats to turn a boat bottom up. Five times he does so, and five times he turns it back again, after which he reports that it is ready for the son of Heaven, who
[1. This would probably be the Elaeococca vernicia, or Aleurites cordata.
2. This statement, perhaps, arose from seeing quails running about among the mole-hills. The Khien-lung editors say that the quails fly at night, and in the. day keep hidden among the grass; but they seem to admit the transformation. Professor Douglas explains the error from a want of recognition of the migration of quails.
3. Callery translates this by:--'L'empereur offre de la belle jaune de céréales (aux empereurs anciens et modernes qui l'ont précédé),' following a different reading for the article offered. The general view is what I have followed. The offering is supposed to have been in connexion with a sacrifice preparatory to the silkworm season. The rearing of silkworms was due, it was supposed, to Hsî-ling, the wife of the Yellow Tî. He is the 'Ancient Tî' intended here, I suppose. The name is not to be taken as in the plural. See the Khang-hsî, dictionary on the character khü (###).]
then gets into it for the first time (this spring). He offers a snouted sturgeon (which he has caught) in the rear apartment of the ancestral temple, and also prays that the wheat may yield its produce[1].
8. In this month the influences of life and growth are fully developed; and the warm and genial airs diffuse themselves. The crooked shoots are all put forth, and the buds are unfolded. Things do not admit of being restrained.
9. The son of Heaven spreads his goodness abroad, and carries out his kindly promptings. He gives orders to the proper officers to distribute from his granaries and vaults, giving their contents to the poor and friendless, and to relieve the needy and destitute; and to open his treasuries and storehouses, and to send abroad through all the nation the silks and other articles for presents, thus stimulating the princes of states to encourage the resort to them of famous scholars and show courtesy to men of ability and virtue.
10. In this month, he charges the superintendents of works, saying, 'The rains of the season will be coming down, and the waters beneath will be swelling up. Go in order over the states and visit the towns, inspecting everywhere the low and level grounds. Put the dykes and dams in good repair, clear the ditches and larger channels, and open all paths, allowing no obstruction to exist.'
[1. The five times repeated inspection of the boat does seem rather ridiculous. We must regard the king's taking to the boat as an encouragement to the fishermen, as his ploughing was to the husbandmen. The long-snouted sturgeon has always been called 'the royal sturgeon.' How the praying for a good wheat harvest seems to be connected with this ceremony I do not know.]
11. The nets used in hunting animals and birds, hand nets, archers' disguises, and injurious baits should not (in this month) issue from (any of) the nine gates[1].
12. In this month orders are given to the foresters throughout the country not to allow the cutting down of the mulberry trees and silk-worm oaks. About these the cooing doves clap their wings, and the crested birds light on them[2] . The trays and baskets with the stands (for the worms and cocoons) are got ready. The queen, after vigil and fasting, goes in person to the eastern fields to work on the mulberry trees. She orders the wives and younger women (of the palace) not to wear their ornamental dresses, and to suspend their woman's-work, thus stimulating them to attend to their business with the worms. When this has been completed, she apportions the cocoons, weighs out (afterwards) the silk, on which they go to work, to supply the robes for the solstitial and other great religious services, and for use in the ancestral temple. Not one is allowed to be idle.
13. In this month orders are given to the chiefs of works, to charge the workmen of their various departments to inspect the materials in the five storehouses:--those of iron and other metals; of skins
[1. 'On each side of the wall of the royal city,' says Lû Tien (early in the Sung dynasty), 'there were three gates.' Wû Khang says, 'The three gates on the south were the chief gates. Generally, such things as are mentioned here might issue from the other gates, but not from these; but in this month they could not issue from any of the nine.' Other explanations of 'the nine gates' have been attempted. The 'baits' (or medicines) were used to attract and to stupefy.
2 Perhaps the hoopoe.]
and hides and sinews; of horn and ivory; of feathers, arrows and wood (for bows); and of grease, glue, cinnabar, and varnish. (They are to see) that all these things be good. The workmen then labour at their several tasks. (The chiefs) inspect their work, and daily give them their orders. They must not produce anything contrary to what the time requires; nor can they practise a licentious ingenuity, which would dissipate the minds of their superiors.
14. In the end of this month a fortunate day is chosen for a grand concert of music. The son of Heaven, at the head of the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, the feudal princes (at court), and his great officers, goes in person to witness it.
15. In this month they collect the large, heavy bulls, and fiery stallions, and send them forth to the females in the pasture grounds. They number and make a list of the animals fit for victims, with the foals and calves.
16. Orders are given for the ceremonies against pestilence throughout the city; at the nine gates (also) animals are torn in pieces in deprecation (of the danger):-to secure the full development of the (healthy) airs of the spring[1].
17. If, in this last month of spring, the governmental
[1. Compare Analects X, 10, 2. The ceremonies there referred to were the same as those here, carried out in the villages and, indeed, throughout the land. Diseases prevailing were attributed by superstition to the action of evil spirits, and ridiculous measures adopted to drive them away. Confucius and others, even the government itself, gave countenance to these, seeing, perhaps, that in connexion with them the natural causes of disease would be in a measure dispelled.]
proceedings proper to winter were observed, cold airs would constantly be prevailing; all plants and trees would decay; and in the states there would be great terrors. If those proper to summer were observed, many of the people would suffer from pestilential diseases; the seasonable rains would not fall; and no produce would be derived from the mountains and heights. If those proper to autumn were observed, the sky would be full of moisture and gloom; excessive rains would fall early; and warlike movements would be everywhere arising.
SECTION II. PART 1.
1. In the first month of summer, the sun is in Pî; the constellation culminating at dusk being Yî, and that culminating at dawn Wû-nü[1].
2. Its days are ping and ting[2].
3. Its divine ruler is Yen Tî, and the (attending) spirit is Kû-yung[3].
4. Its creatures are the feathered.
5. Its musical note is Kih, and its pitch-tube is the Kung Lü[4].
6. Its number is seven[5]. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning.
[1. Pî is the name for the Hyades, or, more exactly, of six stars in Hyades, with {mu} and {nu} of Taurus; it is the nineteenth of the Chinese constellations. Yî is crater. Wû-nü is not so well identified. Williams says that it is 'a star near the middle of Capricorn,' but others say in Hercules. The R Yâ makes it the same as Hsü-nü (###). Probably it was a star in the constellation Nü of Aquarius.
2. The third and fourth stem characters of the cycle.
3. Yen Tî ('the blazing Tî') is the dynastic designation of Shan Nang, generally placed next to Fû-hsî in Chinese chronology, and whose date cannot be assigned later than the thirty-first century B.C. Kû-yung in one account is placed before Fû-hsî; in a second, as one of the ministers of Hwang Tî; and in a third, as a son of Khwan-hsü (B.C. 2510-2433). He was 'the Director of Fire,' and had the presidency of summer.
4 Kih is the fourth of the notes of the Chinese scale, and Kung Lü ('the middle Spine') the third of the tubes that give the six lower accords.
5. The number of fire is 2, which + 5, that of earth, = 7.]
7. Its sacrifice is that at the furnace[1]; and of the parts of the victim the lungs have the foremost place.
8. The green frogs croak. Earth-worms come forth. The royal melons grow[2]. The sow-thistle is in seed.
9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Ming Thang (Grand Fane); rides in the vermilion carriage, drawn by the red horses with black tails, and bearing the red flag. He is dressed in the red robes, and wears the carnation jade. He eats beans and fowls. The vessels which he uses are tall, (to resemble) the large growth (of things).
10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of summer. Three days before this ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, 'On such-and-such a day is the inauguration of summer. The energies of the season are most fully seen in fire.' On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-purification; and on the day, at the head of the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, and his Great officers, he proceeds to meet the summer in the southern suburbs. On their return, rewards are distributed. He grants to the feudal princes (an increase of) territory. Congratulations and gifts proceed, and all are joyful and pleased.
11. Orders are also given to the chief master of
[1. It was natural that they should sacrifice here in the summer. 'The lungs' is the fourth of the five viscera, and 'metal' the fourth of the five elements; but 'fire subdues metal.' This is supposed to account for the prominence given to the lungs in this sacrifice.
2. According to Williams this is the 'common cucumber.']
music to teach the practice of ceremonies and music together.
12. Orders are given to the Grand Peace-maintainer[1] to recommend men of eminence, allow the worthy and good to have free course and bring forward the tall and large. His conferring of rank and regulation of emolument must be in accordance with the position (of the individual).
13. In this month what is long should be encouraged to grow longer, and what is high to grow higher. There should be no injuring or overthrowing of anything; no commencing of works in earth; no sending forth of great multitudes (on expeditions); no cutting down of large trees.
14. In this month the son of Heaven begins to wear thin dolichos cloth.
15. Orders are given to the foresters throughout the country to go forth over the fields and plains, and, for the son of Heaven, to encourage the husbandmen, and stimulate them to work, and not let the season slip by unimproved.
Orders are (also) given to the minister of Instruction to travel in order through the districts to the borders, charging the husbandmen to work vigorously, and not to rest in the towns.
16. In this month they chase away wild animals to prevent them from doing harm to any of the
[1. The 'Grand Peace-maintainer' (###) was a title under the Khin dynasty, and instituted by it, of the Minister of War. The functions of the latter, as described in the last Book, page 234, are in harmony with what is said here. The occurrence of the name bears out the attributing of this Book to Lü Pû-wei.]
(growing) grain; but they should not have a great hunting.
17. When the husbandmen present (the first-fruits of) their wheat, the son of Heaven tastes it along with some pork, first offering a portion in the apartment behind (the hall of the) ancestral temple.
18. In this month they collect and store up the various medicinal herbs. Delicate herbs (now) die; it is the harvest time (even) of the wheat. They decide cases for which the punishments are light; they make short work of small crimes, and liberate those who are in prison for slight offences[1].
19. When the work with the silk-worms is over, the queen presents her cocoons; and the tithe-tax of cocoons generally is collected, according to the number of mulberry trees; for noble and mean, for old and young there is one law. The object is with such cocoons to provide materials for the robes to be used at the sacrifices in the suburbs and in the ancestral temple.
20. In this month the son of Heaven (entertains his ministers and princes) with strong drink and with (much) observance of ceremony and with music[2].
[1. There does not appear to be any connexion between the first sentence of this paragraph and the remainder of it. The medicinal herbs are collected while all their vigour is in them. For the things in the second sentence the 'summer heats' make a premature harvest; and this seems to lead to the third topic,--the saving those charged with slight offences from the effects of that heat in confinement.
2 The Khien-lung editors have a note here, which is worth quoting, to the effect that as the great solstitial sacrifices and the seasonal sacrifices of the ancestral temple do not appear in this Book, the drinking here was at court entertainments.]
21. If, in this first month of summer, the proceedings proper to autumn were observed, pitiless rains would be frequent; the five esculent plants[1] would not grow large, and in all the borders people would have to enter the places of shelter. If those proper to winter were observed, all plants and trees would wither early, and afterwards, there would be great floods, destroying city and suburban walls. If those proper to spring were observed, there would be the calamity of locusts, violent winds would come, and plants in flower would not go on to seed.
PART II.
1. In the second month of summer the sun is in the eastern Zing, the constellation culminating at dusk being Khang, and that culminating at dawn Wei[2].
2. Its days are ping and ting. Its divine ruler is Yen Tî, and the (attending) spirit is Khû-yung. Its creatures are the feathered. Its musical note is Kih, and its pitch-tube is Sui Pin[3].
3. Its number is seven. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning. Its sacrifice is that at the furnace; and of the parts of the victim the lungs have the foremost place.
4. The (period of) slighter heat arrives; the praying mantis is produced; the shrike begins to give its notes; the mocking-bird ceases to sing[4].
[1. Hemp or flax, millet, rice, bearded grain, and pulse.
2. Zing comprehends {gamma}, {epsilon}, {xi}, {lambda}, {mu},{nu} Gemini; Khang, {iota}, {kappa}, {lambda}, {mu}, {rho} Virgo; and Wei corresponds to {alpha}, Aquarius, and {epsilon}, {theta}, Pegasus.
3. Sui Pin, 'the flourishing Guest,' is the fourth of the tubes that give the six upper musical accords.
4. This is here 'the inverted Tongue.' The Khang-hsî dictionary says it is the same as 'the hundred Tongues;' the Chinese mocking-bird.]
5. The son of Heaven occupies the Ming Thang Grand Fane; rides in the vermilion carriage, drawn by the red horses with black tails, and bearing the red flag. He is dressed in the red robes, and wears the carnation gems. He eats beans and fowls. The vessels which he uses are tall, (to resemble) the large growth (of things).
6. They encourage the (continued) growth of what is strong and beautiful'.
7. In this month orders are given to the music-masters to put in repair the hand-drums, smaller drums, and large drums; to adjust the lutes, large and small, the double flutes, and the pan-pipes; to teach the holding of the shields, pole-axes, lances, and plumes; to tune the organs, large and small, with their pipes and tongues; and to put in order the bells, sonorous stones, the instrument to give the symbol for commencing, and the stopper[2].
8. Orders are given to the (proper) officers to pray for the people and offer sacrifice to the (spirits of the) hills, streams, and all springs. (After that) comes the great summer sacrifice for rain to God, when all
[1. Kû Hsî would remove this paragraph to the thirteenth of the last Part. It seems to me to be in its proper place.
2. See vol. iii, p. 324. The stopper is represented thus:--
{illustration}
It was made to sound by a metal rod drawn along the spinous back. I have seen a similar instrument, used for the same purpose, brought from Madras.]
the instruments of music are employed. Then orders are given throughout all the districts to sacrifice to the various princes, high ministers, and officers who benefited the people; praying that there may be a good harvest of grain[1].
9. The husbandmen present (the first-fruits of) their millet; and in this month the son of Heaven partakes of it along with pullets, and with cherries set forth beside them, first offering a portion in the apartment behind the ancestral temple.
10. The people are forbidden to cut down the indigo plant to use it in dyeing[2],
11. Or to burn wood for charcoal, or to bleach cloth in the sun.
12. The gates of cities and villages should not be shut[3], nor should vexatious inquiries be instituted at the barrier gates or in the markets.
[1. The first and last of the three sacrificial services in the paragraph were subsidiary to the second, the great praying for rain to God by the sovereign; the motive is not mentioned in the text, but only he could conduct a service to God. Callery renders:--'En même temps l'empereur invoque le ciel auec grand apparat (afin d'obtenir de la pluie), et cette cérémonie est accompagnée de grande musique.' All Chinese commentators admit that the performer was the sovereign. Kang Khang-khang says: 'For this sacrifice to God, they made an altar (or altars) by the side of the (grand altar in the) southern suburb, and sacrificed to the five essential (or elemental) gods with the former rulers as their assessors.' But the Khien-lung editors insist on the text's having ' God,' and not ' five gods,' and that the correct view is that the sacrifice was to the one God dwelling in the bright sky, or, as Williams renders the phrase, 'the Shang Tî of the glorious heaven.'
2. The plant would not yet be fully fit for use.
3. Every facility should be afforded for the circulation of air during the summer heats.]
13. Leniency should be shown to prisoners charged (even) with great crimes, and their allowance of food be increased[1].
14. Impregnated mares are collected in herds by themselves, and the fiery stallions are tied up. The rules for the rearing of horses are given out.
15. In this month the longest day arrives. The influences in nature of darkness and decay and those 'Of brightness and growth struggle together; the tendencies to death and life are divided[2]. Superior men give themselves to vigil and fasting. They keep retired in their houses, avoid all violent exercise, restrain their indulgence in music and beautiful sights, eschew the society of their wives, make their diet spare, use no piquant condiments, keep their desires under rule, and maintain their spirits free from excitement. The various magistrates keep things quiet and inflict no punishments[3];--to bring about that state of settled quiet in which the influence of darkness and decay shall obtain its full development.
16. Deer shed their horns. Cicadas begin to sing. The midsummer herb is produced. The tree hibiscus flowers[4].
17. In this month fires should not be lighted (out of doors) in the southern regions (of the country).
[1. The leniency would be seen in the lightening of their fetters for one thing,--in consequence of the exhaustion produced by the season.
2. Decay begins to set in, while growth and vigour seek to maintain their hold.
3. The Khien-lung editors approve a reading here, which means, instead of 'no punishments,' 'no rash or hurried action.'
4. The 'tree hibiscus' is the 'hibiscus syriacus.' The 'half-summer herb' is medicinal. It is 'white, with round seeds, and of a hot and pungent taste.']
18. People may live in buildings high and bright. They may enjoy distant prospects. They may ascend hills and heights. They may occupy towers and lofty pavilions[1].
