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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.
1. 宮, 中.
2. .
3. 塾, 熟 .
4. This sentence is supplied by Ch'ên.
5. 闕, 疑.
6. 屏.
7. 崇 城, 高 .
8. 干 丨, 敢.
9. 修.
10. 祖 神.
11. 齊.
12. 不 豫, 負 子.
13. 負 薪, 犬 馬,; this sentence is supplied by Ch'ên.
14. 踐 .
15. 后, 人.
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 Published
by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003
by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia |
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