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CHINESEPHILOSOPHY.1 INTRODUCTORY.
HINESE
philosophy
Chinese derstand
customs,
is as peculiar as the Chinese and it is difficult forWestern
or to appreciate character of the Celestial
its nature
the national
its paramount influence upon It is a rare mixture Empire.
of deep thought and vain speculations, of valuable It shows us a noble beginning and a subtleties. start and a dreary stagnation ; a promising grand poor
harvest.
were
so much
The
heroes
admired
that
of thought who none
language and people to un
dared
to excel
laid
ideas and useless lame progress ; a seed-time and a its foundations,
them,
and
thus
be
fore the grandeur of the original genius which looms up in the pre historic age, the philosophy of all later generations is dwarfed into timid insignificance. are naturally conservative because their written and is the task of inflexible, language rigid rendering forming new words extremely difficult. And the people who are hampered in The Chinese
in their conception of new forming new words are also hampered new ideas and the discovery of truths. But let us remember that this drawback
of script is only an incidental consequence Consider that whatever changes there advantages.
of the Chinese
its extraordinary
may have been in Chinese speech, i. e., in oral language, the Chi nese scholars of to-day can read without great difficulty the books that were written two and one-half millenniums ago. Moreover, their ideographic
script is more
2The
characters
Clarke
Chinese
of the Stationers'
impressive that appear
Engraving
and direct than our phonetic
in this article were
Company,
Chicago,
111.
made
by Mr.
H.
H.
CHINESE
of writing inwhich
method
PHILOSOPHY.
189
the lettersmust be translated
into sound
they can be understood by the reader. Dr. Morrison in the introductory remarks to his dictionary (p. 11) :
before
'' As
sight more
quicker,
is quicker
of sound.
progress sociations
than hearing,
striking, and vivid, The
is considered,
upon
the mind with
guage
is incapable."
character beautiful
a vivid
flash
than
so ideas reaching those which
forms a picture and
impressive.
the mind
reach which The
; a force and a beauty,
the mind really
says
by the eye
are
by the slower
is, or, by early as
Chinese of which
fine writing
darts
alphabetic
lan
it is not the rigidity of their language alone that is at the basis of the Chinese conservatism, it is also the simplicity of the fundamental ideas of theirworld-view and the striking symbolism in But
they are expressed and which makes it impossible for the Chi to think in any other modes of thought than their own. The inviolable power of their tradition is further strengthened by an im
which nese
perturbable patience and unbounded reverence for the sages of yore. The former renders the people submissive tomany unheard-of abuses on the part of the authorities, while the latter keeps them in faithful adhesion
to established
conditions.
the highest ideal of Chinese thinkers has been to bow inmodesty and submission to the insuperable gran Criticism is very meek, originality deur of their ancient traditions. From
time immemorial
is strangled ere it can develop, and any attempted pro It is as gress beyond the old masters appears to them as insanity. In a if a Christian would dare to be better or wiser than Christ. of thought
civilisation is saturated with the belief in word, the whole Chinese the divinity, the perfection, and the unqualified excellence of its institutions. and principles, doctrines, In the following pages we shall attempt to delineate in large outlines the philosophy that underlies the Chinese civilisation, and we hope that itwill not only enable the reader to comprehend how are hampered by their mode of notation in both their thought-symbols and their language, but that he will also learn to For, appreciate the causes which produce Chinese conservatism. the Chinese
so much that ap indeed, there is in the Chinese world-conception peals to us as self-evident and on a priori consideration as a matter
THE
MONIST.
that we can understand
of course,
how difficult it is for the Chinese
to free themselves themselves
from the rigid forms of their traditions and adapt to the more plastic modes ofWestern thought.
THEYANG(^T ANDTHEYIN^?r turn ancient Chinese were distinguished by a mathematical while the literature of all other nations begins with For,
The of mind.
lore of some kind, the oldest docu religious hymns and mythological ments of the Chinese exhibit arithmetical devices, two among which
are knownas the Ho T*ul and the |||rf| |^J" or River" and "the of the
map
Ho,2
[yellow]
Loh shu>"the jjjjjji of the
writing
(river)
Loh."
All Chinese
scholars who have attempted to reconstruct the and the writing of the Loh agree in adopting a dual map istic system, which conceives the world as the product of means YIN.8 YANG and Yang "bright," and Yin "dark." Jj^> Yang is the principle of heaven, Yin is the principle of earth. Yang is the sun, Yin is the moon. Yang is, as we should say, positive ; Yin of the Ho
is negative.
is, as
Yang
the Chinese
say,
masculine
and
active
;
Yin
is feminine and passive. The former is motion, the latter is rest. Yang is strong, rigid, lordlike; Yin is mild, pliable, submis wifelike. sive, Yang was originally represented by a small, bright (o), Yin by a small, dark circle ( ), but in their combina " tions these symbols were replaced by full and broken lines, "?
circle
"?."
and
of Yang and Yin are called the two I or "ele mentary forms," and the four combinations of the two / in twos are called the four Figures or Siang.4 They are as follows :5 The
symbols
1The
spiritus asper in T'u indicates that the T must tain vigor or emphasis. French and German sinologists is misleading in English. scription, however, the River,
2Ho,
3H^f
side'of
stands
forHoang
Ho,
the yellow
be pronounced spell "Thu,"
4See
shows the symbols "place" and "spreading";
Mayer's King
Chinese Readers App.
V.,
Chap.
Manual, VII.
pp.
tran
river.
a hill."
? Yih
with a cer which
293 and
309.
|^?^T
is "the shady
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE
of
Groups
the small Yang
the small Yin
the great Yang
or more
three
I9I
the great Yin are
forms
elementary
called
Kwa1
The eight possible trigrams, or permutations of three I, possess are as to Legge) their own names and meanings, which (according follows : REPRE SENTED BY THE
STANDINGFOR
or sky.
chi?n.
Heaven
tui.
Lake (water collected a basin).
1?.
Fire
chan.
Thunder.
(the ning).
sun
Horse.
Strength.
or
in
light
or
Pleasure tion.
satisfac
Pheasant.
Brightness. Energy
Goat.
or mobility.
siuen.
Wind.
Penetration.
k'?n.
streams of water Moon, inmotion, clouds, rain.
Sinking
down,
kan.
Mountain.
Arrest,
standstill.
kwrun.
Earth.
Compliance
Dragon. Bird.
danger.
Pig. Dog.
or docility.
Ox.
the things in the world, man included, are thought to be In this way the Chinese compounds of Yang and Yin elements. All
philosophy has become a theory of permutation, and the origin of all things is traced to a change in the combinations of Yang and Yin.
FUH-HI Y? f?j ^\)\?|j| AND As to the map of the Ho and the writing of the Loh, we must state at once that nothing definite is known concerning their original form and significance. Only this much is safe to say, that tradition Fuh-hi, unanimously connects the former with of and China the of founder the Chinese emperor legendary 2The divine."
character
shows
on
the left-hand
side "batton,"
the first civilisa
on the right "to
THE
192
MONIST.
tion (about 3322 B. C, according to another calculation about 2800 B. C), Y? the Great (about 2200 B. C), and the latter with the founder of the second Chinese dynasty. are told of a great deluge that devastated the country un one the virtuous Yao, the last emperor but of the first dynasty;
We der
and that Kwen,
the Minister
waters.
was
ofWorks,
labored
in vain to control the
for life to Mount Y? in 2286 B. C, intrusted to his son, Y?, who at last, after nine succeeded in draining the floods. Emperor years, in 2278 B. C, successor the and of Emperor Yao, in disregard of son-in-law Shun, his own sons, raised Y? to the position of joint regent in 2224 B. C, Kwen
banished
while his duties were
to him the empire. When Shun, in 2208 B. C, bequeathed died, Y? observed a three years' period of mourning, whereupon he assumed the government, in 2205 B. C. and
Much may be legendary in the records of the ancient history of the Chinese, but there is no doubt that Yao, Shun, and Y? are his torical personages. They represent an epoch of civilisation which, probably inmore than one respect, has never been reached again by the Chinese. Public works, such as regulating the course of great rivers,
were
undertaken,
and
the
sciences
of mathematics
and
astron
of the sun and moon were calculated ; omy flourished. Eclipses we know that the brothers Hi and Ho observed and calculated the planetary revolutions ;l and we possess in the Shu King documents and moral stamina. that give evidence of manliness There is, for instance,
the speech2 delivered by Y?'s worthy son and successor, in 2197 B.C., which reminds us of Frederick the Great's
at Kan
Ch'i,
to his generals before the battle of Leuthen. No are that still remembered of in the wonder these days pristine glory " the heaven of Yao and the sun of Shun," proverbial expression, famous address
which
denotes
the highest prosperity
If theMap ofHo
are not to be attributed
to
we can safely trust the old
imaginable.
and the WritingofLoh JjgjJ )^ the Fu-Hi and Y?
Emperors personally, so as at to least far tradition, say, that
1 Chinese Reader's Manual, Part I., No. Mayer's 2Sacred Books the East, III., pp. 76-78. of
900.
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE
193
(whatever their nature may have been) belong to the ages represented by Fu-Hi and Y?.
these two documents
AND THE KWA ancient kwa-philosophy, as we may call the system of com prehending things as permutations of the two principles Yang and The
Yin, plays an important r?le in the thoughts of the Chinese people and forms even to-day the basis of their highest religious conceptions, its help the their scientific notions, and their superstitions. With origin of the world is explained, a forecast of the future is made.
rules of conduct are laid down and
we have to the original meaning of the kwa-philosophy, not character, only in various positive evidence of itsmathematical but also and of Chinese traditions, suggestions mainly in the nature As
of the kwa
It is to be
themselves.
times of war and civil disorder rupted.
Says
regretted, however, that in the historical connexion was inter
in his introduction to Cheu-tsz*'s
Chu Hi
T'ai
Kih
T'u:1 the Cheu
"After Kho
[which
(dynasty)
ruled
1122-255
B.C.]
died, the tradition of this doctrine was not continued. " When further the T'sin were succeeded by the Han,
and T'ang,
the five planets
met m
and erudition,
the sage
The
at our Sung
so as to arrive
the K'wei
[the dynasty
passing
under which
so as
(constellation)
[Cheu-tsz']
perished
and Meng
the T'sin,
Chu Hi
in an age of science
to usher
came."
oldest work of Chinese
literature which
embodies
losophyofYang and Yin is theYih King (or simplythe ^?j of i. the book e.,
Sin,
lived] and
the phi
Yih),
permutations.2
In the Yih King we find the eight trigrammatic kwa combined into groups of hexagrammatic kwa, resulting in eight times eight or sixty-four permutations, every one of which has its peculiar name and significance. 1See Gabelentz's
means
To
the sixty-four permutations
German
edition
of the T'ai
Kih T'u,
p.
of the kwa hexa 14.
