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ZUO ZHUAN (Tso Chuan)

These readings from the Zuo Zhuan were translated by James Legge in The Chinese Classics, vol. 5 (reprinted by Hong Kong University Press, 1960). They were selected and entered by Brother Andrew Thornton, O.S.B., Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire.

Some narratives were included because they show court functionaries educating their rulers (or trying to) in the virtues of REN (humaneness) and LI (propriety/ceremonial conduct founded upon the example of the ancient sage rulers), both virtues being indispensable for realizing HE (genuine harmony in political and personal conduct). Other passages present memorable examples of wise and reasonable conduct or wily techniques for survival. Still others show people consulting the Yi Jing; the consulter is often advised that divination and omens cannot substitute for DE, the strength of character whereby someone acts rightly and in line with heaven and the Spirits and so becomes attractive (lit. "bright") to people. Several accounts were included because they show officials quoting from the ancient SHI, the Odes, to negotiate, to remonstrate, and to show their erudition. Finally, some narratives were included simply because they are good stories.

Many narratives from the Zuo Zhuan, a few of which are included here, were translated by Burton Watson in his: The Tso Chuan: Selections From China’s Oldest Narrative History (New York: Columbia U. Press, 1989). His selection "is designed for persons who do not feel inclined to work their way through the entire text but wish to familiarize themselves with its most famous and influential narratives and get some sense of its style and principal idea. I have naturally attempted to select passages that form a more or less complete entity or deal with a single train of events, such as a military campaign or a political revolution" (p. xxxv).

Legge’s romanization of Chinese proper names has been turned into pinyin. Some small changes in punctuation and (in a very few places) vocabulary have also been made. Citations from the Odes are identified by their Mao number, which can be used to find the ode in the editions by Legge and Arthur Waley (The Book of Songs, Grove Press 1960 [1st ed. 1937]).

Legge's romanization has been turned into pinyin. Some small changes in punctuation and (in a very few places) vocabulary have also been made. The text is in the public domain and may be freely used. Comments, corrections, and suggestions for further inclusions may be directed to Brother Andrew at this address: athornto@anselm.edu

<div align="right">last updated: January 12, 2007</div>

INDEX TO ZUO ZHUAN SELECTIONS

Click on the duke's name to go to that selection.

Click on INDEX to return here. <div align="right">

</div>note: In the "LEGGE" column, the first set of numbers gives the page and column (counting from the right) of the Chinese text; the second number is the page on which the English translation can be found. Thus "124/9; 125" reads: page 124, column 9; page 125.

Duke Yin, 1st Year, 721 BC (Legge, p. 1, col. 15 & & p. 5, col. 2)

Mother and Son: alienation and reconciliation

Duke Wu of Zheng married a woman of the house of Shen, called Wu Jiang, who bore two duke Zhuang and his brother Duan of Gong. Duke Zhuang was born as she was waking from sleep, which frightened the layd so that she named him Wu Sheng [born in waking]. She hated him, while she loved Duan and wished him to be declared his father’s heir. Often did she ask this of duke Wu, but he refused it.

When duke Zhuang came to the earldom, she begged him to confer on Duan the city of Zhi. "It is too dangerous a place," was the reply. "The younger of Guo died there, but in regard to any other place, you may command me." She then requested Jing, and there Duan took up his residence and came to be styled Tai Shu [the Great Younger] of Jing city.

Zhong of Ji said to the duke, "Any metropolitan city, whose wall is more than 3,000 cibits round, is dangerous to the state. According to the regulations of the former kings, such a city of the first order can have its wall only a third as long as that of the capital; one of the second order, only a fifth as long; and one of the least order, only a ninth. Now Jing is not in accordance with these measures and regulations. As ruler, you will not be able to endure Duan in such a place." The duke replied, "It was our mother's wish. How could I avoid the danger?" "The lady Jiang," returned the officer, "is not to be satisfied. You had better take the necessary precautions and not allow the danger to grow so great that it will be difficult to deal with it. Even grass, when it has grown and spread all about, cannot be removed. How much less the brother of yourself, and the favored brother as well!" The duke said, "By his many deeds of unrighteousness he will bring destruction on himself. Just wait a while."

After this Tai Shu ordered the places on the western and northern borders of the state to render to himself the same allegiance as they did to the earl. Then Gong Zi Lü said to the duke, "A state cannot sustain the burden of two services. What will you do now? If you wish to give Zheng to Tai Shu, allow me to serve him as a subject. If you do not mean to give it to him, allow me to put him out of the way, so that the minds of the people be not perplexed." "There is no need," the duke replied, "for such a step. His calamity will come of itself."

Tai Shu went on to take as his own the places from which he had required their divided contributions, as far as Lin Yan. Zi Feng [i.e., Gong Zi Lü] said, "Now is the time. With these enlarged resources, he will draw all the people to himself." The duke replied, "They will not cleave to him, so unrighteous as he is. Through his prosperity he will fall the more."

Tai Shu worked at his defences, gathered the people about him, put in order buff-coats and weapons, prepared footmen and chariots, intending to surprise Zheng, while his mother was to open to him from within. The duke heard the time agreed on between them and said, "Now we can act." So he ordered Zi Feng, with 200 chariots to attack Jing. Jing revolted from Tai Shu, who then entered Yan, which the duke himself proceeded to attack. In the fifth month, on the day Xin Chou, Tai Shu fled from it to Gong.

In the words of the text [of the Chun Qiu]: "The earl of Zheng overcame Duan in Yan," Duan is not called the earl’s younger brother, because he did not show himself to be such. They were as two hostile princes, and therefore we have the word "overcame." The duke is styled the earl of Zheng simply to condemn him for his failure to instruct his brother properly. Duan’s flight is not mentioned, because it was difficult to do so, having in mind Zheng’s wish [that Duan might be killed].

Immediately after these events, Duke Zhuang placed his mother Jiang in Xing Ying and swore an oath, saying, "I will not see you again, till I have reached the yellow spring [i.e., till I am dead, and under the yellow earth]." But he repented of this. Some time later Ying Kao Shu, the border-warden of the valley of Ying, heard of it and presented an offering to the duke, who caused food to be placed before him. Kao Shu put a piece of meat on one side, and when the duke asked the reason, he said, "I have a mother who always shares in what I eat. But she has not eaten of this meat which you, my ruler, have given, and I beg to be allowed to leave this piece for her." The duke said, "You have a mother to give it to. Alas! I alone have none." Kao Shu asked what the duke meant, who then told him all the circumstances, and how he repented of his oath. "Why should you be distressed about that?" said the officer. "If you dig into the earth to the yellow springs and then make a subterranean passage where you can meet each other, who can say that your oath is not fulfilled?" The duke followed this suggestion, and as he entered the passage, he sang:

This great tunnel, within,

With joy doth run.

When his mother came out, she sang:

This great tunnel, without,

The joy flies about.

After this they were mother and son as before.

A superior man may say, "Ying Kao Shu was filial indeed. His love for his mother passed over to and affected Duke Zhuang. Was there not here an illustration of what is said in the Book of Poetry:

A filial son of piety unfailing

There shall for ever be conferred blessing on you.

INDEX

Duke Yin, 5th year, 717 BC (Legge p. 15, col. 9 & p. 16, par. 6)

Shi Que has his own son put to death

Zhou Yu, finding himself unable to attach the people to himself, [Shi Que's son] Hou asked his father how to establish the prince [in the State]. Shi said, "It may be done by his going and having an audience of the king."

"But how can this audience be obtained?"

"Duke Huan of Chen," replied the father, "is now in favor with the king, and Chen and Wei are on friendly terms. If the [marquis] go to the court of Chen and get the duke to ask an audience for him, it may be got."

At this, How went with Zhou Yu to Chen, but Shi Que sent information to Chen, saying, "The State of Wei is narrow and small, and I am aged and can do nothing. These two men are the real murderers of my prince, and I venture [to ask] that you will instantly take the [proper] measures with them."

The people of Chen made them prisoners and requested Wei to send and manage the rest. In the ninth month, the people of Wei sent Chou, the Superintendent of the Right, who put Zhou Yu to death at Pu, and Shi Que sent his steward, Nao Yang Jian, who put Shi Hou to death in [the capital] of Chen.

A superior man may say, "Shi Que was a minister without blemish. He hated Zhou Yu, with whom [his own son] How was art and part. And did he not thus afford an illustration of the saying that great righteousness is supreme over the affections?"

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Duke Yin, year 5, 717 B.C., Legge p. 17, col. 1, & p. 18

The ruler should not be concerned with how to catch fish.

[The Chun Qiu has: In his fifth year, in spring, the duke went to see the fishermen at Tang.]

The duke was about to go to Tang to see the fishermen; Zang Xi Bo remonstrated with him, saying: "All [pursuit] of creatures in which the great affairs [of the state] are not illustrated, and when they do not supply materials available for use in its various requirements, the ruler does not engage in. Into the idea of a ruler it enters that he lead and help the people on to what should be observed and all the ramifications thereof. Hence the practice of exercises in measurement of the degrees of what should be observed is called fixing the rule, and the obtaining of materials supplied thereby for the ornament of the various requirements [of the state] is [the guiding principle] to show what creatures should be pursued. Where there are not such mea-

surement and no such materials, the government is one of disorder, and the frequent indulgence in a government of disorder is the way to ruin.

"In accordance with this, there are the spring hunting, the summer hunting, the autumn hunting, and the winter hunting, all in the intervals of husbandry, for the illustration of [one great] business [of states]. Then every three years, there is the [grand] military review. When it is over, the troops are all led back, and their return is announced by the cup of spirits in the temple--all to take reckoning of the accoutrements and spoils, to display the various blazonry, to exhibit the noble and the mean, to distinguish the observance of order and ranks, to show the proper difference between the young and the old, to practice the various observances of discipline.

"Now when the birds and beasts are such that their flesh is not presented in the sacrificial vessels, and their skins, hides, teeth, bones, horns, feathers, and hair are not used in the furniture of the state, it was the ancient rule that our dukes should not shoot them. With the creatures found in the mountains, forests, streams and marshes, with the materials for ordinary articles of use, with the business of underlings, and with the charge of inferior officers--with all these the ruler has nothing to do."

The duke said: "I will walk over the country," and so he went, had the fishermen drawn up in order, and looked at their operations. Xi Bo gave out that he was ill and did not accompany him. The text, "The duke reviewed a display of the fishermen at Tang," intimates the impropriety [FEI LI] of the affair and tells moreover how far off the place was.

