Sacred Books of the East/Volume 27/The Lî Kî/Book IV

BOOK IV. THE YÜEH LING

OR

PROCEEDINGS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE
DIFFERENT MONTHS.

 

Section I. Part I.

1. In the first month of spring the sun is in Shih, the star culminating at dusk being Зhan, and that culminating at dawn Wei^[1].

2. Its days are Kiâ and yî^[2]. 3. Its divine ruler is Thâi Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is Kâu-mang^[3].

4. Its creatures are the scaly^[4].

5. Its musical note is Kio, and its pitch-tube is the Thâi Зhâu^[5].

6. Its number is eight^[6]; its taste is sour; its smell is rank. 7. Its sacrifice is that at the door^[7], and of the parts of the victim the spleen has the foremost place^[7].

8. The east winds resolve the cold. Creatures that have been torpid during the winter begin to move. The fishes rise up to the ice. Otters sacrifice fish. The wild geese make their appearance^[8].

9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Khing Yang (Fane); rides in the carriage with the phoenix (bells), drawn by the azure-dragon (horses), and carrying the green flag; wears the green robes, and the (pieces of) green jade (on his cap and at his girdle pendant). He eats wheat and mutton. The vessels which he uses are slightly carved, (to resemble) the shooting forth (of plants)^[9]. 10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of spring. Three days before this ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, "On such and such a day is the inauguration of the spring. The energies of the season are fully seen in wood." On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-purification, and on the day he leads in person the three ducal ministers, his nine high ministers, the feudal princes (who are at court), and his Great officers, to meet the spring in the eastern suburb^[10]; and on their return, he rewards them all in the court^[11].

11. He charges his assistants^[12] to disseminate (lessons of) virtue, and harmonise the governmental orders, to give effect to the expressions of his satisfaction and bestow his favours; down to the millions of the people. Those expressions and gifts thereupon proceed, every one in proper (degree and direction).

12. He also orders the Grand recorder to guard the statutes and maintain the laws, and (especially) to observe the motions in the heavens of the sun and moon, and of the zodiacal stars in which the conjunctions of these bodies take place, so that there should be no error as to where they rest and what they pass over; that there should be no failure in the record of all these things, according to the regular practice of early times.

13. In this month the son of Heaven on the first (hsin)^[13] day prays to God for a good year; and afterwards, the day of the first conjunction of the sun and moon having been chosen, with the handle and share of the plough in the carriage, placed between the man-at-arms who is its third occupant and the driver, he conducts his three ducal ministers, his nine high ministers, the feudal princes and his Great officers, all with their own hands to plough the field of God. The son of Heaven turns up three furrows, each of the ducal ministers five, and the other ministers and feudal princes nine^[14]. When they return, he takes in his hand a cup in the great chamber, all the others being in attendance on him and the Great officers, and says, "Drink this cup of comfort after your toil."

14. In this month the vapours of heaven descend and those of the earth ascend. Heaven and earth are in harmonious co-operation. All plants bud and grow.

15. The king gives orders to set forward the business of husbandry. The inspectors of the fields are ordered to reside in the lands having an eastward exposure, and (see that) all repair the marches and divisions (of the ground), and mark out clearly the paths and ditches. They must skilfully survey the mounds and rising grounds, the slopes and defiles, the plains and marshes, determining what the different lands are suitable for, and where the different grains will grow best. They must thus instruct and lead on the people, themselves also engaging in the tasks. The business of the fields being thus ordered, the guiding line is first put in requisition, and the husbandry is carried on without error^[15].

16. In this month orders are given to the chief director of Music to enter the college, and practise the dances (with his pupils)^[16]. 17. The canons of sacrifice are examined and set forth, and orders are given to sacrifice to the hills and forests, the streams and meres, care being taken not to use any female victims^[17].

18. Prohibitions are issued against cutting down trees.

19. Nests should not be thrown down; unformed insects should not be killed, nor creatures in the womb, nor very young creatures, nor birds just taking to the wing, nor fawns, nor should eggs be destroyed.

20. No congregating of multitudes should be allowed, and no setting about the rearing of fortifications and walls^[18].

21. Skeletons should be covered up, and bones with the flesh attached to them buried.

22. In this month no warlike operations should be undertaken; the undertaking of such is sure to be followed by calamities from Heaven. The not under- taking warlike operations means that they should not commence on our side^[19]. 23. No change in the ways of heaven is allowed; nor any extinction of the principles of earth; nor any confounding of the bonds of men^[20].

24. If in the first month of spring the governmental proceedings proper to summer were carried out, the rain would fall unseasonably, plants and trees would decay prematurely, and the states would be kept in continual fear. If the proceedings proper to autumn were carried out, there would be great pestilence among the people; boisterous winds would work their violence; rain would descend in torrents; orach, fescue, darnel, and southernwood would grow up together. If the proceedings proper to winter were carried out, pools of water would produce their destructive effects, snow and frost would prove very injurious, and the first sown seeds would not enter the ground^[21].

 

Part II.

1. In the second month of spring, the sun is in Khwei, the star culminating at dusk being Hû, and that culminating at dawn Kien-hsing^[22].

2. Its days are kiâ, and yî. Its divine ruler is Thâi Hâo, the attending spirit is Kâu-mang. Its creatures are the scaly. Its musical note is Kio, and its pitch-tube is the Kiâ Kung^[23].

3. Its number is eight; its taste is sour; its smell is rank. Its sacrifice is that at the door, and of the parts of the victim the spleen has the foremost place.

4. The rain begins to fall^[24]. The peach tree begins to blossom. The oriole sings. Hawks are transformed into doves^[25].

5. The son of Heaven occupies the Khing Yang Grand Fane^[26]; rides in the carriage with the phoenix bells, drawn by the azure dragon-(horses), and bearing the green flag. He is dressed in the green robes, and wears the azure gems. He eats wheat and mutton. The vessels which he uses are slightly carved, (to resemble) the bursting forth (of nature).

6. In this month, they keep both the young buds and those more advanced from being disturbed; they nourish both the young animals and those not fully grown; they especially watch over all orphans.

7. The fortunate day is chosen, and orders are given to the people to sacrifice at their altars to the spirits of the grounds^[27].

8. Orders are given to the (proper) officers to examine the prisons; to remove fetters and handcuffs; that there shall be no unregulated infliction of the bastinado; and that efforts shall be made to stop criminal actions and litigations.

9. In this month the swallow makes its appearance^[28]. On the day of its arrival, the son of Heaven sacrifices to the first match-maker with a bull, a ram, and a boar. He goes to do so in person, with his queen and help-mates, attended by his nine ladies of honour. Peculiar courtesy is shown to those whom he has (lately) approached. Bow-cases have been brought, and a bow and arrows are given to each before (the altar of) the first match-maker.

10. In this month day and night are equal^[29]. Thunder utters its voice, and the lightning begins to be seen. Insects in their burrows are all in motion, opening their doors and beginning to come forth.

11. Three days before the thunder^[30], a bell with a wooden tongue is sounded, to give notice to all the people. "The thunder," it is said, "is about to utter its voice. If any of you be not careful of your behaviour, you shall bring forth children incomplete; there are sure to be evils and calamities."

12. At the equinox they make uniform the measures of length and capacity; the weight of 30 catties, the steelyard, and the weight of 120 catties. They correct the peck and bushel, the steelyard weights and the bushel-scraper^[31].

13. In this month few of the husbandmen remain in their houses in the towns. They repair, however, their gates and doors, both of wood and wattles; and put their sleeping apartments and temples all in good repair. No great labours, which would interfere with the work of husbandry, should be undertaken^[32].

14. In this month (the fishermen) should not let the streams and meres run dry, nor drain off all the water from the dams and ponds, (in order to catch all the fish), nor should (the hunters) fire the hills and forests. 15. The son of Heaven at this time offers a lamb (to the ruler of cold), and opens the (reservoirs of) ice. Before (using it generally), they offer some in their principal apartment or in the ancestral temple^[33].

16. On the first ting day^[34] orders are given to the chief director of Music to exhibit the civil dances and unfold the offerings of vegetables^[35] (to the inventor of music). The son of Heaven, at the head of the three ducal ministers, his nine high ministers, the feudal princes (at court), and his Great officers, goes in person to see the ceremony. On the second ting* day orders are given again to the same chief to enter the college, and practise music (with his pupils).

17. In this month at the (smaller) services of supplication^[36] they do not use victims. They use offerings of jade, square and round, and instead (of victims) skins and pieces of silk.

18. If in this second month of spring the governmental proceedings proper to autumn were observed, there would be great floods in the states; cold airs would be constantly coming; and plundering attacks would be frequent. If those of winter were observed, the warm and genial airs would be insufficient; the wheat would not ripen; and raids and strifes would be rife among the people. If those of summer were observed, there would be great droughts among the people; the hot airs would come too early; and caterpillars and other insects would harm the grain^[37].

 

Part III.

1. In the last month of spring, the sun is in Wei, the constellation culminating at dusk being Khih-hsing, and that culminating at dawn Khien-niû^[38].

2. Its days are kiâ and yî. Its divine ruler is Thâi Hâo, and the attending spirit is Kâu-mang. Its creatures are the scaly. Its musical note is the Kio, and its pitch-tube is the Kû Hsien^[39]. Its number is eight. Its taste is sour. Its smell is rank.

3. Its sacrifice is that at the door, and of the parts of the victim the spleen has the foremost place. 4. The Elaeococca begins to flower^[40]. Moles are transformed into quails^[41]. Rainbows begin to appear. Duckweed begins to grow.

5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Khing Yang (Fane); rides in the carriage with the phoenix bells, drawn by the azure dragon-(horses), and bearing the green flag. He is dressed in the green robes, and wears the azure gems. He eats wheat and mutton. The vessels which he uses are slightly carved, (to resemble) the bursting forth (of nature).

6. In this month the son of Heaven presents robes yellow as the young leaves of the mulberry tree to the ancient divine ruler (and his queen)^[42].

7. Orders are given to the officer in charge of the boats to turn a boat bottom up. Five times he does so, and five times he turns it back again, after which he reports that it is ready for the son of Heaven, who then gets into it for the first time (this spring). He offers a snouted sturgeon (which he has caught) in the rear apartment of the ancestral temple, and also prays that the wheat may yield its produce^[43].

8. In this month the influences of life and growth are fully developed; and the warm and genial airs diffuse themselves. The crooked shoots are all put forth, and the buds are unfolded. Things do not admit of being restrained.

