第18章

BOOK VIII. THE CHARGE TO THE VISCOUNT OF WEI.

BOOK VIII. THE CHARGE TO THE VISCOUNT OF WEI.

1. "The king speaks to the following effect:— "Ho!Eldest son of the king of Yin, in accordance with the statutes of antiquity, that the honouring of the virtutous belongs to their descendants who resemble them in worth, do you continue the line of the kings your ancestors, cultivating their ceremonies and taking care of their various relics. Be a guest also in our royal house, enjoying the prosperity of our kingdom, for ever and ever without end.

THE NAME OF THE BOOK.—微子之命, ＇The charge to the viscount of Wei.＇ 微子,—see on the name of the 11th Book of the preceding Part. 命,—see on the name of the 8th Book of the same part.

The prefatory note says:—＇King Ching having made an end of the appointment in favour of the House of Yin, and put Woo-kǎng to death, he appointed K＇e, the viscount of Wei, to take the place of the descendants of Yin. Descriptive of this there was made ＇The charge to the viscount of Wei＇. This no doubt states correctly the time and occasion when the ＇Charge＇ was made. We saw on ＇The viscount of Wei＇, how K＇e was advised by his friends to withdraw from the court of Show and save himself from the destruction which was impending over the tyrant and his House; we saw also the account given by Sze-ma Tw＇een of the guise in which K＇e presented himself with the sacrificial vessels of his family before king Woo. Some points in that account may be called in question, but there can be no doubt that K＇e was honourably received and treated. When it is said that Woo restored him to his former office, I understand that he confirmed him in his appanage of Wei, so that he continued to be ＇the viscount of Wei＇ up to the date of this Charge, when he was appointed to be the duke of Sung (宋公), there to continue the sacrifices to Tang , his ancestor and the founder of the dynasty of Shang.

In the first of the concluding notes to the ＇Completion of the War,＇ I have quoted a passage from the Bk. 樂記 of the Le Ke, in which it is said that king Woo,after his victory over Show, ＇when he had descended from his chariot, sent the representative of the House of Yin to Sung＇. From this statement, some have contended that K＇e＇s investiture with the dukedom of Sung was from Woo and not from Ching, and was before the revolt which ended in the death of Wookǎng and not after it. But the editors of Yung-ching＇s Shoo have given good reasons why the authority of Sze-ma Ts＇een, and the preface to the Shoo, should be preferred in this matter to that of the 樂記. If the merits of the men had been the sole ground for Woo＇s arrangements, he would have at once appointed either of the viscounts of Wei or Ke to continue the sacrifices to T＇ang and the other sovereigns of his line, but there were, we can easily conceive, reasons of state, which determined him to make trial, in the first place, of Woo-kǎng, as being the son of Show.

The Book is only found in the text of Gan-kwŏ.

CONTENTS. The duke of Chow, as regent of the empire, and in the name of king Ching, tells the viscount that in accordance with the statutes of antiquity, and because of his own worth, he is selected to continue the line of the sovereigns, his ancestors.The virtue of T＇ang and of the viscount are then celebrated, and he is charged to go and he prosperous,taking care so to conduct his administration that the new dynasty of Chow might never have occasion to be weary of him. The Book is very short, consisting only of five paragraphs.

P. 1. The grounds on which the viscount of Wei was called to be the representative of the kings of his line,with some of his duties and privileges.

王若曰,猷,—see on the last Book, p. 1. 殷王꽮子,—꽮子=首子, or 長子, ＇eldest son＇. ＇The king of Yin＇ is Te-yih (帝乙), the father both of K＇e and Show. How K＇e, though older than Show, did not succeed to the throne, has been explained on page 274. Some critics,supposing that 꽮子 is equidvalent to 太子,= ＇heirapparent＇, and cannot be otherwise applied, have contended on that ground against the authority of this Book, but to my mind there is no force in the objection. The 꽮子 is simply ＇the eldest son＇;—he may be the heirapparent, but not necessarily. That idea does not form a part of the significance of the phrase.

