Page:Columbia University Lectures on Literature (1911).djvu/99

Rh is the literal translation; but it should be understood that a great many writers are represented in it whom we should call anything but philosophers, while others who might deserve that name, such as Confucius and Mencius, have been dealt with in the "Treasury of Classics." Its first subdivision, called that of the "Literati" {ju-kia), comprises a large number of writers on Confucianism, the best known among which is the great defender of this doctrine, Chu Hi. He and quite a num- ber of his literary friends were the disciples of Chou Tun-i, the founder of a kind of rationalism based on the theory of the male and female principles of the "Book of Changes," which he says emanate from one common source, the "Great Ex- treme," the ultimate immaterial principle of all things.

Special sections are devoted to writers on "Mihtary Science" (ping-kia), on "Legislation" (fa-kia), "Agriculture" (nbng-kia), "Medicine" (i-kia), and other branches. The "Military Science" Literature is, of course, destined to be set aside in order to be replaced by the more useful translations of works on European warfare. Similar experiences will be made in other branches, such as legislation, astronomy, and mathematics. The modern reform movement, initiated by the labors of K'ang Yu-wei and Liang K'i-chou, has already created a Literature of its own, and wall open up a new world to the Chinese mind within the next few decades. The reshaping of old methods in China is bound to affect Chinese Literature as much as political and social life itself, and many of the time-honored works figuring now on the shelves of the philosophical "Treasury" will serve as a source for historical studies only. In this respect, however, they will retain their eternal value. The philosopher Kuan-tzi will at all times hold his position as the politician who applied the statistical method to practical statesmanship as early as the seventh century B.C.; and works like the great Chinese pharmacopoeia, the Pon-ts'au-kang-mu of the sixteenth century a.d., as representing the entire stock of Chinese science reviewed histori-