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I. At the mourning rites for Kung-î Kung-dze, Than Kung (was there), wearing the mourning cincture for the head, Kung-dze had passed over his grandson, and appointed one of his (younger) sons as his successor (and head of the family). Than Kung said (to himself), 'How is this? I never heard of such a thing;' and he hurried to Dze-fû Po-dze at the right of the door, and said, ' How is it that Kung-dze passed over his grandson, and made a (younger) son his successor?' Po-dze replied, 'Kung-dze perhaps has done in this, like others, according to the way of antiquity. Anciently, king Wan passed over his eldest son Yî-khâo, and appointed king Wû; and the count of Wei passed over his grandson Tun, and made Yen, his (own) younger brother, his successor. Kung-dze perhaps did also in this according to the way of antiquity.' Dze-yû asked Confucius (about the matter), and he said, 'Nay, (the rule is to) appoint the grandson[1].'

[On the name and divisions of this Book, see the Introduction, pp., 17, 18.

1. Important as showing the rule of succession to position and property. We must suppose that the younger son, who had been made the head of the family, was by a different mother, and one whose position was inferior to that of the son, the proper heir who was dead. Of course the succession should have descended in the line of the rightful heir. Po-dze evaded the point of Than Kung's question; but Confucius did not hesitate to speak out the truth. On other matters which the paragraph might suggest we need not enter.]

2. In serving his father, (a son) should conceal (his faults), and not openly or strongly remonstrate with him about them; should in every possible way wait on and nourish him, without being tied to definite rules; should serve him laboriously till his death, and then complete the mourning for him for three' years. In serving his ruler, (a minister), should remonstrate with him openly and strongly (about his faults), and make no concealment (of them); should in every possible way wait on and nourish him, but according to definite rules; should serve him laboriously till his death, and should then wear mourning for him according to rule for three years. In serving his master, (a learner) should have nothing to do with openly reproving him or with concealing (his faults); should in every possible way wait upon and serve him, without being tied to definite rules; should serve him laboriously till his death, and mourn for him in heart for three years[1].

3. Kî Wû-dze had built a house, at the bottom of the western steps of which was the grave of the Tû family. (The head of that) asked leave to bury (some member of his house) in it, and leave was granted to him to do so. (Accordingly) he entered the house (with the coffin), but did not dare to wail (in the usual fashion). Wû-dze said to him, 'To bury in the same grave was not the way of antiquity. It was begun by the duke of Kâu, and has not been

[1. On differences in the services rendered to a parent, a ruler, and a master or instructor.]

changed since. I have granted you the great thing, and why should I no tgrant the less?' (With this) he ordered him to wail[1].

4. When Dze-shang's mother died, and he did not perform any mourning rites for her, the disciples of (his father) Dze-sze asked him, saying, 'Did your predecessor, the superior man, observe mourning for his divorced mother?' 'Yes,' was the reply. (And the disciples went on), 'Why do you not make Pâi also observe the mourning rites (for his mother)?' Dze-sze said, 'My progenitor, a superior man, never failed in pursuing the right path. When a generous course was possible, he took it and behaved generously; and when it was proper to restrain his generosity, he restrained it. But how can I attain to that? While she was my wife, she was Pâi's mother; but when she ceased to be my wife, she was no longer his mother.' It was in this way that the Khung family came not to observe mourning for a divorced mother; the practice began from Dze-Sze[2].

5. Confucius said, 'When (the mourner) bows to (the visitor), and then lays his forehead to the ground,

[1. This Wû-dze was a great-grandson of Kî Yû, the third son (by an inferior wife) of duke Kwang of Lû (B.C. 693-662), and the ancestor of the. Ki-sun, one of the three famous families of U. It would appear that he had appropriated to himself the burying ground of the Tû family.

2. Dze-shang, by name, Pâi, was the son of Dze-sze, and great-grandson of Confucius. What is related here is important as bearing on the question whether Confucius divorced his wife or not. If I am correct in translating the original text by 'your predecessor, the superior man,' in the singular and not in the plural, and supposing that it refers to Confucius, the paragraph has been erroneously supposed to favour the view that he did divorce his wife.]

this shows the predominance of courtesy. When he lays his forehead to the ground, and then bows (to his visitor), this shows the extreme degree of his sorrow. In the three years' mourning, I follow the extreme (demonstration)[1].'

6. When Confucius had succeeded in burying (his mother) in the same grave (with his father) at Fang, he said, 'I have heard that the ancients made graves (only), and raised no mound over them. But I am a man, who will be (travelling) east, west, south, and north. I cannot do without something by which I can remember (the place).' On this, he (resolved to) raise a mound (over the grave) four feet high. He then first returned, leaving the disciples behind. A great rain came on; and when they rejoined him, he asked them what had made them so late. 'The earth slipped,' they said, 'from the grave at Fang.' They told him this thrice without his giving them any answer. He then wept freely, and said, 'I have heard that the ancients did not need to repair their graves.'

7. Confucius was wailing for Dze-lû in his courtyard. When any came to condole with him, he bowed to them. When the wailing was over, he made the messenger come in, and asked him all about (Dze-lû's death). 'They have made him into pickle,' said the

[1. In the former case the mourner first thought of his visitor; in the latter, of his dead and his own loss. The bow was made with the hands clasped, and held very low, the head being bowed down to them. They were then opened, and placed forward on the ground, on each side of the body, while the head was stretched forward between them, and the forehead made to touch the ground. In the second case the process was reversed.]

messenger; and forthwith Confucius ordered the pickle (in the house) to be thrown away[1].

8. Zang-dze said, 'When the grass is old[2] on the grave of a friend, we no (longer) wall for him.'

9. Dze-sze said, 'On the third day of mourning, when the body is put into the coffin, (a son) should exercise sincerity and good faith in regard to everything that is placed with it, so that there shall be no occasion for repentance[3]. In the third month when the body is interred, he should do the same in regard to everything that is placed with the coffin in the grave, and for the same reason. Three years are considered as the extreme limit of mourning; but though (his parents) are out of sight, a son does not forget them. Hence a superior man will have a lifelong grief, but not one morning's trouble (from without); and thus on the anniversary of a parent's death, he does not listen to music.'

10. Confucius, being quite young when he was left fatherless, did not know (his father's) grave. (Afterwards) he had (his mother's) body coffined in the street of Wû-fû. Those who saw it all thought that it was to be interred there, so carefully was (everything done), but it was (only) the coffining. By inquiring of the mother of Man-fû of Zâu, he succeeded

[1. Dze-lû had died in peculiar circumstances in the state of Wei, through his hasty boldness, in B.C. 480. It was according to rule that the Master should wail for him. The order about the pickled meat was natural in the circumstances.

2. The characters in the text imply that a year had passed since the friend's death.

3. The graveclothes and coverlet. The things placed in the grave with the coffin were many, and will by-and-by come before the reader at length.]

in burying it in the same grave (with his father) at Fang[1].

11. When there are mourning rites in the neighbourhood, one should not accompany his pestle with his voice[2]. When there is a body shrouded and coffined in his village, one should not sing in the lanes[2]. For a mourning cap the ends of the ties should not hang down.

12. (In the time of Shun) of Yü they used earthenware coffins[3]; under the sovereigns of Hsiâ, they surrounded these with an enclosure of bricks. The people of Yin used wooden coffins, the outer and inner. They of Kâu added the surrounding curtains and the feathery ornaments. The people of Kâu buried those who died between 16 and 19 in the coffins of Yin; those who died between 12 and 15 or between 8 and 11 in the brick enclosures of Hsiâ; and those who died (still younger), for whom no mourning is worn, in the earthenware enclosures of the time of the lord of Yü.

13. Under the sovereigns of Hsiâ they preferred what was black. On great occasions (of mourning), for preparing the body and putting it into the coffin, they used the dusk; for the business of war, they used black horses in their chariots; and the victims which they used were black. Under the Yin dynasty they preferred what was white. On occasions

[1. This paragraph is generally discredited. The Khien-lung editors say it is not to be relied on.

2. These two rules are in Book I, i. Pt. iv, 43, page 89.

3. In a still earlier time, according to the third Appendix of the Yî (vol. xvi, p. 385), they merely covered the body on the ground with faggots.]

of mourning, for coffining the body, they used the midday; for the business of war they used white horses; and their victims were white. Under the Kâu dynasty they preferred what was -red. On occasions of mourning, they coffined the body at sunrise; for the business of war they used red horses, with black manes and tails; and their victims were red.

14. When the mother of duke Mû of Lû[1] died, he sent to ask Zang-dze[2] what (ceremonies) he should observe. Zang-dze said, 'I have heard from my father that the sorrow declared in the weeping and wailing, the feelings expressed in the robe of sackcloth with even or with frayed edges, and the food of rice made thick or in congee, extend from the son of Heaven to all. But the tent-like covering (for the coffin) is of (linen) cloth in Wei, and of silk in Lû.'

15. Duke Hsien of Sin, intending to put to death his heir-son Shan-shang, another son, Khung-r, said to the latter, 'Why should you not tell what is in your mind to the duke?' The heir-son said, 'I cannot do so. The ruler is happy with the lady Kî of Lî. I should (only) wound his heart.' 'Then,' continued the other, 'Why not go away?' The heir son replied, 'I cannot do so. The ruler says that I wish to murder him. Is there any state where the (sacredness) of a father is not recognised? Where should I go to obviate this charge?' (At the same time) he sent a man to take leave (for him) of Hû

[1. Duke Mû was marquis of Lû from B.C. 409 to 376.

2. This was not the disciple of Confucius, but his son, also named Shin like him; but the characters for the names are different.]

Tû, with the message, 'I was wrong in not thinking (more) of your words, my old friend, and that neglect is occasioning my death. Though I do not presume to grudge dying, yet our ruler is old, and his (favourite) son is (quite) young. Many difficulties are threatening the state, and you, old Sir, do not come forth (from your retirement), and consult for (the good of) our ruler. If you will come forth and do this, I will die (with the feeling that I) have received a (great) favour from you.' He (then) bowed twice, laying his head to the ground, after which he died (by his own hand). On this account he became (known in history as)'the Reverential Heir-son'.'

16. There was a man of La, who, after performing in the morning the ceremony which introduced the 25th month of his mourning, began to sing in the evening. Dze-lû laughed at him, (but) the Master said, 'Yû, will you never have done with your finding fault with people? The mourning for three years is indeed long.' When Dze-lû went out, the Master said, 'Would he still have had to wait long? In another month (he might have sung, and) it would have been well.'

17. Duke Kwang of Lû fought a battle with the men of Sung at Shang-khiû. Hsien Pan-fû was driving, and Pû Kwo was spearman on the right. The horses got frightened, and the carriage was broken, so that the duke fell down[2]. They handed the strap

[1. The marquis of Zin, who is known to us as duke Hsien, ruled from B.C. 676 to 651. Infatuated by his love for a barbarian captive from among the Lî, he behaved recklessly and unnaturally to his children already grown up. One very tragical event is the subject of this paragraph.

2. The text would seem to say here that the army of the duke was defeated; but the victory was with the duke. See the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 684, and there was a different reading, to which Lû Teh-ming refers on the passage, that leaves us free to translate as I have done.]

of a relief chariot (that drove up) to him, when he said, 'I did not consult the tortoise-shell (about the movement).' Hsien Pân-fû said, 'On no other occasion did such a disaster occur; that it has occurred to-day is owing to my want of courage. Forthwith he died (in the fight). When the groom was bathing the horses, a random arrow was found (in one of them), sticking in the flesh under the flank; and (on learning this), the duke said, 'It was not his fault; and he conferred on him an honorary name. The practice of giving such names to (ordinary) officers began from this.

18. Zang-dze was lying in his chamber very ill. Yo-kang Dze-khun was sitting by the side of the couch; Zang Yüan and Zang Shan were sitting at (their father's) feet; and there was a lad sitting in a corner holding a torch, who said, 'How beautifully coloured and bright! Is it not the mat of a Great officer?' Dze-khun (tried to) stop him, but Zang-dze had heard him, and in a tone of alarm called him, when he repeated what he had said. 'Yes,' said Zang-dze, 'it was the gift of Kî-sun, and I have not been able to change it. Get up, Yüan, and change the mat.' Zang Yüan said, 'Your illness is extreme. It cannot now be changed. If you happily survive till the morning, I will ask your leave and reverently change it! Zang-dze said, 'Your love of me is not equal to his. A superior man loves another on grounds of virtue; a little man's love of another is seen in his indulgence of him. What do I seek for? I want for nothing but to die in the correct way.' They then raised him up, and changed the mat. When he was replaced on the new one, before he could compose himself, he expired.

19. When (a father) has just died, (the son) should appear quite overcome, and as if he were at his wits' end; when the corpse has been put into the coffin, he should cast quick and sorrowful glances around, as if he were seeking for something and could not find it; when the interment has taken place, he should look alarmed and. restless, as if he were looking for some one who does not arrive; at the end of the first year's mourning, he should look sad and disappointed; and at the end of the second year's, he should have a vague and unreliant look.

20. The practice in Kû-lü of calling the (spirits of the dead[1]) back with arrows took its rise from the battle of Shang-hsing[2]. That in Lû of the women making their visits of condolence (simply) with a band of sackcloth round their hair took its rise from the defeat at Ha-thâi[3].

21. At the mourning for her mother-in-law, the Master instructed (his niece), the wife of Nan-kung Thâo[4], about the way in which she should tie up her hair with sackcloth, saying, 'Do not make it very high, nor very broad. Have the hair-pin of hazel-wood, and the hair-knots (hanging down) eight inches.'

22. Mang Hsien-dze, after the service which ended

[1. See p. 108, par. 32; p. 112, par. 15; and often, farther on.

2. In B.C. 638. See the Zo Kwan of that year.

3. See in the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 569.

4. This must have been the Nan Yung of the Analects, V, 1, 2.]

the mourning rites, had his instruments of music hung on their stands,. but did not use them; and when he might have approached the inmates of his harem, he did not enter it. The Master said, 'Hsien-dze is a degree above other men[1].'

23. Confucius, after the service at the close of the one year's mourning, in five days more (began

to) handle his lute, but brought no perfect sounds from it; in ten days he played on the organ and sang to it[2].

2.4. Yû-dze, it appears, after the service of the same period of mourning, wore shoes of (white) silk, and had ribbons of (white) silk for his cap-strings[3].

[1. The sacrificial service on the final putting off of the mourning dress; and to which reference is here made, was called than (###). It will come several times before us hereafter. It is celebrated at the end of the 'three years' mourning' for a parent; that is, at the end of twenty-seven months from the death: see the Introduction, p. 49. Wang Sû of the Wei dynasty contended that the mourning was put off at the end of twenty-five months, and the editors of the Khang-hsî dictionary rather approve of his decision: see their note under the character than. I do not think the controversy as to the exact time when the mourning ceased can be entirely cleared up. Confucius praised Hsien-dze, because he could not forget his grief, when the outward sign of it was put off.

2. The sacrificial service here is called by a different name from than; it is hsiang (###); and in mourning for parents there was 'the small hsiang,' at the end of the first year, and 'the great hsiang,' at the end of the second. The character here probably denotes the mourning for one year, which is not continued beyond that time. Music was not used during any of the period of mourning; and it is doing violence to the text to take hsiang here as equivalent to than.

