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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Heaven's favours stir them up, so that they come with their allegiance to our great state of Kau. And now, ye spirits, grant me your aid, that I may relieve the millions of the people, and nothing turn out to your shame.”’ * 1 Probably mount Hw and the Ho. 136 THE SHO KING. PART V. 3. On the day Wf-wi, the army crossed the ford of Mang, and on Kwei-hai it was drawn up in array in the borders of Shang, waiting for the gracious decision of Heaven. On Aidyze, at early dawn, Sh4u led forward his troops, (looking) like a forest, and assembled them in the wild of Md. But they offered no opposition to our army. Those in the front inverted their spears, and attacked those behind them, till they fled; and the blood flowed till it floated the pestles of the mortars. Thus did (king Wd) once don his armour, and the kingdom was grandly settled. He overturned the (existing) rule of Shang, and made government resume its old course. He delivered the count of AAt from prison, and raised a mound over the grave of Pt-kan. He bowed forward to the cross-bar of his carriage at the gate of Shang Yung’s village’. He dispersed the treasures of the Stag Tower ’, and distributed the grain of Xii-4i4o%, thus conferring great gifts on all within the four seas, so that the people joyfully submitted to him. He arranged the nobles in five orders‘, assigning the territories to them according to a threefold 1 Shang Yung must have been some worthy in disgrace with Shau, and living in the retirement of his village. 3 The Stag Tower was the name of a place in the present department of Wei-hui, Ho-nan, where Shau had accumulated great treasures, He fled to it after his defeat, and burned himself to death ; but it would appear he had not succeeded in consuming at the same time all his wealth. 8 Ki-khido was in the present district of KAt-k4u, department Kwang-phing, Xih-lf, where Shau had collected great stores of grain. * Dukes, marquises, earls, counts, and barons. BOOK IV. THE GREAT PLAN. 137 scale. He gave offices only to the worthy, and employments only to the able. He attached great importance to the people’s being taught the duties of the five relations of society, and to measures for ensuring a sufficient supply of food, attention to the rites of mourning, and to sacrifices* He showed the reality of his truthfulness, and proved clearly his righteousness. He honoured virtue, and rewarded merit. Then he had only to let his robes fall down, and fold his hands, and the kingdom was orderly ruled. Book IV. Tue Great Puan.
2He honoured virtue, and rewarded merit. Then he had only to let his robes fall down, and fold his hands, and the kingdom was orderly ruled. Book IV. Tue Great Puan. Tue Great Plan, ordinarily classed among the ‘Counsels’ or among the ‘Instructions’ of the Shi, might as well have a place among the ‘Canons.’ It is a remarkable production, and though it appears among the documents of the Kau dynasty, there is claimed for the substance of it a much greater antiquity. According to the introductory sentences, king W4, the founder of Au, obtained it from the count of XAi in the same year, the thirteenth of his dignity as Chief of the West, that he took the field against the tyrant of Shang. The count of KA, it is understood, was the Grand-Master at the court of Shang, who appears in the concluding Book of the last Part. He says there, that, when ruin overtook the House of Shang, he would not be the servant of another dynasty. Accordingly, he refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of king Wf, who had delivered him from the prison in which he had been confined by K4uhsin, and fled—or purposed perhaps to flee—to Corea. WA respected and admired his fidelity to the fallen dynasty, and invested him with that territory. He then, it is said, felt constrained to appear at the court of Xau, when the king consulted 1 Dukes and marquises had the same amount of territory assigned to them, and counts and barons also. 138 THE SHU KING. PART V. him on the principles of government ; and the result was that he communicated to him this Great Plan, with its nine divisions. When we read the Book, we see that it belonged originally to the time of Hsia, and that the larger portion of it should be ascribed to the Great Yii, and was as old, indeed, as the reign of Y4o. How it had come into the possession of the count of ii we cannot tell. Nor does it appear how far the language of it should be ascribed to him. That the larger portion of it had come down from the times of Hsia is not improbable. The use of the number nine and other numbers, and the naming of the various divisions of the Plan, are in harmony with Yii’s style and practice in his Counsels in the second Part of our Classic, and in the second Part also of the Tribute of Yi. We are told in the introductory sentences, that Heaven or God gave the Plan with its divisions to Yi. To explain the way in which the gift was made, there is a tradition about a mysterious tortoise that appeared in the waters of the Lo, bearing well-defined marks on its back from one to nine, and that thereupon Yti determined the meaning of those marks and of their numbers, and completed the nine divisions of the Plan. Of this legend, however, it is not necessary to speak in connexion with the ShQ, which does not mention it; it will come up in connexion with the translation of the Yf King.
