________________
252
THE LÎ xi.
BK, IV.
robes, and the (pieces of) green jade (on his cap and at his girdle pendant). He eats wheat and mutton. The vessels which he uses are slightly carved, (to resemble) the shooting forth (of plants)?
The Khing Yang ("Green and Bright ') was one of the principal divisions in the Hall of Distinction of Book XII. We must suppose that the sovereign went there (among other purposes) to give out the first day of the month, and did so in the apartment indicated, and in the style and robes and ornaments of the text, in the first month of spring. The ancient Shun, it is said, set the example of the carriage with bells, whose tinkling was supposed to resemble the notes of the lwan, a bird at which we can only guess, and which has been called the phenix, and the argus pheasant. Horses above eight feet high were called dragon steeds. The predominating green colour suits the season and month; but what made wheat and mutton then peculiarly suitable for the royal mat, I do not know the fancies of Taoism sufficiently to be able to understand.
In the plates to the Khien-lung edition of our classic, the following rude ground-plan of the structure is given to illustrate the various references to it in this Book:
NC
quou 4101
quou qutquot qiei
w
9th month. 8th month. 7th month.
SEASON OF THE CENTRE.
3rd month. and month. ist month.
6th month.
5th month.
4th month.
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