In B.C. 523 there was a comet. A Minister said, "This broom-star sweeps
away the old, and brings in the new. The doings of God are constantly
attended by such appearances."

Under B.C. 532 we have the record of a stone speaking. The Marquis of
Lu enquired of his chief musician if this was a fact, and received the
following answer: "Stones cannot speak. Perhaps this one was possessed
by a spirit. If not, the people must have heard wrong. And yet it
is said that when things are done out of season, and discontents and
complaints are stirring among the people, then speechless things do
speak."

Human Sacrifices.--Human sacrifices appear to have been not altogether
unknown. The _Commentary_ tells us that in B.C. 637, in consequence of
a failure to appear and enter into a covenant, the Viscount of Tseng was
immolated by the people of the Chu State, to appease the wild tribes
of the east. The Minister of War protested: "In ancient times the six
domestic animals were not offered promiscuously in sacrifice; and for
small matters, the regular sacrificial animals were not used. How then
should we dare to offer up a man? Sacrifices are performed for the
benefit of men, who thus as it were entertain the spirits. But if men
sacrifice men, who will enjoy the offering?"

Again, in B.C. 529, the ruler of the Ch'u State destroyed the Ts'ai
State, and offered up the heir apparent as a victim. An officer said,
"This is inauspicious. If the five sacrificial animals may not be used
promiscuously, how much less can a feudal prince be offered up?"

The custom of burying live persons with the dead was first practised in
China in B.C. 580. It is said to have been suggested by an earlier