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THE LÎ ki.
BK. XXVI.
'Earth contains the mysterious energy (of nature). That mysterious energy (produces) the wind and thunder-clap. By the wind and thunder-clap the (seeds of) forms are carried abroad, and the various things show the appearance of life :-in all and each of these things there is a lesson.
8. "When the personal character is pure and bright, the spirit and mind are like those of a spiritual being. When what such an one desires is about to come, there are sure to be premonitions of it in advance, (as when) Heaven sends down the seasonable rains, and the hills produce the clouds. As it is said in the Book of Poetry (III, iii, ode 5, 1), “How grand and high, with hugest bulk, arise Those southern hills whose summits touch the
skies! Down from them came a Spirit to the earth, And to the sires of Fa and Shăn gave birth. In those two states our Kâu a bulwark has, O'er which the southern foemen dare not pass, And all its states they screen, and through them
spread Lessons of virtue, by themselves displayed :"— such was the virtue of (kings) Wăn and Wa.
9. 'As to the kings (who founded) the three dynasties, it was necessary that they should be preceded by the fame of their forefathers. As it is said in the Book of Poetry (III, iii, ode 8, 6), “Very intelligent were the sons of Heaven,
Their good fame was without end :"such was the virtue of (the founders) of the three dynasties.
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