3Of this legend, however, it is not necessary to speak in connexion with the ShQ, which does not mention it; it will come up in connexion with the translation of the Yf King. The Great Plan means the great model for the government of the nation,—the method by which the people may be rendered happy and tranquil, in harmony with their condition, through the perfect character of the king, and his perfect administration of government. P. Gaubil says that the Book is a treatise at once of physics, astrology, divination, morals, politics, and religion, and that it has a sufficiently close resemblance to the work of Ocellus the Lucanian. There is a shadowy resemblance between the Great Plan and the curious specimen of Pythagorean doctrine which we have in the treatise on the Universe; but the dissimilarities are still greater and more numerous. More especially are the differences between the Greek mind, speculative, and the Chinese mind, practical, apparent in the two works. Where the Chinese writer loses himself in the sheerest follies of his imagining, he yet gropes about for a rule to be of use in the conduct of human affairs. The whole of the treatise is divided into three chapters. The first is introductory, and relates how the Great Plan with its BOOK IV. THE GREAT PLAN. 139 nine divisions was at first made known to Yu, and came at this time to be communicated to king Wf; the second contains the names of the nine divisions of the Plan; and in the third we have a description of the several divisions. ‘The whole,’ says a Chinese writer, ‘exhibits the great model for the government of the nation.’ The fifth or middle division on royal perfection is the central one of the whole, about which the Book revolves. The four divisions that precede it show how this royal perfection is to be accomplished, and the four that follow show how it is to be maintained. 1. In the thirteenth year}, the king went to enquire of the count of A4t, and said to him, ‘Oh! count of AAi, Heaven, (working) unseen, secures the tranquillity of the lower people, aiding them to be in harmony with their condition*®. I do not know how the unvarying principles (of its method in doing so) should be set forth in due order.’ The count of A4At thereupon replied, ‘I have heard that in old time Khwan dammed up the inundating waters, and thereby threw into disorder the arrangement of the five elements. God was consequently roused to anger, and did not give him the Great Plan with its nine divisions, and thus the unvarying principles (of Heaven’s method) were allowed to go to ruin.* Khwan was therefore 1 See the commencement of Book i.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Heaven's favours stir them up, so that they come with their allegiance to our great state of Kau. And now, ye spirits, grant me your aid, that I may relieve the millions of the people, and nothing turn out to your shame.”’ * 1 Probably mount Hw and the Ho. 136 THE SHO KING. PART V. 3. On the day Wf-wi, the army crossed the ford of Mang, and on Kwei-hai it was drawn up in array in the borders of Shang, waiting for the gracious decision of Heaven. On Aidyze, at early dawn, Sh4u led forward his troops, (looking) like a forest, and assembled them in the wild of Md. But they offered no opposition to our army. Those in the front inverted their spears, and attacked those behind them, till they fled; and the blood flowed till it floated the pestles of the mortars. Thus did (king Wd) once don his armour, and the kingdom was grandly settled. He overturned the (existing) rule of Shang, and made government resume its old course. He delivered the count of AAt from prison, and raised a mound over the grave of Pt-kan. He bowed forward to the cross-bar of his carriage at the gate of Shang Yung’s village’. He dispersed the treasures of the Stag Tower ’, and distributed the grain of Xii-4i4o%, thus conferring great gifts on all within the four seas, so that the people joyfully submitted to him. He arranged the nobles in five orders‘, assigning the territories to them according to a threefold 1 Shang Yung must have been some worthy in disgrace with Shau, and living in the retirement of his village. 3 The Stag Tower was the name of a place in the present department of Wei-hui, Ho-nan, where Shau had accumulated great treasures, He fled to it after his defeat, and burned himself to death ; but it would appear he had not succeeded in consuming at the same time all his wealth. 8 Ki-khido was in the present district of KAt-k4u, department Kwang-phing, Xih-lf, where Shau had collected great stores of grain. * Dukes, marquises, earls, counts, and barons. BOOK IV. THE GREAT PLAN. 137 scale. He gave offices only to the worthy, and employments only to the able. He attached great importance to the people’s being taught the duties of the five relations of society, and to measures for ensuring a sufficient supply of food, attention to the rites of mourning, and to sacrifices* He showed the reality of his truthfulness, and proved clearly his righteousness. He honoured virtue, and rewarded merit. Then he had only to let his robes fall down, and fold his hands, and the kingdom was orderly ruled. Book IV. Tue Great Puan.
