On the day of the remembrance of Kao Tsung, there appeared a crowing pheasant. Tsu Ki said, 'To rectify this affair, the king must first be corrected.' He delivered accordingly a lesson to the king, saying, 'In its inspection of men below, God's first consideration is of their righteousness, and He bestows on them (accordingly) length of years or the contrary. It is not God who cuts short men's lives; they bring them to an end themselves. Some men who have not complied with virtue will yet not acknowledge their offences, and when God has by evident tokens charged them to correct their conduct, they still say, "What are these things to us?"

'Oh! your Majesty's business is to care reverently for the people. And all (your ancestors) were the heirs of (the kingdom by the gift of) God;—in honouring them, be not so excessive in the honours paid to your father.'