19. If, in the second month of summer, the governmental proceedings of winter were observed, hail and told would injure the grain; the roads would not be passable; and violent assaults of war would come. If the proceedings proper to spring were observed, the grains would be late in ripening; all kinds of locusts would continually be appearing; and there would be famine in the states. If those proper to autumn were observed, herbs and plants would drop their leaves; fruits would ripen prematurely; and the people would be consumed by pestilence.
PART III.
I. In the third month of summer the sun is in Liû, the constellation culminating at dusk being Kwo, and that culminating at dawn Khwei[2].
2. Its days are ping and ting. Its divine ruler is Yen Tî, and the (assisting) spirit is Khû-yung. Its musical note is Kih, and its pitch-tube is Lin Kung[3].
[1. At the beginning of this paragraph there should be--'In this month.'
2. Liû comprehends {delta}, {epsilon}, {eta}, {theta}, {rho}, {sigma} and {omega} Hydræ; Hwo is the same as Hsin, the fifth of the Chinese zodiacal constellations comprehending Antares, {sigma}, {tau}, and two C. 2584, 2587, Scorpio; Khwei (as stated above, p. 257) comprehends {beta} (Mirac), {delta}, {epsilon}, {xi}, {mu}, {nu}, {pi} of Andromeda, and some stars of Pisces.
3. The fourth of the tubes that give the six lower musical accords.]
3. Its number is seven. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning. Its sacrifice is that at the furnace; and of the parts of the victim the lungs have the foremost place.
4. Gentle winds begin to blow. The cricket takes its place in the walls. (Young) hawks learn to practise (the ways of their parents).[1] Decaying grass becomes fire-flies.
5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Ming Thang (Fane); rides in the vermilion carriage, drawn by the red horses with black tails, and bearing the red flag. He is dressed in the red robes, and wears the carnation gems. He eats beans and fowls. The vessels which he uses are tall, (to resemble) the large growth (of things).
6. Orders are given to the master of the Fishermen to attack the alligator, to take the gavial, to present the tortoise, and to take the great turtle[2].
7. Orders are given to the superintendent of the Meres to collect and send in the rushes available for use.
8. In this month orders are given to the four
[1. Compare what is said about hawks in paragraph 4, page 258. 'Here,' says Wang Thao, 'we have the turtle-doves transformed back to hawks, showing that the former notice was metaphorical.' What is said about the fire-flies is, of course, a mistaken fancy.
2. The first of these animals--the kiâo--is, probably, the alligator or crocodile it was taken only after a struggle or fight. The second--the tho--had a skin used in making drums; and its flesh, as well as that of the fourth--the yûan--was used in making soup.]
inspectors[1] to make a great collection over all the districts of the different kinds of fodder to nourish the sacrificial victims; and to require all the people to do their utmost towards this end;-to supply what is necessary for (the worship of) God (who dwells in) the great Heaven, and for the spirits of the famous hills, great streams, and four quarters, and for the sacrifices to the Intelligences of the ancestral temple, and at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain; that prayer may be made for blessing to the people.
9. In this month orders are given by the officers of women's (work), on the subject of dyeing[2]. (They are to see) that the white and black, the black and green, the green and carnation, the carnation and white be all according to the ancient rules, without error or change; and that their black, yellow, azure, and carnation be all genuine and good, without any presumptuous attempts at imposition. These furnish the materials for the robes used at the sacrifices in the suburbs and the ancestral temple; for flags and their ornaments; and for marking the different degrees of rank as high or low.
10. In this month the trees are luxuriant; and orders are given to the foresters to go among the hills and examine the trees, and see that the people do not cut any down or lop their branches[3].
[1. Of hills, forests, rivers, and meres.
2. We find full details of the number and duties of the superintendents of women's work, with its tailoring, dyeing, and other things, in the Kâu Lî, Books I and VII.
3. The Khien-lung editors say that this was to let the process of growth have its full course; and, besides, that wood cut down in spring and summer will be found full of insects.]
11. There should not be any work in earth[1], (now) undertaken; nor any assembling of the princes of the states; nor any military movements, causing general excitement. There should be no undertaking of (such) great affairs, which will disturb the nourishing growth that is proceeding, nor any issuing of orders to be hereafter carried into effect. All these things will interfere with the business of husbandry, (which is specially dear to) the Spirits[2] . The floods are now great and overflow the roads; husbandry (dear to) the Spirits has to take in hand its various tasks. The curse of Heaven will come on the undertaking of great affairs (at this time).
[1. Such as building walls and fortifications, or laying out the ground.
2. The text is--'will interfere with the business of Shan Nang (###).' How is it that 'husbandry' has here the epithet of Shan, or 'spiritual,' 'mysterious,' applied to it? The Khien-lung editors say:-'Zhâi Yung (our second century) makes Shan Nang to be Yen Tî (the divine ruler of the summer). Kang made the name to be that of "the spirit of the ground." Kâo Yû (second century) took it as a name for the minister of Husbandry. To some extent each of these views might be admitted, but none of them is very certain. Looking carefully at the text it simply says that no great undertakings should be allowed to interfere with husbandry. That it does not plainly say husbandry, but calls it the Shan husbandry, is from a sense of its importance, and therefore making it out to be Spirit-sanctioned. Heaven produced the people, and the grain to nourish them; is not sowing and reaping the business of Heaven? When a ruler knows this, he feels that he is under the inspection of Heaven in his reverent regard of the people, and the importance which he attaches to husbandry. He will not dare lightly to use the people's strength, so as to offend against Heaven.' I have tried to bring out their view in my version.]
12. In this month the ground lies steaming and wet beneath the heats, for great rains are (also) continually coming. They burn the grass lying cut upon the ground[1] and bring the water over it. This is as effectual to kill the roots as hot water would be; and the grass thus serves to manure the fields of grain and hemp, and to fatten the ground which has been but just marked out for cultivation.
13. If, in the last month of summer, the governmental proceedings proper to spring were observed, the produce of grain would be scanty and fail; in the states there would be many colds and coughs; and the people would remove to other places. If the proceedings proper to autumn were observed, even the high grounds would be flooded; the grain that had been sown would not ripen; and there would be many miscarriages among women. If those proper to winter were observed, the winds and cold would come out of season; the hawks and falcons would prematurely attack their prey; and all along the four borders people would enter their places of shelter.
SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION.
1. Right in the middle (between. Heaven and Earth, and the other elements) is earth.
2. Its days are wû and kî.
3. Its divine ruler is Hwang Tî, and the (attending) spirit is Hâu-thû.
[1. Compare what is said on the duties of those who cut the grass, as is here assumed to be done, in the Kâu Lî, Book XXXVII, paragraphs 80, 81 (###).]
4. Its creature is that without any natural covering but the skin.
5. Its musical note is Kung, and its pitch-tube gives the kung note from the tube Hwang Kung.
6. Its number is five. Its taste is sweet. Its smell is fragrant.
7. Its sacrifice is that of the middle court; and of the parts of the victim the heart has the foremost place.
8. The son of Heaven occupies the Grand apartment of the Grand fane; rides in the great carriage drawn by the yellow horses with black tails, and bearing the yellow flag; is clothed in the yellow robes, and wears the yellow gems. He eats panicled millet and beef. The vessels which he uses are round, (and made to resemble) the capacity (of the earth)[1].
[1. I have called this a supplementary section. It is dropt in, in all its brevity, without mention of any proceedings of government, between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. It has all the appearance of an after-thought, suggested by the superstitious fancies of the compiler. Callery says on it:--
'This passage can only be comprehended by help of the intimate affinities which Chinese philosophers have attributed to the different beings of nature. According to them, the four seasons are related to the four cardinal points: spring to the east, summer to the south, autumn to the west, and winter to the north. Each of the cardinal points is related to an element: the east to wood, the south to fire, the west to metal, and the north to water. But as there is a fifth element, that of earth, and the four cardinal points have no reason for being distinguished as they are, but that there is a point in the middle between them, which is still the earth, it follows from this that the earth ought to have its place in the midst of the four seasons, that is, at the point of separation between summer and autumn. Here a difficulty presented itself. The bamboo flutes to which the Chinese months are referred being but twelve, where shall be found the musical affinities of the earth? But the Chinese philosopher did not find himself embarrassed. See how he reasoned. The sound of the first flute, that is, of the longest and largest, is the strongest and most grave, and, like a bass, harmonizes with all the other sounds more acute. So the earth, likewise, is the most important of all the elements; it extends towards all the cardinal points, and intervenes in the products of each season. Hence the earth ought to correspond to the sound of the first flute! These affinities extend to colours, tastes, and a crowd of other categories.'
The Khien-lung editors say:--
Speaking from the standpoint of Heaven, then the earth is in the midst of Heaven; that is, (the element of) earth. Speaking from the standpoint of the Earth, then wood, fire, metal, and water are all supported on it. The manner in which the way of Earth is affected by that of Heaven cannot be described by reference to one point, or one month. Speaking from the standpoint of the heavenly stems, then wû and kî occupy the middle places, and are between the stems for fire and metal, to convey the system of mutual production. Speaking from the standpoint of the "earthly branches," the khan, hsü, khâu, and wi occupy the corners of the four points; wood, fire, metal, and water, all turn to earth. This is what the idea of reciprocal ending, and that of elemental flourishing, arise from. This may be exhibited in the several points, and reckoned by the periods of days. The talk about the elements takes many directions, but the underlying principle comes to be the same!'
I shall be glad if my readers can understand this.]
SECTION III. PART I.
1. In the first month of autumn, the sun is in Yî the constellation culminating at dusk being Kien-hsing, and that culminating at dawn Pî[1].
2. Its days are kang and hsin.
3. Its divine ruler is Shâo Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is Zû-shâu[2].
4. Its creatures are the hairy.
5. Its musical note is Shang; its pitch-tube is Î Zeh[3].
6. Its number is nine. Its taste is bitter. Its smell is rank.
7. Its sacrifice is that at the gate; and of the parts of the victim the liver has the foremost place.
8. Cool winds come; the white dew descends[4] the cicada of the cold chirps[5]. (Young) hawks at this
[1. Yî corresponds to Crater. Kien-hsing comprehends stars in Sagittarius (see page 257). Pî corresponds to the Hyades.
2. Shâo Hâo follows Hwang Tî, whose eldest son he was, as the fourth in the list of the five Tî, or divine rulers (B.C. 2594). His capital was at Khü-fâu, the city of Confucius; and I have seen, at a little distance from it, perhaps the only pyramid in China, which is in memory of him, and said to be on or near his grave. His personal appellation is Kin-thien (###) or Thien-kin, the element to which he and his reign are assigned being kin, or metal. Zû-shâu was one of his sons.
3. Î Zeh, 'the equalization of the Laws,' is the tube giving the fifth of the upper musical accords.
4. White dew is a name for hoar-frost.
5. This cicada (Williams thinks the cicada viridis) is called 'the dumb.' Now it begins to chirp. Its colour is 'green and red.']
time sacrifice birds, as the first step they take to killing (and eating) them[1].
9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Zung-kang (Fane); rides in the war chariot, drawn by the white horses with black manes, and bearing the white flag. He is clothed in the white robes, and wears the white jade. He eats hemp-seeds and dog's flesh. The vessels which he uses are rectangular, and going on to be deep[2].
10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of autumn. Three days before the ceremony) the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, 'On such-and-such a day is the inauguration of the autumn. The character of the season is fully seen in metal.' On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-adjustment; and on the day he leads in person the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, the princes of states (at court), and his Great officers, to meet the autumn in the western suburb, and on their return he rewards the general-in-chief, and the military officers in the court.
11. The son of Heaven also orders the leaders and commanders to choose men and sharpen weapons, to select and exercise those of distinguished merit, and
[1. Compare what is said about the otter, page 251.
2. Zung-kang is made out to mean, 'all bright,' and the apartment was on the west; with mystical reference to the maturity and gathering of all things in the autumn, or season of the west. The vessels were rectangular, having sharp corners in harmony with the sharp weapons made of metal, to which element the season of autumn is referred; and they were deep, to resemble the deep bosom of the earth, to which things now begin to return.]
to give their entire trust only to men whose services have been proved;--thereby to correct all unrighteousness. (He instructs them also) to make enquiries about and punish the oppressive and insolent;--thereby making it clear whom he loves and whom he hates, and giving effect to (the wishes of) the people, even the most distant from court.
12. In this month orders are given to the proper officers to revise the laws and ordinances, to put the prisons in good repair, to provide handcuffs and fetters, to repress and stop villainy, to maintain a watch against crime and wickedness, and to do their endeavour to capture criminals. Orders are (also) given to the managers (of prisons) to look at wounds, examine sores, inspect broken members, and judge particularly of dislocations. The determination of cases, both criminal and civil, must be correct and just. Heaven and earth now begin to be severe; there should be no excess in copying that severity, or in the opposite indulgence[1].
13. In this month the husbandmen present their grain. The son of Heaven tastes it, while still new, first offering some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple.
14. Orders are given to all the officers to begin their collecting and storing the contributions (from
[1. For this last sentence Callery has:--'(Ce mois-ci) la nature commencant à devenir rigoureuse, on ne doit pas augmenter (ses rigeurs par l'application de châtiments trop sévères).' Wang Thâo takes an opposite view. I think I have got the thought that was in the compiler's mind. See the note of the Khien-lung editors with reference to the advocacy of it by commentators of 'the Brief Calendar of Hsiâ.']
the husbandmen); to finish the embankments and dykes; to look to the dams and fillings up in preparation for the floods, and also to refit all houses; to strengthen walls and enclosures; and to repair city and suburban walls.
15. In this month there should be no investing of princes, and no appointment of great ministers. There should be no dismemberment of any territory, no sending out on any great commission, and no issuing of great presents.
16. If, in this first month of autumn, the proceedings of government proper to winter were observed, then the dark and gloomy influence (of nature) would greatly prevail; the shelly insects would destroy the grain; and warlike operations would be called for. If the proceedings proper to spring were observed, there would be droughts in the states; the bright and growing influence would return; and the five kinds of grain would not yield their fruit. If the proceedings proper to summer were observed, there would be many calamities from fire in the states; the cold and the heat would be subject to no rule; and there would be many fevers among the people.
PART II.
1. In the second month of autumn the sun is in Kio, the constellation culminating at dusk being Khien-niû, and that culminating at dawn Dze-hsî,.
2. Its days are kang and hsin. Its divine ruler
[1. Kio corresponds to {alpha} (Spica) and {zeta} of Virgo; Khien-niû (see on page 262) to certain stars in the neck of Aquila; and Dze-hsî is said to be {lambda} Orion.
is Shâo Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is Zû-shâu. Its insects are the hairy. Its musical note is Shang, and its pitch-tube is Nan Lü[1].
3. Its number is nine. Its taste is bitter. Its smell is rank. Its sacrifice is that of the gate; and of the parts of the victim the liver has the foremost place.
4. Sudden and violent winds come. The wild geese arrive. The swallows return (whence they came)[2]. Tribes of birds store up provisions (for the future)[3].
5. The son of Heaven occupies the Zung-kang Grand Fane; rides in the war chariot, drawn by the white horses with black manes, and bearing the white flag. He is clothed in the white robes, and wears the white gems. He eats hemp-seed and dog's flesh. The vessels which he uses are rectangular or cornered, and rather deep.
6. In this month they take especial care of the
[1. Nan Lü, 'the southern spine,' is the tube that gives the fifth of the lower musical accords.
2. The wild geese are now returning to their winter quarters, from which they had come in the first month of spring; see page 251. So with the swallows, who had appeared in the second month of spring; see page 259.
3 This sentence is hardly translatable or intelligible. Some would read as in paragraph 95 of 'the Brief Calendar of Hsiâ' (###), translated by Professor Douglas: 'The red birds (i. e. fire-flies) devour the white birds (i. e. mosquitoes),' which be ingeniously supports by a reference to the habits of the fire-fly from Chambers' Encyclopædia. But his translation of hsiû by 'devour' is inadmissible. Wang Thâo says that this view is 'chisseling.' 'Sparrows and other birds,' he says, 'now collect seeds of grapes and trees, and store them in their nests and holes against the time of rain and snow.']
decaying and old; give them stools and staves, and distribute supplies of congee for food.
7. Orders are given to the superintendent of robes to have ready the upper and lower dresses with their various ornaments. For the figures and embroidery on them there are fixed patterns. Their size, length, and dimensions must all be according to the old examples. For the caps and girdles (also) there are regular rules.
