If a youth is in
attendance
on, and drinking with, an elder, when the (cup of) spirits is brought to him, he rises, bows, and (goes to) receive it at the place where the spirit-vase is kept.
Confucius - Book of Rites
When the host kneels to adjust the mats (of a visitor), the other should kneel and keep hold of them, declining (the honour)[2].
When the visitor (wishes to) remove one or more, the host should firmly decline to permit him to do so.
When the visitor steps on his mats, (the host) takes his seat.
7.
If the host have not put some question, the visitor should not begin the conversation.
3. 8. When (a pupil) is about to go to his mat, he should not look discomposed. With his two hands he should hold up his lower garment, so that the bottom of it may be a cubit from the ground. His clothes should not hang loosely about him, nor should there be any hurried movements of his feet. 9. If any writing or tablets of his master, or his lute or cithern be in the way, he should kneel down and remove them, taking care not to disarrange them. 10. When sitting and doing nothing, he should keep quite at the back (of his mat); when eating, quite at the front of it[3] . He should sit quietly and keep
[1. To allow space and freedom for gesticulation.
2. Two or more mats might be placed over each other in honour of the visitor.
3. The dishes were placed before the mats. ]
a watch on his countenance. If there be any subject on which the elder has not touched, let him not introduce it irregularly. 11. Let him keep his deportment correct[1], and listen respectfully. Let him not appropriate (to himself) the words (of others), nor (repeat them) as (the echo does the) thunder. If he must (adduce proofs), let them be from antiquity, with an appeal to the ancient kings. 12. When sitting by his side, and the teacher puts a question, (the learner) should not reply till (the other) has finished. 13. When requesting (instruction) on the subject of his studies, (the learner) should rise; when requesting further information, he should rise. 14. When his father calls, (a youth) should not (merely) answer 'yes,' nor when his teacher calls. He should, with (a respectful) 'yes,' immediately rise (and go to them). 15. When one is sitting in attendance on another whom he honours and reveres, he should not allow any part of his mat to keep them apart[2], nor will he rise when he sees others (come in) of the same rank as himself. 16. When the torches come, he should rise; and also when the viands come in, or a visitor of superior rank[3]. 17. The torches should not (be allowed to burn) till their ends can be seen. 18. Before an honoured visitor we should not shout (even) at
[1. Here, and in some other places, we find the second personal pronoun; as if the text were made up from different sources. I have translated, however, as if we had only the third person.
2. He should sit on the front of his mat, to be as near the other as possible.
3. The torches were borne by boys. They were often changed, that the visitors might not be aware how the time was passing. ]
a dog. 19. When declining any food, one should not spit.
4. 20. When one is sitting in attendance on another of superior character or rank, and that other yawns or stretches himself, or lays hold of his staff or shoes, or looks towards the sun to see if it be early or late, he should ask to be allowed to leave. 21. In the same position, if the superior man put a question on a new subject, he should rise up in giving his reply. 22. Similarly, if there come some one saying (to the superior man), 'I wish, when you have a little leisure, to report to you,' he should withdraw to the left or right and wait. 23. Do not listen with the head inclined on one side, nor answer with a loud sharp voice, nor look with a dissolute leer, nor keep the body in a slouching position[1]. 24. Do not saunter about with a haughty gait, nor stand with one foot raised. Do not sit with your knees wide apart, nor sleep on your face. 25. Have your hair gathered up, and do not use any false hair[2]. 26. Let not the cap be laid aside; nor the chest be bared, (even) when one is toiling hard; nor let the lower garment be held up (even) in hot weather.
5. 2 7. When (going to) sit in attendance on an elder, (a visitor) should not go up to the hall with his shoes on, nor should he presume to take them off in front of the Steps. 28. (When any single visitor is leaving), he will go to his shoes, kneel down and take them up, and then move to one side. 29. (When the visitors retire in a body) with their
[1. The style and form of 23-26 differ from the preceding. Perhaps they should form a paragraph by themselves.
2. Which women were accustomed to do. ]
faces towards the elder, (they stand) by the shoes, which they then, kneeling, remove (some distance), and, stooping down, put on[1].
6 . 30. When two men are sitting or standing together, do not join them as a third. When two are standing together, another should not pass between them. 31. Male and female should not sit together (in the same apartment), nor have the same stand or rack for their clothes, nor use the same towel or comb, nor let their hands touch in giving and receiving. 32. A sister-in-law and brother-in-law do not interchange inquiries (about each other). None of the concubines in a house should be employed to wash the lower garment (of a son)[2]. 33. Outside affairs should not be talked of inside the threshold (of the women's apartments), nor inside (or women's) affairs outside it. 34. When a young lady is; promised in marriage, she wears the strings (hanging down to her neck)[3]; and unless there be some :great occasion, no (male) enters the door of her apartment[4]. 35. When a married aunt, or sister, or daughter returns home (on a visit), no brother (of the family) should sit with her on the same mat or eat with her from the same dish. (Even) the father and daughter should not occupy the same mat[5]. 36.
