Wang ch‘ung lun-hêng philosophical essays Traduits et annotés par Alfred forke

9 This does not mean the people of the royal domain of Chou, but the people of Wei (Honan), whose princes were descended from a side branch of the royal house, their ancestor being Kiang Shu, a younger brother of the Emperor Wu Wang. After the extinction of Chin, the Marquis Chêng of Chao conquered seventy-three towns from Wei.

10 It should be ‘of the seventh generation’, for King Wu Ling, who was married to Mêng Yao, was a descendant of Viscount Chien in the seventh degree.

1 Tai and Chih.

1 So far the story has been quoted from the Shi-chi, chap. 43, p. 7 seq.[Chavannes, Mém. Hist.]

2 Comp. p. 307.

3 Another name for Mount Mêng in Ta-tun-fu in North Shansi.

4 A Ti State occupying the confines of North Shansi and Mongolia.

5 Cf. Shi-chi, chap. 43, p. 11v [Chavannes, Mém. Hist.].

6 An earldom in the south of the Chin State.

1 Name of a mountain in Kansu and of an aboriginal tribe (Jung) settled there.

2 It must be ‘seven generations’.

3 Wu Ling’s reign lasted from 325-299 B. C.

4 In the Shi-chi, chap. 43, p. 19 [Chavannes, Mém. Hist.]. Wu Ching is called Wu Kuang. He was a descendant of Shun.

5 The passage seems to be corrupt. The Shi-chi says ‘Wu Kuang through his wife introduced (to the king) his beautiful daughter Ying Mêng Yao’ [Chavannes, Mém. Hist.]. First a palace girl, Mêng Yao, some years later, was raised to the rank of a queen. See on this passage Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. V, p. 68 Note 7.

6 Originally a part of Chin, in the modern Ting-Chou of Chili province.

7 These Hu tribes were settled in the northern provinces : Chili, Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu.

8 The stars, considered as the officials of God, the Ruler of Heaven, and as divinities.

1 Nobleman of the Lu State of the 6th cent. B. C.

2 This dream is narrated in the Tso-chuan, Duke Chao 4th year (537 B. C.) [Couvreur, p. 89].

1 In 456 B. C. (cf. above p. 226).

2 I. e. the viscounts of Han and Wei, who together with those of Chao had usurped the power in Chin.

3 Near T‘ai-yuan-fu in Shansi.

4 The Shi-chi calls this place Wang-tsê, which was situated in Chiang-chou (Shansi).

5 The personal name of Viscount Hsiang (cf. p. 226).

6 A mountain in Yung-an-hsien (Shansi) Ho-tung circuit.

7 The reading of the Shi-chi : ‘Marquis of Shan-yang (name of city) and Envoy of Heaven’ seems preferable.

8 A subdivision of the Hu tribes, probably Mongols.

1 A tributary of the Huang-ho.

2 One ‘pan’ block is said to measure 8 feet.

3 So far the narration has been culled with some omissions and alterations from the Shi-chi, chap. 43, p. 12 v. seq.

4 When the Hsia dynasty had begun to decline, two divine dragons made their appearance in the imperial palace, and said that they were two princes of Pao. Cf. Shi-chi, chap. 4, p. 25 (Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. I, p. 281) which quotes the Kuo-yü.

5 211 B. C.

6 A place at the bend of the Yellow River in Shensi.

7 A town half-way between Tung-kuan and Hsi-an-fu.

1 The Hao Lake was near Hsi-an fu, the capital of Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti, who is meant by the prince of the lake.

2 219 B. C.

3 The foregoing are extracts from the Shi-chi, chap. 6, p. 24v. seq.

4 On the south coast of Shantung.

5 The Shi-chi writes Yung-ch‘êng (loc. cit. p. 28). The Lao shan and the Ch‘êng shan are two high mountain ranges in Chi-mo (Kiao-chou) reaching to the sea. The Tu-shih fang yü chi yao, chap. 36 rejects the reading Yung-ch‘êng. The mountains must have been on the sea-shore, north of Lang-yeh and south of Chefoo, for this was the way taken by the emperor, as results from Lun-hêng Bk. IV, 9 (Shu-hsü) and Bk. XXVI, 1 (Shih-chih)

6 The Chefoo Promontory, forming the harbour of the treaty-port Chefoo.

7 According to the Shi-chi the emperor shot those big fishes with a repeating cross-bow (lien-nu), (on which cf. my article on the Chinese Cross-bow in Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie 1896, p. 272).

