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

2 The interval is upwards of 500 years.

1 A magician of the 6th cent. B. C., son of King Ling of the Chou dynasty. He is reported to have been seen riding on a white crane through the air as an immortal.

1 The Chinese Methuselah, who ia believed to have lived over 800 years, and to have been a great grandson of the legendary Emperor Chuan Hsü 2514 B. C.

1 Viz. received by man at his birth, when Heaven endows him with a body and the vital fluid.

2 This the Taoists say of their fundamental principle. ‘Tao is without beginning, without end’, says Chuang Tse chap. 17, p. 13, and thus the Taoists which have become one with Tao, are immortal.

1 A minister in Chin, 6th cent. B. C.

2 Quoted from the Tso-chuan, Duke Hsiang 21st year (Legge, Classics Vol. V, Pt. II, p. 491). The mother of Shu Hsiang spoke these words in a figurative sense, with reference to Shu Hsiang’s half-brother, and his beautiful mother, a concubine of her husband. [Couvreur, p. 369-370].Cf. p. 302.

3 A parallel passage, worded a little differently, occurs in Hsün Tse.

1 This fact is recorded in the Lü Shih ch‘un-ch‘iu and in Huai Nan Tse VII, 8v. Vid. also Lun-hêng Bk. V, p. 4 (Yi-hsü).

2 The Yellow Sea, east of China.

3 This story is narrated in the Han-shih-wai-chuan 150 B. C. and the Po-wu-chih, where the hero is called Tsai Chiu Hsin however.

1 The ‘Mountain and Sea Classic’, the oldest geographical work of the 4th or the 3rd cent. B. C.

2 The Taoist philosopher Shên Tao of the 5th cent. B. C., of whose works only fragments are left.

3 Cf. p. 170.

4 Chou Hsin, the last emperor of the Shang dynasty.

5 Ivory chopsticks are very common in China now, and no luxury.

6 Viscount Chi, one of the foremost nobles under Chou Hsin, 12th cent. B. C.

7 Dragon liver and unborn leopard would seem to have been considered great delicacies.

1 The historical period comprised by the Ch‘un-ch‘iu (Spring and Autumn) between 722 and 481 B. C.

2 A principality in Shansi.

3 A feudal lord under Duke Ch‘ou of Chin in Shansi, 530-524 B. C., whose successors became marquises, and at last kings of Wei.

4 The grand historiographer.

5 The family names Huan Lung and Yü Lung, which literally mean Dragon Keeper and Master of the Dragons, have probably given rise to this queer story.

6 The Lun-hêng calls the man Shu Sung. In the Tso-chuan his name is Shu An.

7 A small State.

8 The emperor K‘ung Chia 1879-1848 B. C.

1 T‘ao T‘ang was the princedom of the emperor Yao in Shansi, whose descendants took their clan name therefrom.

2 A noble who flourished under the Shang dynasty.

3 The modern Lu-shan-hsien in Honan.

4 This conversation between Viscount Hsien and T‘sai Mê on the rearing of dragons in ancient times is literally culled from the Tso-chuan, Duke Chao 29th year. Cf. Legge, Ch‘un-ch‘iu Pt. II, p. 731 [Couvreur].

1 Yiking Book I, Ch‘ien hexagram (No. 1). See also p. 279 Note 2.

2 A scholar of the 2nd cent. B. C. See Forke, p. 39.

1 A native of the Chin State, 5th and 6th cent. B. C. He twice made an attempt upon the life of Viscount Hsiang of Chao to avenge the death of his master, the Earl of Chih, whom Hsiang had slain. Both attempts failed. The second time he disguised himself in the way described here.

2 A disciple of Confucius.

3 A kind of monkey in western China.

4 This probably means that monkeys have an excellent memory.

5 Magpies are believed to know, whether the next year will be very stormy, for in that case they build their nests near the ground. Moreover, they announce future joy, hence their popular name ‘birds of joy’.

6 A quotation from the Biography of Lao Tse in the Shi-chi chap. 63, p. 2v.

1 The last paragraph of the Ch‘un-ch‘iu, Duke Ai 14th year, merely mentions the capture of a lin [Couvreur]. That it was a deer with one horn is recorded in the ‘Family Sayings’ of Confucius. See Legge’s transl. Vol. II, p. 834, Note.

