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 9 of 17
BK. JIT.
Great officer)!; 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 Yi, 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 Hsia nourished the former in (the school called) the hsii on the east, and the latter in (that called) the hsti 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 Au entertained the former in (the school called) the eastern £ido, and the latter in (what corresponded to) the hsiang of Yi. This was in the suburb of the capital on the west?.
11, The lord of Yii wore the hwang cap in sacri-
* See Book X, Section ii, 1. This was, say the A/ien-lung editors, a lesson against forwardness in seeking office and rank, as retirement at seventy was a lesson against cleaving to these too long.
* 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 they 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.
SECT. V. THE ROYAL REGULATIONS. 243
ficing (in the ancestral temple), and the white robes in nourishing the aged. The sovereigns of Hsia used the sh4u cap in sacrificing, and the upper and lower dark garments of undress in nourishing the aged. During the Yin, they used the hsii cap in sacrificing, and the upper and lower garments, both of white thin silk, in nourishing the aged. During the K4u dynasty, they used the mien cap in sacrificing, and the dark-coloured upper and lower garments in nourishing the aged.
During the Yin, they used the hsii cap in sacrificing, and the upper and lower garments, both of white thin silk, in nourishing the aged. During the K4u 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’, 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 a round 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 Hsia, Shang or Yin, and Xau. R2
244 THE Li xi. BK, III.
(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 ina 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.
18. A space of one lf square contained fields amounting to 900 m4u}, Ten lf square were equal to 100 spaces of one li square, and contained 90,000 mau. A hundred It square were equal to 100 spaces of ten lf square, and contained 9,000,000 m4u. A
* See note as to the size of the m4u on page 218.
SECT. V. THE ROYAL REGULATIONS. 245
A hundred It square were equal to 100 spaces of ten lf square, and contained 9,000,000 m4u. A
* See note as to the size of the m4u on page 218.
SECT. V. THE ROYAL REGULATIONS. 245
thousand If square were equal to roo spaces of 109 If square, and contained 900,000,000 mAu.
19. From mount Hang’ to the southernmost point of the Ho was hardly 1000 If. From that point to the Kiang was hardly tooo If. From the Kiang to mount Hang in the south was more than 1000 If. From the Ho on the east to the eastern sea was more than 1000If. From the Ho on the east to the same river on the west was hardly 1000 If; and from that to the Moving Sands? was more than 1000 If. (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 If square, and contained eighty trillions of mau’.
20. A space of 100 lf square contained ground to the amount of 9,000,000 mau. 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.
* What is now called the desert of Gobi.
* As it is in the text =80 x 10000 x 100000 xX 10000 x 100000 mau. 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 Thao use many pages in pointing out the errors of earlier commentators, and establishing the correct results according to their own views, and I have thought it well to content myself with simply giving a translation of the text.
246 THE Lf xi. BK, 11.
lanes took up one third of it, leaving 6,000,000 mAu.
21. Anciently, according to the cubit of Ku, eight cubits formed a pace. Now, according to the same, six cubits and four inches make a pace. One hundred ancient mAu were equal to 146 of the present day and thirty paces. One hundred ancient li were equal to 121 of the present day, sixty paces, four cubits, two inches and two-tenths.
22. A space of rooo If square contained 100 spaces of 100 li squareeach. In this were constituted thirty states of 100 lf square, leaving what would have been enough for other seventy of the same size. There were also constituted sixty states of 70 It square, twenty-nine of 100 lf square, and forty spaces of 10 li square; leaving enough for forty states of 100 If square, and sixty spaces of 10 It square. There were also constituted a hundred and twenty states of 50 li square, and thirty of 100 lt square, leaving enough for ten of the same size, and sixty spaces of ro lf square.
There were also constituted a hundred and twenty states of 50 li square, and thirty of 100 lt square, leaving enough for ten of the same size, and sixty spaces of ro lf 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 If square, contained 100 spaces of 100 li square each. There were constituted nine appanages of 100 If square, leaving ninety-one spaces of the same size. There were also constituted twenty-one
SECT. V. THE ROYAL REGULATIONS. 247
appanages of 70 If square, ten of 100 Ii, and twentynine spaces of 10 If square; leaving enough for eighty of 100 If square, and seventy-one of 10 lf. There were further constituted sixty-three appanages of 50 lf square, fifteen of 100 lt, and seventy-five spaces of 10 If, while there still remained enough for sixty-four appanages of 100 If square, and ninety-six spaces of 10 It 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.
