Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/427

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SECT. IV.
THE LÎ YUN.
393

back)[1]. Phœnixes and Khî-lins were among the trees of the suburbs, tortoises and dragons in the ponds of the palaces, while the other birds and beasts could be seen at a glance in their nests and breeding places. All this resulted from no other cause but that the ancient kings were able to fashion their ceremonial usages so as to convey the underlying ideas of right, and embody their truthfulness so as to secure the universal and mutual harmony. This was the realisation of it.


  1. The famous "River Map" from which, it has been fabled, Fû-hsî fashioned his eight trigrams. See vol. xvi, pp. 14-16.