9. The son of Heaven spreads his goodness abroad, and carries out his kindly promptings. He gives orders to the proper officers to distribute from his granaries and vaults, giving their contents to the poor and friendless, and to relieve the needy and destitute; and to open his treasuries and storehouses, and to send abroad through all the nation the silks and other articles for presents, thus stimulating the princes of states to encourage the resort to them of famous scholars and show courtesy to men of ability and virtue.

10. In this month, he charges the superintendents of works, saying, "The rains of the season will be coming down, and the waters beneath will be swelling up. Go in order over the states and visit the towns, inspecting everywhere the low and level grounds. Put the dykes and dams in good repair, clear the ditches and larger channels, and open all paths, allowing no obstruction to exist." 11. The nets used in hunting animals and birds, hand nets, archers' disguises, and injurious baits should not (in this month) issue from (any of) the nine gates^[44].

12. In this month orders are given to the foresters throughout the country not to allow the cutting down of the mulberry trees and silk-worm oaks. About these the cooing doves clap their wings, and the crested birds light on them^[45]. The trays and baskets with the stands (for the worms and cocoons) are got ready. The queen, after vigil and fasting, goes in person to the eastern fields to work on the mulberry trees. She orders the wives and younger women (of the palace) not to wear their ornamental dresses, and to suspend their woman's-work, thus stimulating them to attend to their business with the worms. When this has been completed, she apportions the cocoons, weighs out (afterwards) the silk, on which they go to work, to supply the robes for the solstitial and other great religious services, and for use in the ancestral temple. Not one is allowed to be idle.

13. In this month orders are given to the chiefs of works, to charge the workmen of their various departments to inspect the materials in the five storehouses:—those of iron and other metals; of skins and hides and sinews; of horn and ivory; of feathers, arrows and wood (for bows); and of grease, glue, cinnabar, and varnish. (They are to see) that all these things be good. The workmen then labour at their several tasks. (The chiefs) inspect their work, and daily give them their orders. They must not produce anything contrary to what the time requires; nor can they practise a licentious ingenuity, which would dissipate the minds of their superiors.

14. In the end of this month a fortunate day is chosen for a grand concert of music. The son of Heaven, at the head of the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, the feudal princes (at court), and his great officers, goes in person to witness it.

15. In this month they collect the large, heavy bulls, and fiery stallions, and send them forth to the females in the pasture grounds. They number and make a list of the animals fit for victims, with the foals and calves.

16. Orders are given for the ceremonies against pestilence throughout the city; at the nine gates (also) animals are torn in pieces in deprecation (of the danger):—to secure the full development of the (healthy) airs of the spring^[46].

17. If, in this last month of spring, the governmental proceedings proper to winter were observed, cold airs would constantly be prevailing; all plants and trees would decay; and in the states there would be great terrors. If those proper to summer were observed, many of the people would suffer from pestilential diseases; the seasonable rains would not fall; and no produce would be derived from the mountains and heights. If those proper to autumn were observed, the sky would be full of moisture and gloom; excessive rains would fall early; and warlike movements

would be everywhere arising.

 

Section II. Part I.

1. In the first month of summer, the sun is in Pî; the constellation culminating at dusk being Yî, and that culminating at dawn Wû-nü^[47].

2. Its days are ping and ting^[48].

3. Its divine ruler is Yen Tî, and the (attending) spirit is Kû-yung^[49].

4. Its creatures are the feathered.

5. Its musical note is Kih, and its pitch-tube is the Kung Lü^[50].

6. Its number is seven^[51]. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning. 7. Its sacrifice is that at the furnace^[52]; and of the parts of the victim the lungs have the foremost place.

8. The green frogs croak. Earth-worms come forth. The royal melons grow^[53]. The sow-thistle is in seed.

9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Ming Thang (Grand Fane); rides in the vermilion carriage, drawn by the red horses with black tails, and bearing the red flag. He is dressed in the red robes, and wears the carnation jade. He eats beans and fowls. The vessels which he uses are tall, (to resemble) the large growth (of things).

10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of summer. Three days before this ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, "On such-and-such a day is the inauguration of summer. The energies of the season are most fully seen in fire." On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-purification; and on the day, at the head of the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, and his Great officers, he proceeds to meet the summer in the southern suburbs. On their return, rewards are distributed. He grants to the feudal princes (an increase of) territory. Congratulations and gifts proceed, and all are joyful and pleased.

11. Orders are also given to the chief master of music to teach the practice of ceremonies and music together.

12. Orders are given to the Grand Peace-maintainer^[54] to recommend men of eminence, allow the worthy and good to have free course and bring forward the tall and large. His conferring of rank and regulation of emolument must be in accordance with the position (of the individual).

13. In this month what is long should be encouraged to grow longer, and what is high to grow higher. There should be no injuring or overthrowing of anything; no commencing of works in earth; no sending forth of great multitudes (on expeditions); no cutting down of large trees.

14. In this month the son of Heaven begins to wear thin dolichos cloth.

15. Orders are given to the foresters throughout the country to go forth over the fields and plains, and, for the son of Heaven, to encourage the husbandmen, and stimulate them to work, and not let the season slip by unimproved.

Orders are (also) given to the minister of Instruction to travel in order through the districts to the borders, charging the husbandmen to work vigorously, and not to rest in the towns.

16. In this month they chase away wild animals to prevent them from doing harm to any of the (growing) grain; but they should not have a great hunting.

17. When the husbandmen present (the first-fruits of) their wheat, the son of Heaven tastes it along with some pork, first offering a portion in the apartment behind (the hall of the) ancestral temple.

18. In this month they collect and store up the various medicinal herbs. Delicate herbs (now) die; it is the harvest time (even) of the wheat. They decide cases for which the punishments are light; they make short work of small crimes, and liberate those who are in prison for slight offences^[55].

19. When the work with the silk-worms is over, the queen presents her cocoons; and the tithe-tax of cocoons generally is collected, according to the number of mulberry trees; for noble and mean, for old and young there is one law. The object is with such cocoons to provide materials for the robes to be used at the sacrifices in the suburbs and in the ancestral temple.

20. In this month the son of Heaven (entertains his ministers and princes) with strong drink and with (much) observance of ceremony and with music^[56]. 21. If, in this first month of summer, the proceedings proper to autumn were observed, pitiless rains would be frequent; the five esculent plants^[57] would not grow large, and in all the borders people would have to enter the places of shelter. If those proper to winter were observed, all plants and trees would wither early, and afterwards there would be great floods, destroying city and suburban walls. If those proper to spring were observed, there would be the calamity of locusts, violent winds would come, and plants in flower would not go on to seed.

 

Part II.

1. In the second month of summer the sun is in the eastern Зing, the constellation culminating at dusk being Khang, and that culminating at dawn Wei^[58].

2. Its days are ping and ting. Its divine ruler is Yen Tî, and the (attending) spirit is Khû-yung. Its creatures are the feathered. Its musical note is Kih, and its pitch-tube is Sui Pin^[59].

3. Its number is seven. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning. Its sacrifice is that at the furnace; and of the parts of the victim the lungs have the foremost place.

4. The (period of) slighter heat arrives; the praying mantis is produced; the shrike begins to give its notes; the mocking-bird ceases to sing^[60]. 5. The son of Heaven occupies the Ming Thang Grand Fane; rides in the vermilion carriage, drawn by the red horses with black tails, and bearing the red flag. He is dressed in the red robes, and wears the carnation gems. He eats beans and fowls. The vessels which he uses are tall, (to resemble) the large growth (of things).

6. They encourage the (continued) growth of what is strong and beautiful^[61].

7. In this month orders are given to the music-masters to put in repair the hand-drums, smaller drums, and large drums; to adjust the lutes, large and small, the double flutes, and the pan-pipes; to teach the holding of the shields, pole-axes, lances, and plumes; to tune the organs, large and small, with their pipes and tongues; and to put in order the bells, sonorous stones, the instrument to give the symbol for commencing, and the stopper^[62].

8. Orders are given to the (proper) officers to pray for the people and offer sacrifice to the (spirits of the) hills, streams, and all springs. (After that) comes the great summer sacrifice for rain to God, when all the instruments of music are employed. Then orders are given throughout all the districts to sacrifice to the various princes, high ministers, and officers who benefited the people; praying that there may be a good harvest of grain^[63].

9. The husbandmen present (the first-fruits of) their millet; and in this month the son of Heaven partakes of it along with pullets, and with cherries set forth beside them, first offering a portion in the apartment behind the ancestral temple.

10. The people are forbidden to cut down the indigo plant to use it in dyeing^[64].

11. Or to burn wood for charcoal, or to bleach cloth in the sun.

12. The gates of cities and villages should not be shut^[65], nor should vexatious inquiries be instituted at the barrier gates or in the markets. 13. Leniency should be shown to prisoners charged (even) with great crimes, and their allowance of food be increased^[66].

14. Impregnated mares are collected in herds by themselves, and the fiery stallions are tied up. The rules for the rearing of horses are given out.

15. In this month the longest day arrives. The influences in nature of darkness and decay and those of brightness and growth struggle together; the tendencies to death and life are divided^[67]. Superior men give themselves to vigil and fasting. They keep retired in their houses, avoid all violent exercise, restrain their indulgence in music and beautiful sights, eschew the society of their wives, make their diet spare, use no piquant condiments, keep their desires under rule, and maintain their spirits free from excitement The various magistrates keep things quiet and inflict no punishments^[68];—to bring about that state of settled quiet in which the influence of dark- ness and decay shall obtain its full development.

16. Deer shed their horns. Cicadas begin to sing. The midsummer herb is produced. The tree hibiscus flowers^[69].

17. In this month fires should not be lighted (out of doors) in the southern regions (of the country). 18. People may live in buildings high and bright. They may enjoy distant prospects. They may ascend hills and heights. They may occupy towers and lofty pavilions^[70].

19. If, in the second month of summer, the governmental proceedings of winter were observed, hail and cold would injure the grain; the roads would not be passable; and violent assaults of war would come. If the proceedings proper to spring were observed, the grains would be late in ripening; all kinds of locusts would continually be appearing; and there would be famine in the states. If those proper to autumn were observed, herbs and plants would drop their leaves; fruits would ripen prematurely; and the people would be consumed by pestilence.

 

Part III.

1. In the third month of summer the sun is in Liû, the constellation culminating at dusk being Kwo, and that culminating at dawn Khwei^[71].

2. Its days are ping and ting. Its divine ruler is Yen Tî, and the (assisting) spirit is Khû-yung. Its musical note is Kih, and its pitch-tube is Lin Kung^[72]. 3. Its number is seven. Its taste is acrid. Its smell is that of things burning. Its sacrifice is that at the furnace; and of the parts of the victim the lungs have the foremost place.

