Classic of Documents
商書 Shāng shū
伊訓 第十三 Book Thirteen · Yī xùn
惟元祀，十有二月，乙丑，伊尹祠于先王。奉嗣王祗見厥祖。侯甸群后咸在。百官總已以聽冢宰。伊尹乃明言烈祖之成德，以訓于王。
In the 12th month of the first year, on the day Yuĕ-ch‘ow, E Yin sacrificed to the former king, and presented the heir to the throne reverently before his ancestor. All the princes from the domain of the nobles, and the imperial domain, were present; the various officers also were in attendance with their several duties to receive orders from the prime minister. E Yin then clearly described the accomplished virtue of the meritorious ancestor for the instruction of the new king.
曰：「嗚呼！古有夏先后，方懋厥德，罔有天災。山川鬼神，亦莫不寧，暨鳥獸魚鱉咸若。于其子孫弗率，皇天降災，假手于我有命。造攻自鳴條，朕哉自亳。
He said, “Oh! of old, the earlier sovereigns of Hea cultivated earnestly their virtue, and then there were no calamities from Heaven. The spirits of the hills and rivers likewise were all in tranquillity; and the birds and beasts, the fishes and tortoises, all realized the happiness of their nature. But their descendant did not follow their example, and great Heaven sent down calamities, employing the agency of our ruler, who had received its favouring appointment. The attack on Hea may be traced to Ming-t‘ëaou, and our attack on it began in Pŏ.
「惟我商王，布昭聖武，代虐以寬，兆民允懷。
Our king of Shang had brilliantly displayed his sacred prowess. When for oppression he substituted his generous gentleness, the millions of the people gave him their hearts.
「今王嗣厥德，罔不在初。立愛惟親，立敬惟長，始于家邦，終于四海。
Now your Majesty is entering on the inheritance of his virtue;—every thing depends on how you commence your reign. To set up love, it is for you to love your elders; to set up respect, it is for you to respect your relatives. The commencement is in the family and State; the consummation is in the empire.
「嗚呼！先王肇修人紀，從諫弗咈，先民時若；居上克明，為下克忠；與人不求備，檢身若不及，以至于有萬邦，茲惟艱哉！
“Oh! the former king began with careful attention to the bonds that hold men together:—he listened to expostulation, and did not seek to resist it; he conformed to the wisdom of former people; occupying the highest position, he displayed intelligence; occupying an inferior position, he displayed his loyalty; he allowed the good qualities of others, and did not seek that they should have every talent; in the government of himself, he seemed to think he could never sufficiently attain.—It was thus he arrived at the possession of the myriad regions. How painstaking was he in these things!
「敷求哲人，俾輔于爾後嗣。
He extensively sought out wise men, who should be helpful to you his descendants and heirs.
「制官刑，儆于有位。曰：『敢有恆舞于宮、酣歌于室，時謂巫風；敢有殉于貨色、恆于遊畋，時謂淫風；敢有侮聖言、逆忠直、遠耆德、比頑童，時謂亂風。』惟茲三風十愆，卿士有一于身，家必喪；邦君有一于身，國必亡。臣下不匡，其刑墨，具訓于蒙士。
He laid down the punishments for officers, and warned them who were in authority, saying, ‘If you dare to have constant dancing in your palaces, and drunken singing in your chambers,—that is called sorcerers’ fashion; if you dare to set your hearts on wealth and women, and abandon yourselves to wandering about or to hunting,—that is called the fashion of dissipation; if you dare to contemn the words of sages, to resist the loyal and upright, to put far from you the aged and virtuous, and to be familiar with procacious youths,—that is called the fashion of disorder. Now if a high noble or officer be addicted to one of these fashions with their ten evil ways, his Family will surely come to ruin; if the prince of a country be so addicted, his State will surely come to ruin. The minister who does not try to correct those vices in the sovereign shall be punished with branding. These rules were minutely enjoined also upon cadets in their lessons.
「嗚呼！嗣王祗厥身，念哉！聖謨洋洋，嘉言孔彰。惟上帝不常，作善降之百祥，作不善降之百殃。爾惟德罔小，萬邦惟慶；爾惟不德罔大，墜厥宗。」
“Oh! do you, who now succeed to the throne, revere these instructions in your person. Think of them!—Sacred counsels of vast importance, admirable words forcibly displayed. The ways of God are not invariable;—on the good-doer He sends down all blessings, and on the evil-doer He sends down all miseries. Do you be but virtuous, without consideration of the smallness of your actions, and the myriad regions will have cause for congratulation. If you be not virtuous, without consideration of the greatness of your actions, they will bring the ruin of your ancestral temple.”