The Lost Book of Zhou — Yi Zhou Shu · Tianmu Anglican Church

Yi Zhou Shu — a Zhou-period miscellany in ten books, with the commentary of Kong Chao translated inline

The Lost Book of Zhou, Yi Zhou Shu, is a miscellany of Zhou-period political and military writing of very uneven date. Some chapters may reach back to the Western Zhou, while others belong to the Warring States; the collection as a whole cannot be assigned to a single hand or a single century, and this translation does not try to settle the question chapter by chapter or piece by piece.

Of the seventy chapters named in the work's own table of contents, fifty-nine survive in the received text, gathered into ten books. They range from instructions on measure, mandate, and constancy addressed to a ruler, through a set of war manuals — the Balance of War, the Great War, the Greater and Lesser Illumination of War — to the conquest of Shang, a monthly and seasonal almanac, a method for posthumous titles, and a closing Preface to the Book of Zhou that explains, chapter by chapter, why each piece was made, including chapters that no longer survive. Where the received text itself notes that a chapter such as the Monthly Ordinances survives in title only, the translation says so and moves on.

The old commentary of Kong Chao (孔晁, third century CE) travels with the text throughout, sentence by sentence; it has been translated inline here, set off as italic bracketed notes, so the reader can see the base text and the gloss together as the transcription gives them. No later layer of commentary has been added.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese, which is printed in full below, together with Kong Chao's commentary rendered inline. Individual chapters of the Yi Zhou Shu have been translated into English before — by Edward Shaughnessy among others, and by Yegor Grebnev in the course of his 2022 study of the text — but to our knowledge this is the first complete published English translation of the work. We state this as the limit of our knowledge, not as a certainty; no live check of the current state of Yi Zhou Shu scholarship was possible when this translation was prepared.

Book 1 (卷一)
Book 2 (卷二)
Book 3 (卷三)
Book 4 (卷四)
Book 5 (卷五)
Book 6 (卷六)
Book 7 (卷七)
Book 8 (卷八)
Book 9 (卷九)
Book 10 (卷十)

Translation

Book 1 (卷一)

Instruction in Measure, Chapter 1 (度訓第一)

Heaven gives birth to the people and sets a measure for them. [The sage makes laws and measures for them.] Measure small and great in order to set them right; weigh light and heavy in order to reach the pivot; make root and branch clear in order to establish the mean. [Laws and measures are the means by which the central and correct is established.] Establish the mean in order to add and to take away; add and take away in order to know sufficiency. [Taking away and adding are ruled by the mean; hence one knows sufficiency.] […] ranks, in order to make plain the grades and their pivot [the "pivot" is the mean; the grades of noble and base are the mean between high and low]; and by the pivot the people are set right. Set inner and outer right in order to complete the mandate [when inner and outer are correct, the great mandate is completed]; set high and low right in order to make government compliant [compliance in his government and teaching].

Government by the inner […]; […] begins from what is near, and spreads and flourishes from what is far, until far and near alike are furnished to the pivot. That is the end of it. […] the subtle is made good in […]; the dividing of the subtle lies in clarity. [Because the knowing of what is fine […] the subtle divisions of the pattern have clarity.] The enlightened king therefore reveres the subtle and complies with divisions. By division into ranks he knows harmony; by knowing harmony he knows joy; by knowing joy he knows grief. By grief and joy he knows discernment, and by inner and outer he knows men. [The discerning man is very clear-sighted, and so knows men.]

All people are born having likes and dislikes. Getting a little of what they like they are pleased; getting much of what they like they rejoice. Meeting a little of what they hate they are anxious; meeting much of what they hate they grieve. [This speaks of what is spontaneous in their nature.] In what the people like and hate, what gives life they like and what brings death they hate. When the people have come to have likes and will not yield, then unless they follow what they like they will surely break the law and have no way to serve their superiors. [If they do not yield they contend, and contending they break the law.] When the people have come to have hatreds and will not yield, then unless they are rid of what they hate they will surely break the law and have no way to serve their superiors. Even when this is carried through everywhere there are still stubborn people; how much more when it is said that they may be rid of everything they hate and get everything they like — could the people then rest content? ["Everywhere" means carrying out likes and hatreds together. "Could they rest?" says that they cannot rest in what they like.]

If they do not […] force, how are they to seek it? [This speaks of contending by force.] Contending by force means governing by force; governing by force means no yielding; no yielding means no rites; and without rites, though they get what they like, will the people rejoice? [Contending, they do not rejoice.] And if they do not rejoice, that is the very thing they hate.

When the people cannot hold steady in their likes and hatreds, they cannot divide them into ranks. ["Holding steady" means holding out long, firmly and in sequence.] Without ranks there is seizure; with seizure there is war; and in war how are the old and the young to be nourished, how are pain, sickness, death, and mourning to be relieved, how are men to serve one another? [Xu means "one another."] The enlightened king therefore fixes the limits of the grades so as to settle likes and hatreds. He teaches the people rank and division and the exertion of strength: the strong bear the burdens, the old are nourished, the young are raised, and between them there is requital. [The strong take on the tasks, the old are supported, the young are brought up, and each requites the other: this is what "exertion of strength" means.] Thus the people serve one another.

Now the exertion of strength cannot succeed without numbers, and numbers are no numbers without harmony [harmony is how the multitude is cherished]; harmony is not established without the mean; the mean is not guarded without rites; and rites are not walked in without music. The enlightened king therefore rejoices in nothing but men and grieves for nothing but men [this says that what the enlightened king rejoices in and grieves over is nothing other than men], and by this men become many.

When men are many, many rewards and few punishments is the beauty of government; many punishments and few rewards is the ugliness of government. Many punishments bring hardship; many rewards bring depletion; and with depletion and hardship there is no sense of shame, so that teaching does not reach them. [Chou, "shame," refers to that to which one gives weight.] Therefore the lord of the people makes shame clear in order to raise up sons and grandsons, and sons and grandsons practice the subduing of birds and beasts. In benevolence and virtue, in what the soil suits and what the seasons of Heaven bring [they turn to his benevolence and virtue; what the soil suits and what the seasons of Heaven bring forth — in all of these their proper things are carried out], the hundred things are brought into order; and the beginning of order is severity at the very outset (a variant text writes the graph 𢋙), so that when ordering and transforming take hold there is compliance. Therefore there is no compliance that does not come of severity. [Making shame clear so as to direct them is the means of achieving compliance.] When old and young alike are brought to completion and thrive, this is called the utmost of compliance. [This says that the humble and the great are alike brought to complete their intent of serving their superiors, and righteousness is born in them: this is compliance at its height.]

