than hundreds of thousands. But when God gave the command, They became subject to Kâu.
They became subject to Kâu, (For) the appointment of Heaven is not unchangeable. The officers of Yin, admirable and alert, Assist at the libations in our capital[1]. They assist at those libations, Always wearing the hatchet-figures on their lower garments and their peculiar cap[2]. O ye loyal ministers of the king, Ever think of your ancestor!
Ever think of your ancestor, Cultivating your virtue, Always seeking to accord with the will (of Heaven):—So shall you be seeking for much happiness, Before Yin lost the multitudes, (Its kings) were the correlates of God[3]. Look to Yin as a beacon; The great appointment is not easily preserved.
The appointment is not easily (preserved):—Do not cause your own extinction. Display and make bright your righteousness and fame, And look at (the fate of) Yin in the light of Heaven. The doings of high Heaven Have neither sound nor
- ↑ These officers of Yin would be the descendants of the Yin kings and of their principal nobles, scions likewise of the Yin stock. They would assist, at the court of Kâu, at the services in the ancestral temple, which began with a libation of fragrant spirits to bring down the spirits of the departed.
- ↑ These, differing from the dress worn by the representatives of the ruling House, were still worn by the officers of Yin or Shang, by way of honour, and also by way of warning.
- ↑ There was God in heaven hating none, desiring the good of all the people; there were the sovereigns on earth, God's vicegerents, maintained by him so long as they carried out in their government his purpose of good.
