I
introduce
it here with some condensations.
Confucius - Book of Rites
6. The son of Heaven employed his Great officers as the Three Inspectors,--to inspect the states under the Chiefs of Regions[1]. For each state there were three Inspectors.
7. Within the domain of the son of Heaven the princes enjoyed their allowances; outside it they had their inheritances[2].
8. According to the regulations, any one of the three ducal ministers might wear one additional symbol of distinction,--that of the descending dragon[3].
[1. The Khien-lung editors think that this was a department first appointed by the Han dynasty, and that the compilers of this Book took for it the name of 'the Three Inspectors,' from king Wû's appointment of his three brothers to watch the proceedings of the son of the last sovereign of Yin, in order to give it an air of antiquity. Was it the origin of the existing Censorate?
2. Outside the royal domain, the feudal states were all hereditary. This is a fact of all early Chinese history. In the domain itself the territories were appanages rather than states. Yet they were in some sense hereditary too. The descendants of all who had served the country well, were not to be left unprovided for. Compare Mencius I, ii, 5, 3.
See the Shih, Part I, xv, Ode 6. x, with the note in my edition of 'the Chinese Classics. ' The old symbols of distinction gave rise to 'the Insignia of Civil and Military Officers' of the present dynasty, called Kiu phin (###). See Williams' Dictionary, p. 698. This paragraph is in the expurgated edition of the Lî Kî, used by Callery, and he gives for it, unfortunately, the following version:--'Il est de règle que les trois ministres (qui d'habitude n'appartiennent qu'au 8e ordre de dignitaires), en montant un degré portent I'habit des dragons en broderie. Si, après cela, il y a lieu de leur accorder de nouvelles récompenses, on leur donne des objets de valeur, car on ne va pas au delà du 9e ordre. '
But if such an addition were made (to his eight symbols), it must be by special grant. There were only nine symbols (in all). The ruler of a state of the second class wore only seven of them, and the ruler of a small state only five.
9. The high minister of a great state could not wear more than three of the symbols, and the ministers below him only two. The high ministers of a small state, and Great officers of the lowest class, wore only one.
10. The rule was that the abilities of all put into offices over the people should first be discussed. After they had been discussed with. discrimination, the men were employed. When they had been (proved) in the conduct of affairs, their rank was assigned; and when their position was (thus) fixed, they received salary.
11. It was in the court that rank was conferred, the (already existing) officers being (thus) associated in the act[1]. It was in the market-place that punishment was inflicted; the multitude being (thus) associated in casting the criminals off. hence, neither the ruler, nor (the head of)a clan, would keep a criminal who had been punished about; him; a Great officer would not maintain him; nor would an officer, meeting
[1. The presence of the officers generally would be a safeguard against error in the appointments, as they would know the individuals. ]
him on the road, speak to him. Such men were sent away to one of the four quarters, according to the sentence on each. They were not allowed to have anything to do with affairs of government, to show that there was no object in allowing them to live[1].
12. In their relation to the son of Heaven, the feudal princes were required to send every year a minor mission to the court, and every three years a greater mission; once in five years they had to appear there in person.
13. The son of Heaven, every five years, made a tour of Inspection through the fiefs[2].
14. In the second month of the year, he visited those on the East, going to the honoured mountain of Tâi. There he burnt a (great) pile of wood, and announced his arrival to Heaven; and with looks directed to them, sacrificed to the hills and rivers. He gave audience to the princes; inquired out those who were 100 years old, and went to see them: ordered the Grand music-master to bring him the poems (current in the different states)[3] 3, that he might see the manners of the people; ordered the superintendents of markets to present (lists of prices), that he might see what the people liked and disliked, and whether they were set on extravagance and loved
[1. It has been said that these were rules of the Yin or Shang dynasty. The Khien-lung editors maintain that they were followed by all the three feudal dynasties.
2. Compare vol. iii, pp. 39, 40.
3. These would include ballads and songs. Perhaps 'Grand music-master' should be in the plural, meaning those officers of each state. Probably these would have given them to the king's Grand music-master. ]
what was bad; he ordered the superintendent of rites to examine the seasons and months, and fix the days, and to make uniform the standard tubes, the various ceremonies, the (instruments of) music, all measures, and (the fashions of) clothes. (Whatever was wrong in these) was rectified.