Instruction in the Mandate, Chapter 2 (命訓第二)

Heaven gives birth to the people and completes the great mandate for them. [Worthy and foolish: these are the nature and allotment that are so of themselves.] The mandate oversees virtue and sets them right by disaster and blessing [si means to preside; virtue is what presides — those with virtue are set right by blessing, those without virtue are set right by disaster], and it sets up the enlightened king to comply with it [he complies with Heaven in what he does], saying: the great mandate has its constancy; the small mandate is completed day by day. Being completed, it is revered; having constancy, it is broad. Broad, and revering the mandate, the measure reaches the utmost. ["Completed day by day" means advancing day by day. Where this is present, that man's standards reach the central and the correct.]

Now when the overseer of virtue and righteousness bestows blessing and emolument, and blessing and emolument rest with a man, can he fail to be checked? If he is checked and repents his faults, the measure reaches the utmost. [Cheng means to stop. Dwelling in virtue in his own person, he deeply pursues the resting of his righteousness.] And when the overseer marks unrighteousness and sends disaster down upon it, and it rests with a man, can he fail to be checked? If he is checked and repents his faults, the measure reaches the utmost.

Now the people are born with a shame that is not yet clear; if there is nothing by which to make it clear, will they […] be without shame? If they have shame and strive to act so as to incur none, the measure reaches the utmost. [Those called shameless are like men who would lead their superiors and act as ruler.] Heaven's people are born loving life; if there is nothing with which to nourish them well, can they fail to be urged on? If they are urged on with loyalty, the measure reaches the utmost. [Gu means good; it refers to loyalty and good faith.] The people are born hating death; if there is nothing to make them afraid, can they fail to dread? If they dread and receive instruction, the measure reaches the utmost. [Frightening the people with death makes them serve their superiors and easy to teach.]

When the six utmosts have been opened through, the six gaps are all stopped up. [When the way of the six means is open, the six gaps are stopped.] Open the way and open toward Heaven in order to set men right. For setting men right, nothing is like having a limit; for speaking of Heaven, nothing is like having no limit. [Dao here means to speak of it.] If in speaking of Heaven one sets a limit, it is not awe-inspiring; not awe-inspiring, it is not made manifest. If in setting men right there is no limit, there is no trust; and without trust nothing is carried out. [Government and teaching are not clear.] The enlightened king makes Heaven manifest and makes men trusted by the measure; he works the earth to benefit them; he causes men to be trusted and Heaven to be feared — and then the measure reaches the utmost.

Now the way of Heaven has three and the way of man has three. [This says they are matched against each other to establish the teaching.] Heaven has the mandate, has disaster, has blessing; man has shame, has the ceremonial cap and sash, has the axe and the great axe. Man's shame answers to Heaven's mandate; the cap and sash answer to Heaven's blessing; the axe and the great axe answer to Heaven's disaster. Six terms in three correspondences, and their utmost is one; not knowing it, one does not survive. ["One" means the good. Not practicing the good comes of not knowing.]

Push the mandate to its extreme and the people grow slack; slack, they neglect the mandate; and neglecting the mandate in order to reprove their superiors, they come near to disorder. [From here the "six extremes" mean carrying things to the extreme; that way comes near to danger.] Push blessing to its extreme and the people seek emolument; seeking emolument they trade upon goodness; trading upon goodness they do not practice it. [They do not practice the good.] Push disaster to its extreme and the people turn to ghosts; turning to ghosts they sacrifice excessively; sacrificing excessively they ruin their households. [They wear out their goods, and there was no disaster to begin with.] Push shame to its extreme and the people rebel; rebelling they injure men; injuring men they are unrighteous. [When the people cannot bear to carry it out, they rebel against righteousness.] Push reward to its extreme and the people trade with their superiors; trading with their superiors they do not yield; not yielding they are not compliant. [They sell their merit in order to seek their reward.] Push punishment to its extreme and the people grow full of deceit; full of deceit they are disloyal; disloyal they make no requital. [Though the superior treats them with ritual, they do not requite him to the end.] All these six are the beginnings of government.

The enlightened king therefore makes the mandate manifest and charges them with it, saying: an offense against the great mandate is punished in one's line; an offense against the small mandate is punished in one's own person. [Abandoning the great mandate, one's line receives the punishment; violating the small mandate, one's own person is punished.] No blessing is greater than the practice of righteousness; no disaster greater than excessive sacrifice; no shame greater than the injuring of men; no reward greater than good faith and righteousness; no breach of yielding greater than trading with one's superiors; no punishable thing greater than greed and deceit. [This says these six are the greatest.]

The enlightened kings of antiquity upheld these six in shepherding the myriad people, and the people used them and did not go astray. [They did not lose their righteousness.] They soothed them with kindness, harmonized them with evenness, gathered them with mourning, delighted them with music, made them careful with rites, taught them with the arts, stirred them with government, moved them with affairs, urged them on with reward, made them fear with punishment, oversaw them with loyalty, and carried it all out by the weighing of circumstance. [They carried it out by the weighing of circumstance.] The weighing follows no fixed rule; loyalty is not mere loyalty; punishment does not aim at submission; reward does not simply follow labor; affairs do not startle; government is not merely completed [this says that in exercising the weighing of circumstance there are times when it must be so]; the arts are not indulged to excess; rites have their times; music is not filled to the brim; mourning is not carried to the extreme; evenness is not made uniform; kindness is not soft toward men. All these belong to the class of things to be warded off. [Wu means affairs.]

Kindness that cannot bring itself to be hard on men leaves men unable to master harm, and harm is worse than death. [Harmed, they die […], and still they do not know […].] Evenness made uniform brings no harmony; mourning carried to the extreme brings want; music filled to the brim brings dissipation; rites without their times are not honored; the arts indulged to excess damage talent; government merely completed does not last; affairs that startle yield scant merit. ["Does not last" means shallow and short-sighted. If they startle, their merit is scant.] Let reward follow labor, and the labor does not reach its mark; let law follow the mean, and then there is reward, yet reward need not hit the mean; let the weighing follow law, and then it is carried out, yet the carrying out need not depend on knowing the weighing. By the weighing one knows the subtle; by the subtle one knows beginnings; by beginnings one knows endings. [This says that the mutual weighing of circumstances and the mutual bringing-about within the pattern of things are like this.]

