the tyrant, extending his oppression over you, the people of the myriad regions. Suffering from his cruel injuries, and unable to endure the wormwood and poison, you protested with one accord your innocence to the spirits of heaven and earth. The way of Heaven is to bless the good, and make the bad miserable. It sent down calamities on the House of Hsia, to make manifest its guilt. Therefore I, the little child, charged with the decree of Heaven and its bright terrors, did not dare to forgive the criminal. I presumed to use a dark-colored victim-bull, and, making clear announcement to the Spiritual Sovereign in the high heavens, requested leave to deal with the ruler of Hsia as a criminal. Then I sought for the great Sage,2 with whom I might unite my strength, to request the favor of Heaven for you, my multitudes. High Heaven truly showed its favor to the inferior people, and the criminal has been degraded and subjected. What Heaven appoints is without error - brilliantly now, like the blossoming of plants and trees, the millions of the people show a true reviving.

3. "It is given to me, the One man, to secure the harmony and tranquillity of your States and clans; and now I know not whether I may not offend against the Powers above and below. I am fearful and trembling, as if I were in danger of falling into a deep abyss. Throughout all the regions that enter on a new life under me, do not, ye princes, follow lawless ways; make no approach to insolence and dissoluteness; let every one be careful to keep his statutes, that so we may receive the favor of Heaven. The good in you I will not dare to keep concealed; and for the evil in me I will not dare to forgive myself. I will examine these things in harmony with the mind of God. When guilt is found anywhere in you who occupy the myriad regions, let it rest on me, the One man. When guilt is found in me, the One man, it shall not attach to you who occupy the myriad regions.

2 "The great Sage" must be I Yin, Thang's chief adviser and minister, who appears prominently in the next Book.

3 There was a tradition in the Chau Dynasty, given with variations by Hsun-tze, Sze-ma Chien, and others, which may be quoted to illustrate these noble sentiments of Thang. For seven years after his accession to

"Oh! let us attain to be sincere in these things, and so we shall likewise have a happy consummation."

Book IV.- THE INSTRUCTIONS OF I1

1. In the twelfth month of the first year, on the day Yichau, I Yin sacrificed to the former king, and presented the heir-king reverently before the shrine of his grandfather. All the princes from the domain of the nobles and the royal domain were present; all the officers also, each continuing to discharge his particular duties, were there to receive the orders of the chief minister. I Yin then clearly described the complete virtue of the Meritorious Ancestor for the instruction of the young king.

2. He said, "Oh! of old the former kings of Hsia cultivated earnestly their virtue, and then there were no calamities from Heaven. The spirits of the hills and rivers likewise were all in tranquillity; and the birds and beasts, the fishes and tortoises - all enjoyed their existence according to their nature. But their descendant did not follow their example, and great Heaven sent down calamities, employing the agency of our ruler who was in possession of its favoring appointment. The attack on Hsia may be traced to the the throne, 1766-1760 B.C., there was a great drought and famine. It was suggested at last that some human being should be offered in sacrifice to Heaven, and prayer made for rain. Thang said, "If a man must be the victim, I will be he." He fasted, cut off his hair and nails, and in a plain carriage, drawn by white horses, clad in rushes, in the guise of a sacrificial victim, he proceeded to a forest of mulberry-trees, and there prayed, asking to what error or crime of his the calamity was owing. He had not done speaking when a copious rain fell.

1 Thang died in 1754 or 1753 B.C., and was succeeded, so far as the evidence of the Shu goes, by his grandson, known as Thai Chia. The chief minister of Thang had been I Yin, who delivers these Instructions to his young sovereign soon after his accession. I was a great and wise man, a great sage," as Thang calls him in the last Book, and is classed by Mencius among other celebrated ministers as "the one most inclined to take office." He reasons thus: "Heaven's plan with mankind is that they who are first informed should instruct those who are later in being informed, and they who first apprehend principles should instruct those who are later in doing so." He thought he was one of the former class, and a fire burned within him, impelling him to seek for office with a view to benefit the ignorant and erring.

orgies in Ming-thiao,2 but our rise began in Po. Our king of Shang brilliantly displayed his sagely prowess; for oppression he substituted his generous gentleness; and the millions of the people gave him their hearts. Now your Majesty is entering on the inheritance of his virtue; all depends on how you commence your reign. To set up love, it is for you to love your relations; to set up respect, it is for you to respect your elders. The commencement is in the family and the State; the consummation is in all within the four

seas.

