diff options
| author | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2025-07-17 01:25:32 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2025-07-17 01:25:32 -0700 |
| commit | 19cd52b532f8331fac01db0deed9aabcca0db76b (patch) | |
| tree | 9f32de0c94dfaf132fe156ad5e0917230845e00d | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2941.txt | 6563 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2941.zip | bin | 0 -> 133891 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 6580 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/2941.txt b/2941.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..794fca3 --- /dev/null +++ b/2941.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6563 @@ +Project Gutenberg THE CHINESE CLASSICS: (PROLEGOMENA) by Legge +#2 in our series by James Legge + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + +Presently, contributions are only being solicted from people in: +Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, +Iowa, Indiana, and Vermont. As the requirements for other states +are met, additions to this list will be made and fund raising will +begin in the additional states. These donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655 + + +Title: THE CHINESE CLASSICS (PROLEGOMENA) + +Author: James Legge + +Release Date: December, 2001 [Etext #2941] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] + +Edition: 10 + +Project Gutenberg THE CHINESE CLASSICS: (PROLEGOMENA) by Legge +*****This file should be named 2941.txt or 2941.zip****** + +This etext was prepared by Rick Davis of Ashigawa, Japan, with +assistance from David Steelman, Taiwan. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +https://gutenberg.org +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext02 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext02 + +Or /etext01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +Presently, contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, +Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, +Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, +South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. + +These donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, +EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent +permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +All donations should be made to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation. Mail to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Avenue +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 [USA] + + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Rick Davis of Ashigawa, Japan, with +assistance from David Steelman, Taiwan. + + + + +A note from the digitizer + + +This is a text file that can be read on any computer with any +Chinese-capable word processor or text editor. If you have the Big +5 character set for Chinese installed, choosing that set from your +font menu will display the Chinese characters properly. Even if +Chinese is not installed on your computer, the English will be +displayed properly, even though the Chinese will appear as +garbage characters. + +This digitized version preserves the original page breaks. The +text of each page is followed by its footnotes. Note reference +numbers in the text are enclosed in square brackets. In this text +version, all diacriticals have been omitted. + +In a few places I have substituted the character forms available +in the Big 5 character set for rare or (what are now considered) +nonstandard forms used by Legge. Characters not included in the +Big 5 character set in any form are described by their constituent +elements. + +This file contains only the Prolegomena; the other parts of +Legge's work are in separate files. + + + + + +THE CHINESE CLASSICS + +with a translation, critical and exegetical +notes, prolegomena, and copious indexes + +by + +James Legge + +IN FIVE VOLUMES + +CONFUCIAN ANALECTS +THE GREAT LEARNING +THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN + + + + + +PROLEGOMENA. + +CHAPTER I. +OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS GENERALLY. + +SECTION I. +BOOKS INCLUDED UNDER THE NAME OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS. + + 1. The Books now recognised as of highest authority in China +are comprehended under the denominations of 'The five Ching [1]' +and 'The four Shu [2].' The term Ching is of textile origin, and +signifies the warp threads of a web, and their adjustment. An +easy application of it is to denote what is regular and insures +regularity. As used with reference to books, it indicates their +authority on the subjects of which they treat. 'The five Ching' are +the five canonical Works, containing the truth upon the highest +subjects from the sages of China, and which should be received as +law by all generations. The term Shu simply means Writings or +Books, = the Pencil Speaking; it may be used of a single character, +or of books containing thousands of characters. + 2. 'The five Ching' are: the Yi [3], or, as it has been styled, +'The Book of Changes;' the Shu [4], or 'The Book of History;' the +Shih [5], or 'The Book of Poetry;' the Li Chi [6], or 'Record of Rites;' +and the Ch'un Ch'iu [7], or 'Spring and Autumn,' a chronicle of +events, extending from 722 to 481 B.C. The authorship, or +compilation rather, of all these Works is loosely attributed to +Confucius. But much of the Li Chi is from later hands. Of the Yi, +the Shu, and the Shih, it is only in the first that we find additions +attributed to the philosopher himself, in the shape of appendixes. +The Ch'un Ch'iu is the only one of the five Ching which can, with +an approximation to correctness, be described as of his own +'making.' + +1 ¤¸g. +2 ¥|®Ñ. +3 ©ö¸g. +4 ®Ñ¸g. +5 ¸Ö¸g. +6 §°O. +7 ¬K¬î. + + + 'The Four Books' is an abbreviation for 'The Books of the +Four Philosophers [1].' The first is the Lun Yu [2], or 'Digested +Conversations,' being occupied chiefly with the sayings of +Confucius. He is the philosopher to whom it belongs. It appears in +this Work under the title of 'Confucian Analects.' The second is +the Ta Hsio [3], or 'Great Learning,' now commonly attributed to +Tsang Shan [4], a disciple of the sage. He is he philosopher of it. +The third is the Chung Yung [5], or 'Doctrine of the Mean,' as the +name has often been translated, though it would be better to +render it, as in the present edition, by 'The State of Equilibrium +and Harmony.' Its composition is ascribed to K'ung Chi [6], the +grandson of Confucius. He is the philosopher of it. The fourth +contains the works of Mencius. + 3. This arrangement of the Classical Books, which is +commonly supposed to have originated with the scholars of the +Sung dynasty, is defective. The Great Learning and the Doctrine of +the Mean are both found in the Record of Rites, being the thirty- +ninth and twenty-eighth Books respectively of that compilation, +according to the best arrangement of it. + 4. The oldest enumerations of the Classical Books specify +only the five Ching. The Yo Chi, or 'Record of Music [7],' the +remains of which now form one of the Books in the Li Chi, was +sometimes added to those, making with them the six Ching. A +division was also made into nine Ching, consisting of the Yi, the +Shih, the Shu, the Chau Li [8], or 'Ritual of Chau,' the I Li [9], or +certain 'Ceremonial Usages,' the Li Chi, and the annotated editions +of the Ch'un Ch'iu [10], by Tso Ch'iu-ming [11], Kung-yang Kao [12], +and Ku-liang Ch'ih [13]. In the famous compilation of the Classical +Books, undertaken by order of T'ai-tsung, the second emperor of +the T'ang dynasty (A.D. 627-649), and which appeared in the reign +of his successor, there are thirteen Ching, viz. the Yi, the Shih, +the Shu, the three editions of the Ch'un Ch'iu, the Li Chi, the Chau +Li, the I Li, the Confucian Analects, the R Ya [14], a sort of +ancient dictionary, the Hsiao Ching [15], or 'Classic of Filial +Piety,' and the works of Mencius. + 5. A distinction, however, was made among the Works thus + +1 ¥|¤l¤§®Ñ. +2 ½×»y. +3 ¤j¾Ç. +4 ´¿°Ñ. +5 ¤¤±e. +6 ¤Õ¥ù. +7 ¼Ö°O. +8 ©P§. +9 »ö§. +10 ¬K¬î¤T¶Ç +11 ¥ª¥C©ú. +12 ¤½¦Ï°ª. +13 ½\±ç¨ª. +14 º¸¶®. +15 §µ¸g. + + +comprehended under the same common name; and Mencius, the Lun +Yu, the Ta Hsio, the Chung Yung, and the Hsiao Ching were spoken +of as the Hsiao Ching, or 'Smaller Classics.' It thus appears, +contrary to the ordinary opinion on the subject, that the Ta Hsio +and Chung Yung had been published as separate treatises before +the Sung dynasty, and that Four Books, as distinguished from the +greater Ching, had also previously found a place in the literature +of China [1]. + +SECTION II. +THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS. + + 1. This subject will be discussed in connexion with each +separate Work, and it is only designed here to exhibit generally +the evidence on which the Chinese Classics claim to be received +as genuine productions of the time to which they are referred. + 2. In the memoirs of the Former Han dynasty (B.C. 202-A.D. +24), we have one chapter which we may call the History of +Literature [2]. It commences thus: 'After the death of Confucius +[3], there was an end of his exquisite words; and when his seventy +disciples had passed away, violence began to be done to their +meaning. It came about that there were five different editions of +the Ch'un Ch'iu, four of the Shih, and several of the Yi. Amid the +disorder and collisions of the warring States (B.C. 481-220), +truth and falsehood were still more in a state of warfare, and a +sad confusion marked the words of the various scholars. Then +came the calamity inflicted under the Ch'in dynasty (B.C. 220- +205), when the literary monuments were destroyed by fire, in +order to keep the people in ignorance. But, by and by, there arose +the Han dynasty, which set itself to remedy the evil wrought by +the Ch'in. Great efforts were made to collect slips and tablets [4], +and the way was thrown wide open for the bringing in of Books. In +the time of the emperor Hsiao-wu [5] (B.C. 140-85), portions of +Books being wanting and tablets lost, so that ceremonies and +music were + +1 For the statements in the two last paragraphs, see ¦èªe¦X¶°, ¤j¾Ç +ÃÒ¤å, ¨÷¤@. +2 «eº~®Ñ, ¥»§Ó, ²Ä¤Q¨÷, ÃÀ¤å§Ó. +3 ¥ò¥§. +4 ½gÄy, slips and tablets of bamboo, which supplied in those days +the place of paper. +5 ¥@¬É§µªZ¬Ó«Ò. + + +suffering great damage, he was moved to sorrow and said, "I am +very sad for this." He therefore formed the plan of Repositories, +in which the Books might be stored, and appointed officers to +transcribe Books on an extensive scale, embracing the works of +the various scholars, that they might all be placed in the +Repositories. The emperor Ch'ang (B.C. 32-5), finding that a +portion of the Books still continued dispersed or missing, +commissioned Ch'an Nang, the Superintendent of Guests [2], to +search for undiscovered Books throughout the empire, and by +special edict ordered the chief of the Banqueting House, Liu +Hsiang [3], to examine the Classical Works, along with the +commentaries on them, the writings of the scholars, and all +poetical productions; the Master-controller of Infantry, Zan +Hwang [4], to examine the Books on the art of war; the Grand +Historiographer, Yin Hsien [5], to examine the Books treating of +the art of numbers (i.e. divination); and the imperial Physician, Li +Chu-kwo [6], to examine the Books on medicine. Whenever any +book was done with, Hsiang forthwith arranged it, indexed it, and +made a digest of it, which was presented to the emperor. While +this work was in progress, Hsiang died, and the emperor Ai (B.C. +6-A.D. 1) appointed his son, Hsin [7], a Master of the imperial +carriages, to complete his father's work. On this, Hsin collected +all the Books, and presented a report of them, under seven +divisions.' + The first of these divisions seems to have been a general +catalogue [8] containing perhaps only the titles of the works +included in the other six. The second embraced the Classical +Works [9]. From the abstract of it, which is preserved in the +chapter referred to, we find that there were 294 collections of +the Yi-ching from thirteen different individuals or editors [10]; +412 collections of the Shu-ching, from nine different individuals; +416 volumes of the Shih-ching, from six different individuals +[11]; of the Books of Rites, 555 collec- + +1 §µ¦¨¬Ó«Ò. +2 ¿ÖªÌ³¯¹A. +3 ¥ú¸S¤j¤Ò¼B¦V. +4 ¨B§L®Õ¼¢¥ô§». +5 ¤Ó¥v¥O¤¨«w. +6 ¨ÍÂå§õ®Û°ê. +7 ¨Í¤¤©^¨®³£¼¢Ýõ. +8 ¿è²¤. +9 ¤»ÃÀ²¤. +10 ¤Z©ö, ¤Q¤T®a, ¤G¦Ê¤E¤Q¥|½g. How much of the whole work was +contained in each ½g, it is impossible to determine. P. Regis says: +'Pien, quemadmodum Gallice dicimus "des pieces d'eloquence, de +poesie."' +11 ¸Ö, ¤»®a, ¥|¦Ê¤@¤Q¤»¨÷. The collections of the Shih-ching are +mentioned under the name of chuan, 'sections,' 'portions.' Had p'ien +been used, it might have been understood of individual odes. This +change of terms shows that by p'ien in the other summaries, we +are not to understand single blocks or chapters. + + +tions, from thirteen different individuals; of the Books on Music, +165 collections, from six different editors; 948 collections of +History, under the heading of the Ch'un Ch'iu, from twenty-three +different individuals; 229 collections of the Lun Yu, including the +Analects and kindred fragments, from twelve different +individuals; of the Hsiao-ching, embracing also the R Ya, and some +other portions of the ancient literature, 59 collections, from +eleven different individuals; and finally of the lesser Learning, +being works on the form of the characters, 45 collections, from +eleven different individuals. The works of Mencius were included +in the second division [1], among the writings of what were +deemed orthodox scholars [2], of which there were 836 +collections, from fifty-three different individuals. + 3. The above important document is sufficient to show how +the emperors of the Han dynasty, as soon as they had made good +their possession of the empire, turned their attention to recover +the ancient literature of the nation, the Classical Books engaging +their first care, and how earnestly and effectively the scholars of +the time responded to the wishes of their rulers. In addition to +the facts specified in the preface to it, I may relate that the +ordinance of the Ch'in dynasty against possessing the Classical +Books (with the exception, as it will appear in its proper place, of +the Yi-ching) was repealed by the second sovereign of the Han, the +emperor Hsiao Hui [3], in the fourth year of his reign, B.C. 191, and +that a large portion of the Shu-ching was recovered in the time of +the third emperor, B.C. 179-157, while in the year B.C. 136 a +special Board was constituted, consisting of literati, who were +put in charge of the five Ching [4]. + 4. The collections reported on by Liu Hsin suffered damage +in the troubles which began A.D. 8, and continued till the rise of +the second or eastern Han dynasty in the year 25. The founder of +it (A.D. 25-57) zealously promoted the undertaking of his +predecessors, and additional repositories were required for the +Books which were collected. His successors, the emperors Hsiao- +ming [5] (58-75), Hsiao-chang [6] (76-88), and Hsiao-hwo [7] (89- +105), took a part themselves in the studies and discussions of the +literary tribunal, and + +1 ½Ñ¤l²¤. +2 ¾§®aªÌ¬y. +3 §µ´f¬Ó«Ò. +4 ªZ«Ò«Ø¤¸¤¦~, ªì¸m¤¸g³Õ¤h. +5 Åã©v§µ©ú¬Ó«Ò. +6 µÂ©v§µ³¹¬Ó«Ò. +7 §µ©M¬Ó«Ò. + + +the emperor Hsiao-ling [1], between the years 172-178, had the +text of the five Ching, as it had been fixed, cut in slabs of stone, +and set up in the capital outside the gate of the Grand College. +Some old accounts say that the characters were in three different +forms, but they were only in one form; -- see the 287th book of +Chu I-tsun's great Work. + 5. Since the Han, the successive dynasties have considered +the literary monuments of the country to be an object of their +special care. Many of them have issued editions of the Classics, +embodying the commentaries of preceding generations. No dynasty +has distinguished itself more in this line than the present +Manchau possessors of the empire. In fine, the evidence is +complete that the Classical Books of China have come down from +at least a century before our Christian era, substantially the +same as we have them at present. + 6. But it still remains to inquire in what condition we may +suppose the Books were, when the scholars of the Han dynasty +commenced their labors upon them. They acknowledge that the +tablets -- we cannot here speak of manuscripts -- were +mutilated and in disorder. Was the injury which they had received +of such an extent that all the care and study put forth on the +small remains would be of little use? This question can be +answered satisfactorily, only by an examination of the evidence +which is adduced for the text of each particular Classic; but it +can be made apparent that there is nothing, in the nature of the +case, to interfere with our believing that the materials were +sufficient to enable the scholars to execute the work intrusted to +them. + 7 The burning of the ancient Books by order of the founder +of the Ch'in dynasty is always referred to as the greatest +disaster which they sustained, and with this is coupled the +slaughter of many of the Literati by the same monarch. + The account which we have of these transactions in the +Historical Records is the following [2]: + 'In his 34th year [the 34th year, that is, after he had +ascended the throne of Ch'in. It was only the 9th year after he had +been acknowledged Sovereign of the empire, coinciding with B.C. +213], the emperor, returning from a visit to the south, which had +extended + +1 §µÆF¬Ó«Ò. +2 I have thought it well to endeavour to translate the whole of +the passages. Father de Mailla merely constructs from them a +narrative of his own; see L'Histoire Generale de La China, tome ii. +pp. 399-402. The ³qŲºô¥Ø avoids the difficulties of the original by +giving an abridgment of it. + + +as far as Yueh, gave a feast in his palace at Hsien-yang, when the +Great Scholars, amounting to seventy men, appeared and wished +him a long life [1]. One of the principal ministers, Chau Ch'ing- +ch'an [2], came forward and said, "Formerly, the State of Ch'in +was only 1000 li in extent, but Your Majesty, by your spirit-like +efficacy and intelligent wisdom, has tranquillized and settled the +whole empire, and driven away all barbarous tribes, so that, +wherever the sun and moon shine, all rulers appear before you as +guests acknowledging subjection. You have formed the states of +the various princes into provinces and districts, where the people +enjoy a happy tranquillity, suffering no more from the calamities +of war and contention. This condition of things will be +transmitted for 10,000 generations. From the highest antiquity +there has been no one in awful virtue like Your Majesty." + 'The emperor was pleased with this flattery, when Shun-yu +Yueh [3], one of the Great Scholars, a native of Ch'i, advanced and +said, "The sovereigns of Yin and Chau, for more than a thousand +years, invested their sons and younger brothers, and meritorious +ministers, with domains and rule, and could thus depend upon +them for support and aid;-- that I have heard. But now Your +Majesty is in possession of all within the seas, and your sons and +younger brothers are nothing but private individuals. The issue +will be that some one will arise to play the part of T'ien Ch'ang +[4], or of the six nobles of Tsin. Without the support of your own +family, where will you find the aid which you may require? That a +state of things not modelled from the lessons of antiquity can +long continue;-- that is what I have not heard. Ch'ing is now +showing himself to be a flatterer, who increases the errors of +Your Majesty, and not a loyal minister." + 'The emperor requested the opinions of others on this +representation, and the premier, Li Sze [5], said, "The five +emperors were not one the double of the other, nor did the three +dynasties accept one another's ways. Each had a peculiar system +of government, not for the sake of the contrariety, but as being +required by the changed times. Now, Your Majesty has laid the +foundations of + +1 ³Õ¤h¤C¤Q¤H«e¬°¹Ø. The ³Õ¤h were not only 'great scholars,' but had +an official rank. There was what we may call a college of them, +consisting of seventy members. +2 ¹²®g, ©P«C¦Ú. +3 ²E¤_¶V. +4 ¥Ð±`. -- ±` should probably be «í, as it is given in the T'ung +Chien. See Analects XIV. xxii. T'ien Hang was the same as Ch'an +Ch'ang of that chapter. +5 ¥à¬Û§õ´µ + + +imperial sway, so that it will last for 10,000 generations. This is +indeed beyond what a stupid scholar can understand. And, +moreover, Yueh only talks of things belonging to the Three +Dynasties, which are not fit to be models to you. At other times, +when the princes were all striving together, they endeavoured to +gather the wandering scholars about them; but now, the empire is +in a stable condition, and laws and ordinances issue from one +supreme authority. Let those of the people who abide in their +homes give their strength to the toils of husbandry, while those +who become scholars should study the various laws and +prohibitions. Instead of doing this, however, the scholars do not +learn what belongs to the present day, but study antiquity. They +go on to condemn the present time, leading the masses of the +people astray, and to disorder. + '"At the risk of my life, I, the prime minister, say: Formerly, +when the nation was disunited and disturbed, there was no one +who could give unity to it. The princes therefore stood up +together; constant references were made to antiquity to the +injury of the present state; baseless statements were dressed up +to confound what was real, and men made a boast of their own +peculiar learning to condemn what their rulers appointed. And +now, when Your Majesty has consolidated the empire, and, +distinguishing black from white, has constituted it a stable unity, +they still honour their peculiar learning, and combine together; +they teach men what is contrary to your laws. When they hear +that an ordinance has been issued, every one sets to discussing it +with his learning. In the court, they are dissatisfied in heart; out +of it, they keep talking in the streets. While they make a pretense +of vaunting their Master, they consider it fine to have +extraordinary views of their own. And so they lead on the people +to be guilty of murmuring and evil speaking. If these things are +not prohibited, Your Majesty's authority will decline, and parties +will be formed. The best way is to prohibit them, I pray that all +the Records in charge of the Historiographers be burned, +excepting those of Ch'in; that, with the exception of those +officers belonging to the Board of Great Scholars, all throughout +the empire who presume to keep copies of the Shih-ching, or of +the Shu-ching, or of the books of the Hundred Schools, be required +to go with them to the officers in charge of the several districts, +and burn them [1]; that all who may dare to speak + +1 ±x¸Ú¦u±LÂø¿N¤§. + + +together about the Shih and the Shu be put to death, and their +bodies exposed in the market-place; that those who make mention +of the past, so as to blame the present, be put to death along with +their relatives; that officers who shall know of the violation of +those rules and not inform against the offenders, be held equally +guilty with them; and that whoever shall not have burned their +Books within thirty days after the issuing of the ordinance, be +branded and sent to labor on the wall for four years. The only +Books which should be spared are those on medicine, divination, +and husbandry. Whoever wants to learn the laws may go to the +magistrates and learn of them." + 'The imperial decision was -- "Approved."' + The destruction of the scholars is related more briefly. In +the year after the burning of the Books, the resentment of the +emperor was excited by the remarks and the flight of two +scholars who had been favourites with him, and he determined to +institute a strict inquiry about all of their class in Hsien-yang, to +find out whether they had been making ominous speeches about +him, and disturbing the minds of the people. The investigation +was committed to the Censors [1], and it being discovered that +upwards of 460 scholars had violated the prohibitions, they were +all buried alive in pits [2], for a warning to the empire, while +degradation and banishment were employed more strictly than +before against all who fell under suspicion. The emperor's eldest +son, Fu-su, remonstrated with him, saying that such measures +against those who repeated the words of Confucius and sought to +imitate him, would alienate all the people from their infant +dynasty, but his interference offended him father so much that he +was sent off from court, to be with the general who was +superintending the building of the great wall. + 8. No attempts have been made by Chinese critics and +historians to discredit the record of these events, though some +have questioned the extent of the injury inflicted by them on the +monuments of their ancient literature [3]. It is important to +observe that the edict against the Books did not extend to the Yi- +ching, which was + +1 ±s¥v±x®×°Ý½Ñ¥Í, ½Ñ¥Í¶Ç¬Û§i¤Þ. +2 ¦Û°£¥Ç¸TªÌ, ¥|¦Ê¤»¾l¤H, ¬Ò¨Â¤§«w¶§. The meaning of this passage as +a whole is sufficiently plain, but I am unable to make out the +force of the phrase ¦Û°£. +3 See the remarks of Chamg Chia-tsi (§¨»Ú¾G¤ó), of the Sung +dynasty, on the subject, in the ¤åÄm³q¦Ò, Bk. clxxiv. p. 5. + + +exempted as being a work on divination, nor did it extend to the +other classics which were in charge of the Board of Great +Scholars. There ought to have been no difficulty in finding copies +when the Han dynasty superseded that of the Ch'in, and probably +there would have been none but for the sack of the capital in B.C. +206 by Hsiang Yu, the formidable opponent of the founder of the +House of Han. Then, we are told, the fires blazed for three months +among the palaces and public buildings, and must have proved as +destructive to the copies of the Great Scholars as the edict of the +tyrant had been to the copies among the people. + It is to be noted also that the life of Shih Hwang Ti lasted +only three years after the promulgation of his edict. He died in +B.C. 210, and the reign of his second son who succeeded him +lasted only other three years. A brief period of disorder and +struggling for the supreme authority between different chiefs +ensured; but the reign of the founder of the Han dynasty dates +from B.C. 202. Thus, eleven years were all which intervened +between the order for the burning of the Books and rise of that +family, which signaled itself by the care which it bestowed for +their recovery; and from the edict of the tyrant of Ch'in against +private individuals having copies in their keeping, to its express +abrogation by the emperor Hsiao Hui, there were only twenty-two +years. We may believe, indeed, that vigorous efforts to carry the +edict into effect would not be continued longer than the life of +its author,-- that is, not for more than about three years. The +calamity inflicted upon the ancient Books of China by the House of +Ch'in could not have approached to anything like a complete +destruction of them. There would be no occasion for the scholars +of the Han dynasty, in regard to the bulk of their ancient +literature, to undertake more than the work of recension and +editing. + 9. The idea of forgery by them on a large scale is out of the +question. The catalogues of Liang Hsin enumerated more than +13,000 volumes of a larger or smaller size, the productions of +nearly 600 different writers, and arranged in thirty-eight +subdivisions of subjects [1]. In the third catalogue, the first +subdivision contained the orthodox writers [2], to the number of +fifty-three, with 836 Works or portions of their Works. Between +Mencius and + +1 ¤Z®Ñ¤»²¤, ¤T¤Q¤KºØ, ¤¦Ê¤E¤Q¤»®a, ¸U¤T¤d¤G¦Ê¤»¤E¨÷. +2 ¾§®aªÌ¬y. + + +K'ung Chi, the grandson of Confucius, eight different authors have +place. The second subdivision contained the Works of the Taoist +school [1], amounting to 993 collections, from thirty-seven +different authors. The sixth subdivision contained the Mohist +writers [2], to the number of six, with their productions in 86 +collections. I specify these two subdivisions, because they +embrace the Works of schools or sects antagonistic to that of +Confucius, and some of them still hold a place in Chinese +literature, and contain many references to the five Classics, and +to Confucius and his disciples. + 10. The inquiry pursued in the above paragraphs conducts us +to the conclusion that the materials from which the classics, as +they have come down to us, were compiled and edited in the two +centuries preceding our Christian era, were genuine remains, +going back to a still more remote period. The injury which they +sustained from the dynasty of Ch'in was, I believe, the same in +character as that to which they were exposed during all the time +of 'the Warring States.' It may have been more intense in degree, +but the constant warfare which prevailed for some centuries +among the different states which composed the kingdom was +eminently unfavourable to the cultivation of literature. Mencius +tells us how the princes had made away with many of the records +of antiquity, from which their own usurpations and innovations +might have been condemned [3]. Still the times were not +unfruitful, either in scholars or statesmen, to whom the ways and +monuments of antiquity were dear, and the space from the rise of +the Ch'in dynasty to the death of Confucius was not very great. It +only amounted to 258 years. Between these two periods Mencius +stands as a connecting link. Born probably in the year B.C. 371, he +reached, by the intervention of Kung Chi, back to the sage himself, +and as his death happened B.C. 288, we are brought down to within +nearly half a century of the Ch'in dynasty. From all these +considerations we may proceed with confidence to consider each +separate Work, believing that we have in these Classics and Books +what the great sage of China and his disciples gave to their +country more than 2000 years ago. + +1 ¹D®aªÌ¬y. +2 ¾¥®aªÌ¬y. +3 See Mencius, V. Pt. II. ii. 2. + + +CHAPTER II. +OF THE CONFUCIAN ANALECTS. + +SECTION I. +FORMATION OF THE TEXT OF THE ANALECTS BY THE SCHOLARS OF +THE HAN DYNASTY. + + 1. When the work of collecting and editing the remains of +the Classical Books was undertaken by the scholars of Han, there +appeared two different copies of the Analects, one from Lu, the +native State of Confucius, and the other from Ch'i, the State +adjoining. Between these there were considerable differences. +The former consisted of twenty Books or Chapters, the same as +those into which the Classic is now divided. The latter contained +two Books in addition, and in the twenty Books, which they had in +common, the chapters and sentences were somewhat more +numerous than in the Lu exemplar. + 2. The names of several individuals are given, who devoted +themselves to the study of those two copies of the Classic. +Among the patrons of the Lu copy are mentioned the names of +Hsia-hau Shang, grand-tutor of the heir-apparent, who died at the +age of 90, and in the reign of the emperor Hsuan (B.C. 73-49) [1]; +Hsiao Wang-chih [2], a general-officer, who died in the reign of +the emperor Yuan (B.C. 48-33); Wei Hsien, who was a premier of +the empire from B.C. 70-66; and his son Hsuan-ch'ang [3]. As +patrons of the Ch'i copy, we have Wang Ch'ing, who was a censor +in the year B.C. 99 [4]; Yung Shang [5]; and Wang Chi [6], a +statesman who died in the beginning of the reign of the emperor +Yuan. + 3. But a third copy of the Analects was discovered about B.C. +150. One of the sons of the emperor Ching was appointed king of +Lu [7] in the year B.C. 154, and some time after, wishing to +enlarge his palace, he proceeded to pull down the house of the +K'ung family, known as that where Confucius himself had lived. + +1 ¤Ó¤l¤j¶Ç®L«J³Ó. +2 «e±Nx, ¿½±æ¤§. +3 ¥à¬Û, ³½å, ¤Î¤l, ¥È¦¨. +4 ¤ýë. +5 ±e¥Í. +6 ¤¤±L¤ý¦N. +7 ¾|¤ý¦@ (or ®¥). + + +While doing so, there were found in the wall copies of the Shu- +ching, the Ch'un Ch'iu, the Hsiao-ching, and the Lun Yu or Analects, +which had been deposited there, when the edict for the burning of +the Books was issued. There were all written, however, in the +most ancient form of the Chinese character [1], which had fallen +into disuse, and the king returned them to the K'ung family, the +head of which, K'ung An-kwo [2], gave himself to the study of +them, and finally, in obedience to an imperial order, published a +Work called "The Lun Yu, with Explanations of the Characters, and +Exhibition of the Meaning [3].' + 4. The recovery of this copy will be seen to be a most +important circumstance in the history f the text of the Analects. +It is referred to by Chinese writers, as 'The old Lun Yu.' In the +historical narrative which we have of the affair, a circumstance +is added which may appear to some minds to throw suspicion on +the whole account. The king was finally arrested, we are told, in +his purpose to destroy the house, by hearing the sounds of bells, +musical stones, lutes, and citherns, as he was ascending the +steps that led to the ancestral hall or temple. This incident was +contrived, we may suppose, by the K'ung family, to preserve the +house, or it may have been devised by the historian to glorify the +sage, but we may not, on account of it, discredit the finding of +the ancient copies of the Books. We have K'ung An-kwo's own +account of their being committed to him, and of the ways which +he took to decipher them. The work upon the Analects, mentioned +above, has not indeed come down to us, but his labors on the Shu- +ching still remain. + 5. It has been already stated, that the Lun Yu of Ch'i +contained two Books more than that of Lu. In this respect, the old +Lun Yu agreed with the Lu exemplar. Those two books were +wanting in it as well. The last book of the Lu Lun was divided in +it, however, into two, the chapter beginning, 'Yao said,' forming a +whole Book by itself, and the remaining two chapters formed +another Book beginning 'Tsze-chang.' With this trifling difference, +the old and the Lu copies appear to have agreed together. + 6 Chang Yu, prince of An-ch'ang [4], who died B.C. 4, after +having + +1 ¬ì¤æ¤å¤l, -- lit. 'tadpole characters.' They were, it is said, the +original forms devised by Ts'ang-chieh, with large heads and fine +tails, like the creature from which they were named. See the +notes to the preface to the Shu-ching in 'The Thirteen Classics.' +2 ¤Õ¦w°ê. +3 ½×»y°V¸Ñ. See the preface to the Lun Yu in 'The Thirteen Ching.' It +has been my principal authority in this section. +4 ¦w©÷«J, ±i¬ê. + + +sustained several of the highest offices of the empire, instituted +a comparison between the exemplars of Lu and Ch'i, with a view +to determine the true text. The result of his labors appeared in +twenty-one Books, which are mentioned in Liu Hsin's catalogue. +They were known as the Lun of prince Chang [1], and commanded +general approbation. To Chang Yu is commonly ascribed the +ejecting from the Classic the two additional books which the Ch'i +exemplar contained, but Ma Twan-lin prefers to rest that +circumstance on the authority of the old Lun, which we have seen +was without them [2]. If we had the two Books, we might find +sufficient reason from their contents to discredit them. That may +have been sufficient for Chang Yu to condemn them as he did, but +we can hardly supposed that he did not have before him the old +Lun, which had come to light about a century before he published +his work. + 7. In the course of the second century, a new edition of the +Analects, with a commentary, was published by one of the +greatest scholars which China has ever produced, Chang Hsuan, +known also as Chang K'ang-ch'ang [3]. He died in the reign of the +emperor Hsien (A.D. 190-220) [4] at the age of 74, and the amount +of his labors on the ancient classical literature is almost +incredible. While he adopted the Lu Lun as the received text of his +time, he compared it minutely with those of Ch'i and the old +exemplar. In the last section f this chapter will be found a list of +the readings in his commentary different from those which are +now acknowledged in deference to the authority of Chu Hsi, of the +Sung dynasty. They are not many, and their importance is but +trifling. + 8. On the whole, the above statements will satisfy the +reader of the care with which the text of the Lun Yu was fixed +during the dynasty of Han. + +SECTION II. +AT WHAT TIME, AND BY WHOM, THE ANALECTS WERE WRITTEN; +THEIR PLAN; AND AUTHENTICITY. + + 1. At the commencement of the notes upon the first Book, +under the heading, 'The Title of the Work,' I have given the +received account of its authorship, which precedes the catalogue + +1 ±i«J½×. +2 ¤åÄm³q¦Ò, Bk. clxxxiv. p. 3. +3 ¾G¥È, ¦r±d¦¨. +4 §µÄm¬Ó«Ò. + + +of Liu Hsin. According to that, the Analects were compiled by the +disciples if Confucius coming together after his death, and +digesting the memorials of his discourses and conversations +which they had severally preserved. But this cannot be true. We +may believe, indeed, that many of the disciples put on record +conversations which they had had with their master, and notes +about his manners and incidents of his life, and that these have +been incorporated with the Work which we have, but that Work +must have taken its present form at a period somewhat later. + In Book VIII, chapters iii iv, we have some notices of the +last days of Tsang Shan, and are told that he was visited on his +death-bed by the officer Mang Ching. Now Ching was the +posthumous title of Chung-sun Chieh [1], and we find him alive (Li +Chi, II. Pt. ii. 2) after the death of duke Tao of Lu [2], which took +place B.C. 431, about fifty years after the death of Confucius. + Again, Book XIX is all occupied with the sayings of the +disciples. Confucius personally does not appear in it. Parts of it, +as chapters iii, xii, and xviii, carry us down to a time when the +disciples had schools and followers of their own, and were +accustomed to sustain their teachings by referring to the lessons +which they had learned from the sage. + Thirdly, there is the second chapter of Book XI, the second +paragraph of which is evidently a note by the compilers of the +Work, enumerating ten of the principal disciples, and classifying +them according to their distinguishing characteristics. We can +hardly suppose it to have been written while any of the ten were +alive. But there is among them the name of Tsze-hsia, who lived +to the age of about a hundred. We find him, B.C. 407, three- +quarters of a century after the death of Confucius, at the court of +Wei, to the prince of which he is reported to have presented some +of the Classical Books [3]. + 2. We cannot therefore accept the above account of the +origin of the Analects,-- that they were compiled by the disciples +of Confucius. Much more likely is the view that we owe the work +to their disciples. In the note on I. ii. I, a peculiarity is pointed +out in the use of the surnames of Yew Zo and Tsang Shan, which + +1 See Chu Hsi's commentary, in loc. -- ©s·q¤l, ¾|¤j¤Ò, ¥ò®]¤ó, ¦W±¶. +2 ±¥¤½. +3 ®ÊÃQ´µ¨ü¸g©ó¤R¤l®L; see the Ød¥N²Î¬öªí, Bk. i. p. 77. + + +has made some Chinese critics attribute the compilation to their +followers. But this conclusion does not stand investigation. +Others have assigned different portions to different schools. +Thus, Book V is given to the disciples of Tsze-kung; Book XI, to +those of Min Tsze-ch'ien; Book XIV, to Yuan Hsien; and Book XVI +has been supposed to be interpolated from the Analects of Ch'i. +Even if we were to acquiesce in these decisions, we should have +accounted only for a small part of the Work. It is best to rest in +the general conclusion, that it was compiled by the disciples of +the disciples of the sage, making free use of the written +memorials concerning him which they had received, and the oral +statements which they had heard, from their several masters. +And we shall not be far wrong, if we determine its date as about +the end of the fourth, or the beginning of the fifth century before +Christ. + 3. In the critical work on the Four Books, called 'Record of +Remarks in the village of Yung [1],' it is observed, 'The Analects, +in my opinion, were made by the disciples, just like a record of +remarks. There they were recorded, and afterwards came a first- +rate hand, who gave them the beautiful literary finish which we +now witness, so that there is not a character which does not have +its own indispensable place [2].' We have seen that the first of +these statements contains only a small amount of truth with +regard to the materials of the Analects, nor can we receive the +second. If one hand or one mind had digested the materials +provided by many, the arrangement and the style of the work +would have been different. We should not have had the same +remark appearing in several Books, with little variation, and +sometimes with none at all. Nor can we account on this +supposition for such fragments as the last chapters of the ninth, +tenth, and sixteenth Books, and many others. No definite plan has +been kept in view throughout. A degree of unity appears to belong +to some books more than others, and in general to the first ten +more than to those which follow, but there is no progress of +thought or illustration of subject from Book to Book. And even in +those where the chapters have + +1 º_§ø»y¿ý,-- º_§ø, 'the village of Yung,' is, I conceive, the writer's +nom de plume. +2 ½×»y·Q¬Oªù§Ì¤l, ¦p»y¿ý¤@¯ë, °O¦b¨º¸Ì, «á¨Ó¦³¤@°ª¤â, Á妨¤å²z³o¼Ë¤Ö, ¤U +¦rµL¤@¤£´ý. + + +a common subject, they are thrown together at random more than +on any plan. + 4. We cannot tell when the Work was first called the Lun Yu +[1]. The evidence in the preceding section is sufficient to prove +that when the Han scholars were engaged in collecting the ancient +Books, it came before them, not in broken tablets, but complete, +and arranged in Books or Sections, as we now have it. The Old +copy was found deposited in the wall of the house which +Confucius had occupied, and must have been placed there not later +than B.C. 211, distant from the date which I have assigned to the +compilation, not much more than a century and a half. That copy, +written in the most ancient characters, was, possibly, the +autograph of the compilers. + We have the Writings, or portions of the Writings, of +several authors of the third and fourth centuries before Christ. Of +these, in addition to 'The Great Learning,' 'The Doctrine of the +Mean,' and 'The Works of Mencius,' I have looked over the Works of +Hsun Ch'ing [2] of the orthodox school, of the philosophers Chwang +and Lieh of the Taoist school [3], and of the heresiarch Mo [4]. + In the Great Learning, Commentary, chapter iv, we have the +words of Ana. XII. xiii. In the Doctrine of the Mean, ch. iii, we have +Ana. VI. xxvii; and in ch. xxviii. 