3. In condemnation of Yû-dze (see Analects, 1, 2), as quick to forget his grief.]

25. There are three deaths on which no condolence should be offered:--from cowardice; from being crushed (through heedlessness); and from drowning[1].

26. When Dze-lû might have ended his mourning for his eldest sister, he still did not do so. Confucius said to him, 'Why do you not leave off your mourning?' He replied, 'I have but few brothers, and I cannot bear to do so.' Confucius said, 'When the ancient kings framed their rules, (they might have said that) they could not bear (to cease mourning) even for (ordinary) men on the roads.' When Dze-lû heard this, he forthwith left off his mourning.

27. Thâi-kung was invested with his state, (and had his capital) in Ying-khiû; but for five generations (his descendants, the marquises of Khî) were all taken back and buried in Kâu. A superior man has said, 'For music, we use that of him from whom we sprang; in ceremonies, we do not forget him to whom we trace our root.' The ancients had a saying, that a fox, when dying, adjusts its head in the direction of the mound (where it was whelped); manifesting thereby (how it shares in the feeling of) humanity.

28. When the mother of Po-yü died, he kept on wailing for her after the year. Confucius heard him, and said, 'Who is it that is thus wailing?' The disciples said, 'It is Lî.' The Master said, 'Ah! (such a demonstration) is excessive.' When Po-yü heard it, he forthwith gave up wailing[2].

[1. The third death here must be supplemented, as I have done the second.

2. Compare paragraph 4, and the note on it. Lî, designated Po-yü, was the son of Confucius, and it has been supposed that his mother had been divorced, so that his protracted wailing for her gave occasion to the rebuke of his father. But while his father was alive, a son did not wail for his mother beyond the year. The passage does not prove that Confucius had divorced his wife, but the contrary; though he might have shown more sympathy with his son's sorrow.]

29. Shun was buried in the wilderness of Zhang-wû, and it would thus appear that the three ladies of his harem were not buried in the same grave with him[1]. Kî Wû-dze said, 'Burying (husband and wife) in the same grave appears to have originated with the duke of Kâu.'


1. At the mourning rites for Zang-dze, his body was washed in the cook-room[2].

2. During the mourning for nine months[3] one should suspend his (musical) studies. Some one has said, 'It is permissible during that time to croon over the words (of the pieces).'

3. When Dze-kang was ill, he called (his son), Shan-hsiang, and addressed him, saying, 'We speak of the end of a superior man, and of the death of

[1. From the first part of the Shû King we know that Shun married the two daughters of Yao. The mention of 'three' wives here has greatly perplexed the commentators. Where Zhang-wû was is also much disputed.

2. The proper place for the operation was the principal chamber. There is only conjecture to account for the different place in the case of Zang-dze.

3. In relationships of the third degree: as by a man for a married aunt or sister, a brother's wife, a first cousin, &c.; by a wife, for her husband's grand-parents, uncles, &c.; by a married woman, for her uncle and uncle's wife, a spinster aunt, brothers, sisters, &c. See Appendix at the end of this Book.]

a small man. I am to-day, perhaps, drawing near to my end (as a superior man).'

4. Zang-dze said, 'May not what remains in the cupboard suffice to set down (as the offerings) by (the corpse of) one who has just died?'

5. Zang-dze said, 'Not to have places (for wailing) in cases of the five months' mourning[1] is a rule which sprang from the ways in small lanes.' When, Dze-sze wailed for his sister-in-law, he made such places, and his wife took the lead in the stamping. When Shan-hsiang wailed for Yen-sze, he also did the same.

6. Anciently, (all) caps were (made) with the seams going up and down them; now the (mourning cap) is made with the seams going round. Hence to have the mourning cap different from that worn on felicitous occasions is not the way of antiquity[2].

7. Zang-dze said to Dze-sze, 'Khî, when I was engaged in the mourning for my parents, no water or other liquid entered my mouth for seven days.' Sze-sze said, 'With regard to the rules of ceremony framed by the ancient kings, those who would go beyond them should stoop down to them, and those who do not reach them should stand on tip-toe to do so. Hence, when a superior man is engaged in mourning for his parents, no water or other liquid

[1. In relationships of the fourth degree: as by a man for his grand-uncle and his wife, a spinster grand-aunt, a second cousin, &c.; by a wife for her husband's aunt, brother or sister, &c.; by a married woman, for her spinster aunt, married sister, &c. See Appendix.

2. This paragraph does not seem to contain any lessons of censure or approval, but simply to relate a fact.]

enters his mouth for three days, and with the aid of his staff he is still able to rise.'

8. Zang-dze said, 'If, in cases coming under the five months' mourning, none be worn when the death is not heard of till after the lapse of that time, then when brethren are far apart there would be no wearing of mourning for them at all; and would this be right?'

9. On the mourning rites for Po-kâo, before the messenger from Confucius could arrive, Zan-dze had taken it on him, as his substitute, to present a parcel of silks and a team of four horses. Confucius said, 'Strange! He has only made me fail in showing my sincerity in the case of Po-kâo[1].'

10. Po-kâo died in Wei, and news of the event was sent to Confucius. He said, 'Where shall I wail for him? For brethren, I wail in the ancestral temple; for a friend of my father, outside the gate of the temple; for a teacher, in my chamber; for a friend, outside the door of the chamber; for an acquaintance, in the open country, (some distance off). (To wail) in the open country would in this case be too slight (an expression of grief), and to do so in the bed-chamber would be too great a one. But it was by Zhze that he was introduced to me. I will wail for him in Zhze's.' Accordingly he ordered Dze-kung to act as presiding mourner on the occasion,

[1. We know almost nothing of the Po-kâo (the eldest son, Kâo) here. From the next paragraph it does not appear that his intimacy with Confucius had been great. Zan-dze had taken too much on himself. Perhaps the gift was too great, and sympathy cannot well be expressed by proxy. The parcel of silks contained five pieces.]

saying to him, 'Bow to those who come because you have a wailing in your house, but do not bow to those who come (simply) because they knew Po-kâo.'

11. Zang-dze said, 'When one during his mourning rites falls ill, and has to eat meat and drink spirits, there must be added the strengthening flavours from vegetables and trees;' meaning thereby ginger and cinnamon.

12. When Dze-hsiâ was mourning for his son, he lost his eyesight. Zang-dze went to condole with him, and said, 'I have heard that when a friend loses his eyesight, we should wail for him.' Thereupon he wailed, and Dze-hsiâ also wailed, and said, 'O Heaven, and I have no guilt!' Zan-dze was angry, and said, 'Shang, how can you say that you have no guilt?'

'I and you served the Master between the Kû and the Sze'; and (after his death) you retired, and grew old in the neighbourhood of the Western Ho, where you made the people compare you with the Master. This was one offence.

'When you mourned for your parents, you did so in such a way that the people heard nothing of it. This was a second offence.

'When you mourned for your son, you did it in such a way that you have lost your eyesight. This is a third offence. And how do you say that you have no guilt?'

[1. These were two streams of Lû, near which was the home of Confucius. I thought of this passage when I crossed at least one of them on my way to Khü-fû, 'the city of Confucius,' about twelve years ago.]

Dze-hsiâ threw down his staff, and bowed, saying, 'I was wrong, I was wrong. It is a long time since I left the herd, and lived apart here.'

13. When a man stops during the daytime in his inner (chamber), it is allowable to come and ask about his illness. When he stops outside during the night, it is allowable to come and condole with him. Hence a superior man, except for some great cause[1], does not pass the night outside (his chamber); and unless he is carrying out a fast or is ill, he does not day and night stop inside.

14. When Kâo Dze-kâo was engaged with the mourning for his parents, his tears flowed (silently) like blood for three years, and he never (laughed) so as to show his teeth. Superior men considered that he did a difficult thing.

15. It is better not to wear mourning at all than not to have it of the proper materials and fashion. When wearing the sackcloth with the edges even (for a mother), one should not sit unevenly or to one side, nor should he do any toilsome labour, (even) in the nine months' mourning[2].

16. When Confucius went to Wei, he found the mourning rites going on for a man with whom he had formerly lodged. Entering the house, he wailed for him bitterly; and when he came out, he told Dze-kung to take out the outside horses of his carriage, and present them as his gift. Dze-kung said, 'At the mourning for any of your disciples, you have

[1. 'A great cause:'--such as danger from enemies, or death and the consequent mourning, which, especially in the case of a father's death, required the son thus to 'afflict himself.'

2. The whole of this paragraph seems overstrained and trivial.]

never taken out those horses (for such a purpose); is it not excessive to do so for a man with whom you (merely) lodged?' The Master said, 'I entered a little ago, and wailed for him; and I found (the mourner) so dissolved in grief that my tears flowed (with his). I should hate it, if those tears were not (properly) followed. Do it, my child[1].'

17. When Confucius was in Wei, there was (a son) following his (father's) coffin to the grave. After Confucius had looked at him, he said, 'How admirably did he manage this mourning rite! He is fit to be a pattern. Remember it, my little children.' Dze-kung said, 'What did you, Master, see in him so admirable?' 'He went,' was the reply, 'as if he were full of eager affection. He came back (looking) as if he were in doubt.' 'Would it not have been better, if he had come back hastily, to present the offering of repose?' The Master said, 'Remember it, my children. I have not been able to attain to it.'

18. At the mourning rites for Yen Yüan, some of the flesh of the sacrifice at the end of (? two) years was sent to Confucius, who went out and received it, On re-entering he played on his lute, and afterwards ate it[2].

19. Confucius was standing (once) with his disciples,

[1. We are willing to believe this paragraph, because it shows how the depths of Confucius' sympathy could be stirred in him. He was not in general easily moved.

2. This paragraph has occasioned a good deal of discussion. The text does not make it clear whether the sacrifice was that at the end of one, or that at the end of two years. Why did Confucius play on his lute? and was he right in doing so?]

having his hands joined across his breast, and the right hand uppermost. They also all placed their right hands uppermost. He said to them, 'You do so from your wish to imitate me, but I place my hands so, because I am mourning for an elder sister.' On this they all placed their left hands uppermost (according to the usual fashion).

20. Confucius rose early (one day), and with his hands behind him, and trailing his staff, moved slowly about near the door, singing--

The great mountain must crumble;
The strong beam must break;
The wise man must wither away like a plant.'

Having thus sung, he entered and sat down opposite the door. Dze-kung had heard him, and said, 'If the great mountain crumble, to what shall I look up? If the strong beam break, (on what shall I lean)[1]? If the wise man wither like a plant, whom, shall I imitate? The Master, I am afraid, is going to be ill.' He then hastened into the house. The Master said, Zhze, what makes you so late? Under the sovereigns of Hsiâ, the body was dressed and coffined at the top of the steps on the east, so that it was where the deceased used to go up (as master of the house). The people of Yin performed the same ceremony between the two pillars, so that the steps for the host were on one side of the corpse, and those for

[1. The original of this supplement has dropt out of the text. it is found in the 'Narratives of the School;' and in a Corean edition of the Lî Kî.]

the guest on the other. The people of Kâu perform it at the top of the western steps, treating the deceased as if he were a guest. I am a man (descended from the house) of Yin[1], and last night I dreamt that I was sitting with the offerings to the dead by my side between the two pillars. Intelligent kings do not arise; and what one under heaven s able to take me as his Master? I apprehend I am about to die.' With this he took to his bed, was ill for seven days, and died.

21. At the mourning rites for Confucius, the disciples were in perplexity as to what dress they should wear. Dze-kung said, 'Formerly, when the Master was mourning for Yen Yüan, he acted in other respects as if he were mourning for a son, but wore no mourning dress. He did the same in the case of Dze-lû. Let us mourn for the Master, as if we were mourning for a father, but wear no mourning dress[2].'

22. At the mourning for Confucius, Kung-hsî Khih made the ornaments of commemoration. As the adornments of the coffin, there -were the wall-like curtains, the fan-like screens, and the cords at its sides, after the manner of Kâu. There were the flags with their toothed edges, after the manner of Yin; and there were the flag-staffs bound with white silk, and

[1. It is well known that the Khung family was a branch of the ducal house of Sung, the lords of which were the representatives of the royal house of Shang. The Khungs were obliged to flee from Sung, and take refuge in Lû in the time of the great-grandfather of Confucius.

2. It is doubtful whether this advice was entirely followed as regards the matter of the dress.]

long streamers pendent from them, after the manner of Hsiâ[1].

23. At the mourning for Dze-kang, Kung-ming made the ornaments of commemoration. There was a tent-like pall, made of plain silk of a carnation colour, with clusters of ants at the four corners, (as if he had been) an officer of Yin[2].

24. Dze-hsiâ asked Confucius, saying, 'How should (a son) conduct himself with reference to the man who has killed his father or mother?' The Master said, 'He should sleep on straw, with his shield for a pillow; he should not take office; he must be determined not to live with the slayer under the same heaven. If he meet with him in the market-place or the court, he should not have to go back for his weapon, but (instantly) fight with him.'

'Allow me to ask,' said (the other), 'how one should do with reference to the man who has slain his brother?' 'He may take office,' was the reply, 'but not in the same state with the slayer; if he be sent on a mission by his ruler's orders, though he may then meet with the man, he should not fight with him.'

'And how should one do,' continued Dze-hsiâ, 'in the case of a man who has slain one of his paternal cousins?' Confucius said, 'He should not take the lead (in the avenging). If he whom it chiefly concerns is able to do that, he should support him from behind, with his weapon in his hand.'

[1. See the full description of a coffin and hearse with all its ornaments in Book XIX.

2. In honour of the Master, though Dze-hang himself could not claim to be descended from the kings of Yin.]

25. At the mourning rites for Confucius, his disciples all wore their head-bands of sackcloth, when they went out. For one of their own number, they wore them in the house (when condoling), but not when they went out.

26. Keeping (the ground about) their graves clear of grass was not a practice of antiquity[1].

27. Dze-lû said, 'I heard the Master say that in the rites of mourning, exceeding grief with deficient rites is better than little demonstration of grief with superabounding rites; and that in those of sacrifice, exceeding reverence with deficient rites is better than an excess of rites with but little reverence.'

28. Zang-dze having gone on a visit of condolence to Fû-hsiâ, the chief mourner had already presented the sacrifice of departure, and removed the offerings. He caused the bier, however, to be pushed back to its former place, and made the women come down (again), after which (the visitor) went through his ceremony. The disciples who accompanied Zang-dze asked him if this proceeding were according to rule, and he said, 'The sacrifice at starting is an unimportant matter, And why might he not bring (the bier) back, and 'let it rest (for a while)?'

The disciples further asked the same question of Dze-yû, who said, 'The rice and precious shell are put into the mouth of the corpse under the window (of the western chamber); the slighter dressing is

[1. Some would interpret this sentence as if it were--'changing the grave' (### and not ###); but the Khien-lung editors say that this practice, originating in geomancy, arose in the time of Sin, and was unknown during the Han dynasty.]

done inside the door, and the more complete one at (the top of) the eastern steps; the coffining takes place at the guests' place; the sacrifice at starting in the courtyard; and the interment at the grave. The proceedings go on in this way to what is more remote, and hence in the details of mourning there is a constant advance and no receding.' When Zang-dze heard of this reply, he said, 'This is a much better account than I gave of the going forth to offer the sacrifice of departure.'