15. Where any of the spirits of the hills and rivers had been unattended to, it was held to be an act of irreverence, and the irreverent ruler was deprived of a part of his territory. Where there had been neglect of the proper order in the observances of the ancestral temple, it was held to show a want of filial piety and the rank of the unfilial ruler was reduced. Where any ceremony had been altered, or any instrument of music changed, it was held to be an instance of disobedience, and the disobedient ruler was banished. Where the statutory measures and the (fashion of) clothes had been changed, it was held to be rebellion, and the rebellious ruler was taken off. The ruler who had done good service for the people, and shown them an example of virtue, received an addition to his territory and rank.
16. In the seventh month, (the son of Heaven) continued his tour, going to the south, to the mountain of that quarter[1], observing the same ceremonies as in the east. In the eighth month, he went on to the west, to the mountain of that quarter[2], observing the
[1. Mount Hang; in the present district of Hang-shan, dept. Hang-kâu, Hu-nan.
2. Mount Hwa; in the present district of Hwa-yin, dept. Thung-kâu, Shen-hsî. ]
same ceremonies as in the south. In the eleventh month, he went on to the north, to the mountain of that quarter[1], observing the same ceremonies as in the west. (When all was done), he returned (to the capital), repaired (to the ancestral temple) and offered a bull in each of the fanes, from that of his (high) ancestor to that of his father[2].
17. When the son of Heaven was about to go forth, he sacrificed specially, but with the usual forms. , to God, offered the Î sacrifice at the altar of the earth, and the Zhâo in the fane of his father[3]. When one of the feudal princes was about to go forth, he offered the Î sacrifice to the spirits of the land, and the Zhâo in the fane of his father.
18. When the son of Heaven received the feudal princes, and there was no special affair on hand, it was (simply) called an audience. They examined their ceremonies, rectified their punishments, and made uniform what they considered virtuous; thus giving honour to the son of Heaven[4].
19. When the son of Heaven gave (an instrument of) music to a duke or marquis, the presentation was
[1. Mount Hang; in the present district of Khü-yang, dept. Ting-kâu, Kih-lî.
2. I have followed here the view of Khung Ying-tâ. It seems to me that all the seven fanes of the son of Heaven were under one roof, or composed one great building, called 'the Ancestral Temple. ' See p. 224.
3. The meaning of the names of the different sacrifices here is little more than guessed at.
4. The second sentence of this paragraph is variously understood. ]
preceded by a note from the signal box[1]; when giving one to an earl, count, or baron, the presentation was preceded by shaking the hand-drum. When the bow and arrows were conferred on a prince, he could proceed to execute the royal justice. When the hatchet and battle-axe were conferred, he could proceed to inflict death. When a large: libation-cup was conferred, he could make the spirits from the black millet for himself. When this cup was not conferred, be had to depend for those spirits (as a gift) from the son of Heaven.
20. 'When the son of Heaven ordered a prince to institute instruction, he proceeded to build his schools; the children's[2], to the south of his palace, on the left of it; that for adults, in the suburbs. (The college of) the son of Heaven was called (the palace of) Bright Harmony, (and had a circlet of water). (That of) the princes was called the Palace with its semicircle of water.
[1. A representation of the signal box is here given (i). The note was made by turning the upright handle, which then struck on some arrangement inside. The hand-drum is also represented (2). It was merely a sort of rattle only that the noise was made by the two little balls striking against the ends of the drum. It is constantly seen and heard in the streets of Chinese cities at the present day, in the hands of pedlers and others.
2. That; is, the children of the princes; but an impulse was thus given to the education of children of lower degree. ]
21. When the son of Heaven was about to go forth on a punitive expedition, he sacrificed specially, but with the usual forms, to God; offered the Î sacrifice at the altar of the Earth, and the Zhâo in the fane of his father. He offered sacrifice also to the Father of War (on arriving) at the state which was the object of the expedition. He had received his charge from his ancestors, and the complete (plan) for the execution of it in the college. He went forth accordingly, and seized the criminals; and on his return he set forth in the college his offerings, and announced (to his ancestors) how he had questioned (his prisoners), and cut off the cars (of the slain)[1].
22. When the son of Heaven and the princes had no (special) business in hand, they had three huntings[2] in the year. The first object in them was to supply the sacrificial dishes with dried flesh; the second, to provide for guests and visitors; and the third, to supply the ruler's kitchen.