5, we have substantially Ana. III. +ix. In Mencius, II. Pt. I. ii. 19, we have Ana. VII. xxxiii, and in vii. 2, +Ana. IV. i; in III. Pt. I. iv. 11, Ana. VIII. xviii, xix; in IV. Pt. I. xiv. 1, +Ana. XI. xvi. 2; in V. Pt. II. vii. 9, Ana. X. xiii. 4; and in VII. Pt. II. +xxxvii. 1, 2, 8, Ana. V. xxi, XIII. xxi, and XVII. xiii. These +quotations, however, are introduced by 'The Master said,' or +'Confucius said,' no mention being made of any book called 'The +Lun Yu,' or Analects. In the Great Learning, Commentary, x. 15, we +have the words of Ana. IV. iii, and in + +1 In the continuation of the 'General Examination of Records and +Scholars (Äò¤åÄm³q¦Ò),' Bk. cxcviii. p. 17, it is said, indeed, on the +authority of Wang Ch'ung (¤ý¥R), a scholar of our first century, +that when the Work came out of the wall it was named a Chwan or +Record (¶Ç), and that it was when K'ung An-kwo instructed a +native of Tsin, named Fu-ch'ing, in it, that it first got the name of +Lun Yu:-- ªZ«Ò±o½×»y¤_¤Õ¾À¤¤, ¬Ò¦W¤ê¶Ç, ¤Õ¦w°ê¥H¥j½×±Ð®Ê¤H§ßë, ©l¤ê½× +»y. If it were so, it is strange the circumstance is not mentioned +in Ho Yen's preface. +2 ¯ûë. +3 ²ø¤l, ¦C¤l. +4 ¾¥¤l. + + +Mencius, III. Pt. II. vii. 3, those of Ana. XVII. i, but without any +notice of quotation. + In the writings of Hsun Ch'ing, Book I. page 2, we find +something like the words of Ana. XV. xxx; and on p. 6, part of XIV. +xxv. But in these instances there is no mark of quotation. + In the writings of Chwang, I have noted only one passage +where the words of the Analects are reproduced. Ana. XVIII. v is +found, but with large additions, and no reference of quotation, in +his treatise on 'Man in the World, associated with other Men [1].' +In all those Works, as well as in those of Lieh and Mo, the +references to Confucius and his disciples, and to many +circumstances of his life, are numerous [2]. The quotations of +sayings of his not found in the Analects are likewise many, +especially in the Doctrine of the Mean, in Mencius, and in the +Works of Chwang. Those in the latter are mostly burlesques, but +those by the orthodox writers have more or less of classical +authority. Some of them may be found in the Chia Yu [3], or +'Narratives of the School,' and in parts of the Li Chi, while others +are only known to us by their occurrence in these Writings. +Altogether, they do not supply the evidence, for which I am in +quest, of the existence of the Analects as a distinct Work, +bearing the name of the Lun Yu, prior to the Ch'in dynasty. They +leave the presumption, however, in favour of those conclusions, +which arises from the facts stated in the first section, +undisturbed. They confirm it rather. They show that there was +abundance of materials at hand to the scholars of Han, to compile +a much larger Work with the same title, if they had felt it their +duty to do the business of compilation, and not that of editing. + +SECTION III. +OF COMMENTARIES UPON THE ANALECTS. + + 1. It would be a vast and unprofitable labor to attempt to +give a list of the Commentaries which have been published on this +Work. My object is merely to point out how zealously the business +of interpretation was undertaken, as soon as the text had been + +1 ¤H¶¡¥@. +2 In Mo's chapter against the Literati, he mentions some of the +characteristics of Confucius in the very words of the Tenth Book +of the Analects. +3 ®a»y. + + +recovered by the scholars of the Han dynasty, and with what +industry it has been persevered in down to the present time. + 2. Mention has been made, in Section I. 6, of the Lun of +prince Chang, published in the half century before our era. Pao +Hsien [1], a distinguished scholar and officer, f the reign of +Kwang-wu [2], the first emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty, A.D. +25-57, and another scholar of the surname Chau [3], less known +but of the same time, published Works, containing arrangements +of this in chapters and sentences, with explanatory notes. The +critical work of K'ung An-kwo on the old Lun Yu has been referred +to. That was lost in consequence of suspicions under which An- +kwo fell towards the close of the reign of the emperor Wu, but in +the time of the emperor Shun, A.D. 126-144, another scholar, Ma +Yung [4], undertook the exposition of the characters in the old Lun, +giving at the same time his views of the general meaning. The +labors of Chang Hsuan in the second century have been mentioned. +Not long after his death, there ensued a period of anarchy, when +the empire was divided into three governments, well known from +the celebrated historical romance, called 'The Three Kingdoms.' +The strongest of them, the House of Wei, patronized literature, +and three of its high officers and scholars, Ch'an Ch'un, Wang Su, +and Chau Shang-lieh [5], in the first half, and probably the second +quarter, of the third century, all gave to the world their notes on +the Analects. + Very shortly after, five of the great ministers of the +Government of Wei, Sun Yung, Chang Ch'ung, Tsao Hsi, Hsun K'ai, +and Ho Yen [6], united in the production of one great Work, +entitled, 'A Collection of Explanations of the Lun Yu [7].' It +embodied the labors of all the writers which have been +mentioned, and, having been frequently reprinted by succeeding +dynasties, it still remains. The preface of the five compilers, in +the form of a memorial to the emperor, so called, of the House of +Wei, is published with it, and has been of much assistance to me +in writing these sections. Ho + +1 ¥]«w. +2 ¥úªZ. +3 ©P¤ó. +4 ¦Ü¶¶«Ò®É, «n°p¤Ó¦u, °¨¿Ä, ¥ç¬°¤§°V»¡. +5 ¥q¹A, ³¯¸s; ¤Ó±`, ¤ýµÂ; ³Õ¤h, ©P¥Í¦C. +6 ¥ú¸S¤j¤Ò, Ãö¤º«J, ®]°o; ¥ú¸S¤j¤Ò, ¾G¨R; ´²ÃM±`¨Í, ¤¤»âx, ¦w¶m«F«J, ±ä +¿ª; ¨Í¤¤, ¯ûóª; ©|®Ñ, ¾t°¨³£±L, Ãö¤º«J, ¦ó®Ë. +7 ½×»y¶°¸Ñ. I possess a copy of this work, printed about the middle +of our fourteenth century. + + +Yen was the leader among them, and the work is commonly quoted +as if it were the production of him alone. + 3. From Ho Yen downwards, there has hardly been a dynasty +which has not contributed its laborers to the illustration of the +Analects. In the Liang, which occupied the throne a good part of +the sixth century, there appeared the 'Comments of Hwang K'an +[1],' who to the seven authorities cited by Ho Yen added other +thirteen, being scholars who had deserved well of the Classic +during the intermediate time. Passing over other dynasties, we +come to the Sung, A.D. 960-1279. An edition of the Classics was +published by imperial authority, about the beginning of the +eleventh century, with the title of 'The Correct Meaning.' The +principal scholar engaged in the undertaking was Hsing P'ing [2]. +The portion of it on the Analects [3] is commonly reprinted in 'The +Thirteen Classics,' after Ho Yen's explanations. But the names of +the Sung dynasty are all thrown into the shade by that of Chu Hsi, +than whom China has not produced a greater scholar. He composed, +or his disciples complied, in the twelfth century, three Works on +the Analects:-- the first called 'Collected Meanings [4];' the +second, 'Collected Comments [5];' and the third, 'Queries [6].' +Nothing could exceed the grace and clearness of his style, and the +influence which he has exerted on the literature of China has been +almost despotic. + The scholars of the present dynasty, however, seem inclined +to question the correctness of his views and interpretations of +the Classics, and the chief place among them is due to Mao Ch'i- +ling [7], known by the local name of Hsi-ho [8]. His writings, under +the name of 'The Collected Works of Hsi-ho [9],' have been +published in eighty volumes, containing between three and four +hundred books or sections. He has nine treatises on the Four +Books, or parts of them, and deserves to take rank with Chang +Hsuan and Chu Hsi at the head of Chinese scholars, though he is a +vehement opponent of the latter. Most of his writings are to be +found also in the great Work called 'A Collection of Works on the +Classics, under the Imperial dynasty of Ch'ing [10],' which +contains 1400 sections, and is a noble contribution by the +scholars of the present dynasty to the illustration of its ancient +literature. + +1 ¬Ó¨Ô½×»y½. +2 ¨·Îô. +3 ½×»y¥¿¸q. +4 ½×»y¶°¸q. +5 ½×»y¶°µù. +6 ½×»y©Î°Ý. +7 ¤ò©_ÄÖ. +8 ¦èªe. +9 ¦èªe¥þ¶°. +10 ¬Ó²M¸g¸Ñ. + + +SECTION IV. +OF VARIOUS READINGS. + + In 'The Collection of Supplementary Observations on the +Four Books [1],' the second chapter contains a general view of +commentaries on the Analects, and from it I extract the following +list of various readings of the text found in the comments of +Chang Hsuan, and referred to in the first section of this chapter. + +Book II. i, «ý for ¦@; viii, èÅ for õW; xix, ±¹ for ¿ù; xxiii. 1, ¤Q¥@¥iª¾, +without ¤], for ¤Q¥@¥iª¾¤]. Book III. vii, in the clause ¥²¤]®g¥G, he +makes a full stop at ¤]; xxi. 1, ¥D for ªÀ. Book IV. x, ¼Ä for ¾A, and ¼} +for ²ö. Book V. xxi, he puts a full stop at ¤l. Book VI. vii, he has not +the characters «h§^. Book VII. iv, ®Ë for ¿P; xxxiv, ¤l¯e simply, for +¤l¯e¯f. Book IX. ix, ¥¯ for °Ã. Book XI. xxv. 7, ¹¶ for ¼¶, and õX for Âk. +Book XIII. iii. 3, ¤_©¹ for ¨±; xviii. 1, ¤} for °`. Book XIV. xxxi, Á½ for +¤è; xxxiv. 1, ¦ó¬OÑáÑáªÌ»P for ¦ó¬°¬OÑáÑáªÌ»P. Book XV. i. a, ã^ for ³. +Book XVI. i. 13, «Ê for ¨¹. Book XVII. i, õX for Âk; xxiv. 2, µ± for éu. +Book XVIII. iv, õX for Âk; viii. 1, ¨Ü for ¦¶. + + These various readings are exceedingly few, and in +themselves insignificant. The student who wishes to pursue this +subject at length, is provided with the means in the Work of Ti +Chiao-shau [2], expressly devoted to it. It forms sections 449- +473 of the Works of the Classics, mentioned at the close of the +preceding section. A still more comprehensive work of the same +kind is, 'The Examination of the Text of the Classics and of +Commentaries on them,' published under the superintendence of +Yuan Yuan, forming chapters 818 to 1054 of the same Collection. +Chapters 1016 to 1030 are occupied with the Lun yu; see the +reference to Yuan Yuan farther on, on p. 132. + +1 ¥|®Ñ©Ý¾l»¡. Published in 1798. The author was a Tsao Yin-ku -- +±ä±G¨¦. +2 »C±Ð±Â, ¥|®Ñ¦Ò²§. + + + +CHAPTER III. +OF THE GREAT LEARNING. + +SECTION I. +HISTORY OF THE TEXT, AND THE DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENTS OF IT +WHICH HAVE BEEN PROPOSED. + + 1. It has already been mentioned that 'The Great Learning' +frms one of the Books of the Li Chi, or 'Record of Rites,' the +formation of the text of which will be treated of in its proper +place. I will only say here, that the Records of Rites had suffered +much more, after the death of Confucius, than the other ancient +Classics which were supposed to have been collected and digested +by him. They were in a more dilapidated condition at the time of +the revivial of the ancient literature under the Han dynasty, and +were then published in three collections, only one of which -- the +Record of Rites -- retains its place among the five Ching. + The Record of Rites consists, according to the ordinary +arrangement, of forty-nine Chapters or Books. Liu Hsiang (see ch. +I. sect. II. 2) took the lead in its formation, and was followed by +the two famous scholars, Tai Teh [1], and his relative, Tai Shang +[2]. The first of these reduced upwards of 200 chapters, collected +by Hsiang, to eighty-nine, and Shang reduced these again to forty- +six. The three other Books were added in the second century of our +era, the Great Learning being one of them, by Ma Yung, mentioned +in the last chapter, section III.2. Since his time, the Work has not +received any further additions. + 2. In his note appended to what he calls the chapter of +'Classical Text,' Chu Hsi says that the tablets of the 'old copies' +of the rest of the Great Learning were considerably out of order. +By those old copies, he intends the Work of Chang Hsuan, who +published his commentary on the Classic, soon after it was +completed by the additions of Ma Yung; and t is possible that the +tablets were in confusion, and had not been arranged with +sufficient care; but such a thing does not appear to have been +suspected until the + +1 À¹¼w +2 À¹¸t Shang was a second cousin of Teh. + + +twelfth century, nor can any evidence from ancient monuments be +adduced in its support. + I have related how the ancient Classics were cut on slabs of +stone by imperial order, A.D. 175, the text being that which the +various literati had determined, and which had been adopted by +Chang Hsuan. The same work was performed about seventy years +later, under the so-called dynasty of Wei, between the years 240 +and 248, and the two sets of slabs were set up together. The only +difference between them was, that whereas the Classics had been +cut in the first instance only in one form, the characters in the +slabs of Wei were in three different forms. Amd the changes of +dynasties, the slabs both of Han and Wei had perished, or nearly +so, before the rise of the T'ang dynasty, A.D. 624; but under one of +its emperors, in the year 836, a copy of the Classics was again +cut on stone, though only in one form of the character. These +slabs we can trace down through the Sung dynasty, when they +were known as the tablets of Shen [1]. They were in exact +conformity with the text of the Classics adopted by Chang Hsuan +in his commentaries; and they exist at the present day at the city +of Hsi-an, Shen-hsi, still called by the same name. + The Sung dynasty did not accomplish a similar work itself, +nor did either of the two which followed it think it necessary to +engrave in stone in this way the ancient Classics. About the +middle of the sixteenth century, however, the literary world in +China was startled by a reprt that the slabs of Wei which +contained the Great Learning had been discovered. But this was +nothing more than the result f an impudent attempt at an +imposition, for which it is difficult to a foreigner to assign any +adequate cause. The treatise, as printed from these slabs, has +some trifling additions, and many alterations in the order of the +text, but differing from the arrangements proposed by Chu Hsi, +and by other scholars. There seems to be now no difference of +opinion among Chinese critics that the whole affair was a +forgery. The text of the Great Learning, as it appears in the +Record of Rites with the commentary of Chang Hsuan, and was +thrice engraved on stone, in three different dynasties, is, no +doubt, that which was edited in the Han dynasty by Ma Yung. + 3. I have said, that it is possible that the tablets containing +the + +1 ÔE¸O. + + +text were not arranged with sufficient care by him; and indeed, +any one who studies the treatise attentively, will probably come +to the conclusion that the part of it forming the first six +chapters of commentary in the present Work is but a fragment. It +would not be a difficult task to propose an arrangement of the +text different from any which I have yet seen; but such an +undertaking would not be interesting out of China. My object here +is simply to mention the Chinese scholars wh have rendered +themselves famous or notorious in their own country by what +they hav done in this way. The first was Ch'ang Hao, a native of +Lo-yang in Ho-nan Province, in the eleventh century [1]. His +designation of Po-shun, but since his death he has been known +chiefly by the style of Ming-tao [2], which we may render the +Wise-in-doctrine. The eulogies heaped on him by Chu Hsi and +others are extravagant, and he is placed immediately after +Mencious in the list of great scholars. Doubtless he was a man of +vast literary acquirements. The greatest change which he +introduced into the Great Learning, was to read sin [3] for ch'in +[4], at the commencement, making the second object proposed in +the treatise to be the renovation of the people, instead of loving +them. This alteration and his various transpositions of the text +are found in Mao Hsi-ho's treatise on 'The Attested Text of the +Great Learning [5].' + Hardly less illustrious than Ch'ang Hao was his younger +brother Ch'ang I, known by the style of Chang-shu [6], and since +his death by that of I-chwan [7]. He followed Hao in the adoption +of the reading 'to renovate,' instead of 'to love.' But he transposed +the text differently, more akin to the arrangement afterwards +made by Chu Hsi, suggesting also that there were some +superfluous sentences in the old text which might conveniently be +erased. The Work, as proposed to be read by him, will be found in +the volume of Mao just referred to. + We come to the name of Chu Hsi who entered into the labors +of the brothers Ch'ang, the young of whom he styles his Master, in +his introductory note to the Great Learning. His arrangement of +the text is that now current in all the editions of the Four Books, +and it had nearly displaced the ancient text + +1 µ{¤lÅV¡M¦r§B²E¡Mªe«n¡M¬¥¶§¤H. +2 ©ú¹D. +3 ·s. +4 ¿Ë. +5 ¤j¾ÇÃÒ. +6 µ{¤lÀ[¡M¦r¥¿¨û¡M©ú¹D¤§§Ì. +7 ¥ì¤t. + + +altogether. The sanction of Imperial approval was given to it +during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. In the editions of the Five +Ching published by them, only the names of the Doctrine of the +Mean and the Great Learning were preserved. No text of these +Books was given, and Hsi-ho tells us that in the reign of Chia- +ching [1], the most flourishing period of the Ming dynasty (A.D. +1522-1566), when Wang Wan-ch'ang [2] published a copy of the +Great Learning, taken from the T'ang edition of the Thirteen +Ching, all the officers and scholars looked at one another in +astonishment, and were inclined to supposed that the Work was a +forgery. Besides adopting the reading of sin for ch'in from the +Ch'ang, and modifying their arrangements of the text, Chu Hsi +made other innovations. He first divided the whole into one +chapter of Classical text, which he assigned to Confucius, and +then chapters of Commentary, which he assigned to the disciple +Tsang. Previous to him, the whole had been published, indeed, +without any specification of chapters and paragraphs. He +undertook, moreover, to supply one whole chapter, which he +supposed, after his master Ch'ang, to be missing. + Since the time of Chu Hsi, many scholars have exercised +their wit on the Great Learning. The work of Mao Hsi-ho contains +four arrangements of the text, proposed respectively by the +scholars Wang Lu-chai [3], Chi P'ang-shan [4], Kao Ching-yi [5], +and Ko Ch'i-chan [6]. The curious student may examine them here. + Under the present dynasty, the tendency has been to +depreciate the labors of Chu Hsi. The integrity of the text of +Chang Hsuan is zealously maintained, and the simpler method of +interpretation employed by him is advocated in preference to the +more refined and ingenious schemes of the Sung scholars. I have +referred several times in the notes to a Work published a few +years ago, under the title of 'The Old Text of the sacred Ching, +with Commentary and Discussions, by Lo Chung-fan of Nan-hai +[7].' I knew the man many years ago. He was a fine scholar, and had +taken the second degree, or that of Chu-zan. He applied to me in +1843 for Christian baptism, and, offended by my hesitancy, went +and enrolled himself among the disciples of another missionary. +He soon, however, + +1 ¹Å¹t. +2 ¤ý¤å¦¨. +3 ¤ý¾|»ô. +4 §õ´^¤s. +5 °ª´º¶h. +6 ¸¯Éפ +7 ¸t¸g¥j¥»,«n®üù¥òÿµù¿ë. + + +withdrew into seclusion, and spent the last years of his life in +literary studies. His family have published the Work on the Great +Learning, and one or two others. He most vehemently impugns +nearly every judgment of Chu Hsi; but in his own exhibitions of +the meaning he blends many ideas of the Supreme Being and of the +condition of human nature, which he had learned from the +Christian Scriptures. + +SECTION II. +OF THE AUTHORSHIP, AND DISTINCTION OF THE TEXT INTO +CLASSICAL TEXT AND COMMENTARY. + + 1. The authorship of the Great Learning is a very doubtful +point, and one on which it does not appear possible to come to a +decided conclusion. Chu Hsi, as I have stated in the last section, +determined that so much of it was Ching, or Classic, being the +very words of Confucius, and that all the rest was Chwan, or +Commentary, being the views of Tsang Shan upon the sage's +words, recorded by his disciples. Thus, he does not expressly +attribute the composition of the Treatise to Tsang, as he is +generally supposed to do. What he says, however, as it is +destitute of external support, is contrary also to the internal +evidence. The fourth chapter of commentary commences with 'The +Master said.' Surely, if there were anything more, directly from +Confucius, there would be an intimation of it in the same way. Or, +if we may allow that short sayings of Confucius might be +interwoven with the Work, as in the fifteenth paragraph of the +tenth chapter, without referring them expressly to him, it is too +much to ask us to receive the long chapter at the beginning as +being from him. With regard to the Work having come from the +disciples of Tsang Shan, recording their master's views, the +paragraph in chapter sixth, commencing with 'The disciple Tsang +said,' seems to be conclusive against such an hypothesis. So much +we may be sure is Tsang's, and no more. Both of Chu Hsi's +judgments must be set aside. We cannot admit either the +distinction of the contents into Classical text and Commentary, +or that the Work was the production of Tsang's disciples. + 2. Who then was the author? An ancient tradition attributes +it to K'ung Chi, the grandson of Confucius. In a notice published, at +the time of their preparation, about the stone slabs of Wei, the + +following statement by Chia K'wei, a noted scholar of the first +century, is found:-- 'When K'ung Chi was living, and in straits, in +Sung, being afraid lest the lessons of the former sages should +become obscure, and the principles of the ancient sovereigns and +kings fall to the ground, he therefore made the Great Learning as +the warp of them, and the Doctrine of the Mean as the woof [1].' +This would seem, therefore, to have been the opinion of that early +time, and I may say the only difficulty in admitting it is that no +mention is made of it by Chang Hsuan. There certainly is that +agreement between the two treatises, which makes their common +authorship not at all unlikely. + 3. Though we cannot positively assign the authorship of the +Great Learning, there can be no hesitation in receiving it as a +genuine monument of the Confucian school. There are not many +words in it from the sage himself, but it is a faithful reflection +of his teachings, written by some of his followers, not far +removed from him by lapse of time. It must synchronize pretty +nearly with the Analects, and may be safely referred to the fifth +century before our era. + +SECTION III. +ITS SCOPE AND VALUE. + + 1. The worth of the Great Learning has been celebrated in +most extravagant terms by Chinese writers, and there have been +foreigners who have not yielded to them in their estimation of it. +Pauthier, in the 'Argument Philosphique,' prefixed to his +translation of the Work, says:-- 'It is evident that the aim of the +Chinese philosopher is to exhibit the duties of political +government as those of the perfecting of self, and of the practice +of virtue by all men. He felt that he had a higher mission than that +with which the greater part of ancient and modern philosophers +have contented themselves; and his immense love for the +happiness of humanity, which dominated over all his other +sentiments, has made of his + + +1 ð¤ó¯³²¨¦³¤ê,¸·ªQ®Õ¨è¥Û¸g¤_ÃQªí,¤Þº~¸ë¶f¤§¨¥,¤ê,¤Õ¥ù½a©~¤_§º,Äߥý¸t +¤§¾Ç¤£©ú,¦Ó«Ò¤ý¤§¹D¼Y,¬G§@¤j¾Ç¥H¸g¤§,¤¤±e¥H½n¤§; see the ¤j¾ÇÃÒ¤å,¤@, +p. 5. + + +philosophy a system of social perfectionating, which, we venture +to say, has never been equalled.' + Very different is the judgment passed upon the treatise by a +writer in the Chinese Repository: 'The Ta Hsio is a short politico- +moral discourse. Ta Hsio, or "Superior Learning," is at the same +time both the name and the subject of the discourse; it is the +summum bonum of the Chinese. In opening this Book, compiled by +a disciple of Confucius, and containing his doctrines, we might +expect to find a work like Cicero's De Officiis; but we find a very +different production, consisting of a few commonplace rules for +the maintenance of a good government [1].' + My readers will perhaps think, after reading the present +section, that the truth lies between these two representations. + 2. I believe that the Book should be styled T'ai Hsio [2], and +not Ta Hsio, and that it was so named as setting forth the higher +and more extensive principles of moral science, which come into +use and manifestation in the conduct of government. When Chu Shi +endeavours to make the title mean -- 'The principles of Learning, +which were taught in the higher schools of antiquity,' and tells us +how at the age of fifteen, all the sons of the sovereign, with the +legitimate sons of the nobles, and high officers, down to the more +promising scions of the common people, all entered these +seminaries, and were taught the difficult lessons here inculcated, +we pity the ancient youth of China. Such 'strong meat' is not +adapted for the nourishment of youthful minds. But the evidence +adduced for the existence of such educational institutions in +ancient times is unsatisfactory, and from the older interpretation +of the title we advance more easily to contemplate the object and +method of the Work. + 3. The object is stated definitely enough in the opening +paragraph: 'What the Great Learning teaches, is -- to illustrate +illustrious virtue; to love the people; and to rest in the highest +excellence.' The political aim of the writer is here at once +evident. He has before him on one side, the people, the masses of +the empire, and over against them are those whose work and duty, +delegated by Heaven, is to govern them, culminating, as a class, in +'the son of Heaven [3],' 'the One man [4],' the sovereign. From the +fourth and + +1 Chinese Repository, vol. iii. p. 98 +2 ¤Ó¾Ç, not ¤j¾Ç. See the note on the title of the Work below. +3 ¤Ñ¤l, Cl. (classical) Text, par. 6, 2. +4 ¤@¤H, Comm. ix. 3. + + +fifth paragraphs, we see that if the lessons of the treatise be +learned and carried into practice, the result will be that +'illustrious virtue will be illustrated throughout the nation,' +which will be brought, through all its length and breadth, to a +condition of happy tranquillity. This object is certainly both +grand and good; annd if a reasonable and likely method to secure +it were proposed in the Work, language would hardly supply terms +adequate to express its value. + 4. But the above account of the object of the Great Learning +leads us to the conclusion that the student of it should be a +sovereign. What interest can an ordinary man have in it? It is +high up in the clouds, far beyond his reach. This is a serious +objection to it, and quite unfits it for a place in schools, such as +Chu Hsi contends it once had. Intelligent Chinese, whose minds +were somewhat quickened by Christianity, have spoken to me of +this defect, and complained of the difficulty they felt in making +the book a practical directory for their conduct. 'It is so vague +and vast,' was the observation of one man. The writer, however, +has made some provision for the general application of his +instructions. He tells us that, from the sovereign down to the +mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the +person to be the root, that is, the first thing to be attended to [1]. +_as in his method, moreover, he reaches from the cultivation of +the person to the tranquillization of the kingdom, through the +intermediate steps of the regulation of the family, and the +government of the State [2], there is room for setting forth +principles that parents and rulers generally may find adapted for +their guidance. + 5. The method which is laid down for the attainment of the +great object proposed, consists of seven steps:-- the +investigation of things; the completion of knowledge; the +sincerity of the thoughts; the rectifying of the heart; the +cultivation of the person; the regulation of the family; and the +government of the state. These form the steps of a climax, the +end of which is the kingdom tranquillized. Pauthier calls the +paragraphs where they occur instances of the sorites, or abridged +syllogism. But they elong to rhetoric, and not to logic. + 6. In offering some observations on these steps, and the +writer's treatment of them, it will be well to separate them into +those preceding the cultivation of the person, and those following +it; and to + +1 Cl. Text, par. 6. +2 Cl. Text, pars. 4. 5. + + +deal with the latter first. -- Let us suppose that the cultivation +of the person is fully attained, every discordant mental element +having been subdued and removed. It is assumed that the +regulation of the family will necessarily flow from this. Two +short paragraphs are all that are given to the illustration of the +point, and they are vague generalities on the subject of men's +being led astray by their feelings and affections. + The family being regulated, there will result from it the +government of the State. First, the virtues taught in the family +have their correspondencies in the wider sphere. Filial piety will +appear as loyalty. Fraternal submission will be seen in respect +and obedience to elders and superiors. Kindness is capable of +universal application. Second, 'From the loving example of one +family, a whole State becomes loving, and from its courtesies the +whole State become courteous [1].' Seven paragraphs suffice to +illustrate these statements, and short as they are, the writer +goes back to the topic of self-cultivation, returning from the +family to the individual. + The State being governed, the whole empire will become +peaceful and happy. There is even less of connexion, however, in +the treatment of this theme, between the premiss and the +conclusion, than in the two previous chapters. Nothing is said +about the relation between the whole kingdom, and its component +States, or any one of them. It is said at once, 'What is meant by +"The making the whole kingdom peaceful and happy depends on the +government of the State," is this:-- When the sovereign behaves +to his aged, as the aged should be behaved to, the people become +filial; when the sovereign behaves to his elders, as elders should +be behaved to, the people learn brotherly submission; when the +sovereign treats compassionately the young and helpless, the +people do the same [2].' This is nothing but a repetition of the +preceding chapter, instead of that chapter's being made a step +from which to go on to the splendid consummation of the good +government of the whole kingdom. + The words which I have quoted are followed by a very +striking enunciation of the golden rule in its negative form, and +under the name of the measuring square, and all the lessons of the +chapter are connected more or less closely with that. The +application of this principle by a ruler, whose heart is in the first +place in loving sympathy with the people, will guide him in all the +exactions which + +1 See Comm. ix. 3. +2 See Comm. x. 1. + + +he lays upon them, and in his selection of ministers, in such a +way that he will secure the affections of his subjects, and his +throne will be established, for 'by gaining the people, the kingdom +is gained, and, by losing the people, the kingdom is lost [1].' There +are in this part of the treatise many valuable sentiments, and +counsels for all in authority over others. The objection to it is, +that, as the last step of the climax, it does not rise upon all the +others with the accumulated force of their conclusions, but +introduces us to new principles of action, and a new line of +argument. Cut off the commencement of the first paragraph which +connects it with the preceding chapters, and it would form a brief +but admirable treatise by itself on the art of government. + This brief review of the writer's treatment of the +concluding steps of his method will satisfy the reader that the +execution is not equal to the design; and, moreover, underneath all +the reasoning, and more especially apparent in the eighth and +ninth chapters of commentary (according to the ordinary +arrangement of the work), there lies the assumption that example +is all but omnipotent. We find this principle pervading all the +Confucian philosophy. And doubtless it is a truth, most important +in education and government, that the influence of example is +very great. I believe, and will insist upon it hereafter in these +prolegomena, that we have come to overlook this element in our +conduct of administration. It will be well if the study of the +Chinese Classics should call attention to it. Yet in them the +subject is pushed to an extreme, and represented in an +extravagant manner. Proceeding from the view of human nature +that it is entirely good, and led astray only by influences from +without, the sage of China and his followers attribute to personal +example and to instruction a power which we do not find that +they actually possess. + 7. The steps which precede the cultivation of the person are +more briefly dealt with than those which we have just +considered. 'The cultivation of the person results from the +rectifying of the heart or mind [2].' True, but in the Great Learning +very inadequately set forth. + 'The rectifying of the mind is realized when the thoughts +are made sincere [3].' And the thoughts are sincere, when no self- +deception is allowed, and we move without effort to what is right +and wrong, 'as we love what is beautiful, and as we dislike a bad + +1 Comm. x. 5. +2 Comm. vii. 1. +3 Comm. Ch. vi. + + +smell [1].' How are we to attain this state? Here the Chinese +moralist fails us. According to Chu Hsi's arrangement of the +Treatise, there is only one sentence from which we can frame a +reply to the above question. 'Therefore,' it is said, 'the superior +man must be watchful over himself when he is alone [2].' +Following. Chu's sixth chapter of commentary, and forming, we +may say, part of it, we have in the old arrangement of the Great +Learning all the passages which he has distributed so as to form +the previous five chapters. But even from the examination of +them, we do not obtain the information which we desire on this +momentous inquiry. + 8. Indeed, the more I study the Work, the more satisfied I +become, that from the conclusion of what is now called the +chapter of classical text to the sixth chapter of commentary, we +have only a few fragments, which it is of no use trying to +arrange, so as fairly to exhibit the plan of the author. According +to his method, the chapter on the connexion between making the +thoughts sincere and so rectifying the mental nature, should be +preceded by one on the completion of knowledge as the means of +making the thoughts sincere, and that again by one on the +completion of knowledge by the investigation of things, or +whatever else the phrase ko wu may mean. I am less concerned +for the loss and injury which this part of the Work has suffered, +because the subject of the connexion between intelligence and +virtue is very fully exhibited in the Doctrine of the Mean, and will +come under our notice in the review of that Treatise. The manner +in which Chu Hsi has endeavoured to supply the blank about the +perfecting of knowledge by the investigation of things is too +extravagant. 'The Learning for Adults,' he says, 'at the outset of +its lessons, instructs the learner, in regard to all things in the +world, to proceed from what knowledge he has of their principles, +and pursue his investigation of them, till he reaches the extreme +point. After exerting himself for a long time, he will suddenly +find himself possessed of a wide and far-reaching penetration. +Then, the qualities of all things, whether external or internal, the +subtle or the coarse, will be apprehended, and the mind, in its +entire substance and its relations to things, will be perfectly +intelligent. This is called the investigation of things. This is +called the perfection of knowledge [3].' And knowledge must be +thus perfected before we can achieve the sincerity of our +thoughts, and the rectifying of our hearts! + +1 Comm. vi. 1. +2 Comm. vi. 2. +3 Suppl. to Comm. Ch. v. + + +Verily this would be learning not for adults only, but even +Methuselahs would not be able to compass it. Yet for centuries +this has been accepted as the orthodox exposition of the Classic. +Lo Chung-fan does not express himself too strongly when he says +that such language is altogether incoherent. The author would +only be 'imposing on himself and others.' + 9. The orthodox doctrine of China concerning the connexion +between intelligence and virtue is most seriously erroneous, but I +will not lay to the charge of the author of the Great Learning the +wild representations of the commentator of our twelfth century, +nor need I make here any remarks on what the doctrine really is. +After the exhibition which I have given, my readers will probably +conclude that the Work before us is far from developing, as +Pauthier asserts, 'a system of social perfectionating which has +never been equalled.' + 10. The Treatise has undoubtedly great merits, but they are +not to be sought in the severity of its logical processes, or the +large-minded prosecution of any course of thought. We shall find +them in the announcement of certain seminal principles, which, if +recognised in government and the regulation of conduct, would +conduce greatly to the happiness and virtue of mankind. I will +conclude these observations by specifying four such principles. + First. The writer conceives nobly of the object of +government, that it is to make its subjects happy and good. This +may not be a sufficient account of that object, but it is much to +have it so clearly laid down to 'all kings and governors,' that they +are to love the people, ruling not for their own gratification but +for the good of those over whom they are exalted by Heaven. Very +important also is the statement that rulers have no divine right +but what springs from the discharge of their duty. 'The decree +does not always rest on them. Goodness obtains it, and the want +of goodness loses it [1].' + Second. The insisting on personal excellence in all who have +authority in the family, the state, and the kingdom, is a great +moral and social principle. The influence of such personal +excellence may be overstated, but by the requirement of its +cultivation the writer deserved well of his country. + Third. Still more important than the requirement of such +excellence, is the principle that it must be rooted in the state of + +1 Comm. x. 11. + + +the heart, and be the natural outgrowth of internal sincerity. 'As a +man thinketh in his heart, so is he.' This is the teaching alike of +Solomon and the author of the Great Learning. + Fourth. I mention last the striking exhibition which we have +of the golden rule, though only in its negative form:-- 'What a man +dislikes in his superiors, let him not display in the treatment of +his inferiors; what he dislikes in inferiors, let him not display in +his service of his superiors; what he dislikes in those who are +before him, let him not therewith precede those who are behind +him; what he dislikes in those who are behind him, let him not +therewith follow those who are before him; what he dislikes to +receive on the right, let him not bestow on the left; what he +dislikes to receive on the left, let him not bestow on the right. +This is what is called the principle with which, as with a +measuring square, to regulate one's conduct [1].' The Work which +contains those principles cannot be thought meanly of. They are +'commonplace,' as the writer in the Chinese Repository calls +them, but they are at the same time eternal verities. + +l Comm. x. a. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. + +SECTION I. ITS PLACE IN THE LI CHI, AND ITS PUBLICATION +SEPARATELY. + + 1. The Doctrine of the Mean was one of the treatises which +came to light in connexion with the labors of Liu Hsiang, and its +place as the thirty-first Book in the Li Chi was finally +determined by Ma Yung and Chang Hsuan. In the translation of the +Li Chi in 'The Sacred Books of the East' it is the twenty-eighth +Treatise. + 2. But while it was thus made to form a part of the great +collection of Treatises on Ceremonies, it maintained a separate +footing of its own. In Liu Hsin's Catalogue of the Classical Works, +we find 'Two p'ien of Observations on the Chung Yung [l].' In the +Records of the dynasty of Sui (A.D. 589-618), in the chapter on +the History of Literature [2], there are mentioned three Works on +the Chung Yung;-- the first called 'The Record of the Chung Yung,' +in two chuan, attributed to Tai Yung, a scholar who flourished +about the middle of the fifth century; the second, 'A Paraphrase +and Commentary on the Chung Yung,' attributed to the emperor Wu +(A.D. 502-549) of the Liang dynasty, in one chuan ; and the third, +'A Private Record, Determining the Meaning of the Chung Yung,' in +five chuan, the author, or supposed author, of which is not +mentioned [3]. + It thus appears, that the Chung Yung had been published and +commented on separately, long before the time of the Sung +dynasty. The scholars of that, however, devoted special attention +to it, the way being led by the famous Chau Lien-ch'i [4]. He was +followed by the two brothers Ch'ang, but neither of them +published upon it. At last came Chu Hsi, who produced his Work +called + +1 ¤¤±e»¡¤G½g. +2 ¶¦®Ñ,¨÷¤T¤Q¤G,§Ó²Ä¤G¤Q¤C,¸gÄy,¤@, p. 12. +3 §°O¤¤±e±M,¤G¨÷,§º´²ÃM±`¨ÍÀ¹ñª¼¶;¤¤±eÁ¿²¨,¤@¨÷,±çªZ«Ò¼¶;¨p°O¨î¦®¤¤±e; +¤¨÷. +4 ©P¾ü·Ë. + + +'The Chung Yung, in Chapters and Sentences [1],' which was made +the text book of the Classic at the literary examinations, by the +fourth emperor of the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1312-1320), and from +that time the name merely of the Treatise was retained in +editions of the Li Chi. Neither text nor ancient commentary was +given. + Under the present dynasty it is not so. In the superb edition +of 'The Three Li Ching,' edited by numerous committees of +scholars towards the middle of the Ch'ien-lung reign, the Chung +Yung is published in two parts, the ancient commentaries from +'The Thirteen Ching' being given side by side with those of Chu +Hsi. + +SECTION II. + +ITS AUTHOR; AND SOME ACCOUNT OF HIM. + + 1. The composition of the Chung Yung is attributed to K'ung +Chi, the grandson of Confucius [2]. Chinese inquirers and critics +are agreed on this point, and apparently on sufficient grounds. +There is indeed no internal evidence in the Work to lead us to such +a conclusion. Among the many quotations of Confucius's words and +references to him, we might have expected to find some +indication that the sage was the grandfather of the author, but +nothing of the kind is given. The external evidence, however, or +that from the testimony of authorities, is very strong. In Sze-ma +Ch'ien's Historical Records, published about B.C. 100, it is +expressly said that 'Tsze-sze made the Chung Yung.' And we have a +still stronger proof, a century earlier, from Tsze-sze's own +descendant, K'ung Fu, whose words are, 'Tsze-sze compiled the +Chung Yung in forty-nine p'ien [3].' We may, therefore, accept the +received account without hesitation. + 2. As Chi, spoken of chiefly by his designation of Tsze-sze, +thus occupies a distinguished place in the classical literature of +China, it + +1 ¤¤±e³¹¥y. +2 ¤l«ä§@¤¤±e; see the ¥v°O,¥|¤Q¤C,¤Õ¤l¥@®a. +3 This K'ung Fu (¤Õì{) was that descendant of Confucius, who hid +several books in the wall of his house, on the issuing of the +imperial edict for their burning. He was a writer himself, and his +Works are referred to under the title of ¤ÕÂO¤l. I have not seen +them, but the statement given above is found in the ¥|®Ñ©Ý¾l»¡;-- +art. ¤¤±e. -- ¤ÕÂO¤l¤ª,¤l«ä¼¶¤¤±e¤§®Ñ,¥|¤Q¤E½g. + + +may not be out of place to bring together here a few notices of +him gathered from reliable sources. + He was the son of Li, whose death took place B.C. 483, four +years before that of the sage, his father. I have not found it +recorded in what year he was born. Sze-ma Ch'ien says he died at +the age of 62. But this is evidently wrong, for we learn from +Mencius that he was high in favour with the duke Mu of Lu [1], +whose accession to that principality dates in B.C. 409, seventy +years after the death of Confucius. In the 'Plates and Notices of +the Worthies, sacrificed to in the Sage's Temples [2],' it is +supposed that the sixty-two in the Historical Records should be +eighty-two [3]. It is maintained by others that Tsze-sze's life +was protracted beyond 100 years [4]. This variety of opinions +simply shows that the point cannot be positively determined. To +me it seems that the conjecture in the Sacrificial Canon must be +pretty near the truth [5]. + During the years of his boyhood, then, Tsze-sze must have +been with his grandfather, and received his instructions. It is +related, that one day, when he was alone with the sage, and heard +him sighing, he went up to him, and, bowing twice, inquired the +reason of his grief. 'Is it,' said he, 'because you think that your +descendants, through not cultivating themselves, will be +unworthy of you? Or is it that, in your admiration of the ways of +Yao and Shun, you are vexed that you fall short of them?' 'Child,' +replied Confucius, 'how is it that you know my thoughts?' 'I have +often,' said Tsze-sze, 'heard from you the lesson, that when the +father has gathered and prepared the firewood, if the son cannot +carry the bundle, he is to be pronounced degenerate and unworthy. +The remark comes frequently into my thoughts, and fills me with +great apprehensions.' The sage was delighted. He + +1. ¾|¿p(or Á[)¤½. +2. ¸t¼qªÁ¨å¹Ï¦Ò. +3. ©Î¥H¤»¤Q¤G¦ü¤K¤Q¤G¤§»~. Eighty-two and sixty-two may more +easily be confounded, as written in Chinese, than with the Roman +figures. +4 See the ¥|®Ñ¶°ÃÒ, on the preface to the Chung Yung, -- ¦~¦Ê¾l·³¨ò. +5 Li himself was born in Confucius's twenty-first year, and if +Tsze-sze had been born in Li's twenty-first year, he must have +been 103 at the time of duke Mu's accession. But the tradition is, +that Tsze-sze was a pupil of Tsang Shan who was born B.C. 504. +We must place his birth therefore considerably later, and suppose +him to have been quite young when his father died. I was talking +once about the question with a Chinese friend, who observed:-- 'Li +was fifty when he died, and his wife married again into a family +of Wei. We can hardly think, therefore, that she was anything like +that age. Li could not have married so soon as his father did. +Perhaps he was about forty when Chi was born.' + + +smiled and said, 'Now, indeed, shall I be without anxiety! My +undertakings will not come to naught. They will be carried on and +flourish [1].' After the death of Confucius, Chi became a pupil, it +is said, of the philosopher Tsang. But he received his instructions +with discrimination, and in one instance which is recorded in the +Li Chi, the pupil suddenly took the place of the master. We there +read: 'Tsang said to Tsze-sze, "Chi, when I was engaged in +mourning for my parents, neither congee nor water entered my +mouth for seven days." Tsze-sze answered, "In ordering their +rules of propriety, it was the design of the ancient kings that +those who would go beyond them should stoop and keep by them, +and that those who could hardly reach them should stand on tiptoe +to do so. Thus it is that the superior man, in mourning for his +parents, when he has been three days without water or congee, +takes a staff to enable himself to rise [2]."' + While he thus condemned the severe discipline of Tsang, +Tsze-sze appears, in various incidents which are related of him, +to have been himself more than sufficiently ascetic. As he was +living in great poverty, a friend supplied him with grain, which he +readily received. Another friend was emboldened by this to send +him a bottle of spirits, but he declined to receive it.' You receive +your corn from other people,' urged the donor, 'and why should you +decline my gift, which is of less value? You can assign no ground +in reason for it, and if you wish to show your independence, you +should do so completely.' 'I am so poor,' was the reply, 'as to be in +want, and being afraid lest I should die and the sacrifices not be +offered to my ancestors, I accept the grain as an alms. But the +spirits and the dried flesh which you offer to me are the +appliances of a feast. For a poor man to be feasting is certainly +unreasonable. This is the ground of my refusing your gift. I have +no thought of asserting my independence [3].' + To the same effect is the account of Tsze-sze, which we +have from Liu Hsiang. That scholar relates:-- 'When Chi was living +in Wei, he wore a tattered coat, without any lining, and in thirty +days had only nine meals. T'ien Tsze-fang having heard of his + +1 See the ¥|®Ñ¶°ÃÒ, in the place just quoted from. For the incident +we are indebted to K'ung Fu; see note 3, p. 36. +2 Li Chi, II. Sect. I. ii. 7. +3 See the ¥|®Ñ¶°ÃÒ, as above. + + +distress, sent a messenger to him with a coat of fox-fur, and +being afraid that he might not receive it, he added the message,-- +"When I borrow from a man, I forget it; when I give a thing, I part +with it freely as if I threw it away." Tsze-sze declined the gift +thus offered, and when Tsze-fang said, "I have, and you have not; +why will you not take it?" he replied, "You give away as rashly as +if you were casting your things into a ditch. Poor as I am, I cannot +think of my body as a ditch, and do not presume to accept your +gift [1]." 'Tsze-sze's mother married again, after Li's death, into a +family of Wei. But this circumstance, which is not at all +creditable in Chinese estimation, did not alienate his affections +from her. He was in Lu when he heard of her death, and proceeded +to weep in the temple of his family. A disciple came to him and +said, 'Your mother married again into the family of the Shu, and do +you weep for her in the temple of the K'ung?' 'I am wrong,' said +Tsze-sze, 'I am wrong;' and with these words he went to weep +elsewhere [2]. + In his own married relation he does not seem to have been +happy, and for some cause, which has not been transmitted to us, +he divorced his wife, following in this, it has been wrongly said, +the example of Confucius. On her death, her son, Tsze-shang [3], +did not undertake any mourning for her. Tsze-sze's disciples were +surprised and questioned him. 'Did your predecessor, a superior +man,' they asked, 'mourn for his mother who had been divorced?' +'Yes,' was the reply. 'Then why do you not cause Pai [4] to mourn +for his mother?' Tsze-sze answered, 'My progenitor, a superior +man, failed in nothing to pursue the proper path. His observances +increased or decreased as the case required. But I cannot attain to +this. While she was my wife, she was Pai's mother; when she +ceased to be my wife, she ceased to be Pai's mother.' The custom +of the K'ung family not to mourn for a mother who had been +divorced, took its rise from Tsze-sze [5]. + These few notices of K'ung Chi in his more private relations +bring him before us as a man of strong feeling and strong will, +independent, and with a tendency to asceticism in his habits. + +1 See the ¥|®Ñ¶°ÃÒ, as above. +2 See the Li Chi, II. Sect. II. iii. 15. ±f¤ó¤§¥À¦º must be understood +as I have done above, and not with Chang Hsuan, -- 'Your mother +was born a Miss Shu.' +3 ¤l¤W -- this was the designation of Tsze-sze's son. +4 ¥Õ,-- this was Tsze-shang's name. +5 See the Li Chi, II. Sect. I. i. 4. + + +As a public character, we find him at the ducal courts of Wei, +Sung; Lu, and Pi, and at each of them held in high esteem by the +rulers. To Wei he was carried probably by the fact of his mother +having married into that State. We are told that the prince of Wei +received him with great distinction and lodged him honourably. On +one occasion he said to him, 'An officer of the State of Lu, you +have not despised this small and narrow Wei, but have bent your +steps hither to comfort and preserve it; vouchsafe to confer your +benefits upon me.' Tsze-sze replied. 'If I should wish to requite +your princely favour with money and silks, your treasuries are +already full of them, and I am poor. If I should wish to requite it +with good words, I am afraid that what I should say would not +suit your ideas, so that I should speak in vain and not be listened +to. The only way in which I can requite it, is by recommending to +your notice men of worth.' The duke said. 'Men of worth are +exactly what I desire.' 'Nay,' said Chi. 'you are not able to +appreciate them.' 'Nevertheless,' was the reply, 'I should like to +hear whom you consider deserving that name.' Tsze-sze replied, +'Do you wish to select your officers for the name they may have +or for their reality?' 'For their reality, certainly,' said the duke. +His guest then said, 'In the eastern borders of your State, there is +one Li Yin, who is a man of real worth.' 'What were his +grandfather and father?' asked the duke. 'They were husbandmen,' +was the reply, on which the duke broke into a loud laugh, saying, ' +I do not like husbandry. The son of a husbandman cannot be fit for +me to employ. I do not put into office all the cadets of those +families even in which office is hereditary.' Tsze-sze observed, 'I +mention Li Yin because of his abilities; what has the fact of his +forefathers being husbandmen to do with the case? And moreover, +the duke of Chau was a great sage, and K'ang-shu was a great +worthy. Yet if you examine their beginnings, you will find that +from the business of husbandry they came forth to found their +States. I did certainly have my doubts that in the selection of +your officers you did not have regard to their real character and +capacity.' With this the conversation ended. The duke was silent +[1]. + Tsze-sze was naturally led to Sung, as the K'ung family +originally sprang from that principality. One account, quoted in +'The + +1 See the ¤ó©mÃÐ,¨÷¤@¦Ê¤G,¤Õ¤ó,¤Õ¥ù. + + +Four Books, Text and Commentary, with Proofs and Illustrations +[1],' says that he went thither in his sixteenth year, and having +foiled an officer of the State, named Yo So, in a conversation on +the Shu Ching, his opponent was so irritated at the disgrace put +on him by a youth, that he listened to the advice of evil +counsellors, and made an attack on him to put him to death. The +duke of Sung, hearing the tumult, hurried to the rescue, and when +Chi found himself in safety, he said, 'When king Wan was +imprisoned in Yu-li, he made the Yi of Chau. My grandfather made +the Ch'un Ch'iu after he had been in danger in Ch'an and Ts'ai. Shall +I not make something when rescued from such a risk in Sung?' +Upon this he made the Chung Yung in forty-nine p'ien. + According to this account, the Chung Yung was the work of +Tsze-sze's early manhood, and the tradition has obtained a +wonderful prevalence. The notice in 'The Sacrificial Canon' says, +on the contrary, that it was the work of his old age, when he had +finally settled in Lu, which is much more likely [2]. + Of Tsze-sze in Pi, which could hardly be said to be out of +Lu, we have only one short notice,-- in Mencius, V. Pt. II. iii. 3, +where the duke Hui of Pi is introduced as saying, 'I treat Tsze-sze +as my master.' + We have fuller accounts of him in Lu, where he spent all the +latter years of his life, instructing his disciples to the number of +several hundred [3], and held in great reverence by the duke Mu. +The duke indeed wanted to raise him to the highest office, but he +declined this, and would only occupy the position of a 'guide, +philosopher, and friend.' Of the attention which he demanded, +however, instances will he found in Mencius, II. Pt. II. xi. 3; V. Pt. +II. vi. 4, and vii. 4. In his intercourse with the duke he spoke the +truth to him fearlessly. In the 'Cyclopaedia of Surnames [4],' I find +the following conversations, but I cannot tell from what source +they are extracted into that Work.-- 'One day, the duke said to +Tsze-sze, "The officer Hsien told me that you do good without + +1 This is the Work so often referred to as the ¥|®Ñ¶°ÃÒ, the full +title being ¥|®Ñ¸gµù¶°ÃÒ. The passage here translated from it will +be found in the place several times referred to in this section. +2 The author of the ¥|®Ñ©Ý¾l»¡ adopts the view that the Work was +composed in Sung. Some have advocated this from ch. xxviii. 5, +compared with Ana. III. ix, 'it being proper,' they say, 'that Tsze- +sze, writing in Sung, should not depreciate it as Confucius had +done out of it!' +3 See in the 'Sacrificial Canon,' on Tsze-sze. +4 This is the Work referred to in note 1, p. 40. + + +wishing for any praise from men;-- is it so?" Tsze-sze replied, +"No, that is not my feeling. When I cultivate what is good, I wish +men to know it, for when they know it and praise me, I feel +encouraged to be more zealous in the cultivation. This is what I +desire, and am not able to obtain. If I cultivate what is good, and +men do not know it, it is likely that in their ignorance they will +speak evil of me. So by my good-doing I only come to be evil +spoken of. This is what I do not desire, but am not able to avoid. +In the case of a man, who gets up at cock-crowing to practise +what is good and continues sedulous in the endeavour till +midnight, and says at the same time that he does not wish men to +know it, lest they should praise him, I must say of such a man, +that, if he be not deceitful, he is stupid."' + Another day, the duke asked Tsze-sze, saying, 'Can my state +be made to flourish?' 'It may,' was the reply. 'And how?' Tsze-sze +said, 'O prince, if you and your ministers will only strive to +realize the government of the duke of Chau and of Po-ch'in; +practising their transforming principles, sending forth wide the +favours of your ducal house, and not letting advantages flow in +private channels; if you will thus conciliate the affections of the +people, and at the same time cultivate friendly relations with +neighboring states, your state will soon begin to flourish.' + On one occasion, the duke asked whether it had been the +custom of old for ministers to go into mourning for a prince +whose service and state they had left. Tsze-sze replied to him, +'Of old, princes advanced their ministers to office according to +propriety, and dismissed them in the same way, and hence there +was that rule. But now-a-days, princes bring their ministers +forward as if they were going to take them on their knees, and +send them away as if they would cast them into an abyss. If they +do not treat them as their greatest enemies, it is well.-- How can +you expect the ancient practice to be observed in such +circumstances [1]?' + These instances may suffice to illustrate the character of +Tsze-sze, as it was displayed in his intercourse with the princes +of his time. We see the same independence which he affected in +private life, and a dignity not unbecoming the grandson of +Confucius. But we miss the reach of thought and capacity for +administration which belonged to the Sage. It is with him, how- + +1 This conversation is given in the Li Chi, II. Sect. II. Pt. ii, 1. + + +ever, as a thinker and writer that we have to do, and his rank in +that capacity will appear from the examination of the Chung Yung +in the section iv below. His place in the temples of the Sage has +been that of one of his four assessors, since the year 1267. He +ranks with Yen Hui, Tsang Shan, and Mencius, and bears the title +of 'The Philosopher Tsze-sze, Transmitter of the Sage [1].' + +SECTION III. + +ITS INTEGRITY. + + In the testimony of K'ung Fu, which has been adduced to +prove the authorship of the Chung Yung, it is said that the Work +consisted originally of forty-nine p'ien. From this statement it is +argued by some, that the arrangement of it in thirty-three +chapters, which originated with Chu Hsi, is wrong [2]; but this +does not affect the question of integrity, and the character p'ien +is so vague and indefinite, that we cannot affirm that K'ung Fu +meant to tell us by it that Tsze-sze himself divided his Treatise +into so many paragraphs or chapters. + + It is on the entry in Liu Hsin's Catalogue, quoted section i,-- +'Two p'ien of Observations on the Chung Yung,' that the integrity +of the present Work is called in question. Yen Sze-ku, of the Tang +dynasty, has a note on that entry to the effect:-- 'There is now +the Chung Yung in the Li Chi in one p'ien. But that is not the +original Treatise here mentioned, but only a branch from it [3]' +Wang Wei, a writer of the Ming dynasty, says:-- 'Anciently, the +Chung Yung consisted of two p'ien, as appears from the History of +Literature of the Han dynasty, but in the Li Chi we have only one +p'ien, which Chu Hsi, when he made his "Chapters and Sentences," +divided into thirty-three chapters. The old Work in two p'ien is +not to be met with now [4].' + These views are based on a misinterpretation of the entry +in the + +1 z¸t¤l«ä¤l. +2 See the ¥|®Ñ©Ý¾l»¡, art. ¤¤±e. +3 ÃC®v¥j¤ê,¤µÂ§°O¦³¤¤±e¤@½g,«³«D¥»Â§¸g,»\¦¹¤§¬y. +4 ¤ý¤ó½n¤ê,¤¤±e¥j¦³¤G½g,¨£º~ÃÀ¤å§Ó,¦Ó¦b§°O¤¤ªÌ,¤@½g¦Ó¤w,¦¶¤l¬°³¹¥y,¦] +¨ä¤@½gªÌ,¤À¬°¤T¤Q¤T³¹,¦Ó¥j©Ò¿×¦Ó½gªÌ¤£¥i¨£¨o. + + +Catalogue. It does not speak of two p'ien of the Chung Yung, but of +two p'ien of Observations thereon. The Great Learning carries on +its front the evidence of being incomplete, but the student will +not easily believe that the Doctrine of the Mean is so. I see no +reason for calling its integrity in question, and no necessity +therefore to recur to the ingenious device employed in the edition +of the five ching published by the imperial authority of K'ang Hsi, +to get over the difficulty which Wang Wei supposes. It there +appears in two p'ien, of which we have the following account +from the author of 'Supplemental Remarks upon the Four Books:'-- +'The proper course now is to consider the first twenty chapters in +Chu Hsi's arrangement as making up the first p'ien, and the +remaining thirteen as forming the second. In this way we retain +the old form of the Treatise, and do not come into collision with +the views of Chu. For this suggestion we are indebted to Lu Wang- +chai' (an author of the Sung dynasty ) [1]. + +SECTION IV. + +ITS SCOPE AND VALUE. + + 1. The Doctrine of the Mean is a work not easy to +understand. 'It first,' says the philosopher Chang, 'speaks of one +principle; it next spreads this out and embraces all things; +finally, it returns and gathers them up under the one principle. +Unroll it and it fills the universe; roll it up, and it retires and +lies hid in secrecy [2].' There is this advantage, however, to the +student of it, that more than most other Chinese Treatises it has +a beginning, a middle, and an end. The first chapter stands to all +that follows in the character of a text, containing several +propositions of which we have the expansion or development. If +that development were satisfactory, we should be able to bring +our own minds en rapport with that of the author. Unfortunately it +is not so. As a writer he belongs to the intuitional school more +than to the logical. This is well put in the 'Continuation of the +General Examination of Literary Monuments and Learned Men,'-- +'The philosopher Tsang reached his conclusions by following in +the train of things, watch- + +1 See the ¥|®Ñ©Ý¾l»¡, art. ¤¤±e. +2 See the Introductory note of Chu Hsi. + + +ing and examining; whereas Tsze-sze proceeds directly and +reaches to Heavenly virtue. His was a mysterious power of +discernment, approaching to that of Yen Hui [1].' We must take the +Book and the author, however, as we have them, and get to their +meaning, if we can, by assiduous examination and reflection. + 2. 'Man has received his nature from Heaven. Conduct in +accordance with that nature constitutes what is right and true,-- +is a pursuing of the proper Path. The cultivation or regulation of +that path is what is called Instruction.' It is with these axioms +that the Treatise commences, and from such an introduction we +might expect that the writer would go on to unfold the various +principles of duty, derived from an analysis of man's moral +constitution. + Confining himself, however, to the second axiom, he +proceeds to say that 'the path may not for an instant be left, and +that the superior man is cautious and careful in reference to what +he does not see, and fearful and apprehensive in reference to what +he does not hear. There is nothing more visible than what is +secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute, and +therefore the superior man is watchful over his aloneness.' This +is not all very plain. Comparing it with the sixth chapter of +Commentary in the Great Learning, it seems to inculcate what is +there called 'making the thoughts sincere.' The passage contains +an admonition about equivalent to that of Solomon,-- 'Keep thy +heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.' + The next paragraph seems to speak of the nature and the +path under other names. 'While there are no movements of +pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, we have what may be called the +state of equilibrium. When those feelings have been moved, and +they all act in the due degree, we have what may be called the +state of harmony. This equilibrium is the great root of the world, +and this harmony is its universal path.' What is here called 'the +state of equilibrium,' is the same as the nature given by Heaven, +considered absolutely in itself, without deflection or inclination. +This nature acted on from without, and responding with the +various emotions, so as always 'to hit [2]' the mark with entire + +1 See the Äò¤åÄm³q¦Ò, Bk. cxcix, art. ¤l«ä,--´¿¤l±o¤§¤_ÀH¨Æ¬Ù¹î,¦Ó¤l«ä +¤§¾Ç,«hª½¹F¤Ñ¼w,±f´XÃC¤ó¤§§®®©. +2 ¤¤¸`. + + +correctness, produces the state of harmony, and such harmonious +response is the path along which all human activities should +proceed. + Finally. 'Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in +perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and +earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.' Here we pass +into the sphere of mystery and mysticism. The language, +according to Chu Hsi, 'describes the meritorious achievements and +transforming influence of sage and spiritual men in their highest +extent.' From the path of duty, where we tread on solid ground, +the writer suddenly raises us aloft on wings of air, and will carry +us we know not where, and to we know not what. + 3. The paragraphs thus presented, and which constitute Chu +Hsi's first chapter, contain the sum of the whole Work. This is +acknowledged by all;-- by the critics who disown Chu Hsi's +interpretations of it, as freely as by him [1]. Revolving them in +my own mind often and long, I collect from them the following as +the ideas of the author:-- Firstly, Man has received from Heaven a +moral nature by which he is constituted a law to himself; +secondly, Over this nature man requires to exercise a jealous +watchfulness; and thirdly, As he possesses it, absolutely and +relatively, in perfection, or attains to such possession of it, he +becomes invested with the highest dignity and power, and may +say to himself-- 'I am a god; yea, I sit in the seat of God.' I will +not say here that there is impiety in the last of these ideas; but +do we not have in them the same combination which we found in +the Great Learning,-- a combination of the ordinary and the +extraordinary, the plain and the vague, which is very perplexing to +the mind, and renders the Book unfit for the purposes of mental +and moral discipline? + And here I may inquire whether we do right in calling the +Treatise by any of the names which foreigners have hitherto used +for it? In the note on the title, I have entered a little into this +question. The Work is not at all what a reader must expect to find +in what he supposes to be a treatise on 'The Golden Medium,' 'The +Invariable Mean,' or 'The Doctrine of the Mean.' Those + +l Compare Chu Hsi's language in his concluding note to the first +chapter:-- ·¨¤ó©Ò¿×¤@½g¤§Â§n, and Mao Hsi-ho's, in his ¤¤±e»¡, ¨÷¤@, +p. 11:-- ¦¹¤¤±e¤@®Ñ¤§»ân¤]. + + +names are descriptive only of a portion of it. Where the phrase +Chung Yung occurs in the quotations from Confucius, in nearly +every chapter from the second to the eleventh, we do well to +translate it by 'the course of the Mean,' or some similar terms; +but the conception of it in Tsze-sze's mind was of a different +kind, as the preceding analysis of the first chapter sufficiently +shows [1]. + 4. I may return to this point of the proper title for the Work +again, but in the meantime we must proceed with the analysis of +it.-- The ten chapters from the second to the eleventh constitute +the second part, and in them Tsze-sze quotes the words of +Confucius, 'for the purpose,' according to Chu Hsi, 'of illustrating +the meaning of the first chapter.' Yet, as I have just intimated, +they do not to my mind do this. Confucius bewails the rarity of +the practice of the Mean, and graphically sets forth the difficulty +of it. 'The empire, with its component States and families, may be +ruled; dignities and emoluments may be declined; naked weapons +may be trampled under foot; but the course of the Mean can not be +attained to [2].' 'The knowing go beyond it, and the stupid do not +come up to it [3].' Yet some have attained to it. Shun did so, +humble and ever learning from people far inferior to himself [4]; +and Yen Hui did so, holding fast whatever good he got hold of, and +never letting it go [5]. Tsze-lu thought the Mean could be taken by +storm, but Confucius taught him better [6]. And in fine, it is only +the sage who can fully exemplify the Mean [7]. + All these citations do not throw any light on the ideas +presented in the first chapter. On the contrary, they interrupt the +train of thought. Instead of showing us how virtue, or the path of +duty is in accordance with our Heaven-given nature, they lead us +to think of it as a mean between two extremes. Each extreme may +be a violation of the law of our nature, but that is not made to +appear. Confucius's sayings would be in place in illustrating the +doctrine of the Peripatetics, 'which placed all virtue in a medium +between opposite vices [8].' Here in the Chung Yung of Tsze-sze I +have always felt them to be out of place. + 5. In the twelfth chapter Tsze-sze speaks again himself, +and we seem at once to know the voice. He begins by saying that +'the way of the superior man reaches far and wide, and yet is + +1 In the version in 'The Sacred Books of the East,' I call the +Treatise 'The State of Equilibrium and Harmony.' +2 Ch. ix. +3 Ch. iv. +4 Ch. vi. +5 Ch. viii. +6 Ch. x. +7 Ch. xi. +8 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Preliminary Dissertations, p. 318, +eighth edition. + + +secret,' by which he means to tell us that the path of duty is to be +pursued everywhere and at all times, while yet the secret spring +and rule of it is near at hand, in the Heaven-conferred nature, the +individual consciousness, with which no stranger can +intermeddle. Chu Hsi, as will be seen in the notes, gives a +different interpretation of the utterance. But the view which I +have adopted is maintained convincingly by Mao Hsi-ho in the +second part of his 'Observations on the Chung Yung.' With this +chapter commences the third part of the Work, which embraces +also the eight chapters which follow. 'It is designed,' says Chu +Hsi, 'to illustrate what is said in the first chapter that "the path +may not be left."' But more than that one sentence finds its +illustration here. Tsze-sze had reference in it also to what he had +said-- 'The superior man does not wait till he sees things to be +cautious, nor till he hears things to be apprehensive. There is +nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more +manifest than what is minute. Therefore, the superior man is +watchful over himself when he is alone.' It is in this portion of +the Chung Yung that we find a good deal of moral instruction +which is really valuable. Most of it consists of sayings of +Confucius, but the sentiments of Tsze-sze himself in his own +language are interspersed with them. The sage of China has no +higher utterances than those which are given in the thirteenth +chapter.-- 'The path is not far from man. When men try to pursue a +course which is far from the common indications of +consciousness, this course cannot be considered the path. In the +Book of Poetry it is said-- + +"In hewing an axe-handle, in hewing an axe-handle, +The pattern is not far off." + +We grasp one axe-handle to hew the other, and yet if we look +askance from the one to the other, we may consider them as +apart. Therefore, the superior man governs men according to their +nature, with what is proper to them; and as soon as they change +what is wrong, he stops. When one cultivates to the utmost the +moral principles of his nature, and exercises them on the +principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. What you do +not like when done to yourself, do not do to others.' + 'In the way of the superior man there are four things, to +none of which have I as yet attained.-- To serve my father as I +would require my son to serve me: to this I have not attained; to +serve + + +my elder brother as I would require my younger brother to serve +me: to this I have not attained; to serve my ruler as I would +require my minister to serve me: to this I have not attained; to +set the example in behaving to a friend as I would require him to +behave to me: to this I have not attained. Earnest in practising the +ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them; if in his +practice he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but +exert himself; and if in his words he has any excess, he dares not +allow himself such license. Thus his words have respect to his +actions, and his actions have respect to his words;-- is it not +just an entire sincerity which marks the superior man?' + We have here the golden rule in its negative form expressly +propounded:-- 'What you do not like when done to yourself, do not +do to others.' But in the paragraph which follows we have the rule +virtually in its positive form. Confucius recognises the duty of +taking the initiative,-- of behaving himself to others in the first +instance as he would that they should behave to him. There is a +certain narrowness, indeed, in that the sphere of its operations +seems to be confined to the relations of society, which are +spoken of more at large in the twentieth chapter, but let us not +grudge the tribute of our warm approbation to the sentiments. + This chapter is followed by two from Tsze-sze, to the +effect that the superior man does what is proper in every change +of his situation, always finding his rule in himself; and that in +his practice there is an orderly advance from step to step,-- from +what is near to what is remote. Then follow five chapters from +Confucius:-- the first, on the operation and influence of spiritual +beings, to show 'the manifestness of what is minute, and the +irrepressibleness of sincerity;' the second, on the filial piety of +Shun, and how it was rewarded by Heaven with the throne, with +enduring fame, and with long life; the third and fourth, on the +kings Wan and Wu, and the duke of Chau, celebrating them for +their filial piety and other associate virtues; and the fifth, on the +subject of government. These chapters are interesting enough in +themselves, but when I go back from them, and examine whether I +have from them any better understanding of the paragraphs in the +first chapter which they are said to illustrate, I do not find that I +have. Three of them, the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, +would be more in place in the Classic of Filial Piety than here in +the Chung Yung. The meaning of the + + +sixteenth is shadowy and undefined. After all the study which I +have directed to it, there are some points in reference to which I +have still doubts and difficulties. + The twentieth chapter, which concludes the third portion of +the Work, contains a full exposition of Confucius's views on +government, though professedly descriptive only of that of the +kings Wan and Wu. Along with lessons proper for a ruler there are +many also of universal application, but the mingling of them +perplexes the mind. It tells us of 'the five duties of universal +application,'-- those between sovereign and minister, husband and +wife, father and son, elder and younger brother, and friends; of +'the three virtues by which those duties are carried into effect,' +namely, knowledge, benevolence, and energy; and of 'the one thing, +by which those virtues are practised,' which is singleness or +sincerity [1]. It sets forth in detail the 'nine standard rules for +the administration of government,' which are 'the cultivation by +the ruler of his own character; the honouring men of virtue and +talents; affection to his relatives; respect towards the great +ministers; kind and considerate treatment of the whole body of +officers; cherishing the mass of the people as children; +encouraging all classes of artisans; indulgent treatment of men +from a distance; and the kindly cherishing of the princes of the +States [2].' There are these and other equally interesting topics in +this chapter; but, as they are in the Work, they distract the mind, +instead of making the author's great object more clear to it, and I +will not say more upon them here. + 6. Doubtless it was the mention of 'singleness,' or +'sincerity,' in the twentieth chapter, which made Tsze-sze +introduce it into this Treatise, for from those terms he is able to +go on to develop what he intended in saying that 'if the states of +Equilibrium and Harmony exist in perfection, a happy order will +prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be +nourished and flourish.' It is here, that now we are astonished at +the audacity of the writer's assertions, and now lost in vain +endeavours to ascertain his meaning. I have quoted the words of +Confucius that it is 'singleness' by which the three virtues of +knowledge, benevolence, and energy are able to carry into +practice the duties of universal obligation. He says also that it is +this same 'singleness' by which 'the nine standard rules of +government' can be effectively carried out [3]. This 'singleness' is +merely a name for 'the states of Equilibrium + +1 Par. 8. +2 Par. 12. +3 Par. 15. + + +and Harmony existing in perfection.' It denotes a character +absolutely and relatively good, wanting nothing in itself, and +correct in all its outgoings. 'Sincerity' is another term for the +same thing, and in speaking about it, Confucius makes a +distinction between sincerity absolute and sincerity acquired. +The former is born with some, and practised by them without any +effort; the latter is attained by study, and practised by strong +endeavour [1]. The former is 'the way of Heaven;' the latter is 'the +way of men [2].' 'He who possesses sincerity,'-- absolutely, that +is,-- 'is he who without effort hits what is right, and apprehends +without the exercise of thought; he is the sage who naturally and +easily embodies the right way. He who attains to sincerity, is he +who chooses what is good and firmly holds it fast. And to this +attainment there are requisite the extensive study of what is +good, accurate inquiry about it, careful reflection on it, the clear +discrimination of it, and the earnest practice of it [3].' In these +passages Confucius unhesitatingly enunciates his belief that +there are some men who are absolutely perfect, who come into +the world as we might conceive the first man was, when he was +created by God 'in His own image,' full of knowledge and +righteousness, and who grow up as we know that Christ did, +'increasing in wisdom and in stature.' He disclaimed being +considered to be such an one himself [4], but the sages of China +were such. And moreover, others who are not so naturally may +make themselves to become so. Some will have to put forth more +effort and to contend with greater struggles, but the end will be +the possession of the knowledge and the achievement of the +practice. + I need not say that these sentiments are contrary to the +views of human nature which are presented in the Bible. The +testimony of Revelation is that 'there is not a just man upon +earth that doeth good and sinneth not.' 'If we say that we have no +sin,' and in writing this term, I am thinking here not of sin +against God, but, if we can conceive of it apart from that, of +failures in regard to what ought to be in our regulation of +ourselves, and in our behavior to others;-- 'if we say that we have +no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.' This +language is appropriate in the lips of the learned as well as in +those of the ignorant, to the highest sage as to the lowest child +of the soil. Neither the scriptures of God nor the experience of +man know of individuals + +1 Par. 9. +2 Par. 18. +3 Pars. 18, 19. +4 Ana. VII. xix. + + +absolutely perfect. The other sentiment that men can make +themselves perfect is equally wide of the truth. Intelligence and +goodness by no means stand to each other in the relation of cause +and effect. The sayings of Ovid, 'Video meliora proboque, +deteriora sequor,' 'Nitimur in velitum semper. cupimusque negata,' +are a more correct expression of the facts of human +consciousness and conduct than the high-flown praises of +Confucius. + 7. But Tsze-sze adopts the dicta of his grandfather without +questioning them, and gives them forth in his own style at the +commencement of the fourth part of his Treatise. 'When we have +intelligence resulting from sincerity, this condition is to be +ascribed to nature; when we have sincerity resulting from +intelligence, this condition is to be ascribed to instruction. But +given the sincerity, and there shall be the intelligence; given the +intelligence, and there shall be the sincerity [1].' + Tsze-sze does more than adopt the dicta of Confucius. He +applies them in a way which the Sage never did, and which he +would probably have shrunk from doing. The sincere, or perfect +man of Confucius, is he who satisfies completely all the +requirements of duty in the various relations of society, and in +the exercise of government; but the sincere man of Tsze-sze is a +potency in the universe. 