The Book of Rites 4

1. In the last month of autumn the sun is in Fang, the constellation culminating at dusk being Hsü, and that culminating at dawn Liû.

2. Its days are kang and hsin. Its divine ruler is Shâo Hâo, and the (attending) spirit is 3û-shâu. Its creatures are the hairy. Its musical note is Shang, and its pitch-tube is Wû Yî.

3. Its number is nine. Its taste is bitter. Its smell is rank. Its sacrifice is that at the gate; and of the parts of the victim the liver has the foremost place.

4. The wild geese come, (and abide) like guests.

Small birds enter the great water and become mollusks. Chrysanthemums show their yellow flowers. The khâi sacrifice larger animals, and kill (and devour) the smaller.

5. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the right of the Zung-kang (Fane); rides in the war chariot, drawn by the white horses with black manes, and bearing the white flags; is dressed in the white robes, and wears the white jade. He eats hemp-seeds and dog's flesh. The vessels which he uses are rectangular, cornered, and rather deep.

6. In this month the orders are renewed and strictly enjoined, charging the various, officers (to see) that noble and mean all exert themselves in the work of ingathering, in harmony with the storing of heaven and earth. They must not allow anything to remain out in the fields.

7. Orders are also given to the chief minister, after the fruits of husbandry have all been gathered in, to take in hand the registers of the produce of the different grains (from all the country), and to store up the produce that has been gathered from the acres of God in the granary of the spirits; doing this with the utmost reverence and correctness.

8. In this month the hoar-frost begins to fall; and all labours cease (for a season).

9. Orders are given to the proper officers, saying, 'The cold airs are all coming, and the people will not be able to endure them. Let all enter within their houses (for a time).'

10. On the first ting day orders are given to the chief Director of music to enter the college, and to practise (with his pupils) on the wind instruments.

11. In this month an announcement is made to the son of Heaven that the victims for the great sacrifice to God, and the autumnal sacrifice in the ancestral temple are fit and ready.

12. The princes of the states are assembled, and orders given to the officers of the various districts (in the royal domain). They receive the first days of the months for the coming year, and the laws for the taxation of the people by the princes, both light and heavy, and the amount of the regular contribution to the government, which is determined by the distance of the territories and the nature of their several productions. The object of this is to provide what is necessary for the suburban sacrifices and those in the ancestral temple. No private considerations are allowed to have place in this.

13. In this month the son of Heaven, by means of hunting, teaches how to use the five weapons of war, and the rules for the management of horses.

14. Orders are given to the charioteers and the seven (classes of) grooms to see to the yoking of the several teams, to set up in the carriages the flags and various banners, to assign the carriages according to the rank (of those who were to occupy them), and to arrange and set up the screens outside (the royal tent). The minister of Instruction, with his baton stuck in his girdle, addresses all before him with his face to the north.

15. Then the son of Heaven, in his martial ornaments, with his bow in one hand, and the arrows under the armpit of the other, proceeds to hunt. (Finally), he gives orders to the superintendent of Sacrifices, to offer some of the captured game to (the spirits of) the four quarters.

16. In this month the plants and trees become yellow and their leaves fall, on which the branches are cut down to make charcoal.

17. Insects in their burrows all try to push deeper, and from within plaster up the entrances. In accordance with (the season), they hurry on the decision and punishment of criminal cases, wishing not to leave them any longer undealt with. They call in emoluments that have been assigned incorrectly, and minister to those whose means are insufficient for their wants.

18. In this month the son of Heaven eats dog's flesh and rice, first presenting some in the apartment at the back of the ancestral temple.

19. If, in this last month of autumn, the proceedings proper to summer were observed, there would be great floods in the states; the winter stores would be injured and damaged; there would be many colds and catarrhs among the people. If those proper to winter were observed, there would be many thieves and robbers in the states; the borders would be unquiet; and portions of territory would be torn from the rest. If those proper to spring were observed, the warm airs would come; the energies of the people would be relaxed and languid; and the troops would be kept moving about.

Book of Rites:1, 2 , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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