23. Not to hunt when there was no (special) business in the way was deemed an act of irreverence[3]. To hunt without observing the rules (for hunting) was deemed cruelty to the creatures of Heaven.
24. The sop of Heaven did not entirely surround (the hunting ground)[4]; and a feudal prince did not
[1. Compare paragraph 17, and vol. iii, pp. 392, 393.
2. The huntings were in spring, summer, and winter, for each of which there was its proper name. In autumn the labours of the field forbade hunting.
3. Irreverence, in not making provision for sacrifices; disrespect, in not providing properly for guests.
4. He left one opening for the game. This paragraph contains some of the rules for hunting]
take a (whole) herd by surprise. When the son of Heaven had done killing, his large flag was lowered; and when the princes had done, their smaller flag. When the Great officers had done, the auxiliary carriages were stopped[1]; and after this, the common people fell a hunting (for themselves).
25. When the otter sacrificed its fish[2], the foresters entered the meres and dams. When the wolf sacrificed its prey, the hunting commenced. When the dove changed into a hawk, they set their nets, large and small. When the plants and trees began to drop their leaves, they entered the hills and forests (with the axe). Until the insects had all withdrawn into their burrows, they did not fire the fields. They did not take fawns nor eggs. They did not kill pregnant animals, nor those which had not attained to their full growth. They did not throw down nests[3].
26. The chief minister determined the expenditure of the states, and it was the rule that he should do so at the close of the year. When the five kinds of grain had all been gathered in, he then determined the expenditure;-according to the size of each territory, as large or small, and the returns of the year, as abundant or poor. On the average of thirty years he determined the expenditure, regulating the outgoing by the income.
[1. These were light carriages used in driving and keeping the game together.
2. See the next Book, where all these regulations are separately mentioned.
3. The Chinese have a reputation for being callous in the infliction of punishment and witnessing suffering; And I think they are so. But these rules were designed evidently to foster kindness and sympathy. ]
27. A tenth of the (year's) expenditure was for sacrifices. During the three years of the mourning rites (for parents), the king did not sacrifice (in person), excepting to Heaven, Earth, and the Spirits of the land and grain; and when he went to transact any business, the ropes (for his chariot) were made of hemp (and not of silk)[1]. A tithe of three years, expenditure was allowed for the rites of mourning. When there was not sufficient for the rites of sacrifice and mourning, it was owing to lavish waste; when there was more than enough, the state was described as affluent. In sacrifices there should be no extravagance in good years, and no niggardliness in bad.
28. If in a state there was not accumulated (a surplus) sufficient for nine years, its condition was called one of insufficiency; if there was not enough for six years, one of urgency. If there was not a surplus sufficient for three years, the state could not continue. The husbandry of three years was held to give an overplus of food sufficient for one year; that of nine years, an overplus sufficient for three years. Going through thirty years (in this way), though there might be bad years, drought, and inundations, the people would have no lack or be reduced to (eating merely) vegetables, and then the son of Heaven would every day have full meals and music at them.
SECTION III.
1. The son of Heaven was encoffined on the seventh day (after his death), and interred in the seventh month. The prince of a state was encoffined
[1. Such is the meaning of the text here given by the Khien-lung editors. It is found also in the Khang-hsî dictionary, under the character ###, called in this usage hwo. ]
on the fifth day, and interred in the fifth month. A Great officer, (other) officers, and the common people were encoffined on the third day, and interred in the third month. The mourning rites of three years (for parents) extended from the son of Heaven to all.
2. The common people let the coffin down into the grave by ropes, and did not suspend the interment because of rain. They raised no mound, nor planted trees over the grave. That no other business should interfere with the rites of mourning was a thing extending from the son of Heaven to the common people.
3. In the mourning rites they followed (the rank of) the dead; in sacrificing to them, that of the living. A son by a concubine did not (preside at) the sacrifices[1].
4. (The ancestral temple of) the son of Heaven embraced seven fanes (or smaller temples); three on the left and three on the right, and that of his great ancestor (fronting the south):--in all, seven. (The temple of) the prince of a state embraced five such fanes: those of two on the left, and two on the right, and that of his great ancestor:--in all, five. Great officers had three fanes:-one on the left, one on the right, and that of his great ancestor:--in all, three. Other officers had (only) one. The common people presented their offerings in their (principal) apartment[2]
[1. Even though he might attain to higher rank than the son of the wife proper, who represented their father.