8. Orders are given to the proper officers to revise with strict accuracy (the laws about) the various punishments. Beheading and (the other) capital executions must be according to (the crimes) without excess or defect. Excess or defect out of such proportion will bring on itself the judgment (of Heaven).
9. In this month orders are given to the officers of slaughter and prayer to go round among the victims for sacrifice, seeing that they are entire and complete, examining their fodder and grain, inspecting their condition as fat or thin, and judging of their looks. They must arrange them according to their classes. In measuring their size, and looking at the length (of their horns), they must have them according to the (assigned) measures. When all these points are as they ought to be, God will accept the sacrifices[1].
10. The son of Heaven performs the ceremonies against pestilence, to secure development for the (healthy) airs of autumn.
11. He eats the hemp-seed (which is now presented)
[1. Kang says here: 'And if God accept them, of course there is no other spirit that will not do so.']
along with dog's flesh, first offering some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple.
12. In this month it is allowable to rear city and suburban walls, to establish cities and towns, to dig underground passages and grain-pits, and to repair granaries, round and square.
13. Orders are given to the proper officers to be urgent with the people, and (to finish) receiving their contributions and storing them. They should do their best to accumulate (large) stores of vegetables and other things.
14. They should (also) stimulate the wheat-sowing. (The husbandmen) should not be allowed to miss the proper time for the operation. Any who do so shall be punished without fail.
15. In this month day and night are equal. The thunder begins to restrain its voice. Insects stop up the entrances to their burrows. The influence to decay and death gradually increases. That of brightness and growth daily diminishes. The waters begin to dry up.
16. At the equinox, they make uniform the measures of length and capacity; equalise the steel-yards and their weights; rectify the weights of 30 and 120 catties; and adjust the pecks and bushels.
17. In this month they regulate and reduce the charges at the frontier gates and in the markets, to encourage the resort of both regular and travelling traders, and the receipt of goods and money; for the convenience of the business of the people. When merchants and others collect from all quarters, and come from the most distant parts, then the resources (of the government) do not fail. There is no want of means for its use; and all things proceed prosperously.
18. In commencing great undertakings, there should be no opposition to the great periods (for them) as defined (by the motion of the sun). They must be conformed to the times (as thereby marked out), and particular attention paid to the nature of each[1].
19. If in this second month of autumn the proceedings proper to spring were observed, the autumnal
[1. Callery translates this paragraph by: 'Toute personne ayant une chose importante à accomplir ne doit pas se mettre en opposition avec les grands principes (yin et yang); il doit se conformer au temps (propre à agir; mais il doit aussi) bien examiner la nature même de l'entreprise.' He appends to this the following note:--'Les deux principes yin et yang auxquels se rapportent tous les êtres, ayant tour-à-tour la prédominance dans certaines époques de l'année, le temps convenable pour une chose quelconque est celui auquel prédomine le principe dont cette chose dépend par son affinité naturelle. Ainsi, par exemple, les travaux de terrassement et de construction conviennent en automne, parce que le principe yin dont ils dépendent est en progrès pendant l'automne. Néanmoins, de ce que cette époque de l'année est favorable sous ce point de vue, il ne s'ensuit pas que toute entreprise de construction faite en automne soit avantageuse en elle-même; une foule de circonstances peuvent la rendre ruineuse, et c'est à l'entrepreneur de bien l'examiner, abstraction faite de la saison.'
The text rendered by Callery, 'les deux principes (yin et yang),' is simply tâ shû, 'the grand numbers,' the meaning of which I have endeavoured to bring out by the supplements in my version. The yin and yang are not mentioned in the text of the paragraph. They are simply a binomial phrase for the course of nature, with special reference to the weather and its conditions, as regulated by the action of the sun on the earth in the coarse of the seasons.]
rains would not fall; plants and trees would blossom; and in the states there would be alarms. If those proper to summer were observed, there would be droughts in the states; insects would not retire to their burrows; and the five grains would begin to grow again. If those proper to winter were observed, calamities springing from (unseasonable) winds would be constantly arising; the thunder now silent would be heard before its time; and plants and trees would die prematurely.
PART III.
1. In the last month of autumn the sun is in Fang, the constellation culminating at dusk being Hsü [1], and that culminating at dawn Liû.
2. Its days are kang and hsin. Its divine ruler is Shâo Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is 3û-shâu. Its creatures are the hairy. Its musical note is Shang, and its pitch-tube is Wû Yî[2].
3. Its number is nine. Its taste is bitter. Its smell is rank. Its sacrifice is that at the gate; and of the parts of the victim the liver has the foremost place.
4. The wild geese come, (and abide) like guests[3].
[1. Fang comprehends {beta}, {delta}, {pi}, {rho} Scorpio. Hsü corresponds to {beta} Aquarius; and Liû comprehends {delta}, {epsilon}, {zeta}, {eta}, {rho}, {sigma}, {phi} Hydra.
2. Wû Yî, 'the unwearied,' is the tube giving the sixth upper musical accord.
3. The addition of guests here is a difficulty. It is said on the previous month that 'the wild geese come;' are these here the same as those, or are they others,--the younger birds, as some suppose, which had waited after the former, and still found it necessary to remain on their passage to recruit their strength?]
Small birds enter the great water and become mollusks[1]. Chrysanthemums show their yellow flowers. The khâi sacrifice larger animals, and kill (and devour) the smaller[2].
5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Zung-kang (Fane); rides in the war chariot, drawn by the white horses with black manes, and bearing the white flags; is dressed in the white robes, and wears the white jade. He eats hemp-seeds and dog's flesh. The vessels which he uses are rectangular, cornered, and rather deep.
6. In this month the orders are renewed and
[1. Professor Douglas has made it more than probable that the 'small birds' here are sand-pipers. What is said about them, however, will, not admit of his version, that they 'go into the sea or lakes for crustaceae.' His 'crustaceae' should be 'mollusks.' According to all rules of Chinese composition, what he renders 'for' must be taken verbally, = 'to become.' It is not merely the Chinese 'commentators,' who consider the sentence to mean, 'Sparrows go into the sea and become crustaceae (? mollusks);' it is what the text says. It is indeed an absurd statement, but a translator is not responsible for that. The Khien-lung editors observe that there is no mention here of the little birds being 'transformed,' as in the paragraph about the 'hawks' on page 258, and hence they argue that we cannot understand the notice here metaphorically. They accept the fact (?). The marine Ko, which is mentioned here, as figured in the plates of the Pan Zhâo Kang-mû, is the Calyptroida Trochita.
2. Compare what is said. about the otter, page 251. Professor Douglas argues that the khâi is the polecat. But this identification cannot yet be received as certain. The khâi is 'dogfooted,' 'hunts in troops,' and has 'a voice like that of the dog.' In Japanese plates it is not at all like 'the polecat.' An English naturalist, to whom I submitted a Japanese work illustrative of the Shih King, many years ago, has written over the khâi, 'a wild dog or wolf.']
strictly enjoined, charging the various, officers (to see) that noble and mean all exert themselves in the work of ingathering, in harmony with the storing of heaven and earth. They must not allow anything to remain out in the fields.
7. Orders are also given to the chief minister, after the fruits of husbandry have all been gathered in, to take in hand the registers of the produce of the different grains (from all the country), and to store up the produce that has been gathered from the acres of God in the granary of the spirits; doing this with the utmost reverence and correctness[1].
8. In this month the hoar-frost begins to fall; and all labours cease (for a season).
9. Orders are given to the proper officers, saying, 'The cold airs are all coming, and the people will not be able to endure them. Let all enter within their houses (for a time).'
10. On the first ting day orders are given to the chief Director of music to enter the college, and to practise (with his pupils) on the wind instruments.
11. In this month an announcement is made to the son of Heaven that the victims for the great sacrifice to God, and the autumnal sacrifice in the ancestral temple' are fit and ready.
[1. This,' says Hsü sze-zang (Ming dynasty), 'is the great rule of making provision for the sustenance of men and for serving spiritual beings,--two things demanding the utmost inward reverence and outward reverential vigour.' I suppose that the 'spirit-granary' contained the grain for all governmental sacrifices, as well as that gathered from 'the acres of God,' and to be used specially in sacrifices to Him.
2. This paragraph gives great trouble to the Khien-lung editors but we need not enter on their discussions.]
12. The princes of the states are assembled, and orders given to the officers of the various districts (in the royal domain). They receive the first days of the months for the coming year[1], and the laws for the taxation of the people by the princes, both light and heavy, and the amount of the regular contribution to the government, which is determined by the distance of the territories and the nature of their several productions. The object of this is to provide what is necessary for the suburban sacrifices and those in the ancestral temple. No private considerations are allowed to have place in this.
13. In this month the son of Heaven, by means of hunting, teaches how to use the five weapons of war, and the rules for the management of horses.
14. Orders are given to the charioteers and the seven (classes of) grooms[2] to see to the yoking of the several teams, to set up in the carriages the flags and various banners[3], to assign the carriages according to the rank (of those who were to occupy them), and to arrange and set up the screens outside (the royal tent). The minister of Instruction, with his baton
[1. This last month of autumn, the ninth from the first month of spring, was the last month of the year with the dynasty of Zhin, when it was high time to give out the calendar for the months of the next year.
2. The sovereign's horses were divided into six classes, and every class had its own grooms, with one among them who had the superintendence of the rest. See a narrative in the Zo Kwan, under the eighteenth year of duke Khang.
3. Two of these insignia are mentioned in the text;--the Zing, which was only a pennant, and the Kâo, a large banner with a tortoise and serpent intertwined. No doubt the meaning is, 'the various banners,']
stuck in his girdle, addresses all before him with his face to the north.
15. Then the son of Heaven, in his martial ornaments, with his bow in one hand, and the arrows under the armpit of the other, proceeds to hunt. (Finally), he gives orders to the superintendent of Sacrifices, to offer some of the captured game to (the spirits of) the four quarters.
16. In this month the plants and trees become yellow and their leaves fall, on which the branches are cut down to make charcoal.
17. Insects in their burrows all try to push deeper, and from within plaster up the entrances. In accordance with (the season), they hurry on the decision and punishment of criminal cases, wishing not to leave them any longer undealt with. They call in emoluments that have been assigned incorrectly, and minister to those whose means are insufficient for their wants.
18. In this month the son of Heaven eats dog's flesh and rice, first presenting some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple.
19. If, in this last month of autumn, the proceedings proper to summer were observed, there would be great floods in the states; the winter stores would be injured and damaged; there would be many colds and catarrhs among the people. If those proper to winter were observed, there would be many thieves and robbers in the states; the borders would be unquiet; and portions of territory would be torn from the rest. If those proper to spring were observed, the warm airs would come; the energies of the people would be relaxed and languid; and the troops would be kept moving about.
SECTION IV. PART I.
1. In the first month of winter the sun is in Wei, the constellation culminating at dusk being Wei, and the constellation culminating at dawn Khih-hsing[1].
2. Its days are the zan and kwei.
3. Its divine ruler is Kwan-hsü, and the (attending) spirit is Hsüan-ming[2].
4. Its creatures are the shell-covered.
5. Its musical note is Yu, and its pitch-tube is Ying Kung[3].
6. Its number is six. Its taste is salt. Its smell is that of things that are rotten.
7. Its sacrifice is that at (the altar of) the path, and
[1. Wei (###) comprehends {epsilon}, {mu} Scorpio; Wei (###, as on page 272) corresponds to stars in Aquarius and Pegasus. Khih Hsing (as on p. 262) corresponds to stars in Hydra.
2. Kwan-hsü is the dynastic designation of the grandson of Hwang Tî, the commencement of whose reign is, assigned in B.C. 2510. He is known also by the personal designation of Kâo-yang, from the name of his second capital. Among the elements his reign is assigned to water, and thence to the north; and hence the designation of his minister as Hsüan-ming, 'the dark and mysterious,' who was called Hsiû (###) and Hsî (##), and is said to have been a son of Shâo Hâo.
3. Yü is the fifth of the notes of the scale; and Ying Kung, 'the responsive tube,' the name of the last of the tubes giving the six lower musical accords.]
among the parts of the victim the kidneys have the foremost place[1].
8. Water begins to congeal. The earth begins to be penetrated by the cold. Pheasants enter the great water and become large mollusks[2]. Rainbows are hidden and do not appear.
9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Hsüan Thang (Fane); rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag; is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured jade. He eats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.
10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of winter. Three days before this ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, 'On such-and-such a day is the inauguration of winter. The character of the season is fully seen in
[1. This altar was outside the gate leading to the ancestral temple, on the, west of it. Many say that here was the 'well' supplying the water used for the temple, and would read zang (###) for hsing (###).
2. The 'great water' here is said in the 'Narratives of the States' (Book XV) to be the Hwâi. The khan is said to be a large species of the ko, into which small birds are transformed (p. 292). Of course the transmutation of the pheasants into these is absurd. Professor Douglas has found in a Chinese Encyclopædia a statement that khan is sometimes an equivalent of phû lû (###), 'sweet flags and rushes.' The lû, however, is sometimes read lo, and said to have the same sound and meaning as ### 'a spiral univalve;' but the great objection to Professor Douglas' view is the meaning he puts on the ### as pointed out on p. 292. The text cannot be construed as he proposes.]
water.' On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-adjustment; and on the day of the inauguration he leads in person the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, and his Great officers to meet the winter in the northern suburbs. On his return he rewards (the descendants of) those who died in the service (of the kingdom), and shows his compassion to orphans and widows.
11. In this month orders are given to the Grand recorder to smear with blood the tortoise-shells and divining stalks', and by interpreting the indications of the former and examining the figures formed by the latter, to determine the good and evil of their intimations. (In this way) all flattery and partizanship in the interpretation of them (will become clear), and the crime of the: operators be brought home. No concealment or deceit will be allowed.
12. In this month the son of Heaven sets the example of wearing furs.
13. Orders are issued to the proper officers in the words:--'The airs of heaven are ascended on high, and those of earth have descended beneath. There is no intercommunion of heaven and earth. All is shut up and winter is completely formed.'
14. Orders are given to all the officers to cover up carefully the stores (of their departments). The minister of Instruction is also ordered to go round (among the people and see) that they have formed their stores, and that nothing is left ungathered.
15. The city and suburban walls are put in good
[1. See in Mencius, I, 7, 4, on the consecration of a bell by smearing parts of it with blood.]
repair; the gates of towns and villages are looked after; bolts and nuts are put to rights; locks and keys are carefully attended to; the field-boundaries are strengthened; the frontiers are well secured; important defiles are thoroughly defended; passes and bridges are carefully seen after; and narrow ways and cross-paths are shut up.
16. The rules for mourning are revised; the distinctions of the upper and lower garments are defined; the thickness of the inner and outer coffins is decided on; with the size, height and other dimensions of graves. The measures for all these things are assigned, with the degrees and differences in them according to rank.
17. In this month orders are given to the chief Director of works to prepare a memorial on the work of the artificers; setting forth especially the sacrificial vessels with the measures and capacity (of them and all others), and seeing that there be no licentious ingenuity in the workmanship which might introduce an element of dissipation into the minds of superiors; and making the suitability of the article the first consideration. Every article should have its maker's name engraved on it, for the determination of its, genuineness. When the production is not what it ought to be, the artificer should be held guilty and an end be thus put to deception.
18. In this month there is the great festivity when they drink together, and each of the stands bears half its animal roasted[1].
[1. Wang Thâo understands this paragraph as meaning that at this season all, both high and low, feast in expression and augmentation of their joy. The characters will bear this interpretation. The kang, of the text however, has also the meaning which appears in the translation; though on that view the statement is not so general. See the 'Narratives of the States,' I, ii. 8.]
19. The son of Heaven prays for (a blessing on) the coming year to the Honoured ones of heaven; sacrifices with an ox, a ram, and a boar at the public altar to the spirits of the land, and at the gates of towns and villages; offers the sacrifice three days after the winter solstice with the spoils of the chase to all ancestors, and at the five (household) sacrifices; -thus cheering the husbandmen and helping them to rest from their toils[1].
20. The son of Heaven orders his leaders and commanders to give instruction on military operations,
[1. The most common view seems to be that we have here the various parts of one sacrificial service, three days after the winter solstice, called kâ (###), in the time of Kâu, and lâ (###), in that of Khin. While the son of Heaven performed these services, it must have been at different places in the capital I suppose, analogous and modified services were celebrated generally throughout the kingdom.