29. Zang-dze went an a visit of condolence, wearing his fur robe over the silk one, while Dze-yû went, wearing the silk one over his fur. Zang-dze, pointing to him, and calling the attention of others, said, 'That man has the reputation of being well versed in ceremonies, how is it that he comes to condole with his silk robe displayed over his fur one?' (By-and-by), when the chief mourner had finished the slighter dressing of the corpse, he bared his breast and tied up his hair with sackcloth, on which Dze-yû hastened out, and (soon) came back, wearing his fur robe over the silk, and with a girdle of sackcloth. Zang-dze on this said, 'I was wrong, I was wrong. That man was right.'

20. When Dze-hsiâ was introduced (to the Master) after he had put off the mourning (for his parents), a lute was given to him. He tried to tune it, but could hardly do so; he touched it, but brought no melody from it. He rose up and said, 'I have not yet forgotten my grief. The ancient kings framed the rules of ceremony, and I dare not go beyond them?' When a lute was given to Dze-kang in the same circumstances, he tried to tune it, and easily did so; he touched it, and brought melody from it. He rose up and said, 'The ancient kings framed the rules of ceremony, and I do not dare not to come up to them.'

31. At the mourning rites for Hui-dze, who had been minister of Crime, Dze-yû (went to condole), wearing for him a robe of sackcloth, and a headband made of the product of the male plant. Wan-dze (the brother of Hui-dze), wishing to decline the honour, said, 'You condescended to be the associate of my younger brother, and now further condescend to wear this mourning; I venture to decline the honour.' Dze-yû said, 'It is in, rule;' on which Wan-dze returned and continued his wailing. Dze-yû then hastened and took his place among the officers (of the family); but Wan-dze also declined this honour, and said, 'You condescended to be the associate of my younger brother, and now further condescend to wear for him this mourning, and to come and take part in the mourning rites I venture to decline the honour.' Dze-yû said, 'I beg firmly to request you to allow me (to remain here).'

Wan-dze then returned, and supporting the rightful son to take his position with his face to the south, said, 'You condescended to be the associate of my younger brother, and now you further condescend to wear this mourning for him, and to come and take part in the rites; dare Hû but return to his (proper) place?' Dze-yû on this hastened to take his position among the guests'.

[1. The object of Dze-yû in all the movements detailed here is supposed to have been to correct some irregularity in the proceedings on the occasion. Kang Hsüan thinks that Wan-dze was supporting a grandson, instead of Hû, his deceased brother's rightful son, to be the principal mourner, and consequently to succeed Hui-dze as his representative and successor. Hui-dze and Wan-dze (called Mei-mâu) were of the state of Wei.]

32. At the mourning rites for the general Wan-dze, when the first year's mourning was at an end, there came a man from Yüeh[1] on a visit of condolence. The chief mourner, wearing the long robe (assumed on the completion of the first year's mourning), and the cap worn before that, wailed for him in the ancestral temple, with the tears running from his eyes and the rheum from his nose. Dze-yû saw it, and said, 'The son of the general Wan is not far from being (a master of ceremonies). In his observances at this time, for which there is no special rule, his proceeding is correct.'

33. The giving of the name in childhood[2], of the designation at the capping, of the title of elder uncle or younger uncle at fifty, and of the honorary title after death, was the practice of the Kâu dynasty.

The wearing of the sackcloth head-bands and girdles, to express the real (feeling of the heart); the digging a hole in the middle of the apartment (over which) to wash (the corpse); taking down the (tiles of the) furnace, and placing them at the feet (of it)[3]; and at the interment pulling down (part of the wall on the west of the door of) the ancestral temple, so as to pass by the upper side (of the altar to the spirit)

[1. A distant state, south of Wû, on the seaboard.

2 Three months after birth.

3. To show the deceased had no more occasion for food, and to keep the feet straight, so that the shoes might be put on at the dressing of the corpse.]

of the way, and issue by the great gate;--these were the practices of the Yin dynasty, and the learners (in the school of Confucius) followed them.

34. When the mother of Dze-liû died, (his younger brother) Dze-shih asked for the means (to provide what was necessary for the mourning rites). Dze-liû said, 'How shall we get them?' 'Let us sell (the concubines), the mothers of our half-brothers,' said the other. 'How can we sell the mothers of other men to bury our mother?' was the reply; 'that cannot be done.'

After the burial, Dze-shih wished to take what remained of the money and other things contributed towards their expenses, to provide sacrificial vessels; but Dze-liû said, 'Neither can that be done. I have heard that a superior man will not enrich his family by means of his mourning. Let us distribute it among the poor of our brethren.'

35. A superior man said, 'He who has given counsel to another about his army should die with it when it is defeated. He who has given counsel about the country or its capital should perish with it when it comes into peril.'

36. Kung-shû Wan-dze ascended the mound of Hsiâ, with, Kü Po-yü following him. Wan-dze said, 'How pleasant is this mound! I should like to be buried here when I die.' Kü Po-yü said, 'You may find pleasure in such a thought, but allow me (to go home) before (you say any more about it)

37. There was a man of Pien who wept like a

[1. Was there anything more than a joke in this reply of Po-yü? The commentators make it out to be a reproof of Wan-dze for wishing to appropriate for his grave the pleasant ground of another.]

child on the death of his mother. Confucius said, 'This is grief indeed, but it would be difficult to continue it. Now the rules of ceremony require to be handed down, and to be perpetuated. Hence the wailing and leaping are subject to fixed regulations.'

38. When the mother of Shu-sun Wû-shû died, and the slighter dressing had been completed, the bearers went out at the door (of the apartment) with the corpse. When he had himself gone out at the door, he bared his arms, throwing down also his cap, and binding his hair with sackcloth, Dze-yû said (in derision), 'He knows the rules[1]!'

39. (When a ruler was ill), the high chamberlain supported him on the right, and the assigner of positions at audiences did so on the left. When he died these two officers lifted (the corpse)[2].

4o. There are the husband of a maternal cousin and the wife of a maternal uncle;-that these two should wear mourning for each other has not been said by any superior man. Some one says, 'If they have eaten together from the same fireplace, the three months' mourning [3] should be worn.'

41. It is desirable that affairs of mourning should be gone about with urgency, and festive affairs in a

[1. He should have made his preparations before, and not have had to throw down his cap on the ground.

2 The text of this paragraph would make the assisting parties to be the chief diviner and the chief archer. The translation is according to an emendation of it from the Kâu Lû.

3 Worn in relationships of the fifth degree: as by a man for his great-grand-uncle and his wife, a spinster great-grand-aunt, the son of a mother's brother or sister, &c.; by a wife for her husband's great-great-grand-parents, &c. See Appendix.]

leisurely way. Hence, though affairs of mourning require urgency, they should not go beyond the prescribed rules; and though festive affairs may be delayed, they should not be transacted negligently. Hurry therefore (in the former) becomes rudeness, and too much ease (in the latter) shows a small man. The superior man will conduct himself in them as they severally require.

42. A superior man is ashamed[1] to prepare (beforehand) all that he may require in discharging his mourning rites. What can be made in one or two days, he does not prepare (beforehand).

43. The mourning worn for the son of a brother should be the same as for one's own son: the object being to bring him still nearer to one's self. An elder brother's wife and his younger brother do not wear mourning for each other: the object being to maintain the distance between them. Slight mourning is worn for an aunt, and an elder or younger sister, (when they have been married); the reason being that there are those who received them from us, and will render to them the full measure of observance.


1. When (the Master) was eating by the side of one who had mourning rites in hand, he never ate to the full.

2. Zang-dze was standing with (another) visitor by the side of the door (of their house of entertainment), when a companion (of the other) came hurrying out.

[1. Lest he should seem not to be wishing individuals to live long.]

'Where are you going?' said Zang-dze; and the man replied, 'My father is dead, and I am going to wail for him in the lane.' 'Return to your apartment,' was the reply, 'and wail for him there.' (The man did so), and Zang-dze made him a visit of condolence, standing with his face to the north.

3. Confucius said, 'In dealing with the dead, if we treat them as if they were entirely dead, that would show a want of affection, and should not be done; or, if we treat them as if they were entirely alive, that would show a want of wisdom, and should not be done. On this account the vessels of bamboo (used in connexion with the burial of the dead) are not fit for actual use; those of earthenware cannot be used to wash in; those of wood are incapable of being carved; the lutes are strung, but not evenly; the pandean pipes are complete, but not in tune; the bells and musical stones are there, but they have no stands. They are called vessels to the eye of fancy; that is, (the dead) are thus treated as if they were spiritual intelligences[1].'

[1. The Khien-lung editors say on this:--'To serve the dead as he served the living is the highest reach of a son's feeling. But there is a difference, it is to be presumed, between the ways of spirits and those of men. In the offerings put down immediately after death, there is an approach to treating the deceased as if he were still a (living) man. But at the burial the treatment of him approaches to that due to a (disembodied) spirit, Therefore the dealing with the dead may be spoken of generally as something between that due to a man and that due to a spirit,--a manifestation of the utmost respect without any familiar liberty.' We should like to have something still more definite. Evidently the subject was difficult to those editors, versed in all Chinese lore, and not distracted by views from foreign habits and ways of thinking. How much more difficult must it be for a foreigner to place himself 'en rapport' with the thoughts and ways of men, so far removed from him in time and in mental training! The subject of these vessels, which yet were no vessels, will come up again.]

4. Yû-dze asked Zang-dze if he had ever questioned the Master about (an officer's) losing his place. 'I heard from him,' was the reply, 'that the officer in such a case should wish to become poor quickly, Oust as) we should wish to decay away quickly when we have died.' Yû-dze said, 'These are not the words of a superior man.' 'I heard them from the Master,' returned Zang-dze. Yû-dze repeated that they were not the words of a superior man, and the other affirmed that both he and, Dze-yû had heard them. 'Yes, yes,' said Yû-dze, 'but the Master must have spoken them with a special reference.' Zang-dze reported Yû-dze's words to Dze-yû, who said, 'How very like his words are to those of the Master! Formerly, when the Master was staying in Sung, he saw that Hwan, the minister of War, had been for three years having a stone coffin made for himself without its being finished, and said, "What extravagance! It would be better that when dead he should quickly decay away." It was with reference to Hwan, the minister of War, that he said, "We should wish to decay away quickly when we die." When Nan-kung King-shû returned (to the state), he made it a point to carry his treasures with him in his carriage when he went to court, on which the Master said, "Such an amount of property! It would have been better for him, when he lost his office, to make haste to become poor." It was with reference to Nan-kung King-shû that he said that we should work to become poor quickly, when we have lost office."'

3. Zang-dze reported these words of Dze-yû to Yû-dze, who said, 'Yes, I did say that these were not the words of the Master.' When the other asked him how he knew it, he said, 'The Master made an ordinance in Kung-tû that the inner coffin should be four inches thick, and the outer five. By this I knew that he did not wish that the dead should decay away quickly. And formerly, when he had lost the office of minister of Crime in Lû, and was about to go to King, he first sent Dze-hsiâ there, and afterwards Zan Yû. By this, I knew that he did not wish to become poor quickly[1].'

5. When Kwang-dze of Khin died, announcement of the event was sent to Lû. They did not want to wail for him there, but duke Mû[2] called Hsien-dze, and consulted him. He said, 'In old times, no messages from Great officers, not even such as -were accompanied by a bundle of pieces of dried meat, went out beyond the boundaries of their states. Though it had been wished to wail for them, how could it have been done? Nowadays the Great officers share in the measures of government throughout the middle states. Though it may be wished not to wail for one, how can it be avoided? I have heard, moreover, that there are two grounds for the wailing; one from love, and one from fear.' The duke said, 'Very well; but how is the thing to be managed in this

[1. Confucius sent those two disciples, that he might get their report of King (or Khû), and know whether he might himself go and take office there as be wished to do.

2. B.C. 409-377.]

case?' Hsien-dze said, 'I would ask you to wail for him in the temple of (a family of) a different surname;' and hereon the duke and he wailed for Kwang-dze in (the temple of) the Hsien family.

6. Kung Hsien said to Zang-dze, 'Under the sovereigns of the Hsiâ dynasty, they used (at burials) the vessels which were such only to the eye of fancy, intimating to the people that (the dead) had no knowledge. Under the Yin they used the (ordinary) sacrificial vessels, intimating to the people that (the dead) had knowledge. Under the Kâu we use both, intimating to the people that the thing is doubtful.' Zang-dze replied, ' It is not so! What are vessels (only) to the eye of fancy are for the shades (of the departed); the vessels of sacrifice are those of men; how should those ancients have treated their parents as if they were dead?'

7. An elder brother of Kung-shû Mû, by the same mother but a different father, having died, he asked, Dze-yû (whether he should go into mourning for him), and was answered, 'Perhaps you should do so for the period of nine months.'

A brother, similarly related to Tî Î, having died, he consulted Dze-hsiâ in the same way, and was answered, 'I have not heard anything about it before, but the people of Lû wear the one year's mourning in such a case.' Tî Î did so, and the present practice of wearing that mourning arose from his question'.

8. When Dze-sze's mother died in Wei, Liû Zo said to him, 'You, Sir, are the descendant of a sage.

[1. Confucius gives a decision against mourning at all in such a case, excepting it were exceptional,--in the 'Narratives of the School,' chapter 10, article 1.]

From all quarters they look to you for an example in ceremonies; let me advise you to be careful in the matter.' Dze-sze said, 'Of what have I to be careful? I have heard that when there are certain ceremonies to be observed, and he has not the necessary means for them, a superior man does not observe them', and that neither does he do so, when there are the ceremonies, and he has the means, but the time is not suitable; of what have I to be careful[1]?'

9. Hsien-dze So said, 'I have heard that the ancients made no diminution (in the degrees of mourning on any other ground); but mourned for every one above and below them according to his relationship. Thus Wan, the earl of Thang, wore the year's mourning for Mang-hû, who was his uncle, and the same for Mang Phî, whose uncle he was.'

10. Hâu Mû said, 'I heard Hsien-dze say about the rites of mourning, that (a son) should certainly think deeply and long about them all, and that (for instance) in buying the coffin he should see that, inside and outside, it be (equally) well completed. When I die, let it be so also with me[2].'

11. Zang-dze said, 'Until the corpse has its ornaments put on it, they curtain off the hall; and after the slighter dressing the curtain is removed.' Kung-liang-dze said, 'Husband and wife are at first all in

[1. Dze-sze's mother, after his father's death, had married again into the Shû family of Wei. What mourning was Dze-sze now to wear for her? Liû Zo seems to have apprehended that he would be carried away by his feelings and would do more than was according to rule in such a case. Dze-sze's reply to him is not at all explicit.

2. This record is supposed to be intended to ridicule Hâu Mû for troubling himself as he did.]

confusion[1], and therefore the hall is curtained off. After the slighter dressing, the curtain is removed.'

12. With regard to the offerings to the dead at the time of the slighter dressing, Dze-yû said that they should be placed on the east (of the corpse). Zang-dze said, 'They should be placed on the west, on the mat there at the time of the dressing.' The placing the offerings on the west at the time of the slighter dressing was an error of the later times of Lû.

