The life and teachings of Confucius : with explanatory notes

Front matter

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

Preface

AVhen the author, in 1861, commenced the pubhcation of the Chinese Classics, with an English translation and such a critical apparatus as was necessary to the proper appreciation of the original "Works, he did not contemplate an edition without the Chinese text and simply adapted for popular reading. It was soon pressed upon him, however, from various quarters ; and he had formed the purpose to revise the separate volumes, when he should have completed the whole of his undertaking, and to publish the English text, with historical introductions and brief explanatory notes, which might render it acceptable for general perusal.

He is sorry that circumstances have arisen to call for such an issue of his volumes, without waiting for the completion of the last of the Classics ; — principally because it adds another to the many unavoidable hindrances which have impeded the onward prosecution of his important task. A Mr Baker, of Massachusetts, in the United States, having sent forth the prospectus of a republication of the author's translation, his publisher in London strongly represented to him the desirableness of his issuing at once a popular edition in his own name, as a counter-movement to Mr Baker's, and to prevent other similar acts of piracy : — and the result is the appearance of the present volume. It will be followed by a second, containing the Works of Mencius, as soon as the publisher shall feel himself authorized by public encouragement to go forward with the undertaking.

The author has seen the first part of Mr Baker's republication, containing the English text of his first volume, and the indexes of Subjects and Proper Names, without alteration. The only other matter in it is an introduction of between seven and eight pages. Four of these are occupied with an account of Confucius, taken from Chambers' Encyclopaedia, iv PREFACE.

which Mr Baker says he chooses to copy : — so naturally does it come to him to avail himself of the labours of other men. "Convey the wise it call. Steal ? Eoh ! A tico for the phrase ! "

In the remainder of his Introduction, Mr Baker assumes a controversial tone, and calls in question some of the judgments which the author has passed on the Chinese sage and his doctrines. He would make it out that Confucius was a most religious man, and abundantly recognized the truth of a future life ; that the worship of God was more nearly universal in China than in the Theocracy of Israel ; that the Chinese in general are not more regardless of truth than Dr Legge*s own countrymen ; and that Confucius' making no mention of heaven and hel. is the reason why missionaries object to his system of practising virtue for virtue's sake ! Mr Baker has made some proficiency in the art of '' adding insult to injury." It is easy to see to what school of religion he belongs ; but the author would be sorry to regard his publication as a specimen of the manner in which the members of it " practise virtue for virtue's sake."

In preparing the present volume for the press, the author has retained a considerable part of the prolegomena in the larger work, to prepare the minds of his readers for proceeding with advantage to the translation, and forming an intelligent judgment on the authority which is to be allowed to the original Works. He has made a few additions and corrections which his increased acquaintance with the field of ChinL.'S') literature enabled him to do.

He was pleased to find, in revising the translation, that the alterations which it was worth while to make were very few and unimportant.

He has retained the headings to the notes on the several chapters, as they give, for the most part, an adequate summary of the subjects treated in them. All critical matter, inter cjsting and useful only to students of the Chinese language, he has thrown out. In a few instances he has remodelled the notes, or made such additions to them ar were appropriate to th* popular design of the edition.

Contents

I. PRELIMINARY ESSAYS.

Chapter I. Of The Chinese Classics Generally

SECTIOH PIGB

I. BOOKS INCLUDED UNDER THE NAME OF THE CHINESE

CLASSICS . . . , 1

IL THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS . . . . 3

Chapter II. Of The Confucian Analects

T. FORMATION OF THE TEXT OF THE ANALECTS BY THE

SCHOLARS OF THE HAN DYNASTY 12

II. AT WHAT TIME, AND BY WHOM, THE ANALECTS WERE

WRITTEN ; THEIR PLAN ; AND AUTHENTICITY . . 15

III. OF COMMENTARIES UPON THE ANALECTS . , . . . . 19

Chapter III. Of The Great Learning

I. HISTORY OF THE TEXT ; AND THE DIFFERENT ARRANGE- MENTS OF IT WHICH HAVE BEEN PROPOSED . . . . 22

IL OF THE AUTHORSHIP, AND DISTINCTION OF THE TEXT

INTO CLASSICAL TEXT AND COMMENTARY . . . . 26

rn, ITS SCOPE and value . . . . . . . . . . 27

VI CONTENTS.

