The Chinese Classics — Prolegomena

l During the present dynasty, the tablet of 文昌帝君, 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 家語, 卷二, art.致思, 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 天下平.See the 大學, 經, 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 中庸, xx.3.2 Mencius, I.Pt.I.vi.6.3 中庸, 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 中庸, xx.2.2 Ana.XV.x.3 Mencius, III.Pt.I.iv.8.4 男子者, 任天道而長萬物者也; 女子者, 順男子之道, 而長其理者也.

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 家語卷三, 本命解

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 中庸, 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 中國.2 諸夏; Ana.III.v.3 天下; passim.4 Ana.III.v.5 Ana.IX.xiii.6 書經, III.ii.10; et al.7 柔遠人.8 賓旅.

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 禮記, 表記, par.12.4 非禮之正.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 禮記, I.Sect.I.Pt.v.10.2 周禮, 卷之十四, pp.14-18.3 禮記, II.Sect.I.Pt.ii.24.See also the 家語, 卷四, 子貢問.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 (顏回, 字子淵). 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 孔子曰，受業身通者，七十有七人，皆異能之士也.

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 (閔損，字子騫).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 大成殿, 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 序, the places of the 十 二哲, 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 序, but along the external wall of the sacred inclosure, are the two 廡, 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 先 賢, or 'Ancient Worthy,' or the inferior title of 先儒, 'Ancient Scholar.'Behind the principal hall is the 崇聖祠殿, 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 菜色.3 芻豢之色.

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 (冉耕, 字白 [al.百] 牛).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 (冉雍, 字仲弓).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 (冉求, 字子有).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 (仲由, 字子路, 又字季路).He was a native of P'ien (卞) 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 (蒲), 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 (宰予, 字子我).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 (端木賜, 字子貢 [al.子贛]), whose place is now third, east, from the Assessors.He

1 與田常作亂.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 (衛), 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 (信陽宰), 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 (言偃, 字子游), now the fourth in the western range of 'The Wise Ones.'He was a native of Wu (吳), 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 (卜商, 字子夏).It is not certain to what State he belonged, his birth being assigned to Wei (衛), to Wei (魏), and to Wan (溫).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 (魏), 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 (毛詩) 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 (顓孫師, 字子張), has his tablet, corresponding to that of the preceding, on the west.He was a native of Ch'an (陳), 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 (曾參, 字子輿 [al.子 與]).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'

(大戴禮).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 (澹臺滅明, 字子羽).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 (宓 [al.密 and 虙, all = 伏] 不 齊, 字子賤).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 (單父宰), 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 (原憲, 字子思) 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], (公冶長 [al.芝], 字子長 [al.子芝]), 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 (南宮括 [al.适 and, in the 'Narratives of the School,' 縚 (T'ao)], 字子容), 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] (公皙哀, 字季 次 [al.季沉]).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 (曾蒧[al.點], 字皙). .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 (顏無繇, 字路).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 (商瞿, 字子木).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 (高柴, 字子羔 [al.季羔; for 羔 moreover, we find 皋, and 睾]), 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 (漆雕開 [pr.啟], 字子開, 子 若, and 子修脩), a native of Ts'ai (蔡), 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 (公伯僚, 字子周).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 (司馬耕, 字子牛), follows Ch'i-tiao K'ai; also styled 黍耕.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 (樊須, 字子遲), 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 (有若, 字子若).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 (公西赤, 字子華), 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 (巫馬施 [al.期], 字 子期 [al.子旗]), 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 (梁鱣 [al.鯉] 字叔魚), 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 (顏幸 [al.辛, 柳, and 韋], 字子柳), 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] (冉孺 [al.儒] 字*子魯 [al.子曾

* Digitizer's note: This is 宇 in the source text; I have corrected what is an obvious misprint.