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Duke Huan, year 2, 709 B.C., Legge p. 37, col. 15, & 40

Virtue is displayed by the customary signs, not by ill-gotten gain.

[The Chun Qiu has: In summer, in the fourth month, the duke brought the tripod of

Gao from Song, and on the day mo-shin deposited it in the Grand Temple.]

This act of the duke was not proper, and Cang Ai Bo remonstrated with him, saying: "He who is a ruler of men makes it his object to illustrate his virtue and to repress in others what is wrong, that he may shed an enlightening influence on his officers. He is still afraid lest in any way he should fail to accomplish these things, and moreover he seeks to display excellent virtue for the benefit of his posterity. Thus it is that his ancestral temple has a roof of thatch; the mats in his grand chariot are only of graaa; the grand soups [as used in sacrifice] are without condiments; the millets are not finely cleaned--all these are illustrations of his thrift. His robe, cap, knee-covers, and mace; his girdle, lower robe, buskins, and shoes; the cross-piece of his cap, its stopper pendants, its fastening strings, and its crown--all these illustrate his observance of the statutory measures. His gem-mats and his scabbard, with its ornaments above and below; his belt, with its descending ends; the streamers of his flags and the ornaments at his horses' breasts--these illustrate his attention to the regular degrees of rank. The flames, the dragons, the axes, and the symbol of distinction represented on his robes--these illustrate the elegance of his taste. The five colors laid on in accordance with the appearances of nature--these illustrate with what propriety his articles are made. The bells on his horses' foreheads and bits, and those on his carriage pole and on his flags--these illustrate his knowledge of sounds. The sun, moon and stars represented on his flags--these illustrate the brightness of

his intelligence.

"Now when thus virtuously thrifty and observant of the statutes, attentive to the degrees of high and low; his character stamped on his elegant robes and his carriage; sounded forth also and brightly displayed--when thus he presents himself for the enlightenment of his offers, they are struck with awe and do not dare to depart from the rules and laws.

"But now you are extinguishing your virtue and have given your support to a man altogether bad. You have placed moreover the bribe received from him in the grand temple, to exhibit it to your officers. If your officers copy your example, on what ground can you punish them? The ruin of states and clans takes its rise from the corruption of the officers. Officers lose their virtue when the fondness for bribes on the part of their ruler is displayed to them. And here is the tripod of Gao in your temple, so that this could not be more plainly displayed! When king Wu had subdued Shang, he removed the nine tripods to the city of Luo, and the righteous men, it

would appear, condemned him for it. But what can be said when this bribe is seen in the grand temple, this bribe of wickedness and disorder?"

The duke did not listen to the remonstrance, but when Zhou's historiographer of the interior heard of it, he said, "Cang Sun Da shall have posterity in Lu! His prince was doing wrong, and he negleted not to administer to him virtuous reproof."

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Duke Zhuang, 10th Year, 683 BC (Legge, p. 85, col. 1 & p. 86, col. 1)

Victory depends on the loyalty of the troops and on the prudent strategy of commanders.

In his tenth year, in spring, the army of Qi invaded our state, and the duke was about to fight, when one Cao Gui requested to be introduced to him. One of Gui's fellow villagers said to him, "The flesh-eaters are planning for the occasion. What have you to do to intermeddle?" He replied, "The flesh-eaters are poor creatures and cannot form any far-reaching plans."

So he entered and was introduced. He asked the duke what encouragement he had to fight. The duke said, "Clothes and food minister to my repose, but I do not dare to monopolize them. I make it a point to share them with others." "That," replied Gui, "is but small kindness and does not reach to all. The people will not follow you for that." The duke said, "In the victims, the gems, and the silks, used in sacrifice, I do not dare to go beyond the appointed rules. I make it a point to be sincere." "That is but small sincerity; it is not perfect. The spirits will not bless you for that." The duke said again, "In all matters of legal process, whether small or great, although I may not be able to search them out thoroughly, I make it a point to decide according to the real circumstances." "That," answered Gui, "bespeaks a loyal-heartedness. You may venture one battle on that. When you fight, I beg to be allowed to attend you." The duke took him with him in his chariot.

The battle was fought in Chang Shuo. The duke was about to order the drums to beat an advance, when Gui said, "Not yet." And after the men of Qi had advanced three times with their drums beating, he said, "Now is the time." The army of Qi received a severe defeat, but when the duke was about to dash after them, Gui again said, "Not yet." He then got down and examined the tracks left by their chariot wheels, remounted, got on the front-bar, and looked after the flying enemy. After this he said, "Pursue," which the duke did.

When the victory had been secured, the duke asked Gui the reasons of what he had done. "In fighting," was the reply, "all depends on the courageous spirit. When the drums first beat, that excites the spirit. A second advance occasions a diminution of the spirit, and with a third, it is exhausted. With our spirit at the highest pitch, we fell on them with their spirit exhausted, and so we conquered them. But it is difficult to fathom a great state. I was afraid there might be an ambush. I looked therefore at the traces of their wheels and found them all confused; I looked after their flags, and they were drooping. Then I gave the order to pursue them." <div align="right">

INDEX

Duke Zhuang, 22nd Year, 671 B.C. (Legge, p. 102, col. 8 & p. 103, col. 2)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

Duke Li of Chen was the son of a daughter of the house of Cai. In consequence, the people of Cai put to death Wu Fu and raised him [ i.e., Li] to the marquisate. He begat Jing Zhong, during whose boyhood there came one of the historiographers of Zhou to see the marquis of Chen, having with him the Zhou Yi. The marquis made him consult it by the milfoil [on the future of the boy], when he found the diagram Guan, and then by the change of manipulation, the diagram Pi.

"Here," he said, "is the deliverance: ‘We behold the light of the state. This is auspicious for one to be the king’s guest.’ [cf. the Yi on the 4th line of the diagram Guan]. Shall this boy in his generation possess the state of Chen? Or if he do not possess this state, does it mean that he shall possess another? Or is the thing foretold not of his own person but of his descendants? The light is far off, and its brightness appears reflected from something else. Kun [lower trigram of Guan] represents the earth; Xun [upper trigram of Guan], wind; Qian [top trigram of Pi], heaven. Xun becoming Qian over earth [as in the diagram Pi] represents mountains. [Thus this boy] has all the treasures of mountains, and is shone on by the light of heaven. He will dwell above the earth. Hence it is said, ‘We behold the light of the state. This is auspicious for him to be the king’s guest.’ A king’s guest fills the royal courtyard with the display of all the productions [of his state], and the offerings of gems and silks, all excellent things of heaven and earth. Hence it is said: ‘It is auspicious for him to be the king’s guest.’ But there is still that word, ‘Behold,’ and therefore I say the thing perhaps is to be hereafter. And the wind moves and appears upon the earth. Therefore I say it is to be perhaps in another state. If it be in another state, it must be in that of the Jiang, for the Jiang are the descendants of the Grand Mountain [Yao’s chief minister]. But the mountains stand up as it were the mates of heaven. There cannot be two things equally great. As Chen decays, this boy will flourish."

When Qin received its first great blow [in 533 B.C.], Chen Huan [the representative of the Gongzi Huan in the 5th generation] had begun to be great in Qi. When it finally perished [in 477 B.C.], the officer Cheng was directing the government of the state.

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Duke Zhuang, year 32, 661 B.C., Legge p. 119, col. 4, & p. 120

When disaster is immanent, the ruler listens to spirits.

In autumn, in the seventh month, there was the descent of a spirit in Xin [Xin belonged to Guo]. King Hui asked Guo, the historiographer of the interior, the reason for it, and he replied:

"When a state is about to flourish, intellient spirits descend into it, to survey its virtue. When it is going to perish, spirits also descend into it, to behold its wickedness. Thus there have been instances of states flourishing from spirits appearing, and also of states perishing. Cases in point might be adduced from the dynasties of Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou."

The king then asked what should be done in the case of this spirit, and Guo replied: "Present to it its own proper offerings, which are those proper to the day on which it came." The king acted accordingly, and the historiographer went [to Guo and presented the offerings]. There he heard that [the duke of] Guo had been requesting the favor [of enlarged territory] from the spirit, and on his return, he said, "Guo is sure to perish. The duke is oppressive and listens to spirits."

The spirit stayed in Xin six months, when the duke of Guo caused the prayer-master Ying, the superintendent of the ancestral temple Qiu, and the historiographer Yin to sacrifice to the spirit, and the spirit [promised] to give him territory. The historiographer Yin said, "Ah! Guo will perish. I have heard that, when a state is about to flourish, [its ruler] listens to the people; when it is about to perish, he listens to spirits. The spirits are intelligent, correct, and impartial. How they act depends on human beings. The coldness of Guo's virtue [DE] extends to many things. How can any increase of territory be obtained."

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Duke Min, 1st Year, 660 B.C. (Legge, p. 124, col. 9 & p. 125, col. 2)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

At an earlier period, Bi Wan had divined by the milfoil about his becoming an officer of Jin and obtained the diagram Zhun, and afterwards, by the manipulation, Bi. Xin Liau interpreted it to be lucky. "Zhun," he said, "indicates firmness, and Bi indicates entering. What could be more fortunate? He must become numerous and prosperous. Moreover, the symbol Zhen [lower trigram of Zhun] becomes that for the earth [the lower trigram of Bi]. Carriages and horses follow one another; he has feet to stand on; an elder brother’s lot; the protection of a mother, and is the attraction of the multitudes. These six indications [arising from the change of the lowest line in the diagram Zhun] will not change. United, they indicate his firmness; in their repose, they indicate his majesty. The divination is that of a duke or a marquis. Himself the descendant of a duke [Bi Wan was descended from one of the lords of Bi, but of the early history of that principality we know nothing], his posterity shall return to the original dignity."

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Duke Min, 2nd Year, 659 B.C. (Legge, p. 126, col. 10 & p. 129, col. 1)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

Just before the birth of Zheng Ji, duke Huan made the father of Chu Qiu, master of the diviners, consult the tortoise-shell, which he did, saying, "It will be a boy, whose name shall be called You. His place will be at the right of the duke, between the two altars of the land. He shall be a help to the ducal house, and when the family of Ji shall perish, Lu will not flourish."

He also consulted the milfoil about the child and obtained the diagram Da You, and then Qian. "He shall come back," said he, "to the same distinction as his father. They shall reverence him as if he were in their ruler’s place." When the boy was born, there was a figure on his hand, that of the character "you," and he was named accordingly. <div align="right">

INDEX

Duke Xi, 4th Year—655 BC(Legge, p. 139, col. 1 & p. 141, col. 1)

It is DE, virtue, that ensures victory, not military might.

