Page:The Spirit of the Chinese People.djvu/168

 I shall here select two articles from Dr. Giles latest publication and will try to show that if hitherto writings of foreign scholars on the subjects of Chinese learning and Chinese literature have been without human or practical interest, the fault is not in Chinese learning and Chinese literature.

The first article is entitled "What is filial piety." The point in the article turns upon the meaning of two Chinese characters. A disciple asked what is filial piety. Confucius said: se nan 色難 (lit, colour difficult).

Dr. Giles says, "The question is, and has been for twenty centuries past, what do these two characters mean?" After citing and dismissing all the interpretations and translations of native and foreign scholars alike, Dr. Giles of course finds out the true meaning. In order to show Dr. Giles harsh and unscholarly dogmatic manner, I shall here quote Dr. Giles' words with which he announces his discovery. Dr. Giles says:—

"It may seem presumptuous after the above exordium to declare that the meaning lies à la Bill Stumps (!) upon the surface, and all you have to do, as the poet says, is to

"When Tzu-hsia asked Confucius, 'What is filial piety?' the latter replied simply,

"'se (色) to define it, nan (難) is difficult,' a most intelligible and appropriate answer."