ordinary Chinese chronology. The piece is one of a group which their
contents lead us to refer to the reign of king Yu, the son of Hsuean,
B.C. 781 to 771. When we examine the chronology of his period, it is
said that in his sixth year, B.C. 776, there was an eclipse of the sun.
Now the ode commences:--

'At the conjunction (of the sun and moon) in the tenth month, on the
first day of the moon, which was Hsin-mao, the sun was eclipsed.'

This eclipse is verified by calculation as having taken place in B.C.
776, on August 29th, the very day and month assigned to it in the poem.

The Preface to the Shih.

5. In the Preface which appeared along with Mao's text of the Shih, the
occasion and authorship of many of the odes are given; but I do not
allow much weight to its testimony. It is now divided into the Great
Preface and the Little Preface; but Mao himself made no such distinction
between its parts. It will be sufficient for me to give a condensed
account of the views of Ku Hsi on the subject:--

'Opinions of scholars are much divided as to the authorship of the
Preface. Some ascribe it to Confucius; some to (his disciple) Dze-hsia,
and some to the historiographers of the states. In the absence of clear
testimony it is impossible to decide the point, but the notice about Wei
Hung (first century) in the Literary Biographies of Han[1] would seem to
make it clear that the Preface was

[1. The account is this: 'Hung became the disciple of Hsieh Man-khing,
who was famous for his knowledge of Mao's Shih; and he afterwards made