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The Lî Kî, Books XI–XLVI — Sacred Books of China Part IV, SBE Vol. 28 (trans. James Legge, 1885)

English·1879–1910·trans. James Legge·324 passages

The text · part 2 of 16

32 THE Lf xf. BK. XII, war!, He (also) gave charge that (the princes of) Lf, from generation to generation, should sacrifice to the duke of A4u with the ceremonies and music proper at a sacrifice by the son of Heaven.

8. Thus it was that the rulers of Ld, in the first month of spring, rode in a grand carriage, displaying the banner, suspended from its bow-like arm, with the twelve streamers, and having the sun and moon emblazoned on it, to sacrifice to God in the suburb of their metropolis, associating H4u At as his assessor in the service ;—according to the ceremonies used by the son of Heaven?.

g. In the last month of summer, the sixth month, they used the ceremonies of the great sacrifice in sacrificing to the duke of A’4u in the great ancestral temple, employing for the victim to him a white bull. The cups were those with the figure of a victim bull, of an elephant, and of hills and clouds; that for the fragrant spirits was the one with gilt eyes on it. For libations they used the cup of jade with the handle made of a long rank-symbol. The dishes with the offerings were on stands of wood, adorned with jade and carved. The cups for the personator were of jade carved in the same way. There were also the plain cups and those of horn, adorned with round pieces of jade; and for the meat-stands, they used those with four feet and the cross-binders.

10. (The singers) went up to the hall (or stage),

2 This is one of the gross exaggerations in the Book. The marquisate of LQ was only a hundred If square on its first constitution.

* Of this and many of the statements in the paragraphs that follow, see the fourth of the ‘Praise Odes of LQ,’ in the Shih, Metrical version, pp. 379-383.

p. 33

and sang the King Mido; (in the court) below, (the pantomimes) performed the Hsiang dance}, to the accompaniment of the wind instruments. With their red shields and jade-adorned axes, and in their caps with pendants, they danced to the music of the Ta W4?; in their skin caps, and large white skirts gathered at the waist, and jacket of silk, they danced the TA Hsia®. There (were also) the Mei, or music of the wild tribes of the East; and the Zan, or music of those of the South. The introduction of these two in the grand temple was to signalise the distinction of La all over the kingdom.

11. The ruler, in his dragon-figured robe and cap with pendants, stood at the eastern steps; and his wife, in her head-dress and embroidered robe, stood in her room. The ruler, with shoulder bared, met the victim at the gate; his wife brought in the stands for the dishes. The ministers and Great officers assisted the ruler; their wives‘ assisted his wife. Each one discharged the duty proper to him or her. Any officer who neglected his duty was severely punished; and throughout the kingdom there was a great acknowledgment of, and submission to, (the worth of the duke of Au).

Each one discharged the duty proper to him or her. Any officer who neglected his duty was severely punished; and throughout the kingdom there was a great acknowledgment of, and submission to, (the worth of the duke of Au).

12. (In Lf) they offered (also) the sacrifices of summer, autumn, and winter (in the ancestral temple); with those at the altars of the land and grain in spring, and that at the autumnal hunt, going on to the great sacrifice of thanksgiving at

1 See vol. xxvii, page 361, paragraph a1.

* Attributed to king WA. 5 Said to be of the Hsia dynasty.

* *The commissioned wives;’ including, according to AA&n Ho, the ruler’s ‘ladies of honour,’ as well as the wives of his ministers and Great officers,

[28] D

34.~«C«W THE Lf xf. BK, XI.

the end of the year :—all (after the pattern of) the sacrifices of the son of Heaven.

13. The grand temple (of Lf) corresponded to the Hall of Distinction of the son of Heaven, the Kha gate of the (marquis’s palace) to the K4o (or outer) gate of the king’s, and the Xih gate to the Ying. They shook the bell with the wooden clapper in the court as was done in the royal court, in announcing governmental orders.

14. The capitals of the pillars with hills carved on them, and the pond-weed carving on the small pillars above the beams; the second storey and the great beams projecting under the. eaves; the polished pillars and the windows opposite to- one another ; the earthen stand on which the cups, after being used, were placed; the high stand on which the jade tokens were displayed aloft; and the slightly carved screen:—all these were ornaments of the temple of the son of Heaven *.

15. (The princes of Ld) had, as carriages, that of (Shun), the lord of Yii, furnished with bells; that of the sovereign of Hsia, with its carved front; the Great carriage (of wood), or that of Yin; and the carriage (adorned with jade), or that of Au.

‘16. They had, as flags or banners, that of (Shun),
the lord of Yii; the yak’s tail of the sovereign of
Hsia; the great white flag of Yin; and the corresponding red one of Au.

1 The five gates of the royal palace, beginning with the outermost, were the K4o (#), the Kha (Jt), the Zih (HE), the Ving (ff&), and the La (}§%); the palaces of the princes wanted the Kao and Ying gates. The grand temples appear to have been constructed on a similar plan, to the east of the palace.

* And in the temple of LA, also, it is implied.

p. 35

17. They had the white horses of the sovereign of Hsi4, with their black manes; the white horses of Yin, with their black heads; and the bay horses of K4u, with red manes. The sovereigns of Hsia preferred black victims ; those of Yin, white; and those of A4u, victims which were red and strong.

p. 35

18. Of jugs for liquor, they had the earthenware jug of the lord of Yi; the jug of Hsi4, with clouds and hills figured on it; the £0 of Yin, with no base, which rested directly on the ground; and the jugs of Au, with a victim-bull or an elephant on them.

19. For bowls or cups they had the £4n! of Hsia; the Zia of Yin?; and the Zio of Kau’.

20. For libations they had the jug of Hsia, with a cock on it; the 414 of Yin; and that of Au, with gilt eyes on it.

For ladles they had that of Hsia, with the handle ending in a dragon's head; that of Yin, slightly carved all over; and that of K4Au, with the handle like plaited rushes.