[1. The host would be seeing the visitors off, and therefore they would keep their faces towards him.
2. Concubines might be employed to wash clothes; delicacy forbade their washing the lower garments of the sons.
3. Those strings were symbolic of the union with and subjection to her husband to which she was now pledged.
4. Great sickness or death, or other great calamity, would be such ant occasion.
5. This is pushing the rule to an extreme. The sentence is also (but wrongly) understood of father and son. ]
Male and female, without the intervention of the matchmaker, do not know each other's name. Unless the marriage presents have been received, there should be no communication nor affection between them. 37. Hence the day and month (of the marriage) should be announced to the ruler, and to the spirits (of ancestors) with purification and fasting; and (the bridegroom) should make a feast, and invite (his friends) in the district and neighbourhood, and his fellow-officers :--thus giving its due importance to the separate position (of male and female). 38. One must not marry a wife of the same surname with himself. Hence, in buying a concubine, if he do not know her surname, he must consult the tortoise-shell about it[1]. 39. With the son of a widow, unless he be of acknowledged distinction, one should not associate himself as a friend.
7. 40. When one congratulates (a friend) on his marrying, his messenger says, 'So and So has sent me. Having heard that you are having guests, he has sent me with this present. '
8. 41. Goods and wealth are not to be expected from the poor in their discharge of the rules of propriety; nor the display of sinews and strength from the old.
9. 42. In giving a name to a son, it should not be that of a state, nor of a day or a month, nor of any hidden ailment, nor of a hill or river[2]. 43.
[1. Not to find out what her surname is, but to determine whether it be the same as that of the gentleman or not.
2. Such names were so common, that if it became necessary to avoid them, as it might be, through the death of the party or on other grounds, it would be difficult and inconvenient to do so. ]
Sons and daughters should have their (relative) ages distinguished[1]. 44. A son at twenty is capped, and receives his appellation[2]. 45. Before his father a son should be called by his name, and before his ruler a minister[3]. 46. When a daughter is promised in marriage, she assumes the hair-pin, and receives her appellation.
10. 47. The rules for bringing in the dishes for an entertainment are the following:--The meat cooked on the bones is set on the left, and the sliced meat on the right; the rice is placed on the left of the parties on the mat, and the soup on their right; the minced and roasted meat are put outside (the chops and sliced meat), and the pickles and sauces inside; the onions and steamed onions succeed to these, and the drink and syrups are on the right. When slices of dried and spiced meat are put down, where they are folded is turned to the left, and the ends of them to the right. 48. If a guest be of lower rank (than his entertainer), he should take up the rice[4], rise and decline (the honour he is receiving). The host then rises and refuses to allow the guest (to retire). After this the guest will resume his seat. 49. When the host leads on the guests to present an offering (to the father of cookery), they will begin
[1. As primus, prima; secundus, secunda, &c.
2 The appellation was thus the name given (at a family meeting) to a youth who had reached man's estate. Morrison (Dict. i. 627) calls it the name taken by men when they marry. Such a usage testifies to the early marriages in ancient China, as referred to in note 2, p. 65.
3. There might be some meaning in the appellation which would seem to place its bearer on the level of his father or his ruler.
4. The rice is called 'the principal article in a feast. ' Hence the humbler guest takes it up, as symbolical of all the others. ]
with the dishes which were first brought in. Going on from the meat cooked on the bones they will offer of all (the other dishes)[1]. 50. After they have eaten three times, the host will lead on the guests to take of the sliced meat, from which they will go on to all the other dishes. 51. A guest should not rinse his mouth with spirits till the host has gone over all the dishes.
11. 52. When (a youth) is in attendance on an elder at a meal, if the host give anything to him with his own hand, he should bow to him and eat it. If he do not so give him anything, he should eat without bowing.
12. 53. When eating with others from the same dishes, one should not try to eat (hastily) to satiety. When eating with them from the same dish of rice, one should not have to wash his hands[2].
13. 54. Do not roll the rice into a ball; do not bolt down the various dishes; do not swill down (the soup). 55. Do not make a noise in eating; do not crunch the bones with the teeth; do not put back fish you have been eating; do not throw the bones to the dogs; do not snatch (at what you want). 56. Do not spread out the rice (to cool); do not use chopsticks in eating millet[3].
[1. This paragraph refers to a practice something like our 'saying grace. ' According to Khung Ying-tâ, a little was taken from all the dishes, and placed on the ground about them as an offering to 'the father of cookery. '
2 As all ate from the same dish of rice without chopsticks or spoons, it was necessary they should try to keep their hands clean. Some say the 'washing' was only a rubbing of the hands with sand.
3 A spoon was the proper implement in eating millet. ]
57. Do not (try to) gulp down soup with vegetables in it, nor add condiments to it; do not keep picking the-teeth, nor swill down the sauces. If a guest add condiments, the host will apologise for not having had the soup prepared better. If he swill down the sauces, the host will apologise for his poverty[1]. 58. Meat that is wet (and soft) may be divided with the teeth, but dried flesh cannot be so dealt with. Do not bolt roast meat in large pieces.