Chapter IV

OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. •JBCTION PAGH 1. ITS PLACE IN THE LE KE, AND ITS PUBLICATION SE- PARATELY . , , . 35

II. ITS AUTHOR ; AND SOME ACCOUNT OF HIM . . . . 36

III. ITS SCOPE AND VALUE . . . . 43

Chapter V. Confucius ; His Influence And I^ooteines

I. LIFE OF CONFUCIUS 55

II. HIS INFLUENCE AND OPINIONS 91

IL THE CLASSICS.

!. CONFUCIAN ANALECTS 118

II. THE GREAT LEARNING 264

III. THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN ... '282

III. INDEXES.

I. SUBJECTS IN THE CONFUCIAN ANALECTS . . . . . . 321

II. PROPER NAMES IN THE CONFUCIAN ANALECTS . . . . 330

III. SUBJECTS IN THE GREAT LEARNING 334

IV. PROPER NAMES IN THE GREAT LEARNING . . . . 335 V. SUBJECTS IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN . . . . 336

VI. PROPER NAMES IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN . . 338

PRELIMINAEY ESSAYS.

Section I. Books Included Under The Name Of The Chinese Classics

1. The Books now recognized as of highest authority in China are comprehended under the denominations of ^' The five King," and " The four Shoo." The term Idng is of textile origin, and signifies the warp threads of a web, and their adjustment. An easy application of it is to denote what is regular and insures regularity. As used with reference to books, it indicates their authority on the subjects of which they treat. ^^ The five King " are the five canonical Works, containing the truth upon the highest subjects from the sages of China, and which should be received as law by all generations. The term shoo simply means writings or books,

2. The five King are : — ^the Yih, or, as it has been styled, '' The Book of Changes ; " the Shoo, or '' The Book of Historical Documents ; " the She, or '^ The Book of Poetry ; " the Le Ke, or " Eecord of Rites ; " and the Ch^un Ts'ew, or ^^ Spring and Autumn,^^ a chronicle of events, extending from B.C. 721 to 480. The authorship, or compilation rather, of all these works is loosely attributed to Confucius. But much of the Le Ke is from later hands. Of the Yih, the Shoo, and the She, it is only in the first that we find additions said to be from the philosopher himself, in the shape of appendixes. The Ch*^un Ts'ew is the only one of the

VOL. I. 1.

I THE CE^ESE CLASSICS GENERALLY.

iive King wliicli can, witli an approximation to correctness^ -be described as of;h/,s, owh " making/'

'^ The four Books^^'is'an abbreviation for ^^ The Books of tlie four Philosophers/' The first is the Lun Yu^ or ^^ Digested Conversations,'^ being occupied chiefly with the sayings of Confucius. He is the philosopher to whom it belongs. I'> appears in this Work under the title of '^ Confucian Analects.^' The second is the Ta Heo, or " Great Learning/^ now commonly attributed to Tsang Sin^ a disciple of the sage. He is the philosopher of it. The third is the Chung Yung, or *^ Doctrine of the Mean/^ ascribed to K^ung Keih, the grandson of Confucius. He is the philosopher of it. The fourth contains the works of Mencius.

3. This arrangement of the Classical Books, which is commonly supposed to have originated with th(^ scholars of the Sung dynasty, is defective. The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean are both found in the Record of Rites, being the forty-second and thirty-first Books respectively of that compilation, according to the usual arrangement of it.

4. The oldest enumerations of the Classical Books specify only the five King, The Yo Ke, or '' Record of Music,'^ the remains of which now form one of the Books in the Le Ke, was sometimes added to those, making with them the six King. A division was also made into nine King, consisting of the Yih, the She, the Shoo, the Chow Le, or ^' Ritual of Chow,'' the E Le, or ^^ Ceremonial Usages,'^ the Le Ke_, and the three annotated editions of the Ch^un Ts^ew, by Tsok^ew Ming, Kung-yang Kaou, and Kuh-leang Ch4h. In the famous compilation of the classical Books, undertaken by order of T^ae-tsung, the second emperor of the T^ang dynasty (b.c. 627 — 619), and which appeared in the reign of his successor, there are thirteen King ; viz., the Yih, the She, the Shoo, the three editions of the Ch^un Ts^ew, the Le Ke, the Chow Le, the E Le, the Confucian Analects, the Urh Ya, a sort of ancient dictionary, the Heaou King, or ^^ Classic of Filial Piety/^ and the works of Mencius.