[The marquis of Qi, at the head of an allied host, has invaded Chu.]

In summer, the viscount of Chu sent Qu Wan to the army of the allies, which retired, and halted at Zhao Ling. The marquis of Qi had the armies of all the princes drawn up in array and took Qu Wan with him in the same carriage to survey them. He then said, "Is it on my unworthy account that these are here? No, but in continuation of the friendship of the princes with my predecessors. What do you think of Chu's being on the same terms of friendship with me?" Qu Wan replied, "If from your lordship's favor the altars of our land and grain may receive blessing, and you will condescend to receive our prince, this is his wish." The marquis then said, "Fighting with these multitudes, who can withstand me? What city could sustain their attack?" "If your lordship," was the reply, "by your virtue, seek the tranquillity of the states, who will dare not to submit to you? But if you depend on your strength, our state of Chu has the hill of Fang Cheng for a wall and the Han for a moat.Great as your multitudes are, you could not use them." Qu Wan made a covenant on the part of Chu with the princes. <div align="right">

INDEX

Duke Xi, 7th Year—652 BC(Legge, p. 143, col. 12 & p. 145, col. 2)

Only DE, virtue, counts in the favor of Heaven and spirits.

[note: "Virtue" in the text translates the Chinese DE. At this time, the word's primary meaning was not "morally upright conduct." David Nivison describes the term [in his The Ways of Confucianism, p. 25-6], as "gratitude credit." He goes on to say: "The compulsion I feel to respond appropriately. . . when you do something for me or give me something is a compulsion I feel so strongly that I come to think of it not as a psychic configuration in myself, but as a psychic power emanating from you, causing me to orient myself toward you. That power is your de—your "virtue" or "moral force." . . . [The king], by his position, is able to generate this relationship between himself and others in all directions—vis-a-vis members of his family, ministers in his court, his many subjects, his enemies, the spirits above, future generations. It will come to be felt that this is what he must do if he is to be a genuine king, and that there is something terribly wrong with him if he doesn't." Note also the use of de—virtue in Duke Xi, 4th Year.]

The marquis of Jin again borrowed a way through Yu to attack Guo. Gong Zhi Qi remonstrated with the duke of Yu, saying, "Guo is the external defense of Yu. If Guo perish, Yu is sure to follow it. A way should not be opened to the greed of Jin; robbers are not to be played with. To do it once was more than enough, and will you do it a second time? The common sayings, 'The carriage and its wheel-aids [poles attached to a cart to keep it from tipping over] depend on one another,' and, 'When the lips perish, the teeth become cold,' illustrate the relation between Guo and Yu."

The duke said, "The princes of Jin and Yu are descended from the same ancestor. How should Jin injure us?" The minister replied, "Tai Bo and Yu Zhong were sons of King Tai, but because Tai Bo would not follow him against Shang, he did not inherit his state. Guo Zhong and Guo Shu were sons of King Ji and ministers of King Wan. Their merits in the service of the royal house are preserved in the repository of covenants. If Guo be extinguished by Jin, what love is it likely to show to Yu? And can Yu claim a nearer kindred to Jin than the descendants of Huan and Zhuang, that Jin should show love to it? What crime had the families descended from Huan and Zhuang been guilty of? And yet Jin destroyed them entirely, feeling that they might press on it. Its near relatives, whom it might have been expected to favor, it yet put to death, because their greatness pressed upon it. What may not Jin do to you, when there is your state to gain?"

The duke said, "My sacrificial offerings have been abundant and pure; the spirits will not forsake but will sustain me." His minister replied, "I have heard that the spirits do not accept the persons of men, but that it is virtue to which they cleave. Hence in the Books of Zhou we read, 'Great Heaven has no affections; it helps only the virtuous'[Legge, vol. 3, p. 490], and, 'It is not the millet which has the piercing fragrance; it is bright virtue' [Legge, p. 539], and again, 'People do not slight offerings, but it is virtue which is the thing accepted' [Legge, p. 347]. Thus if a ruler have not virtue, the people will not be attached to him, and the spirits will not accept his offerings. What the spirits will adhere to is a man's virtue. If Jin take Yu and then cultivate bright virtue, and therewith present fragrant offerings, will the spirits vomit them out?" The duke did not listen to him but granted the request of the messenger from Jin.

Gong Zhi Qi went away from Yu with all the circle of his family, saying, "Yu will not see the winter sacrifice. Its doom is in this expedition. Jin will not make a second attempt."

In the eighth month, on jia wu, the marquis of Jin laid siege to Shang Yang [the chief city of Guo] and asked the diviner Yan whether he should succeed in the enterprise. Yan replied that he should, and he then asked when. Yan said, "The children have a song which says,

Towards daybreak of bing,

Wei of the dragon lies hid in the conjunction of the sun and moon.

With combined energy and grand display

Are advanced the flags to capture Guo.

Grandly appears the Chun star,

And the tian zi is dim.

When huo culminates, the enterprise will be completed,

And the duke of Guo will flee.

According to this, you will succeed at the meeting of the ninth and tenth months. In the morning of ping zi, the sun will be in wei, and the moon in zi; the chun huo will be exactly in the south. This is sure to be the time."

In winter, in the twelfth month, on bing zi, the first day of the moon, Jin extinguished Guo, and Chou, the duke, fled to the capital. The army, on its return, took up its quarters in Yu, surprised the city and extinguished the state, seizing the duke and his great officer Qing Bo, whom the marquis employed to escort his daughter, Mu Ji to Qin. The marquis continued the sacrifices of Yu in Jin and presented to the king the tribute due from it. The brief language of the text [of the Spring and Autumn Chronicle] is condemnatory of Yu and expresses, besides, the ease with which Jin annexed it.

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Duke Xi, year 7, 652 BC, Legge p. 148, col. 10, & p.149

One who betrays one’s father/ruler is a criminal.

[At a conference involving, among others states, Qi and Zheng, the heir to the earl of Zheng proposes to undercut his father and become subservient to the marquis of Qi.]

The marquis was about to agree to his proposal, but Guan Zhong said, "You have bound all the princes to you by your propriety and truth [LI, XIN], and will it not be improper [JIAN] to end with an opposite policy? [Here] we should have propriety in the form of no treachery between son and father, and truth in that of the son's observing [his father's] commands according to the exigency of the times. There cannot be greater criminality [JIAN] that that of him who acts contrary to these two things."

"We princes," replied the duke, "have [tried to] punish Zheng, but without success. And now when such an opportunity is presented to me, may I not take advantage of it?"

"Let your lordship," said Guan, "deal gently with the case of Zheng in kindness and add to this an instructive exposition of it, and then, when you [again] lead the princes to punish the state, it will feel that utter overthrow is immanent and will be consumed with terror. If [on the contrary] you deal with it, adopting the counsel of this criminal [JIAN], Zheng will have a case to allege and will not be afraid. Consider too that you have assembled the princes to do honor to virtue, and if at the meeting you give place to this villain, [and follow his counsel,] what will there be to show to your descendants? And further, the virtue, the punishments, the rules of propriety, and the righteousness displayed at the meetings of the princes, are recorded in every state. When record is made of the place given to such a criminal [JIAN], there will be an end of your lordship's covenants. If you do the thing and do not record it, that will show that your virtue is not complete. Let not your lordship accede to his request. Zheng is sure to accept the covenant. And for this Hua, [the earl of Zheng's] eldest son, to seek the assistance of a great state to weaken his own--he will not escape without suffering for it. The government of Zheng, moreover, is in the hands of Shu Zhan, Du Shu, and Shi Shu, those three good men. You would find no opportunity now to act against it."

[On this] the marquis of Qi declined the proffers of the prince, who in consequence of this affair was regarded as a criminal in Zheng. The earl begged from Qi the favor of a covenant.

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Duke Xi, 12th Year—647 BC (Legge, p. 158, col. 1 & p. 158, par. 1)

Reverence is the chariot that conveys the state

The king by Heaven's grace sent duke Wu of Zhao and Guo, the historiographer of the interior, to confer the symbol of his rank on the marquis of Jin. He received the nephrite with an air of indifference, and Guo, on his return to the court, said to the king, "The marquis of Jin is not one who will have any successor of his own children. Your majesty conferred on him the symbol of investiture, and he received the auspicious jade with an air of indifference. Taking the lead thus in self-abandonment, is he likely to have anyone to succeed him? The rules of propriety are the stem of a State, and reverence is the chariot that conveys them along. Where there is not reverence, those rules do not have their course, and where this is the case, the distinctions of superiors and inferiors are all obscured. When this occurs, there can be no transmission of a State to after generations." <div align="right"> INDEX</div>

Duke Xi, 15th Year—644 B.C. (Legge, p.164, col. 11 & p. 167, col. 2)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

Tu Fu, the diviner, consulted the milfoil about the expedition [of the earl of Qin to invade Jin], and said, "A lucky response: cross the He; the prince’s chariots are defeated." The earl asked to have the thing more fully explained, and the diviner said, "It is very lucky. Thrice shall you defeat his troops and finally capture the marquis of Jin. The diagram found is Gu, of which it is said, ‘The thousand chariots thrice are put to flight. What then remains you catch, the one fox wight.’ That fox in Gu must be the marquis of Jin. Moreover, the inner symbol of Gu [Xun - the lower trigram] represents wind, the outer [Gen - the upper trigram] represents hills. The season of the year is now the autumn. We blow down the fruits on the hill, and we take the trees. It is plain we are to overcome. The fruit blown down and the trees taken: what can this be but defeat to Jin?"

(Legge, p. 165, col. 12 & p. 169, col. 1)

Years before this, when Duke Xian of Jin was divining by the milfoil about the marriage of his eldest daughter to [the earl of] Qin, he got the diagram Gui Mei, and then the diagram Kui. The historiographer Su interpreted the indication and said, "It is unlucky. The sentence [on the top line in Gui Mei] is, ‘The man cuts up his sheep, and there is no blood; the girl presents her basket, but there is no gift in it.’ The neighbor on the west reproaches us for our words which cannot be made good. And Gui Mei’s becoming Kui is the same as our getting no help [from the union]. For the symbol Zhen [top trigram of Gui Mei] to become Luo [top trigram of Kui] is the same as for Luo to become Zhen; we have thunder and fire: the Ying defeating the Ji. The connection between the carriage and its axle is broken; the fire burns the flags: our military expeditions will be without advantage; there is defeat in Cong Qiu. In Gui Mei’s becoming Kui we have a solitary, and an enemy against whom the bow is bent [Legge comments: See the Yi on the top line of the diagram Kui. But it seems to me of no use trying to make out any principle of reason in passages like the present.] Then the nephew follows his aunt. In six years he makes his escape; he flies back ["gui"] to his state, abandoning his wife. Next year he dies in the wild of Gao Liang."

