THE

THE SHU KING

(INTRODUCTION)

HE character of the Shu King as a collection of old historic documents has been explained in the general introduction. These documents are divided into five parts, of which the first contains only a single brief book, the sacred book or Canon of Yao. The second part consists of the Books of Yu, of which there are four, all very short. These two parts of the Shu are probably not contemporary with the events they relate. They employ more than once the words, "Examining into antiquity we find.”

The remaining and much more extensive parts of the Shu are probably contemporaneous records. Part three contains four documents of the Hsia Dynasty (2205-1767 B.C.), the oldest clearly established family, or dynasty, of Chinese kings. Part four contains eleven documents of the Shang or Yin Dynasty (1766-1123 B.C.). Part five, which is much the longest, contains thirty documents, some of them fairly long, relating to the Chau Dynasty, which succeeded that of Shang and was still in power in the days of Confucius.

A brief glance at early Chinese history will help the reader much in understanding the opening of the Shu. About three thousand years before Christ the earliest Chinese hero Fu-shi, and his successors, built up a little kingdom which in civilization and in strength outranked the more barbaric peoples around it. By the time of Yao (2357 B.C.), the first king mentioned in the Shu, this kingdom included twelve lesser regions or dukedoms. It had become a land of light in the midst of surrounding darkness, though we need not believe it so pure and so invincible, nor its chief men so humble and self-sacrificing as they are pictured in the Book of Yao. Yao was idealized in later times as a perfect monarch and his epoch as a golden age.

During Yao's reign a deluge, or an overflow of the great rivers of China, is said to have desolated the land. Prosperity was restored and future inundations guarded against by the energy and engineering skill of a remarkable man, Yu. He cut through mountains and made the gorges by which the mighty waters of the Yang-tze-kiang now reach the sea. Yu was later rewarded, not by the monarch Yao, but by Yao's successor Shun, who made Yu the chief man of the kingdom, the "General Regulator," or king's deputy, and heir to the throne. Hence Yu in time became king.

Each earlier ruler was supposed to have appointed as his successor the ablest man in the kingdom. King Yu changed this plan to the modern one of appointing his own son and holding the kingship as an hereditary property. He thus founded the first continuous Chinese dynasty, that of Hsia; and naturally his descendants kept his memory fully in view. The earliest document of the Shu was probably written in this dynasty of Hsia; because while the book speaks of King Yao it prepares the way for the tabulation of the labors of Yu, which were to bring him to the kingship. Yu himself appears in the next book, which is honored like the first by being called a sacred book or "Canon." None of the later books of the Shu is thus sanctified.

The descendants of Yu soon degenerated. They became evil kings, and were driven from the throne by a revolution. This was headed by Thang, a prince of the family of Shang. So Thang, the "Fulfiller" or "Completer" of the early empire, becomes the next great hero. His deeds and praises occupy much of the fourth part of the Shu. His family, the Shang Dynasty, held rule for six hundred years; then they too were expelled by a revolution brought about, according to the Shu, by their degenerate wickedness.

This brings us to the final part of the Shu, which deals with the Chau Dynasty. Its hero-leaders of the struggle against the Shang tyrants were Duke Wan, who died in the contest, and his son Duke Wu. They were the rulers of the State of Chau, until Wu, by his final victory, became

king. Wu then honored his dead father by ranking him also as a king.

power of the Chau kings They still retained a nom

By the time of Confucius the had almost entirely disappeared. inal leadership, but each little State of their empire was really a separate monarchy, and the dukes or princes warred against one another. As for the ancient histories, preserved from more peaceful days, most of these had perished. The present Shu is the remnant of them, preserved because of the teachings of Confucius.

THE SHU KING

PART I.—THE SACRED BOOK OF YAO

1. Examining into antiquity, we find that the Ti Yao1 was styled Fang-hsun. He was reverential, intelligent, accomplished, and thoughtful— naturally and without effort. He was sincerely courteous, and capable of all complaisance. The bright influence of these qualities was felt through the four quarters of the land, and reached to heaven above and earth beneath.

He made the able and virtuous distinguished, and thence proceeded to the love of all in the nine classes of his kindred, who thus became harmonious. He also regulated and polished the people of his domain, who all became brightly intelligent. Finally, he united and harmonized the myriad States; and so the black-haired people were transformed. The result was universal concord.

2. He commanded the Hsis and Hos,2 in reverent accordance with their observation of the wide heavens, to calculate and delineate the movements and appearances of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the zodiacal spaces, and so to deliver respectfully the seasons to be observed by the people.

He separately commanded the second brother Hsi to reside. at Yu-i, in which was called the Bright Valley, and there respectfully to receive as a guest the rising sun, and to adjust and arrange the labors of the spring. "The day," said he, "is of the medium length, and the star is in Niao - you

1 Yao is to us now the name of the ancient ruler so denominated. The character means "high," "lofty and grand." It may originally have been an epithet, "the Exalted One." Ti means "the Supreme Lord." It is applied without distinction to the supreme god and to Chinese kings.

2 The Hsis and Hos seem to have been brothers of two families, on whom devolved the care of the calendar, principally with a view to regulate the seasons of agriculture.