第31章

BOOK XX. THE OFFICERS OF CHOW.

BOOK XX. THE OFFICERS OF CHOW.

1. The King of Chow brought the myriad regions ofthe empire to tranquility; he made a tour of inspection through the How and Tëen tenures; he punished on all sides the chiefs who had refused to appear at court;thus securing the repose of the millions of the people,and all the prince of the six tenures acknowledging his virtue. He then returned to the honoured capital of Chow, and strictly regulated the officers of the administration.

THE NAME OF THE BOOK.—周官, ＇The Officers of Chow＇. The Book contains a general outline of the official system of the Chow dynasty. It details the names and functions of the principal ministers about the court, to whom various counsels moreover are addressed by king Ching. ＇The officers of Chow＇ is not an inappropriate name for it. It is found only in the old or Gan-kwǒ＇s text. Ts＇ae assigns it to the class of the Books of the Shoo called ＇Instructions＇ (訓體).

DATE: AND QUESTION OF GENUINENESS. The first par. refers the Book to king Ching, without any mention of the duke of Chow. Its date therefore must be in some year after the duke resigned the regency,and the king took the govt. into his own hands. As the next book but one (now lost) contained an account of the duke＇s death, in the 11th year of Ching, we may assign the ＇officers of Chow＇ to the 9th or 10th year of that monarch. I introduce the subject of the date here,because of the strangeness of the prefatory note about it, that the Book was made ＇when king Ching had made an end of the House of Yin, and extinguished the wild tribes of the Hwae＇ (see page 12). The ＇making an end of the House of Yin＇ carries us back to the death of Woo-kǎng in the 2d or 3d year of Ching (see P.N. 41); from which the extinction of the Hwae tribes would bring us down to his 7th or 8th year. The lst par.,which is the proper introduction to the Book, makes no mention of either of those events. I do not think the prefatory notice is entitled to any consideration.

On the question of the GENUINENESS of the Book, it will be sufficient here to give the remarks of Ts＇ae, reserving the fuller discussion of the points he mentions for their proper place in the annotations.He says:—＇This Book disagrees with the Chow Le, as we now have it, invarious point. For instance, the Chow Le does not contain the ministers called here the "three Kung," and "the three Koo". Some have said that the Kung and Koo were dignities, enjoyed by other minister, and were not specified officers; but if we refer to parr. 5 and 6, where it is said that "the three Kung discourse of the principles of reason, and adjust the States," and that "the three Koo assist the Kung to diffuse widely all transforming influences," these are specific duties, belonging to offices to which there can be none superior. Others would identify the 太師 here with the 師氏 of the Chow Le, and the 太保 with the保氏; but this cannot be, for the 師氏 and 保氏 are only subordinate officers in the department of the minister of Instruction.

＇Again, it is said here, p. 14, that "in six years the chiefs of the five tenures attend once at court,"whereas in the Chow Le, Bk. XXXVIII., the princes of the six tenures appear at court, from such and such a tenure, every year;—from another tenure in two years; and so on;—a quite different arrangement.These discrepancies give rise to doubts; but the Chow Le could only have been made by a sage. Or perhaps,the duke of Chow, when he was making all his arrangements for the officers of the government,had not come to the offices of the 師 and 保. What I mean is this, that he was restrained by some consideration of their greatness from speaking of them. Moreover, the book was not completed when the duke died. The laws and regulations in it had not all come into practice;—This may account for the discrepancies I have pointed out. And still farther:—What must have formed the sixth part of the Chow Le, "The officer of the Winter,"is lost. The beginning and end of it are incomplete.It is a work of the duke of Chow, to which alas! he did not put the finishing hand. Let the reader of the Shoo, however, compare it carefully with the classic,and he will be able to judge of the governmental arrangements of the duke of Chow.＇

CONTENTS. The Book has a beginning, middle,and end, more distinctly marked than we generally find in the Books of the Shoo. The first par. is introductory, and describes the condition of the empire when the arrangements of the official system of Chow were publicly announced; all the other parr. contain that announcement. The king begins by referring to the arrangements of former dynasties.He then, parr. 5—14, sets forth the principal offices of State, the ministers of which had their residence at court, and goes on to the arrangements for the administration of the provinces. The remaining parr.contain many excellent advices to the ministers and officers, to discharge their duties so that the fortunes of the dynasty might be consolidated, and there be no dissatisfaction among the myriad States. The whole,it will be seen, falls naturally into a division into five Chapters.

