Five hundred li (beyond) constituted the Domain of the Nobles. The first hundred li was occupied by the cities and lands of the sovereign's high ministers and great officers; the second, by the principalities of the barons; and the other three hundred, by the various other princes.

Five hundred li (still beyond) formed the Peace-securing Domain. In the first three hundred, they cultivated the lessons of learning and moral duties; in the other two, they showed the energies of war and defense.

Five hundred li (remoter still) formed the Domain of Restraint. The first three hundred were occupied by the tribes of the I; the other two hundred, by criminals undergoing the lesser banishment.

Five hundred li (the most remote) constituted the Wild Domain. The first three hundred were occupied by the tribes of the Man; the other two hundred, by criminals undergoing the greater banishment.

5. On the east, reaching to the sea; on the west, extending to the moving sands; to the utmost limits of the north and south, his fame and influence filled up all within the four seas. Yu presented the dark-colored symbol of his rank, and announced the completion of his work.

BOOK II.- THE SPEECH AT KAN 1

There was a great battle at Kan. Previous to it, the king called together the six nobles (the leaders of his six hosts), and said, "Ah! all ye who are engaged in my six hosts, I have a solemn announcement to make to you.

"The lord of Hu wildly wastes and despises the five elements that regulate the seasons, and has idly abandoned the three acknowledged commencements of the year.2 On

1 The text does not say who the king at this battle of Kan was, but the prevalent tradition has always been that he was Chi, the son and successor of Yu. Kan is taken as the name of a place in the southern border of the principality of Hu, with the lord of which Chi fought. The name of Hu itself still remains in the district so called of the department Hsi-an, in Shen-hsi.

2 The crimes of the lord of Hu are here very obscurely stated. With regard to the second of them, we know that Hsia commenced its year

this account Heaven is about to destroy him, and bring to an end his appointment to Hu; and I am now reverently executing the punishment appointed by Heaven.

3

"If you (the archers), on the left, do not do your work on the left, it will be a disregard of my orders. If you (the spearmen), on the right, do not do your work on the right, it will be a disregard of my orders. If you, charioteers,3 do not observe the rules for the management of your horses, it will be a disregard of my orders. You who obey my orders shall be rewarded before the spirits of my ancestors; and you who disobey my orders shall be put to death before the altar of the spirits of the land, and I will also put to death your children."

Book III.- THE SONGS OF THE FIVE SONS 1

1. Thai Khang 2 occupied the throne like a personator of the dead. By idleness and dissipation he extinguished his

3 a

with the first month of spring, Shang a month earlier, and Chau about mid-winter. It was understood that every dynasty should fix a new month for the beginning of the year, and the dynasty of Chin actually carried its first month back into our November. If the lord of Hu claimed to begin the year with another month than that which Yu had fixed, he was refusing submission to the new dynasty. No doubt, the object of the expedition was to put down a dangerous rival.

3 The chariots were the principal part of an ancient Chinese army; it is long before we read of cavalry. A war-chariot generally carried three. The driver was in the center; on his left was an archer, and a spearman occupied the place on his right. They all wore mail.

1 This Book ranks in that class of the documents of the Shu which goes by the name of "Instructions." Though the form of it be poetical, the subject-matter is derived from the Lessons left by Yu for the guidance of his posterity.

2 Thai Khang succeeded to his father in 2188 B.C., and his reign continues in chronology to 2160. His character is given here as evil. Chiung, the principality of I who took the field against him, is identified with the sub-department of Te-Chau, department Chi-nan, Shantung. There is a tradition that I, at an early period of his life, was lord of a State in the present Ho-nan. This would make his movement against Thai Khang, "south of the Ho," more easy for him. The name of Thai Khang remains in the district so called of the department Chanchau, Ho-nan. There, it is said, he died, having never been able to recross the Ho.

зa The character that here as a verb governs the character signifying

virtue, till the black-haired people all wavered in their allegiance. He, however, pursued his pleasure and wanderings without any self-restraint. He went out to hunt beyond the Lo, and a hundred days elapsed without his returning. On this I, the prince of Chiung, taking advantage of the discontent of the people, resisted his return on the south of the Ho.

