The Lî Kî, Books I–X — Sacred Books of China Part III, SBE Vol. 27 (trans. James Legge, 1885)
English·1879–1910·trans. James Legge·360 passages
The text · part 1 of 17
CN FY
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
[27] a
Tondon HENRY FROWDE
Oxrorp UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE
Amen Corner, E.C. —
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
TRANSLATED
BY VARIOUS ORIENTAL SCHOLARS
AND EDITED BY
F. MAX MULLER
VOL. XXVII
@rford
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
p. 1885
( 44 rights reserved |
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF CHINA
THE TEXTS OF CONFUCIANISM
TRANSLATED BY
JAMES LEGGE
PART III
THE Lt Kt, I—x
@rford
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
p. 1885
(AM rights reserved } y INS 7 by SUE = a m
6} CXFOR?
CONTENTS.
PREFACE. . 2. 2.0 1 1 4s ets
INTRODUCTION. CHAP.
I. THREE DIFFERENT L! KING, oR RITUAL. BOOKS, aCKNOW- LEDGED IN CHINA. THE RECOVERY OF THE FIRST TWO, AND FORMATION OF THE THIRD, UNDER THE HAN Dynasty. soe er
How Confucius spoke of the Lit. How Mencius spoke of them. Now there are three Li King or three Rituals. State of the Li books at the rise of the Han dynasty. Work of the emperors of Han in recovering the ancient books. i. Recovery of the f Li. ii. King Hsien of Ho-sien, and his recovery of the Kau Li. iii. Formation of the Lf Xi. Council of 8.c. 51. Condition in 8B.c. 26. Hau Shang and the two Tais. M4 Yung and Kang Hstian. hai Yung and his manuscuipt. Li of the Greater T4i.
II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHINESE CHARACTER CALLED LI. MEANING OF THE TITLE Lf Kt. VALUE OF TRE WorRK .
Li is a symbol of religious import, and a symbol for the feeling of propriety. Translation of the title. The value of the Li Ki. The Lf Ki as one of the five King.
III, BrigF NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BOOKS WHICH MAKE
VIII. THE Lt Kat or RITES IN THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER. Section I . . oe 7 . . 8 394 » I, . . . . . . . « 404
IX. THe KiAo THEH SANG OR THE SINGLE VICTIM AT THE BoRDER SACRIFICES.
Section I . . . . . : . . . - 416 » I . . . . . . . . - 426 » III . . . . . . . . - 437 X. THE N£1l 3EH OR THE PATTERN OF THE FAMILY. Section I. . . . . . . . . - 449 » I. . . . . . . . . - 464
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East . . . . 481
PREFACE.
I May be permitted to express my satisfaction that, with the two volumes of the Li Ai now published, I have done, so far as translation is concerned, all and more than all which I undertook to do on the Chinese Classics more than twenty-five years ago. When the first volume was published in 1861, my friend, the late Stanislas Julien, wrote to me, asking if I had duly considered the voluminousness of the Li Xi, and expressing his doubts whether I should be able to complete my undertaking. Having begun the task, however, I have pursued it to the end, working on with some unavoidable interruptions, and amidst not a few other engagements.
Having begun the task, however, I have pursued it to the end, working on with some unavoidable interruptions, and amidst not a few other engagements.
The present is the first translation that has been published in any European language of the whole of the Li Ai. In 1853 the late J. M. Callery published at the Imprimerie Royale, Turin, what he called ‘Li Ki, ou Mémorial des Rites, traduit pour la premiére fois du Chinois, et accompagné de Notes, de Commentaires, et du Texte Original.’ But in fact the text which P. Callery adopted was only an expurgated edition, published by Fan 3ze-taing, a scholar of the Yiian dynasty, as commented on and annotated by Kau Kih, whose well-known work appeared in 1711, the 50th year of the Khang-hsi reign or period!. Callery has himself called attention to this in his introduction, and it is to be regretted that he did not indicate it in the titlepage of his book. Fan’s text omits entirely the 5th, 12th, 13th, 19th, 28th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 37th, and 39th Books in my translation, while of most of the others,
1 The ng aE aa at k & roa BY for which Callery gives—
‘ Combinaison des Commentaires Ta Tsiién (le Grand Complet) et Chu (1’explication), d’aprés le sens original du Mémorial des rites.’ A@u Xih 673} KB) has the alias of Xiu Tan-lin (4. Af).
xil PREFACE.
‘a good third’ has been expurgated. I do not think that Callery’s version contains above one half of the Li Ki, as it is found in the great editions of the Thang and present dynasties. The latter of these was commanded in an imperial rescript in 1748, the 13th year of the X4Aien-lung period. The committee charged with its execution consisted of 85 dignitaries and scholars, who used the previous labours of 244 authors, besides adding, on many of the most difficult passages, their own remarks and decisions, which are generally very valuable.
The committee charged with its execution consisted of 85 dignitaries and scholars, who used the previous labours of 244 authors, besides adding, on many of the most difficult passages, their own remarks and decisions, which are generally very valuable.
My own version is based on a study of these two imperial collections, and on an extensive compilation, made specially for my use by my Chinese friend and former helper, the graduate Wang Théo, gathered mostly from more recent writers of the last 250 years. The A/ien-lung editors make frequent reference to the work of Kan Hao, which appeared ‘in 1322 under the modest title of, ‘A Collection of Remarks on the Li Ki!.’ This acquired so great a celebrity under the Ming dynasty, that, as Callery tells us, an edict was issued in 1403 appointing it the standard for the interpretation of the Classic at the public examinations ; and this pre-eminence was accorded to it on to the K4ien-lung period. The whole of the Li A? is given and expounded by A Aan, excepting the 28th and 39th Books, which had long been current as portions of ‘The Four Books.’ I may say that I have read over and over, and with much benefit, every sentence in his comments. Forming my own judgment on every passage, now agreeing with him and now differing, and frequently finding reason to attach a higher value to the views of the K4ien-lung editors, I must say that ‘he deserves well’ of the Li Xi. His volumes are characterised by a painstaking study of the original text, and an honest attempt to exhibit the logical connexion of thought in its several parts.
