黃帝作宮室以避寒溫。宮之為言中也。

天子之堂高九尺，天子尊，故極陽之數九尺也。堂之為曾明也，所以明禮義也 《禮記》曰:"天子之堂九尺，諸侯七尺，大夫五尺，士三尺。"

門四出何?所以通方。故《禮三朝記》曰:"天子之官四通。"

所以必有塾何?欲以飾門，因取其名也。明臣下當見於君，必先執思其事也。

門必有闕者，闕者所以飾門，別尊卑也。

闕者何? 闕疑也。

所以設屏何? 屏、所以自障也。示不極臣下之敬也。天子德大，故外屏。諸侯小， 所照見近，故內屏。

囿、天子百里，大國四十里，次國三十里，小國二十里。苑囿所以在東方何? 苑囿、餮萬物者也，東方、物所以生也。《詩》云:"東有圃草。"

天子曰崇城，言崇高也。諸侯曰干城，言不敢自專，禦于天子也。

共工之子曰修，好遠遊，舟車所至，足透所達，靡不窮覽，故祀以為祖神。

齊者、言己之意念專一精明也。

天子疾，稱不豫。

諸侯稱負子。大夫稱負薪。士稱犬馬。不豫者、不復豫政也。 子者、諸侯子民今不復子之也。負薪、犬馬，皆謙也。

冬至前後，君子安身靜體，百官絕事不聽政，擇吉辰而後省事。

夏法日，日數十也。日無不照，尺所慶無所不極，故以十寸為尺。殷法十二月，言一歲之中無所不成，故以十二寸為尺。周據地而生，地者、陰也。以婦人為法，婦人大率奄八寸，故以八寸為尺。

人踐三尺，法天地人。

夏稱后者，以揖釀受于君，故稱后。殷稱人者，以行仁義，人所歸往。

鳥所以飛何? 鳥者、陽也。飄輕、故飛也。

Miscellany (Lu, 6b-8a; Ch'ên, 12. 22b-26b).

Huang-ti created palaces and houses to escape from cold and heat. Kung 'palace' means chung 'within' ¹.

The hall of the Son of Heaven is nine feet high. T'ang 'hall' means ming 'bright' 堂 明 ² (Li chi).

There are four gates opening to the outside (Li san ch'ao chi).

There are 'lobbies' shu by the gate, where the subjects, visiting their Lord, may 'ripely' shu reflect on their tasks ³.

There are 'towers' ch'üeh on the gates, as an adornment and to distinguish between the high and the lowly ⁴.

Ch'üeh means i 'to be on the alert' ⁵.

The 'screen-wall' p'ing⁶ in front of the gate is to shelter oneself. The Son of Heaven has a screen-wall for the outer gate, a Feudal Lord one for the inner gate.

The park of the Son of Heaven is one hundred li square, that of a Lord of a large state forty li, that of a Lord of a smaller state thirty li, that of a Lord of a small state twenty li square. The park is situated in the east (Shih).

The walls of the palace of the Son of Heaven are called ch'ung-ch'êng; ch'ung means kao 'high' ⁷; those of the Feudal Lords are called kan-ch'êng because they do not 'dare' kan to act of their own accord ⁸.

The son of Kung-kung was called Hsiu ⁹; he was fond of roaming about, and went wherever boat or carriage might carry him or his legs lead him; he is worshipped as the 'Spirit of the Roads' tsu-shên¹⁰.

'Abstinence' chai¹¹ means the concentration of one's mind to the achievement of clarity.

When the Son of Heaven is ill one speaks of pu-yü, when a Feudal Lord is ill one speaks of fu-tzŭ¹².

When a great officer is ill one speaks of fu-hsin, when a common officer is ill one speaks of ch'üan-ma¹³.

Towards the winter-solstice the Noble Man rests his body, the officials stop their work, and no governmental affairs are attended to.

The Hsia counted the days by tens, and the foot measured ten inches. The Yin had twelve months in a year, and the foot measured twelve inches. The Chou flourished by applying the principle of Earth, which is yin, and modelled themselves on woman, whose hands cover a surface of eight inches; the foot measured eight inches.

A man's 'half-pace' chien¹⁴ is three feet.

The Hsia is denoted by the term hou 'lords', the Yin and the Chou are denoted by the term jên 'people' ¹⁵.

Birds fly because they belong to the yang.