The Lî Kî, Books I–X — Sacred Books of China Part III, SBE Vol. 27 (trans. James Legge, 1885)
English·1879–1910·trans. James Legge·360 passages
The text · part 6 of 17
They are called vessels to the eye of fancy; that is, (the dead) are thus treated as if they were spiritual intelligences?’
1 The Xhien-lung editors say on this:—‘ To serve the dead as he served the living is the highest reach of a son’s feeling. But there is a difference, it is to be presumed, between the ways of spirits and those of men. In the offerings put down immediately after death, there is an approach to treating the deceased as if he were still a (living) man. But at the burial the treatment of him approaches to that due to a (disembodied) spirit. Therefore the dealing with the dead may be spoken of generally as something between that due to a man and that due to a spirit,—a manifestation of the utmost respect without any familiar liberty.’ We should like to have something still more definite. Evidently the subject was difficult to those editors, versed in all Chinese lore, and not distracted by views from foreign habits and ways of thinking. How much more difficult must it be for a foreigner to place
SECT. I. PT. 111, THE THAN KUNG. 149
4. Yi-yze asked 34ng-yze if he had ever questioned the Master about (an officer’s) losing his place. ‘I heard from him,’ was the reply, ‘ that the officer in such a case should wish to become poor quickly, (just as) we should wish to decay away quickly when we have died.’ Yt-3ze said, ‘These are not the words of a superior man.’ ‘I heard them from the Master,’ returned 3ang-43ze. Yt-yze repeated that they were not the words of a superior man, and the other affirmed that both he and 3ze-yQ had heard them. ‘ Yes, yes,’ said Y-jze, ‘but the Master must have spoken them with a special reference.’ 3&ng-3ze reported Y(-sze’s words to 3ze-yi, who said, ‘How very like his words are to those of the Master! Formerly, when the Master was staying in Sung, he saw that Hwan, the minister of War, had been for three years having a stone coffin made for himself without its being finished, and said, “What extravagance! It would be better that when dead he should quickly decay away.” It was with reference to Hwan, the minister of War, that he said, “We should wish to decay away quickly when we die.” When Nankung King-shf returned (to the state), he made it a point to carry his treasures with him in his carriage when he went to court, on which the Master said, “Such an amount of property! It would have been better for him, when he lost his office, to make haste to become poor.” It was with reference to Nan-kung Aing-shd that he said that himself ‘en rapport’ with the thoughts and ways of men, so far removed from him in time and in mental training! The subject of these vessels, which yet were no vessels, will come up again.
150 THE Li xt. BK. It.
“We should work to become poor quickly, when we have lost office.”’
The subject of these vessels, which yet were no vessels, will come up again.
150 THE Li xt. BK. It.
“We should work to become poor quickly, when we have lost office.”’
3ang-sze reported these words of 3ze-y to Yd-ze, who said, ‘Yes, I did say that these were not the words of the Master.’ When the other asked him how he knew it, he said, ‘The Master made an ordinance in Aung-té that the inner coffin should be four inches thick, and the outer five. Bythis I knew that he did not wish that the dead should decay away quickly. And formerly, when he had lost the office of minister of Crime in Lf, and was about to go to King, he first sent 3ze-hsid there, and afterwards Zan Yt. By this, I knew that he did not wish to become poor quickly?’
5. When Awang-jze of Aan died, announcement of the event was sent to LQ. They did not want to wail for him there, but duke Md? called Hsien-jze, and consulted him. He said, ‘In old times, no messages from Great officers, not even such as were accompanied by a bundle of pieces of dried meat, went out beyond the boundaries of their states. Though it had been wished to wail for them, how could it have been done? Nowadays the Great officers share in the measures of government throughout the middle states. Though it may be wished not to wail for one, how can it be avoided? I have heard, moreover, that there are two grounds for the wailing ; one from love, and one from fear. The duke said, ‘Very well; but how is the thing to be managed in this
1 Confucius sent those two disciples, that he might get their report of Xing (or KAQ), and know whether he might himself go and take office there as he wished to do.
? B.C. 409-377.
SECT. I. PT. Ill. THE THAN KUNG. I 51 case?’ Hsien-jze said, ‘I would ask you to wail for him in the temple of (a family of)a different surname ;’ and hereon the duke and he wailed for Kwang-jze in (the temple of) the Hsien family.
6. Aung Hsien said to 3ang-sze, ‘Under the sovereigns of the Hsia dynasty, they used (at burials) the vessels which were such only to the eye of fancy, intimating to the people that (the dead) had no knowledge. Under the Yin they used the (ordinary) sacrificial vessels, intimating to the people that (the dead) had knowledge. Under the Ku we use both, intimating to the people that the thing is doubtful.’ 3ang-sze replied, ‘It is not so! What are vessels (only) to the eye of fancy are for the shades (of the departed) ; the vessels of sacrifice are those of men; how should those ancients have treated their parents as if they were dead?’
7. An elder brother of Kung-sha Ma, by the same mother but a different father, having died, he asked 3ze-yQ (whether he should go into mourning for him), and was answered, ‘ Perhaps you should do so for the period of nine months.’
An elder brother of Kung-sha Ma, by the same mother but a different father, having died, he asked 3ze-yQ (whether he should go into mourning for him), and was answered, ‘ Perhaps you should do so for the period of nine months.’
A brother, similarly related to Tt {, having died, he consulted 3ze-hsid in the same way, and was answered, ‘I have not heard anything about it before, but the people of Lf wear the one year’s mourning in such acase.’ Tt f did so, and the present practice of wearing that mourning arose from his question}.
8. When 3ze-sze’s mother died in Wei, Lid Zo said to him, ‘ You, Sir, are the descendant of a sage.
1 Confucius gives a decision against mourning at all in such a case, excepting it were exceptional,—in the ‘Narratives of the School,’ chapter 10, article 1.
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From all quarters they look to you for an example in ceremonies; let me advise you to be careful in the matter.’ 3ze-sze said, ‘Of what have I to be careful? I have heard that when there are certain ceremonies to be observed, and he has not the necessary means for them, a superior man does not observe them, and that neither does he do so, when there are the ceremonies, and he has the means, but the time is not suitable; of what have I to be careful!?’
g. Hsien-3ze So said, ‘I have heard that the ancients made no diminution (in the degrees of mourning on any other ground); but mourned for every one above and below them according to his relationship. Thus Wan, the earl of Thang, wore the year’s mourning for Mang-hd, who was his uncle, and the same for Mang Phi, whose uncle he was.’