21. They had the earthen drum, with clods for the drumstick and the reed pipe,—producing the music of {-44t4; the pillow-like bundles of chaff,

1 Made of-jade, or adorned with it.

* With plants of grain figured on it.

* Also made of, or adorned with, jade.

« f-kat is said by Kang to be ‘the dynastic title of an ancient son of Heaven.’ Many identify him with Shin N&ng, who generally follows Ff-hst in the chronology, and who cannot be placed later than the thirty-first century B.c., if we can speak at all of so distant dates. Evidently the compiler is putting down the names of the most ancient instruments which he had heard of. There is in the Xhien-lung edition of our collection, chapter 81, page 5, a representation of the drum and its handle; with a collection of the views about them, contradictory and fantastical,

36 THE Lf xf. BK. XII, which were struck!; the sounding stone of jade; the instruments rubbed or struck, (to regulate the commencement and close of the music)?; the great lute and great cithern; the medium lute and little cithern’: —the musical instruments of the four dynasties.

22. The temple of the duke of Ld was maintained from generation to generation like that of (king) W4n (in the capital of Xu), and the temple of duke Wd in the same way like that of (king) Wa‘.

23. They had the hsiang (school) of the lord of Yii, in connexion with which were kept the stores of (sacrificial) rice*; the hsii school of the sovereign of Hsia; the school of Yin, in which the blind were so that it is not worth while to reproduce them here. There is a figure also of the reed pipe, which can only have been something a little superior to the early ‘ oaten pipe’ of the west.

1 This also is represented in the X/ien-lung edition; but how anything like music could be brought from the pillows I do not know. The two characters, supposed to give the name, are found, perhaps, in the Shu, II, iv, 9, used with verbal force of playing on the lute.

* The Xfi and Yi; see vol. xxvii, pages 219 and 273.

The two characters, supposed to give the name, are found, perhaps, in the Shu, II, iv, 9, used with verbal force of playing on the lute.

* The Xfi and Yi; see vol. xxvii, pages 219 and 273.

8 The invention of the lute and cithern is ascribed to Fé-hst.
They are represented thus—

“ The duke of Lf here is the first duke, Po-44in (B.c. 1115—
1063). Duke Wd was the ninth duke (s.c. 826-817).
_* Asa lesson, it is said, of filial duty.

p. 37

honoured’; and the college of Ku, with its semicircle of water.

24. They had the tripods of Kung? and Kwan?; the great jade hemisphere; and the tortoise-shell of Fang-fa*:—all articles (properly) belonging to the son of Heaven. They (also) had the lance of Yiieh*; and the great bow,—military weapons of the son of Heaven.

25. They had the drum. of Hsid supported on four legs ; that of Yin supported on a single pillar ; the drums of 4u, pendent from a stand; the peal of bells of Sui‘; the differently toned £4ing (sonorous stones) of Shi’; and the organ of Niikw °, with its tongues.

26. They had the music-stand of Hsi4, with its face-board and posts, on which dragons were carved; that of Yin, with the high-toothed face-board; and that of Kau, with its round ornaments of jade, and feathers (hung from the corners).

1 The father of Music, it is said, was here sacrificed to, or had offerings presented to him. All this is very uncertain. Blind men were used as musicians.

2 These are names of states mentioned in the Sh, with which we find king W4n at war. ,

S Fang-ff must also be the name of an ancient | state; but where it was I do not know. Yteh was a great state, south of WA, on the seaboard.

* See the Shf, II, i, 21, and note.

* Shi was also called Wa-kéu (ffE 4J).

* Ni-kw4 is placed between Ff-hsi and Shan Nang. Various fabulous marvels are related of him or her (for many hold the name to be that of a female) in the account of the five Tis, prefixed to Sze-m4 Khien’s histories. The organ is represented thus—

38 THE Lf xf. BK. XII.

27. They had the two tui of the lord of Yu (for holding the grain at sacrifices); the four lien of Hsia; the six hd of Yin; and the eight kwei of Kaul.

28. They had for stands (on which to set forth the flesh of the victims), the khwan of Shun; the Riieh of Hsia; the 4 of Yin; and the room-like stand of Kau. For the tall supports of the dishes, they used those of Hsia of unadorned wood; those of Yin, adorned with jade; and those of A4u, with feathers carved on them.

29. They had the plain leather knee-covers of Shun; those of Hsi4, with hills represented on them ; those of -Yin, with flames; and those of A4u, with dragons.

30. They used for their sacrificial offerings (to the father of Cookery), like the lord of Yii, (portions of) the head; like the sovereigns of Hsia, (portions of) the heart; as they did under Yin, (portions of) the liver ; and as they did under ‘4u, (portions of) the lungs?.

31. They used the bright water preferred by Hsi4; the unfermented liquor preferred by Yin; and the completed liquor preferred by Kau’.

_ 3 Figures of all these are given. The number of the vessels in the different dynasties is thought to have been regulated by the number of the kinds of grain; but most of this is conjecture.

* Kang Hstian, in explanation of these practices, has only three characters, which I confess I do not fully comprehend. Khung Ying-t4 says nothing about them, nor the X/ien-lung editors. Fang Xtieh writes, on the relation between the five elements and the five colours, and the symbolical colours adopted by the different dynasties, and of the different members of the victims; very mystically and darkly, and failing to elucidate the passage.

5 There have been various references to these points already, and there will be more hereafter.

p. 39

32. They used (the names) of the 50 officers of the lord of Yii; of the 100 of the sovereigns of Hsia; of the 200 of Yin; and of the 300 of K4u’.

33. (At their funerals) they used the feathery ornaments of the lord of Yui; the wrappings of white silk (about the flag-staffs) of the sovereigns of Hsia; (the flags) with their toothed edges of Yin; and the round pieces of jade and plumes of AAéu*.