8 In the Chi-nan-fu prefecture, Shantung.

9 In Shun-té-fu (Chili).

1 As though under a spell or a charm, which is the supernatural.

2 Later Duke Wên of Chin, 634-627 B. C.

3 Banished from Chin, he lived for many years in other States.

4 This happened in Wei, whose prince had treated him discourteously.

5 Cf. Tso-chuan, Duke Hsi 23d year, where the incident is told, though with other words [Couvreur].

6 Called Tse Fan in the Tso-chuan.

7 An official of Ch‘i, who delivered his country from the invading army of Yen, in the 3rd cent. B. C.

8 City in Shantung, near Kiao-chou.

9 T‘ien Tan used a similar stratagem as Hannibal. During the night he fantastically dressed 1000 oxen, tied sharp blades to the horns and greased rushes to their tails, and lighting these rushes let them loose against the enemy, who were taken by surprise and completely beaten by the men of Yen following in the rear. Vid. the biography of T‘ien Tan in the Shi-chi, chap. 82, p. 3.

1 Therefore the death of the dragon implies the end of the emperor.

2 The Shi-chi chap. 8, p. 2v. writes Sse-shui, which was a district in the present Yen-chou-fu (Shantung).

3 A mountain near Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti’s mausoleum in Shansi, which was built by convicts.

4 The story is quoted from the Shi-chi, chap. 8, p. 5 [Chavannes, Mém. Hist.]. It is meant as a prophecy of the overthrow of the Ch‘in dynasty by that of Han. The Ch‘in used metal, to which the white colour corresponded, as the symbol of their power, whereas the Han relied on fire, which has a red colour. According to Chinese symbolism fire overcomes metal, ergo the Ch‘in were doomed to be overpowered by the Han.

1 The Five Planets which from ancient times were worshipped as deities. The Red Emperor is Mars, the White Emperor Venus.

2 699-694 B. C.

3 Duke Li had been forced to quit his country.

4 Cf. Tso-chuan, Duke Chuang 14th year [Couvreur]. The snake inside the city was killed.

5 Vid. above p. 230.

6 The Tso-chuan, Duke Chao 19th year (522 B. C.) relates :

« There were great floods in Ch‘êng ; and some dragons fought in the pool of Wei, outside the Shi gate. The people asked leave to sacrifice to them ; but Tse Ch‘an refused it, saying, ‘If we are fighting, the dragons do not look at us ; when dragons are fighting, why should we look at them ?’ [Couvreur, p. 302] (Legge Vol. V, P. II, p. 675).

1 Chang Liang had engaged a bravo to deal the blow with an iron club or mallet weighing 120 pounds.

2 In the modern P‘ei-Chou of Kiangsu province.

3 Instead of Sse the Shi-chi writes : ‘i’, the ‘bridge’.

4 In Tung-o district (Shantung).

5 The helpmate of Wên Wang, who had been invested with the marquisate of Ch‘i in Shantung (cf. p. 172).

6 The story is quoted from Chang Liang’s Biography in the Shi-chi, chap. 55, p. 1 v, but somewhat abridged.

1 A simple soldier who in 209 B. C. brought about an insurrection against Erh Shih Huang Ti, and assumed the title of a king of Ch‘u.

2 Liu Pang = Kao Tsu, at that time still governor of P‘ei in Kiangsu.

3 556-531 B. C.

4 A city in modern T‘ai-yuan fu (Shansi).

5 Tso-chuan, Duke Chao 8th year [Couvreur] (Legge Vol. V, Pt. II, p. 622).

6 Circuit comprising the northern part of Honan, north of K‘ai-fêng-fu.

7 See above p. 230.

1 Cf. p. 95.

2 The surname of T‘ai Kung, Wên Wang’s associate, who later on became prince of Ch‘i.

3 The personal name of Wu Wang.

4 Cf. p. 295.

1 A somewhat legendary character, mentioned by Chuang Tse chap. 9, p. 1 [Wieger].

2 For more details on this famous cook or butcher see Chuang Tse chap. 3, p. 1 [Wieger].

3 We might translate mental fluid, for here the mental functions of the vital fluid are referred to, which is the bearer of life as well as the originator of mind, animus and anima.

