Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/437



21. Therefore the superior man thinks it necessary to use the utmost care in his practice of ceremonies. They are the bond that holds the multitudes together; and if the bond be removed, those multitudes fall into confusion. Confucius said, "If I fight, I overcome; when I sacrifice, I receive blessing ." He said so, because he had the right way (of doing everything).

22. A superior man will say, "The object in sacrifices is not to pray; the time of them should not be hastened on; a great apparatus is not required at them; ornamental matters are not to be approved; the victims need not be fat and large; a profusion of the other offerings is not to be admired."

23. Confucius said, "How can it be said that 𝖅ang Wǎn-kung was acquainted with the rules of propriety? When Hsiâ Fû-khî went right in the teeth of sacrificial order, he did not stop him, (nor could he