Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1168 to 189). The grave of M4o Kang is still shown near the village of 3un-ft, in the departmental district of Ho-Aien, Kih-li. 5. Returning now to what I said in the second paragraph, it will be granted that the appearance of three different and independent texts, soon after the rise of the iene guarantee Han dynasty, affords the most satisfactory the genuineness evidence of the recovery of the Book of of the recovered Poetry as it had continued from the time of Confucius. Unfortunately, only fragments of those texts remain now; but they were, while they were current, diligently compared with one another, and with the fourth text of M4o, which subsequently got the field to itself. When a collection is made of their peculiar readings, so far as it can now be done, it is clear that their variations from one another and from M4o’s text arose from the alleged fact that the preservation of the odes was owing to their being transmitted by recitation. The rhyme helped the memory to retain them, and while wood, bamboo, and silk had all been consumed by the flames of XAin, when the time of repression ceased, scholars would be eager to rehearse their stores. It was inevitable, and more so in China than in a country possessing an alphabet, that the same sounds when taken down by different writers should be represented by different characters. On the whole, the evidence given above is as full as could be desired in such a case, and leaves no reason for us to hesitate in accepting the present received text of the Shih as a very close approximation to that which was current in the time of Confucius, (1 U 290 THE SHIH KING. CHAPTER IV. THE FORMATION OF THE, COLLECTION OF THE SHIH; HOW IT CAME TO BE SO SMALL AND INCOMPLETE; THE INTERPRETATION AND AUTHORS OF THE PIECES; - ONE POINT OF TIME CERTAINLY INDICATED IN IT; AND THE CONFUCIAN PREFACE. 1. It has been shown above, in the second chapter, that the Shih existed as a collection of poetical pieces before the time of Confucius’, In order to complete this Introduction to it, it is desirable to give some account of the © various subjects indicated in the heading of the present chapter. How were the odes collected in the first place? In his Account of a Conversation concerning ‘a Right Regulation of Governments for the Common Good of Mankind’ (Edinburgh, 1704), p. 10, Sir Andrew Fletcher, of Saltoun, tells us the opinion of ‘a very wise man, that ‘if a man were permitted to make all the ballads of a nation, he need not care who should make its laws,’ A writer in the Spectator, no. 502, refers to a similar opinion as having been entertained in
210, Sir Andrew Fletcher, of Saltoun, tells us the opinion of ‘a very wise man, that ‘if a man were permitted to make all the ballads of a nation, he need not care who should make its laws,’ A writer in the Spectator, no. 502, refers to a similar opinion as having been entertained in _ England earlier than the time of Fletcher. ‘I have heard,’ he says, ‘that a minister of state in the reign of Elizabeth had all manner of books and ballads brought to him, of what kind soever, and took great notice how they took with the people; upon which he would, and certainly might, very well judge of their present dispositions, and of the most proper way of applying them according to his own purposes *,’ 1 As in the case of the Sh, Confucius generally speaks of ‘the Shih,’ never using the name of ‘ the Shih King.’ In the Analects, IX, xiv, however, he mentions also the Ya and the Sung; and in XVII, x, he specifies the KAu Nan and the Shao Nan, the first two books of the Kwo Fang. Mencius similarly speaks of ‘the Shih;’ and in III, i, ch. 4, he specifies ‘the Sung of La,’ Book ii of Part IV. In VI, ii, ch. 3, he gives his views of the Hsiao Phan, the third ode of decade 5, Part II, and of the Khai Fung, the seventh ode of Book iii of Part I. * This passage from the Spectator is adduced by Sir John Davis in his treatise on the Poetry of the Chinese, p. 35. INTRODUCTION, 291 In harmony with the views thus expressed is the theory of the Chinese scholars, that it was the duty The theory of : : the Chinese Of the ancient kings to make themselves scholars about acquainted with all the poems current in the a collection of ~~ . poemsfor different states, and to judge from them of bonis the rule exercised by the several princes, so that they might minister praise or blame, reward or punishment accordingly. The rudiments of this theory may be found in the Shd, in the Canon of Shun; but the one classical passage which is appealed to in support of it is in the Record of Rites, III, ii, parr. 13, 14 :—‘ Every fifth year, the Son of Heaven made a progress through the kingdom, when the Grand Music-Master was commanded to lay before him the poems of the different states, as an exhibition of the manners and government of the people.’ Unfortunately, this Book of the Li Ki, the Royal Ordinances, was compiled only in the reign of the emperor W4n of the Han dynasty (B.C. 179 to 155). The scholars entrusted with the work did their best, we may suppose, with the materials at their command. They made much use, it is evident, of Mencius, and of the ft Li. The X4u Li, or the Official Book of KAu, had not then been recovered. But neither in Mencius.nor in the
3179 to 155). The scholars entrusted with the work did their best, we may suppose, with the materials at their command. They made much use, it is evident, of Mencius, and of the ft Li. The X4u Li, or the Official Book of KAu, had not then been recovered. But neither in Mencius.nor in the -f Li do we meet with any authority for the statement before us. The ShQ mentions that Shun every fifth year made a tour of inspection ; but there were then no odes for him to examine, for to him and his. minister K4o-y4o is ' attributed the first rudimentary attempt at the poetic art. Of the progresses of the Hsia and Yin sovereigns we have no information ; and those of the kings of Kau were made, we know, only once in twelve years. The statement in the Royal Ordinances, therefore, was probably based only on tradition. Notwithstanding the difficulties that beset this passage * of the Li Xi, I am not disposed to reject it altogether. It derives a certain amount of confirmation from the passage quoted from the Official Book of K4u on p. 278, showing that in the K4u dynasty there was a collection of poems, under the divisions of the Fang, the Ya, and the Sung, U2 292 THE SHIH KING,
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.
