2

ward to Lang-yeh. On his return he passed P'éng-ch'êng, and by feasting prepared himself for a sacrifice. Wishing to get the Tripods of Chou out, he sent a thousand men to plunge into the Sse River,3 but' all searching was in vain.4

Chin Shih Huang Ti came three generations after King Chao. At that time there was neither disorder nor rebellion in Chin, and the tripods ought not to have disappeared. That they might have done perhaps during the Chou time. The report says that King Nan hurried to Chin, and that Ch'in seized the Nine Tripods. Perhaps there is a mistake in time.

6

There is another tradition that when the Tai-chiu 5 altar to the spirits of the land disappeared in Sung, the tripods went down in the river below the city of Peng-ch'êng. Twenty-nine years later Ch'in united the Empire. Such being the case, the tripods would not have come into the possession of Chin, and must have been lost from the Chou already.

They were not spirits. During the "Spring and Autumn" period, five stones fell down in Sung. These five stones were stars. The separation of stars from heaven is like the disappearance of the tripods from earth. The stars falling down from heaven did not thereby become spirits, why then should the tripods vanishing from earth, acquire spiritual powers? In the "Spring and Autumn time, three mountains vanished in the same manner as the Tai-chiu altar disappeared. Five stars descended from heaven in Sung, three mountains vanished, five stones fell down, and the T'ai-chiu altar disappeared. All these events were brought about by causes residing in these things. The loss of the tripods was also the effect of some cause. One must not regard them as spirits merely on account of their disappearance. If the tripods resembled the three mountains of Chin, their disappearance is no sufficient reason, why they should be spirits. If they really possessed knowledge, and wished to avoid the disastrous revolution, the reigns of Chieh and Chou would have been the proper time for that.

The disorganisation and lawlessness were never worse than under Chieh and Chou, but at that time the tripods did not dis

1 The eastern part of Shantung under the Chin dynasty.

2 A city in Kiangsu, the modern Hsü-chou-fu.

5 Tai-chiu was a place in the Yung-cheng district, Honan.

6

Peng-cheng does not lie on the Sse River, but on another small river.

7 In 221 B.C. Then the tripods would have been lost in 250 B.C.

appear. The decadence of the kings of Chou was far from that of Chieh and Chou. Yet the tripods remained with the dissolute Chieh and Chou, and left the declining Chou.' They did not stay nor leave at the proper time, and gave no sign of being spirits, endowed with knowledge.

It is possible that, at the collapse of the Chou, the men of General Chiu, who were in great number, saw the tripods, and stole them, and that some miscreants melted them, and made them into other objects, so that, when Chin Shih Huang Ti searched for them, he could not find them. Subsequently they were called spirits, which gave rise to the story that they were sunk in the Sse River.

[Under the reign of the Emperor Hsiao Wên Ti2 a man of Chao, Hsin Yuan P'ing addressed a memorial to the throne saying, "The Chou tripods are lost in the midst of the Sse River. Now the Huang-ho overflows, and communicates with the Sse. In a northeasterly direction near Fén-yin I perceive a metallic fluid. I presume it to be an angury of the Chou tripods' return. But unless fetched, they will not come out."

Thereupon Hsiao Wên Ti sent a special envoy to superintend a temple south of Fên-yin3 near the River, in the hope that a spirit would bring the Chou tripods. Others denounced Hsin Yuan P'ing, · showing that, what he had said about the supernatural vessels, was an imposture. Then Hsin Yuan P'ing was delivered to a tribunal, which sentenced him to death.] The statement that the tripods are in the Sse is like the imposture of Hsin Yuan P'ing that he saw the spiritual fluid of the tripods.

1 Viz. the Chou dynasty.

2 179-156 B.C.

3 A place in Shansi, in the present Wan ch'üan hsien.

4 Quotation from the Shi-chi chap. 28, p. 20.

CHAPTER XLI.

Sacrifices to the Departed (Sse-yi).

The world believes in sacrifices, imagining that he who sacrifices becomes happy, and he who does not, becomes unhappy. Therefore, when people are taken ill, they first try to learn by divination, what evil influence is the cause. Having found out this, they prepare sacrifices, and, after these have been performed, their mind feels at ease, and the sickness ceases. With great obstinacy they believe this to be the effect of the sacrifices. They never desist from urging the necessity of making offerings, maintaining that the departed are conscious, and that ghosts and spirits eat and drink like so many guests invited to dinner. When these guests are pleased, they thank the host for his kindness.

To prepare sacrifices is quite correct, but the belief that spirits can be affected thereby is erroneous. In reality the idea of these oblations is nothing else than that the host is anxious to manifest his kindness. The spirits are not desirous of tasting the offerings, as I am about to prove.

