Texts of Confucianism, Part I: The Shû King, the Religious Portions of the Shih King, the Hsiâo King — SBE Vol. 3 (trans. James Legge, 1879)
English·1879–1910·trans. Georg Bühler & James Legge·397 passages
The text · part 1 of 19
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
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\ fines TIO 3 cH MEA . é ve Si
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THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
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1879.
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THE
SACRED BOOKS OF CHINA
THE TEXTS OF CONFUCIANISM
TRANSLATED BY
JAMES LEGGE
PART I
THE SHU KING THE RELIGIOUS PORTIONS OF THE SHIH KING THE HSIAO KING
@rford AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
p. 1879
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HARVARD
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
CONTENTS.
. PAGE PREFACE. . : . . . . . . . . xiii
THE SHO. INTRODUCTION. CHAP. I. THE NATURE AND HISTORY OF THE SHO. . . I
Meaning of the name Shi King. The Shf existed as a collection of documents before Confucius. Number of documents in it in his time. The Preface ascribed to him. The sources of the Shi. Destruction of the classical literature by the emperor of XAin. Recovery of the Sha.
p. 12
Are the records reliable or not? The Books of K4u; of Shang ; of Hsia. ‘The Books of Thang and Yii are professedly later compilations ; legendary ; based on ancient documents. The Tribute of Yii. Y4o, Shun, and Yii are all historical personages.
III. ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF CHINA, AND THE PRINCIPAL ERAS INTHE SHO. . . re °)
No detailed chronological system can be made out from the Shi. Attempts at systematic chronology began in the Han period. Ancient method of determining the length of Chinese history. The period of the Kau dynasty; of the Shang ; of the Hsia ; of Yao and Shun.
A CHART BY THE REV. PROFESSOR PRITCHARD, representing the principal zodiacal stars above the horizon of any place in central China, about the year B.C. 2300; with note, and table of the apparent positions of the principal stars in B.C. 2300, B.C. 1500, A.D. I, A.D, 1000, and A.D. 1878 . . . 27-30
PART I. THE BOOK OF THANG. The Canon.of YAo . . . ee . . . . 31
viii
CONTENTS.
BOOK
PYwNn
wPoeb a
10, Il.
AnwP yp
PART II. THE BOOKS oF YU.
The Canon of Shun . .t
The Counsels of the Great Yii
The Counsels of K4o-y4o . . : : : The Yi and AT. . : . . . . . .
- ParRT III. THE Books oF HsiA. The Tribute of Yii. Section i ” ” ” ii The Speech at Kan : : . The Songs of the Five Sons. . . The Punitive Expedition of Yin
THE BOOKS oF YU.
The Canon of Shun . .t
The Counsels of the Great Yii
The Counsels of K4o-y4o . . : : : The Yi and AT. . : . . . . . .
- ParRT III. THE Books oF HsiA. The Tribute of Yii. Section i ” ” ” ii The Speech at Kan : : . The Songs of the Five Sons. . . The Punitive Expedition of Yin
ParT IV. THE BOOKS OF SHANG. The Speech of Thang.
The Announcement of Kung-hui . . The Announcement of Thang The Instructions of f. .. .
The Thai Kia. Section i ” ” ii . . . . . . yy di wo. . . The Common Possession of Pure Virtue . The Pan-kang. Section i yi The Charge to Yiieh. Section i ” ” » ii ” ” » iii . . . 1 oe The Day of the Supplementary Sacrifice to K4o Sung . The Chief of the West’s Conquest of Lit . . . The Count of Wei _ : . .
PART V. THE BOOKS oF KAU.
The Great Declaration. Sectioni . : . . . ” ” ” ii » iii The Speech at Ma . The Successful Completion of the War The Great Plan . . . . The Hounds of Lii The Metal-bound Coffer
64 72
78 81
p. 84
89 92 95
100 104 108 III 113
115 116 118 120 121
125 127 129 131 133 137 149 151
CONTENTS. ix
BOOK PAGE
7. The Great Announcement . . . . . . . 156
8. The Charge to the Count of Wei. : : . . 161
9. The Announcement to the Prince of Khang . . . 164
10. The Announcement about Drunkenness . : . .- &I7I
11. The Timber of the Rottlera’. . : - 179
12. The Announcement of the Duke of Shao : . . 81
13. The Announcement concerning Lo . . . . . 188
14. The Numerous Officers . . : : . . . 196
15. Against Luxurious Ease. . : . : . . 200
16. The Prince Shih . : . . . : . - 205
17. The Charge to Kung of Bhai . . . .. Qa
18. The Numerous Regions . . . . . . » 213
19. The Establishment of Government . . 1 . 219
20. The Officers of Kau . : : : : . : . 226
21. The Xiin-2kan . . . . . . . . . 231
22. The Testamentary Charge . . . oe . 234
23. The Announcement of King Khang . . . . - 243
24. The Charge to the Duke of Pf... . ‘ . e245
25. The Xiin-ya . . . : . . . . « 250
26. The Charge to Khiung- . » eww 252
27. The Marquis of Lii on Punishments . . . . . 254
28. The Charge to the Marquis Wan . . . . 265
29. The Speech at Pt . . . : . . 267
30. The Speech of the Marquis of Kin 2 oe ee 270
THE SHIH.
INTRODUCTION. CHAP, I. THE NAME AND CONTENTS OF THE SHIH. : - 275
The meaning of the character Shih. The contents. Only the pieces of the fourth Part have professedly a religious character. Classification of the pieces from their form and style.
II. THE SHIH BEFORE CONFUCIUS, AND WHAT, IF ANY, WERE HIS LABOURS UPON IT . . . . . . . 280
Statement of Sze-mA Xhien; in the Records of the Sui Dynasty; of AQ Hsi. View of the author. Groundlessness of Khien’s statement. What Confucius did for the Shih.
x CONTENTS.
CHAP, . III. THE SHIH FROM THE TIME OF CONFUCIUS TILL THE GENERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE PRESENT TEXT
From Confucius to the rise of the KAin dynasty. The Shih was all recovered after the fires of KAin. Three different texts :—of LQ; of XAi; of Han Ying. The text of M4o.
x CONTENTS.
CHAP, . III. THE SHIH FROM THE TIME OF CONFUCIUS TILL THE GENERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE PRESENT TEXT
From Confucius to the rise of the KAin dynasty. The Shih was all recovered after the fires of KAin. Three different texts :—of LQ; of XAi; of Han Ying. The text of M4o.