2 73-48 B. C.

3 Cf. p. 304.

1 The usurper.

2 A political adventurer, cf. p. 115.

3 An enlightened sovereign, cf. p. 162.

4 Disciple of Confucius.

5 Cf. p. 304.

6 Huan Tan = Huan Chün Shan lived in the 1st cent. B. C. and A. D. He was a man of wide learning. Of his works the ‘Hsin-lun’ ‘New Reflections’ have been preserved.

7 The Confucian philosopher, cf. p. 391.

1 Shao Chêng Mao, a high officer of Lu, was later on executed by Confucius for high treason, when Confucius was assistant-minister (Shi-chi chap. 47, p. 9v.). Some say that Shao-chêng is the official title and Mao the cognomen. Shao-chêng might mean a sub-director, or an assistant-judge. (Cf. Huai Nan Tse XIII, 22 comm.) See also Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. V, p. 326, Note 7.

1 Cf. Chap. XXXIX.

2 Acridotheres cristatellus.

3 Vid. p. 359.

1 Shuking, Yi-chi Pt. II, Bk. IV, 9 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. I, p. 88).

2 This must be the name of an ancient work.

3 73-48 B. C.

4 A locality in Shensi province.

1 The princes of Hsin Ling and of Mêng Ch‘ang, cf. chap. XL.

2 Vid. p. 308.

3 A celebrated commander, who gained many brilliant victories over the Hsiung-nu. Died 117 B. C.

4 Cf. p. 168.

5 25-58 A. D.

6 32-6 B. C.

7 6 B. C.- 1 A. D.

1 530-515 B. C.

2 9 B. C. -23 A. D.

3 In modern Anhui.

4 A propitious bird which appeared to Wu Wang, cf. p. 130.

5 The felicitous plant, ‘ming chia’, was found in the court-yard of the emperor Yao. With the waxing moon it grew one now leaf every day, with the waning moon one leaf dropped every day.

1 In chap. XL we read Yüeh-Shang, which were a people near the Annamese frontier.

2 See above p. 360.

3 Chang T‘ang lived at the beginning of the 1st cent. A. D. Vid. chap. XXXVIII.

4 Tsêng Tse, the well known disciple of Confucius, cf. p. 164.

1 Cf. p. 336 Note 2.

2 I. e. ‘Yellow Stone’.

3 The favourite consort of the Emperor Pu Wang, 781-771 B. C.

4 On this legend, see p. 321.

5 Fan Wên Tse and Ch‘ung Hang Chao Tse, cf. p. 225.

6 The mother of Hsieh, the ancestor of the Yin dynasty swallowed an egg dropped by a swallow, and thereupon conceived. Cf. p. 318.

7 The mother of Great Yü is said to have conceived after having eaten pearl-barley. See p. 318.

8 Vid. p. 318.

1 There is no chapter on omens, ‘Jui-ming’, in the Liki now.

2 A similar passage occurs in the Han-shih-wai-chuan (T‘ai p‘ing-yü-lan) 2nd cent. B. C.

3 Shiking Pt. III, Bk. II, Ode VIII (Legge Vol. IV, Pt. II, p. 494) [Couvreur].

4 China possesses several varieties of hornless deer.

5 A tribe in Annam.

1 Cf. p. 113.

2 Style of the reign of the Emperor Ming Ti, 58-76 A. D.

3 Styles of the Emperor Chang Ti, 84-87 and 87-89.

4 This chapter must have been written prior to 84 A. D., so that the auspicious reign of the Emperor Chang Ti could not yet be referred to. The author made this addition later i.e. after 89, for it was not before this year that the emperor received his posthumous title Hsiao Chang Ti.

5 By the Five Birds perhaps the Five Phœnixes ‘Wu Fêng’, five different kinds of phœnixes, which differ by their colours, are meant. The ‘Fêng’ is red, the ‘Yuan chu’ yellow, the ‘Luan’ blue, the ‘Yü tsu’ purple, and the ‘Ku’ white. Whereas ‘Fêng’ and ‘Luan’ are still used as names for the phœnix, one understands by ‘Yuan chu’ a kind of peacock or pheasant, by ‘Yü tsu’ a kind of duck, and by ‘Ku’ the snow-goose or swan.