There is no agreement as to who are intended by 'the Honoured ones of heaven.' Many hold that they are 'the six Honoured ones,' to whom Shun is said to have sacrificed in the second part of the Shû King. But the Khien-lung editors contend that the want of 'six' is a fatal objection to this view. Kâo Yû, supposing the six Honoured ones to be meant, argued that 'heaven, earth, and the four seasons' were intended by them,--those seasons co-operating with heaven and earth in the production of all things; but the same editors show, from the passages in the Shû, that heaven can in no sense be included among the six Honoured ones. They do not say, however, who or what is intended by the designation in the text. The lâ in the paragraph is taken in a pregnant sense, as if it were lieh (### and not ###), meaning 'to sacrifice with the spoils of the chase.']
and to exercise (the soldiers) in archery and chariot-driving, and in trials of strength.
21. In this month orders are given to the superintendent of waters and the master of fishermen to collect the revenues from rivers, springs, ponds, and meres, taking care not to encroach in any way on any among the myriads of the people, so as to awaken a feeling of dissatisfaction in them against the son of Heaven. If they do this, they shall be punished for their guilt without forgiveness.
22. If, in the first month of winter, the proceedings of government proper to spring were observed, the cold that shuts up all beneath it would not do so tightly; the vapours of the earth would rise up and go abroad; many of the people would wander away and disappear. If those proper to summer were observed, there would be many violent winds in the states; winter itself would not be cold; and insects would come forth again from their burrows. If those proper to autumn were observed ' the snow and hoarfrost would come unseasonably; small military affairs would constantly be arising; and incursions and loss of territory would occur.
PART II.
1. In the second month of winter the sun is in Tâu, the constellation culminating at dusk being the eastern Pî, and that culminating at dawn Kan[1].
[1. Tâu comprehends {zeta}, {lambda}, {mu}, {sigma}, {tau}, {phi} of Sagittarius; the eastern Pî, the fourteenth of the Chinese constellations, consists of Algenib or {gamma} Pegasus, and a of Andromeda; Kan is the last of the constellations, and contains {beta}, {gamma}, {delta} and {epsilon} Corvus.]
2. Its days are zan and kwei. Its divine ruler is Kwan-hsü, and the (attending) spirit is Hsüan-ming. Its creatures are the shell-covered. Its musical note is Yü, and its pitch-tube is Hwang Kung[1].
3. Its number is six. Its taste is salt. Its smell is that of things that are rotten. Its sacrifice is that at (the altar of) the path, and of the parts of the victim the kidneys have the foremost place.
4. The ice becomes more strong. The earth begins to crack or split. The night bird ceases to sing. Tigers begin to pair[2].
5. The son of Heaven occupies the Grand Fane Hsüan Thang; rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag. He is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured gems of jade. He eats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.
6. All things relating to the dead are revised and regulated[3].
7. Orders are given to the proper officer to the following effect[4]:--'There should nothing be done in
[1. See page 281, paragraph 5.
2. The earth begins to crack;' some say from the increasing intensity of the cold; others from the warmth which has begun to return. The returning warmth is indicated by the undivided line with which Hi, the hexagram of the eleventh month, commences--
---- ------- ------- ------- ------- -----------
'The night bird' sings during the night till the dawn; 'a hill bird, like a fowl.'
3. See paragraph 16, page 299. The paragraph may be inadvertently introduced here.
4. 'The proper officer' here is said to be 'the minister of Instruction,' or 'the officer of the People.']
works of earth; care should be taken not to expose anything that is covered, nor to throw open apartments and houses, and rouse the masses to action;--that all may be kept securely shut up. (Otherwise) the genial influences of earth will find vent, which might be called a throwing open of the house of heaven and earth. In this case all insects would die; and the people be sure to fall ill from Pestilence, and various losses would ensue.' This charge is said to be giving full development to the (idea of the) month.
8. In this month orders are given to the Director of the eunuchs to issue afresh the orders for the palace, to examine all the doors, inner and outer, and look carefully after all the apartments. They must be kept strictly shut. All woman's-work must be diminished, and none of an extravagant nature permitted. Though noble and nearly related friends should come to visit the inmates, they must all be excluded.
9. Orders are given to the Grand superintendent of the preparation of liquors to see that the rice and other glutinous grains are all complete; that the leaven-cakes are in season; that the soaking and heating are cleanly conducted; that the water be fragrant; that the vessels of pottery be good; and that the regulation of the fire be right. These six things have all to be attended to, and the Grand superintendent has the inspection of them, to secure that there be no error or mistake.
10. The son of Heaven issues orders to the proper officers to pray and sacrifice to (the spirits presiding over) the four seas, the great rivers (with their) famous sources, the deep tarns, and the meres, (all) wells and springs[1].
11. In this month) if the husbandmen have any productions in the fields, which they have not stored or collected, or if there be any horses, oxen or other animals,--which have been left at large, any one may take, them without its being inquired into.
12. If there be those who are able to take from, the hills and forests, marshes and meres. edible fruits[2], or to capture game by hunting, the wardens and foresters should give them the necessary information and guidance. If there be among them those who encroach on or rob the others, they should be punished without fail.
13. In this month the shortest day arrives. The principle of darkness and decay (in nature) struggles with that of brightness and growth[3]. The elements of life begin to move. Superior men give themselves to self-adjustment and fasting. They keep retired in their houses. They wish to be at rest in their
[1. Winter is the season in which the element of water predominates, and it was in virtue of this that the dynasty of Zhin professed to rule. The Khwan-lun mountains (Koulkun), between the desert of Gobi and Thibet, are the source of the Hwang Ho; Yüan-min, the source of the Kiang; Thung-po, that of the Hwâi; the Kî grew out of the Yen, rising from the hill of Wang-wa. See Chinese Classics, Vol. iii, pp. 127-140.
2 Hazel-nuts and chestnuts are given as examples of the former; and the water-caltrops and Euryale ferox, or 'cock's head,' of the latter.
This description of the month is well illustrated by the lines of Fû, the hexagram of it referred to above,--
---- ------- ------- ------- ------- -----------
the lowest line representing the principle of light and growth, which just found readmission in the year, and is seeking to develop itself.]
persons; put away all indulgence in music and beautiful sights; repress their various desires; give repose to their bodies and all mental excitements. They wish all affairs to be quiet, while they wait for the settlement of those principles of darkness and decay, and brightness and growth.
14. Rice begins to grow. The broom-sedge rises up vigorously[1]. Worms curl[2]. The moose-deer shed their horns[3]. The springs of water are (all) in movement.
15. When the shortest day has arrived, they fell trees, and carry away bamboos, (especially) the small species suitable for arrows.
16. In this month-offices in which there is no business may be closed, and vessels for which there is no use may be removed.
17. They plaster (and repair) the pillars and gateways (of the palace), and the courtyard (within), and also doors and other gateways; rebuilding (also all) prisons, to co-operate with the tendency of nature to shut up and secure (the genial influences at this season).
18. If in this second month of winter the proceedings of government proper to summer were observed,
[1. This is called by Dr. Williams 'a species of iris.' The roots. are made into brooms.
2. This is a fancy. The commentators say that the worms curl and twist, with their heads turned downwards, as if seeking to return to the warmth beneath the surface.
3. The shedding of the horns in. winter shows that the mî here, (###), is a species of the elk or moose-deer, and different from the lû (###) which sheds its horns in the sixth month. The mî is described as being fond of the water, and as large as a small ox.]
there would be droughts in the states; vapours and fogs would shed abroad their gloom, and thunder would utter its voice. If those proper to autumn were observed, the weather would be rainy and slushy; melons and gourds would not attain their full growth; and there would be great wars in the states. If those proper to spring were observed, locusts would work their harm; the springs would all become dry; and many of the people would suffer from leprosy and foul ulcers.
PART III.
1. In the third month of winter the sun is in Wû-nü, the constellation culminating at dusk being Lâu, and that culminating at dawn Tî[1].
2. Its days are zan and kwei. Its divine ruler is Kwan-hsü, and the (attendant) spirit is Hsüan-ming. Its creatures are the shell-covered. Its musical note is Yü, and its pitch-tube is Tâ Lü[1].
3. Its number is six. Its taste is salt. Its smell is that of things that are rotten. Its sacrifice is that at (the altar of) the path; and the part of the victim occupying the foremost place is the kidneys.
4. The wild geese go northwards. The magpie begins to build. The (cock) pheasant crows[3]. Hens hatch.
[1. Wû-nü, as in paragraph 1, Page 269. Lâu corresponds to {alpha}, {beta}, {gamma}, {iota} in the head of Aries; Tî, to {alpha}, {beta}, {delta}, {iota}, {mu}, {nu} Libra.
2. Tâ Lü is the first of the tubes giving the six lower musical accords.
3. As is said in the Shih, II, v, 3, 5:--
'Crows the pheasant at the dawn,And his mate is to him drawn.']
5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Hsüan Thang (Fane); rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron-black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag. He is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured gems of jade. He cats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.
6. He issues orders to the proper officers to institute on a great scale all ceremonies against pestilence, to have (animals) torn in pieces on all sides, and (then) to send forth the ox of earth, to escort away the (injurious) airs of the cold[1].
7. Birds of prey fly high and rapidly[2].
8. They now offer sacrifices all round to (the spirits of) the hills and rivers, to the great ministers of the (ancient) deified sovereigns, and to the spirits of heaven (and earth)[3].
9. In this month orders are given to the master of the Fishermen to commence the fishers' work. The son of Heaven goes in person (to look on). He partakes of the fish caught, first presenting some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple[4].
[1. Compare par. 16, p. 266. The 'ox of earth' is still seen in China. This evidently is one of the natural phenomena of the season, and should belong to paragraph 4. The translation of the first two characters by 'Birds of prey' is sufficiently close and exact.
3 The Khien-lung editors point out the difficulties in explaining the three sacrifices here referred to, and seem to think they were practices of Khin, about which we have little information. 'The great ministers of the Tî' in the second member were probably those mentioned at the commencement of each season. They supplement the concluding member, as I have done, from Lü's Khun Khiû.
4. Compare paragraphs 7, p. 263; 17, p. 271. in paragraph 7,p. 263, the sovereign gets himself into a boat, a thing now impossible through the ice. Fish are in their prime condition in winter and spring.]
10. The ice is now abundant: thick and strong to the bottom of the waters and meres. Orders are given to collect it, which is done, and it is carried into (the ice-houses).
11. Orders are given to make announcement to the people to bring forth their seed of the five grains. The husbandmen are ordered to reckon up the pairs which they can furnish for the ploughing; to repair the handles and shares of their ploughs; and to provide all the other instruments for the fields.
12. Orders are given to the chief director of Music to institute a grand concert of wind instruments; and with this (the music of the year) is, closed[1].
13. Orders are given to the four Inspectors[2] to collect and arrange the faggots to supply the wood and torches for the suburban sacrifices, those in the ancestral temple, and all others.
14. In this month the sun has gone through all his mansions; the moon has completed the number of her conjunctions; the stars return to (their places) in the heavens. The exact length (of the year) is nearly completed, and the year will soon begin again. (It is said), 'Attend to the business of your husbandmen. Let them not be employed on anything else.'
15. The son of Heaven, along with his ducal and
[1. Compare paragraph 16, p. 261, et al. Wind instruments were supposed to suit the quiet and meditativeness of autumn and winter, better than the drums and dances of the other seasons.
2. 'The four Inspectors' Compare paragraph 8, p. 277. Some read thien (###) for Sze (###), 'Inspectors of the fields.']
other high ministers and his Great officers, revises the statutes for the states, and discusses the proceedings of the different seasons; to be prepared with what is suitable for the ensuing year.
16. Orders are given to the Grand recorder to make a list of the princes of the states according to the positions severally assigned to them[1], and of the victims required from them to supply the offerings for the worship of God dwelling in the great heaven, and at the altars of (the spirits of) the land and grain. Orders were also given to the states ruled by princes of the royal surname to supply the fodder and grain for the (victims used in the worship of the) ancestral temple. Orders are given, moreover, to the chief minister to make a list of (the appanages of) the various high ministers and Great officers, with the amount of the land assigned to the common people, and assess them with the victims which they are to contribute to furnish for the sacrifices to (the spirits presiding over) the hills, forests, and famous streams. All the people under the sky, within the nine provinces, must, without exception, do their utmost to contribute to the sacrifices:-to God dwelling in the great heaven; at the altars of the (spirits of the) land and grain; in the ancestral temple and the apartment at the back of it; and of the hills, forests, and famous streams.
17. If, in the last month of winter, the governmental proceedings proper to autumn were observed, the white dews would descend too early; the shelly creatures
[1. As being of the same surname as the royal house, or otherwise; the degree of their rank; the size of their territory.]
would appear in monstrous forms[1]; throughout the four borders people would have to seek their places of shelter. If those proper to spring were observed, women with child and young children would suffer many disasters; throughout the states there would be many cases of obstinate disease; fate would appear to be adverse. If those proper to summer were observed, floods would work their ruin in the states; the seasonable snow would not fall, the ice would melt, and the cold disappear.
[1. This is the proper force of the characters. Wang Thâo interprets them as meaning that the creatures would bore through dykes and boats, so that the former would let the water through and the latter sink.]
BOOK V. THE QUESTIONS OF ZANG-DZE[1].
SECTION 1.
Zang-dze asked, 'If a ruler dies and a son and heir is born (immediately after), what course should be adopted?'
Confucius said, 'The high nobles[2], Great officers and (other) officers, following the chief (minister), who takes charge of the government for the time, (should collect) at the south of the western steps, with their faces towards the north[3]. (Then) the Grand officer of prayer, in his court robes and cap, bearing in his hands a bundle of rolls of silk, will go up to the topmost step, and (there), without ascending the hall, will order the wailing to cease. Mournfully clearing his voice three times[4], he will make announcement (to the spirit of the deceased ruler), saying, "The son of such and such a lady has been born. I venture to announce the fact." He will then go up, and place the silks on a stool on the east of the body in the coffin[5], wail, and descend. All the relatives of the deceased who are there (at the mourning), the high nobles, the Great and other
[1. See the introduction, pp. 21, 22.
2. These were also ministers; see paragraph 4, page 213.
3. The usual place was at the eastern steps.
4. To call the attention of the spirit of the deceased.
5. The rolls of silk were, I suppose, the introductory present proper on an interview with a superior.]
officers, (with the women) in the apartments, all will wail, but without the leaping. When this burst of sorrow is over, they will return to their (proper) places, and proceed forthwith to set forth the mourning offerings to the dead. The minor minister will ascend, and take away the bundle of silks[1].
2. 'On the third day, all the relatives, high nobles, Great and other officers, should take their places as before, with their faces to the north. The Grand minister, the Grand master of the ancestral temple, and the Grand officer of prayer, should all be in their court-robes and caps. The master for the child[2] will carry the child in his arms on a mat of sackcloth. The officer of prayer will precede, followed by the child, and the minister and master of the temple will come after. Thus they will enter the door (of the apartment where the coffin is), when the wailers will cease. The child has been brought up by the western steps[3], and is held in front of the coffin with his face to the north, while the officer of prayer stands at the south-east corner of it. Mournfully clearing his voice three times, he will say, "So and So, the son of such and such a lady, and we, his servants, who follow him, presume to appear before you." The boy is (then made) to do obeisance, with his forehead on the ground, and to wail. The officer of prayer, the minister, the officer of the temple, all the relatives, the high nobles, with the Great and other officers,
[1. And bury it in the court between the two flights of stairs.
2. Thus early is it made to appear that the child is put under a master; p. Zottoli translates the name by 'secundus magister.'
3. The child had been brought by the master from the women's apartments, and carried to the court, that he might thus go up again to the hall by these steps.]
will wail and leap[1], leaping three times with each burst of grief. (Those who had gone up to the hall then) descend, and go back to their proper places on the east; where all bare the left arm and shoulder. The son (in the arms of his bearer is made) to leap, and (the women) in the apartments also leap. Thrice they will do so, leaping three times each time. (The bearer for the son) will cover up his sackcloth[2], walk with a staff, (ascend and) set forth the offerings by the dead, and then quit the scene. The Grand minister will charge the officer of prayer and the recorder to announce the name all round, at the five altars of the house, and at those (to the spirits) of the hills and streams[3].'
3. Zang-dze asked, 'If the son and heir have been born after the burial (of the) ruler, what course should be followed?'
Confucius said, 'The Grand minister and the Grand master of the ancestral temple will follow the Grand officer of prayer, and announce the fact before the spirit tablet (of the deceased ruler)[4]. Three months after they will give the name in the same place, and announce it all round', and also at the altars to (the
[1. A most expressive indication of the sorrow proper to the occasion.
