CHAPTER XVIII THE CEREMONIAL OF A MISSION (Part IV.) 

I. When They Find Obsequies in Progress. 

(a) If the mission should arrive when the obsequies of the ruler 1 are in progress, and have already crossed the frontier before it hears of this, then the mission is proceeded with. 

(b) But no one is sent to recompense them for the toils of the way. 2 

(c) The mat and body-rest are not laid in the temple for the spirit, to whom the visit would, in normal circumstances, have been announced. 

(d) No must 3 is offered to the commissioner. 

(e) The Master of Ceremonies carries out the ceremonial as if the Prince were alive.4 

(f) The commissioner only accepts the animals living and dead.  

(g) There is no present given at the return of the symbol, no jade presented with the silks, and no parting present. 5

(h) If the mission should arrive when the obsequies of the Prince's lady are in progress, or those of the heir to the throne, the Prince does not receive the presents in person, but sends a great officer to receive them in the temple, the rest being conducted as when they happen on the obsequies of the Prince himself. 

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(i) When they happen upon such obsequies their Prince's instructions are entrusted to a great officer of the mission, and the Master of Ceremonies belonging to the court visited, who is also a great officer, assumes the long-clothes and the raw silk head-dress^ to receive the gifts. 

2. When it is the Prince of the State that Sent the Mission Who Dies. 

(a) When the Prince who sent the mission dies after the mission has departed, if the mission has already entered the territory of the other State, it proceeds with its business. 

(b) While the official messengers of woe have not yet arrived, the members of the mission wail in the alley in front of their lodging, and, donning sackcloth, remain within the quarters assigned to them. 

(c) They receive the slaughtered and living animals, but not the feast or the dinner. 

(d) Then, after the messengers of woe have arrived, the members of the mission wear sackcloth when they go into the streets. 

(e) They only accept grain rations. 

(f) When they return home the commissioner makes his report before the coffin, holding the symbol and going up by the west steps, but not entering the hall. 

(g) If the heir apparent have already ascended the throne, they do not wail. 

(h) He goes through the whole of the ceremonial of making the report as if the mission had run an ordinary course, and then wails along with the rest of the court. 

(i) Then he enters again with his suite, and, standing facing north, wails. 

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(j) Thereafter they go out, and, baring the arm, let down the hair and tie it in a knot. 

(k) Entering by the right of the door, they go to their places and stamp/ 

3. In the Case of Private Obsequies. 

(a) If the commissioner be involved in private obsequies^ while still in the other capital, he wails in his quarters, dressed in sackcloth, and stays within the house, not accepting the feast or the dinner. 

(b) On his return home he sends the suite ahead, and follows them dressed in sackcloth. 

4. In the Case of the Death of the Commissioner or One of His Suite. 

(a) If the commissioner should die after he enters the State to which he is accredited, the mission is proceeded with, the Master of Ceremonies in the State preparing all that is necessary, and seeing to the greater coffining. 9 

(h) The chief of his suite discharges the mission in his place. 

(c) And when the Prince comes to pay the visit of condolence, it is he who acts as Master of Ceremonies. 

(d) When the Master of Ceremonies is giving the return presents, he sends, instead of the usual gifts, the things necessary for mourning uses. 

(e) When the suite receive the presents prepared for the commissioner, they do not decline them. 

(f) There is neither feast nor dinner given. 

(g) When they return home the suite make a report, and the coffin with the body in it remains outside the great door. 

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(h) When the suite have finished their report, they go out, and lifting the coffin on to the hearse, escort it to the late commissioner's house. After the Prince has paid a visit of condolence, the first stage of the obsequies 10 is brought to a close. 

(i) If a great officer, who is a member of the suite, die, the procedure is similar to that already described. 

(j) If, however, the member of suite who dies be an ordinary officer only, the inner coffin 11 is provided, and the smaller coffining 12 ceremony is gone through, 

(k) Moreover, the Prince pays no visit of condolence. 

(l) If before he has communicated his instructions to the Prince to whom he is accredited the commissioner should die, then, when the smaller coffining ceremony is complete, they take the coffin to the outer gate of the palace, and one of his suite communicates the instructions. 13 

(m) Should one of the suite die while on the mission, when the mission returns home and makes its report, only in the case of the chief of suite is the body brought to court. 

(n) If one of the suite should die, even if he be of ordinary officer's rank, after the commissioner has made his report, he accompanies the body home, and only after the greater coffining ceremony is complete does he return to his own house. 