2 3pfn (king) signifiesa classical book of canonical authority;and J^(yih)
"permutation"; form. The its archaic
gists, does not always
the character
translation convey
shows
"change," the right idea.
the sun above
which
the moon,
is commonly
adopted
the latter in by sinolo
THE
194
MONIST.
grams an explanatory text is added consisting of seven lines.1 The as a first line, written by Wen Wang,2 applies to the hexagram the and written have Cheu reference whole, remaining six, Kung,8 by to the six sundry lines of the hexagram, counting the lowest line as the first and the topmost as the sixth. The full lines, representing Yang, are called *tt, kiu\ the broken lines, representing Yin, are luh.* There
called
can be no doubt about
it that in its present form the Yih King is chiefly used for the purpose of divination. The most ancient commentaries of the Yih King have been ap pended to the book in the shape of three double and four simple ad the Ten Wings. The first addition of two sections, is commonly ascribed toWen Wang, the second called Siang, to his son, Cheu Kung, while the rest belong to later periods, containing expositions ascribed to Confucius. ditions
called
called Trwan
The Yih King mystery of which
is one of the most enigmatic
books on earth, the
by many beyond all hope of solu tion ; and yet it exercises even to-day a greater influence over the than does the Bible minds of the Chinese in Christian countries. is considered
Its divine authority is undisputed and every good Chinese is confi that it contains the sum of all earthly wisdom. There is no Chinese scholar who cherishes the least doubt that there is any truth dent
in science or philosophy that could not be found in, and rationally from, the Yih King. developed The oldest mention of the Book of Permutations ismade in the official records of the Cheu nasty in 1122 B.C. read : We
There
the Yin dy dynasty, which succeeded three versions of the Yih are mentioned.
1The first and second kwa are exceptions. They possess an addititional eighth line, which refers to all the six I together. 44 2Wen means or "scholarly," he who pursues the arts of i. e., scholar, Si Peh, means the Wen received title Wang Wang "king." posthumous peace." His proper name is Chxang\ but as it is not respectful i. e., "Chief of theWest." to use the proper name, he is commonly called "Wen Wang." 3Kung means son of Wen Wang 4The
"duke." ; his proper
original meaning
of
Cheu Kung (i. e., name is Tan. kin is "nine,"
the Duke
of S\
of Cheu)
was
"six."
the fourth
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE "The
Diviner
Grand
figures were
them the primary
Books
to sixty-four."?Sacred
The
had
charge
the rules
of
the Kwe?
the Lien-shan,
called
permutation),
for the three Yih the Yih of Cheu
ts'ang and
eight which were multiplied p. 3. of the East, XVI,
third mentioned
version
in each
of the Yih
(systems
of
; in each
of
till they amounted
is ascribed
toWen
and his son Cheu Kung (1169-1116).1 Wang, (1231-1135 B. C), a man of unusual piety and stern justice, was the Wen Wang, most powerful vassal of the last ruler of the house of Yin,2 called Cheu Sin, "the dissolute tyrant." When Wen Wang had excited the wrath of Cheu Sin and of his equally brutal consort, Ta-Ki, by expressing disapproval of some of their atrocities, he was imprisoned, but after three years released through the intercession of his son F?, afterward called Wu Wang.3 The latter sent rich presents to Cheu Sin and with them a beautiful girl, forwhose sake the tyrant in prison at Yew Li, gladly acceded to the requests of F?.4 While in 1143 B. C, Wen Wang studied the hexagrams of Fuh-Hi, and comforted himself with the propitious prophecies which he believed he discovered When
Wen
in their mysterious died, F? Wang
lines.
inherited his father's kingdom. so intol the tyranny of his suzerain, Cheu Sin became own even brother the erable that the tyrant's Kfi, prince ofW?i, fled to his court and appeared before him with an iron chain round his
Meanwhile
neck.
this event no choice was
After
He had Wang. either to betray the confidence of Kfi or to resist the unrighteous In the spring of the year 1121 B.C. he offered tyranny of Cheu Sin. a solemn sacrifice to Shang T?, the Lord on High,5 and marched his suzerain.
against 1The
ancient
surnamed
Wu
the more modest is also named
emperors or T? ; but title of King or Wang.
the rulers of
the
Shang.
(i. e., the war
Wang
at the ford of
the Hoang-Ho
are called
rulers of China
dynasty Hia preferred 2The Yin dynasty 3F?,
crossed
He
leftWu
king),
was
the oldest
son of Wen
Wang. "
4Cheu
name
Sin The
Show."
(the dissolute " word Cheu"
of the principality 5
peror,
I
(shang)
sovereign.
of "Cheu,"
"above," The
tyrant) is a posthumous in the name Cheu Sin after which
title. is not
the Cheu
dynasty
or "supreme, in heaven," "high " t?" is doubtful. of
etymology
is proper name the same word as the
His
is called. Lord,
em
THE
ig6
MONIST.
Cheu Meng-tsin and gained a decisive victory in the plain of Muh. Sin shut himself up in his palace, at Luh Tfai, ordered his servants to set it on fire and died in its flames in the year 1122 B. C. Thus the Yin dynasty was superseded by the Cheu dynasty. Cheu Kung, Wu Wang's younger but more famous brother, contributed much of the Cheu dynasty as chief counsellor, toward the consolidation first ofWu Wang imperial
and and
nephew
then of Ch'ung, i, e., "the Perfecter,,, his to the throne after Wu Wang's
successor
death.1
There
to be no question that the founders of the Cheu the traditional Kwa systems; and and rearranged
seems
dynasty revised the Yih of Cheu,
is according to undisputed tradition, the Book of Permutations which is extant to-day. two schemes of the eight trigrams in the Tradition preserves inwhich south is always top shape of a mariner's compass-card, most.
The
older scheme
Wen Wang.
Their
arrangements
Fig. i. The Trigram According
Fuh-Hi's
to Fuh-Hi.
table shows
so that each couple and three broken lines.
anced,
We
are unable
to Fuh-Hi,
is ascribed
and the later one to
are as follows :
Fig. 2. The Trigram According
the Yang of opposed
to Wen Wang.
and Yin
symbols evenly bal kwa is made up of three full
to say why Wen Wang
changed
the more natural
order of the Fuh-Hi were arranged 1See Victor
system. Probably he argued that if the world in the evenly balanced way of the traditional scheme,
Strauss's
German
translation
of the Shi-King,
pp.
39-44.
CHINESE
itwould
not move,
PHILOSOPHY.
but remain at rest.
I97 Thus
he naturally might that change which is the condition of have come to the conclusion the actual universe can only be due to a displacement of the regu larly arranged order which would represent the elements of exis tence in a state of equilibrium. that are met with One of the arrangements of the hexagrams in all the larger editions of the Yih King, consists, as can be seen in the appended
diagram,
of a square
surrounded by a circle.
Fig. 3. The Kwa of Fuh-Hi Arranged
in Square
and Circle.
the sixty-four permutations of the hexagrams are in the order of what may be called their natural succession ; arranged that is to say, on substituting for broken lines zero (o), and for full In the square
lines the figure "1," we can read the hexagrams as a series of num bers from o to 63, written in the binary system. The topmost figure in the left corner represents zero, i. e. 000000; and reading from
THE
MONIST.
the left to the right, we have i, i. e. oooooi; 2, i. e. 000010; 3, i. e. 000011 ; 4, i. e. 000100 ; etc., until 111111, which, in the decimal sys tem, is 63. The which Thus
circle
contains
symbols so arranged that those another yield always the sum of 63.
face one
diametrically i. e. =
heaven,
the same
or
and
63,
earth,
i. e.
=|
or
zero,
are,
the
former at the top, the latter at the bottom of the circle. Beginning zero at the bottom, the numbers ascend from 1 to 32, after which they reach, in the topmost place, opposite the zero, the num with
ber 63 ; thence they descend to the right in backward order from 62 to 31, which is the neighbor of zero. Chinese authors inform us that the square represents the earth, while the circle that surrounds the square symbolises heaven. There
is another arrangement
as follows :
63
64 62
61
60
5g 57
58
55
56 54
53
52
51 49
50
47
48 46
45
44
43 41
42
39
40 38
37
36
35 33
34
29
28
303231
16
of the hexagrams,
262527
23
24 22
21
20
19 17
18
15
14
13
12
11
10
21
876543
Fig. 4. The Hexagrams
According
to Wen Wang.
9
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
from the right on the bottom line, the sixty-four Beginning kwa1 are arranged in the order of the Cheu version, ascribed to The design exhibits in the even columns the inverse King Wen. arrangement of the kwa of the odd columns, with this exception, that whenever an inversion would show the same figure, all the Yang lines are replaced by Yin lines, and vice versa. is the inverted Thus the hexagram No. 44, called "K?n" " " " while in No. 1, Kwai =, Kfien," s hexagram No. 43, called 2. in No. is changed into " Kwan" 11 1The bination
names and significance of the several hexagrams depend upon the com " " of the two trigrams of which each one consists. Thus, No. i is sky upon means and successful which the active viz., great display principle doubled,
"sky," the receptive principle doubled, which of energy. No. 2 is "earth" upon "earth"; No. 3 is "rain"above means, "thunder," fertility, stability. great receptivity, are constant, but threatening means im to those who fulness, boding prosperity " " above "fire, pending danger to those who venture to move, etc. No. 49 is "water which means contrasts that confront one another ; to boil ; to transform (implying the nature of water). that fire changes The names of the hexagrams, according
to a Japanese authority (in the Ta in the sense given by Western ka-shima-ekidan), sinologists, mainly interpreted ; 2. kw'un, earth, (in his Yih King), are as follows : 1.KHen% sky, success by Harlez ; 3. chun, fulness ; 4. meng, infancy, growth ; 5. hs?, expectancy, danger stability; 6. song, litigation, lawsuit ; 7. sz?, an army or a commander ; 8. fi, ; friendship ; 11. T'?i, ; 10. //, to march 9. hsi?o chuh, being clouds but no rain, little progress
12. p'ei, obstruction, no obstruction; to be besieged; 13. thong zkin, penetration, 16. yilt satis ; 14. tai yu, great, power ; 15. kH?n, condescension; union, fellowship ; 18. ku, care, business, ; 17. sui, faithfulness, obedience faction, grandeur, majesty ; ; 20. kwen, manifestation, ; 19. lin, dignity, authority show, appearance agitation 21. shi h?h, slander, censure flash of light ; 23. poh, oppres ; 22. pi, embellishment, ; 24. f?h, reaction, return ; 25. w? wang, openness, sion, deprivation sincerity; 26. tai ; 27.1, to sustain, to feed ; 28. ta kwo, rising of the great ; 29. cftuh, accumulation
33. kxan, difficulties; 31. hien, harmony; 30. li, brilliancy; 32. hang, endurance; to retreat, to live in obscurity; fun, 34. ta chuang, great strength ; 35. tsHn, to advance ; 36. ming i, descent, eclipse, stars ; 37. kid zhin, family; 38. k'wei, oppo deliverance; sition, contrariety; 39. Men, difficulty ; 40. kieh, escape, 41. sun, to distribution; abate, to lessen ; 42. yih, aggrandizement, 43. ku?i, dispersion, gain; to meet; 47. k'wan, distress; 45. tsui, to assemble; 46. shang, to ascend; to transform ; 50. ting, fire 48. tsing, a well ; 49. koh, water over fire, to renew, over wood, caldron; 53. chien, to in 51. chan, thunder, terror; 52. kan, firmness; ; 56. l?, a ; 55. fang, wealth ; 54. kuei, to give in marriage choate, tomove apace ; 59. hw?n, $7. s?n, pliability, meekness; 58. tui, rejoicing stranger, a traveller; 44. k'??,
to squander ; 60. chieh, law, moderation ; 61. chung, the right way, in ; 64. wei ; 62. hsi?o kw?, excess in small things ; 63. ki tsi, consummation tsi, non-consummation. translation of the names of the sixty-four kwa, as given here, only ap [The with in this article.] the system elsewhere agrees proximately employed to flow over, the middle
THE
200
MONIST.
