In the time of Duke I of Wei there was a minister named Hung
Yin,[2]
who received the order to go on a mission [to another state].
Before his return, the Ti barbarians attacked Wei.[3]
Duke I wished
to raise an army to meet them, but his people with one accord
said, "What Your Highness values and what have [high] salaries
and rank are cranes. What you love are your concubines. Go
have your cranes and concubines fight. How can we fight?" And
they all scattered and fled. The Ti barbarians arrived and
attacked Duke I at Jung-tsê.[4]
They killed him and completely ate
the flesh [of his body], leaving only his liver. When Hung Yin
got there, he reported on his mission to the liver. When he had
finished speaking, he cried out to Heaven and wept. When his
mourning was over, he said, "As minister all I may properly do
is die." And he then actually cut himself open and, pulling out
his intestines, put Duke I's liver inside and died.
When Duke Huan heard of this he said, "Wei was destroyed
because it had not the proper Way. But with a minister like this,
it cannot but be preserved." Whereupon he re-established Wei
in Ch`u-ch`iu.
One like Hung Yin can be called a loyal officer. He killed
himself so as to follow his prince, and not only did he succeed
in following his prince, he also caused the ancestral temple of
Wei to be re-established and kept the sacrifices from being broken
off. He can be said to have had great merit.
The Ode says,[5]
In other quarters there is ease,
And I dwell here alone and sorrowful.
Everybody is going into retirement,
And I alone dare not seek rest.
