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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1When consulting the editions of Lin Hsi-Zung and La Sha-fih, the reader is surprised by the frequency with which they refer to the ‘old explanations’ as ‘incomplete and unsatisfactory, often as ‘absurd, or ‘ridiculous, and he PREFACE. Xx1 finds on examination that they do not so express themselves without reason. He is soon convinced that the translation of Kwang-3ze calls for the exercise of one’s individual judgment, and the employment of every method akin to the critical processes by which the meaning in the books of other languages is determined. It was the perception of this which made me prepare in the first place a draft version to familiarise myself with the peculiar style and eccentric thought of the author. From Awang-jze to the Tractate of ‘Actions and their Retributions’ the transition is great. Translation in the latter case is as easy as it is difficult in the former. It was Rémusat who in 1816 called attention to the Kan Ying Phien in Europe, as he did to the Tao Teh King seven years later, and he translated the Text of it with a few Notes and Illustrative Anecdotes. In 1828 Klaproth published a translation of it from the Man-chau version ; and in 1830 a translation in English appeared in the Canton Register, a newspaper published at Macao. In 1828 Julien published what has since been the standard version of it; with an immense amount of additional matter under the title—‘ Le Livre Des Récompenses et Des Peines, en Chinois et en Frangais; Accompagné de quatre cent Légendes, Anecdotes et Histoires, qui font connaitre les Doctrines, les Croyances et les Mceurs de la Secte des Tdo-ssé. In writing out my own version I have had before me :— First, ‘The Thai Shang Kan Ying Phien, with Plates and the Description of them;’ a popular edition, as profusely furnished with anecdotes and stories as Julien’s original, and all pictorially illustrated. The notes, comments, and corresponding sentences from the Confucian Classics are also abundant. Second, ‘The Thai Shang Kan Ying Phien, with explanations collected from the Classics and Histories ;’— a Cantonese reprint of an edition prepared in the Kienlang reign by a Hsia Kid-hsia. Xxii PREFACE. Third, the edition in the Collection of Taoist Texts described above on p. xvii; by Hsii Hsii-teh. It is decidedly Taoistic ; but without stories or pictures. Fourth, ‘The Thai Shang Kan Ying Phien K4;’ by Hui Tung, of the present dynasty. The Work follows the Commentary of Wi Aang on the Tao Teh Xing in the Collection of the Yiieh-y4 Hall. The preface of the author is dated in 1749. The Commentary, he tells us, was written in consequence of a vow, when his mother was ill, and he was praying for her recovery. It contains many extracts from Ko Hung (Introduction, p. 5, note), to whom he always refers by his nom de plume of Pao-phoh 3ze, or ‘Maintainer of Simplicity.” He considers indeed this Tractate to have originated from him.
2It contains many extracts from Ko Hung (Introduction, p. 5, note), to whom he always refers by his nom de plume of Pao-phoh 3ze, or ‘Maintainer of Simplicity.” He considers indeed this Tractate to have originated from him. I have thus set forth all that is necessary to be said here by way of preface. For various information about the Treatises comprised in the Appendixes, the reader is referred to the preliminary notes, which precede the translation of most of them. I have often sorely missed the presence of a competent native scholar who would have assisted me in the quest of references, and in talking over difficult passages. Such a helper would have saved me much time; but the result, I think, would scarcely have appeared in any great alteration of my versions. J. L. Oxrorp, December 20, 1890. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. --<- THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. Was TAOISM OLDER THAN LAO-3ZE? 1. In writing the preface to the third volume of these Sacred Books of the East in 1879, I referred to Lao-jze as ‘the acknowledged founder’ of the system of Taoism. Prolonged study and research, however, have brought me to the conclusion that there was a Taoism earlier than his ; and that before he wrote his Tao Teh Xing, the principles taught in it had been promulgated, and the ordering of human conduct and government flowing from them inculcated. For more than a thousand years ‘the Three Religions’ Three Religions has been a stereotyped phrase in China, in China. meaning what we call Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The phrase itself simply means ‘the Three Teachings,’ or systems of instruction, leaving the subject-matter of each ‘Teaching’ to be learned by inquiry. Of the three, Buddhism is of course the most recent, having been introduced into China only in the first century of our Christian era. Both the others were indigenous to the country, and are traceable to a much greater antiquity, so that it is a question to which the earlier origin should be assigned. The years of Confucius’s life lay between B.C. 551 and 478; but his own acknowledgment that he was ‘a transmitter and not a maker,’ and the testimony of his grandson, that ‘he handed down the doctrines of Yao and Shun (B.C. 2300), and elegantly displayed the regulations [39] B 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. I. of Wan and Wd (B.C. 1200), taking them as his model,’ are well known.