The theory of the Chinese scholars about a collection of poems for governmental purposes. The music-master of the king got the odes of each state from its music-master ; and the collected poems were disseminated throughout the states. How the Shih is so small and incomplete. The authors of the pieces. The year B.C. 776 clearly indicated. The Preface to the Shih.
ODES OF THE TEMPLE AND THE ALTAR.
1, The Sacrificial Odes of Shang . . «wet 2. The Sacrificial Odes of Kau. Decadei . . .
” ” ” » ii. : . . ” ” ” » (Wo. . : . 3. The Praise Odes of La a
THE MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM.
Decade i. Odes 5, 6, 9 . . soe ee . » iv. Odes 5, 6, 7, 8,9,10 . . : . . . . » v. Odes1,2,3,4,69 . . . . . . » vi. Odes 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 . : » Vii, Odest,6 . 2. 2. 2. ee lee » Vili, Ode 5 rr
I, THE NAME OF THE CLASSIC; ITS EXISTENCE BEFORE THE HAN DYNASTY; ITS CONTENTS, AND BY WHOM IT WAS
Meaning of the character Hsiao. Was the treatise called the Hsiao King by Confucius? It existed before the Han dynasty during the time of the Kau. It came, probably, from the school of 3ang-3ze.
II. THE RECOVERY OF THE HsiAO0 UNDER THE HAN DYNASTY, AND ITS PRESERVATION DOWN TO THE PUBLICATION OF THE COMMENTARY OF THE THANG EMPEROR HSUAN 3UNG . . . . . . + 452
Recovery of the Hsiao. The shorter or modern text. The old or longer text. Was another copy in the old text discovered? Can we fully rely on the copies catalogued by Lia Hin? From Khung An-kwo to the emperor Hsiian ung.
The emperor’s work. Hsing Ping’s work.
III. Criticism OF THE HSIAO SINCE THE THANG DYNASTY 458
Works on the old text by Sze-m4 Kwang and Fan 8(-yii. Sceptical criticism ;—views of Ki Hst and Wa KAang. Conclusion regarding the genuineness and integrity of the Hsiao. Note on the translation.
1. The Scope and Meaning of the Treatise . . 465
2. Filial Piety in the Son of Heaven . . . . 467
Sceptical criticism ;—views of Ki Hst and Wa KAang. Conclusion regarding the genuineness and integrity of the Hsiao. Note on the translation.
1. The Scope and Meaning of the Treatise . . 465
2. Filial Piety in the Son of Heaven . . . . 467
3. Filial Piety in the Princes of States . 468
4. Filial Piety in High Ministers and Great Officers 469
5. Filial Piety in Inferior Officers . se 470
6. Filial Piety in the Common People .. 471
7. Filial Piety in Relation to the Three Powers 472
Xil CONTENTS.
CHAP.
8. Filial Piety in Government. . . oe ee
9. The Government of the Sages . .
to. An Orderly Description of the Acts of Filial Piety .
11. Filial Piety in Relation to the Five Punishments
12. Amplification of ‘the All-embracing Rule of Conduct’ in Chapter! . . .
13. Amplification of ‘the Perfect Virtue? i in Chapter I.
14. Amplification of ‘Making our Name Famous’ in Chapter I
15. Filial Piety in Relation to Reproof and Remonstrance
16. The Influence of Filial Piety and the Response to it
17. The Service of the Ruler . . . . .
18, Filial Piety in Mourning for Parents. .
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East . . +
PAGE 474 476 480 481
481 482 483 483 484 486 487
p. 489
PREFACE,
WHILE submitting here some prefatory observations on the version of the Shi King presented in this volume, I think it well to prefix also a brief account of what are regarded as the Sacred Books of the Religions of China. Those religions are three :—Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
I. I begin with a few words about the last. To translate any of its books does not belong to my province, and more than a few words from me are unnecessary. It has been said that Buddhism was introduced into China in the third century B.C.; but it certainly did not obtain an authoritative recognition in the empire till the third quarter of our first century, Its Texts were translated into Chinese, one portion after another, as they were gradually obtained from India; but it was not till very long afterwards that the Chinese possessed, in their own language, a complete copy of the Buddhist canon*. Translations from the Sanskrit constitute the principal part of the Buddhistic literature of China, though there are also many original works in Chinese belonging to it.
1 I put the introduction of Buddhism into China before our Christian era thus uncertainly, because of what is said in the article on the history of Buddhism in China, in the Records of the Sui Dynasty (a.p. 589-618), the compilers of which say that before the Han dynasty (began 8.c. 202) Buddhism was not heard of in China, They refer to contrary statements as what ‘some say,’ and proceed to relate circumstances inconsistent with them. It is acknowledged on all sides that Buddhist books were first brought to China between a.p. 60 and 70.
202) Buddhism was not heard of in China, They refer to contrary statements as what ‘some say,’ and proceed to relate circumstances inconsistent with them. It is acknowledged on all sides that Buddhist books were first brought to China between a.p. 60 and 70.
* Mr. Beal (Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese, pp. i, 2) says that ‘the first complete edition of the Buddhist Canon in China dates from the seventh century; that a second and much enlarged edition of it, called the Southern Collection, was prepared in a.D. 1410; that a third edition, called the Northern Collection, appeared about a.p. 1390; which again was renewed and enlarged in the year 1723.’
xiv PREFACE.
II. Confucianism is the religion of China par excellence, and is named from the great sage who lived in the fifth and sixth centuries B.c. Confucius indeed did not originate the system, nor was he the first to inculcate its principles or enjoin its forms of worship. He said of himself (Analects, VII, i) that he was a transmitter and not a maker, one who believed in and loved the ancients ; and hence it is said in the thirtieth chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean, ascribed to his grandson, that ‘he handed down the doctrines of Yao and Shun, as if they had been his ancestors, and elegantly displayed the regulations of Wan and Wa, taking them as his models.’
