him on the road, speak to him. Such men were sent away to one of the four quarters, according to the sentence on each. They were not allowed to have anything to do with affairs of government, to show that there was no object in allowing them to live[1].
12. In their relation to the son of Heaven, the feudal princes were required to send every year a minor mission to the court, and every three years a greater mission; once in five years they had to appear there in person.
13. The son of Heaven, every five years, made a tour of Inspection through the fiefs[2].
14. In the second month of the year, he visited those on the East, going to the honoured mountain of Tâi. There he burnt a (great) pile of wood, and announced his arrival to Heaven; and with looks directed to them, sacrificed to the hills and rivers. He gave audience to the princes; inquired out those who were 100 years old, and went to see them: ordered the Grand music-master to bring him the poems (current in the different states)[3], that he might see the manners of the people; ordered the superintendents of markets to present (lists of prices), that he might see what the people liked and disliked, and
whether they were set on extravagance and loved
- ↑ It has been said that these were rules of the Yin or Shang dynasty. The Khien-lung editors maintain that they were followed by all the three feudal dynasties.
- ↑ Compare vol. iii, pp. 39, 40.
- ↑ These would include ballads and songs. Perhaps "Grand music-master" should be in the plural, meaning those officers of each state. Probably these would have given them to the king's Grand music-master.