10. Hau M@ said, ‘I heard Hsien-sze say about the rites of mourning, that (a son) should certainly think deeply and long about them all, and that (for instance) in buying the coffin he should see that, inside and outside, it be (equally) well completed. When I die, let it be so also with me?’
II. 3ang-jze said, ‘ Until the corpse has its ornaments put on it, they curtain off the hall; and after the slighter dressing the curtain is removed.’ Aungliang-sze said, ‘ Husband and wife are at first all in
1 Qze-sze’s mother, after his father’s death, had married again into the Shf family of Wei. What mourning was 3ze-sze now to wear for her? Lif’ Zo seems to have apprehended that he would be carried away by his feelings and would do more than was according to rule in such a case. 9ze-sze’s reply to him is not at all explicit.
* This record is supposed to be intended to ridicule Hau MQ for troubling himself as he did.
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confusion!, and therefore the hall is curtained off. After the slighter dressing, the curtain is removed.’
9ze-sze’s reply to him is not at all explicit.
* This record is supposed to be intended to ridicule Hau MQ for troubling himself as he did.
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confusion!, and therefore the hall is curtained off. After the slighter dressing, the curtain is removed.’
12, With regard to the offerings to the dead at the time of the slighter dressing, 3ze-yf said that they should be placed on the east (of the corpse). 34ng- "ze said, ‘They should be placed on the west, on the mat there at the time of the dressing.’ The placing the offerings on the west at the time of the slighter dressing was an error of the later times of La.
13. Hsien-3ze said, ‘To have the mourning robe of coarse dolichos cloth, and the lower garment of fine linen with a wide texture, was not (the way of) antiquity.’
14. When 3ze-phd died, the wailers called out his name Mieh*, 3ze-k4o said, ‘So rude and uncultivated are they!’ On this they changed their style.
15. At the mourning rites for the mother of TQ Khido no one was employed in the house to assist (the son in the ceremonies), which was accounted a careless omission.
16. The Master said, ‘As soon as a death occurs, (the members of the family) should change their lambskin furs and dark-coloured caps, though they may do nothing more.’ The Master did not pay a visit of condolence in these articles of dress.
17. 3ze-yQ asked about the articles to be provided for the mourning rites, and the Master said, ‘ They should be according to the means of the family.’
' Settling places for the wailers, &c. But this explanation is deemed unsatisfactory.
2 The name was used only in calling the spirit back immediately after death ; the wailing was a subsequent thing.
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3ze-yd urged, ‘ How can a family that has means and one that has not have things done in the same way?’ “Where there are means,’ was the reply, ‘let there be no exceeding the prescribed rites. If there be a want of means, let the body be lightly covered from head to foot, and forthwith buried, the coffin being simply let down by means of ropes. Who in such a case will blame the procedure?’
18, Pn, superintendent of officers’ registries, informed 3ze-yQ of his wish to dress his dead on the couch. ‘You may, said 3ze-yQ. When Hsien-jze heard of this, he said, ‘How arrogant is the old gentleman! He takes it on himself to allow men in what is the proper rule?.’
1g. At the burial of his wife, duke Hsiang of Sung? placed (in the grave) a hundred jars of vinegar and pickles. 34ng-sze said, ‘They are called “vessels only to the eye of fancy,” and yet he filled them!’
20. After the mourning rites for Mang Hsien-jze, the chief minister of his family made his subordinates return their money-offerings to all the donors. The Master said that such a thing was allowable.
21. About the reading of the list of the material contributions (towards the service of a funeral), 3ang-
The Master said that such a thing was allowable.
21. About the reading of the list of the material contributions (towards the service of a funeral), 3ang-
1 On death, the body was lifted from the couch, and laid on the ground. When there was no response to the recalling of the spirit, it was returned ta the couch and dressed. A practice seems to have arisen of slightly dressing it on the ground, which Pan did not wish to follow. 3ze-yQ ought to have told him that his proposal was according to rule; whereas he expressed his permission of it,—a piece of arrogance, which Hsien-3ze condemned,
* Hsiang died in B. c. 637.
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jze said, ‘It is not an ancient practice; it is a second announcement (to the departed) "!’
22. When KA&ng-sze K4o was lying ill, Khing f went in to see him, and asked his (parting) commands, saying, ‘Your disease, Sir, is severe. If it should go on to be the great illness, what are we to do?’ 3ze-kAo said, ‘I have heard that in life we should be of use to others, and in death should do them no harm. Although I may have been of no use to others during my life, shall 1 do them any harm by my death? When I am dead, choose a piece of barren ground, and bury me there.’
23. 3ze-hsid asked the Master (how one should deport himself) during the mourning for the ruler’s mother or wife, (and the reply was), ‘In sitting and stopping with others, in his conversation, and when eating and drinking, he should appear to be at ease?.’
24. When a stranger-visitor arrived, and had nowhere to lodge, the Master would say, ‘While he is alive, let him lodge with me. Should he die, I will see to his coffining®.’
25. Kwo-4yze K4o‘ said, ‘Burying means hiding
1 The contributions had been announced by the bier, as if to the departed, and a record of them made. To read the list, as is here supposed, as the procession was about to set forth, was a vain-glorious proceeding, which 34ng-3ze thus derided.
* The supplements in-this paragraph are from the ‘ Narratives of the School.’ Some contend that the whole should be read as what 3ze-hsia said, and that the Master gave him no reply, disapproving of his sentiments.
® This paragraph, like the preceding, appears in rather a different form in the ‘ Narratives of the School.’
* Kwo-3ze Kfo was the same as the KhSng-3ze K4o of par. 22. Kwo was the surname, and KAang the posthumous title. It is difficult to decide between Kwo-3ze K4o and Kwo 3ze-kao.
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away ; and that hiding (of the body) is from a wish that men should not see it. Hence there are the clothes sufficient for an elegant covering; the coffin all round about the clothes; the shell all round about the coffin; and the earth all round about the shell. And shall we farther raise a mound over the grave and plant it with trees?’