3. "Oh! the former king began with careful attention to the bonds that hold men together. He listened to expostulation, and did not seek to resist it; he conformed to the wisdom of the ancients; occupying the highest position, he displayed intelligence; occupying an inferior position, he displayed his loyalty; he allowed the good qualities of the men whom he employed, and did not seek that they should have every talent; in the government of himself, he seemed to think that he could never sufficiently attain. It was thus he arrived at the possession of the myriad regions. How painstaking was he in these things!

He extensively sought out wise men, who should be helpful to you, his descendant and heir. He laid down the punishments for officers, and warned those who were in authority, saying, 'If you dare to have constant dancing in your palaces, and drunken singing in your chambers — that is called the fashion of sorcerers; if you dare to set your hearts on wealth and women, and abandon yourselves to wandering about or to the chase that is called the fashion of extravagance; if you dare to despise sage words, to resist the loyal and upright, to put far from you the aged and virtuous, and to seek the company of procacious youths that is called the fashion of disorder. Now if a high noble or officer be addicted to one of these three fashions with their

2 Ming-thiao was a place not far from the capital of Chieh (in the present district of An-yi, Hai Chau, Shan-hsi). He had a palace there, where the vilest orgies were celebrated that alienated the minds of the people from him.

3

ten evil ways, his family will surely come to ruin; if the prince of a country be so addicted, his State will surely come to ruin. The minister who does not try to correct such vices in the sovereign shall be punished with branding.' These rules were minutely inculcated also on the sons of officers and nobles in their lessons.

4. "Oh! do you, who now succeed to the throne, revere these warnings in your person. Think of them! - sacred counsels of vast importance, admirable words forcibly set forth! The ways of God are not invariable: on the gooddoer he sends down all blessings, and on the evil-doer he sends down all miseries. Do you but be virtuous, be it in small things or in large, and the myriad regions will have cause for rejoicing. If you be not virtuous, be it in large things or in small, it will bring the ruin of your ancestral temple."

Book V.- THE THAI CHIA 1

Section 1

1. The king, on succeeding to the throne, did not follow the advice of A-hang.2 Ahang or I Yin then made the following writing: 3a "The former king kept his eye continually on the bright requirements of Heaven, and so he maintained the worship of the spirits of heaven and earth, of those presiding over the land and the grain, and of those of the ancestral temple; all with a sincere reverence. Heaven took notice of his virtue, and caused its great appointment to light on him, that he should soothe and tranquillize the myriad regions. I, Yin, then gave my assistance to my

8 The “ten evil ways" are those mentioned in connection with the three evil fashions: two under the sorcerers' fashion, and four under each of the other two fashions.

1 This Book also belongs to the class of "Lessons or Instructions," and is called the "Thai Chia," because the Instructions were addressed to the young monarch so named.

2 A-hang, it is said by Sze-ma Chien, was the name of I. Others make it the title of the chief minister under the dynasty of Shang, i.e., "the Support and Steelyard," ""the Buttress and Director."

sa This is the first direct statement in the Shu of a communication made in writing.

sovereign in the settlement of the people; and thus it is that you, O heir-king, have received the great inheritance. I have seen it myself in Hsia with its western capital, that when its rulers went through a prosperous course to the end, their ministers also did the same, and afterward, when their successors could not attain to such a consummation, neither did their ministers. Take warning, O heir-king. Reverently use your sovereignty. If you do not play the sovereign, as the name requires, you will disgrace your grandfather."

2. The king would not think of these words, nor listen to them. On this I Yin said, "The former king, before it was light, sought to have large and clear views, and then sat waiting for the dawn to carry them into practise. He also sought on every side for men of ability and virtue, to instruct and guide his posterity. Do not frustrate his charge to me, and bring on yourself your own overthrow. Be careful to strive after the virtue of self-restraint, and cherish far-reaching plans. Be like the forester, who, when he has adjusted the spring, goes to examine the end of the arrow, whether it be placed according to rule, and then lets go; reverently determine your aim, and follow the ways of your grandfather. Thus I shall be delighted, and be able to show to all ages that I have discharged my trust."

3. The king was not yet able to change his course. I Yin said to himself, "This is real unrighteousness, and is becoming by practise a second nature. I can not bear to be near so disobedient a person. I will build a place in the palace at Thung, where he can be in silence near the grave of the former king. This will be a lesson which will keep him from going astray all his life." The king went accordingly to the palace at Thung, and dwelt during the period of mourning. In the end he became sincerely virtuous.

4 Thung was the place where Thang's tomb was; probably in the present district of Yung-ho, department of Phu-chau, Shan-hsi. The site or supposed site of the grave there was washed away in an overflow of the Fan river under the Yuan Dynasty, and a stone coffin was removed to another position, near which a royal tomb has been built.