~~ t B 3@ SE BE. ‘The author has the aliases for Hilo of Kho Ta
Gi K). Yiin Xwang ( $f), and Tung Hui Ci HE): the last,
I suppose, from his having lived near the lake so call
PREFACE. Xill
P. Callery’s translation of his expurgated text is for the most part well executed, and his notes, of which I have often made use, are admirable. I have also enjoyed the benefit of the more recent work, ‘Cursus Litteraturae Sinicae,’ by P. Angelo Zottoli, in whom the scholarship of the earlier Jesuit missionaries has revived. In his third volume, published at Shang-hai in 1880, there are good translations of the Ist, 5th, 10th, 2oth, 21st, and 22nd Books; while the 28th and 39th are in his second volume. In the Latin which he employs, according to the traditions of his church and what is still a practice of some scholars, he is able to be more brief in his renderings than Callery and myself, but perhaps not so satisfactory to readers generally. I also referred occasionally to Signor Carlo Puini’s ‘Li-Ki: Instituzioni, Usi e Costumanze della Cina antica ; Traduzione, Commento e Note (Fascicolo Primo; Firenze, 1883).’
I also referred occasionally to Signor Carlo Puini’s ‘Li-Ki: Instituzioni, Usi e Costumanze della Cina antica ; Traduzione, Commento e Note (Fascicolo Primo; Firenze, 1883).’
The present translation is, as I said above, the first published in any European language of the whole of the Li Ki; but another had existed in manuscript for several years,— the work of Mr. Alexander Wylie, now unhappily, by loss of eye-sight and otherwise failing health, laid aside from his important Chinese labours. I was fortunate enough to obtain possession of this when I had got to the 35th Book in my own version, and, in currying the sheets through the press, I have constantly made reference to it. It was written at an early period of Mr. Wylie’s Chinese studies, and is not such as a Sinologist of his attainments and research would have produced later on. Still I have been glad to have it by me, though I may venture to say that, in construing the paragraphs and translating the characters, I have not been indebted in a single instance to him or P. Callery. The first six Books, and portions of several others, had been written out, more than once, before I finally left China in 1873; but I began again at the beginning, early in 1883, in preparing the present version. I can hardly hope that, in translating so extensive and peculiar a work, descriptive of customs and xiv PREFACE.
things at so remote a period of time, and without the assistance of any Chinese graduate with whom I could have talked over complicated and perplexing paragraphs, I may not have fallen into some mistakes; but I trust they will be found to be very few. My simple and only aim has been, first, to understand the text for myself, and then to render it in English, fairly and as well as I could in the time attain to, for my readers.
J.L.
Oxrorp, July 10, 1885.
THE Li «Ki
OR
COLLECTION OF TREATISES ON THE RULES OF PROPRIETY OR CEREMONIAL USAGES.
A THE Li KI
OR
COLLECTION OF TREATISES ON THE RULES OF PROPRIETY OR CEREMONIAL USAGES.
INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I.
THREE DIFFERENT Li KING, OR RITUAL BOOKS, AC- KNOWLEDGED IN CHINA. THE RECOVERY OF THE FIRST TWO, AND FORMATION OF THE THIRD, UNDER THE HAN DYNASTY.
1. Confucius said, ‘It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused ; by the Rules of Propriety that the character is
How Confacius eStablished ; from Music that the finish is spoke of the Li. received!.? On another occasion he said, ‘Without the Rules of Propriety, respectfulness becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, timidity; boldness, insubordination ; and straightforwardness, rudeness!.’
These are two specimens of the manner in which Confucius expressed himself. about the Li, the Rules of Propriety or Ceremonial Usages, recognised in his time. It is a natural inference from his language that there were Collections of such Rules which could be read and studied ; but he does not expressly say so.
about the Li, the Rules of Propriety or Ceremonial Usages, recognised in his time. It is a natural inference from his language that there were Collections of such Rules which could be read and studied ; but he does not expressly say so.
The language of Mencius was more definite. In at least two passages of his works we find the usual form of quota-
How Mencius tion Li Yiieh, ‘The Li says*,’ which, acspoke of them. cording to the analogy of Shih Yiieh, ‘ The Shih King, or Book of Poetry, says,’ might be rendered,
2 Confucian Analects, Book VIII, 8 and 2. 3 Works of Mencius, II, Part ii, a. 5 ; III, Part ii, 3. 3.
B / [27]
2 THE Li xf. CH.
‘The Li King says.’ In another passage, he says to a Mr. King Khun, ‘ Have you not read the L#?’ It does not appear that Mencius was always referring to one and the same collection of Li; but it is clear that in his time there were one or more such collections current and well known among his countrymen. There are now three Chinese classics into which the name Now there Li enters:—the f Li, the XAu Li, and the Lt are three Lt King, Ki, frequently styled, both by the Chinese or three Rituals. themselves and by sinologists, ‘The Three Rituals?’ The first two are books of the K Au dynasty (B.C. 1122-225). The third, of which a complete translation is given in the present work, may contain passages of an earlier date than either of the others; but as a collection in its present form, it does not go higher than the Han dynasty, and was not completed till our second century. It has, however, taken a higher position than those others, and is ranked with the Sha, the Shih, the Yi, and the K/un K hid, forming one of ‘The Five King,’ which are acknowledged as the books of greatest authority in China. Other considerations besides antiquity have given, we shall see, its eminence to the Li Xi. 2. The monuments of the ancient literature, with the exception, perhaps, of the Yi King, were in a condition of State of the Lt disorder and incompleteness at the rise of the boots at nen Han dynasty (B.C. 206). This was the case dynasty. — especially with the f Lit and K4u Li. They had suffered, with the other books, from the fires and proscription of the short-lived dynasty of Ain, the founder of which was bent especially on their destruction’; and during the closing centuries of Ku, in all the period of ‘The Warring Kingdoms,’ they had been variously mutilated by the contending princes‘.
1 Works of Mencius, III, ii, a. 2. 3 See Wylie’s Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 4, and Mayers’ Chinese Reader's Manual, p. 300.
* Sze-m4 Xhien’s Biographies, Book 61 ( ), p- 5°. Other testimonies to the fact could be adduced. i mK fa
* Mencius V, ii, 2.2. See also the note of Lifi Hsin, appended to his catalogue of Li works, in the Imperial library of Han,
p. 3
300.
