76 Three Ladies as a Charm

A4.28|29

King Mu reigned for fifty-five years. After his death, his son Yi Yu succeeded to the throne, becoming King Gong. When King Gong was traveling on the Jing River, and Duke Mi Kang was with him, there were three girls came to follow. Duke Mi Kang's mother said to him, "You must present them to the King. Three animals or more are called a group, and three people or more are called a crowd, and three ladies or more are called a charm. The King does not hunt more than a group in the field, the Dukes and princes do not get off the car when they see a crowd. The King's concubines do not exceed three from the same clan. The so-called charm is a beautiful thing. Everyone gives you beautiful things, but what virtue do you have to deserve it? Even the King is not worthy of it, let alone someone so insignificant like you! If someone insignificant happened having it, then the end will eventually be the death." Duke Mi Kang was unwilling to present them to King Gong. A year later, King Gong destroyed the Mi fiefdom. After King Gong died, his son Jian succeeded to the throne and became King Yih (懿).  During the reign of King Yih, the royal family declined, and poets wrote poems to satirize it. After King Yih died, King Gong's younger brother Pifang succeeded to the throne, and this was King Xiao. 

After King Xiao died, the princes supported King Yih's crown prince Xie to succeed to the throne, and this was King Yi (夷). (Translator’s note: The duos, the father (懿) and son (夷), both pinyined Yi, but the Chinese characters are totally different, to distinguish from each other, I’ll refer the father as King Yih, of the Cantonese spelling.)

穆王立五十五年，崩，子共王繄扈立。共王游于泾上，密康公从，有三女奔之。其母曰：“必致之王。夫兽三为群，人三为众，女三为粲。王田不取群，公行不下众，王御不参一族。夫粲，美之物也。众以美物归女，而何德以堪之？王犹不堪，况尔之小丑乎！小丑备物，终必亡。”康公不献，一年，共王灭密。共王崩，子懿王囏立。懿王之时，王室遂衰，诗人作刺。

懿王崩，共王弟辟方立，是为孝王。孝王崩，诸侯复立懿王太子燮，是为夷王。