13. Hsien-dze said, 'To have the mourning robe of coarse dolichos cloth, and the lower garment of fine linen with a wide texture, was not (the way of) antiquity.'

14. When Dze-phû died, the wailers called out his name Mieh[2]. Dze-kâo said, 'So rude and uncultivated are they!' On this they changed their style.

15. At the mourning rites for the mother of Tû Khiâo no one was employed in the house to assist (the son in the ceremonies), which was accounted a careless omission.

16. The Master said, 'As soon as a death occurs, (the members of the family) should change their lambskin furs and dark-coloured caps, though they may do nothing more.' The Master did not pay a visit of condolence in these articles of dress.

17. Dze-yû asked about the articles to be provided for the mourning rites, and the Master said, 'They should be according to the means of the family.'

[1. Settling places for the wailers, &c. But this explanation is deemed unsatisfactory.

2. The name was used only in calling the spirit back immediately after death; the wailing was a subsequent thing.]

Dze-yû urged, 'How can a family that has means and one that has not have things done in the same way?' 'Where there are means,' was the reply, 'let there be no exceeding the prescribed rites. If there be a want of means, let the body be lightly covered from head to foot, and forthwith buried, the coffin being simply let down by means of ropes. Who in such a case will blame the procedure?'

18. Pan, superintendent of officers' registries, informed Dze-yû of his wish to dress his dead on the couch. 'You may,' said Dze-yû. When Hsien-dze heard of this, he said, 'How arrogant is the old gentleman! He takes it on himself to allow men in what is the proper rule[1].'

19. At the burial of his wife, duke Hsiang of Sung[2] placed (in the grave) a hundred jars of vinegar and pickles. Zang-dze said, 'They are called "vessels only to the eye of fancy," and yet he filled them!'

20. After the mourning rites for Mang Hsien-dze, the chief minister of his family made his subordinates return their money-offerings to all the donors. The Master said that such a thing was allowable.

21. About the reading of the list of the material contributions (towards the service of a funeral), Zang-dze

[1. On death, the body was lifted from the couch, and laid on the ground. When there was no response to the recalling of the spirit, it was returned to the couch and dressed. A practice seems to have arisen of slightly dressing it on the ground, which Pin did not wish to follow. Dze-ya ought to have told him that his proposal was according to rule; whereas he expressed his permission of it,-a piece of arrogance, which Hsien-dze condemned.

2. Hsiang died in B.C. 637.]

said, 'It is not an ancient practice; it is a second announcement (to the departed)[1]!'

22. When Kang-dze Kâo was lying ill, Khang went in to see him, and asked his (parting) commands, saying, 'Your disease, Sir, is severe. If it should go on to be the great illness, what are we to do?' Dze-kâo said, 'I have heard that in life we should be of use to others, and in death should do them no harm. Although I may have been of no use to others during my life, shall I do them any harm by my death? When I am dead, choose a piece of barren ground, and bury me there.'

23. Dze-hsiâ asked the Master (how one should deport himself) during the mourning for the ruler's mother or wife, (and the reply was), 'In sitting and stopping with others, in his conversation, and when eating and drinking, he should appear to be at ease[2].

24. When a stranger-visitor arrived, and had nowhere to lodge, the Master would say, 'While he is alive, let him lodge with me. Should he die, I will see to his coffining[3].'

25. Kwo-dze kâo[4] said, 'Burying means hiding

[1. The contributions had been announced by the bier, as if to the departed, and a record of them made. To read the list, as is here supposed, as the procession was about to set forth, was a vain-glorious proceeding, which Zang-dze thus derided.

2. The supplements in this paragraph are from the 'Narratives of the School.' Some contend that the whole should be read as what Dze-hsiâ said, and that the Master gave him no reply, disapproving of his sentiments.

3. This paragraph, like the preceding, appears in rather a different form in the 'Narratives of the School.'

4. Kwo-dze Kâo was the same as the Khang-dze Kâo of par. 22. Kwo was the surname, and Khang the posthumous title. It is difficult to decide between Kwo-dze Kâo and Kwo Dze-kâo.]

away; and that hiding (of the body) is from a wish that men should not see it. Hence there are the clothes sufficient for an elegant covering; the coffin all round about the clothes; the shell all round about the coffin; and the earth all round about the shell. And shall we farther raise a mound over the grave and plant it with trees?'

26. At the mourning for Confucius, there came a man from Yen to see (what was done), and lodged at Dze-hsiâ's. Dze-hsiâ said to him, 'If it had been for the sage's conducting a burial, (there would have been something worthy to see); but what is there to see in our burying of the sage? Formerly the Master made some remarks to me, saying, "I have seen some mounds made like a raised hall; others like a dyke on a river's bank; others like the roof of a large house; and others in the shape of an axe-head." We have followed the axe-shape, making what is called the horse-mane mound. In one day we thrice shifted the frame-boards, and completed the mound. I hope we have carried out the wish of the Master.'

27. Women (in mourning) do not (change) the girdle made of dolichos fibre.

28. When new offerings (of grain or fruits) are presented (beside the body in the coffin), they should be (abundant), like the offerings on the first day of the moon.

29. When the interment has taken place, everyone should make a change in his mourning dress.

30. The gutters of the tent-like frame over the coffin should be like the double gutters of a house.

31. When a ruler succeeds to his state, he makes his coffin, and thereafter varnishes it once a year, keeping it deposited away.

32. Calling the departed back; plugging the teeth open; keeping the feet straight; filling the mouth; dressing the corpse; and curtaining the hall: these things are set about together, The uncles and elder cousins give their charges to those who are to communicate the death (to friends).

33. The (soul of a deceased) ruler is called back in his smaller chambers, and the large chamber; in the smaller ancestral temples and in the great one: and at the gate leading to the court of the external audience, and in the suburbs all round.

34. Why do they leave the offerings of the mourning rites uncovered? May they do so with the flesh of sacrifice[1]?

35. When the coffining has taken place, in ten days after, provision should be made for the materials (for the shell), and for the vessels to the eye of fancy.

36. The morning offerings should be set forth (beside the body) at sunrise; the evening when the sun is about to set.

37. In mourning for a parent, there is no restriction to (set) times for wailing. If one be sent on a mission, he must announce his return (to the spirits of his departed).

38. After the twelfth month of mourning, the (inner) garment should be of white silk, with a yellow

[1. This short paragraph is difficult to construe. The Khien-lung editors seem to approve of another interpretation of it; but even that is not without its difficulties. The flesh of sacrifice, it is said, left uncovered, would become unfit for use or to be sold.]

lining, and having the collar and the edges of the cuffs of a light purple. The waist-band should be of dolichos cloth; the shoes of hempen string, without the usual ornaments at the points; and the ear-plugs of horn. The lining of the deer's-fur (for winter) should be made broader and with longer cuffs, and a robe of thin silk may be worn over it[1].

39. When (a parent's) corpse has been coffined, if the son hear of mourning going on for a cousin at a distance, he must go (to condole), though the relationship would only require the three months' mourning. If the mourning be for a neighbour, who is not a relative, he does not go.

At (the mourning) for an acquaintance, he must pay visits of condolence to all his brethren, though they might not have lived with him.

40, The coffin of the son of Heaven is fourfold. The hides of a water-buffalo and a rhinoceros, overlapping each other, (form the first), three inches in thickness. Then there is a coffin of Î wood[2], and there are two of the Rottlera. The four are all complete enclosures. The bands for the (composite) coffin are (five); two straight, and three cross; with a double wedge under each band (where it is on the edge).

[1. The outer sackcloth remained unchanged; but inside it was now worn this robe of white silk, a good deal ornamented. Inside this and over the deer's-fur in winter might be worn another robe of thin silk, through which the fur was seen. Inside the fur was what we should call the shirt, always worn.

2 Tracing the Î tree, through the dictionaries from synonym to synonym, we come at last to identify it with the 'white aspen;' whether correctly or not I do not know.]

The shell is of cypress wood, in pieces six cubits long, from the trunk near the root.

41. When the son of Heaven is wailing for a feudal prince, he wears the bird's-(head) cap[1], a headband of sackcloth, and black robes. Some one says, 'He employs an officer to wail for him.' While so engaged, he has no music at his meals.

42. When the son of Heaven is put into his coffin it is surrounded with boards plastered over, and (rests on the hearse), on whose shafts are painted dragons, so as to form a (kind of) shell. Then over the coffin is placed a pall with the axe-heads figured on it. This being done, it forms a plastered house. Such is the rule for (the coffining of) the son of Heaven[2].

43. It is only at the mourning rites for the son of Heaven that the feudal princes are arranged for the wailing according to their different surnames.

44. Duke Âi of Lû eulogised Khung Khiû in the words, 'Heaven has not left the old man, and there is no one to assist me in my place. Oh! Alas! Nî-fû[3]!'

45- When a state had lost a large tract of territory

[1. This cap, it is said, was of leather, of the dark, colour of a male sparrow's head. Hence its name.

2 See Book XIX.

3. Confucius' death took place on the 18th of the fourth month of duke Âi's 16th year, B.C. 479. The eulogy is given somewhat differently in the Zo Kwan under that year: 'Compassionate Heaven vouchsafes me no comfort, and has not left me the aged man, to support me, the One man, on my seat. Dispirited I am, and full of distress. Woe is me! Alas! O Nî-fû. There is no one now to be a rule to me!' Khiû was Confucius' name, and Kung-nî his designation.' After this eulogy, Nî-fû was for a time his posthumous title.]

with its cities, the highest and other ministers, and the Great and other officers, all wailed in the grand ancestral temple, in mourning caps, for three days; and the ruler (for the same time) had no full meal with music. Some one says, 'The ruler has his full meals and music, but wails at the altar to the spirit of the land.'

46. Confucius disliked those who wailed in the open fields[1].

47. (A son) who has not been in office should not presume to give away anything belonging to the family. If he should have to do so[2], he ought to have the order of his father or elder brother for the act.

48. When the (ordinary) officers[3] are all entered, then (the chief mourner and all the others) fall to their leaping, morning and evening.

49. After the service on the conclusion of the twenty-fourth month of mourning, the plain white cap is assumed. In that month the service on leaving off mourning is performed, and after another month (the mourners) may take to their music[4].

50. The ruler may confer on any officer the small curtain (as a pall for his father's coffin).

[1. It was the rule to mourn in the open country for an acquaintance. See p. 134. There must have been some irregularity in the practice adverted to.

2. That is, supposing him to have been in office; though some suppose that the necessity might arise, even in the case of a son who had not been in office.

3. Of course the higher officers must also be. there. This refers to the mourning rites for a ruler.

4. See the note on page 130. It is difficult, notwithstanding all the references to it, to say definitely in what month the than sacrifice was performed.]


I. (At the funeral of) a ruler's eldest son by his acknowledged wife, who has died under age, there are three (small) carriages (with the flesh of sacrifice to be put in the grave). At that of an eldest son by one of his concubines, dying under age, there is one such carriage; as at the funeral of the eldest rightful son of a Great officer in the same circumstances[1].

2. At the mourning rites for a feudal lord, his chief officers who had received their appointments. directly from him, carried their staffs.

3. When a Great officer of a state was about to be buried, its ruler (went to) condole with (his son) in the hall where the coffin was. When it was

[1. This refers to a strange custom which was practised at the burial of men of rank, or of others who were treated as such, as in the cases here. 'The carriages employed in it,' says Ying-tâ, 'were very small. When the funeral car was about to set off from the temple, and all to be done at the grave was arranged, they took portions of the bodies which had supplied the offerings put down by the coffin, broke them in small pieces, wrapped them up, and placed them in these carriages, to be conveyed after the car. At the grave the little bundles were placed one by one, inside the outer shell at its four corners.' The number of these small carriages varied according to the rank of the deceased. We shall find the practice mentioned again and again. It is not easy for a foreigner fully to understand it, and I have found great haziness in the attempts of native scholars to explain it. 'The eldest sons' would have died between sixteen and nineteen.]

being taken out, he ordered some one to draw the (bier-carriage) for him. This moved on for three paces and stopped; in all for three times; afterwhich the ruler retired. The same proceeding was gone through, when the bier entered the ancestral temple, and also at the place of (special) grief[1].

4. Men of fifty, who had no carriage, did not make visits of condolence beyond the boundaries (of their states).

5. When Kî Wû-dze was lying ill in his chamber, Kiâo Kû entered and appeared before him without taking off the mourning with its even edges (which he happened to wear). 'This practice,' said he, 'has nearly fallen into disuse. But it is only at the gate of the ruler that an officer should take off such mourning as I have on.' Wû-dze replied, 'Is it not good that you should act thus[2]? A superior man illustrates the smallest points (of propriety).'

At the mourning rites for Wû-dze, Zang Tien leant against his gate and sang[3].

6. If a Great officer pay a visit of condolence

[1. Where visitors had been lodged during the mourning rites, outside the great gate.

2. Wû-dze was the posthumous title of Ki-sun Suh, the principal minister of Lû in the time of duke Hsiang (D.C. 572-543). He was arrogant, and made other officers pay to him the same observances as to the ruler; but he was constrained to express his approval of the bold rectitude of Kiâo.

3. This is added by the writer, and implies a condemnation of Zang Tien, who did not know how to temper his censure of the minister, as Kiâo Kû had done. But there must be an error in the passage. Tien (the father of Zang Shan) could have been but a boy when Wû-dze died.]

(to an ordinary officer), and he arrive when (the latter) is occupied with the business of the occasion, an apology is made (for not coming to the gate to receive him).

7. When one has paid a visit of condolence, he should not on the same day show manifestations of joy[1].

8. A wife should not go beyond the boundaries of the state on a visit of condolence.

9. On the day when he has made a visit of condolence, one should not drink spirits nor eat flesh.

10. When one pays a visit of condolence, and the arrangements for the funeral are going on, he should take hold of the ropes (attached to the car). Those who follow to the grave should take hold of those attached to the coffin.

11. During the mourning rites, if the ruler send a message of condolence, there must be some one to acknowledge it, by bowing to the messenger. A friend, or neighbour, or even a temporary resident in the house, may perform the duty. The message is announced in the words:--'Our unworthy ruler wishes to take part in your (sad) business.' The chief mourner responds:--'We acknowledge your presence with his message[2].'

12. When a ruler meets a bier on the way, he must send some one to present his condolences (to the chief mourner).

[1. Or it may be, 'should not have music;' toning one of the characters differently.

2. It is supposed that the deceased had left no son to preside at the mourning rites.]

13. At the mourning rites for a Great officer, a son by an inferior wife should not receive the condolences[1].

14. On the death of his wife's brother who was the successor of their father, (the husband) should wail for him in (the court of) the principal chamber[2]. He should appoint his (own) son to preside (on the occasion). With breast unbared and wearing the cincture instead of the cap, he wails and leaps. When he enters on the right side of the gate, he should make some one stand outside it, to inform comers of the occasion of the wailing; and those who were intimate (with the deceased) will enter and wail. If his own father be in the house, the wailing should take place (before) his wife's chamber. If (the deceased) were not the successor of his father, the wailing should take place before a different chamber.

