20 THE OPERATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS 



and lipped out the embryo of a pregnant woman; and 

 slew the minister who remonstrated with him. Wen Wang 

 at length arose at these enormities and put his plans into 

 execution. Lao Tzu says : 



CONSCIOUS OF GLORY YET BEARING PRESENT SHAME, 

 SUCH A MAN IS AS A VALLEY TO WHICH ALL THE 

 CURRENTS OF EMPIRE SHALL CONVERGE. 



(36) Kings should stand in awe of the people. — Ch'eng 

 Wang sought advice from Yen I on political matters, asking 

 how he should act so that the authorities might win the 

 affection of the people. The reply was "employ them at 

 suitable seasons, J " "be mindful of their interests, respect 

 their feelings." And in response to the King's further ques- 

 tion how this was to be done, replied "Act with circumspec- 

 tion as though you were approaching a deep pool or treading 

 on thin ice." To which the king said, "Fearful for kings 

 then." Yin I replied, "Within the whole empire if the king 

 acts well the people are his dependents : if he acts ill they 

 are his enemies. The servants of Hsia and Shang become 

 the enemies of the two Kings Chieh and Chou and transferred 

 their allegiance to Tang and Wu. The people of Hsu Sha 

 attacked their ruler and allied themselved to Shen Nung. 2 

 All the world knows these things : Kings should stand in 

 awe. " The words of Lao Tzu illustrate the principle : 



WHAT MEN STAND IN AWE OF 

 IS TO BE FEARED BY ALL KINGS. 



(37) The principles of the Sages should be abolished as 

 they are the maxims of robbers. — The followers of Che asking 

 their chief if thieves had any principles, received the 

 reply that it was not possible for them to be without such. 

 The person who could guess where treasure was stored was a 

 "superior man : " he who entered first was a man of courage : 

 and he who was last to leave w T as the person of heroism or the 

 loijal person. In the average division of spoils there was 

 the element of justice. The member who knew when to act 

 or otherwise possessed knowledge and wisdom. Where one 

 of these five factors was lacking, no great act of plunder 

 could be successful. Nothing in the world could be done 

 without principles. From this it may be seen that the 



'Confucius mentions this in the Analects Bk. I, Chap. XVI. 

 The people had to give free service to government : each person, in 

 good years, 3 days : in medium years, 2 days ; in bad years, 1 day. 

 They were not to be taken in busy seasons but only during times of 

 leisure. 



2 In the interval between Fu Hsi and Shen Nung, Kung King, a 

 Feudal Lord, obtained power and was the autocrat of the empire. 