14. 59. When they have done eating, the guests will kneel in front (of the mat), and (begin to) remove the (dishes) of rice and sauces to give them to the attendants. The host will then rise and decline this service from the guests, who will resume their seats.
15. 60.
If a youth is in attendance on, and drinking with, an elder, when the (cup of) spirits is brought to him, he rises, bows, and (goes to) receive it at the place where the spirit-vase is kept. The elder refuses (to allow him to do so), when he returns to the mat, and (is prepared) to drink. The elder (meantime) lifts (his cup); but until he has emptied it, the other does not presume to drink his.
16. 61. When an elder offers a gift, neither a youth, nor one of mean, condition, presumes to decline it.
17. 62. When a fruit is given by the ruler and in his presence, if there be a kernel in it, (the receiver) should place it in his bosom[2].
[1. The sauce should be too strong to be swallowed largely and hurriedly.
2. Lest he should seem to throw away anything given by the ruler. ]
18. 63. When one is attending the ruler at a meal, and the ruler gives him anything that is left, if it be in a vessel that can be easily scoured, he does not transfer it (to another of his own); but from any other vessel he should so transfer it[1].
19. 64. Portions of (such) food should not be used as offerings (to the departed). A father should not use them in offering even to a (deceased) son, nor a husband in offering to a (deceased) wife[2].
20. 65. When one is attending an elder and (called to) share with him (at a feast), though the viands may be double (what is necessary), he should not (seek) to decline them. If he take his seat (only) as the companion of another (for whom it has been prepared), he should not decline them.
21. 66. If the soup be made with vegetables, chopsticks should be used; but not if there be no vegetables.
22. 67. He who pares a melon for the son of Heaven should divide it into four parts and then into eight, and cover them with a napkin of fine linen. For the ruler of a state, he should divide it into four parts, and cover them with a coarse napkin. To a great officer he should (present the four parts) uncovered. An inferior officer should receive it (simply) with the stalk cut away. A common man will deal with it with his teeth.
[1. A vessel of potter's ware or metal can be scoured, and the part which his mouth has touched be cleansed before the ruler uses it again.
2. The meaning of this paragraph is not clear. ]
PART IV.
1. When his father or mother is ill, (a young man) who has been capped should not use his comb, nor walk with his elbows stuck out, nor speak on idle topics, nor take his lute or cithern in hand. He should not eat of (different) meats till his taste is changed, nor drink till his looks are changed'. He should not laugh so as to show his teeth, nor be angry till he breaks forth in reviling. When the illness is gone, he may resume his former habits. 2. He who is sad and anxious should sit with his mat
[Part IV contains fifty-two paragraphs, which have been arranged in ten chapters, stating the rules to be observed in a variety of cases.
Ch. 1. 1, 2, treats of the ways of a young man who is sorrowful in consequence of the illness or death of a parent. 2. 3-26, treats of the rules in giving and receiving, and of messages connected therewith. The presentations mentioned are all from inferiors to superiors. 3. 27, 28, does not lay down rules, but gives characteristics of the superior man, and the methods by which he preserves his friendships unbroken. 4. 29, 30, refers to the arrangement of the tablets in the ancestral temple, and to the personators of the dead. 5. 31, tells how one fasting should keep himself from being excited. 6. 32-34, sets forth cautions against excess in the demonstrations of mourning. 7. 35, 36, speaks of sorrowing for the dead and condoling with the living. 8. 37, 38, gives counsels of prudence for one under the influence of sympathy and benevolent feeling. 9. 39-48, describes rules in connexion with mourning, burials, and some other occasions. 10. 49-52, describes gradations in ceremonies and in the penal statutes; and how a criminal who has been punished should never be permitted to be near the ruler.
1. Does the rule about eating mean that the anxious son should restrict himself to a single dish of meat? ]
spread apart from others; he who is mourning (for a death) should sit on a single mat[1].
2. 3. When heavy rains have fallen, one should not present fish or tortoises (to a superior)[2]. 4. He who is presenting a bird should turn its head on one side; if it be a tame bird, this need not be done. 5. He who is presenting a carriage and horses should carry in his hand (to the hall) the whip, and strap for mounting by[3]. 6. He who is presenting a suit of mail should carry the helmet (to the hall). He who is presenting a staff should hold it by its end[4]. 7. He who is presenting a captive should hold him by the right sleeve[5]. 8. He who is presenting grain unhulled should carry with him the left side of the account (of the quantity); if the hull be off, he should carry with him a measure-drum[6]. 9. He who is presenting cooked food, should carry with him the sauce and pickles for it. 10. He who is presenting fields and tenements should carry with him the writings about them, and give them up (to the superior). 11. In every case of giving a bow to another, if it be bent, the (string of) sinew should be kept upwards; but if unbent, the horn.
[1. Grief is solitary. A mourner afflicts himself.
2 Because the fish in such a case are so numerous as not to be valuable, or because the fish at the time of the rains are not clean. Other reasons for the rule have been assigned.
