Historic China, and other sketches - University of Macau Library

THE CHOWS. 29
Thereupon he proceeded to slay a black ox and a white
horse, and to perform the sacritices to Heaven and Earth.
These being concluded, he took in his left hand a bowl
of the freshly-shed blood, and brandishing in his right
his sharp sword, he mounted the steps leading up to the
pavilion, and cried aloud to the assembled nobles as
follows :
—
"All you chieftains who are present at this meeting
do hereby covenant to act, as rulers, considerately; as
subjects, loyally;* as fathers, kindly; as sons, lovingly.
You agree to exchange mutual courtesies in times of
sorrow and of joy ; to live in peace and harmony with
one another; to acknowledge the supremacy of the
Imperial house of Chow, and to pay tribute accordingly.
And it is further covenanted that any breach of faith on
the part of any one of the contracting parties shall be
punished by the rest, united together for that purpose."
At this speech all the assembled nobles bowed their
heads, and drinking the blood of the sacrifice, called
out in reply, " We hereby bind ourselves to obey without
fail the injunctions thus set forth;" whereupon the
arbiter, having fully settled the terms of alliance, placed
the deed of confederation in a golden casket He next
collected together the costly exhibits of the various
States, and forwarded them as tribute to the Court
of Chow; after which all the representatives sat down
to take part in a grand banquet.
Let us now revert to Kung-sun Hou. He, seeing
* That is, to the sovereign house of Chow,