25. 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’.
26. The chiefs of regions, on occasion of their appearing at the court of the son of Heaven, had cities assigned them for purification? within his domain like those of his officers of the chief grade.
1 See page 212, paragraph 2, and note 1, page 213. ® The text says, ‘Cities for bathing and washing the hair ;’
248 THE Lf xf. BK. IIT.
27. The(appointed) heir-sons! 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.
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*.
but preparing by mental exercises for appearing before the king is also intimated by the phrase.
? 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.
? See page 230, paragraph 1.
BOOK IV. THE YUEH LING
OR
PROCEEDINGS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE DIFFERENT MONTHS.
Section I. Part I.
1. In the first month of spring the sun is in Shih, the star culminating at dusk being 3han, and that culminating at dawn Wei?.
2. Its days are £i4 and yt*.
' In this month the conjunction of the sun and moon took place in Shih or a Markab Pegasi. Shan is a constellation embracing Betelguese, Bellatrix, Rigel, y, 8, ¢, ¢, 7, of Orion; and Wei is e, », 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.
* Kia and yf 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 this 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 K4ien-lung editors seem to think, I cannot say.
250 THE Lf xf. BK. IV.
3. Its divine ruler is Th4i H4o, and the (attending) spirit is Kau-mang?.
4. Its creatures are the scaly”.
5. Its musical note is Xio, and its pitch-tube is the Thai 3hau.
6. Its number is eight‘; its taste is sour; its smell is rank.
250 THE Lf xf. BK. IV.
3. Its divine ruler is Th4i H4o, and the (attending) spirit is Kau-mang?.
4. Its creatures are the scaly”.
5. Its musical note is Xio, and its pitch-tube is the Thai 3hau.
6. Its number is eight‘; its taste is sour; its smell is rank.
1 Th4i H4o, ‘the Grandly Bright, is what is called ‘the dynastic designation’ of Ff-hsit and his line. By the time that the observances described in this Book had come into use, Fa-hst and other early personages had been deified (Tr), 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 Kaumang (literally, ‘curling fronds and spikelets’), said to have been a son of Shao H§4o, another mythical sovereign, founder of the line of Xin Thien (4 FR FE). But Sh&o H4o was separated from Thai Hao 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 FQ-hsf and Kau-mang, shows how slowly and irregularly the process of deification and these sacrifices had grown up.
® 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 Wi AA&ng, ‘make up the Azure Dragon, and hence all moving creatures that have scales belong to (the element of) wood.’
’ Kio is the name of the third of the five musical notes of the Chinese scale, corresponding to our B (?); and Thai 3h4u is the name of one of the twelve tubes by which, from a very early date, music was regulated. The Thai 3h4u, or ‘Great Pipe,’ was the second of the tubes that give the ‘six upper musical accords.’
‘ The ‘number’ of wood is three, which added to five, the
SECT. I, PT. I. THE YUEH LING. 251
7. Its sacrifice is that at the door’, and of the parts of the victim the spleen has the foremost place’.
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’.
9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the XZing Yang (Fane); rides in the carriage with the phoenix (bells), drawn by the azure-dragon (horses), and carrying the green flag; wears the green
‘number’ of earth, gives eight, the ‘number’ of the months of spring ; but this, to me at least, is only a jargon.
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.
* These are all phenomena of the spring. The third of them is differently expressed in Hwai-nan 3ze, the Taoist grandson of the founder of the Han dynasty (see Book V of his works), and in the Hsia Hsiéo Kang, showing that this text of the Lf AT was taken from Li Pf-wei, if the whole Book were not written by him. They read ff oa AB I, 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-t@ 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.’ A oK =‘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.
252 THE Li xf. BK. IV.
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)'.
