nobles; their men of arts[1]; their overseers whose offices were beyond the court; their grand historiographers; and their heads of departments;—all good men of constant virtue.
'(In the external states) there were the Minister of Instruction, the Minister of War, and the Minister of Works, with the many officers subordinate to them. Among the wild tribes, such as the Wei, the Lû, and the Khăng[2], in the three Po, and at the dangerous passes, they had wardens.
'King Wăn was able to make the minds of those in the (three high) positions his own, and so it was that he established those regular officers and superintending pastors, so that they were men of ability and virtue. He would not appear himself in the various notifications, in litigations, and in precautionary measures. There were the officers and pastors (to attend to them), whom he (simply) taught to be obedient (to his wishes), and not to be disobedient. (Yea), as to litigations and precautionary measures, he (would seem as if he) did not presume to know about them. He was followed by king Wû, who carried out his work of settlement, and did not presume to supersede his righteous and virtuous men, but entered into his plans, and employed, as before, those men. Thus it was that they unitedly received this vast inheritance.'
- ↑ All who employed their arts in the service of the government;—officers of prayer, clerks, archers, charioteers, doctors, diviners, and the practisers of the various mechanical arts, &c.
- ↑ Compare what is said in 'the Speech at Mû,' ch. 1. The Khăng are not mentioned there. It would seem to be the name of a wild tribe. The three Po had all been capitals of the Shang kings, and their people required the special attention of the sovereigns of Kâu.
