Confucius said, "It is not the rule. Anciently,
outside the palace, a boy had his master, and at
home his foster-mother; they were those whom the
ruler employed to teach his son;âwhat ground should
these be for wearing mourning for them? Formerly
duke Kâo of LÝ having lost his mother when he
was little, had a foster-mother, who was good; and
when she died, he could not bear (not) to mourn for
her, and wished to do so. The proper officer on hearing
of it, said, 'According to the ancient rule, there is no
mourning for a foster-mother. If you wear this
mourning, you will act contrary to that ancient rule,
and introduce confusion into the laws of the state.
If you will after all do it, then we will put it on record,
and transmit the act to the future;âwill not that
be undesirable?' The duke said, 'Anciently the
son of Heaven, when unoccupied and at ease, wore the
soft inner garment, assumed after the year's mourning,
and the cap.' The duke could not bear not to wear
mourning, and on this he mourned for his foster-mother in this garb.
The mourning for a foster-mother originated with duke Kâo of LÝ[1]."
- â See the eleventh article in the forty-third chapter of the "Narratives of the School," where a similar, probably the same, conversation, with some variations, is found The duke of LĂť in it, however, is not Kâo, but Hâo; see paragraph 12, page 315.
of the harem to whom the care of an orphan boy was entrusted;âit may have been after he ceased to be suckled. The reasoning of Confucius goes on the assumption that mourning should be worn only in cases of consanguinity or affinity; and it may be inferred from this that concubinage was not the most ancient rule in China.