4. Gentle winds begin to blow. The cricket takes its place in the walls. (Young) hawks learn to practise (the ways of their parents)^[73]. Decaying grass becomes fire-flies.

5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Ming Thang (Fane); rides in the vermilion carriage, drawn by the red horses with black tails, and bearing the red flag. He is dressed in the red robes, and wears the carnation gems. He eats beans and fowls. The vessels which he uses are tall, (to resemble) the large growth (of things).

6. Orders are given to the master of the Fishermen to attack the alligator, to take the gavial, to present the tortoise, and to take the great turtle^[74].

7. Orders are given to the superintendent of the Meres to collect and send in the rushes available for use.

8. In this month orders are given to the four inspectors^[75] to make a great collection over all the districts of the different kinds of fodder to nourish the sacrificial victims; and to require all the people to do their utmost towards this end;—to supply what is necessary for (the worship of) God (who dwells in) the great Heaven, and for the spirits of the famous hills, great streams, and four quarters, and for the sacrifices to the Intelligences of the ancestral temple, and at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain; that prayer may be made for blessing to the people.

9. In this month orders are given by the officers of women's (work), on the subject of dyeing^[76]. (They are to see) that the white and black, the black and green, the green and carnation, the carnation and white be all according to the ancient rules, without error or change; and that their black, yellow, azure, and carnation be all genuine and good, without any presumptuous attempts at imposition. These furnish the materials for the robes used at the sacrifices in the suburbs and the ancestral temple; for flags and their ornaments; and for marking the different degrees of rank as high or low.

10. In this month the trees are luxuriant; and orders are given to the foresters to go among the hills and examine the trees, and see that the people do not cut any down or lop their branches^[77]. 11. There should not be any work in earth^[78] (now) undertaken; nor any assembling of the princes of the states; nor any military movements, causing general excitement. There should be no undertaking of (such) great affairs, which will disturb the nourishing growth that is proceeding, nor any issuing of orders to be hereafter carried into effect. All these things will interfere with the business of husbandry, (which is specially dear to) the Spirits^[79]. The floods are now great and overflow the roads; husbandry (dear to) the Spirits has to take in hand its various tasks. The curse of Heaven will come on the undertaking of great affairs (at this time). 12. In this month the ground lies steaming and wet beneath the heats, for great rains are (also) continually coming. They bum the grass lying cut upon the ground^[80] and bring the water over it This is as effectual to kill the roots as hot water would be; and the grass thus serves to manure the fields of grain and hemp, and to fatten the ground which has been but just marked out for cultivation.

13. If, in the last month of summer, the governmental proceedings proper to spring were observed, the produce of grain would be scanty and fail; in the states there would be many colds and coughs; and the people would remove to other places. If the proceedings proper to autumn were observed, even the high grounds would be flooded; the grain that had been sown would not ripen; and there would be many miscarriages among women. If those proper to winter were observed, the winds and cold would come out of season; the hawks and falcons would prematurely attack their prey; and all along the four borders people would enter their places of shelter.

 

Supplementary Section.

1. Right in the middle (between Heaven and Earth, and the other elements) is earth.

2. Its days are wû and kî.

3. Its divine ruler is Hwang Tî; and the (attending) spirit is Hâu-thû. 4. Its creature is that without any natural covering but the skin.

5. Its musical note is Kung, and its pitch-tube gives the kung note from the tube Hwang Kung.

6. Its number is five. Its taste is sweet. Its smell is fragrant.

7. Its sacrifice is that of the middle court; and of the parts of the victim the heart has the foremost place.

8. The son of Heaven occupies the Grand apartment of the Grand fane; rides in the great carriage drawn by the yellow horses with black tails, and bearing the yellow flag; is clothed in the yellow robes, and wears the yellow gems. He eats panicled millet and beef. The vessels which he uses are round, (and made to resemble) the capacity (of the earth)^[81].

 

Section III. Part I.

1. In the first month of autumn, the sun is in Yî; the constellation culminating at dusk being Kien-hsing, and that culminating at dawn Pî^[82].

2. Its days are kǎng and hsin.

3. Its divine ruler is Shâo Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is Zû-shđu^[83].

4. Its creatures are the hairy.

5. Its musical note is Shang; its pitch-tube is Î 𝖅eh^[84].

6. Its number is nine. Its taste is bitter. Its smell is rank.

7. Its sacrifice is that at the gate; and of the parts of the victim the liver has the foremost place.

8. Cool winds come; the white dew descends^[85]; the cicada of the cold chirps^[86]. (Young) hawks at this time sacrifice birds, as the first step they take to killing (and eating) them^[87].

9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the 𝖅ung-kang (Fane); rides in the war chariot, drawn by the white horses with black manes, and bearing the white flag. He is clothed in the white robes, and wears the white jade. He eats hemp-seeds and dog's flesh. The vessels which he uses are rectangular, and going on to be deep^[88].

10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of autumn. Three days before the ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, "On such-and-such a day is the inauguration of the autumn. The character of the season is fully seen in metal." On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-adjustment; and on the day he leads in person the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, the princes of states (at court), and his Great officers, to meet the autumn in the western suburb, and on their return he rewards the general-in-chief, and the military officers in the court.

11. The son of Heaven also orders the leaders and commanders to choose men and sharpen weapons, to select and exercise those of distinguished merit, and to give their entire trust only to men whose services have been proved;—thereby to correct all unrighteousness. (He instructs them also) to make enquiries about and punish the oppressive and insolent;—thereby making it clear whom he loves and whom he hates, and giving effect to (the wishes of) the people, even the most distant from court.

12. In this month orders are given to the proper officers to revise the laws and ordinances, to put the prisons in good repair, to provide handcuffs and fetters, to repress and stop villainy, to maintain a watch against crime and wickedness, and to do their endeavour to capture criminals. Orders are (also) given to the managers (of prisons) to look at wounds, examine sores, inspect broken members, and judge particularly of dislocations. The determination of cases, both criminal and civil, must be correct and just. Heaven and earth now begin to be severe;—there should be no excess in copying that severity, or in the opposite indulgence^[89].

13. In this month the husbandmen present their grain. The son of Heaven tastes it, while still new, first offering some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple.

14. Orders are given to all the officers to begin their collecting and storing the contributions (from the husbandmen); to finish the embankments and dykes; to look to the dams and fillings up in preparation for the floods, and also to refit all houses; to strengthen walls and enclosures; and to repair city and suburban walls.

15. In this month there should be no investing of princes, and no appointment of great ministers. There should be no dismemberment of any territory, no sending out on any great commission, and no issuing of great presents.

16. If, in this first month of autumn, the proceedings of government proper to winter were observed, then the dark and gloomy influence (of nature) would greatly prevail; the shelly insects would destroy the grain; and warlike operations would be called for. If the proceedings proper to spring were observed, there would be droughts in the states; the bright and growing influence would return; and the five kinds of grain would not yield their fruit If the proceedings proper to summer were observed, there would be many calamities from fire in the states; the cold and the heat would be subject to no rule; and there would be many fevers among the people.

 

Part II.

1. In the second month of autumn the sun is in Kio, the constellation culminating at dusk being Khien-niû, and that culminating at dawn 𝖅ze-hsî^[90].

2. Its days are kǎng and hsin. Its divine ruler is Shâo Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is Zû-shâu. Its insects are the hairy. Its musical note is Shang, and its pitch-tube is Nan Lü^[91].

3. Its number is nine. Its taste is bitter. Its smell is rank. Its sacrifice is that of the gate; and of the parts of the victim the liver has the foremost place.

4. Sudden and violent winds come. The wild geese arrive^[92]. The swallows return (whence they came)^[92]. Tribes of birds store up provisions (for the future)^[93].

5. The son of Heaven occupies the 𝖅ung-kang Grand Fane; rides in the war chariot, drawn by the white horses with black manes, and bearing the white flag. He is clothed in the white robes, and wears the white gems. He eats hemp-seed and dog's flesh. The vessels which he uses are rectangular or cornered, and rather deep.

6. In this month they take especial care of the decaying and old; give them stools and staves, and distribute supplies of congee for food.

7. Orders are given to the superintendent of robes to have ready the upper and lower dresses with their various ornaments. For the figures and embroidery on them there are fixed patterns. Their size, length, and dimensions must all be according to the old examples. For the caps and girdles (also) there are regular rules.

8. Orders are given to the proper officers to revise with strict accuracy (the laws about) the various punishments. Beheading and (the other) capital executions must be according to (the crimes) without excess or defect. Excess or defect out of such proportion will bring on itself the judgment (of Heaven).

9. In this month orders are given to the officers of slaughter and prayer to go round among the victims for sacrifice, seeing that they are entire and complete, examining their fodder and grain, inspecting their condition as fat or thin, and judging of their looks. They must arrange them according to their classes. In measuring their size, and looking at the length (of their horns), they must have them according to the (assigned) measures. When all these points are as they ought to be, God will accept the sacrifices^[94].

10. The son of Heaven performs the ceremonies against pestilence, to secure development for the (healthy) airs of autumn.

11. He eats the hemp-seed (which is now presented) along with dog's flesh, first offering some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple.

12. In this month it is allowable to rear city and suburban walls, to establish cities and towns, to dig underground passages and grain-pits, and to repair granaries, round and square.

13. Orders are given to the proper officers to be urgent with the people, and (to finish) receiving their contributions and storing them. They should do their best to accumulate (large) stores of vegetables and other things.

14. They should (also) stimulate the wheat-sowing. (The husbandmen) should not be allowed to miss the proper time for the operation. Any who do so shall be punished without fail.

15. In this month day and night are equal. The thunder begins to restrain its voice. Insects stop up the entrances to their burrows. The influence to decay and death gradually increases. That of brightness and growth daily diminishes. The waters begin to dry up.

16. At the equinox, they make uniform the measures of length and capacity; equalise the steelyards and their weights; rectify the weights of 30 and 120 catties; and adjust the pecks and bushels.

17. In this month they regulate and reduce the charges at the frontier gates and in the markets, to encourage the resort of both regular and travelling traders, and the receipt of goods and money; for the convenience of the business of the people. When merchants and others collect from all quarters, and come from the most distant parts, then the resources (of the government) do not fail. There is no want of means for its use; and all things proceed prosperously.

18. In commencing great undertakings, there should be no opposition to the great periods (for them) as defined (by the motion of the sun). They must be conformed to the times (as thereby marked out), and particular attention paid to the nature of each^[95].

