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Page 87
As Yin gazed in fear-stricken amazement, a knowledge of the various
Pure Ones who composed the assembly came upon him. He understood that
the three unclad and commanding figures which stood together were the
Emperors of the Heaven, Earth, and Man, whose reigns covered a space
of more than eighty thousand years, commencing from the time when the
world began its span of existence. Next to them stood one wearing a
robe of leopard-skin, his hand resting upon a staff of a massive club,
while on his face the expression of tranquillity which marked his
predecessors had changed into one of alert wakefulness; it was the
Emperor of Houses, whose reign marked the opening of the never-ending
strife between man and all other creatures. By his side stood his
successor, the Emperor of Fire, holding in his right hand the emblem
of the knotted cord, by which he taught man to cultivate his mental
faculties, while from his mouth issued smoke and flame, signifying
that by the introduction of fire he had raised his subjects to a state
of civilized life.
On the other side of the boundless chamber which seemed to be
contained within the rocks were Fou-Hy, Tchang-Ki, Tcheng-Nung, and
Huang, standing or reclining together. The first of these framed the
calendar, organized property, thought out the eight Essential
Diagrams, encouraged the various branches of hunting, and the rearing
of domestic animals, and instituted marriage. From his couch floated
melodious sounds in remembrance of his discovery of the property of
stringed woods. Tchang-Ki, who manifested the property of herbs and
growing plants, wore a robe signifying his attainments by means of
embroidered symbols. His hand rested on the head of the dragon, while
at his feet flowed a bottomless canal of the purest water. The
discovery of written letters by Tcheng-Nung, and his ingenious plan of
grouping them after the manner of the constellations of stars, was
emblemized in a similar manner, while Huang, or the Yellow Emperor,
was surrounded by ores of the useful and precious metals, weapons of
warfare, written books, silks and articles of attire, coined money,
and a variety of objects, all testifying to his ingenuity and inspired
energy.
These illustrious ones, being the greatest, were the first to take
Yin's attention, but beyond them he beheld an innumerable concourse of
Emperors who not infrequently outshone their majestic predecessors in
the richness of their apparel and the magnificence of the jewels which
they wore. There Yin perceived Hung-Hoang, who first caused the chants
to be collected, and other rulers of the Tcheon dynasty; Yong-Tching,
who compiled the Holy Edict; Thang rulers whose line is rightly called
"the golden," from the unsurpassed excellence of the composed verses
which it produced; renowned Emperors of the versatile Han dynasty;
and, standing apart, and shunned by all, the malignant and
narrow-minded Tsing-Su-Hoang, who caused the Sacred Books to be
burned.
Even while Yin looked and wondered, in great fear, a rolling voice,
coming from one who sat in the midst of all, holding in his right hand
the sun, and in his left the moon, sounded forth, like the music of
many brass instruments playing in unison. It was the First Man who
spoke.
"Yin, son of Yat Huang, and creature of the Lower Part," he said,
"listen well to the words I speak, for brief is the span of your
tarrying in the Upper Air, nor will the utterance I now give forth
ever come unto your ears again, either on the earth, or when, blindly
groping in the Middle Distance, your spirit takes its nightly flight.
They who are gathered around, and whose voices I speak, bid me say
this: Although immeasurably above you in all matters, both of
knowledge and of power, yet we greet you as one who is
well-intentioned, and inspired with honourable ambition. Had you been
content to entreat and despair, as did all the feeble and incapable
ones whose white bones formed your pathway, your ultimate fate would
have in no wise differed from theirs. But inasmuch as you held
yourself valiantly, and, being taken, raised an instinctive hand in
return, you have been chosen; for the day to mute submission has, for
the time or for ever, passed away, and the hour is when China shall be
saved, not by supplication, but by the spear."
"A state of things which would have been highly unnecessary if I had
been permitted to carry out my intention fully, and restore man to his
prehistoric simplicity," interrupted Tsin-Su-Hoang. "For that reason,
when the voice of the assemblage expresses itself, it must be
understood that it represents in no measure the views of
Tsin-Su-Hoang."
"In the matter of what has gone before, and that which will follow
hereafter," continued the Voice dispassionately, "Yin, the son of
Yat-Huang, must concede that it is in no part the utterance of
Tsin-Su-Hoang--Tsin-Su-Hoang who burned the Sacred Books."
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