* Sze-m4 Xhien’s Biographies, Book 61 ( ), p- 5°. Other testimonies to the fact could be adduced. i mK fa
* Mencius V, ii, 2.2. See also the note of Lifi Hsin, appended to his catalogue of Li works, in the Imperial library of Han,
p. 3
The sovereigns of Han undertook the task of gathering Work of the up and arranging the fragments of the ancient sn pecovering the books, and executed it well. In B.C. 213 ancient books. Shih Hwang Ti of KAin had promulgated his edict forbidding any one to hide and keep in his possession the old writings. This was repealed in B.C. 191 by the emperor Hui, so that it had been in existence only twentytwo years, during most of which, we may presume, it had been inoperative. Arrangements were also made to receive and preserve old tablets which might be presented!, and to take down in writing what scholars might be able to repeat. In B.C. 164, the emperor Win ordered ‘the Great Scholars’ of his court to compile ‘the Royal Ordinances,’ the fifth of the Books in our Li Ki?. i. Internal evidence shows that when this treatise was Recovery of made, the f Li, or portions of it at least, thefLt. had been recovered; and with this agrees the testimony of Sze-ma Kfien, who was born perhaps in that very year’, and lived to between B.¢. go and 80. In the 61st Book of his Biographies, referred to in a note above, Khien says, ‘Many of the scholars repeated (parts of) the Li; but no other of them so much as K4o Thang of La; and now we have only the Shih Li, which he was able to recite. In harmony with this statement of the great historian, is the first entry in Lid Hsin’s Catalogue of Li books in the Imperial library of Han’:—‘56 fiian or sections of Li in the old text, and 17 phien in the (current) text (of the time);’ forming, as is universally believed, the present ft Li, for which the Shih Li of Kéien is merely another name. That K4o Thang should have been able to dictate so much of the work will not be thought wonderful by those who
1 Such was the ‘Stone-Conduit Gallery,’ which Mayers (Manual, p. 185) describes as a building erected by Hsiéo Ho at X”ang-an for the reception of the records of the extinct A”in dynasty, about B.C. 200, adding that ‘in B.C. 51, the emperor Hsiian appointed a commission of scholars to assemble in this building, and complete the revision of the classical writings.’ But it had also been intended from the first as a repository for those writings as they were recovered.
2 See the General Mirror of History under that year.
3 Mayers puts his birth ‘ about B. C. 163,’ and his death ‘about 85.”
B2
4 THE Li xi. CH. 1.
2 See the General Mirror of History under that year.
3 Mayers puts his birth ‘ about B. C. 163,’ and his death ‘about 85.”
B2
4 THE Li xi. CH. 1.
are familiar with the power of memory displayed by many Chinese scholars even at the present day. The sections in the old text were found in the reign of the emperor Wa (B.C. 140-87), and came into the possession of his brother, known as. king Hsien of Ho-fien. We do not know how much this mass of tablets added to the f Li, as we now have it, but they confirmed the genuineness of the portion obtained from K4o.
ii, The recovery of the A 4u Li came not long after, and through the agency of the same king Hsien. No one did
King Hsien of so muchas hein the restoration of the ancient
Be eer of literature. By name Teh, and one of the fourthe Kau Lf. teen sons of the emperor King (B.C. 156-141), he was appointed by his father, in B.C. 155, king of Ho-4ien, which is still the name of one of the departments of Xih-li, and there he continued till his death, in 129, the patron of all literary men, and unceasingly pursuing his quest for old books dating from before the KAin dynasty. Multitudes came to him from all quarters, bringing to him the precious tablets which had been preserved in their families or found by them elsewhere. The originals he kept in his own library, and had a copy taken, which he gave to the donor with a valuable gift. We are indebted to him in this way for the preservation of the Tao Teh King, the works of Mencius, and other precious treasures; but I have only to notice here his services in connexion with the Li books},
Some one? brought to him the tablets of the K 4u Li, then called K4u Kwan, ‘The Official Book of K4u,’ and purporting to contain a complete account of the organised government of the dynasty of 4u in six sections. The sixth section, however, which should have supplied a list of the officers in the department of the minister of Works,
1 See the account of king Hsien in the twenty-third chapter of the Biographies in the History of the first Han dynasty. Hsien was the king's posthumous title ( Rh). denoting ‘ The Profound and Intelligent.’
3 The Catalogue of the Sui Dynasty’s (A. D. 589-618) Imperial library says this was a scholar of the surname Lf (48). I have been unable to trace the authority for the statement farther back.
p. 5
denoting ‘ The Profound and Intelligent.’
3 The Catalogue of the Sui Dynasty’s (A. D. 589-618) Imperial library says this was a scholar of the surname Lf (48). I have been unable to trace the authority for the statement farther back.
p. 5
with their functions, was wanting, and the king offered to ‘ pay 1000 pieces of gold to any one who should supply the missing tablets, but in vain’. He presented the tablets which he had obtained at the court of his half-brother, the emperor W(; but the treasure remained uncared for in one of the imperial repositories till the next century; when it came into the charge of Lid Hsin. Hsin replaced the missing portion from another old work, called Khao Kung Ki, which Wylie renders by ‘The Artificers’ Record.’ This has ever since continued to appear as the sixth section of the whole work, for the charge of which Hsin obtained the appointment of a special board of scholars, such as had from the first been entrusted with the care of the f Li. The X4u Li is a constitutional. and not a ritual work. The last entry in Hsin’s Catalogue of Lt Books is :—'The Kau Kwan in six sections; and a treatise on the K4u Kwan in four sections.’ That is the proper name for it. It was not called the X 4u Li till the Thang dynasty?. iii, We come to the formation of the text of the Li Xi, in which we are more particularly interested. We cannot Formation of Speak of its recovery, for though parts of the Li At. it had been in existence during the KAu dynasty, many of its Books cannot claim a higher antiquity than the period of the Han. All that is known about the authorship of them all will be found in the notices which form the last chapter of this Introduction. After the entry in Lid Hsin’s Catalogue about the re-
1 This is related in the Catalogue of the Sui dynasty. It could not be in Khien’s sixty-first chapter of Biographies, because the AA@u Kwan was not known, or, at least, not made public, in Aien’s time. The Sui writers, no doubt, took it from some biography of the Han, which has escaped me.