' 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 phoenix, 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 Taoism 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 :—
JIN LL
rs ‘qjuow yor | “quow WIT «| ‘quow ger Pe
3 é
} =|
JE
wm ; 4 Ld F-| E SEASON OF 8 fa
_ 8 THE CENTRE. & a ga}
3 4 g Ay fp z
& a ga}
3 4 g Ay fp z
& 6th month. 5th month. | 4th month.
z _\ L AY 2. N\ 1s
SECT. I. PT. 1. THE YUEH LING. 253
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’;
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 KAing Yang Grand Fane ;’ on the west ‘The 3ung Yang Grand Fane;’ and on the north ‘ The Hsiian 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 Hsiian 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.
1 We are not told what the ceremonies in the inauguration of the spring were. The phrase li Aun ( aH #) 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 Hsiian 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 Ti, called Ling-wei-jang’ (Fa 7 4i). But where he found that name, and what is its significance, is a mystery; and the whole doctrine
254 THE Lf xv. BK. IV.
and on their return, he rewards them all in the court’.
11. He charges his assistants? 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).
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)® 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 of five planetary Tis is held to be heresy, and certainly does not come from the five King.
1 This rewarding, it is understood, was that mentioned in patagraph 15, p. 217.
8 These assistants are supposed to be the ‘three ducal ministers.”
® This took and takes place on the first hsin (3) day, the first day commencing with that character, the eighth of the ‘ stems.’
SECT. I. PT. 1. THE YUEH LING. 255
God. The son of Heaven turns up three furrows, each of the ducal ministers five, and the other ministers and feudal princes nine’. 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 ground), 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?.
16. In this month orders are given to the chief director of Music to enter the college, and practise the dances (with his pupils)*.
The business of the fields being thus ordered, the guiding line is first put in requisition, and the husbandry is carried on without error?.
16. In this month orders are given to the chief director of Music to enter the college, and practise the dances (with his pupils)*.
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 Tt) was the object, and hence arose the denomination.
* Compare vol. iii, pp. 320-322, 370-373:
’ «The chief director of Music’ would be the same as the Ta
256 THE Li i. . BK. IV.
17. The canons of sacrifice are examined and set forth, and orders are given to sacrifice to the hills and forests, the streams and meres, care being taken not to use any female victims.
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?.
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’.
Sze Yo of the X4u Li, Book XXII. There were dances of war (wan), and dances of peace (w4n); but neither is in the text. But either term may include both classes of dancing. Callery translates by ‘faire des évolutions.’
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.
* Such operations would interfere with the labours of husbandry.
’ War is specially out of time in the genial season of spring ; but a state, when attacked, must, and might, defend itself even then.
SECT. I. PT. II. THE YUEH LING. 257
23. No change in the ways of heaven is allowed ; nor any extinction of the principles of earth ; nor any confounding of the bonds of men’.
SECT. I. PT. II. THE YUEH LING. 257
23. No change in the ways of heaven is allowed ; nor any extinction of the principles of earth ; nor any confounding of the bonds of men’.
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?.
Part II.
1. In the second month of spring, the sun is in Khwei, the star culminating at dusk being H4, and that culminating at dawn Kien-hsing®.
2. Its days are &i4 and yi. Its divine ruler is Thai H4o, the attending spirit is Kau-mang. Its
* Compare what is said in the fifth Appendix to the Yt King, paragraph 4 (vol. xvi, pp. 423, 424). The next paragraph is the sequel of this.
? Such government would be comparable to the inversion of the seasons in the course of nature. Compare Proverbs xxvi. 1.
’ The constellation Khwei contains 8 (Mirac), 8, ¢, ¢, 4, », 7 of Andromeda, and some stars of Pisces. Hf or Ht Xih contains 3, «, 9, x, of Canis Major; and 8, w, of Argo; and Xien-hsing v, & m, p, o, of Sagittarius’ head.
[27] s
258 THE Li xf. BK. Iv.
. creatures are the scaly. Its musical note is Kio, and its pitch-tube is the Kid Xung?.
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*. The peach tree begins to blossom. The oriole sings. Hawks are transformed into doves’.
5. The son of Heaven occupies the Khing Yang Grand Fane’; rides in the carriage with the phoenix 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 Kia Kung, ‘the double tube,’ is the second tube of the six lower accords.