32300), and elegantly displayed the regulations [39] B 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. I. of Wan and Wd (B.C. 1200), taking them as his model,’ are well known. 2. LAo-}ze’s birth is said, in the most likely account of it, to have taken place in the third year of king Ting of the Kau dynasty, (B.C.) 604. He was thus rather more than fifty years older than Confucius. The two men seem to have met more than once, and I am inclined to think that the name of Lao-jze, as the designation of the other, arose from Confucius’s styling him to his disciples ‘The Old Philosopher.’ They met as Heads of different schools or schemes of thought; but did not touch, so far as we know, on the comparative antiquity of their views. It is a peculiarity of the Tao Teh Xing that any historical element in Peculiari it is of the vaguest nature possible, and in all eculiarity of ; 7 the Tao Teh its chapters there is not a single proper name. King. Yet there are some references to earlier sages whose words the author was copying out, and to ‘sentencemakers’ whose maxims he was introducing to illustrate his own sentiments’, Inthe most distant antiquity he saw a happy society in which his highest ideas of the Tao were realised, and in the seventeenth chapter he tells us that in the earliest times the people did not know that there were their rulers, and when those rulers were most successful in dealing with them, simply said, ‘We are what we are of ourselves. Evidently, men existed to Lao-jze at first in a condition of happy innocence,—in what we must call a paradisiacal state, according to his idea of what such a state was likely to be. When we turn from the treatise of L4o-jze to the writings of Kwang-jze, the greatest of his followers, we are 1 The sixth chapter of Lao’s treatise, that about ‘the Spirit of the Valley,’ is referred to in Lich-3ze (I, 1°), as being from Hwang Ti, from which the commentator Ti Tdao-fien (about A.D. 1300) takes occasion to say: ‘From which we know that Lao-3ze was accustomed to quote in his treatise passages from earlier records,—as when he refers to the remarks of “some sage,” of “some ancient,” of “ the sentence-makers,” and of “ some writer on war.” In all these cases he is clearly introducing the words of earlier wise men. The case is like that of Confucius when he said, ‘‘I am a transmitter and not a maker,” &c.’ Found in 3i4o Hung, in loc. a CH. I. INTRODUCTION. 3 not left in doubt as to his belief in an early state of paradisiacal Taoism. Hwang Ti, the first year of whose reign is placed in B.C. 2697, is often introduced as a seeker of the T4o, and is occasionally condemned as having been one of the first to disturb its rule in men’s minds and break up ‘the State of Perfect Unity.’ He mentions several sovereigns of whom we can hardly find a trace in the records of history as having ruled in the primeval period, and gives us more than one description of the condition of the world during that happy time }.
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.
1When consulting the editions of Lin Hsi-Zung and La Sha-fih, the reader is surprised by the frequency with which they refer to the ‘old explanations’ as ‘incomplete and unsatisfactory, often as ‘absurd, or ‘ridiculous, and he PREFACE. Xx1 finds on examination that they do not so express themselves without reason. He is soon convinced that the translation of Kwang-3ze calls for the exercise of one’s individual judgment, and the employment of every method akin to the critical processes by which the meaning in the books of other languages is determined. It was the perception of this which made me prepare in the first place a draft version to familiarise myself with the peculiar style and eccentric thought of the author. From Awang-jze to the Tractate of ‘Actions and their Retributions’ the transition is great. Translation in the latter case is as easy as it is difficult in the former. It was Rémusat who in 1816 called attention to the Kan Ying Phien in Europe, as he did to the Tao Teh King seven years later, and he translated the Text of it with a few Notes and Illustrative Anecdotes. In 1828 Klaproth published a translation of it from the Man-chau version ; and in 1830 a translation in English appeared in the Canton Register, a newspaper published at Macao. In 1828 Julien published what has since been the standard version of it; with an immense amount of additional matter under the title—‘ Le Livre Des Récompenses et Des Peines, en Chinois et en Frangais; Accompagné de quatre cent Légendes, Anecdotes et Histoires, qui font connaitre les Doctrines, les Croyances et les Mceurs de la Secte des Tdo-ssé. In writing out my own version I have had before me :— First, ‘The Thai Shang Kan Ying Phien, with Plates and the Description of them;’ a popular edition, as profusely furnished with anecdotes and stories as Julien’s original, and all pictorially illustrated. The notes, comments, and corresponding sentences from the Confucian Classics are also abundant. Second, ‘The Thai Shang Kan Ying Phien, with explanations collected from the Classics and Histories ;’— a Cantonese reprint of an edition prepared in the Kienlang reign by a Hsia Kid-hsia. Xxii PREFACE. Third, the edition in the Collection of Taoist Texts described above on p. xvii; by Hsii Hsii-teh. It is decidedly Taoistic ; but without stories or pictures. Fourth, ‘The Thai Shang Kan Ying Phien K4;’ by Hui Tung, of the present dynasty. The Work follows the Commentary of Wi Aang on the Tao Teh Xing in the Collection of the Yiieh-y4 Hall. The preface of the author is dated in 1749. The Commentary, he tells us, was written in consequence of a vow, when his mother was ill, and he was praying for her recovery. It contains many extracts from Ko Hung (Introduction, p. 5, note), to whom he always refers by his nom de plume of Pao-phoh 3ze, or ‘Maintainer of Simplicity.” He considers indeed this Tractate to have originated from him.
