Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 3.djvu/354



Yü in his labours on the flooded land. The name Hâu belongs to him as lord of Thâi; that of Kî, as Minister of Agriculture. However the combination arose, Hâu-kî became historically the name of Khî of the time of Yâo and Shun, the ancestor to whom the kings of Kâu traced their lineage. He was to the people the Father of Husbandry, who first taught men to plough and sow and reap. Hence, when the kings offered sacrifice and prayer to God at the commencement of spring for his blessing on the labours of the year, they associated Hâu-kî with him at the service.

O accomplished Hâu-kî, Thou didst prove thyself the correlate of Heaven. Thou didst give grain-food to our multitudes:—The immense gift of thy goodness. Thou didst confer on us the wheat and the barley, Which God appointed for the nourishment of all. And without distinction of territory or boundary, The rules of social duty were diffused throughout these great regions.

The place of this piece among the sacrificial odes makes us assign it to the conclusion of some sacrifice; but what the sacrifice was we cannot tell. The Preface says that it was addressed, at the conclusion of the spring sacrifice to ancestors, to the princes who had been present and taken part in the service. Kû Hsî says nothing but what I have stated in the above argument of the piece.

Ah! ah! ministers and officers, Reverently attend to your public duties. The king has given you perfect rules;—Consult about them, and consider them.

Ah! ah! ye assistants, It is now the end of