3. The whip and strap, carried up to the hall, represented the carriage and horses, left in the courtyard.
4. For convenience; and because the end, going into the mud, was not so honourable.
5. So that he could not attempt any violence.
6. The account was in duplicate, on the same tablet. The right was held to be the more honourable part. 'Drum' was the name of the measure. ]
(The giver) should with his right hand grasp the end of the bow, and keep his left under the middle of the back. The (parties, without regard to their rank as) high and low, (bow to each other) till the napkins (at their girdles) hang down (to the ground). If the host (wish to) bow (still lower), the other moves on one side to avoid the salutation. The host then takes the bow, standing on the left of the other. Putting his hand under that of the visitor, he lays hold of the middle of the back, having his face in the same direction as the other; and thus he receives (the bow). 12. He who is giving a sword should do so with the hilt on his left side[1]. 13. He who is giving a spear with one hook should do so with the metal end of the shaft in front, and the sharp edge behind. 14. He who is presenting one with two hooks, or one with a single hook and two sharp points, should do so with the blunt shaft in front. 15. He who is giving a stool or a staff should (first) wipe it. 16. He who is presenting a horse or a sheep should lead it with his right hand. 17. He who is presenting a dog should lead it with his left hand. 18. He who is carrying a bird (as his present of introduction) should do so with the head to the left[2]. 19. For the ornamental covering of a lamb or a goose, an embroidered cloth should be used. 20. He who receives a pearl or a piece of jade should do so with both his hands. 21. He who receives a bow or a sword should do so (having his hands covered) with his sleeves[3]. 22. He who has
[1. That the receiver may take it with his right hand.
2. Compare paragraph 4. In this case the bird was carried across the body of the donor with its head on his left.
3. A different case from that in paragraph 11. It is supposed that here the two things were presented together, and received as on a cushion. ]
drunk from a cup of jade should not (go on to) shake it out[1]. 23. Whenever friendly messages are about to be sent, with the present of a sword or bow, or of (fruit, flesh, and other things, wrapped in) matting of rushes, with grass mats, and in baskets, round and square, (the messenger) has these things (carried with him, when he goes) to receive his commission, and deports himself as when he will be discharging it[2]. 24. Whenever one is charged with a mission by his ruler, after he has received from him his orders, and (heard all) he has to say, he should not remain over the night in his house. 25. When a message from the ruler comes (to a minister), the latter should go out and bow (to the bearer), in acknowledgment of the honour of it. When the messenger is about to return, (the other) must bow to him (again), and escort him outside the gate. 26. If (a minister) send a message to his ruler, he must wear his court-robes when he communicates it to the bearer; and on his return, he must descend from the hall, to receive (the ruler's) commands.
3. 27. To acquire extensive information and remember retentively, while (at the same time) he is modest; to do earnestly what is good, and not become weary in so doing:--these are the characteristics of him whom we call the superior man. 28. A superior man does not accept everything by which another would express his joy in him, or his devotion to him[3]; and thus he preserves their friendly intercourse unbroken.
[1. Because of the risk to a thing so valuable.
2. A rehearsal of what he would have to do.
3. E. g. , it is said, festive entertainments and gi fits. ]
4. 29. A rule of propriety says, 'A superior man may carry his grandson in his arms, but not his son. ' This tells us that a grandson may be the personator of his deceased grandfather (at sacrifices), but a son cannot be so of his father[1]. 30. When a great officer or (other) officer sees one who is to personate the dead (on his way to the ancestral temple), he should dismount from his carriage to him. The ruler himself, when he recognises him, should do the same[2]. The personator (at the same time) must bow forward to the cross-bar. In mounting the carriage, he must use a stool.
5. 31. One who is fasting (in preparation for a sacrifice) should neither listen to music nor condole with mourners[3].
6. 32. According to the rules for the period of mourning (for a father), (a son) should not emaciate himself till the bones appear, nor let his seeing and hearing be affected (by his privations). He should not go up to, nor descend from, the hail by the steps on the east (which his father used), nor go in or out by the path right opposite to the (centre of the) gate. 33. According to the same rules, if he have a scab on his head, he should wash it; if he have a sore on his body, he should bathe it. If he be ill, he should drink spirits, and eat flesh, returning to his former
[1. The tablets of a father and son should not be in the same line of shrines in the ancestral temple; and the fact in the paragraph--hardly credible--seems to be mentioned as giving a reason for this.
2. The personator had for the time the dignity of the deceased whom he represented.
3. The fasting and vigil extended to seven days, and were intended to prepare for the personating duty. What would distract the mind from this must be eschewed. ]
(abstinence) when he is better. If he make himself unable to perform his mourning duties, that is like being unkind and unfilial. 34. If he be fifty, he should not allow himself to be reduced (by his abstinence) very much; and, if he be sixty, not at all. At seventy, he will only wear the unhemmed dress of sackcloth, and will drink and eat flesh, and occupy (the usual apartment) inside (his house).