19. If in this second month of autumn the proceedings proper to spring were observed, the autumnal rains would not fall; plants and trees would blossom; and in the states there would be alarms. If those proper to summer were observed, there would be droughts in the states; insects would not retire to their burrows; and the five grains would begin to grow again. If those proper to winter were observed, calamities springing from (unseasonable) winds would be constantly arising; the thunder now silent would be heard before its time; and plants and trees would die prematurely.

 

Part III.

1. In the last month of autumn the sun is in Fang, the constellation culminating at dusk being Hsû^[96], and that culminating at dawn Liû.

2. Its days are kǎng and hsin. Its divine ruler is Shâo Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is 𝖅û-shâu. Its creatures are the hairy. Its musical note is Shang, and its pitch-tube is Wû Yî^[97].

3. Its number is nine. Its taste is bitter. Its smell is rank. Its sacrifice is that at the gate; and of the parts of the victim the liver has the foremost place.

4. The wild geese come, (and abide) like guests^[98]. Small birds enter the great water and become mollusks^[99]. Chrysanthemums show their yellow flowers. The khâi sacrifice larger animals, and kill (and devour) the smaller^[100].

5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the 𝖅ung-kang (Fane); rides in the war chariot, drawn by the white horses with black manes, and bearing the white flags; is dressed in the white robes, and wears the white jade. He eats hempseeds and dog's flesh. The vessels which he uses are rectangular, cornered, and rather deep.

6. In this month the orders are renewed and strictly enjoined, charging the various officers (to see) that noble and mean all exert themselves in the work of ingathering, in harmony with the storing of heaven and earth. They must not allow anything to remain out in the fields.

7. Orders are also given to the chief minister, after the fruits of husbandry have all been gathered in, to take in hand the registers of the produce of the different grains (from all the country), and to store up the produce that has been gathered from the acres of God in the granary of the spirits; doing this with the utmost reverence and correctness^[101].

8. In this month the hoar-frost begins to fall; and all labours cease (for a season).

9. Orders are given to the proper officers, saying, "The cold airs are all coming, and the people will not be able to endure them. Let all enter within their houses (for a time)."

10. On the first ting day orders are given to the chief Director of music to enter the college, and to practise (with his pupils) on the wind instruments.

11. In this month an announcement is made to the son of Heaven that the victims for the great sacrifice to God, and the autumnal sacrifice in the ancestral temple^[102] are fit and ready. 12. The princes of the states are assembled, and orders given to the officers of the various districts (in the royal domain). They receive the first days of the months for the coming year^[103], and the laws for the taxation of the people by the princes, both light and heavy, and the amount of the regular contribution to the government, which is determined by the distance of the territories and the nature of their several productions. The object of this is to provide what is necessary for the suburban sacrifices and those in the ancestral temple. No private considerations are allowed to have place in this.

13. In this month the son of Heaven, by means of hunting, teaches how to use the five weapons of war, and the rules for the management of horses.

14. Orders are given to the charioteers and the seven (classes of) grooms^[104] to see to the yoking of the several teams, to set up in the carriages the flags and various banners^[105], to assign the carriages according to the rank (of those who were to occupy them), and to arrange and set up the screens outside (the royal tent). The minister of Instruction, with his baton stuck in his girdle, addresses all before him with his face to the north.

15. Then the son of Heaven, in his martial ornaments, with his bow in one hand, and the arrows under the armpit of the other, proceeds to hunt. (Finally), he gives orders to the superintendent of Sacrifices, to offer some of the captured game to (the spirits of) the four quarters.

16. In this month the plants and trees become yellow and their leaves fall, on which the branches are cut down to make charcoal.

17. Insects in their burrows all try to push deeper, and from within plaster up the entrances. In accordance with (the season), they hurry on the decision and punishment of criminal cases, wishing not to leave them any longer undealt with. They call in emoluments that have been assigned incorrectly, and minister to those whose means are insufficient for their wants.

18. In this month the son of Heaven eats dog's flesh and rice, first presenting some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple.

19. If, in this last month of autumn, the proceedings proper to summer were observed, there would be great floods in the states; the winter stores would be injured and damaged; there would be many colds and catarrhs among the people. If those proper to winter were observed, there would be many thieves and robbers in the states; the borders would be unquiet; and portions of territory would be torn from the rest. If those proper to spring were observed, the warm airs would come; the energies of the people would be relaxed and languid; and the troops would

be kept moving about.

 

Section IV. Part I.

1. In the first month of winter the sun is in Wei, the constellation culminating at dusk being Wei, and the constellation culminating at dawn Khih-hsing^[106].

2. Its days are the zǎn and kwei,

3. Its divine ruler is Kwan-hsü, and the (attending) spirit is Hsüan-ming^[107].

4. Its creatures are the shell-covered.

5. Its musical note is Yü, and its pitch-tube is Ying Kung^[108].

6. Its number is six. Its taste is salt Its smell is that of things that are rotten.

7. Its sacrifice is that at (the altar of) the path, and among the parts of the victim the kidneys have the foremost place^[109].

8. Water begins to congeal. The earth begins to be penetrated by the cold. Pheasants enter the great water and become large mollusks^[110]. Rainbows are hidden and do not appear.

9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Hsüan Thang (Fane); rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag; is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured jade. He eats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.

10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of winter. Three days before this ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, "On such-and-such a day is the inauguration of winter. The character of the season is fully seen in water." On this the son of Heaven devotes himself to self-adjustment; and on the day of the inauguration he leads in person the three ducal ministers, the nine high ministers, and his Great officers to meet the winter in the northern suburbs. On his return he rewards (the descendants of) those who died in the service (of the kingdom), and shows his compassion to orphans and widows.

11. In this month orders are given to the Grand recorder to smear with blood the tortoise-shells and divining stalks^[111] and by interpreting the indications of the former and examining the figures formed by the latter, to determine the good and evil of their intimations. (In this way) all flattery and partizanship in the interpretation of them (will become clear), and the crime of the operators be brought home. No concealment or deceit will be allowed.

12. In this month the son of Heaven sets the example of wearing furs.

13. Orders are issued to the proper officers in the words:—"The airs of heaven are ascended on high, and those of earth have descended beneath. There is no intercommunion of heaven and earth. All is shut up and winter is completely formed."

14. Orders are given to all the officers to cover up carefully the stores (of their departments). The minister of Instruction is also ordered to go round (among the people and see) that they have formed their stores, and that nothing is left ungathered.

15. The city and suburban walls are put in good repair; the gates of towns and villages are looked after; bolts and nuts are put to rights; locks and keys are carefully attended to; the field-boundaries are strengthened; the frontiers are well secured; important defiles are thoroughly defended; passes and bridges are carefully seen after; and narrow ways and cross-paths are shut up.

16. The rules for mourning are revised; the distinctions of the upper and lower garments are defined; the thickness of the inner and outer coffins is decided on; with the size, height and other dimensions of graves. The measures for all these things are assigned, with the degrees and differences in them according to rank.

17. In this month orders are given to the chief Director of works to prepare a memorial on the work of the artificers; setting forth especially the sacrificial vessels with the measures and capacity (of them and all others), and seeing that there be no licentious ingenuity in the workmanship which might introduce an element of dissipation into the minds of superiors; and making the suitability of the article the first consideration. Every article should have its maker s name engraved on it, for the determination of its genuineness. When the production is not what it ought to be, the artificer should be held guilty and an end be thus put to deception.

18. In this month there is the great festivity when they drink together, and each of the stands bears half its animal roasted^[112]. 19. The son of Heaven prays for (a blessing on) the coming year to the Honoured ones of heaven; sacrifices with an ox, a ram, and a boar at the public altar to the spirits of the land, and at the gates of towns and villages; offers the sacrifice three days after the winter solstice with the spoils of the chase to all ancestors, and at the five (household) sacrifices;—thus cheering the husbandmen and helping them to rest from their toils^[113].

20. The son of Heaven orders his leaders and commanders to give instruction on military operations, and to exercise (the soldiers) in archery and chariot-driving, and in trials of strength.

21. In this month orders are given to the superintendent of waters and the master of fishermen to collect the revenues from rivers, springs, ponds, and meres, taking care not to encroach in any way on any among the myriads of the people, so as to awaken a feeling of dissatisfaction in them against the son of Heaven. If they do this, they shall be punished for their guilt without forgiveness.

22. If, in the first month of winter, the proceedings of government proper to spring were observed, the cold that shuts up all beneath it would not do so tightly; the vapours of the earth would rise up and go abroad; many of the people would wander away and disappear. If those proper to summer were observed, there would be many violent winds in the states; winter itself would not be cold; and insects would come forth again from their burrows. If those proper to autumn were observed, the snow and hoar-frost would come unseasonably; small military affairs would constantly be arising; and incursions and loss of territory would occur.

 

Part II.

1. In the second month of winter the sun is in Tâu, the constellation culminating at dusk being the eastern Pî, and that culminating at dawn Kǎn^[114] 2. Its days are zǎn and kwei. Its divine ruler is Kwan-hsü, and the (attending) spirit is Hsüan-ming. Its creatures are the shell-covered. Its musical note is Yü, and its pitch-tube is Hwang Kung^[115].

3. Its number is six. Its taste is salt. Its smell is that of things that are rotten. Its sacrifice is that at (the altar of) the path, and of the parts of the victim the kidneys have the foremost place.

4. The ice becomes more strong. The earth begins to crack or split The night bird ceases to sing. Tigers begin to pair^[116].

5. The son of Heaven occupies the Grand Fane Hsüan Thang; rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag. He is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured gems of jade. He eats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.

6. All things relating to the dead are revised and regulated^[117].

7. Orders are given to the proper officer to the following effect^[118]:—"There should nothing be done in works of earth; care should be taken not to expose anything that is covered, nor to throw open apartments and houses, and rouse the masses to action;—that all may be kept securely shut up. (Otherwise) the genial influences of earth will find vent, which might be called a throwing open of the house of heaven and earth. In this case all insects would die; and the people be sure to fall ill from pestilence, and various losses would ensue." This charge is said to be giving full development to the (idea of the) month.

8. In this month orders are given to the Director of the eunuchs to issue afresh the orders for the palace, to examine all the doors, inner and outer, and look carefully after all the apartments. They must be kept strictly shut. All woman's-work must be diminished, and none of an extravagant nature permitted. Though noble and nearly related friends should come to visit the inmates, they must all be excluded.

