| Shi King: Lessons from the States: Book X. The Odes of Thang | Title page | Shi King: Lessons from the States: Book XV. The Odes of Pin |
THE state of Khin took its name from its earliest principal city, in the present district of Khing-shui, in Khin Kâu, Kan-sû. Its chiefs claimed to be descended from Yî, who appears in the Shû as the forester of Shun, and the assistant of the great Yü in his labours on the flood of Yâo. The history of his descendants is very imperfectly related till we come to a Fei-ȝze, who had charge of the herds of horses belonging to king Hsiâo (B.C. 90989.5), and in consequence of his good services. was invested with [ p. 443 ] the small territory of Khin, as an attached state. A descendant of his, known as duke Hsiang, in consequence of his loyal services, when the capital was moved to the east in B.C. 770, was raised to the dignity of an earl, and took his place among the great feudal princes of the kingdom, receiving also a large portion of territory, which included the ancient capital of the House of Kâu. In course of time Khin, as is well known, superseded the dynasty of Kâu, having gradually moved its capital more and more to the east. The people of Khin were, no doubt, mainly composed of the wild tribes of the west.
LAMENT FOR THREE WORTHIES OF KHIN, WHO WERE BURIED IN THE SAME GRAVE WITH DUKE MÛ.
There is no difficulty or difference in the interpretation of this piece; and it brings us down to B.C. 621. Then died duke Mû, after playing an important part in the north-west of China for thirty-nine years. The Ȝo Kwan, under the sixth year of duke Wan, makes mention of Mû’s requiring that the three brothers here celebrated should be buried with him, and of the composition of this piece in consequence. Sze-mâ Khien says that this barbarous practice began with Mû’s predecessor, with whom sixty-six persons were buried alive, and that one hundred and seventy-seven in all were buried with Mû. The death of the last distinguished man of the House of Khin, the emperor I, was subsequently celebrated by the entombment with him of all the inmates of his harem.
They flit about, the yellow birds, And rest upon the jujube trees [^621]. Who followed duke Mû in the grave? Ȝze-_k_ü Yen-hsî. And this Yen-hsî Was a man above a hundred. When he came to the [ p. 444 ] grave, He looked terrified and trembled. Thou azure Heaven there! Could he have been redeemed, We would have given a hundred (ordinary) men for him [^622].
provident ways, their agriculture and weaving, nearly 3,700 years ago, is
| Shi King: Lessons from the States: Book X. The Odes of Thang | Title page | Shi King: Lessons from the States: Book XV. The Odes of Pin |