* A complete translation of the A4u Lf appeared at Paris in 1851, the work of Edwaui Biot, who had died himself before its publication, before his fiftieth year. According to a note in Callery’s ‘Mémorial des Rites’ (p. 191), the labour of its preparation hastened Biot’s death. There are some errors in the version, but they are few. I have had occasion to refer to hundreds of passages in it, and always with an increasing admiration of the author's general resources and knowledge of Chinese. His early death was the greatest loss which the cause of sinology has sustained. His labours, chiefly on Chinese subjects, had been incessant from 1835. The perusal of them has often brought to my memory the words of Newton. ‘If Mr. Cotes had lived, we should have known something.’ Is there no sinologist who will now undertake a complete translation of the f Li?
6 THE LI xt. CH. 1.
The perusal of them has often brought to my memory the words of Newton. ‘If Mr. Cotes had lived, we should have known something.’ Is there no sinologist who will now undertake a complete translation of the f Li?
6 THE LI xt. CH. 1.
covered text of the f Li, there follows—‘131 phien’ of Ki, that is, so many different records or treatises on the subject of Li. These had also been collected by king Hsien, and Ad Hsi’s note about them is that they were ‘Treatises composed by the disciples of the seventy disciples,’ meaning by ‘the seventy disciples’ those of Confucius’ followers who had been most in his society and profited most from his instructions. These 131 phien contained, no doubt, the germ of our Li K¢; but there they remained for about a century in the imperial repositories, undigested and uncared for, and constantly having other treatises of a similar nature added to them.
At last, in B.C. 51, the emperor Hsiian (B.C. 73-47) convoked a large assembly of Great Scholars to meet in
Councilof the Stone-Conduit Gallery, and discuss the
B.C. 51. text of the recovered classics‘. A prominent member of this assembly, the president of it I suppose, was Lid Hsiang, himself a celebrated writer and a scion of the imperial house, who appears to have had the principal charge of all the repositories. Among the other members, and in special connexion with the Li works, we find the name of Tai Shang, who will again come before us?.
We do not know what the deliberations of the Great Scholars resulted in, but twenty-five years later the emperor KAang caused another search to be made throughout the empire for books that might hitherto have escaped notice; and, when it was completed, he ordered Hsiang to examine all the contents of the repositories, and collate the various copies of the classics. From this came the preparation of a catalogue; and Hsiang dying at the age of seventy-two, in B.C. 9, before it was completed, the work was delegated to his third and youngest son Hsin. His catalogue we happily possess. It mentions, in addition to the f Li and
B.C. 26.
' See the Details in the General Mirror of History, under B.C. 51.
p. 7
9, before it was completed, the work was delegated to his third and youngest son Hsin. His catalogue we happily possess. It mentions, in addition to the f Li and
B.C. 26.
' See the Details in the General Mirror of History, under B.C. 51.
p. 7
Kau Li, 199 phien of Li treatises. The résumé appended to the Li books in the Catalogue of the Sui Dynasty, omitting works mentioned by Hsin, and inserting two others, says that Hsiang had in his hands altogether 214 phien. What was to be done with this mass of tablets, or the written copies made from them? The most distinguished of the Li scholars in the time of the emperors Hsiian and King was a Hau 3hang, the H&a Shangand author of the compilation called in Hsin’s the two Tais. Catalogue KAii Tai Ki; and two of his disciples, T4i Teh and Tai Shang, cousins}, the name of the latter of whom has already been mentioned as a member of the council of B.C. 51, were also celebrated for their ability. Teh, the older of the two, and commonly called Ta T4i, or ‘the Greater Ti,’ while Hsiang was yet alive, digested the mass of phien, and in doing so reduced their number to 85. The younger, called Hsiao T4i, or ‘the Lesser T4i, doing the same for his cousin’s work, reduced it to 46 treatises. This second condensation of the Li documents met with general acceptance, and was styled the Li Xi. Shang himself wrote a work in twelve chapters, called ‘A Discussion of the Doubts of Scholars about the Li X1, which, though now lost, was existing in the time of Sui. Through K4i4o Zan and others, scholars of renown in their day, the redaction passed on to the well-known Ma Yung and M4 Yung (A.D. 79-166), who added to Kang Hsiian. Shing’s books the Yiieh Ling, the Ming in Chinese. Shang is always Teh's 4° Ke xz F., and not simply Jf, x=. F- Foreign students have overlooked the force of the phrase HE xX and, more fully, E Ag K. Teh and Shang’s father had the same grandfather, and were themselves the sons of brothers. They were therefore what we call first cousins, and Teh and Shang were second cousins. The point is unimportant, but it is well to be correct even in small matters. Not unimportant, however, is the error of Callery (Introduction, p. 6), who says, ‘Le neveu, homme dépravé, beaucoup plus adonné aux plaisirs, qu’ l'étude, retrancha encore davantage et fixa le nombre des chapitres 4 46.’ No such stigma rests on the character of Tai Shang, and I am sure translators have reason to be grateful to him for condensing, as he did, the result of his cousin’s labours.
1 Sinologists, without exception I believe, have called Shing a ‘nephew’ of Teh, overlooking the way in which the relationship between them is expressed
8 THE Lf xt. CH. 1.
8 THE Lf xt. CH. 1.
Thang Wei, and the Yo Xi, making their number in all forty-nine, though, according to the arrangement adopted in the present translation, they still amount only to fortysix. From M4, again, it passed to his pupil Kang Hsiian (A.D. 127-200), in whom he was obliged to acknowledge a greater scholar than himself.
Thus the Li Ai was formed. It-is not necessary to pursue its history farther. A&ng was the scholar of his age, and may be compared, in scholarship, with the later Kd Hsi. And he has been fortunate in the preservation of his works. He applied himself to all the three Rituals, and his labours on them all, the KAu Li, the f Li, and the Li Xi, remain. His commentaries on them are to be found in the great work of ‘The Thirteen King’ of the Thang dynasty. There they appear, followed by the glosses, illustrations, and paraphrases of Khung Ying-t4.
In a.D. 175, while Kang was yet alive, 3h4i Yung, a scholar and officer of many gifts, superintended the work
Ghai Yung and Of engraving on stone the text of all the — his manusculpt. Confucian classics. Only fragments of that great manusculpt remain to the present day, but others of the same nature were subsequently made. We may feel assured that we have the text of the Li Af and other old Chinese books, as it was 1800 years ago, more correctly than any existing manuscripts give us that of any works of the West, Semitic, or Greek, or Latin, of anything like equal antiquity.