34. Lf (thus) used the robes, vessels and officers of all the four dynasties, and so it observed the royal ceremonies. It long transmitted them everywhere. Its rulers and ministers never killed one another. Its rites, music, punishments, laws, governmental proceedings, manners and customs never changed. Throughout the kingdom it was considered the state which exhibited the right ways; and therefore dependence was placed on it in the matters of ceremonies and music*.

1 Compare the Shi, V, xx, 3. Various attempts are made to
"reconcile the statements there and those of this paragraph ; ‘all,’
says Khan HAo, ‘mere conjectures.’

* Compare paragraph 22, page 139, vol. xxvii.

? Much of what is said here is glaringly false ; and justifies what is said of the Book in the introduction, page 29.

a en, Yo? aN Tay a vr tesocer nN

p. 4

BOOK XIII. SANG FU HSIAO At

RECORD OF SMALLER MATTERS IN THE
DRESS OF MOURNING}.

Section I.

1. When wearing the unhemmed sackcloth (for a father), (the son) tied up his hair with a hempen (band), and also when wearing it for a mother. When he exchanged this band for the cincture (in the case of mourning for his mother)?, this was . made of linen cloth.

(A wife) 8, when wearing the (one year's mourning) of sackcloth with the edges even, had the girdle (of the same), and the inferior hair-pin (of hazel-wood), and wore these to the end of the mourning.

made of linen cloth.

2. (Ordinarily) men wore the cap, and women the hair-pin ; (in mourning) men wore the cincture, and women the same after the female fashion.

1 See the introductory notice, vol. xxvii, page 30.

* This was done after the slighter dressing of the corpse. The cincture (win, %) is mentioned in the first paragraph of the Than Kung (vol. xxvii, page 120). The hempen band being removed, one of linen cloth, about the breadth of which there are different accounts, was put round the hair on the crown, taken forward to the forehead, there crossed, taken back again, and knotted at the back of the hair. ,

* The text does not mention ‘the wife’ here; but a comparison of different passages shows that this sentence is only applicable to her.

SECT. I. ° SANG FO HSIAO kf. 41

The idea was (simply) to maintain in this way a distinction between them !.

3. The dark-coloured staff was of bamboo; that pared and fashioned (at the end) was of eleococca wood ®.

4. When the grandfather was dead, and afterwards (the grandson) had to go into mourning for his grandmother, he, being the representative of the family (through the death of his father), did so for three years. ,

5. The eldest son, (at the mourning rites) for his father or mother, (before bowing to a visitor who had come to condole with him), first laid his forehead to the ground (as an expression of his sorrow).

When a Great officer came to condole (with an ordinary officer), though it might be (only) in a case of the three months’ mourning, (the latter first) laid his forehead to the ground 8,

A wife, at the rites for her husband or eldest son, bowed her head to the ground before she saluted

1 Anciently, it is said, there was no distinction between these two cinctures, but in the name. There probably came to be some difference between them ; but what it was I cannot discover.

* This is found also in the f Li, XXXII, 5; but the interpretation there is as difficult as here. The translation of the first character (B, ght) by ‘dark-coloured’ is from Khung Ying-t4. The paring away the end of the dryandria branch was to make it square. The round bamboo was carried in mourning for a father, and was supposed to symbolise heaven; the other was carried in mourning for a mother, and its square end symbolised earth. What heaven and earth were to nature that the father and mother were to a child. I can make nothing more or better of the passage.

* We do not see how this instance coheres with the former one; nor why.the two are brought together.

42. THE Lf xi. ‘BK. XIII.

a visitor ; but in mourning for others, she did not do so?.

I can make nothing more or better of the passage.

* We do not see how this instance coheres with the former one; nor why.the two are brought together.

42. THE Lf xi. ‘BK. XIII.

a visitor ; but in mourning for others, she did not do so?.

6. The man employed to preside (at the mourning rites) was required to be of the same surname (as the deceased parent) ; the wife so employed, of a different surname 2.

7. The son whg was_his father’s successom (as now head of the. family) did not wear mourning for his mother who had been divorced.

8. In counting kindred (and the mourning to be worn of them), the three closest degrees become expanded into five, and those five again into nine. The mourning diminished as the degrees ascended or descended, and the collateral branches also were correspondingly less mourned for; and the mourning for kindred thus came to an end °, g. At the great royal sacrifice to all ancestors, the first place was given to him from whom the founder of the line sprang, and that founder had the place of assessor to him. There came thus to be established four ancestral shrines‘. In the

1 The ‘others,’ according to Kang, must be understood of her own parents. She was now identified with a family of another surname ; and her husband’s relatives were more to her than her own.

* The son and his wife who should have presided are supposed to be dead. The wife elected for the office would be the wife of some other member of the family, herself therefore of a different surname.

® The three closest degrees are ‘father, son, and son’s son.’ ’ Add the grandfather and grandson (counting from the son), and we have five; great-grandfather and great-grandson (here omitted), and we have seven. Then great-great-grandfather and great-greatgrandson, make nine ; and the circle of kindred, for whom mourning should be worn, is complete. See Appendix, Book II, vol. xxvii.

‘ This statement about the four shrines has given occasion to much writing. :

SECT. I. sanGc FO ustAo xi. 43 case of a son by another than the queen coming to be king, the same course was observed.

10. When a son other than (the eldest) became the ancestor (of a branch of the same line), his successor was its Honoured Head, and he who followed him (in the line) was its smaller Honoured Head. After five generations there was a change again of the Honoured Head; but all in continuation of the High Ancestor.

11. Hence the removal of the ancestor took place high up (in the line), and the change of the Honoured Head low down (in it). Because they honoured the ancestor, they reverenced the Honoured Head; their reverencing the Honoured Head was the way in which they expressed the honour which they paid to the ancestor and his immediate successor 1,

Because they honoured the ancestor, they reverenced the Honoured Head; their reverencing the Honoured Head was the way in which they expressed the honour which they paid to the ancestor and his immediate successor 1,

12, That any other son but the eldest did not sacrifice to his grandfather showed that (only he was in the direct line from) the Honoured Head (of their branch of the family). So, no son but he wore the (three years) unhemmed sackcloth for his eldest son, because the eldest son of no other continued (the direct line) of the grandfather and father *.