7. 35. Intercourse with the living (will be continued) in the future; intercourse with the dead (friend) was a thing of the past[1]. 36. He who knows the living should send (a message of) condolence; and he who knew the dead (a message also of his) grief. He who knows the living, and did not know the dead, will send his condolence without (that expression of) his grief; he who knew the dead, and does not know the living, will send the (expression of) grief, but not go on to condole.
8. 37.
3. 8. When (a pupil) is about to go to his mat, he should not look discomposed. With his two hands he should hold up his lower garment, so that the bottom of it may be a cubit from the ground. His clothes should not hang loosely about him, nor should there be any hurried movements of his feet. 9. If any writing or tablets of his master, or his lute or cithern be in the way, he should kneel down and remove them, taking care not to disarrange them. 10. When sitting and doing nothing, he should keep quite at the back (of his mat); when eating, quite at the front of it[3] . He should sit quietly and keep
[1. To allow space and freedom for gesticulation.
2. Two or more mats might be placed over each other in honour of the visitor.
3. The dishes were placed before the mats. ]
a watch on his countenance. If there be any subject on which the elder has not touched, let him not introduce it irregularly. 11. Let him keep his deportment correct[1], and listen respectfully. Let him not appropriate (to himself) the words (of others), nor (repeat them) as (the echo does the) thunder. If he must (adduce proofs), let them be from antiquity, with an appeal to the ancient kings. 12. When sitting by his side, and the teacher puts a question, (the learner) should not reply till (the other) has finished. 13. When requesting (instruction) on the subject of his studies, (the learner) should rise; when requesting further information, he should rise. 14. When his father calls, (a youth) should not (merely) answer 'yes,' nor when his teacher calls. He should, with (a respectful) 'yes,' immediately rise (and go to them). 15. When one is sitting in attendance on another whom he honours and reveres, he should not allow any part of his mat to keep them apart[2], nor will he rise when he sees others (come in) of the same rank as himself. 16. When the torches come, he should rise; and also when the viands come in, or a visitor of superior rank[3]. 17. The torches should not (be allowed to burn) till their ends can be seen. 18. Before an honoured visitor we should not shout (even) at
[1. Here, and in some other places, we find the second personal pronoun; as if the text were made up from different sources. I have translated, however, as if we had only the third person.
2. He should sit on the front of his mat, to be as near the other as possible.
3. The torches were borne by boys. They were often changed, that the visitors might not be aware how the time was passing. ]
a dog. 19. When declining any food, one should not spit.
4. 20. When one is sitting in attendance on another of superior character or rank, and that other yawns or stretches himself, or lays hold of his staff or shoes, or looks towards the sun to see if it be early or late, he should ask to be allowed to leave. 21. In the same position, if the superior man put a question on a new subject, he should rise up in giving his reply. 22. Similarly, if there come some one saying (to the superior man), 'I wish, when you have a little leisure, to report to you,' he should withdraw to the left or right and wait. 23. Do not listen with the head inclined on one side, nor answer with a loud sharp voice, nor look with a dissolute leer, nor keep the body in a slouching position[1]. 24. Do not saunter about with a haughty gait, nor stand with one foot raised. Do not sit with your knees wide apart, nor sleep on your face. 25. Have your hair gathered up, and do not use any false hair[2]. 26. Let not the cap be laid aside; nor the chest be bared, (even) when one is toiling hard; nor let the lower garment be held up (even) in hot weather.
5. 2 7. When (going to) sit in attendance on an elder, (a visitor) should not go up to the hall with his shoes on, nor should he presume to take them off in front of the Steps. 28. (When any single visitor is leaving), he will go to his shoes, kneel down and take them up, and then move to one side. 29. (When the visitors retire in a body) with their
[1. The style and form of 23-26 differ from the preceding. Perhaps they should form a paragraph by themselves.
2. Which women were accustomed to do. ]
faces towards the elder, (they stand) by the shoes, which they then, kneeling, remove (some distance), and, stooping down, put on[1].
6 . 30. When two men are sitting or standing together, do not join them as a third. When two are standing together, another should not pass between them. 31. Male and female should not sit together (in the same apartment), nor have the same stand or rack for their clothes, nor use the same towel or comb, nor let their hands touch in giving and receiving. 32. A sister-in-law and brother-in-law do not interchange inquiries (about each other). None of the concubines in a house should be employed to wash the lower garment (of a son)[2]. 33. Outside affairs should not be talked of inside the threshold (of the women's apartments), nor inside (or women's) affairs outside it. 34. When a young lady is; promised in marriage, she wears the strings (hanging down to her neck)[3]; and unless there be some :great occasion, no (male) enters the door of her apartment[4]. 35. When a married aunt, or sister, or daughter returns home (on a visit), no brother (of the family) should sit with her on the same mat or eat with her from the same dish. (Even) the father and daughter should not occupy the same mat[5]. 36.
[1. The host would be seeing the visitors off, and therefore they would keep their faces towards him.