9. Orders are given to the Grand superintendent of the preparation of liquors to see that the rice and other glutinous grains are all complete; that the leaven-cakes are in season; that the soaking and heating are cleanly conducted; that the water be fragrant; that the vessels of pottery be good; and that the regulation of the fire be right. These six things have all to be attended to, and the Grand superintendent has the inspection of them, to secure that there be no error or mistake.

10. The son of Heaven issues orders to the proper officers to pray and sacrifice to (the spirits presiding over) the four seas, the great rivers (with their) famous sources, the deep tarns, and the meres, (all) wells and springs^[119].

11. In this month, if the husbandmen have any productions in the fields, which they have not stored or collected, or if there be any horses, oxen or other animals, which have been left at large, any one may take them without its being inquired into.

12. If there be those who are able to take from the hills and forests, marshes and meres, edible fruits^[120], or to capture game by hunting, the wardens and foresters should give them the necessary information and guidance. If there be among them those who encroach on or rob the others, they should be punished without fail.

13. In this month the shortest day arrives. The principle of darkness and decay (in nature) struggles with that of brightness and growth^[121]. The elements of life begin to move. Superior men give them- selves to self-adjustment and fasting. They keep retired in their houses. They wish to be at rest in their persons; put away all indulgence in music and beautiful sights; repress their various desires; give repose to their bodies and all mental excitements. They wish all affairs to be quiet, while they wait for the settlement of those principles of darkness and decay, and brightness and growth.

14. Rice begins to grow. The broom-sedge rises up vigorously^[122]. Worms curl^[123]. The moose-deer shed their horns^[124]. The springs of water are (all) in movement.

15. When the shortest day has arrived, they fell trees, and carry away bamboos, (especially) the small species suitable for arrows.

16. In this month offices in which there is no business may be closed, and vessels for which there is no use may be removed.

17. They plaster (and repair) the pillars and gateways (of the palace), and the courtyard (within), and also doors and other gateways; rebuilding (also all) prisons, to co-operate with the tendency of nature to shut up and secure (the genial influences at this season).

18. If in this second month of winter the proceedings of government proper to summer were observed, there would be droughts in the states; vapours and fogs would shed abroad their gloom, and thunder would utter its voice. If those proper to autumn were observed, the weather would be rainy and slushy; melons and gourds would not attain their full growth; and there would be great wars in the states. If those proper to spring were observed, locusts would work their harm ; the springs would all become dry; and many of the people would suffer from leprosy and foul ulcers.

 

Part III.

1. In the third month of winter the sun is in Wû-nü, the constellation culminating at dusk being Lâu, and that culminating at dawn Tî^[125].

2. Its days are zǎn and kwei. Its divine ruler is Kwan-hsü, and the (attendant) spirit is Hsüan-ming. Its creatures are the shell-covered. Its musical note is Yü, and its pitch-tube is Tâ Lü^[126].

3. Its number is six. Its taste is salt. Its smell is that of things that are rotten. Its sacrifice is that at (the altar of) the path; and the part of the victim occupying the foremost place is the kidneys.

4. The wild geese go northwards. The magpie begins to build. The (cock) pheasant crows^[127]. Hens hatch. 5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Hsüan Thang (Fane); rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron-black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag. He is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured gems of jade. He eats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.

6. He issues orders to the proper officers to institute on a great scale all ceremonies against pestilence, to have (animals) torn in pieces on all sides, and (then) to send forth the ox of earth, to escort away the (injurious) airs of the cold^[128].

7. Birds of prey fly high and rapidly^[129].

8. They now offer sacrifices all round to (the spirits of) the hills and rivers, to the great ministers of the (ancient) deified sovereigns, and to the spirits of heaven (and earth)^[130].

9. In this month orders are given to the master of the Fishermen to commence the fishers' work. The son of Heaven goes in person (to look on). He partakes of the fish caught, first presenting some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple^[131]. 10. The ice is now abundant; thick and strong to the bottom of the waters and meres. Orders are given to collect it, which is done, and it is carried into (the ice-houses).

11. Orders are given to make announcement to the people to bring forth their seed of the five grains. The husbandmen are ordered to reckon up the pairs which they can furnish for the ploughing; to repair the handles and shares of their ploughs; and to provide all the other instruments for the fields.

12. Orders are given to the chief director of Music to institute a grand concert of wind instruments; and with this (the music of the year) is closed^[132].

13. Orders are given to the four Inspectors^[133] to collect and arrange the faggots to supply the wood and torches for the suburban sacrifices, those in the ancestral temple, and all others.

14. In this month the sun has gone through all his mansions; the moon has completed the number of her conjunctions; the stars return to (their places) in the heavens. The exact length (of the year) is nearly completed, and the year will soon begin again. (It is said), "Attend to the business of your husbandmen. Let them not be employed on anything else."

15. The son of Heaven, along with his ducal and other high ministers and his Great officers, revises the statutes for the states, and discusses the proceedings of the different seasons; to be prepared with what is suitable for the ensuing year.

16. Orders are given to the Grand recorder to make a list of the princes of the states according to the positions severally assigned to them^[134], and of the victims required from them to supply the offerings for the worship of God dwelling in the great heaven, and at the altars of (the spirits of) the land and grain. Orders were also given to the states ruled by princes of the royal surname to supply the fodder and grain for the (victims used in the worship of the) ancestral temple. Orders are given, moreover, to the chief minister to make a list of (the appanages of) the various high ministers and Great officers, with the amount of the land assigned to the common people, and assess them with the victims which they are to contribute to furnish for the sacrifices to (the spirits presiding over) the hills, forests, and famous streams. All the people under the sky, within the nine provinces, must, without exception, do their utmost to contribute to the sacrifices:—to God dwelling in the great heaven; at the altars of the (spirits of the) land and grain; in the ancestral temple and the apartment at the back of it; and of the hills, forests, and famous streams.

17. If, in the last month of winter, the governmental proceedings proper to autumn were observed, the white dews would descend too early; the shelly creatures would appear in monstrous forms^[135]; throughout the four borders people would have to seek their places of shelter. If those proper to spring were observed, women with child and young children would suffer many disasters; throughout die states there would be many cases of obstinate disease; fate would appear to be adverse. If those proper to summer were observed, floods would work their ruin in the states ; the seasonable snow would not fall, the ice would melt, and the cold disappear.

---

1. In this month the conjunction of the sun and moon took place in Shih or a Markab Pegasi. Зhan is a constellation embracing Betelguese, Bellatrix, Rigel, γ, δ, ε, ζ, η, of Orion; and Wei is ε, μ, of Scorpio. Shih is called in the text Ying Shih, "the Building Shih," because this month was the proper time at which to commence building.
2. Kiâ and yî are the first two of the "ten heavenly stems," which are combined with the "twelve earthly branches," to form the sixty binomial terms of "the cycle of sixty," that was devised in a remote antiquity for the registration of successive days, and was subsequently used also in the registration of successive years. The origin of the cycle and of the names of its terms is thus far shrouded in mystery; and also the application of those terms to the various purposes of divination. The five pairs of the stems correspond, in the jargon of mysterious speculation, to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and, as will be seen in this Book, to the seasons of spring, summer, the intermediate centre, autumn, and winter. Whether there be anything more in this short notice than a declaration of this fact, or any indication of the suitableness of "the days" for certain "undertakings" in them, as even the Khien-lung editors seem to think, I cannot say.
3. Thâi Hâo, "the Grandly Bright," is what is called "the dynastic designation" of Fû-hsî and his line. By the time that the observances described in this Book had come into use, Fû-hsî and other early personages had been deified (帝), and were supposed to preside over the seasons of the year. To him as the earliest of them was assigned the presidency of the spring, and the element of wood, the phenomena of vegetation being then most striking. He was the "divine ruler" of the spring, and sacrificed to in its months; and at the sacrifices there was associated with him, as assessor, an inferior personage called Kâu-mang (literally, "curling fronds and spikelets"), said to have been a son of Shâo Hâo, another mythical sovereign, founder of the line of Kin Thien (金天氏). But Shâo Hâo was separated from Thâi Hâo by more than 1000 years. The association at these sacrifices in the spring months of two personages so distant in time from each other as Fû-hsî and Kdu-mang, shows how slowly and irregularly the process of deification and these sacrifices had grown up.
4. The character for which I have given "creatures" is often translated by "insects;" but fishes, having scales, must form a large portion of what are here intended. "The seven (zodiacal) constellations of the east," says Wû Khǎng, "make up the Azure Dragon, and hence all moving creatures that have scales belong to (the element of) wood."
5. Kio is the name of the third of the five musical notes of the Chinese scale, corresponding to our B (?); and Thâi Зhâu is the name of one of the twelve tubes by which, from a very early date, music was regulated. The Thâi Зhâu, or "Great Pipe," was the second of the tubes that give the "six upper musical accords."
6. The "number" of wood is three, which added to five, the "number" of earth, gives eight, the "number" of the months of spring; but this, to me at least, is only a jargon.
7. This was one of the sacrifices of the house; see paragraph 6, page 116, and especially the seventh paragraph of Book XX. As the door is the place of exodus, it was the proper place for this sacrifice in the spring, when all the energies of nature begin to be displayed afresh. Among the five viscera,—the heart, the liver, the spleen, the lungs, and the kidneys,—the spleen corresponds to the element of earth, and therefore it was made prominent in this service, in the season when the earth seems to open its womb beneath the growing warmth of the year.
8. These are all phenomena of the spring. The third of them is differently expressed in Hwai-nan Зze, the Tâoist grandson of the founder of the Han dynasty (see Book V of his works), and in the Hsiâ Hsiâo Kǎng, showing that this text of the Lî Kî was taken from Lü Pû-wei, if the whole Book were not written by him. They read 魚陟負水, which Professor Douglas renders, "Fish mount (to the surface of) the water, bearing on their backs pieces of ice." But the meaning of the longer text is simply what I have given. Ying-tâ says, "Fishes, during the intense cold of winter, lie close at the bottom of the water, attracted by the greater warmth of the earth; but, when the sun's influence is felt, they rise and swim near to the ice." 負𫥇 = "with their backs near to the ice." What is said about the otter is simply a superstitious misinterpretation of its habit of eating only a small part of its prey, and leaving the rest on the bank. The geese come from the south on the way to their quarters during the warmer season in the north.
9. The Khing Yang ("Green and Bright") was one of the principal divisions in the Hall of Distinction of Book XII. We must suppose that the sovereign went there (among other purposes) to give out the first day of the month, and did so in the apartment indicated, and in the style and robes and ornaments of the text, in the first month of spring. The ancient Shun, it is said, set the example of the carriage with bells, whose tinkling was supposed to resemble the notes of the lwan, a bird at which we can only guess, and which has been called the phoenix, and the argus pheasant. Horses above eight feet high were called dragon steeds. The predominating green colour suits the season and month; but what made wheat and mutton then peculiarly suitable for the royal mat, I do not know the fancies of Tâoism sufficiently to be able to understand.

