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a. Why did the Sages institute [the wearing of] robes? In order that by the cloth 1 the [bodily] forms should be covered, and the spiritual power [of the wearer] be displayed; it is to encourage the capable, and to distinguish between the high and the lowly.
b. Why [are robes] called i-shang? 2I means yin 'to conceal'; shang means chang 'to screen' 3. With [the robes] the [bodily] forms are concealed, and one screens and shuts oneself off [from shame]. The I says: "Huang-ti, Yao, and Shun [sat] with robes hanging down, and all under Heaven was well-governed" 4.
c. How do we know that the upper [garments] are called i, and the lower shang? Because the first [part of the] expression is i. The Shih says: "I will lift my lower garments, and wade the [river] Chên" 5. With [the upper garments they are] connected to form the lower [garments]. The Ti tzŭ chih [,however,] says: "They gathered their 'garments' i, and descended" 6; why are they named i [here, whereas the lower garments were meant]? The [mentioning of the] upper includes the lower.
a. The fur 7 is the additional [dress to the common ones] made by the handiwork of women, in order to increase the warmth.
b. Anciently, with black upper-garments the fur of a lamb [was worn], and with yellow upper-garments the fur of a fox 8.
c. Since there are so many [species of] animals, why [did they] only [use the fur of] a fox and a lamb? To profit by its being light and warm. [Besides, the fox's fur was used] because a dying fox turns its head towards the hill [where it was born] 9; meaning that a Noble Man never forgets his origin. [So the fur of] a lamb was used because it kneels down when it sucks [,which indicates] respect and obedience 10. Therefore, when the Son of Heaven [wears] white fox [-fur], the Feudal Lord yellow, the great officer dark, and the common officer lamb's fur, it is also for the sake of the distinction between the high and the lowly.
a. The reason why a sash 11 must [be worn] is because it expresses [an attitude of] respect and self-constraint. The silk [girdle] is tied on the front [with slips] hanging down [,and it is divided into] three parts, halfway down the body the sash forming two [slips] 12.
b. The reason why a man wears a leather girdle 13 is to indicate that he is concerned with [the use of weapons of] metal and leather.
a. The reason why pendants must be used is to make manifest one's spiritual power and to show one's abilities. Therefore: he who follows the Way without end wears the pendant huan, he who can base himself on the spiritual power [proceeding from his possession] of the Way wears the pendant kun, he who can decide [in affairs that are] perplexing and ambiguous wears the pendant chüeh14. This is the reason why, seeing what a man wears as his pendant, one can known his capacities. The Lun yü says: "After the period of mourning he wears all his pendants [again]" 15.
b. The Son of Heaven has pendants of white jade, the Feudal Lords of dark jade, the great officer of water-green jade, the common officer of the juan-min stone 16. Thus the pendants re- present one's occupation: the farmer wears as pendants his plough and hoe, the carpenter his hatchet and axe, the woman her needles and thread, [though] she also wears jade pendants.
c. How do we know that the woman also wears pendants of jade? The Shih says: "We will roam, we will ramble, her girdle-gems tinkle, that beautiful Eldest Lady Chiang, her reputation will never be forgotten" 17.
1. 絺 綌 ch'ih-ch'i, i.e. fine cloth and coarse cloth. See Mao's comm. on Ode 2: Mao shih chu shu, 1.28b; L. 7. See also Lun yü, X. 6.
2. 衣 裳 . The character i inserted by Ch'ên (9.21b).
3. 隱 yin , chang 障.
4. Chou i chu shu, Hsi tz'ŭ 12.7b; L. 383. It means, acc. to Han Po's comm. (± 385 A.D.) and K'ung Ying-ta's sub-comm., that they introduced long, flowing robes in order to distinguish between the high and the lowly (l.c.).
5. Ode 87: Mao shih chu shu, 7.28a; L. 140; K. 16.199.
6. Cf. the Kuan tzŭ, 59.27.
7. 裘 ch'iu.
8. Cf. Lun yü, X. 6, and ch. Yü tsao of the Li chi (C. I. 696).
9. Cf. ch. T'an kung of the Li chi (C. I. 131). See also Vol. I, p. 340, n. 354.
10. Cf. ch. XXVI, par. 170h.
11. 紳 帶 shên-tai.
12. In the Yü tsao (Li chi, C. I. 700), where a somewhat similar statement on the sash occurs, 'below the girdle' is written instead of 'halfway down the body'.
13. 鞶 帶 p'an-tai.
14. The huan is a ring, which is 'endless', the chüeh is a half-ring, and homonymous with chüeh 'to decide' (cf. Laufer, Jade, p. 210); what the kun 琨 symbolizes is not known (ibid. 211, n. 2). See also ch. XII, par. 102i.
15. Ch. X. 6, Lun yü chu shu, 10.7a; L. 231. Cf. what is said in the Yü tsao: "Ony in cases of a great calamity does the Noble Man put off his pendants" (Li chi chu shu, 30.16a; C. I. 709).
16. Cf. the Yü tsao (Li chi, C. I. 709). For the juan-min stone 瓀 珉 石 (juan is also written 碝, min also written 玟 or 砇, acc. to Lu Tê-ming in Li chi chu shu, 30.16b), cf. Couvreur's note on p. 710.
17. Ode 83: Mao shih chu shu, 7.22a-b; L. 137; K. 16.198. I have followed Karlgren's translation.
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