When Duke Hui came to be in Qin, he said, "If my father had followed the interpretation of the historiographer Su, I should not have come to my present condition." Han Jian was by his side and said, "The tortoise shell gives its figures, and the milfoil its numbers. When things are produced, they have their figures; their figures go on to multiply; that multiplication goes on to numbers. Your father’s violations of virtue were almost innumerable. Although he did not follow the interpretation of the historiographer Su, how could that increase your misforture? As the ode says:

The calamities of the inferior people

Do not come down from Heaven.

Fair words and hatred behind the back:

The earnest, strong pursuit of this is from men. (Shi II, ii, ode IX. 7)

[note by Legge: In this paragraph there appears for the first time in the text the great state of Qin, which went on till it displaced the dynasty of Zhou in about four centuries from this time.] [The text of the Chun Qiu reads: In the eleventh month, on Ren Xu, the marquis of Jin and the earl of Qin fought at Han, when the marquis of Jin was taken.]

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Duke Xi, year 17—642 B.C. (Legge, p. 170, col. 3 & 171, col. 1)

It is human beings who produce good and evil fortune.

[In Song, five stones had fallen from the sky and birds had flown backwards.]

At this time, Shu Xing, historiographer of the interior, was in Song, on a visit of friendly inquiries from Zhou, and duke Xiang asked him about these strange appearances, saying, "What are they ominous of? What good fortune or bad do they portend?" The historiog-rapher replied, "This year there will be the deaths of many great persons of Lu. Next year Qi will be all in disorder. Your lordship will get the presidency of the states but will not continue to hold it."

When he retired, he said to some one, "The king asked me a wrong question. It is not from these developments of the Yin and Yang that good fortune and evil are produced. They are produced by men themselves. I answered as I did, because I did not venture to go against the duke's ideas."

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Duke Xi, year 19—640 B.C. (Legge, p. 176, col. 4 & p. 177, col. 1)

It is virtue, DE, that leads to success in warfare.

The attack upon Cao was to punish it for its not submitting to Song. Zi Yu said to the duke of Song, "King Wen heard that the marquis of Cong had abandoned himself to disorder and invaded his state, but after he had been in the field for thirty days, the marquis tendered no submission. Wen therefore withdrew, and, after cultivating afresh the lessons of virtue, he again invaded Cong. Then the marquis made submission before he had quitted his entrenchments. As is said in the Shi [Mao #240],

His example acted on his wife,

Extended to his brothers,

And was felt by all the clans and states.

May it not be presumed that the virtue of your Grace is in some respects defective, and if, while it is so, you attack others, what will the result be? Why not for a time give yourself to self-examination and the cultivation of virtue? You may then proceed to move, when that is without defect."

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Duke Xi, 25th Year—634 B.C. (Legge, p. 194, col. 3 & p. 195, col. 2)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

The earl of Qin was with an army on the He, intending to restore the king, when Hu Yan said to the marquis of Jin, "If you are seeking the adherence of the states, you can do nothing better than to show an earnest interest in the king’s behalf. The states will there by have faith in you, and you will have done an act of great righteousness. Now is the time to show again such service as was rendered by the marquis Wen and to get your fidelity proclaimed among the states."

The marquis made the master of divination, Yan, consult the tortoise-shell about the undertaking. He did so and said, "The oracle is auspicious: that of Huang Di’s battle in Fan Quan." The marquis said, "That oracle is too great for me." The diviner replied, "The rules of Zhou are not changed. The king of today is the emperor of antiquity." The marquis then said, "Try it by the milfoil." They consulted the reeds and found the diagram Da You, which then became the diagram Kui. The diviner said, "This also is auspicious. In this diagram we have the oracle: ‘A prince presents his offerings to the Son of Heaven.’ A battle and victory; the king receiving your offerings: What more fortunate response could there be? Moreover, in these diagrams, the trigram of heaven [lower trigram of Da You] becomes that of a marsh [lower trigram of Kui] lying under the sun, indicating how the Son of Heaven condescends to meet your lordship. Is not this also encouraging? If we leave the diagram Kui and come back to Da You, it also tells of success where its subject goes."

On this the marquis of Jin declined the assistance of the army of Qin and went down the He. In the third month, on Jia-Chen, he halted at Yang Fan, when the army of the right proceeded to invent Wen and that of the left to meet the king. <div align="right">

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Duke Xi, year 25, 634 B.C., cont'd (Legge, p. 194, col. 7 & p. 196, col. 1)

A duke is refused a burial priviledge proper to kings.

In summer, in the fourth month, on ding si, the king re-entered the royal city. Tai Shu was taken in Wen and put to death at Xi Cheng. On wu wu, the marquis of Jin had an audience with the king, who feasted him with sweet spirits and gave him gifts to increase his joy. The marquis asked that the privilege of being carried to his grave through a subterranean passage might be granted him, but the king refused, saying, "This is the distinction of us kings. Where there is not conduct to supersede the holders of the kingdom, to make oneself a second king is what you yourself, my uncle, would hate." Notwithstanding this refusal, the king conferred on Jin the lands of Yang Fan, Wen, Yuan, Zuan Mao, and Jin proceeded to occupy the district of Nan Yang. Yang Fan refused to submit, and the troops of Jin laid siege to it. Cang Ge cried out, "It is virtue by which the people of the Middle State are cherished. It is by severity that the wild tribes around are awed. It is right we should not venture to submit to you. Here are none but the king's relatives and kin. And will you make them captive?" On this the marquis allowed the people to quit the city.

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Duke Xi, year 26—633 B.C. (Legge p. 197, col. 3 & p. 198, col. 2)

Harmony among the states goes back to the Zhou.

Duke Xiao of Qi invaded our northern borders. Duke Xi sent Zhan Xi to offer provisions to the invading forces, having first made him receive instructions from Zhan Qin [Xi’s father]. According, before the marquis of Qi had entered our borders, Zhan Xi followed in his track, came up with him, and said, "My price, hearing that your lordship was on the march and condescending to come to his small city, has sent myself, his poor servant, with these presents for your officers." The marquis asked whether the people of Lu were afraid. "Small people," replied Xi, "are afraid, but the superior men are not." "Your houses," said the marquis, "are empty as a hanging musical stone, and in your fields there is no green grass. On what do they rely, that they are not afraid?" Xi answered, "They rely on the charge of a former king. Formerly the Duke of Zhou and Tai Gong were legs and arms to the House of Zhou and supported and aided King Zheng, who rewarded them and gave them a charge, saying, ‘From generation to generation let your descendants refrain from harming one another.’ It was preserved in the Repository of Charges, under the care of the Grand Master [of Zhou]. Thus it was that when Duke Huan assembled the various states, taking measures to cure the want of harmony among them, to heal their short-comings, and to relieve those who were in distress, in all this he was illustrating that ancient charge. When your lordship took his place, all the states were full of hope, saying, ‘He will carry on the meritorious work of Huan.’ On this account our poor state did not presume to protect itself by collecting its multitudes; and now we say, ‘Will he, after possessing Qi nine years, forget that ancient charge and cast aside the duty enjoined in it? What in that case would his father say?’ Your lordship surely will not do such a thing. It is on this that we rely and are not afraid." On this the marquis of Qi returned.

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Duke Xi, 27th Year—632 BC (Legge p. 200 & 201)

Three episodes about intelligent ruling and training of the people.

The viscount of Chu, wishing to lay siege to the capital of Song, made Zi Wan exercise and inspect the troops for the expedition in Kuei, and at the end of a whole morning, he had not punished a single man. Zi Yu in the next place was employed to exercise the troops in Wei, and at the day's end he had scourged seven men and bored through the ears of three. The elders of the state all congratulated Zi Wan [on his recommendation of Zi Yu], when he detained them to drink with him.

Wei Jia was then still a boy, and came late, offering no congratulations. Zi Wan asked the reason for his conduct, and he replied, "I do not know on what I should congratulate you. You have resigned the government to Zi Yu, thinking, no doubt, that his appointment would quiet the state. But with quietness in the state and defeat abroad, what will be gained? The defeat of Zi Yu will be owing to your recommendation of him, and what cause for congratulation is there in a recommendation which will bring defeat to the state? Zi Yu is a violent man, and he pays no regard to the observances of propriety [LI], so that he is unfit to rule the people. If he be entrusted with the command of more than 300 chariots, he will not enter the capital again. If I congratulate you after he has returned from being entrusted with a larged command, my congratulations will not be too late."

In winter, the viscount of Chu and several other princes laid siege to the capital of Song, the duke of which sent Gong Sun Gu to Jin to report the strait in which he was. Xian Zhen said to the marquis, "Now you may recompense the favors received from Song and relieve its distress. The opportunity is now presented to acquire proper majesty and make sure of the leadership of the States." Hu Yan said, "Chu has just secured the adherence of Cao, and recently contracted a marriage with Wei. If we invade Cao and Wei, Chu will be sure to go to their help, and so Song and Qi will be delivered from it."

At this, the marquis ordered a hunting in Bei Lu and formed a third army. He then consulted about a commander-in-chief. Chao Shuai said, "Xi Hu is the man. I have heard him speak. He explains all about music and proprieties and is versed in the Books of Poetry and History. Those books are the repository of righteousness, and in music and proprieties we have the patterns of virtue, while virtue and righteousness are roots of all advantage. In the Books of Xia it is said, 'They were appointed by their speech; they were tested by their works; they received chariots and robes according to their services.' Let your lordship make trial of him." At this the marquis appointed Xi Hu to command the second army, that of the center, with Xi Zhen as his assistant. Hu Yan was made commander of the first army, but he declined in favor of Hu Mao and acted as his assistant. The marquis ordered Zhao Shuai to take the third command, but he declined in favor of Luan Zhi and Xian Zhen, at which Luan Zhi was made commander of the third army, with Xian Zhen as his assistant. Xun Lin Fu acted as charioteer for the marquis, and Wei Chou was the spearman on the right.