2. The technical terms (as they may be called) in the text make it impossible to translate this paragraph concisely, so as to make it intelligible to a foreign reader unacquainted with the significance of those terms. The following ground-plan of an ancestral temple of a king of Kâu is given in the plates of the Khien-lung edition of the Lî kî:--after Kû Hsî.
I introduce it here with some condensations.
Entering at the gate on the south, we have, fronting us, at the northern end, the fane of the grand ancestor to whom, in the distant past, the family traced its line. South of his fane, on the right and left, were two fanes dedicated to kings Wan and Wû, father and son, the joint founders of the dynasty. The four below them, two on each side, were dedicated to the four kings preceding the reigning king, the sacrificer. At the back of each fane was a comparatively dark apartment, called khin (###) where the spirit tablet was kept during the intervals between the sacrifices. When a sacrifice was offered, the tablet was brought out and placed in the centre of a screen, in the middle of the fane. As the line lengthened, while the tablets of the grand ancestor and joint ancestors always remained untouched, on a death and accession, the tablet of the next oldest occupant was removed and placed in a general apartment for the keeping of all such tablets, and that of the newly deceased king was placed in the father's fane, and the other three were shifted up, care being always taken that the tablet of a son should never follow that of his father on the same side. The number of the lower fanes was maintained, as a rule, at four. Those on the east were called Kâo (###) and on the west Mû (###), the names in the text here. See the Chinese Classics, I, pp. 266, 267, and the note there. ]
5. The sacrifices in the ancestral temples of the son of Heaven and the feudal princes were that of spring, called Yo; that of summer, called Tî; that of autumn, called Khang; and that of winter, called Khang[1].
6. The son of Heaven sacrificed to Heaven and Earth; the princes of the states, to the (spirits of the) land and grain; Great officers offered the five sacrifices (of the house). The son of Heaven sacrificed to all the famous hills and great streams under the sky, the five mountains[2] receiving (sacrificial) honours like the honours paid (at court) to the three ducal ministers, and the four rivers[2] honours like those paid to the princes of states; the princes sacrificed to the famous hills and great streams which were in their own territories.
7. The son of Heaven and the feudal lords sacrificed to the ancient princes who had no successors to
[1. The names of some of these sacrifices and their order are sometimes given differently.
2. For four of these mountains, see pages 217, 218, notes. The fifth was that of the Centre, mount Sung, in the present district of Sung, department Ho-nan, Ho-nan. The four rivers were the Kiang, the Hwâi, the Ho, and the Kî. ]
preside over the sacrifices to them, and whose possessions now formed part of the royal domain or of their respective states.
8. The son of Heaven offered the spring sacrifice apart and by itself alone, but his sacrifices of all the other seasons were conducted on a greater scale in the fane of the high ancestor. The princes of the states who offered the spring sacrifice omitted that of the summer; those who offered that of the summer omitted that of the autumn; those who sacrificed in autumn did not do so in winter; and those who sacrificed in winter did not do so in spring[1].
In spring they offered the sacrifice of the season by itself apart; in summer, in the fane of the high ancestor[2]; in autumn and winter both the sacrifices were there associated together.
9. In sacrificing at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain, the son of Heaven used in each case a bull, a ram, and a boar; the princes, (only) a ram and a boar. Great and other officers, at the sacrifices in their ancestral temples, if they had lands, sacrificed an animal; and, if they had no lands, they only presented fruits. The common people, in the spring, presented scallions; in summer, wheat; in autumn, millet; and in winter, rice unhulled. The scallions were set forth with eggs; the wheat with
[1. The princes who omitted one sacrifice in the year would probably be absent in that season, attending at the royal court. They paid that attendance in turns from the several quarters.
2. If in this summer service the seasonal and the sacrifice in the fane of the high sacrifice were associated together, the rule for the princes was the same as for the king. There was the ordinary associate sacrifice, and 'the great;' about which the discussions and different views have been endless. ]
fish; the millet with a sucking-pig; and the rice with a goose.
10. Of the bulls used in sacrificing to Heaven and Earth, the horns were (not larger than) a cocoon or a chestnut[1]. Those of the one used in the ancestral temple could be grasped with the hand; those of the ox used for (feasting) guests were a foot long.