2. Concubines might be employed to wash clothes; delicacy forbade their washing the lower garments of the sons.
3. Those strings were symbolic of the union with and subjection to her husband to which she was now pledged.
4. Great sickness or death, or other great calamity, would be such ant occasion.
5. This is pushing the rule to an extreme. The sentence is also (but wrongly) understood of father and son. ]
Male and female, without the intervention of the matchmaker, do not know each other's name. Unless the marriage presents have been received, there should be no communication nor affection between them. 37. Hence the day and month (of the marriage) should be announced to the ruler, and to the spirits (of ancestors) with purification and fasting; and (the bridegroom) should make a feast, and invite (his friends) in the district and neighbourhood, and his fellow-officers :--thus giving its due importance to the separate position (of male and female). 38. One must not marry a wife of the same surname with himself. Hence, in buying a concubine, if he do not know her surname, he must consult the tortoise-shell about it[1]. 39. With the son of a widow, unless he be of acknowledged distinction, one should not associate himself as a friend.
7. 40. When one congratulates (a friend) on his marrying, his messenger says, 'So and So has sent me. Having heard that you are having guests, he has sent me with this present. '
8. 41. Goods and wealth are not to be expected from the poor in their discharge of the rules of propriety; nor the display of sinews and strength from the old.
9. 42. In giving a name to a son, it should not be that of a state, nor of a day or a month, nor of any hidden ailment, nor of a hill or river[2]. 43.
[1. Not to find out what her surname is, but to determine whether it be the same as that of the gentleman or not.
2. Such names were so common, that if it became necessary to avoid them, as it might be, through the death of the party or on other grounds, it would be difficult and inconvenient to do so. ]
Sons and daughters should have their (relative) ages distinguished[1]. 44. A son at twenty is capped, and receives his appellation[2]. 45. Before his father a son should be called by his name, and before his ruler a minister[3]. 46. When a daughter is promised in marriage, she assumes the hair-pin, and receives her appellation.
10. 47. The rules for bringing in the dishes for an entertainment are the following:--The meat cooked on the bones is set on the left, and the sliced meat on the right; the rice is placed on the left of the parties on the mat, and the soup on their right; the minced and roasted meat are put outside (the chops and sliced meat), and the pickles and sauces inside; the onions and steamed onions succeed to these, and the drink and syrups are on the right. When slices of dried and spiced meat are put down, where they are folded is turned to the left, and the ends of them to the right. 48. If a guest be of lower rank (than his entertainer), he should take up the rice[4], rise and decline (the honour he is receiving). The host then rises and refuses to allow the guest (to retire). After this the guest will resume his seat. 49. When the host leads on the guests to present an offering (to the father of cookery), they will begin
[1. As primus, prima; secundus, secunda, &c.
2 The appellation was thus the name given (at a family meeting) to a youth who had reached man's estate. Morrison (Dict. i. 627) calls it the name taken by men when they marry. Such a usage testifies to the early marriages in ancient China, as referred to in note 2, p. 65.
3. There might be some meaning in the appellation which would seem to place its bearer on the level of his father or his ruler.
4. The rice is called 'the principal article in a feast. ' Hence the humbler guest takes it up, as symbolical of all the others. ]
with the dishes which were first brought in. Going on from the meat cooked on the bones they will offer of all (the other dishes)[1]. 50. After they have eaten three times, the host will lead on the guests to take of the sliced meat, from which they will go on to all the other dishes. 51. A guest should not rinse his mouth with spirits till the host has gone over all the dishes.
11. 52. When (a youth) is in attendance on an elder at a meal, if the host give anything to him with his own hand, he should bow to him and eat it. If he do not so give him anything, he should eat without bowing.
12. 53. When eating with others from the same dishes, one should not try to eat (hastily) to satiety. When eating with them from the same dish of rice, one should not have to wash his hands[2].
13. 54. Do not roll the rice into a ball; do not bolt down the various dishes; do not swill down (the soup). 55. Do not make a noise in eating; do not crunch the bones with the teeth; do not put back fish you have been eating; do not throw the bones to the dogs; do not snatch (at what you want). 56. Do not spread out the rice (to cool); do not use chopsticks in eating millet[3].
[1. This paragraph refers to a practice something like our 'saying grace. ' According to Khung Ying-tâ, a little was taken from all the dishes, and placed on the ground about them as an offering to 'the father of cookery. '
2 As all ate from the same dish of rice without chopsticks or spoons, it was necessary they should try to keep their hands clean. Some say the 'washing' was only a rubbing of the hands with sand.
3 A spoon was the proper implement in eating millet. ]
57. Do not (try to) gulp down soup with vegetables in it, nor add condiments to it; do not keep picking the-teeth, nor swill down the sauces. If a guest add condiments, the host will apologise for not having had the soup prepared better. If he swill down the sauces, the host will apologise for his poverty[1]. 58. Meat that is wet (and soft) may be divided with the teeth, but dried flesh cannot be so dealt with. Do not bolt roast meat in large pieces.
14. 59. When they have done eating, the guests will kneel in front (of the mat), and (begin to) remove the (dishes) of rice and sauces to give them to the attendants. The host will then rise and decline this service from the guests, who will resume their seats.
15. 60.