When the marquis of Jin got possession of the state, he taught the people for two years and then wished to employ them in war. Zi Fan said, "While the people do not know righteousness, they will not live quietly." At this, beyond the state, the marquis settled the troubles of king Xiang, and in it he studied the people's advantage till their lives were happy and cherished by them. He then wished to employ them, but Zi Fan again said, "The people do not yet know good faith and do not understand how they are to be employed." At this the marquis attacked Yuan and showed them what good faith was, so that in their bargains they sought no advantage and intelligently fulfilled all their words. "May they now be employed?" asked the marquis, but Zi Fan once more replied, "While they do not know the observances of propriety, their respectfulness is not brought out." At this the marquis made great huntings and showed them the gradations of different ranks, making special officers of degrees to adjust all the services. When the people could receive their orders without making any mistake, then he employed them, drove out the guards of Ke and relieved the siege of Song. The securing of his leadership of the states by one battle was owing to this intelligent training. <div align="right">

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Duke Xi, year 30, 629 BC (Legge p. 215, col. 15, & p. 217)

Flattery is no excuse for not observing proper form [LI] at a banquet

[The Chun Qiu has: "In winter, the king [by] Heaven's [grace] sent his chief minister, the duke of Zhou, to Lu on a mission of friendly inquiries.]

At the entertainment for him, there were the [pickled] roots of the sweet flag cut small, rice, millet, and the salt in the form of a tiger, [all set forth]. Yue declined [such an entertainment], saying, "The ruler of a state, whose civil talents make him illustrious and whose military prowess makes him an object of dread, is feasted with such a complete array of provisions, to emblem his virtues. The five savors are introduced and viands of the finest grains, with the salt in the shape of a tiger, to illustrate his services. But I am not worthy of such a feast."

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Duke Wen, 2nd year—624 B.C. (Legge, p. 232, col. 4 & p. 234, col. 1)

The ancestral tablet of one duke was advanced to be above that of his brother and predecessor.

This was contrary to the order of sacrifice. On this, Xia Fu Fu Ji, who was then director of the ancestral temple, wished to honor duke Xi and told what he had seen, saying, "I saw the new spirit great and the old spirit small. To put the great one first and the small one after it is the natural order. And to advance him who was sage and worthy is the act of intelligence. What is according to natural order and intelligence has a principle of reason in it."

But the superior man must consider the act to have been contrary to the propriety of the ceremony. In ceremonies, everything must be in the proper natural order, and sacrifice is the great business of the state. How can it be called propriety to go contrary to the order of it? The son may have been reverend and sage, but he does not take precedence to the father, who has enjoyed the sacrifice for a long time. Thus it was that Yu did not take precedence of Guan nor Tang of Xie, nor Wen and Wu of Bu Zhu. The emperor Yi was the ancestor of the house of Song, and king Li the ancestor of that of Zheng. Notwithstanding their bad character, they keep in the temples their superior position. Thus also, in the Praise Songs of Lu [Mao #300], we have,

In spring and in autumn, without delay,

He presents his offerings without error,

To the great and sovereign God,

And to his great ancestor Hou Ji.

The superior man thus in effect says, "Here is the order of ceremony. Though How Ji be near in relationship, yet God takes the precedence in the sacrifice." Another ode [Mao #39] says,

I will ask for my aunts,

And then for my sister.

The superior may thus says, "here is the order of ceremony. Though sister be the nearest in relationship, yet the aunts take the precedence of her." Zhong Ni [Confucius] said, "There were three things which showed Zang Wen Zhong's want of virtue and three which showed his want of knowledge. His keeping Zhan Qin in a low position; his removing the six gates; and his making his concubines weave rush mats for sale—these showed his want of virtue. His making vain structures [cf. Analects 5.17]; his allowing a sacrifice contrary to the proper order; and his sacrificing to the Yuan Ju—these showed his want of knowledge."

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Duke Wen, year 13—613 B.C. (Legge p. 263, col. 10 & p. 264, col. 2)

Negotiation accomplished entirely by means of Odes

In winter, the duke went to Jin, paying a court visit, and renewing his covenant with the marquis. The marquis of Wei had a meeting with the duke at Ta and begged his mediation to make peace with Jin. As he was returning, the earl of Zheng met him at Fei and begged from him a similar service. The duke accomplished the thing for them both. The earl of Zheng and he feasted at Fei, when Zi Jia (an officer of Zheng) sang the Hong Yan (Shi, II. iii. ode VII = Mao 181). Ji Wen (an officer of Lu) said, "My ruler has his share in that," and he sang the Si Yue (Shi, II. v. ode X = Mao 204). Zi Jia then sang the fourth stanza of the Zai Chi (Shi, I. iv. ode X = Mao 54), and Ji Wen responded with the fourth of the Cai Wei (Shi, II. i. ode VII = Mao 167). The earl of Zheng then bowed his thanks to the duke, and the duke returned the bow. [The sentence, "The duke accomplished…" anticipates the outcome of the interchange at the banquet. The negotiating between the two rulers is performed by subalterns entirely through citations from the Odes. Everyone understands what is being asked and what is being granted. The rulers need merely to bow to one another.]

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Duke Wen, year 17, 609 BC, (Legge p. 277, col. 9, & p. 278)

Virtuous kindness brings gratitude; harshness brings desperation.

[The marquis of Jin suspects the smaller state of Zheng of withdrawing from submission to Jin and attaching itself to Chu. A minister of Zheng protests that this is not the case, citing in evidence Zheng's unbroken loyalty to Jin. The minister continues:]

There is a saying of the ancients: "Fearing for its head and fearing for its tail, there is little of the body left [not to fear for]." And there is another: "The deer driven to its death does not choose the [best] place to take shelter in." When a small state serves a large one, if dealt with kindly [DE], it shows the gratitude of a man; if not dealt with kindly, it acts like the stag. That runs into danger in its violent hurry, for how in its urgency should it be able to choose where to run? [The state], driven by the commands to it without limit, in the same way only knows that there is ruin before it. We will raise all our poor levies and await you at You, just as you, the director

of affairs, may command us. Our [former] duke Wen in his second year, in the sixth month, on ren-shen, acknowledged the court of Qi, but in his fourth year, in the second month, on ren-xu, because Qi made an incursion into Cai, he [felt obliged to] obtain terms of peace from Chu. Situated between great states, is it our fault that we must follow their violent orders? If your great state do not consider these things, we will not seek to evade the command you shall lay upon us [i.e., we will meet you in arms, if necessary].

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Duke Wen, year 18, 608 BC (Legge p. 279, col. 16, & p. 282)

Never harbor one who is disobedient and unfilial. Examples of the ancients.

Duke Zhi of Jiu had two sons, Bu [who should have succeeded him] and Chi Tuo [lit. Chi the younger brother], but through his love for Chi Tuo, he degraded Bu. He also did many things against all propriety in the state, and Bu, by the help of the people, proceeded to murder him. He then gathered all his valuable treasures together and came flying with them to Lu and presented them to Duke Xuan. The duke gave orders to assign him a city, saying, "It must be given to him today, but Chi Wen made the minister of crime send him beyond the borders, saying, "He must get there today." The duke asked the reason of this conduct, and Chi Wen sent Ke, the grand historiographer, with the following reply:

"A deceased great officer of our state, Cang Wen Zhong, taught Hang Fu rules to guide him in serving his ruler, and Hang Fu gives them the widest application, not daring to let them slip from his mind. Wen Zhong's words were, 'When you see a man who observes the rules of propriety in his conduct toward his ruler, behave to him as a dutiful son should do in nourishing his parents. When you see a man who transgresses those rules towards his ruler, take him off as an eagle or a hawk pursues a small bird.' The founder of our house, the duke of Zhou, in the rules which he framed for Zhou, said,

By means of the model of conduct, you can see a man's virtue.

His virtue is evidenced in his management of affairs.

From that management his merit can be measured.

His services result in the support of the people.

In the Admonitory Instruction which he made, [the duke of Zhou] said,

He who overthrows [the laws of conduct] is a villain,

and he who conceals him is his harborer.

He who filches money is a thief;

he who steals the treasures of a state is a traitor.

He who harbors the villain and he who uses

the treasurers of the traitor

is guilty of the greatest crime.

He must suffer the regular penalty, without forgiveness.

Such a case is not omitted in [the Book of] the Nine Punishments.'

"When Wang Fu viewed the whole action of Bu of Jiu, he saw nothing in him fit to be a model of conduct. Filial reverence and loyal faith are virtues of good conduct; theft and villainy, and harboring [the thief] and [accepting the gifts of] the traitor are vices of evil conduct. Now what was the pattern of filial reverence given by Bu of Jiu? The murder of his father and ruler. And his pattern of loyal faith was his stealing the treasures and jewels of the state. The man is a robber and a villain; the things he brought with him are the signs of his treachery. To protect him and accept his gifts would be to be a principal in harboring him. If we, with [the duke of Zhou's] lessons, should take such a blind course, the people would have no pattern, and, unable to take the measurement of good themselves, they would be in the midst of vices of bad conduct [XIONG DE].

"The ancient [emperor] Gao Yang had eight descendants of ability [and virtue] . . . [names omitted]. They were correct and sagely, of wide comprehension and deep, intelligent and consistent, generously good and sincere: all under heaven called them the Eight Harmonies.

"[The emperor] Gao Xin had eight descendants of ability [and virtue] . . . [names omitted]. They were loyal and reverential, respectful and admirable, all-considering and benevolent, kind and harmonious: all under heaven called them the Eight Worthies.

"Of these sixteen men, [after] ages have acknowledged the excellence and not let their names fall to the ground. But in the time of Yao, he was not able to raise them to office. When Shun, however, became Yao's minister, he raised the Eight Harmonies to office and employed them to superintend the department of the minister of the land. All matters connected with it were thus regulated, and everything was arranged in the proper season: the earth was reduced to order, and the influences of heaven

operated with effect. He also raised the Eight Worthies to office and employed them to disseminate through the four quarters a knowledge of the duties belonging to the five relations of society. Fathers became just and mothers gentle; elder brothers kindly, and younger ones respectful; and sons became filial. In the empire there was order, and beyond it submission.

"The ancient emperor Hong had a descendant devoid of ability [and virtue]. He hid righteousness from himself and was a villain at heart; he delighted in the practice of the worst vices; he was shameless and vile, obstinate, stupid, and unfriendly, cultivating only the intimacy of such as himself. All the people under heaven called him Chaos.

"The emperor Shao Hao had a descendant devoid of ability [and virtue]. He sought to overthrow faith and disowned loyalty. He delighted in evil speeches and tried to make them attractive; he was a home with slanderers and employed the perverse; he readily received calumnies and sought out men's iniquities to stigmatize what was sincere. All the people under heaven called him Monster.