   In the plates to the Khien-lung edition of our classic, the following rude ground-plan of the structure is given to illustrate the various references to it in this Book:—

   

   The building is made to consist of nine large apartments or halls; three fronting the different points of the compass, and one in the centre; making nine in all. That in the centre was called "The Grand Apartment of the Grand Fane;" south from it was "The Ming Thang Grand Fane;" on the east "The Khing Yang Grand Fane;" on the west "The Зung Yang Grand Fane;" and on the north "The Hsüan Thang Grand Fane."

   In the second month of the seasons, the king went the round of the Grand Fanes. The four comer apartments were divided into two each, each one being named from the Grand Fane on the left or right of which it was. Commencing with the half on the left of the Khing Yang Fane, the king made the circuit of all the others and of the Fanes, returning to the other half on the right of the Hsüan Thang Fane in the twelfth month. The Grand Apartment in the centre was devoted to the imaginary season of the centre, between the sixth and seventh months, or the end of summer and beginning of autumn.

10. We are not told what the ceremonies in the inauguration of the spring were. The phrase li khun (立春) is the name of the first of the twenty-four terms into which the Chinese year is divided, dating now from the sun's being in the fifteenth degree of Aquarius. Kǎng Hsüan thought that the meeting of the spring in the eastern suburb was by a sacrifice to the first of "the five planetary gods," corresponding to Jupiter, "the Azure Tî, called Ling-wei-jang" (靈威仰). But where he found that name, and what is its significance, is a mystery; and the whole doctrine of five planetary Tîs is held to be heresy, and certainly does not come from the five King.
11. This rewarding, it is understood, was that mentioned in paragraph 15, p. 217.
12. These assistants are supposed to be the "three ducal ministers."
13. This took and takes place on the first hsin (辛) day, the first day commencing with that character, the eighth of the "stems."
14. The services described here are still performed, in substance, by the emperors of China and their representatives throughout the provinces. The field is generally called "the imperial field," through error. The grain produced by it was employed in the sacrifices or religious services of which God (Shang Tî) was the object, and hence arose the denomination.
15. Compare vol. iii, pp. 320-322, 370-373.
16. "The chief director of Music" would be the same as the Tâ Sze Yo of the Kâu Lî, Book XXII. There were dances of war (wan), and dances of peace (wân); but neither is in the text. But either term may include both classes of dancing. Callery translates by "faire des évolutions."
17. Not to destroy the life unborn. At "the great sacrifices," those to Heaven and Earth, and in the ancestral temple, only male victims were used, females being deemed "unclean." The host of minor sacrifices is intended here.
18. Such operations would interfere with the labours of husbandry.
19. War is specially out of time in the genial season of spring; but a state, when attacked, must, and might, defend itself even then.
20. Compare what is said in the fifth Appendix to the Yî King, paragraph 4 (vol. xvi, pp. 423, 424). The next paragraph is the sequel of this.
21. Such government would be comparable to the inversion of the seasons in the course of nature. Compare Proverbs xxvi. 1.
22. The constellation Khwei contains β (Mirac), δ, ε, ζ, μ, ν, π of Andromeda, and some stars of Pisces. Hû or Hû Kih contains δ, ε, η, κ, of Canis Major; and δ, ω, of Argo; and Kien-hsing ν, ξ, π, ρ, σ, of Sagittarius' head.
23. Kiâ Kung, "the double tube," is the second tube of the six lower accords.
24. Literally, "There commence the rains." "The rains" is now the name of the second of the twenty-four terms (February 15 to March 4).
25. This is the converse of the phenomenon in page 277, paragraph 3. Both are absurd, but the natural rendering in the translation is the view of Kǎng, Ying-tâ, Kâo Yû (the glossarist of Hwâi-nan 𝖅ze), and the Khien-lung editors. Seeking for the actual phenomenon which gave rise to the superstitious fancy, Professor Douglas renders the corresponding sentence of the Hsiâ Kǎng by "hawks become crested hawks," and thinks that the notice is based on the appearance of the hawks when "the rearing instinct becomes excessive, and birds of prey become excited." It may be so, but this meaning cannot be brought out of the text, and should not be presented as that of the writer of the Book.
26. See the note on p. 252. The three apartments (two of them subdivided) on the east of the Hall of Distinction, all received the general designation of Khing Yang, "the Green and Bright," as characteristic of the season of Spring. It was now the second month of that season, and the king takes his place in the principal or central apartment, "the Grand Fane."
27. The sacrifice here was not that to Earth, which it was competent to the king alone to offer; nor to the spirits of the territories of the different states. It was offered by the people generally to the spirits presiding over their fields.
28. The swallow is "the dark-coloured bird," of the third sacrificial ode of the Shang dynasty; see vol. iii, p. 307.
29. The vernal equinox.
30. We are not told how they knew this third day.
31. A catty (kin) at present = 1¹⁄₃ lb. avoirdupois. The khün, or 30 catties, = 40 lbs. av.; and the shih, or 120 catties, = 160 lbs. av.; see Williams' Commercial Guide, pp. 278-231. The tâu (or peck, in use in the market) contains 10 catties of dry, cleaned rice, and measures 316 cubic 𝖟hun, or inches; and the hû, or bushel, = 5 tâu. The bushel-scraper is a piece of wood or roller used to level the top of the hû. But see Williams, pp. 281, 282.
32. Compare vol. iii, pp. 368-373.
33. Compare vol. iii, page 445. Where there was an ancestral temple, the ice would be presented there. The people who had no such temple might present it before the spirit-tablets of their deceased in their principal apartment, where these were set up.
34. The fourth and fourteenth cycle days.
35. The offerings were small and scanty in this month, fruits not yet being ready for such a use. Cress and tussel-pondweed are mentioned among the vegetables which were presented on this occasion.
36. The received text here means not "services of supplication," but sacrifices. That which I have adopted is found in 𝖅hâi Yung, and is approved by the Khien-lung editors. It is a necessary alteration, for in paragraphs 9 and 15 we have instances of victims used this month at sacrifices. The change in the text is not great in Chinese, the character 祈 for 祀.
37. Before this and the corresponding paragraphs in the Parts of the Book that follow, we must always understand paragraph 23 of the last Part, of which these concluding paragraphs are supposed to be the natural sequence.
38. Wei is the seventeenth of the twenty-eight Chinese constellations (longitude in 1800, 44° 8΄ 17΄΄) corresponding to Musca borealis. Khih-hsing is understood to be a (Alphard) of Hydra, and small stars near it. Khien-niû corresponds to certain stars (ε, μ, ν) in the neck of Aquila.
39. Kû Hsien, "the lady bathes," is the third of the tubes that give the six upper musical accords.
40. This would probably be the Elaeococca vernicia, or Aleurites cordata.
41. This statement, perhaps, arose from seeing quails running about among the mole-hills. The Khien-lung editors say that the quails fly at night, and in the day keep hidden among the grass; but they seem to admit the transformation. Professor Douglas explains the error from a want of recognition of the migration of quails.
42. Callery translates this by:—"L'empereur offre de la belle jaune de céréales (aux empereurs anciens et modernes qui l'ont précédé)," following a different reading for the article offered. The general view is what I have followed. The offering is supposed to have been in connexion with a sacrifice preparatory to the silkworm season. The rearing of silkworms was due, it was supposed, to Hst-ling, the wife of the Yellow Tî. He is the "Ancient Tî" intended here, I suppose. The name is not to be taken as in the plural. See the Khang-hsî dictionary on the character khü (鞠).
43. The five times repeated inspection of the boat does seem rather ridiculous. We must regard the king's taking to the boat as an encouragement to the fishermen, as his ploughing was to the husbandmen. The long-snouted sturgeon has always been called "the royal sturgeon." How the praying for a good wheat harvest seems to be connected with this ceremony I do not know.
44. "On each side of the wall of the royal city," says Lû Tien (early in the Sung dynasty), "there were three gates." Wû Khǎng says, "The three gates on the south were the chief gates. Generally, such things as are mentioned here might issue from the other gates, but not from these; but in this month they could not issue from any of the nine." Other explanations of "the nine gates" have been attempted. The "baits" (or medicines) were used to attract and to stupefy.
45. Perhaps the hoopoe.
46. Compare Analects X, 10, 2. The ceremonies there referred to were the same as those here, carried out in the villages and, indeed, throughout the land. Diseases prevailing were attributed by superstition to the action of evil spirits, and ridiculous measures adopted to drive them away. Confucius and others, even the government itself, gave countenance to these, seeing, perhaps, that in connexion with them the natural causes of disease would be in a measure dispelled.
47. Pî is the name for the Hyades, or, more exactly, of six stars in Hyades, with μ and ν of Taurus; it is the nineteenth of the Chinese constellations. Yî is crater. Wû-nü is not so well identified. Williams says that it is "a star near the middle of Capricorn," but others say in Hercules. The R Yâ makes it the same as Hsü-nü (須女). Probably it was a star in the constellation Nü of Aquarius.
48. The third and fourth stem characters of the cycle.
49. Yen Tî ("the blazing Tî") is the dynastic designation of Shǎn Nǎng, generally placed next to Fû-hsî in Chinese chronology, and whose date cannot be assigned later than the thirty-first century B.C. Kû-yung in one account is placed before Fû-hsî; in a second, as one of the ministers of Hwang Tî; and in a third, as a son of Khwan-hsü (B.C. 2510-2433). He was "the Director of Fire," and had the presidency of summer.
50. Kih is the fourth of the notes of the Chinese scale, and Kung Lü ("the middle Spine") the third of the tubes that give the six lower accords.
51. The number of fire is 2, which + 5, that of earth, = 7.
52. It was natural that they should sacrifice here in the summer. "The lungs" is the fourth of the five viscera, and "metal" the fourth of the five elements; but "fire subdues metal." This is supposed to account for the prominence given to the lungs in this sacrifice.
53. According to Williams this is the "common cucumber."
54. The "Grand Peace-maintainer" (大尉) was a title under the Khin dynasty, and instituted by it, of the Minister of War. The functions of the latter, as described in the last Book, page 234, are in harmony with what is said here. The occurrence of the name bears out the attributing of this Book to Lü Pû-wei.
55. There does not appear to be any connexion between the first sentence of this paragraph and the remainder of it. The medicinal herbs are collected while all their vigour is in them. For the things in the second sentence the "summer heats" make a premature harvest; and this seems to lead to the third topic,—the saving those charged with slight offences from the effects of that heat in confinement.
56. The Khien-lung editors have a note here, which is worth quoting, to the effect that as the great solstitial sacrifices and the seasonal sacrifices of the ancestral temple do not appear in this Book, the drinking here was at court entertainments.
57. Hemp or flax, millet, rice, bearded grain, and pulse.
58. Зing comprehends γ, ε, ζ, λ, μ, ν, Gemini; Khang, ι, κ, λ, μ, ρ, Virgo; and Wei corresponds to α, Aquarius, and ε, θ, Pegasus.
59. Sui Pin, "the flourishing Guest," is the fourth of the tubes that give the six upper musical accords.
60. This is here "the inverted Tongue." The Khang-hsî dictionary says it is the same as "the hundred Tongues;" the Chinese mocking-bird.
61. Kû Hsî would remove this paragraph to the thirteenth of the last Part. It seems to me to be in its proper place.
62. See vol iii, p. 324. The stopper is represented thus:—

    

    It was made to sound by a metal rod drawn along the spinous back. I have seen a similar instrument, used for the same purpose, brought from Madras.