Hence there are the clothes sufficient for an elegant covering; the coffin all round about the clothes; the shell all round about the coffin; and the earth all round about the shell. And shall we farther raise a mound over the grave and plant it with trees?’
26. At the mourning for Confucius, there came a man from Yen to see (what was done), and lodged at 3ze-hsid’s. 3ze-hsid said to him, ‘If it had been for the sage’s conducting a burial, (there would have been something worthy to see); but what is there to see in our burying of the sage? Formerly the Master made some remarks to me, saying, “ I have seen some mounds made like a raised hall; others like a dyke on a river’s bank; others like the roof of a large house; and others in the shape of an axe-head.” We have followed the axeshape, making what is called the horse-mane mound. In one day we thrice shifted the frame-boards, and completed the mound. I hope we have carried out the wish of the Master.’
27. Women (in mourning) do not (change) the girdle made of dolichos fibre.
28. When new offerings (of grain or fruits) are presented (beside the body in the coffin), they should be (abundant), like the offerings on the first day of the moon.
29. When the interment has taken place, everyone should make a change in his mourning dress.
30. The gutters of the tent-like frame over the coffin should be like the double gutters of a house.
31. When a ruler succeeds to his state, he makes
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his coffin, and thereafter varnishes it once a year, keeping it deposited away.
32. Calling the departed back; plugging the teeth open; keeping the feet straight; filling the mouth; dressing the corpse; and curtaining the hall:— these things are set about together. The uncles and elder cousins give their charges to those who are to communicate the death (to friends).
33. The (soul of a deceased) ruler is called back in his smaller chambers, and the large chamber; in the smaller ancestral temples and in the great one; and at the gate leading to the court of the external audience, and in the suburbs all round.
34. Why do they leave the offerings of the mourning rites uncovered ? May they do so with the flesh of sacrifice !?
35. When the coffining has taken place, in ten days after, provision should be made for the materials (for the shell), and for the vessels to the eye of fancy.
36. The morning offerings should be set forth (beside the body) at sunrise ; the evening when the sun is about to set.
37. In mourning for a parent, there is no restriction to (set) times for wailing. If one be sent ona mission, he must announce his return (to the spirits of his departed).
38. After the twelfth month of mourning, the (inner) garment should be of white silk, with a yellow
37. In mourning for a parent, there is no restriction to (set) times for wailing. If one be sent ona mission, he must announce his return (to the spirits of his departed).
38. After the twelfth month of mourning, the (inner) garment should be of white silk, with a yellow
1 This short paragraph is difficult to construe, The Xhien-lung editors seem to approve of another interpretation of it; but even that is not without its difficulties. The flesh of sacrifice, it is said, left uncovered, would become unfit for use or to be sold.
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lining, and having the collar and the edges of the cuffs of a light purple. The waist-band should be of dolichos cloth ; the shoes of hempen string, without the usual ornaments at the points; and the ear-plugs of horn. The lining of the deer’s-fur (for winter) should be made broader and with longer cuffs, and a robe of thin silk may be worn over it}.
39. When (a parent’s) corpse has been coffined, if the son hear of mourning going on for a cousin at a distance, he must go (to condole), though the relationship would only require the three months’ mourning. If the mourning be for a neighbour, who is not a relative, he does not go.
At (the mourning) for an acquaintance, he must pay visits of condolence to all his brethren, though they might not have lived with him. ,
40. The coffin of the son of Heaven is fourfold. The hides of a water-buffalo and a rhinoceros, overlapping each other, (form the first), three inches in thickness. Then there is a coffin of { wood?, and there are two of the Rottlera. The four are all complete enclosures. The bands for the (composite) coffin are (five); two straight, and three cross ; with a double wedge under each band (where it is on the edge).
1 The outer sackcloth remained unchanged; but inside it was now worn this robe of white silk, a good deal ornamented. Inside this and over the deer’s-fur in winter might be worn another robe of thin silk, through which the fur was seen. Inside the fur was what we should call the shirt, always worn.
* Tracing the f tree, through the dictionaries from synonym to synonym, we come at last to identify it with the ‘white aspen ;’ whether correctly or not I do not know.
SECT. 1. PT. IIL. THE THAN KUNG, 159
The shell is of cypress wood, in pieces six cubits long, from the trunk near the root.
41. When the son of Heaven is wailing for a feudal prince, he wears the bird’s-(head) cap, a headband of sackcloth, and black robes. Some one says, ‘ He employs an officer to wail for him.’ While so engaged, he has no music at his meals.
42. When the son of Heaven is put into his coffin it is surrounded with boards plastered over, and (rests on the hearse), on whose shafts are painted dragons, so as to form a (kind of) shell. Then over the coffin is placed a pall with the axe-heads figured on it. This being done, it forms.a plastered house. Such is the rule for (the coffining of) the son of Heaven’.
Then over the coffin is placed a pall with the axe-heads figured on it. This being done, it forms.a plastered house. Such is the rule for (the coffining of) the son of Heaven’.
43. It is only at the mourning rites for the son of Heaven that the feudal princes are arranged for the wailing according to their different surnames.
44. Duke Ai of Lf eulogised Khung Aid in the words, ‘ Heaven has not left the old man, and there is no one to assist me in my place. Oh! Alas! Nt-fas!’
45. When a state had lost a large tract of terri-
1 This cap, it is said, was of leather, of the dark colour of a male sparrow’s head. Hence its name.
* See Book XIX.
* Confucius’ death took place on the 18th of the fourth month of duke Ai’s 16th year, B.c. 479. The eulogy is given somewhat differently in the 30 Awan under that year: ‘Compassionate Heaven vouchsafes me no comfort, and has not left me the aged man, to support me, the One man, on my seat. Dispirited I am, and full of distress. Woe is me! Alas! O Nf-f. There is no one now to be a mle to me!’ Aifi was Confucius’ name, and Xung-ni his designation! After this eulogy, Ni-fQ was for a time his posthumous title.
160 THE Lt xf, BK, It.
tory with its cities, the highest and other ministers, and the Great and other officers, all wailed in the grand ancestral temple, in mourning caps, for three days; and the ruler (for the same time) had no full meal with music. Some one says, ‘ The ruler has his full meals and music, but wails at the altar to the spirit of the land.’
46. Confucius disliked those who wailed in the open fields’.
47. (A son) who has not been in office should not presume to give away anything belonging to the family. If he should have to do so?, he ought to have the order of his father or elder brother for the act.
