near lakes, deer and pigs, the superior man would say of diem that they did not know (the nature of) those usages.
4. Therefore it is necessary to take the established revenues of a state as the great rule for its ceremonial (expenditure). Important for the determination of this is the size of its territory. The amount of the offerings (also) should have regard to the character of the year as good or bad. In this way, though the harvest of a year may be very defective, the masses will not be afraid, and the ceremonies as appointed by the superiors will be economically regulated.
5. In (judging of) rites the time[1] should be the great consideration. (Their relation to) natural duties, their material substance, their appropriateness to circumstances, and their proportioning are all seccmdary.
Yâo's resignation of the throne to Shun, and Shun's resignation of it to Yü; Thang's dethronement of Kieh; and the overthrow of Kâu by Wǎn and Wû:—all these are to be judged of by the time. As the Book of Poetry says,
"It was not that he was in haste to gratify his wishes;
It was to show the filial duty that bad come down to him."
- ↑ "The time" comes about by the ordering of heaven. The instances given of it are all great events in the changing of dynasties. But such changes can hardly be regarded as rites. Perhaps the writer thought that the abdication in some cases, and the violent dethroning in others, were precedents, which might be regarded as having that character. For the quotation from the Shih, which is not very happy, see Part III, ode 10, 2.