3. A few sentences on the Li of the Greater Ti will fitly close this chapter. He handed down his voluminous com-
Li of the pilation to a Hsii Liang of Lang Yeh in the
Greater Tai. present Shan-tung', and in his family it was transmitted; but if any commentaries on it were published, there is no trace of them in history. As the shorter work of his cousin obtained a wide circulation, his fell into neglect, and, as KO f-gun says, was simply put upon the shelf. Still there appears in the Sui Catalogue these two entries :-— ‘The Li Ai of TA Ti, in 13 Sections,’ and ‘The Hsia
‘te RF He Ma, 52 We A HE HB.
p. 9
Still there appears in the Sui Catalogue these two entries :-— ‘The Li Ai of TA Ti, in 13 Sections,’ and ‘The Hsia
‘te RF He Ma, 52 We A HE HB.
p. 9
Hsiao Kang, in 1 Section,’ with a note by the editor that it was compiled by Ta Tai. This little tractate may, or may not, have been also included in one of the 13 Sections. There are entries also about Ta T4i’s work in the catalogues of the Thang and Sung dynasties, which have given rise to many discussions. Some of the Sung scholars even regarded it as a 14th King. In the large collection of ‘Books of Han and Wei,’ a portion of the Li of Ta Tai is still current, 39 Books in 10 Sections, including the fragment of the Hsia dynasty, of which a version, along with the text, was published in 1882 by Professor Douglas of King’s College, under the title of ‘The Calendar of the Hsia Dynasty.’ I have gone over all the portion in the Han and Wei Collection, and must pronounce it very inferior to the compilation of the Hsiao or Lesser T4i. This inferiority, and not the bulk, merely, was the reason why from the first it has been comparatively little attended to.
CHAPTER II.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHINESE CHARACTER CALLED Lf. MEANING OF THE TITLE Li Xf. VALUE OF THE WORK.
1. The Chinese character Li admits of a great variety of terms in translating a work where it abounds into any of our western languages. In order fully to apprehend its significance, we must try to get hold of the fundamental ideas which it was intended to convey. And these are two. First, when we consult the Shwo W4n, the oldest Chinese
Ltis 2 symbol dictionary, we find Li defined as ‘a step or of religious act; that whereby we serve spiritual beings *mport. and obtain happiness.’ The character was to the author, Hsii Shan, an ideagram of religious import ; and we can see that he rightly interpreted the intention of its maker or makers. It consists of two elements, separately called £AZih and li'. That on the left is the symbol,
‘+ B= 5B.
10 THE Lf xt. CH, If.
determining the category of meaning to which the compound belongs. It was the earliest figure employed to indicate spiritual beings, and enters into characters denoting spirits, sacrifices, and prayer'. That on the right, called li, is phonetic, but even it is the symbol for ‘a vessel used in performing rites;’ and if, as the Khanghsi dictionary seems to say, it was anciently used alone for the present compound, still the spiritual significance would attach to it, and the addition of the £4ih to complete the character, whensoever it was made, shows that the makers considered the rites in which the vessel was used to possess in the first place a religious import.
-Next, the character is used, in moral and philosophical disquisitions, to designate one of the primary constituents of human nature. Those, as set forth by Mencius, are
Lt is a symbol four; ‘not fused into us from without,’ not for the feeling produced, that is, by any force of circum-
-Next, the character is used, in moral and philosophical disquisitions, to designate one of the primary constituents of human nature. Those, as set forth by Mencius, are
Lt is a symbol four; ‘not fused into us from without,’ not for the feeling produced, that is, by any force of circumof propriety. stances, but ‘belonging naturally to us, as our four limbs do.’ They are benevolence (#4n), righteousness (i), propriety (li), and understanding (4ih). Our possession of the first is proved by the feeling of distress at the sight of suffering ; of the second, by our feelings of shame and dislike; of the third, by our feelings of modesty and courtesy; of the fourth, by our ‘consciousness of approving and disapproving 2.
Thus the character li, in the concrete application of it, denotes the manifestations, and in its imperative use, the rules, of propriety. This twofold symbolism of it—the religious and the moral—must be kept in mind in the study of our classic. A life ordered in harmony with it would realise the highest Chinese ideal, and surely a very high ideal, of human character.
But never and nowhere has it been possible for men to: maintain this high standard of living. In China and elsewhere the li have become, in the usages of society in its various relationships, matters of course, forms without the
‘Eng. Jip onan, 2% (en, Wy (4).
* Mencius, I, i, 6; VI, i, 6. 7.
CH. It. INTRODUCTION. II
In China and elsewhere the li have become, in the usages of society in its various relationships, matters of course, forms without the
‘Eng. Jip onan, 2% (en, Wy (4).
* Mencius, I, i, 6; VI, i, 6. 7.
CH. It. INTRODUCTION. II
spirit, and hence we cannot always translate the character by the same term. It would be easy to add to the number of words, more or less synonymous, in French or English or any other Aryan language, which Callery has heaped together in the following passage :—‘ Autant que possible, jai traduit Li par le mot Rite, dont le sens est susceptible a une grande étendue ; mais il faut convenir que, suivant les circonstances ot il est employé, il peut signifier—Cérémonial, Cérémonies, Pratiques cérémoniales, L’étiquette, Politesse, Urbanité, Courtoisie, Honnéteté, Bonnes maniéres, Egards, Bonne éducation, Bienséance, Les formes, Les convenances, Savoir-vivre, Décorum, Décence, Dignité personnelle, Moralité de conduite, Ordre Social, Devoirs de Société, Lois Sociales, Devoirs, Droit, Morale, Lois hiérarchiques, Offrande, Usages, Coutumes!.’ I have made little use in my translation of the word Rite or Rites, which Callery says he had endeavoured to adhere to as much as possible, but I do not think I have allowed myself so much liberty in other terms in my English as he has done in his French. For the symbol in the title I have said ‘Rules of Propriety or Ceremonial Usages,’ 2. The meaning of the title—Li Ki—need not take us so long. There is no occasion to say more on the signi- Translation of ficance of Li; the other character, Ki, should thetitle, have a plural force given to it. What unity . belongs to the Books composing it arises from their being all, more or less, occupied with the subject of Li. Each one, or at least each group, is complete in itself. Each is a Ai; taken together, they are so many Kis. Only into the separate titles of seven of them, the 13th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 27th, and 29th, does the name of Ai enter. That character is the symbol for ‘the recording of things one by one,’ and is often exchanged for another Xi%, in which the classifying element is sze, the symbol for ‘a packet of cocoons,’ the compound denoting the unwinding
1 Jntroduction, p. 16. _ ? The classifier of A’? in the title is 3 (yen), the symbol of words ; that of this At (ff) is H (sze).