If regarded as binary numbers, the order of King Wen's reads in decimal numbers as follows : 2i
42
13 44
12
51
50
19
52
11
9
36 29 46
54
27
26
22
24
6
31
62
35
49
20
10
53
43
40
5
60
15
28
14 45
18 30 33 57 39
32
I
41
37
3
48 25 38
4
8
61 47
7
56 55 59
16 13 58
17 34
o
AND THE
SPIRIT
TORTOISE
THE MILFOIL ^
square
63
divining stalks1 and the tortoise-shell have been in use in China for the purpose of divination from time immemorial, for the in the oldest documents of the practice of divination is mentioned " Shu King,2 where Y? recommends the trial by divination." The
The outfitfordivining the divining by the stalks of zjH** ^jj^ consists of six little blocks
plant (Ptarmica Si?iric?)
oblong (like toy being, on two sides, divided by an incision after construction-blocks) the pattern of the broken line of Yin and smooth like Yang lines on
the two remaining sides ; further, of fifty wooden stalks, a little thicker than knitting-needles. The six blocks represent Yang lines if the smooth side, and Yin lines if the incision, method of divination as prescribed by the Book shima Ekidan "
First
fectly aright erently. are
ematical
of all, wash in a quiet
Fifty
the holy
your
hands
room, and
sticks make
implements
changes.
Tokio,
(Keigyosha,
Take
a
which out
and
reveal any
mouth,
clean
set, and of
your
take hold of itmust
let
body, and sit per ' ' sticks very rev
the
be remembered
the Almighty
stick and
The
in the Taka
1895),
the will
single
of Eki
is as follows :
then you may
complete
is uppermost.
it stand
through
that they their math
in the stickholder,
lShi tsao the "divining is a species of shi "milfoil" the plant" -^j^ '* same plant which at the tomb of Confucius. is cultivated The symbol "milfoil " " is composed on man of the three characters the "old in the middle, "plant top, " or "to speak" and mouth" at the bottom. 2Part III., p. 50. II., Book II., ? 2 ; Sacred Books of the East,
CHINESE
20I
PHILOSOPHY.
one is referred to This particular is to be placed on the centre of the table. ' ' Hold the lower ends of the remaining the Great Origin. forty-nine in your left
which
and
hand,
of the sticks,
the thumb being
fingers
to be applied
from outside.
turn your
sole
breath, make
to receive
Almighty
At
thing else.
to you
the whole
his order,
the moment
and
sticks
its apex
feeling at the moment
like that which
being
one feels when
This
the feeling specified. tion, the only way
thumb.
electric
currents
thoughts
division
communicates
not be
the Al
to describe, It is
he feels
trial of descrip
a continued
through
is
heart
with
is impossible
baffles every
idea being
the
divide
must
his sticks at the very instant when
the exact
the
to any
flow through his limbs.
of communication
point
of acquiring
one
your
suspend
the purity of one's
when
when
your
The
Now
in interview with
is at its apex,
of the communication
that one shall divide
necessary
absolutely
the moment
is, in other words,
The
mighty.
your eyes,
of heart
your purity
the other
your forehead.
that you are
that the moment
here
be observed
close
not diversify
further, do
when
or from inside, and
thing above
and pure, be sure
solemn
into any two groups with your right-hand
voluntary. 4' It must at
Lift
fingers to the
your right-hand
Apply
nearest
to the affair to be divined,
attention
yourself
ends.
the upper
slightly dovetail
middle
practice
and consequent dexterity of the student. 4' to the 'Heaven the set of the sticks is in two groups, which Now, correspond ' ' * or 'Positive and Negative, and Earth, in the terms of the 'Eki. Place the right take out one
hand group on the table, and the ring finger and
between of
'Three Figures,*
the
four times two by two, or eight been
finished,
there will
one on the little finger. gram. " "
If one remains If two remain
"If ' If ' If '4 If
three remain four remain
: it is to be
a number
remain This
you have you have you have you have
counted
remainder
of sticks
Here
Count each
cycle being of cycles
less than eight,
including
of
that
the left
the destined
has the dia
' 4 Ken (===). ' ' Da (?5=). Ri' ' Shin
(SE). ' (=E).
you have
44 are the eight emblems These 1 k Water J Mountain,* and 'Earth' the present
is to be held
any number
a complement
gives
one
; the figures being
in cycles,
When
sticks per cycle.
* ' Son (SS). ' 4 six remain you have Kan (S5). ' 4 44If seven remain you have Gon (==). 4 44 Kon If eight or naught remains you have five remain
This
and Mankind.*
'Heaven, Earth,
namely,
group with your right hand
hand
from the group.
the little finger of the left hand
remainder the Japanese
is called
of 'Heaven,
' '
(5 5).1
in their order.
The
the ''Inner Complement,
pronunciation
'
'Pond,
of the Chinese
'
' *Fire,1 Thunder, trigram and
' 4 Wind,%
corresponding
is to be placed
terms is preserved.
at
to the
THE
202 bottom
and
The
the diagram.
of
trigram
above-stated
at the top of the diagram.
is to be placed
plete diagram of six elements. 4' is now before The destined diagram The
in the 'elements.'1
change
the mode
fore, except
tained expresses of the elements first, and 'You
the top one have
now
Here
chosen.
of the diagram
is numbered
you
to be counted to be
the element
the first element
Now
and
; the only thing left is to observe out
each
the sticks
cycle
is the same
The
If your
remainder
the
as be
of six sticks,
consists
per cycle.
that is to say,
the
of a com
you are in possession
; if two, the second
from below,
to be repeated,
the 'Outer Complement','
is called
of dealing
them.
of counting
that three times two by two are obtained
method
is now
process
remainder
to the second
corresponding
MONIST.
remainder
so
thus ob
is one, you have
element,
the bottom
etc. The
order
element
is the
the sixth. thus obtained
an element
of a diagram."
thus obtained a definite element in a definite hexagram, Having to the book and reads the sentence belonging to it. turns the diviner in reply to his of in the the light expositions interpreted question, two most The whole the hexagram. important given concerning are the second and the fifth lines, because lines in the hexagrams they constitute the centre of the two trigrams of which the whole is is to him
sentence
This
and must
the oracle
that he receives
be
The fifth stroke, representing the efficacy of the upper composed. or heavenly power, is always favorable, and wherever it is obtained, it bodes to the divining person luck and unfailing success. In Divination by the tortoise-shell is in principle the same. the empty shell of the sacred species of Emys, three coins
tortoise, Shan Kwei? which is a small are shaken and thrown out in a dice
to their showing heads or tails, an element is determined, and from a con of one of the sixty-four hexagrams to the element of 'thehexagram, templation of the sentence attached as applied to the given situation, the outcome of the proposed action like manner.
According
is anticipated. The Chinese
conception of the spirituality of the divining stalks and the tortoise shell is expressed in the third Appendix of the Yih King as follows : 1 Viz.,
tended
"
of the particular
line in the hexagram."
while and "to extend"; shan, consists of "divine" =f|^ " of a tortoise the general appearance (Williams).
to represent
kwei,
is "in
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE
heaven
"Therefore tage
of
them. and
changes Y?).
Heaven
bad,
and
(The
; and
the sages
out its (brilliant)
hangs
the sages made
things,1 and
and
of) heaven
operations
transformations
(so many)
by
them (by the means
imitated
are seen good
figures from which
their emblematic
took advan
the sages
are marked
earth
the
of
fortune and
accordingly."
interpretations
officially in China by imperial diviners. of Y? that Shun submitted the question of
is practised
Divination We
the spirit-like
produced
203
read in the counsels
to divination, and abided by its decision in somewhat the same way as among the Israelites problems of grave importance were settled by consulting the oracle of Urim and Thummim. succession
The
of the Great Plan
seventh division
struction to rulers concerning Officers having and
predict
been
and
chosen
the milfoil
the stalks of
are
the inner and outer diagrams. 44 In all there are seven
for divining
appointed
to be charged
up, cloudiness,
rain, clearing
gives the following the practice of divination :
want
to execute
of connexion,
(examinations
by the tortoise-shell
their duties.
are
to interpret
lowed. 44 When consult
the indications,
through
: five given by the shell,
of doubt)
you have
with
your
doubts
about
high ministers
the consensus
and
any great matter, and
about
a course,
welfare of your person 44 If you, theshell,
it is called
and good and
fortune
the stalks
consult with
officers ; consult with
a great concord,
and
the common
the result will be
agree, while
agree, while
the result will be fortunate. and officers, oppose, ministers 44 If you and the shell agree, while the stalks, with the ministers
undertakings '4 When be good 1The
people,
oppose,
peo the
and officers and
the ministers
internal operations
will be fortunate,
you and
you, with
the
and officers, and
external
unlucky. the shell and stalks
fortune
in being
divining
are both
still, and active
stalks and
the divine
to the views
opposed
operations
of men,
will be unlucky."
tortoise-shell
; ;
people
to your descendants.
the result will be fortunate. the common people oppose, 44 the shell, and the stalks If the common people,
the common
three
your own mind
the common
the result will be fortunate. the common people oppose, 44 the shell and stalks, agree, while and officers, with If the ministers
and
and
of two of them is to be fol
consult with the tortoise-shell and divining stalks. 44 and officers, and If you, the shell, the stalks, the ministers ple, all agree
will
They
and disturbances,
two by the stalks ; and through them all errors can be discovered. 44 The officers having been appointed, when the divination is inaugurated, men
in
there will
THE
204
MONIST.