2. The breast and shoulder of the child had also been bared.
3. The 'five household altars' are those at which the sacrifices were offered in the palace or house, often mentioned in the last Book.
4 The characters of the text, 'in the shrine temple of the father,' denote the special shrine or smaller temple assigned to the father in the great ancestral temple; but that was not assigned till after all the rites of mourning were over. The characters here denote the spirit tablet which had been before the burial set up over the coffin, and which was now removed to a rear apartment. p. Zottoli simply has 'coram tabellâ.'
5 At the courts of the sovereign and of the other princes.]
spirits of) the land and grain, in the ancestral temple, and (at the altars of) the hills and streams.'
4. Confucius said, 'When princes of states are about to go to the (court of the) son of Heaven, they must announce (their departure) before (the shrine of) their grandfather, and lay their offerings in that of their father[1]. They then put on the court cap, and go forth to hold their own court. (At this) they charge the officer of prayer and the recorder to announce (their departure) to the (spirits of the) land and grain, in the ancestral temple, and at the (altars of the) hills and rivers. They then give (the business of) the state in charge to the five (subordinate) officers[2], and take their journey, presenting the offerings to the spirits of the road[3] as they set forth. All the announcements should be completed in five days. To go beyond this in making them is contrary to rule. In every one of them they use a victim and silks. On the return (of the princes) there are the same observances.'
5. 'When princes of states are about to visit one another, they must announce (their departure) before
[1. The characters here are the same as in the preceding paragraph, but here they have their usual force. Announcement and offerings were made at both shrines.
2. The most likely opinion is that these five officers were-two belonging to the department of the minister of Instruction, two to that of the minister of Works, and one to that of the minister of War. On them, for reasons which we may not be able to give, devolved on such occasions the superintendence of the state.
3. There seems to be no doubt of the meaning here, but this significance of ### not given in the Khang-hsî dictionary. The more common term is ###.]
the shrine of their father[1]. They will then put on their court robes, and go forth to hold their own court. (At this) they charge the officer of prayer and the recorder to announce (their departure) at the five shrines in the ancestral temple, and at the altars of the hills and rivers which they will pass. They then give (the business of) the state in charge to the five officers, and take their journey, presenting the offerings to the spirits of the road as they set forth. When they return, they will announce (the fact) in person to their grandfather and father[1], and will charge the officer of prayer and the recorder to make announcement of it at the altars where they announced (their departure). (When this has been done), they enter and give audience in the court.'
6. Zang-dze asked, 'If the funerals of both parents[2] take place together, what course is adopted? Which is first and which last?'
Confucius said, 'The rule is that the burying of the less important (mother) should have the precedence, and that of the more important (father) follow, while the offerings to them are set down in the opposite order. From the opening of the apartment and conveying out the coffin (of the mother) till its interment no offerings are put down; when the coffin is on the route to the grave, there is no wailing at the regular place for that ceremony. When they return from this interment, they set down the offerings (to the father), and afterwards announce (to his spirit) when the removal of his coffin will take
[1. There would seem. to be an omission in the former of these sentences of the announcement to the grandfathers.
2. Or grandparents.]
place, and proceed to arrange for the interment. It is the rule that the sacrifice of repose should first be offered to the more important (father), and afterwards to the less important (mother).
7. Coufucius said[1], 'The eldest son, even though seventy, should never be without a wife to take her part in presiding at the funeral rites. If there be no such eldest son, the rites may be performed without a presiding wife.'
8. Zang-dze asked, 'It has been proposed to invest a son with the cap, and the investors have arrived, and after exchanging bows and courtesies (with the master of the house), have entered. If then news should come that the death of some relative has occurred, for whom a year's mourning or that of nine months must be worn, what should be done?'
Confucius said, 'If the death has taken place within (the circle of the same surname), the ceremony should be given up[2]; but if without (that circle), it will go on, but the sweet wine will not be presented to the youth. The viands will be removed and the place swept, after which he will go to his proper position and wail. If the investors have not yet arrived, the capping will be given up (for the time)[3].
9. 'If the arrangements for the capping have been
[1. The words of Confucius are here, as in some other paragraphs, not preceded by the formula, 'Zang-dze asked.' Some say this is an omission, intentional or unintentional, of the compiler. Some commentators deride the judgment (see especially Ho Kung-yü), holding it unworthy of Confucius.
2. Because then a festal and a mourning service would come together in the ancestral temple.
3. The investors may have previously heard of the death, and not kept their appointment.]
made, but before the day arrives, an occasion for the one year's mourning, or for that of nine months, or five months, have arrived, the youth shall be capped in his mourning dress.'
10. 'When all mourning is over, may a son continue to wear the cap which he has hitherto worn[1]?'
Confucius said, 'When the son of Heaven gives to the (young) prince of a state or a Great officer his robes and the cap proper to each in the grand ancestral temple, the youth on his return home- will set forth his offering (in his own ancestral temple), wearing the robes that have been given to him, and here he will drink the cup of capping (as if) offered by his father[2], without the cup of wine at the ceremony.
11. 'When a son is (thus) capped after his father's death, he is considered to be properly capped; he will sweep the ground, and sacrifice at his father's shrine. This being done, he will present himself before his uncles, and then offer the proper courtesies to the investors.'
12. Zang-dze asked, 'Under what circumstances is it that at sacrifice they do not carry out the practice of all drinking to one another?'
Confucius said, 'I have heard that at the close of the one year's mourning, the principal concerned in it
[1. Till he was capped, a youth wore nothing on his head. But in the case supposed the youth's time for capping had arrived; and he had assumed a cap without the ceremony.
2. When a father gave orders to his son about his capping or marriage, he gave him a cup of ordinary wine. The sweet wine was given to the youth by a friend or friends who had invested him with the cap. The real answer to Zang-dze's question is in paragraph 11.]
sacrifices in his inner garment of soft silk, and there is not that drinking all round. The cup is set down beside the guests, but they do not take it up. This is the rule. Formerly duke Kâo of Lû[1], while in that silken garment, took the cup and sent it all round, but it was against the rule; and duke Hâo[2], at the end of the second year's mourning, put down the cup presented to him, and did not send it all round, but this also was against the rule.'
13. Zang-dze asked, 'In a case (of the) mourning for nine months, can (the principal) take part in contributing to the offerings (to the dead of others)?'
Confucius said, 'Why speak only of (the mourning for) nine months? In all cases from (the mourning for) three years downwards, it may be done. This is the rule.'
Zang-dze said, 'Would not this be making the mourning of little importance, and attaching (undue) importance to mutual helpfulness?'
Confucius said, 'This is not what I mean. When there is mourning for the son of Heaven or the prince of a state, (all) who wear the sackcloth with the jagged edges (will contribute to) the offerings. At the mourning of a Great officer, (all) who wear the sackcloth with the even edges will do so. At the mourner of an ordinary officer, his associates and friends will do so. If all these be not sufficient, they may receive contributions from all who should mourn for nine months downwards; and if these be still insufficient, they will repeat the process[3].'
[1. B.C. 541-510.
2. B.C. 795-769. This is going a long way back.
3. On this paragraph p. Zottoli says:--'Zang-dze petit an aliquis in novem mensium luctu constitutus possit adjuvare alterius funestae familiae oblationem. Confucius intelligit de adjuvanda proprii funeris oblatione.' There appears to be a similar misunderstanding between the two in the next paragraph.]
14. Zang-dze asked, 'In a case of the mourning for five months, may (the principal) take part in the other sacrifices (of mourning)[1]?'
Confucius said, 'Why speak only of the mourning for five months? In all cases from the mourning for three years downwards, (the principals) take part in those sacrifices.'
Zang-dze said, 'Would not this be making the mourning of little importance, and giving (undue) importance to the sacrifices?'
Confucius said, 'In the mourning sacrifices for the son of Heaven and the prince of a state, none but those who wear the sackcloth with the jagged edges take part in them. In those for a Great officer, they who wear the sackcloth with the even edges do so. In those for another officer, if the participants be insufficient, they add to them from their brethren who should wear mourning for nine months downwards.'
15. Zang-dze asked, 'When acquaintances are in mourning, may they participate in one another's sacrifices?'
Confucius said, 'When wearing the three months' mourning, one has no occasion to sacrifice (in his own ancestral temple), and how should he assist another man (out of his own line)?'
[1. Khung Ying-tâ makes this out to be the sacrifices of repose, and at the end of the wailing. I think the reference is more general.]
16. Zang-dze asked, 'When one has put off his mourning, may he take part in contributing to the offerings (for the dead of another)?'
Confucius said, 'To take part in the offerings (to another's dead), on putting off one's own sackcloth, is contrary to the rule. Possibly, he may perform the part of assisting him in receiving visitors.'
17. Zang-dze asked, 'According to the rules for marriages, the presents have been received and a fortunate day has been fixed;--if then the father or mother of the young lady die, what course should be adopted?'
Confucius said, 'The son-in-law will send some one to condole; and if it be his father or mother that has died, the family of the lady will in the same way send some to present their condolences. If the father have died, (the messenger) will name the (other) father (as having sent him); if the mother, he will name the (other) mother. If both parents be dead (on both sides), he will name the oldest uncle and his wife. When the son-in-law has buried (his dead), his oldest uncle will offer a release from the engagement to the lady, saying, "My son, being occupied with the mourning for his father or mother, and not having obtained the right to be reckoned among your brethren, has employed me to offer a release from the engagement." (In this case) it is the rule for the lady to agree to the message and not presume to (insist on) the marriage (taking place immediately). When the son-in-law has concluded his mourning, the parents of the lady will send and request (the fulfilment of the engagement). The son-in-law will not (immediately come to) carry her (to his house), but afterwards she will be married to him; this is the rule. If it be the father or mother of the lady who died, the son-in-law will follow a similar course[1].'
18. Zang-dze asked, 'The son-in-law has met the lady in person, and she is on the way with him:--if (then) his father or mother die, what course should be adopted?'
Confucius said, 'The lady will change her dress[2]; and in the long linen robe[3], with 'the cincture of white silk round her hair, will hasten to be present at the mourning rites. If, while she is on the way, it be her own father or mother who dies, she will return[4].'
19. 'If the son-in-law have met the lady in person, and before she has arrived at his house, there occur a death requiring the year's or the nine months' mourning, what course should be adopted?'
Confucius said, 'Before the gentleman enters, be will change his dress in a place outside. The lady will enter and change her dress in a place inside. They will then go to the proper positions and wail.'
Zang-dze asked, 'When the mourning is ended, will they not resume the marriage ceremonies?'
[1. Is the final marriage of the lady to the original betrothed 'son-in-law,' or bridegroom as we should say; or to another, that she may not pass the proper time for her marrying? Khung Ying-tâ, and other old commentators, advocate the latter view. Others, and especially the Khien-lung editors, maintain the former; and I have indicated in the version my agreement with them. There are difficulties with the text; but Confucius would hardly have sanctioned the other course.
2. At the house of him who was now her husband.
3. This, called 'the deep garment,' had the body and skirt sown together. See Book XXXIV.
4 This would be done, it is said, by Hsü Sze-zhang (Ming dynasty), to allow play to her filial piety, but she would live at the house of 'the son-in-law.']
Confucius said, 'It is the rule, that when the time of sacrifice has been allowed to pass by, it is not then offered. Why in this case should they go back to what must have taken place previously?'
20. Confucius said, 'The family that has married a daughter away, does not extinguish its candles for three nights, thinking of the separation that has taken place. The family that has received the (new) wife for three days has no music; thinking her bridegroom is now in the place of his parents[1]. After three months she presents herself in the ancestral temple, and is styled "The new wife that has come." A day is chosen for her to sacrifice at the shrine of her father-in-law; expressing the idea of her being (now) the established wife.'
21. Zang-dze asked, 'If the lady die before she has presented herself in the ancestral temple, what course should be adopted?'
Confucius said, '(Her coffin) should not be removed to the ancestral temple, nor should (her tablet) be placed next to that of her mother-in-law. The husband should not carry the staff; nor wear the shoes of straw; nor have a (special) place (for wailing). She should be taken back, and buried among her kindred of her own family;--showing that she had not become the established wife.'
22. Zang-dze asked, 'The fortunate day has been fixed for taking the lady (to her new home), and she dies (in the meantime):--what should be done?'
Confucius said, 'The son-in-law will come to condole, wearing the one year's mourning, which he will
[1. This and the statements that follow suppose that the bridegroom's parents are dead.]
lay aside when the interment has taken place. If it be the husband who dies, a similar course will be followed on the other side.'
23. Zang-dze asked, 'Is it according to rule "that at the mourning rites there should be two (performing the part of) the orphan son (and heir, receiving visitors)[1], or that at a temple-shrine there should be two spirit-tablets?'
Confucius said, 'In heaven there are not two suns; in a country there are not two kings[2]; in the seasonal sacrifices, and those to Heaven and Earth[3], there are not. two who occupy the highest place of honour. I do not know that what you ask about is according to rule. Formerly duke Hwan of Khî[4], going frequently to war, made fictitious tablets and took them with him on his expeditions, depositing them on his return in the ancestral temple[5]. The practice of having two tablets in a temple-shrine originated from duke Hwan. As to two (playing the part of the) orphan son, it may be thus explained:--Formerly, on occasion of a visit to Lû by duke Ling of Wei, the mourning rites of Kî Hwan-dze were in progress. The ruler of Wei requested leave to offer his condolences. Duke Âi (of Lû), declined (the ceremony), but could not
[1. The Chinese characters mean simply 'two orphans.' Neither Khang-hsî nor any English-Chinese dictionary explains the peculiar use of the term here; nor is Confucius' explanation satisfactory, or to the point.
2 Compare paragraphs 5, 8, III, iii, pages 224-226.
3 See the 'Doctrine of the Mean,' 19, 6, Chinese Classics, vol. i.
4. B.C. 685-643.
5. Literally 'the temple-shrine of his grandfather;' but I think the name must have the general meaning I have given.
6. It has been shown that the ruler of Wei here could not be duke Ling. He must have been duke Khû. But this error discredits the view of the statement having come from Confucius.]
enforce his refusal. He therefore acted as the principal (mourner), and the visitor came in to condole with him. Khang-dze stood on the right of the gate with his face to the north. The duke, after the usual bows and courtesies, ascended by the steps on the east with his face towards the west. The visitor ascended by those on the west, and paid his condolences. The duke bowed ceremoniously to him, and then rose up and wailed, while Khang-dze bowed with his forehead to the ground, in the position where he was. The superintending officers made no attempt to put the thing to rights. The having two now acting as the orphan son arose from the error of Kî Khang-dze.'
24. Zang-dze asked, 'Anciently when an army went on an expedition, was it not first necessary to carry with it the spirit-tablets that had been removed from their shrines[1]?'
Confucius said, 'When the son of Heaven went on his tours of Inspection, he took (one of) those tablets along with him, conveying it in the carriage of Reverence, thus intimating how it was felt necessary to have with him that object of honour[2]. The practice
[1. See note 2 and plan of the royal ancestral temple of Mu on pages 223-225.
2. This, it is said, was the tablet of the royal ancestor which had been last removed from its shrine, and placed in the shrine-house for all such removed tablets. The carriage of Reverence was the 'metal-guilt' carriage of the king, second to that adorned with jade, in which he rode to sacrifice. Zottoli renders:--'Imperator perlustrans custodita, cum translatitii delubri tabella peragrabat, imposita super casti curru, significatum necessariam praesentiam superioris.']
now-a-days of taking the tablets of the seven temple-shrines along with them on an expedition is an error. No shrine in all the seven (of the king), or in the five of the prince of a state, ought to be (left) empty. A shrine can only be so left without its tablet, when the son of Heaven has died, or the prince of a state deceased, or left his state, or when all the tablets are brought together at the united sacrifice, in the shrine-temple of the highest ancestor. I heard the following statement from Lâo Tan[1]:--"On the death of the son of Heaven, or of the prince of a state, it is the rule that the officer of prayer should take the tablets from all the other shrines and deposit them in that of the high ancestor[2], When the wailing was over, and the business (of placing the tablet of the deceased in its shrine) was completed, then every other tablet was restored to its shrine. When a ruler abandoned his state, it was the rule that the Grand minister should take the tablets from all the shrines and follow him. When there was the united sacrifice in the shrine of the high ancestor, the officer of prayer met (and received) the tablets from the four shrines. When they were taken from their shrines or carried back to them all were required to keep out of the way." So said Lâo Tan.'