and 子魚]), 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 (曹卹, 字子循), 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 (伯虔, 字子皙 [al.子析] or 子楷), a native of Lu, fifty years younger than Confucius.35.Following Tsze-hsun is Kung-sun Lung [al.Ch'ung] styled Tsze-shih (公孫龍 [al.寵], 字子石), whose birth is assigned by different writers to Wei, Ch'u, and Chao (趙).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] (冉 季, 字子產 [al.季產 and 子達), 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 (公 祖勾茲 [or simply 茲], 字子之), a native of Lu.His tablet is the 23rd, east, in the outer court.38.Ch'in Tsu, styled Tsze-nan (秦祖, 字子南), a native of Ch'in.His tablet precedes that of the last, two places.39.Ch'i-tiao Ch'ih, styled Tsze-lien (漆雕哆 [al.侈], 字子斂), a native of Lu.His tablet is the 13th, west.40.Yen Kao, styled Tsze-chiao (顏高字子驕).According to the 'Narratives of the School,' he was the same as Yen K'o (刻, or 剋), 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 (產), and style him Tsze-tsing (子 精).His tablet is the 13th, east.41.Ch'i-tiao Tu-fu [al. .Ts'ung], styled Tsze-yu, Tsze-ch'i, and Tsze-wan (漆雕徒父 [al.從], 字子有 or 子友 [al.子期 and 子文]), 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 (壤 [al.穰] 駟赤, 字子徒 [al.子從]), a native of Ch'in.Some consider Zang-sze (壤駟) to be a double surname.His tablet comes after that of No.40.43.Shang Chai, styled Tsze-Ch'i and Tsze-hsiu (商澤, 字子季 [al.子秀]), 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 (石作 [al.之 and 子], 蜀, 字子明).Some take Shih-tso (石作) as a double surname.His tablet follows that of No.42.45.Zan Pu-ch'i, styled Hsuan (任不齊, 字選), a native of Ch'u, whose tablet is next to that of No.28.46.Kung-liang Zu, styled Tsze-chang (公良孺 [al.儒], 字子正), 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] (后 [al.石] 處 [al.虔], 字子里 [al.里之]), a native of Ch'i, having his tablet the 17th, east.48.Ch'in Zan, styled K'ai (秦冉, 字開), 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] (公夏首 [al.守], 字乘 [and 子乘]), 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] (系容蒧 [or 點], 字子皙 [al.子偕 and 子楷]), a native of Wei, having his tablet the 18th, east.51.Kung Chien-ting [al.Kung Yu], styled Tsze-chung (公肩 [al.堅] 定 [al.公有], 字子仲 [al.中 and 忠]).His nativity is assigned to Lu, to Wei, and to Tsin (晉).He follows No.46.52.Yen Tsu [al.Hsiang], styled Hsiang and Tsze-hsiang (顏祖 [al.相], 字襄, and 子襄), a native of Lu, with his tablet following that of No.50.53.Chiao Tan [al.Wu], styled Tsze-kea (鄡單 [al.鄔＊], 字子 家), 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] (句 [al.勾 and 鉤] 井疆 [and simply 井], 字子疆 [al.子界 and 子孟]), a native of Wei, following No.52.55.Han [al.Tsai]-fu Hei, styled Tsze-hei [al.Tsze-so and Tsze-su] (罕 [al.宰] 父黑, 字子黑 [al.子索 and 子素]), 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] (秦商, 字子丕 [al.丕茲 and 不茲]), 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 (申黨字周).In the 'Narratives of the School' there is a Shin Chi, styled Tsze-chau (申續, 字子周).The name is given by others as T'ang (堂 and 儻) and Tsu (續), with the designation Tsze-tsu (子續).These are probably the same person mentioned in the Analects as Shin Ch'ang (申棖).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] (顏之僕, 字 子叔 [or simply 叔]), a native of Lu, who occupies the 29th place, east.59.Yung Ch'i, styled Tsze-ch'i [al.Tsze-yen] (榮旂 [or 祈], 字 子旗 or 子祺 [al.子顏]), a native of Lu, whose tablet is the 20th, west.

*Digitizer's note: The actual variant used by Legge is (鄔左即右).

