Note 4 — Chapter XV · Mythical and Legendary Kings
Reading edition
“It is remarkable”, says Legge, “that at the commencement of Chinese history, Chinese tradition placed a period of innocence, a season when order and virtue ruled in men’s affairs.” This comment is made in connection with the following passage in the Shu King (Book XXVII, “The Marquis of Lu on Punishments”): “The King said, ‘According to the teachings of ancient times, Khih Yu was the first to produce disorder, which spread among the quiet, orderly people, till all became robbers and murderers, owl-like and yet self-complacent in their conduct, traitors and villains, snatching and filching, dissemblers and oppressors’”.4