15. If a man have the coffin of a parent in his hall, and hear of mourning going on for a cousin of the same surname at a distance, he wails for him in a side apartment. If there be no such apartment, he should wail in the court on the right of the gate. If the deceased's body be in the same state, he should go to the place, and wail for him there.

16. When Dze-kang died, Zang-dze was in mourning for his mother, and went in his mourning dress

[1. But if there be no son by the wife proper, the oldest son by an inferior wife may receive the condolences. See the Khien-lung editors, in loc.

2. For some reason or other he has not gone to the house of the deceased, to wail for him there.]

to wail for him. Some one said, 'That dress of sackcloth with its even edges is not proper. for a visit of condolence.' Zang-dze replied, 'Am I condoling (with the living)?'

17. At the mourning rites for Yû Zo, duke Tâo[1] came to condole. Dze-yû received him, and introduced him by (the steps on) the left[2].

18. When the news was sent from Khî of the mourning for the king's daughter who had been married to the marquis, duke Kwang of Lû wore the nine months' mourning for her. Some have said, 'She was married from Lû[3]; therefore he wore the same mourning for her as for a sister of his own.' Others have said, 'She was his mother's mother, and therefore he wore it.'

19. At the mourning rites for duke Hsien of Zin, duke Mû of Khin sent a messenger to present his condolences to Hsien's son Khung-r (who was then an exile), and to add this message:--'I have heard that a time like this is specially adapted to the

[1. B.C. 467-431. Yû Zo had been a disciple of Confucius, and here we find the greater follower of the sage, Dze-yû, present and assisting at the mourning rites for him.

2. That is, the prince went up to the hall by the steps on the east, set apart for the use of the master and father of the house. But the ruler was master everywhere in his state, as the king was in his kingdom. An error prevailed on this matter, and Dze-yû took the opportunity to correct it.

3. That is, she had gone from the royal court to Lû, and been married thence under the superintendence of the marquis of that state, who also was of the royal surname. This was a usual practice in the marriage of kings' daughters; and it was on this account the lord of the officiating state wore mourning for them. The relationship assigned in the next clause is wrong; and so would have been the mourning mentioned, if it had been correct.]

losing of a state, or the gaining of a state. Though you, my son, are quiet here, in sorrow and in mourning, your exile should not be allowed to continue long, and the opportunity should not be lost. Think of it and take your measures, my young son.' Khung-r reported the words to his maternal uncle Fan, who said,' My son, decline the proffer. An exile as you are, nothing precious remains to you; but a loving regard for your father is to be considered precious. How shall the death of a father be told? And if you take advantage of it to seek your own profit, who under heaven will be able to give a good account of your conduct? Decline the proffer, my son.

On this the prince replied to his visitor:--'The ruler has kindly (sent you) to condole with his exiled servant. My person in banishment, and my father dead, so that I cannot take any share in the sad services of wailing and weeping for him;--this has awakened the sympathy of the ruler. But how shall the death of a father be described? Shall I presume (on occasion of it) to think of any other thing, and prove myself unworthy of your ruler's righteous regard?' With this he laid his head to the ground, but did not bow (to the visitor); wailed and then arose, and after he had risen did not enter into any private conversation with him.

Dze-hsien reported the execution of his commission to duke Mû, who said, 'Truly virtuous is this prince Khung-r. In laying his forehead on the ground and not bowing (to the messenger), he acknowledged that he was not his father's successor, and therefore he did not complete the giving of thanks. In wailing before he rose, he showed how he loved his father. In having no private conversation after he arose, he showed how he put from him the thought of gain[1].'

20. The keeping the curtain up before the coffin with the corpse in it was not a custom of antiquity. It originated with the wailing of King Kiang for Mû-po[2].

21. The rites of mourning are the extreme expression of grief and sorrow. The graduated reduction of that expression in accordance with the natural changes (of time and feeling) was made by the superior men, mindful of those to whom we owe our being[3].

22. Calling (the soul) back is the way in which love receives its consummation, and has in it the mind which is expressed by prayer. The looking for it to return from the dark region is a way of seeking for it among the spiritual beings. The turning the face to the north springs from the idea of its being in the dark region.

2S. Bowing to the (condoling) visitor, and laying the forehead on the ground are the most painful demonstrations of grief and sorrow. The laying the forehead in the ground is the greatest expression of the pain (from the bereavement).

[1. Fully to understand this paragraph, one must know more particulars of the history of Khung-r, and his relations with his father and the duke of Khin, than can be given here in a note. He became the ablest of the five chiefs of the Khun Khiû period.

2. This was a prudish action of the young widow, but it changed an old custom and introduced a new one.

3. This has respect to the modifications adopted in regulating the mourning rites for parents.]

24. Filling the mouth with rice uncooked and fine shells arises from a feeling which cannot bear that it should be empty. The idea is not that of giving food; and therefore these fine things are used.

25. The inscription[1] forms a banner to the eye of fancy. Because (the person of) the deceased, can no longer be distinguished, therefore (the son) by this flag maintains the remembrance of him. From his love for him he makes this record. His reverence for him finds in this its utmost expression.

26. The first tablet for the spirit (with this inscription on it) serves the same purpose as that (subsequently) placed in the temple, at the conclusion of the mourning rites. Under the Yin dynasty the former was still kept. Under the Kâu, it was removed[1].

27. The offerings to the unburied dead are placed in plain unornamented vessels, because the hearts

[1. This inscription contained the surname, name, and rank of the deceased. It was at first written, I suppose, on a strip of silk, and fastened up under the eaves above the steps on the cast. In the meantime a tablet of wood called Khung, the first character in the next paragraph, and for which I have given 'The first tablet for the spirit,' was prepared. The inscription was transferred to it, and it was set up on or by the coffin, now having the body in it, and by and by it was removed to the east of the coffin pit, where it remained till after the interment.

The observances in this paragraph and the next remain substantially the same at the present day. 'The bier,' writes Wang Thâo, 'is placed in the apartment, and the tablet with the inscription, as a resting-place for the spirit, is set up, while the offerings are set forth near it morning and evening. After the interment this tablet is burned, and the permanent tablet (###) is made, before which the offerings are presented at the family sacrifices from generation to generation. Thus "the dead are served as the living have been."']

of the living are full of unaffected sorrow. It is only in the sacrifices (subsequent to the interment), that the principal mourner does his utmost (in the way of ornament). Does he know that the spirit will enjoy (his offerings)? He is guided only by his pure and reverent heart.

28. Beating the breast (by the women), and leaping (by the men) are extreme expressions of grief. But the number of such acts is limited. There are graduated rules for them.

29. Baring the shoulders and binding up the hair (with the band of sackcloth) are changes, (showing) the excited feeling which is a change in the grief. The removal of the (usual) ornaments and elegancies (of dress) has manifold expression, but this baring of the shoulders and the sackcloth band are the chief. But now the shoulders are quite bared, and anon they are covered (with a thin garment);--marking gradations in the grief

30. At the interment they used the cap of plain white (silk), and the headband of dolichos fibre; thinking these more suitable for their intercourse with (the departed) now in their spirit-state. The feeling of reverence had now arisen. The people of Kiu use the pien cap at interments; those of Yin used the hsü[1].

[1. The 'Three Rituals Explained' ###), ch. 238, give the figures of these caps thus:--

The hsü {illustration}. The pien {illustration}.]

31. The gruel of the chief mourner (the son), the presiding wife[1], and the steward of the family (of a Great officer) is taken by them at the order of the ruler lest they should get ill.

32. On returning (from the grave) to wail, (the son) should ascend the hall (of the ancestral temple);--returning to the place where (the deceased) performed his rites. The presiding wife should enter the chamber;--returning to the place where he received his nourishment.

33. Condolences should be presented (to the son) when he returns (from the grave) and is wailing, at which time his grief is at its height. He has returned, and (his father) is not to be seen; he feels that he has lost him. (His grief is) then most intense. Under the Yin, they presented condolences immediately at the grave; under the Kâu, when the son had returned and was wailing. Confucius said, 'Yin was too blunt; I follow Kâu.'

34. To bury on the north (of the city), and with the head (of the dead) turned to the north, was the common practice of the three dynasties:--because (the dead) go to the dark region.

35. When the coffin has been let down into the grave, the chief mourner presents the (ruler's) gifts (to the dead in the grave[2]), and the officer of prayer (returns beforehand) to give notice of the sacrifice of repose[3] to him who is to personate the departed.

[1. This would be the wife of the deceased, or the wife of his son.

2. These were some rolls of purplish silks, sent by the ruler as, his parting gifts, when the hearse-car reached the city gate on its way to the grave.

3. Where was the spirit of the departed now? The bones and flesh had returned to the dust, but the soul-spirit might be anywhere (###). To afford it a resting-place, the permanent tablet was now put in the shrine, and this sacrifice of repose (###) was offered, so that the son might be able to think that his father was never far from him. For a father of course the personator was a male; for a mother, a female; but there are doubts on this point.]

36. When he has returned and wailed, the chief mourner with the (proper) officer inspects the victim. (In the meantime other) officers have set out a stool and mat with the necessary offerings on the left of the grave[1]. They return, and at midday the sacrifice of repose is offered[2].

37. The sacrifice is offered on the day of interment; they cannot bear that the departed should be left a single day (without a place to rest in).

38. On that day the offerings, (previously) set forth (by the coffin), are exchanged for the sacrifice of repose. The (continuous) wailing is ended, and they say, 'The business is finished.'

39. On that day the sacrifices of mourning were exchanged for one of joy. The next day the service of placing the spirit-tablet of the departed next to that of his grandfather was performed.

40. The change to an auspicious sacrifice took place on that day, and the placing the tablet in its place on the day succeeding:--(the son) was unable

[1. For the spirit of the ground.

2. If the grave were too far distant to allow all this to be transacted before midday, then the sacrifice was performed in the chamber where the coffin had rested. So says Wang Thâo on the authority of Zan Yî-shang ({###)).]

to bear that (the spirit of the departed) should be a single day without a resting-place.

41. Under the Yin, the tablet was put in its place on the change of the mourning at the end of twelve months; under the Kâu, when the (continuous) wailing was over. Confucius approved the practice of Yin.

42. When a ruler went to the mourning rites for a minister, he took with him a sorcerer with a peach-wand, an officer of prayer with his reed-(brush), and a lance-bearer,--disliking (the presence of death), and to make his appearance different from (what it was at any affair of) life[1]. In the mourning rites it is death that is dealt with, and the ancient kings felt it difficult to speak of this[2].

43. The ceremony in the mourning rites of (the coffined corpse) appearing in the court (of the ancestral temple) is in accordance with the filial heart of the deceased. He is (supposed to be) grieved at leaving his chamber, and therefore he is brought to the temple of his fathers, and then (the coffin) goes on its way.

Under the Yin, the body was thus presented and then coffined in the temple; under the Kâu the interment followed immediately after its presentation (in the coffin).

44. Confucius said, 'He who made the vessels

[1. When visiting a minister when alive, the ruler was accompanied by the lance-bearer, but not by those other officers;-there was the difference between life and death.

2. I suspect that the sorcerer and exorcist were ancient superstitions, not established by the former kings, but with which they did not care to interfere by saying anything about them.]

which are so (only) in imagination, knew the principles underlying the mourning rites. They were complete (to all appearance), and yet could not be used. Alas! if for the dead they had used the vessels of the living, would there not have been a danger of this leading to the interment of the living with the dead?'

45. They were called 'vessels in imagination,' (the dead) being thus treated as spiritual intelligences, From of old there were the carriages of clay and the figures of straw,--in accordance with the idea in these vessels in imagination. Confucius said that the making of the straw figures was good, and that the making of the (wooden) automaton was not benevolent.--Was there not a danger of its leading to the use of (living) men?


1. Duke Mû[1] asked Dze-sze whether it was the way of antiquity for a retired officer still to wear the mourning for his old ruler. 'Princes of old,' was the reply, 'advanced men and dismissed them equally according to the rules of propriety; and hence there was that rule about still wearing mourning for the old ruler. But nowadays princes advance men as if they were going to take them on their knees, and dismiss them as if they were going to push them into an abyss. Is it not good if (men so treated) do not head rebellion? How should there be the observance of that rule about still wearing mourning (for old rulers)?'

[1. Of Lû, B.C. 409-377.]

2. At the mourning rites for duke Tâo[1]. Kî Kâo-dze asked Mang King-dze what they should eat (to show their grief) for the ruler. King-dze replied, 'To eat gruel is the general rule for all the kingdom.' (The other said), 'It is known throughout the four quarters that we three ministers[2] have not been able to live in harmony with the ducal house. I could by an effort make myself emaciated; but would it not make men doubt whether I was doing so in sincerity? I will eat rice as usual.'

3. When Sze-thû King-dze of Wei died, Dze-hsiâ made a visit of condolence (to his house); and, though the chief mourner had not completed the slight dressing (of the corpse), he went in the headband and robe of mourning. Dze-ya paid a similar visit; and, when the chief mourner had completed the slight dressing, he went out, put on the bands, returned and wailed. Dze-hsiâ said to him, 'Did you ever hear (that) that (was the proper method to observe)? I heard the Master say,' was the reply, 'that until the chief mourner had changed his dress, one should not assume the mourning bands'.'

4. Zang-dze said, 'An-dze may be said to have known well the rules of propriety;-he was humble and reverent! Yû Zo said, 'An-dze wore the same (robe of) fox-fur for thirty years. (At the burial of

[1. B.C. 467-431.

2. The heads of the Kung-sun, Shû-sun, and Ki-sun families; whose power Confucius had tried in vain to break.

3. In this case Dze-yû was correct, according to rule, following the example of the chief mourner. Sze-thû was a name of office,--the ministry of Instruction; but it had become in this case the family name; from some ancestor of King-dze, who had been minister of Instruction.]

his father), he had only one small carriage (with the offerings to be put into the grave[1]); and he returned immediately from the grave (without showing the usual attentions to his guests). The ruler of a state has seven bundles of the offerings, and seven such small carriages for them, and a Great officer five. How can it be said that An-dze knew propriety?' Zang-dze replied, 'When a state is not well governed, the superior man is ashamed to observe all ceremonies to the full. Where there is extravagance in the administration of the state, he shows an example of economy. If the administration be economical, he shows an example of (the strict) observance' of all rules.'

5. On the death of the mother of Kwo Kâo-dze, he asked Dze-kang, saying, 'At the interment, when (all) are at the grave, what should be the places of the men and of the women?' Dze-kang said, 'At the mourning rites for Sze-thû King-dze, when the Master directed the ceremonies, the men stood with their faces to the west and the women stood with theirs to the east.' 'Ah!' said the other, 'that will not do;' adding, 'All will be here to see these mourning rites of mine. Do you take the sole charge of them. Let the guests be the guests, while I (alone) act as the host. Let the women take their places behind the men, and all have their faces towards the west[2].'

[1. See the note on paragraph 1, page 161. An-Sze was the chief minister of Khî.

[2. 'The master' here would seem to be Confucius; and yet he died before Sze-thû King-dze. There are other difficulties in parts of the paragraph.]

6. At the mourning for Mû-po (her husband), King Kiang wailed for him in the daytime, and at that for Wan-po (her son), she wailed for him both in the daytime and the night. Confucius said, 'She knows the rules of propriety[1].'