'Able to give its full development to his +own nature, he can do the same to the nature of other men. Able to +give its full development to the nature of other men, he can give +their full development to the natures of animals and things. Able +to give their full development to the natures of creatures and +things, he can assist the transforming and nourishing powers of +Heaven and Earth. Able to assist the transforming and nourishing +powers of Heaven and Earth, he may with Heaven and Earth form a +ternion [2].' Such are the results of sincerity natural. The case +below this -- of sincerity acquired, is as follows,-- 'The +individual cultivates its shoots. From these he can attain to the +possession of sincerity. This sincerity becomes apparent. From +being apparent, it becomes manifest. From being manifest, it +becomes brilliant. Brilliant, it affects others. Affecting others, +they are changed by it. Changed by it, they are transformed. It is +only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can +exist under heaven, who can transform [3].' It may safely be +affirmed, that when he thus expressed himself, Tsze-sze +understood neither what he said nor + +1 Ch. xxi. +2 Ch. xxii. +3 Ch. xxiii. + + +whereof he affirmed. Mao Hsi-ho and some other modern writers +explain away many of his predicates of sincerity, so that in their +hands they become nothing but extravagant hyperboles, but the +author himself would, I believe, have protested against such a +mode of dealing with his words. True, his structures are castles +in the air, but he had no idea himself that they were so. + In the twenty-fourth chapter there is a ridiculous descent +from the sublimity of the two preceding. We are told that the +possessor of entire sincerity is like a spirit and can foreknow, +but the foreknowledge is only a judging by the milfoil and +tortoise and other auguries! But the author recovers himself, and +resumes his theme about sincerity as conducting to self- +completion and the completion of other men and things, +describing it also as possessing all the qualities which can be +predicated of Heaven and Earth. Gradually the subject is made to +converge to the person of Confucius, who is the ideal of the sage, +as the sage is the ideal of humanity at large. An old account of +the object of Tsze-sze in the Chung Yung is that he wrote it to +celebrate the virtue of his grandfather [1]. He certainly contrives +to do this in the course of it. The thirtieth, thirty-first, and +thirty-second chapters contain his eulogium, and never has any +other mortal been exalted in such terms. 'He may be compared to +heaven and earth in their supporting and containing, their over- +shadowing and curtaining all things; he may be compared to the +four seasons in their alternating progress, and to the sun and +moon in their successive shining.' 'Quick in apprehension, clear in +discernment, of far-reaching intelligence, and all-embracing +knowledge, he was fitted to exercise rule; magnanimous, +generous, benign, and mild, he was fitted to exercise forbearance; +impulsive, energetic, strong, and enduring, he was fitted to +maintain a firm hold; self-adjusted, grave, never swerving from +the Mean, and correct, he was fitted to command reverence; +accomplished, distinctive, concentrative, and searching, he was +fitted to exercise discrimination.' 'All-embracing and vast, he +was like heaven; deep and active as a fountain, he was like the +abyss.' 'Therefore his fame overspreads the Middle Kingdom, and +extends to all barbarous tribes. Wherever ships and carriages +reach; wherever the strength of man penetrates; wherever the +heavens overshadow + +1 ð³°¼w©úÄÀ¤å¿×¤Õ¤l¤§®],¤l«ä,§@¦¹¥H¬L©ú¯ª¼w; see the ¤¤±e𻡤@, p. 1. + + +and the earth sustains; wherever the sun and moon shine; +wherever frosts and dews fall;-- all who have blood and breath +unfeignedly honour and love him. Hence it is said,-- He is the +equal of Heaven!' 'Who can know him but he who is indeed quick in +apprehension, clear in discernment, of far-reaching intelligence, +and all-embracing knowledge, possessing all heavenly virtue?' + 8. We have arrived at the concluding chapter of the Work, in +which the author, according to Chu Hsi, 'having carried his +descriptions to the highest point in the preceding chapters, turns +back and examines the source of his subject; and then again from +the work of the learner, free from all selfishness and watchful +over himself when he is alone, he carries out his description, till +by easy steps he brings it to the consummation of the whole +world tranquillized by simple and sincere reverentialness. He +moreover eulogizes its mysteriousness, till he speaks of it at +last as without sound or smell [1].' Between the first and last +chapters there is a correspondency, and each of them may be +considered as a summary of the whole treatise. The difference +between them is, that in the first a commencement is made with +the mention of Heaven as the conferrer of man's nature, while in +this the progress of man in virtue is traced, step by step, till at +last it is equal to that of High Heaven. + 9. I have thus in the preceding paragraphs given a general +and somewhat copious review of this Work. My object has been to +seize, if I could, the train of thought and to hold it up to the +reader. Minor objections to it, arising from the confused use of +terms and singular applications of passages from the older +Classics, are noticed in the notes subjoined to the translation. I +wished here that its scope should be seen, and the means be +afforded of judging how far it is worthy of the high character +attributed to it. 'The relish of it,' says the younger Ch'ang, 'is +inexhaustible. The whole of it is solid learning. When the skilful +reader has explored it with delight till he has apprehended it, he +may carry it into practice all his life, and will find that it cannot +be exhausted [2].' + My own opinion of it is less favourable. The names by which +it has been called in translations of it have led to misconceptions +of its character. Were it styled 'The states of Equilibrium and +Harmony,' we should be prepared to expect something strange and +probably extravagant. Assuredly we should expect nothing more + +1 See the concluding note by Chu Hsi. +2 See the Introductory note below. + + +strange or extravagant than what we have. It begins sufficiently +well, but the author has hardly enunciated his preliminary +apophthegms, when he conducts into an obscurity where we can +hardly grope our way, and when we emerge from that, it is to be +bewildered by his gorgeous but unsubstantial pictures of sagely +perfection. He has eminently contributed to nourish the pride of +his countrymen. He has exalted their sages above all that is called +God or is worshipped, and taught the masses of the people that +with them they have need of nothing from without. In the +meantime it is antagonistic to Christianity. By-and-by, when +Christianity has prevailed in China, men will refer to it as a +striking proof how their fathers by their wisdom knew neither +God nor themselves. + + + +CHAPTER V. +CONFUCIUS AND HIS IMMEDIATE DISCIPLES. + +SECTION I. +LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. + + 1. 'And have you foreigners surnames as well?' This +question has often been put to me by Chinese. It marks the +ignorance which belongs to the people of all that is external to + +[Sidebar] His ancestry. + +themselves, and the pride of antiquity which enters largely as an +element into their character. If such a pride could in any case be +justified, we might allow it to the family of the K'ung, the +descendants of Confucius. In the reign of K'ang-hsi, twenty-one +centuries and a half after the death of the sage, they amounted to +eleven thousand males. But their ancestry is carried back through +a period of equal extent, and genealogical tables are common, in +which the descent of Confucius is traced down from Hwang-ti, in +whose reign the cycle was invented, B.C. 2637 [1]. + The more moderate writers, however, content themselves +with exhibiting his ancestry back to the commencement of the +Chau dynasty, B.C. 1121. Among the relatives of the tyrant Chau, +the last emperor of the Yin dynasty, was an elder brother, by a +concubine, named Ch'i [2], who is celebrated by Confucius, Ana. +XVIII. i, under the title of the viscount of Wei. Foreseeing the +impending ruin of their family, Ch'i withdrew from the court; and +subsequently he was invested by the emperor Ch'ang, the second +of the house of Chau, with the principality of Sung, which +embraced the eastern portion of the present province of Ho-nan, +that he might there continue the sacrifices to the sovereigns of +Yin. Ch'i was followed as duke of Sung by a younger brother, in +whose line the succession continued. His great-grandson, the duke +Min [3], was + +l See Memoires concernant les Chinois, Tome XII, p. 447 et seq. +Father Amiot states, p. 501, that he had seen the representative +of the family, who succeeded to the dignity of l¸t¤½ in the ninth +year of Ch'ien-lung, A.D. 1744. The last duke, not the present, was +visited in our own time by the late Dr. Williamson and Mr. Consul +Markham. It is hardly necessary that I should say here, that the +name Confucius is merely the Chinese characters ¤Õ¤Ò¤l (K'ung Fu- +tsze, 'The master K'ung') Latinized. +2 ±Ò. +3 ·]¤½. + + +followed, B.C. 908, by a younger brother, leaving, however, two +sons, Fu-fu Ho [1] and Fang-sze [2]. Fu Ho [3] resigned his right to +the dukedom in favour of Fang-sze, who put his uncle to death in +B.C. 893, and became master of the State. He is known as the duke +Li [4], and to his elder brother belongs the honour of having the +sage among his descendants. + Three descents from Fu Ho, we find Chang K'ao-fu [5], who +was a distinguished officer under the dukes Tai, Wu, and Hsuan [6] +(B.C. 799-728). He is still celebrated for his humility, and for his +literary tastes. We have accounts of him as being in +communication with the Grand-historiographer of the kingdom, +and engaged in researches about its ancient poetry, thus setting +an example of one of the works to which Confucius gave himself +[7]. K'ao gave birth to K'ung-fu Chia [8], from whom the surname of +K'ung took its rise. Five generations had now elapsed since the +dukedom was held in the direct line of his ancestry, and it was +according to the rule in such cases that the branch should cease +its connexion with the ducal stem, and merge among the people +under a new surname. K'ung Chia was Master of the Horse in Sung, +and an officer of well-known loyalty and probity. Unfortunately +for himself, he had a wife of surpassing beauty, of whom the +chief minister of the State, by name Hwa Tu [9], happened on one +occasion to get a glimpse. Determined to possess her, he +commenced a series of intrigues, which ended, B.C. 710, in the +murder of Chia and of the ruling duke Shang [10]. At the same +time, Tu secured the person of the lady, and hastened to his +palace with the prize, but on the way she had strangled herself +with her girdle. + An enmity was thus commenced between the two families +of K'ung and Hwa which the lapse of time did not obliterate, and +the latter being the more powerful of the two, Chia's great- +grandson withdrew into the State of Lu to avoid their persecution. +There he was appointed commandant of the city of Fang [11], and +is known + +1 ¦ò¤÷¦ó. +2 èÛ(al. ¤è) ªÁ. +3 I drop here the ¤÷ (second tone), which seems to have been used +in those times in a manner equivalent to our Mr. +4 ¼F¤½. +5 ¥¿¦Ò¨j; ¨j is used in the same way as ¤÷; see note 3. +6 À¹, ªZ, «Å, ¤T¤½. +7 See the ¾|»y, and °Ó¹|¸Ö§Ç; quoted in Chiang Yung's (¤u¥Ã) Life of +Confucius, which forms a part of the ¶mÄҹϦÒ. +8 ¤Õ¤÷¹Å. +9 µØ·þ. +10 ¼Ü¤½. +11 ¨¾. + + +in history by the name of Fang-shu [1]. Fang-shu gave birth to Po- +hsia [2], and from him came Shu-liang Heh [3], the father of +Confucius. Heh appears in the history of the times as a soldier of +great prowess and daring bravery. In the year B.C. 562, when +serving at the siege of a place called Peh-yang [4], a party of the +assailants made their way in at a gate which had purposely been +left open, and no sooner were they inside than the portcullis was +dropped. Heh was just entering; and catching the massive +structure with both his hands, he gradually by dint of main +strength raised it and held it up, till his friends had made their +escape. + Thus much on the ancestry of the sage. Doubtless he could +trace his descent in the way which has been indicated up to the +imperial house of Yin, nor was there one among his ancestors +during the rule of Chau to whom he could not refer with +satisfaction. They had been ministers and soldiers of Sung and Lu, +all men of worth, and in Chang K'ao, both for his humility and +literary researches, Confucius might have special complacency. + 2. Confucius was the child of Shu-liang Heh's old age. The +soldier had married in early life, but his wife brought him only + +[Sidebar] From his birth to his first public employments. B.C. 551- +531. + +daughters,-- to the number of nine, and no son. By a concubine he +had a son, named Mang-p'i, and also Po-ni [5], who proved a +cripple, so that, when he was over seventy years, Heh sought a +second wife in the Yen family [6], from which came subsequently +Yen Hui, the favourite disciple of his son. There were three +daughters in the family, the youngest being named Chang-tsai [7]. +Their father said to them, 'Here is the commandant of Tsau. His +father and grandfather were only scholars, but his ancestors +before them were descendants of the sage sovereigns. He is a man +ten feet high [8], and of extraordinary prowess, and I am very +desirous of his alliance. Though he is old and austere, you need +have no misgivings about him. Which of you three will be his +wife? 'The two elder daughters were silent, but Chang-tsai said, +'Why do you ask us, father? It is for you to determine.' 'Very well,' +said her father in reply, 'you will do.' Chang-tsai, accordingly, +became Heh's wife, and in due time gave + +1 ¨¾¨û. +2 §B®L. +3 ¨û±ç¬ø. +4 ÔM¶§. +5 ©s¥Ö, ¤@¦r§B¥§. +6 ÃC¤ó. +7 ¼x¦b. +8 ¨ä¤H, ¨ªø¤Q¤Ø. See, on the length of the ancient foot, Ana. VIII. +vi, but the point needs a more sifting investigation than it has yet +received. + + +birth to Confucius, who received the name of Ch'iu, and was +subsequently styled Chung-ni [1]. The event happened on the +twenty-first day of the tenth month of the twenty-first year of +the duke Hsiang, of Lu, being the twentieth year of the emperor +Ling, B.C. 552 [2]. The birth-place was in the district of Tsau [3], +of which Heh was the governor. It was somewhere within the +limits of the present department of Yen-chau in Shan-tung, but +the honour of being the exact spot is claimed for two places in +two different districts of the department. + The notices which we have of Confucius's early years are +very scanty. When he was in his third year his father died. It is +related of him, that as a boy he used to play at the arrangement of + +1 ¦Wªô, ¦r¥ò¥§. The legends say that Chang-tsai fearing lest she +should not have a son, in consequence of her husband's age, +privately ascended the Ni-ch'iu hill to pray for the boon, and that +when she had obtained it, she commemorated the fact in the +names -- Ch'iu and Chung-ni. But the cripple, Mang-p'i, had +previous been styled Po-ni. There was some reason, previous to +Confucius's birth, for using the term ni in the family. As might be +expected, the birth of the sage is surrounded with many +prodigious occurrences. One account is, that the husband and wife +prayed together for a son in a dell of mount Ni. As Chang-tsai +went up the hill, the leaves of the trees and plants all erected +themselves, and bent downwards on her return. That night she +dreamt the black Ti appeared, and said to her, 'You shall have a +son, a sage, and you must bring him forth in a hollow mulberry +tree.' One day during her pregnancy, she fell into a dreamy state, +and saw five old men in the hall, who called themselves the +essences of the five planets, and led an animal which looked like +a small cow with one horn, and was covered with scales like a +dragon. This creature knelt before Chang-tsai, and cast forth from +its mouth a slip of jade, on which was the inscription,-- 'The son +of the essence of water shall succeed to the decaying Chau, and +be a throneless king.' Chang-tsai tied a piece of embroidered +ribbon about its horn, and the vision disappeared. When Heh was +told of it, he said, 'The creature must be the Ch'i-lin.' As her time +drew near, Chang-tsai asked her husband if there was any place in +the neighborhood called 'the hollow mulberry tree.' He told her +there was a dry cave in the south hill, which went by that name. +Then she said, 'I will go and be confined there.' Her husband was +surprised, but when made acquainted with her former dream, he +made the necessary arrangements. On the night when the child +was born, two dragons came and kept watch on the left and right +of the hill, and two spirit-ladies appeared in the air, pouring out +fragrant odors, as if to bathe Chang-tsai; and as soon as the birth +took place, a spring of clear warm water bubbled up from the +floor of the cave, which dried up again when the child had been +washed in it. The child was of an extraordinary appearance; with +a mouth like the sea, ox lips, a dragon's back, &c. &c. On the top of +his head was a remarkable formation, in consequence of which he +was named Ch'iu, &c. See the ¦C°ê§Ó, Bk. lxxviii.--Sze-ma Ch'ien +seems to make Confucius to have been illegitimate, saying that +Heh and Miss Yen cohabited in the wilderness (³¥¦X). Chiang Yung +says that the phrase has reference simply to the disparity of +their ages. +2 Sze-ma Ch'ien says that Confucius was born in the twenty- +second year of duke Hsiang, B.C. 550. He is followed by Chu Hsi in +the short sketch of Confucius's life prefixed to the Lun Yu, and by +'The Annals of the Empire' (¾ú¥N²Î¬öªí), published with imperial +sanction in the reign of Chia-ch'ing. (To this latter work I have +generally referred for my dates.) The year assigned in the text +above rests on the authority of Ku-liang and Kung-yang, the two +commentators on the Ch'un-Ch'iu. With regard to the month, +however, the tenth is that assigned by Ku-liang, while Kung-yang +names the eleventh. +3 Tsau is written ×ê, ÁÝ, ³µ, and ¹Q. + + +sacrificial vessels, and at postures of ceremony. Of his schooling +we have no reliable account. There is a legend, indeed, that at +seven he went to school to Yen P'ing-chung [1], but it must be +rejected as P'ing-chung belonged to the State of Ch'i. He tells us +himself that at fifteen he bent his mind to learning [2]; but the +condition of the family was one of poverty. At a subsequent +period, when people were astonished at the variety of his +knowledge, he explained it by saying, 'When I was young, my +condition was low, and therefore I acquired my ability in many +things; but they were mean matters [3].' + When he was nineteen, he married a lady from the State of +Sung, of the Chien-kwan family [4], and in the following year his +son Li was born. On the occasion of this event, the duke Chao sent +him a present of a couple of carp. It was to signify his sense of +his prince's favour, that he called his son Li (The Carp), and +afterwards gave him the designation of Po-yu [5] (Fish Primus). +No mention is made of the birth of any other children, though we +know, from Ana. V. i, that he had at least one daughter. We know +also, from an inscription on her grave, that he had one other +daughter, who died when she was quite young. The fact of the duke +of Lu's sending him a gift on the occasion of Li's birth, shows that +he was not unknown, but was already commanding public +attention and the respect of the great. + It was about this time, probably in the year after his +marriage, that Confucius took his first public employment, as +keeper of the stores of grain [6], and in the following year he was +put in charge of the public fields and lands [7]. Mencius adduces +these employments in illustration of his doctrine that the +superior man may at times take office on account of his poverty, +but must confine himself in such a case to places of small +emolument, and aim at nothing but the discharge of their humble +duties. According to him. Confucius, as keeper of stores, said, 'My +calculations must all be right:-- that is all I have to care about;' +and when in charge of the public fields, he said, 'The oxen and +sheep must be fat and strong and + +1 ®Ë¥¥ò. +2 Ana. II. iv. +3 Ana. IX. vi. +4 °ù§º¤§ÉÛ©x¤ó. +5 ¦W¤êÃU, ¦Ó¦r§B³½. +6 ¬°©e¦O. This is Mencius's account. Sze-ma Ch'ien says ¹Á¬°©u¤ó¦O, +but his subsequent words ®Æ¶q¥ show that the office was the +same. +7 Mencius calls this office ¼¥Ð, while Sze-ma Ch'ien says ¬°¥q¾ +¦O. + + +superior:-- that is all I have to care about [1].' It does not appear +whether these offices were held by Confucius in the direct +employment of the State, or as a dependent of the Chi family in +whose jurisdiction he lived. The present of the carp from the duke +may incline us to suppose the former. + 3. In his twenty-second year, Confucius commenced his +labors as a public teacher, and his house became a resort for +young and inquiring spirits, who wished to learn the doctrines of +antiquity. + +[Sidebar] Commencement of his labors as a teacher. The death of +his mother. B.C. 531-527. + +However small the fee his pupils were able to afford, he never +refused his instructions [2]. All that he required, was an ardent +desire for improvement, and some degree of capacity. 'I do not +open up the truth,' he said, 'to one who is not eager to get +knowledge, nor help out any one who is not anxious to explain +himself. When I have presented one corner of a subject to any one, +and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my +lesson [3].' + His mother died in the year B.C. 527, and he resolved that +her body should lie in the same grave with that of his father, and +that their common resting-place should be in Fang, the first home +of the K'ung in Lu. But here a difficulty presented itself. His +father's coffin had been for twenty years where it had first been +deposited, off the road of The Five Fathers, in the vicinity of +Tsau:-- would it be right in him to move it? He was relieved from +this perplexity by an old woman of the neighborhood, who told him +that the coffin had only just been put into the ground, as a +temporary arrangement, and not regularly buried. On learning this, +he carried his purpose into execution. Both coffins were conveyed +to Fang, and put in the ground together, with no intervening space +between them, as was the custom in some States. And now came a +new perplexity. He said to himself, 'In old times, they had graves, +but raised no tumulus over them. But I am a man, who belongs +equally to the north and the south, the east and the west. I must +have something by which I can remember the place.' Accordingly +he raised a mound, four feet high, over the grave, and returned +home, leaving a party of his disciples to see everything properly +completed. In the meantime there came on a heavy storm of rain, +and it was a considerable time before the disciples joined him. +'What makes you so late?' he asked. 'The grave in Fang fell down,' +they said. He made no reply, and they repeated their + +1 Mencius, V. Pt. II. v. 4. +2 Ana. VII. vii. +3 Ana. VII. viii. + + +answer three times, when he burst into tears, and said, 'Ah! they +did not make their graves so in antiquity [1].' 'Confucius mourned +for his mother the regular period of three years,-- three years +nominally, but in fact only twenty-seven months. Five days after +the mourning was expired, he played on his lute, but could not +sing. It required other five days before he could accompany an +instrument with his voice [2]. + Some writers have represented Confucius as teaching his +disciples important lessons from the manner in which he buried +his mother, and having a design to correct irregularities in the +ordinary funeral ceremonies of the time. These things are +altogether 'without book.' We simply have a dutiful son paying the +last tribute of affection to a good parent. In one point he departs +from the ancient practice, raising a mound over the grave, and +when the fresh earth gives way from a sudden rain, he is moved to +tears, and seems to regret his innovation. This sets Confucius +vividly before us,-- a man of the past as much as of the present, +whose own natural feelings were liable to be hampered in their +development by the traditions of antiquity which he considered +sacred. It is important, however, to observe the reason which he +gave for rearing the mound. He had in it a presentiment of much of +his future course. He was 'a man of the north, the south, the east, +and the west.' He might not confine himself to any one State. He +would travel, and his way might be directed to some 'wise ruler,' +whom his counsels would conduct to a benevolent sway that +would break forth on every side till it transformed the empire. + 4. When the mourning for his mother was over, Confucius +remained in Lu, but in what special capacity we do not know. +Probably he continued to encourage the resort of + +[Sidebar] He learns music; visits the court of Chau; and returns to +Lu. +B.C. 527-517. + +inquirers to whom he communicated instruction, and pursued his +own researches into the history, literature, and institutions of +the empire. In the year B.C. 525, the chief of the small State of +T'an [3], made his appearance at the court of Lu, and discoursed in +a wonderful manner, at a feast given to him by the duke, about the +names which the most ancient sovereigns, from Hwang-ti +downwards, gave to their + +1 Li Chi, II. Sect I. i. 10; Sect. II. iii. 30; Pt. I. i. 6. See also the +discussion of those passages in Chiang Yung's 'Life of Confucius.' +2 Li Chi, II. Sect. I. i. 23. +3 See the Ch'un Ch'iu, under the seventh year of duke Chao,-- ¬î, ×è +¤l¨Ó´Â. + + +ministers. The sacrifices to the emperor Shao-hao, the next in +descent from Hwang-ti, were maintained in T'an, so that the chief +fancied that he knew all about the abstruse subject on which he +discoursed. Confucius, hearing about the matter, waited on the +visitor, and learned from him all that he had to communicate [1]. + To the year B.C. 525, when Confucius was twenty-nine years +old, is referred his studying music under a famous master of the +name of Hsiang [2]. He was approaching his thirtieth year when, as +he tells us, 'he stood [3]' firm, that is, in his convictions on the +subjects of learning to which he had bent his mind fifteen years +before. Five years more, however, were still to pass by, before +the anticipation mentioned in the conclusion of the last paragraph +began to receive its fulfillment [4], though we may conclude from +the way in which it was brought about that he was growing all +the time in the estimation of the thinking minds in his native +State. + In the twenty-fourth year of duke Chao, B.C. 518, one of the +principal ministers of Lu, known by the name of Mang Hsi, died. +Seventeen years before, he had painfully felt his ignorance of +ceremonial observances, and had made it his subsequent business +to make himself acquainted with them. On his deathbed, he +addressed his chief officer, saying, 'A knowledge of propriety is +the stem of a man. Without it he has no means of standing firm. I +have heard that there is one K'ung Ch'iu, who is thoroughly versed +in it. He is a descendant of sages, and though the line of his +family was extinguished in Sung, among his ancestors there were +Fu-fu Ho, who resigned the State to his brother, and Chang K'ao- +fu, who was distinguished for his humility. Tsang Heh has +observed that if sage men of intelligent virtue do not attain to +eminence, distinguished men are sure to appear among their +posterity. His words are now to be verified, I think, in K'ung Ch'iu. +After my death, you must + +1 This rests on the respectable authority of Tso Ch'iu-ming's +annotations on the Ch'un Ch'iu, but I must consider it apocryphal. +The legend-writers have fashioned a journey to T'an. The +slightest historical intimation becomes a text with them, on +which they enlarge to the glory of the sage. Amiot has reproduced +and expanded their romancings, and others, such as Pauthier +(Chine, pp. 121-183) and Thornton (History of China, vol. i. pp. +151-215), have followed in his wake. +2 ®vÁ¸. See the 'Narratives of the School,' ¨÷¤T, art ÅG¼Ö¸Ñ; but the +account there given is not more credible than the chief of T'an's +expositions. +3 Ana. II. iv. +4 The journey to Chau is placed by Sze-ma Ch'ien before +Confucius's holding of his first official employments, and Chu Hsi +and most other writers follow him. It is a great error, and arisen +from a misunderstanding of the passage from the ¥ª¤ó¶Ç upon the +subject. + + +tell Ho-chi to go and study proprieties under him [1].' In +consequence of this charge, Ho-chi [2], Mang Hsi's son, who +appears in the Analects under the name of Mang I [3], and a +brother, or perhaps on]y a near relative, named Nan-kung Chang- +shu [4], became disciples of Confucius. Their wealth and standing +in the State gave him a position which he had not had before, and +he told Chang-shu of a wish which he had to visit the court of +Chau, and especially to confer on the subject of ceremonies and +music with Lao Tan. Chang-shu represented the matter to the duke +Ch'ao, who put a carriage and a pair of horses at Confucius's +disposal for the expedition [5]. + At this time the court of Chau was in the city of Lo [6]. in +the present department of Ho-nan of the province of the same +name. The reigning sovereign is known by the title of Chang [7], +but the sovereignty was little more than nominal. The state of +China was then analogous to that of one of the European kingdoms +during the prevalence of the feudal system. At the commencement +of the dynasty, the various states of the kingdom had been +assigned to the relatives and adherents of the reigning family. +There were thirteen principalities of greater note, and a large +number of smaller dependencies. During the vigorous youth of the +dynasty, the sovereign or lord paramount exercised an effective +control over the various chiefs, but with the lapse of time there +came weakness and decay. The chiefs --corresponding somewhat +to the European dukes, earls, marquises, barons, &c. -- quarrelled +and warred among themselves, and the stronger among them +barely acknowledged their subjection to the sovereign. A similar +condition of things prevailed in each particular State. There there +[sic] were hereditary ministerial families, who were continually +encroaching on the authority of their rulers, and the heads of +those families again were frequently hard pressed by their +inferior officers. Such was the state of China in Confucius's time. +The reader must have it clearly before him, if he would +understand the position of the sage, and the reforms which, we +shall find, it was subsequently his object to introduce. + Arrived at Chau, he had no intercourse with the court or any +of + +1 See ¥ª¤ó¶Ç, ¬L¤½¤C¦~. +2 ¦ó§Ò. +3 ©sÅt¤l. +4 «n®c·q¨û. +5 The ®a»y makes Chang-shu accompany Confucius to Chau. It is +difficult to understand this, if Chang-shu were really a son of +Mang Hsi who had died that year. +6 ¬¥. +7 ·q¤ý (B.C. 519-475) + + +the principal ministers. He was there not as a politician, but as +an inquirer about the ceremonies and maxims of the founders of +the existing dynasty. Lao Tan [1], whom he had wished to see, +generally acknowledged as the founder of the Taoists, or +Rationalistic sect (so called), which has maintained its ground in +opposition to the followers of Confucius, was then a curator of +the royal library. They met and freely interchanged their views, +but no reliable account of their conversations has been preserved. +In the fifth Book of the Li Chi, which is headed 'The philosopher +Tsang asked,' Confucius refers four times to the views of Lao- +tsze on certain points of funeral ceremonies, and in the +'Narratives of the School,' Book XXIV, he tells Chi K'ang what he +had heard from him about 'The Five Tis,' but we may hope their +conversation turned also on more important subjects. Sze-ma +Ch'ien, favourable to Lao-tsze, makes him lecture his visitor in +the following style:-- 'Those whom you talk about are dead, and +their bones are moldered to dust; only their words remain. When +the superior man gets his time, he mounts aloft; but when the +time is against him, he moves as if his feet were entangled. I +have heard that a good merchant, though he has rich treasures +deeply stored, appears as if he were poor, and that the superior +man whose virtue is complete, is yet to outward seeming stupid. +Put away your proud air and many desires, your insinuating habit +and wild will [2]. These are of no advantage to you. This is all +which I have to tell you.' On the other hand, Confucius is made to +say to his disciples, 'I know how birds can fly, how fishes can +swim, and how animals can run. But the runner may be snared, the +swimmer may be hooked, and the flyer may be shot by the arrow. +But there is the dragon. I cannot tell how he mounts on the wind +through the clouds, and rises to heaven. Today I have seen Lao- +tsze, and can only compare him to the dragon [3].' + While at Lo, Confucius walked over the grounds set apart for +the great sacrifices to Heaven and Earth; inspected the pattern of +the Hall of Light, built to give audience in to the princes of the +kingdom; and examined all the arrangements of the ancestral +temple and the court. From the whole he received a profound + +1 According to Sze-ma Ch'ien, Tan was the posthumous epithet of +this individual, whose surname was Li (§õ), name R (¦Õ), and +designation Po-yang (§B¶§). +2 ¶hºA»P²]§Ó. +3 See the ¥v°O, ¦C¶Ç²Ä¤T, and compare the remarks attributed to +Lao-tsze in the account of the K'ung family near the beginning. + + +impression. 'Now,' said he with a sigh, 'I know the sage wisdom of +the duke of Chau, and how the House of Chau attained to the royal +sway [1].' On the walls of the Hall of Light were paintings of the +ancient sovereigns from Yao and Shun downwards, their +characters appearing in the representations of them, and words of +praise or warning being appended. There was also a picture of the +duke of Chau sitting with his infant nephew, the king Ch'ang, upon +his knees, to give audience to all the princes. Confucius surveyed +the scene with silent delight, and then said to his followers, +'Here you see how Chau became so great. As we use a glass to +examine the forms of things, so must we study antiquity in order +to understand the present time [2].' In the hall of the ancestral +temple, there was a metal statue of a man with three clasps upon +his mouth, and his back covered over with an enjoyable homily on +the duty of keeping a watch upon the lips. Confucius turned to his +disciples and said, 'Observe it, my children. These words are true, +and commend themselves to our feelings [3].' + About music he made inquiries at Ch'ang Hung, to whom the +following remarks are attributed:-- 'I have observed about Chung- +ni many marks of a sage. He has river eyes and a dragon forehead,- +- the very characteristics of Hwang-ti. His arms are long, his +back is like a tortoise, and he is nine feet six inches in height,-- +the very semblance of T'ang the Completer. When he speaks, he +praises the ancient kings. He moves along the path of humility and +courtesy. He has heard of every subject, and retains with a strong +memory. His knowledge of things seems inexhaustible.-- Have we +not in him the rising of a sage [4]?' + I have given these notices of Confucius at the court of Chau, +more as being the only ones I could find, than because I put much +faith in them. He did not remain there long, but returned the same +year to Lu, and continued his work of teaching. His fame was +greatly increased; disciples came to him from different parts, +till their number amounted to three thousand. Several of those +who have come down to us as the most distinguished among his +followers, however, were yet unborn, and the statement just +given may be considered as an exaggeration. We are not to +conceive of the disciples as forming a community, and living +together. Parties + +1 2 3 See the ®a»y, ¨÷¤G, art. Æ[©P. +4 Quoted by Chiang Yung from the 'Narratives of the School.' + + +of them may have done so. We shall find Confucius hereafter +always moving amid a company of admiring pupils; but the greater +number must have had their proper avocations and ways of living, +and would only resort to the Master, when they wished specially +to ask his counsel or to learn of him. + 5. In the year succeeding the return to Lu, that State fell +into great confusion. There were three Families in it, all +connected irregularly with the ducal House, which had long kept +the rulers in a condition of dependency. They appear frequently in +the Analects as the Chi clan, the Shu, and the Mang; and while +Confucius freely spoke of their + +[Sidebar] He withdraws to Chi and returns to Lu the following +year. B.C. 515, 516. + +usurpations [1], he was a sort of dependent of the Chi family, and +appears in frequent communication with members of all the three. +In the year B.C. 517, the duke Chao came to open hostilities with +them, and being worsted, fled into Ch'i, the State adjoining Lu on +the north. Thither Confucius also repaired, that he might avoid the +prevailing disorder of his native State. Ch'i was then under the +government of a ruler (in rank a marquis, but historically called +duke) , afterwards styled Ching [2], who 'had a thousand teams, +each of four horses, but on the day of his death the people did not +praise him for a single virtue [3].' His chief minister, however, +was Yen Ying [4], a man of considerable ability and worth. At his +court the music of the ancient sage-emperor, Shun, originally +brought to Ch'i from the State of Ch'an [5], was still preserved. + According to the 'Narratives of the School,' an incident +occurred on the way to Ch'i, which I may transfer to these pages +as a good specimen of the way in which Confucius turned +occurring matters to account, in his intercourse with his +disciples. As he was passing by the side of the Tai mountain, +there was a woman weeping and wailing by a grave. Confucius +bent forward in his carriage, and after listening to her for some +time, sent Tsze-lu to ask the cause of her grief. 'You weep, as if +you had experienced sorrow upon sorrow,' said Tsze-lu. The +woman replied, 'It is so. My husband's father was killed here by a +tiger, and my husband also; and now my son has met the same +fate.' Confucius asked her why she did not remove from the place, +and on her answering,' There is here no oppressive government,' he +turned to his disciples, and said, 'My + +1 See Analects, III. i. ii, et al. +2 ´º¤½. +3 Ana. XVI. xii. +4 ®ËÀ¦. This is the same who was afterwards styled ®Ë¥¥ò. +5 ³¯. + + +children, remember this. Oppressive government is fiercer than a +tiger [1].' + As soon as he crossed the border from Lu, we are told he +discovered from the gait and manners of a boy, whom he saw +carrying a pitcher, the influence of the sages' music, and told the +driver of his carriage to hurry on to the capital [2]. Arrived there, +he heard the strain, and was so ravished with it, that for three +months he did not know the taste of flesh. 'I did not think,' he +said, 'that music could have been made so excellent as this [3].' +The duke Ching was pleased with the conferences which he had +with him [4], and proposed to assign to him the town of Lin-ch'iu, +from the revenues of which he might derive a sufficient support; +but Confucius refused the gift, and said to his disciples, 'A +superior man will only receive reward for services which he has +done. I have given advice to the duke Ching, but he has not yet +obeyed it, and now he would endow me with this place! Very far is +he from understanding me [5]!' + On one occasion the duke asked about government, and +received the characteristic reply, 'There is government when the +ruler is ruler, and the minister is minister; when the father is +father, and the son is son [6].' I say that the reply is +characteristic. Once, when Tsze-lu asked him what he would +consider the first thing to be done if entrusted with the +government of a State, Confucius answered, 'What is necessary is +to rectify names [7].' The disciple thought the reply wide of the +mark, but it was substantially the same with what he said to the +marquis Ching. There is a sufficient foundation in nature for +government in the several relations of society, and if those be +maintained and developed according to their relative significancy, +it is sure to obtain. This was a first principle in the political +ethics of Confucius. + Another day the duke got to a similar inquiry the reply that +the art of government lay in an economical use of the revenues; +and being pleased, he resumed his purpose of retaining the +philosopher in his State, and proposed to assign to him the fields +of Ni-ch'i. His + +1 See the ®a»y, ¨÷¥|, art. ¥¿½×¸Ñ. I have translated, however, from +the Li Chi, II. Sect. II. iii. 10, where the same incident is given, +with some variations, and without saying when or where it +occurred. +2 See the »¡b, ¨÷¤Q¤E, p. 13. +3 Ana. VII. xiii. +4 Some of these are related in the 'Narratives of the School;'-- +about the burning of the ancestral shrine of the sovereign Âç, and +a one-footed bird which appeared hopping and flapping its wings +in Ch'i. They are plainly fabulous, though quoted in proof of +Confucius's sage wisdom. This reference to them is more than +enough. +5 ®a»y, ¨÷¤G, ¤»¥». +6 Ana. XII. xi. +7 Ana. XIII. iii. + + +chief minister Yen Ying dissuaded him from the purpose, saying, +'Those scholars are impracticable, and cannot be imitated. They +are haughty and conceited of their own views, so that they will +not be content in inferior positions. They set a high value on all +funeral ceremonies, give way to their grief, and will waste their +property on great burials, so that they would only be injurious to +the common manners. This Mr. K'ung has a thousand peculiarities. +It would take generations to exhaust all that he knows about the +ceremonies of going up and going down. This is not the time to +examine into his rules of propriety. If you, prince, wish to employ +him to change the customs of Ch'i, you will not be making the +people your primary consideration [1].' + I had rather believe that these were not the words of Yen +Ying, but they must represent pretty correctly the sentiments of +many of the statesmen of the time about Confucius. The duke of +Ch'i got tired ere long of having such a monitor about him, and +observed. 