第36章

BOOK XXIV. THE CHARGE OF THE DUKE OF PEIH.

BOOK XXIV. THE CHARGE OF THE DUKE OF PEIH.

1. In the sixth month of his twelfth year, the day of the new moon＇s appearance was Kăng-woo, and on Jin-shin, the third day after, the king walked in the morning from the honoured city of Chow to Fung, and there, with reference to the multitudes of Ching-chow,gave charge to the duke of Peih to protect and regulate the eastern frontier.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. If that reign must have been happy which, extending over a considerable number of years, has yet left few or no memorials in history, that of king K＇ang may be so characterized. It extended over twenty-six years, but no other event of it, after the Announcement of the last Book, is alluded to in the Shoo or by Sze-ma Ts＇een, but that appointment of the duke of Peih, to which we have now arrived. Ts＇een, indeed, tells us that ＇during the time of kings Ching and K＇ang, the empire was in a state of profound tranquillity, so that punishments were laid aside, and not used for more than forty years＇ (成康껣際, 天下安寧, 刑錯四十餘뎃놊用). HappyChina!

THE NAME OF THE BOOK.—畢命, ＇The Charge to the duke of Peih.＇ The territory of Peih was in the pres. dis. of Ch＇ang-ngan (長安), dep. of Se-ngan. It was not a large principality, whose ruler was entitled to be styled duke or Kung. That title is employed here as a denomination of dignity or office, the chief of Peih having succeeded to the duke of Chow as Grand-Tutor;—see on Bk. XXII., p. 3. He was a scion of the house of Chow. This and his being Grand-Tutor may both be inferred from the manner in which king K＇ang addresses him as 父師. Ch＇in Sze-k＇ae says that his name was Kaou (高). He must have been well advanced in years, when the＇ Charge＇ recorded here was addressed to him, for, acc. to p. 5, he had played his part in the fortunes of his House from the time of king Wǎn. The Book was not in the Shoo of Fuh-shang.

CONTENTS. ＇King K＇ang,＇ says Ts＇ae, ＇considering the condition of the multitudes of Ching chow, appointed the duke of Peih to protect and regulate thatdistrict and its people. This Book contains the charge to him as it was recorded on tablets.＇

Keun-ch＇in, who had succeeded to the duke of Chow in charge of Ching-chow, has followed him to the grave. By the labours of those two great minister, a considerable change had been effected in the character of the people of Yin who had been transferred to that district. King K＇ang appoints the duke of Peih to enter into and complete their work, adopting such measures as the altered character of the people, and altered circumstances of the time, called for. The charge occupies all the Book after an introductory paragraph, and may be divided into three chapters,each introduced by the words—＇The king said.＇

The first, parr. 2—5, speaks of what had been accomplished in Ching-chow, and the admirable qualities of Kaou which fitted him to accomplish what remained to be done. The second, parr. 6—11,speaks of the special measures which were called for by the original character and by the altered character of the people. The third, parr. 12—15, dwells on the importance of the charge, and stimulates the duke,by various motives, to address himself to fulfil it effectually.

Ch. I. P. 1. THE TIME; PLACE; AND GENERAL NATURE OF THE CHARGE. 惟十至壬申, —朏, see on Bk. XII., p. 2. As it denotes the third day of the moon, wa are again enabled to bring the commonly received chronology to the test of calculation. Here I will give the note of Gaubil, as on par. 2 of ＇The Testamentary Charge:＇—＇It is agreed that the day 庚午here is the third day of the sixth moon of the calendar of Chow. Lew Hin and Pan Koo pretend that this was the year corresponding to B. C. 1067, to which year they refer the twelfth year of king K＇ang; and this chronology is followed in the 通鑑綱目. In the year B.C. 1067, the 16th of May was, indeed, the day 庚午, or the 7th of the cycle, but the 14th of May was not the first day of the moon which did not happen till several days after; and that year therefore was not the 12th of K＇ang＇s reign. Laying down the principle avowed by Pan Koo and Lew Hin about the third day of the moon, the cycle names in the text agree with the year B.C. 1056. The 16th of May was the day of new moon in China; the 18th, the third day of the moon,was 庚午; and this month was the sixth in the calendar of Chow, since during it the sun entered the sign of the Twins. From "The Announcement of Shaou", "The Announcement about Lǒ," and this Book, we see that the Chinese astronomers of those times counted the day when the sun and moon were veritably in conjunction to be the first day of the moon. The time of a lunation was divided into the time of brightness and the time of obscurity; the passage from the obscure to the bright time was described as "the death of the obscure," and the passage from the bright to the obscure time as "the birth of the obscure;"—see "The Testamentary Charge". The standard History gives 26 as the years of K＇ang＇s reign; if that be correct, his death took place B.C. 1042, since we have found that B.C. 1056 was his 12th year; and B.C. 1067 was thefirst year of his reign.