Instruction in Constancy, Chapter 3 (常訓第三)

Heaven has a constant nature; man has a constant compliance. Compliance lies in what can be changed; nature lies in what is not altered. [Learning can do it, hence it can be changed; it is so of itself, hence it is not altered.] What is not altered can be relied upon, and the relying lies in likes and dislikes. Likes and dislikes give rise to change; change grown habitual gives rise to constancy; constancy gives rise to shame; and shame laid upon them as a charge gives rise to virtue. [Though there is a Heaven-given nature to rely on, it is their likes and dislikes that change it; making shame clear is how one charges them with it, and then virtue is born.] The enlightened king thereupon brings forth government to set them right.

The people are born having habit and having constancy; they make habit into constancy and constancy into carefulness. The people are as though born out of the mean, taking habitual constancy for constancy. [Making habitual constancy into constancy is like a nature that is so of itself; hence "as though born out of the mean."] The habituating of the people into constancy begins from the blood and the breath. [It is what the nature originally has, and they practice it from childhood, as if from the very beginning of the birth of their breath and blood.] The enlightened king uses the habits of blood and breath, of ear and eye, to make shame clear to them. [He shows them likes and dislikes.]

With shame made clear they delight in righteousness; delighting in righteousness they reach up to their superiors; and the superior being worthy is never at a loss. [Qiong, "at a loss," refers to a man who does not examine himself.] Grief and joy are not indulged to excess, and the people know their proper reach; and when this reaches down to sons and grandsons, the people then have antiquity. Antiquity means relying on the people in order to make the people compliant. [All of them have a rule that reaches far, and this is what "having antiquity" means. Fathers teach sons and sons teach grandsons, hence "relying."]

The people live in groups and have no selection; government is made to give them their beginning. It begins them with antiquity and ends them with antiquity. [This says that government must revere the beginning and be careful of the end. Xuan means conduct.] To practice antiquity and set one's aim upon the present is government at its height. Government is of the present; law is of antiquity. [The note here reads only "and so on."]

The stubborn and the greedy are congealed into order; a doubtful intent is set out as two; the two are balanced by a third; by threes and fives it is weighed; the weighing of numbers takes the many; out of many difficulties comes what is trustworthy; and trustworthy virtue is made careful. Careful in the subtle at the beginning and reverent at the end — then there is no need to rely on others. [This restates the meaning of end and beginning.] Hardship lies in the driving dust, enticement lies with the king, and then the people become careless, and being careless they are not clear.

When grief and joy are out of season, the four signs are not manifest; the six utmosts are not submitted to; the eight governances are not compliant; the nine virtues have their corruptions; the nine corruptions are not shifted; and the myriad things do not arrive. [Good fortune […]; the driving dust leads the people into the ills of government.] Now rites are not upheld without self-mastery, nor brought to completion without music; and so the people are wanting in […] life.

Likes and dislikes have four signs: pleasure, joy, anxiety, and grief. They are moved by rule, brought out by pattern, completed by name, and carried through by transformation. [He transforms them by the way of the mean.]

The six utmosts: mandate, hearing, blessing, reward, disaster, punishment. When the six utmosts do not overflow, the eight governances are harmonious and at peace. [Ying means lacking constancy.] The eight governances: husband, wife, father, son, elder brother, younger brother, ruler, minister. When the eight governances are not contravened, the nine virtues are pure and reverent. The nine virtues: loyalty, good faith, reverence, firmness, yieldingness, harmony, steadfastness, uprightness, compliance. Compliant speech is called government; compliant government is called accomplishment; accomplishment that is false is called corruption.

The inspection of things lies with the eye, the inspection of sounds with the ear; and what the ear takes in is all open to doubt. Doubtful speech has its pivot; when the pivot moves there is harmony; and harmony of intent knows no grades. [Deng means graded distinctions.] The myriad people are without law; […] lies in pardon; […] restoration lies in antiquity. In antiquity the enlightened kings upheld the law in order to illumine the dark, while the benighted kings upheld the dark and abolished the law. In upholding, they are one and the same man; yet the merit accomplished is not the same. [Because what they did was opposite.] The enlightened king therefore reveres the subtle and complies with divisions.

Weighing the Civil Order, Chapter 4 (文酌第四)

The people are born having desire, hatred, joy, grief, virtue, and rule. Rule has nine gatherings, virtue has five treasures, grief has four endurances, joy has three abundances, hatred has two faults, desire has one utmost. [This expands upon their meaning.] The utmost has seven affairs, fault has three checks, abundance has three frequencies, endurance has four teachings, treasure has five greatnesses, gathering has nine deliberations. [Again it sets them out.]

The nine deliberations: first, take up the trustworthy and by them move men; second, honor the outstanding so that others may look to them; third, release what is stagnant in order to set the people right; fourth, lend to the offices so as to bind them; fifth, of men it is said there must be ritual; sixth, in coming and going take this for the rule; seventh, let merchants exchange their goods; eighth, let farmers have good profit; ninth, […] favor may be set in motion. [This speaks of the matters deliberated in governing. The outstanding are those whom men ought to hold close.]

The five greatnesses: first, great wisdom leading in counsel; second, great martial power, sword and courage; third, great craft assigning the tasks; fourth, great commerce circulating goods; fifth, great agriculture making loans. [To speak of them is to plan by them — that is, those who lend and who give relief.]

The four teachings: first, guard them with good faith; second, rely on kinship and defer to age; third, take in one's near kin and free them from fetters; fourth, delight in life and let the person be restored. ["Defer to age" means honoring those elder in years. Qi means near kin. "Free from fetters" means being without trouble.]

The three frequencies: first, frequent emolument and the substance collapses; second, hidden blessing and the spirit is spent; third, holding back the person and the true is scattered. [Pin means frequent. San means to lose.]

The three checks: first, remove the faults and shame of war; second, extend kinship and bring the distant to completion; third, borrow the season and weigh what is essential. [Ni means "this." Jiu means offense. Kao means to complete. Shi, "season," means "this."]

The seven affairs: first, overcome fault and make the will trustworthy; second, draw out and pull up those who muddy counsel; third, gather up doubts and so thwart affairs; fourth, prevail over one's subordinates and overawe the multitude; fifth, dwell in breadth and let the person be lowered; sixth, hold the passes and prevail in preparation; seventh, take stock of arms and be spared war. [Teng means to overcome. Lu means not to make ready one's arms.]

The one utmost: only in affairs does the way flourish, opening and storing up the work of chastisement…… [This says that if every affair is carried out with loyal government, then the way of good fortune and flourishing is opened and practiced, while the way of the punitive campaign is held in reserve.]

Chastisement has three solemnities, seven trusts, one trunk, two managements, three securities, and twelve bringings-in. [Truly the way of the punitive campaign must have these matters.]

The three solemnities: first, cut off the spirits and break the city; second, when the milfoil gives the odd stalk, action prospers; third, when the tortoise assents but the crack is ill-omened, beware. ["Cutting off the spirits" means not sacrificing excessively. If one divines without being upright, then though the oracle assents it is ill-omened.]

