The Maccabaean

The Book of Esther begins with a description of the feast given by King Ahasuerus in the third year of his reign, to which all the nobles of his vast kingdom were invited, and to which the people of his capital were admitted. Now the fact of its being the third year of his rule does not appear to convey any significance to the historian or commentator, but to the Chinese reader it implies that it was after the end of the mourning for his father, inasmuch as according to Chinese rites the prescribed time of mourning for a king or parent is three years, though, as a matter of fact, it is reduced to twenty-seven months, in conformity with the manner of counting the age—a child, say, twenty-seven months old being regarded as three years. The three years’ mourning dates from remotest antiquity, and we find it recorded in the “Shoo King” that the nation mourned the death of the ruler Yao (B. C. 2356) as for a parent, and wore mourning raiment for three years—both nobles and people observing this custom with the utmost rigor—a rite which is practised even to the present day. For a filial son, this mourning meant solitude and retirement. The “Shoo King” tells us that Kao Tsung (B. C. 1323) passed three years in seclusion and without even speaking to his ministers and nobles. Assuming that the ancient Persian custom of royal mourning was the same as in China, the feast given by Ahasuerus could therefore not have been given before the third year of his accession to the throne. Modern Persians do not observe such prolonged mourning, but the ancients may have otherwise.

As to the feast given by King Ahasuerus, it resembles the public feasts given by the Chinese from highest antiquity. The classics and annals note many kinds. Some were repasts to royal kinsfolk; others religious feasts held before the grand sacrifices. State banquets were given to the assembled feud-

atory princes and also on royal birthdays. But the great feasts prescribed by law were those given to the very aged citizens distinguished for their services and virtues, after the literary and military examinations, great hunts, or a war, and to vassals and tribute bearers. We are told that Ahasuerus invited the most distinguished Persians, the chief of the Medes, and governors of provinces. Such was the assemblage lauded in the Book of, Odes, wherein it says: “As one sees streams hurry in their course to the sea, bearing the tribute of their waters, so the princes of the empire came from all parts to pay homage to the Emperor.” These lines are supposed to refer to the great durbar given at Lo Yang by King Ching, who built and made that city his capital; and they seem to vividly attest what is only indicated in the sacred text, that the feast was preceded by the solemn homage of the princes; for these great assemblies were always the occasion of a feast.

The Liki, or Book of Rites, prescribes stated periods for these durbars, and enters into the minutest details as to the etiquette to be observed thereat. To narrate them would be too wearisome. The feast given by Ahasuerus was in his palace, which the commentary says was a distinct quarter of the city standing on an eminence. This confirms exactly what we find in the Liki, which testifies that Duke Chow (B. C. 105) held audiences in the Hall of Distinction, where each duke, marquis, count or baron was allotted his prescribed position, north, east, or west, as were also the different tribes regarded as barbarians. It does not state the exact form of homage, but it no doubt consisted, as at the present day, of kow-towing.

According to Esther, the object of the King's feast was to display his magnificence, or, as the Bible puts it, "show the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honor of his excellent majesty." Chinese writers who de-