1 See p. 217.

2 The stars.

3 The constellations.

1 This seems to refer to the animals connected with the twelve cyclical signs (cf. p. 106). A man born under one of these signs is supposed to have been imbued with the same essence as the corresponding animal has.

2 Their views are too phantastic, as can be seen from their works.

3 A legendary ruler of the 26th cent. B.D.

4 According to the ‘Water Classic’ a river in the south-east of China.

5 This passage is not to be found in our Liki. According to the Pei-wên-yün-fu it is contained in the Sou-shen-chi (4th cent. A. D.).

1 The signs chia and yi.

2 In his commentary to the Ch‘un-ch‘iu, the Tso-chuan.

3 Four wicked princes were cast out by Shun into the four distant regions. winch were believed to be inhabited by devils. Tso-chuan, Duke Wên 18th year [Couvreur] (Legge, Classic Vol. V, Pt. I, p. 283).

4 Shan-hai-king XII, 1.

2 According to the Fêng-su-t‘ung of the 2nd cent. A. D. this story is narrated in the Huang Ti shu, the Book of Huang Ti. On New-year’s Eve the pictures of Shên Shu and Yü Lü are still at present pasted on the doorways as a talisman against evil spirits.

1 A legendary personage.

2 Two places in the Ch‘i State, in Shantung.

3 Prince P‘êng Shêng was a half-brother of Duke Hsiang of Ch‘i, who employed him to murder his brother-in-law, the duke of Lu. The people of Ch‘i put P‘êng Shêng to death. Cf. Tso-chuan, Duke Huan 18th year (693 B. C.) [Couvreur, § 2].

4 Quoted from the Tso-chuan, Duke Chuang 8th year, corresponding to 685 B. C [Couvreur].

1 Shuking, Hung-fan Pt. V, Bk. IV, 5 and 6 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. II, p. 325 and 326).

2 All weird things are manifestations of the Yang, the solar fluid, which is fiery.

3 The Yang principle is male.

4 The Chinese believe that popular songs and sayings foretelling future events, of which they have collections, are supernatural inspirations or revelations. Hence they bring them into connection with ghosts or supernatural beings. Wang Ch‘ung falls back on the Yang principle as the origin of those quaint ditties.

5 The Yin fluid is the rain.

6 The sun is eclipsed by the moon, which belongs to the Yin fluid.

7 659-626 B. C.

8 The South is the land of the sun, the Yang principle.

1 The foregoing futile speculations are based on the gratuitous analogies, in which Chinese natural philosophers, starting from the Yi-king, indulge.

2 Heir-apparent to Duke Hsien of the Chin State, by whom he was put to death in 654 B. C. We learn from the Tso-chuan, 10th year of Duke His [Couvreur], that in 649 the ghost of the murdered prince appeared to an officer of Chin, and spoke to him. He told him that in seven days he would have a new interview with him through a wizard, and that he would take his revenge on Duke Hui of Chin. Cf. p. 203.

3 The Earl of Tu had been unjustly put to death by King Hsüan of the Chou dynasty, 826-780 B. C. According to a legend the ghost of the murdered man appeared to the king while hunting. He was dressed in red, and carried a red bow and red arrows. One of these arrows he shot through the king’s heart, who died on the spot. Cf. Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. I, p. 278 Note 2. Vid. also p. 202.

4 See p. 202.

5 By which Yeh Ku of Sung was killed. Cf. chap. XLI.

6 The thoughts of ghosts, uttered through the mouth of boys, singing queer songs, or mysteriously written on stones.

7 Cf. p. 220.

8 See above p. 244.

1 Duke Chien of Yen, 503-491 B. C. p. 202 speaks of Duke Chien of Chao and Lun-hêng Bk. IV, p. 5 of Viscount Chien of Chao.