* Literally, ‘There commence the rains.’ ‘The rains’ is now the name of the second of the twenty-four terms (February 15 to March 4).
He is dressed in the green robes, and wears the azure gems, He eats wheat
1 Kia Kung, ‘the double tube,’ is the second tube of the six lower accords.
* Literally, ‘There commence the rains.’ ‘The rains’ is now the name of the second of the twenty-four terms (February 15 to March 4).
5 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-ta, Kao YQ (the glossarist of Hwai-nan 3ze), and the Xhien-lung editors. Seeking for the actual phenomenon which gave rise to the superstitious fancy, Professor Douglas renders the corresponding sentence of the Hsia 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.
“ 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 King 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.’
SECT. I. PT. II. THE YUEH LING. 259
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.
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*, 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®. ‘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.
® The swallow is ‘the dark-coloured bird,’ of the third sacrificial ode of the Shang dynasty; see vol. iii, p. 307.
’ The vernal equinox.
$2
260 THE Lf xt. BK. IV.
It was offered by the people generally to the spirits presiding over their fields.
® The swallow is ‘the dark-coloured bird,’ of the third sacrificial ode of the Shang dynasty; see vol. iii, p. 307.
’ The vernal equinox.
$2
260 THE Lf xt. BK. IV.
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, 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?.
13. In this month few of the husbandmen remain in their houses inthe 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’.
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.
' We are not told how they knew this third day.
* A catty (Ain) at present = 14]b. avoirdupois. The é/tin, or 30 catties, = 4olbs, av.; and the shih, or 120 catties, = 160 lbs. av.; see Williams’ Commercial Guide, pp. 278-231. The t4u (or peck, in use in the market) contains 10 catties of dry, cleaned rice, and measures 316 cubic jhun, or inches; and the hf, or bushel, = 5t&u. The bushel-scraper is a piece of wood or roller used to level the top of the hf. But see Williams, pp. 281, 282.
* Compare vol. iii, pp. 368-37 3.
SECT. I. PT. IL. THE YUEH LING. 261
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’.
16. On the first ting day * orders are given to the chief director of Music to exhibit the civil dances and unfold the offerings of vegetables * (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* 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* 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,
17. In this month at the (smaller) services of supplication* 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,
' 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.
* The fourth and fourteenth cycle days.
8 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 th's occasion.
“ The received text here means not ‘services of supplication,’ but sacrifices. That which I have adopted is found in 3h4i 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 fy for jill.
262 THE Lf xf. BK. IV 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}.
Part III.
1. In the last month of spring, the sun is in Wei, the constellation culminating at dusk being K4Zihhsing, and that culminating at dawn Khien-nid*
2. Its days are £i4 and yt. Its divine ruler is Thai H4o, and the attending spirit is Kau-mang. Its creatures are the scaly. Its musical note is the Kio, and its pitch-tube is the KQ Hsien’. 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.
* Wei is the seventeenth of the twenty-eight Chinese constellations (longitude in 1800, 44° 8’ 17”) corresponding to Musca borealis. AAih-hsing is understood to be a (Alphard) of Hydra, and small stars near it. AAien-niQ corresponds to certain stars ‘(¢, pw, v) in the neck of Aquila.
* Kft Hsien, ‘the lady bathes,’ is the third of the tubes that give the six upper musical accords.
SECT. I. PT. III. THE YUEH LING. 263
4. The Elaeococca begins to flower’. Moles are transformed into quails*. Rainbows begin to appear. Duckweed begins to grow.
* Kft Hsien, ‘the lady bathes,’ is the third of the tubes that give the six upper musical accords.
SECT. I. PT. III. THE YUEH LING. 263
4. The Elaeococca begins to flower’. Moles are transformed into quails*. Rainbows begin to appear. Duckweed begins to grow.
5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the A#ing Yang (Fane) ; rides in the carriage with the phoenix 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)*.
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. .
* This statement, perhaps, arose from seeing quails running about among the mole-hills. The Ahien-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.
* Callery translates this by:—‘L’empereur offre de la belle jaune de céréales (aux empereurs anciens et modernes qui ]’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 Hsi-ling, the wife of the Yellow Ti. He is the ‘Ancient Tf’ intended here, I suppose. The name is not to be taken as in the plural. See the Khang-hsf dictionary on the character 240 (39).