"[The emperor] Jun Xiu had a descendant devoid of ability [and virtue]. He would receive no instruction; he would acknowledge no good words. When told, he was obstinate; when left alone, he was stupid. He was an arrogant hater of intelligent virtue, seeking to confound the heavenly rules of society. All the people under heaven called him Block.

"Of these three men [after] ages acknowledged the wickedness and added to their evil names. But in the time of Yao, he was not able to put them away.

"[The officer] Jin Yun had a descendant who was devoid of ability and virtue. He was greedy of eating and drinking, craving for money and property. Ever gratifying his lusts and making a grand display, he was insatiable, rapacious in his exactions, and accumulating stores of wealth. He had no idea of calculating where he should stop and made no exceptions in favor of the orphan and the widow, felt no compassion for the poor and exhausted. All the people under heaven likened him to the three other wicked ones and called him Glutton.

"When Shun became Yao's minister, he received the nobles from the four quarters of the empire and banished these four wicked ones, Chaos, Monster, Block, and Glutton, casting them out into the four distant regions to meet the spite of the sprites and evil things. The consequence of this was that, when Yao died, all under heaven, as if they had been one man, with common consent bore Shun to be emperor, because he had raised to office those sixteen helpers and had put away the four wicked ones. Therefore the Book of Yu, in enumerating the services of Shun, says, 'He carefully set forth the beauty of the five cardinal duties, and they came to be universally observed [cf. Shu, Canon of Shun, 2; Legge, p. 31]. None were disobedient to his instructions; 'being appointed to be General Regulator, the affairs of each department were arranged according to their proper seasons' [Canon of Shun]. There was no neglect of any affair; 'having to receive the princes from the four quarters of the empire, there all were docilely submissive.' There were none wicked among them. Shun's services

were shown in the case of those twenty men, and he became emperor, and now, although Hang Fu has not obtained one good man, he has put away one bad one. He has a twentieth part of the merit of Shun, and may he not perhaps escape the charge of having been disobedient?"

[Legge notes that this long vindication of his conduct by Che Sun Hang Fu is rich in "references to men and things in what we may call the praehistoric period." These references reveal what traditions were current, but "we cannot accept them as possessed of historical authority, more especially as there is an anti-confucian spirit in what is said of Yao."]

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Duke Xuan, 3rd year—605 BC (Legge, p. 292, col. 3 & p. 293, par. 4)

It is not the time to inquire about the nine tripods

The viscount of Chu invaded the Rong of Lu Huan, and then went on as far as the Luo, where he reviewed his troops on the borders of Zhou. King Ding sent Wang Sun Man to him with congratulations and presents, when the viscount asked about the size and weight of the tripods. Man replied, "[The strength of the kingdom] depends on virtue [DE] and not on the tripods. Anciently, when Xia was distinguished for its virtue, the distant regions sent pictures of the [remarkable] objects in them. The nine pastors sent in the metal of their provinces, and the tripods were cast, with representations on them of those objects. All the objects were represented, and [instructions were given] of the preparations to be made in reference to them, so that the people might know the sprites and evil things. Thus the people, when they went among the rivers, marshes, hills, and forests, did not meet with the injurious things, and the hill-sprites, monstrous things, and water-sprites, did not meet with them [to do them injury]. Hereby a harmony was secured between the high and the low, and all enjoyed the blessing of Heaven. When the virtue of Jie was all-obscured, the tripods were transferred to Shang, for 600 years. Zhouw of Shang proved cruel and oppressive, and they were transferred to Zhou. When the virtue is commendable and brilliant, the tripods, though they were small, would be heavy; when it gives place to its reverse, to darkness and disorder, though they were large, they would be light. Heaven blesses intelligent virtue; on that its favor rests. King Cheng fixed the tripods in Jia Ru, and divined that the dynasty should extend through 30 reigns, over 700 years. Though the virtue of Zhou is decayed, the decree of Heaven [TIAN MING] is not yet changed. The weight of the tripods may not yet be inquired about." <div align="right">

INDEX

Duke Xuan, 12th Year—596 B.C. (Legge, p. 312, col. 11 & p. 317, col. 2)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

[The leaders of the army of Jin are debating whether to cross the He and engage Chu. Part of the force, under the command of Zhizi has crossed.]

Zhuangzi of Zhi said, "This army is in great peril. The case is that indicated in the change of the diagram Shi into Lin. [On Shi] it is said, ‘A host must be led forth according to the rules of service. If these be not good, there will be evil.’ When the commanders all observe their proper harmony, the rules are good; if they oppose one another, they are not. [The change of the lower trigram of Shi into that of Lin indicates] the separation of the host producing weakness; it is the stopping up of a stream so as to form a marsh. The rules of service are turned into each one’s taking his own way. Hence the words: ‘The rules become not good.’ They are, as it were, dried up. The full stream is dried up; it is stopped and cannot have its course. Consequently evil must ensue. Lin [moreover] is the name for what does not proceed. When a commander does not follow the orders of his leader, what greater want of on-going could there be? And it is the case we now have. If we do meet the enemy, we are sure to be defeated, and the calamity will be owning to Zhizi. Though he should now escape, yet, on his return to Jin, great evil will await him."

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Duke Zheng, 2nd year—588 BC (Legge, p. 339, col. 7 & p. 344, col. 2)

Insignia and music; their importance for LI and YI

It was Zhong Shu Yu Xi, commandant of Xin Zhu, who thus came to the relief of Sun Huan Zi and secured his escape. In consequence, the people of Wei would have rewarded Yu Xi with a city, but he refused it and asked that he might be allowed to have his suspended instruments of music disposed incompletely [like those of the prince of a state] and to appear at court with the saddle girth and bridle trappings of a prince—which was granted to him.

When Zhong Ni [Confucius] heard of this, he said, "Alas! It would have been better to give him many cities. It is only peculiar articles of use and names which cannot be granted to other [than those to whom they belong]. To them a ruler has particularly to attend. It is by [the right use of] names that he secures the confidence [of the people]. It is by that confidence that he preserves the articles [distinctive of ranks]. It is in those articles that the ceremonial distinctions of rank are hid. Those ceremonial distinctions are essential to the practice of righteousness [YI]. It is righteousness which contributes to the advantage [of the state], and it is that advantage which secures the quiet of the people. Attention to these things is the condition of [good] government. If they be conceded where they ought not to be conceded, it is giving away the government to the recipients. When the government thus perishes, the state will follow it. It is not possible to prevent that from happening." [cf. Analects 13.3] <div align="right">

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Duke Zheng, year 9—581 B.C. (Legge p. 369, col. 11 & p. 371, col. 1)

the virtuous and loyal musician from Chu

The marquis of Jin was surveying the arsenal, when he observed Zhong Yi and asked about him, saying, "Who is that bound there and wearing a southern cap?" The officer in charge said, "It is the Chu prisoner, whom the people of Zheng delivered to us." The marquis made them loose his bonds, called him, and spoke comfortingly to him.

The man bowed twice before him, with his head to the ground, and the marquis asked him about his family. "We are musicians," he said. "Can you play?" "Music," he said, "was the profession of my father. Dared I learn any other?" The marquis made a lute be given to him, which he began to touch to an air of the south. He was then asked about the character of the king of Chu, but he answered that that was beyond the knowledge of a small man like himself. The marquis urged him, so he replied, "When he was prince, his tutor and his guardian trained him, and in the morning he was to be seen with Ying Qi, and in the evening with Ce. I do not know anything else about him."

The duke repeated this conversation to Fan Wen Zi, who said, "That prisoner of Chu is a superior man. He told you of the office of his father, showing that he is not ashamed of his origin. He played an air of his country, showing that he has not forgotten his old associations. He spoke of his king when he was prince, showing his own freedom from mercenariness. He mentioned the two ministers by name, doing honor to your lordship. His not being ashamed of his origin shows the man's virtue; his not forgetting his old associations, his good faith; his freedom from mercenariness, his loyalty; and his honoring your lordship, his intelligence. With virtue to undertake the management of affairs, good faith to keep it, and loyalty to complete it, he is sure to be competent for the successful conduct of a great business. Why should not your lordship send him back to Chu, and make him unite Jin and Chu in bonds of peace?"

The marquis followed this counsel, treated Zhong Yi with great ceremony, and sent him back to Chu to ask that there might be peace between it and Jin.

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Duke Zheng, year 13—577 B.C. (Legge, p. 379, col. 6 & p. 381, col. 2)

proper conduct in the two great affairs of state: sacrifice and war

When the duke [of Lu] was going to the capital, Xuan Bo, wishing to obtain gifts [from the king], begged to be sent on beforehand. The king, however, received him [only] with the ceremonies due an envoy. Meng Xian Zi came on in attendance [on the duke], and the king considered him to be the duke's director for the visit and gave him large presents. The duke and the other princes had an audience with the king, and then followed duke Kang of Liu and duke Su of Zheng to join the marquis of Jin in the invasion of Qin.

When the viscount of Zheng received the flesh of the sacrifice at the altar of the land, his manner was not respectful. The viscount of Liu said, "I have heard that men receive at birth the exact and correct principles of Heaven and Earth, and these are what is called their appointed [nature]. There are the rules of action, propriety, righteousness, and demeanor, to establish this nature. Men of ability nourish those rules so as to secure blessing, while those devoid of ability violate them so as to bring on themselves calamity. Therefore superior men diligently attend to the rules of propriety, and men in an inferior position do their best. In regard to the rules of propriety, there is nothing like using the greatest respectfulness. In doing one's best, there is nothing like being earnestly sincere. That respectfulness consists in nourishing one's spirit [SHEN]; that earnestness, in keeping one's duties in life. The great affairs of a state are sacrifice and war. At sacrifices [in the ancestral temple], [the officers] receive the roasted flesh; in war they receive that offered at the altar of the land. These are the great ceremonies in worshipping the Spirits [SHEN]. Now the viscount of Zheng by his lazy rudeness has cast from him his proper nature. May we suppose that he will not return from this expedition?"

