“A son has received his life from his father and his mother,” says Confucius in the _Hiao King_, composed 480 B. C., “and this gives them rights over him that are above all others.” In the legend of How Tseih, the founder of the House of Chow, whose mother was Keang Yuen and whose father was “a toe print made by God,” the adventures of the child are thus described: He was placed in a narrow lane, But the sheep and oxen protected him with loving care. He was placed in a wide forest, Where he was met with by the wood-cutters. He was placed on the cold ice, And a bird screened and supported him with its wings. When the bird went away How Tseih began to wail. His cry was long and loud So that his voice filled the whole way. No indication is given in the ode as to who was responsible for exposing the infant to these dangers, but just as in other mythologies in which the heroes or near-gods survive the dangers of infancy, there is no doubt that this Chinese hero was pictured as having overlived dangers that were the common lot of the average child. The commentators take different views of the person responsible for the dangers to which How Tseih was subjected, Maou believing that it was the father, the Emperor K’uh; Ch’ing on the contrary holding that it was Keang Yuen, the mother, who did it herself but not for the purpose of getting rid of the child so much as to show what a “marvellous gift he was from Heaven.”[85] It is not that there are not occasional tender strains in the ode. Number seven in the Odes of Ts’e, the poet, sings: How young and tender Is the child with his two tufts of hair. When you see him after not so long a time Lo! He is wearing the cap.[86] Writing later the Emperor Tai Tsong, the author of a book called the _Mirror of Gold_, repeated these ideas on ancestor worship in the following ordinance (627 to 650 A.D.): “The foundation of all the virtues is filial piety. It is the first thing to learn and I in my youth have received the right lessons. I have done my best to place at ease all my subjects to the end that the parents might be in a state to bring their children up properly and that infants in their turn might acquit themselves of their duties toward their parents. “When the virtue of filial piety flourishes, then all other virtues will follow. In order that the Empire may know that such is my desire and that it is nearest to my heart, I now order that there be distributed in my name and my account to all those who are known for their filial piety, five large measures of rice. To those who have passed their eightieth year, two measures; to those of ninety years, three measures; ... Moreover one shall give, commencing with the first moon, to each woman who gives birth to a son, a measure of rice.”