Even the barbarian Kou-tsien, King of
Yueeh, has wise saws and modern instances quoted to him in his
distress. For instance, whilst hesitating about utterly
annihilating the Wu reigning family, he was advised: "If one will
not take gifts from Heaven, Heaven may send one misfortune." This
is a very hackneyed saying in ancient Chinese history, and is as
much used to-day as it was 2500 years ago: it comes from the Book
of Chou (now partly lost). It will be remembered that the
distinguished Japanese statesman, Count Okuma, in his now
notorious speech before the Kobe Chamber of Commerce on the 20th
October, 1907, used these identical words to point the moral of
Indian commerce. It is doubtful if any other really pregnant
Japanese philosophical saying exists which cannot be similarly
traced to China. In any case, Count Okuma was only literally
carrying out in Kobe the policy of Tsin, Ts'u, Ts'i, and Wei
statesmen of China 2500 years ago.
If, as we have assumed, standard books were usually committed to
memory (and it must be remembered that the Odes, and much of the
Book, the Changes, and the Rites are still so committed to memory
in our own times), and were practically confined to the
headquarters or the wealthy families of each state, the cognate
question inevitably arises: What about the historical records? It
has already been observed that Ts'in, the half-Tartar power in the
extreme west, was the only state belonging to the recognized
federal system (and that only since 771 B.
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