At the mourning for Wan-po, King Kiang (once) put her hand on the couch (where his body lay), and without wailing said, 'Formerly, when I had this son, I thought that he would be a man of worth. (But) I never went with him to the court (to see his conduct there); and now that he is dead, of all his friends, the other ministers, there is no one that has shed tears for him, while the members of his harem all wail till they lose their voices. This son must have committed many lapses in his observance of the rules of propriety!'

7. When the mother of Kî Khang-dze died, (her body was laid out with) her private clothes displayed. King Kiang (Khang-dze's grand-uncle's wife) said, 'A wife does not dare to see her husband's parents without the ornament (of her upper robes); and there will be the guests from all quarters coming;--why are her under-clothes displayed here?' With this she ordered them to be removed.

8. Yû-dze and Dze-yû were standing together when they saw (a mourner) giving all a child's demonstrations of affection. Yû-dze said, 'I have never understood this leaping in mourning, and have long wished to do away with it. The sincere feeling (of sorrow) which appears here is right, (and

[1. It is said, 'She mourned for her husband according to propriety; for her son according to her feelings.']

should be sufficient).' Dze-yû. replied, 'In the rules of propriety, there are some intended to lessen the (display of) feeling, and there are others which purposely introduce things (to excite it). To give direct vent to the feeling and act it out as by a short cut is the way of the rude Zung and Tî. The method of the rules is not so. When a man rejoices, he looks pleased; when pleased, he thereon sings; when singing, he sways himself about; swaying himself about, he proceeds to dancing; from dancing, he gets into a state of wild excitement[1]; that excitement goes on to distress; distress expresses itself in sighing; sighing is followed by beating the breast; and beating the breast by leaping. The observances to regulate all this are what are called the rules of propriety.

'When a man dies, there arises a feeling of disgust (at the corpse). Its impotency goes on to make us revolt from it. On this account, there is the wrapping it in the shroud, and there are the curtains, plumes (and other ornaments of the coffin), to preserve men from that feeling of disgust. Immediately after death, the dried flesh and pickled meats are set out (by the side of the corpse), When the interment is about to take place, there are the things sent and offered (at the grave); and after the interment, there is the food presented (in the sacrifices of repose). The dead have never been seen to partake of these things. But from

[1. Evidently there is a lacuna in the text here; there should be some mention of stamping. Many of the critics have seen this, especially the Khien-lung editors; and various additions have been proposed by way of correction and supplement.]

the highest ages to the present they have never been neglected;--all to cause men not to revolt (from their dead). Thus it is that what you blame in the rules of propriety is really nothing that is wrong in them.'

9. Wû made an incursion into Khan, destroying the (places of) sacrifice, and putting to death those who were suffering from a pestilence (which prevailed). When the army retired, and had left the territory, Phî, the Grand-administrator of Khan, was sent to the army (of Wû). Fû Khâi (king of Wû) said to his internuncius Î, 'This fellow has much to say. Let us ask him a question.' (Then, turning to the visitor), he said, 'A campaign must have a name. What name do men give to this expedition?' The Grand-administrator said, 'Anciently, armies in their incursions and attacks did not hew down (trees about the) places of sacrifice; did not slay sufferers from pestilence; did not make captives of those whose hair was turning. But now, have not you in this campaign slain the sufferers from pestilence? Do they not call it the sick-killing expedition?' The king rejoined, ' If we give back your territory, and return our captives, what will you call it?' The reply was, 'O ruler and king, you came and punished the offences of our poor state. If the result of the campaign be that you now compassionate and forgive it, will the campaign be without its (proper) name[1]?'

[1. This incursion must be that mentioned in the Zo Kwan under B.C. 494. Various corruptions and disruptions of the text of the paragraph have to be rectified, however; and the interpretation is otherwise difficult.]

10. Yen Ting[1] deported himself skilfully during his mourning. Immediately after the death (of his father), he looked grave and restless, as if he were seeking for something, and could not find it. When the coffining had taken place, he looked expectant, as if he were following some one and could not get up with him. After the interment he looked sad, and as if, not getting his father to return (with him), he would wait for him[2].

11. Dze-kang asked, saying, 'The Book of History says, that Kâo Zung for three-years did not speak; and that when he did his words were received with joy[3]. Was it so?' Kung-ni replied, 'Why should it not have been so? Anciently, on the demise of the son of Heaven, the king, his heir, left everything to the chief minister for three years.'

12. When Kih Tâo-dze died[4], before he was buried, duke Phing was (one day) drinking along with the music-master Kwang and Lî Thiâo. The bells struck up; and when Tû Khwâi, who was coming in from outside, heard them, he said, 'Where is the music?' Being told that it was in the (principal) apartment, he entered it; and having ascended the steps one by one, he poured out a cup of spirits, and said, 'Kwang, drink this.' He then poured out another, and said, Thiâo, drink this.' He poured out a third cup; and kneeling in the hall, with his face to the north, he drank it himself, went down the steps, and hurried out.

[1. An officer of Lû.

2. Compare above, paragraph 17, p. 137 et al.

3. See vol. iii, p. 113. The Shû is not quoted exactly.

This was in B.C. 533. Kih Tâo-dze was a great officer of Zin. See the story in the Zo Kwan under that year.]

Duke Phing called him in again, and said, 'Khwâi, just now I thought you had something in mind to enlighten me about, and therefore I did not speak to you. Why did you give the cup to Kwang?' 'On the days (Kiâ-)dze and (Kî-)mâo,' was the reply, 'there should be no music; and now Kih Tâo-dze is (in his coffin) in his hall, and this should be a great dze or mâo day. Kwang is the grand music-master, and did not remind you of this. It was on this account that I made him drink.'

'And why did you give a cup to Thiâo?' Tû Khwâi said, 'Thiâo is your lordship's favourite officer; and for this drinking and eating he forgot the fault you were committing. It was on this account I made him drink.'

'And why did you drink a cup yourself?' Khwâi replied, 'I am (only) the cook; and neglecting my (proper work of) supplying you with knives and spoons, I also presumed to take my part in showing my knowledge of what should be prohibited. It was on this account that I drank a cup myself.'

Duke Phing said,' I also have been in fault. Pour out a cup and give it to me.' Tû Khwâi then rinsed the cup, and presented it. The duke said to the attendants, 'When I die, you must take care that this cup is not lost.' Down to the present day, (at feasts in Sin), when the cups have been presented all round, they then raise up this cup, and say, 'It is that which Tû presented.'

13. When Kung-shû Wan-dze died, his son Shû begged the ruler (of the state) to fix his honorary title, saying, 'The sun and moon have brought the time;--we are about to bury him. I beg that you will fix the title, for which we shall change his name.' The ruler said, 'Formerly when our state of Wei was suffering from a severe famine, your father had gruel made, and gave it to the famishing;--was not this a roof of how kind he was? Moreover, in a time of trouble[1], he protected me at the risk of his own life;--was not this a proof of how faithful he was? And while he administered the government of Wei, he so maintained the regulations for the different classes, and conducted its intercourse with the neighbouring states all round, that its altars sustained no disgrace;--was not this a proof of how accomplished he was? Therefore let us call him "The Faithful, Kind, and Accomplished."'

14: Shih Tâi-kung died, leaving no son by his wife proper, and six sons by concubines. The tortoise-shell being consulted as to which of them should be the father's successor, it was said that by their bathing and wearing of their girdle-pendants the indication would be given. Five of them accordingly bathed and put on the girdle-pendants with their gems. Shih Khî-dze, however, said, 'Whoever, being engaged with the mourning rites for a parent, bathed his head or his body, and put on his girdle-pendants?' and he declined to do either, and this was considered to be the indication. The people of Wei considered that the tortoise-shell had shown a (true) knowledge.

15. Khan Dze-kü having died in Wei, his wife and the principal officer of the family consulted together

[1. This was in B.C. 512. Twice in the Analects (XIV, 14, 19) Kung-shuh Wan-dze, 'Kung-shu, the accomplished,' is mentioned. Whether he received the long honorary title given in the conclusion of this paragraph is considered doubtful.]

about burying some living persons (to follow him). When they had decided to do so, (his brother), Khan Dze-khang arrived[1], and they informed him about their plan, saying, 'When the master was ill, (he was far away) and there was no provision for his nourishment in the lower world; let us bury some persons alive (to supply it).' Dze-khang said, 'To bury living persons (for the sake of the dead) is contrary to what is proper. Nevertheless, in the event of his being ill, and requiring to be nourished, who are so fit for that purpose as his wife and steward? If the thing can be done without, I wish it to be so. If it cannot be done without, I wish you two to be the parties for it.' On this the proposal was not carried into effect.

16. Dze-lû said, 'Alas for the poor! While (their parents) are alive, they have not the means to nourish them; and when they are dead, they have not the means to perform the mourning rites for them.' Confucius said, 'Bean soup, and water to drink, while the parents are made happy, may be pronounced filial piety. If (a son) can only wrap the body round from head to foot, and inter it immediately, without a shell, that being all which his means allow, he may be said to discharge (all) the rites of mourning.'

17. Duke Hsien of Wei having (been obliged to) flee from the state, when he returned[2], and had

[1. Khan Dze-khang was one of the disciples of Confucius, mentioned in the Analects I, 10; VII, 25. It is difficult to follow the reasoning of the wife and steward in justification of their proposals.

2 Duke Hsien fled from Wei in B.C. 559, and returned to it in 547.]

reached the suburbs (of the capital), he was about to grant certain towns and lands to those who had attended him in his exile before entering. Liû Kwang said, 'If all had (remained at home) to guard the altars for you, who would have been able to follow you with halter and bridle? And if all had followed you, who would have guarded the altars? Your lordship has now returned to the state, and will -it not be wrong for you to show a partial feeling?' The intended allotment did not take place.

18. There was the grand historiographer of Wei, called Liû Kwang, lying ill. The duke said[1], 'If the illness prove fatal, though I may be engaged at the time in sacrificing, you must let me know.' (It happened accordingly, and, on hearing the news), the duke bowed twice, laying his head to the ground, and begged permission from the personator of the dead, saying, 'There was the minister Liû Kwang,--not a minister of mine (merely), but a minister of the altars of the state. I have heard that he is dead, and beg leave to go (to his house).' On this, without putting off his robes, he went; and on the occasion presented them as his contribution (to the mourning rites). He also gave the deceased the towns of Khiû-shih and Hsien-fan-shih by a writing of assignment which was put into the coffin, containing the words:--'For the myriads of his descendants, to hold from generation to generation without change.'

19. When Khan Kan-hsî was lying ill, he assembled his brethren, and charged his son Zun-kî,

[1. The same duke Hsien of Wei. Khan Hâo and others condemn his action in this case. Readers may not agree with them.]

saying,--When I am dead, you must make my coffin large, and make my two concubines lie in it with me, one on each side.' When he died, his son said, 'To bury the living with the dead is contrary to propriety; how much more must it be so to bury them in the same coffin!' Accordingly he did not put the two ladies to death.

20. Kung Sui died in Khui; and on the next day, which was Zan-wû, the sacrifice of the previous day was notwithstanding repeated (in the capital of Lû.). When the pantomimes entered, however, they put away their flutes. Kung-nî said, 'It was contrary to rule. When a high minister dies, the sacrifice of the day before should not be repeated[1].'

21. When the mother of Kî Khang-dze died, Kung-shû Zo was still young. After the dressing[2], Pan asked leave to let the coffin down into the grave by a mechanical contrivance. They were about to accede, when Kung-kien Kiâ said, 'No. According to the early practice in Lu, the ducal house used (for this purpose) the arrangement looking like large stone pillars, and the three families that like large wooden columns. Pan, you would, in the case of another man's mother, make trial of your ingenuity;-could you not in the case of your own mother do so? Would that distress you? Bah!' They did not allow him to carry out his plan[3].

[1. See this incident in the Chinese Classics, V, i, pp. 301, 302, where the account of it is discussed in a note.

2. This must be the greater dressing.

3. Pan and Zo were probably the same man; but we know that Pan lived at a later period. The incident in this paragraph therefore is doubted.]

22. During the fight at Lang[1], Kung-shu Zu-zan saw (many of) the men, carrying their clubs on their shoulders, entering behind the shelter of the small wall, and said, 'Although the services required of them are distressing, and the burdens laid on them heavy, (they ought to fight): but though our superiors do not form (good) plans, it is not right that soldiers should not be prepared to die. This is what I say.' On this along with Wang Î, a youth, (the son) of a neighbour, he went forward, and both of them met their death.

The people of Lû wished to bury the lad Wang not as one who had died prematurely, and asked Kung-ni about the point. He said, 'As he was able to bear his shield and spear in the defence of our altars, may you not do as you wish, and bury him as one who has not died prematurely?'

23. When Dze-lû was going away from Lû, he said to Yen Yüan, 'What have you to send me away with?' 'I have heard,' was the reply, 'that, when one is leaving his state, he wails at the graves (of his fathers), and then takes his journey, while on his return to it, he does not wail, but goes to look at the graves, and (then) enters (the city).' He then said to Dze-lû, 'And what have you to leave with me here?' 'I have heard,' was the reply, 'that, when you pass by a grave, you should bow forward to the cross-bar, and, when you pass a place of sacrifice, you should dismount.'

24. Shang Yang, director of Works (in Khû), and

[1. The fight at Lang is mentioned in the Khun Khiû under B.C. 484. Zo's description of the battle gives the incident mentioned here, but somewhat differently.]

Kan Khî-kî[1] were pursuing the army of Wu, and came up with it. The latter said to Shang Yang, 'It is the king's' business. It will be well for you to take your bow in hand.' He did so, and Khî-kî told him to shoot, which he did, killing a man, and returning immediately the bow to its case. They came up with the enemy again, and being told as before to shoot, he killed other two men; whenever he killed a man, he covered his eyes. Then stopping the chariot, he said, 'I have no place at the audiences; nor do I take part in the feasts. The death of three men will be sufficient for me to report.' Confucius said, 'Amidst his killing of men, he was still observant of the rules of propriety[3].'

25. The princes were engaged in an invasion of Khin, when duke Hwan of Zhâo died at their meeting[4]. The others asked leave to (see) the plugging of his teeth with the jade, and they were made to enshroud (his corpse)[5].

Duke Hsiang being in attendance at the court of King, king Khang died[6] . The people of King said to him, 'We must beg you to cover (the corpse

[1. Khî-kî was a son of the king of Khû, and afterwards became king Phing. Khû, in B.C. 534, reduced Khan to be a dependency of itself, and put it under Khî-kî, who became known as Khî-kî of Khan.

2. The king's business;' that is, the business of the count of Khû, who had usurped the title of king.

3. It is not easy to discover the point of Confucius' reply. Even Dze-lû questioned him about it (as related in the Narratives of the School), and got an answer which does not make it any clearer.

4. In B.C. 578.

5. Probably by the marquis of Zin--duke Wan--as 'lord of Meetings and Covenants.'

6. In B.C. 545.]

with your gift of a robe).' The men of Lû (who were with him) said, 'The thing is contrary to propriety.' They of Khû, however, obliged him to do what they asked; and he first employed a sorcerer with his reed-brush to brush (and purify) the bier. The people of King then regretted what they had done'.