In fulfilling what he considered to be his mission, Confucius did little towards committing to writing the views of antiquity according to his own conception of them. He discoursed about them freely with the disciples of his school, from whom we have received a good deal of what he said; and it is possible that his accounts of the ancient views and practices took, unconsciously to himself, some colour from the peculiar character of his mind. But his favourite method was to direct the attention of his disciples to the ancient literature of the nation. He would neither affirm nor relate anything for which he could not adduce some document of acknowledged authority. He said on one occasion (Analects, III, ix) that he could describe the ceremonies of the dynasties of Hsia (B.C. 2205-1767) and Yin (B.C. 1766-1123), but did not do so, because the records and scholars in the two states of KAu, that had been assigned to the descendants of their sovereigns, could not sufficiently attest his words. It is an error even to suppose that he compiled the historical documents, poems, and other ancient books from various works existing in his time. Portions of the oldest works had already perished. His study of those that remained, and his exhortations to his disciples also to study them, contributed to their preservation, What he wrote or said about their meaning should be received by us with reverence; but if all the works which he handled had come down to us entire, we should have been, so far as it is possible for foreigners to be, in
PREFACE, XV
the same position as he was for learning the ancient religion of his country. Our text-books would be the same as his. Unfortunately most of the ancient books suffered loss and injury after Confucius had passed from the stage of life. We have reason, however, to be thankful that we possess so many and so much of them. No other literature, comparable to them for antiquity, has come down to us in such a state of preservation.
But the reader must bear in mind that the ancient books of China do not profess to have been inspired, or to contain what we should call a Revelation. Historians, poets, and others wrote them as they were moved in their own minds. An old poem may occasionally contain what it says was spoken by God, but we can only understand that language as calling attention emphatically to the statements to which it is prefixed. We also read of Heaven’s raising up the great ancient sovereigns and teachers, and variously assisting them to accomplish their undertakings ; but all this need not be more than what a religious man of any country might affirm at the present day of direction, help, and guidance given to himself and others from above. But while the old Chinese books do not profess to contain any divine revelation, the references in them to religious views and practices are numerous; and it is from these that the student has to fashion for himself an outline of the early religion of the people. I will now state what the books are.
First, and of greatest importance, there is the Book of Historical Documents, called the Sh and, since the period of the Han dynasty (began B.C. 202), the Sha King. Its documents commence with thé reign of Y4o in the twenty-fourth century B.C., and come down to that of king Hsiang of the KAu dynasty, B.C. 651-619. The earliest chapters were not contemporaneous with the events which they describe, but the others begin to be so in the twentysecond century B.C, The reader will find a translation of the whole of this work without abridgment.
Second, and nearly as important as the Sh4, there is the Shih, or the Book of Poetry. It contains in all 305 xvi PREFACE.
Second, and nearly as important as the Sh4, there is the Shih, or the Book of Poetry. It contains in all 305 xvi PREFACE.
pieces, five of which are of the time of the Shang dynasty (called also the Yin), B.C. 1766-1123. The others belong to the dynasty of K4u, from the time of its founder, king Wan, born B.C. 1231, to the reign of king Ting, B.c. 606- 586. The whole is divided into four Parts, the last of which is occupied with ‘Odes of the Temple and the Altar.’ Many pieces in the other Parts also partake of a religious character, but the greater number are simply descriptive of the manners, customs, and events of the times to which they belong, and have no claim to be included in the roll of Sacred Texts. In this volume will be found all the pieces that illustrate the religious views of their authors, and the religious practices of their times. The third work is the Yi, commonly called the Book of Changes. Confucius himself set a high value on it, as being fitted to correct and perfect the character of the learner (Analects, VII, xvi); and it is often spoken of by foreigners as the most ancient of all the Chinese classics. But it is not so. As it existed in the time of the sage, and as it exists now, no portion of the text is older than the time of king Wan, mentioned above. There were and are, indeed, in it eight trigrams ascribed to F(-hsi, who is generally considered as the founder of the Chinese nation, and whose place in chronology should, probably, be assigned in the thirty-fourth century B.c. The eight trigrams are again increased to sixty-four hexagrams, To form these figures, two lines, one of them whole (——) and the other divided (——),are assumed as bases. Those lines are then placed, each over itself, and each over the other; and four binograms are formed. From these, by the same process with the base lines, are obtained eight figures,—the famous trigrams, Three other repetitions of the same process give us successively sixteen, thirty-two, and sixty-four figures. The lines in the figures thus increase in an arithmetical progression, whose common difference is one, and the number of the figures increases in a geometrical progression, whose common ratio is two. But what ideas Fd-hs? attached to his primary lines,—the whole and the divided ; what significance he gave to his trigrams; what to the
PREFACE. XVil
But what ideas Fd-hs? attached to his primary lines,—the whole and the divided ; what significance he gave to his trigrams; what to the
PREFACE. XVil
sixty-four hexagrams,—if indeed he himself formed so many figures; and why the multiplication of the figures was stayed at sixty-four :—of none of these points have we any knowledge from him, There is some reason to believe that there were texts to the hexagrams under the dynasties of Hsia and Shang, but none of them have been preserved. It may be that king Wan and his equally famous son, the duke of K4u, adopted much of what they found already existing, and incorporated it with their own interpretations of the figures; but they, and they alone, are accepted as the authors of the text of the Yi. King W4n, we are told, at a time when he was imprisoned by the tyrannical sovereign with whom the dynasty of Shang or Yin ended, took in hand the ever-changing hexagrams, and appended to each a brief explanation of the meaning which the trigrams composing it suggested by their union to his mind; and in some cases the practical course in affairs to which that meaning should direct. His son did for the separate lines of each hexagram what Wan had done for the whole figure. Confucius is said to have entered into their labours about 600 years afterwards. Several appendixes are ascribed to him, in which there is an attempt to explain the origin of the Fd-hsi figures, and many of the interpretations of Wan and his son. The early linear figures; the notes of Wan and the duke of X4u; and the Confucian appendixes :—these constitute the Yi.
The work was from the first intimately connected with the practice of divination, which, we know from the Sha, entered largely into the religion of the ancient Chinese. This goes far to account for its obscure and enigmatical character ; but at the same time there occur in it, though in a fragmentary manner, so many metaphysical, physical, moral, and religious utterances, that the student of it is gradually brought under a powerful fascination. In consequence, moreover, of its use in divination, it was exempted by the superstitious tyrant of Ain from the flames to which he condemned all the other Confucian literature in B.C. 213. It has thus come down to us entire, and a translation of the whole of it will be given.