In justice to the original Chinese conception of divination we must state that itwas not intended to discover future events, but to for execution ascertain whether or not certain plans contemplated The
be propitious. spiritual, not because
would
tortoise-shell
the stalks are called
and
they were supposed to be animated by spirits, but because, like books and pens, they can be employed for the fixa tion and clarification of thought. Sz' Ma, the most skilful diviner in (fifteenth century), is reported to have said to Shao Pring : dynasty
the time ofTs'in Ming
' What
is possessed
intelligence
by their connexion
is a withered
tortoise-shell than things.
with men.
not
Why
The
bone.
by
things spiritual
divining
listen to yourself
are
? They
stalks are so much
are but
They
in the Lin Chi of the
things, and man
instead of seeking
intelligent
withered is more
(only)
grass
; the
intelligent
(to learn) from things ?
"
Spiritual accordingly does not mean possessing spirit in the sense of being animated ; it means that which is significant or is of meaning. possessed THE MAP OF HO
f?f
OFLOH )tlfjANDTHEWRITING
The firstauthenticpassages inwhich
themap ofHo
^jjj" j^j thewriting of Loh are mentioned, date as far back as the age of Confucius. We read in the Yih King, Appendix III., 73 : and
"The
Ho
forth the map,
gave
and
the Lo
the writing."?S.
In the Lun Y? Confucius *' The
(the Confucian Dialogues), said in an hour of dejection :
bird Feng
does
I am disappointed
again
not
longer
reappear,
from
V.,
B. E.,
XVI.,
7, we
the river no map
p. 374.
read
comes
that
up
in my expectations."
first author who appears to have given a definite shape to of the map of Ho and the writing of Loh is K'ung a descendante Confucius (second century, B.C.). He Ngan-Kwoh, The
the legends
1This terference
means
in other words
has ceased.
The
bird
that divine
in by a direct supernatural 6) is like the Phoenix a mythical the Chinese great events. Feng,
revelation
(see Fig. Feng is said to announce
creature whose appearance artists. The female Phoenix, and lung, the dragon, are favorite subjects of Chinese of the Phoenix is called Hwang, hence the generic term Feng-Hwang, is the which emblem of conjugal the dragon Lung, (see Fig. 5), is the emblem of happiness. power ; hence it is the imperial coat-of-arms.
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
205
that emerged from the waters of the speaks of the dragon-horse on its back an arrangement of symbols, Yellow River and presented Concern whence the divine ruler Fuh-Hi, derived his philosophy. adds that while Y? was ing the writing of Loh, K'ung Ngan-Kwoh to him in draining the flood a spirit tortoise appeared engaged a on a of divi scroll of writing and which "carried its back system sions, in both respects exhibiting the numbers up to nine." There is but one celebrated Chinese scholar, Ow-yang Sin, who ventured the Sung
to express disbelief dynasty devoted
in the legend while the schoolmen of themselves to a reconstruction of the
Fig. 5. Lung, the Dragon. (As it appears in " the imperial standard.) The lung is the chief of ' It symbolises thewatery principle scaly beings.' of the atmosphere. Cosmogonists mention four kinds. In addition we read of the yellow dragon (the same that emerged from the river Loh) and the azure dragon.
(After a from the
Fig. 6. The Bird Feng. Chinese drawing. Reproduced Chinese Repository.)
map of Ho and the writing of Loh. The schemes that have gradually been accepted are the two diagrams reproduced on p. 206 from a Chi nese edition of the Yih King. They were elaborated by Ts'ai Yuen Ting who lived under the Hwei Tsung dynasty (1101-1125 A. D.). The Ho Tfu, or map of the Ho, according to Ts'ai Yuen-Ting, shows the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 in white dots or Yang sym bols, and
2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 in dark dots or Yin This is based upon the theory of the Con
the even numbers
(See Fig. 7.) symbols. fucian commentary of the Yih King, which '
The
number
1 belongs
to heaven, '' The
numbers
belonging
The
numbers
of these
five.
5 ; to earth,
tions), and each
one
has
another
to earth,
7;
to heaven two series
2 ; to heaven,
; to earth,
to heaven
6 ; to heaven,
reads as follows :
are
five, and
correspond
that may
8 ; to heaven,
those belonging
to each
be considered
3 ; to earth,
9 ; to earth,
4 ;
10.
to earth are
other (in their fixed posi its mate.
The
heavenly
2o6
THE
numbers
amount
to 25, and
together
amount
to 55.
effected, and
MONIST. to 30.
the earthly
It is by these
the spirit-like
agencies
The
that
numbers
the changes
and
of heaven
and
earth are
transformations
in movement."
kept
iff I
m
1
+
<> Fig. 8. The Writing
Fig. 7. The Map of the Ho.
of Loh.
(According toTs'ai YOang-ting;
reproduced from a Chinese edition of the Yih King.)
arrangement of the twenty-five positive or Yang and thirty or Yin elements, is such as to make five the difference in negative an(* Ior Yin each group of dots. When we substitute forYang +, The
?,
the Map
of the Ho
as follows :
appears +
7?2
= +
.8+
=?
3
-10
5 5
+
5 -6
+
? + 9 4 = + 5
1
The writing of Loh, reproduced (Fig. consists of a magic square as follows : 9
8) from the same source,
2
5 7 I
The
sum of each
cally, horizontally,
6
line of three numbers
and diagonally,
is fifteen.
in any direction, verti
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
207
Although these two arithmetical devices of the map of Ho and are spoken of as the writing of Loh according to Ts'ai Yuen-Ting we more popular find another and almost commonly accepted, scheme of unknown origin and perhaps of greater antiquity, accord ing to which the map of Ho on the back of the river-horse is said to exhibit the eight kwa, as represented in the adjoining illustration (see Fig. 9), and the writing of Loh on the back of the tortoise is identified with the five elements
(see Fig. 10). above the dragon horse reads from the right to inscription e. the left "Lung ma fu t'u," i. dragon horse carrying map. The
Pio. 9. The Dkaoom Home
Carrying the Map.
The five elements
^
water, wood,
Fio. io. The Tortoise
with the Writing.l
accordingtoChinese notions,are "f"J'
fire, metal,
and earth.8
1Drawn The
in the possession after the photograph of a specimen of Dr. H. Riedel. of the five elements which might be similarly traced in various ways, for the purpose of showing it at a glance. emphasised,
writing
is unduly
"a step with the left foot,' "element" exhibits two characters, J hing=s The elements, step with the right foot," which combined denote "motion." are "the moving ones," or "the active agents." accordingly, and
"a
shut,
muh,
hwo,
kin,and
T'u. Shui="water"
>fc ?^fC " is in its original form the picture of three ripples ; muh=s the picture of wood," " " '' = a tree with its roots ; hwo fire represents an ascending flame ; T'u =" earth " " the place on which to stand ; and kin =? denotes metal or gold is said to contain " '' come from the ground. the character T'u = the metals because earth,
2o8
THE
in old Chinese
They were,
\
MONIST.
characters,1 written as follows :
)KAt?
need little imagination to trace these characters on the shell of a tortoise, such as sketched in the drawing on page 207 (Fig. 10). The five elements play a very important part in the thoughts of In their symbolical significance they represent the the Chinese. We
properties
or actions
to be inherent in them.
that appear
Their in the
for it is mentioned
is of considerable
antiquity, of the Shu King. Tseu Yen, a philosopher who lived in the fourth century before Christ, is reported to have composed treatises on cosmogony and the
conception Great Plan
sages who wrote on the same of the first century before Christ, and Pan
influences of the five elements.
Other
subject are Liu Hiang Ku of the first century after Christ. When
an idea has once gained a foothold in the Chinese mind, it is the case with the notion of the five elements, which
Such
stays. forms an ineradicable Cheu-tsz',
bodied
the
most
part of the Chinese thinker
independent
world-view, of
later
so that even
generations,
em
it in his philosophy.
THE GREAT
PLAN
|/>
jf^
IN NINE IN NINE DIVISIONS DIVISIONS /U
The Count of Chi, the grand master at the court of Shang, in the time of the tyrant Cheu Sin, said once that if ruin overtook the house of Shang, he would never be the servant of another dynasty. Having displeased Cheu Sin, he was put into prison, and when the former died in the flames of his burning palace, his conqueror, Wu from prison, but the latter, the grand master released Wang, to acknowledge his liberator as the Wu Wang, honoring the indepen legitimate sovereign of China. dent spirit of the Count, allowed him to leave the country for faithful to his vow,
Corea,
refused
the Count and invested him with that territory. Hereupon to appear at the court of Cheu, when consulted by
felt constrained
1 In the so-called and
are rounded
seal characters, at the corners.
the forms of shut and muh appear
less angular
CHINESE
lator, Professor Legge,
ministration
the great model
the people
by which
their condition,
says:
means
Plan
Great
the method with
209
on the principles of government, and communicated to Great Plan,1 with its nine divisions. Its trans
Wu Wang him the
"The
PHILOSOPHY.
through
may
for the government
be rendered
the perfect
happy
character
and
of the nation,? in harmony
tranquil,
of the king, and
his perfect
ad
of government."
The Great Plan is preserved among the documents of Cheu, : but it is generally supposed to be of much older date. Says Legge "That
the larger portion
of
it had
improbable.
The
use of the number
the various
divisions
of the Plan,
his Counsels.
We
the Plan
its divisions
with
are
come
nine
are
down
and
other
in harmony
told in the introductory
from the times of Hsi? and
numbers,
with Yii's
sentences
is not
the naming
of
style and practice or God
that Heaven
in
gave
to Yii."
is interesting as a sample of Chinese philos Its metaphysical basis consists in a mystical play with num ophy. ; it bers, the reasons of which can no longer be fully appreciated a contains great ro?ny confused notions of physics, mixed with The Great Plan
and astrology, and in addition some very practical tions for the moral conduct of rulers. The nine divisions2
divination
are as follows :
Great Plan 1. The * The
receive
seeds
that which
five elements.?They
nature
to be
wood,
of water
and yield harvests. and ascends
blazes
sour
and harvesting
2. Reverent
are characterised
is to soak and descend
or straight
crooked
straight becomes sowing
injunc of the
That becomes
; that which comes
; of metal, which bitter
as follows :
; of fire, to blaze
to yield and soaks
change
and descends
; that which
yields and changes
becomes
and ascend ; of
becomes
is now crooked acrid
; of
the earth,
and
to
salty
; and from seed -
sweetness."
attention
scribes (1) for deportment,
to the five points of conduct.?It pre a reverent attitude, for pro speech, (2)
immense," but in connexion with hung, literally "vast, /??=plan, is commonly translated The consists of "water," character "great." is the same radical as in the names Ho and Loh, and of "all," which its original sig See Williams, "inundation." nificance being Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese
m.
the word
Language,
2
p. 236.
