Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/449

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SECT. II.
THE LÎ KHÎ.
415


21. When 𝖅ze-lû was steward to the House of Kî, its chief had been accustomed to commence his sacrifices before it was light, and when the day was insufficient for them, to continue them by torchlight. All engaged in them, however strong they might appear, and however reverent they might be, were worn out and tired. The officers limped and leaned, wherever they could, in performing their parts, and the want of reverence was great. Afterwards, when 𝖅ze-lû took the direction of them, the sacrifices proceeded differently. For the services in the chamber, he had parties communicating outside and inside the door; and for those in the hall, he had parties com- municating at the steps. As soon as it was light, the services began, and by the time of the evening audience all were ready to retire. When Confucius heard of this management, he said, "Who will say

that this Yû does not understand ceremonies[1]?"


    the Khien-lung editors point out, cannot be adopted. And how any sacrifice to the hills, however great, could be represented as greater than the quinquennial sacrifice in the ancestral temple, I cannot understand. I must leave the paragraph in the obscurity that belongs to it.

  1. The Khien-lung editors say:—"𝖅ze-lû was a leal-hearted and sincere man, and the Book ends with this account of him. From the mention of the preparation of the rites on a great scale and of their high value at the beginning of the Book down to this tribute to 𝖅ze-lû as understanding ceremonies, its whole contents show that what is valuable in the rites is the combination of the idea of what is right with the elegant and outward form as sufficient to remove from a man all perversity and increase what is good in his nature, without a multiplicity of forms which would injure the natural goodness and sincerity, and lead their practiser to a crooked perversity. Deep and far-reaching is the idea of it!'