5. A distinction, however, was made, as early as the dynasty of the Western Han, in our first century, among the Works thus comprehended under the same common name ; and Mencius, the Lun Yu, the Ta Heo, the Chung Yung, and the Heaou King were spoken of as the seaou King, or

AUTHORITY OP THE CHINESE CLASSICS. 6

" smaller Classics/' It thus appears, contrary to tlie ordinary opinion on the subject, that the Ta Heo and Chung Yung had been published as separate treatises long before the Sung dynasty, and that the Four Books, as distinguished from the greater King, had also previously found a place iu the literature of China.^

SECTION 11.

THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS.

1. This subject will be discussed in connection with each separate Work, and it is only desigued here to exhibit generally the evidence on which the Chinese Classics claim to be received as genuine productions of the time to which they are referred.

2. In the memoirs of the Former Han dynasty (b.c. 201 — A.D. 24), we have one chapter which w^e may call the History of Literature. It commences thus : — ^^ After the death of Confucius, there was an end of his exquisite words; and when his seventy disciples had passed away, violence began to be done to their meaning. It came about that there were five different editions of the Ch^un Ts^ew, four of the She, and several of the Yih. Amid the disorder and collision of the warring States (b.c. 480 — 221), truth and falsehood were still more in a state of warfare, and a sad confusion marked the words of the various scholars. Then came the calamity inflicted under the Ts'in dynasty (b.c. 220 — 205), when the literary monuments were destroyed by fire, in order to keep the people in ignorance. But, by and by, there arose the Han dynasty, which set itself to remedy the evil wrought by the Ts^in. Great efforts were made to collect slips and tablets,^ and the way was thrown wide open for the bringing in of Books. In the time of the emperor Heaou-woo (b.c 189 — SQ)i portions of Books being wanting and tablets lost, so that ceremonies and music were suffering great damage, he

^ For the statements in the two last paragraphs, see the works of Se-ho on •' The Text of the Great Learning," Bk. I.

^ SJips and tablets on bamboo, which supplied in those days the place of paper.

1*

4 THE CHINESE CLASSICS GENERALLY.

was moved to sorrow, and said, ^ I am very sad for this.* He therefore formed the plan of Eepositories, in which the Books might be stored^ and appointed officers to transcribe Books on an extensive scale^ embracing the works of the various scholars, that they might all be placed in the Eepositories. The Emperor Ch'ing (b.c. 31 — 6), finding that a portion of the Books still continued dispersed or missing, commissioned Ch^in Nung, the superintendent of guests, to search for undiscovered Books throughout the empire, and by special edict ordered the chief of the Banqueting House, Lew Heang, to examine the classical Works, along with the commentaries on them, the writings of the scholars, and all poetical productions ; the master- controller of infantry, Jin Hwang, to examine the Books on the art of war ; the grand historiographer, Yin Heen, to examine the Books treating of the art of numbers (i. e. divination) ; and the imperial physician, Le Ch^oo-ko, to examine the Books on medicine. Whenever any Book was done with, Heang forthwith arranged it, indexed it, and made a digest of it, which was presented to the emperor. While the undertaking was in progress, Heang died, and the emperor Gae (b.c. 5 — a.d.) appointed his son, Hin, a master of the imperial carriages, to complete his father^ s work. On this, Hin collected all the Books, and presented a report of them, under seven divisions.^"*

The first of these divisions seems to have been a general catalogue, containing perhaps only the titles of the works included in the other six. The second embraced the classical Works. From the abstract of it, which is preserved in the chapter referred to, we find that there were 294 collections of the Yih-king, from 13 different individuals or editors ;^ 412 collections of the Shoo-king, from nine different individuals ; 416 volumes of the She-king, from six different individuals;^ of the Book of Eites, 555 collections, from 13 different individuals; of the Books on Music, 165 collections, from six different editors; 948 collections of History, under