'I cannot treat him as I would the chief of the Chi +family. I will treat him in a way between that accorded to the +chief of the Chi, and that given to the chief of the Mang family.' +Finally he said, 'I am old; I cannot use his doctrines [2].' These +observations were made directly to Confucius, or came to his +hearing [3]. It was not consistent with his self-respect to remain +longer in Ch'i, and he returned to Lu [4]. + 6. Returned to Lu, he remained for the long period of about +fifteen years without being engaged in any official employment. +It + +[Sidebar] He remains without office in Lu, B.C. 516-501. + +was a time indeed of great disorder. The duke Chao continued a +refugee in Ch'i, the government being in the hands of the great +Families, up to his death in B.C. 510, on which event the rightful +heir was set aside, and another member of the ducal House, known +to us by the title of Ting [5], substituted in his place. The ruling +authority of the principality became thus still more enfeebled +than it had been before, and, on the other hand, the chiefs of the +Chi, the Shu, and the Mang, could hardly keep their ground against +their own officers. Of those latter, the two most conspicuous +were Yang Hu [6], called also Yang Ho [7], and + +1 See the ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 2. +2 Ana. XVIII. iii +3 Sze-ma Ch'ien makes the first observation to have been +addressed directly to Confucius. +4 According to the above account Confucius was only once, and for +a portion of two years, in Ch'i. For the refutation of contrary +accounts, see Chiang Yung's Life of the Sage. +5 ©w¤½. +6 ¶§ªê. +7 ¶§³f. + + +Kung-shan Fu-zao [1]. At one time Chi Hwan, the most powerful of +the chiefs, was kept a prisoner by Yang Hu, and was obliged to +make terms with him in order to obtain his liberation. Confucius +would give his countenance to none, as he disapproved of all, and +he studiously kept aloof from them. Of how he comported himself +among them we have a specimen in the incident related in the +Analects, XVII. i.-- 'Yang Ho wished to see Confucius, but +Confucius would not go to see him. On this, he sent a present of a +pig to Confucius, who, having chosen a time when Ho was not at +home, went to pay his respects for the gift. He met him, however, +on the way. "Come, let me speak with you," said the officer. "Can +he be called benevolent, who keeps his jewel in his bosom, and +leaves his country to confusion?" Confucius replied, "No." "Can he +be called wise, who is anxious to be engaged in public +employment, and yet is constantly losing the opportunity of being +so?" Confucius again said, "No." The other added, "The days and +months are passing away; the years do not wait for us." Confucius +said, "Right; I will go into office."' Chinese writers are eloquent +in their praises of the sage for the combination of propriety, +complaisance and firmness, which they see in his behavior in this +matter. To myself there seems nothing remarkable in it but a +somewhat questionable dexterity. But it was well for the fame of +Confucius that his time was not occupied during those years with +official services. He turned them to better account, prosecuting +his researches into the poetry, history, ceremonies, and music of +the nation. Many disciples continued to resort to him, and the +legendary writers tell us how he employed their services in +digesting the results of his studies. I must repeat, however, that +several of them, whose names are most famous, such as Tsang +Shan, were as yet children, and Min Sun [2] was not born till B.C. +500. + To this period we must refer the almost single instance +which we have of the manner of Confucius's intercourse with his +son Li. 'Have you heard any lessons from your father different +from what we have all heard?' asked one of the disciples once of +Li. 'No,' said Li. 'He was standing alone once, when I was passing +through the court below with hasty steps, and said to me, "Have +you learned the Odes?" On my replying, "Not yet," he added, "If you +do not learn the Odes, you will not be fit to converse with." +Another day, + +1 ¤½¤s¦òÂZ(¥v°O, Ëc). +2 ¶{·l. + + +in the same place and the same way, he said to me, "Have you read +the rules of Propriety?" On my replying, "Not yet," he added, "If +you do not learn the rules of Propriety, your character cannot be +established." I have heard only these two things from him.' The +disciple was delighted and observed, 'I asked one thing, and I have +got three things. I have heard about the Odes. I have heard about +the rules of Propriety. I have also heard that the superior man +maintains a distant reserve towards his son [1].' + I can easily believe that this distant reserve was the rule +which Confucius followed generally in his treatment of his son. A +stern dignity is the quality which a father has to maintain upon +his system. It is not to be without the element of kindness, but +that must never go beyond the line of propriety. There is too little +room left for the play and development of natural affection. + The divorce of his wife must also have taken place during +these years, if it ever took place at all, which is a disputed point. +The curious reader will find the question discussed in the notes +on the second Book of the Li Chi. The evidence inclines, I think, +against the supposition that Confucius did put his wife away. +When she died, at a period subsequent to the present, Li kept on +weeping aloud for her after the period for such a demonstration +of grief had expired, when Confucius sent a message to him that +his sorrow must be subdued, and the obedient son dried his tears +[2]. We are glad to know that on one occasion the death of his +favourite disciple, Yen Hui -- the tears of Confucius himself +would flow over and above the measure of propriety [3]. + 7. We come to the short period of Confucius's official life. +In the + +[Sidebar] He holds office. B.C. 500-496. + +year B.C. 501, things had come to a head between the chiefs of the +three Families and their ministers, and had resulted in the defeat +of the latter. In that year the resources of Yang Hu were +exhausted, and he fled into Ch'i, so that the State was delivered +from its greatest troubler, and the way was made more clear for +Confucius to go into office, should an opportunity occur. It soon +presented itself. Towards the end of that year he was made chief +magistrate of the town of Chung-tu [4]. + +1 Ana. XVI. xiii. +2 See the Li Chi, II. Pt. I. i. 27. +3 Ana. XI. ix. +4 ¤¤³£®_. Amiot says this was 'la ville meme ou le Souverain +tenoit sa Cour' (Vie de Confucius, p. 147). He is followed of course +by Thornton and Pauthier. My reading has not shown me that such +was the case. In the notes to K'ang-hsi's edition of the 'Five +Ching,' Li Chi, II Sect. I. iii. 4, it is simply said-- 'Chung-tu,-- the +name of a town of Lu. It afterwards belonged to Ch'i when it was +called Ping-lu (¥³°).' + + + Just before he received this appointment, a circumstance +occurred of which we do not well know what to make. When Yang- +hu fled into Ch'i, Kung-shan Fu-zao, who had been confederate +with him, continued to maintain an attitude of rebellion, and held +the city of Pi against the Chi family. Thence he sent a message to +Confucius inviting him to join him, and the Sage seemed so +inclined to go that his disciple Tsze-lu remonstrated with him, +saying, 'Indeed you cannot go! why must you think of going to see +Kung-shan?' Confucius replied, 'Can it be without some reason +that he has invited me? If any one employ me, may I not make an +eastern Chau [1]?' + The upshot, however, was that he did not go, and I cannot +suppose that he had ever any serious intention of doing so. Amid +the general gravity of his intercourse with his followers, there +gleam out a few instances of quiet pleasantry, when he amused +himself by playing with their notions about him. This was +probably one of them. + As magistrate of Chung-tu he produced a marvellous +reformation of the manners of the people in a short time. +According to the 'Narratives of the School,' he enacted rules for +the nourishing of the living and all observances to the dead. +Different food was assigned to the old and the young, and +different burdens to the strong and the weak. Males and females +kept apart from each other in the streets. A thing dropped on the +road was not picked up. There was no fraudulent carving of +vessels. Inner coffins were made four inches thick, and the outer +ones five. Graves were made on the high grounds, no mounds being +raised over them, and no trees planted about them. Within twelve +months, the princes of the other States all wished to imitate his +style of administration [2]. + The duke Ting, surprised at what he saw, asked whether his +rules could be employed to govern a whole State, and Confucius +told him that they might be applied to the whole kingdom. On this +the duke appointed him assistant-superintendent of Works [3], in +which capacity he surveyed the lands of the State, and made many +improvements in agriculture. From this he was quickly made +minister of Crime [4], and the appointment was enough to put an +end to crime. There was no necessity to put the penal laws in +execution. No offenders showed themselves [5]. + +1 Ana. XVII. v. +2 ®a»y, Bk. I. +3 ¥qªÅ. This office, however, was held by the chief of the Mang +Family. We must understand that Confucius was only an assistant +to him, or perhaps acted for him. +4 ¤j¥q±F. +5 ®a»y, Bk. I. + + + These indiscriminating eulogies are of little value. One +incident, related in the annotations of Tso-shih on the Ch'un-Ch'iu +[1], commends itself at once to our belief, as in harmony with +Confucius's character. The chief of the Chi, pursuing with his +enmity the duke Chao, even after his death, had placed his grave +apart from the graves of his predecessors; and Confucius +surrounded the ducal cemetery with a ditch so as to include the +solitary resting-place, boldly telling the chief that he did it to +hide his disloyalty [2]. But he signalized himself most of all in +B.C. 500, by his behavior at an interview between the dukes of Lu +and Ch'i, at a place called Shih-ch'i [3], and Chia-ku [4], in the +present district of Lai-wu, in the department of T'ai-an [5]. +Confucius was present as master of ceremonies on the part of Lu, +and the meeting was professedly pacific. The two princes were to +form a covenant of alliance. The principal officer on the part of +Ch'i, however, despising Confucius as 'a man of ceremonies, +without courage,' had advised his sovereign to make the duke of +Lu a prisoner, and for this purpose a band of the half-savage +original inhabitants of the place advanced with weapons to the +stage where the two dukes were met. Confucius understood the +scheme, and said to the opposite party, 'Our two princes are met +for a pacific object. For you to bring a band of savage vassals to +disturb the meeting with their weapons, is not the way in which +Ch'i can expect to give law to the princes of the kingdom. These +barbarians have nothing to do with our Great Flowery land. Such +vassals may not interfere with our covenant. Weapons are out of +place at such a meeting. As before the spirits, such conduct is +unpropitious. In point of virtue, it is contrary to right. As +between man and man, it is not polite.' The duke of Ch'i ordered +the disturbers off, but Confucius withdrew, carrying the duke of +Lu with him. The business proceeded, notwithstanding, and when +the words of the alliance were being read on the part of Ch'i,-- ' +So be it to Lu, if it contribute not 300 chariots of war to the help +of Ch'i, when its army goes across its borders,' a messenger from +Confucius added, 'And so be it to us, if we obey your orders, +unless you return to us the fields on the south of the Wan.' At the +conclusion of the ceremonies, the prince of Ch'i wanted to give a +grand entertainment, but Confucius demonstrated that such a +thing would be + +1 ¥ª¶Ç, ©w¤½¤¸¦~. +2 ®a»y, Bk. I. +3 ¹ê¨ä. +4 §¨¨¦. +5 ®õ¦w©², µÜ¿¾¿¤. + + +contrary to the established rules of propriety, his real object +being to keep his sovereign out of danger. In this way the two +parties separated, they of Ch'i filled with shame at being foiled +and disgraced by 'the man of ceremonies;' and the result was that +the lands of Lu which had been appropriated by Ch'i were restored +[1]. + For two years more Confucius held the office of minister of +Crime. Some have supposed that he was further raised to the +dignity of chief minister of the State [2], but that was not the +case. One instance of the manner in which he executed his +functions is worth recording. When any matter came before him, +he took the opinion of different individuals upon it, and in giving +judgment would say, 'I decide according to the view of so and so.' +There was an approach to our jury system in the plan, Confucius's +object being to enlist general sympathy, and carry the public +judgment with him in his administration of justice. A father +having brought some charge against his son, Confucius kept them +both in prison for three months, without making any difference in +favour of the father, and then wished to dismiss them both. The +head of the Chi was dissatisfied, and said, 'You are playing with +me, Sir minister of Crime. Formerly you told me that in a State or +a family filial duty was the first thing to be insisted on. What +hinders you now from putting to death this unfilial son as an +example to all the people?' Confucius with a sigh replied, 'When +superiors fail in their duty, and yet go to put their inferiors to +death, it is not right. This father has not taught his son to be +filial; to listen to his charge would be to slay the guiltless. The +manners of the age have been long in a sad condition; we cannot +expect the people not to be transgressing the laws [3].' + At this time two of his disciples, Tsze-lu and Tsze-yu, +entered the employment of the Chi family, and lent their +influence, the former especially, to forward the plans of their +master. One great cause of disorder in the State was the fortified +cities held by the three chiefs, in which they could defy the +supreme authority, and were in turn defied themselves by their +officers. Those cities were like the castles of the barons of +England in the time of the Norman + +1 This meeting at Chia-ku is related in Sze-ma Ch'ien, the +'Narratives of the school,' and Ku-liang, with many exaggerations. +I have followed ¥ª¤ó¶Ç, ©w¤½¤Q¦~. +2 The ®a»y says Bk. II, ¤Õ¤l¬°¾|¥q±F, Äá¬Û¨Æ. But he was a ¬Û only in +the sense of an assistant of ceremonies, as at the meeting in +Chia-ku, described above. +3 See the ®a»y, Bk. II. + + +kings. Confucius had their destruction very much at heart, and +partly by the influence of persuasion, and partly by the assisting +counsels of Tsze-lu, he accomplished his object in regard to Pi +[1], the chief city of the Chi, and Hau [2], the chief city of the Shu. + It does not appear that he succeeded in the same way in +dismantling Ch'ang [3], the chief city of the Mang [4]; but his +authority in the State greatly increased. 'He strengthened the +ducal House and weakened the private Families. He exalted the +sovereign, and depressed the ministers. A transforming +government went abroad. Dishonesty and dissoluteness were +ashamed and hid their heads. Loyalty and good faith became the +characteristics of the men, and chastity and docility those of the +women. Strangers came in crowds from other States [5].' +Confucius became the idol of the people, and flew in songs +through their mouths [6]. + But this sky of bright promise was soon overcast. As the +fame of the reformations in Lu went abroad, the neighboring +princes began to be afraid. The duke of Ch'i said, 'With Confucius +at the head of its government, Lu will become supreme among the +States, and Ch'i which is nearest to it will be the first swallowed +up. Let us propitiate it by a surrender of territory.' One of his +ministers proposed that they should first try to separate between +the sage and his sovereign, and to effect this, they hit upon the +following scheme. Eighty beautiful girls, with musical and +dancing accomplishments, and a hundred and twenty of the finest +horses that could be found, were selected, and sent as a present +to duke Ting. They were put up at first outside the city, and Chi +Hwan having gone in disguise to see them, forgot the lessons of +Confucius, and took the duke to look at the bait. They were both +captivated. The women were received, and the sage was +neglected. For three days the duke gave no audience to his +ministers. 'Master,' said Tsze-lu to Confucius, 'it is time for you +to be going.' But Confucius was very unwilling to leave. The spring +was coming on, when the sacrifice to Heaven would be offered, +and he determined to wait and see whether the + +1 ¶O. +2 п. +3 ¦¨. +4 In connexion with these events, the 'Narratives of the School' +and Sze-ma Ch'ien mention the summary punishment inflicted by +Confucius on an able but unscrupulous and insidious officer the +Shaou chang, Maou (¤Ö¥¿¥f). His judgment and death occupy a +conspicuous place in the legendary accounts. But the Analects, +Tsze-sze, Mencius, and Tso Ch'iu-ming are all silent about it, and +Chiang Yung rightly rejects it as one of the many narratives +invented to exalt the sage. +5 See the ®a»y, Bk. II. +6 See ¤ÕÂO¤l, quoted by Chiang Yung. + + +solemnization of that would bring the duke back to his right mind. +No such result followed. The ceremony was hurried through, and +portions of the offerings were not sent round to the various +ministers, according to the established custom. Confucius +regretfully took his departure, going away slowly and by easy +stages [1]. He would have welcomed a message of recall. But the +duke continued in his abandonment, and the sage went forth to +thirteen weary years of homeless wandering. + 8. On leaving Lu, Confucius first bent his steps westward to +the State of Wei, situate about where the present provinces of +Chih-li and Ho-nan adjoin. + +[Sidebar] He wanders from State to State. B.C. 497-484. + +He was now in his fifty-sixth year, and felt depressed and +melancholy. As he went along, he gave expression to his feelings +in verse:-- + +'Fain would I still look towards Lu, +But this Kwei hill cuts off my view. +With an axe, I'd hew the thickets through:-- +Vain thought! 'gainst the hill I nought can do;' + +and again,-- + +'Through the valley howls the blast, +Drizzling rain falls thick and fast. +Homeward goes the youthful bride, +O'er the wild, crowds by her side. +How is it, O azure Heaven, +From my home I thus am driven, +Through the land my way to trace, +With no certain dwelling-place? +Dark, dark; the minds of men! +Worth in vain comes to their ken. +Hastens on my term of years; +Old age, desolate, appears [2],' + + A number of his disciples accompanied him, and his sadness +infected them. When they arrived at the borders of Wei at a place +called I, the warden sought an interview, and on coming out from +the sage, he tried to comfort the disciples, saying, 'My friends, +why are you distressed at your master's loss of office? The world +has been long without the principles of truth and right; Heaven is +going to use your master as a bell with its wooden tongue [3].' +Such was the thought of this friendly stranger. The bell did indeed +sound, but few had ears to hear. + +1 ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 5. See also Mencius, V. Pt. II. i. 4.; et al. +2 See Chiang Yung's Life of Confucius, ¥h¾|©P¹C¦Ò. +3 Ana. III. xxiv. + + + Confucius's fame, however, had gone before him, and he was +in little danger of having to suffer from want. On arriving at the +capital of Wei, he lodged at first with a worthy officer, named +Yen Ch'au-yu [1]. The reigning duke, known to us by the epithet of +Ling [2], was a worthless, dissipated man, but he could not +neglect a visitor of such eminence, and soon assigned to +Confucius a revenue of 60,000 measures of grain [3]. Here he +remained for ten months, and then for some reason left it to go to +Ch'an [4]. On the way he had to pass by K'wang [5], a place probably +in the present department of K'ai-fung in Ho-nan, which had +formerly suffered from Yang-hu. It so happened that Confucius +resembled Hu, and the attention of the people being called to him +by the movements of his carriage-driver, they thought it was +their old enemy, and made an attack upon him. His followers were +alarmed, but he was calm, and tried to assure them by declaring +his belief that he had a divine mission. He said to them, 'After the +death of king Wan, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me? +If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a +future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. +While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the +people of K'wang do to me [6]?' Having escaped from the hands of +his assailants, he does not seem to have carried out his purpose +of going to Ch'an, but returned to Wei. + On the way, he passed a house where he had formerly lodged, +and finding that the master was dead, and the funeral ceremonies +going on, he went in to condole and weep. When he came out, he +told Tsze-kung to take the outside horses from his carriage, and +give them as a contribution to the expenses of the occasion. 'You +never did such a thing,' Tsze-kung remonstrated, 'at the funeral of +any of your disciples; is it not too great a gift on this occasion of +the death of an old host?' 'When I went in,' replied Confucius, 'my +presence brought a burst of grief from the chief mourner, and I +joined him with my tears. I dislike the thought of my tears not +being followed by anything. Do it, my child [7].' On reaching Wei, +he lodged with Chu Po-yu, an officer of whom + +1 ÃCøA¥Ñ. See Mencius, V. Pt. I. viii. 2. +2. ÆF¤½. +3 see the ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 5. +4 ³¯°ê. +5. ¦J. +6 Ana. IX. v. In Ana. XI. xxii, there is another reference to this +time, in which Yen Hui is made to appear. +7 See the Li Chi, II. Sect. I. ii. 16. + + +honourable mention is made in the Analects [1]. But this time he +did not remain long in the State. The duke was + +[Sidebar] B.C. 495. + +married to a lady of the house of Sung, known by the name of Nan- +tsze, notorious for her intrigues and wickedness. She sought an +interview with the sage, which he was obliged unwillingly to +accord [2]. No doubt he was innocent of thought or act of evil, but +it gave great dissatisfaction to Tsze-lu that his master should +have been in company with such a woman, and Confucius, to +assure him, swore an oath, saying, 'Wherein I have done +improperly, may Heaven reject me! May Heaven reject me [3]!' He +could not well abide, however, about such a court. One day the +duke rode out through the streets of his capital in the same +carriage with Nan-tsze, and made Confucius follow them in +another. Perhaps he intended to honour the philosopher, but the +people saw the incongruity, and cried out, 'Lust in the front; +virtue behind!' Confucius was ashamed, and made the observation, +'I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty [4].' Wei +was no place for him. He left it, and took his way towards Ch'an. + Ch'an, which formed part of the present province of Ho-nan, +lay south from Wei. After passing the small State of Ts'ao [5], he +approached the borders of Sung, occupying the present prefecture +of Kwei-teh, and had some intentions of entering it, when an +incident occurred, which it is not easy to understand from the +meagre style in which it is related, but which gave occasion to a +remarkable saying. Confucius was practising ceremonies with his +disciples, we are told, under the shade of a large tree. Hwan T'ui, +an ill-minded officer of Sung, heard of it, and sent a band of men +to pull down the tree, and kill the philosopher, if they could get +hold of him. The disciples were much alarmed, but Confucius +observed, 'Heaven has produced the virtue that is in me; what can +Hwan T'ui do to me [6]?' They all made their escape, but seem to +have been driven westwards to the State of Chang [7], on arriving +at the gate conducting into which from the east, Confucius found +himself separated from his followers. Tsze-kung had arrived +before him, and was told by a native of Chang that there was a +man standing by the east gate, with a forehead like Yao, a neck +like Kao-yao, his shoulders on a level with those of Tsze-ch'an, +but wanting, below the waist, three + +1 Ana. XIV. xxvi; XV. vi. +2 See the account in the ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 6. +3 Ana. VI. xxvi. +4 Ana. IX. xvii. +5 ±ä. +6 ana. IX. xxii. +7 ¾G. + + +inches of the height of Yu, and altogether having the disconsolate +appearance of a stray dog.' Tsze-kung knew it was the master, +hastened to him, and repeated to his great amusement the +description which the man had given. 'The bodily appearance,' said +Confucius, 'is but a small matter, but to say I was like a stray +dog,-- capital! capital!' The stay they made at Chang was short, +and by the end of B.C. 495, Confucius was in Ch'an. + All the next year he remained there, lodging with the +warder of the city wall, an officer of worth, of the name of Chang +[2], and we have no accounts of him which deserve to be related +here [3]. + In B.C. 494, Ch'an was much disturbed by attacks from Wu +[4], a large State, the capital of which was in the present +department of Su-chau, and Confucius determined to retrace his +steps to Wei. On the way he was laid hold of at a place called P'u +[5], which was held by a rebellious officer against Wei, and before +he could get away, he was obliged to engage that he would not +proceed thither. Thither, notwithstanding, he continued his route, +and when Tsze-kung asked him whether it was right to violate the +oath he had taken, he replied, 'It was a forced oath. The spirits do +not hear such [6].' 'The duke Ling received him with distinction, +but paid no more attention to his lessons than before, and +Confucius is said then to have uttered his complaint, 'If there +were any of the princes who would employ me, in the course of +twelve months I should have done something considerable. In +three years the government would be perfected [7].' + A circumstance occurred to direct his attention to the State +of Tsin [8], which occupied the southern part of the present Shan- +hsi, and extended over the Yellow river into Ho-nan. An invitation +came to Confucius, like that which he had formerly received from +Kung-shan Fu-zao. Pi Hsi, an officer of Tsin, who was holding the +town of Chung-mau against his chief, invited him to visit him, +and Confucius was inclined to go. Tsze-lu was always the mentor +on such occasions. He said to him, 'Master, I have heard you say, + +1 See the ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 6. +2 ¥q«°s¤l. See Mencius, V. Pt. I. viii. 3. +3 Chiang Yung digests in this place two foolish stories,-- about a +large bone found in the State of Yueh, and a bird which appeared in +Ch'ia and died, shot through with a remarkable arrow. Confucius +knew all about them. +4 §d. +5 »Z. +6 This ia related by Sze-ma ch'ien ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 7, and also in the +'Narratives of the School.' I would fain believe it is not true. The +wonder is, that no Chinese critic should have set about disproving +it. +7 Ana. XII. x. +8 ®Ê. + +that when a man in his own person is guilty of doing evil, a +superior man will not associate with him. Pi Hsi is in rebellion; if +you go to him, what shall be said?' Confucius replied, 'Yes, I did +use those words. But is it not said that if a thing be really hard, +it may be ground without being made thin; and if it be really +white, it may be steeped in a dark fluid without being made +black? Am I a bitter gourd? Am I to be hung up out of the way of +being eaten [1]?' + These sentiments sound strangely from his lips. After all, +he did not go to Pi Hsi; and having travelled as far as the Yellow +river that he might see one of the principal ministers of Tsin, he +heard of the violent death of two men of worth, and returned to +Wei, lamenting the fate which prevented him from crossing the +stream, and trying to solace himself with poetry as he had done +on leaving Lu. Again did he communicate with the duke, but as +ineffectually, and disgusted at being questioned by him about +military tactics, he left and went back to Ch'an. + He resided in Ch'an all the next year, B.C. 491, without +anything occurring there which is worthy of note [2]. Events had +transpired in Lu, however, which were to issue in his return to +his native State. The duke Ting had deceased B.C. 494, and Chi +Hwan, the chief of the Chi family, died in this year. On his death- +bed, he felt remorse for his conduct to Confucius, and charged his +successor, known to us in the Analects as Chi K'ang, to recall the +sage; but the charge was not immediately fulfilled. Chi K'ang, by +the advice of one of his officers, sent to Ch'an for the disciple +Yen Ch'iu instead. Confucius willingly sent him off, and would +gladly have accompanied him. 'Let me return!' he said, 'Let me +return [3]!' But that was not to be for several years yet. + In B.C. 490, accompanied, as usual, by several of his +disciples, he went from Ch'an to Ts'ai, a small dependency of the +great fief of Ch'u, which occupied a large part of the present +provinces of Hu-nan and Hu-pei. On the way, between Ch'an and +Ts'ai, their provisions became exhausted, and they were cut off +somehow from obtaining a fresh supply. The disciples were quite +overcome with want, and Tsze-lu said to the master, 'Has the +superior man indeed to endure in this way?' Confucius answered +him, 'The superior man may indeed have to endure want; but the +mean man + +l Ana. XVII. vii. +2 Tso Ch'iu-ming, indeed, relates a story of Confucius, on the +report of a fire in Lu, telling whose ancestral temple had been +destroyed by it. +3 Ana. V. xxi. + + +when he is in want, gives way to unbridled license [1].' According +to the 'Narratives of the School,' the distress continued seven +days, during which time Confucius retained his equanimity, and +was even cheerful, playing on his lute and singing [2]. He retained, +however, a strong impression of the perils of the season, and we +find him afterwards recurring to it, and lamenting that of the +friends that were with him in Ch'an and Ts'ai, there were none +remaining to enter his door [3]. + Escaped from this strait, he remained in Ts'ai over B.C. 489, +and in the following year we find him in Sheh, another district of +Ch'u, the chief of which had taken the title of duke, according to +the usurping policy of that State. Puzzled about his visitor, he +asked Tsze-lu what he should think of him, but the disciple did +not venture a reply. When Confucius heard of it, he said to Tsze- +lu. 'Why did you not say to him:-- He is simply a man who in his +eager pursuit of knowledge forgets his food, who in the joy of its +attainment forgets his sorrows, and who does not perceive that +old age is coming on [4]?' Subsequently, the duke, in conversation +with Confucius, asked him about government, and got the reply, +dictated by some circumstances of which we are ignorant, 'Good +government obtains, when those who are near are made happy, and +those who are far off are attracted [5]' + After a short stay in Sheh, according to Sze-ma Ch'ien, he +returned to Ts'ai, and having to dross a river, he sent Tsze-lu to +inquire for the ford of two men who were at work in a neighboring +field. They were recluses, men who had withdrawn from public +life in disgust at the waywardness of the times. One of them was +called Ch'ang-tsu, and instead of giving Tsze-lu the information +he wanted, he asked him, 'Who is it that holds the reins in the +carriage there?' 'It is K'ung Ch'iu.' 'K'ung Ch'iu of Lu?' 'Yes,' was +the reply, and then the man rejoined, 'He knows the ford.' + Tsze-lu applied to the other, who was called Chieh-ni, but +got for answer the question, 'Who are you, Sir?' He replied, 'I am +Chung Yu.' 'Chung Yu, who is the disciple of K'ung Ch'iu of Lu?' +'Yes,' again replied Tsze-lu, and Chieh-ni said to him, 'Disorder, +like a swelling flood, spreads over the whole kingdom, + +1 Ana. XV. i. 2, 3. +2 ®a»y, ¨÷¤G, ¦b¦M, ¤G¤Q½g. +3 Ana. XI. ii. +4 Ana. VII. xviii. +5 Ana. XIII. xvi. + + +and who is he that will change it for you? Than follow one who +merely withdraws from this one and that one, had you not better +follow those who withdraw from the world altogether?' With this +he fell to covering up the seed, and gave no more heed to the +stranger. Tsze-lu went back and reported what they had said, +when Confucius vindicated his own course, saying. 'It is +impossible to associate with birds and beasts as if they were the +same with us. If I associate not with these people,-- with +mankind,-- with whom shall I associate? If right principles +prevailed through the kingdom, there would be no need for me to +change its state [1].' + About the same time he had an encounter with another +recluse, who was known as 'The madman of Ch'u.' He passed by the +carriage of Confucius, singing out, 'O phoenix, O phoenix, how is +your virtue degenerated! As to the past, reproof is useless, but +the future may be provided against. Give up, give up your vain +pursuit.' Confucius alighted and wished to enter into conversation +with him, but the man hastened away [2]. + But now the attention of the ruler of Ch'u -- king, as he +styled himself -- was directed to the illustrious stranger who +was in his dominions, and he met Confucius and conducted him to +his capital, which was in the present district of I-ch'ang, in the +department of Hsiang-yang [3], in Hu-pei. After a time, he +proposed endowing the philosopher with a considerable territory, +but was dissuaded by his prime minister, who said to him, 'Has +your majesty any officer who could discharge the duties of an +ambassador like Tsze-kung? or any one so qualified for a premier +as Yen Hui? or any one to compare as a general with Tsze-lu? The +kings Wan and Wu, from their hereditary dominions of a hundred +li, rose to the sovereignty of the kingdom. If K'ung Ch'iu, with +such disciples to be his ministers, get the possession of any +territory, it will not be to the prosperity of Ch'u [4]? On this +remonstrance the king gave up his purpose; and, when he died in +the same year, Confucius left the State, and went back again to +Wei. + The duke Ling had died four years before, soon after +Confucius + +[Sidebar] B.C. 489. + +had last parted from him, and the reigning duke, known to us by +the title of Ch'u [5], was his grandson, and was holding the +principality against his own father. The relations + +1 Ana. XVIII. vi. +2 Ana XVII. v. +3 Á¸¶§©²©y«°¿¤. +4 See the ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 10. +5 ¥X¤½. + + +between them were rather complicated. The father had been +driven out in consequence of an attempt which he had instigated +on the life of his step-mother, the notorious Nan-tsze, and the +succession was given to his son. Subsequently, the father wanted +to reclaim what he deemed his right, and an unseemly struggle +ensued. The duke Ch'u was conscious how much his cause would be +strengthened by the support of Confucius, and hence when he got +to Wei, Tsze-lu could say to him, 'The prince of Wei has been +waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government;- +- what will you consider the first thing to be done [1]?' The +opinion of the philosopher, however, was against the propriety of +the duke's course [2], and he declined taking office with him, +though he remained in Wei for between five and six years. During +all that time there is a blank in his history. In the very year of his +return, according to the 'Annals of the Empire,' his most beloved +disciple, Yen Hui, died, on which occasion he exclaimed, 'Alas! +Heaven is destroying me! Heaven is destroying me [3]!' The death +of his wife is assigned to B.C. 484, but nothing else is related +which we can connect with this long period. + 9. His return to Lu was brought about by the disciple Yen Yu, +who, we have seen, went into the service of Chi K'ang, in B.C. 491. + +[Sidebar] From his return to Lu to his death. B.C. 484-478. + +In the year B.C. 483, Yu had the conduct of some military +operations against Ch'i, and being successful, Chi K'ang asked him +how he had obtained his military skill;-- was it from nature, or +by learning? He replied that he had learned it from Confucius, and +entered into a glowing eulogy of the philosopher. The chief +declared that he would bring Confucius home again to Lu. 'If you +do so,' said the disciple, 'see that you do not let mean men come +between you and him.' On this K'ang sent three officers with +appropriate presents to Wei, to invite the wanderer home, and he +returned with them accordingly [4]. + This event took place in the eleventh year of the duke Ai [5], +who succeeded to Ting, and according to K'ung Fu, Confucius's +descendant, the invitation proceeded from him [6]. We may +suppose that + +1 Ana. XIII. iii. In the notes on this passage, I have given Chu Hsi's +opinion as to the time when Tsze-lu made this remark. It seems +more correct, however, to refer it to Confucius's return to Wei +from Ch'u, as is done by Chiang Yung. +2 Ana. VII. xiv. +3 Ana. XI. viii. In the notes on Ana. XI. vii, I have adverted to the +chronological difficulty connected with the dates assigned +respectively to the deaths of Yen Hui and Confucius's own son, Li. +Chiang Yung assigns Hui's death to B.C. 481. +4 See the ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a. +5 «s¤½. +6 See Chiang Yung's memoir, in loc. + + +while Chi K'ang was the mover and director of the proceeding, it +was with the authority and approval of the duke. It is represented +in the chronicle of Tso Ch'iu-ming as having occurred at a very +opportune time. The philosopher had been consulted a little before +by K'ung Wan [1], an officer of Wei, about how he should conduct a +feud with another officer, and disgusted at being referred to on +such a subject, had ordered his carriage and prepared to leave the +State, exclaiming, 'The bird chooses its tree. The tree does not +choose the bird.' K'ung Wan endeavoured to excuse himself, and to +prevail on Confucius to remain in Wei, and just at this juncture +the messengers from Lu arrived [2]. + Confucius was now in his sixty-ninth year. The world had +not dealt kindly with him. In every State which he had visited he +had met with disappointment and sorrow. Only five more years +remained to him, nor were they of a brighter character than the +past. He had, indeed, attained to that state, he tells us, in which +'he could follow what his heart desired without transgressing +what was right [3],' but other people were not more inclined than +they had been to abide by his counsels. The duke Ai and Chi K'ang +often conversed with him, but he no longer had weight in the +guidance of state affairs, and wisely addressed himself to the +completion of his literary labors. He wrote a preface, according +to Sze-ma Ch'ien, to the Shu-ching; carefully digested the rites +and ceremonies determined by the wisdom of the more ancient +sages and kings; collected and arranged the ancient poetry; and +undertook the reform of music [4]. He has told us himself. 'I +returned from Wei to Lu, and then the music was reformed, and +the pieces in the Songs of the Kingdom and Praise Songs found all +their proper place [5].' To the Yi-ching he devoted much study, and +Sze-ma Ch'ien says that the leather thongs by which the tablets +of his copy were bound together were thrice worn out. 