SBE 3: Part II: The Books of Yü: Book II. The Counsels of the Great Yü

BOOK II. THE COUNSELS OF THE GREAT YÜ.

OF the six classes of documents in the Shû, 'Counsels' are the second, containing the wise remarks and suggestions of high officers on the subject of government.

This Book may be divided into three chapters:--the first, containing counsels of Yü and Yî on principles and methods of government; the second, occupied with Shun's resignation of the administration to Yü, and containing also many sage observations and maxims; and the third, describing Yü's operations against the people of Miâo, and counsels addressed to him, by Yî. The style differs from that of the Canons; being more sententious, and falling occasionally into rhyme.

1. Examining into antiquity, (we find that) the Great Yü 1 was styled Wăn-ming 2. Having arranged and divided (the land), all to the four seas, in reverent response to the Tî, he said, 'If the sovereign can realize the difficulty of his sovereignship, and the minister the difficulty of his ministry, the government will be well ordered, and the black-haired people will sedulously seek to be virtuous.'

The Tî said, 'Yes; let this really be the case, and good words will nowhere lie hidden; no men of virtue and talents will be left neglected, away from court, and the myriad states will all enjoy repose. (But) to obtain the views of all; to give tip one's opinion and follow that of others; to keep from oppressing the helpless, and not to neglect the

1, and let the favouring indication be followed.' The Tî replied, '(According to the rules for) the regulation of divination, one should first make up his mind, and afterwards refer (his judgment) to the great tortoise-shell. My mind (in this matter) was determined in the first place; I consulted and deliberated with all (my

1, and took [he leading of all the officers, as had been done by the Tî at the commencement (of his government).*

3. The Tî said, 'Alas! O Yü, there is only the lord of Miâo 2 who refuses obedience; do you go and correct him.' Yü on this assembled all the princes, and made a speech to the host, saying, 'Ye multitudes here arrayed, listen all of you to my orders. Stupid is this lord of Miâo, ignorant, erring, and disrespectful. Despiteful and insolent to others, he thinks that all ability and virtue are with himself. A rebel to the right, he destroys (all the obligations of) virtue. Superior men are kept by him in obscurity, and mean men fill (all) the offices. The people reject him and will not protect him. Heaven

1, he went into the fields, and daily cried with tears to compassionate Heaven, and to his parents, taking to himself all guilt, and charging himself with (their) wickedness.* (At the same time) with respectful service he appeared before Kû-sâu, looking grave and awe-struck, till Kû also became transformed by his example. Entire sincerity moves spiritual beings,--how much more will it move this lord of Miâo!'* Yü did homage to the excellent words, and said, 'Yes.' (Thereupon) he led back his army, having drawn off the troops. The Tî set about diffusing on a grand scale the virtuous influences of peace;--with shields and feathers they danced between the two staircases (in his courtyard). In seventy days, the lord of Miâo came (and made his submission).

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Footnotes

46:1 The name Yü, taken as an epithet, would mean 'the Unconstrained.' As an epithet after death, it has the meaning of 'Receiving the Resignation and Perfecting the Merit;' but this is evidently based on the commonly received history of Yü.

46:2 Wăn-ming may be translated, 'the Accomplished and the Issuer of Commands.'

50:1 On Divination, see Part V, iv.

51:1 Many contend that this was the ancestral temple of Yâo. But we learn from Confucius, in the seventeenth chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean, that Shun had established such a temple for his own ancestors, which must be that intended here.

51:2 The lord of Miâo against whom Yü proceeded would not be the one whom Shun banished to San-wei, as related in the former Book, but some chieftain of the whole or a portion of the people, who had been left in their native seat. That Yâo, Shun, and Yü were all obliged to take active measures against the people of Miâo, shows the difficulty with which the Chinese sway was established over the country.

52:1 Mount Li is found in a hill near Phû Kâu, department of Phing-yang, Shan-hsî. It is difficult to reconcile what Yî says here of Shun 'in his early life' and his father Kû-sâu with the account of it as happening when Shun was fifty years old; see Mencius V, Part i, ch. 5. The whole is legendary, and there were, no doubt, more forms of the legend than one.