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Duke Xiang, year 9--563 B.C. (Legge, p. 436, col. 1 & p. 439, col. 1)

Fire prevention preparations and Providence (TIAN DAO)

In the duke's 9th year, in spring, there was a fire in Song. Yue Xi [Zi Han] was then minister of works, and made in consequence [the following] regulations [for such an event]. He appointed the officer Bo to take charge of the streets where the fire had not reached. He was to remove small houses and plaster over large ones. He was to set forth baskets and barrows for carrying earth, provide well-ropes and buckets, prepare water jars, have things arranged according to their weight, dam the water up in places where it was collected, have earth and mud stored up, go round the walls and measure off the places where watch and ward should be kept and signalize the line of the fire. He appointed Hua Chen to have the public workmen in readiness, and to order the commandants outside the city to march their men from the borders and various stations to the place of the fire. He appointed Hua Yue to arrange that the officers of the right should be prepare for all they might be called on to do and Xiang Shu to arrange similarly for the officers of the left. He appointed Yue Chuan in the same way to prepare the various instruments of punishment. He appointed Huang Yun to give orders to the waster of the horse to bring out horses, and the chariot-master to bring out chariots, and to be prepared with buff-coats and weapons, in readiness for military guard. He appointed Xi Chu Wu to look after the records kept in the different repositories. He ordered the superintendent and officers of the harem to maintain a careful watch in the palace. The masters of the right and left were to order the headmen of the four village districts reverently to offer sacrifices. The great officer of religion was to sacrifice horses on the walls and sacrifice to Pan Geng outside the western gate.

The marquis of Jin asked Shi Ruo what was the reason of a saying which he had heard, that from the fires of Song it could be known there was a providence [TIAN DAO]. "The ancient director of fire," replied Ruo, "was sacrificed to either when the heart or the beak of the Bird culminated at sunset, to regulate the kindling or the extinguishing of the people's fires. Hence the beak is the star Chun-he, and the heart is Da-he. Now the director of fire under Tao Tang [Yao] was Bo E, who dwelt in Shang Qiu and sacrificed to Da-he, by fire regulating the seasons. Xiang Tu came after him, and hence Shang paid special regard to the star Da-he. The people of Shang, in calculating their disasters and calamities, discovered that they were sure to begin with fire, and hence came the saying about thereby knowing there was a providence [TIAN DAO]."

"Can the thing be certainly [known beforehand]?" asked the marquis, to which Ruo replied, "It depends on the ruler's course. When the disorders of a state have not evident indications, it cannot be known [beforehand] ."

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Duke Xiang, 9th Year—563 B.C. (Legge, p. 437, col. 5 & p. 439, col. 2)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

Mu Jiang died in the eastern palace [where she had been confined because of her intriguing]. When she first went into it, she consulted the milfoil and got the second line of the diagram Gen. The diviner said, "This is what remains when Gen becomes Sui. Sui is the symbol of getting out. Your ladyship will soon get out of this." She replied, "No. Of this diagram it is said in the Zhou Yi, ‘Sui indicates being great, penetrating, beneficial, firmly correct, without blame.’ Now that greatness is the lofty distinction of the person; that penetration is the assemblage of excellences; that beneficialness is the harmony of all righteousness; that firm correctness is the stem of all affairs. The person who is entirely virtuous is sufficient to take the presidency of others; admirable virtue is sufficient to secure an agreement with all propriety. Beneficialness to things is sufficient to effect a harmony of all righteousness. Firm correctness is sufficient to manage all affairs. But these things must not be in semblance merely. It is only thus that Sui could bring the assurance of blamelessness. Now I, a woman, and associated with disorder, am here in the place of inferior rank. Chargeable moreover with a want of virtue, greatness cannot be predicated of me. Not having contributed to the quiet of the state, penetration cannot be predicated of me. Having brought harm to myself by my doings, beneficialness cannot be predicated of me. Having left my proper place for a bad intrigue, firm correctness cannot be predicated of me. To one who has those four virtues the diagram Sui belongs. What have I to do with it, to whom none of them belongs? Having chosen evil, how can I be without blame? I shall die here. I shall never get out of this."

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Duke Xiang 16th Year—558 BC (Legge, p. 462, col. 5 & p. 466, col. 2)

When may the ruler be expelled?

The music-master Kuang being by the side of the marquis of Jin, the marquis said to him, "Have not the people of Wei done very wrong in expelling their ruler?"

Kuang replied, "Perhaps the ruler had done very wrong. A good ruler will reward the virtuous and punish the vicious; he will nourish his people as his children, overshadowing them as heaven, and supporting them as the earth. Then the people will maintain their ruler, love him as a parent, look up to him as the sun and moon, revere him as they do spiritual Beings, and stand in awe of him as of thunder. Could such a ruler be expelled? Now, the ruler is the host of the spirits and the hope of the people. If he makes the life of the people to be straightened and the spirits to want their sacrifices, then the hope of the people is cut off, and the altars are without a host. Of what use is he, and what should they do but send him away? Heaven, in giving birth to the people, appointed for them rulers to act as their superintendents and pastors, so that they should not lose their proper nature. For the rulers there are assigned their assistants to act as tutors and guardians to them, so that they should not go beyond their proper limits. Therefore the Son of Heaven has his dukes; princes of States have their high ministers; ministers have [the Heads of] their collateral families; great officers have the members of the secondary branches of their families; and the common people, mechanics, merchants, police runners, shepherds, and grooms, all have their relatives and acquaintances to aid and assist them. These stimulate and honor those [to whom they stand in such a relation], when they are good, and correct them when they do wrong. They rescue them in calamity and try to put away their errors. From the king downwards, everyone has his father, elder brothers, sons and younger brothers to supply [the defects] and watch over [the character of] his government. The historiographers make their records; the blind make their poems; the musicians recite their satires and remonstrances; the great officers admonish and instruct, and inferior officers report to these what they hear; the common people utter their complaints; the merchants [display their wares] in the market places; the hundred artificers exhibit their skilful contrivances. Hence in one of the Books of Xia [Shu III. iv. 3] it is said, 'The herald with his wooden-tongued bell goes along the roads [proclaiming], "Ye officers, able to instruct, be prepared with your admonitions. Ye workmen engaged in mechanical affairs, remonstrate on the subject of your business." In the first month, at the beginning of spring, this was done.' It was done, lest remonstrances should not be regularly presented. Heaven's love for the people is very great. Would it allow the one man to take his will and way over them, so indulging his excessive desires and discarding the [kindly] nature of Heaven and Earth? Such a thing could not be."

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Duke Xiang, 25th Year—547 B.C. (Legge, p. 510, col. 3 & p. 514, col. 1)

The Zhou Yi (Yi Jing, I Ching) is consulted.

The wife of the commandant of Tang of Qi was an elder sister of Dong Guo Yan, who was a minister of Cui Wuzi. When the commandant died, Yan drove Wuzi [to his house] to offer his condolences. Wuzi then saw Tang Jiang [the wife of the commandant] and, admiring her beauty, wished Yan to give her to him for his wife. Yan said, "Husband and wife should be of different surnames. You are descended from Duke Ding and I from Duke Huan. The thing cannot be."

Wuzi consulted the milfoil about it and got the diagram Kun, which then became the diagram Da Guo, which the diviners all said was fortunate. He showed it to Chen Wenzi, but he said, "The [symbol for] a man [in Kun] is displaced by that for wind [in Da Guo]. Wind overthrows things. The woman ought not to be married. And moreover, [upon Kun] it is said, ‘Distressed by rocks; holding to brambles; he enters his palace and does not see his wife. It is evil.’ ‘Distressed by rocks’: in vain does one attempt to go forward. ‘Holding by brambles’: that in which trust is placed wounds. ‘He enters his palace and does not see hiw wife; it is evil’: there is nowhere to turn to." Cuizi replied, "She is a widow. What does all this matter? Her former husband bore the brunt of it." So he married her.

Afterwards Duke Zhuang had an intrigue with her and constantly went to Cui’s house. [On one occasion] he took Cui’s hat and gave it to another person, and when his attendants said that he should not do so, he remarked, "Although he be not Cuizi, should he therefore be without a hat?"

Cuizi [was enraged] by these things, and because the duke took occasion [of its troubles] to invade Jin, thinking that Jin would be sure to retaliate, he wished to murder the duke in order to please that state. He did not, however, find an opportunity. . .

INDEX</div>

Duke Xiang, 26th Year—546 B.C. (Legge, p. 521, col. 8 & p. 526)

Better to reward too much than to punish too much.

[Talented men from Chu are defecting to Jin. Gui Sheng explains why.] I have heard this, that the skillful administration of a state is seen in rewarding without error and punishing without excess. If rewards be conferred beyond what is proper, there is a danger of some reaching bad men, and if punishments be inflicted in excess, there is a danger of some reaching good men. If unfortunately mistakes cannot be avoided, it is better to err in the matter of rewards than of punishments. It is better that a bad man get an advantage than that a good man be lost. If there be not good men, the state will follow them to ruin. The words of the ode are descriptive of the consequences of there being no good men:

Men there are not,

And the kingdom is sure to go to ruin. [Mao 264]

And so in one of the Books of Xia it is said, ‘Rather than put to death an innocent person, you run the risk of irregularity,’ indicating the fear that should be entertained of losing the good. In the sacrificial odes of Xia it is said:

He erred not in rewarding or punishing;

He dared not to be idle.

So was his appointment established over the states,

And his happiness was made grandly secure. [Mao 305]

It was thus that Tang obtained the blessing of Heaven. The ancient rulers of the people encouraged themselves in rewarding and stood in awe of punishing, and their compassion for the people was untiring. They rewarded in spring and summer; they punished in autumn and winter. Thus it was that when they were going to reward, they increased the number of their dishes, and in doing so they gave abundantly to their ministers. They showed us by this how they rejoiced in rewarding. But when they were going to punish, they would not take a full meal and at the same time silenced their music. They showed by this how they shrank from punishing. Early they rose and went to sleep late. Morning and evening they were occupied with the government. They showed us how anxious they were for the welfare of the people. These three things are the great points of propriety [LI] in a government, and where there is such propriety, there will be no such thing as overthrow.

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INDEX</div>

Duke Xiang, year 30—542 B.C. (Legge, p. 553, col. 2 & p. 556, col. 2)

Wrongly placed modesty is not proper conduct [YI].

Some one called out in the grand temple of Sung. "Ah! Ah! come out, come out." A bird also sang at the altar of Bo, as if it were saying, "Ah! Ah !" On the day jia-wu there occurred a great fire in Song, when duke Zheng's eldest daughter, who had been married to the ruler of Song, died, through her waiting for the instructress of the harem. The superior man may say that Gong Ji acted like a young lady and not like a woman of years. A girl should wait for the instructress [in such a case]; a wife might act as was right in the case [YI SHI].

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Duke Xiang, 30th Year—542 BC (Legge pp. 554 & 558)

A mirror for governing well.

