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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Second, 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
2But 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,
3960) 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 source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Second, 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
2But 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,
3960) 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 source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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