＇This year, B.C. 1067, should be marked by the cycle characters 庚戊, the 11th year of the cycle. Now, the"Bamboo Books" do mark his first year so; but the year which they denote is that B.C. 1007, differing from the true year, which appears to have been demonstrated, exactly an entire cycle of 60 years.＇

[As the cycle names of the days here afford ground for such important conclusions, in which Gaubil, I may state, was anticipated by Chang Yih-hing (the Buddhist priest mentioned on page 19), under the T＇ang dynasty, it becomes desirable to establish the genuineness of the par., which may be hastily thrown aside with the remark that it only occurs in one of the controverted Books. Now this we are able to do, so far as the year, month, and days are concerted, from a passage in the 漢律歷志, 第一下, being that referred to by Gaubil, and which is to this effect:—康王十二뎃, 六月戊辰朔, 三꿂庚午, 故畢命豐刑꿂, 催十有二뎃六月庚午, 朏, 王命作策豐刑. We do not know what to make of 豐刑 here; but it is plain that Lew Hin had seen acopy of the ＇Charge to Peih,＇ in this par. substantially the same with what we have in the text before us.]

王朝至於豐,—朝步, see on Bk. III., p. 1. —宗周,see on Bk. XX., p. 1. We are to understand Haou. ＇Theking went to Fung,＇ says Ts＇ae, ＇to give the charge in the temple of king Wǎn, because the duke of Peih had been minister to him＇. 成周,—this was what was called下都, ＇the lower capital,＇ See on Bk. XXI., p. 1., where also 東郊, ＇the eastern frontier＇ is explained. 保=安; 釐=理. The time had come to adopt a difft. method with the people of Yin from those pursued by their former overseers, the duke of Chow and Keun-ch＇in;—as is explained below.

2. The king spoke thus:—Oh! Grand-tutor, it was when king Wǎn and king Woo had diffused their great virtue through the empire that they were able to receive the appointment which Yin had enjoyed.

3. The duke of Chow acted as assistant to my royal predecessors, and tranquillized and established their empire. Cautiously did he deal with the refractory people of Yin, and removed them to the city of Lŏ,that they might be quietly near the royal house, and thus be transformed by its lessons. Six and thirty years have elapsed, the generation has been changed, and manners have altered. Through the four quarters of the empire there is no occasion for anxiety, and I, the one man, enjoy repose.

Ch. II. Pp. 2—5. FIRST PART OF THE CHARGE. HOW THE EMPIRE HAD BEEN GOT BY WAN AND WOO, ASSISTED BY THE DUKE OF CHOW; WHAT THE DUKE HAD DONE WITH THE PEOPLE OF YIN. NEW MEASURES WERE NOW CALLED FOR; AND THE CHARACTER OF THE DUKE OF PEIH, WHICH MARKED HIM OUT AS THE MAN FOR THE OCCASION. 2. —父師,acc. to what was said on 一二伯父 in par. 6 of the last Book, we might translate this by ＇Uncle and Tutor＇. Lin Che-k＇e, moreover, says that the duke of Peih was ＇a son of king Wǎn, a younger brother of king Woo and the duke of Chow, and an uncle of king Ching (文王껣떚, 武王周公껣弟, 成王껣叔父); but I do not know his authority for such a statement. Sze-ma Ts＇een hasgiven the names of Wǎn＇s ten sons by his queen T＇ae-sze, and this duke is not among them. I believe he was a scion of the House of Chow; but we may take 父師here in the same way as in Pt. IV., Bk. XI., p. 1, as=太師. If he had really been a brother of the duke of Chow, we might have expected some reference to the fact in the course of the Charge. 3. 惟周公녨녿先王,—the critics generally understand by 先王 all K＇ang＇s predecessors,—Wǎn, Woo, and Ching. Lin Che-k＇e contends with much force that the phrase should in this place be restricted to king Ching. It is hardly necessary to depart from the more common view. Ching must certainly be included. Gaubil gives—＇le roi, mon pere;＇ Menhurst erroneously,—＇these former kings＇ .厥家=厥國家, ＇their (or his) empire＇. 毖殷至厥訓,—comp. Bk. XIV., pp. 18—21. 密邇王室,—comp. 密邇先王, Pt. IV., Bk. V., Pt. i., p. 9. The 王城or ＇imperial city＇ of Lǒ was the place where the ＇nine vases＇ of the empire were deposited, and where is was intended that the emperor should give audience to all the princes. The people of Yin in Ching-chow and the country about might very well be said to be near the ＇royal house＇. The ＇Daily Explanation＇ expands 式化厥訓 into 꿂聞我周껣仁聲善政, 꿂親我周껣仁人君떚, 由놆潛消其悍暴껣習, 땤漸化於德義껣訓. 既曆三紀,—＇there have elapsed—been gone through—three Ke, or periods of twelve years＇. A period of twelveyears was denominated a 紀, acc. to Ying-tǎ, because in that period the planet Jupiter completed a revolution in his orbit, and the cycle characters of the 地支, or＇earthly branches,＇ had also ran their round. We do not know exactly from what year we are to reckon these 36 years. If, as is commonly believed, the reign of Ching lasted 37 years, and we add 12 years of K＇ang＇s reign to them, we obtain four duodenary periods, and not three.