1168 to 189). The grave of M4o Kang is still shown near the village of 3un-ft, in the departmental district of Ho-Aien, Kih-li. 5. Returning now to what I said in the second paragraph, it will be granted that the appearance of three different and independent texts, soon after the rise of the iene guarantee Han dynasty, affords the most satisfactory the genuineness evidence of the recovery of the Book of of the recovered Poetry as it had continued from the time of Confucius. Unfortunately, only fragments of those texts remain now; but they were, while they were current, diligently compared with one another, and with the fourth text of M4o, which subsequently got the field to itself. When a collection is made of their peculiar readings, so far as it can now be done, it is clear that their variations from one another and from M4o’s text arose from the alleged fact that the preservation of the odes was owing to their being transmitted by recitation. The rhyme helped the memory to retain them, and while wood, bamboo, and silk had all been consumed by the flames of XAin, when the time of repression ceased, scholars would be eager to rehearse their stores. It was inevitable, and more so in China than in a country possessing an alphabet, that the same sounds when taken down by different writers should be represented by different characters. On the whole, the evidence given above is as full as could be desired in such a case, and leaves no reason for us to hesitate in accepting the present received text of the Shih as a very close approximation to that which was current in the time of Confucius, (1 U 290 THE SHIH KING. CHAPTER IV. THE FORMATION OF THE, COLLECTION OF THE SHIH; HOW IT CAME TO BE SO SMALL AND INCOMPLETE; THE INTERPRETATION AND AUTHORS OF THE PIECES; - ONE POINT OF TIME CERTAINLY INDICATED IN IT; AND THE CONFUCIAN PREFACE. 1. It has been shown above, in the second chapter, that the Shih existed as a collection of poetical pieces before the time of Confucius’, In order to complete this Introduction to it, it is desirable to give some account of the © various subjects indicated in the heading of the present chapter. How were the odes collected in the first place? In his Account of a Conversation concerning ‘a Right Regulation of Governments for the Common Good of Mankind’ (Edinburgh, 1704), p. 10, Sir Andrew Fletcher, of Saltoun, tells us the opinion of ‘a very wise man, that ‘if a man were permitted to make all the ballads of a nation, he need not care who should make its laws,’ A writer in the Spectator, no. 502, refers to a similar opinion as having been entertained in
210, Sir Andrew Fletcher, of Saltoun, tells us the opinion of ‘a very wise man, that ‘if a man were permitted to make all the ballads of a nation, he need not care who should make its laws,’ A writer in the Spectator, no. 502, refers to a similar opinion as having been entertained in _ England earlier than the time of Fletcher. ‘I have heard,’ he says, ‘that a minister of state in the reign of Elizabeth had all manner of books and ballads brought to him, of what kind soever, and took great notice how they took with the people; upon which he would, and certainly might, very well judge of their present dispositions, and of the most proper way of applying them according to his own purposes *,’ 1 As in the case of the Sh, Confucius generally speaks of ‘the Shih,’ never using the name of ‘ the Shih King.’ In the Analects, IX, xiv, however, he mentions also the Ya and the Sung; and in XVII, x, he specifies the KAu Nan and the Shao Nan, the first two books of the Kwo Fang. Mencius similarly speaks of ‘the Shih;’ and in III, i, ch. 4, he specifies ‘the Sung of La,’ Book ii of Part IV. In VI, ii, ch. 3, he gives his views of the Hsiao Phan, the third ode of decade 5, Part II, and of the Khai Fung, the seventh ode of Book iii of Part I. * This passage from the Spectator is adduced by Sir John Davis in his treatise on the Poetry of the Chinese, p. 35. INTRODUCTION, 291 In harmony with the views thus expressed is the theory of the Chinese scholars, that it was the duty The theory of : : the Chinese Of the ancient kings to make themselves scholars about acquainted with all the poems current in the a collection of ~~ . poemsfor different states, and to judge from them of bonis the rule exercised by the several princes, so that they might minister praise or blame, reward or punishment accordingly. The rudiments of this theory may be found in the Shd, in the Canon of Shun; but the one classical passage which is appealed to in support of it is in the Record of Rites, III, ii, parr. 13, 14 :—‘ Every fifth year, the Son of Heaven made a progress through the kingdom, when the Grand Music-Master was commanded to lay before him the poems of the different states, as an exhibition of the manners and government of the people.’ Unfortunately, this Book of the Li Ki, the Royal Ordinances, was compiled only in the reign of the emperor W4n of the Han dynasty (B.C. 179 to 155). The scholars entrusted with the work did their best, we may suppose, with the materials at their command. They made much use, it is evident, of Mencius, and of the ft Li. The X4u Li, or the Official Book of KAu, had not then been recovered. But neither in Mencius.nor in the
3179 to 155). The scholars entrusted with the work did their best, we may suppose, with the materials at their command. They made much use, it is evident, of Mencius, and of the ft Li. The X4u Li, or the Official Book of KAu, had not then been recovered. But neither in Mencius.nor in the -f Li do we meet with any authority for the statement before us. The ShQ mentions that Shun every fifth year made a tour of inspection ; but there were then no odes for him to examine, for to him and his. minister K4o-y4o is ' attributed the first rudimentary attempt at the poetic art. Of the progresses of the Hsia and Yin sovereigns we have no information ; and those of the kings of Kau were made, we know, only once in twelve years. The statement in the Royal Ordinances, therefore, was probably based only on tradition. Notwithstanding the difficulties that beset this passage * of the Li Xi, I am not disposed to reject it altogether. It derives a certain amount of confirmation from the passage quoted from the Official Book of K4u on p. 278, showing that in the K4u dynasty there was a collection of poems, under the divisions of the Fang, the Ya, and the Sung, U2 292 THE SHIH KING,
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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