(1) b
XVIli * PREFACE,
An additional interest belongs to the Yi as the fountainhead from which the comparatively modern philosophers of the Sung dynasty (began A.D. 960) professed to draw what has been called their ‘atheo-political’ system. As an appendix to the translation of the Yi, there will be given an outline of that system, and an attempt will be made to test the correctness of the interpretation of this classic by its authors,
960) professed to draw what has been called their ‘atheo-political’ system. As an appendix to the translation of the Yi, there will be given an outline of that system, and an attempt will be made to test the correctness of the interpretation of this classic by its authors,
The fourth of the great classics is the Lit Xi, or the Record of Rites; but it is only one of a class that we may denominate the Constitutional and Ritual Books of ancient China, especially under the K4u dynasty. They are often mentioned together as ‘the Three Rituals.’ The first of them is called K4u Li, the Rites of KAu, and also Kau Kwan, the Officers of Ku, which latter is the better name for it. It is the official book of the Kau dynasty. The prevailing opinion is that it was the production of the duke of K4u; and if it were not composed in its present form by him, it contains, no doubt, the substance of the regulations which he made for the administration of the government, after the dynasty of Shang had passed, through the achievements of his father and brother, into that of K4u. Under the various departments in which that administration was arranged, it enumerates the principal and subordinate officers belonging to each, and describes their duties. After the fires of Kin, the work was recovered nearly complete in the first century B.C. A good translation of the whole work was published in 1851, at Paris, by M. Edouard Biot.
The second Ritual Collection bears the name of f Li, which has been translated ‘the Decorum Ritual,’ and ‘the
‘Rules of Demeanour.’ It was recovered earlier than the former, and is as voluminous. It consists of the rules by which a scholar or officer should regulate his behaviour on social and state occasions. It has not yet, so far as I know, been translated into any European language.
The third Collection, more voluminous than either of the others, was made also under the Han dynasty. In the first century B.C., it was an immense compilation of 214 books arranged in five divisions. The 214 were reduced
PREFACE. . xix
The third Collection, more voluminous than either of the others, was made also under the Han dynasty. In the first century B.C., it was an immense compilation of 214 books arranged in five divisions. The 214 were reduced
PREFACE. . xix
to eighty-five by Tai Teh, a scholar of the time, and his eighty-five again to forty-six by a cousin, called T4i Kang. Three other books were added to these towards the end of the Han period, forming forty-nine in all, which have come down to us under the title of Li Ai, or ‘the Record of Rites,’ and have long constituted by imperial authority one of the five King. An abridgment of this work was translated by M. J. M. Callery, at Turin, in 1853, with the title.—‘ Li Ki, ou Memorial des Rites, traduit pour la premiére fois du Chinois, et accompagné de notes, de commentaires, et du texte original.’ Callery’s work, however, contains only thirty-six of the forty-nine books of the Li Ki, and most of those thirty-six in a condensed form. Whether it will be possible to give in these Sacred Books of the East translations of the whole of these Rituals ; and if that be not possible, by what principles to be guided in the selection of portions of them :—these are questions to be determined after further deliberation. Many passages contain more of the mind of Confucius himself on the sacrificial worship of his country, and the ideas underlying it, than we find elsewhere.
But it must not be forgotten that these ritual books do not throw so valuable a light on the ancient religion of China as the older ShQ and Shih. They belong to the period of the K4u dynasty, and do not go back as contemporaneous records to the dynasties beyond it and the still remoter age of Yao and Shun. The views of Confucius, moreover, as given in them, do not come to us at first hand. They were gathered up by the Han scholars five and six centuries after his death, nor can we be sure that these did not sometimes put ideas of their own into the mouth of the sage, and make additions to the writings which were supposed, correctly or incorrectly, to have come from his immediate disciples.
We owe the fifth and last of the Kings of China to Confucius himself. It is what he called Khun KAid, or ‘the Spring and Autumn,’ a very brief chronicle compiled by him of the annals of his native state of Lf for 242 years, from B.C, 722 to 481. But there is not much to ke b 2
XX PREFACE.
gleaned from it for the Sacred Texts; and if we were to launch out into the three supplements to it of 30 KAiming, Kung-yang, and K(-liang, the result would not repay the labour. A translation of the whole of 30’s supplement, much the most important, is given in my work on the Khun Xhid, published at Hong Kong in 1872.
A translation of the whole of 30’s supplement, much the most important, is given in my work on the Khun Xhid, published at Hong Kong in 1872.
There is another short treatise attributed to Confucius,— the Hsiao King, or ‘Classic of Filial Piety. Though not like one of the five great works that have been described, it was the first to receive the denomination of a King,— and that from the lips of the sage himself,—if the account which we have received of the matter is to be relied on. This little work does not come to us, like the KAun KX Aid, as directly from the pencil of Confucius, but in the shape of conversations between him and his disciple 34ng-3ze, put on record in the first place, probably, by some members of Sang’s school. No portion of the ancient literature has more exercised the minds and engaged the attention of many of the emperors of successive dynasties. The Hsido seems to me an attempt to construct a religion on the basis of the cardinal virtue of Filial Piety, and is open to criticism in many respects. A translation of it is given in the present volume.
The classical books are often spoken of as being ‘the five King’ and ‘the four Sh.’ The King have all been separately referred to above; the four Sha is an abbreviation for the Sh or Books of the four Philosophers. The first is the Lun Yii, or ‘Discourses and Conversations,’ occupied chiefly with sayings of Confucius and conversations ketween him and many of his disciples. The second is the Works of Mencius, perhaps the greatest thinker and writer of the Confucian school after the Master. I hope to be able to give both these works. The third of the ShQ is the T4 Hsio, or ‘Great Learning,’ ascribed, like the Hsiao, to Sang-3ze. The fourth is the Kung Yung, or ‘ Doctrine of the Mean,’ the production of 3ze-sze, the sage’s grandson. Both of these treatises, however, are taken from the Li Xt. The whole of the Four Books were translated and published by me in 1861.
PREFACE. XXxi
III. The third Religion in China is what is called Taoism. It was, like Confucianism, of native origin, and its acknowledged founder was Li &, called also Li Po-yang, and, after his death, Li Tan. More commonly he is designated L4o- 3ze, translated by some ‘the Old Philosopher,’ and by others ‘the Old Boy’ from a fabulous story that his mother carried him in her womb for seventy-two years, so that when he was at length cut out of it, his hair was already white. His birth is referred to the year 604 B.C., so that he was between fifty and sixty years older than Confucius. There are accounts, hardly reliable, of interviews and discussions between the two men.
His birth is referred to the year 604 B.C., so that he was between fifty and sixty years older than Confucius. There are accounts, hardly reliable, of interviews and discussions between the two men.