The king's five brothers had attended their mother in following him, and were waiting for him on the north of the Lo; and when they heard of I's movements, all full of dissatisfaction, they related the Cautions of the great Yu in the form of songs.

2. The first said,

"It was the lesson of our great ancestor:

The people should be cherished,

And not looked down upon.

The people are the root of a country;

The root firm, the country is tranquil.
When I look at all under heaven,

Of the simple men and simple women,

Any one may surpass me.

If the One man err repeatedly,*

Should dissatisfaction be waited for till it appears?

Before it is seen, it should be guarded against.

In my dealing with the millions of the people,

I should feel as much anxiety as if I were driving six horses

with rotten reins.

The ruler of men

How should he be but reverent of his duties?"

The second said,

"It is in the Lessons:

"throne" means properly "a corpse," and is often used for the personator of the dead, in the sacrificial services to the dead which formed a large part of the religious ceremonies of the ancient Chinese. A common definition of it is "the semblance of the spirit,” i.e., the image into which the spirit entered. Thai Khang was but a personator on the throne; no better than a sham sovereign.

♦ Any king, in the person of Yu, may be understood to be the speaker. VOL. XI.-4.

When the palace is a wild of lust,

And the country is a wild for hunting;

When spirits are liked, and music is the delight;
When there are lofty roofs and carved walls
The existence of any one of these things
Has never been but the prelude to ruin."

The third said,

"There was the lord of Thao and Thang, Who possessed this region of Chi.

Now we have fallen from his ways,

And thrown into confusion his rules and laws;
The consequence is extinction and ruin.”

The fourth said,

"Brightly intelligent was our ancestor,
Sovereign of the myriad regions.
He had canons, he had patterns,

Which he transmitted to his posterity.

The standard stone and the equalizing quarter

Were in the royal treasury.

Wildly have we dropped the clue he gave us,
Overturning our temple, and extinguishing our sacrifices.”

The fifth said,

"Oh! whither shall we turn?

The thoughts in my breast make me sad.

All the people are hostile to us;

On whom can we rely?

Anxieties crowd together in our hearts;

Thick as are our faces, they are covered with blushes.
We have not been careful of our virtue;

And though we repent, we can not overtake the past.”

5 The lord of Thao and Thang is Yao, who was lord of the principalities of Thao and Thang, but of which first and which last is uncertain, before his accession to the throne. Chi is the Chi Chau of the Tribute of Yu.

Book IV.- THE PUNITIVE EXPEDITION OF YIN.1

1. When Chung Khang commenced his reign over all within the four seas, the marquis of Yin was commissioned to take charge of the king's six hosts. At this time the Hsi and Ho2 had neglected the duties of their office, and were abandoned to drink in their private cities; and the marquis of Yin received the king's charge to go and punish them.

3

2. He made an announcement to his hosts, saying, “Ah! ye, all my men, there are the well-counseled instructions of the sage founder of our dynasty, clearly verified in their power to give stability and security: The former kings were carefully attentive to the warnings of Heaven, and their ministers observed the regular laws of their offices. All the officers, moreover, watchfully did their duty to assist the government, and their sovereign became entirely intelligent.' Every year, in the first month of spring, the herald, with his wooden-tongued bell, goes along the roads, proclaiming, 'Ye officers able to instruct, be prepared with your admonitions. Ye workmen engaged in mechanical affairs, remonstrate on the subjects of your employments. If any of you do not attend with respect to this requirement, the country has regular punishments for you.'

"Now here are the Hsi and Ho. They have allowed their virtue to be subverted, and are besotted by drink. They have violated the duties of their office, and left their posts. They have been the first to let the regulating of the heavenly bodies get into disorder, putting far from them their proper busi

1 This Book is another of the "Speeches" of the Shu, belonging to the reign of Chung Khang, a brother of Thai Khang.

2 Hsi and Ho, the principal ministers of the Board of Astronomy, descended from those of the same name in the time of Yao, had given themselves over to licentious indulgence in their private cities, and grossly neglected their duties. Especially had they been unobservant of an eclipse of the sun in autumn. The king considered them worthy of death, and commissioned the marquis of Yin to execute on them the sentence of his justice.

3 That is, here, such warnings as were supposed to be conveyed by eclipses and other unusual celestial phenomena.

4 A similar practise existed in the Chau Dynasty.