26. At the mourning rites for duke Khang of Thang[2], Dze-shû King-shû was sent (from Lû) on a mission of condolence, and to present a letter (from duke Âi), Sze-fû Hui-po being assistant-commissioner. When they arrived at the suburbs (of the capital of Thang), because it was the anniversary of the death, of Î-po, (Hui-po's uncle), King-shû hesitated to enter the city. Hui-po, however, said, 'We are on government business, and should not for the private affair of my uncle's (death) neglect the duke's affairs.' They forthwith entered.


1. Duke Âi sent a message of condolence to Khwâi Shang, and the messenger met him (on the way to the grave). They withdrew to the way-side, where Khwâi drew the figure of his house, (with the coffin in it), and there received the condolences[3].

Zang-dze said, 'Khwâi Shang's knowledge of the

[1. King was another name for Khû. Duke Hsiang went from Lû in B.C. 545; and it was in the spring of the next year, probably, that the incident occurred. The sorcerer and his reed-brush were used when a ruler went to the mourning for a minister (see Part i. 42), so that Khû intending to humiliate Lû was itself humiliated.

2 Duke Khang of Thang died in B.C. 539.

3. This must have been a case for which the rule is given in Part i. 12.]

rules of ceremony was not equal to that of the wife of Khî Liang. When duke Kwang fell on Kû by surprise at Thui, Khî Liang met his death. His wife met his bier on the way, and wailed for him bitterly. Duke Kwang sent a person to convey his condolences to her; but she said, 'If his lordship's officer had been guilty of any offence, then his body should have been exposed in the court or the market-place, and his wife and concubines apprehended. If he were not chargeable with any offence, there is the poor cottage of his father. This is not the place where the ruler should demean himself to send me a message[1].'

2. At the mourning rites for his young son Tun, duke Âi wished to employ the (elm-juice) sprinklers, and asked Yû Zo about the matter, who said that it might be done, for his three ministers even used them. Yen Liû said, 'For the son of Heaven dragons are painted on (the shafts of) the funeral carriage, and the boards surrounding the coffin, like the shell, have a covering over them. For the feudal princes there is a similar carriage (without the painted dragons), and the covering above. (In both cases) they prepare the elm-juice, and therefore employ sprinklers. The three ministers, not employing (such a carriage), and yet employing the sprinklers, thus appropriate a ceremony which is not suitable for them; and why should your lordship imitate them[2]?'

[1. See the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 550, the twenty-third year of duke Hsiang. The name of the place in the text (To, read Thui by Kang Hsüan) seems to be a mistake. See the Khang-hsi dictionary on the character To (###).

2. There is a good deal of difficulty and difference of opinion in the interpretation of this paragraph. According to the common view, the funeral carriage used by the king and princes was very heavy, and difficult to drag along. To ease its transit, a juice was prepared from the elm bark, and sprinkled on the ground to make it slippery. But this practice was because of the heaviness of the carriage; and was not required in the case of lighter conveyances.]

3. After the death of the mother of (his son, who became) duke Tâo, duke Âi wore for her the one year's mourning with its unfrayed edges. Yû Zo asked him, if it was in rule. for him to wear that mourning for a concubine. 'Can I help it?' replied the duke. 'The people of Lû will have it that she, was my wife.'

4. When Kî Dze-kâo buried his wife, some injury was done to the standing corn, which Shan-hsiang told him of, begging him to make the damage good. Dze-kâo said, 'The Mang has not blamed me for this, and my friends have not cast me off. I am here the commandant of the city. To buy (in this manner a right of) way in order to bury (my dead) would be a precedent difficult to follow[1].'

5. When one receives no salary for the official duties which he performs[2], and what the ruler sends to him is called 'an offering,' while the messenger charged with it uses the style of our unworthy ruler;' if such an one leave the state, and afterwards the ruler dies, he does not wear mourning for him.

6. At the sacrifice of Repose a personator of the

[1. This Kî Dze-kâo was Kâo Khâi, one of the disciples of Confucius. Shan-hsiang was the son of Dze-kang; see paragraph 3, page 132.

2. Such was Dze-sze in Lû, and Mencius in Khî. They were 'guests,' not ministers. Declining salary, they avoided the obligations incurred by receiving it.]

dead is appointed, and a stool, with a mat and viands on it, is placed (for him). When the wailing is over, the name of the deceased is avoided. The service of him as living is over, and that for him in his ghostly state has begun. When the wailing is over, the cook, with a bell having a wooden clapper, issues an order throughout the palace, saying, 'Give up disusing the names of the former rulers, and henceforth disuse (only) the name of him who is newly deceased.' This was done from the door leading to the chambers to the outer gate.

7. When a name was composed of two characters they were not avoided when used singly. The name of the Master's mother was Kang-Zâi. When he used Zâi, he did not at the same time use Kang; nor Zâi, when he used Kang.

8. When any sad disaster occurred to an army, (the ruler) in plain white robes wailed for it outside the Khû gate[1]. A carriage conveying the news of such disaster carried no cover for buff-coats nor case for bows.

9. When the (shrine-)apartment of his father was burned, (the ruler) wailed for it three days. Hence it is said, 'The new temple took fire;' and also, 'There was a wailing for three days[2].'


[1. The Khû (arsenal or treasury gate) was the second of the palace gates, and near the ancestral temple. Hence the position selected for the wailing.

2. See the Khun Khiû, under B.C. 588.]


11. In Lû there was one Kâu Fang[1], to whom duke Âi went, carrying an introductory present, and requesting an interview, which, however, the other refused. The duke said, 'I must give it up then.' And he sent a messenger with the following questions:--'(Shun), the lord of Yü, had not shown his good faith, to the people, and yet they put confidence in him. The sovereign of Hsiâ had not shown his reverence for the people, and yet the people revered him:--what shall I exhibit that I may obtain such things from the people?' The reply was:--'Ruins and graves express no mournfulness to the people, and yet the people mourn (amidst them). The altars of the spirits of the land and grain and the ancestral temples express no reverence to the people, and yet the people revere them. The kings of Yin made their solemn proclamations, and yet the people began to rebel; those of Kâu made their covenants, and the people began to distrust them. If there be not the heart

[1. This Kâu Fang must have been a worthy who had withdrawn from public life.]

observant of righteousness, self-consecration, good faith, sincerity, and guilelessness, though a ruler may, try to knit. the people firmly to him, will not all bonds between them be dissolved?'

12. While mourning (for a father), one should not be concerned about (the discomfort of) his own resting-place[1], nor, in emaciating himself, should he do so to the endangering of his life. He should not be the former;--he has to be concerned that (his father's spirit-tablet) is not (yet) in the temple. He should not do the latter, lest (his father) should thereby have no posterity.

13. Kî-dze of Yen-ling[2] had gone to Khî; and his eldest son having died, on the way back (to Wû), he buried him between Ying and Po. Confucius (afterwards) said, 'Kî-dze was the one man in Wû most versed in the rules of propriety, so I went and saw his manner of interment. The grave was not so deep as to reach the water-springs. The grave-clothes were such as (the deceased) had ordinarily worn. After the interment, he raised a mound over the grave of dimensions sufficient to cover it, and high enough for the hand to be easily placed on it. When the mound was completed, he bared his left arm;

[1. Referring, I think, to the discomfort of the mourning shed. But other interpretations of the paragraph are to be found in Khan Hâo's work, and elsewhere.

2. This Ki-dze is better known as Kî Kâ (###), a brother of the ruler of Wû. Having declined the state of Wû, he lived in the principality of Yen-ling. He visited the northern states Lû, Khî, Zin, and the others, in B.C. 515; and his sayings and doings in them are very famous. He was a good man and able, whom Confucius could appreciate. Ying and Po were two places in Khî.]

and, moving to the right, he went round it thrice, crying out, "That the bones and flesh should return again to the earth is what is appointed. But the soul in its energy can go everywhere; it can go everywhere." And with this he went on his way.' Confucius (also) said, 'Was not Kî-dze of Yen-ling's observance of the rules of ceremony in accordance with (the idea of them)?'

14. At the mourning rites for the duke Khâo of Kû-lü[1], the ruler of Hsü sent Yung Kü with a message of condolence, and with the articles to fill the mouth of the deceased. 'My unworthy ruler,' said he, 'hath sent me to kneel and put the jade for a marquis which he has presented into your (deceased) ruler's mouth. Please allow me to kneel and do so.' The officers of Kü replied, 'When any of the princes has deigned to send or come to our poor city, the observances have been kept according to their nature, whether simple and easy, or troublesome and more difficult; but such a blending of the easy and troublesome as in your case, we have not known.' Yung Kü replied, 'I have heard that in the service of his ruler one should not forget that ruler, nor be oblivious of his ancestral (rules). Formerly, our ruler, king Kü, in his warlike operations towards the west, in which he crossed the Ho, everywhere used this style of speech. I am a plain, blunt man, and do not presume to forget his example[2].'

[1. Khâo should probably be Ting. Duke Khâo lived after the period of the Khun Khiû, during which the power of Hsü had been entirely broken.

2. Here was Yung Kü, merely a Great officer, wishing to do what only a prince could do, according to the rules of propriety. He defends himself on the ground that the lords of Hsü claimed the title of King. The language of the officers of Kû shows that they were embarrassed by his mission.]

15. When the mother of Dze-sze died in Wei, and news of the event was brought to him, he wailed in the ancestral temple. His disciples came to him. and said, 'Your mother is dead, after marrying into another family[1]; why do you wail for her in the temple of the Khung family?' He replied, 'I am wrong, I am wrong.' And thereon he wailed in one of the smaller apartments of his house.

16. When the son of Heaven died, three days afterwards, the officers of prayer[2] were the first to assume mourning. In five days the heads of official departments did so; in seven days both males and females throughout the royal domain; and in three months all in the kingdom.

The foresters examined the trees about the various altars, and cut down those which they thought suitable for the coffins and shell, If these did not come up to what was required, the sacrifices were abolished, and the men had their throats cut[3].

17. During a great dearth in Khî, Khien Âo had food prepared on the roads, to wait the approach of hungry people and give to them. (One day), there came a famished man, looking as if he could

[1. Literally, 'The mother of the Shû family is dead,' but the interpretation of the text is disputed. The Khien-lung editors and many others question the genuineness of the whole paragraph.

2. The officers of prayer were divided into five classes; the first and third of which are intended here. See the Official Book of Kâu, ch. 25.

3. Great efforts are made to explain away this last sentence.]

hardly see, his face covered with his sleeve, and dragging his feet together. Khien Âo, carrying with his left hand some rice, and holding some drink with the other, said to him, 'Poor man! come and eat.' The man, opening his eyes with a stare, and looking at him, said, 'It was because I would not eat "Poor man come here's" food, that I am come to this state.' Khien Âo immediately apologised for his words, but the man after all would not take the food and died.

When Zang-dze heard the circumstances, he said, 'Was it not a small matter? When the other expressed his pity as he did, the man might have gone away. When he apologised, the man might have taken the food.'

18. In the time of duke Ting of Kû-lü[1], there occurred the case of a man killing his father. The officers reported it; when the duke, with an appearance of dismay, left his mat and said, 'This is the crime of unworthy me!' He added, 'I have learned how to decide on such a charge. When a minister kills his ruler, all who are in office with him should kill him without mercy. When a son kills his father, all who are in the house with him should kill him without mercy. The man should be killed; his house should be destroyed; the whole place should be laid under water and reduced to a swamp. And his ruler should let a month elapse before he raises a cup to his lips.'

[1. This duke Ting became ruler of Kû in B.C. 613. Some interpret the paragraph as if it said that all the officers, as well as the whole family of a regicide or parricide, should be killed with him. But that cannot be, and need not be, the meaning.]

19. (The ruler of) Zin having congratulated Wan-dze on the completion of his residence, the Great officers of the state went to the house-warming[1]. Kang Lâo said, 'How elegant it is, and lofty! How elegant and splendid! Here will you have your songs! Here will you have your wailings! Here will you assemble the representatives of the great families of the state!' Wan-dze replied, 'If I can have my songs here, and my wailings, and assemble here the representatives of the great families of the state, (it will be enough). I will then (only) seek to preserve my waist and neck to follow the former Great officers of my family to the Nine Plains.' He then bowed twice, laying his head also on the ground.

A superior man will say (of the two), that the one was skilful in the expression of his praise and the other in his prayer.

20. The dog kept by Kung-nî having died, he employed Dze-kung to bury it, saying, 'I have heard that a worn-out curtain should not be thrown away, but may be used to bury a horse in; and that a worn-out umbrella should not be thrown away, but may be used to bury a dog in. I am poor and have no, umbrella. In putting the dog into the grave, you can use my mat; and do not

[1. It is doubtful how this first sentence should be translated. Most naturally we should render Hsien-wan-dze of Zin having completed his house, but binomial honorary titles were not yet known; and the view seems to be correct that this Wan-dze was Kâo Wû, a well-known minister of Zin. The 'Nine Plains' below must have been the name of a burying-place used by the officers of Zin. There seems to be an error in the name in the text, which is given correctly in paragraph 25.]

let its head get buried in the earth. When one of the horses of the ruler's carriage dies, it is buried in a curtain (in good condition)[1].'

21. When the mother of Kî-sun died, duke Âi paid a visit of condolence to him. (Soon after), Zang-dze and Dze-kung arrived for the same purpose; but the porter declined to admit them, because the ruler was present. On this they went into the stable, and adjusted their dress more fully. (Shortly) they entered the house, Dze-kung going first[2] . The porter said to him, 'I have already announced your arrival;' and when Zang-dze followed, he moved on one side for him. They passed on to the inner place for the droppings from the roof, the Great officers all moving out of their way, and the duke descending a step and bowing to them. A superior man has said about the case, 'So it is when the toilet is complete! Immediately its influence extends far[3].'

22. A man-at-arms at the Yang gate (of the capital of Sung) having died, Dze-han, the superintendent of Works, went to (his house), and wailed for him bitterly. The men of Zin who were in Sung as spies returned, and reported the thing to

[1. The concluding sentence is found also in the 'Narratives of the School,' and may have been added to the rest by the compiler of this Than Kung. We are not prepared for the instance which Confucius gives of his poverty; but perhaps we like him better for keeping a dog, and seeing after its burial.

2. Because he was older than Zang-dze.

3. This concluding sentence is much objected to; seeming, as it does, to attribute to their toilet what was due to the respectful demeanour of the two worthies, and their established reputation. But the text must stand as it is.]

the marquis of Zin, saying, 'A man-at-arms at the Yang gate having died, Dze-han wailed for him bitterly, and the people were pleased; (Sung), we apprehend, cannot be attacked (with success).'

When Confucius heard of the circumstances, he said, 'Skilfully did those men do their duty as spies in Sung. It is said in the Book of Poetry,--

"If there was any mourning among the people,
I did my utmost to help them."

Though there had been other enemies besides Zin, what state under the sky could have withstood one (in the condition of Sung)[1]?'

23. At the mourning rites for duke Kwang of Lû, when the interment was over, (the new ruler) did not enter the outer gate with his girdle of dolichos cloth. The ordinary and Great officers, when they had finished their wailing, also did not enter in their sackcloth[2].