48. When the (ordinary) officers® are all entered, then (the chief mourner and all the others) fall to their leaping, morning and evening.
49. After the service on the conclusion of the twenty-fourth month of mourning, the plain white cap is assumed. In that month the service on leaving off mourning is performed, and after another month (the mourners) may take to their music‘.
50. The ruler may confer on any officer the small curtain (as a pall for his father’s coffin).
* It was the rule to mourn in the open country for an acquaintance. See p. 134. There must have been some irregularity in the practice adverted to.
* That is, supposing him to have been in office; though some suppose that the necessity might arise, even in the case of a son who had not been in office.
* Of course the higher officers must also be there. This refers to the mourning rites for a ruler.
“ See the note on page 130. It is difficult, notwithstanding all the references to it, to say definitely in what month the than sacrifice was performed.
SECT. Il. PT. 1. THE THAN KUNG. 161
Section II. Part I.
This refers to the mourning rites for a ruler.
“ See the note on page 130. It is difficult, notwithstanding all the references to it, to say definitely in what month the than sacrifice was performed.
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Section II. Part I.
1. (At the funeral of) a ruler’s eldest son by his acknowledged wife, who has died under age, there are three (small) carriages (with the flesh of sacrifice to be put in the grave). At that of an eldest son by one of his concubines, dying under age, there is one such carriage; as at the funeral of the eldest rightful son of a Great officer in the same circumstances }.
2. At the mourning rites for a feudal lord, his chief officers who had received their appointments directly from him, carried their staffs.
3. When a Great officer of a state was about to be buried, its ruler (went to) condole with (his son) in the hall where the coffin was. When it was
1 This refers to a strange custom which was practised at the burial of men of rank, or of others who were treated as such, as in the cases here. ‘The carriages employed in it,’ says Ying-t4, ‘were very small. When the funeral car was about to set off from the temple, and all to be done at the grave was arranged, they took portions of the bodies which had supplied the offerings put down by the coffin, broke them in small pieces, wrapped them up, and placed them in these carriages, to be conveyed after the car. At the grave the little bundles were placed one by one, inside the outer shell at its four corners. The number of these small carriages varied according to the rank of the deceased. We shall find the practice mentioned again and again. It is not easy for a foreigner fully to understand it, and I have found great haziness in the attempts of native scholars to explain it. ‘The eldest sons’ would have died between sixteen and nineteen,
(27) M
162 THE Lf xf. BK. If, being taken out, he ordered some one to draw the (bier-carriage) for him. This moved on for three paces and stopped ; inall for three times; after which the ruler retired. The same proceeding was gone through, when the bier entered the ancestral temple, and also at the place of (special) grief}.
4. Men of fifty, who had no carriage, did not make visits of condolence beyond the boundaries (of their states).
5. When At Wd-3ze was lying ill in his chamber, Kido K0 entered and appeared before him without taking off the mourning with its even edges (which he happened to wear). ‘ This practice,’ said he, ‘has nearly fallen into disuse. But it is only at the gate of the ruler that an officer should take off such mourning as I have on.’ Wd-jze replied, ‘Is it not good that you should act thus?? A superior man illustrates the smallest points (of propriety).’
At the mourning rites for Wa-jze, 3ang Tien leant against his gate and sang*
6. If a Great officer pay a visit of condolence
1 Where visitors had been lodged during the mourning rites, outside the great gate.
A superior man illustrates the smallest points (of propriety).’
At the mourning rites for Wa-jze, 3ang Tien leant against his gate and sang*
6. If a Great officer pay a visit of condolence
1 Where visitors had been lodged during the mourning rites, outside the great gate.
* WA-3ze was the posthumous title of Xi-sun Suh, the principal minister of LQ in the time of duke Hsiang (3.c. 572-543). He was arrogant, and made other officers pay to him the same observances as to the ruler; but he was constrained to express his approval of the bold rectitude of Xiao.
5 This is added by the writer, and implies a condemnation of 34ng Tien, who did not know how to temper his censure of the minister, as Kido Kft had done. But there must be an error in the passage. Tien (the father of 3ang Shin) could have been but a boy when Wi-3ze died.
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(to an ordinary officer), and he arrive when (the latter) is occupied with the business of the occasion, an apology is made (for not coming to the gate to receive him).
7. When one has paid a visit of condolence, he should not on the same day show manifestations of joy}.
8. A wife should not go beyond the boundaries of the state on a visit of condolence.
g. On the day when he has made a visit of condolence, one should not drink spirits nor eat flesh.
10. When one pays a visit of condolence, and the arrangements for the funeral are going on, he should take hold of the ropes (attached to the car). Those who follow to the grave should take hold of those attached to the coffin.
11. During the mourning rites, if the ruler send a message of condolence, there must be some one to acknowledge it, by bowing to the messenger. A friend, or neighbour, or even a temporary resident in the house, may perform the duty. The message is announced in the words:—‘ Our unworthy ruler wishes to take part in your (sad) business.’ The chief mourner responds :—‘ We acknowledge your presence with his message *.’
12, When a ruler meets a bier on the way, he must send some one to present his condolences (to the chief mourner).
1 Or it may be, ‘should not have music ;’ toning one of the characters differently. 2 It is supposed that the deceased had left no son to preside at the mourning rites, M 2
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13. At the mourning rites for a Great officer, a son by an inferior wife should not receive the condolences 1.
2 It is supposed that the deceased had left no son to preside at the mourning rites, M 2
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13. At the mourning rites for a Great officer, a son by an inferior wife should not receive the condolences 1.
14. On the death of his wife’s brother who was the successor of their father, (the husband) should wail for him in (the court of) the principal chamber?. He should appoint his (own) son to preside (on the occasion). With breast unbared and wearing the cincture instead of the cap, he wails and leaps. When he enters on the right side of the gate, he should make some one stand outside it, to inform comers of the occasion of the wailing ; and those who were intimate (with the deceased) will enter and wail. If his own father be in the house, the wailing should take place (before) his wife’s chamber. If (the deceased) were not the successor of his father, the wailing should take place before a different chamber.
15. If a man have the coffin of a parent in his hall, and hear of mourning going on for a cousin of the same surname at a distance, he wails for him in a side apartment. If there be no such apartment, he should wail in the court on the right of the gate. If the deceased’s body be in the same state, he should go to the place, and wail for him there.