Without sufficient cause, a prince did not kill an ox, nor a Great officer a sheep, nor another officer a dog or a pig, nor a common person eat delicate food.
The various provisions (at a feast) did not go beyond the sacrificial victims killed; the private, clothes were not superior to the robes of sacrifice; the house and its apartments did not surpass the ancestral temple.
11. Anciently, the public fields were cultivated by the united labours of the farmers around them, from the produce of whose private fields nothing was levied. A rent was charged for the stances in the marketplaces, but wares were not taxed. Travellers were examined at the different passes, but no duties were levied from them. Into the forests and plains at the foot of mountains the people went without hindrance at the proper seasons. None of the produce was levied from the fields assigned to the younger sons of a family, nor from the holy fields. Only three days' labour was required (by the state) from the people in the course of a year. Fields and residences in the hamlets, (when once assigned), could
[1. The victims must all have been young animals; 'to show,' says Wang Thâo, 'that the sincerity of the worshipper is the chief thing in the view of Heaven. ']
not be sold. Ground set apart for graves could not be sought (for any other purpose)[1].
12. The minister of Works with his (various) instruments measured the ground for the settlements of the people. About the hills and rivers, the oozy ground and the meres, he determined the periods of the four seasons. He measured the distances of one spot from another, and commenced his operations in employing the labour of the people. In all his employment of them, he imposed (only) the tasks of old men (on the able-bodied), and gave (to the old) the food-allowance of the able-bodied.
13. In all their settlements, the bodily capacities of the people are sure to be according to the sky and earthly influences, as cold or hot, dry or moist. Where the valleys are wide and the rivers large, the ground was differently laid out; and the people born in them had different customs. Their temperaments,
[1. Compare Mencius III, i, 3, 6-9, et al. ; II, i, 5, 2-4; I, i, 3, 3, 4; III, i, 3, 15-17; with the notes. I give here also the note of P. Callery on the first sentence of this paragraph:--'Sous les trois premières dynasties, époque éloignée où il y avait peu de terrains cultivés dans l'empire, le gouvernement concédait les terres incultes par carrés équilatères ayant 900 mâu, ou arpents, de superficie. Ces carrés, qu'on nommait Zing (###), d'après leur analogie de tracé avec le caractère Zing, "a well," étaient divisés en neuf carrés égaux de 100 mâu chacun, au moyen de deux lignes médianes que deux autres lignes coupaient à angle droit à des distances égales. Il résultait de cette intersection de lignes une sorte de damier de trois cases de côté, ayant huit carrés sur la circonférence, et un carré au milieu. Les huit carrés du pourtour devenaient la propriété de huit colons; mais celui du centre était un champ de réserve dont la culture restait bien à la charge des huit voisins, mais dont les produits appartenaient à 1'empereur. ']
as hard or soft, light or grave, slow or rapid, were made uniform by different measures; their preferences as to flavours were differently harmonised; their implements were differently made; their clothes were differently fashioned, but always suitably. Their training was varied, without changing their customs; and the governmental arrangements were uniform, without changing the suitability (in each case).
14. The people of those five regions-the Middle states, and the Zung, Î, (and other wild tribes round them)--had all their several natures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called Î. They had their hair unbound, and tattooed their bodies. Some of them ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the south were called Man. They tattooed their foreheads, and had their feet turned in towards each other. Some of them (also) ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the west were called Zung. They had their hair unbound, and wore skins. Some of them did not eat grain-food. Those on the north were called Tî. They wore skins of animals and birds, and dwelt in caves. Some of them also did not eat grain-food.
The people of the Middle states, and of those Man, Zung, and Tî, all had their dwellings, where they lived at ease; their flavours which they preferred; the clothes suitable for them; their proper implements for use; and their vessels which they prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers),--in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, Tî-tîs[1]; and in the north, interpreters.
15. In settling the people, the ground was measured for the formation of towns, and then measured again in smaller portions for the allotments of the people. When the division of the ground, the cities, and the allotments were thus fixed in adaptation to one another, so that there was no ground unoccupied, and none of the people left to wander about idle, economical arrangements were made about food; and its proper business appointed for each season. Then the people had rest in their dwellings, did joy fully what they had to do, exhorted one another to labour, honoured their rulers, and loved their superiors. This having been secured, there ensued the institution of schools.
SECTION IV.