14 THE Lf gf. CH. II.
Poccident, le besoin impérieux de sonder les mystéres du monde invisible.’
The number of the Xi that are devoted to the subject of the mourning rites shows how great was the regard of the people for the departed members of their families. The solidarity of the family, and even the solidarity of the race, is a sentiment which has always been very strong among them. The doctrine of filial piety has also the prominence in several Books which we might expect.
The solidarity of the family, and even the solidarity of the race, is a sentiment which has always been very strong among them. The doctrine of filial piety has also the prominence in several Books which we might expect.
As to the philosophical and moral ideas which abound in the work, they are, as Callery says, ‘in general, sound and profound.’ The way in which they are presented is not unfrequently eccentric, and hedged about with absurd speculations on the course of material nature, but a prolonged study of the most difficult passages will generally bring to light what Chinese scholars call a tdo-li, a ground of reason or analogy, which interests and satisfies the mind.
4. The position that came gradually to be accorded to the Li Ki as one of ‘The Five King,’ par excellence,
The Lt Xtas WS a tribute to its intrinsic merit. It did one of the Five not, like the Kau Li, treat of matters pecu- King. liar to one dynasty, but of matters important in all time; nor like the f Lt, of usages belonging to one or more of the official classes, but of those that concerned all men. The category of ‘Five King’ was formed early, but the ‘Three Rituals’ were comprehended in it as of equal value, and formed one subdivision of it. So it was early in the Thang dynasty when the collection of ‘The Thirteen King’ was issued ; but ere the close of that dynasty our classic had made good its eminence over the other two Rituals. In the 29th chapter of the Monographs of Thang, page 17, it is said, ‘To the charge of each of the Five King two Great Scholars were appointed. The Yi of Kau, the Shang Shd, the Shih of M4o, the X4un KAid, and the Li Xi are the Five King.’
CH. IIT, BK. 1. INTRODUCTION. ‘15
CHAPTER III.
BRIEF NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BOOKS WHICH MAKE UP THE COLLECTION.
Book I. Kat Lt.
This first Book in the collection is also the longest, and has been divided because of its length into two Books. In this translation, however, it appears only as one Book in two Sections, which again are subdivided, after the Khien-lung editors, into five Parts and three Parts respectively.
This first Book in the collection is also the longest, and has been divided because of its length into two Books. In this translation, however, it appears only as one Book in two Sections, which again are subdivided, after the Khien-lung editors, into five Parts and three Parts respectively.
The name K4ii Li is taken from the first two characters in the first paragraph, and the first sentence, ‘The KAii Li says,’ extends over all that follows to the end of the Book. P. Callery, indeed, puts only the first paragraph within inverted commas, as if it alone were from the KAii Lt, and the rest of the Book were by a different hand. He translates the title by ‘Rites Divers,’ and to his first sentence, ‘Le Recueil des rites divers dit, appends the following note :—‘ This work, that for a very long time has been lost, was, so far as appears, one of those collections of proverbs and maxims with which philosophy has commenced among nearly all peoples. Although the author does not say so, it is probable that this chapter and the next contain an analysis of that ancient collection, for the great unconnectedness which we find in it agrees well with the variety indicated by the title AAi Li.” My own inference from the text, however, is what I have stated above, that the Book is a transcript of the KAii L1, and not merely a condensation of its contents, or a redaction of them by a different author.
It is not easy to translate the title satisfactorily. According to Kang Hsiian (or King Khang-A/ang), the earliest of all the great commentators on the Li Ki, ‘The Book is named KAii Li, because it contains matters relating to all the five ceremonial categories. What is’ said in it about sacrifices belongs to the “ auspicious ceremonies ;”
16 THE Lf xt. CH. IT.
about the rites of mourning, and the loss or abandonment of one’s state, to the “ inauspicious ;” about the payment of tributory dues and appearances at the royal court, to “the rites of hospitality ;” about weapons, chariots, and banners, “to those of war;” and about serving elders, reverencing ‘the aged, giving offerings or presents, and the marriage of daughters, to the “ festive ceremonies.”’ On this view the title would mean ‘ Rules belonging to the different classes of ceremonies,’ or, more concisely, the ‘Rites Divers’ of Callery; and Mr. Wylie has called the Book ‘The Universal Ritual.’
Wylie has called the Book ‘The Universal Ritual.’
But this rendering of the title does not suit the proper force of the character Kii, which is the symbol of ‘being bent or crooked,’ and is used, with substantival meaning, for what is small and appears irregularly. Mention is made in Book XXVIII, ii, 23, of ‘him who cultivates the shoots of goodness in his nature,’ those ‘shoots’ being expressed by this character KAii; and in a note on the passage there I have quoted the words of the commentator Pai Lii:—‘ Put a stone ona bamboo shoot, or where the shoot would show itself, and it will travel round the stone, and come out crooked|y at its side.” Thus Khii is employed for what is exhibited partially or in a small degree. Even Kang Hsiian on that passage explains it by ‘very small matters ;’ and the two ablest in my opinion of all the Chinese critics and commentators, AQ Hsi and Wa KAang (of the Yiian dynasty, A.D. 1249-1333), take our title to mean ‘The minuter forms and smaller points of ceremony.’ P. Zottoli is not to be blamed for following them, and styling the Book—‘ Minutiores Ritus.’ Still even this does not satisfy nry own mind. Great rites are mentioned in the treatise as well as small ones. Principles of ceremony are enunciated as well as details. The contents are marked indeed by the ‘ unconnectedness’ which Callery mentions ; but a translator cannot help that. The Book may not be as to method all that we could wish, but we must make the best we can of it as it stands; and I have ventured to call it ‘A Summary of the Rules of Ceremony.’ It - occupies very properly the place at the beginning of thep. 17 collection, and is a good introduction to the treatises that follow. . Among the Lt books in Lift Hsin’s Catalogue of th Imperial Library of Han,. is a Treatise in nine .chapters (phien), compiled by Hau 3hang, and called KZi Thai Ki, or ‘ Record made in the KAii Tower.’ The Kihii Tower was the name of an educational building, where scholars met in the time of the emperor Hsiian to discuss questions about ceremonies and other matters connected with the ancient literature, and Hau 3hang (mentioned in the preceding chapter) kept a record of their proceedings. I should like to think that our K4ii Lt is a portion of that XAii Thaj Ki, and am sorry not to be able to adduce Chinese authorities who take the same view. It would relieve us of the difficulty of accounting for the use of Khii in the title.
