to indulge in useless ease.* It was thus that he enjoyed the throne seventy and five years. If we come to the time of Kâo Zung|[1], he toiled at first away from the court, and was among the lower people[2]. When he came to the throne, and occupied the mourning shed, it may be said that he did not speak for three years. (Afterwards) he was (still inclined) not to speak; but when he did speak, his words were full of harmonious (wisdom). He did not dare to indulge in useless ease, but admirably and tranquilly presided over the regions of Yin, till throughout them all, small and great, there was not a single murmur. It was thus that he enjoyed the throne fifty and nine years. In the case of Zû-kiâ[3], he refused to be king unrighteously, and was at first one of the lower people. When he came to the throne, he knew on what they must depend (for their support), and was able to exercise a protecting kindness towards their masses, and did not dare to treat with contempt the wifeless men and widows. Thus it was that he enjoyed the throne thirty and three years. The kings that arose after these, from their birth enjoyed ease. Enjoying ease from their birth, they did not know the painful toil of sowing and reaping, and had not heard of the hard labours of the lower people. They sought for nothing but excessive pleasure; and so not one of them had long life. They (reigned) for ten years,
- ↑ Kâo Zung was the sacrificial title of Wû-ting, the nineteenth sovereign of the Yin line, who reigned B.C. 1324–1266. He has already appeared in the 8th and 9th Books of Part IV.
- ↑ Compare Part IV, viii, sect. 3, ch. 1.
- ↑ Zû-kiâ was the twenty-first of the Yin sovereigns, and reigned B.C. 1258–1226.