1. The minister of Instruction defined and set forth the six ceremonial observances[2]:--to direct and control the nature of the people; clearly illustrated the seven lessons (of morality)[3] to stimulate their virtue; inculcated uniformity in the eight objects of government[2], to guard against all excess; taught the
[1. I cannot translate Tî-tî. It was the name of a region (Williams says, 'near the Koko-nor'), the people of which had a reputation for singing.
2. See the last paragraph of these Regulations, at the end of next Section.
3. It has become the rule, apparently with all sinologists, to call the minister in the text here, Sze Thû, by the name of 'The minister of Instruction. ' Callery describes him as 'Le ministre qui a dans ses attributions l'instruction publiquee et les, rites. ' And this is correct according to the account of his functions here, in the Kâu Lî, and in the Shû (V, xx, 8); but the characters (###) simply denote 'superintendent of the multitudes. ' This, then, was the conception anciently of what government had to do for the multitudes,--to teach them all moral and social duties, how to discharge their obligations to men living and dead, and to spiritual beings. The name is now applied to the president and vice-president of the board of Revenue. ]
sameness of the course (of duty) and virtue, to assimilate manners; nourished the aged, to secure the completion of filial piety; showed pity to orphans and solitaries, to reach those who had been bereaved; exalted men of talents and worth, to give honour to virtue; and dealt summarily with the unworthy, to discountenance wickedness.
2. He commanded that, throughout the districts[1], there should be marked and pointed out to him those who were disobedient to his lessons. (This having been done), the aged men were all assembled in the school[2], and on a good day archery was practised and places were given according to merit. (At the same time) there was a feast, when places were given according to age. The Grand minister of Instruction[3] conducted thither the eminent scholars of the state and along with them superintended the business.
[1. That is, the six districts embraced in the royal domain, each nominally containing 12,500 families.
2. The great school of the district. The aged men would be good officers retired from duty, and others of known worth.
3. Here we have 'the Grand minister of Instruction;' and it may be thought we 'should translate the name in the first paragraph in the plural. No doubt, where there is no specification of 'the grand,' it means the board or department of Education. ]
If those (who had been reported to him) did not (now) change, he gave orders that they who were noted as continuing disobedient in the districts on the left should be removed to those on the right, and those noted on the right to the districts on the left. Then another examination was held in the same way, and those who had not changed were removed to the nearest outlying territory. Still continuing unchanged, they were removed, after a similar trial, to the more distant territory. There they were again examined and tried, and if still found defective, they were cast out to a remote region, and for all their lives excluded from distinction.
3. Orders were given that, throughout the districts, the youths who were decided on as of promising ability should have their names passed up to the minister of Instruction, when they were called 'select scholars. ' He then decided which of them gave still greater promise, and promoted them to the (great) college[1], where they were called 'eminent scholars[2]. ' Those who were brought to the notice of the minister were exempted from services in the districts; and those who were promoted to the (great) school, from all services under his own department, and (by and by) were called 'complete scholars[2]. '
4. The (board for) the direction of Music gave all honour to its four subjects of instruction[3], and
[1. This would be the college at the capital.
2. Have we not in these the prototypes of the 'Flowering Talents' (Hsiû Zhai ###) and Promoted Men' (Kü Zan ###) of to-day?
3. In the text these are called 'the four Arts' and 'the four Teachings;' but the different phrases seem to have the same meaning. ]
arranged the lessons in them, following closely the poems, histories, ceremonies, and music of the former kings, in order to complete its scholars. The spring and autumn were devoted to teaching the ceremonies and music; the winter and summer to the poems and histories[1]. The eldest son of the king and his other sons, the eldest sons of all the feudal princes, the sons, by their wives proper, of the high ministers, Great officers, and officers of the highest grade, and the eminent and select scholars from (all) the states, all repaired (to their instruction), entering the schools according to their years.