264 THE Lf xt. BK. Iv.
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?.
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.
g. 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.
to. 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. Goin 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.
SECT. I. PT. III. THE YUEH LING. 265
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}.
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*. 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
The ‘baits’ (or medicines) were used to attract and to stupefy.
2 Perhaps the hoopoe.
266 THE Li xf. BK. IV.
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?
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.
SECT. 1. PT. II. THE YUEH LING. 267
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 ; exces- _ sive rains would fall early ; and warlike movements would be everywhere arising.
268 THE Lf xt. BK. IV.
Section II. Parr I.
1. In the first month of summer, the sun is in Pi; the constellation culminating at dusk being Y1, and that culminating at dawn Wa-nii’.
2. Its days are ping and ting®.
. Its divine ruler is Yen T1, and the (attending) spirit is Kd-yung®,
4. Its creatures are the feathered.
5. Its musical note is A7ih, and its pitch-tube is the Kung Lit.
6. Its number is seven’. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning.
2. Its days are ping and ting®.
. Its divine ruler is Yen T1, and the (attending) spirit is Kd-yung®,
4. Its creatures are the feathered.
5. Its musical note is A7ih, and its pitch-tube is the Kung Lit.
6. Its number is seven’. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning.
1 Pf is the name for the Hyades, or, more exactly, of six stars in Hyades, with » and » of Taurus; it is the nineteenth of the Chinese constellations. Yt is crater. W-ni is not so well identified. Williams says that it is ‘a star near the middle of Capricorn,’ but others say in Hercules. The R Y& makes it the same as Hsii-nii (4A 4x). Probably it was a star in the constellation Nii of Aquarius.
* The third and fourth stem characters of the cycle.
> Yen Ti (‘the blazing Ti’) is the dynastic designation of Shan N&ng, generally placed next to Ff-hsf in Chinese chronology, and whose date cannot be assigned later than the thirty-first century p.c. Af-yung in one account is placed before Ff-hsf; in a second, as one of the ministers of Hwang Tf; and in a third, as a son of Khwan-hsii (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 Lii (‘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.
SECT. 1. PT. I. THE YUEH LING. 269
7. Its sacrifice is that at the furnace'; 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*. 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
* 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.
‘ 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.
* According to Williams this is the ‘common cucumber.’
270 THE Lf gi. BK. Iv.
music to teach the practice of ceremonies and music together.
12. Orders are given to the Grand Peace-maintainer! 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’ (FX Ff) was a title under the Kin 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 Lii Pfi-wei.
SECT. IT. PT. I. THE YUEH LING. 271
(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?.
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?.
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?.
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.
* 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.
272 THE Li zt. BK. Iv.
21. If,in this first month of summer, the proceedings proper to autumn were observed, pitiless rains would be frequent ; the five esculent plants! 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 3ing, the constellation culminating at dusk being Khang, and that culminating at dawn Wei?.
2. Its days are ping and ting. Its divine ruler is Yen Tt, and the (attending) spirit is KAt-yung. Its creatures are the feathered. Its musical note is ih, and its pitch-tube is Sui Pin®.
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 *.
1 Hemp or flax, millet, rice, bearded grain, and pulse.
* Zing comprehends y, «, ¢, A, #, », Gemini; Khang, ¢, «, A, », p, Virgo; and Wei corresponds to a, Aquarius, and «, 6, Pegasus.
5 Sui Pin, ‘the flourishing Guest,’ is the fourth of the tubes that give the six upper musical accords.
* This is here ‘ the inverted Tongue.’ The Khang-hsf dictionary
SECT. Il. PT. II. THE YUEH LING. 273
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).
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 musicmasters 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’.
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 says it is the same as ‘the hundred Tongues;’ the Chinese mocking-bird.
1 K@ Hst would remove this paragraph to the thirteenth of the last Part. It seems to me to be in its proper place.
* See vol. iii, p. 324. The stopper is represented thus :—
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,
[27] T
274 THE Lf gi. BK. IV.
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’.
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?,
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’, nor should vexatious inquiries be instituted at the barrier gates or in the markets.