The seven trusts: first, benevolence careful in dispersing; second, wisdom perfect in skill; third, courage refined and abundant; fourth, clans with little bribe-wealth; fifth, merchants with shallow capital; sixth, farmers with small stores; seventh, the noble contending for favor. [These seven ought to be trusted and made clear.]

The one trunk: to prevail is the beginning of all. [This says that where there is the weighing of circumstance, nothing is not carried.]

The two managements: first, plant kindness and do not bury it; second, when it has been used up, worry follows. [Yi means the summit — taking it that one has reached the summit. Ji means exhausted.]

The three securities: first, settle their dwellings and secure their households; second, let the tribute of the noble obtain cloth; third, let the punishment of crime spread wealth abroad.

The twelve bringings-in: first the bow and second the arrow belong to archery [the arrows must be serviceable]; third the wheel and fourth the carriage-box belong to driving [these too must be serviceable]; fifth the salted fish and sixth the fresh fish belong to storing [laid up as resources]; seventh the potter and eighth the smelter belong to the furnace [if the furnace is good, the smelting lasts]; ninth the axe-handle and […] the craftsman belong to the forest [for "forest" read "timber," which the craftsman puts to use]; eleventh bamboo and twelfth reeds belong to their season [taking them in season is how men are drawn in].

With the three solemnities, the seven trusts, the one trunk, the two managements, the three securities, and the twelve bringings-in, the way of chastisement is fully laid out; nothing among things fails to have its beginning; and taking what begins and matching it, there is a lasting completion. [Luo means to begin, and also to be of a kind. Jiu means to end.] Urgent, urgent! Delay, and the season is lost.

Grain Relief, Chapter 5 (糴匡第五)

In a full year, when the year's grain is sufficient, guests and sacrifices are served abundantly. [This says that guests and the ancestral temple have enough, yet without extravagance.] The great tamed beasts and the bells are without stint, garments are fine, and propriety runs to excess. [Six duplicated graphs dropped out below. Yin means excess.] Stalled livestock are kept under regulation, and the younger sons apply themselves to planting. [Zao is another name for a stable; the livestock are horses. "Under regulation" means without a fixed allotment. Yu means the many. Yi means to plant.] Palaces, houses, and city walls are repaired and made ready, and fine vegetables are supplied. So the days are full. [Jia means good; things such as ginger belong to what fills them out.]

In a lean year, when the grain is not sufficient, guests and sacrifices are served at a middling measure [there are the millets, but no rice or fine grain]; music is only bells and drums; fine garments are not worn [outwardly there are the sacrificial robes, inwardly no patterned ornament]; the three pastures and five storehouses are patched and drawn together [matters and things are combined, not each provided separately]; all that is merely fine is left unrepaired; the younger sons apply themselves to the harvest; and so the order is drawn tight. [They are drawn together and made to have their duties looked into.]

In a year of famine they toil and do not entertain guests, and sacrifices are offered thinly [the lower victims are used]; music is without bells and drums, and all that is merely fine is forbidden. Livestock are not kept in stalled herds; carriages are not carved and worked; arms and equipment are not manufactured; the people's profit is not indulged. [Gong means to work.] Levies fall upon merchants and travelers, so as to relieve the destitute. Inquiry goes district by district, and selling is set low at the village hall. [Yu means to sell.] Shares and aid are given in relief, to settle those who have nothing; and so hardship is relieved.

In a great dearth there is prayer but no sacrifice [famine together with war makes a great dearth]; the state performs no music; labor is not driven to fill the ravines; punishments and laws are not pressed; expenditure is set aside to relieve the destitute. ["Not filling the ravines" means not spending upon the ordering of the land. "Setting aside expenditure" means constantly relieving the people.] The ruler himself tours the regions; the ministers join in reporting on the buying of grain; the younger sons serve as deputies in the transport; mouths are opened and food is shared; and the people do not hoard grain. This is called "there is relief." [Cui means deputy. When all these things are carried out, it is called "there is relief."]

The people are made to keep only cattle and sheep. When among the people there is great sickness and delusion, whoever kills a man is not pardoned. [Even in a time of blight and sickness, those who in their delusion kill one another are not pardoned.] The men guard the borders, warfare is forbidden to go abroad, and the five storehouses furnish no delicacies. Funeral rites are without their full measure, and sacrifices are made with thin means. [Military affairs are for self-defense only, not for campaigns. Mourning is frugal, and the outlay for funeral and sacrifice is quickly done.] Rites are without music; the palace hangs no curtains; marriages are not held at the usual season; and guests and travelers are given a place and a gift. ["Not at the usual season" means autumn and winter, when the marriage-broker brings them together. Guests and travelers are given gifts according to their place, without a feast.]

Book 2 (卷二)

The Balance of War, Chapter 6 (武稱第六)

A great state does not lose its awe; a small state does not lose its lowliness; an evenly matched state does not lose its leverage. [This is what is meant by "the balance."] To stand against those in the defiles and strike at those on level ground, to annex the small and seize the disordered, to […] the strong, attack the weak, and fall upon the unrighteous: this is the constant of war. [Jing means the constant.] To strike the disordered, the sick, and the plague-ridden: this is the compliant course of war. [The way of war takes by force and holds by compliance, hence "compliant."]

Support the worthy, take the disordered, urge on the active, thwart the slack, frighten the fearful, hasten on the covetous: this is the use of war. [War makes use of these.] Handsome men break the elders; beautiful women break the tongue; excessive schemes break […]; excessive cleverness breaks the seasons; excessive music breaks correctness; excessive words break righteousness: this is the ruining work of war. [Doing all these is the means of ruining an enemy state.] Pardon their multitude, let their faults run on, soothe their […], fill their purse: this is the wedge-work of war. Bait the enemy with a share and so light up his stores; use chastisement to support virtue; pursue the leverage of the moment: this is what war esteems. ["With a share" means with a portion of vessels and lands: this is the technique of baiting him.]

In spring cross their farming; in autumn strike at their harvest; in summer take their wheat; in winter chill their clothing. In spring and autumn one wishes to be unhurried; in winter and summer one wishes to be quick: this is the timing of war. ["Chilling their clothing" means spoiling their silk and hemp. In winter and summer cold and heat are at their height, hence one wishes to gauge them.] Long beats short, light beats heavy, straight beats crooked, many beat few, strong beats weak, fed beats hungry, composed beats angry, first beats last, swift beats slow: these are the victories of war. [Su means composed and reverent.] In pursuing the enemy show no scruple; a cornered foe will not stand and fight [ge means to fight]; when strength is weary and breath spent he is easily overcome: this is the pursuit of war. [The method of pursuing an enemy.]