63. The first and last of the three sacrificial services in the paragraph were subsidiary to the second, the great praying for rain to God by the sovereign; the motive is not mentioned in the text, but only he could conduct a service to God. Callery renders:—"En méme temps l'empereur invoque le ciel avec grand apparat (afin d'obtenir de la pluie), et cette cérémonie est accompagnée de grande musique." All Chinese commentators admit that the performer was the sovereign, Kǎng Khang-khǎng says: "For this sacrifice to God, they made an altar (or altars) by the side of the (grand altar in the) southern suburb, and sacrificed to the five essential (or elemental) gods with the former rulers as their assessors." But the Khien-lung editors insist on the text's having "God," and not "five gods," and that the correct view is that the sacrifice was to the one God dwelling in the bright sky, or, as Williams renders the phrase, "the Shang Tî of the glorious heaven."
64. The plant would not yet be fully fit for use.
65. Every facility should be afforded for the circulation of air during the summer heats.
66. The leniency would be seen in the lightening of their fetters for one thing,—in consequence of the exhaustion produced by the season.
67. Decay begins to set in, while growth and vigour seek to maintain their hold.
68. The Khien-lung editors approve a reading here, which means, instead of "no punishments," "no rash or hurried action."
69. The "tree hibiscus" is the "hibiscus syriacus." The "half-summer herb" is medicinal. It is "white, with round seeds, and of a hot and pungent taste."
70. At the beginning of this paragraph there should be—"In this month."
71. Liû comprehends δ, ε, ζ, η, θ, ρ, σ, and ω Hydrae; Hwo is the same as Hsin, the fifth of the Chinese zodiacal constellations comprehending Antares, σ, τ, and two c. 2584, 2587, Scorpio; Khwei (as stated above, p. 257) comprehends β (Mirac), δ, ε, ζ, μ, ν, π of Andromeda, and some stars of Pisces.
72. The fourth of the tubes that give the six lower musical accords.
73. Compare what is said about hawks in paragraph 4, page 258. "Here," says Wang Thao, "we have the turtle-doves transformed back to hawks, showing that the former notice was metaphorical." What is said about the fire-flies is, of course, a mistaken fancy.
74. The first of these animals—the kiâo—is, probably, the alligator or crocodile; it was taken only after a struggle or fight. The second—the tho—had a skin used in making drums; and its flesh, as well as that of the fourth—the yûan—was used in making soup.
75. Of hills, forests, rivers, and meres.
76. We find full details of the number and duties of the superintendents of women's work, with its tailoring, dyeing, and other things, in the Kâu Lî, Books I and VII.
77. The Khien-lung editors say that this was to let the process of growth have its full course; and, besides, that wood cut down in spring and summer will be found full of insects.
78. Such as building walls and fortifications, or laying out the ground.
79. The text is—"will interfere with the business of Shǎn Nǎng (妨神農之事)." How is it that "husbandry" has here the epithet of Shǎn, or "spiritual," "mysterious," applied to it? The Khien-lung editors say:—"𝖅hǎi Yung (our second century) makes Shǎn Nǎng to be Yen Tî (the divine ruler of the summer). Kǎng made the name to be that of 'the spirit of the ground.' Kâo Yû (second century) took it as a name for the minister of Husbandry. To some extent each of these views might be admitted, but none of them is very certain. Looking carefully at the text it simply says that no great undertakings should be allowed to interfere with husbandry. That it does not plainly say husbandry, but calls it the Shǎn husbandry, is from a sense of its importance, and therefore making it out to be Spirit-sanctioned. Heaven produced the people, and the grain to nourish them; is not sowing and reaping the business of Heaven? When a ruler knows this, he feels that he is under the inspection of Heaven in his reverent regard of the people, and the importance which he attaches to husbandry. He will not dare lightly to use the people's strength, so as to offend against Heaven." I have tried to bring out their view in my version.
80. Compare what is said on the duties of those who cut the grass, as is here assumed to be done, in the Kâu Lî, Book XXXVII, paragraphs 80, 81 (薙氏).
81. I have called this a supplementary section. It is dropt in, in all its brevity, without mention of any proceedings of government, between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. It has all the appearance of an after-thought, suggested by the superstitious fancies of the compiler. Callery says on it:—
    "This passage can only be comprehended by help of the intimate affinities which Chinese philosophers have attributed to the different beings of nature. According to them, the four seasons are related to the four cardinal points: spring to the east, summer to the south, autumn to the west, and winter to the north. Each of the cardinal points is related to an element: the east to wood, the south to fire, the west to metal, and the north to water. But as there is a fifth element, that of earth, and the four cardinal points have no reason for being distinguished as they are, but that there is a point in the middle between them, which is still the earth, it follows from this that the earth ought to have its place in the midst of the four seasons, that is, at the point of separation between summer and autumn. Here a difficulty presented itself. The bamboo flutes to which the Chinese months are referred being but twelve, where shall be found the musical affinities of the earth? But the Chinese philosopher did not find himself embarrassed. See how he reasoned. The sound of the first flute, that is, of the longest and largest, is the strongest and most grave, and, like a bass, harmonizes with all the other sounds more acute. So the earth, likewise, is the most important of all the elements ; it extends towards all the cardinal points, and intervenes in the products of each season. Hence the earth ought to correspond to the sound of the first flute! These affinities extend to colours, tastes, and a crowd of other categories."
    The Khien-lung editors say:—
    "Speaking from the standpoint of Heaven, then the earth is in the midst of Heaven; that is, (the element of) earth. Speaking from the standpoint of the Earth, then wood, fire, metal, and water are all supported on it. The manner in which the way of Earth is affected by that of Heaven cannot be described by reference to one point, or one month. Speaking from the standpoint of the heavenly stems, then wû and kî occupy the middle places, and are between the stems for fire and metal, to convey the system of mutual production. Speaking from the standpoint of the 'earthly branches,' the khǎn, hsü, khâu, and wi occupy the corners of the four points; wood, fire, metal, and water, all turn to earth. This is what the idea of reciprocal ending, and that of elemental flourishing, arise from. This may be exhibited in the several points, and reckoned by the periods of days. The talk about the elements takes many directions, but the underlying principle comes to be the same!"
    I shall be glad if my readers can understand this.
82. Yî corresponds to Crater. Khien-hsing comprehends stars in Sagittarius (see page 257). Pî corresponds to the Hyades.
83. Shâo Hâo follows Hwang Tî, whose eldest son he was, as the fourth in the list of the five Tî, or divine rulers (B.C. 2594). His capital was at Khü-fǎu, the city of Confucius; and I have seen, at a little distance from it, perhaps the only pyramid in China, which is in memory of him, and said to be on or near his grave. His personal appellation is Kin-thien (金天), or Thien-kin, the element to which he and his reign are assigned being kin, or metal. Zû-shâu was one of his sons.
84. Î 𝖅eh, "the equalization of the Laws," is the tube giving the fifth of the upper musical accords.
85. White dew is a name for hoar-frost
86. This cicada (Williams thinks the cicada viridis) is called "the dumb." Now it begins to chirp. Its colour is "green and red."
87. Compare what is said about the otter, page 251.
88. 𝖅ung->fcing is made out to mean, "all bright," and the apartment was on the west; with mystical reference to the maturity and gathering of all things in the autumn, or season of the west. The vessels were rectangular, having sharp comers in harmony with the sharp weapons made of metal, to which element the season of autumn is referred; and they were deep, to resemble the deep bosom of the earth, to which things now begin to return.
89. For this last sentence Callery has:—"(Ce mois-ci) la nature commençant à devenir rigoureuse, on ne doit pas augmenter (ses rigeurs par l'application de châtiments trop sévères)." Wang Thâo takes an opposite view. I think I have got the thought that was in the compiler's mind. See the note of the Khien-lung editors with reference to the advocacy of it by commentators of "the Brief Calendar of Hsiâ."
90. Kio corresponds to a (Spica) and ζ of Virgo; Khien-niû (see on page 262) to certain stars in the neck of Aquila; and 𝖅ze-hsî is said to be λ Orion.
91. Nan Lü, "the southern spine," is the tube that gives the fifth of the lower musical accords.
92. The wild geese are now returning to their winter quarters, from which they had come in the first month of spring; see page 251. So with the swallows, who had appeared in the second month of spring; see page 259.
93. This sentence is hardly translatable or intelligible. Some would read as in paragraph 95 of "the Brief Calendar of Hsiâ" (丹鳥羞白鳥), translated by Professor Douglas: "The red birds (i.e. fire-flies) devour the white birds (i.e. mosquitoes)," which he ingeniously supports by a reference to the habits of the fire-fly from Chambers' Encyclopædia. But his translation of hsiû by "devour" is inadmissible. Wang Thâo says that this view is "chisseling." "Sparrows and other birds," he says, "now collect seeds of grapes and trees, and store them in their nests and holes against the time of rain and snow."
94. Kǎng says here: "And if God accept them, of course there is no other spirit that will not do so."
95. Callery translates this paragraph by: "Toute personne ayant une chose importante à, accomplir ne doit pas se mettre en opposition avec les grands principes (yin etyang); il doit se conformer au temps (propre à agir; mais il doit aussi) bien examiner la nature même de l'entreprise." He appends to this the following note:—"Les deux principes yin et yang auxquels se rapportent tons les êtres, ayant tour-à-tour la predominance dans certaines époques de l'année, le temps convenable pour une chose quelconque est celui auquel prédomine le principe dont cette chose dépend par son affinité naturelle. Ainsi, par exemple, les travaux de terrassement et de construction conviennent en automne, parce que le principe yin dont ils dépendent est en progrès pendant l'automne. Néanmoins, de ce que cette époque de l'année est favorable sous ce point de vue, il ne s'ensuit pas que toute entreprise de construction faite en automne soit avantageuse en ellemême; une foule de circonstances peuvent la rendre ruineuse, et c'est à l'entrepreneur de bien l'examiner, abstraction faite de la saison."