= 'P^T (c^eu
" '' '' division) consistsof field and long life.
;
now
THE
210
MONIST.
priety, (3) for seeing, clearness tion, (5) for thinking, acumen.
of vision, (4) for hearing, distinc By the observation of these five
points of conduct will be insured (1) gravity, (2) decorum, cumspection, (4) discernment, (5) wisdom.
(3) cir
to the eight objects of government.?They are (1) the provision of food for the people, (2) the acquisition of wealth, (3) the performance of sacrifices, (4) the regulation of labor, (5) the organisation of instruction, (6) the suppression of crime, (7) 3. Earnest
devotion
of guests, and (8) the maintenance of the army. are (1) the year, (2) the five arrangers of time.?They moon, (3) the sun, (4) the planets and the zodiacal divisions, and (5) calendar calculations. the entertainment 4. The
5. The
'' Without
th? royal way.
Without
selfish prejudice,
Pursue
the royal path. deflection, and
partiality,
Level
and easy
Avoid
perversity,
ideal of royal
it is a command "All will, will
by carrying say:
nations
'The
and
under
6. The
avoid
deflection
avoid
straight
one-sidedness
(Ever)
is unalterable
excellence, excellence. and
implies
a command
;?yea,
on High.
of the people,
of Heaven " the sky.'
:?
is the royal way.
turn to this perfect
perfection
;?
is the royal way.
seek for this perfect
it into practice,
Son
partiality;?
(Ever)
of the Lord
the multitudes
avoid
long is the royal way.
Avoid
Correct
This
halting,
selfish preference,
Pursue
Broad
in the
the royal righteousness.
Without
Avoid
without
deflection,
Pursue
'
is characterised
ideal of royal perfection.?It
following lines :
instructed
partake
in this ideal of perfect
of the glory of the Son
is the father of the people,
and
excellence,
of Heaven.
They
the sovereign
of all
three virtues of a ruler are righteousness, severity, and firstmust be practised in times of tranquillity, the
The
clemency. second serves to put down minded persons.
disorder,
and
the third applies
to high
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
211
7. The examination of doubts prescribes the directions of divi nation, as explained above. (See p. 203.) 8. The eight ways of verification are astrological rules for the Rain, sunshine, heat, cold, and wind prevention of misfortunes. must be seasonable, lest evil originate. Gravity in deportment pro duces rain, propriety sunshine, prudence heat, circumspection cold, and wisdom wind, each in season. The king should examine the year, the ministers
themonths,
the officers the days, in order to insure If the seasonableness is interrupted, there will
peace and prosperity. be failure of crops and misgovernment. If great men are kept in ob The chapter concludes: stars "The scurity, there will be unrest. by the people at large. Some stars love wind, love rain ; the courses of the sun and moon determine
should be observed and others
winter and summer.
The way
inwhich
the moon
follows the stars
produces wind and rain." are (1) long life, (2) riches, 9. The five sources of happiness (3) health and equanimity, (4) virtue, and (5) obedience to the will of heaven; and the six sources of misery are (1) shortness of life, and (6) lack (2) sickness, (3) anxiety, (4) poverty, (5) wickedness, of character.1
In spite of its lack of system and its diverse aberrations from the straight path of sound logic, the Great Plan has exercised, on account of itsmoral ingredients, a beneficial influence upon the de Yet even here there is a drawback, in so far velopment of China. as the basis of Chinese ethics consists merely in reverence for the past, for parents, and for authority in any form ; it lacks the most essential elements that give character to conduct, which are inde pendence of thought, the courage of individual responsibility, and bold progressiveness.
THE T'AI KIH,
?t?
THE ULTIMATE
GROUND OF EXISTENCE.
insufficiency of the dualism which finds expression in this contrast of the Yang and Yin principles, must have made itself felt The
1It is hard sources.
to understand
why
in one
case
there are five, and
in an other
six
212
THE
MONIST.
very early, for the Chinese philosophy, as it appears in all the clas The Yang and sics, exhibits a decided tendency towards monism. are
thought to have originated in a process of differentiation from the T'ai Kih, which is "the grand origin," der Urgrund, the source of existence ; Gabelentz translates it,das Urprinzip, Legge and
Yin
other English sinologists, "the grand terminus," or "the grand extreme.'' Its symbol is a circle, thus O or "grand," The word T'ai, is akin to Ta, "great" " " or that the great greatness is not of size, but "largeit implies of dignity. Kih1 as follows :
defines the word
Gabelentz "
or
Kih originally signified, as is indicated by its radical 1 in the gable of a house. wood the Because '), ridge-pole the term is used
the building, go beyond
means
the roof, Kih
idea of neutrality, Chinese
words
verb, means
of all
or
'goal,'
possess
on
the functions
'very, highly,
and extreme over
parts
as a verb,
extremely';
we
Since
points.
tree,'
As
of speech.
'to reach
cannot
on the other
latter meaning
this nor on that side.
of various
'
75,
it is the topmost part of
to descend
This
'turning-point.'
is neither
which
topmost
but only cross
the top of the gable,
is No.
(which
is well Thus
the goal,
side of
implies
the
known,
the
as ad
Kih,
"
to exhaust.'
in the body of the mentioned text of the Yih King, but is commonly believed to be implied in its secret teaching. This opinion appears to have been established as early as the time of Confucius, '' Therefore
elementary eight
forms
trigrams.
their determination
in the Yih [viz., Yang The was
eight
who
is contained and Yin]. trigrams
produced
is reported to have
the great The served
origin, which
two elementary to determine
the great world."?Yih
said :
produced
the two
forms produced
good and evil, and King,
App.
III.,
the from
?? 70-71.
Legge criticises the author of this paragraph, because there is no way of deriving the full and broken lines, representing Yang and The Yin, from the circle, and we grant that there is a gap here. from the Yang-and-Yin dualism to the monism of the did not find its appropriate symbol. Nevertheless, we can understand that the idea necessarily originated. Wang P?,2 a cele transition Kih
T'ai
S. D. also Williams, of the Ch. L., p. 393. 2 P? died at the early age of twenty-four years, his authority in Although Wang the mystic lore of the Y?h King was so great that he is looked upon as the founder of Chinese Reader's Manual, the modern school of divination.?Mayer's I. /., No. 812. ^ee
CHINESE
brated scholar '' Existence
must
in non-existence,
begin
the two elementary
produced
is the denomination
of what
forms.
means
As
Terminus
the grand
Kih, it cannot
that exists as an analogous
by
terminus] the text
be named,
term for the Thai KV
comment,
Khung
Ying-t?
' Thai K\
:
says
[viz. T'ai
Kih]
subtle matter, that formed the one chaotic mass before heaven and ' divided in L?o-tsze's T?o-Teh ; and then he refers to certain passages
the original
earth were
identifies the Thai K\
and
King,
a material
meaning.
its being
immaterial,
defined
course
The
of God. to that of
here
According 'Heaven,'
reproduce
from the Great Extreme, reproduced in anyWestern
Fig. ii.
This
the Supreme to jOang-tsze of which
seem
would
of the Sung
it l?, the principle
of things, now T?,
ual working
Power
or God,
now all
so many
Hi'sS\
insist on
now
shan,
t?o, the
the spirit
these names
are
to
different concepts."
a diagram of the evolution of the Kwa which, so far as we know, has never been translation of the Yih King.
from the Great of Kwa-Evolution (From a Chinese edition of the Yih King.)
eight characters to the left :
to Th?i K\
however,
in nature,
[Confucius],
they express
to give
school,
of order
The Design
The
Fuh ^
with his Tao.
later philosophers
now calling
be referred
We
^
the Grand
therefore
[viz. T'ai
(as quoted
:
adds
Wang's
"Expanding
and
Th?i K\
has no denomination.
takes the extreme point of anything
Professor Legge
213
dynasty (born 225 A. D.),
of theWei
ib.) says :
Legge,
PHILOSOPHY.
of the title in Fig.
six-
11 read from the right
ty|Z?| four
(or in theirdevelopment)/j^ represented.
Extreme.
Kwa ff\ serially
THE
214
MONIST.
marginal notes from below upward read "the great ex four Siang or treme," "the two/" (or primordial forms), "the The
"the
figures," "the
kwa,"
eight
kwa,"
sixty-four
kwa."
"the
sixteen
kwa,"
"the
thirty-two
inscriptions in the two large black and white rectangles " " immediately above the circle read from the right to the left yin in the second line from below consisting of two black and "yang," The
and two white
"the
great yin," "the small yang," "the in the third line "ch'ien, tui, l?, chan, great yang," kan, and kw'un," which are the names of the eight rectangles,
small yin," "the siuen,
k'an, as
Kwa,
The
above.
quoted
thirty-two
Kwa
have
no
names.
The
names of the sixty-four hexagrams are written in the Chinese original over the small sixty-four rectangles at the top. They are here omit they would have appeared blurred in the present repro duction, which is considerably reduced. If we fold the diagram in the middle we find that the yin and ted because
yang differentiations of the great origin cancel one another and the This symbolises the omneity whole world sinks back into nought. of the zero, which will illustrate what Chinese thinkers mean when they speak with non-action,
reverence
of the great nothing, and
of non-existence,
of Nirvana.
To
of emptiness, them
of
it represents
It is that which remains the omnipresence of the Deity in the All. in the in all law apparent changes, unchanged irregularity and in the relative, the chaos, the eternal in the transient, the absolute in the particular, and rest inmotion. are not accustomed to negative terms in just this sense, We are not entirely absent inWestern but they literature. Thus Goethe universal
says
:
1* Und
alles Dr?ngen,
Ist jw'ge
THE MONISM The the T'ai
alles Ringen
in Gott dem Herrn.11
[Yet all
the strife and all resistance
In God,
the Lord,
OF CHINESE
monism
Ruh'
's eternal
PHILOSOPHY, PHILOSOPHY.
rest.]