Having overcome men, raise the flag to give the commands; order the officers to forbid plunder; let nothing be taken by violence; let ranks and offices not be reduced and fields and dwellings not be diminished; let each be settled with his own kin, and the people submit as though transformed: this is the soothing work of war. [Qian means to diminish. Ning means to settle.] When the hundred families all submit, lay down arms and raise up virtue, level their strongholds and break their armor; the four quarters submit in awe, and one covers and possesses all under Heaven: this is the settlement of war. ["Breaking arms" means breaking the enemy's.]

Trustworthy Civil Order, Chapter 7 (允文第七)

Think of quiet, shake off the victory: it is the trustworthy civil order that is recorded here. [By quiet one plans victory; by the peaceful civil order one records the martial.] Proclaim it along the great roads; the banners mark where it stands. [The flags and banners mark where order and disorder lie.]

Gather in the weapons, release what was taken, and move no one from his village. Officers and inspectors are assigned their duties, relying upon their own hundred functionaries. [Their weapons are gathered in and no goods are taken; their officers are kept on, and none dares change them.] Of the public goods, be it little or much, relief and gifts go to the destitute officers. Rescue the emaciated, mend the sick, make the levies even and the fields distributed. [He takes charge of bestowing pardon and spreading government.] Commanded men are restored to their duties, and by this grief and disgrace are lessened. The orphaned and widowed who have none to appeal to receive generous portions, and all rejoice. [Sun means to remove. "Grief and disgrace" refers to pardoning offenses, relieving the destitute, and spreading great kindness.]

All the maternal kin are inquired after and their whereabouts recorded. Those of the same clan and surname are relocated, and a head of the lineage is set over them. [Their ruler is put to death and a lord set over them, […] extending to the assembled ministers and the lineage heads.] They are led by fifteens and settled by […] peace. They are taught by manifest good faith, as though they had found father and mother. [They cherish his virtuous government.] Govern them with breadth, and who will say he does not listen? Listen to their words without regret; go along with them and nourish them while they bide in obscurity. [He nourishes them in their darkness for a time, and then punishes.] Out of obscurity into light the word goes forth, and then war is trustworthy. The dead are thought of as returning to life, and the living think of returning to their places. [The benighted are made to cultivate clarity, and are then told of trustworthy war.]

Men know that they will not be cast off, and cherish and keep their proper households. High and low are harmonious and joined, and there is no enemy that does not come down. ["Keeping their proper households" means that they do not flee.] They hold that jade tablet and dwell beneath their own roofs. The commoners all plough; the young and the strong need no assistance. Nothing thwarts what they take, and their borders and lands are opened through. The people look upon the troops as they would await father and mother. ["That one" means the ruler of the disordered state.] Therefore all under Heaven is settled in a single morning, and the four seas are possessed.

The Great War, Chapter 8 (大武第八)

War has seven orders: governing, assaulting, raiding, chastising, grappling, giving battle, and fighting hand to hand. ["Governing" means the governance of the punitive campaign.] One good at governing does not assault; one good at assaulting does not raid; one good at raiding does not chastise; one good at chastising does not grapple; one good at grappling does not give battle; one good at giving battle does not fight hand to hand; and one good at fighting hand to hand is not defeated. [This speaks of victory won in the ancestral hall.]

Governing has nine reliances, and the reliances have four kinships and five harmonies. Assaulting has nine openings, and the openings have four assaults and five choices. Raiding has seven deliberations, and the deliberations have four gatherings and three gleanings. Chastising has seven springs, and the springs have four seasons and three raisings. Grappling has its drawings-in, and the drawings-in have three pities and four pardons. Battle has eleven rousings, and the rousings have six sharpenings and five guards. Hand-to-hand fighting has eleven guests, and the guests have six schools and five watchings. [All of these have their meaning, and only then can the attack be brought about.]

The four kinships: first, those of the inner surname; second, those married in from outside; third, friends and companions; fourth, those of the same village. [Truly these are the ones one should hold close.] The five harmonies: first, having Heaven with no ill-will; second, having men with no rift; third, sharing likes and standing firm together; fourth, sharing hatreds and aiding one another; fifth, not slighting those who dwell far off. [Though they dwell far off, all are treated generously.] These nine are the reliances of governing. [This says that one relies upon them to complete the governing.]

The four assaults: first, assault their season of Heaven; second, assault what their land suits; third, assault the virtue of their men; fourth, assault the profit of their conduct. ["Assault" means to take away his plans so that they do not succeed.] The five choices: first, take the benevolent; second, the wise; third, the brave; fourth, the talented; fifth, the skilled. [Those whom one strives to draw in and employ. "Liang," choice, should be "qiu," seeking; the graph is an error.] These nine are the openings of assault. [This says that one opens these ways to complete the assault.]

The four gatherings: first, deliberate over them with benevolence; second, cherish them with music; third, gather in from the flanks the men of the borders; fourth, set an encirclement with good faith. The three gleanings: first, pair off men and women; second, rank the artisans; third, honor the men who died. [Zhi means to honor.] These seven are the deliberations of raiding. [This says that one deliberates by these rules to complete the raid.]

The four seasons: first, in spring cross their farming; second, in summer eat their grain; third, in autumn take their reaping; fourth, in winter freeze their stores. [All these are used against the enemy. "Freeze" means to lay bare their gathered stores.] The three raisings: first, govern so as to harmonize the seasons; second, chastise the disordered with order; third, chastise the starving with plenty. [These are what one does to meet them.] These seven are the springs of chastisement. [Ji means the essential; by these essentials the chastisement is completed.]

The three pities: first, those hard-pressed and not left weak; second, those who have lost their people; third, those whose kin have cast them out. [Pitying the enemy's straits is like this. "Yao" should be "e," to hate; "bin," to cast out, is written in one text as "sun," to diminish.] The four pardons: first, having overcome men one must ease them; second, take up awe and good faith and restore them; third, men delight in life in their own persons; fourth, pardon what the people hate. [Lei, "weaken," here means to add to them. Fu, "restore," means to possess them. All are pardon and rescue.] These seven are the drawings-in of grappling. [The means of cherishing them and drawing them in.]

The six sharpenings: first, benevolence sharpened by conduct; second, wisdom sharpened by the way; third, martial power sharpened by courage; fourth, the army sharpened by its officers; fifth, the master of the stables sharpening the driving; sixth, the master of archery sharpening the files. [Li means to order and govern […].] The five guards: first, clear benevolence to hold anger; second, clear wisdom to aid counsel; third, clear martial power to master courage; fourth, clear talent to master the officers; fifth, clear skill to master the offices. [All these complete the giving of battle.]