LAo-3ze’s system often goes with English writers by the name of Rationalism; but if that name be retained, the term must be taken in quite a peculiar sense. His doctrine was that of the T4o, but it is not easy to determine what English term will best express the meaning of the Chinese character. The only record which we have of L4o-3ze’s views is the T4o-teh King, or ‘Classic of Tao and Virtue,’ a treatise of no great length. It was published at Paris in 1842, with a translation in French, by the late Stanislas Julien, under the title of ‘Le Livre de la Voie et de la Vertu.’ Appealing to the views of Kwang-jze and other writers of the Taoist school, M. Julien says that ‘Le T4o est dépourvu d’action, de pensée, de jugement, d’intelligence,’ and adds that ‘it appears impossible therefore to take it for the primordial reason, the Sublime Intelligence, which created and rules the world.’
A translation in English was published, in 1868, by the Rev. Dr. Chalmers of Canton, under the title of ‘the Speculations in Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality, of “the Old Philosopher.”’ Dr. Chalmers retains the term T4o in his English Text, and says, ‘I have thought it better to leave the word T4o untranslated, both because it has given the name to the sect,—the TAoists—and because no English word is its exact equivalent. Three terms suggest themselves,—the Way, Reason, and the Word; but they are all liable to objection. Were we guided by etymology, “the Way” would come nearest to the original, and in one
XXii PREFACE.
or two passages the idea of a Way seems to be in the term ; but this is too materialistic to serve the purpose of a translation. Reason again seems to be more like a quality or attribute of some conscious Being than TAo is. I would translate it by the Word in the sense of the Logos, but this would be like settling the question which I wish to leave open, viz. what amount of resemblance there is between the Logos of the New Testament and this Tao, which is its nearest representative in Chinese.’
I would translate it by the Word in the sense of the Logos, but this would be like settling the question which I wish to leave open, viz. what amount of resemblance there is between the Logos of the New Testament and this Tao, which is its nearest representative in Chinese.’
Two other translations of the T4ao-teh King have appeared, both in German :—‘ Lao-tsze’s Tao Te King, aus dem Chinesischen ins Deutsche iibersetzt, eingeleitet, und commentirt, von Victor von Strauss (Leipzig, 1870),’ and ‘Lao-tse, Tao-te-king, “Der Weg zur Tugend,” aus dem Chinesischen iibersetzt und erklart von Reinhold von Planckner,’ also published at Leipzig. Strauss closely follows Julien, while Planckner allows himself great freedom in dealing with his original. Notwithstanding these four attempts to give the meaning of ‘the Old Philosopher’ in three European languages, there is room for a new version, which will be submitted to the reader in due course. It is only by an intense and long-continued study of the original that we can come to an agreement as to the meaning of the Tao. I propose not only to give a translation of the T4o-teh King, but also of the works of Kwang-jze, the most remarkable of the early writers of the T4Aoist school.
Whatever L4o-jze intended by the T4o, Taoism has, in the course of time, borrowed largely, both from Confucianism and Buddhism. It inculcates a morality of a high order in some respects, and has developed a system of grotesque beliefs and practices, ministering to superstition, and intended to refine and preserve the breath of life. Its practical teachings will be exhibited in the most popular of all the TAoist writings,—the treatise on ‘ Actions and their Recompenses,’ and perhaps in one or more, besides, of the characteristic productions of the system.
The version of the Sh that appears in this volume is substantially the same as that in the third volume of my
PREFACE. xxili
large edition of the Chinese Classics, and which was published in 1865. I wrote out the whole afresh, however, having before me not only my own version, but the earlier translations of P. Gaubil in French and Dr. Medhurst in English. Frequent reference was made likewise to a larger apparatus of native commentaries than I had formerly used. Going to the text anew, after more than twelve years devoted mainly to the continuous study of the Chinese classics, I yet hardly discovered any errors which it was necessary to correct. A few verbal alterations were made to make the meaning clearer. Only in one case will a reader, familiar with the former version, be struck with any alteration in this. The Chinese character itt (Ti), applied repeatedly to the ancient Yao and Shun in the commencing books of the classic, and once in the 27th Book of the fifth Part, was there translated by ‘emperor,’ while it is left untranslated in the present volume, and its name transferred to the English text.
The Chinese character itt (Ti), applied repeatedly to the ancient Yao and Shun in the commencing books of the classic, and once in the 27th Book of the fifth Part, was there translated by ‘emperor,’ while it is left untranslated in the present volume, and its name transferred to the English text.
Before adopting this change, I had considered whether I ought to translate Ti in all other instances of its occurrence in the Sh (and invariably in the Shih), and its intensified form Shang Ti an if}, by our term ‘God.’
Gaubil rendered Ti for the most part by ‘le Seigneur,’ and Shang Ti by-‘le Souverain Maitre,’ adding sometimes to these names Ti and Shang Ti in brackets. Medhurst translated Ti by ‘the Supreme,’ and ‘the Supreme Ruler,’ and Shang Ti by ‘the Supreme Ruler.’ More than twentyfive years ago I came to the conclusion that Ti was the term corresponding in Chinese to our ‘God,’ and that Shang Ti was the same, with the addition of Shang, equal to ‘Supreme.’ In this view I have never wavered, and I have rendered both the names by ‘God’ in all the volumes of the Chinese Classics thus far translated and published. What made me pause before doing so in the present volume, was the consideration that the object of ‘the Sacred Texts of the Religions of the East,’ as I understand it, is to give translations of those texts without any colouring in the first place from the views of the trans-
XXIV PREFACE.
lators. Could it be that my own view of Ti, as meaning God, had grown up in the heat of our controversies in China as to the proper characters to be used for the words God and Spirit, in translating the Sacred Scriptures? A reader, confronted everywhere by the word God, might be led to think more highly of the primitive religion of China than he ought to think. Should I leave the names Ti and Shang Ti untranslated? Or should I give for them, instead of God, the terms Ruler and Supreme Ruler? Icould not see my way to adopt either of these courses.