5. When the time drew near for their quitting the college, the smaller and greater assistants[2], and the inferior director of the board, put down those who had not attended to their instructions, and reported them to the Grand director, who in turn reported them to the king. The king ordered the three ducal ministers, his nine (other) ministers, the Great officers, and the (other) officers, all to enter the school (and hold an examination). If this did not produce the necessary change; the king in person inspected the school; and if this also failed, for three days he took no full meal nor had music, after which the (culprits) were cast but to the remote regions. Sending them to those of the west was called 'a (temporary) expulsion;'
[1. The Khien-lung editors say that ' in spring and autumn the temperature is equable and the bodily spirits good, well adapted for the practice of ceremonies and moving in time to the music, whereas the long days of summer and long nights of winter are better adapted for the tasks of learning the poems and histories. '
2. The smaller assistants of the Grand director of Music were eighteen, and the greater four. See the Kâu Lî, XVII, 21. Their functions are described in XXII, 45-53. ]
to the east, 'a temporary exile. ' But all their lives they were excluded from distinction.
6. The Grand director of Music, having fully considered who were the most promising of the 'completed scholars,' reported them to the king, after which they were advanced to be under the minister of War, and called 'scholars ready for employment[1]. '
7. The minister of War gave discriminating consideration (to the scholars thus submitted to him), with a view to determine the offices for which their abilities fitted them. He then reported his decisions concerning the best and ablest of them to the king, to have that judgment fixed[2]. When it was, they were put into offices. After they had discharged the duties of these, rank was given them; and, their positions being thus fixed, they received salary.
8. When a Great officer was dismissed as incompetent from his duties, be was not (again) employed in any office to the end of his life. At his death, he was buried as an (ordinary) officer.
[1. Exactly the name to the candidates of to-day who have succeeded at the triennial examinations at the capital the; 'Metropolitan Graduates,' as Mayers (page 72) calls them.
2. It is strange to find the minister of War performing the services here mentioned, and only these. The Khien-lung editors say that the compilers of this Book had not seen the Kâu Lî nor the Shû. It has been seen in the Introduction, pages 4, 5, how the Kâu Lî came to light in the reign of Wû, perhaps fifty years after this Book was made, and even then did not take its place among the other restored monuments till the time of Liû Hsin. To make the duties here ascribed to the Minister of War (literally, 'Master of Horse,' ###) appear less anomalous, Kang and other commentators quote from the Shû (V, xx, 14) only a part of the account of his functions. ]
9. If any expedition of war were contemplated, orders were given to the Grand minister of Instruction to teach the scholars the management of the chariot and the wearing of the coat of mail.
10. In the case of all who professed any particular art, respect was bad to their strength. If they were to go to a distant quarter, the), had to display their arms and legs, and their skill in archery and charioteering was tested. All who professed particular arts for the service of their superiors, such as prayermakers, writers, archers, carriage-drivers, doctors, diviners, and artizans,--all who professed particular arts for the service of their superiors, were not allowed to practise any other thing, or to change their offices; and when they left their districts, they did not take rank with officers. Those who did service in families (also), when they left their districts, did not take rank with officers.
11. The minister of Crime adapted the punishments (to the offences for which they were inflicted), and made the laws clear in order to deal with criminal charges and litigations. He required the three references as to its justice (before the infliction of a capital punishment)[1]. If a party had the intention, but there were not evidence of the deed, the charge was not listened to. Where a case appeared as doubtful, it was lightly dealt with; where it might be pardoned, it was (still) gravely considered.
12. In all determining on the application of any of the five punishments[2], it was required to decide
[1. See the Kâu Lî, XXXVII, 45, 46.
2. Branding; cutting off the nose; Cutting off the feet; castration; death. See vol, iii, p. 40. ]
according to the judgment of Heaven. Inadvertent and redeemable offences were determined by (the circumstances of) each particular case[1].
13. When hearing a case requiring the application of any of the five punishments, (the judge) was required to have respect to the affection between father and son[2], or the righteousness between ruler and minister[3] (which might have been in the mind of the defendant), to balance his own judgment. He must consider the gravity or lightness (of the offence), and carefully try to fathom the capacity (of the offender) as shallow or deep, to determine the exact character (of his guilt). He must exert his intelligence to the utmost, and give the fullest play to his generous and loving feeling, to arrive at his final judgment, If the criminal charge appeared to him doubtful, he was to take the multitude into consultation with him; and if they also doubted, he was to pardon the defendant. At the same time he was to examine analogous cases, great and small, and then give his decision.
14. The evidence in a criminal case having thus been all taken and judgment given, the clerk reported it all to the director (of the district), who heard it and reported it to the Grand minister of Crime. He also heard it in the outer court[4], and then reported it to the king, who ordered the three ducal ministers,
[1. Vol. iii, pp. 260-263.