Ch. I. THE CONDITION OF THE EMPIRE WHEN THIS ADDRESS TO THE MINISTERS AND OFFICERS WAS PROMULGATED. Rebellion had been quelled; disobedience had been punished; peace had been secured at length within the borders of the empire.—There was now leisure to attend to the right ordering of the system of administration. 惟周王撫萬邦,—＇the king of Chow soothed the myriad regions＇.This phrase,—＇the myriad regions＇, as well as the 눁征 and 兆民 below, are taken by Ying-tǎ as vague expressions, it being proper, when speaking of the movements and measures of the emperor, to do so ＇in large terms＇; and both Lin Che-k＇e and Ts＇ae approve of the remark. I have spoken of the five tenures of Yu, and the ten tenures of the Chow dynasty on pp.148, 149; and the difficulty of reconciling them with one another, and of reconciling the dimensions of even the five tenures with the actual extent of the country. There are other difficulties, however, in the way of taking the ＇myriad regions＇ of the text literally, which may be seen in the note of Ch＇in Sze-k＇ae inloc. He says:—＇The empire of Chow was 10000 le square. A space of 1000 le square, giving an area of 1000000 square le, would contain 100 States, each 100 le square; and the whole, 10000 such States. But the territory of one of the greater princes was 100 le square; it is easy to see how the tenures could contain 10000 States. At the beginning of the Chow dynasty, however, the princes who assembled at Muh were only 800 (see on p. 298, App. to the great Declaration). And in the "Imperial Regulations" [see the Le Ke, Bk.王制] the States of the empire only amount to 1713.For these reasons Ying-tǎ said we were not to take the 10000 in the text literally＇. We can indeed only regard the ＇myriad States＇ of the text as a great exaggeration; and we must take in the same way the statement in the左傳, about the great Yu, that ＇when he assembled the princes at mount T＇oo, they came with their gems and silks from ten thousand States＇ (哀公七年;—禹合諸侯於塗山, 執玉帛者萬國). —巡侯甸,see the figure of the tenures of Chow, on p. 149. Those of the How and theTeen were the first and second beyond the imperial domain. The critics seem to think that the king＇s progresses were not confined to them, but extended at least to the ＇six tenures＇ immediately mentioned.＇These two are mentioned,＇ says Ying-tǎ, ＇as being nearest to the imp. domain.＇ But why should we extend the meaning of the text in this way? There may have been good reasons, not recorded, why only the How and Teen tenures were inspected at this time. 눁征弗庭=눁方征討不庭之國. Ying-tǎ says the king had only smitten the Hwae tribes, and the statement here that his punitive expeditions had extended on every side is an exaggeration like that in ＇myriad regions＇. Here again our best way is simply to take the text as we find it.

弗庭=弗來庭者, as in the translation. Gan-kwǒ takes 庭=直, a meaning which the character has, but which does not seem so appropriate here. 兆人,—comp. Pt.III., Bk. III., p. 5. 六服,—the Chow dyn. had nine fuh, or ten, including the imp. domain. By the ＇six tenures＇ here are probably to be understood the How,Tëen, Nan, Ts＇ae, Wei, mentioned in the 1st par. of the＇Announcement about Lǒ＇, and the imp. domain. There is much discussion on the point among the critics,however:—see Lin Che-k＇e in loc.

2. The king said, "It was the grand method of former times to regulate the government while there was no confusion, and to secure the country while there was no danger."

3. He said, "Yaou and Shun studied antiquity, and established a hundred officers. At court there were the General Regulator, and the President of the Four Eminences. Abroad there were the Pastors of the provinces, and the princes of States.

羣辟=諸侯. 承德=奉承周德, ＇honoured and received(=acknowledged) the virtue of the House of Chow＇.

歸於宗周,—where did the king return from? This announcement, occurring here, affords some ground for Ying-tǎ＇s view, that the king made a progress not only through the How and Teen tenures, but through all the others. By 宗周 it would seem that we should understand Woo＇s capital of Haou;—see on Bk. III., p.1. There king Ching continued to have his residence,notwithstanding the duke of Chow＇s wish that he should remove to the new city of Lǒ. The prefatory notice, however, says that the king returned to Fung,which had been the capital of Wǎn. The various methods by which it has been attempted to harmonize the two statements may be seen in Lin Che-k＇e. He himself approves of the view of Ch＇in Shaou-nan,—that king Ching first came to Haou, ＇the honoured city of Chow＇ in the text, and there deliberated and determined on the various arrangements for the officers; and that then, before the public proclamation of them, he went to Fung, to announce the intended measure in the temple of king Wǎn. 董正治官=督正治事之官, ＇strictly managed the rectification of the officers administering the affairs of government＇.