OR CHEU-TSZ'
'S
^
implied in the unitary and ultimate principle of Kih was worked out by Cheu Tun-i, commonly called Cheu
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
tsz', i. e. Cheu
the Sage, who lived 1017-1073. We do not hesitate to say that Cheu-tsz' is the first systematic thinker of China ; he " Prince the deserves in honorary title, Tao-Kwoh-Kung, certainly the Empire
of Reason," conferred upon him after death. Lao-tsz' more more be Mencius Confucius versatile, may influential, deeper, none of them ismore precise but none of them is more methodical, than Cheu-tsz', and there is only one and clear in comprehension in this particular line, is his equal : his great disciple, Chu Hi. and his school have systematised and completed the
who,
Cheu-tsz'
of the Chinese. Whatever philosophical world-conception cient traditions may have been, they are now understood as interpreted by Cheu-tsz' and Chu-Hi. Cheu-tsz'
has written
the an in China
a famous booklet, T'ai Kih Tu,
or the
diagram of the Great Origin, which is excellently translated into German by Georg von der Gabelentz.1 Cheu-tsz* has written a great number of works, but besides the T'ai
Kih T'u, to our times.
only that has come down trea T'ung S/iu,2 or "general
there is one other booklet
is the jj=? an tise," which found expositor in Chu-Hi first sentence of the Tung Shu reads : This
A. D.).
(1130-1200
The
1Tai Tu Kih /y* Ts chu-HV s Commentare.
des Urprincipes mit J?B pt?Tf des Tscheu Tsi, Tafel Dresden, 1876. 1' T'u nature is the first chapter of the Sing ti ta tseuen (literally, The T'ai Kih " '' in full or, better, ") published completeness, philosophical encyclopaedia principle in 1415 by the third sovereign of the Ming dynasty.
2 universal,abstract, "f^f*Shu, writing, treatise,book. jijjj Tung, general,
Shu is the second chapter of the Sing ti ta tseuen. Tung an abridged edition of the at the request of Emperor Ranghi philosoph was in both treatises of Cheu-tsz' were again em ical encyclopaedia 1717, published in their complete form together with Chu-Hi's in the collection bodied annotations. The
When
This
in which the high esteem proves as their opinions are recognised
indeed,
8The preceding
second word, into a noun,
word
, che, means just as does
these two thinkers are held
the standard
of Chinese
in China,
and,
orthodoxy.
or "substance"; "thing," the English word "one"
it changes its in such clauses
2l6
THE
MONIST.
a deep and after all clear and true idea is expressed in these simple words ! And yet Cheu-tsz* 's treatise will be disappoint reader, for in the progress of his exposition our ing to aWestern What
interprets virtue in terms of the Yang philosopher He says in ? 2 : "
is the Ch'ien's
Great
source
(It is) Truth's
All
origin.
and Yin
thence derive
things
system.
their beginning
!"
indeed
Ch'ien is the first combination of three Yang elements, (=), jjj^ Kw'un and stands in contrast to (= =), the pure combination of three Yin elements; the former symbolises "heaven, virile strength, creative power"; the latter, "earth, manhood, stability, woman This is one striking instance, among innu hood, productiveness." merable others that can be found inChinese literature, of how deeply even the most powerful minds, with the sole exception of Lao-tsz', are entangled in the Yang and Yin philosophy that looms up at the mythical beginning of Chinese civilisation and still rules the thought of the Celestial
Empire to-day! condenses the contents
Cheu-tsz*
in a diagram
Extreme
we
which
here
treatise on the Grand
of his
reproduce.
"It
is in the spirit of coalescence,
commentaries
were
This
conceived.
for his countrymen,
in adopting
; together with
derful
simplicity
with
supremacy
the definitive
fashioner
of the Chinese
OF LI
PRINCIPLE The Fu Tsz',
mantle who
priate
translation
and
of which
or
"
procured
; and constituted
*X AND KT 7|> t THE AND PRIMARY MATTER. fell upon
that one."
him
Chu Hi,
IMMATERIAL
also
called Chu
In his exposition
of the clas
The
first word means
mean "the truth essence," '' " to be truthfulness.
the two words seems
eloquence,
they had in a won
mind."
of Cheu-tsz'
one,"
lucidity with
and
it unnecessary
any part of what
soon after his death
lived 1130-1200 A. D.
as "the true one," "this " truthful." Accordingly
rendered
the fact that his style combined,
completeness
for his writings
CHU HI'S DOCTRINE
to discard
his views,
esteemed
degree,
which
circumstance,
faith in a virtual 's annotations
that all Cheu-tsz'
Books,
long so highly unmistakable
a full personal
and with
of the Sacred
teachings
)
in his book, The
says of Cheu-tsz' Taylor Meadows Chinese and Their Rebellions, p. 358. identity of the
12, p. 217.
Fig.
(See
Thomas
or "truth," the most appro
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
217
EXPLANATIONS
:
Cheu-tsz' says in theT'ai kih t'u : = no cause {Kih ? I. "Having principle, origin, limit), therefore the grand (original) cause." [This statement may be com pared to Spinoza's theory of the uncaused causa sui.'] ? 2. "The grand cause moves,thus producing Yang. Having reached the limit,however, it rests. Resting itproduces Yin. Having rested to the limit again, it moves. Once moving, once resting; one state being conditioned by the other. In separation it is (here) Yin, in sepa ration it is (there) Yang. Thus the ? two fundamental forms (viz. and ? ?) are fixed."
yang
" ? 3. Yang changes, Yin is added. Thus are produced water,fire,wood, metal, and earth. The five kinds of weather are distributed. The four seasons come forth." [Fire and wood belong to the Yang, water and metal to the Yin ; while earth, standing in the centre, is neutral.]
? 4. "The five elements if united are Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang ifunited are the grand cause [Kih). The grand cause is without cause. The five elements receive at their origin, each one its own nature."
K'ien's
[The circle indicates that the five elements, when combined, can be regarded as magnitudes of plus and minus which in their sum equal the zero of theT'ai kih.]
male
the myriads 1 of things throughl?s change ru originate
q
IThe "myriads of things" is a common phrase in Chi nese, denoting the Universe.
? 5. "The truth of thatwhich has no cause, the efficacy of the Two and ? ?; and (viz.the two forms?? of the Five (viz. the five elements) in a wonderful way, now combine and now separate. The K'ien's (SEE)norm ismale,the Kw'un's(E EE) norm is female. Both aspirations quicken one another, and through transformations they produce all things. All things are produced in a process of production. Thus change and transformation are in finite."
Afe Fig. h.
Cheu-tsz'
's Diagram
of the Great
Origin.
[AfterVon Gabelentz.]
2l8
THE
sics and of Cheu-tsz'
MONIST.
leaves no doubt
's works, Chu Hi1
about
the
of his philosophy. His works were published at the re a of in collection called Cheu-tsz1 Tseuen Shu quest Emperor Ranghi (i. e., the complete writings of Cheu-tsz'), containing among other on The his Immaterial treatise essays Principle (li) and Primary Matter the first sentence of which reads, according to Mr. (KH)? monism
Meadows's "In
the whole
immaterial
'' Fume
; and no
spirit,
; . . . steam
or vapor
and denoting
Williams
adds
; more
(reason) its form (hing). spirit is opposed
; ether
whatever
/P X
(li) apart
principle
(K'i), devoid
fluid
and mobile
; breath,
air
term in Chinese
to be
is supposed
of the
from primary matter."
of the Chinese Language
; the aerial
; a convenient
feelings
or modifying
in producing
no primary matter
immaterial
in his Syllabic Dictionary
temper,
for explaining
there exists
world
principle
Williams
. . .
(/. /. p. 373):
translation
ex
; vital force philosophy
the source or primary
agent
motion."
that kH is more material
external
than // (order) and tao and is conditioned by j\\ (heart) to chi (matter),3 "as 8,oorf or
than sin
It is opposed to the body it animates."
Chinese Reader's Manual, s. v., Chu Hi, No. 79, and Chow Tuni, 1See Mayer's 73; Chinese Repository, Vol. XIII., pp. 552 et seq. and 609 et seq.; also Wil also Mr. Meadows's strictures liams, The Middle Kingdom, I., 683 et seq. Compare on Dr. Medhurst's /. /. pp. 372-374. Mr. Meadows's voluminous book translation, is valuable in many respects. served as an interpreter in H. M. Civil Ser Having
No.
vice, he However forgets religious Western
knows
the people and describes of other sinologists,
his criticism the difficulties and
under
national
which
the conditions even
with
though correct, and underrates
they labored we remember When
how
great impartiality. He is too severe. the power of both greatly the nearest
prejudice. such as the Germans and French, the English and Americans nations, one another, we must confess that the misunderstand of sinolo misrepresentations gists are quite excusable. The
weakest
to call pleased in the Chinese
article on Chinese part of Mr. Meadows's '* the unfailing pass-key to the comprehension sacred books, as understood by the Chinese
that the differences sists in the proposition Ki (ether), Tao (Logos), Li (world-order), fien (heaven), ming (fate), Ching (sincerity)
Sin
must
with
3The appear.
character Thus
^ itmay
not be confounded
between "are
T'ai
(heart), purely "Kih"
is what he is philosophy of all difficult passages
themselves," which con kih (ultimate principle), Sing (nature), teh (virtue), of a nominal
kind."
ft
" 1' chih shows the radical above which property as "possessing be explained the quality of weight."
two taels
;
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE
2ig
// is defined by the same authority (on p. 519) as :
JJj!
'' The
governing
on force ; reason
; that which
principle
; directing
is felt to be right and
principle
not depend
does
of organisation."
