chief minister. In the other two sections Yüeh is the principal speaker, and not the king. They partake more of the nature of the 'Counsels.' Yüeh had been a recluse, living in obscurity. The king's attention was drawn to him in the manner related in the Book, and he was discovered in Fû-yen, or amidst 'the Crags of Fû,' from which he was afterwards called Fû Yüeh, as if Fû had been his surname.
The first section tells us how the king met with Yüeh, and appointed him to be his chief minister, and how Yüeh responded to the charge that he received. In the second section, Yüeh counsels the king on a variety of points, and the king responds admiringly. In the third, the king introduces himself as a pupil at the feet of Yüeh, and is lectured on the subject of enlarging his knowledge. In the end the king says that he looks to Yüeh as another Î Yin, to make him another Thang.
Section 1.
1. The king passed the season of sorrow in the mourning shed for three years[1], and when the period of mourning was over, he (still) did not speak (to give any commands). All the ministers remonstrated with him, saying, 'Oh! him who is (the first) to apprehend we pronounce intelligent, and the intelligent man is the model for others. The Son of Heaven rules over the myriad regions, and all the officers look up to and reverence him. They are the king's words which form the commands (for them). If he do not speak, the ministers have no way to receive their orders.' On this the king made a writing, for their information, to the following effect:—'As it is mine to serve as the
- ↑ A young king, mourning for his father, had to 'afflict' himself in various ways for twenty-five months, nominally for three years. Among other privations, he had to exchange the comforts of a palace for a rough shed in one of the courtyards. During the time of mourning, the direction of affairs was left to the chief minister.
