[2] Of Lu (Confucius's native State).
[3] Head of one of the "Three Families" of Lu.
BOOK III
Abuse of Proprieties in Ceremonial and Music
Alluding to the head of the Ki family,[4] and the eight lines of posturers[5] before their ancestral hall, Confucius remarked, "If the Ki can allow himself to go to this extent, to what extent will he not allow himself to go?"
The Three Families[6] were in the habit, during the Removal of the sacred vessels after sacrifice, of using the hymn commencing
"Harmoniously the Princes
Draw near with reverent tread,
Assisting in his worship
Heaven's Son, the great and dread."
"How," exclaimed the Master, "can such words be appropriated in the ancestral hall of the Three Families?"