The six breadths: first, clear commands; second, clear shame; third, clear reward; fourth, clear punishment; fifth, sharp weapons; sixth, striving to the end. The five watchings: first, drum to drive off doubt; second, be prepared for whatever comes; third, the flanking chariots raise the flags; fourth, gather in the counsel of the foresters; fifth, move last and follow him up. [Nian means to follow. All are ways of seeking the way of safety and of command.] Where there is no contending there is only harm; where there is merit there is no defeat. [Though strong, if one keeps harm constantly in mind one is not defeated.]

The Greater Illumination of War, Chapter 9 (大明武第九)

Fear the sternness of great war. It is said of the four quarters that when they fear its awe there is peace. [By the way of great war the four quarters fear its awe, and then all under Heaven is at peace.] Heaven made war; cultivate arms and weapons to aid the right and correct the wayward. [Correct them into compliance with what is right.] Complying with Heaven, set the five offices in motion; the offices watch over their governance, that is, over whatever is lacking. ["Five offices" is a way of naming the great offices. Wang means lacking.] City walls, moats, and channels — their height and thickness are to be measured. [This refers to where the enemy is stationed.] Having set foot upon the field of war, be prepared and wary of calamity. Show respect to their stern ruler, and then in battle grant pardon. [This says that one should sharpen ear and eye and send the scouts far out.]

The ten arts must be clear; add to them the ten reliances, and there is no enemy that is not ruined. [Huang means defeated.] The ranks spread like clouds; the raid moves like wind. Light chariots wing out as guards on the two flanks of the host. [The array for charging an enemy is like this.] When our army is hard pressed, there is no man who is not hardened. [Knowing the enemy's strength, they become hard and brave.]

The ten arts: first, great support; second, clear following; third, the younger sons; fourth, long raising; fifth, the chastising of men; sixth, those who have served their punishment; seventh, the three doubts; eighth, letters of espionage; ninth, using few; tenth, raising resentment. ["Those who have served their punishment" are pardoned convicts. "Using few" means sparing expense. "Raising resentment" means sowing division.] The ten reliances: first, plant benevolence; second, overcome desire; third, guests; fourth, open passage to travelers; fifth, kin and relations; sixth, those with none to appeal to; seventh, common undertakings; eighth, the measuring of skill; ninth, […] ability; tenth, profitable affairs. [Every accomplishment has what it relies upon. "Overcome desire" means overcoming desire with righteousness.]

When the arts and the reliances are used in chastisement, this is called turning strength about. Answer Heaven and comply with the season; the seasons have their cold and their heat. [This says the times have their hardness and their ease.] With wind and rain, hunger and sickness, the people cannot stay in their places. Moved and scattered they are not yet broken, and the farmers turn to trade. Ply them with dissolute music; bribe them with beautiful women. [This means stirring them up so that they sink into delusion.] If the defender holds firm, […] come up beneath the wall; raise a high ramp to overlook the inside, day and night without slackening. [Zhi means firm.] The squared ranks join their effort — how shall he withstand it? Though it be easy, one must be reverent: this is called illumined war. [Yu means to withstand.]

If the wall is high and hard to level, bury it with earth; open running roads to it and swiftly bring up engines and shields. ["Burying with earth" means making an earthen hill to overlook it.] Use the wind to carry fire; dam the water and let the water down. Show kindness to the common folk, and instruct their few with civil teaching. [This says he strives to […] and to be merciful in punishment.] Tunnel from the flanks and take leverage outside; throw down the walls and fill the ravines. The old and weak are left alone, and their counsel falls apart. ["Left alone" means without fort or rampart.] Having overcome them, make peace and receive their submission, and let the multitude all be fittingly settled. Bring their metal and leather to an end: this is called the great levelling. [Xian means all. Yi means to level.]

The Lesser Illumination of War, Chapter 10 (小明武第十)

In every way of assault one must gain the lie of the land, comply with the seasons of Heaven, observe it by the present, and check it against antiquity. [Arms are ill-omened instruments and battle a dangerous business; hence one complies with care and checks it thoroughly.] Assault their contrary government and destroy their natural defenses. Set up the five teachings among them, to be kind to those below. [The five teachings are the teachings of the five constants.] For the widowed and those with none to appeal to, he truly becomes their lord. When the five teachings are truly centered, branch and leaf are cut back and yet flourish. [He becomes their ruler. "Branch and leaf" means the multitude. This is good government.]

If a state practices false cleverness, with painted women in the rear palace; if the fields lie waste while beasts are chased and there are grounds kept for the hunt; if there are towers rising one upon another and lofty terraces, with springs and pools below; if dissolute music never ends while the hundred families toil in bitterness [this says that wherever such things exist, the state may be chastised]; if above there are oppressive commands, then there is an extremity of […]. When those above oppress, those below rise up, and troops move across their fields.

Press on with the king's law and carry it through with gong and drum. [Ji means to complete; it says that the gong and drum carry the chastisement through.] Come down in ordered ranks, without confusion or rage […]. Follow the roads and attack the lanes; do not fall upon private doors. [This says that one does not pardon the guilty nor in anger strike the innocent. Xi means to fall upon by surprise.] Accept no goods or bribes; attack with bow and crossbow. High and low pray and sacrifice, and there is no spirit that does not come down. Bring up ram and scaling-ladder and shake out the long banners. [First they pray, then assault, and afterwards give battle.]

Cherishing their kin and thinking of the end, left and right burn with courage. Do not eat up the six domestic animals; do not round up their sons and daughters. The host shakes out like lightning and arrives beneath the wall; they march to the drum with threefold shouting, ordering their tens and fives. [This speaks of the ardor of the officers and men.] Above are the carriage and cap of honor; below are the axe and the great axe. The conquered state is as though transformed; hence it is called illumined war. [The carriage and cap are the means of reward.]

The Great Relief, Chapter 11 (大匡第十一)

In the third year of the Zhou king's dwelling at Cheng (程), they met with a great dearth sent by Heaven [Cheng is a place name, in the neighborhood of Qizhou, later made into a state; at first King Ji's son King Wen settled there and met with famine, and afterwards moved to Feng], and he made "The Great Relief," to instruct the shepherding of his region. The lords of the three provinces all followed him. [King Wen had not yet obtained two of the three parts, hence three provinces. Shuai means to serve and comply.]