; principle
sing, "nature," signifies the subjective disposition of things, never the objective phenomena of the universe. The word sing is "to of to "heart" and bear, grow," denoting that which composed is a manifestation
of the inner character of existence.
means not only the physical heart, which is fi\ sin, "heart," regarded as the lord of the body and one of the senses, but also the core of things, as the wick of a candle, or the heart-wood of trees, and the ultimate seat of desire, the origin and source of all activity. Chu Hi
to Dr. Medhurst's
(according
is not collected
the primary matter
"When
for the immaterial
lodging-place "The
primary
matter
on
matter
present. '' No priority or subsequence
the immaterial
principle
can be predicated
of the immaterial
primary matter,
insist on carrying
of their origin,
then you must
say that the immaterial
the immaterial
within
principle
the primary matter,
terial principle
in heaven
would
has
matter
some place
and earth, and with
out
into action,
and distinct
principle
is
principle
and
principle
to the question
the reasoning
has
the priority;
thing ; it is just contained
there no primary matter,
so that were
have no place
the primary
"When terial principle
is not a separate
to come
there the immaterial
is coagulated
and yet if you
but
in form, there is no
principle.
relies
the primary
and wherever
and combined
:
continues
translation)
then this imma
of attachment. is brought
respect
into being,
to rest.
whereon
the imma
then afterwards
In regard
to great
things it is seen
in ants and emmets."
to small,
dwelling on the truth that the immaterial principle is in from primary matter, Chu Hi yet recognises the higher
While
separable dignity and priority in importance of the former, but finding no word to express precedence or superiority (i. e., priority in rank) to : anteriority, (i. e. priority in time), he says "... If you
And
it appears
to be
impossible
insist on it, the immaterial
immaterial
principle
is called
principle into existence
there is a priority and a subsequence. '' the primary matter Wherever but after all, mysterious
the latter must
junction."
to distinguish is first, but and
is collected,
be considered
the priority or subsequence. you cannot
say,
to-day
to-morrow primary matter
the immaterial
as the chief
principle
; this is what
the
; still
is present is called
the
;
220
THE
MONIST.
translates a passage ity of the //over theKH as follows : Mr. Meadows '' Being he
asked whether
(Cheu-tsz')
matter
; but
matter
is what
the immaterial
: The
said
immaterial
immaterial
the
is subsequent
or primary matter
principle
principle is what
principle
on the problem of the prior
was
never
separated
is previous
first existed from primary
to form, while
primary
to form."
perceives that he is dealing with an abstraction of the kind, an abstraction of the universal ; and we feel in the
Chu Hi highest
repetitions which fill his treatise how he grapples with the problem, the solution of which he has in his mind without being able
many
to find an adequate sees inseparableness
he turns he symbol to express it. Wherever The immaterial principle is and distinctness. omnipresent in all things, and yet it is different frommatter, in ex " planation of which Chu Hi says : We must not consider the mud diness of the stream to be the water." //or immaterial principle, resembles Kant's a priori or the purely formal,1 the laws of which remain true not only of this actual world of ours, but also of any possible world, and even if nothing The
at all existed. 1' You before
cannot
heaven
The
Chu Hi distinguish
in this matter
between
itwas
into being
existence
and non-existence
just the same."
principle remains true for both existence and but it cannot manifest itself without the existence of in this light, the last quotation will not ap to the following :
Seen
pear contradictory "Wherever
The
to express his idea thus :
immaterial
non-existence, primary matter.
and where
came
and earth
attempts
the primary matter
exists
there is no primary matter
there is found
there is also
no
the immaterial
immaterial
principle,
principle."
is the natural order of the seasons, principle the moral man, the wisdom of the sage. It of virtue in
immaterial
the principle is, on the one hand,
the mentality of sentient beings which makes possible, and on the other hand, the rationality of
comprehension the universe, i. e., the cosmic ligible.
Chu Hi
renders the world
intel
says :
1lt is what we define formal."
order which
in the Primer
of Philosophy(p.
79 et seq.)
as
"
the rigidly
;
CHINESE ** That
which
is the immaterial
perceives
it to perceive
enables
PHILOSOPHY.
is the intelligence
221 of the mind
principle
; and
that which
of the primary matter."
immaterial principle as it affects the Yang and Yin is sym bolised by a circle in which light and darkness are evenly divided. contains the seed of light, and light con Darkness The
tains the seed of darkness. Chu Hi 's ^: says
Lao-tsz' He
'' The
great extreme
earth,
heaven, heaven
and
earth.
identifies the immaterial principle with Tao and with Cheu-tsz' 's T'ai Kih.
and all
is merely
principle
of
it with
reference
to
of
the great extreme may
then
earth,
of itwith
Speaking
the immaterial
things ; speaking
a great extreme. of things1 each one possesses '* The great extreme is not an independent and
male
of things.
female
. . . Should
its development
of nature,
principles
any one ask, what
it is the immaterial
to exist within
and
after
in the
in the myriad
? I should
say, before
its manifestation
the male
produces
and
and
the myriad
; it is found
existence
separate
is the great extreme and
heaven
of things, then amongst
in the five elements,
principle,
itmoves
ing ; thus for instance, when
be said
to the myriad
respect
of Existence.
it is feel of nature,
principle
then it is feeling or passion. this immaterial principle. "At the very first there was nothing, but merely '' the time when the great extreme came into operation From the myriad things were
includes the whole ; this one doctrine ; it is not by transformation produced this was first in existence and then that, but altogether there is only one
because great
origin, which
to the use
[to
the substance
from
[abstract
in reality],
its manifestation
and
existence from
; in-itself-ness]
the subtile
reaches
extends to that
is manifest.
which
"Cheu-tsz* great noiseless, By
<'
it the extremeless
called scentless
noiseless
or the illimitable,
by which
he meant
the
mystery." "
and
is meant
"scentless''
the
incorporeal,
i.e.,
is not perceived by the senses, but can only be compre for instance, the truth of a mathematical hended by the mind?as, theorem cannot be apprehended by any one of the senses, but is a that which
matter of pure understanding. "The
immaterial
the operations
2See
of
principle
the male
footnote belonging
and
Thus
Chu Hi
cannot be perceived female principles
to Fig.
12 on p. 217.
says :
[viz., by the senses] of nature
[viz.
; but, from
the purely
formal
THE
222 and Yin
of Yang
science
immaterial nature. '
any one
Should
man
has
a
got
extremely
is the exemplified
would
?? Vor jedem Und
steht ein Bild
to be
it ought
and
ideal," as R?ckert er werden
des, das
long as that is unattained,
say,
the great ex
lives
in each
; that which that
is
things."
it :
expresses
soll, voll." mind
creature's
it cannot
its peace
Every
perfection.
virtue of everything
vor er es nicht ist, ist nicht sein Friede
[An image of what So
? I would
and earth, men
in heaven
perfect
of
got a great extreme
thing has
" it is every one's say,
the
with
and
and extreme
goodness
; every
extreme
and extremely
good
We
extreme
the great
called
Cheu-tsz'
of extreme
it ; thus
female principles
acquainted
on the male
is the great extreme
ask, what
great
become
(for its display)
the principle
treme is simply
we
permutations]
depends
principle
MONIST.
find. ]
can scarcely appreciate the difficulties which Cheu-tsz' and in the dualistic terminology of their na had to overcome
We Chu Hi
term T'ai
(Great Extreme) dates back to earlier days, but the monistic conception derived from its appli cation was new; and it was a triumph of philosophical thought tional
The
tradition.
Kih
their inventors, considering the circumstances of the situa Chu Hi says : had tion, good reasons to prize highly.
which '
The
extreme
great
is the
the eight changes
forms, and
immaterial
yet there is no form or corporeity the one male
produced
the two powers according But
ment. idea.
Until
appeared ness,
; also
to a certain from
and
the
the time of Sh?u Kangtsie,
and should
be more
In a word,
and pleasing. particularly
the monistic
the eight no one
changes
has been
when
this doctrine
It may
not
inquired
school
From
this point
of nature, which
of human
the four
it does not exist, and
to it.
ascribed
irrespective
time of Confucius
very reasonable
be
say that
female principle and
order,
of the two powers,
principle cannot
that can
the one
the four forms natural
; we
of nature
proceed strength able was
is
are called
from this, all in its arrange
to get hold of this explained,
and
it
therefore be treated with
light
and Chu Hi
are
into."
of Cheu-tsz'
is in the Western in the history of Chinese thought what Kant are that the Yang and Yin manipulations world. They discovered what we would call the most abstract algebra of thought or the sci ence of pure forms, embodying the universal and necessary laws of the objective realm of existence and the subjective realm of
both man's
mentality.
CHINESE
FILIAL
PHILOSOPHY.
PIETY
223
^J-^
and American civilisation has less firm foundations European in us as compared with the deep root which the Chinese view of life has struck in the souls of Chinamen. It is reflected in their institutions, in their arts, in the habits
of their daily life,1 in their above all in their ethics which
symbolism, in their language, and reflects their views of the relation of Yang
to Yin, being in its noblest of a child to the will of his
the completest submission conception a virtue which is called in Chinese father,
Hiao.2
As an instance of the influence of the Yang and Yin philosophy upon the life of all nations that have ever felt the influence of the Chinese world-view, we state that the name of the greatest Japanese which is translated by the editors monthly is "The Great Yang"; by "The
flag of the Coreans shows the diagram of the symbol of the primordial source of existence (as itappears inFig. 13) in blue and red colors, surrounded by the trigrams Ch'ien, K?n, L?, Sun."
The
As an example of the artistic representation of Yang and Yin, we here reproduce a Japanese picture (facing p. 224), which repre sents a double door of the main entrance in a public building. The most
important field inwhich the Yang and Yin philosophy its influence is in the domain of ethics. The dualism that
exercises
still lingers in Chinese thought finds its expression in the Chinese code of morals which always implies an external relation between two, an authoritative master and an obedient servant, the duty of the former being wisdom
in government, and of the latter submis of the favorite treatises of Chinese literature, the booklet entitled The Classic of Filial Piety,9 sets forth the idea that "filial sion. One
1As a life we recommend Prof. Rob thoroughly reliable description of Chinese ert K. Douglas's & Sons, Edinburgh, works, Chinese Stories, W. Blackwood 1893, and Society in China, A. D. Innes & Co., London, 1894. 2The
character Hiao,
filial piety, shows a child supporting an old man. ^f^, the Vol. The book was written either East, III., pp. 447-448. of the disciple of Confucius, or by one of Tsang-tsz' 's school.
8Sacred Books by Tsang-tsz',
THE
224
is the root of virtue."
devotion maxim
MONIST.
Filial
is said to be "the
devotion
" the righteousness of Earth, and the duty of man idea of filial piety is widened into devotion as it applies to
of Heaven,
The
the five moral
that obtain
relations
between man
and man; viz., and elder child, (3) subject, (2) parent (i) sovereign brother and younger, (4) husband and wife, (5) friend and friend.1 When asked by Tsang whether in the virtue of the sages there between
and
was not something higher, Confucius ' Of all man
(creatures
is the noblest.
