... to the west. In the
eleventh month ... to the north." During the next year the nobles of the
eastern province made their appearance at court, and the south, west and
north provinces followed in turn, it being noticeable that, in each case,
the circle started at the east, the place of rising.

The institution of the calendar by the Emperor Yaou is described at length
in the Shu King.(82) Confucius said of this remarkable personage, "Heaven
alone is great, but Yaou is able to imitate Heaven."

The Emperor Yaou "... harmonized the various states of the empire and the
black-haired people, oh! how they were reformed by this cordial agreement.
He commanded He and Ho (officers superintending the calendar and
astronomical instruments) in reverent accordance with the motions of the
expansive heavens, to arrange by numbers and represent the revolutions of
the sun and moon and stars with the lunar mansions and then respectfully
communicate to the people the seasons adapted for labor. He then
separately directed He's younger brother to reside at Yu-e (the modern
Tang-chow in Shan-tung), called the Orient Valley, where he might
respectfully hail the rising sun, adjust and arrange the eastern (and
vernal) undertakings and notice the equalization of days and whether the
star (culminating at nightfall) was the middle constellation of the bird,
in order to hit the centre of mid-spring; he might also observe whether
the people began to disperse abroad and whether birds and beasts were
beginning to pair. He commanded He's third brother to reside at the
southern border (the region of Cochin-China) and adjust and arrange the
southern or summer transformation and respectfully notice the extreme
limit of the shadow when the days attain their utmost length and the star
in the zenith that is denominated Fire (heart of Scorpio, culminated on
eve of summer solstice), in order to fix the exact period of mid-summer,
when the people disperse themselves more widely and the birds and beasts
begin to moult and cast their skins. He then distinctly commanded Ho's
youngest brother to dwell in the west, at a place called the Dark Valley,
where he might respectfully attend the setting sun and equalize and adjust
the western (or autumnal) completions, notice the equalizations of the
nights and see whether the culminating star was Emptiness (Beta in
Aquarius, which culminated at autumnal equinox which was the period at the
centre of the dark principle in