1 Shuking, The Announcement of Shao V, Bk. XII, 18-19. Wang Ch‘ung reads ‘alas’ instead of [].

2 Shiking I, Bk. IV, Ode IX, 2 where we read now ‘what can he give ?’ instead of ‘what can he be compared to ?’ [Legge] [Couvreur].

1 Yang Chu, the philosopher of egoism. The story referred to here is told in Lieh Tse VIII, 10v [Wieger]. A sheep had been lost on by-roads. When Yang Chu heard of it, he became thoughtful and changed countenance. No mention is made of his having wept. Wang Ch‘ung seems to have quoted from Huai Nan Tse XVII, 25v, who expressly mentions Yang Tse’s weeping.

2 Mê Ti, the philosopher of altruism. We read in his works : Mê Tse chap. 3, p. 4 (What colours) and in the Lü-shih-ch‘un-ch‘iu chap. 2, No. 4, p. 8 (Colouring) that Mê Tse witnessing the dying of silk said, heaving a sigh, ‘Dyed blue, it turns blue, and dyed yellow, it turns yellow’ and then he goes on to explain, how man also takes the colour of his environments, especially of those with whom he has intercourse, wherefore ‘colouring’ is a very serious affair. Nothing is said about his having shed tears.

3 So excellent were they all.

4 The last emperor of the Hsia dynasty, the type of a tyrant.

5 Po Yi and Shu Ch‘i, two brothers famous for their disinterestedness in refusing to ascend the throne of their father, lest the other should be deprived of it. Mayers No. 543.

6 An official of the State of Lu famous for honesty and upright character, often mentioned by Confucius.

1 The four classes, into which the ten principal followers of Confucius were divided. Cf. Analects XI, 2 [Couvreur].

2 A disciple of Confucius, whose full name was Tuan Mu T‘se alias Tse Kung, possessed of great abilities. He became a high official.

3 The name of the ancient copper coins, which first were called ‘metal’, not ‘gold’, as may be seen from the works on coinage.

4 This sword is said to have been fabricated by the famous blade-smith Ou Yeh in the kingdom of Yüeh.

1 A place in Honan.

2 This sword is the work of Ou Yeh of Yüeh and Kan Chiang of Wu, both celebrated sword-cutlers, who wrought it for the King of Ch‘u.

3 A place most likely in Chekiang, called ‘Sword river’ under the Sung dynasty. Playfair, Cities No. 4650.

4 The Tribute of Yü, Yü-kung, is also the name of a book of the Shuking.

5 Cf. Shuking Pt. III, Book I (Legge, Classics Vol. III, Pt. I, p. 127).

6 A principality in Hupei.

7 The time of this Marquis of Sui is unknown. His pearls are very famous in Chinese literature. According to one tradition the Marquis found a wounded snake, and cured it. Out of gratitude the snake presented him with a precious pearl, which shone at night. Wang Ch‘ung makes the Marquis produce artificial pearls himself.

8 A number of the sexagenary cycle used for the designation of years, months, and days.

1 Yen Ti is usually identified with Shên Nung and said to have been his predecessor, but we do not learn that he fought with Huang Ti for the empire.

2 According to Kang Hi, Kun [a] would be the same as [b] Kun, Yao’s Minister of Works, who in vain endeavoured to drain the waters of the great flood. His son Yü, who subsequently became emperor, succeeded at last in regulating the water courses. Here we seem to have a different tradition.

3 Six kinds of horses were distinguished in the studs of the Chou emperors, according to their height. Tcheou Li (Chou Li), trad. par Biot, Vol. II, p. 262.

4 There are many myths illustrative of the power of music. Hu Pa played the guitar, so that the fish came out to listen, and Po Ya played the lute in such an admirable way, that the horses forgot their fodder, and looked up to harken. Han-shih-wai-chuan, quoted by the P‘ei-wên-yün fu chap. 96.