1 How much of the whole AVork was contained in each " collection " or p^een, it is impossible for us to ascertain. P. Regis says : — ^'' Pien, qitemadmoclum Gallice dlcimus ' des pieces d^eloquejice^ de poesie.^ "

'^ The collections of the She-king are mentioned under the name of keuen, " sections," '• portions." Had p'een been used, it might have been understood of individual odes. This change of terms shows that by p'ee/i in the other Bnnniarios, we are not to understand single blocks or chapters.

AUTHORITY OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS. 5

the heading of the Ch^un Ts^ew, from 23 different individuals ; 229 collections of the Lun Yu, including the Analects and kindred fragments^ from 12 different individuals ; of the Heaou-king, embracing also the Urh Ya, and some other portions of the ancient literature, 59 collections,, from 11 different individuals ; and finally of the Lesser Learning, being works on the form of the characters, 45 collections, from 11 different individuals. The Works of Mencius were included in the second division, among the Writings of what were deemed orthodox scholars, of which there were 8'S6 collections, from 53 different individuals.

3. The above important document is sufficient to show how tho emperors of the Han dynasty, as soon as they had made good their possession of the empire, turned their attention to recover the ancient literature of the nation, the Classical Books engaging their first care, and how earnestly and effectively the scholars of the time responded to tho wishes of their rulers. In addition to the facts specified in the preface to it, I may relate that the ordinance of the Ts^in dynasty against possessing the Classical Books (with the exception, as will appear in its proper place, of the Yih-king) was repealed by the second sovereign of the Han, the emperor Heaou Hwuy, in the 4th year of his reign, B.C. 190, and that a large portion of the Shoo -king was recovered in the time of the third emperor, B.C. 178 — 156, while in the year B.C. 135, a special Board was constituted, consisting of literati who were put in charge of the five King,

4. The collections reported on by Lew Hin suffered damage in the troubles which began a.d. 8, and continued till the rise of tho second or eastern Han dynasty in the year 25. The founder of it {a.Tj, 25'-'-j7) zealously promoted the undertaking of his predecessors, and additional repositories were required for the books which were collected. His successors, the emperors, Heaou-ming (58 — 75), Heaou-chang (75 — 88),andHeaou-hwo (89 — 105), took a part themselves in the studies and discussions of the literary tribunal, and the emperor Heaou-ling, between the years 172 — 178, had the text of the five King, as it had been fixed, cut in slabs of stone, in characters of three different forms.

5. Since the Han, the successive dynasties have considered the literary monuments of the country to be an object of their special care. Many of them have issued editions of thj

6 THE CHINESE CLASSICS GENERALLY.

classics^ embodying the commentaries of preceding gener* ations. No dynasty lias distinguished itself more in this line than the present Manchow possessors of the Empire. In fine^ the evidence is complete that the Classical Books of China have come down from at least a century before our Christian era^ substantially the same as we have them at present.

6. But it still remains to inquire in w^hat condition we may suppose the Books were when the scholars of the Han dynasty commenced their labours upon them. They acknowledge that the tablets — we cannot here speak oi manuscripts— were mutilated and in disorder. Was the injury which they had received of such an extent that all the care and study put forth on the small remains would be of little use ? This question can be answered satisfactorily only by an examination of the evidence which is adduced for the text of each particular Classic ; but it can be made apparent that there is nothing, in the nature of the case, to interfere with our believing that the materials were sufficient to enable the scholars to execute the work intrusted to them.

7. The burning of the ancient Books by order of the founder of the Ts^in dynasty is always referred to as the greatest disaster which they sustained, and with this is coupled the slaughter of many of the literati by the same monarch.