[1. This was, most probably, Lâo-dze, though some of the commentators deny it. Kang says: 'Lâo Tan, the title of old for men of longevity, was a contemporary of Confucius;' and Khan Hâo quotes a note on this from Wang of Shih-liang, that 'This was not the author of the "Five thousand words,"' i.e. of the Tâo Teh King.
2. While the special sacrifices and other funeral rites were going on, the other sacrifices, which belonged to a different category of rites, were suspended.]
25. Zang-dze asked, 'Anciently, when they marched on an expedition, and carried no displaced tablets with them, what did they make their chief consideration?'
Confucius said, 'They made the instructions from the tablet their chief consideration[1].'
'What does that mean?' asked the other.
Confucius said, 'When the son of Heaven or the prince of a state was about to go forth, he would, with gifts of silk, skins, and jade-tokens, announce his purpose at the shrines of his grandfather and father. He then took those gifts with him, conveying them on the march in the carriage of Reverence. At every stage (of the march), he would place offerings of food by them, and afterwards occupy the station. On returning, they would make announcement (at the same shrines), and when they had set forth ( again) their offerings, they would collect the silk and jade, and bury them between the steps (leading) up to the fane of the high ancestor; after which they left the temple. This was how they made the instructions they received their chief consideration.'
26. Dze-yû asked, 'Is it the rule to mourn for a foster-mother' as for a mother?'
[1. Zottoli gives for this phrase simply 'adhaerebant numini,' subjoining no note on it. The parties spoken of put down their offerings before the shrines, announcing that they were about to undertake such an expedition; and taking it for granted that their progenitors approved of their object, proceeded to carry it out, as if they had received a charge from them to do so, carrying the offerings with them in token of that charge from the spirits in the tablets of the shrines. This view is distinctly set forth by Hwang Khan (end of early Sung dynasty) and others.
2. This foster-mother was not what we call 'a nurse;' but a lady of the harem to whom the care of an orphan boy was entrusted;--it may have been after he ceased to be suckled. The reasoning of Confucius goes on the assumption that mourning should be worn only in cases of consanguinity or affinity; and it may be inferred from this that concubinage was not the most ancient rule in China.]
Confucius said, 'It is not the rule. Anciently, outside the palace, a boy had his master, and at home his foster-mother; they were those whom the ruler employed to teach his son;-what ground should these be for wearing mourning for them? Formerly duke Kâo of Lû having lost his mother when he was little, had a foster-mother, who was good; and when she died, he could not bear (not) to mourn for her, and wished to do so. The proper officer on hearing of it, said, "According to the ancient rule, there is no mourning for a foster-mother. If you wear this mourning, you will act contrary to that ancient rule, and introduce confusion into the laws of the state. If you will after all do it, then we will put it on record, and transmit the act to the future;--will not that be undesirable?" The duke said, "Anciently the son of Heaven, when unoccupied and at ease, wore the soft inner garment, assumed after the year's mourning, and the cap." The duke could not bear not to wear mourning, and on this he mourned for his foster-mother in this garb. The mourning for a foster-mother originated with duke Kâo of Lû[1].'
[1. See the eleventh article in the forty-third chapter of the 'Narratives of the School,' where a similar, probably the same, conversation, with some variations, is found. The duke of Lû in it, however, is not Kâo, but Hâo; see paragraph 12, page 315.]
SECTION II.
1. Zang-dze asked, 'The princes are assembled in a body to appear before the son of Heaven; they have entered the gate, but are not able to go through with the rites (of audience);--how many occurrences will make these be discontinued?'
Confucius said, 'Four.' 'May I ask what they are?' said the other. The reply was:--'The grand ancestral temple taking fire; an eclipse of the sun; funeral rites of the queen; their robes all unsightly through soaking rain. If, when the princes are all there, an eclipse of the sun take place, they follow the son of Heaven to save it[1]; each one dressed in the colour of his quarter, and with the weapon proper to it[2]. If there be a fire in the grand ancestral temple, they follow him to extinguish it without those robes and weapons.
2. Zang-dze said, 'Princes are visiting one another. (The strangers) have entered the gate after the customary bowings and courtesies, but they are not able to go through with the rites (of audience);how many occurrences will make these be discontinued?'
Confucius said, 'Six;' and, in answer to the question
[1. The phenomenon of an eclipse suggested the idea of some enemy or adverse influence devouring the sun's disk.
2. The colour appropriate to the east was green, and the weapon the spear with two hooks; the colour of the south was red, and the weapon the spear with one hook and two points; the colour of the west was white, and the weapon the bow; the colour of the north was black, and the weapon the shield; the colour of the centre was yellow, and the weapon the drum.]
as to what they were, replied:--'The death of the son of Heaven; the grand ancestral temple taking fire; an eclipse of the sun; the funeral rites of the queen or of the princess of the state; and their robes all unsightly through soaking rain.'
3. Zang-dze said, 'At the seasonal sacrifices of the son of Heaven, at those to Heaven and Earth, and at (any of) the five sacrifices of the house, after the vessels, round and square, with their contents have been set forth, if there occur the death of the son of Heaven or mourning rites for the queen, what should be done?'
Confucius, said, 'The sacrifice should be stopped.' The other asked, 'If, during the sacrifice, there occur an eclipse of the sun, or the grand ancestral temple take fire ' what should be done?' The reply was, 'The steps of the sacrifice should be hurried on. If the victim have arrived, but has not yet been slain, the sacrifice should be discontinued.
4. 'When the son of Heaven has died and is not yet coffined, the sacrifices of the house are not offered. When he is coffined, they are resumed; but at any one of them the representative of the dead takes (only) three mouthfuls (of the food), and is not urged (to take more). He is then presented with a cup, but does not respond by presenting another, and there is an end (of the ceremony). From the removal of the coffin to the return (from the burial) and the subsequent wailing, those sacrifices (again) cease. After the burial they are offered, but when the officer of prayer has finished the cup presented to him, they stop.'
5. Zang-dze asked, 'At the sacrifices to the spirits of the land and grain proper to the feudal princes, if, after the stands and vessels, with their contents, have been arranged, news arrive of the death of the son of Heaven or of the mourning rites for his queen, or if the ruler die or there be mourning rites for his consort, what should be done?'
Confucius said, 'The sacrifice should be discontinued. From the ruler's death to the coffining, and from the removal of the coffin to the return (from the burial) and the (subsequent) wailing, they will follow the example set by the son of Heaven[1].'
6. Zang-dze asked, 'At the sacrifices of a Great officer[2], when the tripods and stands have been arranged, and the dishes of bamboo and wood, with their contents, have been set forth, but they are not able to go through with the rites, how many occurrences will cause them to be discontinued?'
Confucius said, 'Nine;' and when asked what they were, he added:--'The death of the son of Heaven; funeral rites for his queen; the death of the ruler (of the state); funeral rites for his consort; the ruler's grand ancestral temple taking fire; an eclipse of the sun; (a call to) the three years' mourning; to that of one year; or to that of nine months. In all these cases the sacrifice should be given up. If the mourning be merely for relatives by affinity, from all degrees of it up to the twelve months, the sacrifice will go on. At one where the mourning is worn for twelve months, the representative of the dead, after entering, will take (only) three mouthfuls (of the food), and not be urged to take (any more).
[1. As given in the preceding paragraphs.
2. In his ancestral temple.]
He will be presented with a cup, but will not respond by presenting one in return, and there will be an end (of the ceremony). Where the mourning is for nine months, after he has presented the responsive cup, the thing will end. Where it is for five or for three months, it will not end till all the observances in the apartment are gone through. What distinguishes the proceedings of an ordinary officer is, that he does not sacrifice when wearing the three months' mourning. He sacrifices, however, if the dead to whom he does so had no relationship with him requiring him to wear mourning.'
7. Zang-dze asked, 'May one, wearing the three years' mourning for a parent, go to condole with others?'
Confucius said, 'On the completion of the first of the three years, one should not be seen standing with others, or going along in a crowd. With a superior man the use of ceremonies is to give proper and elegant expression to the feelings. Would it not be an empty form[1] to go and condole and wail with others, while wearing the three years' mourning?'
8. Zang-dze asked, 'If a Great officer or ordinary officer be in mourning for a parent[2] he may put it off[3]; and if he be in mourning for his ruler, under what conditions will he put that off?'
Confucius said, 'If he have the mourning for his
[1. How could he, occupied with his own sorrow, offer anything but an empty form of condolence to others?
2. Literally 'private mourning,' as below; but evidently the master and disciple both had the mourning for a parent in mind.
3. On his having to go into mourning for his ruler.]
ruler on his person, he will not venture to wear any private mourning;--what putting off can there be? In this case, even if the time be passed (for any observances which the private mourning would require), he will not put it off. When the mourning for the ruler is put off, he will then perform the great sacrifices (of his private mourning)[1]. This is the rule.'
9. Zang-dze asked, 'But is it allowable thus to give up all the mourning rites for a parent through this keeping on of the mourning (for a ruler)?'
Confucius said, 'According to the ceremonies as determined by the ancient kings, it is the rule that when the time has passed (for the observance of any ceremony), there should be no attempt to perform it. It is not that one could not keep from not putting off the mourning; but the evil would be in his going beyond the definite statute. Therefore it is that a superior man does not offer a sacrifice, when the proper time for doing so has passed.'
I0. Zang-dze said, 'If, when the ruler has died, and is now lying in his coffin, the minister be called to the funeral rites for his father or mother, what course will he pursue?'
Confucius said, 'He should go home and remain there; going indeed to the ruler's for the great
[1. That is, the rightful son and heir may then perform the sacrifice marking the close of the first year's mourning for a parent, and that marking the close of the second year's mourning in the month after. But Khan Hâo argues that it was only the rightful son who could thus go back and offer the sacrifices proper to the mourning rites for parents, and that the other sons could not do so. This is the case underlying the next paragraph.]
services (to the departed), but not for those of every morning and evening[1].'
11. (Zang-dze asked), 'If, when they have begun to remove the coffin, the minister be called to the funeral rites for his father or mother, how should he do?'
Confucius said, 'He should go home and wail, and then return and accompany the funeral of the ruler.'
12. 'If,' said (Zang-dze), 'before the ruler has been coffined, a minister be called to the funeral rites for his father or mother, what should be his course?'
Confucius said, 'He should go home, and have the deceased put into the coffin, returning (then) to the ruler's. On occasion of the great services, he will go home, but not for those of every morning and evening. In the case of a Great officer, the chief servant of the household will attend to matters'; in the case of an ordinary officer, a son or grandson. When there are the great services at the ruler's, the wife of the Great officer will also go there, but not for those of every morning and evening.'
13. One in a low position should not pronounce the eulogy of another in a high, nor a younger man that of one older than himself. In the case of the son of Heaven, they refer to Heaven as giving his
[1. It has been seen that morning and evening offerings to the dead were placed near the coffin. On the first and fifteenth of the month these were on a great scale, and with special observances,--at the new and full moon. They were 'the great services.' The practice still continues.]
eulogy. It is not the rule for princes of states to deliver the eulogy of one another[1].
14. Zang-dze asked, 'When a ruler goes across the boundary of his own state, he takes with him his inner coffin as a precaution for the preparations against the three years'(mourning rites) for him[2]. If he die (abroad), what are the proceedings on his being brought back?'
Confucius said, 'The clothes to be put on him after the coffining having been provided, the son in the linen cap, with the sackcloth band round it, wearing coarse sackcloth and the shoes of straw, and carrying a staff, will enter by the opening made in the wall of the apartment for the coffin, having ascended by the western steps. If the slighter dressing (preparatory to the coffining) have still (to be made), the son will follow the bier without a cap, enter by the gate, and ascend by the steps on the east. There is one and the same rule for a ruler, a Great officer, and an ordinary officer.'
15. Zang-dze asked, 'If one is occupied in drawing (the carriage with the bier on it) at the funeral rites of his ruler, and is then called to the funeral rites of his father or mother, what should he do?'
[1. The eulogy has in China for more than a thousand years taken the form of inscriptions on tombs and sacrificial compositions; of which there are many elegant and eloquent specimens. It should be summed up in the honorary title. Truth, however, might require that that should be the reverse of eulogistic; and perhaps this led to its being conferred, as a rule, by one superior in rank and position. The honorary title of a deceased sovereign was first proclaimed at the great sacrifice to Heaven at the winter solstice; and hence it is referred to in the text as coming from Heaven.'
2 That is, I think, simply, as a precaution against his dying while abroad.' Zottoli renders:--'Regulus excedens confinia, ut in tres annos praecaveatur, habit sandapilam sequacem.']
Confucius said, 'He should complete what he is engaged in; and when the coffin has been let down into the grave, return home, without waiting for the departure of the (ruler's) son.'
16. Zang-dze asked, 'If one, occupied with the, funeral rites of a parent, has (assisted in) drawing the bier to the path (to the grave), and there hear of the death of his ruler, what should he do?'
Confucius said, 'He should complete the burial; and, when the coffin has been let down, he should change his dress, and go to (the ruler's).'
17. Zang-dze asked, 'If the eldest son by the proper wife be (only) an officer, and a son by a secondary wife be a Great officer, how will the latter proceed in his sacrificing?'
Confucius said, 'He will sacrifice, with the victims belonging to his higher rank, in the house of the eldest son., The officer of prayer will say, "So and So, the filial son, in behalf of So and So, the attendant son, presents his regular offering[1]."'
18. 'If the eldest son, now the head of the family, be residing, in consequence of some charge of guilt, in another state, and a son by a secondary wife be a Great officer, when (the latter) is offering a sacrifice (for the other), the officer of prayer will say, "So
[1. Here two things were in collision. The oldest son by the proper wife was the representative of the father, and only he could preside at the service in the ancestral temple of the family. But here an inferior son has been advanced to a higher rank than his older brother. As a Great officer he is entitled to have three shrine temples; but it would be contrary to the solidarity of the family for him to erect an ancestral temple for himself. The difficulty is met in the way described, the sacrifice being ascribed to the elder brother, as head of the family.]
and So, the filial son, employs the attendant son, So and So, to perform for him the regular service." (In this case, however), the principal in this vicarious service will not conduct the sacrifice so as to see that the spirit of the deceased is satisfied to the full; nor send the cup round among all who are present, nor receive the blessing (at the close); nor lay on the ground the portions of the sacrifice as thank-offerings; nor have with him (the wife of the elder brother) who should appear before the spirit-tablet of her mother-in-law, the wife of the deceased. He will put down the cup before the (principal) guests, but they will put it down (in another place), and not send it round. He will not send to them portions of the flesh. In his address to the guests (at the beginning of the service), he will say, "My honoured brother, the honoured son (of our father), being in another state, has employed me, So and So, to make announcement to you[1]."'
19. Zang-dze asked, 'If the eldest son have gone and is in another state, while a son by a secondary
[1. This paragraph continues the case in the preceding, with the additional circumstances that the head of the family is a fugitive from it, and that the sacrifice referred to in it is performed by the inferior brother remaining in the state, in lieu of him. It is difficult to translate without amplification so as to be intelligible, because of what may be called the technical terms in it. The five points in which the service was deficient, different from what it would have been, if performed by the proper brother, are given in the reverse order of their regular occurrence; whether designedly or not, we cannot tell. For that portion of the paragraph p. Zottoli gives:--'Sed vicarius dominus vacabit satisfactionis sacrificio; vacabit universali propinatione; vacabit benedictione; vacabit consternationis sacrificio; vacabit copulatione;' appending a note to explain the terms.]
wife, and without rank, remains at home, may the latter offer the sacrifice?'
Confucius said, 'Yes, certainly.' 'And how will he sacrifice?' 'He will rear an altar in front of the (family-)grave, and there he will sacrifice at the different seasons. If the oldest son die, he will announce the event at the grave, and afterwards sacrifice in the house, calling himself, however, only by his name, and abstaining from the epithet "filial." This abstinence will cease after his death.' The disciples of Dze-yû, in the case of sons by inferior wives sacrificing, held that this practice was in accordance with what was right. Those of them who sacrifice now-a-days do not ground their practice on this principle of right;--they have no truthful ground for their sacrifices[1].
20. Zang-dze asked, 'Is it necessary that there should be a representative of the dead in sacrifice? or may he be dispensed with as when the satisfying offerings are made to the dead?'
Confucius said, 'In sacrificing to a full-grown man for whom there have been the funeral rites, there must be such a representative, who should be a grandson; and if the grandson be too young, some one, must be employed to carry him in his arms. If there be no grandson, some one of the same surname should be selected for the occasion. In sacrificing to one who has died prematurely, there are (only) the satisfying offerings, for he was not
[1. These last two sentences evidently should not be ascribed to Confucius. It was only after his death that Dze-yû would have a school of his own. They must have been written moreover after the death of Dze-yû.]
full-grown. To sacrifice to a full-grown man, for whom there have been the funeral rites without a representative, would be to treat him as if he had died prematurely.'
