rules of ceremony was not equal to that of the wife of Khî Liang. When duke Kwang fell on Kü by surprise at Thui, Khî Liang met his death. His wife met his bier on the way, and wailed for him bitterly. Duke Kwang sent a person to convey his condolences to her; but she said, "If his lordship's officer had been guilty of any offence, then his body should have been exposed in the court or the market-place, and his wife and concubines apprehended. If he were not chargeable with any offence, there is the poor cottage of his father. This is not the place where the ruler should demean himself to send me a messaged[1]."
2. At the mourning rites for his young son Tun, duke Âi wished to employ the (elm-juice) sprinklers, and asked Yû Zo about the matter, who said that it might be done, for his three ministers even used them. Yen Liû said, "For the son of Heaven dragons are painted on (the shafts of) the funeral carriage, and the boards surrounding the coffin, like the shell, have a covering over them. For the feudal princes there is a similar carriage (without the painted dragons), and the covering above. (In both cases) they prepare the elm-juice, and therefore employ sprinklers. The three ministers, not employing (such a carriage), and yet employing the sprinklers, thus appropriate a ceremony which is not suitable for them; and why should your lordship imitate them[2]?"
- ↑ See the 𝖅o Kwan, under B.C. 550, the twenty-third year of duke Hsiang. The name of the place in the text (To, read Thui by Kǎng Hsüan) seems to be a mistake. See the Khang-hsî dictionary on the character To (奪).
- ↑ There is a good deal of difficulty and difference of opinion in the interpretation of this paragraph. According to the common view, the funeral carriage used by the king and princes was very heavy, and difficult to drag along. To ease its transit, a juice was prepared from the elm bark, and sprinkled on the ground to make it slippery. But this practice was because of the heaviness of the carriage; and was not required in the case of lighter conveyances.
