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THE SHỦ KING.
PART 1. THE BOOK OF THANG.
TAE CANON OF YÂo.
SHỦ KING, the name of the whole work, has been sufficiently
explained in the Introduction. The name of this part, the first of the five into which the whole is divided, is the Book of Thang, Thang being taken as the dynastic designation of Yảo, who before his elevation to the throne had been marquis of the small state of Thang, the name of which is supposed to be still retained in Thang, one of the districts of the department Pâo-ting, in Kih-lt. It is said that after his elevation he established his capital in Phing-yang, lat. 36° 06', long. 11° 33', in Shan-hsf. But all this is very uncertain. See on Part III, Book iïi, ch. 2. The one Book, forming this Part, is called the Canon of Yao. The character which we translate Canon' means a document of the most exalted nature, the contents of which are entitled to the greatest regard. The name is given expressly only to one other Book in the Sh. The Canons are the first of the six classes of documents
which the Sha contains. Yão is the subject of the Book:- In ch. 1, in his personal character
and the general results of his government; in ch. 2, in his special care for the regulation of the calendar and the labours of agriculture; in ch. 3, in his anxiety to find one who could cope with the ravages of a terrible inundation, and take his place on the throne. The third chapter introduces to our notice Shun, the successor of Yao.
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