5. The Observances of a Smaller Mission. 

(a) A smaller mission is called an "inquiry," and there is no presentation. If presents are made, the Prince's lady does not receive any. The Master of Ceremonies does not lay a mat and body-rest in the temple. There is no pledging of the guest with must. At the interview they do not go up into the hall, but 231 

remain in the court, and there is no recompensing for the toils of the way. 

(b) The presentation and giving of feast and dinner are as in the case of a chief of suite above, and there are three members of the suite in addition to the leader of the mission. 

6. Forty Notes. 

(1) On the Letter Sent with the Mission, should Occasion Call for it. 

(a) If there has been no cause for conference for some time, such as the incursion of a hostile State, a friendly mission is sent from one State to the other. 

(b) If occasion call for it, then, after the formal business of the mission is over, a further communication is conveyed in a letter handed in along with a roll of silk. If the letter contain more than a hundred characters, it is written on bamboo tablets tied together; but if there are less than a hundred, it is written on a square board. 

(c) The Master of Ceremonies sends his private secretary to read it, with the guests outside the temple gate. 

(d ) When the guests are about to return home the Prince sends a great officer to carry his answer to their quarters, taking with him rolls of silk as a gift. 

(e) And on the morrow the Prince himself visits their quarters. 

(2) Receiving Instructions and Setting Out. 

(a) When they have received their marching orders, the members of the mission go out, and, visiting the steward, ask him for as many months' rations as are necessary. 

(b) After the commissioner has received his marching 

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orders, and before he actually sets out, he goes with his suite to court each day, and they stand all together. 14

(c) When they are leaving the city gates, at the beginning of the journey, they lay down a sacrifice to the spirit of the road, 15 offering wine and dried flesh, and then drinking the wine beside the offerings. 

(3) The Jade Symbol and its Wrapper, 

(a) The symbol of authority carried to an audience with the Son of Heaven, and its wrapper, are each nine inches long. The jade is cut to a point 1½ inches from the top, and is ½ inch thick and 3 inches broad. The wrapper is of three colours, in six rows, in order — red, white, and azure. 

(b) For an audience with one of the feudal Marquises a cover of red and green is used 8 inches long. 

(c) At each side there are ties of red and black a foot in length, and with ornamental tassels. 

(4) The Present at the Visit of Inquiry Paid to a Great Officer. 

The present taken when going to ask after the health of a great officer is sent on to wait in the suburb where the commissioner puts up on his first arrival, and is laid out there. When it is presented it is accompanied with skins and horses. 

(5) Speeches. 

(a) There is no set form prescribed for the speeches, but it is essential that they shall be eirenical and pleasant. 16 

(b) If the speeches are too long, they sound artificial. If they are too short, they fail to convey the speaker's meaning. The perfection of the speaking art is to 

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make speeches that convey the speaker's meaning and no more. 

(c) If one decline a present, he says : " I am doing violence to right ceremony by receiving this. How dare I take it ?" The reply should be : "I should do violence to right ceremony were I not to press it on you. Dare I not ask you to take it ?" 

(6) The Quarters, and What is Provided There. 

(a) A minister is quartered on a great officer, a great officer on an ordinary officer, and an ordinary officer on an artificer or a man of business. 

(h) The man in charge of the quarters provides facilities for ablutions every three days, and every five for a full bath. 

(7) The Supper. 

(a) The supper is not provided by the steward on order from the Prince, but on his own initiative. 

(5) And the commissioner does not bow on receiving it. 

(c) But he bathes before eating. 

(8) Meeting the Visitors. 

(a) A minister is met by a great officer, a great officer by an ordinary officer, and an ordinary officer by a man of his own rank. 

(b) When the commissioner arrives at his quarters he is met, and the quarters assigned to him in the name of the Prince. 

(c) Whoever calls on him in his quarters takes a present 17 with him. 

(d) After the commissioner has transacted his public business, when he makes the return visit, he takes the present with him. 

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(9) The Jewel 18 Taken to the Audience. It is allowable to take to the audience whichever of the four jewels is in most favour in the State. 

(10) Assigning the Use of the waiting-Tent. 19 

The sub-inspector of buildings assigns to the visitors the waiting-tent they shall use. It is constructed with curtains, and is retired a little from that of the Prince. 

(11) Deportment at the Interview. 20 

(a) The chief of suite holds the symbol as if it were very heavy, and hands it to the commissioner. 

(b) The commissioner enters the palace gate with an impressive air. He ascends the steps in a deferential manner. When he is about to hand over the symbol he looks purposeful and moves quickly. 

