2. Its days are zǎn and kwei. Its divine ruler is
Kwan-hsü, and the (attending) spirit is Hsüan-ming.
Its creatures are the shell-covered. Its musical note
is Yü, and its pitch-tube is Hwang Kung[1].
3. Its number is six. Its taste is salt. Its smell is that of things that are rotten. Its sacrifice is that at (the altar of) the path, and of the parts of the victim the kidneys have the foremost place.
4. The ice becomes more strong. The earth begins to crack or split The night bird ceases to sing. Tigers begin to pair[2].
5. The son of Heaven occupies the Grand Fane Hsüan Thang; rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag. He is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured gems of jade. He eats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.
6. All things relating to the dead are revised and regulated[3].
7. Orders are given to the proper officer to the
following effect[4]:—"There should nothing be done in
- ↑ See page 281, paragraph 5.
- ↑ "The earth begins to crack;" some say from the increasing intensity of the cold; others from the warmth which has begun to return. The returning warmth is indicated by the undivided Une with which Fu, the hexagram of the eleventh month, commences—
. "The night bird" sings during the night till the dawn; "a hill bird, like a fowl."
- ↑ See paragraph 16, page 299. The paragraph may be inadvertently introduced here.
- ↑ "The proper officer" here is said to be "the minister of Instruction," or "the officer of the People."