稽녢崇德象賢,—稽녢, see on the ＇Canon of Yaou＇,p. 1; ＇崇德謂先聖王之有德者, 則尊崇땤奉祀之껩, 崇德means that the virtuous of the ancient sage sovereigns were honoured and sacrificed to;＇ 象賢謂其後子孫, 有象先聖王之賢者, 則命之以主祀껩, ＇象賢means that he among the descendants of those ancientsage kings who resembled them in talents and virtue was appointed to preside over the sacrifices to them.＇These are the explanations of Ts＇ae, similar to those of Gan-kwŏ. He adds:—言녢制, 尊崇成湯之德, 以微子象賢땤奉其祀껩. The text is very concise, and it takes many characters to bring forth its meaning; butthe explanation is, no doubt, correct. To the ancient statues, which prescribed the honouring and sacrificing to the founders of former dynasties, we have a reference in the Le Ke, Bk. 郊特牲, Pt. i, p. 12, where it is said, 天子存二代之後, 猶尊賢껩, 尊賢不過二代,＇The emperor preserves representative descendants of two dynasties, still honouring the worth of theirfounders. This honouring of ancient worth does not go beyond two dynasties.＇ In what the honouring was displayed, is partly indicated in the remainder of the paragraph. 統承先王,—the empire gathered under one rule is called 一統. Here the sovereigns of Shang are conceived of as all gathered up or collected in the person of K＇e, who should henceforth, in himself and his descendants in the dukedom of Sung, stand forth as their representative.

修其禮物,—by 禮 we are to understand 典禮, ＇the canons and ceremonies＇, the institutions of Shang which had distinguished it from other dynasties; and by 物 we are to understand 文物, ＇the literary monuments and other precious relies of the dynasty,＇—carriages, flags, dresses, &c. The descendants of K＇e held the dukedom of Sung till nearly the end of the Chow dynasty, but by the time of Confucius many of the ceremonies and relies which it was their business to preserve were lost. The sage bewailed this, and said, ＇I am able to describe the ceremonies of the Yin dynasty, but Sung cannot sufficiently attest my words. It cannot to do so because of the insufficiency of its records and wise men＇ (Con. Ana., III. ix.). See the introductory note on the ＇Praise-songs of Shang,＇in the third Part of the She King. 作賓至無窮,—the representatives of the two previous dynasties were distinguished above the other princes of the empire by being denominated ＇guests＇ of the emperor of the dynasty then existing, as meeting him more on a footing of equality. See the She-king, Part. III., the＇Praise-songs of Chow＇, Bk, III., Song ii., 振鷺於飛, 於彼西雝, 놖客戾止, 亦有斯容. See also in the左傳, 僖二十四年,—宋, 先代之後껩, 於周為客, 天子有事, 膰焉,有喪, 拜焉. On this part Ts＇ae gives some observations of Leu Tsoo-heen, which deserve a place in anycommentary:—先王之뀞公平廣꺶, 非若後世滅人之國,惟恐苗裔之存, 為子孫害, 成王命微子, 方且撫助愛養,欲其與國咸休, 永世無窮, 公平廣꺶氣象, 於此녦見,

2. ＇Oh! Your ancestor, T＇ang the Successful, was reverent and sage, vast and deep in his virtue. The favour and help of Great Heaven lighted upon him,and he received the great appointment, to soothe the people by his gentleness, and to remove their wicked oppressions. His achievements affected all his age,and his virtue was transmitted to his posterity.

3. And you are the one who pursue and cultivate his plans;—this praise belongs to you of old. Reverently and carefully you discharge your filial duties; gravely and respectfully you behave to spirits and to men. I admire your virtue, and pronounce it great, and not to be forgotten. God will always enjoy your offerings;the people will be reverently harmonious under yoursway.