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 1496

SECT. II.
THE LỄ KHÍ.
413
palate from all within the four seas and the nine provinces. The fruits and grain presented in the high dishes of wood and bamboo were the product of the harmonious influences of the four seasons. The tribute of metal showed the harmonious submission (of the princes). The rolls of silk with the round pieces of jade placed on them showed the honour they rendered to virtue. The tortoise was placed in front of all the other offerings, because of its knowledge of the future ; the tribute of metal succeeded to it, showing the (hold it has on) human feelings. The vermilion, the varnish, the silk, the floss, the large bamboos and the smaller for arrows-the articles which all the states contribute ; with the other uncommon articles, which each state contributed according to its resources, even to those from the remote regions:-(these followed the former). When the visitors left they were escorted with the music of the Sze Hsia? All these things showed how important was the sacrifice.
18. In the sacrifice to God in the suburb, we have the utmost expression of reverence. In the sacrifices of the ancestral temple, we have the utmost expression of humanity. In the rites of mourning, we have the utmost expression of leal-heartedness. In the preparation of the robes and vessels for the dead, we have the utmost expression of affection. In
1 We are told in the Kâu Li, Book XXIII, art. 32, that the bell master, with bells and drums, performed the nine H siâ pieces, on the occasions appropriate to them. The second of them was
the Sze Hsia,' as here, but the occasion for it in the text would be inappropriate. The eighth, or Kâi Hsia, would be appropriate here, and hence Kång said that sze was a mistake for kai (RE).
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