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BK. XLIII.
SHE I.
451
ing out to the end means every one unfolding his own idea; hence, with the mind even-balanced and the body correctly poised, (the archer) holds his bow and arrow skilfully and firmly. When he so holds them, he will hit the mark. Hence it is said, 'The father (shoots) at the father-mark; the son, at the son-mark; the ruler, at the ruler-mark; the subject, at the subject-mark.' Thus the archer shoots at the mark of his (ideal) self; and so the Great archery of the son of Heaven is called shooting at (the mark of) the feudal prince. Shooting at the mark of the feudal prince' was shooting to prove himself a prince. He who hit the mark was permitted to be (that is, retain his rank as) a prince; he who did not hit the mark was not permitted to retain his rank as a prince1.
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9. When the son of Heaven was about to sacrifice, the rule was that he should celebrate the archery at the pool, which name suggested the idea of selecting the officers (by their shooting). After
In this paragraph we have a remarkable instance of that punning or playing on words or sounds, which Callery has pointed out as a 'puerility' in Chinese writers, and of which we have many examples in the writers of the Han dynastry. The idea in the paragraph is good, that when one realises the ideal of what he is, becoming all he ought to be, he may be said to hit the mark. But to bring out this from the character (), which is the symbol of shooting with the bow, the author is obliged to give it two names,-yi ( drawing out or unwinding the thread of a cocoon, or clue of silk, to the end) and shê ( = 4, a cottage or booth, a place to lodge in). The latter is the proper name for the character in the sense of shooting.
'Here there is another play on names,-eh, in Pekinese kâi (澤) 'a pond or pool,' suggesting the character, which has the same name, and means 'to choose, select.' There were two Gg 2
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