16. When 3ze-dang died, 34ng-3ze was in mourning for his mother, and went in his mourning dress
1 But if there be no son by the wife proper, the oldest son by an inferior wife may receive the condolences. See the K/ien-lung editors in loc. * For some reason or other he has not gone to the house of the deceased, to wail for him there.
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to wail for him. Some one said, ‘That dress of sackcloth with its even edges is not proper for a visit of condolence.’ 3ang-yze replied, ‘Am I condoling (with the living) ?’
17. At the mourning rites for YO Zo, duke Tao! came to condole. 3ze-yf received him, and introduced him by (the steps on) the left’.
18, When the news was sent from At of the mourning for the king’s daughter who had been married to the marquis, duke A wang of LQ wore the nine months’ mourning for her. Some have said, ‘She was married from LQ’; therefore he wore the same mourning for her as for a sister of his own.’ Others have said, ‘She was his mother’s mother, and therefore he wore it.’
19. At the mourning rites for duke Hsien of 3in, duke Ma of Adin sent a messenger to present his condolences to Hsien’s son Kung-r (who was then an exile), and to add this message :—‘I have heard that a time like this is specially adapted to the
1 B.c. 467-431. YQ Zo had been a disciple of Confucius, and here we find the greater follower of the sage, 3ze-yQ, present and assisting at the mourning rites for him.
467-431. YQ Zo had been a disciple of Confucius, and here we find the greater follower of the sage, 3ze-yQ, present and assisting at the mourning rites for him.
2 That is, the prince went up to the hall by the steps on the east, set apart for the use of the master and father of the house. But the ruler was master everywhere in his state, as the king was in his kingdom. An error prevailed on this matter, and 3ze-y( took the opportunity to correct it.
* That is, she had gone from the royal court to Lf, and been married thence under the superintendence of the marquis of that state, who also was of the royal surname. This was a usual practice in the marriage of kings’ daughters; and it was on this account the lord of the officiating state wore mourning for them. The relationship assigned in the next clause is wrong; and so would have been the mourning mentioned, if it had been correct.
166 THE Lf xt. BK. II.
losing of a state, or the gaining of a state. Though you, my son, are quiet here, in sorrow and in mourning, your exile should not be allowed to continue long, and the opportunity should not be lost. Think of it and take your measures, my young son.’ Khung-r reported the words to his maternal uncle Fan, who said, ‘ My son, decline the proffer. Anexile as you are, nothing precious remains to you; but a loving regard for your father is to be considered precious. How shall the death of a father be told ? And if you take advantage of it to seek your own profit, who under heaven will be able to give a good account of your conduct ? Decline the proffer, my son.’
On this the prince replied to his visitor :—‘ The ruler has kindly (sent you) to condole with his exiled servant. My person in banishment, and my father dead, so that I cannot take any share in the sad services of wailing and weeping for him ;—this has awakened the sympathy of the ruler. But how shall the death of a father be described? Shall I presume (on occasion of it) to think of any other thing, and prove myself unworthy of your ruler’s righteous regard?’ With this he laid his head to the ground, but did not bow (to the visitor) ; wailed and then arose, and after he had risen did not enter into any private conversation with him.
3ze-hsien reported the execution of his commission to duke M4, who said, ‘ Truly virtuous is this prince Ahung-r. In laying his forehead on the ground and not bowing (to the messenger), he acknowledged that he was not his father’s successor, and therefore he did not complete the giving of thanks. In wailing before he rose, he showed how
SECT. Il. PT. 1. THE THAN KUNG. 167 he loved his father. In having no private conversation after he arose, he showed how he put from him the thought of gain ?.’
20. The keeping the curtain up before the coffin with the corpse in it was not a custom of antiquity. It originated with the wailing of King Kiang for Md-po?.
p. 167
he loved his father. In having no private conversation after he arose, he showed how he put from him the thought of gain ?.’
20. The keeping the curtain up before the coffin with the corpse in it was not a custom of antiquity. It originated with the wailing of King Kiang for Md-po?.
21. The rites of mourning are the extreme expression of grief and sorrow. The graduated reduction of that expression in accordance with the natural changes (of time and feeling) was made by the superior men, mindful of those to whom we owe our being *.
22. Calling (the soul) back is the way in which love receives its consummation, and has in it the mind which is expressed by prayer. The looking for it to return from the dark region is a way of seeking for it among the spiritual beings. The turning the face to the north springs from the idea of its being in the dark region.
23. Bowing to the (condoling) visitor, and laying the forehead on the ground are the most painful demonstrations of grief and sorrow. The laying the forehead in the ground is the greatest expression of the pain (from the bereavement).
? Fully to understand this paragraph, one must know more particulars of the history of Kfung-r, and his relations with his father and the duke of A/in, than can be given here in a note. He became the ablest of the five chiefs of the KAun XAiQ period.
? This was a prudish action of the young widow, but it changed an old custom and introduced a new one.
* This has respect to the modifications adopted in regulating the mourning rites for parents.
168 THE Li xf. BK. I.
24. Filling the mouth with rice uncooked and fine shells arises from a feeling which cannot bear that it should be empty. The idea is not that of giving food; and therefore these fine things are used.
25. The inscription! forms a banner to the eye of fancy. Because (the person of) the deceased can no longer be distinguished, therefore (the son) by this flag maintains the remembrance of him. From his love for him he makes this record. His reverence for him finds in this its utmost expression.
26. The first tablet for the spirit (with this inscription on it) serves the same purpose as that (subsequently) placed in the temple, at the conclusion of the mourning rites. Under the Yin dynasty the former was still kept. Under the Au, it was removed }.
27. The offerings to the unburied dead are placed in plain unornamented vessels, because the hearts
Under the Yin dynasty the former was still kept. Under the Au, it was removed }.
27. The offerings to the unburied dead are placed in plain unornamented vessels, because the hearts
1 This inscription contained the surname, name, and rank of the deceased. It was at first written, I suppose, on a strip of silk, and fastened up under the eaves above the steps on the east. In the meantime a tablet of wood called Ahung, the first character in the next paragraph, and for which I have given ‘The first tablet for the spirit,’ was prepared. The inscription was transferred to it, and it was set up on or by the coffin, now having the body in it, and by and by it was removed to the east of the coffin pit, where it remained till after the interment.
