Book III. The Songs of the Five Sons.
This Book ranks in that class of the documents of the Shû which goes by the name of 'Instructions,' Though the form of it be poetical, the subject-matter is derived from the Lessons left by Yü for the guidance of his posterity.
Thâi Khang succeeded to his father in B.C. 2188, and his reign continues in chronology to 2160. His character is given here in the introductory chapter. Khiung, the principality of Î who took the field against him, is identified with the sub-department of Tê-Kâu, department Kî-nan, Shan-tung. There is a tradition that Î, at an early period of his life, was lord of a state in the present Ho-nan. This would make his movement against Thâi Khang, 'south of the Ho,' more easy for him. The name of Thâi Khang remains in the district so called of the department Khăn-kâu, Ho-nan. There, it is said, he died, having never been able to recross the Ho.
In his song the king's first brother deplores how he had lost the affections of the people; the second speaks of his dissolute extravagance; the third mourns his loss of the throne; the fourth deplores his departure from the principles of Yü, and its disastrous consequences; and the fifth is a wail over the miserable condition of them all.
1. Thâi Khang occupied the throne like a personator of the dead[1]. By idleness and dissipation he extinguished his virtue, till the black-haired people all wavered in their allegiance. He, however, pursued his pleasure and wanderings without any
- ↑ The character that here as a verb governs the character signifying 'throne' means properly 'a corpse,' and is often used for the personator of the dead, in the sacrificial services to the dead which formed a large part of the religious ceremonies of the ancient Chinese. A common definition of it is 'the semblance of the spirit,'=the image into which the spirit entered. Thâi Khang was but a personator on the throne, no better than a sham sovereign.
