'Formerly the duke of Kâu at the border altar sacrificed to Hâu-kî as the correlate of Heaven, and in the Brilliant Hall he honoured king Wăn, and sacrificed to him as the correlate of God[1]. The
- ↑ The reader of the translations from the Shih must be familiar with Hâu-kî, as the ancestor to whom the kings of Kâu traced their lineage, and with king Wăn, as the acknowledged founder of their dynasty in connexion with his son, king Wû. Was any greater honour done to Hâu-kî in making him the correlate of Heaven than to king Wăn in making him the correlate of God? We must say, No. As is said in the Extensive Explanation, 'The words Heaven and God are different, but their meaning is one and the same.' The question is susceptible of easy determination. Let me refer the reader to the translations from the Shih on pp. 317 and 329. The tenth piece on the latter was sung, at the border sacrifice to Heaven, in honour of Hâu-kî; and the first four lines of it are to the effect—while the fifth and sixth lines are—
'O thou, accomplished, great Hâu-kî!
To thee alone 'twas given
None would have fathomed His intent,To be, by what we trace to thee,
The correlate of Heaven;'The seventh piece on the former page was used at the sacrifice, in the Brilliant Hall, to king Wăn, as 'the correlate of God.' The first three lines have been versified by—'God had the wheat and barley meant
To nourish all mankind.
None would have fathomed His intent,
But for thy guiding mind.'
consisted. The editors of the Extensive Explanation of the Hsiâo say:—'According to commentators on our classic, Shun thinking only of the virtue of his ancestor did not sacrifice to him at the border altar. The sovereigns of Hsiâ and Yin were the first to sacrifice there to their ancestors; but they had not the ceremony of sacrificing to their fathers as the correlates of Heaven. This began with the duke of Kâu.' To this explanation of the text the editors demur, and consider that the noun 'father' in the previous sentence should be taken, in the case of the duke of Kâu, both of Hâu-kî and king Wăn.