13. None of the other sons sacrificed to a son

' The subject imperfectly described in these two paragraphs,— the manner in which a family, ever lengthening its line and multiplying its numbers, was divided into collateral branches, will come before the reader again in the next Book.

* It is difficult to catch exactly the thought in the writer of these, and several of the adjacent, sentences. Even the native critics, down to the Khien-lung editors, seem to experience the difficulty.

44 THE Li xt. BK. XIII.

(of his own) who had died prematurely, or one who had left no posterity. (The tablet of) such an one was placed along with that of his grandfather, and shared in the offerings made to him. |

14. Nor could any of them sacrifice to their father ; showing that (the eldest son was the representative of) the Honoured Head.

r5. (In the distinctions of the mourning) for the kindred who are the nearest, the honoured ones to whom honour is paid, the elders who are venerated for their age, and as the different tributes to males and females ; there are seen the greatest manifestations of the course which is right for men.

16. Where mourning would be worn from one’s relation with another for parties simply on the ground of that affinity, when that other was dead, the mourning ceased. Where it would have been worn for them on the ground of consanguinity, even though that other were dead, it was still worn’. _

When a concubine had followed a ruler’s wife to the harem, and the wife came to be divorced, the concubine, (following her out of the harem), did not wear mourning for her son *.

17. According to the rules, no one but the king offered the united sacrifice to all ancestors *.

* Khung Ying-t& specifies six cases coming under the former of these cases, and four under the second. It is not necessary to set them forth, The Xzhien-lung editors say that the paragraph has reference only to the practice of the officer; for a Great officer did not wear mourning either for his wife or mother’s kin.

2 This concubine would be either of the near relatives of the wife, who had gone with her on her marriage.

5 This paragraph is out of place. It should have formed part, probably, of paragraph 9.

SECT. I. SANG FO usIAo xf. 45

2 This concubine would be either of the near relatives of the wife, who had gone with her on her marriage.

5 This paragraph is out of place. It should have formed part, probably, of paragraph 9.

SECT. I. SANG FO usIAo xf. 45

18. The heir-son (of the king or a feudal lord) did not diminish the mourning for the parents of his wife. For his wife he wore the mourning which the eldest and rightful son of a Great officer did for his}.

19. When the father was an officer, and the son came to be king or a feudal prince, the father was sacrificed to with the rites of a king or a lord; but the personator wore the dress of an officer. When the father had been the son of Heaven, or a feudal lord, and the son was (only) an officer, the father was sacrificed to with the rites of an officer, but his personator wore only the dress of an officer *.

20. If a wife were divorced while wearing the mourning (for her father or mother-in-law), she put it off. If the thing took place while she was wearing the mourning for her own parents, and before she had completed the first year’s mourning, she continued to wear it for the three years; but if that term had been completed, she did not resume the mourning.

If she were called back before the completion of the year, she wore it to the end of that term; but if that term had been completed before she was called back, she went on wearing it to the regular term of mourning for parents.

21. The mourning which lasted for two complete years was (held to be) for three years; and that

1 The sackcloth for one year, without carrying the staff.

* Both the cases in this paragraph can hardly be taken as anything more than hypothetical. On the concluding statement, the Khien-lung editors ask how the robes of a king could be exhibited in the ancestral temple of an officer.

46 THE Lf xi. BK. XII.

which lasted for one complete year for two years}. The mourning for nine months and that for seven months? was held to be for three seasons; that for five months for two; and that for three months for one. Hence the sacrifice at the end of the completed year was according to the prescribed rule; but the putting off the mourning (or a part of it) then was the course (prompted by natural feeling). The sacrifice was not on account of the putting off of the mourning ®._

22. When the interment (for some reason) did not take place till after the three years, it was the rule that the two sacrifices (proper at the end of the first and second years) should then be offered. Between them, but not all at the same time, the mourning was put off ¢

23. If a relative who had himself to wear only the nine months’ mourning for the deceased took the direction of the mourning rites in the case of any who must continue their mourning for three years, it was the rule that he should offer for them the two annual terminal sacrifices. If one who was merely a friend took that direction, he only offered

If one who was merely a friend took that direction, he only offered

1 See the introduction on Book XXXV, vol. xxvii, page 49.

* We have not met before with this mourning term of seven months. It occurs in the f ‘Lt, Book XXIV, 6, as to be worn for those who had died in the second degree of prematurity between the age of twelve and fifteen inclusive.

* «This remark is made by the compiler,’ say the XAien-lung editors, ‘to guard against the sudden abandonment of their grief by the mourners, as if they had done with the deceased when the mourning was concluded.’

* After the first, it is said, men put off the mourning headband, and women that of the girdle. After the second they both put off their sackcloth.

SECT. 1. saNG FO usrdo xf. 47 the sacrifice of Repose, and that at the placing of the tablet in the shrine ?.

24. When the concubine of an officer had a son, he wore the three months’ mourning for her. If she had no son, he did not do so.

25. When one had been born (in another state), and had had no intercourse with his grand-uncles and aunts, uncles and cousins, and his father, on hearing of the death of any of them, proceeded to wear mourning, he did not do so.

26. If one did not (through being abroad) hear of the death of his ruler’s father or mother, wife or eldest son, till the ruler had put off his mourning, he did not proceed to wear any.

27. If it were a case, however, where the mourning was reduced to that of three months, he wore it®.

28. (Small) servants in attendance on the ruler, (who had followed him abroad), when he assumed mourning (on his return, for relatives who had died when he was away), also put it on. Other and (higher officers in his train) also did so; but if the proper term for the mourning in the case were past, they did not do so. (Those who had remained at home), though the ruler could not know of their doing so, had worn the (regular) mourning.