The observances in this paragraph and the next remain substantially the same at the present day. ‘The bier,’ writes Wang Théo, ‘is placed in the apartment, and the tablet with the inscription, as a resting-place for the spirit, is set up, while the offerings are set forth near it morning and evening. After the interment this tablet is burned, and the permanent tablet (ii +) is made, before which the offerings are presented at the family sacrifices from generation to generation. Thus “the dead are served as the living have been.”’
SECT, I. PT. I. THE THAN KUNG. 169
of the living are full of unaffected sorrow. It is only in the sacrifices (subsequent to the interment), that the principal mourner does his utmost (in the way of ornament). Does he know that the spirit will enjoy (his offerings)? He is guided only by his pure and reverent heart.
28. Beating the breast (by the women), and leaping (by the men) are extreme expressions of grief. But the number of such acts is limited. There are graduated rules for them.
29. Baring the shoulders and binding up the hair (with the band of sackcloth) are changes, (showing) the excited feeling which is a change in the grief. The removal of the (usual) ornaments and elegancies (of dress) has manifold expression, but this baring of the shoulders and the sackcloth band are the chief. But now the shoulders are quite bared, and anon they are covered (with a thin’ garment) ;— marking gradations in the grief.
30. At the interment they used the cap of plain white (silk), and the headband of dolichos fibre; thinking these more suitable for their intercourse with (the departed) now in their spirit-state. The feeling of reverence had now arisen. The people of Kau use the pien cap at interments; those of Yin used the hsii?.
1 The ‘Three Rituals Explained’ (= me 3H FE), ch. 238, give the figures of these caps thus :—
The hst The pien ff ~
17OoO THE Li xt. BK. Il,
31. The gruel of the chief mourner (the son), the presiding wife’, and the steward of the family (of a Great officer) is taken by them at the order of the ruler lest they should get ill.
238, give the figures of these caps thus :—
The hst The pien ff ~
17OoO THE Li xt. BK. Il,
31. The gruel of the chief mourner (the son), the presiding wife’, and the steward of the family (of a Great officer) is taken by them at the order of the ruler lest they should get ill.
32. On returning (from the grave) to wail, (the son) should ascend the hall (of the ancestral temple) ; —returning to the place where (the deceased) performed his rites. The presiding wife should enter the chamber ;—returning to the place where he received his nourishment.
33- Condolences should be presented (to the son) when he returns (from the grave) and is wailing, at which time his grief is at its height. He has returned, and (his father) is not to be seen; he feels that he has lost him. (His grief is) then most intense. Under the Yin, they presented condolences immediately at the grave; under the K4u, when the son had returned and was wailing. Confucius said, ‘ Yin was too blunt; I follow Au.’
34. To bury on the north (of the city), and with the head (of the dead) turned to the north, was the common practice of the three dynasties :—because (the dead) go to the dark region.
35. When the coffin has been let down into the grave, the chief mourner presents the (ruler’s) gifts (to the dead in the grave *), and the officer of prayer (returns beforehand) to give notice of the sacrifice of repose * to him who is to personate the departed.
1 This would be the wife of the deceased, or the wife of his son.
? These were some rolls of purplish silks, sent by the ruler as his parting gifts, when the hearse-car reached the city gate on its way to the grave.
* Where was the spirit of the departed now? The bones and
SECT. Il, PT. I. THE THAN KUNG. 171
36. When he has returned and wailed, the chief mourner with the (proper) officer inspects the victim. (In the meantime other) officers have set out a stool and mat with the necessary offerings on the left of the grave'. They return, and at midday the sacrifice of repose is offered °.
37. The sacrifice is offered on the day of interment; they cannot bear that the departed should be left a single day (without a place to rest in).
38. On that day the offerings, (previously) set forth (by the coffin), are exchanged for the sacrifice of repose. The (continuous) wailing is ended, and they say, ‘ The business is finished.’
39. On that day the sacrifices of mourning were exchanged for one of joy. The next day the service of placing the spirit-tablet of the departed next to that of his grandfather was performed.
40. The change to an auspicious sacrifice took place on that day, and the placing the tablet in its place on the day succeeding :—(the son) was unable flesh had returned to the dust, but the soul-spirit might be anywhere (749 =} B0 Ar HR Z [= FB). To afford it a resting-place, the permanent tablet was now put in the shrine, and this sacrifice of repose (5 [= ¥) 2%) was offered, so that the
To afford it a rest-
ing-place, the permanent tablet was now put in the shrine, and this sacrifice of repose (5 [= ¥) 2%) was offered, so that the son might be able to think that his father was never far from him. For a father of course the personator was a male; for a mother, a female ; but there are doubts on this point.
' For the spirit of the ground.
7 If the grave were too far distant to allow all this to be transacted before midday, then the sacrifice was performed in the chamber where the coffin had rested. So says Wang Thao on the authority of Zin Yi-shang (4: V4 @),
172 THE Lf xi. BK. 11, to bear that (the spirit of the departed) should be a single day without a resting-place.
41. Under the Yin, the tablet was put in its place on the change of the mourning at the end of twelve months; under the A4u, when the (continuous) wailing was over. Confucius approved the practice of Yin.
42. When a ruler went to the mourning rites for a minister, he took with him a sorcerer with a peachwand, an officer of prayer with his reed-(brush), and a lance-bearer,—disliking (the presence of death), and to make his appearance different from (what it was at any affair of) life’. In the mourning rites it is death that is dealt with, and the ancient kings felt it difficult to speak of this*.
43. The ceremony in the mourning rites of (the
. coffined corpse) appearing in the court (of the ancestral temple) is in accordance with the filial heart of the deceased. He is (supposed to be) grieved at leaving his chamber, and therefore he is brought to the temple of his fathers, and then (the coffin) goes on its way.
Under the Yin, the body was thus presented and then coffined in the temple; under the Au the interment followed immediately after its presentation (in the coffin).
44. Confucius said, ‘He who made the vessels
1 When visiting a minister when alive, the ruler was accompanied by the lance-bearer, but not by those other officers ;—there was the difference between life and death.
7 I suspect that the sorcerer and exorcist were ancient superstitions, not established by the former kings, but with which they did not care to interfere by saying anything about them.