(c) He hands it over as if he were watching to seize an advantage, and goes down the stairs as if he were escorting someone. He does not withdraw until the Prince has turned his back on him. 

(d) When he has gone down, he lets go his breath and takes things easily. He lifts his feet two or three times, and then steps out freely. 

(e) Then when he gets to the door he resumes his correct demeanour. 21

(12) The Demeanour at the Interview Presentation, and Private Interview. 

(a) When the commissioner takes the symbol he bends his body as he enters the temple door as if he fears he will drop it. 

(b) When the time for the presentation has come, he breathes freely and assumes an expansive air. 

(c) And the suite, facing north, throw off all appearance of restraint. 

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(d) At the private interview the demeanour should be one of perfect good-humour. 

(e) And they go out of the temple like a flock of wild geese following one another. 

(13) The Demeanour when Holding the Symbol. 22 

The one who carries the jade should walk to the temple with an impressive air. Entering the door, he lays most stress on a reverential demeanour, and as he ascends to the hall he is careful to an extreme. 

(14) The Manner of Bringing In and Taking Out the Things Laid in the Court. 

(a) The things to be laid out in the court are taken in one after the other, those to be laid on the left side entering first. The skins and the horses may alternate, if that is desired. 

(b) Of the presents made by the commissioner, only the horses are led away, the rest all being taken to the east side. 

(15) The Measure of the Articles and Silks Presented. 

(a) If the things are many, the virtue of the ceremony is impaired. 

(b) If the silks are over gay, 23 the ceremonial idea is lost. 

(c) The return gifts are regulated by the quantity and nature of the gifts presented; 

(16) Closing the Coat 24 when Carrying the Symbol. 

If the symbol is not covered up when being carried, the bearer draws together his coat. 

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(17) Offering Must to the Commissioner. 

(a) In offering must to the commissioner they do not bow in acknowledgment of his coming. 

(b) The holder for the must is set in the east side hall, and is an earthen v/are jar of antique pattern on a stand. 

(c) The dried flesh is in five slices, one half slice for sacrificial purposes being laid across the others. 

(d) To pour a libation the must is dipped up twice. At the first dipping one libation is poured, and at the second two. 

(18) The Commissioner Receiving the Things Laid Out in the Court. 

As to the things laid out in the court on behalf of the Prince, the officers of the Prince take the three horses he leaves to lead them out, but are met by the commissioner's officers, who take them over. 

(19) The Private Offering, 

(a) If, on the completion of the private interview, the commissioner has some private gifts that he wishes to offer, he takes them in his hands and offers them in the name of his Prince. 

(b) The usher goes in to announce this, and comes out again to formally decline the gift. 

(c) Then the commissioner sits down outside the door, and, spreading out the gifts, kowtows twice. 

(d) The usher sits facing east, and, taking the gifts, raises them and carries them in to announce them to the Prince. He then comes out and formally asks the commissioner to receive them back. 

(e) But the commissioner persists in his refusal to receive them back, and the Prince bows twice In acknowledgment of the gifts. 

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(f) The usher stands outside the centre post of the door to assist in the ceremony, by conveying to the commissioner the intentions of the Duke. The commissioner draws aside, and the usher hands the gifts to the assistant steward in the centre of the court. 

(g) If the State is one whose ruler is related to the ruler of the State that sends the mission, a visit of inquiry is paid to the Prince's lady by the mission. 

(20) A Great Officer Receiving the Gifts when the Prince does not Appear. 

(a) If the Prince does not appear. 25

(h) He deputes a great officer to receive the gifts. 

(c) This great officer listens to the message imparted by the commissioner from below the hall, and, ascending the western steps, receives the gifts. Then he takes his stand with his back to the right chamber, and, when the commissioner descends, he, too, goes down.  

(d) In the circumstances there is no giving of must to the commissioner. 

(21) The Cup of Comfort. 

Whoever receives a present of silks from the mission offers to its members the "cup of comfort." These do not put off their dress clothes until this refection is received. 

(22) The Offering of the Slaughtered Animals. 

(a) When the slaughtered animals are presented, only the stew of the cooked meat is used as an offering. The personator of him to whom the offering is to be made is divined for, one of the senior or the junior line of descent, 26 as the lot indicates. 

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(b) A slave acts as liturgist, and says : "The filial grandson, or son So-and-so, makes a correct offering to his august grandfather of such a style, or his august father, his honour So-and-so." 

(c) The formalities observed are similar to those observed in presenting the small set of animals. 

(d) The necessary vessels are borrowed from a great officer. 

