Minister of Agriculture, (continue to) sow (for them) the various kinds of grain.'
The Tî said, 'Hsieh[1], the people are (still) wanting in affection for one another, and do not docilely observe the five orders of relationship. It is yours, as the Minister of Instruction, reverently to set forth the lessons of duty belonging to those five orders. Do so with gentleness.'
The Tî said, 'Kâo-yâo[2], the barbarous tribes trouble our great land. There are (also) robbers, murderers, insurgents, and traitors. It is yours, as the Minister of Crime, to use the five punishments to deal with their offences. For the infliction of these there are the three appointed places. There are the five cases in which banishment in the appropriate places is to be resorted to, to which places, though five, three localities are assigned. Perform your duties with intelligence, and you will secure a sincere (submission).'
The Tî said, 'Who can superintend my works, as they severally require?' All (in the court) replied, 'Is there not Zui[3]?' The Tî said, 'Yes. Ho! Zui, you must be Minister of Works.' Zui did obeisance with his head to the ground, and wished to decline in favour of Shû, Khiang, or Po-yü. The
- ↑ Hsieh was honoured by the kings of the Shang dynasty as their progenitor. See the Shih, Part IV, iii, Odes 3 and 4.
- ↑ See the preliminary note to Book iii.
- ↑ Zui was not claimed by any great family as its progenitor, but he was handed down by tradition as a great artificer. See a reference to him in Part V, xxii, 2. Shû and Khiang must have been named from their skill in making halberds and axes. The Yü (quite different from the name of the great Yü) in Po-yü gives us no indication of the skill of that individual.
