第38章

BOOK XXVI. THE CHARGE TO KEUNG.

BOOK XXVI. THE CHARGE TO KEUNG.

1. The king spoke thus:— "Pih-keung, I come short in virtue, and have now succeeded to the former kings,to occupy the great throne. I am fearful and conscious of the peril of my position. I rise at midnight, and think how I can avoid falling into faults.

THE NAME OF THE BOOK; AND DATE.—冏命, ＇The Charge to Keung＇. The prefatory note says that ＇king Muh appointed Pih-keung to be the 太僕正, and thereupon was made the ＇Charge to Keung＇. From par. 1 we learn that Pih-keung (伯囧) was the name of the individual to whom the charge was given; the title therefore might have been 伯囧之命, or simply 伯冏, after the analogy of the tile of the last Book. No reason can be given for the form of the name as we have it, but that it was the fancy of the compiler to call it so. As Lin Che-k＇e says, 此篇與君꾬, 皆놆命體, 君꾬之命篇, 則但以其名, 此則去伯而加以命字, 놆亦各其史官一時之意也.

As to the office which Pih-keung was appointed tofill, there are two opinions. In the preface it is called太僕正; and in the Book, p. 4, 太正. He is no doubt included among the 僕 of p. 6, and we must admit, therefore, the designation in the preface as correct. Now 僕 is used first for ＇servant＇ without reference to the nature of the service. The dict. gives the definition of the 說文,—給事者, ＇one who renders services＇, and illustrates this by a passage from the Le Ke, —禮運,仕於公曰臣, 仕於家曰僕, ＇a public officer is called 臣;an officer in the family is called 僕.＇ But the character also means ＇a charioteer＇ (御車曰僕). The difft. views depend on whether the general meaning or the special be supposed to predominate in the case before us.

When we refer to the Chow Le, we find many officers in the dept. of the minister of War denominated as 僕. In Bk. XXXI., we have the 太僕,祭僕, 御僕, and 隷僕; and in Bk. XXXII., we have the太馭 (馭 is taken here to=僕), 戎僕, 齊僕, 道僕, and 田僕.

2. Formerly, Wǎn and Woo were endowed with all intelligence, august and sage, while their ministers,small and great, all cherished loyalty and goodness.

The student naturally, and I think correctly, supposes that he has in the 太僕 of Bk. XXXI. the office of Pihkeung; but Gan-kwŏ and Ying-tă, whose views Lin Che-k＇e approved of, were of opinion rather that he should be identified with the 太馭 of Bk. XXXII. The duties of the 太僕 are described in many parr. He, or they--for there were two officers so denominated—regulated the dress of the emperor on difft. occasions,and the positions where he should stand or sit. He received the great commands of the emperor, and delivered then to those for whom they were intended;and conveyed on the other hand to the emperor memorials from without. He went before the emp.to and from audiences. These details are sufficient to show how close were his relations with the emperor,and how intimate were the services which he rendered.

The 太馭, under whom (though this point is not so clear) appear to have been the 戎僕, &c., mentioned above, had charge of the grand carriage of the emperor, and drove him in it to sacrifices. So far they were close enough together, but their relations were by no means so numerous and intimate as those of the emp. and the 太僕. Why should we suppose that Pihkeung was appointed 太馭 and not 太僕?

The only reason is that the 太馭 were great officers of the second degree (中꺶夫) while the 太僕 were only of the third (下꺶夫). There would be force in this, if the one office had been under the other. But there is no evidence to show that this was the ease. The two K＇ungs erroneously supposed it was, and hence they were led to a wrong conclusion about the office of Pih-keung. There were two 太僕, under whom were 4 petty servants (小臣), 6 servants for sacrifices (祭僕), 12 special servants (御僕), 2 treasures (府), 4 clerks

(史), 2 helps (胥), 20 waiters (徒), with perhaps others.Pih-keung must have been the senior or chief of the two. Biot translates the term by, ＇Grand Domestique＇.＇High Chamberlain＇ is the nearest I can come to it in English.

[This long investigation of the office of Pih-keung may be wearisome to some readers. I thought it worth while to enter on it, because many Chinese critics have professed themselves unable to determine the point. M. de Guignes, who had certainly read the Shoo with care, at least in Gaubil＇s version, strangely says, in his summary of the Book, that ＇Keung was one of the great officers of king Muh. He is named Pih-keung(伯囧), because he was chief of several vassal princes!＇So difficult is it, without prolonged and close study, to interpret correctly documents in this language.]

The Book is only found in the ＇old text＇.

CONTENTS. King Muh represents himself as conscious of his own incompetencies, and oppressed with a sense of the important duties devolving on him. His predecessors, much superior to himself, were yet greatly indebted to the aid of the officers about them;—how much more must this be the case with himself! He proceeds to appoint Keung to be the High Chamberlain, that he may guide correctly all the other servants about the imperial person, and so promote his virtue; telling him the manner of men who he should employ, and the care which he should exercise in the selection of them.

Pp. 1—3. Preliminary to the appointment. 1. The king＇s great anxiety in the thought of his own incompetency and his high position. 予弗克於德,—＇I am not competent in the point of virtue.＇ Compare Kaou taung＇s 台恐德弗類 in ＇The Charge to Yue,＇ Pt. i., p. 2. 嗣先人宅丕后,—宅=居; 丕=꺶. Ts＇ae gives forthe whole. 繼前人居꺶君之位. 怵惕,—see Mencius, II., Pt., I., vi. 3. Ying-tă says here, that the phrase denotes ＇the commotion of the heart (뀞勳之名. 厲=危, ＇perilousness＇. 中夜以興,—以 perhaps has an adverbial force,= ＇thereupon＇. 2. Wăn and Woo, sage as they were, were yet greatly aided by the servants about them. 齋=莊, or 肅, ＇grave＇, ＇august＇.

Their servants, charioteers, attendants and followers,were all men of correctness, morning and evening waiting on their sovereign＇s wishes or supplying his deficiencies. Those kings, going out and coming in,rising up and sitting down, were thus made reverent.Their every warning and command was good. The people yielded a reverent obedience, and the myriad regions were all happy.

3. But I, the one man, am destitute of goodness, and really depend on the officers who have places about me to help my deficiencies, applying the line to my faults, and exhibiting my errors, thus correcting my bad heart, and enabling me to be the successor of my meritorious predecessors.