The account which we have of these transactions in the Historical Records is the following *} —

'' In his 34th year^^ (the 34th year, that is, after he had ascended the throne of Ts^in. It was only the 8th after he had been acknowledged Sovereign of the empire, coinciding with B.C. 212) ^^the emperor, returning from a visit to the south, which had extended as far as Yue, gave a feast in the palace of Heen-yang, when the Great Scholars, amounting to seventy men, appeared and wished him long life.^ The superintendent of archery. Chow Ts^ing-ch^in, came for-

» I have thought it well to endeavour to translate the whole of the passages. Father de Mailla merely constructs from them a narrative of his own ; see VEidoire Gtnerale de La Chine^ tome II., pp. 399 — 402. The common histories current in China avoid the difficulties of the original by giving an abridgment of it.

- These were not only " great scholars," but had an official rank. There was what we may call a college of them, consisting of seventy members.

AUTHORITY OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS. 7

ward and praised him, saying, ^Formerly, the State ofTs^n was only 1000 le in extent, but Your Majesty, by your spirit-like efficacy and intelligent wisdom, has tranquillized and settled the whole empire, and driven away all barbarous tribes, so that wherever the sun and moon shine, all appear before you as guests acknowledging subjection. You have formed the States of the various princes into provinces and districts, where the people enjoy a happy tranquillity, suffering no more from the calamities of war and contention. This condition of things will be transmitted for 10,000 generations. From the highest antiquity there has been no one in awful virtue like Your Majesty.^

'^ The Emperor was pleased with this flattery, when Shunyu Yuc, one of the great scholars, a native of Ts^e, advanced and said, ^ The sovereigns of Yin and Chow, for more than a thousand years, invested their sons and younger brothers, and meritorious ministers, with domains and rule, and could thus depend upon them for support and aid ; — that I have heard. But now Your Majesty is in possession of all within the seas, and your sons and younger brothers are nothing but private individuals. The issue will be that some one will arise to play the part of T^een Ch^ang,^ or of the six nobles of Ts'in. Without the support of your own fmnihjj where will you find the aid which you may require ? That a state of things not modelled from the lessons of antiquity can long continue ; — that is what I have not heard. Ts^ing is now showing himself to be a flatterer, who increases the errors of Your Majest}^, and is not a loyal minister.^

'' The Emperor requested the opinions of others on this representation, when the premier, Le Sze, said, ^ The five emperors were not one the double of the other, nor did the three dynasties accept one another^s ways. Each had a peculiar system of government, not for the sake of the contrariety, but as being required by the changed times. ' Now, Your Majesty has laid the foundations of imperial sway, so that it will last for 10,000 generations. This is indeed beyond what a stupid scholar can understand. And, moreover, Yue only talks of things belonging to the Three Dynasties, which are not fit to be models to you. At other times, when

^ The T'een family grew up in the State of Ts'e, and in tJie early part of the 4th century B.C. supplanted the ruling House. The dismembermeut cf Ts'in was still earlier.

8 THE CHINESE CLASSICS GENERALLY.

the princes were all striving together^ they endeavoured to gather the wandering scholars about them ; but now^ the empire is in a stable condition^ and laws and ordinances issue from one supreme authority. Let those of the people who abide in their homes give their strength to the toils of husbandry, and those who become scholars should study the various laws and prohibitions. Instead of doing this, however, the scholars do not learn what belongs to the present day, but study antiquity. They go on to condemn the present time, leading the masses of the people astray, and to disorder.

'' ' At the risk of my life, I, the prime minister, say, — Formerly, when the empire was disunited and disturbed, there was no one who could give unity to it. The princes therefore stood up together ; constant references were made to antiquity to the injury of the present state ; baseless statements were dressed up to confound what was real, and men made a boast of their own peculiar learning to condemn what their rulers appointed. And now, when Your Majesty has consolidated the empire, and, distinguishing black from white, has constituted it a stable unity, they still honour their peculiar learning, and combine together ; they teach men what is contrary to your laws. When they hear that an ordinance has been issued, every one sets to discussing it with his learning. In the court, they are dissatisfied in heart; out of it, they keep talking in the streets. While they make a pretence of vaunting their Master, they consider it fine to have extraordinary views of their own. And so they lead on the people to be guilty of murmuring and evil speaking. If these things are not prohibited, Your Majesty^s authority will decline, and parties will be formed. As to the best way to prohibit theni, I pray that all the Eecords in charge of the Historiographers be burned, excepting those of Ts'in ; that, with the exception of those officers belonging to the Board of Great Scholars, all throughout the empire who presume to keep copies of the She-king, or of the Shocking, or of the books of the Hundred Schools, be required to go with them to the officers in charge of the several districts, and burn them ; that all who may dare to speak together about the She and the Shoo be put to death, and their bodies exposed in the market-place ; that those who make mention of the past, so as to blame the present, be put

