instructions. (The people) accorded a practical submission, without any opposition, and the influence (of their example and instructions) extended to Yin, and the great appointment (of Heaven) was secured*. After them, I, the stupid one, received with reverence the dread (decree) of Heaven, and continued to keep the great instructions of Wăn and Wû, not daring blindly to transgress them.*
'Now Heaven has laid affliction on me, and it seems as if I should not again rise or be myself. Do you take clear note of these my words, and in accordance with them watch reverently over my eldest son Kâo, and greatly assist him in the difficulties of his position. Be kind to those who are far off, and help those who are near. Promote the tranquillity of the states, small and great, and encourage them (to well-doing). I think how a man has to govern himself in dignity and with decorum;—do not you allow Kâo to proceed heedlessly on the impulse of improper motives.' Immediately on receiving this charge, (the ministers and others) withdrew. The tent[1] was then carried out into
- ↑ The tent had been prepared when the king sent for his ministers and officers to give them his last charge, and set up outside his chamber in the hall where he was accustomed to hold 'the audience of government,' He had walked or been carried to it, and then returned to his apartment when he had expressed his last wishes, while the tent—the curtains and canopy—was carried out into the courtyard.The palace was much more long or deep than wide, consisting of five series of buildings continued one after another, so that, if all the gates were thrown open, one could walk in a direct line from the first gate to the last. The different parts of it were separated by courts that embraced a large space of ground, and were partly open overhead. The gates leading to the different parts had their particular names, and were all fronting