SECT. Il. PT. If. THE THAN KUNG. ~ 173 which are so (only) in imagination, knew the principles underlying the mourning rites. They were complete (to all appearance), and yet could not be used. Alas! if for the dead they had used the vessels of the living, would there not have been a danger of this leading to the interment of the living with the dead ?’
45. They were called ‘vessels in imagination,’ (the dead) being thus treated as spiritual intelligences. From of old there were the carriages of clay and the figures of straw,—in accordance with the idea in these vessels in imagination. Confucius said that the making of the straw figures was good, and that the making of the (wooden) automaton was not benevolent.—Was there not a danger of its leading to the use of (living) men?
Confucius said that the making of the straw figures was good, and that the making of the (wooden) automaton was not benevolent.—Was there not a danger of its leading to the use of (living) men?
Part II.
1. Duke Mf! asked 3ze-sze whether it was the way of antiquity for a retired officer still to wear the mourning for his old ruler. ‘Princes of old,’ was the reply, ‘advanced men and dismissed them equally according to the rules of propriety; and hence there was that rule about still wearing mourning for the old ruler. But nowadays princes advance men as if they were going to take them on their knees, and dismiss them as if they were going to push them into an abyss. Is it not good if (men so treated) do not head rebellion? How should there be the observance of that rule about still wearing mourning (for old rulers) ?’
1 Of LQ, B.c. 409-377.
174 , THE Lf xt. BK. IT.
2. At the mourning rites for duke T4o', Xi K4o-3ze asked Mang ing-3ze what they should eat (to show their grief) for the ruler. ing-sze replied, ‘To eat gruel is the general rule for all the kingdom.’ (The other said), ‘It is known throughout the four quarters that we three ministers? have not been able to live in harmony with the ducal house. I could by an effort make myself emaciated; but would it not make men doubt whether I was doing so in sincerity? I will eat rice as usual.’
3. When Sze-thi Xing-sze of Wei died, 3ze-hsia made a visit of condolence (to his house); and, though the chief mourner had not completed the slight dressing (of the corpse), he went in the headband and robe of mourning. 3ze-yQ paid a similar visit; and, when the chief mourner had completed the slight dressing, he went out, put on the bands, returned and wailed. 3ze-hsia said to him, ‘ Did you ever hear (that) that (was the proper method to observe)?’ ‘I heard the Master say,’ was the reply, ‘that until the chief mourner had changed his dress, one should not assume the mourning bands®*.’
4. 3&ng-ze said, ‘An-3ze may be said to have known well the rules of propriety ;—he was humble and reverent.’ Yi Zo said, ‘An-3ze wore the same (robe of) fox-fur for thirty years. (At the burial of
1 B.c. 467-431.
2 The heads of the Kung-sun, Shf-sun, and Xi-sun families ; whose power Confucius had tried in vain to break.
* In this case 3ze-yf was correct, according to rule, following the example of the chief mourner. Sze-th was a name of office, —the ministry of Instruction; but it had become in this case the family name; from some ancestor of King-3ze, who had been minister of Instruction.
SECT. Il, PT. II. THE THAN KUNG. 175
Sze-th was a name of office, —the ministry of Instruction; but it had become in this case the family name; from some ancestor of King-3ze, who had been minister of Instruction.
SECT. Il, PT. II. THE THAN KUNG. 175 his father), he had only one small carriage (with the offerings to be put into the grave'); and he returned immediately from the grave (without showing the usual attentions to his guests). The ruler of a state has seven bundles of the offerings, and seven such small carriages for them, and a Great officer five. How can it be said that An-jze knew propriety ?’ 3ang-3ze replied, ‘ When a state is not well governed, the superior man is ashamed to observe all ceremonies to the full. Where there is extravagance in the administration of the state, he shows an example of economy. If the administration be economical, he shows an example of (the strict) observance of all rules.’
5. On the death of the mother of Kwo K4o-jze, he asked 3ze-£ang, saying, ‘ At the interment, when (all) are at the grave, what should be the places of the men and of the women?’ 3ze-éang said, ‘At the mourning rites for Sze-thi King-sze, when the Master directed the ceremonies, the men stood with their faces to the west and the women stood with theirs to the east.’ ‘Ah!’ said the other, ‘that will not do;’ adding, ‘ All will be here to see these mourning rites of mine. Do you take the sole charge of them. Let the guests be the guests, while I (alone) act as the host. Let the women take their places behind the men, and all have their faces towards the west?.’
1 See the note on paragraph 1, page 161. Amn-3ze was the chief minister of K Ai.
2 *The master’ here would seem to be Confucius; and yet he died before Sze-thit King-3ze. There are other difficulties in parts of the paragraph.
176 THE Lf xf. BK. It.
6. At the mourning for Md-po (her husband), King Kiang wailed for him in the daytime, and at that for Wan-po (her son), she wailed for him both in the daytime and the night. Confucius said, ‘She knows the rules of propriety?’
At the mourning for Wan-po, King Kiang (once) put her hand on the couch (where his body lay), and without wailing said, ‘Formerly, when I had this son, I thought that he would be a man of worth. (But) I never went with him to the court (to see his conduct there); and now that he is dead, of all his friends, the other ministers, there is no one that has shed tears for him, while the members of his harem all wail till they lose their voices. This son must have committed many lapses in his observance of the rules of propriety !’
7. When the mother of At Khang-ze died, (her body was laid out with) her private clothes displayed. King Kiang (Khang-ze’s grand-uncle’s wife) said, ‘A wife does not dare to see her hus- ‘band’s parents without the ornament (of her upper robes); and there will be the guests from all quarters coming ;—why are her under-clothes displayed here?’ With this she ordered them to be removed.
King Kiang (Khang-ze’s grand-uncle’s wife) said, ‘A wife does not dare to see her hus- ‘band’s parents without the ornament (of her upper robes); and there will be the guests from all quarters coming ;—why are her under-clothes displayed here?’ With this she ordered them to be removed.
8. Yd-sze and 3ze-yi were standing together when they saw (a mourner) giving all a child’s demonstrations of affection. Yd-jze said, ‘I have never understood this leaping in mourning, and. have long wished to do away with it. The sincere feeling (of sorrow) which appears here is right, (and.