1 Because of the youth of the son, or of some other reason existing in the case. The director would himself be a cousin.

* But Great officers wore the three months’ mourning for the relatives who had accompanied their wives to the harem, though they might have had no son. No such relatives accompanied the wife of an officer.

* This, it is supposed, should follow paragraph 25. There are doubts as to the interpretation of it.

48 THE tf xt. BK. XIII,

Section II.

1. (The presiding mourner), after the sacrifice of Repose, did not carry his staff in proceeding to his apartment; after the placing of the tablet of the deceased (in the shrine of the grandfather), he did not carry it in going up to the hall?

2. The (son of another lady of the harem), who had been adopted as the child of the (childless) wife of the ruler, when that wife died, did not go into mourning for her kindred 2.

3. The sash was shorter (than the headband), by one-fifth of the length (of the latter). The staff was of the same length as the sash °.

4. For the ruler’s eldest son a concubine wore

3. The sash was shorter (than the headband), by one-fifth of the length (of the latter). The staff was of the same length as the sash °.

4. For the ruler’s eldest son a concubine wore

1 See vol. xxvii, p. 170. Ihave met with ‘the Pacifying sacrifice,’ instead of ‘ the sacrifice of Repose,’ which I prefer for 8 in this application. The character is explained by #, the symbol of ‘being at rest.” The mourners had done all they could for the body of the deceased. It had been laid in the grave; and this sacrifice of Repose was equivalent to our wish for a departed friend, ‘Requiescat in pace.’ It was offered in the principal apartment of the house. It remained only to place with an appropriate service the tablet of the deceased in its proper shrine in the ancestral temple next day. The staff was discarded by the mourner, it is said, to show that his grief was beginning to be assuaged. He and the others would pass from the principal apartment to others more private; and on leaving the temple, would have to mount the steps to the hall.

3 The Xh’ien-lung editors argue, and, I think, correctly, that this paragraph should say the opposite of what it does. They think it has been mutilated.

* The purely native staff in China is very long. At temples in the interior of the country I have often been asked to buy choice specimens as long as a shepherd’s crook, or an alpenstock.

SECT. 13. SANG FO usIAo xf. 49 mourning for the same time as his wife, (the son’s mother).

5. In putting off the mourning attire, they commenced with what was considered most important. In changing it, they commenced with what was considered least important.

6. When there was not the (regular) occasion for it, they did not open the door of the temple’. All wailed in the (mourning) shed (at other times).

7. In calling the dead back, and writing the inscription (to be exhibited over the coffin), the language was the same for all, from the son of Heaven to the ordinary officer. A man was called by his name. For a wife they wrote her surname, and her place among her sisters. If they did not know her surname, they wrote the branch-name of her family.

8. The girdle of dolychos cloth assumed with the unhemmed sackcloth (at the end of the wailing), and the hempen girdle worn when one (first) put on the hemmed sackcloth (of one year’s mourning), were of the same size. The girdle of dolychos cloth assumed (as a change) in the hemmed sackcloth mourning, and that of hempen cloth at the (beginning of the) nine months’ mourning, were of the same size. When the occasion for assuming the girdle of the lighter mourning occurred, a man wore both it and the other together ?.

! This is not the ancestral temple; but the apartment where the body was kept in the coffin, entered regularly for wailing in the morning and evening.

? So far as I can understand this paragraph, it describes the practice of a man (not of a woman), when, while he was wearing

(28] E

50 THE Li xi. BK, XIII.

? So far as I can understand this paragraph, it describes the practice of a man (not of a woman), when, while he was wearing

(28] E

50 THE Li xi. BK, XIII.

9. An early interment was followed by an early sacrifice of repose. But they did not end their wailing till the three months were completed.

10. When the mourning rites for both parents occurred at the same time, the sacrifices of repose and of the enshrining of the tablet, for the (mother) who was buried first, did not take place till after the burial of the father. The sackcloth worn at her interment was the unhemmed and jagged.

11. A Great officer reduced the (period of) mourning for a son by a concubine ?; but his grandson, (the son of that son), did not reduce his mourning for his father.

12. A Great officer did not preside at the mourning rites for an (ordinary) officer.

13. For the parents of his nurse? a man did not wear mourning.

14. When the husband had become the successor and representative of some other man (than his own father), his wife wore the nine months’ mourning for his parents-in-law +.

15. When the tablet of an (ordinary) officer was placed in the shrine of (his grandfather who had been) a Great officer, the victim due to him (as an officer) was changed (for that due to a Great officer).

16. A son who had not lived with his step-father (did not wear mourning for him). (They) must deep mourning, a fresh death in his circle required him to add to it something of a lighter mourning.

? Compare vol. xxvii, page 315, paragraph 6.

? To nine months.

* A concubine of his father’s.

“ Her husband's own parents. But the paragraph is a difficult one; nor have the commentators elucidated it clearly,

SECT. 11. SANG FO HsIAo ki. 51 have lived together and both be without sons to preside at their mourning rites; and (the stepfather moreover) must have shared his resources with the son, and enabled him to sacrifice to his grandfather and father, (in order to his wearing mourning for him) ;—under these conditions they were said to live together. If they had sons to preside at the mourning rites for them, they lived apart.

17. When people wailed for a friend, they did so outside the door (of the principal apartment), on the left of it, with their faces towards the south !.

18. When one was buried in a grave already occupied, there was no divination about the site (in the second case).

19. The tablet of an (ordinary) officer or of a Great officer could not be placed in the shrine of a grandfather who had been the lord of a state; it was placed in that of a brother of the grandfather who had been an (ordinary) officer or a Great officer. The tablet of his wife was placed by the tablet of that brother’s wife, and that of his concubine by the tablet of that brother’s concubine.

The tablet of his wife was placed by the tablet of that brother’s wife, and that of his concubine by the tablet of that brother’s concubine.