60. Hsien Ch'ang, styled Tsze-ch'i [al. Tsze-hung] (縣成, 字子 棋 [al. 子橫]), a native of Lu. His place is the 22nd, east. 61. Tso Zan-ying [or simply Ying], styled Hsing and Tsze- hsing (左人郢 [or simply 郢], 字行 and 子行), a native of Lu. His tablet follows that of No. 59. 62. Yen Chi, styled An [al. Tsze-sze] (燕伋 [or 級], 字恩 [al. 子 思) a native of Ch'in. His tablet is the 24th east. 63: Chang Kwo, styled Tsze-t'u (鄭國, 字子徒), a native of Lu. This is understood to be the same with the Hsieh Pang, styled Tsze-ts'ung (薛邦, 字子從), of the 'Narratives of the School.' His tablet follows No. 61. 64. Ch'in Fei, styled Tsze-chih (秦非, 字子之), a native of Lu, having his tablet the 31st, west. 65. Shih Chih-ch'ang, styled Tsze-hang [al. ch'ang] (施之常, 字 子恆 [al. 常]), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 30th, east. 66. Yen K'wai, styled Tsze-shang (顏噲, 字子聲), a native of Lu. His tablet is the next to that of No. 64. 67. Pu Shu-shang, styled Tsze-ch'e (步叔乘 [in the 'Narratives of the School' we have an old form of 乘], 字子車), a native of Ch'i. Sometimes for Pu (步) we find Shao (少). His tablet is the 30th, west. 68. Yuan K'ang, styled Tsze-chi (原亢, 字子籍), 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 (抗), styled Chi. His tablet is the 23rd, west. 69. Yo K'o [al. Hsin], styled Tsze-shang (樂欬, [al. 欣], 字子聲), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 25th, east. 70. Lien Chieh, styled Yung and Tsze-yung [al. Tsze-ts'ao] (廉 潔, 字庸 and 子庸 [al. 子曹), 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 (叔仲會 [al. 噲], 字子期), 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 (孔琁), 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 (顏何, 字冉), 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] (狄黑, 字晢 [al. 子晢 and 晢之]), a native of Wei, or of Lu. His tablet is the 26th, east. 74. Kwei [al. Pang] Sun, styled Tsze-lien [al. Tsze-yin] (□ (kui1 刲左邦右) [al. 邦] 巽, 字子歛 [al. 子飲]), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 27th, west. 75. K'ung Chung, styled Tsze-mieh (孔忠, 字子蔑). 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 (公西輿如 [al. 輿], 字子上), a native of Lu. His place is the 26th, west. 77. Kung-hsi Tien, styled Tsze-shang (公西蒧 [or 點], 字子上 [al. 子尚]), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 28th, east. 78. Ch'in Chang [al. Lao], styled Tsze-k'ai (琴張 [al. 牢], 字子 開), a native of Wei. His tablet is the 29th, west. 79. Ch'an K'ang, styled Tsze-k'ang [al. Tsze-ch'in] (陳亢, 字子 亢 [al. 子禽]), a native of Ch'an. See notes on Ana. I. x. 80. Hsien Tan [al. Tan-fu and Fang], styled Tsze-hsiang (縣亶 [al. 亶父 and 豐], 字子象), 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 (林放, 字子邱), 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 (蘧瑗, 字伯玉), 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 (申棖) and Shan T'ang (申堂).See No.57.85.Mu P'i (牧皮), 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 (左丘明) 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 (仲孫何忌), a son of Mang Hsi (see p.63), and Chung-sun Shwo (仲孫說), also a son of Mang Hsi, supposed by many to be the same with No.17; Zu Pei, (孺悲), mentioned in the Analects, XVII.xx, and in the Li Chi, XVIII.Sect.II.ii.22; Kung-wang Chih-ch'iu (公罔之裘) and Hsu Tien (序點), mentioned in the Li Chi, XLIII.7; Pin-mau Chia (賓牟賈), mentioned in the Li Chi, XVII.iii.16; K'ung Hsuan (孔琁) and Hai Shu-lan (惠叔 蘭), on the authority of the 'Narratives of the School;' Ch'ang Chi (常季), mentioned by Chwang-tsze; Chu Yu (鞫語), mentioned by Yen-tsze (晏子); Lien Yu (廉瑀) and Lu Chun (魯峻), on the authority of 文翁石室; and finally Tsze-fu Ho (子服何), the Tsze-fu Ching-po (子服景伯) 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.