AUTHORITY OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS. 9

to death along with their relatives ; that officers who shall know of the violation of these rules and not inform against the offenders, be held equally guilty with them ; and that whoever shall not have burned their books within thirty days after the issuing of the ordinance, be branded and sent to labour on the wall for four years. The only books which should be spared are those on medicine, divination, and husbandry. Whoever wants to learn the laws may go to the magistrates and learn of them. ^

^^ The imperial decision was — ^ Approved.' ^^ The destruction of the scholars is related more briefly. In the year after the burning of the Books, the resentment of the Emperor was excited by the remarks and flight of two scholars who had been favourites with him, and he determined to institute a strict inquiry about all of their class in Heen-yang, to find out whether they had been making ominous speeches about him^ and disturbing the minds of the people. The investigation was committed to the Censors ; and it being discovered that upwards of 460 scholars had violated the prohibitions, they were all buried alive in pits, for a warning to the empire, while degradation and banishment were employed more strictly than before against all who fell under suspicion. The Emperor\s eldest son, Foo-soo, remonstrated with him, saying that such measures against those who repeated the words of Confucius, and sought to imitate him, would alienate all the people from their infant dynasty, but his interference offended his father so much that he was sent off from court, to be with the general who was superintending the building of the great wall.

8. No attempts have been made by Chinese critics and historians to discredit the record of these events, though some have questioned the extent of the injury inflicted by them on the monuments of their ancient literature. It is important to observe that the edict against the Books did not extend to the Yih-king, which was exempted as being a work on divination, nor did it extend to the other classics which were in charge of the Board of Great Scholars. There ought to have been no difficulty in finding copies when the Han dynasty superseded that of Ts^n ; and probably there would have been none but for the sack of the capital, in B.C. 203, by Heang Yu, the most formidable opponent of the founder

10 THE CHINESE CLASSICS GENERALLY

of the House of Han. Then, we are told, the fires blazed for three months among the palaces and pu])lic buildings, and proved as destructive to the copies of the ^ Great Scholars/ as those ordered by the tyrant had done to the copies of the people.

It is to be noted^ moreover, that his life lasted only three years after the promulgation of his edict. He died B.C. 209 ; and the reign of his second son, who succeeded him, lasted only other three years. Then the reign of the founder of the Han dynasty dates from b.c. 201 : — eleven years were all which intervened between the order for the burning of the Books and the establishment of that Family Avliich signalized itself by the care which it bestowed for their recovery ; and from the issue of the edict against private individuals having copies in their keeping to its express abrogation by the Emperor Hwuy, there were only 22 years. We may believe, indeed, that vigorous efforts to carry the edict into effect would not be continued longer than the life of its author, — that is, not for more than about three years. The calamity inflicted on the ancient Books of China by the House of Ts^in could not have approached to anything like a complete destruction of them.

9. The idea of forgery by the scholars of the Han dynasty on a large scale is out of the question. The catalogues of Lew Hin enumerated more than V6fi00 volumes of a larger or smaller size, the productions of nearly 600 different writers, and arranged in 38 subdivisions of subjects. In the third catalogue, the first subdivision contained the orthodox writers, to the number of 58, with 836 Works or portions of their Works. Between Mencius and K'ung Keih, the grandson of Confucius, eight different authors have place. The second subdivision contained the Works of the Taouist school, amounting to 993 collections, from 37 different authors. The sixth subdivision contained the Miliist writers, to the number of six, with their productions in 86 collections. I specify these two subdivisions, because they embraced the Works of schools or sects antagonist to that of Confucius, and some of them still hold a place in Chinese literature, and contain many references to the five Classics, and to Confucius and his disciples.