Ch. II. Pp. 2—4. FIRST PART OF THE KING＇S ADDRESS:—THE PRECEDENTS OF FORMER DYNASTIES, AND HIS OWN ANXIETY TO DISPLAY A SIMILAR WISDOM. 2. 若昔大猷,—Gan-kwǒ gives for this—當順古大道, ＇we ought to accord with (=to follow) the great method of antiquity＇. It is better to take 若 with Lin Che-k＇e, as in introductory particle, so that 若昔 simply=在昔,＇anciently＇. Ts＇ae understands the phrase thus. He is wrong, however, I think, in his interpretation of 大猷 as=大道之世, as if it were in apposition with 若昔, and the whole meant—＇in ancient times, the age when right principles greatly prevailed.＇ Gaubil takes the passage thus, and appears to think that some great meaning lies hid in it. He translates:—＇Anciently, in the time de la grande loi, good government consisted in preventing troubles, and in preserving the kingdom without danger;＇ adding in a note, ＇We see that the time of the grand law is a time of innocence; the troubles and the dangers of States come not till after this time.I believe that king Ching means to say that innocence of manners and public tranquillity are the basis of good government. The commentaries give here no light on the text.＇ The text is really sufficiently plain. 若昔大猷= ＇The grand method of former times was this:＇—The next par. illustrates how this method was carried out by Yaou and Shun, and Yu, and T＇ang. When they had brought peace in their distracted empires, they proceeded to secure it by the ordering of their official system. And Ching, having got the empire tranquillized at length, would now go on to imitate their example.

3. 唐虞稽古,—for 唐 and 虞 see on the names of Pt. I., and II. Yaou and Shun are intended, and it seems better to give those well-known names in the translation. Medhurst for 稽古 gives—＇examined the records of antiquity＇. But a statement so remarkable should not be supplemented. Gaubil observes that＇these two sovereigns, it may be inferred, had certain sources of knowledge, that is to say, some history, of the times anterior to theirs＇. The expression may lead us to infer so, but I have not introduced the inference into the version. Gaubil adds:—＇The author of the 左傳 speaks of the officers of Hwang-te, and of Shaouhaou, who reigned before Yaou. Confucius, in his commentaries on the Yih King, speaks of Fuh-he,of Shin-nung, and of Hwang-te, as of princes of an earlier date.＇ This subject will be found touched on in the prolegomena.

Thus the various departments of government went on harmoniously, and the myriad States all enjoyed repose. In the dynasties of Hea and Shang, the number of officers was doubled, and they continued able to secure good government. Those intelligent kings,in establishing their government, cared not so much about the number of the offices as about the men.

4. Now I, who am a little child, cultivate with reverence my virtue, concerned day and night about my deficiencies. I look up to those former dynasties,and seek to conform to them, while I instruct and direct you, all my officers.

內有至侯伯,—for 百揆, see on the ＇Canon of Shun,＇p. 2. 눁岳,—see on the ＇Can. of Yaou,＇ p. 11; et al. 州牧,—see on the ＇Can. of Shun,＇ p. 16. Ts＇ae takes 侯伯 as= ＇the chiefs of the princes of States＇; and Yingtǎ identified them with the 五長, mentioned in the ＇Yih and Tseih,＇ p. 8. Much preferable to either of those views is that of Lin Che-k＇e, that the 侯 and 伯 are two of the five orders of feudal princes, among whom the provinces were divided,—two specified for the whole. 庶政惟和,—comp. 庶績咸熙, ＇Can. of Shun,＇ p. 27.