Zi Pi of Zheng wished to resign the government of that state to Zi Chan, who declined it, saying, "The state is small and is near to [a great one]; the clans are great, and many [members of them] are favorites [with our ruler]. The government cannot be efficiently conducted." Zi Pi replied, "I will lead them all to listen [to your orders], and who will dare to come into collision with you? With your ability presiding over its administration, the state will not be small. Though it be small, you can with it serve the great state, and the state will enjoy ease." At this, Zi Chang undertook the government.

Wishing to employ the services of Bo Shi, he conferred on him a grant of towns. Zi Tai Shu said, "The state is the state of us all. Why do you make such a grant to him alone?" Zi Chan replied, "It is hard for a man not to desire such things, and when a man gets what he desires, he is excited to attend to his business and labors to compass its success. I cannot compass that; it must be done by him. And why should you grudge the towns? Where will they go?" "But what will the neighboring states think?" urged Zi Tai Shu. "When we do not oppose one another," was the reply, "but act in harmony, what will they have to blame? It is said in one of our own books, 'In order to give rest and settlement to the state, let the great families have precedence.' Let me now for the present content them and wait for that result."

After this Bo Shi became afraid and returned the towns, but in the end, Zi Chan gave them to him. And now that Bo You was dead, he sent the grand historiographer to Bo Shi with the commission of a minister. It was declined, and the historiographer withdrew, when Bo Shi requested that the offer might be repeated. On its being so, he again declined it, and this he did three times, when at last he accepted the tablet and went to the court to give thanks for it. All this made Zi Chan dislike the man, but he made him take the position next to himself.

Zi Chan made the central cities and border lands of the state be exactly defined and enjoined on the high and inferior officers to wear [only] their distinctive robes. The fields were all marked out by their banks and ditches. The houses and zing [a piece of land divided, like a tic-tac-toe game, into nine sections, like the character for "well." The produce of the center section accrued to the state.] were divided into fives, responsible for one another. The great officers, who were faithful and temperate, were advanced to higher dignities, while the extravagant were punished and taken off.

Feng Quan, in prospect of a sacrifice, asked leave to go hunting, but Zi Chan refused it, saying, "It is only the ruler who uses venison. The officers use in sacrifice only the domestic animals." Zi Zhang was angry, withdrew, and got his servants ready, intending to attack Zi Chan, who thought of fleeing to Jin. Zi Pi, however, stopped him and drove out Feng Quan, who fled to Jin. Zi Chan begged his lands and villages from the duke, got Quan recalled in three years, and then restored them all to him, with the income which had accrued from them.

When the government had been in Zi Chan's hands one year, all men sang of him:

We must take our clothes and caps and hide them away.

We must count our fields by fives and own a mutual sway.

We'll gladly join with him who this Zi Chan will slay.

But in three years the song was:

'Tis Zi Chan who our children trains.

Our fields to Zi Chan owe their gains.

Did Zi Chan die, who'd take the reins?

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Duke Xiang, 31st Year—541 BC

Wise use of subordinates' talents.(Legge pp. 561 & 565)

In the twelfth month, Bi Gong Wan Zi attended Duke Xiang of Wei on a visit to Chu, undertaken in compliance with the covenant of Song. As they passed by [the capital of] Ching, Yin Tuan went out to comfort them under the toils of the journey, using the ceremonies of a complimentary visit but the speeches appropriate to such a comforting visit. Wan Zi entered the city to pay a complimentary visit [in return]. Zi Yu was the internuncius. Ping Qian Zi and Zi Tai Shu met the guest. When the business was over and Wan Zi had gone out [again], he said to the marquis of Wei, "Ching observes the proprieties. This will be a blessing to it for several generations and save it, I apprehend, from any inflictions from the great states. The ode says:

Who can hold anything hot?

Must he not dip it [first] in water? [cf Legge, p. 522; Mao #257]

The rules of propriety are to government what that dipping is to the consequences of the heat. With the dipping to take away the heat, there is no distress."

Zi Chan, in the administration of his government, selected the able and employed them. Ping Qian Zi was able to give a decision in the greatest matters. Zi Tai Shu was handsome and accomplished. Gong Sun Hui told what was doing in the states round about and could distinguish all about their great officers, their clans, surnames, order, positions, their rank whether noble or mean, their ability or the reverse, and he was also skilful in composing speeches. Pi Chen was a shilful counsellor, shilful when he concocted his plans in the open country but not so when he did so in the city.

When the state was going to have any business with other states, Zi Chan asked Zi Yu what was doing round about and caused him to compose a long speech. He then took Pi Chen in his carriage into the open country and made him consider whether the speech would suit the occasion or not. Next he told Ping Qian Zi and made him give a decision in the case. When all this was done, he put the matter into the hands of Zi Tai Shu to carry it into effect and reply to the visitors [from the other states]. In this was it was seldom that any affair went wrong. This was what Bei Gong Wan Zi meant in saying that Ching observed the proprieties. <div align="right">

INDEX</div>

Listening to the people. (Legge pp. 561 & 565-6)

A man of Qing rambled into a village school and started discoursing about the conduct of the government. [In consequence] Ran Ming proposed to Zi Chan to destroy [all] village schools. But the minister said, "Why do so? If people retire morning and evening and pass their judgment on the conduct of the government, as being good or bad, I will do what they approve of, and I will alter what they condemn. They are my teachers. On what ground should we destroy [those schools]? I have heard that by loyal conduct and goodness enmity is dimished, but I have not heard that it can be prevented by acts of violence. It may indeed be hastily stayed for a while, but it continues like a stream that has been dammed up. If you make a great opening in the dam, there will be great injury done, beyond our power to relieve. The best plan is to lead the water off by a small opening [In this case] our best plan is to hear what is said and use it as a medicine."

Ran Ming said, "From this time forth I know that you are indeed equal to the administration of affairs. I acknowledge my want of ability. If you indeed do this, all Qing will be benefitted by it, and not we two or three ministers only."

When Zhong Ni [Confucius] heard of these words, he said, "Looking at the matter from this, when men say that Zi Chan was not benevolent, I do not believe it."

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Duke Xiang, year 31 — 541 B.C. (Legge p. 562, col. 8 & p. 566, col. 2)

The Odes cited to point out a chief minister’s lack of dignity (wei yi).

When the marquis of Wei was in Chu, Bei Gong Wan Zi, perceiving the carriage and display of the chief minister Wei, said to the marquis, "The [pomp] of the chief minister is like that of the ruler; he must have his mind set on some other object. But though he may obtain his desire, he will not hold it to the end. The ode (She, III. iii. ode I. 1 = Mao 255) says,

All have their beginning,

But there are few that can secure the end.

The difficulty is indeed with the end. The chief minister will not escape [an evil death]." The marquis said, "How do you know it?" Wan Zi replied, "The ode (She, III. iii. ode II. 2 = Mao 256) says,

Let him be reverently careful of his digni-fied manner,

And he will be the pattern of the people.

But the chief minister has no dignified manner [such as becomes him], and the people have no pattern in him. Let him, in whom the people find no pattern, be placed above them, yet he cannot continue to the end." "Good!" said the duke. "What do you mean by a dignified manner?" The reply was, "Having majesty that inspires awe, is what we call dignity. Presenting a pattern which induces imitation is what we call manner. When a ruler has the dignified manner of a ruler, his ministers fear and love him, imitate and resemble him, so that he holds [firm] possession of his state, and his fame continues through long ages. When a minister has the dignified manner of a minister, his inferiors fear and love him, so that he can keep [sure] his office, preserve his clan, and rightly order his family. So it is with all classes downwards, and it is by this that high and low are made firm in their relations to one another. An ode of Wei (She, I. iii. ode I. 3 = Mao 26) says,

My dignified manner is mixed with ease

And cannot be made the subject of remark.

This shows that ruler and minister, high and low, father and son, elder and younger brother, at home and abroad, in great things and small, all have a dignified manner [which is proper to them]. An ode of Zhou (She, III. ii. ode III. 4 = Mao 247) says,

Your friends assisting at the service

Have done so in a dignified manner.

This shows that it is the rule for friends, in their instruction of one another, to exhibit a dignified manner. One of the books of Zhou says, ‘The great states feared his strength, and the small states cherished his virtue,’ showing the union of awe and love. An ode (She, III. i. ode VII. 7 = Mao 241) says,

Unconscious of effort,

He accorded with the example of God.

This shows the union of imitation and resemblance.

"Zhou [the last ruler of the shang dynasty] imprisoned king Wen for seven years, and then all the princes of the kingdom repaired to the place of his imprisonment, and on this Zhou became afraid, and restored him [to his state]. This may be called an instance of how [king Wen] was loved. When he invaded Cong, on his second expedition, [the lord of that state] surrendered and acknowledged his duty as a subject. All the wild tribes [also] led on one another to submit to him. These may be pro-nounced instances of the awe which he inspired. All under heaven praised his meritorious services with songs and dances, which may be pro-nounced an instance of their taking him as a pattern. To the present day, the actions of king Wen are acknowledged as laws, which may be pronounced an instance of his power to make men resemble himself. The secret was his dignified manner. Therefore when the superior man, occupying a high position, inspires awe, and by his beneficence produces love, and his advancing and retiring are according to rule, and all his intercourse with others affords a pattern, and his countenance and steps excite the gaze [of admiration], and the affairs he conducts serve as laws, and his virtuous actions lead to imitation, and his voice and air diffuse joy, and his movements and doings are elegant, and his words have distinctness and brilliance: —when thus he brings himself near to those below him, he is said to have a dignified man-ner."

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Duke Zhao, year 1—540 B.C. (Legge, 572, col. 18 & p. 580, col. 1)

Illness comes, not from spirits, but from improper conduct—two accounts.

The marquis of Jin being ill, the earl of Zheng sent Gong Sun Qiao to Jin on a complimentary visit and to inquire about the marquis' illness. Shu Xiang then asked Qiao, saying, "The diviners say that our ruler's illness is inflicted on him by [the spiritsl Shi Chen and Tai Tai, but the historiographers do not know who these are. I venture to ask you."

Zi Chan said, "Anciently, [the emperor] Gao Xin had two sons, of whom the elder was called E Bo, and the younger Shi Chen. They dwelt in Kuang Lin but could not agree, and daily carried their shields and spears against each other. The sovereign emperor (Yao) did not approve of this, and removed E Bo to Shang Qiu, to preside over the star Chen [Legge here and throughout has the star's name as "Ta-ho" = Da He]. The ancestors of Shang followed him [in Shang Qiu], and hence Chen is the star of Shang. [Yao also] removed Shi Chen to Da Xia, to preside over the star Shen [? in Orion]. The descendants of Tang (Yao) fol-lowed him, and in Da Xia served th