21. When 𝖅ze-lû was steward to the House of Kî,
its chief had been accustomed to commence his
sacrifices before it was light, and when the day was
insufficient for them, to continue them by torchlight.
All engaged in them, however strong they might
appear, and however reverent they might be, were
worn out and tired. The officers limped and leaned,
wherever they could, in performing their parts, and
the want of reverence was great. Afterwards, when
𝖅ze-lû took the direction of them, the sacrifices
proceeded differently. For the services in the chamber,
he had parties communicating outside and inside the
door; and for those in the hall, he had parties com-
municating at the steps. As soon as it was light, the
services began, and by the time of the evening
audience all were ready to retire. When Confucius
heard of this management, he said, "Who will say
that this Yû does not understand ceremonies[1]?"
- ↑ The Khien-lung editors say:—"𝖅ze-lû was a leal-hearted and sincere man, and the Book ends with this account of him. From the mention of the preparation of the rites on a great scale and of their high value at the beginning of the Book down to this tribute to 𝖅ze-lû as understanding ceremonies, its whole contents show that what is valuable in the rites is the combination of the idea of what is right with the elegant and outward form as sufficient to remove from a man all perversity and increase what is good in his nature, without a multiplicity of forms which would injure the natural goodness and sincerity, and lead their practiser to a crooked perversity. Deep and far-reaching is the idea of it!'
the Khien-lung editors point out, cannot be adopted. And how any sacrifice to the hills, however great, could be represented as greater than the quinquennial sacrifice in the ancestral temple, I cannot understand. I must leave the paragraph in the obscurity that belongs to it.