The term Heaven (RK, pronounced Thien) is used everywhere in the Chinese Classics for the Supreme Power, ruling and governing all the affairs of men with an omnipotent and omniscient righteousness and goodness; and this vague term is constantly interchanged in the same paragraph, not to say the same sentence, with the personal names Ti and Shang Ti. Thien and Ti in their written forms are perfectly distinct. Both of them were among the earliest characters, and enter, though not largely, as the phonetical element into other characters of later formation. According to the oldest Chinese dictionary, the Shwo Wan (A.D. 100), Thien is formed, ‘ by association of ideas,’ from yi (—), ‘one,’ and ta ( x), ‘great,’ meaning— what is one and undivided, and great. T4i Thung, of our thirteenth century, in his remarkable dictionary, the Lit ShQ Ka, explains the top line of it as indicating ‘what is above, so that the significance of the character is ‘ what is above and great.’ In both these dictionaries Ti ( if) is
T4i Thung, of our thirteenth century, in his remarkable dictionary, the Lit ShQ Ka, explains the top line of it as indicating ‘what is above, so that the significance of the character is ‘ what is above and great.’ In both these dictionaries Ti ( if) is derived from —-- or — (shang), ‘above,’ or ‘what is above:’ and they say that the whole character is of phonetical formation, in which I am not able to follow them};
1 It is said in the Shwo Wan that the phonetical element in Tt is i, but this is pronounced Shze. Neither in form nor sound is there any similitude between it and Tf. An error, probably, has crept into the text. Dr. Chalmers, in his treatise on ‘the Origin of the Chinese,’ attempts (p. 12) to analyse the character into its constituent parts in the following way :—‘ The peculiar nature of the Chinese written language has done good service in stereotyping the primi-
PREFACE. XXV
but T4i Thung gives the following account of its meaning :—‘ Tt is the honourable designation of lordship and tule,’ adding, ‘Therefore Heaven is called Shang Ti; the five Elementary Powers are called the five Ti; and the Son of Heaven !—that is, the Sovereign—is called Ti.’ Here then is the name Heaven, by which the idea of Supreme Power in the absolute is vaguely expressed ; and when the Chinese would speak of it by a personal name, they use the terms Ti and Shang Ti;—saying, I believe, what our early fathers did, when they began to use the word God. Ti is the name which has been employed in China for this concept for fully 5000 years. Our word God fits naturally into every passage where the character occurs in the old Chinese Classics, save those to which I referred above on p. xxiii. It never became with the people a proper name like the Zeus of the Greeks. I can no more translate Ti or Shang Ti by any other word but God than I can translate zn ( A) by anything else but man.
The preceding is a brief abstract of the reasoning by which I was determined to retain the term God for Ti and Shang Ti in this volume, excepting in the cases that have called for these observations. But in the account of Ti which I have adduced from Tai Thung, it is said that ‘the sovereign is also called Ti;’ and most of my readers know that Hwang Ti (Et ft) is the title of the emperor of China. How did this application of the name arise? Was it in the first place a designation of the ruler or emperor; and was it then given to the Supreme Power, when the vague Heaven failed to satisfy the thinker and worshipper, tive belief in one Supreme Tt (Ff). who is ak “great,” over, and | , “ ruling,” heaven (~~ =+-—*) and earth (a ) This is ingenious, but not entirely satisfactory. The three last steps are so; but the finding kK (great) in the top part of if does not in the same way carry conviction to the mind.
* Thien 3ze, ‘the Son of Heaven,’ is a common designation of the sovereign of China, Originally 3ze performed in the expression the part of a verb, and
The three last steps are so; but the finding kK (great) in the top part of if does not in the same way carry conviction to the mind.
* Thien 3ze, ‘the Son of Heaven,’ is a common designation of the sovereign of China, Originally 3ze performed in the expression the part of a verb, and
Thien 3ze was equivalent to ‘he whom Heaven sons,’ that is, considers and treats as its son. See the second line of the ode, p. 318.
XXVi PREFACE.
and he wished to express his recognition of a personal Being who was to himself his almighty ruler? If these questions be answered in the affirmative, Ti would be a name applied to the Supreme Being, just as we rise from the paternal relation among ourselves and call him Father. Or, on the other hand, was Ti the designation of the Supreme Lord and Ruler, corresponding to our God, and was it subsequently applied to the earthly ruler, thereby deifying him, just as the title Divus was given to a Roman emperor? I believe that it was in this latter way that Ti came to be used of the sovereigns of China ; and therefore in again publishing a translation of the Shd, I resolved, that where the appellation is given in it to Y4o and Shun, and it is only to them that it is given, I would retain the Chinese term instead of_ rendering it, as formerly, by ‘emperor.’
The following are the reasons which weighed with me in coming to this resolution :
First, the first really historical sovereign of China who used the title of Hwang Ti was the founder of the K/in dynasty ; and he assumed it in B.C. 221, when he had subjugated all the sovereignties into which the feudal kingdom of Kau had become divided, and was instituting the despotic empire that has since subsisted.
The Kau dynasty had continued for 867 years, from B.C. 1122 to 256, and its rulers had been styled Wang or kings. co ' KA&u superseded the dynasty of Shang or Yin, that had endured for 644 years, from B.C. 1766 to 1123; and its rulers had similarly been styled Wang or kings.
Shang superseded the dynasty of Hsia, which had lasted for 439 years, from B.C. 2205 to 1767, and its rulers had been styled Wang, or kings, and H4u, or sovereigns.
Thus, from the great Yii, B.C.2205 to B.C. 221, that is, for nearly 2000 years, there was no Ti or emperor in China. During all that time the people had on the whole been increasing in numbers, and the nation growing in territory ;—how did it come to pass, that the higher title, if it had previously existed, gave place to an inferior one?
PREFACE. XXVil
During all that time the people had on the whole been increasing in numbers, and the nation growing in territory ;—how did it come to pass, that the higher title, if it had previously existed, gave place to an inferior one?
PREFACE. XXVil
Prior to the dynasty of Hsia, with the exception of the period of Y4o and Shun, the accounts which we have of the history of China have been, and ought to be, pronounced ‘fabulous’ and ‘legendary.’ The oldest documents that purport to be historical are the books in the Shd about Yao and Shun, and even they do not profess to be contemporaneous with those personages. The earlier accounts open with a Phan-kd, in whose time ‘heaven and earth were first separated.’ To him succeeded the period of the San Hwang, or Three August Lines, consisting of twelve Celestial, eleven Terrestrial, and nine Human Sovereigns, who ruled together about 50,000 years. After them come a host of different Lines, till we arrive at the W Ti, or Five Emperors. The first of these is commonly said to be Fdhsi, while he and two others are sometimes put down as the San Hwang, in order to bring in Yao and Shun as the last two of the Tis.