If there had been no such concubine, it was placed by the tablet of that brother's grandfather ; for in all such places respect was had to the rules concerning the relative positions assigned to the tablets of father and son*%. The tablet of a feudal lord could not be placed in the shrine of the son of Heaven (from whom he was born or descended) ; but that of the son of Heaven, of a feudal lord, or

' See vol. xxvii, page 134, paragraph 10.
® See vol. xxvii, page 223, paragraph 4, and note.
E2

52 THE Lf xi. BK. XIII.

of a Great officer, could be placed in the shrine of an (ordinary) officer (from whom he was descended)!

20. For his mother’s mother, who had been the wife proper of her father, if his mother were dead, a son did not wear mourning *.

21. The son who was the lineal Head of his new branch of the surname, even though his mother were alive, (his father being dead), completed the full period of mourning for his wife *.

22. A concubine’s son who had been reared by another, might act as son to that other; and she might be any concubine of his father or of his grandfather *. :

23. The mourning went on to the than ceremony for a parent, a wife, and the eldest son

24. Toa nursing mother, or any concubine who was a mother, sacrifice was not maintained for a second generation.

25. When a grown-up youth had been capped, (and died), though his death could not be considered premature; and a (young) wife, after having worn

1 A descendant in a low position could not presume on the dignity of his ancestors; but those who had become distinguished glorified their meaner ancestors.

2 It is difficult to say exactly what is the significance of the

FR in the text here.

8 Meaning, say some, performed the than sacrifice at the end of twenty-seven months for her. I cannot think this is the meaning. Even for such a wife there could not be the ‘three years’ mourning.’ According to Wang Yiian (VE Hi) the mourning for one year terminated with a than sacrifice in the fifteenth month. This must be what is here intended.

4 This is the best I can do for this paragraph, over which there is much conflict of opinion.

* Here is the same difficulty as in paragraph 21.

SECT. II. SANG FO usiAo xt. 53 the hair-pin, (died), though neither could her death be said to be premature; yet, (if they died childless), those who would have presided at their rites, if they had died prematurely, wore the mourning for them which they would then have done 1.

26. If an interment were delayed (by circumstances) for a long time, he who was presiding over the mourning rites was the only one who did not put off his mourning. The others having worn the hempen (band) for the number of months (proper in their relation to the deceased), put off their mourning, and made an end of it *.

The others having worn the hempen (band) for the number of months (proper in their relation to the deceased), put off their mourning, and made an end of it *.

27. The hair-pin of the arrow-bamboo was worn by (an unmarried daughter for her father) to the end of the three years’ mourning *.

28. That in which those who wore the sackcloth with even edges for three months, and those who wore (it) for all the nine months’ mourning agreed, was the shoes made of strings (of hemp),

29. When the time was come for the sacrifice at the end of the first year’s mourning, they consulted the divining stalks about the day for it, and the individual who was to act as personator of the deceased. They looked that everything was clean, and that all wore the proper girdle, carried their staffs, and had on the shoes of hempen-string. When the officers charged with this announced that all was ready, (the son) laid aside his staff, and assisted at the divinations for the day and for the

1 Another difficult paragraph, about the interpretation of which there seem to be as many minds as there are commentators.

® Yet they would keep it by them till the interment took place, and then put it on again for the occasion.

* Should form part of the first paragraph of Section i.

54 THE Lf xf. BK. XIII.

personator. The officers having announced that these were over, he resumed his staff, bowed to the guests (who had arrived in the meantime), and escorted them away. At the sacrifice for the end of the second year, (the son) wore his auspicious (court) robes, and divined about the personator.

30. The son of a concubine, living in the same house with his father, did not observe the sacrifice at the end of the mourning for his mother.

Nor did such a son carry his staff in proceeding to his place for wailing.

As the father did not preside at the mourning rites for the son of a concubine, that son’s son might carry his staff in going to his place for wailing. Even while the father was present, the son of a concubine, in mourning for his wife, might carry his staff in going to that place.

31. When a feudal prince went to condole on the death of a minister of another state ', (being himself there on a visit), the ruler of that state received him and acted as the presiding mourner. The rule was that he should wear the skin cap and the starched sackcloth. Though the deceased on account of whom he paid his condolences had been interred, the presiding mourner wore the mourning cincture. If he had not yet assumed the full mourning dress, the visitor also did not wear that starched sackcloth.

32. One who was ministering to another who was ill did not do so in the mourning clothes (which he might be wearing); and (if the patient died), he might go on to preside at the mourning rites for him. But if another relative, who had not ministered

1 That is, if the visit were made before the removal of the coffin.

SECT. 11. SANG FO HsIAo xf. 55

But if another relative, who had not ministered

1 That is, if the visit were made before the removal of the coffin.

SECT. 11. SANG FO HsIAo xf. 55 to the deceased in his illness, came in to preside at the rites for him, he did not change the mourning which he might be wearing. In ministering to one more honourable than himself, the rule required a person to change the mourning he might be wearing, but not if the other were of lower position ?.

33. If there had been no concubine of her husband’s grandmother by whose tablet that of a deceased concubine might be placed, it might be placed by that. of the grandmother, the victim offered on the occasion being changed.

34. In the mourning rites for a wife, at the sacrifices of repose and on the ending of the wailing, her husband or son presided; when her tablet was put in its place, her father-in-law presided.

35. An (ordinary) officer did not take the place of presiding (at the mourning rites) for a Great officer. It was only when he was the direct descendant of the Honoured Head of their branch of the surname that he could do so.

36. If a cousin arrived from another state (to take part in the rites), before the presiding mourner had put off his mourning, the latter received him in the part of host, but without the mourning cincture?.

37. The course pursued in displaying the articles, (vessels to the eye of fancy, to be put into the grave)*, was this :—If they were (too) many as displayed, a portion of them might be put into the grave; if they were comparatively few as displayed, they might all be put into it.

