THE SHANG DYNASTY MENZIES 555 



after the members of one generation had thus had their turn did 

 it devolve upon a member of the next. Wliat rule was followed in 

 passing from one generation to another, we are not in a position to 

 say. Sometimes the succession went to the son of the eldest brother, 

 and at others to that of the youngest; but in no instance does it 

 appear to have gone to a son of one of the intervening brothers. 

 This type of succession is in marked contrast to that of the succeed- 

 ing dynasty, that of the Chou, which was from father to son. In 

 the main we may say that the line of descent worked out from the 

 bone inscriptions confirms that recorded for the Shang Dynasty 

 by the Chinese historical books. 



THE ORACLE BONES AND THE CLASSICS 



The inscribed bones further enable us to interpret certain signif- 

 icant portions of the ancient classics, such, for example, as the 

 genuine document known as " The Day of Supplementary Sacrifice." 

 The orthodox view concerning this was that Tsu Chi was a minister 

 of Kao Tsu Wu Ting, who was offering the supplementary sacrifice 

 to Ch'eng T'ang, the founder of the Dynasty. Now, however, we 

 know from the oracle records that Tsu Chi and Tsu Keng were 

 brothers, the former being the elder. It was the younger, however, 

 Avho was offering the supplementary sacrifice to their father Kao 

 Tsu Wu Ting. How is this to be explained? From the bones as 

 well as from tradition preserved in the literary sources, we learn 

 the following story. King Wu Ting had three wives, named respec- 

 tively Pi Hsin, Pi Wu, and Pi Kuei. By these he had three sons, 

 known to later generations as Tsu Chi, Tsu Keng, and Tsu Chia. 

 The eldest, Tsu Chi, was a good man; but his mother died young. 

 The mother of Tsu Keng held the affections of the king, and pre- 

 vailed on him to pass over Tsu Chi in the succession and place her 

 son Tsu Keng on the throne. Tsu Chi made no effort to assert 

 his rights, although he was a favorite among the people. Tsu 

 Keng, feeling insecure on the throne, endeavored to ensure his hold 

 upon it by offering excessive sacrifices to his father Wu Ting. Of 

 all the oracle bones which record the sacrifices of sons to their fathers, 

 those referring to the ones offered by Tsu Keng to Wu Ting far 

 outnumber all the rest ; there are a hundred or more of them. 



During one of Tsu Keng's sacrifices to his father a wild pheasant 

 flew into the ancestral temple, and, attracted by the seething grain 

 in the bronze tripod cauldron, perched on its handle and crowed at 

 the king. The latter was much frightened at this evil omen, and his 

 sage elder brother, whose place on the throne he had usurped, entered 

 and read him a lesson as follows : 



