CHAPTER V.

MISCELLANEOUS.

HISTORICAL SCRAPS.

Ke-sun said, “A strange man was Tsze-shuh E. He pushed himself into the service of government. His prince declining to employ him, he had to retire indeed, but he again schemed that his son or younger brother should be made a high officer. Who indeed is there of men but wishes for riches and honor? But he only, among the seekers of these, tried to monopolize the conspicuous mound.

“Of old time, the market-dealers exchanged the articles which they had for others which they had not, and simply had certain officers to keep order among them. It happened that there was a mean fellow, who made it a point to look out for a conspicuous mound, and get up upon it. Thence he looked right and left, to catch in his net the whole gain of the market. The people all thought his conduct mean, and therefore they proceeded to lay a tax upon his wares. The taxing of traders took its rise from this mean fellow."

There being some who would not become the subjects

of Chow, king Woo proceeded to punish them on the east. He gave tranquillity to their people, who welcomed him with baskets full of their black and yellow silks, saying, "From henceforth we shall serve the sovereign of our dynasty of Chow, that we may be made happy by him." So they joined themselves, as subjects, to the great city of Chow. Thus, the men of station of Shang took baskets full of black and yellow silks to meet the men of station of Chow, and the lower classes of the one met those of the other, with baskets of rice and vessels of congee. Woo saved the people from the midst of fire and water, seizing only their oppressors, and destroying them.

Mencius said, "When Shun was living amid the deep retired mountains, dwelling with the trees and rocks, and wandering among the deer and swine, the difference between him and the rude inhabitants of those remote hills appeared very small. But when he heard a single good word, or saw a single good action, he was like a stream or a river bursting its banks and flowing out in an irresistible flood."

ITEMS CONTAINING REFERENCES TO ANCIENT EMPERORS.

In the time of Yaou, when the world had not yet been perfectly reduced to order, the vast waters, flowing out of their channels, made a universal inundation. Vegetation was luxuriant, and birds and beasts swarmed. The various kinds of grain could not be grown. The birds and beasts pressed upon men. The paths marked by the feet of beasts and prints of birds crossed one another

throughout the Middle Kingdom. To Yaou alone this He raised Shun to office, and

caused anxious sorrow.

Shun

measures to regulate the disorder were set forth. committed to Yih the direction of the fire to be employed, and Yih set fire to, and consumed, the forests and vegetation on the mountains and in the marshes, so that the birds and beasts fled away to hide themselves. Yu separated the nine streams, cleared the courses of the Tse and T'ah, and led them all to the sea. He opened a vent also for the Joo and Han, and regulated the course of the Hwae and Sze, so that they all flowed into the Keang. When this was done, it became possible for the people of the Middle Kingdom to cultivate the ground and get food for themselves. During that time, Yu was eight years away from his home, and though he thrice passed the door of it, he did not enter. Although he had wished to cultivate the ground, could he have done so ?

A long time has elapsed since this world of men received its being, and there has been along its history now a period of good order, and now a period of confusion. In the time of Yaou, the waters, flowing out of their channels, inundated the Middle Kingdom. Snakes and dragons occupied it, and the people had no place where they could settle themselves. In the low grounds they made nests for themselves, and in the high grounds they made caves.*

It is said in the Book of History, “The

* The great Yu drained off the overflowed lands in the center of China, especially that through which the Yellow river flows, and rendered it habitable.

The "nests were huts on high-raised platforms. These are said to have been the summer habitations of the earliest men; and

waters in their wild course warned me."

Those "waters in their wild course were the waters of the great inundation.

Shun employed Yu to reduce the waters to order. Yu dug open their obstructed channels, and conducted them to the sea. He drove away the snakes and dragons, and forced them into the grassy marshes. On this, the waters pursued their course through the country, even the waters of the Keang, the Hwae, the Ho, and the Han, and the dangers and obstructions which they had occasioned were removed. The birds and beasts which had injured the people also disappeared, and after this men found the plains available for them, and occupied them.

After the death of Yaou and Shun, the principles that mark sages fell into decay. Oppressive sovereigns arose one after another. By the time of Chow, the empire was again in a state of great confusion.

Chow-Kung assisted king Woo, and destroyed Chow. He smote Yen, and after three years put its sovereign to death. He drove Fei-leen to a corner by the sea, and slew him. The States which he extinguished amounted to fifty. He drove far away also the tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, and elephants; and the empire was greatly delighted. It is said in the Book of History; "Great and splendid were the plans of king Wan! Greatly were they carried out by the energy of king Woo! They are for the assistance and instruction of us who are of an after day. They are all in principle correct, and deficient in nothing."

in winter, "artificial caves," i. e., caves hollowed out from heaps of earth raised upon the ground.

Again the world fell into decay, and principles faded away. Perverse speakings and oppressive deeds waxed rife again. There were instances of ministers who murdered their sovereigns, and of sons who murdered their fathers.

Once more, sage emperors cease to arise, and the princes of the States give the reins to their lusts. Unemployed scholars indulge in unreasonable discussions. The words of Yang Choo and Mih Teih fill the empire. If you listen to people's discourses throughout it, you will find that they have adopted the views either of Yang or of Mih. Now, Yang's principle is "each one for himself," which does not acknowledge the claims of the sovereign. Mih's principle is, "to love all equally," which does not acknowledge the peculiar affection due to a father. But to acknowledge neither king nor father is to be in the state of a beast. Kung-ming E said, “In their kitchens there is fat meat. In their stables there

are fat horses. But their people have the look of hunger, and on the wilds there are those who have died of famine. This is leading on beasts to devour men." If the principles of Yang and Mih are not stopped and the principles of Confucius not set forth, then those perverse speakings will delude the people, and stop up the path of benevolence and righteousness. When benevolence and righteousness are stopped up, beasts will be led on to devour men, and men will devour one another.

In former times Yu repressed the vast waters of the inundation, and the empire was reduced to order. ChowKung's achievements extended even to the barbarous tribes of the west and north, and he drove away all ferocious animals, and the people enjoyed repose. Confu