6. At the mourning for Mû-po (her husband),
King Kiang wailed for him in the daytime, and at
that for Wǎn-po (her son), she wailed for him both
in the daytime and the night. Confucius said,
"She knows the rules of propriety[1]."
At the mourning for Wǎn-po, King Kiang (once) put her hand on the couch (where his body lay), and without wailing said, "Formerly, when I had this son, I thought that he would be a man of worth. (But) I never went with him to the court (to see his conduct there); and now that he is dead, of all his friends, the other ministers, there is no one that has shed tears for him, while the members of his harem all wail till they lose their voices. This son must have committed many lapses in his observance of the rules of propriety!"
7. When the mother of Kî Khang-jze died, (her body was laid out with) her private clothes displayed. King Kiang (Khang-jze's grand-uncle's wife) said, "A wife does not dare to see her husband's parents without the ornament (of her upper robes); and there will be the guests from all quarters coming;—why are her under-clothes displayed here?" With this she ordered them to be removed.
8. Yû-jze and Зze-yû were standing together when they saw (a mourner) giving all a child's demonstrations of affection. Yû-jze said, "I have never understood this leaping in mourning, and have long wished to do away with it. The sincere
feeling (of sorrow) which appears here is right, (and
- ↑ It is said, "She mourned for her husband according to propriety; for her son according to her feelings."
