A CASE OF RITUALISM 141 



unthinkable that it could stoop to such an unworthy act : 

 and demean itself by making a request for the privilege of 

 celebrating the Chiao. It would be conscious that its request 

 was for a most illicit proceeding and a sacriligious act. 

 Further it would have before it, two examples where the 

 suzerain power of Chow had refused requests for minor 

 privileges. One was when the Lords of Chin begged for the 

 privilege of the Sui burial, an account of which may be 

 found in Legge Vol. V, Pt. I, p. 196, par. ft : and the other was 

 the request made by the Prince of Ch'u for the privilege 

 of the Ting, the possession of the imperial tripod. * 



These lords were reprimanded for making such an im- 

 pious request. But these were small affairs in comparison 



* There were nine tripods representing the nine divisions of the 

 empire. Later eight were lost. The tripods were kept in the im- 

 perial palace. The commentators note on the affair as translated by 

 Legge reads : — 



"The Jung of Luh-hwan were a tribe of the Little Jung (/h5%), 

 whose original seat lay in the extreme west of the present Kan-suh ; 

 but, as related under the 22nd year of duke Ho, they were removed 

 bv Ts'in and Tsin to E-ch'uen, — in the north of the pres. dis. of Sung 

 (t§5 f£ ), dep. Honan ; which brought them within the reach of Ts'no. 

 They were also called the Yin Jung ( |?J> ^). For $g Kung has Jlf ; 

 and both he and Kuh omit the ^ before ^. The Chuen says : — 

 The viscount of Ts'oo invaded the Jung of Luh-hwan, and then went 

 on as far as the Loh, where he reviewed his troops on the borders of 

 Chow. King Ting sent Wang-sun Mwan (see the former mention of 

 him in the Chuen on V, XXXIII, I) to him with congratulations and 

 presents, when the viscount asked about the size and weight of the 

 tripods. Mwan replied, "(The strength of the kingdom) depends on 

 the (sovereign's) virtue, and not on the tripods. Anciently, when 

 Hea wa distinguished for its virtue, the distant regions sent pictures 

 of the (remarkable) objects in them. The nine pastors sent in the 

 metal of their provinces, and the tripods were cast, with representa- 

 tions on them of those objects. All the objects were represented, and 

 (instructions were given) of the preparations to be made in reference 

 to them, so that the people might know the sprites and evil things. 

 Thus the people, when they went among the rivers, marshes, hills, 

 and forests, did not meet with the injurious things, and the hill-sprites, 

 monstrous things, and water-sprites, did not meet with them (to do 

 them injury). Hereby a harmony was secured between the high and 

 the low, and all enjoyed the blessing of Heaven. When the virtue of 

 Keeh was all-obscured, the tripods were transferred to Shang, for 

 600 years. Chow of Shang proved cruel and oppressive, and they were 

 transferred to Chow. When the virtue is commendable and brilliant, 

 the tripods, though they were small, would be heavy ; when it gives 

 place to its reverse, to darkness and disorder, though they were 

 large, they would be light. Heaven blesses intelligent virtue ; — on 

 that its favour rests. King Ch'ing fixed the tripods in Keeh-juh, 

 and divined that the dynasty should extend through 30 reigns, over 

 700 years. Though the virtue of Chow is decayed, the decree of 

 Heaven is not yet changed. The weight of the tripods may not yet 

 be inquired about." Legge : Vol. V, Pt. I, p. 293. See also Mayers 

 Chinese Header's Manual, Pt. II, p. 346. 



