ON ITEMS OP CHINESE ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY. 47 



obligations to fulfil, and in that respect you are all alike. 

 On application depends success of labour; on diligence, 

 increase of possessions. Then follow special maxims for each 

 of the several classes enumerated, by the practice of which 

 it is added, " no person need again fail in their essential 

 duties ; but while fulfilling their duties in accordance with 

 the traditional condition of their families, transmit to their 

 descendants riches and abundance, their own ultimate reward 

 being comfortable enjoyment under a resplendent heaven 

 and a pure san." 



11. "Instruct the young, that so they may be prevented 

 from committing evil." From ancient times this was effected 

 partly by means of scholastic education, partly by military 

 training. [But apparently this particular maxim contains 

 only such instructions as apply to boys and men, to the ex- 

 clusion of daughters.] To the father and elder brothers 

 pertain the task of developing virtuous inclinations in the 

 young, and of suppressing vicious instincts. As for thoughts 

 of filial tenderness, and of respect to elders, " every man 

 possesses these, implanted in himself." If he love virtue 

 the village child may rise to nobility and grandeur; if not 

 virtuous, the son of the high noble will fall to mediocrity 

 and shame. 



12. " Suppress false accusations, and so safeguard inno- 

 cence." [Equivalent to command against " False Witness."] 

 As examples of such accusations, the following are enumer- 

 ated, namely, " Plotting in secret : false statements under 

 the guise of truth : raising discord ; casting upon another 

 blame which attaches to one's self ; mixing the good with 

 the bad, the just with the unjust, and so cl-eating an errone- 

 ous impression- — in the phraseology of the Edict itself, 

 " calling up a shadow, or binding the wind." 



13. "Keport harbourers of deserters, so that they may be 

 stopped in the practice, and implicated in the crime." 

 Herein is included an epitome of duties pertaining to the 

 military classes, and of the deceptions practised by deserters 

 (whose numbers in former times were evidently very con- 

 siderable) to conceal their identity. " Between the master 

 and the servant there exist great mutual obligations, and 

 the fugitive who turns his back on his master abandons his 

 contract." 



14. "Be exact in payment of your taxes, including those 

 which are devoted to official ceremonies, as also the hundred 

 other secondary expenses. A prince must necessarily levy 