1 Tf the other, it is said, in the former case were elder, an uncle or elder cousin; in the latter, a younger cousin.

2 If the ruler came to condole after the interment, the presiding mourner would resume his cincture to receive him, out of respect to his rank; but this was not required on the late arrival of a relative.

* These articles were the contributions of friends and those

56 THE Lf xt. BK, XII,

38. Parties hurrying to the mourning rites for a brother or cousin (whose burial had taken place) first went to the grave and afterwards to the house, selecting places at which to perform their wailing. If the deceased had (only) been an acquaintance, they (first) wailed in the apartment (where the coffin had been), and afterwards went to the grave.

39. A father (at the mourning rites) for any of his other sons did not pass the night in the shed outside (the middle door, as for his eldest son by his wife).

40. The brothers and cousins of a feudal prince wore the unhemmed sackcloth (in mourning for him).

41. In the five months’ mourning for one who had died in the lowest stage of immaturity, the sash was of bleached hemp from which the roots were not cut away. These were turned back and tucked in.

40. The brothers and cousins of a feudal prince wore the unhemmed sackcloth (in mourning for him).

41. In the five months’ mourning for one who had died in the lowest stage of immaturity, the sash was of bleached hemp from which the roots were not cut away. These were turned back and tucked in.

42. When the tablet of a wife was to be placed by that of her husband’s grandmother, if there were three (who could be so denominated), it was placed by that of her who was the mother of her husband’s father 2.

43. In the case of a wife dying while her husband prepared by the family. They were displayed inside the gate of the temple on the east of it when the body was being moved, and in front of the grave, on the east of the path leading to it.

1 Even though they might not be in the same state with him.

2 We must suppose that the grandfather had had three wives ; not at the same time, but married one after another’s death. Some suppose the three to be a mistake for two. ‘The mother of her husband’s father’ is simply ‘the nearest’ in the text.

SECT. II. sanc FO usiAo xf. 57 was a Great officer, and his ceasing, after her death, to be of that rank ; if his tablet were placed (on his death) by that of his wife, the victim on the occasion was not changed (from that due to an ordinary officer). But if her husband (who had been an officer) became a Great officer after her death, then the victim at the placing of his tablet by hers was that due to a Great officer 1.

44. A son who was or would be his father’s successor did not wear mourning for his divorced mother. He did not wear such mourning, because one engaged in mourning rites could not offer sacrifice®.

45. When a wife did not preside at the mourning rites and yet carried the staff, it was when her mother-in-law was alive, and she did so for her husband. A mother carried the eleococca staff with its end cut square for the oldest son. A daughter, who was still in her apartment unmarried, carried a staff for her father or mother. If the relative superintending the rites did not carry the staff, then this one child did so?

* We must suppose that the appointment of the husband, whether as officer or Great officer, had been so recent that there had been no time for any tablets of an elder generation to get into his ancestral temple. His wife’s had been the first to be placed in it.

* That is, he might have to preside at the sacrifices in the ancestral temple of his own family, and would be incapacitated for doing so, if he were mourning for her. The reader should bear in mind that there were seven justifiable causes for the divorce of a wife, without her being guilty of infidelity, or any criminal act.

* It is supposed there was no brother in the family to preside at the rites, and a relative of the same surname was called in to do so. But it was not in rule for him to carry the staff, and this daughter therefore did so, as if she had been a son.

58 THE Lf xf. BK. XIII.

46. In the mourning for three months and five months, at the sacrifice of repose and the ending of the wailing, they wore the mourning cincture.

After the interment, if. they did not immediately go to perform the sacrifice of repose, they all, even the presiding mourner, wore their caps; but when they came to the sacrifice of repose, ‘they all assumed the cincture.

When they had put off the mourning for a relative, on the arrival of his interment, they resumed it; and when they came to the sacrifice of repose and the ending of the wailing, they put on the cincture. If they did not immediately perform the sacrifice, they put it off.

When they had been burying at a distance, and were returning to wail, they put on their caps. On arriving at the suburbs, they put on the cincture, and came back to wail.

47. If the ruler came to condole with mourners, though it might not be the time for wearing the cincture, even the president of the rites assumed it, and did not allow the ends of his hempen girdle to hang loose. Even in the case of a visit from the ruler of another state, they assumed the cincture. The relatives all did so.

48. When they put off the mourning for one who had died prematurely, the rule was that at the (accompanying) sacrifice, the dress should be darkcoloured. When they put off the mourning for one fully grown, they wore their court robes, with the cap of white, plain, silk.

49. A son, who had hurried to the mourning rites of his father (from a distance), bound up his hair in the raised hall, bared his chest, descended to

SECT. 11. sANG FO usiAo xf. 59 the court, and there performed his leaping. (The leaping over, he reascended), covered his chest, and put on his sash in an apartment on the east.

If the rites were for his mother, he did not bind up his hair. He bared his chest, however, in the ‘hall, descended to the court, and went through his leaping. (Reascending then), he covered his chest, and put on the cincture in the apartment on the east.

In the girdle (or the cincture), he proceeded to the appointed place, and completed the leaping. He then went out from the door (of the coffin-room), and went to (the mourning shed). The wailing commencing at death had by this time ceased. In three days he wailed five times, and thrice bared his chest for the leaping.

50. When an eldest son and his wife could not take the place hereafter of his parents, then, (in the event of her death), her mother-in-law wore for her (only) the five months’ mourning?.

In three days he wailed five times, and thrice bared his chest for the leaping.

50. When an eldest son and his wife could not take the place hereafter of his parents, then, (in the event of her death), her mother-in-law wore for her (only) the five months’ mourning?.

1 The scope of this paragraph is plain enough; but the construing of it is difficult. I have translated after KAin Hao’s text, which contains a character more than that of the AK/ien-lung edition. The son and his wife could not become the representatives of the family. Various reasons are suggested by the commentators for the fact. The text supposes the death of the wife to take place before that of her mother-in-law.