The king then summoned the chief minister, the three elders, the three officers and grandees, and the men of the hundred functions to court in the great courtyard [the chief minister is the solitary minister; the three officers are the three ministers; the great courtyard is the courtyard of the public hall], and asked about the causes of exhaustion and sickness, the failures of government, the wrongs of punishment, the excesses of grief and joy [li means offense; you means fault], extravagance toward guests, waste in expenditure, the levies at barriers and markets, the depletion of hills and forests, the waste of fields and dwellings, the damage to ditches and channels [depletion, waste, and damage all mean that the officers did not put things in order and no levy was made], the fault of sloth, the cruelty of the arrogant and stubborn, and the calamities of flood and drought. [All are counted as failings.]

He said: "I, the unworthy one, am without virtue; the business of government is out of season; the state is exhausted and sick and I cannot bring mutual relief. Let you, my several officers, help me." The offices examined their duties; the districts inquired after their people, relying upon their elders, and gathered up the whole of the harms. ["Bu shang" means shang, "let"; men are asked about the gains and the losses.] [Zong means the multitude.] Ask carefully after their causes, and let none hide his true condition.

On a set day he reported in the ancestral temple: whoever did not obey the command fell under the standing law and was not pardoned. [The next day the king went to the temple and reported. "Standing" means the standing punishment.] When the king had issued the command, at his meals no music was raised, the hundred officers kept to plain measure, and […] ate no cooked meat. [The king did not have music raised; the hundred officers cut back their food, in order to reflect on their duties. Fang means the way.] On the appointed day, at first light, the king came to court in hempen robes, and in the court there were no colored robes. [These are mourning garments; he put himself in them because of the change wrought by the dearth.]

The offices examined their duties, the districts inquired after their benefits, and accordingly they planned against the calamity; relief was spread broadly among the multitude, and none dared deviate. [The multitude are the common people. The hundred officers followed him, hence none deviated.] They interrogated and dismissed the arrogant and stubborn, took in hand those who would not submit, watched carefully over the slothful, and made the tens and fives stand surety for one another. [In every quarter they took in hand those who would not be transformed.] They urged on the roving and the settled alike; affairs were regulated and the seasons diligently used; the farmers took charge of the households, and every household sent out its man. [Mao means to exert oneself. This says that no household failed to send out a man, so as to encourage farming.]

The farm granaries were apportioned by district, and each district was ordered to receive grain. Quotas were set and goods levied; each strove in his own person, and their stores were compared. [The farmers stored their grain in the granaries, apportioned among the districts, and their quotas were reckoned together. "Comparing the stores" means comparing what each had gathered in.] What was stored was not sold off; the buying of grain did not increase the levelling; the currency was scattered abroad as levy; and the district head stood surety for the loans. ["Grain did not increase the levelling" means that much followed what was available, without limit. Sa means to scatter. The currency was used to buy grain and to relieve the destitute with goods.] In a full year the loans were not called in; with sincerity and good faith relief was given, so as to help wealth increase. [They were called loans and were not repaid, and this is how the people's wealth was made to grow.]

When wealth increased and food was sufficient, the levy could be assessed as a tax; food was reckoned by the number of mouths, and where food was even a levy was made. [The people's food being even and sufficient, the levy was taken and brought into the offices.] When food from outside did not suffice, the barriers were opened and grain let through. When grain was scarce it was not carried away, and the orphaned and widowed were not abandoned. [When the levy was exhausted and there was want within, it was not carried out beyond.] What was held up was not left standing; the garrison towns kept nothing back beyond […] enough to hold them; the troops sent out shared alike; carriages raced to see off those departing, and morning and evening grain was carried. [[…] where it was not completed, they were not allowed to keep more than enough to hold the place, and all joined in the carrying.]

Then he proclaimed to the four quarters, and travelers and sojourners on every side found gladness and passage; at fords and crossings and lodgings along the road, wherever they came it was as though they were coming home. [Those who appealed and those in want had somewhere to go.] Currency and rents were made light, and a "mother" was struck to put its "children" into circulation. [The heavy and valuable is the "mother" — that is, the coinage.] Goods were exchanged, dear and cheap, so as to be even, and travelers were kept from being held up. [Not only in rents and levies was the mother struck to circulate the children; it was so also in the travelers' exchange of goods.]

There was no selling of cooked food and no marketing within private houses; inner and outer were weighed so as to establish the levelling; there was no early and no late, and quarter by quarter the levelling was carried out in order. [Jun means level. The people's goods circulated with no fixed early or late.] The levelling was carried out and the multitude followed it; what was accumulated was not […]; fines were used to help the levelling; none was let fall into want; all was even and nothing was wanting; and the people's profit was not indulged to excess. [Though they accumulated rewards and increased their holdings, there was nothing not guarded against. Those of the people who committed a fault were fined in grain or coin, and that grain and coin was passed on to help the levelling.]

They did not sow vegetables [edible greens are called shu] and did not eat the seed grain, but reckoned by number how much there was, and spared their expenditure [the state's ordinary expenditure]. They prayed but did not entertain guests or sacrifice; robes were washed and not newly made. ["Not entertaining guests" means reducing the rites. "Not made" means not making new ones.] Carriages were not carved or ornamented; men did not eat meat; the animals were not fed grain [the animals are the horses]; in the state there was no district archery; music was not gathered within the walls; walls and houses were mended but not built anew [all these were reductions because of the dearth]; support for farming did not let the work fail [the work of farming and sericulture was not abandoned]; none but the dukes and ministers were entertained, and entertainment did not go beyond what was provided [only dukes and ministers were given wine and food]. Wailing was not prolonged over days, and ascents and descents were reduced by one grade. [Liu means to exhaust. "Reduced by one grade" was because of the dearth.] Commoners were not buried alone; each file of five had its appointed head, and the same held for seeing off the dead and welcoming the coming. [Relief was shared evenly, and the welcoming likewise had its head; they joined together in seeing off and in welcoming, and so helped one another.] Whoever did not obey the command fell under the standing law, and none deviated.

The Statutes of Cheng, Chapter 12 (程典第十二)

In the third month, after the birth of the crescent light, King Wen (文王) assembled the lords of six provinces and served Shang with diligence. [Having two of the three parts of all under Heaven, he still submitted and served Yin.] The Shang king gave ear to the slanders of the many and raged without bound [zong means the many; jiang means bound]; the lords were not content, and they came out to meet King Wen. King Wen could not bear it, and so made "The Statutes of Cheng," to charge the three loyal ones. [Yu means glad. He could not bear to follow the lords and take the royal seat; hence this is the standing statute of utmost virtue.]

He said: "Help me to embody the people. Let nothing be so small as not to be revered. It is like a hair upon the body: pull it and it hurts. Let nothing go unexamined." [The hair is a figure for what is small. Since nothing goes unexamined, one should be reverent even in outward things.]