If a youth is in attendance on, and drinking with, an elder, when the (cup of) spirits is brought to him, he rises, bows, and (goes to) receive it at the place where the spirit-vase is kept. The elder refuses (to allow him to do so), when he returns to the mat, and (is prepared) to drink. The elder (meantime) lifts (his cup); but until he has emptied it, the other does not presume to drink his.
16. 61. When an elder offers a gift, neither a youth, nor one of mean, condition, presumes to decline it.
17. 62. When a fruit is given by the ruler and in his presence, if there be a kernel in it, (the receiver) should place it in his bosom[2].
[1. The sauce should be too strong to be swallowed largely and hurriedly.
2. Lest he should seem to throw away anything given by the ruler. ]
18. 63. When one is attending the ruler at a meal, and the ruler gives him anything that is left, if it be in a vessel that can be easily scoured, he does not transfer it (to another of his own); but from any other vessel he should so transfer it[1].
19. 64. Portions of (such) food should not be used as offerings (to the departed). A father should not use them in offering even to a (deceased) son, nor a husband in offering to a (deceased) wife[2].
20. 65. When one is attending an elder and (called to) share with him (at a feast), though the viands may be double (what is necessary), he should not (seek) to decline them. If he take his seat (only) as the companion of another (for whom it has been prepared), he should not decline them.
21. 66. If the soup be made with vegetables, chopsticks should be used; but not if there be no vegetables.
22. 67. He who pares a melon for the son of Heaven should divide it into four parts and then into eight, and cover them with a napkin of fine linen. For the ruler of a state, he should divide it into four parts, and cover them with a coarse napkin. To a great officer he should (present the four parts) uncovered. An inferior officer should receive it (simply) with the stalk cut away. A common man will deal with it with his teeth.
[1. A vessel of potter's ware or metal can be scoured, and the part which his mouth has touched be cleansed before the ruler uses it again.
2. The meaning of this paragraph is not clear. ]
PART IV.
1. When his father or mother is ill, (a young man) who has been capped should not use his comb, nor walk with his elbows stuck out, nor speak on idle topics, nor take his lute or cithern in hand. He should not eat of (different) meats till his taste is changed, nor drink till his looks are changed'. He should not laugh so as to show his teeth, nor be angry till he breaks forth in reviling. When the illness is gone, he may resume his former habits. 2. He who is sad and anxious should sit with his mat
[Part IV contains fifty-two paragraphs, which have been arranged in ten chapters, stating the rules to be observed in a variety of cases.
Ch. 1. 1, 2, treats of the ways of a young man who is sorrowful in consequence of the illness or death of a parent. 2. 3-26, treats of the rules in giving and receiving, and of messages connected therewith. The presentations mentioned are all from inferiors to superiors. 3. 27, 28, does not lay down rules, but gives characteristics of the superior man, and the methods by which he preserves his friendships unbroken. 4. 29, 30, refers to the arrangement of the tablets in the ancestral temple, and to the personators of the dead. 5. 31, tells how one fasting should keep himself from being excited. 6. 32-34, sets forth cautions against excess in the demonstrations of mourning. 7. 35, 36, speaks of sorrowing for the dead and condoling with the living. 8. 37, 38, gives counsels of prudence for one under the influence of sympathy and benevolent feeling. 9. 39-48, describes rules in connexion with mourning, burials, and some other occasions. 10. 49-52, describes gradations in ceremonies and in the penal statutes; and how a criminal who has been punished should never be permitted to be near the ruler.
1. Does the rule about eating mean that the anxious son should restrict himself to a single dish of meat? ]
spread apart from others; he who is mourning (for a death) should sit on a single mat[1].
2. 3. When heavy rains have fallen, one should not present fish or tortoises (to a superior)[2]. 4. He who is presenting a bird should turn its head on one side; if it be a tame bird, this need not be done. 5. He who is presenting a carriage and horses should carry in his hand (to the hall) the whip, and strap for mounting by[3]. 6. He who is presenting a suit of mail should carry the helmet (to the hall). He who is presenting a staff should hold it by its end[4]. 7. He who is presenting a captive should hold him by the right sleeve[5]. 8. He who is presenting grain unhulled should carry with him the left side of the account (of the quantity); if the hull be off, he should carry with him a measure-drum[6]. 9. He who is presenting cooked food, should carry with him the sauce and pickles for it. 10. He who is presenting fields and tenements should carry with him the writings about them, and give them up (to the superior). 11. In every case of giving a bow to another, if it be bent, the (string of) sinew should be kept upwards; but if unbent, the horn.
[1. Grief is solitary. A mourner afflicts himself.
2 Because the fish in such a case are so numerous as not to be valuable, or because the fish at the time of the rains are not clean. Other reasons for the rule have been assigned.