Book II. THAN KUNG.
The name Than Kung given to this Book is taken from the first paragraph in it, where the gentleman so denominated appears attending the mourning rites for an officer of the state of LQ. Nowhere else in the Treatise, however, is there any mention of him, or reference to him. There can be no reason but this, for calling it after him, that his surname and name occur at the commencement of it. He was a native, it is understood, of LQ; but nothing more is known of him.
Nowhere else in the Treatise, however, is there any mention of him, or reference to him. There can be no reason but this, for calling it after him, that his surname and name occur at the commencement of it. He was a native, it is understood, of LQ; but nothing more is known of him.
The Than Kung, like the KAii Li, is divided into two Books, which appear in this translation as two Sections of one Book. Each Section is subdivided into three Parts. The whole is chiefly occupied with the observances of the mourning rites. It is valuable because of the information which it gives about them, and the views prevailing at the time on the subject of death. It contains also many historical incidents about Confucius and others, which we are glad to possess. .Some of the commentators, and especially the Khien-lung editors, reject many of them
[27] c
18 THE Li xt. CH. 11.
as legendary and fabulous. The whole Book is reduced to very small compass in the expurgated editions of the Li At. Weare glad, however, to have the incidents such as they.are. Who would not be sorry to want the account of Confucius’ death, which is given in I, ii, 20? We seem, moreover, to understand him better from accounts which the Book contains of his intercourse with his disciples, and of their mourning for him.
3ze-yQ}, an eminent member of his school, appears in the first paragraph much to his credit, and similarly afterwards on several occasions; and this has made the K/ienlung editors throw out the suggestion that the Book was compiled by his disciples. It may have been so.
Book III. Wanc AIH.
According to LQ Kih (died A. D. 192)%, the Wang Xih, or ‘Royal Regulations,’ was made by the Great Scholars of the time of the emperor W4n (B.C. 179-157), on the requisition of that sovereign’. It professes to give the regulations of the early kings on the classes of the feudal nobles and officers and their emoluments, on their sactrifices, and their care for the aged. The emperor ordered it to be compiled after the death of Xia f, a Great scholar and highly esteemed by the sovereign, which event must have taken place about B.C. 170, when Kid was only thirty-three. The Book is said to have contained, when it first appeared, an account of the royal progresses and of the altars and ceremonies of investiture, of which we do not now find any trace. Parts of it are taken from Mencius, from the Sh, and from the Commentaries of Kung-yang and 30 on the Kun Kid; other parts again are not easily reconciled with those authorities.
* See the 54th Book of the Biographies in the History of the Second Han Dynasty.
* In B.c. 164. See the Mirror of History on that year.
p. 19
* See the 54th Book of the Biographies in the History of the Second Han Dynasty.
* In B.c. 164. See the Mirror of History on that year.
p. 19
The Kéien-lung editors deliver their judgment on it to the following effect: When it was made, the f Li must have appeared, but not the K4u Li. Hence the Banquet and Missions appear among the ‘ Six Subjects of Teaching,’ and no mention is made of the minister of Religion, as one of the six great ministers, nor is anything said of the minister of War’s management of the army. On a general view of it, many subjects are evidently based on Mencius, and whole paragraphs are borrowed from him. Nothing is said of the peculiar position of the son of Heaven, because in the Han dynasty, succeeding immediately to that of KAin, the emperor was to be distinguished from, and not named along with, the feudal princes. In what is said about the reports of the Income and fixing the Expenditure, only the Grand ministers of Instruction, War, and Works are mentioned, because these were the three ducal ministers of the Han dynasty, and the ancient arrangements were represented so as to suit what had come into existence. That nothing is said about altars and investitures arose from W4n’s having disregarded in that matter the advice of Hsin-yiian Phing'. It only shows how much the information of the compilers exceeded that of Shd-sun Thung* and Sze-ma Hsiang-s0*. The Book was received into the collection of the Li K%, because it was made at no great distance from antiquity. It is foolish in later scholars to weigh and measure every paragraph of it by its agreement or disagreement with Mencius and the X 4u Li.
This account of the Wang Xih must commend itself to unprejudiced readers. To myself, the most interesting thing in the Book is the information to be gathered from it about the existence of schools in the earliest times. We see at the very commencement of history in China a
, or +H Bp. A TAoistic charlatan, honoured and followed for a few years by the emperor Wn ; put to death in B. c. 163.
, Fl B53 si. A scholar of Xin; was a counsellor afterwards of the first and second emperors of Han. ‘
, Bi] 5 y 3 An. An officer and author. Died B.c. 126.
C2
20 THE Lf xt. CH. IIT.
rudimentary education, out of which has come by gradual development the system of examinations of the present day.
Book IV. YWEH LING.
The Yiieh Ling, or ‘Proceedings of Government in the different Months,’ appears in the KAien-lung edition of the Li At in six Sections; but it has seemed to me more in harmony with the nature of the Book and more useful for the student to arrange it in four Sections, and each Section in three Parts, a Section thus comprehending a season of the year, and every month having a part to itself. There is also a short supplementary Section in the middle of the year, at the end of the sixth month, rendered necessary by the TAoist lines on which the different portions are put together.
There is also a short supplementary Section in the middle of the year, at the end of the sixth month, rendered necessary by the TAoist lines on which the different portions are put together.
3hai Yung (A.D. 133-192)! and Wang Si?, somewhat later (in our third century), held that the Book was the work of the duke of K4u, and must be assigned to the eleventh or twelfth century B.c. But this view of its antiquity may be said to be universally given up. Even Kang Hsiian saw in the second century that it was a compilation from. the K#un KAit of Lii Pd-wei, still foolishly said by many Chinese writers to have been the real father of the founder of the AKAin dynasty, and who died in B.C. 237. Ld Teh-ming‘, writing in our seventh century, said, ‘The Yiieh Ling was originally part of Li’s Khun KAid, from which some one subsequently compiled this Memoir.’ The K4ien-lung editors unhesitatingly affirm this origin of the Yiieh Ling; as indeed no one, who has compared it with the work ascribed to Lii, can have any doubts on the matter. Of that work, Mayers says that ‘it is a collection of quasi-historical notices, and, although nominally Lii’s production, really compiled under his direction by an assemblage of scholars.’