'If some +years were added to my life,' he said, 'I would give fifty to the +study of the Yi, and then I might come to be without great faults +[6].' During this time also, we may suppose that he supplied Tsang +Shan with the materials of the classic of Filial Piety. The same +year that he returned, Chi Kang sent Yen Yu to ask his opinion +about an + +1 ¤Õ¤å¤l, the same who is mentioned in the Analects, V. xiv. +2 See the ¥ª¶Ç, «s¤½¤Q¤@¦~. +3 Ana. II. iv. 6. +4 See the ¥v°O, ¤Õ¤l¥@®a, p. 12. +5 Ana. IX. xiv. +6 Ana. VII. xvi. + + +additional impost which he wished to lay upon the people, but +Confucius refused to give any reply, telling the disciple privately +his disapproval of the proposed measure. It was carried out, +however, in the following year, by the agency of Yen, on which +occasion, I suppose, it was that Confucius said to the other +disciples, 'He is no disciple of mine; my little children, beat the +drum and assail him [1].' The year B.C. 483 was marked by the +death of his son Li, which he seems to have borne with more +equanimity than he did that of his disciple Yen Hui, which some +writers assign to the following year, though I have already +mentioned it under the year B.C. 489. + In the spring of B.C. 481, a servant of Chi K'ang caught a +Ch'i-lin on a hunting excursion of the duke in the present district +of Chia-hsiang [2]. No person could tell what strange animal it +was, and Confucius was called to look at it. He at once knew it to +be a lin, and the legend-writers say that it bore on one of its +horns the piece of ribbon, which his mother had attached to the +one that appeared to her before his birth. According to the +chronicle of Kung-yang, he was profoundly affected. He cried out, +'For whom have you come? For whom have you come?' His tears +flowed freely, and he added, 'The course of my doctrines is run +[3].' + Notwithstanding the appearance of the lin, the life of +Confucius was still protracted for two years longer, though he +took occasion to terminate with that event his history of the +Ch'un Ch'iu. This Work, according to Sze-ma Ch'ien, was altogether +the production of this year, but we heed not suppose that it was +so. In it, from the standpoint of Lu, he briefly indicates the +principal events occurring throughout the country, every term +being expressive, it is said, of the true character of the actors +and events described. Confucius said himself, 'It is the Spring and +Autumn which will make men know me, and it is the Spring and +Autumn which will make men condemn me [4].' Mencius makes the +composition of it to have been an achievement as great as Yu's +regulation of the waters of the deluge:-- 'Confucius completed +the Spring and Autumn, and rebellious ministers and villainous +sons were struck with terror [5].' + Towards the end of this year, word came to Lu that the duke + +1 Ana. XI. xvi. +2 «^¦{©²¹Å²»¿¤. +3 ¤½¦Ï¶Ç, «s¤½¤Q¥|¦~. According to Kung-yang, however, the lin was +found by some wood-gatherers. +4 Mencius III. Pt. II. ix. 8. +5 Mencius III. Pt. II. ix. 11. + + +of Ch'i had been murdered by one of his officers. Confucius was +moved with indignation. Such an outrage he felt, called for his +solemn interference. He bathed, went to court, and represented +the matter to the duke, saying, 'Ch'an Hang has slain his +sovereign, I beg that you will undertake to punish him.' The duke +pleaded his incapacity, urging that Lu was weak compared with +Ch'i, but Confucius replied, 'One half the people of Ch'i are not +consenting to the deed. If you add to the people of Lu one half the +people of Ch'i, you are sure to overcome.' But he could not infuse +his spirit into the duke, who told him to go and lay the matter +before the chiefs of the three Families. Sorely against his sense +of propriety, he did so, but they would not act, and he withdrew +with the remark, 'Following in the rear of the great officers, I did +not dare not to represent such a matter [1].' + In the year B.C. 479, Confucius had to mourn the death of +another of his disciples, one of those who had been longest with +him, the well-known Tsze-lu. He stands out a sort of Peter in the +Confucian school, a man of impulse, prompt to speak and prompt +to act. He gets many a check from the master, but there is +evidently a strong sympathy between them. Tsze-lu uses a +freedom with him on which none of the other disciples dares to +venture, and there is not one among them all, for whom, if I may +speak from my own feeling, the foreign student comes to form +such a liking. A pleasant picture is presented to us in one passage +of the Analects. It is said, 'The disciple Min was standing by his +side, looking bland and precise; Tsze-lu (named Yu), looking bold +and soldierly; Yen Yu and Tsze-kung, with a free and +straightforward manner. The master was pleased, but he +observed, "Yu there!-- he will not die a natural death [2]."' + This prediction was verified. When Confucius returned to Lu +from Wei, he left Tsze-lu and Tsze-kao [3] engaged there in +official service. Troubles arose. News came to Lu, B.C. 479, that a +revolution was in progress in Wei, and when Confucius heard it, +he said, 'Ch'ai will come here, but Yu will die [4].' So it turned out. +When Tsze-kao saw that matters were desperate he made his +escape, but Tsze-lu would not forsake the chief who had treated + +1 See the ¥ª¶Ç, «s¤½¤Q¥|¦~ and Analects XIV. xxii. +2 Ana. XI. xii. +3 ¤l¯Ì, by surname Kao (°ª), and name Ch'ai (®ã). +4 See the ¥ª¶Ç, «s¤½¤Q¤¦~. + + +him well. He threw himself into the melee, and was slain. +Confucius wept sore for him, but his own death was not far off. It +took place on the eleventh day of the fourth month in the same +year, B.C. 479 [1]. Early one morning, we are told, he got up, and +with his hands behind his back, dragging his staff, he moved about +by his door, crooning over,-- + +'The great mountain must crumble; +The strong beam must break; +And the wise man wither away like a plant.' + + After a little, he entered the house and sat down opposite +the door. Tsze-kung had heard his words, and said to himself, 'If +the great mountain crumble, to what shall I look up? If the strong +beam break, and the wise man wither away, on whom shall I lean? +The master, I fear, is going to be ill.' With this he hastened into +the house. Confucius said to him, 'Ts'ze, what makes you so late? +According to the statutes of Hsia, the corpse was dressed and +coffined at the top of the eastern steps, treating the dead as if he +were still the host. Under the Yin, the ceremony was performed +between the two pillars, as if the dead were both host and guest. +The rule of Chau is to perform it at the top of the western steps, +treating the dead as if he were a guest. I am a man of Yin, and last +night I dreamt that I was sitting with offerings before me +between the two pillars. No intelligent monarch arises; there is +not one in the kingdom that will make me his master. My time has +come to die.' So it was. He went to his couch, and after seven days +expired [2]. + Such is the account which we have of the last hours of the +great philosopher of China. His end was not unimpressive, but it +was melancholy. He sank behind a cloud. Disappointed hopes made +his soul bitter. The great ones of the kingdom had not received his +teachings. No wife nor child was by to do the kindly offices of +affection for him. Nor were the expectations of another life +present with him as he passed through the dark valley. He uttered +no prayer, and he betrayed no apprehensions. Deep-treasured in +his own heart may have been the thought that he had endeavoured +to serve his generation by the will of God, but he gave no sign. +'The mountain falling came to nought, and the rock was removed + +1 See the ¥ª¶Ç, «s¤½¤Q¤»¦~, and Chiang Yung's Life of Confucius, in +loc. +2 See the Li Chi, II, Sect. I. ii. 20. + + +out of his place. So death prevailed against him and he passed; his +countenance was changed, and he was sent away.' + 10. I flatter myself that the preceding paragraphs contain a +more correct narrative of the principal incidents in the life of +Confucius than has yet been given in any European language. They +might easily have been expanded into a volume, but I did not wish +to exhaust the subject, but only to furnish a sketch, which, while +it might satisfy the general reader, would be of special +assistance to the careful student of the classical Books. I had +taken many notes of the manifest errors in regard to chronology +and other matters in the 'Narratives of the School,' and the +chapter of Sze-ma Ch'ien on the K'ung family, when the digest of +Chiang Yung, to which I have made frequent reference, attracted +my attention. Conclusions to which I had come were confirmed, +and a clue was furnished to difficulties which I was seeking to +disentangle. I take the opportunity to acknowledge here my +obligations to it. With a few notices of Confucius's habits and +manners, I shall conclude this section. + Very little can be gathered from reliable sources on the +personal appearance of the sage. The height of his father is +stated, as I have noted, to have been ten feet, and though +Confucius came short of this by four inches, he was often called +'the tall man.' It is allowed that the ancient foot or cubit was +shorter than the modem, but it must be reduced more than any +scholar I have consulted has yet done, to bring this statement +within the range of credibility. The legends assign to his figure +'nine-and-forty remarkable peculiarities [1],' a tenth part of +which would have made him more a monster than a man. Dr. +Morrison says that the images of him which he had seen in the +northern parts of China, represent him as of a dark, swarthy +colour [2]. It is not so with those common in the south. He was, no +doubt, in size and complexion much the same as many of his +descendants in the present day. Dr. Edkins and myself enjoyed the +services of two of those descendants, who acted as 'wheelers' in +the wheelbarrows which conveyed us from Ch'u-fau to a town on +the Grand Canal more than 250 miles off. They were strong, +capable men, both physically and mentally superior to their +companions. + +1 ¥|¤Q¤Eªí. +2 Chinese and English Dictionary, char. ¤Õ. Sir John Davis also +mentions seeing a figure of Confucius, in a temple near the Po- +yang lake, of which the complexion was 'quite black' (The Chinese, +vol. ii. p. 66). + + + But if his disciples had nothing to chronicle of his personal +appearance, they have gone very minutely into an account of many +of his habits. The tenth Book of the Analects is all occupied with +his deportment, his eating, and his dress. In public, whether in the +village, the temple, or the court, he was the man of rule and +ceremony, but 'at home he was not formal.' Yet if not formal, he +was particular. In bed even he did not forget himself;-- 'he did not +lie like a corpse,' and 'he did not speak.' 'He required his sleeping +dress to be half as long again as his body.' 'If he happened to be +sick, and the prince came to visit him, he had his face set to the +east, made his court robes be put over him, and drew his girdle +across them.' + He was nice in his diet,-- 'not disliking to have his rice +dressed fine, nor to have his minced meat cut small.' 'Anything at +all gone he would not touch.' 'He must have his meat cut properly, +and to every kind its proper sauce; but he was not a great eater.' +'It was only in drink that he laid down no limit to himself, but he +did not allow himself to be confused by it.' 'When the villagers +were drinking together, on those who carried staffs going out, he +went out immediately after.' There must always be ginger at the +table, and 'when eating, he did not converse.' 'Although his food +might be coarse rice and poor soup, he would offer a little of it in +sacrifice, with a grave, respectful air.' + 'On occasion of a sudden clap of thunder, or a violent wind, +he would change countenance. He would do the same, and rise up +moreover, when he found himself a guest at a loaded board.' 'At +the sight of a person in mourning, he would also change +countenance, and if he happened to be in his carriage, he would +bend forward with a respectful salutation.' 'His general way in his +carriage was not to turn his head round, nor talk hastily, nor point +with his hands.' He was charitable. 'When any of his friends died, +if there were no relations who could be depended on for the +necessary offices, he would say, "I will bury him." + 'The disciples were so careful to record these and other +characteristics of their master, it is said, because every act, of +movement or of rest, was closely associated with the great +principles which it was his object to inculcate. The detail of so +many small matters, however, hardly impresses a foreigner so +favourably. There rather seems to be a want of freedom about the +philosopher. + + +SECTION II. +HIS INFLUENCE AND OPINIONS. + + 1. Confucius died, we have seen, complaining that of all the +princes of the kingdom there was not one who would adopt his + +[Sidebar] Homage rendered to Confucius by the sovereigns of +China. + +principles and obey his lessons. He had hardly passed from the +stage of life, when his merit began to be acknowledged. When the +duke Ai heard of his death, he pronounced his eulogy in the words, +'Heaven has not left to me the aged man. There is none now to +assist me on the throne. Woe is me! Alas! O venerable Ni [1]!' Tsze- +kung complained of the inconsistency of this lamentation from +one who could not use the master when he was alive, but the +prince was probably sincere in his grief. He caused a temple to be +erected, and ordered that sacrifice should be offered to the sage, +at the four seasons of the year [2]. + The sovereigns of the tottering dynasty of Chau had not the +intelligence, nor were they in a position, to do honour to the +departed philosopher, but the facts detailed in the first chapter +of these prolegomena, in connexion with the attempt of the +founder of the Ch'in dynasty to destroy the literary monuments of +antiquity, show how the authority of Confucius had come by that +time to prevail through the nation. The founder of the Han +dynasty, in passing through Lu, B.C. 195, visited his tomb and +offered the three victims in sacrifice to him. Other sovereigns +since then have often made pilgrimages to the spot. The most +famous temple in the empire now rises near the place of the +grave. The second and greatest of the rulers of the present +dynasty, in the twenty-third year of his reign, the K'ang-hsi +period, there set the example of kneeling thrice, and each time +laying his forehead thrice in the dust, before the image of the +sage. + In the year of our Lord 1, began the practice of conferring +honourary designations on Confucius by imperial authority. The +emperor Ping [3] then styled him-- 'The duke Ni, all-complete and + +l Li Chi, II. Sect. I. iii. 43. This eulogy is found at greater length in +the ¥ª¶Ç, immediately after the notice of the sage's death. +2 See the ¸t¼qªÁ¨å¹Ï¦Ò, ¨÷¤@, art. on Confucius. I am indebted to +this for most of the notices in this paragraph. +3 ¥«Ò. + + +illustrious [1].' This was changed, in A.D. 492, to-- 'The venerable +Ni, the accomplished Sage [2].' Other titles have supplanted this. +Shun-chih [3], the first of the Man-chau dynasty, adopted, in his +second year, A.D. 1645, the style, 'K'ung, the ancient Teacher, +accomplished and illustrious, all-complete, the perfect Sage [4];' +but twelve years later, a shorter title was introduced,-- 'K'ung, +the ancient Teacher, the perfect Sage [5].' Since that year no +further alteration has been made. + At first, the worship of Confucius was confined to the +country of Lu, but in A.D. 57 it was enacted that sacrifices should +be offered to him in the imperial college, and in all the colleges +of the principal territorial divisions throughout the empire. In +those sacrifices he was for some centuries associated with the +duke of Chau, the legislator to whom Confucius made frequent +reference, but in A.D. 609 separate temples were assigned to +them, and in 628 our sage displaced the older worthy altogether. +About the same time began the custom, which continues to the +present day, of erecting temples to him,-- separate structures, in +connexion with all the colleges, or examination-halls, of the +country. + The sage is not alone in those temples. In a hall behind the +principal one occupied by himself are the tablets -- in some +cases, the images -- of several of his ancestors, and other +worthies; while associated with himself are his principal +disciples, and many who in subsequent times have signalized +themselves as expounders and exemplifiers of his doctrines. On +the first day of every month, offerings of fruits and vegetables +are set forth, and on the fifteenth there is a solemn burning of +incense. But twice a year, in the middle months of spring and +autumn, when the first ting day [6] of the month comes round, the +worship of Confucius is performed with peculiar solemnity. At +the imperial college the emperor himself is required to attend in +state, and is in fact the principal performer. After all the +preliminary arrangements have been made, and the emperor has +twice knelt and six times bowed his head to the earth, the +presence of Confucius's spirit is invoked in the words, 'Great art +thou, O perfect sage! Thy virtue is full; thy doctrine is complete. +Among mortal men there has not been thine equal. All kings +honour thee. Thy statutes and laws have come gloriously + +1 ¦¨«Å¥§¤½. +2 ¤å¸t¥§¤÷. +3 ¶¶ªv. +4 ¤j¦¨¦Ü¸t, ¤å«Å¥§®v, ¤Õ¤l +5 ¦Ü¸t¥ý®v¤Õ¤l +6 ¤W¤B¤é + + +down. Thou art the pattern in this imperial school. Reverently +have the sacrificial vessels been set out. Full of awe, we sound +our drums and bells [1].' + The spirit is supposed now to be present, and the service +proceeds through various offerings, when the first of which has +been set forth, an officer reads the following [2], which is the +prayer on the occasion:-- 'On this ... month of this ... year, I, A.B., +the emperor, offer a sacrifice to the philosopher K'ung, the +ancient Teacher, the perfect Sage, and say,-- O Teacher, in virtue +equal to Heaven and Earth, whose doctrines embrace the past time +and the present, thou didst digest and transmit the six classics, +and didst hand down lessons for all generations! Now in this +second month of spring (or autumn), in reverent observance of the +old statutes, with victims, silks, spirits, and fruits, I carefully +offer sacrifice to thee. With thee are associated the philosopher +Yen, Continuator of thee; the philosopher Tsang, Exhibiter of thy +fundamental principles; the philosopher Tsze-sze, Transmitter of +thee; and the philosopher Mang, Second to thee. May'st thou enjoy +the offerings!' + I need not go on to enlarge on the homage which the +emperors of China render to Confucius. It could not be more +complete. He was unreasonably neglected when alive. He is now +unreasonably venerated when dead. + 2. The rulers of China are not singular in this matter, but in +entire sympathy with the mass of their people. It is the +distinction + +[Sidebar] General appreciation of Confucius. + +of this empire that education has been highly prized in it from the +earliest times. It was so before the era of Confucius, and we may +be sure that the system met with his approbation. One of his +remarkable sayings was,-- 'To lead an uninstructed people to war +is to throw them away [3].' When he pronounced this judgment, he +was not thinking of military training, but of education in the +duties of life and citizenship. A people so taught, he thought, +would be morally fitted to fight for their government. Mencius, +when lecturing to the ruler of T'ang on the proper way of +governing a kingdom, told him that he must provide the means of +education for all, the poor as well as the rich. 'Establish,' said he, +'hsiang, hsu, hsio, and hsiao,-- all those educational +institutions,-- for the instruction of the people [4].' + +1 2 See the ¤j²M³q§¨÷¤Q¤G. +3 Ana. XIII. xxx. +4 Mencius III. Pt. I. iii. 10. + + + At the present day, education is widely diffused throughout +China. In few other countries is the schoolmaster more abroad, +and in all schools it is Confucius who is taught. The plan of +competitive examinations, and the selection for civil offices only +from those who have been successful candidates,-- good so far as +the competition is concerned, but injurious from the restricted +range of subjects with which an acquaintance is required,-- have +obtained for more than twelve centuries. The classical works are +the text books. It is from them almost exclusively that the +themes proposed to determine the knowledge and ability of the +students are chosen. The whole of the magistracy of China is thus +versed in all that is recorded of the sage, and in the ancient +literature which he preserved. His thoughts are familiar to every +man in authority, and his character is more or less reproduced in +him. + The official civilians of China, numerous as they are, are +but a fraction of its students, and the students, or those who +make literature a profession, are again but a fraction of those +who attend school for a shorter or longer period. Yet so far as the +studies have gone, they have been occupied with the Confucian +writings. In the schoolrooms there is a tablet or inscription on +the wall, sacred to the sage, and every pupil is required, on +coming to school on the morning of the first and fifteenth of +every month, to bow before it, the first thing, as an act of +reverence [1]. Thus all in China who receive the slightest tincture +of learning do so at the fountain of Confucius. They learn of him +and do homage to him at once. I have repeatedly quoted the +statement that during his life-time he had three thousand +disciples. Hundreds of millions are his disciples now. It is hardly +necessary to make any allowance in this statement for the +followers of Taoism and Buddhism, for, as Sir John Davis has +observed, 'whatever the other opinions or faith of a Chinese may +be, he takes good care to treat Confucius with respect [2].' For +two thousand years he has reigned supreme, the undisputed +teacher of this most populous land. + 3. This position and influence of Confucius are to be +ascribed, I conceive, chiefly to two causes:-- his being the +preserver, namely of + +l During the present dynasty, the tablet of ¤å©÷«Ò§g, the god of +literature, has to a considerable extent displaced that of +Confucius in schools. Yet the worship of him does not clash with +that of the other. He is 'the father' of composition only. +2 The Chinese, vol. ii. p. 45. + + +the monuments of antiquity, and the exemplifier and expounder of + +[Sidebar] The causes of his influence. + +the maxims of the golden age of China; and the devotion to him of +his immediate disciples and their early followers. The national +and the personal are thus blended in him, each in its highest +degree of excellence. He was a Chinese of the Chinese; he is also +represented as, and all now believe him to have been, the beau +ideal of humanity in its best and noblest estate. + 4. It may be well to bring forward here Confucius's own +estimate of himself and of his doctrines. It will serve to +illustrate the + +[Sidebar] His own estimate of himself and of his doctrines. + +statements just made. The following are some of his sayings:-- +'The sage and the man of perfect virtue;-- how dare I rank myself +with them? It may simply be said of me, that I strive to become +such without satiety, and teach others without weariness.' 'In +letters I am perhaps equal to other men; but the character of the +superior man, carrying out in his conduct what he professes, is +what I have not yet attained to.' 'The leaving virtue without +proper cultivation; the not thoroughly discussing what is learned; +not being able to move towards righteousness of which a +knowledge is gained; and not being able to change what is not +good;-- these are the things which occasion me solicitude.' 'I am +not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one +who is fond of antiquity and earnest in seeking it there.' 'A +transmitter and not a maker, believing in and loving the ancients, +I venture to compare myself with our old P'ang [1].' + Confucius cannot be thought to speak of himself in these +declarations more highly than he ought to do. Rather we may +recognise in them the expressions of a genuine humility. He was +conscious that personally he came short in many things, but he +toiled after the character, which he saw, or fancied that he saw, +in the ancient sages whom he acknowledged; and the lessons of +government and morals which he labored to diffuse were those +which had already been inculcated and exhibited by them. +Emphatically he was 'a transmitter and not a maker.' It is not to +be understood that he was not fully satisfied of the truth of the +principles which he had learned. He held them with the full +approval and consent of his own understanding. He believed that if +they were acted on, they would remedy the evils of his time. + +1 All these passages are taken from the seventh Book of the +Analects. See chapters xxxiii, xxxii, iii, xix, and i. + + +There was nothing to prevent rulers like Yao and Shun and the +great Yu from again arising, and a condition of happy tranquillity +being realized throughout the kingdom under their sway. + If in anything he thought himself 'superior and alone,' having +attributes which others could not claim, it was in his possessing +a divine commission as the conservator of ancient truth and rules. +He does not speak very definitely on this point. It is noted that +'the appointments of Heaven was one of the subjects on which he +rarely touched [1].' His most remarkable utterance was that which +I have already given in the sketch of his Life:-- 'When he was put +in fear in K'wang, he said, "After the death of king Wan, was not +the cause of truth lodged here in me? If Heaven had wished to let +this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have +got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the +cause of truth perish, what can the people of K'wang do to me +[2]?"' Confucius, then, did feel that he was in the world for a +special purpose. But it was not to announce any new truths, or to +initiate any new economy. It was to prevent what had previously +been known from being lost. He followed in the wake of Yao and +Shun, of T'ang, and king Wan. Distant from the last by a long +interval of time, he would have said that he was distant from him +also by a great inferiority of character, but still he had learned +the principles on which they all happily governed the country, and +in their name he would lift up a standard against the prevailing +lawlessness of his age. + 5. The language employed with reference to Confucius by his +disciples and their early followers presents a striking contrast +with his own. + +[Sidebar] Estimate of him by his disciples and their early +followers. + +I have already, in writing of the scope and value of 'The Doctrine +of the Mean,' called attention to the extravagant eulogies of his +grandson Tsze-sze. He only followed the example which had been +set by those among whom the philosopher went in and out. We +have the language of Yen Yuan, his favourite, which is +comparatively moderate, and simply expresses the genuine +admiration of a devoted pupil [3]. Tsze-kung on several occasions +spoke in a different style. Having heard that one of the chiefs of +Lu had said that he himself -- Tsze-kung -- was superior to +Confucius, he observed, 'Let me use the comparison of a house and +its encompassing wall. My wall + +1 Ana. IX. i. +2 Ana. IX. iii. +3 Ana. IX. x. + + +only reaches to the shoulders. One may peep over it, and see +whatever is valuable in the apartments. The wall of my master is +several fathoms high. If one do not find the door and enter by it, +he cannot see the rich ancestral temple with its beauties, nor all +the officers in their rich array. But I may assume that they are +few who find the door. The remark of the chief was only what +might have been expected [1]' + Another time, the same individual having spoken revilingly +of Confucius, Tsze-kung said, 'It is of no use doing so. Chung-ni +cannot be reviled. The talents and virtue of other men are hillocks +and mounds which may be stepped over. Chung-ni is the sun or +moon, which it is not possible to step over. Although a man may +wish to cut himself off from the sage, what harm can he do to the +sun and moon? He only shows that he does not know his own +capacity [2].' + In conversation with a fellow-disciple, Tsze-kung took a +still higher flight. Being charged by Tsze-ch'in with being too +modest, for that Confucius was not really superior to him, he +replied, 'For one word a man is often deemed to be wise, and for +one word he is often deemed to be foolish. We ought to be careful +indeed in what we say. Our master cannot be attained to, just in +the same way as the heavens cannot be gone up to by the steps of +a stair. Were our master in the position of the prince of a State, +or the chief of a Family, we should find verified the description +which has been given of a sage's rule:-- He would plant the +people, and forthwith they would be established; he would lead +them on, and forthwith they would follow him; he would make +them happy, and forthwith multitudes would resort to his +dominions; he would stimulate them, and forthwith they would be +harmonious. While he lived, he would be glorious. When he died, he +would be bitterly lamented. How is it possible for him to be +attained to [3]?' + From these representations of Tsze-kung, it was not a +difficult step for Tsze-sze to take in exalting Confucius not only +to the level of the ancient sages, but as 'the equal of Heaven.' And +Mencius took up the theme. Being questioned by Kung-sun Ch'au, +one of his disciples, about two acknowledged sages, Po-i and I +Yin, whether they were to be placed in the same rank with +Confucius, he replied, 'No. Since there were living men until now, +there never was another Confucius;' and then he proceeded to +fortify his + +1 Ana. XIX. xxiii. +2 Ana. XIX. xxiv. +3 Ana. XIX. xxv. + + +opinion by the concurring testimony of Tsai Wo, Tsze-kung, and Yu +Zo, who all had wisdom, he thought, sufficient to know their +master. Tsai Wo's opinion was, 'According to my view of our +master, he is far superior to Yao and Shun.' Tsze-kung said, 'By +viewing the ceremonial ordinances of a prince, we know the +character of his government. By hearing his music, we know the +character of his virtue. From the distance of a hundred ages after, +I can arrange, according to their merits, the kings of those +hundred ages;-- not one of them can escape me. From the birth of +mankind till now, there has never been another like our master.' +Yu Zo said, 'Is it only among men that it is so? There is the ch'i- +lin among quadrupeds; the fung-hwang among birds; the T'ai +mountain among mounds and ant-hills; and rivers and seas among +rainpools. Though different in degree, they are the same in kind. +So the sages among mankind are also the same in kind. But they +stand out from their fellows, and rise above the level; and from +the birth of mankind till now, there never has been one so +complete as Confucius [1].' I will not indulge in farther +illustration. The judgment of the sage's disciples, of Tsze-sze, +and of Mencius, has been unchallenged by the mass of the scholars +of China. Doubtless it pleases them to bow down at the shrine of +the Sage, for their profession of literature is thereby glorified. A +reflection of the honour done to him falls upon themselves. And +the powers that be, and the multitudes of the people, fall in with +the judgment. Confucius is thus, in the empire of China, the one +man by whom all possible personal excellence was exemplified, +and by whom all possible lessons of social virtue and political +wisdom are taught. + 6. The reader will be prepared by the preceding account not +to expect to find any light thrown by Confucius on the great +problems of the human condition and destiny. He did not speculate +on the creation of things or the end of them. He was not troubled +to account for the origin of man, nor did he seek to know about his +hereafter. He meddled neither with physics nor metaphysics [2]. + +[Sidebar] Subjects on which Confucius did not treat.-- That he +was unreligious, unspiritual, and open to the charge of +insincerity. + +The testimony of the Analects about the subjects of his teaching +is the following:-- 'His frequent themes of discourse were the +Book + +1 Mencius, II. Pt. I. ii. 23-28. +2 'The contents of the Yi-ching, and Confucius's labors upon it, +may be objected in opposition to this statement, and I must be +understood to make it with come reservation. Six years ago, I +spent all my leisure time for twelve months in the study of that +Work, and wrote out a translation of it, but at the close I was +only groping my way in darkness to lay hold of [footnote continued +next page]. + + +of Poetry, the Book of History, and the maintenance of the rules +of Propriety.' 'He taught letters, ethics, devotion of soul, and +truthfulness.' 'Extraordinary things; feats of strength; states of +disorder; and spiritual beings, he did not like to talk about [1].' + Confucius is not to be blamed for his silence on the +subjects here indicated. His ignorance of them was to a great +extent his misfortune. He had not learned them. No report of them +had come to him by the ear; no vision of them by the eye. And to +his practical mind the toiling of thought amid uncertainties +seemed worse than useless. + The question has, indeed, been raised, whether he did not +make changes in the ancient creed of China [2], but I cannot +believe that he did so consciously and designedly. Had his +idiosyncrasy been different, we might have had expositions of the +ancient views on some points, the effect of which would have +been more beneficial than the indefiniteness in which they are +now left, and it may be doubted so far, whether Confucius was not +unfaithful to his guides. But that he suppressed or added, in order +to bring in articles of belief originating with himself, is a thing +not to be charged against him. + I will mention two important subjects in regard to which +there is a conviction in my mind that he came short of the faith +of the older sages. The first is the doctrine of God. This name is +common in the Shih-ching and Shu-ching. Ti or Shang-Ti appears +there as a personal being, ruling in heaven and on earth, the +author of man's moral nature, the governor among the nations, by +whom kings reign and princes decree justice, the rewarder of the +good, and the punisher of the bad. Confucius preferred to speak of +Heaven. Instances have already been given of this. Two others may +be cited:-- 'He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he +can pray [3]?' 'Alas! ' said he, 'there is no one that knows me.' +Tsze-kung said, 'What do you mean by thus saying that no one +knows you?' He replied, 'I do not murmur against Heaven. I do + +[footnote continued from previous page] its scope and meaning, +and up to this time I have not been able to master it so as to +speak positively about it. It will come in due time, in its place, in +the present Publication, and I do not think that what I here say of +Confucius will require much, if any, modification.' So I wrote in +1861; and I at last accomplished a translation of the Yi, which +was published in 1882, as the sixteenth volume of 'The Sacred +Books of 'the East.' I should like to bring out a revision of that +version, with the Chinese text, so as to make it uniform with the +volumes of the Classics previously published. But as Yang Ho said +to Confucius, 'The years do not wait for us.' +1 Ana. VII. xvii; xxiv; xx. +2 See Hardwick's 'Christ and other Masters,' Part iii, pp. 18, 19, +with his reference in a note to a passage from Meadows's 'The +Chinese and their Rebellions.' +3 Ana. III. xiii. + + +not grumble against men. My studies lie low, and my penetration +rises high. But there is Heaven;-- THAT knows me [1]!' Not once +throughout the Analects does he use the personal name. I would +say that he was unreligious rather than irreligious; yet by the +coldness of his temperament and intellect in this matter, his +influence is unfavourable to the development of ardent religious +feeling among the Chinese people generally; and he prepared the +way for the speculations of the literati of medieval and modern +times, which have exposed them to the charge of atheism. + Secondly, Along with the worship of God there existed in +China, from the earliest historical times, the worship of other +spiritual beings,-- especially, and to every individual, the +worship of departed ancestors. Confucius recognised this as an +institution to be devoutly observed. 'He sacrificed to the dead as +if they were present; he sacrificed to the spirits as if the spirits +were present. He said. "I consider my not being present at the +sacrifice as if I did not sacrifice [2]."' The custom must have +originated from a belief in the continued existence of the dead. +We cannot suppose that they who instituted it thought that with +the cessation of this life on earth there was a cessation also of +all conscious being. But Confucius never spoke explicitly on this +subject. He tried to evade it. 'Chi Lu asked about serving the +spirits of the dead, and the master said, "While you are not able +to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?" The disciple +added, "I venture to ask about death," and he was answered, "While +you do not know life, how can you know about death [3]."' Still +more striking is a conversation with another disciple, recorded in +the 'Narratives of the School.' Tsze-kung asked him, saying, 'Do +the dead have knowledge (of our services, that is), or are they +without knowledge?' The master replied, 'If I were to say that the +dead have such knowledge, I am afraid that filial sons and dutiful +grandsons would injure their substance in paying the last offices +to the departed; and if I were to say that the dead have not such +knowledge, I am afraid lest unfilial sons should leave their +parents unburied. You need not wish, Tsze, to know whether the +dead have knowledge or not. There is no present urgency about the +point. Hereafter you will know it for yourself [4].' Surely this was +not the teaching proper to a sage. + +1 Ana. XIV. xxxvii. +2 Ana. III. xii. +3 Ana. XI. xi. +4 ®a»y, ¨÷¤G, art. P«ä, towards the end. + + +He said on one occasion that he had no concealments from his +disciples [1]. Why did he not candidly tell his real thoughts on so +interesting a subject? I incline to think that he doubted more +than he believed. If the case were not so, it would be difficult to +account for the answer which he returned to a question as to +what constituted wisdom:-- 'To give one's self earnestly,' said +he, 'to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual +beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom [2].' At any +rate, as by his frequent references to Heaven, instead of +following the phraseology of the older sages, he gave occasion to +many of his professed followers to identify God with a principle +of reason and the course of nature; so, in the point now in hand, he +has led them to deny, like the Sadducees of old, the existence of +any spirit at all, and to tell us that their sacrifices to the dead +are but an outward form, the mode of expression which the +principle of filial piety requires them to adopt when its objects +have departed this life. + It will not be supposed that I wish to advocate or to defend +the practice of sacrificing to the dead. My object has been to +point out how Confucius recognised it, without acknowledging the +faith from which it must have originated, and how he enforced it +as a matter of form or ceremony. It thus connects itself with the +most serious charge that can be brought against him,-- the charge +of insincerity. Among the four things which it is said he taught, +'truthfulness' is specified [3], and many sayings might be quoted +from him, in which 'sincerity' is celebrated as highly and +demanded as stringently as ever it has been by any Christian +moralist; yet he was not altogether the truthful and true man to +whom we accord our highest approbation. There was the case of +Mang Chih-fan, who boldly brought up the rear of the defeated +troops of Lu, and attributed his occupying the place of honour to +the backwardness of his horse. The action was gallant, but the +apology for it was weak and unnecessary. And yet Confucius saw +nothing in the whole but matter for praise [4]. He could excuse +himself from seeing an unwelcome visitor on the ground that he +was sick, when there was nothing the matter with him [5]. These +were small matters, but what shall we say to the incident which +I have given in the sketch of his Life, p. 79,-- his deliberately +breaking the oath which he had sworn, simply on the ground that +it had been forced from him? + +1 Ana. VII. xxiii. +2 Ana. VI. xx. +3 See above, near the beginning of this paragraph. +4 Ana. VI. xiii. +5 Am. XVII. xx. + + +I should be glad if I could find evidence on which to deny the truth +of that occurrence. But it rests on the same authority as most +other statements about him, and it is accepted as a fact by the +people and scholars of China. It must have had, and it must still +have, a very injurious influence upon them. Foreigners charge a +habit of deceitfulness upon the nation and its government;-- on +the justice or injustice of this charge I say nothing. For every +word of falsehood and every act of insincerity, the guilty party +must bear his own burden, but we cannot but regret the example +of Confucius in this particular. It is with the Chinese and their +sage, as it was with the Jews of old and their teachers. He that +leads them has caused them to err, and destroyed the way of their +paths [1]. + But was not insincerity a natural result of the un-religion +of Confucius? There are certain virtues which demand a true +piety in order to their flourishing in the heart of man. Natural +affection, the feeling of loyalty, and enlightened policy, may do +much to build up and preserve a family and a state, but it requires +more to maintain the love of truth, and make a lie, spoken or +acted, to be shrunk from with shame. It requires in fact the living +recognition of a God of truth, and all the sanctions of revealed +religion. Unfortunately the Chinese have not had these, and the +example of him to whom they bow down as the best and wisest of +men, does not set them against dissimulation. + 7. I go on to a brief discussion of Confucius's views on +government, or what we may call his principles of political +science. It + +[sidebar] His views on government. + +could not be in his long intercourse with his disciples but that he +should enunciate many maxims bearing on character and morals +generally, but he never rested in the improvement of the +individual. 