4. The prevailing ways now tend to advancement and now to degeneracy, and measures of government must be varied according to the manners of the time.If you do not manifest your approval of what is good,the people will not be led to stimulate themselves in it.

5. But your virtue, O duke, is strenuous, and you are cautiously attentive to small things. You have been helpful to and brightened four reigns, with deportment all-correct, leading on the inferior officers, so that there is not one who does not reverently take your words as a law.

Even if we reckon from the date of the ＇Announcement about Lǒ,＇ we have more than 40 years. A supposition of Gaubil, that king K＇ang intends the time which had elapsed from the death of the duke of Chow, seems to me very likely. 녡變,—our word ＇generation＇ answers to 녡. Ts＇ae says;—父떚曰녡, ＇Father and son are called a 녡.＇—＇One generation passeth away, and another cometh.＇ —四方無虞,see the use of 無虞 in Pt. II., Bk. IV., p. 6.

P. 4. Govt. must be varied according to the character of the people; the time was come for discriminative measures. 道有升降,—it would be hard to say how Gan-kwǒ understood this clause. His comment on it is—天道有上下交接껣義, which Ying-tǎ only makes more dark by his expansion of it. I have followed Ts＇ae who observes that 有升=有隆, ＇generous＇,＇affluent＇, ＇good＇; and 有降=有污, ＇foul＇, ＇impure＇; and then illustrated this clause and the next by saying that, when the duke of Chow took charge of Ching-chow, the character of the people, with their evil habits all-unchanged, rendered a firm and cautious dealing with them necessary. When Keun-ch＇in took charge, the people were considerably improved, and hence he was enjoined to be forbearing with them, and promote harmonizing measures. 놊臧, 云云,—the people, we are to suppose, were now in that state, that the good of many of them deserved to be acknowledged, and that acknowledgement would act as the best stimulus to others. The paraphrase of the ＇Daily Explanation＇is:—至於今꿂, 善者固多, 땤놊善者亦容或有껣, 務必寬嚴竝施, 興起其為善者, 且懲治其為놊善者, 庶幾殷民有所畏慕, 益相勸땤化耳. 臧=善. In the first case it is a verb; in the second, a noun in the concrete. 5.The great virtue of the duke of Peih. 克勤小物,—小物, ＇little things＇= ＇small matters＇ (細行). By 四녡, ＇four generations＇, we are to understand the reigns of Wǎn, Woo, Ching, and the existing reign of K＇ang. Ying-tǎrefers to a passage in the 國語, 晉語四 (near the end), about king Wǎn, how he詢於八虞, 땤次於二虢……in the 8땤訪於辛尹th cent., 重 B껣뀪周.C., it, w召as, 畢the, 榮current, which shows that belief that theduke of Peih had been a minister of king Wǎn. 正色率下,—＇with correct countenance leading on those below you＇.

Your admirable merits were that of many in the times of the former kings; I, the little child, have but to let my robes hang down, and fold my hands while I look up for the complete effect of your measures."

6. The king spoke, "Oh! Grand-tutor, I now reverently charge you with the duties of the duke of Chow.—Go!

7. Signalize the good, separating the bad from them; give tokens of your approbation to their neighbourhoods, distinguishing the good so as to make it ill for the evil, thus establishing the influence ad reputation of their virtue. Where the people will not obey your lessons and statutes, mark off the boundaries of their hamlets, making them fear to do evil and desire to do good.

But by 色 we are to understand all the deportment. Lin Che-k＇e refers, aptly enough, to the words of Confucius about the man in authority, Ana. XX., ii., 2,—君떚正其衣冠, 尊其瞻視, 儼然人望땤畏껣, 놊亦威땤놊猛乎. 祗師言=祗敬땤師法公言. The 師 is a verb,=＇to imitate＇, ＇to take as a model＇. 嘉績多於先王,—this clause is in a measure opposed to the next.—＇Evenunder my predecessors your admirable merits have been many; how much more must I be indebted to you!＇ 予小予, 云云,—we must not understand ＇the robes let down and the hands folded＇ as expressive of idleness and indifference. The king figures himself in the ancestral temple, in his robes and attitudes of reverent ceremony, happy in the thought that he had so able a minister on whom he might entirely depend. Compare the same language in the conclusion of Bk. III., p. 10.