21. Confucius said, 'There is the offering of satisfaction made in the dark chamber, and that made in the brighter place.'
Zang-dze answered with a question, 'But to one who has died prematurely there is not made a complete sacrifice; what do you mean by speaking of two satisfying offerings, the dark and the bright?'
Confucius said, 'When the oldest son, who would take the father's place, dies prematurely, no brother by an inferior wife can be his successor. At the auspicious sacrifice to him', there is a single bullock; but the service being to one who died prematurely, there is no presentation (of the lungs), no stand with the heart and tongue, no dark-coloured spirits[2], no announcement of the nourishment being completed. This is what is called the dark satisfying offering. In regard to all others who have died prematurely and have left no offspring, the sacrifice is offered to them in the house of the oldest son, where the apartment is most light, with the vases in the chamber on the east. This is what is called the bright satisfying offering.'
22. Zang-dze asked, 'At a burial, when the bier has been drawn to the path (leading to the place), if there happen an eclipse of the sun, is any change made or not?'
[1. The first auspicious sacrifice took place when the ceremony of wailing was over.
2. A name for water.]
Confucius said, 'Formerly, along with Lâo Tan[1], I was assisting at a burial in the village of Hsiang, and when we had got to the path, the sun was eclipsed. Lâo Tan said to me, "Khiû, let the bier be stopped on the left of the road[2]; and then let us wail and wait till the eclipse pass away. When it is light again, we will proceed." He said that this was the rule. When we had returned and completed the burial, I said to him, "In the progress of a bier there should be no returning. When there is an eclipse of the sun, we do not know whether it will pass away quickly or not, would it not have been better to go on?" Lâo Tan said, "When the prince of a state is going to the court of the son of Heaven, he travels while he can see the sun. At sun-down he halts, and presents his offerings (to the spirit of the way). When a Great officer is on a mission, he travels while he can see the sun, and at sun-down he halts. Now a bier does not set forth in the early morning, nor does it rest anywhere at night; but those who travel by star-light are only criminals and those who are hastening to the funeral rites of a parent. When there is an eclipse of the sun, how do we know that we shall not see the stars? And moreover, a superior man, in his performance of rites, will not expose his relatives to the risk of distress or evil." This is what I heard from Lâo Tan.'
23. Zang-dze asked, 'In the case of one dying where he is stopping, when discharging a mission for
[1. This was Lâo-dze, 'the old master.' It seems better to keep Lâo as if it had been the surname. See paragraph 24, p. 325.
2. The east of the road. Graves were north of the towns.]
his ruler, the rules say[1] that, (if he die) in a government hotel his spirit shall be recalled; but not, (if he die) in a private one[2]. But to whatever state a commissioner may be sent, the lodging which may be assigned to him by the proper officer becomes a public hotel;--what is the meaning of his spirit not being recalled, (if he die) in a private one?'
Confucius said, 'You have asked well. The houses of a high minister, a Great officer, or an ordinary officer, may be called private hotels. The government hotel, and any other which the government may appoint, may be called a public hotel. In this you have the meaning of that saying that the spirit is recalled at a public hotel.'
24. Zang-dze asked, 'Children dying prematurely, between eight and eleven, should be buried in the garden in a brick grave, and carried thither on a contrivance serving the purpose of a carriage, the place being near; but now if the grave is chosen at a distance, what do you say about their being buried there?'
Confucius said, 'I have heard this account from Lâo Tan:--"Formerly," he said, "the recorder Yî had a son who died thus prematurely, and the grave was distant. The duke of Shâo said to him, 'Why not shroud and coffin him in your palace?' The recorder said, 'Dare I do so?' The
[1. Where these rules are to be found I do not know.
2. I use 'hotel' here in the French meaning of the term. We must suppose that 'the private hotel' about which Zang-dze asked was one to which the commissioner had gone without the instructions of the state; and, as the Khien-lung editors say, 'the rites were therefore so far diminished.']
duke of Shâo spoke about it to the duke of Kâu, who said, 'Why may it not be done?' and the recorder did it. The practice of coffins for boys who have died so prematurely, and shrouding them, began with the recorder Yî."
25. Zang-dze asked, 'A minister or a Great officer is about to act the part of a personator of the dead for his ruler; If, when he has received (orders) to pass the night in solemn vigil, there occur in his own family an occasion for him to wear the robe of hemmed sackcloth, what should he do?'
Confucius said, 'The rule is for him to leave (his house) and lodge in a state hotel, and wait till (the ruler's) business is accomplished.'
26. Confucius said, 'When one who has represented the dead comes forth in the (officer's) leathern cap, or the (Great officer's) tasseled cap (which he has worn), ministers, Great officers, and other officers, all will descend from their carriages (when his passes). He will bow forward to them, and he will also have a forerunner (to notify his approach).'
27. Dze-hsiâ asked, 'There is such a thing as no longer declining military service, after the wailing in the three years I mourning has come to an end. Is this the rule? or was it at first required by the officers (of the state)?'
Confucius said, 'Under the sovereigns of Hsiâ, as soon as the coffining in the three year's mourning was completed, they resigned all their public duties. Under Yin they did so as soon as the interment was over. Is not this the meaning of what we find in the record, that "the ruler does not take from men their affection to their parents, nor do men take from their parents their filial duty?"'
28. Dze-hsiâ asked, 'Is then not declining military service (during mourning) to be condemned?'
'Confucius said, 'I heard from Lâo Tan that duke Po-khin engaged once in such service, when there was occasion for it; but I do, not know if I should allow it in those who seek (by it) their own advantage during the period of the three years' mourning[1].'
[1. Po-khin was the son of the duke of Kâu, and the first marquis of Lû. The time of his entering on the rule of that state was a very critical one in the kingdom; and though it was then, it would appear, the period of his mourning for his mother's death, he discharged his public duty in the time of his own grief.]
BOOK VI. WAN WANG SHIH SZE
OR
KING WAN AS SON AND HEIR[1].
SECTION 1.
1. Thus did king Wan act when he was eldest son and heir:--Thrice a day he made a visit in due form to king Kî. When the cock first crowed he dressed himself, and going to the outside of the bedroom, asked one of the servants of the interior who was in attendance how the king was and if he were well. When told that he was well, the prince was glad. At midday he repeated the visit in the same way; and so he did again in the evening[2]. If the king were not so well as usual, the servant would tell the prince, and then his sorrow appeared in his countenance, and his walk was affected and disturbed. When king Kî took his food again, Wan recovered his former appearance. When the food went up (to the king), he would examine it and see if it were cold and hot as it ought to be[3]. When it came down, he asked of what dishes the king had eaten. He gave orders to the cook that none of the dishes should go up again, and withdrew on receiving the cook's assurance accordingly[4].
[1. See the introduction, pages 22, 23.
2 If was the duty of a son to wait on his father twice a day,-at morning and night. King Win showed his filial duty by paying king Kî a third visit.
3. According to the season.
4. According to the ordinary dates in Chinese chronology, king Wan was born in B.C. 1258, and named Khang (###). King Ki died in 1185, when he was in his seventy-fourth year.]
2. King Wû acted according to the example (of Wan), not presuming to go (in anything) beyond it. When king Wan was ill, Wû nursed him without taking off his cap or girdle. When king Wan took a meal, he also took a meal; and when king Wan took a second, he did the same. It was not till after twelve days that he intermitted his attentions.
King Wan said to Wû, 'What have you been dreaming?' 'I dreamt,' was the reply, 'that God gave me nine ling?' 'And what do you think was the meaning?' King Wû said, 'There are nine states in the west;--may it not mean that you will yet bring them all under your happy sway?' Wan said, 'That was not the meaning. Anciently they called a year ling. The age is also called ling. I am 100; and you are go. I give you three years.' King Wan was 97 when he died, and king Wû was 93[1].
3. King Khang, being quite young, could not perform his part at the eastern steps[2]. The duke of Kâu acted as regent, trod those steps, and administered
[1. It is difficult to understand and interpret the latter half of this paragraph. The Khien-lung editors say that, according to the ordinary accounts, king Wû was born when wan was fifteen years old, and there was an elder son, Yî-khâo, who died prematurely; whereas king Wû died at 93, leaving his son Sung (king Khang) only seven years old. 'Wan,' they said, 'must have married very early, and Wû very late.' They say also that they cannot understand the text that Wan gave to his son 'three years,' &c., and suppose that some erroneous tradition has here been introduced.
2 The king received his nobles at the top of the eastern steps. The phrase = 'in the government of the kingdom.']
the government. He illustrated the rules for the behaviour of a young heir in his treatment of Po-khin, that king Khang might thereby know the courses to be pursued by father and son, ruler and minister, old and young. When he committed an error, the duke punished Po-khin. This was the way in which he showed king Khang his duty as the son and heir.
4. So much on the way in which king Wan acted as son and heir.
5. In teaching the heir-sons (of the king and feudal princes), and young men (chosen from their aptitude) for' learning', the subjects were different at different seasons. In spring and summer they were taught the use of the shield and spear; in autumn and winter that of the feather and flute:--all in the eastern school. The inferior directors of music[2] taught the use of the shield aided by the great assistants. The flute masters taught the use of the spear, aided by the subdirectors, while the assistants regulated by the drum (the chanting of) the Nan[3].
In spring they recited (the pieces), and in summer
[1. These 'scholars' no doubt, were those of whose selection for the higher instruction we have an account in the fourth and other paragraphs of Section IV, Book III.
2. These are mentioned in the 'Royal Regulations, though the title does not occur in the Kâu Lî. They are supposed to be the same as its 'music masters' (Yo Sze, Book XXII).
3 This clause about the 'drum' is perplexing to a translator. It destroys the symmetry of the paragraph, What we are to understand by the 'Nan' is also much disputed. I suppose the term should embrace the two Nan, or two first Books of the Shih, Part I. Compare the Shih II, vi, 4. 4.]
they played on the guitar,--being taught by the grand master in the Hall of the Blind[1]. In autumn they learned ceremonies,--being instructed by the masters of ceremonies. In winter they read the book of History,--being instructed by the guardians of it. Ceremonies were taught in the Hall of the Blind; the book in the upper school.
[1. The names of these different schools are also very perplexing; and I here give a note about them by Liû Khang of our eleventh century. 'Under the Kiu dynasty they had its own schools and those of the three former dynasties; four buildings, all erected in proximity to one another. Alost in the centre was the Pî Yung of Kâu itself. On the north of it was the school of Shun (the lord Yü); on the east that of Hsiâ; and on the west that of Shang. Those who were learning the use (in dancing) of the shield and spear, and of the plume and flute, went to the eastern school; those who were learning ceremonies went to that of Shang; and those who were learning history, to that of Shun. In the Pî Yung the son of Heaven nourished the old, sent forth his armies, matured his plans, received prisoners, and practised archery. When he came to the Pî Yung, they came from all the other three schools, and stood round the encircling water to look at him. There were also schools on the plan of Shun--the hsiang (###)--in the large districts (the ###, containing 12500 families); others on the plan of Hsiâ--the hsü (###) in the Kâu, or smaller districts (the ###, containing 2500 families); and others still on the plan of Shang--the hsiâo (###)-in the Tang (###) or those still smaller (containing 500 families). These were all schools for young boys. The most promising scholars (in the family schools) were removed to the hsiang; the best in the hsiang, again to the hsü; and the best in the hsü, to the hsiâo. The best in these were removed finally to the great school (or college) in the suburbs (of the capital).' Such is the account of Liû Khang. Other scholars differ from him in some points; but there is a general agreement as to the existence of a system of graduated training.]
6. All the rules about sacrificial offerings[1] and at the nourishing of the old begging them to speak (their wise counsels)[2] and the conversation at general reunions, were taught by the lower directors of Music in the eastern school.
7. The Grand director of Music taught how to brandish the shield and axe. He also delivered the graduated rules relating to conversations and the charges about begging the old to speak. The Grand perfecter (of Instruction)[3] discussed all about (these matters) in the eastern school.
8. Whenever a pupil was sitting with the Grand completer (of Instruction), there was required to be between them the width of three mats. He might put questions to him; and when he had finished, sit back on the mat near to the wall. While the instructor had not finished all he had to say on any one point, he did not ask about another.
9. In all the schools, the officer (in charge), in spring set forth offerings to the master who first, taught (the subjects); and in autumn and winter he did the same[4].
10. In every case of the first establishment of a school the offerings must be set forth to the earlier
[1. Probably, not sacrifices in general, but offerings to sages, distinguished old men, &c.
2. This asking the old men to speak was a part of the festal nourishment of them.
3. I do not think this officer appears in the lists of the Kâu Lî. He seems to be named as giving the finishing touch to the training of the young princes.
4. No mention is made of summer; but, no doubt, there were then the same observances as in the other seasons,--a tribute to the merit of the past, and a stimulus to the students.]
sages and the earlier teachers; and in the doing of this, pieces of silk must be used.
11. In all the cases of setting forth the offerings, it was required to have the accompaniments (of dancing and singing). When there were any events of engrossing interest in a state (at the time), these were omitted.
12. When there was the accompaniment of music on a great scale, they proceeded immediately to feast the aged.
13. At all examinations in the suburban schools, the rule was to select the best and mark out the most talented. The pupils might be advanced for their virtue, or commended for something they had accomplished, or distinguished for their eloquence[1]. Those who had studied minor arts were encouraged and told to expect a second examination[2]. If they (then) had one of the three things (above mentioned), they were advanced to a higher grade, according to their several orders, and were styled 'Men of the schools.' They were (still, however,) kept out of the royal college[3], and could not receive the cup from the vase restricted to the superior students.
14. On the first establishment of schools (in any state), when the instruments of music were
[1. See paragraphs 2-4, pp. 231-233.
2. These minor arts, it is understood, were such as medicine and divination.
3. The name for this college here perhaps indicates that on reaching it, all from the other schools were 'on the same level.' The youths would appear to have passed into it with a festive ceremony. The 'suburban schools' were those in the note on p. 346, with the addition of the 'Eastern Kiâo' (###), which it is not easy to distinguish from 'the eastern school,' already mentioned.]
completed[1], offerings of silk were set forth; and afterwards those of vegetables[2]. But there was no dancing and (consequently) no giving out of the spears and other things used in it. They simply retired and received visitors in the eastern school. Only one cup was passed round. The ceremony might pass without (parade of) attendants or conversation.
15. (All these things) belonged to the education of the young princes.
16. In the education of the crown princes adopted by the founders of the three dynasties the subjects were the rules of propriety and music. Music served to give the interior cultivation; the rules to give the external. The two, operating reciprocally within, had their outward manifestation, and the result was a peaceful serenity,--reverence of inward feeling and mild elegance of manners.
17. The Grand tutor and the assistant tutor were appointed for their training, to make them acquainted with the duties of father and son, and of ruler and minister. The former made himself perfectly master of those duties in order to exhibit them; the latter guided the princes to observe the virtuous ways of the other and fully instructed him about them. The Grand tutor went before them, and the assistant came
[1. 'Were completed,' should be, according to Khang-khang, were consecrated.' For the character in the text he would substitute that which we find in Mencius, I. i, 7, 4, applied to the consecration of a bell. Compare vol. iii, p. 323.
2. The ordinary offerings (see above, paragraph 9); but now a sequel to the offerings of silk. These two offerings, it is understood, were in the school on the west (the hsiang), and thence the parties officiating adjourned to that on the east (the hsü).]
after them. In the palace was the guardian, outside it was the master; and thus by this training and instruction the virtue (of the princes) was completed. The master taught them by means of occurring things, and made them understand what was virtuous. The guardian watched over their persons, and was as a stay and wings to them, leading them in the right way. The history says, 'Under the dynasties of Yü, Hsiâ, Shang, and Kâu, there were the master, the guardian, the Î, and the Khang, and there were appointed the four aides and the three ducal ministers. That these offices should all be filled was not so necessary as that there should be the men for them;'--showing how the object was to employ the able[1].
18. When we speak of 'a superior man' we intend chiefly his virtue. The virtue perfect and his instructions honoured; his instructions honoured and the (various) officers correct; the officers correct and order maintained in the state:--these things give the ideal of a ruler[2].
[1. The Khien-lung editors seem to say that 'the Grand tutor' and 'the assistant tutor,' who had the charge of the young prince from his infancy, must have been ladies of the harem; so that, in fact, the government of a ruler's household was regulated after the model of the government of the state in his maturer years. There are no materials to illustrate the duties of the ministers who are called 'the Î and the Khang.'