2It contains many extracts from Ko Hung (Introduction, p. 5, note), to whom he always refers by his nom de plume of Pao-phoh 3ze, or ‘Maintainer of Simplicity.” He considers indeed this Tractate to have originated from him. I have thus set forth all that is necessary to be said here by way of preface. For various information about the Treatises comprised in the Appendixes, the reader is referred to the preliminary notes, which precede the translation of most of them. I have often sorely missed the presence of a competent native scholar who would have assisted me in the quest of references, and in talking over difficult passages. Such a helper would have saved me much time; but the result, I think, would scarcely have appeared in any great alteration of my versions. J. L. Oxrorp, December 20, 1890. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. --<- THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. Was TAOISM OLDER THAN LAO-3ZE? 1. In writing the preface to the third volume of these Sacred Books of the East in 1879, I referred to Lao-jze as ‘the acknowledged founder’ of the system of Taoism. Prolonged study and research, however, have brought me to the conclusion that there was a Taoism earlier than his ; and that before he wrote his Tao Teh Xing, the principles taught in it had been promulgated, and the ordering of human conduct and government flowing from them inculcated. For more than a thousand years ‘the Three Religions’ Three Religions has been a stereotyped phrase in China, in China. meaning what we call Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The phrase itself simply means ‘the Three Teachings,’ or systems of instruction, leaving the subject-matter of each ‘Teaching’ to be learned by inquiry. Of the three, Buddhism is of course the most recent, having been introduced into China only in the first century of our Christian era. Both the others were indigenous to the country, and are traceable to a much greater antiquity, so that it is a question to which the earlier origin should be assigned. The years of Confucius’s life lay between B.C. 551 and 478; but his own acknowledgment that he was ‘a transmitter and not a maker,’ and the testimony of his grandson, that ‘he handed down the doctrines of Yao and Shun (B.C. 2300), and elegantly displayed the regulations [39] B 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. I. of Wan and Wd (B.C. 1200), taking them as his model,’ are well known.
32300), and elegantly displayed the regulations [39] B 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. I. of Wan and Wd (B.C. 1200), taking them as his model,’ are well known. 2. LAo-}ze’s birth is said, in the most likely account of it, to have taken place in the third year of king Ting of the Kau dynasty, (B.C.) 604. He was thus rather more than fifty years older than Confucius. The two men seem to have met more than once, and I am inclined to think that the name of Lao-jze, as the designation of the other, arose from Confucius’s styling him to his disciples ‘The Old Philosopher.’ They met as Heads of different schools or schemes of thought; but did not touch, so far as we know, on the comparative antiquity of their views. It is a peculiarity of the Tao Teh Xing that any historical element in Peculiari it is of the vaguest nature possible, and in all eculiarity of ; 7 the Tao Teh its chapters there is not a single proper name. King. Yet there are some references to earlier sages whose words the author was copying out, and to ‘sentencemakers’ whose maxims he was introducing to illustrate his own sentiments’, Inthe most distant antiquity he saw a happy society in which his highest ideas of the Tao were realised, and in the seventeenth chapter he tells us that in the earliest times the people did not know that there were their rulers, and when those rulers were most successful in dealing with them, simply said, ‘We are what we are of ourselves. Evidently, men existed to Lao-jze at first in a condition of happy innocence,—in what we must call a paradisiacal state, according to his idea of what such a state was likely to be. When we turn from the treatise of L4o-jze to the writings of Kwang-jze, the greatest of his followers, we are 1 The sixth chapter of Lao’s treatise, that about ‘the Spirit of the Valley,’ is referred to in Lich-3ze (I, 1°), as being from Hwang Ti, from which the commentator Ti Tdao-fien (about A.D. 1300) takes occasion to say: ‘From which we know that Lao-3ze was accustomed to quote in his treatise passages from earlier records,—as when he refers to the remarks of “some sage,” of “some ancient,” of “ the sentence-makers,” and of “ some writer on war.” In all these cases he is clearly introducing the words of earlier wise men. The case is like that of Confucius when he said, ‘‘I am a transmitter and not a maker,” &c.’ Found in 3i4o Hung, in loc. a CH. I. INTRODUCTION. 3 not left in doubt as to his belief in an early state of paradisiacal Taoism. Hwang Ti, the first year of whose reign is placed in B.C. 2697, is often introduced as a seeker of the T4o, and is occasionally condemned as having been one of the first to disturb its rule in men’s minds and break up ‘the State of Perfect Unity.’ He mentions several sovereigns of whom we can hardly find a trace in the records of history as having ruled in the primeval period, and gives us more than one description of the condition of the world during that happy time }.
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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