24. There was an old acquaintance of Confucius, called Yüan Zang. When his mother died, the Master assisted him in preparing the shell for the coffin. Yüan (then) got up on the wood, and said, 'It is long since I sang to anything;' and (with this he struck the wood), singing:--

It is marked like a wild cat's head;
It is(smooth) as a young lady's hand which you hold.'

The Master, however, made as if he did not hear, and passed by him.

[1. The whole narrative here is doubted. See the Shih, I. iii. Ode 10. 4. The reading of the poem, but not the meaning, is different from the text. The application is far-fetched.

2. The time was one of great disorder; there may have been reasons for the violations of propriety, which we do not know.]

The disciples who were with him said, 'Can you not have done with him?' 'I have heard,' was the reply, 'that relations should not forget their relationship, nor old acquaintances their friendship[1],'

25. Kâo Wan-dze and Shû-yü were looking about them at the Nine Plains[2], when Wan-dze said, 'If these dead could arise, with whom would I associate myself?' Shû-yü asked, 'Would it be with Yang Khû-fû[3]?' 'He managed by his course,' was the reply, 'to concentrate in himself all the power of Zin, and yet he did not die a natural death. His wisdom does not deserve to be commended.'

'Would it be with uncle Fan[4]?' Wan-dze said, 'When he saw gain in prospect, he did not think of his ruler; his virtue does not deserve to be commended[4]. I think I would follow Wû-dze of Sui[5]. While seeking the advantage of his ruler, he did not forget himself; and while consulting for his own advantage, he was not forgetful of his friends.'

The people of Zin thought that Wan-dze knew men. He carried himself in a retiring way, as if he could not bear even his clothes. His speech

[1. We have another instance of Confucius's relations with Yüan Zang in the Analects, XIV, 46. He was evidently 'queer,' with a sort of craze. It gives one a new idea of Confucius to find his interest in, and kindly feeling for, such a man.

2. See paragraph 19 and note.

3. Master of duke Hsiang B.C. 627-621, and an important minister afterwards.

4. See in paragraph 19, Part i. But scant measure is dealt here to 'uncle Fan.'

5. Wû-dze of Sui had an eventful life, and played an important part in the affairs of Zin and Khin in his time. See a fine testimony to him in the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 546.]

was low and stuttering, as if he could not get his words out. The officers whom he advanced to responsible charges in the depositories of Zin were more than seventy. During his life, he had no contentions with any of them about gain, and when dying he required nothing from them for his sons.

26. Shû-kung Phî instructed (his son) Dze-liû (in the rules of ceremony); and when he died, Dze-liû's wife, who was a plain, blunt woman, wore for him the one year's mourning and the headband with its two ends tied together. (Phî's brother), Shû-kung Khien spoke to Dze-liû about it, and requested that she should wear the three months' mourning and the simple headband; saying, 'Formerly, when I was mourning for my aunts and sisters, I wore this mourning, and no one forbade it.' When he withdrew, however, (Dze-liû) made his wife wear the three months' mourning and the simple headband[1].

27. There was a man of Khang, who did not go into mourning on the death of his elder brother. Hearing, however, that Dze-kâo was about to become governor of the city, he forthwith did so. The people of Khang said, 'The silkworm spins

[1. Shû-kung Phî was the first of a branch of the Shû-sun clan, descended from the ruling house of Lû The object of the paragraph seems to be to show, that Dze-liû's wife, though a plain simple woman, was taught what to do, by her native feeling and sense, in a matter of ceremony, more correctly than the two gentlemen, mere men of the world, her husband and his uncle. The paragraph, however, is not skilfully constructed, nor quite clear. Kang Hsüan thought that Dze-liû was Phî's son, which, the Khien-lung editors say, some think a mistake, They do not give definitely their own opinion.]

its cocoons, but the crab supplies the box for them; the bee has its cap, but the cicada supplies the strings for it. His elder brother died, but it was Dze-kâo who made the mourning for him[1].'

28. When Yo Kang, Dze-khun's mother, died, he was five days without eating. He then said, 'I am sorry for it. Since in the case of my mother's death, I could not eat according to my feelings, on what occasion shall I be able to do so?'

29. In a year of drought duke Mû[2] called to him Hsien-dze, and asked him about it. 'Heaven,' said he, 'has not sent down rain for a long time. I wish to expose a deformed person in the sun (to move its pity), what do you say to my doing so?' 'Heaven, indeed,' was the reply, 'does not send down rain; but would it not be an improper act of cruelty, on that account to expose the diseased son of some one in the sun?'

'Well then,' (said the duke), 'I wish to expose in the sun a witch; what do you say to that?' Hsien-dze said, 'Heaven, indeed, does not send down rain; but would it not be wide of the mark to hope anything from (the suffering of) a foolish woman, and by means of that to seek for rain[3]?'

[1. The Dze-kâo here was the same as Kao Khâi; see the note on paragraph 4. The incident here shows the influence of his well-known character. He is the crab whose shell forms a box for the cocoons, and the cicada whose antennae form the strings for the cap.

2. 'Duke Mû and Hsien-dze;' see Section I. Part iii. 5.

3. In the Zo Kwan, under B.C. 639, duke Hsî of Lû makes a proposal about exposing a deformed person and a witch like that which is recorded here. Nothing is said, however, about changing the site of the market. Reference is made, however, to that practice in a work of Tung Kung-shu (second century, B.C.), Of which Wang Thâo ventures to give a geomantic explanation. The narrative in the text is probably taken from the Zo Kwan, the compiler having forgotten the time and parties in the earlier account.]

'What do you say then to my moving the marketplace elsewhere?' The answer was, 'When the son of Heaven dies, the market is held in the lanes for seven days; and it is held in them for three days, when the ruler of a state dies. It will perhaps be a proper measure to move it there on account of the present distress.'

30. Confucius said, 'The people of Wei, in burying husband and wife together (in the same grave and shell), leave a space between the coffins. The people of Lû, in doing the same, place them together;--which is the better way.


THE reader will have been struck by the many references in the Than Kung to the degrees and dress of mourning; and no other subject occupies so prominent a place in many of the books of the Lî Kî that follow. It is thought well, therefore, to introduce here, by way of appendix to it, the following passage from a very valuable paper on 'Marriage, Affinity, and Inheritance in China,' contributed, on February 8th, 1853, to the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, by Mr. W. H. Medhurst, jun., now Sir Walter H. Medhurst. The information and subjoined illustrative tables were taken by him mainly from the Ritual and Penal Code of China, a preliminary chapter of which is devoted to the subject of 'The Dress of Mourning:'--

The ideas of the Chinese as to nearness of kin, whether by blood or marriage, differ widely from our own. They divide relationships into two classes, Nêi khin (###) and Wâi yin (###), terms analogous to our "consanguinity" and "affinity," but conveying, nevertheless, other associations than those which we attach to these words. The former (Nêi khin) comprehends all kindred derived from common stock with the individual, but only by descent through the male line; the latter (Wâi yin) includes what the Chinese designate mû tang (###) and nü tang (###) three terms best translated, perhaps, by "mother's kin," "wife's kin," and "daughter's kin," and understood by them to mean a mother's relatives, relatives of females received into one's kindred by marriage, and members of families into which one's kinswomen marry. Thus, for example, a first cousin twice removed, lineally descended from the same great-great-grandfather through the male line, is a nêi-khin relative; but a mother's parents, wife's sister, and a sister's husband or child, are all equally wâi-yin kindred. The principle on which the distinction is drawn appears to be, that a woman alienates herself from her own kin on marriage, and becomes a part of the stock on which she is grafted; and it will be necessary to keep this principle distinctly in mind in perusing any further remarks that may be made, as otherwise it will be found impossible to reconcile the many apparent contradictions in the theory and practice of the Chinese Code.

'The indication of the prohibited degrees (in marriage) depends then upon a peculiar genealogical disposition of the several members of a family with respect to the mourning worn for deceased relatives; and this I shall now proceed to explain. The Ritual prescribes five different kinds of mourning, called wû fû (###), to be worn for all relatives within a definite proximity of degree, graduating the character of the habit in proportion to the nearness of kin. These habits are designated by certain names, which by a species of metonymy come to be applied to the relationships themselves, and are used somewhat as we apply the terms "1st degree," "2nd degree," and so on; and plans, similar to our genealogical tables, are laid down, showing the specific habit suitable for each kinsman. The principal one of these tables, that for a married or unmarried man, comprises cousins twice removed, that is, derived by lineal descent from a common great-great-grandfather, that ancestor himself, and all relatives included within the two lines of descent from him to them; below the individual, it comprehends his own descendants (in the male line) as far as great-great-grandchildren, his brother's as far as great-grand children, his cousin's as far as grandchildren, and the children 'of his cousin once removed. In this table nêi-khin relationships will alone be found; mourning is worn for very few of the wâi-yin, and these, though actually, that is, in our eyes, ties of consanguinity; and deserving far more consideration than many for which a deeper habit is prescribed, are classed among the very lowest degrees of mourning.

'Six tables are given in the Ritual to which the five habits are common; they prescribe the mourning to be worn by

1st, A man for his kinsmen and kinswomen;
2nd, A wife for her husband's kinsfolk;
3rd, A married female for her own kinsfolk;
4th, A man for his mother's kinsfolk;
5th, A man for his wife's kinsfolk;
6th, A concubine for her master's kinsfolk.

'A seventh table is given, exhibiting the mourning to be worn for step-fathers and fathers by adoption, and for step- and foster-mothers, &c.; but I have not thought it necessary to encumber my paper by wandering into so remote a portion of the field.

'To render these details more easily comprehensible, I shall class the relationships in each table under their appropriate degrees of mourning, and leave the reader to examine the tables at his leisure. It need only be borne in mind, that, excepting where otherwise specified, the relationship indicated is male, and only by descent through the male line, as, for example, that by "cousin" a father's brother's son alone is meant, and not a father's sister's son or daughter.

'The five kinds of mourning, the names of which serve, as has been said, to indicate the degrees of relationship to which they belong, are:--

1st, Kan-zui (###), nominally worn for three years, really for twenty-seven months;

2nd, Dze-zui (###), worn for one year, for five months, or for three months;

3rd, Tâ-kung (###), worn for nine months;

4th, Hsiâ-kung (###), worn for five months;

5th, Sze-mâ (###) worn for three months.

'The character of each habit, and the relatives for whom it is worn, are prescribed as follows:--

'1st, Kan-Zui indicates relationships of the first degree. The prescribed habit for it is composed of the coarsest hempen fabric, and left unhemmed at the borders. It is worn:--

'By a man, for his parents; by a wife, for her husband, and husband's parents; and by a concubine, for her master.

'2nd, Dze-zui indicates relationships of the second degree. The prescribed habit for it is composed of coarse hempen fabric, with hemmed borders. It is worn for one year:--

'By a man, for his grandparents; uncle; uncle's wife; spinster aunt; brother; spinster sister; wife; son (of wife or concubine); daughter-in-law (wife of first-born); nephew; spinster niece; grandson (first-born son of first-born); by a wife, for her husband's nephew, and husband's spinster niece; by a married woman, for her parents, and grandparents; and by a concubine, for her master's wife; her master's parents; her master's sons (by wife or other concubine), and for sons. It is worn for five months:--

'By a man, for his great-grandparents; and by a married woman, for her great-grandparents. It is worn for three months:--

'By a man, for his great-great-grandparents; and by, a married woman, for her great-great-grandparents.

'3rd, Tâ-kung indicates relationships of the third degree. The prescribed habit for it is composed of coarse cotton fabric[1]. It is worn:--

'By a man, for his married aunt; married sister; brother's wife; first cousin; spinster first cousin; daughter-in-law (wife of a younger son, or of a son of a concubine); nephew's wife; married niece; and grandson (son of a younger son, or of a concubine's son); by a wife, for her husband's grandparents; husband's uncle; husband's daughter-in-law (wife of a younger son, or of a concubine's son); husband's nephew's wife; husband's married niece; and grandson; by a married woman, for her uncle; uncle's wife; spinster aunt; brother; sister; nephew; spinster niece; and by a concubine, for her grandson.

'4th, Hsiâo-kung indicates relationships of the fourth degree. The habit prescribed for it is composed of rather coarse cotton fabric. It is worn:--

'By a man, for his grand-uncle; grand-uncle's wife; spinster grand-aunt; father's first cousin; father's first cousin's wife; father's spinster first cousin married female first cousin; first cousin once removed spinster female first cousin once removed; second cousin; spinster female second cousin; grand-daughter-in-law (wife of first-born of first-born son); grand-nephew; spinster grand-niece; mother's parents; mother's brother; mother's

[1. In the very brief account of this preliminary chapter in the Penal Code, given by Sir George Staunton, in his translation of the Code (page lxxv), he gives for the material 'coarse' linen cloth. The Chinese character is simply 'cloth.' I suppose the material originally was linen; but since the use of cotton, both of native and foreign manufacture, has increased in China, it is often substituted for linen. I have seen some mourners wearing linen, and others wearing cotton.]

sister'; by a wife, for her husband's aunt; husband's brother; husband's brother's wife; husband's sister; husband's second cousin; spinster female second cousin of husband; husband's grand-nephew; and spinster grandniece of husband; by a married woman, for her spinster aunt; married sister; first cousin; and married niece; and by a concubine, for her master's grandparents.

'5th, Sze-mâ indicates relationships of the fifth degree. The prescribed dress for it is composed of rather fine cotton cloth. It is worn:--

'By a man, for his great-grand-uncle; great-granduncle's wife; spinster great-grand-aunt; married grandaunt; grandfather's first cousin; grandfather's first cousin's wife; spinster first cousin of grandfather; married female first cousin of rather; father's first cousin once removed; wife of father's first cousin once removed; father's spinster first cousin once removed; first cousin's wife; married female first cousin once removed; first cousin twice removed; spinster first cousin twice removed; married female second cousin; second cousin once removed; spinster second cousin once removed; grand-daughter-in-law (wife of son of a younger son,- or of son of a concubine) grand-nephew's wife; married grand-niece; third cousin spinster third cousin; great-grandson; great-grand-nephew; spinster great-grand-niece; great-great-grandson; aunt's son; mother's brother's son; mother's sister's son; wife's parents; son-in-law; daughter's child: by a wife, for her husband's great-great-grand-parents; husband's great-grand-parents; husband's grand-uncle; husband's spinster grand-aunt; father-in-law's first cousin; father-in-law's first cousin's wife; spinster first cousin of father-in-law; female first cousin of husband; husband's second cousin's wife; married female second cousin of husband; husband's second cousin once removed; husband's

[1. These names and others farther on, printed with spaced letters, all belong to the Wâi-yin relationships.]

spinster second cousin once removed; grand -daughter-in-law (wife of own or a concubine's grandson); husband's grand-nephew's wife; husband's married grand-niece; husband's third cousin; spinster third cousin of husband; great-grandson; great-grand-daughter-in-law; husband's great-grand-nephew; spinster great-grand-niece of husband; and great-great-grandson: and by a married woman, for her grand-uncle; spinster grand-aunt; father's first cousin; spinster first cousin of father; spinster first cousin; second cousin; spinster second cousin.'