CHINA. 



221 



they had been able, many years before, to make astrono- 



mical observations, and to attain so correct a knowledge 

 o{ the length of the year ? 



Yao died in the 102d year of his reign ; and the peo- 

 ple mourned his loss three year?. He is said to have 

 left ten children, none of whom succeeded him ; but one 

 of them, named Tcheoo, was afterwards made Prince of 

 Tang, by Yu. Shun, who had assisted Yao in the go- 

 vernment 28 years, retired after the death of that prince 

 to the south of the empire, where all the nobles, aban- 

 doning Tchoo the son of Yao, on account of his vices, 

 followed to pay him homage, and to proclaim him their 

 overeign. 



Shun, who is equally renowned in China as his prede- 

 oessor, repaired, on the first day of the first moon after 

 the death of Yao, to the hall of ancestors, gave audience 

 to his grandees, and inquired into the state of affairs. He 

 consulted the twelve Moo, or shepherds, and spoke to 

 them, according to the Shoo-king, to this effect. " Eve- 

 ry thing depends upon seizing the proper season for pro- 

 curing the necessaries of life. Treat with kindness those 

 who come from a distance ; instruct those, who live in 

 your vicinity ; esteem and recommend those, who pos- 

 sess talents ; place confidence only in men of worth ; do 

 not frequent the company of those, whose morals are cor- 

 rupted : In this way you will succeed in reducing to obe- 

 dience the barbarians of Man and of Y." He then ad- 

 dressed himself to his nobles, and demanded, if any 

 among them was capable of governing, that he might 

 place him at the head of his ministers. They unanimous- 

 ly presented to him Yu, who was the superintendent of 

 the public \vorks j and he was immediately declared 

 prime minister, with the management of every thing re- 

 lating to the land and the waters. Kee was commission- 

 ed to cause all kinds of grain to be sown in their season, 

 in order to relieve the wants of the people ; and Sic was 

 invested with the office of instructing them in their du- 

 ties, in order to preserve peace and concord. He then 

 spoke to Kao-yao, and said, " Strangers excite di tnr- 

 bances. Sie, there are among the people of Hia rob- 

 bers, assassins, ai.d persons of corrupted morals; I ap- 

 point you judge, that you may administer the five rules 

 for punishing crimes with proportionate penalties. There 

 are three places foi pu'.iing those into execution. There 

 are d^tnct> fur five cJegrers of banishment, and there are 

 in these districts ihm- kinds of dwellings." * He en- 

 trusted Tchooee with the care of the public works ; and 

 gave to Y the fupirtr.t, ndance of the mountains, forests, 

 lakes, ponds, plants, trees, birds, and animals; though 

 these two departments would seem to have been included 

 in that of Yu, who had th< management of all that re- 

 lated to the land and trie water-'. Pe-y wa appointed to 

 watch over the three ceremonies, and received the office 

 of Tchi-tsong. with these words : " From morning to 

 evening be full of fear and reverence, and continually up- 

 on your guard to have your heart upright and free from 

 passion." Kuc ee was appointed Master- musician, with 

 this exhortation : " Instruct-the children of the princes 

 and nobles, so that they may be sincere, affable, com- 

 plaisant, grave, and firm, without being stern or cruel. 

 Form their understanding, that they be not proud. Ex- 

 plain to them your sentiments in verses, and songs, in 

 which the words accord with the notes. If the eight 

 tones accord, and if there be no confusion, the gods and 

 men will be united." Then, addressing himself to Long, 

 he said, I detest those, whose tongue sows divisiun, 



and throws every thing into disorder, t give you the History, 

 office of Na yan, that you may report to me with fide- ^~TV^^ 

 lity and sincerity all thai is spoken." After which, B - c - c " 5 

 addressing them all, he exhorted them to fulfil their re- 

 spective duties. Besides these and other discourses, 

 found in the Shoo-king, and which have every appear- 

 ance of having been afterwards composed, and put into the 

 mouths of those antient personages, with a view to con- 

 vey and impress moral instruction, there are several coa- 

 versations recorded as hating taken place between the 

 emperor and his ministers, of which the following may 

 be given as a specimen. " When the great inundation," 

 said Yu, addressing the Emperor, " rose even to the 

 heavens, encompassed the mountains, and covered all the 

 high places, the people were troubled, and perished in 

 the waters ; then I employed the four Tsay," (kinds of 

 carriages,) " traversed the mountains, and cut down the 

 woods. Along with Y I collected provisions of grain 

 and the flesh of animals, for the subsistence of the peo- 

 ple ; and formed channels for the rivers, which I caused 

 to flow towards the four seas. Assisted by Tsee, 1 cau- 

 sed the fields to be sown, and, by uniting the flesh of ani- 

 mals with that of fishes, the necessaries of life were pro- 

 vided. Provisions were conveyed to the places where 

 they were wanted, and exchanges of articles were made. 

 I then distributed the departments, and gave to them a 

 form of government." Kao-yao bestowed great praise 

 upon such conduct, and Yu continued, " Prince, be at- 

 tentive ; decide upon the object which you ought to have 

 in view ; examine the occasions on which it is necessary ta 

 deliberate, or to act ; and consider how you may render 

 the deliberation or the execution invariable. If your 

 ministers are faithful and in concord with one another, 

 they will attend to your decisions, ar.d you will clearly 

 receive the commandments of Chang-tee, who will load 

 you with his bounties." To this discourse the emperor 

 replied, " A minister touches (or approaches) me very 

 near, and he who touches me very near is a minister. He 

 is to me as a foot, a hand, an eye, an ear. He assists me 

 to govern the people, and extends my benefits to every- 

 place." " When I wish to hear the six Lu, the five 

 sounds, the eight tones, I examine my conduct ; I wisk 

 that songs should be performed to me, accompanied by 

 five tones. When I commit faults, I ought to be told of 

 them ; and it ia highly blameable to praise me to my 

 face, in order to censure me in my absence. When a 

 thoughtless man utters pernicious words, let him be 

 strictly questioned, in order to verify what he has spo- 

 ken ; let him afterwards be punished, and a register kept 

 of the penalty inflicted. If he promises to amend, set 

 his words to music, and let them be sung to him every 

 day. If he reforms, give notice of it to the emperor; if 

 not, punish the guilty." " How just are these words!" 

 replied Yu. " The reputation and glory of the emperor 

 have reached to the shore* of the sea, and to the ends of 

 the world. The wise of all countries detire to enter in- 

 to his service. He knows how to reward merit. He 

 examines all things. I have not been like Tan tchoo, 

 the son of Yao, vain, proud, adventurous, dissipated, 

 cruel, and restless. In the places, where there was no 

 water, he" wished to travel by sailing ; at home, he wai 

 surrounded with licentious persons, and so he succeeded 

 not to the throne of his father. To avoid such errors, I 

 married the daughter of the Prince of Too-shan. I re- 

 mained with her four days. Afterwards, though I heard 

 the cries of my son, I thought only of the labour, which 



Those who consider this part of the Shoo-king as having been composed in the time of Shun, find great difficulty in explaining 

 ie words people of Ilia," *a that dynwty was not then in existence, and as the Chinese were never known by that n^mc. 



