第37章

BOOK XXV. KEUN-YA.

BOOK XXV. KEUN-YA.

1. The king spoke thus:—"Oh! Keun-ya, your grandfather and your father, one after the other, with a true loyalty and honesty, labored in the service of the royal House, accomplishing a merit which was recorded on the grand banner.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. In the note at the commencement of the last Book, I have said that the annals of king K＇ang are peculiarly barren. No other event of his reign is commemorated but the appointment of the duke of peih to the govt. of Chingchow. During his time, however, several worthies of whom we have had occasion to speak passed off the stage. In Loo, Pih-k＇in, the son of the duke of Chow,died B.C. 1062 (or 1063), and was succeeded by his son Ts＇ew (酋), or duke K＇aou (考公), who gave place in the king＇s 20th year to duke Yang (煬公). Yang died in the last year of the reign, and was followed by his son Tsae (宰), or duke Yew (幽公). To the same year is assigned the death of Shih, the duke of Shaou, the coworker with the duke of Chow in the establishment of the dynasty.

The viscount of Wei, the prince of K＇ang, and Chung of Ts＇ae have all likewise their deaths chronicled in this reign.

King K＇ang was succeeded by his son Hëa (瑕),known as king Ch＇aou (昭王), to whom the standard History assigns a very long reign of 5l years. The Shoo, however, is silent about him. The appointment of Keun-ya to be minister of Instruction, in the Book to which we have now arrived, was made by king Muh (穆). Ch＇aou＇s son and successor, the first year of whose reign is commonly placed in B.C. 1000(or 1001). The brief notices of Ch＇aou and his reign which we find in Sze-ma Ts＇een and other authors are unfavourable to him. The first symptoms of decay in the dynasty date, indeed, from his time. In B.C. 1038 the duke of Loo was murdered by a younger brother,who established himself in his room, while the king could do nothing to avenge so great an outrage.

Ch＇aou died in a hunting expedition to the south,according to most accounts, being drowned in the river Han, which he was crossing in a boat, whose planks were only glued together! This account is no doubt fabulous.

THE NAME OF THE BOOK.—君牙, ＇Keun-ya＇.The name is taken from that of the person whose appointment to be minister of Instruction forms the subject of the Book. Keun-ya＇s surname is not known. His father and grandfather, it appears, had been in the same office before him; and hence it is conjectured that he may have been the grandson of the Chief of Juy, who was minister of Instruction at the commencement of king K＇ang＇s reign. This is possible;but we cannot say more, for, acc. to the received chronology, the commencement of Muh＇s reign was seperated from that of K＇ang by nearly 30 years.

The Book was not in Fuh-shang＇s Shoo.

CONTENTS. The Book is short, containing only seven paragraphs.

2. I, who am but a little child, have inherited the charge of the line of government transmitted from Wǎn and Woo, from Ching and from K＇ang, and keep also thinking of their ministers who were able to aid them in the good government of the four quarters of the empire;—the trembling anxiety of my mind makes me feel as if I were treading on a tiger＇s tail, or walking upon spring ice.

The 4th and 5th parr. speak of the duties of the minister of Instruction. The other paragraphs stimulate Keun-ya to the discharge of them by motives drawn from the merits of his forefathers, and the services which he would render to the empire, making his sovereign no unworthy descendant of Wăn and Woo.

Pp. 1—3. The king speaks of the merits of Keun-ya＇s grandfather and father; of his own anxiety to get ministers equal to those of his ancestors; and of his hope that Keun-ya would render him services which should prove that he was the worthy seion of a good stock. 1. 녡篤至王家,—Ma San (馬森; Ming dyn.) gives the following definitions of 忠 and 貞;—盡뀞之謂忠, 無一念之不實也, 守道之謂貞, 無一事之不녊也, ＇The putting forth one＇s whole mind is called 忠;there is not in it the insincerity of a single thought:holding firm the way of principle is called 貞; there is not in it the incorrectness of a single action.＇ We must understand a preposition, 於 or 為, between 勞and 王. 紀於太常,—太常 is the name of the grand imperial banner. The Chow Le, Bk. XXVII., makes mention of the 司常, or ＇superintendent of banners,＇who had charge of all the ＇nine fiags or banners,＇ (九旗). 常, therefore, is in that passage used apparently as synonymous with 旗. Commonly, however, we find it used with reference to the grand standard, on which were figures of the sun and moon, with figures of dragons, lying along its breadth, one over the other head above tail. The sun and moon, however, were the distinctive figures of the grand banner. It was borne aloft when the emperor went to sacrifice;—see the same Bk. of the Chow Le, on the duties of the 巾車, p. 2. The names of meritorious ministers, moreover, were inscribed on it during their life time, preparatory to their sharing in the sacrifices of the ancestral temple after their death;—see the Chow Le, Bk. XXX., on the duties of the 司勳, p. 3. 2. 惟予至遺緒,—it is inferred,and with reason, from the language of this clause, that the king had lately succeeded to the throne, and that this Charge to Keun-ya was delivered in the early part of his reign. Chronologist generally refer it to his 3d year. But how is it that while speaking of the line or clue of govt., as being transmitted to him from Wăn and Woo, Ching and K＇ang, he makes no mention of K＇ang＇s successor, his own father? The prefatory note expressly assigns the charge to king Muh. 亦惟至四方,—the meaning of this is, that while the king felt that he himself could not follow his predecessors passibus equis, he thought also how they, so superior to him, had yet been assisted by very able ministers.What cause was there then for anxiety to him! 惟=思.In the edition of the ＇Thirteen King, for 先王之臣 we have 先녊之臣. But Gan-kwŏ＇s comment—亦惟父祖之臣—shows that he must have read 先王. 先녊 probably crept into the text from Bk. XXVIII., p. 1, q. v. 亂四方,—see ＇The Testamentary Charge,＇ p. 25. 蹈虎尾,—this representation of perilousness is also found in the Yih King, under the diagram 履.

3. I now give you charge to assist me; be as my limbs to me, as my heart and back-bone. Continue their old service, and do not disgrace your grandfather and father.

4. "Diffuse widely the knowledge of the five invariable relations of society, and reverently seek to produce a harmonious observance of the duties belonging to them among the people. If you can be correct in your own person, none will dare to be but correct. The minds of the people cannot attain to the right Mean of duty;—they must be guided by your attaining it.