Our sacrifices are for the purpose of showing our gratitude for benefits enjoyed. In the same manner we are kind to living people, but would the latter therefore wish to be treated to a dinner? Now those to whom we present sacrifices are dead; the dead are devoid of knowledge and cannot eat or drink. How can we demonstrate that they cannot possibly wish to enjoy eating and drinking?

Heaven is a body like the Earth. Heaven has a number of stellar mansions, as the Earth has houses. These houses are attached to the body of the Earth, as the stellar mansions are fixed to the substance of Heaven. Provided that this body and this substance exist, then there is a mouth, which can eat. If Heaven and Earth possess mouths to eat, they ought to eat up all the food offered them in sacrifice. If they have no mouths, they are incorporeal, and being incorporeal, they are air like clouds and fog. Should the spirit of Heaven and Earth be like the human spirit, could a spirit eat and drink?

A middle-sized man is seven to eight feet' high and four to five spans in girth. One peck of food and one peck of broth are enough to satisfy his appetite and his thirst. At the utmost he can consume three to four pecks. The size of Heaven and Earth is many ten thousand Li. Cocoon millet, ox rice cakes, and a big soup are offered them on round hills, but never more than several bushels. How could such food appease the hunger of heaven and earth?

Heaven and Earth would have feelings like man. When a man has not got enough to eat, he is vexed with his host, and does not requite him with kindness. If we hold that Heaven and Earth can be satiated, then the sacrifices presented to them in ancient times were derogatory to their dignity.

Mountains are like human bones or joints, Rivers like human blood. When we have eaten, our intestines are filled with food, which forms abundance of bones and blood. Now, by the oblations made to Heaven and Earth, Mountains and Rivers are also satiated along with Heaven and Earth, yet Mountains and Rivers have still their special sacrifices, as if they were other spiritual beings. That would be like a man who, after having eaten his fill, would still feed his bones and his blood.

We thank the Spirits of the Land and Grain for their kindness in letting grain and other organisms grow. The ten thousand people grow on earth, as hair does on a body. In the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth the Spirits of the Land and Grain are therefore included. Good men revere them, and make to them special offerings. They must hold that they are spirits. In this manner man ought to specially feed his skin and flesh

likewise.

The origin of the Five Sacrifices is the Earth. The Outer and Inner Doors are made of wood and earth, both substances growing from earth. The Well, the Hearth, and the Inner Court of the house all depend on earth. In the sacrifice to the Earth, these Five Sacrifices are therefore comprised. Out of veneration a good man prepares special oblations for them, being convinced undubitably that they are spirits. But that would be, as if a man, after having appeased his appetite, were still specially feeding his body.

1 Ancient Chinese feet, which are much smaller than the modern.

2 Large kinds of rice and millet.

3 The Five Sacrifices of the house often mentioned in the Liki.

The Gods of Wind, Rain, and Thunder1 are a special class of spirits. Wind is like the human breath, rain like secretions, and thunder like borborygmus. These three forces are inherent in heaven and earth, therefore they partake of the sacrifices to the latter. Pious men make special offerings to them as a mark of respect, regarding them as spiritual beings. Then a man ought to feed still his breath, his secretions, and his borborygmus.

The Sun and the Moon are like human eyes, the Stars like human hair. These luminaries being attached to heaven, they are included in the sacrifices presented to the latter. Out of piety good men honour them with special sacrifices regarding them, no doubt, as spirits. That would be tantamount to our still feeding our eyes and hair after having satisfied our appetite.

The ancestral temple is the place of one's forefathers. During their life-time they are diligently and reverently maintained and nourished by their children, and after their deaths the latter dare not become unfaithful, and therefore prepare sacrifices. Out of consideration for their ancestors they attend their dead to show that they have not forgotten their forefathers. As regards the sacrifices to the Five Emperors and the Three Rulers like Huang Ti and Ti K'u, they were offered in appreciation of their mighty efforts and great accomplishments, for people did not forget their virtues. This, however, is no proof that there really are spirits, who can enjoy offerings. Being unable to enjoy, they cannot be spirits, and not being spirits, they cannot cause happiness nor unhappiness either.

Happiness and unhappiness originate from joy and anger, and joy and anger proceed from the belly and the intestines. He who possesses a belly and intestines, can eat and drink, and he who cannot eat and drink, has no belly and no intestines. Without a belly and intestines, joy and anger are impossible, and in default of joy and anger, one cannot produce happiness and unhappiness.

Somebody might object that odours cannot be eaten. I reply that smelling, eating, and drinking are very much the same. With the mouth one eats, and with the mouth one likewise smells. Unless there be a belly and intestines, there is no mouth, and without a mouth one cannot eat nor smell either.

How can we demonstrate that smelling is out of the question? When some one offers a sacrifice, and others pass by, they do not immediately become aware of it. Unless we use the mouth,

1

Feng Po, the Prince of the Wind, Yu Shih, the Master of Rain, and Lei Kung,

the Thunderer. Their sacrifices are determined in the Chou ritual.