2He honoured virtue, and rewarded merit. Then he had only to let his robes fall down, and fold his hands, and the kingdom was orderly ruled. Book IV. Tue Great Puan. Tue Great Plan, ordinarily classed among the ‘Counsels’ or among the ‘Instructions’ of the Shi, might as well have a place among the ‘Canons.’ It is a remarkable production, and though it appears among the documents of the Kau dynasty, there is claimed for the substance of it a much greater antiquity. According to the introductory sentences, king W4, the founder of Au, obtained it from the count of XAi in the same year, the thirteenth of his dignity as Chief of the West, that he took the field against the tyrant of Shang. The count of KA, it is understood, was the Grand-Master at the court of Shang, who appears in the concluding Book of the last Part. He says there, that, when ruin overtook the House of Shang, he would not be the servant of another dynasty. Accordingly, he refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of king Wf, who had delivered him from the prison in which he had been confined by K4uhsin, and fled—or purposed perhaps to flee—to Corea. WA respected and admired his fidelity to the fallen dynasty, and invested him with that territory. He then, it is said, felt constrained to appear at the court of Xau, when the king consulted 1 Dukes and marquises had the same amount of territory assigned to them, and counts and barons also. 138 THE SHU KING. PART V. him on the principles of government ; and the result was that he communicated to him this Great Plan, with its nine divisions. When we read the Book, we see that it belonged originally to the time of Hsia, and that the larger portion of it should be ascribed to the Great Yii, and was as old, indeed, as the reign of Y4o. How it had come into the possession of the count of ii we cannot tell. Nor does it appear how far the language of it should be ascribed to him. That the larger portion of it had come down from the times of Hsia is not improbable. The use of the number nine and other numbers, and the naming of the various divisions of the Plan, are in harmony with Yii’s style and practice in his Counsels in the second Part of our Classic, and in the second Part also of the Tribute of Yi. We are told in the introductory sentences, that Heaven or God gave the Plan with its divisions to Yi. To explain the way in which the gift was made, there is a tradition about a mysterious tortoise that appeared in the waters of the Lo, bearing well-defined marks on its back from one to nine, and that thereupon Yti determined the meaning of those marks and of their numbers, and completed the nine divisions of the Plan. Of this legend, however, it is not necessary to speak in connexion with the ShQ, which does not mention it; it will come up in connexion with the translation of the Yf King.
3Of this legend, however, it is not necessary to speak in connexion with the ShQ, which does not mention it; it will come up in connexion with the translation of the Yf King. The Great Plan means the great model for the government of the nation,—the method by which the people may be rendered happy and tranquil, in harmony with their condition, through the perfect character of the king, and his perfect administration of government. P. Gaubil says that the Book is a treatise at once of physics, astrology, divination, morals, politics, and religion, and that it has a sufficiently close resemblance to the work of Ocellus the Lucanian. There is a shadowy resemblance between the Great Plan and the curious specimen of Pythagorean doctrine which we have in the treatise on the Universe; but the dissimilarities are still greater and more numerous. More especially are the differences between the Greek mind, speculative, and the Chinese mind, practical, apparent in the two works. Where the Chinese writer loses himself in the sheerest follies of his imagining, he yet gropes about for a rule to be of use in the conduct of human affairs. The whole of the treatise is divided into three chapters. The first is introductory, and relates how the Great Plan with its BOOK IV. THE GREAT PLAN. 139 nine divisions was at first made known to Yu, and came at this time to be communicated to king Wf; the second contains the names of the nine divisions of the Plan; and in the third we have a description of the several divisions. ‘The whole,’ says a Chinese writer, ‘exhibits the great model for the government of the nation.’ The fifth or middle division on royal perfection is the central one of the whole, about which the Book revolves. The four divisions that precede it show how this royal perfection is to be accomplished, and the four that follow show how it is to be maintained. 1. In the thirteenth year}, the king went to enquire of the count of A4t, and said to him, ‘Oh! count of AAi, Heaven, (working) unseen, secures the tranquillity of the lower people, aiding them to be in harmony with their condition*®. I do not know how the unvarying principles (of its method in doing so) should be set forth in due order.’ The count of A4At thereupon replied, ‘I have heard that in old time Khwan dammed up the inundating waters, and thereby threw into disorder the arrangement of the five elements. God was consequently roused to anger, and did not give him the Great Plan with its nine divisions, and thus the unvarying principles (of Heaven’s method) were allowed to go to ruin.* Khwan was therefore 1 See the commencement of Book i.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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