134 EXOGAMY IN CHINA 



strong-willed man of a primeval "blood avoidance" the 

 breach of which, and not the mere marrying one of the 

 same name, was what was and presumably always had 

 been in China "taboo." 

 Le BW- c.c. Op. j n the Tso Chuen commentary on the records of 



the first year of Duke Cha'ou is the story of the illness 

 of the Marquis of Tsin. The Marquis being ill, the 

 Earl of Ch'ing sent Kung-sun K'eaou on a complimen- 

 tary visit and to enquire about the Marquis's illness. 



The diviners had said that the illness was inflicted 

 on the Marquis by the Spirits. Kung-sun K'eaou re- 

 jected this explanation saying: — 



"Your ruler's person must be suffering from 

 something connected with his movements out of the 

 palace and in it, his meat and drink, his griefs and 

 pleasures, what can these Spirits of the Mountains and 

 Stars have to do with it? I have heard that the 

 superior man (divides the day) into four periods: — the 

 morning, to hear the affairs of government; noon, to 

 make full enquiries about them; the evening, to con- 

 sider well and complete the orders (he has resolved to 

 issue); and the night for rest. . . . But has not 

 (your ruler) been making these four different periods 

 of his time into one? This may have produced the 

 illness." 



"I have heard again that the ladies of the harem 

 should not be of the same surname as the master of it. 

 If they be, their offspring will not thrive. When their 

 first admiration for each other (as relatives) is ex- 

 hausted, they occasion one another disease. On this 

 account the superior man hates such unions, and one 

 of our Books says, — 'In buying a concubine, if you do 

 not know her surname, consult the tortoise shell for it." 

 The ancients gave careful attention to the two points 

 which I have mentioned. The husband and wife 

 should be of different surname is one of the greatest 

 points of propriety : but now your ruler has in his 

 harem four Kees : — may it not be from this (that his 

 illness has arisen)? If it has come from these two 

 things (I have mentioned), nothing can be done for it. 

 If he had seldom to do> with the four Kees, he might 

 get along; if that be the case, disease was the necessary- 

 result. 



The words in brackets in Legge's translations are 

 not in the Chinese text but added to fill in the sense of 

 the original. In the case of the sentence — "When 

 their first admiration for each other (as relatives) is 