I have entered into these details because of the account which we have of the king of K4in’s assuming the title of Hwang Ti. We are told:—‘ As soon as the king had brought the whole country into subjection, thinking that he united in himself the virtues of the three Hwangs, and that his merits exceeded those of the five Tis, he changed his title into Hwang Ti.’ The three Hwangs are entirely fabulous, and the five Tis are, to say the least, legendary. That there were either Hwangs or Tis ruling in China before the age of the Hsia dynasty cannot be admitted.
Second, it has been stated above, and is shown in the Introduction to the Sha, pp. 13-19, that the books in the Shf, previous to the Hsia dynasty, are not historical in the sense of their being contemporaneous documents of the times about which they speak. They profess to be compilations merely from older documents; and when they speak of Yao and Shun as Tis, the title Ti precedes the name or designation, instead of following it, as it ought to do, according to Chinese usage, if Ti is to be taken in the sense of emperor. YAo Ti would be ‘the emperor Y4o,’ but we have Ti? Y4o, where Ti performs the part of an adjective. King Wn, the founder of the Kau dynasty, is
XXVIii PREFACE.
YAo Ti would be ‘the emperor Y4o,’ but we have Ti? Y4o, where Ti performs the part of an adjective. King Wn, the founder of the Kau dynasty, is
XXVIii PREFACE.
invariably mentioned as Wan Wang, ‘ Wan the king.’ To say Wang W4n would be felt at once by every Chinese scholar to be inadmissible; and not less so is Ti 'Y4o for ‘the emperor YA4o.’ It was the perception of this violation of usage in Chinese composition, five years ago, that first showed me the error of translating Ti Y4o and Ti Shun by ‘the emperor Y4o’ and ‘the emperor Shun.’ It is true that in the early books of the Sha, we have Ti used alone, without the adjunct of Y4o or Shun, and referring to those personages. In those cases it does perform the part of a substantive, but its meaning depends on that which belonged to it as an adjective in the phrases Ti Yao and Ti Shun. If it be ascertained that in these it means ‘the Deified,’ then when used singly as a noun, it will: mean Divus, or the Divine One.
Third, the sovereigns of the Hsia, the Shang, and the Ku dynasties, it has been seen, were styled Wang and not Ti. Confucius speaks repeatedly in the Analects of Y4o and Shun, but he never calls either of them by the title of Ti. Mencius, however, uses it both of the one and the other, when he is quoting in substance from the accounts of them in the ShQ. This confirms the view that the early books of the Sha were current after the middle of the Kau dynasty, very much in the form in which we now have them ; and the question arises whether we can show how the application of the title Ti as given in them to Y4o and Shun arose. We can.
The fourth Book of the Li A? is called Yiieh Ling, ‘the Monthly Record of the Proceedings of Government.’ ‘In it certain sacrificial observances paid to the five Tis are distributed through the four seasons. The Tis are Fi-hsi, Shin-nang, YQ-hsiung or Hsien-yiian, Kin-thien, and K4oyang, who are styled Thai H4o (the Greatly Resplendent), Yen Ti (the Blazing Ti), Hwang Ti (the Yellow Ti), Shao HAo (the Less Resplendent), and Awan Hsii (the Solely Correct) ; with each Ti there is associated in the ceremony a personage of inferior rank, who is styled Shain (iH =a
Spirit). The language descriptive of the ceremony is the same in all the cases, with the exception of the names and
PREFACE. xxix
months. Thus the first entry is:—‘In the first month of spring, on such and such days, the Ti is Thai H4o, and the Shan is Kau-mang.’ Now this K4u-mang was a son of Shao Hao, several hundreds of years later than Thai Ho, so that the associating them together in this ceremony could only have arisen in later times.
However we explain the ceremony thus curtly described ; whether we see in it the growing prevalence of natureworship, or an illustration of the practice of worshipping ancient heroes and worthies:—Ti appears in the account of it plainly used in the sense of God. In each of the five instances, we have a Ti and a Shan, not an emperor and a spirit, but a God and a Spirit,—a Spirit standing in the same relation to the God, that A#an (Fa=a subject or minister) stands in to a ruler. Thus it was that, bya process of deification, the title of Ti came to be given, in the time of the A4u dynasty, to the great names, fabulous and legendary, of antiquity; and thus it was that it was applied to the heroes Y4o and Shun. It may well be that the title Hwang Ti, used by a Chinese of the present emperor or of any emperor of the past, does not call up to his mind any other idea than that of a human sovereign ; but being satisfied as to the proper signification of Ti as God, and as to the process by which the title came to be applied to the ancient Y4o and Shun, I could no longer render it, when used of them in the Sha, by emperor, and elected to leave it untranslated in the present volume.
To any unimportant changes of translation it is unnecessary to refer. The dates B.C. in the introductions and notes are all one year more than in the translations formerly published. They are thus brought into accordance with those of P. Gaubil and the useful Chinese Chronological Tables of the late Mr. Mayers.
The changes in the transliteration of Chinese names are very considerable. As foreigners are now resident in Peking, it seemed proper to adopt the pronunciation of the
XXX PREFACE.
capital as given by Sir T. F. Wade in his Hsin Ching Lu and Tzti Erh Chi. At the same time, in order to secure as near an approach as possible to uniformity in all the volumes of the Sacred Books of the East, the letters employed were made to conform to those in Professor Max Miiller’s Scheme for the Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets. It was not easy at first to do this, for Chinese, having no alphabet, reluctated against being made to appear as if it had; but use has more than reconciled me to the method now employed. It was not possible to introduce into the table all the diphthongs in which Chinese speech is rich. The reader has to be informed that i before another vowel or a diphthong approximates to the sound of y, so that the whole utterance is still monosyllabic. The powers of » and ze must be heard before they can be appreciated.
To call the attention of the reader to passages in the Sha, embodying, more or less distinctly, religious ideas, an asterisk (*) will be found appended to them.
J. L. Oxrorp, 18th April, 1879.
THE SHO KING
OR
BOOK OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS.
THE SHU KING
OR
BOOK OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I, THE NATURE AND HISTORY OF. THE SHO.
J. L. Oxrorp, 18th April, 1879.
THE SHO KING
OR
BOOK OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS.
THE SHU KING
OR
BOOK OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I, THE NATURE AND HISTORY OF. THE SHO.