    The text rendered by Callery, "les deux principes (yin et yang)," is simply tâ shû, "the grand numbers," the meaning of which I have endeavoured to bring out by the supplements in my version. The yin and yang are not mentioned in the text of the paragraph. They are simply a binomial phrase for the course of nature, with special reference to the weather and its conditions, as regulated by the action of the sun on the earth in the course of the seasons.
96. Fang comprehends β, δ, π, ρ Scorpio. Hsü corresponds to β Aquarius; and Liû comprehends δ, ε, ζ, η, θ, ρ, σ, φ Hydra.
97. Wû Yî, "the unwearied," is the tube giving the sixth upper musical accord.
98. The addition of guests here is a difficulty. It is said on the previous month that "the wild geese come;" are these here the same as those, or are they others,—the younger birds, as some suppose, which had waited after the former, and still found it necessary to remain on their passage to recruit their strength?
99. Professor Douglas has made it more than probable that the "small birds" here are sand-pipers. What is said about them, however, will not admit of his version, that they "go into the sea or lakes for crustaceae." His "crustaceae" should be "mollusks." According to all rules of Chinese composition, what he renders "for" must be taken verbally,="to become." It is not merely the Chinese "commentators," who consider the sentence to mean, "Sparrows go into the sea and become crustaceae (? mollusks);" it is what the text says. It is indeed an absurd statement, but a translator is not responsible for that. The Khien-lung editors observe that there is no mention here of the little birds being "transformed," as in the paragraph about the "hawks" on page 258, and hence they argue that we cannot understand the notice here metaphorically. They accept the fact (?). The marine Ko, which is mentioned here, as figured in the plates of the Pǎn 𝖅hâo Kang-mû, is the Calyptroida Trochita.
100. Compare what is said about the otter, page 251. Professor Douglas argues that the khâi is the polecat. But this identification cannot yet be received as certain. The khâi is "dog-footed," "hunts in troops," and has "a voice like that of the dog." In Japanese plates it is not at all like "the polecat." An English naturalist, to whom I submitted a Japanese work illustrative of the Shih King, many years ago, has written over the khâi, "a wild dog or wolf."
101. "This," says Hsü Sze-𝖟ǎng (Ming dynasty), "is the great rule of making provision for the sustenance of men and for serving spiritual beings,—two things demanding the utmost inward reverence and outward reverential vigour." I suppose that the "spirit-granary" contained the grain for all governmental sacrifices, as well as that gathered from "the acres of God," and to be used specially in sacrifices to Him.
102. This paragraph gives great trouble to the Khien-lung editors; but we need not enter on their discussions.
103. This last month of autumn, the ninth from the first month of spring, was the last month of the year with the dynasty of 𝖅hin, when it was high time to give out the calendar for the months of the next year.
104. The sovereign's horses were divided into six classes, and every class had its own grooms, with one among them who had the superintendence of the rest. See a narrative in the 𝖅o Kwan, under the eighteenth year of duke Khǎng.
105. Two of these insignia are mentioned in the text;—the 𝖅ing, which was only a pennant, and the Kâo, a large banner with a tortoise and serpent intertwined. No doubt the meaning is, "the various banners."
106. Wei (尾) comprehends ε, μ Scorpio; Wei (危, as on page 272) corresponds to stars in Aquarius and Pegasus. Khih Hsing (as on p. 262) corresponds to stars in Hydra.
107. Kwan-hsü is the dynastic designation of the grandson of Hwang Tî, the commencement of whose reign is assigned in B.C. 2510. He is known also by the personal designation of Kâo-yang, from the name of his second capital. Among the elements his reign is assigned to water, and thence to the north; and hence the designation of his minister as Hsüan-ming, "the dark and mysterious," who was called Hsiû (脩) and Hsî (熙), and is said to have been a son of Shâo Hâo.
108. Yü is the fifth of the notes of the scale; and Ying Kung, "the responsive tube," the name of the last of the tubes giving the six lower musical accords.
109. This altar was outside the gate leading to the ancestral temple, on the west of it. Many say that here was the "well" supplying the water used for the temple, and would read 𝖟ăng (井) for hsing (行).
110. The "great water" here is said in the "Narratives of the States" (Book XV) to be the Hwâi. The khǎn is said to be a large species of the ko, into which small birds are transformed (p. 292). Of course the transmutation of the pheasants into these is absurd. Professor Douglas has found in a Chinese Enclyclopaedia a statement that khǎn is sometimes an equivalent of phû lû (蒲蘆), "sweet flags and rushes." The lû, however, is sometimes read lô, and said to have the same sound and meaning as 螺, "a spiral univalve;" but the great objection to Professor Douglas' view is the meaning he puts on the 爲, as pointed out on p. 292. The text cannot be construed as he proposes.
111. See in Mencius, I, 7, 4, on the consecration of a bell by smearing parts of it with blood.
112. Wang Thâo understands this paragraph as meaning that at this season all, both high and low, feast in expression and augmentation of their joy. The characters will bear this interpretation. The kǎng, of the text however, has also the meaning which appears in the translation; though on that view the statement is not so general. See the "Narratives of the States," I, ii. 8.
113. The most common view seems to be that we have here the various parts of one sacrificial service, three days after the winter solstice, called kâ (蜡), in the time of Kâu, and lâ (臘), in that of Khin. While the son of Heaven performed these services, it must have been at different places in the capital I suppose, analogous and modified services were celebrated generally throughout the kingdom.
     There is no agreement as to who are intended by "the Honoured ones of heaven." Many hold that they are "the six Honoured ones," to whom Shun is said to have sacrificed in the second part of the Shû King. But the Khien-lung editors contend that the want of "six" is a fatal objection to this view. Kâo Yû, supposing the six Honoured ones to be meant, argued that "heaven, earth, and the four seasons" were intended by them,—those seasons co-operating with heaven and earth in the production of all things; but the same editors show, from the passages in the Shû, that heaven can in no sense be included among the six Honoured ones. They do not say, however. Who or what is intended by the designation in the text The lâ in the paragraph is taken in a pregnant sense, as if it were lieh (獵, and not 臘), meaning "to sacrifice with the spoils of the chase."
114. Tâu comprehends ζ, λ, μ, σ, τ, φ of Sagittarius; the eastern Pî, the fourteenth of the Chinese constellations, consists of Algenib or γ Pegasus, and α of Andromeda; Κǎn is the last of the constellations, and contains β, γ, δ, and ε of Corvus.
115. See page 281, paragraph 5.
116. "The earth begins to crack;" some say from the increasing intensity of the cold; others from the warmth which has begun to return. The returning warmth is indicated by the undivided Une with which Fu, the hexagram of the eleventh month, commences—. "The night bird" sings during the night till the dawn; "a hill bird, like a fowl."
117. See paragraph 16, page 299. The paragraph may be inadvertently introduced here.
118. "The proper officer" here is said to be "the minister of Instruction," or "the officer of the People."
119. Winter is the season in which the element of water predominates, and it was in virtue of this that the dynasty of 𝖅hin professed to rule. The Khwǎn-lun mountains (Koulkun), between the desert of Gobi and Thibet, are the source of the Hwang Ho; Yüan-min, the source of the Kiang; Thung-po, that of the Hwâi; the Kî grew out of the Yen, rising from the hill of Wang-wû. See Chinese Classics, vol. iii, pp. 127-140.
120. Hazel-nuts and chestnuts are given as examples of the former; and the water-caltrops and Euryale ferox, or "cock's head," of the latter.
121. This description of the month is well illustrated by the lines of Fû, the hexagram of it referred to above,—; the lowest line representing the principle of light and growth, which just found readmission in the year, and is seeking to develop itself.
122. This is called by Dr. Williams "a species of iris." The roots are made into brooms.
123. This is a fancy. The commentators say that the worms curl and twist, with their heads turned downwards, as if seeking to return to the warmth beneath the surface.
124. The shedding of the horns in winter shows that the mî here, (麋), is a species of the elk or moose-deer, and different from the lû (鹿), which sheds its horns in the sixth month. The mî is described as being fond of the water, and as large as a small ox.
125. Wû-nü, as in paragraph i, page 268. Lâu corresponds to α, β, γ, ι in the head of Aries; Tî, to α, β, δ, ι, μ, ν Libra.
126. Tâ Lü is the first of the tubes giving the six lower musical accords.
127. As is said in the Shih, II, v, 3, 5:—
      "Crows the pheasant at the dawn,
       And his mate is to him drawn."
128. Compare par. 16, p. 266. The "ox of earth" is still seen in China.
129. This evidently is one of the natural phenomena of the season, and should belong to paragraph 4. The translation of the first two characters by "Birds of prey" is sufficiently close and exact.
130. The Khien-lung editors point out the difficulties in explaining the three sacrifices here referred to, and seem to think they were practices of Khin, about which we have little information. "The great ministers of the Tî" in the second member were probably those mentioned at the commencement of each season. They supplement the concluding member, as I have done, from Lü's Khun Khiû.
131. Compare paragraphs 7, p. 263; 17, p. 271. In paragraph 7, p. 263, the sovereign gets himself into a boat, a thing now impossible through the ice. Fish are in their prime condition in winter and spring.
132. Compare paragraph 16, p. 261, et al. Wind instruments were supposed to suit the quiet and meditativeness of autumn and winter, better than the drums and dances of the other seasons.
133. "The four Inspectors." Compare paragraph 8, p. 277. Some read thien (田) for sze (四). "Inspectors of the fields."
134. As being of the same surname as the royal house, or otherwise; the degree of their rank; the size of their territory.
135. This is the proper force of the characters. Wang Thâo interprets them as meaning that the creatures would bore through dykes and boats, so that the former would let the water through and the latter sink.