| Annals of Yin: |
Emperor Zhou's discrimination was acute, his hearing and sight particularly good, his natural abilities extraordinary, and his physical strength equal to that of a wild beast. He had cunning enough to evade reproofs, and volubility enough to gloss over his faults. He boasted that he was above his ministers on the ground of ability, and that he surpassed the people of the empire on account of his reputation. He indulged in wine, women, and lusts of all sorts. His partiality for Taji (Actress F) caused him to carry out whatever she desired, so that his ministers had to devise new forms of dissipation, the most depraved dances and extravagant music; he increased the taxation in order to fill the Stag tower with money, and to store the granary at 'Big bridge.' He made a collection of dogs, horses, and curiosities, with which he filled his palaces; and enlarging his parks and towers at Shaqiu, procured numbers of wild beasts and birds and put them therein. He slighted the spirits, assembled a great number of play actors at Shaqiu, made a pond of wine, hung the trees with meat, made men and women chase each other about quite naked, and had drinking bouts the whole night long. |