(e) Then the meat is divided among the grooms 27 and the men in charge of the carriages. 28

(23) The Regulations for the Entertainment of the Commissioner by the Ruler, and the Service of Wild Fowl and Game. 

(a) On the day of the interview the slaughtered animals are presented. 

(b) And on the morrow the visit is paid to the Prince's lady. 

(c) That evening the lady makes her return presents. 

(d) After the first presentation of animals, the numbers diminish regularly through the next ten days. 

(e) The under-steward, in giving the birds that fly in pairs, regulates their number by the number of the sets of animals presented on the same day. 

(f) But for the ordinary officers the number is diminished by a pair every second day. 

(g) Whoever is presenting birds holds one pair in his hands, and has the rest laid out in front of him. 

(h) The number of wild fowl given corresponds to the numbers of the game. 

(24) Asking Permission to View the Sights of the Capital. 

(a) On the day of the great ceremony of making the return presents, when the animals dead and living

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have been received, the commissioner asks permission to view the sights. 29 

(b) When the commissioner arrives at the palace for this purpose, he is met and conducted in by one of the side-doors. 

(25) The Office and Dress of Those Presenting the Animals. 

Each of those taking part in this presentation puts on the dress clothes appropriate to his office. 

(26) The Ordinary Officers Give no Return Presents. 

The ordinary officers not getting presents of animals do not give return presents to the messengers. 

(27) The Commissioner Asking for the Great Officer. 

The great officer dares not decline an interview, but the Prince declines for him. 

(28) The Materials for the Feast are Set on Holders. 

Those sent to present the viands for the feast set them on splint and wooden holders. 

(29) No Feast for the Ordinary Officers. 

None to whom animals are not presented is given a feast. 

(30) The Grain Given to a Great Officer with the Living Animals. 

The grain thus given consists of the three millets — glutinous, spiked, and panelled — in baskets holding five hu each. 

(31) Asking Leave to Return Home. 30 

When the public business is complete the com- missioner asks leave to return home. 

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— Diagram showing Relative Positions — 

or Halls and Gates or a Palace 

(1) Reception Hall; (2) Side-Door to Ancestral Temple ; (3) The Court ; (4) Sleeping Apartments. 

To face p. 240. 

(32) The Commissioner Returns Thanks. 

When the commissioner goes to court to return thanks he is met, and his message of thanks accepted. 

(33) The Banquet. 

(a) At the banquet the chief of suite is the principal guest, and the commissioner is treated with honour as a matter of course, but gets no special precedence. 

(6) It is the under-steward who offers the wine. 

(34) A Visit to the One State Only? 31

If the commissioner has been accredited to the one State only, and goes no other where, the presents and the gifts given in return are of greater value than on other occasions. 

(35) The Form of Words Used by the Duke in Visiting the Commissioner at His Quarters. 

(a) He says : " Your honour has brought from your Prince a message which keeps unworthy me in power. I, unworthy as I am, bow in acknowledgment of your Prince's condescension." 

(b) His lady, when visited, says : " Your Prince has confirmed in the possession of his State my unworthy Prince," and she also bows. 

(c) When the great officers are visited they say : "Your Prince confers a favour on our unworthy Prince, and on us his few ancients. " 33 Then they also bow. 

(d) They also bow in saying farewell to him. 

(36) 7he Skins and Silks Laid Down by the Commissioner in His Quarters. 

The commissioner lays down four skins and a bundle of silk in the hall of his quarters and between 

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the pillars, as a gift to the Master of Ceremonies, but does not hand them over, and the Master of Ceremonies does not bow in acknowledgment. 

(37) When the Feasts Are or Are Not Given. 

(a) If the great officers who come in the mission do not commit any error 34 in the conduct of their part in the ceremonial, they are feasted by the Prince himself. 

(b) But if any of them commits such an error, he is only given the live animals.  35

(c) If the chief of suite is being entertained to a feast, members of the suite are told off to act as suite to him. 

(38) When a More Important Guest Arrives Later. Should the commissioner of a more important state arrive after the coming of the first commissioner, the first arrival is not entertained to a feast, but the materials for it are sent to him.. 

(39) The Body-Rest and Mat. 

It is only at the reception of missions proper that the body-rest and mat are laid out for the spirit. 

(40) The Quantities 36 of the Grain and the Grain in Ear. 

(a) Ten toy make a hu ; 16 tou a su ; and 10 su a ping, 

(b) A carriage load is 240 tou. 

(c) Four ping make a chü. 

(d) Ten chu make a tsung, and 10 tsung a ch'a, which thus contains 400 ping. 

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