'The kingdom, the world, brought to a state of happy +tranquillity [2],' was the grand object which he delighted to think +of; that it might be brought about as easily as 'one can look upon +the palm of his hand,' was the dream which it pleased him to +indulge [3]. He held that there was in men an adaptation and +readiness to be governed, which only needed to be taken advantage +of in the proper way. There must be the right administrators, but +given those, and 'the growth of government would be rapid, just +as vegetation is rapid in the earth; yea, their + +1 Isaiah iii. 12. +2 ¤Ñ¤U¥. See the ¤j¾Ç, ¸g, pars. 4, 5; &c. +3 Ana. III. xi; et al. + + +government would display itself like an easily-growing rush [1].' +The same sentiment was common from the lips of Mencius. +Enforcing it one day, when conversing with one of the petty rulers +of his time, he said in his peculiar style, 'Does your Majesty +understand the way of the growing grain? During the seventh and +eighth months, when drought prevails, the plants become dry. +Then the clouds collect densely in the heavens; they send down +torrents of rain, and the grain erects itself as if by a shoot. When +it does so, who can keep it back [2]?' Such, he contended, would be +the response of the mass of the people to any true 'shepherd of +men.' It may be deemed unnecessary that I should specify this +point, for it is a truth applicable to the people of all nations. +Speaking generally, government is by no device or cunning +craftiness; human nature demands it. But in no other family of +mankind is the characteristic so largely developed as in the +Chinese. The love of order and quiet, and a willingness to submit +to 'the powers that be,' eminently distinguish them. Foreign +writers have often taken notice of this, and have attributed it to +the influence of Confucius's doctrines as inculcating +subordination; but it existed previous to his time. The character +of the people molded his system, more than it was molded by it. + This readiness to be governed arose, according to Confucius, +from 'the duties of universal obligation, or those between +sovereign and minister, between father and son, between husband +and wife, between elder brother and younger, and those belonging +to the intercourse of friends [3].' Men as they are born into the +world, and grow up in it, find themselves existing in those +relations. They are the appointment of Heaven. And each relation +has its reciprocal obligations, the recognition of which is proper +to the Heaven-conferred nature. It only needs that the sacredness +of the relations be maintained, and the duties belonging to them +faithfully discharged, and the 'happy tranquillity' will prevail all +under heaven. As to the institutions of government, the laws and +arrangements by which, as through a thousand channels, it should +go forth to carry plenty and prosperity through the length and +breadth of the country, it did not belong to Confucius, 'the +throneless king,' to set them forth minutely. And indeed they were +existing in the records of 'the ancient sovereigns.' Nothing new +was needed. It was only + +1 ¤¤±e, xx. 3. +2 Mencius, I. Pt. I. vi. 6. +3 ¤¤±e, xx. 8. + + +requisite to pursue the old paths, and raise up the old standards. +'The government of Wan and Wu,' he said, 'is displayed in the +records,-- the tablets of wood and bamboo. Let there be the men, +and the government will flourish; but without the men, the +government decays and ceases [1].' To the same effect was the +reply which he gave to Yen Hui when asked by him how the +government of a State should be administered. It seems very wide +of the mark, until we read it in the light of the sage's veneration +for ancient ordinances, and his opinion of their sufficiency. +'Follow,' he said, 'the seasons of Hsia. Ride in the state carriages +of Yin. Wear the ceremonial cap of Chau. Let the music be the Shao +with its pantomimes. Banish the songs of Chang, and keep far +from specious talkers [2].' + Confucius's idea then of a happy, well-governed State did +not go beyond the flourishing of the five relations of society +which have been mentioned; and we have not any condensed +exhibition from him of their nature, or of the duties belonging to +the several parties in them. Of the two first he spoke frequently, +but all that he has said on the others would go into small +compass. Mencius has said that 'between father and son there +should be affection; between sovereign and minister +righteousness; between husband and wife attention to their +separate functions; between old and young, a proper order; and +between friends, fidelity [3].' Confucius, I apprehend, would +hardly have accepted this account. It does not bring out +sufficiently the authority which he claimed for the father and the +sovereign, and the obedience which he exacted from the child and +the minister. With regard to the relation of husband and wife, he +was in no respect superior to the preceding sages who had +enunciated their views of 'propriety' on the subject. We have a +somewhat detailed exposition of his opinions in the 'Narratives of +the School.'-- 'Man,' said he, 'is the representative of Heaven, and +is supreme over all things. Woman yields obedience to the +instructions of man, and helps to carry out his principles [4]. On +this account she can determine nothing of herself, and is subject +to the rule of the three obediences. When young, she must obey her +father and elder brother; when married, she must obey her +husband; + +1 ¤¤±e, xx. 2. +2 Ana. XV. x. +3 Mencius, III. Pt. I. iv. 8. +4 ¨k¤lªÌ, ¥ô¤Ñ¹D¦Óªø¸Uª«ªÌ¤]; ¤k¤lªÌ, ¶¶¨k¤l¤§¹D, ¦Óªø¨ä²zªÌ¤]. + + +when her husband is dead, she must obey her son. She may not +think of marrying a second time. No instructions or orders must +issue from the harem. Woman's business is simply the preparation +and supplying of drink and food. Beyond the threshold of her +apartments she should not be known for evil or for good. She may +not cross the boundaries of the State to attend a funeral. She may +take no step on her own motion, and may come to no conclusion on +her own deliberation. There are five women who are not to be +taken in marriage:-- the daughter of a rebellious house; the +daughter of a disorderly house; the daughter of a house which has +produced criminals for more than one generation; the daughter of +a leprous house; and the daughter who has lost her father and +elder brother. A wife may be divorced for seven reasons, which, +however, may be overruled by three considerations. The grounds +for divorce are disobedience to her husband's parents; not giving +birth to a son; dissolute conduct; jealousy-- (of her husband's +attentions, that is, to the other inmates of his harem); +talkativeness; and thieving. The three considerations which may +overrule these grounds are-- first, if, while she was taken from a +home, she has now no home to return to; second, if she have +passed with her husband through the three years' mourning for his +parents; third, if the husband have become rich from being poor. +All these regulations were adopted by the sages in harmony with +the natures of man and woman, and to give importance to the +ordinance of marriage [1].' + With these ideas of the relations of society, Confucius +dwelt much on the necessity of personal correctness of character +on the part of those in authority, in order to secure the right +fulfillment of the duties implied in them. This is one grand +peculiarity of his teaching. I have adverted to it in the review of +'The Great Learning,' but it deserves some further exhibition, and +there are three conversations with the chief Chi K'ang in which it +is very expressly set forth. 'Chi K'ang asked about government, +and Confucius replied, "To govern means to rectify. If you lead on +the people with correctness, who will dare not to be correct?"' +'Chi K'ang, distressed about the number of thieves in the State, +inquired of Confucius about how to do away with them. Confucius +said, "If you, sir, were not covetous, though you should reward +them to do it, they would not steal."' 'Chi K'ang asked about +government, + +1 ®a»y¨÷¤T, ¥»©R¸Ñ + + +saying, "What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good +of the principled?" Confucius replied, "Sir, in carrying on your +government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced +desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The +relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the +wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows +across it [1]."' + Example is not so powerful as Confucius in these and many +other passages represented it, but its influence is very great. Its +virtue is recognised in the family, and it is demanded in the +church of Christ. 'A bishop'-- and I quote the term with the simple +meaning of overseer-- 'must be blameless.' It seems to me, +however, that in the progress of society in the West we have +come to think less of the power of example in many departments +of state than we ought to do. It is thought of too little in the +army and the navy. We laugh at the 'self-denying ordinance,' and +the 'new model' of 1644, but there lay beneath them the principle +which Confucius so broadly propounded,-- the importance of +personal virtue in all who are in authority. Now that Great Britain +is the governing power over the masses of India and that we are +coming more and more into contact with tens of thousands of the +Chinese, this maxim of our sage is deserving of serious +consideration from all who bear rule, and especially from those +on whom devolves the conduct of affairs. His words on the +susceptibility of the people to be acted on by those above them +ought not to prove as water spilt on the ground. + But to return to Confucius.-- As he thus lays it down that +the mainspring of the well-being of society is the personal +character of the ruler, we look anxiously for what directions he +has given for the cultivation of that. But here he is very +defective. 'Self-adjustment and purification,' he said, 'with +careful regulation of his dress, and the not making a movement +contrary to the rules of propriety;-- this is the way for the ruler +to cultivate his person [2].' This is laying too much stress on what +is external; but even to attain to this is beyond unassisted human +strength. Confucius, however, never recognised a disturbance of +the moral elements in the constitution of man. The people would +move, according to him, to the virtue of their ruler as the grass +bends to the wind, and that virtue + +1 Ana. XII. xvii; xviii; xix. +2 ¤¤±e, xx. 14. + + +would come to the ruler at his call. Many were the lamentations +which he uttered over the degeneracy of his times; frequent were +the confessions which he made of his own shortcomings. It seems +strange that it never came distinctly before him, that there is a +power of evil in the prince and the peasant, which no efforts of +their own and no instructions of sages are effectual to subdue. + The government which Confucius taught was a despotism, +but of a modified character. He allowed no 'jus divinum,' +independent of personal virtue and a benevolent rule. He has not +explicitly stated, indeed, wherein lies the ground of the great +relation of the governor and the governed, but his views on the +subject were, we may assume, in accordance with the language of +the Shu-ching:-- 'Heaven and Earth are the parents of all things, +and of all things men are the most intelligent. The man among +them most distinguished for intelligence becomes chief ruler, and +ought to prove himself the parent of the people [1].' And again, +'Heaven, protecting the inferior people, has constituted for them +rulers and teachers, who should be able to be assisting to God, +extending favour and producing tranquillity throughout all parts +of the kingdom [2].' The moment the ruler ceases to be a minister +of God for good, and does not administer a government that is +beneficial to the people, he forfeits the title by which he holds +the throne, and perseverance in oppression will surely lead to his +overthrow. Mencius inculcated this principle with a frequency and +boldness which are remarkable. It was one of the things about +which Confucius did not like to talk. Still he held it. It is +conspicuous in the last chapter of 'The Great Learning.' Its +tendency has been to check the violence of oppression, and +maintain the self-respect of the people, all along the course of +Chinese history. + I must bring these observations on Confucius's views of +government to a close, and I do so with two remarks. First, they +are adapted to a primitive, unsophisticated state of society. He is +a good counsellor for the father of a family, the chief of a clan, +and even the head of a small principality. But his views want the +comprehension which would make them of much service in a great +dominion. Within three centuries after his death,the government +of China passed into a new phase. The founder of the Ch'in dynasty +conceived the grand idea of abolishing all its feudal kingdoms, +and centralizing their administration in himself. He effected the +revo- + +l 2 See the Shu-ching, V. i. Sect. I. 2, 7. + + +lution, and succeeding dynasties adopted his system, and +gradually molded it into the forms and proportions which are now +existing. There has been a tendency to advance, and Confucius has +all along been trying to carry the nation back. Principles have +been needed, and not 'proprieties.' The consequence is that China +has increased beyond its ancient dimensions, while there has been +no corresponding development of thought. Its body politic has the +size of a giant, while it still retains the mind of a child. Its hoary +age is in danger of becoming but senility. + Second, Confucius makes no provision for the intercourse of +his country with other and independent nations. He knew indeed of +none such. China was to him 'The Middle Kingdom [1],' 'The +multitude of Great States [2],' 'All under heaven [3].' Beyond it +were only rude and barbarous tribes. He does not speak of them +bitterly, as many Chinese have done since his time. In one place +he contrasts their condition favourably with the prevailing +anarchy of the kingdom, saying 'The rude tribes of the east and +north have their princes, and are not like the States of our great +land which are without them [4].' Another time, disgusted with +the want of appreciation which he experienced, he was expressing +his intention to go and live among the nine wild tribes of the east. +Some one said, 'They are rude. How can you do such a thing?' His +reply was, 'If a superior man dwelt among them, what rudeness +would there be [5]?' But had he been a ruler-sage, he would not +only have influenced them by his instructions, but brought them +to acknowledge and submit to his sway, as the great Yu did [6]. +The only passage of Confucius's teachings from which any rule +can be gathered for dealing with foreigners is that in the +'Doctrine of the Mean,' where 'indulgent treatment of men from a +distance' is laid down as one of the nine standard rules for the +government of the country [7]. But 'the men from a distance' are +understood to be pin and lu [8] simply,-- 'guests,' that is, or +officers of one State seeking employment in another, or at the +royal court; and 'visitors,' or travelling merchants. Of independent +nations the ancient classics have not any knowledge, nor has +Confucius. So long as merchants from Europe and other parts of +the world could have been content to appear in China as +suppliants, seeking the privilege of trade, so + +1 ¤¤°ê. +2 ½Ñ®L; Ana. III. v. +3 ¤Ñ¤U; passim. +4 Ana. III. v. +5 Ana. IX. xiii. +6 ®Ñ¸g, III. ii. 10; et al. +7 ¬X»·¤H. +8 »«®È. + + +long the government would have ranked them with the barbarous +hordes of antiquity, and given them the benefit of the maxim +about 'indulgent treatment,' according to its own understanding of +it. But when their governments interfered, and claimed to treat +with that of China on terms of equality, and that their subjects +should be spoken to and of as being of the same clay with the +Chinese themselves, an outrage was committed on tradition and +prejudice, which it was necessary to resent with vehemence. + I do not charge the contemptuous arrogance of the Chinese +government and people upon Confucius; what I deplore, is that he +left no principles on record to check the development of such a +spirit. His simple views of society and government were in a +measure sufficient for the people while they dwelt apart from +the rest of mankind. His practical lessons were better than if +they had been left, which but for him they probably would have +been, to fall a prey to the influences of Taoism and Buddhism, but +they could only subsist while they were left alone. Of the earth +earthy, China was sure to go to pieces when it came into collision +with a Christianly-civilized power. Its sage had left it no +preservative or restorative elements against such a case. + It is a rude awakening from its complacency of centuries +which China has now received. Its ancient landmarks are swept +away. Opinions will differ as to the justice or injustice of the +grounds on which it has been assailed, and I do not feel called to +judge or to pronounce here concerning them. In the progress of +events, it could hardly be but that the collision should come; and +when it did come it could not be but that China should be broken +and scattered. Disorganization will go on to destroy it more and +more, and yet there is hope for the people, with their veneration +for the relations of society, with their devotion to learning, and +with their habits of industry and sobriety; there is hope for them, +if they will look away from all their ancient sages, and turn to +Him, who sends them, along with the dissolution of their ancient +state, the knowledge of Himself, the only living and true God, and +of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. + 8. I have little more to add on the opinions of Confucius. +Many of his sayings are pithy, and display much knowledge of +character; but as they are contained in the body of the Work, I +will not occupy the space here with a selection of those which +have struck myself as most worthy of notice. The fourth Book of +the Analects, + + +which is on the subject of zan, or perfect virtue, has several +utterances which are remarkable. + Thornton observes:-- 'It may excite surprise, and probably +incredulity, to state that the golden rule of our Saviour, 'Do unto +others as you would that they should do unto you,' which Mr. Locke +designates as 'the most unshaken rule of morality, and foundation +of all social virtue,' had been inculcated by Confucius, almost in +the same words, four centuries before [1].' I have taken notice of +this fact in reviewing both 'The Great Learning' and 'The Doctrine +of the Mean.' I would be far from grudging a tribute of admiration +to Confucius for it. The maxim occurs also twice in the Analects. +In Book XV. xxiii, Tsze-kung asks if there be one word which may +serve as a rule of practice for all one's life, and is answered, 'Is +not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to +yourself do not do to others.' The same disciple appears in Book V. +xi, telling Confucius that he was practising the lesson. He says, +'What I do not wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to men;' +but the master tells him, 'Tsze, you have not attained to that.' It +would appear from this reply, that he was aware of the difficulty +of obeying the precept ; and it is not found, in its condensed +expression at least, in the older classics. The merit of it is +Confucius's own. + When a comparison, however, is drawn between it and the +rule laid down by Christ, it is proper to call attention to the +positive form of the latter, 'All things whatsoever ye would that +men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.' The lesson of the +gospel commands men to do what they feel to be right and good. It +requires them to commence a course of such conduct, without +regard to the conduct of others to themselves. The lesson of +Confucius only forbids men to do what they feel to be wrong and +hurtful. So far as the point of priority is concerned, moreover, +Christ adds, 'This is the law and the prophets.' The maxim was to +be found substantially in the earlier revelations of God. Still it +must be allowed that Confucius was well aware of the +importance of taking the initiative in discharging all the +relations of society. See his words as quoted from 'The Doctrine +of the Mean' on pages 48, 49 above. But the worth of the two +maxims depends on the intention of the enunciators in regard to +their application. Confucius, it seems to me, did not think of the +reciprocity coming into action beyond the circle of his five +relations of society. Possibly, he might have + +1 History of China, vol. i. p. 209. + + +required its observance in dealings even with the rude tribes, +which were the only specimens of mankind besides his own +countrymen of which he knew anything, for on one occasion, when +asked about perfect virtue, he replied, 'It is, in retirement, to be +sedately grave; in the management of business, to be reverently +attentive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere. +Though a man go among the rude uncultivated tribes, these +qualities may not be neglected [1].' Still Confucius delivered his +rule to his countrymen only, and only for their guidance in their +relations of which I have had so much occasion to speak. The rule +of Christ is for man as man, having to do with other men, all with +himself on the same platform, as the children and subjects of the +one God and Father in heaven. + How far short Confucius came of the standard of Christian +benevolence, may be seen from his remarks when asked what was +to be thought of the principle that injury should be recompensed +with kindness. He replied, 'With what then will you recompense +kindness? Recompense injury with justice, and recompense +kindness with kindness [2].' The same deliverance is given in one +of the Books of the Li Chi, where he adds that 'he who +recompenses injury with kindness is a man who is careful of his +person [3].' Chang Hsuan, the commentator of the second century, +says that such a course would be 'incorrect in point of propriety +[4].' This 'propriety' was a great stumbling-block in the way of +Confucius. His morality was the result of the balancings of his +intellect, fettered by the decisions of men of old, and not the +gushings of a loving heart, responsive to the promptings of +Heaven, and in sympathy with erring and feeble humanity. + This subject leads me on to the last of the opinions of +Confucius which I shall make the subject of remark in this place. +A commentator observes, with reference to the inquiry about +recompensing injury with kindness, that the questioner was +asking only about trivial matters, which might be dealt with in +the way he mentioned, while great offences, such as those +against a sovereign or a father, could not be dealt with by such an +inversion of the principles of justice [5]. In the second Book of +the Li Chi there is the following passage:-- 'With the slayer of +his father, a man may not live under the same heaven; against the +slayer of his brother, a man must never have to go home to fetch a +weapon; with the slayer of + +1 Ana. XIII. xix. +2 Ana. XIV. xxxvi. +3 §°O, ªí°O, par. 12. +4 «D§¤§¥¿. +5 See notes in loc., p. 288. + + +his friend, a man may not live in the same State [1].' The lex +talionis is here laid down in its fullest extent. The Chau Li tells +us of a provision made against the evil consequences of the +principle, by the appointment of a minister called 'The Reconciler +[2].' The provision is very inferior to the cities of refuge which +were set apart by Moses for the manslayer to flee to from the +fury of the avenger. Such as it was, however, it existed, and it is +remarkable that Confucius, when consulted on the subject, took +no notice of it, but affirmed the duty of blood-revenge in the +strongest and most unrestricted terms. His disciple Tsze-hsia +asked him, 'What course is to be pursued in the case of the murder +of a father or mother?' He replied, 'The son must sleep upon a +matting of grass, with his shield for his pillow; he must decline +to take office; he must not live under the same heaven with the +slayer. When he meets him in the marketplace or the court, he +must have his weapon ready to strike him.' 'And what is the +course on the murder of a brother?' 'The surviving brother must +not take office in the same State with the slayer; yet if he go on +his prince's service to the State where the slayer is, though he +meet him, he must not fight with him.' 'And what is the course on +the murder of an uncle or a cousin?' 'In this case the nephew or +cousin is not the principal. If the principal on whom the revenge +devolves can take it, he has only to stand behind with his weapon +in his hand, and support him [3].' + Sir John Davis has rightly called attention to this as one of +the objectionable principles of Confucius [4]. The bad effects of it +are evident even in the present day. Revenge is sweet to the +Chinese. I have spoken of their readiness to submit to +government, and wish to live in peace, yet they do not like to +resign even to government the 'inquisition for blood.' Where the +ruling authority is feeble, as it is at present, individuals and +clans take the law into their own hands, and whole districts are +kept in a state of constant feud and warfare. + But I must now leave the sage. I hope I have not done him +injustice; the more I have studied his character and opinions, the +more highly have I come to regard him. He was a very great man, +and his influence has been on the whole a great benefit to the +Chinese, while his teachings suggest important lessons to +ourselves who profess to belong to the school of Christ. + +1 §°O, I. Sect. I. Pt. v. 10. +2 ©P§, ¨÷¤§¤Q¥|, pp. 14-18. +3 §°O, II. Sect. I. Pt. ii. 24. See also the ®a»y, ¨÷¥|, ¤l°^°Ý. +4 The Chinese, vol. ii. p. 41. + + + +SECTION III. + +HIS IMMEDIATE DISCIPLES. + + Sze-ma Ch'ien makes Confucius say: 'The disciples who +received my instructions, and could themselves comprehend them, +were seventy-seven individuals. They were all scholars of +extraordinary ability [1].' The common saying is, that the +disciples of the sage were three thousand, while among them +there were seventy-two worthies. I propose to give here a list of +all those whose names have come down to us, as being his +followers. Of the greater number it will be seen that we know +nothing more than their names and surnames. My principal +authorities will be the 'Historical Records,' the 'Narratives of the +School,' 'The Sacrificial Canon for the Sage's Temple, with +Plates,' and the chapter on 'The Disciples of Confucius' prefixed to +the 'Four Books, Text and Commentary, with Proofs and +Illustrations.' In giving a few notices of the better-known +individuals, I will endeavour to avoid what may be gathered from +the Analects. + 1. Yen Hui, by designation Tsze-yuan (ÃC¦^, ¦r¤l²W). He was a +native of Lu, the favourite of his master, whose junior he was by +thirty years, and whose disciple he became when he was quite a +youth. 'After I got Hui,' Confucius remarked, 'the disciples came +closer to me.' We are told that once, when he found himself on the +Nang hill with Hui, Tsze-lu, and Tsze-kung, Confucius asked them +to tell him their different aims, and he would choose between +them. Tsze-lu began, and when he had done, the master said, 'It +marks your bravery.' Tsze-kung followed, on whose words the +judgment was, 'They show your discriminating eloquence.' At last +came Yen Yuan, who said, 'I should like to find an intelligent king +and sage ruler whom I might assist. I would diffuse among the +people instructions on the five great points, and lead them on by +the rules of propriety and music, so that they should not care to +fortify their cities by walls and moats, but would fuse their +swords and spears into implements of agriculture. They should +send forth their flocks without fear into the plains and forests. +There should be no sunderings of families, no widows or +widowers. For a thousand + +1 ¤Õ¤l¤ê¡A¨ü·~¨³qªÌ¡A¤C¤Q¦³¤C¤H¡A¬Ò²§¯à¤§¤h¤]. + + +years there would be no calamity of war. Yu would have no +opportunity to display his bravery, or Ts'ze to display his oratory.' +The master pronounced, 'How admirable is this virtue!' + When Hui was twenty-nine, his hair was all white, and in +three years more he died. He was sacrificed to, along with +Confucius, by the first emperor of the Han dynasty. The title +which he now has in the sacrificial Canon,-- 'Continuator of the +Sage,' was conferred in the ninth year of the emperor, or, to speak +more correctly, of the period, Chia-ching, A. D. 1530. Almost all +the present sacrificial titles of the worthies in the temple were +fixed at that time. Hui's place is the first of the four Assessors, +on the east of the sage [1]. + 2. Min Sun, styled Tsze-ch'ien (¶{·l¡A¦r¤lÄÊ). He was a native +of Lu, fifteen years younger than Confucius, according to Sze-ma +Ch'ien, but fifty years younger, according to the 'Narratives of the +School,' which latter authority is followed in 'The Annals of the +Empire.' When he first came to Confucius, we are told, he had a +starved look [2], which was by-and-by exchanged for one of +fulness and satisfaction [3]. Tsze-kung asked him how the change +had come about. He replied, 'I came from the midst of my reeds +and sedges into the school of the master. He trained my mind to +filial piety, and set before me the examples of the ancient kings. I +felt a pleasure in his instructions; but when I went abroad, and +saw the people in authority, with their umbrellas and banners, +and all the pomp and circumstance of their trains, I also felt +pleasure in that show. These two things assaulted each other in + +1 I have referred briefly, at p. 91, to the temples of Confucius. +The principal hall, called ¤j¦¨·µ, or 'Hall of the Great and +Complete One,' is that in which is his own statue or the tablet of +his spirit, having on each side of it, within a screen, the statues, +or tablets, of his 'four Assessors.' On the east and west, along the +walls of the same apartment, are the two §Ç, the places of the ¤Q +¤Gõ, or 'twelve Wise Ones,' those of his disciples, who, next to +the 'Assessors,' are counted worthy of honour. Outside this +apartment, and running in a line with the two §Ç, but along the +external wall of the sacred inclosure, are the two åu, or side- +galleries, which I have sometimes called the ranges of the outer +court. In each there are sixty-four tablets of the disciples and +other worthies, having the same title as the Wise Ones, that of ¥ý +½å, or 'Ancient Worthy,' or the inferior title of ¥ý¾§, 'Ancient +Scholar.' Behind the principal hall is the ±R¸t¯¨·µ, sacred to +Confucius's ancestors, whose tablets are in the centre, fronting +the south, like that of Confucius. On each side are likewise the +tablets of certain 'ancient Worthies,' and 'ancient Scholars.' +2 µæ¦â. +3 ¯ì¸æ¤§¦â. + + +my breast. I could not determine which to prefer, and so I wore +that look of distress. But now the lessons of our master have +penetrated deeply into my mind. My progress also has been helped +by the example of you my fellow-disciples. I now know what I +should follow and what I should avoid, and all the pomp of power +is no more to me than the dust of the ground. It is on this account +that I have that look of fulness and satisfaction.' Tsze-ch'ien was +high in Confucius's esteem. He was distinguished for his purity +and filial affection. His place in the temple is the first, east, +among 'The Wise Ones,' immediately after the four assessors. He +was first sacrificed to along with Confucius, as is to be +understood of the other 'Wise Ones,' excepting in the case of Yu +Zo, in the eighth year of the style K'ai-yuan of the sixth emperor +of the T'ang dynasty, A.D. 720. His title, the same as that of all +but the Assessors, is-- 'The ancient Worthy, the philosopher Min.' + 3 . Zan Kang, styled Po-niu (¥T¯Ñ, ¦r¥Õ [al. ¦Ê] ¤û). He was a +native of Lu, and Confucius's junior only by seven years. When +Confucius became minister of Crime, he appointed Po-niu to the +office, which he had himself formerly held, of commandant of +Chung-tu. His tablet is now fourth among 'The Wise Ones,' on the +west. + 4. Zan Yung, styled Chung-kung (¥T¹l, ¦r¥ò¤}). He was of the +same clan as Zan Kang, and twenty-nine years younger than +Confucius. He had a bad father, but the master declared that was +not to be counted to him, to detract from his admitted excellence. +His place is among 'The Wise Ones,' the second, east. + 5. Zan Ch'iu, styled Tsze-yu (¥T¨D, ¦r¤l¦³). He was related to +the two former, and of the same age as Chung-kung. He was noted +among the disciples for his versatile ability and many +acquirements. Tsze-kung said of him, 'Respectful to the old, and +kind to the young; attentive to guests and visitors; fond of +learning and skilled in many arts; diligent in his examination of +things:-- these are what belong to Zan Ch'iu." It has been noted in +the life of Confucius that it was by the influence of Tsze-yu that +he was finally restored to Lu. He occupies the third place, west, +among 'The Wise Ones.' + 6. Chung Yu, styled Tsze-lu and Chi-lu (¥ò¥Ñ, ¦r¤l¸ô, ¤S¦r©u¸ô). +He was a native of P'ien (¤Ë) in Lu and only + + +nine years younger than Confucius. At their first interview, the +master asked him what he was fond of, and he replied, 'My long +sword.' Confucius said, 'If to your present ability there were +added the results of learning, you would be a very superior man.' +'Of what advantage would learning be to me?' asked Tsze-lu. +'There is a bamboo on the southern hill, which is straight itself +without being bent. If you cut it down and use it, you can send it +through a rhinoceros's hide;-- what is the use of learning?' 'Yes,' +said the master; 'but if you feather it and point it with steel, will +it not penetrate more deeply?' Tsze-lu bowed ' twice, and said, 'I +will reverently receive your instructions.' Confucius was wont to +say, 'From the time that I got Yu, bad words no more came to my +ears.' For some time Tsze-lu was chief magistrate of the district +of P'u (»Z), where his administration commanded the warm +commendations of the master. He died finally in Wei, as has been +related above, pp. 86, 87. His tablet is now the fourth, east, from +those of the Assessors. + 7. Tsai Yu styled Tsze-wo (®_¤©, ¦r¤l§Ú). He was a native of +Lu, but nothing is mentioned of his age. He had 'a sharp mouth,' +according to Sze-ma Ch'ien. Once, when he was at the court of +Ch'u on some commission, the king Chao offered him an easy +carriage adorned with ivory for his master. Yu replied, 'My master +is a man who would rejoice in a government where right +principles were carried out, and can find his joy in himself when +that is not the case. Now right principles and virtue are as it +were in a state of slumber. His wish is to rouse and put them in +motion. Could he find a prince really anxious to rule according to +them, he would walk on foot to his court and be glad to do so. Why +need he receive such a valuable gift, as this from so great a +distance?' Confucius commended this reply; but where he is +mentioned in the Analects, Tsze-wo does not appear to great +advantage. He took service in the State of Ch'i, and was chief +magistrate of Lin-tsze, where he joined with T'ien Ch'ang in some +disorderly movement [1], which led to the destruction of his +kindred, and made Confucius ashamed of him. His tablet is now +the second, west, among 'The Wise Ones.' + 8. Twan-mu Ts'ze, styled Tsze-kung (ºÝ¤ì½ç, ¦r¤l°^ [al. ¤lÆB]), +whose place is now third, east, from the Assessors. He + +1 »P¥Ð±`§@¶Ã. See Sze-ma Ch'ien's Biographies, chap. 7, though +come have doubted the genuineness of this part of the notice of +Tsze-wo. + + +was a native of Wei (½Ã), and thirty-one years younger than +Confucius. He had great quickness of natural ability, and appears +in the Analects as one of the most forward talkers among the +disciples. Confucius used to say, 'From the time that I got Ts'ze, +scholars from a distance came daily resorting to me.' Several +instances of the language which he used to express his admiration +of the master have been given in the last section. Here is +another:-- The duke Ching of Ch'i asked Tsze-kung how Chung-ni +was to be ranked as a sage. 'I do not know,' was the reply. 'I have +all my life had the heaven over my head, but I do not know its +height, and the earth under my feet, but I do not know its +thickness. In my serving of Confucius, I am like a thirsty man who +goes with his pitcher to the river, and there he drinks his fill, +without knowing the river's depth.' He took leave of Confucius to +become commandant of Hsin-yang («H¶§®_), when the master said +to him, 'In dealing with your subordinates, there is nothing like +impartiality; and when wealth comes in your way, there is +nothing like moderation. Hold fast these two things, and do not +swerve from them. To conceal men's excellence is to obscure the +worthy; and to proclaim people's wickedness is the part of a mean +man. To speak evil of those whom you have not sought the +opportunity to instruct is not the way of friendship and harmony.' +Subsequently Tsze-kung was high in office both in Lu and Wei, and +finally died in Ch'i. We saw how he was in attendance on +Confucius at the time of the sage's death. Many of the disciples +built huts near the master's grave, and mourned for him three +years, but Tsze-kung remained sorrowing alone for three years +more. + 9. Yen Yen, styled Tsze-yu (¨¥°³, ¦r¤l´å), now the fourth in +the western range of 'The Wise Ones.' He was a native of Wu (§d), +forty-five years younger than Confucius, and distinguished for his +literary acquirements. Being made commandant of Wu-ch'ang, he +transformed the character of the people by 'proprieties' and +music, and was praised by the master. After the death of +Confucius, Chi K'ang asked Yen how that event had made no +sensation like that which was made by the death of Tsze-ch'an, +when the men laid aside their bowstring rings and girdle +ornaments, and the women laid aside their pearls and ear-rings, +and the voice of weeping was heard in the lanes for three months. +Yen replied, 'The influences of Tsze-ch'an and my master might be +compared + + +to those of overflowing water and the fattening rain. Wherever +the water in its overflow reaches, men take knowledge of it, +while the fattening rain falls unobserved.' + 10. Pu Shang, styled Tsze-hsia (¤R°Ó, ¦r¤l®L). It is not +certain to what State he belonged, his birth being assigned to Wei +(½Ã), to Wei (ÃQ), and to Wan (·Å). He was forty-five years younger +than Confucius, and lived to a great age, for we find him, B.C. 406, +at the court of the prince Wan of Wei (ÃQ), to whom he gave copies +of some of the classical Books. He is represented as a scholar +extensively read and exact, but without great comprehension of +mind. What is called Mao's Shih-ching (¤ò¸Ö) is said to contain the +views of Tsze-hsia. Kung-yang Kao and Ku-liang Ch'ih are also +said to have studied the Ch'un Ch'iu with him. On the occasion of +the death of his son he wept himself blind. His place is the fifth, +east, among 'The Wise Ones.' + 11. Chwan-sun Shih, styled Tsze-chang (ÃF®]®v, ¦r¤l±i), has +his tablet, corresponding to that of the preceding, on the west. He +was a native of Ch'an (³¯), and forty-eight years younger than +Confucius. Tsze-kung said, 'Not to boast of his admirable merit; +not to signify joy on account of noble station; neither insolent nor +indolent; showing no pride to the dependent:-- these are the +characteristics of Chwan-sun Shih.' When he was sick, he called +(his son) Shan-hsiang to him, and said, 'We speak of his end in the +case of a superior man, and of his death in the case of a mean +man. May I think that it is going to be the former with me to- +day?' + 12. Tsang Shan [or Ts'an] styled Tsze-yu (´¿°Ñ, ¦r¤lÁÖ [al. ¤l +»P]). He was a native of south Wu-ch'ang, and forty-six years +younger than Confucius. In his sixteenth year he was sent by his +father into Ch'u, where Confucius then was, to learn under the +sage. Excepting perhaps Yen Hui, there is not a name of greater +note in the Confucian school. Tsze-kung said of him, 'There is no +subject which he has not studied. His appearance is respectful. +His virtue is solid. His words command credence. Before great +men he draws himself up in the pride of self-respect. His +eyebrows are those of longevity.' He was noted for his filial +piety, and after the death of his parents, he could not read the +rites of mourning without being led to think of them, and moved +to tears. He was a voluminous writer. Ten Books of his +composition are said to be contained in the 'Rites of the elder Tai' + + +(¤jÀ¹Â§). The Classic of Filial Piety he is said to have made under +the eye of Confucius. On his connexion with 'The Great Learning,' +see above, Ch. III. Sect. II. He was first associated with the +sacrifices to Confucius in A.D. 668, but in 1267 he was advanced +to be one of the sage's four Assessors. His title-- 'Exhibitor of +the Fundamental Principles of the Sage,' dates from the period of +Chia-ching, as mentioned in speaking of Yen Hui. + 13. Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming, styled Tsze-yu (¿F»O·À©ú, ¦r¤l¦Ð). He +was a native of Wu-ch'ang, thirty-nine years younger than +Confucius, according to the 'Historical Records,' but forty-nine, +according to the 'Narratives of the School.' He was excessively +ugly, and Confucius thought meanly of his talents in consequence, +on his first application to him. After completing his studies, he +travelled to the south as far as the Yang-tsze. Traces of his +presence in that part of the country are still pointed out in the +department of Su-chau. He was followed by about three hundred +disciples, to whom he laid down rules for their guidance in their +intercourse with the princes. When Confucius heard of his +success, he confessed how he had been led by his bad looks to +misjudge him. He, with nearly all the disciples whose names +follow, first had a place assigned to him in the sacrifices to +Confucius in A.D. 739. The place of his tablet is the second, east, +in the outer court, beyond that of the 'Assessors' and 'Wise Ones.' + 14. Corresponding to the preceding, on the west, is the +tablet of Fu Pu-ch'i styled Tsze-tsien (ÌW [al. ±K and ×{, all = ¥ñ] ¤£ +»ô, ¦r¤l½â). He was a native of Lu, and, according to different +accounts, thirty, forty, and forty-nine years younger than +Confucius. He was commandant of Tan-fu (³æ¤÷®_), and hardly +needed to put forth any personal effort. Wu-ma Ch'i had been in +the same office, and had succeeded by dint of the greatest +industry and toil. He asked Pu-ch'i how he managed so easily for +himself, and was answered, 'I employ men; you employ men's +strength.' People pronounced Fu to be a superior man. He was also +a writer, and his works are mentioned in Liu Hsin's Catalogue. + 15. Next to that of Mieh-ming is the tablet of Yuan Hsien, +styled Tsze-sze (ì¾Ë, ¦r¤l«ä) a native of Sung or according to +Chang Hsuan, of Lu, and younger than Confucius by thirty-six +years. He was noted for his purity and modesty, and for his + + +happiness in the principles of the master amid deep poverty. +After the death of Confucius, he lived in obscurity in Wei. In the +notes to Ana. VI. iii, I have referred to an interview which he had +with Tsze-kung. + 16. Kung-ye Ch'ang [al. Chih], styled Tsze-ch'ang [al. Tsze- +chih], (¤½§Mªø [al. ªÛ], ¦r¤lªø [al. ¤lªÛ]), has his tablet next to that +of Pu-ch'i. He was son-in-law to Confucius. His nativity is +assigned both to Lu and to Ch'i. + 17. Nan-kung Kwo, styled Tsze-yung («n®c¬A [al. Óì and, in the +'Narratives of the School,' êÖ (T'ao)], ¦r¤l®e), has the place at the +east next to Yuan Hsien. It is a question much debated whether he +was the same with Nan-kung Chang-shu, who accompanied +Confucius to the court of Chau, or not. On occasion of a fire +breaking out in the palace of duke Ai, while others were intent on +securing the contents of the Treasury, Nan-kung directed his +efforts to save the Library, and to him was owing the +preservation of the copy of the Chau Li which was in Lu, and other +ancient monuments. + 18. Kung-hsi Ai, styled Chi-ts'ze [al. Chi-ch'an] (¤½ÞÕ«s, ¦r©u +¦¸ [al. ©u¨I]). His tablet follows that of Kung-ye. He was a native +of Lu, or of Ch'i. Confucius commended him for refusing to take +office with any of the Families which were encroaching on the +authority of the princes of the States, and for choosing to endure +the severest poverty rather than sacrifice a tittle of his +principles. + 19. Tsang Tien, styled Hsi (´¿ã¿[al. ÂI], ¦rÞÕ). .He was the +father of Tsang Shan. His place in the temples is the hall to +Confucius's ancestors, where his tablet is the first, west. + 20. Yen Wu-yao, styled Lu (ÃCµLíÙ, ¦r¸ô). He was the father of +Yen Hui, younger than Confucius by six years. His sacrificial place +is the first, east, in the same hall as the last. + 21. Following the tablet of Nan-kung Kwo is that of Shang +Chu, styled Tsze-mu (°Ó£, ¦r¤l¤ì). To him, it is said, we are +indebted for the preservation of the Yi-ching, which he received +from Confucius. Its transmission step by step, from Chu down to +the Han dynasty, is minutely set forth. + 22. Next to Kung-hsi Ai is the place of Kao Ch'ai, styled +Tsze-kao and Chi-kao (°ª®ã, ¦r¤l¯Ì [al. ©u¯Ì; for ¯Ì moreover, we +find ¯o, and âé]), a native of Ch'i, according to the 'Narratives + + +of the School,' but of Wei, according to Sze-ma Ch'ien and Chang +Hsuan. He was thirty (some say forty) years younger than +Confucius, dwarfish and ugly, but of great worth and ability. At +one time he was criminal judge of Wei, and in the execution of his +office condemned a prisoner to lose his feet. Afterwards that +same man saved his life, when he was flying from the State. +Confucius praised Ch'ai for being able to administer stern justice +with such a spirit of benevolence as to disarm resentment. + 23. Shang Chu is followed by Ch'i-tiao K'ai [prop. Ch'i], +styled Tsze-k'ai, Tsze-zo, and Tsze-hsiu (º£ÀJ¶} [pr. ±Ò], ¦r¤l¶}, ¤l +Y, and ¤lײç), a native of Ts'ai (½²), or according to Chang Hsuan, +of Lu. We only know him as a reader of the Shu-ching, and refusing +to go into office. + 24. Kung-po Liao, styled Tsze-chau (¤½§B¹±, ¦r¤l©P). He +appears in the Analects, XIV. xxxiii, slandering Tsze-lu. It is +doubtful whether he should have a place among the disciples. + 25. Sze-ma Kang, styled Tsze-niu (¥q°¨¯Ñ, ¦r¤l¤û), follows +Ch'i-tiao K'ai; also styled ¶Á¯Ñ. He was a great talker, a native of +Sung, and a brother of Hwan T'ui, to escape from whom seems to +have been the labour of his life. + 26. The place next Kao Ch'ai is occupied by Fan Hsu, styled +Tsze-ch'ih (¼Ô¶·, ¦r¤l¿ð), a native of Ch'i, or, according to others, +of Lu, and whose age is given as thirty-six and forty-six years +younger than Confucius. When young, he distinguished himself in a +military command under the Chi family. + 27. Yu Zo, styled Tsze-zo (¦³Y, ¦r¤lY). He was a native of +Lu, and his age is stated very variously. He was noted among the +disciples for his great memory and fondness for antiquity. After +the death of Confucius, the rest of the disciples, because of some +likeness in Zo's speech to the Master, wished to render the same +observances to him which they had done to Confucius, but on +Tsang Shan's demurring to the thing, they abandoned the purpose. +The tablet of Tsze-zo is now the sixth, east among 'The Wise +Ones,' to which place it was promoted in the third year of Ch'ien- +lung of the present dynasty. This was done in compliance with a +memorial from the president of one of the Boards, who said he +was moved by a dream to make the request. We may suppose that +his real motives were a wish to do Justice to the merits of Tsze- +zo, and to restore the symmetry of the tablets in the 'Hall of the + + +Great and Complete One,' which had been disturbed by the +introduction of the tablet of Chu Hsi in the preceding reign. + 28. Kung-hsi Ch'ih, styled Tsze-hwa (¤½¦è¨ª, ¦r¤lµØ), a native +of Lu, younger than Confucius by forty-two years, whose place is +the fourth, west, in the outer court. He was noted for his +knowledge of ceremonies, and the other disciples devolved on him +all the arrangements about the funeral of the Master. + 29. Wu-ma Shih [or Ch'i], styled Tsze-Ch'i (§Å°¨¬I [al. ´Á], ¦r +¤l´Á [al. ¤lºX]), a native of Ch'an, or, according to Chang Hsuan, of +Lu, thirty years younger than Confucius. His tablet is on the east, +next to that of Sze-ma Kang. It is related that on one occasion, +when Confucius was about to set out with a company of the +disciples on a walk or journey, he told them to take umbrellas. +They met with a heavy shower, and Wu-ma asked him, saying, +'There were no clouds in the morning; but after the sun had risen, +you told us to take umbrellas. How did you know that it would +rain?' Confucius said, 'The moon last evening was in the +constellation Pi, and is it not said in the Shih-ching, "When the +moon is in Pi, there will be heavy rain?" It was thus I knew it.' + 30. Liang Chan [al. Li], styled Shu-yu (±çøÖ [al. ÃU] ¦r¨û³½), +occupies the eighth place, west, among the tablets of the outer +court. He was a man of Ch'i, and his age is stated as twenty-nine +and thirty-nine years younger than Confucius. The following story +is told in connexion with him.-- When he was thirty, being +disappointed that he had no son, he was minded to put away his +wife. 'Do not do so,' said Shang Chu to him. 'I was thirty-eight +before I had a son, and my mother was then about to take another +wife for me, when the Master proposed sending me to Ch'i. My +mother was unwilling that I should go, but Confucius said, 'Don't +be anxious. Chu will have five sons after he is forty.' It has turned +out so, and I apprehend it is your fault, and not your wife's, that +you have no son yet.' Chan took this advice, and in the second year +after, he had a son. + 31. Yen Hsing [al. Hsin, Liu, and Wei], styled Tsze-liu (ÃC©¯ +[al. ¨¯, ¬h, and ³], ¦r¤l¬h), occupies the place, east, after Wu-ma +Shih. He was a native of Lu, and forty-six years younger than +Confucius. + 32. Liang Chan is followed on the west by Zan Zu, styled +Tsze-lu [al. Tsze-tsang and Tsze-yu] (¥TÀ© [al. ¾§] ¦r*¤l¾| [al. ¤l´¿ + +* Digitizer's note: This is ¦t in the source text; I have corrected +what is an obvious misprint. + + +and ¤l³½]), a native of Lu, and fifty years younger than Confucius. + 33. Yen Hsing is followed on the east by Ts'ao Hsu, styled +Tsze-hsun (±ä¨ù, ¦r¤l´`), a native of Ts'ai, fifty years younger than +Confucius. + 34. Next on the west is Po Ch'ien, styled Tsze-hsi, or, in the +current copies of the 'Narratives of the School,' Tsze-ch'iai (§B°@, +¦r¤lÞÕ [al. ¤lªR] or ¤l·¢), a native of Lu, fifty years younger than +Confucius. + 35. Following Tsze-hsun is Kung-sun Lung [al. Ch'ung] styled +Tsze-shih (¤½®]Às [al. Ãd], ¦r¤l¥Û), whose birth is assigned by +different writers to Wei, Ch'u, and Chao (»¯). He was fifty-three +years younger than Confucius. We have the following account:-- +'Tsze-kung asked Tsze-shih, saying, "Have you not learned the +Book of' Poetry?" Tsze-shih replied, "What leisure have I to do +so? My parents require me to be filial; my brothers require me to +be submissive; and my friends require me to be sincere. What +leisure have I for anything else?" "Come to my Master," said Tsze- +kung, "and learn of him."' + Sze-ma Ch'ien here observes: 'Of the thirty-five disciples +which precede, we have some details. Their age and other +particulars are found in the Books and Records. It is not so, +however, in regard to the fifty-two which follow.' + 36. Zan Chi, styled Tsze-ch'an [al. Chi-ch'an and Tsze-ta] (¥T +©u, ¦r¤l²£ [al. ©u²£ and ¤l¹F), a native of Lu, whose place is the +11th, west, next to Po Ch'ien. + 37. Kung-tsu Kau-tsze or simply Tsze, styled Tsze-chih (¤½ +¯ª¤Ä¯÷ [or simply ¯÷], ¦r¤l¤§), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 23rd, +east, in the outer court. + 38. Ch'in Tsu, styled Tsze-nan (¯³¯ª, ¦r¤l«n), a native of +Ch'in. His tablet precedes that of the last, two places. + 39. Ch'i-tiao Ch'ih, styled Tsze-lien (º£ÀJÎG [al. ¨×], ¦r¤lÀÄ), a +native of Lu. His tablet is the 13th, west. + 40. Yen Kao, styled Tsze-chiao (ÃC°ª¦r¤lź). According to the +'Narratives of the School,' he was the same as Yen K'o (¨è, or «g), +who drove the carriage when Confucius rode in Wei after the duke +and Nan-tsze. But this seems doubtful. Other + + +authorities make his name Ch'an (²£), and style him Tsze-tsing (¤l +ºë). His tablet is the 13th, east. + 41. Ch'i-tiao Tu-fu [al. . Ts'ung], styled Tsze-yu, Tsze-ch'i, +and Tsze-wan (º£ÀJ®{¤÷ [al. ±q], ¦r¤l¦³ or ¤l¤Í [al. ¤l´Á and ¤l¤å]), a +native of Lu, whose tablet precedes that of Ch'i-tiao Ch'ih. + 42. Zang Sze-ch'ih, styled Tsze-t'u, or Tsze-ts'ung (Ä[ [al. öø] +¾o¨ª, ¦r¤l®{ [al. ¤l±q]), a native of Ch'in. Some consider Zang-sze +(Ä[¾o) to be a double surname. His tablet comes after that of No. +40. + 43. Shang Chai, styled Tsze-Ch'i and Tsze-hsiu (°Ó¿A, ¦r¤l©u +[al. ¤l¨q]), a native of Lu. His tablet is immediately after that of +Fan Hsu, No. 26. + 44. Shih Tso [al. Chih and Tsze]-shu, styled Tsze-ming (¥Û§@ +[al. ¤§ and ¤l], ¸¾, ¦r¤l©ú). Some take Shih-tso (¥Û§@) as a double +surname. His tablet follows that of No. 42. + 45. Zan Pu-ch'i, styled Hsuan (¥ô¤£»ô, ¦r¿ï), a native of Ch'u, +whose tablet is next to that of No. 28. + 46. Kung-liang Zu, styled Tsze-chang (¤½¨}À© [al. ¾§], ¦r¤l¥¿), +a native of Ch'in, follows the preceding in the temples. The +'Sacrificial Canon' says:-- 'Tsze-chang was a man of worth and +bravery. When Confucius was surrounded and stopped in P'u, Tsze- +chang fought so desperately, that the people of P'u were afraid, +and let the Master go, on his swearing that he would not proceed +to Wei.' + 47. Hau [al. Shih] Ch'u [al. Ch'ien], styled Tsze-li [al. Li-ch'ih] +(¦Z [al. ¥Û] ³B [al. °@], ¦r¤l¨½ [al. ¨½¤§]), a native of Ch'i, having his +tablet the 17th, east. + 48. Ch'in Zan, styled K'ai (¯³¥T, ¦r¶}), a native of Ts'ai. He is +not given in the list of the 'Narratives of the School,' and on this +account his tablet was put out of the temples in the ninth year of +Chia-tsing. It was restored, however, in the second year of Yung- +chang, A.D. 1724, and is the 33rd, east, in the outer court. + 49. Kung-hsia Shau, styled Shang [and Tsze-shang] (¤½®Lº +[al. ¦u], ¦r¼ [and ¤l¼]), a native of Lu, whose tablet is next to that +of No. 44. + 50. Hsi Yung-tien [or simply Tien], styled Tsze-hsi [al. Tsze- + + +chieh and Tsze-ch'ieh] (¨t®eã¿ [or ÂI], ¦r¤lÞÕ [al. ¤l°º and ¤l·¢]), a +native of Wei, having his tablet the 18th, east. + 51. Kung Chien-ting [al. Kung Yu], styled Tsze-chung (¤½ªÓ [al. +°í] ©w [al. ¤½¦³], ¦r¤l¥ò [al. ¤¤ and ©¾]). His nativity is assigned to Lu, +to Wei, and to Tsin (®Ê). He follows No. 46. + 52. Yen Tsu [al. Hsiang], styled Hsiang and Tsze-hsiang (ÃC¯ª +[al. ¬Û], ¦rÁ¸, and ¤lÁ¸), a native of Lu, with his tablet following +that of No. 50. + 53. Chiao Tan [al. Wu], styled Tsze-kea (äp³æ [al. à©¡¯], ¦r¤l +®a), a native of Lu. His place is next to that of No. 51. + 54. Chu [al. Kau] Tsing-ch'iang [and simply Tsing], styled +Tsze-ch'iang [al. Tsze-chieh and Tsze-mang] (¥y [al. ¤Ä and ¹_] ¤«Ã¦ +[and simply ¤«], ¦r¤læ [al. ¤l¬É and ¤l©s]), a native of Wei, +following No. 52. + 55. Han [al. Tsai]-fu Hei, styled Tsze-hei [al. Tsze-so and +Tsze-su] (¨u [al. ®_] ¤÷¶Â, ¦r¤l¶Â [al. ¤l¯Á and ¤l¯À]), a native of Lu, +whose tablet is next to that of No. 53. + 56. Ch'in Shang, styled Tsze-p'ei [al. P'ei-tsze and Pu-tsze] +(¯³°Ó, ¦r¤l¥A [al. ¥A¯÷ and ¤£¯÷]), a native of Lu, or, according to +Chang Hsuan, of Ch'u. He was forty years younger than Confucius. +One authority, however, says he was only four years younger, and +that his father and Confucius's father were both celebrated for +their strength. His tablet is the 12th, east. + 57. Shin Tang, styled Chau (¥ÓÄÒ¦r©P). In the 'Narratives of +the School' there is a Shin Chi, styled Tsze-chau (¥ÓÄò, ¦r¤l©P). The +name is given by others as T'ang (°ó and Ål) and Tsu (Äò), with the +designation Tsze-tsu (¤lÄò). These are probably the same person +mentioned in the Analects as Shin Ch'ang (¥ÓÙ³). Prior to the Ming +dynasty they were sacrificed to as two, but in A.D. 1530, the +name Tang was expunged from the sacrificial list, and only that +of Ch'ang left. His tablet is the 31st, east. + 58. Yen Chih-p'o, styled Tsze-shu [or simply Shu] (ÃC¤§¹², ¦r +¤l¨û [or simply ¨û]), a native of Lu, who occupies the 29th place, +east. + 59. Yung Ch'i, styled Tsze-ch'i [al. Tsze-yen] (ºaÑÒ [or ¬è], ¦r +¤lºX or ¤l¸R [al. ¤lÃC]), a native of Lu, whose tablet is the 20th, +west. + +*Digitizer's note: The actual variant used by Legge is (à©¥ª§Y¥k). + + + 60. Hsien Ch'ang, styled Tsze-ch'i [al. Tsze-hung] (¿¤¦¨, ¦r¤l +´Ñ [al. ¤l¾î]), a native of Lu. His place is the 22nd, east. + 61. Tso Zan-ying [or simply Ying], styled Hsing and Tsze- +hsing (¥ª¤H°r [or simply °r], ¦r¦æ and ¤l¦æ), a native of Lu. His +tablet follows that of No. 59. + 62. Yen Chi, styled An [al. Tsze-sze] (¿P¥ù [or ¯Å], ¦r®¦ [al. ¤l +«ä) a native of Ch'in. His tablet is the 24th east. + 63: Chang Kwo, styled Tsze-t'u (¾G°ê, ¦r¤l®{), a native of Lu. +This is understood to be the same with the Hsieh Pang, styled +Tsze-ts'ung (Á§¨¹, ¦r¤l±q), of the 'Narratives of the School.' His +tablet follows No. 61. + 64. Ch'in Fei, styled Tsze-chih (¯³«D, ¦r¤l¤§), a native of Lu, +having his tablet the 31st, west. + 65. Shih Chih-ch'ang, styled Tsze-hang [al. ch'ang] (¬I¤§±`, ¦r +¤l«í [al. ±`]), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 30th, east. + 66. Yen K'wai, styled Tsze-shang (ÃCéD, ¦r¤lÁn), a native of +Lu. His tablet is the next to that of No. 64. + 67. Pu Shu-shang, styled Tsze-ch'e (¨B¨û¼ [in the +'Narratives of the School' we have an old form of ¼], ¦r¤l¨®), a +native of Ch'i. Sometimes for Pu (¨B) we find Shao (¤Ö). His tablet +is the 30th, west. + 68. Yuan K'ang, styled Tsze-chi (줮, ¦r¤lÄy), a native of Lu. +Sze-ma Ch'ien calls him Yuan K'ang-chi, not mentioning any +designation. The 'Narratives of the School' makes him Yuan K'ang +(§Ü), styled Chi. His tablet is the 23rd, west. + 69. Yo K'o [al. Hsin], styled Tsze-shang (¼ÖÑõ, [al. ªY], ¦r¤lÁn), +a native of Lu. His tablet is the 25th, east. + 70. Lien Chieh, styled Yung and Tsze-yung [al. Tsze-ts'ao] (·G +¼ä, ¦r±e and ¤l±e [al. ¤l±ä), a native of Wei, or of Ch'i. His tablet is +next to that of No. 68. + 71. Shu-chung Hui [al. K'wai], styled Tsze-ch'i (¨û¥ò·| [al. éD], +¦r¤l´Á), a native of Lu, or, according to Chang Hsuan, of Tsin. He +was younger than Confucius by fifty-four years. It is said that he +and another youth, called K'ung Hsuan (¤ÕÖo), attended by turns +with their pencils, and acted as amanuenses to the sage, and when +Mang Wu-po expressed a doubt of their competency, Confucius +declared his satisfaction with them. He follows Lien Chieh in the +temples. + + + 72. Yen Ho, styled Zan (ÃC¦ó, ¦r¥T), a native of Lu. The present +copies of the 'Narratives of the School' do not contain his name, +and in A.D. 1588 Zan was displaced from his place in the temples. +His tablet, however, has been restored during the present dynasty. +It is the 33rd, west. + 73. Ti Hei, styled Che [al. Tsze-che and Che-chih] (¨f¶Â, ¦rÕ® +[al. ¤lÕ® and Õ®¤§]), a native of Wei, or of Lu. His tablet is the 26th, +east. + 74. Kwei [al. Pang] Sun, styled Tsze-lien [al. Tsze-yin] (¡¼ +(kui1 ËÑ¥ª¨¹¥k) [al. ¨¹] ´S, ¦r¤líK [al. ¤l¶¼]), a native of Lu. His tablet +is the 27th, west. + 75. K'ung Chung, styled Tsze-mieh (¤Õ©¾, ¦r¤l½°). This was +the son, it is said, of Confucius's elder brother, the cripple Mang- +p'i. His tablet is next to that of No. 73. His sacrificial title is 'The +ancient Worthy, the philosopher Mieh.' + 76. Kung-hsi Yu-zu [al. Yu], styled Tsze-shang (¤½¦èÁÖ¦p [al. +ÁÖ], ¦r¤l¤W), a native of Lu. His place is the 26th, west. + 77. Kung-hsi Tien, styled Tsze-shang (¤½¦èã¿ [or ÂI], ¦r¤l¤W +[al. ¤l©|]), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 28th, east. + 78. Ch'in Chang [al. Lao], styled Tsze-k'ai (µ^±i [al. ¨c], ¦r¤l +¶}), a native of Wei. His tablet is the 29th, west. + 79. Ch'an K'ang, styled Tsze-k'ang [al. Tsze-ch'in] (³¯¤®, ¦r¤l +¤® [al. ¤l¸V]), a native of Ch'an. See notes on Ana. I. x. + 80. Hsien Tan [al. Tan-fu and Fang], styled Tsze-hsiang (¿¤Ü³ +[al. ܳ¤÷ and Â×], ¦r¤l¶H), a native of Lu. Some suppose that this is +the same as No. 53. The advisers of the present dynasty in such +matters, however, have considered them to be different, and in +1724, a tablet was assigned to Hsien Tan, the 34th, west. + The three preceding names are given in the 'Narratives of +the School.' + The research of scholars has added about twenty others. + 81. Lin Fang, styled Tsze-ch'iu (ªL©ñ, ¦r¤lªô), a native of Lu. +The only thing known of him is from the Ana. III. iv. His tablet +was displaced under the Ming, but has been restored by the +present dynasty. It is the first, west. + 82. Chu Yuan, styled Po-yu (õøÞ¶, ¦r§B¥É), an officer of Wei, +and, as appears from the Analects and Mencius, an intimate + + +friend of Confucius. Still his tablet has shared the same changes +as that of Lin Fang. It is now the first, east. + 83 and 84. Shan Ch'ang (¥ÓÙ³) and Shan T'ang (¥Ó°ó). See No. +57. + 85. Mu P'i (ªª¥Ö), mentioned by Mencius, VII. Pt. II. xxxvii. 4. +His entrance into the temple has been under the present dynasty. +His tablet is the 34th, east. + 86. Tso Ch'iu-ming or Tso-ch'iu Ming (¥ª¥C©ú) has the 32nd +place, east. His title was fixed in A.D. 1530 to be 'The Ancient +Scholar,' but in 1642 it was raised to that of 'Ancient Worthy.' To +him we owe the most distinguished of the annotated editions of +the Ch'un Ch'iu. But whether he really was a disciple of Confucius, +and in personal communication with him, is much debated. + The above are the only names and surnames of those of the +disciples who now share in the sacrifices to the sage. Those who +wish to exhaust the subject, mention in addition, on the authority +of Tso Ch'iu-ming, Chung-sun Ho-chi (¥ò®]¦ó§Ò), a son of Mang Hsi +(see p. 63), and Chung-sun Shwo (¥ò®]»¡), also a son of Mang Hsi, +supposed by many to be the same with No. 17; Zu Pei, (À©´d), +mentioned in the Analects, XVII. xx, and in the Li Chi, XVIII. Sect. +II. ii. 22; Kung-wang Chih-ch'iu (¤½ªÉ¤§¸Ê) and Hsu Tien (§ÇÂI), +mentioned in the Li Chi, XLIII. 7; Pin-mau Chia (»«¦È¸ë), mentioned +in the Li Chi, XVII. iii. 16; K'ung Hsuan (¤ÕÖo) and Hai Shu-lan (´f¨û +Äõ), on the authority of the 'Narratives of the School;' Ch'ang Chi +(±`©u), mentioned by Chwang-tsze; Chu Yu (ñ|»y), mentioned by +Yen-tsze (®Ë¤l); Lien Yu (·GÞ·) and Lu Chun (¾|®m), on the authority +of ¤å¯Î¥Û«Ç; and finally Tsze-fu Ho (¤lªA¦ó), the Tsze-fu Ching-po +(¤lªA´º§B) of the Analects, XIV. xxxviii. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS WHICH HAVE BEEN CONSULTED IN +THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME. + +SECTION I. + +CHINESE WORKS, WITH BRIEF NOTICES. + + ¤Q¤T¸gµù²¨, 'The Thirteen Ching, with Commentary and +Explanations.' This is the great repertory of ancient lore upon the +Classics. On the Analects, it contains the 'Collection of +Explanations of the Lun Yu,' by Ho Yen and others (see p. 19), and +'The Correct Meaning,' or Paraphrase of Hsing Ping (see p. 20). On +the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, it contains the +comments and glosses of Chang Hsuan, and of K'ung Ying-ta (¤Õ¿o +¹F) of the T'ang dynasty. + ·s¨è§åÂI¥|®ÑŪ¥», 'A new edition of the Four Books, +Punctuated and Annotated, for Reading.' This work was published +in the seventh year of Tao-kwang (1827) by a Kao Lin (°ªµY). It is +the finest edition of the Four Books which I have seen, in point of +typographical execution. It is indeed a volume for reading. It +contains the ordinary 'Collected Comments' of Chu Hsi on the +Analects, and his 'Chapters and Sentences' of the Great Learning +and Doctrine of the Mean. The editor's own notes are at the top +and bottom of the page, in rubric. + ¥|®Ñ¦¶¤l¥»¸q¶×°Ñ, 'The Proper Meaning of the Four Books as +determined by Chu Hsi, Compared with, and Illustrated from, +other Commentators.' This is a most voluminous work, published +in the tenth year of Ch'ien-lung, A.D. 1745, by Wang Pu-ch'ing (¤ý +¨B«C), a member of the Han-lin College. On the Great Learning and +the Doctrine of the Mean, the 'Queries' (©Î°Ý) addressed to Chu Hsi +and his replies are given in the same text as the standard +commentary. + ¥|®Ñ¸gµù¶°ÃÒ, 'The Four Books, Text and Commentary, with +Proofs and Illustrations.' The copy of this Work which I have was +edited by a Wang T'ing-chi (¨L§Ê¾÷), in the third + + +year of Chia-ch'ing, A.D. 1798. It may be called a commentary on +the commentary. The research in all matters of Geography, +History, Biography, Natural History, &c., is immense. + ¥|®Ñ½Ñ¾§¿èn, 'A Collection of the most important Comments +of Scholars on the Four Books.' By Li P'ei-lin (§õ¨KÀM); published in +the fifty-seventh K'ang-hsi year, A.D. 1718. This Work is about as +voluminous as the ¶×°Ñ, but on a different plan. Every chapter is +preceded by a critical discussion of its general meaning, and the +logical connexion of its several paragraphs. This is followed by +the text, and Chu Hsi's standard commentary. We have then a +paraphrase, full and generally perspicuous. Next, there is a +selection of approved comments, from a great variety of authors; +and finally, the reader finds a number of critical remarks and +ingenious views, differing often from the common interpretation, +which are submitted for his examination. + ¥|®ÑÁlµù½×¤å, 'A Supplemental Commentary, and Literary +Discussions, on the Four Books.' By Chang Chan-t'ao [al. T'i-an] (±i +ºÂ³³ [al. ±§µÚ]), a member of the Han-lin college, in the early part, +apparently, of the reign of Ch'ien-lung. The work is on a peculiar +plan. The reader is supposed to be acquainted with Chu Hsi's +commentary, which is not given; but the author generally supports +his views, and defends them against the criticisms of some of the +early scholars of this dynasty. His own exercitations are of the +nature of essays more than of commentary. It is a book for the +student who is somewhat advanced, rather than for the learner. I +have often perused it with interest and advantage. + ¥|®Ñ¿íµù¦XÁ¿, 'The Four Books, according to the Commentary, +with Paraphrase.' Published in the eighth year of Yung Chang, A.D. +1730, by Wang Fu [al. K'eh-fu] (¯Î´_ [al. §J¤Ò]). Every page is +divided into two parts. Below, we have the text and Chu Hsi's +commentary. Above, we have an analysis of every chapter, +followed by a paraphrase of the several paragraphs. To the +paraphrase of each paragraph are subjoined critical notes, +digested from a great variety of scholars, but without the +mention of their names. A list of 116 is given who are thus laid +under contribution. In addition, there are maps and illustrative +figures at the commencement; and to each Book there are prefixed +biographical notices, explanations of peculiar allusions, &c. + ·s¼W¥|®Ñ¸Éµùªþ¦Ò³Æ¦®, 'The Four Books, with a + + +Complete Digest of Supplements to the Commentary, and +additional Suggestions. A new edition, with Additions.' By Tu +Ting-chi (§ù©w°ò). Published A.D. 1779. The original of this Work +was by Tang Lin (¾HªL), a scholar of the Ming dynasty. It is perhaps +the best of all editions of the Four Books for a learner. Each page +is divided into three parts. Below, is the text divided into +sentences and members of sentences, which are followed by short +glosses. The text is followed by the usual commentary, and that +by a paraphrase, to which are subjoined the Supplements and +Suggestions. The middle division contains a critical analysis of +the chapters and paragraphs; and above, there are the necessary +biographical and other notes. + ¥|®Ñ¨ý®Ú¿ý, 'The Four Books, with the Relish of the Radical +Meaning.' This is a new Work, published in 1852. It is the +production of Chin Ch'ang, styled Chi'u-t'an (ª÷æJ, ¦r¬î¼æ), an +officer and scholar, who, returning, apparently to Canton +province, from the North in 1836, occupied his retirement with +reviewing his literary studies of former years, and employed his +sons to transcribe his notes. The writer is fully up in all the +commentaries on the Classics, and pays particular attention to +the labours of the scholars of the present dynasty. To the +Analects, for instance, there is prefixed Chiang Yung's History of +Confucius, with criticisms on it by the author himself. Each +chapter is preceded by a critical analysis. Then follows the text +with the standard commentary, carefully divided into sentences, +often with glosses, original and selected, between them. To the +commentary there succeeds a paraphrase, which is not copied by +the author from those of his predecessors. After the paraphrase +we have Explanations (¸Ñ). The book is beautifully printed, and in +small type, so that it is really a multum in parvo, with +considerable freshness. + ¤éÁ¿¥|®Ñ¸q¸Ñ, 'A Paraphrase for Daily Lessons, Explaining the +Meaning of the Four Books.' This work was produced in 1677, by a +department of the members of the Han-lin college, in obedience to +an imperial rescript. The paraphrase is full, perspicuous, and +elegant. + ±s»s©P©ö§é¤¤; ®Ñ¸g¶Ç»¡·JÄ¡; ¸Ö¸g¶Ç»¡·JÄ¡; §°O¸q²¨; ¬K¬î¶Ç»¡·JÄ¡. +These works form together a superb edition of the Five Ching, +published by imperial authority + + +in the K'ang-hsi and Yung-chang reigns. They contain the standard +views (¶Ç); various opinions (»¡); critical decisions of the editors +(®Ë) ; prolegomena; plates or cuts; and other apparatus for the +student. + ¤ò¦èªe¥ý¥Í¥þ¶°, 'The Collected Writings of Mao Hsi-ho.' See +prolegomena, p. 20. The voluminousness of his Writings is +understated there. Of ¸g¶°, or Writings on the Classics, there are +236 sections, while his ¤å¶°, or other literary compositions, +amount to 257 sections. His treatises on the Great Learning and +the Doctrine of the Mean have been especially helpful to me. He is +a great opponent of Chu Hsi, and would be a much more effective +one, if he possessed the same graces of style as that 'prince of +literature.' + ¥|®Ñ©Ý¾l»¡, 'A Collection of Supplemental Observations on +the Four Books.' The preface of the author, Ts'ao Chih-shang (±ä¤§ +¤É), is dated in 1795, the last year of the reign of Ch'ien-lung. The +work contains what we may call prolegomena on each of the Four +Books, and then excursus on the most difficult and disputed +passages. The tone is moderate, and the learning displayed +extensive and solid. The views of Chu Hsi are frequently well +defended from the assaults of Mao Hsi-ho. I have found the Work +very instructive. + ¶mÄҹϦÒ, 'On the Tenth Book of the Analects, with Plates.' +This Work was published by the author, Chiang Yung (¦¿¥Ã), in the +twenty-first Ch'ien-lung year, A.D. 1761, when he was seventy- +six years old. It is devoted to the illustration of the above portion +of the Analects, and is divided into ten sections, the first of +which consists of woodcuts and tables. The second contains the +Life of Confucius, of which I have largely availed myself in the +preceding chapter. The whole is a remarkable specimen of the +minute care with which Chinese scholars have illustrated the +Classical Books + ¥|®ÑÄÀ¦a; ¥|®ÑÄÀ¦aÄò; ¥|®ÑÄÀ¦a¤SÄò; ¥|®ÑÄÀ¦a¤TÄò. We may call +these volumes-- 'The Topography of the Four Books; with three +Supplements.' The Author's name is Yen Zo-ch'u (ÀFYÀó). The first +volume was published in 1698, and the second in 1700. I have not +been able to find the dates of publication of the other two, in +which there is more biographical and general matter than +topographical. The author apologizes for the inappropriateness of +their titles by saying that he could not + + +help calling them Supplements to the Topography, which was his +'first love.' + ¬Ó²M¸g¸Ñ, 'Explanations of the Classics, under the Imperial +Ts'ing Dynasty.' See above, p. 20. The Work, however, was not +published, as I have there supposed, by imperial authority, but +under the superintendence, and at the expense (aided by other +officers), of Yuan Yuan (¨¿¤¸), Governor-general of Kwang-tung +and Kwang-hsi, in the ninth year of the last reign, 1829. The +publication of so extensive a Work shows a public spirit and zeal +for literature among the high officers of China, which should keep +foreigners from thinking meanly of them. + ¤Õ¤l®a»y, 'Sayings of the Confucian Family.' Family is to be +taken in the sense of Sect or School. In Liu Hsin's Catalogue, in +the subdivision devoted to the Lun Yu, we find the entry:-- +'Sayings of the Confucian Family, twenty-seven Books,' with a +note by Yen Sze-ku of the T'ang dynasty,-- 'Not the existing Work +called the Family Sayings.' The original Work was among the +treasures found in the wall of Confucius's old house, and was +deciphered and edited by K'ung An-kwo. The present Work is by +Wang Su of the Wei (ÃQ) dynasty, grounded professedly on the +older one, the blocks of which had suffered great dilapidation +during the intervening centuries. It is allowed also, that, since +Su's time, the Work has suffered more than any of the +acknowledged Classics. Yet it is a very valuable fragment of +antiquity, and it would be worth while to incorporate it with the +Analects. My copy is the edition of Li Yung (§õ®e), published in +1780. I have generally called the Work 'Narratives of the School.' + ¸t¼qªÁ¨å¹Ï¦Ò, 'Sacrificial Canon of the Sage's Temples, with +Plates.' This Work, published in 1826, by Ku Yuan, styled Hsiang- +chau (ÅU¨J, ¦r´ð¦à), is a very painstaking account of all the Names +sacrificed to in the temples of Confucius, the dates of their +attaining to that honour, &c. There are appended to it Memoirs of +Confucius and Mencius, which are not of so much value. + ¤Q¤l¥þ®Ñ, 'The Complete Works of the Ten Tsze.' See +Morrison's Dictionary, under the character ¤l. I have only had +occasion, in connexion with this Work, to refer to the writings of +Chwang-tsze (²ø¤l) and Lieh-tsze (¦C¤l). My copy is an edition of +1804. + + + ¾ú¥N¦W½å¦C¤k¤ó©mÃÐ, 'A Cyclopaeia of Surnames, or +Biographical Dictionary, of the Famous Men and Virtuous Women +of the Successive Dynasties.' This is a very notable work of its +class; published in 1793, by ¿½´¼º~, and extending through 157 +chapters or Books. + ¤åÄm³q¦Ò, 'General Examination of Records and Scholars.' This +astonishing Work, which cost its author, Ma Twan-lin (°¨ºÝÁ{), +twenty years' labour, was first published in 1321. Remusat says,- +- 'This excellent Work is a library in itself, and if Chinese +literature possessed no other, the language would be worth +learning for the sake of reading this alone.' It does indeed display +all but incredible research into every subject connected with the +Government, History, Literature, Religion, &c., of the empire of +China. The author's researches are digested in 348 Books. I have +had occasion to consult principally those on the Literary +Monuments, embraced in seventy-six Books, from the 174th to the +249th. + ¦¶ÂU´L¸g¸q¦Ò, 'An Examination of the Commentaries on the +Classics,' by Chu I-tsun. The author was a member of the Han-lin +college, and the work was first published with an imperial +preface by the Ch'ien-lung emperor. It is an exhaustive work on +the literature of the Classics, in 300 chapters or Books.' + Äò¤åÄm³q¦Ò, 'A Continuation of the General Examination of +Records and Scholars.' This Work, which is in 254 Books, and +nearly as extensive as the former, was the production of Wang +Ch'i (¤ý§¦), who dates his preface in 1586, the fourteenth year of +Wan-li, the style of the reign of the fourteenth emperor of the +Ming dynasty. Wang Ch'i brings down the Work of his predecessor +to his own times. He also frequently goes over the same ground, +and puts things in a clearer light. I have found this to be the case +in the chapters on the classical and other Books. + ¤G¤Q¥|¥v, 'The Twenty-four Histories.' These are the +imperially-authorized records of the empire, commencing with +the 'Historical Records,' the work of Sze-ma Ch'ien, and ending +with the History of the Ming dynasty, which appeared in 1742, the +result of the joint labours of 145 officers and scholars of the +present dynasty. The extent of the collection may be understood +from this, that my copy, bound in English fashion, makes sixty- +three volumes, each one larger than this. No nation has a history +so thoroughly digested; and on the whole it is trustworthy. In pre- + + +paring this volume, my necessities have been confined mostly to +the Works of Sze-ma Ch'ien, and his successor, Pan Ku (¯Z©T), the +Historian of the first Han dynasty. + ¾ú¥N²Î°Oªí, 'The Annals of the Nation.' Published by imperial +authority in 1803, the eighth year of Ch'ia-ch'ing. This Work is +invaluable to a student, being, indeed, a collection of +chronological tables, where every year, from the rise of the Chau +dynasty, B.C. 1121, has a distinct column to itself, in which, in +different compartments, the most important events are noted. +Beyond that date, it ascends to nearly the commencement of the +cycles in the sixty-first year of Hwang-ti, giving -- not every +year, but the years of which anything has been mentioned in +history. From Hwang-ti also, it ascends through the dateless ages +up to P'an-ku, the first of mortal sovereigns. + ¾ú¥Næ°ìªí, 'The Boundaries of the Nation in the successive +Dynasties.' This Work by the same author, and published in 1817, +does for the boundaries of the empire the same service which the +preceding renders to its chronology. + ¾ú¥Nªu²ªí, 'The Topography of the Nation in the successive +Dynasties.' Another Work by the same author, and of the same date +as the preceding. + +___________________________ + + The Dictionaries chiefly consulted have been:-- + The well-known Shwo Wan (»¡¤å¸Ñ¦r), by Hsu Shan, styled +Shu-chung (³\·V, ¦r¨û«), published in A.D. 100; with the +supplement (ô¶Ç) by Hsu Ch'ieh (®}îÒ), of the southern Tang +dynasty. The characters are arranged in the Shwo Wan under 540 +keys or radicals, as they are unfortunately termed. + The Liu Shu Ku (¤»®Ñ¬G), by Tai T'ung, styled Chung-ta (À¹Ë¾, +¦r¥ò¹F), of our thirteenth century. The characters are arranged in +it, somewhat after the fashion of the R Ya (p. 2), under six general +divisions, which again are subdivided, according to the affinity of +subjects, into various categories. + The Tsze Hui (¦r·J), which appeared in the Wan-li (¸U¾ú) +reign of the Ming dynasty (1573-1619). The 540 radicals of the +Shwo Wan were reduced in this to 214, at which number they have +since continued. + The K'ang-hsi Tsze Tien (±dº³¦r¨å), or Kang-hsi Dictionary, +prepared by order of the great K'ang-hsi emperor in 1716. This + + +is the most common and complete of all Chinese dictionaries for +common use. + The I Wan Pi Lan (çZ¤å³ÆÄý), 'A Complete Exhibition of all the +Authorized Characters,' published in 1787; 'furnishing,' says Dr. +Williams, 'good definitions of all the common characters, whose +ancient forms are explained.' + The Pei Wan Yun Fu (¨Ø¤åÃý©²), generally known among +foreigners as 'The Kang-hsi Thesaurus.' It was undertaken by an +imperial order, and published in 1711, being probably, as Wylie +says, 'the most extensive work of a lexicographical character +ever produced.' It does for the phraseology of Chinese literature +all, and more than all, that the Kang-hsi dictionary does for the +individual characters. The arrangement of the characters is +according to their tones and final sounds. My copy of it, with a +supplement published about ten years later, is in forty-five large +volumes, with much more letter-press in it than the edition of +the Dynastic Histories mentioned on p. 133. + The Ching Tsi Tswan Ku, ping Pu Wei (¸gÄy¡¼(Ä¡¤WÅW¤U)µþ¦}¸É +¿ò), 'A Digest of the Meanings in the Classical and other Books, +with Supplement,' by, or rather under the superintendence of, Yuan +Yuan (p. 132). This has often been found useful. It is arranged +according to the tones and rhymes like the characters in the +Thesaurus. + +SECTION II. + +TRANSLATIONS AND OTHER WORKS. + + CONFUCIUS SINARUM PHILOSOPHUS; sive Scientia Sinensis +Latine Exposita. Studio et opera Prosperi Intorcetta, Christiani +Herdritch, Francisci Rougemont, Philippi Couplet, Patrum +Societatis JESU. Jussu Ludovici Magni. Parisiis, 1837. + THE WORKS OF CONFUCIUS; containing the Original Text, +with a Translation. Vol. 1. By J. Marshman. Serampore, 1809. This +is only a fragment of 'The Works of Confucius.' + THE FOUR BOOKS; Translated into English, by Rev. David +Collie, of the London Missionary Society. Malacca, 1828. + L'INVARIABLE MILIEU; Ouvrage Moral de Tseu-sse, en Chinois +et en Mandchou, avec une Version litterale Latine, une Traduction +Francoise, &c. &c. Par M. Abel-Remusat. A Paris, 1817. + LE TA HIO, OU LA GRANDE ETUDE; Traduit en Francoise, avec +une Version Latine, &c. Par G. Pauthier. Paris, 1837. + + + Y-KING; Antiquissimus Sinarum Liber, quem ex Latina +Interpretatione P. Regis, aliorumque ex Soc. JESU PP. edidit Julius +Mohl. Stuttgartiae et Tubingae, 1839. + MEMOIRES concernant L'Histoire, Les Sciences, Les Arts, Les +Moers, Les Usages, &c., des Chinois. Par les Missionaires de Pekin. +A Paris, 1776-1814. + HISTOIRE GENERALE DE LA CHINE; ou Annales de cet Empire. +Traduites du Tong-Kien-Kang-Mou. Par le feu Pere Joseph-Annie- +Marie de Moyriac de Mailla, Jesuite Francoise, Missionaire a Pekin. +A Paris, 1776-1785. + NOTITIA LINGUAE SINICAE. Auctore P. Premare. Malaccae, +cura Academiae Anglo-Sinensis, 1831. + THE CHINESE REPOSITORY. Canton, China, 20 vols., 1832- +1851. + DICTIONNAIRE DES NOMS, Anciens et Modernes, des Villes et +Arrondissements de Premier, Deuxieme, et Troisieme ordre, +compris dans L'Empire Chinois, &c. Par Edouard Biot, Membre du +Conseil de la Societe Asiatique. Paris, 1842. + THE CHINESE. By John Francis Davis, Esq., F.R.S., &c. In two +volumes. London, 1836. + CHINA: its State and Prospects. By W. H. Medhurst, D. D., of +the London Missionary Society. London, 1838. + L'UNIVERS: Histoire et Description des tous les Peuples. +Chine. Par M. G. Pauthier. Paris, 1838. + HISTORY OF CHINA, from the earliest Records to the Treaty +with Great Britain in 1842. By Thomas Thornton, Esq., Member of +the Royal Asiatic Society. In two volumes. London, 1844. + THE MIDDLE KINGDOM: A Survey of the Geography, +Government, Education, Social Life, Arts, Religion, &c., of the +Chinese Empire. By S. Wells Williams, LL.D. In two volumes. New +York and London, 1848. The Second Edition, Revised, 1883. + THE RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF THE CHINESE. By Rev. Joseph +Edkins, B. A., of the London Missionary Society. London, 1859. + CHRIST AND OTHER MASTERS. By Charles Hardwood, M. A., +Christian Advocate in the University of Cambridge. Part III. +Religions of China, America, and Oceanica. Cambridge, 1858. + INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF. CHINESE CHARACTERS. By J. +Edkins, D.D. London, 1876. + THE STRUCTURE OF CHINESE CHARACTERS, under 300 +Primary Forms. By John Chalmers, M.A., LL.D. Aberdeen, 1882. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg THE CHINESE CLASSICS: (PROLEGOMENA) by Legge + diff --git a/2941.zip b/2941.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..91106e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/2941.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5dba15 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this book outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7dac51 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +book #2941 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2941) |