1 It is said, ‘She mourned for her husband according to propriety ; for her son according to her feelings.’
SECT. Il. PT. 11. THE THAN KUNG. 177 should be sufficient).’ 3ze-y( replied, ‘In the rules of propriety, there are some intended to lessen the (display of) feeling, and there are others which purposely introduce things (to excite it), To give direct vent to the feeling and act it out as by a short cut is the way of the rude Zung and Tz. The method of the rules is not so. When a man rejoices, he looks pleased; when pleased, he thereon sings; when singing, he sways himself about ; swaying himself about, he proceeds to dancing; from dancing, he gets into a state of wild excitement?; that excitement goes on to distress; distress expresses itself in sighing; sighing is followed by beating the breast; and beating the breast by leaping. The observances to regulate all this are what are called the rules of propriety.
‘When a man dies, there arises a feeling of disgust (at the corpse), Its impotency goes on to make us revolt from it. On this account, there is the wrapping it in the shroud, and there are the curtains, plumes (and other ornaments of the coffin), to preserve men from that feeling of disgust. Immediately after death, the dried flesh and pickled meats are set out (by the side of the corpse). When the interment is about to take place, there are the things sent and offered (at the grave); and after the interment, there is the food presented (in the sacrifices of repose). The dead have never been seen to partake of these things. But from
1 Evidently there is a lacuna in the text here; there should be some mention of stamping. Many of the critics have seen this, especially the AAien-lung editors ; and various additions have been proposed by way of correction and supplement.
[27] N
178 THE Lf xf. BK. If.
the highest ages to the present they have never been neglected ;—all to cause men not to revolt (from their dead). Thus it is that what you blame in the rules of propriety is really nothing that is wrong in them.’
[27] N
178 THE Lf xf. BK. If.
the highest ages to the present they have never been neglected ;—all to cause men not to revolt (from their dead). Thus it is that what you blame in the rules of propriety is really nothing that is wrong in them.’
g. Wa made an incursion into Aan, destroying the (places of) sacrifice, and putting to death those who were suffering from a pestilence (which prevailed). When the army retired, and had left the territory, Pht, the Grand-administrator of Aan, was sent to the army (of Wa). Fd A2éi (king of Wd) said to his internuncius f, ‘ This fellow has much to say. Let us ask him a question.’ (Then, turning to the visitor), he said, ‘A campaign must have a name. What name do men give to this expedition?? The Grand-administrator said, ‘ Anciently, armies in their incursions and attacks did not hew down (trees about the) places of sacrifice; did not slay sufferers from pestilence; did not make captives of those whose hair was turning. But now, have not you in this campaign slain the sufferers from pestilence? Do they not call it the sick-killing expedition?’ The king rejoined, ‘If we give back your territory, and return our captives, what will you call it?’ The reply was, ‘O ruler and king, you came and punished the offences of our poor state. If the result of the campaign be that you now compassionate and forgive it, will the campaign be without its (proper) name? ?’
‘ This incursion must be that mentioned in the 30 Awan under B.c. 494. Various corruptions and disruptions of the text of the paragraph have to be rectified, however; and the interpretation is otherwise difficult. .
SECT. Il. PT. II. THE THAN KUNG, 179
10. Yen Ting’ deported himself skilfully during his mourning. Immediately after the death (of his father), he looked grave and restless, as if he were seeking for something, and could not find it. When the coffining had taken place, he looked expectant, as if he were following some one and could not get up with him. After the interment he looked sad, and as if, not getting his father to return (with him), he would wait for him’.
11. 3ze-Aang asked, saying, ‘The Book of History says, that K4o 3ung for three years did not speak ; and that when he did his words were received with joy’. Was it so?’ ung-nt replied, ‘Why should it not have been so? Anciently, on the demise of the son of Heaven, the king, his heir, left everything to the chief minister for three years.’
Was it so?’ ung-nt replied, ‘Why should it not have been so? Anciently, on the demise of the son of Heaven, the king, his heir, left everything to the chief minister for three years.’
12. When Kih TA4o-yze died‘, before he was buried, duke Phing was (one day) drinking along with the music-master Kwang and Lt Thido. The bells struck up; and when Td Khwai, who was coming in from outside, heard them, he said, ‘Where is the music?’ Being told that it was in the (principal) apartment, he entered it; and having ascended the steps one by one, he poured outa cup of spirits, and said, ‘ Kwang, drink this.’ He then poured out another, and said, ‘ Thido, drink this.’ He poured out a third cup; and kneeling in the hall, with his face to the north, he drank it himself, went down the steps, and hurried out.
1 An officer of La. ? Compare above, paragraph 17, p. 137 et al. 5 See vol. iii, p. 113. The Shf is not quoted exactly. * This was in s.c. 533. ih T4o-3ze was a great officer of Sin See the story in the 80 Awan under that year. N 2
180 THE Li xt. BK. II.
Duke Phing called him in again, and said, ‘Khwai, just now I thought you had something in mind to enlighten me about, and therefore I did not speak to you. Why did you give the cup to Kwang?’ ‘On the days (Xi4-)3ze and (K1t-)m4o,’ was the reply, ‘there should be no music; and now Kih T4o-jze is (in his coffin) in his hall, and this should be a great gze or m4o day. Kwang is the grand music-master, and did not remind you of this. It was on this account that I made him drink.’
‘And why did you give a cup to Thido?’ Ta Khwai said, ‘Thiao is your lordship’s favourite officer; and for this drinking and eating he forgot the fault you were committing. It was on this account I made him drink.’
‘And why did you drink a cup yourself?’ Khwéai replied, ‘I am (only) the cook; and neglecting my (proper work of) supplying you with knives and spoons, I also presumed to take my part in showing my knowledge of what should be prohibited. It was on this account that I drank a cup myself.’
Duke Phing said, ‘I also have been in fault. Pour | out a cup and give it to me.’ Td Khwéai then rinsed the cup, and presented it. The duke said to the attendants, ‘When I die, you must take care that this cup is not lost.’ Down to the present day, (at feasts in 3in), when the cups have been presented all round, they then raise up this cup, and say, ‘It is that which TQ presented.’
13. When Kung-shd Wan-jze died, his son Sha begged the ruler (of the state) to fix his honorary title, saying, ‘The sun and moon have brought the. time ;—we are about to bury him. I beg that you will fix the title, for which we shall change his name.’