Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh Part 36

E and Chow are models worthy of imitation: They acted uprightly and aided the government.

ON THE DUTIES OF FAMILIES.

The members of one family being intimately related, They should live in joy and harmony; When the feeling of concord unites the whole, Blessings will descend upon them from above.

ON THE DUTIES OF A FATHER.

When the main beam is straight, the joists will be regular; When a father is strict, his duty will be fulfilled: Let him not provoke his children to wrath, And a delightful harmony will pervade the dwelling.

ON THE DUTIES OF A MOTHER.

Ye mothers, beware of partiality, But tenderly instruct your children in virtue; When you are a fit example to your daughters, The happy feeling will reach to the clouds.

ON THE DUTIES OF SONS.

Sons, be patterns to your wives; Consider obedience to parents the chief duty; Do not listen to the tattle of women, And you will not be estranged from your own flesh.

ON THE DUTIES OF DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW.

Ye that are espoused into other families, Be gentle and yielding, and your duty is fulfilled; Do not quarrel with your sisters-in-law, And thereby vex the old father and mother.

ON THE DUTIES OF ELDER BROTHERS.

Elder brothers, instruct your juniors; Remember well your common parentage; Should they commit a trifling fault, Bear with it and treat them indulgently.

ON THE DUTIES OF YOUNGER BROTHERS.

Disparity in years is ordered by Heaven; Duty to seniors consists in respect.

When younger brothers obey Heaven's dictates, Happiness and honour will be their portion.

ON THE DUTIES OF ELDER SISTERS.

Elder sisters, instruct your younger sisters, Study improvement and fit yourselves for Heaven.

Should you occasionally visit your former homes, Get the little ones around you and tell them what is right.

ON THE DUTIES OF YOUNGER SISTERS.

Girls, obey your elder brothers and sisters, Be obliging and avoid arrogance, Carefully give yourselves to self-improvement, And mind and keep the Ten Commandments.

ON THE DUTIES OF HUSBANDS.

Unbending firmness is natural to the man, Love for a wife should be qualified by prudence; And should the lioness roar, Let not terror fill the mind.

ON THE DUTIES OF WIVES.

Women, be obedient to your three male relatives, And do not disobey your lords: When hens crow in the morning, Sorrow may be expected in the family.

ON THE DUTIES OF ELDER BROTHERS' WIVES.

What is the duty of an elder brother's wife, And what her most appropriate deportment?

Let her cheerfully harmonize with younger brothers' wives, And she will never do amiss.

ON THE DUTIES OF YOUNGER BROTHERS' WIVES.

Younger brothers' wives should respect their elder brothers' wives, In humility honouring their elder brothers; In all things yielding to their senior sisters-in-law, Which will result in harmony superior to music.

ON THE DUTIES OF THE MALE s.e.x.

Let every man have his own partner And maintain the duties of the human relations Firm and unbending; his duties lie from home, But he should avoid such things as cause suspicion.

ON THE DUTIES OF THE FEMALE s.e.x.

The duty of woman is to maintain chast.i.ty; She should shun proximity to the other s.e.x; Sober and decorous, she should keep at home: Thus she can secure happiness and felicity.

ON CONTRACTING MARRIAGES.

Marriages are the result of some relation in a former state The disposal of which rests with Heaven.

When contracted, affection should flow in a continued stream, And the a.s.sociation should be uninterrupted.

ON MANAGING THE HEART.

For the purpose of controlling the whole body, G.o.d has given to man an intelligent mind; When the heart is correct, it becomes the true regulator To which the senses and members are all obedient.

ON MANAGING THE EYES.

The various corruptions first delude the eye; But if the eye be correct, all evil will be avoided: Let the pupil of the eye be sternly fixed, And the light of the body will s.h.i.+ne up to heaven.

ON MANAGING THE EAR.

Whatever sounds a.s.sail my ear, Let me listen to all in silence: Deaf to the entrance of evil, Pervious to good, in order to be eminently intelligent.