Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/484

 472 CHINA (LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE) sisted of 100 chapters as it left the hand of Confucius, but nearly all the existing copies having been consigned to the flames by Che Hwang-te, the book burner, the now existing copies are the outcome of the mutilated frag- ments and half-suspected versions bequeathed to posterity by the first three or four centuries of the Christian era. Even in its imperfect state, however, it is a most interesting docu- ment, and apart from its historical charac- ter, and description of the great flood, it sup- plies more than hints regarding the principles of government, astronomy, music, agriculture, and other subjects of great importance to our knowledge of those ancient times. About 150 treatises, exegetical and illustrative, have been written about the Shoo-king as a whole or in particular portions. It has been translated into French by Gaubil (edited by De Guignes, Paris, 1770; also in Pauthier's Litres sacres de V Orient, 1841), and into English by W. H. Medhurst (Shanghai, 1846) and James Legge, D. D. (vol. iii. of "The Chinese Classics," Hong Kong, 1865). The third member of this pentateuch, the She-king, consists chiefly of a collection of ballads used by the people of the various petty states of China in ancient times, selected and arranged by Confucius, to the number of 311, of six of which, however, nothing but the name remains. The book is divided into four parts : 1, odes of the various states; 2, minor odes of the kingdom; 3, higher odes of the kingdom ; 4, temple hymns. From these stanzas we get more insight into the life and manners of the people in the early ages than from any other work extant. They are simple in composition, frequently descrip- tive of rural and domestic life ; many are martial odes, with covert political allusions, and hints at the prevailing state of society. Upon this also about 150 illustrative works have been written. It has been translated into Latin by Pre Lacharme (edited by Mohl, Stuttgart and Tubingen, 1880), and into English by Dr. Legge (vol. iv. of "The Chinese' Classics," Hqng Kong, 1871). The evidence for the Le-ke, or " Book of Rites," seems less satisfac- tory than that for the others. Subsequent to the book burning merely scattered fragments of the original work were to be found, till Tae Tih, a scholar of the 1st century B. C., made a collection of miscellaneous pieces, to the num- ber of 214 sections, only a small proportion of whidi, however, are believed to have be- longed to the work of Confucius. He reduced the collection to 85 sections, which has since been known as the Ta tae U. This was re- vised by his nephew Tae Shing, who reduced the whole to 49 sections, in which form it has been called the Seaou tae le, and has been transmitted from age to age as the Le-ke, and by imperial authority ranks as one of the five classics, though secondary in grade. It is the most bulky of the whole, and is replete with lessons and rules for daily conduct, public and private, bearing throughout the theory that true etiquette is but the manifestation of recti- tude of heart. More than 70 works are to be found illustrative of this book. There is a French translation by Gallery (Turin, 1853). The CK'un-ts'ew, the last of the five, is the only one actually written by Confucius, being the history of Loo, his native state, from 722 to 484 B. C. As an incipient effort in the art of history making, it appears to have called forth much admiration and eulogium in early times ; but, consisting as it does of a very bald detail of state occurrences, it can scarcely maintain a high position in the judgment of unbiassed critics. There are about 250 works illustrative of this text. (English, "The CWun- ts'ew, with the Tso chuen," vol.v. of "The Chinese Classics, by Legge.) Besides the special commentaries on the separate classics before referred to, there are about 80 exegetical works treating of all the five. In 1270 a work was published, called CJtoo tsze yu luy, in 140 books, consisting of the discourses of Choo He, as recorded by several of his disciples. From this Ching Chuen extracted and arranged the philosopher's elucidation of the five classics, which he published in 1725, under the title Choo tsze woo king yu luy, in 80 books. The name of Choo naturally gives much weight to this compilation. A sixth classic, under the title Y6-king, or " Book of Music," is spoken of in ancient times as also the work of Con- fucius ; but it is now lost, and the only vestiges on the subject extant are a section in the Chow-le and another in the Le-ke. During the T'ang dynasty a compilation was made under the name of the SMh san king, or " Thirteen Classics." In this collection three of the com- mentaries on the CKun-tdew were also admit- ted to the rank of secondary classics. Of these, the most important and best known is the Tso- chuen, by a scholar named Tso, supposed to have been a disciple of the sage. This is a narrative of events contemporaneous with the CK'un-ts'ew, but so fully developed, and so much superior to the latter, that it has been said, " In no ancient history of any country have we such a vivid picture of any lengthened period of its annals, as we have from Tso of the 270 years he has embraced in this work." The other two commentaries, named after their respective authors Kung-yang chuen and Kuh leang chuen, are much less known and read than that of Tso. The substance of both was handed down orally for centuries, but that of Kung-yang was put into writing about the be- ginning of the Han dynasty, and the Kuh leang chuen more than a century later. They con- sist chiefly of scholia and expositions of the text of the classic. A number of works have been written in elucidation of these three com- mentaries. Besides the " Book of Rites "above noticed, there are two other works of the same order, reckoned among the secondary classics. The Chow-le, or " Ritual of the Chow Dynasty," claims a very high antiquity, and has been at various times repudiated, and again accepted