2 Wû Khang thinks that the first three characters here should be translated--'The superior man (Kün-dze) says;' a sequel to 'The history says' of the preceding paragraph. He then proposes to suppress one of the virtues (###) that follow. But the structure of the whole will not admit this way of dealing with it. There is a play on the characters rendered 'a superior man' and 'a ruler,'--Kün-dze (###) and Kun (###); like our English 'a noble man' and 'a noble,' 'a princely man' and 'a prince.']
19. Kung-nî said, 'Formerly, when the duke of Kâu was administering the government, he did so while he (continued to) go up by the eastern steps. He (also) set forth the rules for a crown prince in (his dealing with) Po-khin, and it was thus that he secured the excellence of king Khang. I have heard it said, "A minister will sacrifice himself to benefit his ruler, and how much more will he swerve from the ordinary course to secure his excellence!" This was what the duke of Kâu did with ease and unconcern.
20. 'Therefore he who knows how to show himself what a son should be can afterwards show himself what a father should be; he who knows how to show himself what a minister should be can afterwards show himself what a ruler should be; he who knows how to serve others can afterwards employ them. King Khang, being quite young, could not discharge the duties of the government. He had no means of learning how to show himself what the crown prince should be[1]. On this account the rules for a crown prince were exhibited in (the treatment of) Po-khin, and he was made to live with the young king that the latter might thus understand all that was right between father and son, ruler and minister, elders and youngers[2].'
[1. His father being dead.
2. With reference to this paragraph, which, he thinks, appears here as from Confucius, Wû Khang says:-,When king Wû died, Khang was quite young. (His uncles of) Kwan and Zhâi sent their reports abroad, and the people of Yin planned their rebellion. Then the duke of Kâu left the capital, and dwelt in the east, and Po-khin went to his jurisdiction, and defeated the people of Hsü and the Zung. Three years afterwards the duke of Kâu returned, took the regency and made his expedition to the east,-it was impossible for Khang and Po-khin to be always together. Perhaps the duke made them keep so, while king Wû was alive; and the account in the text was an erroneous tradition.' To this the Khien-lung editors reply:--'Immediately on the death of king Wû, the duke of Kâu must have adopted the method described in the text. Thâi Kung was Grand master; the duke of Shâo, Grand guardian; and the duke of Kâu himself Grand tutor. They, no doubt, made Po-khin, Kün Khan, Lü Ki, Wang-sun Mâu, and others associate with the young king. In the winter of his first year, the duke removed to the eastern capital, while the other two continued in their places, and Po-khin was daily with Khang, and there was no change in the rules for a son and heir. Next year happened the storm which changed the king's views about the duke, who returned to the court. The third year saw the removal of the people of Yen, and Po-khin proceeded to his jurisdiction in Lû. But by this time king Khang's virtue and ability were matured. Wû's objections to the ordinary view of the text are without foundation.']
21. Take the case of the sovereign and his son and heir. Looked at from the standpoint of affection, the former is father; from that of honour, he is ruler. If the son can give the affection due to the father, and the honour due to the ruler, hereafter he 'will (be fit to) be the lord of all under the sky. On this account the training of crown princes ought to be most carefully attended to.
22. It is only in the case of the crown prince that by the doing of one thing three excellent things are realised; and it is with reference to his taking his place in the schools according to his age that this is spoken. Thus it is that when he takes his place in them in this way, the people observing it, one will say, 'He is to be our ruler, how is it that he gives place to us in the matter of years?' and it will be replied, 'While his father is alive, it is the rule that he should do so.' Thus all will understand the right course as between father and son. A second will make the same remark, and put the same question; and it will be replied, 'While the ruler is alive, it is the rule that he should do so;' and thus all will understand the righteousness that should obtain between ruler and minister. To a third putting the same question it will be said, 'He is giving to his elders what is due to their age;' and thus all will understand the observances that should rule between young and old. Therefore, while his father is alive, he is but a son; and, while his ruler is alive, he may be called merely a minister. Occupying aright the position of son and Minister is the way in which he shows the honour due to a ruler and the affection due to a father. He is thus taught the duties between father and son, between ruler and minister, between old and young; and when he has become master of all these, the state will be well governed. The saying,
'Music's Director the foundation lays;The Master this doth to perfection raise.Let him but once the great and good be taught,And all the states are to correctness brought,'
finds its application in the case of the heir-son.
23. So much for the duke of Kâu's going up by the eastern steps.
SECTION II.
1. The Shû-dze[1], who had the direction of the (other) members of the royal and princely families,
[1. See Book XLIV, paragraph 1, and note. The Shû-dze or Kû-dze belonged to the department of the Sze-mâ. They were two Great officers of the third grade; and under them thirty assistants,--officers and employés. The superintendents of the Lists in {the} next paragraph belonged to the same department;-also two of the same rank as the Shû-dze, and under them sixty-eight others. The functions of both are described in the Kâu Lî, Book XXXI.]
inculcated on them filial piety and fraternal duty, harmony and friendship, and kindly consideration; illustrating the righteousness that should prevail between father and son, and the order to be observed between elders and juniors.
2. When they appeared at court, if it were at a reception in the innermost (courtyard of the palace), they took their places, facing the east, those of the most honourable rank among them, as ministers, being to the north (of the others); but they were arranged according to their age. If it were a reception in the outer (and second courtyard), they were arranged according to their offices;--(as in the former case), by the superintendents of the official lists.
3. When they were in the ancestral temple, they took their places as at the reception in the outer (and second courtyard); and the superintendent of the temple[1] assigned his business to each according to rank and office. In their ascending (to the hall), partaking of what had been left (by the personator of the dead), presenting (the cup to him), and receiving it (from him)[2], the eldest son by the wife took the precedence. The proceedings were regulated by the Shû-dze. Although one might have received three of the gifts of distinction, he did not take precedence of an uncle or elder cousin.
4. At the funeral rites for rulers, they were arranged according to the character of their mourning-dress
[1. See the Kâu Lî, Book XXVII.
2. These ceremonies do not appear to be mentioned here in the order of their occurrence.]
in the fineness or coarseness of the material. In case of such rites among themselves, the same order was observed, the principal mourner, however, always taking precedence of all others.
5. If the ruler were feasting with his kindred, then all of a different kindred were received as guests. The cook acted as master of the ceremonies[1]. The ruler took place among his uncles and cousins according to age. Each generation of kindred took a lower place as it was a degree removed from the parent-stem.
6. When with the army, the kindred guarded the spirit-tablets that had been brought from their shrines. If any public duties called the ruler beyond the limits of the state, those officers of the kindred employed the members of it, who had not other duties, to guard the ancestral temple and the apartments of the palace, the eldest sons by the proper wives guarding the temple of the Grand ancestor; the various uncles, the most honoured temple-shrines and apartments; the other sons and grandsons, the inferior shrines and apartments.
7. All descended from any of the five rulers to whom the temple-shrines were dedicated, even those who were now classed among the common people, were required to announce the events of capping and marriage, so long as the temple-shrine of the (Grand ancestor) had not been removed. Their deaths had to be announced; and also their sacrifices during the
[1. We have here an instance of the important part which the cook played in the establishments of the kings and princes of those days; see vol. iii, pp. 356, 422. The ruler was too dignified to drink with the guests.]
period of mourning. In the relations of the kindred among themselves, the proper officers punished any neglect of the regulations for condoling and not condoling, leaving off and not leaving off the cap (in mourning). There were the correct rules for the mourning gifts of articles, money, robes, and jade to put into the mouth (of the deceased).
8. When one of the ruler's kindred was found guilty of a capital offence, he was hanged by some one of the foresters' department. If the punishment for his offence were corporal infliction or dismemberment, it was also handed over to the same department. No one of the ruler's kindred was punished with castration.
When the trial was concluded, the proper officer reported the sentence to the ruler. If the penalty were death, he would say, 'The offence of So and So is a capital crime.' If the penalty were less, he would say, 'The offence of So and So has received a lighter sentence.' The ruler would say', 'Let the sentence be remitted for another;' and the officer would say, 'That is the sentence.' This was repeated till the third time, when the officer would make no answer, but hurry off and put the execution into the hands of the appointed forester. Still the ruler would send some one after him, and say, 'Yes, but grant forgiveness,' to which there would be the reply, 'It is too late.' When the execution was reported to the ruler, he put on white clothes, and did not have a full meal or music, thus changing his usual habits. Though the kinsman might be within the degree for which there should be mourning rites, the ruler did not wear mourning, but wailed for him himself (in some family of a different surname).
9. That the rulers kindred appeared at the reception in the innermost (court) showed how (the ruler) would honour the relatives of his own surname. That they took places according to their age, even those among them of high rank, showed the relation to be maintained between father and son. That they took places at the reception in the outer court according to their offices, showed how (the ruler) would show that they formed one body with (the officers of) other surnames[1].
10. Their taking their places in the ancestral temple according to rank served to exalt the sense of virtue. That the superintendent of the temple assigned to them their several services according to their offices was a tribute of honour to worth. That the eldest son by the proper wife was employed to ascend, take precedence in partaking of what had been left, and in receiving the cup, was to do honour to their ancestor.
11. That the distinctions at the funeral rites were arranged according to the fineness or coarseness of their mourning robes was not to take from any one the degree of his relationship[3].
12. The ruler, when feasting with his kindred, took his place among them according to age, and thus development was given to filial piety and fraternal duty. That each generation took a lower place as it was removed a degree from the parent-stem showed the graduation of affection among relatives[4].
[1. See paragraph 2, above.
2 See paragraph 3, above.
3. See paragraph 4, above.
4 See paragraph 5, above.]
13. The guard maintained during war over the spirit-tablets in the army showed the deep sense of filial piety and love. When the eldest son by the proper wife guarded the temple of the Grand ancestor, honour was done to the temple by the most honoured, and the rule as between ruler and minister was exhibited. When the uncles guarded the most honoured shrines and apartments, and the cousins those that were inferior, the principles of subordination and deference were displayed[1].
14. That the descendants of the five rulers, to whom the temple-shrines were dedicated, were required, so long as the shrine of the Grand ancestor had not been removed, to announce their cappings and marriages, and their death was also required to be announced, showed how kinship was to be kept in mind[2]. While the kinship was yet maintained, that some were classed among the common people showed how mean position followed on want of ability. The reverent observance of condoling, wailing, and of presenting contributions to the funeral rites in articles and money, Was the way taken to maintain harmony and friendliness[3].
15. Anciently, when the duties of these officers of the royal or princely kindred were well discharged, there was a constant model for the regions and states; and when this model was maintained, all knew to what to direct their views and aims[4].
[1. See paragraph 6, above.
2. See paragraph 12, above.
3. See paragraph 7, above,
4. This paragraph is evidently out of place, and should follow the next. Some of the critics endeavour very ingeniously to account for its having been designedly placed where it stands.]
16. When any of the ruler's kindred were guilty of offences, notwithstanding their kinship, they were not allowed to transgress with impunity, but the proper officers had their methods of dealing with them:--this showed the regard cherished for the people. That the offender was punished in secret[1], and not associated with common people, showed (the ruler's) concern for his brethren. That he offered no condolence, wore no mourning, and wailed for the criminal in the temple of a different surname, showed how he kept aloof from him as having disgraced their ancestors. That he wore white, occupied a chamber outside, and did not listen to music, was a private mourning for him, and showed how the feeling of kinship was not extinguished. That one of the ruler's kindred was not subjected to castration, showed how he shrank from cutting off the perpetuation of their family.
17. When the son of Heaven was about to visit the college, the drum was beaten at early dawn to arouse all (the students). When all were come together, the son of Heaven then arrived and ordered the proper officers to discharge their business, proceeding in the regular order, and sacrificing to the former masters and former Sages. When
[1. This refers to the statement in paragraph 8, that members of the ruler's kindred, instead of being executed or exposed in the court or market-place, were handed over to be dealt with in the country, by the foresters' department. On that department and the duties and members of it, see the Kâu Lî, Book I, II; IV, 64-69.]
they reported to him that everything had been done, he then began to go to the nourishing (of the aged).
18. Proceeding to the school on the east, he unfolded and set forth the offerings to the aged of former times, and immediately afterwards arranged the mats and places for the three (classes of the) old, and the five (classes of the) experienced, for all the aged (indeed who were present),.
19. He (then) went to look at the food and examine the liquor. When the delicacies for the nourishment of the aged were all ready, he caused the song to be raised (as a signal for the aged to come). After this he retired and thus it was that he provided for (the aged) his filial nourishment.
20. When (the aged) had returned (to their seats after partaking of the feast), the musicians went up and sang the Khang Miâo[2], after which there was
[1. There is great difference of opinion about ' the three old' and 'the five experienced.' A common view is that the former name denotes the old men of 80, 90, and 100; which appears to have been first propounded by Tû Yü (A. D. 222-284). The Khien-lung editors speak contemptuously of it, and ask what analogous division is to be made of the five classes of the experienced. Callery has a note on the paragraph, to the effect that there were two old men, one called 'the san-lâo,' and the other 'the wû-kang.' The emperor of the Khien-lung period, he tells us, because of the great age at which he had himself arrived, wished to restore the ancient practices in honour of old age. His proposal, however, was so vigorously opposed in council, especially by a Chinese minister, that he was obliged to abandon it. 'Many volumes,' he says, 'have been written on the origin and meaning of the denominations in the text, but nothing certain is known on the subject.'
2. 'Khing Miâo' is the name of the first of 'The Sacrificial Odes of Kâu;' see vol. iii, pp. 313, 314.]
conversation to bring out fully its meaning. They spoke of the duties between father and son, ruler and minister, elders and juniors. This union (of the conversation) with the highest description of virtue in the piece constituted the greatest feature of the ceremony.
21. Below (in the court-yard), the flute-players played the tune of the Hsiang[1], while the Tâ-wei was danced, all uniting in the grand concert according to their parts, giving full development to the spirit (of the music), and stimulating the sense of virtue. The positions of ruler and minister, and the gradations of noble and mean were correctly exhibited, and the respective duties of high and low took their proper course.
22. The officers having announced that the music was over, the king then charged the dukes, marquises, earls, counts, and barons, with all the officers, saying, 'Return, and nourish the aged and the young[2] in your eastern schools.' Thus did he end (the ceremony) with (the manifestation of) benevolence.
23. The above statements show how the sage (sovereign) bore in mind the various steps (of this ceremony)[3]. He anxiously thought of it as its greatness deserved; his love for the aged was blended
[1. 'Hsiang' was the name of a piece of music played to the dance Tâ-wû, in memory of the kings wan and Wû. It is hardly possible to give any more detailed description either of the piece or of the dance.
2. 'The young' is supposed to be an interpolation.
3. This sentence is difficult. Callery translates it:--'En vue de tout cela l'empereur vertueux repasse dans sa mémoire ce que (les anciens) ont fait (pour honorer la vieillesse, afin de les imiter).']
with reverence; he carried the thing through with attention to propriety; he adorned it with his filial nourishing; he connected with it the exhibition of the legitimate distinctions (of rank); and concluded it with (the manifestation of) benevolence. In this way the ancients, in the exhibition of this one ceremony, made all know how complete was their virtue. Among them, when they undertook any great affair, they were sure to carry it through carefully from beginning to end, so that it was impossible for any not to understand them. As it is said in the Yüeh Ming', 'The thoughts from first to last should be fixed on (this) learning.'
24. The Record of (king Wan's) son and heir says, 'Morning and evening he went to the outside of the door of the great chamber, and asked the attendant of the interior whether his father were well, and how he was. If told that he was well, his joy appeared in his countenance. If his father were not so well, the attendant would tell him so, and then his sorrow and anxiety appeared, and his demeanour was disturbed. When the attendant told him that his father was better, he resumed his former appearance. Morning and evening when the food went up, he would examine it and see if it were hot or cold as it ought to be. When it came down, he asked what his father had eaten. He made it a point to know what viands went in, and to give his orders to the cook; and then he retired.
'If the attendant reported that his father was ill, then he himself fasted and waited on him in his dark-coloured dress. He inspected with reverence the
[1. See the 'Charge to Yueh,' in vol. iii, p. ix 7.]
food prepared by the cook, and tasted himself the medicine for the patient. If his father ate well of the food, then he was able to eat. If his father ate but little, then he could not take a full meal. When his father had recovered, then he resumed his former ways[1].'
[1. This is evidently an unskilful reproduction of the first paragraph of Section i. We try in vain to discover why the compiler inserted it here.]