"Build an Ancestral Temple."
An Ancestral Temple was easy enough to understand-a temple for one's ancestors. But there was already a similar temple in the palace, and they had to spend every day guarding against King Zhou secretly melting down its ritual vessels. Why build another?
Were the ritual vessels in one temple not enough to melt down? Did he need another set?
The ministers were puzzled. Since the Ministry of Rites oversaw sacrifices, Bo Yi stepped forward and asked, "May I ask, Your Majesty, what do you mean by an Ancestral Temple?"
Zi Shou smiled. "A temple for our ancestors, naturally. Chaoge already has an Ancestral Temple where the ancestors of Great Shang are enshrined, but the lineage of the King of Shang is not the only one with ancestors. You, my ministers, have ancestors too."
"Take Minister Li, for example." Zi Shou pointed at Li Jing and continued, "His ancestor was Gaoyao. Shun appointed Gaoyao chief judge, placing him in charge of criminal law, and so his clan took the name Li from his office. The character for that Li was interchangeable with another; first they were the Li clan of the judge's title, and later the Li clan of the plum tree."
"Was Gaoyao not a sage of ancient times? It took countless worthy ancestors like him to bring about the Great Shang of today, not the efforts of my ancestors alone. Since that is so, why should we not honor them all with sacrifices?"
"Every one of the Ancient People deserves respect!"
The ministers suddenly saw the light. This was a good thing. Whatever the feudal lords and nobles were like now, if one traced their lineages back to their roots, their ancestors had all contributed to the realm. Otherwise, their descendants could never have become