SH CER BRE: BKK. ‘We fi oy.
p. 21
Mayers adds, that on the completion of the work, Lii Pfi-wei suspended 1000 pieces of gold at the gate of his palace, which he offered as a reward to any one who could suggest an improvement of it by adding or expunging a single character’,
Such was the origin of the Yiieh Ling. We do not know who compiled it from the K#un KAift of Li, but it was first received into the Lt Xi by MA Yung. It can be explained only by noting the X4in peculiarities in the names of titles and other things. It is in itself full of interest, throwing light on the ancient ways and religious’ views, and showing how the latter more especially came to be corrupted by the intrusion among them of T4oistic elements.
The Book has sometimes been called ‘A Calendar of the Months of Kau.’ Callery translates the name Yiieh Ling by ‘Attributs des Mois.’ My own translation of it is after Xang Hsiian, who says, ‘The Book is called Yiieh Ling, because it records the proceedings of Government in the twelve months of the year.’
Book V. 3ANG-3ZE WAN.
This Book is named from the first three characters in it, meaning ‘The Questions of 3ang-jze.’ Most of the different paragraphs or chapters in the two Sections of it commence in the same way. It is not found at all in the expurgated editions of the classic.
3ang-jze, or Mr. 3ang?, about fifty years younger than Confucius, was one of the chief disciples of his school, perhaps the ablest among them. He was distinguished for his filial piety, and straightforward, honest simplicity.
It is not found at all in the expurgated editions of the classic.
3ang-jze, or Mr. 3ang?, about fifty years younger than Confucius, was one of the chief disciples of his school, perhaps the ablest among them. He was distinguished for his filial piety, and straightforward, honest simplicity.
1 Mayers’ Chinese Reader’s Manual, p. 146. The 1000 pieces of gold suspended at Lii’s gate are probably only a variation of what has been related in the preceding chapter of what was done by king Hsien of Ho-dien towards the recovery of the missing Book of the Au Kwan.
* 4a -F-; his name was (Shin, YZ), and that which he received in his mataity, esi (F HR).
22 THE Li xi. CH. II.
There is an interesting account of his death in Book II, i, Part i, 18. In the department of Lif Hsin’s Catalogue, which contains ‘ Works of the Literati,’ there are entered ‘18 Treatises (phien) of 3ang-jze, but without any further specification of them. Ten of those treatises, or fragments of them, are found in the Li of the Greater Ti, but this Book is not among them, nor have I seen it anywhere ascribed to him as the writer of it. It must have been compiled, however, from memoranda left by him or some of his intimate disciples. The names of only two other disciples of the Master occur in it—those of 3ze-yd and 3ze-hsid!. The reference to the disciples of the former in Section ii, 19, must be a note by the final compiler. The mention of Lao-jze or Lao Tan, and his views also, in Section ii, 22, 24, 28, strikes us as remarkable.
If it were necessary to devise a name for the Book, I should propose—‘ Questions of Casuistry on the subject of Ceremonial Rites.’ 3ang-3ze propounds difficulties that have struck him on various points of ceremony, especially in connexion with the rites of mourning; and Confucius replies to them ingeniously and with much fertility. Some of the questions and answers, however, are but so much trifling. Khung Ying-t4 says that only 3ang-3ze could have proposed the questions, and only Confucius have furnished the answers. He applies to the Book the description of the Yi in the third of the Appendixes to that classic, i, 40, as ‘ Speaking of the most complex phenomena under the sky, and having nothing in it to awaken dislike, and of the subtlest movements under the sky, and having nothing in it to produce confusion.’
Book VI. WAN WANG SHIH-3ZE.
No hint is given, nothing has been suggested, as to who was the compiler of this Book, which the K/ien-lung editors publish in two Sections. Its name is taken from the first
/ FFE
p. 23
WAN WANG SHIH-3ZE.
No hint is given, nothing has been suggested, as to who was the compiler of this Book, which the K/ien-lung editors publish in two Sections. Its name is taken from the first
/ FFE
p. 23
clause of the first paragraph, which treats of king WAn, the founder of the X4u dynasty, as he demeaned himself in his youth, when he was Shih-jze, or son and heir of his father. This is followed by a similar account of his son, who became king WA ; and in paragraph 3 the writer goes on to the duke of K4u’s training of king KA&ng, the young son of Wi. In the last paragraph of the second Section, the subject of king W4n as prince is resumed.
But the real subject-matter of the Book lies between those portions, and treats of three things.
First; Section i, paragraph 5 to the end, treats of the education and training of the eldest sons of the king and feudal .princes, and of the young men of brightest promise throughout the kingdom, chosen to study with these. We learn much from it as to the educational institutions and methods of ancient times.
Second; in Section ii, paragraphs 1 to 15, we have the duties of the Shid-3ze, the head of an official Section, belonging to the department of the premier, whose special business was with the direction of the young noblemen of the royal and feudal courts in all matters belonging to their instruction.
Third; from paragraph 17 to 23 of Section ii, we have an‘account of the various ceremonies or observances in the king’s feasting and cherishing of the aged, and of his care that a similar course should be pursued by all the princes in their states.
Book VII. Lit Yun.
Lt Yun means, literally, ‘The Conveyance of Rites.’ P. Callery translates the name, not unsuccessfully, by ‘Phases du Cérémonial;’ but I prefer my own longer rendering of it, because it gives the reader a better idea of the contents of the Book. Aang Hsiian said it was called the Conveyance of Rites, because it records how the five Tis and three Kings made their several changes in them, and how the Yin and the Yang, or the twofold movement
24 THE Li xi. CH. 11, and operation of nature, produced them by their revolutions. The whole is difficult and deep; and no other portion of the collection has tasked the ablest commentators more. The Khien-lung editors say that we have in the Book a grand expression of the importance of ceremonial usages, and that, if we are on our guard against a small T4oistic element in it, it is pure and without a flaw. That depraving element, they think, was introduced by the smaller Ti, who ignorantly thought he could make the Treatise appear to have a higher character by surreptitiously mixing it up with the fancies of Lao and Awang. But the TAoistic admixture is larger than they are willing to allow.