Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/246

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212
THE Lî Kî.
BK. III.

ground formed attached territories and unoccupied lands of the eight provinces (apart from that which formed the royal domain), each contained (the above) 210 states[1].

9. Within the domain[2] of the son of Heaven there were 9 states of 100 lî square; 21 of 70 lî; and 63 of 50 lî:—in all, 93 states. The famous hills and great meres were not assigned[3]. The rest of the ground served to endow the officers, and to form unoccupied lands.

10. In all, in the nine provinces, there were 1773 states, not counting in (the lands of) the officers of the chief grade of the son of Heaven, nor the attached territories in the feudal states.

Section II.

1. (The contributions from) the first hundred lî (square) of the son of Heaven served to supply (the needs of) the (various) public offices; (those from the rest of) the thousand lî were for his own special use[4].

2. Beyond his thousand lî, chiefs of regions were appointed. Five states formed a union, which had


  1. This statement must be in a great degree imaginary, supposing, as it does, that the provinces were all of the same size. They were not so; nor are the eighteen provinces of the present day so.
  2. The character in the text here is different from that usually employed to denote the royal domain.
  3. The term is different from the "invested" of the previous paragraph. The tenures in the royal domain were not hereditary.
  4. Such seems to be the view of the Khien-lung editors. Callery translates the paragraph substantially as I have done.