3. The whip and strap, carried up to the hall, represented the carriage and horses, left in the courtyard.
4. For convenience; and because the end, going into the mud, was not so honourable.
5. So that he could not attempt any violence.
6. The account was in duplicate, on the same tablet. The right was held to be the more honourable part. 'Drum' was the name of the measure. ]
(The giver) should with his right hand grasp the end of the bow, and keep his left under the middle of the back. The (parties, without regard to their rank as) high and low, (bow to each other) till the napkins (at their girdles) hang down (to the ground). If the host (wish to) bow (still lower), the other moves on one side to avoid the salutation. The host then takes the bow, standing on the left of the other. Putting his hand under that of the visitor, he lays hold of the middle of the back, having his face in the same direction as the other; and thus he receives (the bow). 12. He who is giving a sword should do so with the hilt on his left side[1]. 13. He who is giving a spear with one hook should do so with the metal end of the shaft in front, and the sharp edge behind. 14. He who is presenting one with two hooks, or one with a single hook and two sharp points, should do so with the blunt shaft in front. 15. He who is giving a stool or a staff should (first) wipe it. 16. He who is presenting a horse or a sheep should lead it with his right hand. 17. He who is presenting a dog should lead it with his left hand. 18. He who is carrying a bird (as his present of introduction) should do so with the head to the left[2]. 19. For the ornamental covering of a lamb or a goose, an embroidered cloth should be used. 20. He who receives a pearl or a piece of jade should do so with both his hands. 21. He who receives a bow or a sword should do so (having his hands covered) with his sleeves[3]. 22. He who has
[1. That the receiver may take it with his right hand.
2. Compare paragraph 4. In this case the bird was carried across the body of the donor with its head on his left.
3. A different case from that in paragraph 11. It is supposed that here the two things were presented together, and received as on a cushion. ]
drunk from a cup of jade should not (go on to) shake it out[1]. 23. Whenever friendly messages are about to be sent, with the present of a sword or bow, or of (fruit, flesh, and other things, wrapped in) matting of rushes, with grass mats, and in baskets, round and square, (the messenger) has these things (carried with him, when he goes) to receive his commission, and deports himself as when he will be discharging it[2]. 24. Whenever one is charged with a mission by his ruler, after he has received from him his orders, and (heard all) he has to say, he should not remain over the night in his house. 25. When a message from the ruler comes (to a minister), the latter should go out and bow (to the bearer), in acknowledgment of the honour of it. When the messenger is about to return, (the other) must bow to him (again), and escort him outside the gate. 26. If (a minister) send a message to his ruler, he must wear his court-robes when he communicates it to the bearer; and on his return, he must descend from the hall, to receive (the ruler's) commands.
3. 27. To acquire extensive information and remember retentively, while (at the same time) he is modest; to do earnestly what is good, and not become weary in so doing:--these are the characteristics of him whom we call the superior man. 28. A superior man does not accept everything by which another would express his joy in him, or his devotion to him[3]; and thus he preserves their friendly intercourse unbroken.
[1. Because of the risk to a thing so valuable.
2. A rehearsal of what he would have to do.
3. E. g. , it is said, festive entertainments and gi fits. ]
4. 29. A rule of propriety says, 'A superior man may carry his grandson in his arms, but not his son. ' This tells us that a grandson may be the personator of his deceased grandfather (at sacrifices), but a son cannot be so of his father[1]. 30. When a great officer or (other) officer sees one who is to personate the dead (on his way to the ancestral temple), he should dismount from his carriage to him. The ruler himself, when he recognises him, should do the same[2]. The personator (at the same time) must bow forward to the cross-bar. In mounting the carriage, he must use a stool.
5. 31. One who is fasting (in preparation for a sacrifice) should neither listen to music nor condole with mourners[3].
6. 32. According to the rules for the period of mourning (for a father), (a son) should not emaciate himself till the bones appear, nor let his seeing and hearing be affected (by his privations). He should not go up to, nor descend from, the hail by the steps on the east (which his father used), nor go in or out by the path right opposite to the (centre of the) gate. 33. According to the same rules, if he have a scab on his head, he should wash it; if he have a sore on his body, he should bathe it. If he be ill, he should drink spirits, and eat flesh, returning to his former
[1. The tablets of a father and son should not be in the same line of shrines in the ancestral temple; and the fact in the paragraph--hardly credible--seems to be mentioned as giving a reason for this.
2. The personator had for the time the dignity of the deceased whom he represented.
3. The fasting and vigil extended to seven days, and were intended to prepare for the personating duty. What would distract the mind from this must be eschewed. ]
(abstinence) when he is better. If he make himself unable to perform his mourning duties, that is like being unkind and unfilial. 34. If he be fifty, he should not allow himself to be reduced (by his abstinence) very much; and, if he be sixty, not at all. At seventy, he will only wear the unhemmed dress of sackcloth, and will drink and eat flesh, and occupy (the usual apartment) inside (his house).
7. 35. Intercourse with the living (will be continued) in the future; intercourse with the dead (friend) was a thing of the past[1]. 36. He who knows the living should send (a message of) condolence; and he who knew the dead (a message also of his) grief. He who knows the living, and did not know the dead, will send his condolence without (that expression of) his grief; he who knew the dead, and does not know the living, will send the (expression of) grief, but not go on to condole.
8. 37.