BOOK XIV. TA KWAN
OR
THE GREAT TREATISE}.

1. According to the rules, only the king offered the united sacrifice to all ancestors. The chief place was then given to him from whom -the founder of the line sprang, and that founder had the place of assessor to him?

The sacrifices of the princes of states reached to their highest ancestor. Great officers and other officers, who had performed great services, when these were examined (and approved) by the ruler, were able to carry their sacrifices up to their high ancestor. ;

2. The field of Md-yeh was the great achievement of king Wd. When he withdrew after the victory, he reared a burning pile to God; prayed at the altar of the earth; and set forth his offerings in the house of Mf. He then led all the princes of the kingdom, bearing his offerings in their various stands, and hurrying about, and carried the title of king back to Thai who was Than-ff, A%-li, and king Wan who was Khang ;—he would not approach his honourable ancestors with their former humbler titles.

? See the introductory notice, vol. xxvii, pages 30, 31.

? See the last Book, I, paragraphs 9, 17, et al.

5 I suppose that all which is, here described was done by king W0 after his victory at MQ, under the advice of his brother, known to us as the duke of Kau; see the Kung Yung, paragraphs 54, 55. ‘ The house of MQ’ would be a building converted for the occasion into a temple. ;

p. 61

3. Thus he regulated the services to be rendered to his father and grandfather before him ;—giving honour to the most honourable. He regulated the places to be given to his sons and grandsons below him ;—showing his affection to his kindred. He regulated (also) the observances for the collateral branches of his cousins ;—associating all their members in the fe&dsting. He defined their places according to their order of descent; and his every distinction was in harmony with what was proper and right. In this way the procedure of human duty was made complete.

He defined their places according to their order of descent; and his every distinction was in harmony with what was proper and right. In this way the procedure of human duty was made complete.

4. When a sage sovereign stood with his face to the south, and all the affairs of the kingdom came before him, there were five things which for the time claimed his first care, and the people were not reckoned among them. The first was the regulating what was due to his kindred (as above) ; the second, the reward of merit; the third, the promotion of worth ; the fourth, the employment of ability; and the fifth, the maintenance of a loving vigilance. When these five things were all fully realised, the people had all their necessities satisfied, all that they wanted supplied. If one of them were defective, the people could not complete their lives in comfort.

It was necessary for a sage on the throne of government to begin with the (above) procedure of human duty.

5. The appointment of the measures of weight, length, and capacity; the fixing the elegancies (of ceremony); the changing the commencement of the year and month ; alterations in the colour of dress ; differences of flags and their blazonry; changes in vessels and weapons, and distinctions in dress :—

62 THE Lf xt. BK. XIV.

these were things, changes in which could be enjoined on the people. But no changes could be enjoined upon them in what concerned affection for kin, the honour paid to the honourable, the respect due to the aged, and the different positions and functions of male and female.

6. Members of the same surname were united together in the various ramifications of their kinship, under the Heads of their different branches'. Those of a different surname? had their mutual relations regulated principally by the names assigned to them. Those names being clearly set forth, the different positions of males and females were determined.

When the husband belonged to the class of fathers [or uncles]®, the wife was placed in that of mothers [or aunts]; when he belonged to the class of sons [or cousins], the wife was placed in that of (junior) wives‘. Since the wife of a younger brother was (thus) styled (junior) wife, could the wife of his elder brother be at the same time styled mother [or aunt]? The name or appellation is of the greatest

1 That is, the males all called by the surname of the family.

2 That is, the females, married into the family from other families of different surnames, and receiving different names or appellations from the places of their husbands in the family roll.

§ ‘Fathers’ and ‘mothers’ here are really uncles and aunts, the ng for the former being equivalent to 48 aL 4g ; and the FF for the latter to 48 aL FF. The uncles were of the same category as the father in respect to age, and the aunts in the same category as the mother.

‘ FQ, the character here for wife, does not in itself contain the idea of this inferiority in point of age. That idea was in the mind of the writer, arising from the subject of which he was treating.

p. 63

importance in the regulation of the family ;—was not anxious care required in the declaration of it?

7. For parties four generations removed (from the same common ancestor) the mourning was reduced to that worn for three months, and this was the limit of wearing the hempen cloth. If the generations were five, the shoulders were bared and the cincture assumed ; and in this way the mourning within the circle of the same was gradually reduced. After the sixth generation the bond of kinship was held to be at an end.

8. As the branch-surnames which arose separated the members of them from their relatives of a former time, and the kinship disappeared as time went on, (so far as wearing mourning was concerned), could marriage be contracted between parties (so wide apart)'? But there was that original surname tying all the members together without distinction, and the maintenance of the connexion by means of the common feast?;—-while there were these conditions, there could be no intermarriage, even after a hundred generations. Such was the rule of Kau’.

9. The considerations which regulated the mourning worn were six :—first, the nearness of the kinship4;

1 Khan H4o says that under the Yin dynasty intermarriages were allowed after the fifth generation in a family of the same surname. The same statement is referred to by Khung Ying-t4, from whom /%n, probably, took it; but the A‘ien-lung editors discard it, as being ‘ without proof.’

* «The feast’ given to all the kindred after the seasonal sacrifices in the ancestral temple.

* Khan Hao refers to this prohibition of intermarriages by KAu as the grand distinction of the dynasty, marking clearly ‘ for the first time the distinction between man and beast.’

* As between parents and children.

64 THE Li xf. BK, XIV.

second, the honour due to the honourable’; third, the names (as expressing the position in the relative circle)?; fourth, the cases of women still unmarried in the paternal home, and of those who had married and left it®; fifth, age‘; and sixth, affinity, and external relationship °.

10. Of the considerations of affinity and external relationship there were six cases =—those arising from inter-relationship *; those in which there was no inter-relationship?; those where mourning should be worn, and yet was not; those where it should not be worn, and yet was; those where it should be deep, and yet was light ; and those where it should be light, and yet was deep.