ABSTRACT
T'ang, the founder of the new dynasty, was of distinguished ancestry, being descended from the famous Hwang Ti through Sieh, the son of the Emperor Ti Kuh, who was Minister of Instruction to Yau, and who for his services had the principality of Shang bestowed upon him. On his ascending the throne at Po,* T'ang issued an address to his people, which has fortunately been preserved in the Historical Classic. It is brief but pithy, and shows him to have been a very thoughtful man, and one with a lofty ideal of what a king ought to be. T'ang was fortunate, like his predecessors, in having a prime minister of rare ability and excellence named I-yin, to assist him in the government of the nation. Having ascended the throne T'ang in order to show that the former dynasty had finally passed away changed the royal colours from black to white.
