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[1].
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[2].
Part II.
1. In the second month of spring, the sun is in Khwei, the star culminating at dusk being Hû, and that culminating at dawn Kien-hsing[3].
2. Its days are kiâ, and yî. Its divine ruler is Thâi Hâo, the attending spirit is Kâu-mang. Its
- ↑ Compare what is said in the fifth Appendix to the Yî 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 β (Mirac), δ, ε, ζ, μ, ν, π of Andromeda, and some stars of Pisces. Hû or Hû Kih contains δ, ε, η, κ, of Canis Major; and δ, ω, of Argo; and Kien-hsing ν, ξ, π, ρ, σ, of Sagittarius' head.