Medhurst translates 亦克用乂 by ＇and yet they were enabled to maintain order, as if it were surprising that they should be able to do so with two hundred officers instead of one hundred. We ought not to suppose any adversative force in 亦. Lin Che-k＇e appears to have had an impression of the meaning similar to that of Dr. Medhurst, for he writes of the officers of Hea and Shang being double the number of those of You and Shun, and of those of the Chow dyn. being still more numerous (amounting to 360), because men were more able in the earlier times. It is strange that it did not occur to him that, as the population grew with the lapse of time, the number of officers was necessarily increased. 明王至末,—Gan-kwǒ joined this to the next par., and understood it as a general remark about ＇intelligent kings＇, with which Ching prefaces the account of his own arrangements. It is better to understand the remark as applying to Yaou and Shun, Yu and T＇ang. The gist of it is, that these sovereigns were not anxious to have the show of many offices, but to get right men. Ts＇ae says:—明王立政, 不惟其官之多, 惟其得人而已。

4. 祗勤於德,—＇reverently sedulous about my virtue＇.逮=及, ＇to reach to＇. 夙夜不逮=夙夜常恐有所不及.We must suppose that he measured his deficiencies with reference to the standard of Yaou, and the other＇intelligent monarchs＇.

仰惟前눑時 (=是) 若 (=順)=予仰承前눑之明王, 惟奉順不違, ＇I look up to those intelligent monarchs of former dynasties, seeking to honour them and conformto them, and not to act contrary to their example＇. 訓迪厥官,—＇to lesson and lead the officers＇.

5. "I appoint the Grand Tutor, the Grand Assistant,and the Grand Guardian. These are the three Kung.They discourse of the principles of reason, and adjust the States; harmonizing also and regulating the operations of Heaven and Earth. These offices need not always be filled:—there must first be the men for them.

6. "I appoint the Junior Tutor, the Junior Assistant,and the Junior Guardian. These are called the three Koo. 

Ch. III. Pp. 5—14. THE SECOND PART OF THE KING＇S ADDRESS, GIVING THE PRINCIPAL OFFICIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS UNDER THE NEW DYNASTY. 5,6. The three Kung, and three Koo. We cannot well translate 公 and 孤 in these parr. Medhurst calls the 三公, ＇three dukes＇ and the ,三孤, ＇three conspicuous ones＇. But the terms are here as names of office, and not of nobility. We may suppose that the Kung were so called with reference to the public spirit and freedom from all selfishness which 公 denotes. The dict. says the Koo were so named to show that, though they were assistant to the Kung, they were not to be considered as subordinate officers of their departments. Gan-kwǒ＇s account of the name is somewhat similar:—孤,特也, 卑於公, 尊於卿, 特置此三者. When it is said—＇I appoint the Grand Tutor,＇ &c., (立大師云云), we arenot to understand that these names and the offices belonging to them were first constituted by king Ching. From Pt. IV. Book XI., we see that they were in existence in the time of the Shang dyn. King Wǎn had 太公 for grand Tutor, and under Woo that office was exercised by the duke of Chow, while the duke of Shaou was Grand Protector or Guardian. The meaning must be, that the offices were now more definitely declared a part of the governmental system of the Chow dynasty. Lin Che-k＇e is of opinion that little is to be gained by attempting curiously to define the names師, 傅, and 保, and distinguish them from one another.Kea K＇wei (買逵) held that 保 had reference to the preservation of the person; 傅, to aiding in virtue and righteousness; and 師, to the guidance of instructions. Gan-kwǒ said that ＇the 師 was the

emperor＇s pattern; the 傅, his helper; and the 保, his sustainer in virtue and righteousness＇. The renderings in the translation cannot be far from the exact meaning. The business of the three Kung was 論道經邦, 變理陰晹. By 道 we are to understand all principles of reason and truth,—all the courses or ways, which it was proper for the emperor to pursue. The effect of the Kungs＇ discoursing on these with him would be seen in the States of the empire, in the govt. of which there would be no order. It would be seen also in the harmony of all the elements of nature, and the material prosperity which was dependent on them. This seems to be what is intended by ＇harmonizing and regulating the Yin and Yung.＇ On the two characters 陰and 陽, which occur with their mystical application nowhere else in the Shoo, it may be sufficient here to give the note of Gaubil:—＇Chinese books are filled with these two characters. In their natural sense 陽signifies "clear", "light" and 陰, "obscure", "darkness". In Chinese Physics 陽 is "movement", or the principle of movement; and 陰 is "repose", or the principle of repose. The moral and metaphorical applications of the terms are infinite, and extend to whatever is susceptible of them more or less, whether in Physics or in Morals. The sense of this paragraph is that all goes well in the empire; that the laws are in vigour; that commerce flourishes; that there are no public calamities; that the seasons are not deranged.＇ I believe that the meaning is not more than what Gaubil says. The remarks of Wang Kǎng-yan are quite express on the point:—燮理陰暘, 別無他道, 性區處人事, 各得其宜, 則天地之自順, 故堯舜在上, 而天災滅熄 [This is a sad mis-representation], 庶政太和, 在夏懋德, 而罔有天災, 考其所為, 不逼咨눁岳九官十괗牧, 分任庶政, 使人人各遂其性而包, 初未嘗特設燮理陰陽之官, 亦未聞別燮理陰踢之政, 云云.