When government fails, trouble arises; and when it arises and there is no preparation, death and ruin come without warning. The warning lies in past events. Preparation must be careful. In preparing, think of the land; thinking of the land, be careful of regulation; thinking of regulation, be careful of men; thinking of men, be careful of virtue. When virtue opens through, that opening brings freedom from trouble. [By past events one warns the future. Kai means to open through. It says that virtue accords.]

To be careful of virtue one must practice reciprocity in one's own person; by reciprocity virtue is made clear; and virtue answers to Heaven and is careful toward those below. [By the way of care he teaches all under Heaven.] Those below lend to those above; strength contends by way of yielding, and the virtue of yielding is then practiced. [Yielding is made the means of transformation.] To be careful toward those below, one must revere those above. When the one above stands in the mean, those below rank themselves and contend; examine harmony and they comply; be careful of unity. Estrangement brings contention; harmony brings ranking together. [Yi means to revere. "Standing in the mean" means having no partisanship.]

When affairs are ranked by faction there is no government; without government there is no selection; without selection the people become stubborn; and stubborn, they harm those above. [When there is no selecting of the outstanding for office, the stubborn people harm those above.] Therefore select officers so as to make instruction clear, and the stubborn people will comply. Carefully guard that teaching; let small and great alike have their measure, and so prepare against calamity and raiders. [Small and great are […] good and ill fortune.] Bring the three kindreds into accord, make firm the four supports, make clear the files and the scouts, practice the cautions of war, rely upon the hills and rivers, open the way for boats and carriages, and make effective the business of defense. [Cultivating civil teaching and attending to military preparation are the business of a sage king.]

Officers and grandees are not mixed among artisans and merchants. [Each is made to keep to his own calling. If merchants are not enriched, artisans do not decay, and farmers do not slacken; where one cannot govern by force one must perfect the work, and then order is achieved.] If the son of an officer does not know righteousness, he cannot be set over young and old. [Only having the righteousness proper to an officer's conduct is correct.] If artisans do not dwell in their groups they cannot supply the offices; if the groups are not distinguished by district, kindness cannot enter among them. [Zu means a group. Even if their districts are not distinguished, this is how kindness is carried out.] When those above are not clear-sighted and those below are not compliant, there is no shame. [This says the state has no shame.] They make light of their conduct, multiply their folly, and do not practice. [Not weighing their conduct and priding themselves on their folly — what wisdom can there be?]

Be careful of the land: one must map it and set out its products, distinguishing what is good and what is bad among them [distinguishing the good and bad among the products the land brings forth]; measure its heights and depths, make its embankments and ditches serviceable, cherish its farming seasons, keep its grades in order, attend to what the soil actually yields [attending to diligence in planting according to rule], and grade its levies. Let what is instituted be fitting; let the fitting accord with the work; let the work answer to its aim. [This says that what he institutes is apt.]

Be careful of expenditure and one must cherish: let artisans work their materials, let merchants circulate their goods, and let the hundred things — birds, beasts, fish, and turtles — all follow their seasons. [Acting in accord with the seasons is the cherishing of them.] Produce the harvest and spare the expenditure, not overrunning the measure. At the fords no fires are set; the marsh-woods are not felled. [Lan means to exceed. Out of season one neither burns nor fells.] Cattle and sheep are not slaughtered until their teeth are full-grown. [When too old to be of use, they are eaten.]

The land is urged on but not driven to utmost beauty; beauty that does not harm use — in using it one thinks of care. […] preparation without reverence, and not intending much […]. Using little, one establishes closeness; using abundantly, one cherishes the distant; and the distant come while the near are at peace. ["Using much" means giving relief.] In safety think of danger; at the beginning think of the end; in what is near think of preparation; in what is far think of what is near; in age think of conduct. Where there is no preparation, do not disregard the stern warning. [Only having endurance can one succeed. "Ending" means completing one's righteousness in it.]

The Awakening at Cheng, Chapter 13 (程寤第十三)

Appendix: the text of "The Awakening at Cheng" as it stands in the Tsinghua bamboo manuscripts, book one.

In the first year of the king's reckoning, in the first month, after the birth of the crescent light, Tai Si (太姒) dreamed that she saw the courtyard of Shang all grown over with thorn-brush, and that the young son Fa (發) took catalpa trees from the courtyard of Zhou and planted them outside it, and they changed into pine, cypress, oak, and chestnut-oak. She woke in alarm and told the king. The king did not dare to divine it, but summoned the heir apparent Fa; he had the spirits named and the ill omen declared, and a purification made. The invocator Xin purified the king; the shaman Shuai purified Tai Si; the temple officer Ding purified the heir apparent Fa. With offerings of silk they made report at the ancestral shrine and at the altars of soil and grain; they performed the xin rite toward the six extremities and toward the hills and rivers, the gong rite against the spirits of Shang, the distant wang sacrifice and the zheng sacrifice, and divined in the Hall of Light. The king and the heir apparent Fa together bowed to the auspicious dream and received the mandate of Shang from the August High God.

He rose and said: "Fa, listen reverently to the auspicious dream. The massed thorn-brush struck at catalpa and pine; catalpa and pine split the cypress; the oak spread over the chestnut-oaks; and they were transformed into rich pigment. Alas! What warning is not from the massed throng? What caution is not about Shang? What use is there that is not planting? Planting follows what is wanted and does not go against the timber. When Heaven sends down sickness and the sweet flavors are used up, it cannot be cured by medicine — the time is not far off.

"Shang's kin are in Zhou and Zhou's kin are in Shang. Choose to use Zhou's resoluteness, its sincerity, and its unwillingness to be cruel, and by these settle abundant blessing. The catalpa is worn out, and unrighteousness floods over Shang. Let scales and measures lack nothing; be bright and bright in what you face; take in the thorn-brush, and hold desire down with the cypress. Of the dream, the common people only say, 'In the meeting there is something.' Without the autumn to make martial awe clear, it is as though oak and chestnut-oak had no roots.

"Alas, be reverent! I have heard that Zhou's elders are not of two minds: strive at what is lacking and do not spend it; do not hate; think upon humility, softness, harmony, and compliance; then the living people suffer no calamity and cherish good faith. Alas! What is to be examined if not the season? What is to be striven for if not harmony? What is to be feared if not the civil order? What is to be preserved if not the way? What is to be cherished if not one's own person? What is to be labored for if not men? When men's counsels are strong they cannot be hidden away. Be warned hereafter, be warned hereafter: men will use your counsel, and you will grudge that the days are not enough."