number of heaven[1]. He rode in the plain carriage, because of its simplicity. From the flag hung twelve pendants, and on it was the emblazonry of dragons, and the figures of the sun and moon, in imitation of the heavens. Heaven hangs out its brilliant figures, and the sages imitated them. This border sacrifice is the illustration of the way of Heaven.
7. If there appeared anything infelicitous about the victim intended for God, it was used for that intended for Kî[2]. That intended for God required to be kept in its clean stall for three months. That intended for Kî simply required to be perfect in its parts. This was the way in which they made a distinction between the spirits of Heaven and the manes of a man[3].
8. All things originate from Heaven; man originates from his (great) ancestor. This is the reason
- ↑ "The heavenly number;"—with reference, I suppose, to the twelve months of the year.
- ↑ Kî, better known as Hâu Kî, "the prince, the minister of agriculture," appears in the Shû as Shun's minister of agriculture (Khi 棄, vol. iii, pp. 42, 43), and one of the principal assistants of Yü, in his more than Herculean achievement (vol. iii, pp. 56-58); and in the Shih as the father of agriculture (vol. iii, pp. 396-399). To him the kings of Kâu traced their lineage, and they associated him with God at the Great border sacrifice. See the ode to him, so associated, vol. iii, p. 320. In that service there was thus the expression of reverence for God and of filial piety, the second virtue coming in as the complement of the other. It would seem to be implied that they used the ox for Kî for the blemished one.
- ↑ By "spirit" and "manes" I have endeavoured to come as near as I could to the different significance of the characters shǎn (神) and kwei (鬼).