5 The aborigines of China.

6 They were settled in modern Hukuang and Chekiang.

7 An allusion to Mencius Bk. III, Pt. II, chap. 6 [Legge][Couvreur], where the difference of the dialects of Ch‘i and Ch‘u is pointed out. Chuang and Yü were two quarters in the capital of Ch‘i.

1 The Ch‘i State was in northern Shantung, Ch’in in Shensi, and Yen in Chili. The characteristic of the inhabitants of these provinces is partly still true to-day.

2 King of the Wu State, 514-496 B. C.

3 Another name of the T‘ai-hu lake in Kiangsu, which consisted of five lakes, or five connected sheets of water.

4 The ruler of the Yüeh State, 496 B. C., who overthrew the kingdom of Wu.

5 A hero of enormous strength in the Chou epoch.

6 An official of great power under Han Kao Tsu, who subdued the arrogance and superciliousness of the princes and nobles by the ceremonial they were made to undergo at an audience before the new emperor. Shi-chi chap. 99, p. 7v.

1 Hemp, millet, rice, wheat, and beans.

2 The Five Cardinal Virtues : benevolence, justice, propriety, knowledge, and truth.

3 The heart, the liver, the stomach, the lungs, and the kidneys.

4 Human character, to wit the Five Qualities, depends on the volumen of the original fluid, the vital force, which shapes the Five Organs. According as they are bigger or smaller, the nature of the individual is different. This idea finds expression in the Chinese language. A man with a big heart is generous and liberal, with a small heart, mean. The fluid of the stomach is equivalent to anger.

5 Cf. p. 122.

6 In both cases the belt or girdle is the same indispensible part of a gentleman’s toilet, but the use made of it, and the results achieved, are quite different. The same may be said of human nature.

1 Human nature is like those houses. They are all houses, and serve the same purpose, but some are in good repair, others in a wretched state.

2 An ancient State in north Honan and south Chili.

3 The modern Chang-tê-fu.

4 A large tributary of the river Wei in Honan, near Chang-tê-fu.

5 A Chung, an ancient measure equal to 4 pecks = 1 bushel, as some say. According to others it would be as much as 34 pecks.

6 The capital of the Chou dynasty in Honan, the modern Honanfu.

7 Probably with pump-works.

8 The excellent man is like the river Lo. Streams of kindness and justice part from him.

9 She changed her domicile for the purpose of saving her son from the bad influences of the neighbourhood.

10 Chao T’o went to Yüeh, modern Kuang-tung, as general of Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti, and subsequently became king of the southern barbarians, whose customs he adopted. Lu Chia was sent to him by the first emperor of the Han dynasty to receive his declaration of allegiance.

1 His full name is Shih Shê. He was one of the seventy disciples of Confucius and a writer. The Catalogue of the Han-shu chap. 30 mentions twenty-one chapters of his pen. Faber in his Doctrines of Confucius p. 29 states that the title of the lost work of Shih Shê was ‘yang-shu’, and that he is said to have been a disciple of Chi Tiao K‘ai, whom vide.

2 All disciples of Confucius, whose writings were still extant during the Han dynasty, but are now lost. According to Liu Hsin’s Catalogue Fu Tse Chien alias Fu Pu Ch‘i wrote 16 chapters, Ch‘i Tiao K’ai 12, and Kung Sun Ni Tse 28.

3 Mencius Bk. VI, Pt. I [Legge][Couvreur].

4 The Viscount of Wei, a kinsman of prince Chou i. e. Chou Hsin, the last emperor of the Shang dynasty, who lost the throne through his wickedness and tyrany (1154-1122 B. C.).

1 The Yang Shê family was very powerful in the Chin State. Lady Shu had married one Yang Shê and was thus related to Yang-Shê Shih-Wo.

2 This took place in the Chin State in 513 B. C.

3 Mencius Bk. IV, Pt. I, chap. XV [Legge][Couvreur].

1 The spiritual nature, may be transformed, but not the physical one. Human nature is so wonderful, that even originally bad people may by much training become benevolent and just. Mencius seeing these wonderful results was misled into the belief that human nature was originally good.

2 Mencius Bk. VI, Pt. I, chap. II [Legge][Couvreur].

3 Either good or bad, not partly good and partly bad.

4 Analects II, 19 [Couvreur].

5 Analects XVII, 2 [Couvreur].