They assist the Kung to diffuse widely all transforming influences; they with reverence display brightly thepowers of heaven and earth:—assisting me, the one man.

7. "I appoint the prime minister, who presides over the ruling of the empire, has the general management of all other officers, and secures an uniformity throughout all within the four seas:

See my remarks on ＇The Doctrine of the Mean＇, i. 5; etal.

官不必備, 惟其人,—the meaning of this is briefly and clearly given by one of the brothers Ch＇ing.—不得其人而居之, 不若闕之之愈也, ＇If the right men cannot be got to put in these positions, it is better to leave them unoccupied.＇

貳公弘化, 寅亮天地,—貳公, ＇seconding(=helping) the Kung＇. 天地 correspond to 陰陽 in the former par.Tsoo-hëen says that ＇Heaven and Earth are used with regard to the visible forms of those bodies or powers,and 陰 and 陽 with regard to their 氣, or operating energy.＇ Gaubil is wrong when he would understand＇religion＇ by ＇Heaven＇ and ＇government＇ by ＇Earth＇.

[I have stated, in the introductory note from Ts＇ae,the objection taken against the genuineness of this Book, from the Chow Le＇s saying nothing about the duties of the three Kung and three Koo. But the existence and exalted dignity of these offices is referred to repeated in the Chow Le. For instance,Bk. XXI., p. 3, commences—王之三公八命, 其卿六命, which declares the existence of the Kung, and intimates their superiority in rank to the executive ministers of the government. Par. 32 of Book XXXVI,again, gives the Koo likewise precedence of those ministers.—左九棘, 孤, 卿, 大꽬位焉, 羣士在其後, 右九棘, 公, 侯, 伯, 子, 男位焉, 羣吏在其後, 面三槐, 三公位焉, 州長, 眾庶在其後. The Chow Le therefore is not silent on these great ministers, as we might suppose from what Ts＇ae says. It only does not treat of them separately, defining their duties, and enumerating the officers in their departments. But they were not the heads of departments. They composed the emperor＇s cabinet or privy council. Biot calls them happily—＇lesconseillers auliques;＇ and ＇les vice-conseillers＇. They were the prototypes of the 內閣, or ＇Inner Council＇ of the present day. It did not belong to the plan of the Chow Le to speak of them more fully than it does.

But if we could not thus account for the little that is said about them in that Work, the inference would be against it, and not against this Book. There can be no doubt as to the genuineness of the first half of par.5. If all the rest of the Book be forged, so much—立太師, 太傅, 太保, 茲惟三公—has come to us with the guarantee of Ch＇ing Heuen; and even Këang Shing edits it as a veritable fragment of ＇The Officers of Chow＇.]

Pp. 7—12. The six chief ministers of the executive.Only the minister is mentioned, but in every case we are to understand that he was the head of a department with many subordinate officers. There is a close correspondence between those six departments of Chow, and the ＇six Boards＇ (六部) by which the govt. of the empire is now administered. 7. 冢 (=大) 宰,—＇the great or prime governor＇. The name was as old as the Shang dynasty, for we find it applied to E Yin, Pt. IV.,Bk. IV., p. 1. This was the office of the duke of Chow(see Bk. XVII., p. 1), who united with it the dignity of＇Grand Tutor＇. The 冢宰 is ＇the officer of Heaven＇ (天官) of the Chow Le, and is represented now by the ＇Board of Civil Office＇ (吏部). He was superior to all the other great ministers, and was called ＇their Head＇ (六卿之首).This difference between him and them is intimated,I think, by the 統百官, ＇has the general management of all the officers＇. This is probably what is intended by the difficult clause in Pt. IV., Bk. IV, p. 1, 百官總已뀪聽冢宰 must understand 立, from p. 5, at the commencement of this and the other parr.