2 See chap. XLI.

3 Duke Hui of Chin, 649-635 B. C. In 644 the duke was taken prisoner by Ch‘in.

4 Cf. p. 208.

5 Wei K’o was a commander of the forces of Chin in the 6th cent. B. C., with which he worsted those of the Ch‘in State, and took their strongest man, Tu Hui, prisoner. He was supported during the battle by an old man twisting the grass in such a way as to impede the movements of his enemies. This old man was the spirit of the father of a concubine of Wei Ko’s father, whom he had saved from death. Out of gratitude for the kindness shown to his daughter the spirit thus contributed to his victory and to the capture of Tu Hui. Cf. p. 211.

6 Vid. Shi-chi chap. 9, p. 8v. The Empress Lü Hou was bitten by a grey dog, which suddenly vanished. The diviners declared it to have been the phantom of Ju I, Prince of Chao, whom Lü Hou had assassinated. Lü Hou died of the bite [Chavannes, Mém. Hist.].

7 T‘ien Fên, Marquis of Wu-an, a minister of the Emperor Han Wu Ti had in 140 B. C. caused the death of his predecessor and rival Tou Ying. The ghost of the latter appeared to him, when he was about to die. The general Kuan Fu’s death was likewise the work of T‘ien Fên. Cf. p. 217.

1 In Huai Nan Tse. Cf. p. 89.

2 A legendary being of prehistoric times.

3 A mythical emperor.

4 The Pu Chou Mountain forms part of the K‘un-lun, which latter is also called ‘Pillar of Heaven’(T‘ien-chu).

5 The sister of the mythical emperor Fu Hsi.

6 To wit from east to west.

7 The ocean is in the east of China.

8 Cf. Lieh Tse V, 5v. [Wieger] ; where this old tradition is told with almost the same words.

1 The Five Sacred Mountains of China : Tai-shan in Shantung, Hêng-shan in Hunan, Hua-shan in Shensi, Hêng-shan in Chili, and Sung-shan in Honan.

2 These are still believed to have been preceded by a dynasty of sovereigns of Heaven, and of sovereigns of Earth, all fabulous beings.

1 Supposing heaven to be a spirit or a human-like living being.

2 A scholar of the 4th cent. B. C. who wrote on cosmogony and geography. See Forke p. 19.

3 The well known chapter of the Shuking [Couvreur].

4 Literally the ‘Red Region’.

5 The ‘Divine Circuit’.

6 Minor Seas.

7 Ying-hai.

1 Cf. p. 330.

2 The Four Seas supposed to surround the habitable land i.e. China.

3 The Four Sacred Mountains : Tai-shan, Hêng-shan, Hua-shan and Hêng-shan in the East, South, West, and North of ancient China. The Sung-shan in the Centre is omitted. See above p. 251.

4 The Taoist philosopher Huai Nan Tse cf. p. 335.

5 Chap. IV of Huai Nan Tse’s work.

6 The ‘Mountain Book’ = Shan-king forms the first five chapters of the ‘Mountain and Sea Classic’ = Shan-hai-king, which tradition ascribes to Yü and his minister Yi, but it is probably not earlier than the 4th or the 3d cent. B. C.

7 Shi-chi chap. 123, p. 19v.

8 This book is now lost.

9 The Shi-chi has 2,500 Li.

10 The Shi-chi writes : ‘the Sweet Wine Spring and the Jasper Lake’.

11 Chang Ch‘ien started on his famous expedition in 122 B. C.

12 These subjects are treated in the chapter entitled the ‘Tribute of Yü’.

13 The Shi-chi writes : The Shan-hai-king.

1 Chih [] must be a misprint, for such a character is not to be found in the dictionaries. We ought to read Mou []. Yin and Mou were two districts of the Kuei-chi circuit comprising Chekiang and parts of Anhui and Fukien under the Han dynasty. Yin was in the south-east of Mou, both situated in the present Ningpo prefecture. (Cf. Kanghi’s Dict.)

2 Tsou Yen’s assertion.

3 I. e. the habitable land or China.

4 Loyang is considered the centre of the world i. e. China.