SECT. II.
THE KIÂO THEH SĂNG.
427
2. At the (Great) border sacrifice, he welcomed
the arrival of the longest day. It was a great act
of thanksgiving to Heaven, and the sun was the
chief object considered in it[1]. The space marked off
for it was in the southern suburb;—the place most
open to the brightness and warmth (of the heavenly
- ↑ P. Callery has here the following note:—"Il résulte de ce
passage et de plusieurs autres des chapitres suivants, que dès les
temps les plus anciens, les Chinois rendaient au soleil un veritable
culte, sans même y supposer un esprit ou génie dont il fût la
demeure, ainsi qu'ils le faisaient pour les montagnes, les rivières
et tous les autres lieux auxquels ils offraient des sacrifices. De
nos jours encore on sacrifie au soleil et à la lune; mais c'est
plutôt un acte official de la part des autorités, qu'une pratique
de conviction, car le peuple Chinois n'a pas, comme les Japonais,
une grande dévotion pour l'astre du jour. Voyez la fin du chapitre
XVIII."
The text conveys no idea to me of such an ancient worship, but I call the attention of the reader to Callery's view. The other passages to which he refers will be noticed as they occur. For my, "and the sun was the principal object regarded in it," he says, "C'est le soleil qui est le principal object (des adorations)." The original text is simply 而主日. I let my translation stand as I first made it; but on a prolonged consideration, I think, it would be more accurate to say, "and the sun was considered (for the occasion) as the residence of (the spirit of) Heaven." Such an acceptation of 主 is quite legitimate. The sun became for the time the "spirit-tablet (神主)" of Heaven. Fang Küeh says:—"(The Son of Heaven) was welcoming the arrival of the longest day, and therefore he regarded the sun as the residence (for the time) of the spirit of Heaven. That spirit could not be seen; what could be looked up to and beheld were only the sun, moon, and stars."
first read in the Canon of Shun, in the Shû. Those tours, however, were understood to be under the direction of Heaven, and the lighting of the pile of wood, on reaching the mountain of each quarter, is taken as having been an announcement to Heaven of the king's arrival.
