Text of Confucianism Part 01

SR No.: 007675
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: James Legge
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1879
Total Pages: 2829
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 50 MB

Page 1261

194
THE LÎ ki.
BK. II.
15. When the mother of 3ze-sze died in Wei, and news of the event was brought to him, he wailed in the ancestral temple. His disciples came to him and said, 'Your mother is dead, after marrying into another family'; why do you wail for her in the temple of the Khung family ?' He replied, 'I am wrong, I am wrong. And thereon he wailed in one of the smaller apartments of his house.
16. When the son of Heaven died, three days afterwards, the officers of prayer? were the first to assume mourning. In five days the heads of official departments did so; in seven days both males and females throughout the royal domain; and in three months all in the kingdom.
The foresters examined the trees about the various altars, and cut down those which they thought suit. able for the coffins and shell. If these did not come up to what was required, the sacrifices were abolished, and the men had their throats cut .
17. During a great dearth in Khi, Khien Åo had food prepared on the roads, to wait the approach of hungry people and give to them. (One day), there came a famished man, looking as if he could
He defends himself on the ground that the lords of Hsü claimed the title of King. The language of the officers of Ku shows that they were embarrassed by his mission.
1 Literally, 'The mother of the Shù family is dead, but the interpretation of the text is disputed. The Khien-lung editors and many others question the genuineness of the whole paragraph.
• The officers of prayer were divided into five classes; the first and third of which are intended here. See the Official Book of Kấu, ch. 25.
* Great efforts are made to explain away this last sentence.
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