十三經註疏, '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 (孔穎 達) of the T'ang dynasty. 新刻批點四書讀本, '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 (高琳). 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. 四書朱子本義匯參, '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 (王 步青), a member of the Han-lin College. On the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, the 'Queries' (或問) addressed to Chu Hsi and his replies are given in the same text as the standard commentary. 四書經註集證, '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 (汪廷機), 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.四書諸儒輯要, 'A Collection of the most important Comments of Scholars on the Four Books.'By Li P'ei-lin (李沛霖); published in the fifty-seventh K'ang-hsi year, A.D.1718.This Work is about as voluminous as the 匯參, 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.四書翼註論文, 'A Supplemental Commentary, and Literary Discussions, on the Four Books.'By Chang Chan-t'ao [al.T'i-an] (張 甄陶 [al.惕菴]), 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.四書遵註合講, '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] (翁復 [al.克夫]).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.新增四書補註附考備旨, 'The Four Books, with a

Complete Digest of Supplements to the Commentary, and additional Suggestions.A new edition, with Additions.'By Tu Ting-chi (杜定基).Published A.D.1779.The original of this Work was by Tang Lin (鄧林), 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.四書味根錄, '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 (金澂, 字秋潭), 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 (解).The book is beautifully printed, and in small type, so that it is really a multum in parvo, with considerable freshness.日講四書義解, '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.御製周易折中; 書經傳說彙纂; 詩經傳說彙纂; 禮記義疏; 春秋傳說彙纂.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 (傳); various opinions (說); critical decisions of the editors (晏) ; prolegomena; plates or cuts; and other apparatus for the student.毛西河先生全集, 'The Collected Writings of Mao Hsi-ho.'See prolegomena, p.20.The voluminousness of his Writings is understated there.Of 經集, or Writings on the Classics, there are 236 sections, while his 文集, 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.'四書拓餘說, 'A Collection of Supplemental Observations on the Four Books.'The preface of the author, Ts'ao Chih-shang (曹之 升), 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.鄉黨圖考, 'On the Tenth Book of the Analects, with Plates.'This Work was published by the author, Chiang Yung (江永), 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 四書釋地; 四書釋地續; 四書釋地又續; 四書釋地三續.We may call these volumes— 'The Topography of the Four Books; with three Supplements.'The Author's name is Yen Zo-ch'u (閻若璩).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.'皇清經解, '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 (阮元), 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.孔子家語, '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 (魏) 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 (李容), published in 1780.I have generally called the Work 'Narratives of the School.'聖廟祀典圖考, 'Sacrificial Canon of the Sage's Temples, with Plates.'This Work, published in 1826, by Ku Yuan, styled Hsiang- chau (顧沅, 字湘舟), 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.十子全書, 'The Complete Works of the Ten Tsze.'See Morrison's Dictionary, under the character 子.I have only had occasion, in connexion with this Work, to refer to the writings of Chwang-tsze (莊子) and Lieh-tsze (列子).My copy is an edition of 1804.

歷代名賢列女氏姓譜, '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 蕭智漢, and extending through 157 chapters or Books. 文獻通考, 'General Examination of Records and Scholars.' This astonishing Work, which cost its author, Ma Twan-lin (馬端臨), 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. 朱彝尊經義考, '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.' 續文獻通考, '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 (王圻), 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. 二十四史, '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 (班固), the Historian of the first Han dynasty.歷代統記表, '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.歷代疆域表, '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.歷代沿革表, 'The Topography of the Nation in the successive Dynasties.'Another Work by the same author, and of the same date as the preceding.

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The Dictionaries chiefly consulted have been:— The well-known Shwo Wan (說文解字), by Hsu Shan, styled Shu-chung (許慎, 字叔重), published in A. D. 100; with the supplement (繫傳) by Hsu Ch'ieh (徐鍇), 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 (六書故), by Tai T'ung, styled Chung-ta (戴侗, 字仲達), 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 (字彙), which appeared in the Wan-li (萬歷) 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 (康熙字典), 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 (蓺文備覽), '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 (佩文韻府), 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 (經籍□(纂上饗下)詁并補 遺), '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.