1. The Sha is the most ancient of the Chinese classical books, and contains historical documents of various kinds, relating to the period from about B.C. 2357-627. The
Meaning of Character ShQ shows us by its composition the name that it denotes ‘the pencil speaking,’ and
Sha King. hence it is often used as a designation of the written characters of the language. This, indeed, was the earliest meaning of it, but from this the transition was easy to its employment in the sense of writings or books, applicable to any consecutive compositions; and we find it further specially employed by Confucius and others to designate the historical remains of antiquity, in distinction from the poems, the accounts of rites, and other monuments of former times. Not that those other monuments might not also be called by the general name of Shi. The peculiar significancy of the term, however, was well established, and is retained to the present day.
The book has come down to us in a mutilated condition ; but even as it is said to have existed in the time of Confucius, it did not profess to contain a history of China, and much less, to give the annals of that history. It was simply a collection of historical memorials, extending over a space of about 1700 years, but on no connected method, and with frequent and great gaps between them.
(1) 4 B a
p. 2
The name King (now in Pekinese King) was not added to Sha till the time of the Han dynasty (began B.C. 202). If Confucius applied it to any of the classical works, it was to the classic of Filial Piety, as will be seen in the Introduction to the translation of that work. The Han scholars, however, when engaged in collecting and digesting the ancient literary monuments of their country, found it convenient to distinguish the most valuable of them, that had been acknowledged by Confucius, as King, meaning what was canonical and of unchallengeable authority.
2. In the Confucian Analects, the sage and one of his disciples quote from the Sha by the simple formula—
The Shi was The Sha says. In the Great Learning, four anexisting different books or chapters of the classic, collection of all in it as we have it now, are mentioned, before each by its proper name. Mencius sometimes
Confucius. uses the same formula as Confucius, and at other times designates particular books. It is most natural for us to suppose that Confucius, when he spoke of the Sha, had in his mind’s eye a collection of documents bearing that title.
Mencius sometimes
Confucius. uses the same formula as Confucius, and at other times designates particular books. It is most natural for us to suppose that Confucius, when he spoke of the Sha, had in his mind’s eye a collection of documents bearing that title.
One passage in Mencius seems to put it beyond a doubt that the Shad existed as such a collection in his time. Having said that ‘it would be better to be without the Shd than to give entire credit to it,’ he-makes immediate reference to one of the books of our classic by name, and adds, ‘In the Completion of the War I select two or three passages only, and believe them?’ In Mo-jze, Hsiingze, and other writers of the last two centuries of the Kau dynasty, the Sha is quoted in the same way, and also frequently with the specification of its parts or larger divisions, — ‘The Books of Yii,’ ‘ of Hsia,’ ‘of Shang,’ ‘of Kau.’ And, in fine, in many of the narratives of 30 X%it-ming’s commentary on the Spring and Autumn, the Sha is quoted in the same way, even when the narratives are about men and events long anterior to the sage”. All these consi-
3 Mencius, VII, ii, ch. 3. ® The first quotation of the Shf in 8o is under the sixth year of duke Yin, B.C. 717.
p. 3
derations establish the thesis of this paragraph, that the ShQ was an existing collection of historical documents before Confucius.
3. From the above paragraph it follows that Confucius did not compile the collection of documents that form the
Confucius did 2O- The earliest assertion that he did so we not compile have from Khung An-kwo, his descendant in the Shi The the eleventh generation, in the second century, documents in B.C. Recounting the labours of his ancestor,
The his time. An-kwo says, in the Preface to his edition of ascribed to the Sha, that ‘he examined and arranged the him. : ° 3:
old literary monuments and records, deciding to commence with Y4o and Shun, and to come down to the times of X4u. Of those deserving to be handed down to other ages and to supply permanent lessons, he made in all one hundred books, consisting of canons, counsels, instructions, announcements, speeches, and charges. The same thing is stated by Sze-ma Khien in his Historical Records, completed about B.C. 100, but Kdien’s information was derived from An-kwo. Such a compilation would have been in harmony with the character which Confucius gave of himself, as ‘a transmitter and not a maker, believing and loving the ancients!) and with what his grandson says of him in the Doctrine of the Mean, that ‘he handed down (the lessons of) Yao and Shun, as if they had been his ancestors, and elegantly displayed those of Wan and Wai, whom he took for his model?”
We have seen, however, that the collection existed in his time and before it. Did it then, as An-kwo says, consist of a hundred books? His authority for saying so was a Preface, which was found along with the old tablets of the Sha that were discovered in his time and deciphered by him, as will be related farther on. He does not say, however, that it was the work of Confucius, though AZien does. It still exists,—a list of eighty-one documents in a hundred books. The prevailing opinion of scholars in China is now, that it was not written by the sage. I entirely
1 Analects, VII, i. 3 The Doctrine of the Mean, XXX, 1. B 2
p. 4
agree myself with the judgment of 344i Kan, the disciple of Kd Hsi, whose Collected Comments, first published A.D, 1210, are now the standard of orthodoxy in the interpretation of the Shad. He says of the document: ‘It sheds light on nothing, and there are things in it at variance with the text of the classic. On the books that are lost it is specially servile and brief, affording us not the slightest help. That it is not the work of Confucius is exceedingly plain.’
The eighty-one documents mentioned in it, and more, may have been in the Shd of the time of Confucius. I think, however, that several of them must have been lost subsequently, before the rise of the tyrant of KAin, who doomed the whole collection to the flames. Mencius complains that in his days the feudal princes destroyed many of the records of antiquity that they might the better perpetrate their own usurpations and innovations’, Other considerations, on the exhibition of which I need not enter, confirm me in this conclusion.
4. It will be well here to devote a paragraph to the
The sources Sources of the Shi. Have we sufficient proofs of the Sha. of the composition in ancient times of such documents as it contains, and of their preservation, so that they could be collected in a sort of historical canon?
We have. Under the dynasty of Ku (B.C. 1122-256), at the royal court, and at the courts of the feudal princes on a smaller scale, there were officers styled Sze, which has been translated ‘ Recorders,’ ‘Annalists,’ ‘ Historiographers,’ and simply ‘ Clerks.’ There were the Grand Recorder, the Assistant Recorder, the Recorder of the Interior, the Recorder of the Exterior, and the Recorder in Attendance on the Sovereign. Among the duties of the Recorder of the Interior were the following :—‘ In case of any charge given by the king to the prince of a state, or to any other digni- tary, he writes it on tablets ;’ ‘In case of any memorials on business coming in from the different quarters of the kingdom, he reads them (to the king);’ ‘It is his business