In filial piety
awe
the correlate
of man
the actions
there is nothing
the reverential him
their different) natures
with
Of all
:
father there is nothing
and Earth,
by Heaven
produced
there is none
than the reverential
greater
to one's
shown
replied
greater
than filial piety.
awe of one's greater
In
father.
than the making
of Heaven."
higher monistic ethics, which becomes possible only on an advanced plane in the evolution of mankind, unites both the governor and the governed in one person and expects every one to The
be his own king, priest, and instructor, replacing the external rela tion by an internal relation. This principle of a monistic ethics was first proclaimed in the history of European civilisation by the re who formers of the sixteenth century, taught self-dependence and the liberty of conscience. Liberty of conscience, self-re the of free inquiry and free thought abolish personal liance, right authority, not for the sake of anarchy, but to replace it by the su perpersonal authority of justice, right, and truth. claimed
Filial "
When
devotion
remains submission,
constraint
is put upon
when
the authority
when
filial piety
These
(three
Rebels revolutions
of the sages
is put
things) pave
that
the way
is the disowning
of his superiority;
is the disowning of the principle
of (all)
law ;
of affection.
to anarchy."
fivefold
they be successful.
relationship
which
by K'ung Ki's principle supplemented tremes?a doctrine, which by Western mediocrity."
that
are punished with brutal severity, yet there are frequent in China ; and the Shu King goes so far even as to sanc
tion them, provided 1The
aside,
a ruler, that is the disowning
is disallowed,
:
as we read in Chapter XI
K'ung
Ki was
constitutes
a grandson
We
read :
the substance
of Chinese
ethics
is
that good is the middle way between two ex " critics has been censured as the ethics of of Confucius.
AP ......
* .o
......
No . . . . ..
.
.
.
lw
..
..
..
. .
.
.
yx . ' 16
_..et ..a.w --
CHINESE '' Heaven people
establishes
desire
sovereigns
PHILOSOPHY. for the sake of the people
merely
him will Heaven
for sovereign,
225
sovereign, him will Heaven reject. ** real way of serving Heaven [The Sovereign's] 1' When he fails to love the people Heaven will,
the
; whom
the people
; whom
protect
as
dislike
is to love the people. for the sake of the people,
cast
him out."
Thus revolutions are regarded as ordeals in which success or failure signify the decision of heaven. How the spirit of devotion is carried to the extreme, can be illustrated by many instances of Chinese habits, history, and stories. We quote one tale, which is at once typical and terse, from a pop ular book called The Twenty-four Filials 4 In the days of the Han one
child
her portion
of food with
our mother
cannot
that belongs
to her.
but a mother
once
the proposal
; and Koh
suddenly
may
this little one.
not seize
Koh
says
for the child
gone will never
bestows
his poverty
divides
with
this child ? Another * return. His wife did
immediately
dug a hole
it, nor shall
the neighbors
He
F?,
her the portion child may
be born
not venture
of about
a pot of gold, and on the metal this treasure upon Koh
very poor.
had
that his mother usually divided ' are so poor that to his wife, We
not bury
Why
he lighted upon
tion : Heaven
such was
be supported,
who was
lived Koh K?,
dynasty
; and
three years old
i1
three cubits read
the dutiful
take it from him.'
"2
of food to us
to object deep,
the following
to
when inscrip
son ; the magistrate
nations would consider as the neglect of what Western duties is highest frequently enjoined for the sake of parents ; and in agreement with this code of morals, the Chinese Emperor of late The
to yield to all the demands of the victorious Japanese in Pekin should not be obliged to only that the Empress dowager be inconvenienced by a removal of the Imperial Court. concluded
on this important point ourWestern While ideas of morality are different from those of the Chinese, we ought to consider that our American youths go to the other extreme. They can still learn from the Chinese,
whose
devotion
to old parents is sometimes truly have to add that one of the chief
and touching ; and we obstacles, although not the only one, to the introduction of Chris tianity into China are such words of Christ's as these : elevating
2Quoted
fromWilliams's
Middle
Kingdom,
Vol.
I., p. 539.
THE
226 '* If any man
come
and hate
not his
father, and mother,
and wife,
life also, he cannot
and
be my dis
xiv, 26.
ciple."?Luke, '' I am
to set a man
come
and
her mother,
against
to me,
and sisters, yea, and his own
and brethren,
children,
MONIST.
at variance
the daughter-in-law
his
against
father, and
the daughter
her mother-in-law."?Matth.,
against
x, 35
The
of ceremonial man
ethics finds expression in a rigid code ever met an educated Chinese gentle
of Chinese
dualism
forms. Who
and was
not struck by his extraordinary and almost painfully How much stress is laid upon details in propriety, polite demeanor? we can gather from the following injunction of courtesy toward visi tors as quoted from Chu Hi's '' Whoever when
then returns
and
He
guests,
yields
one, he
begs
passes
to go in and arrange
; and after they have
the guests He
western then
repeatedly
decline
steps, he ascending,
the host must bring
both
through
their feet together,
THE
the guests
;
the seats,
declined
they through
he
the left.
the steps of the host, while
; then the guest may
and guest must mutually
host
gradually
right foot first, those on the west
repeatedly
the right door,
this attention
first, and
ascend
to them at every door
precedence leave
the eastern, ascends they the western steps. " If a guest be of a lower grade, he must approach
the latter must
must
to receive
to them and enters.
bows
his
innermost
the
I., p. 540,
Instructor"
"Juvenile enters with
they reach
in his Middle Kingdom, Vol. : (Siao HioK)
byWilliams,
follow.
From on
ascending?those
return
to the :
yield precedence step
to step they
the east moving
the
the left."
SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE
YIH.
is the original significance of the Yih King, attempting to decide the problem, present some solu tions which have been proposed by various scholars. We
ask now, what
and, without
oldest European interpretation of the Kwa comes from the pen of no less an authority than the great Leibnitz. On ex des de VAcad?mie the M?moires sciences Royale (1703, III., plaining, in or nature of the and the p. 85), advantage dyadic system of binary The
which employs only the symbols o and 1, expressing 2 by 10, 3 by 11, 4 by 100, 5 by 101, 6 by no, 7 by in, etc., he makes reference to the Kwa of the Yih King, which he calls "cova."1 He numeration,
says
: ' 1 ' Cova
"
is the same
as
" " " ' v being coua,
equal
to
'
u.
"
CHINESE "Ce
Fohy,
y a de surprenant
qu'il
i se trouve qu'on
comme
figures
lin?aires
lui attribue.
qu'on
il suffit de mettre
pour
fondamentale,
ment
ans, et que
leurs
on
arithm?tique,
pourvu ou
l'unit?
passe
qui
l'appelle,
qui est manifeste, signifie
re
Il y a plusieurs
sciences.
comme
nomm?
les Chinois
toutes ? cette
reviennent
l'explication, _ ligne enti?re
qu'une
par o et
roi et philosophe
mille
huit Cova
et d'y joindre
premi?rement
re
qu'on
1, et seconde
signifie le z?ro ou o.
ligne bris?e
qu'une
ancient
et de
Elles
ici la figure de
227
c'est que cette arithm?tique
lignes d'un
de leur empire
le fondateur
mais
marque
des
il y a plus de quatre
croit avoir v?cu
gardent
dans ce calcul,
le myst?re
contenir
PHILOSOPHY.
01234567 '
Les
?tre depuis
d'un
plus
la vraie explication a gu?re qui
ans que ma
? P?kin,
demeure
pour
mani?re
m'?crivant
le 14. Novembre,
qui va ? 64, et ne laisse plus
De
des Europ?ens.
de
il m'a
fait des
c'est
lieu de douter
comment.
J?suite
Il n'y c?l?bre,
fran?ais il n'en
figure de ce prince
la v?rit? de notre
de
l?
a fallu que
fallut pas
la clef de figures de Fohy.
la grande
envoy?
peut
o et 1, et
par
compter
que
de Fohy,
commentaires
sorte qu'il
Voici
au R. P. Bouvet,
j'envoyai
le faire reconna?tre
d'avantage
ils ont
sens ?loign?s.
leur v?nt maintenant
de deux
plus
; et
d'ann?es
je ne sais quels
ou lin?ations
des Cova
la signification
mill?naire
ils ont cherch?
o?
dessus,
ont perdu
Chinois
Ainsi
philosophe de
interpr?tation,
sorte qu'on peut dire que ce P?re a d?chiffr? l'?nigme de Fohy ? l'aide de ce que je lui avais communiqu?. Et comme ces figures sont peut-?tre le plus ancient monu ment
de science
soit au monde,
qui
intervalle de temps, para?tra "Le mieux
consentement
voire
superflus, mais y ai suppl?es cord me
donne
une grande
y pense, qu'on
? mieux
opinion
on
ce que
retranche
fort ancienne,
de
ses avantages.
de
quoique
fort alt?r?s
les Grecs
semble
par
comme
z?ros,
que
de Fohy.
y aide
Car
et les Romains l'Europe
pour peu
beaucoup,
cette arithm?tique
II, qui
je les
et cet ac
ce temps ?loign?.
compter
Mais
sous le nom de Sylvestre Gerbert, depuis Pape '' Or comme l'on croit ? la Chine que Fohy nois ordinaires,
des
paraissent
est en effet fort ais? aujourd'hui
le trop. Il
qui
la colonne,
des m?ditations
l'?tait pas dans
au moins
de
se fait
des Nombres
initiaux,
les distinguer
pour
de la profondeur ne
Table
les z?ros
la p?riode
marquer ronds
un si grand
leur sens, apr?s
et de ma
suppl?e
notre mani?re
seulement
de
curieuse.
de Fohy
ou dyadique
binaire
par
dix ne para?t pas ont ?t? priv?s
table
ais? maintenant,
"L'arithm?tique semble
figures la
servent
qui
de plus
en effet avec des petits
ce qui nous para?t
qu'on
des dans
lorsque
cette restitution
d'autant
en doit
dont
ordinaire
et
l'introduction
?
l'a eu des Maures
temps
par
l'ont ignor?e,
d'Espagne.
est encore auteur des caract?res
la suite des
il
: son essay
Chi
d'arithm?
228
THE
It will
MONIST.
be of interest to compare Leibnitz's design ; the similarity among which will appear black IH and i with the white CD spaces.
binary numbers with Chow-tsze's as soon as o is identified with the
CHINESE
tique fait juger qu'il aux nombres et aux d'autant
noise,
d'y r?ussir
je projette. tir? de
importans moyens
plus
croit
?
que
a eu
?gard
de
cette pointe,
celui qui
qu'on
peut
de calcul,
Chi en
nombres
et tr?s capable
doit ?tre dans
par une mani?re
par rapport l'?criture
aux
je ne sais s'il y a jamais
de
tout raisonnement
leurs caract?res d'aides
de consid?rable
le fondement
qu'il
Cependant
rapprochant
C'est
chose
d?terrer
la Chine,
229
est fort port? ? pousser
P. Bouvet
un avantage
?tre
pourrait
id?es, si l'on pouvait
en bien de mani?res.
ture Chinoise tique que
s'y trouver quelque
pourrait
plusqu'on Le R.
l'?tablissant.
PHILOSOPHY.
eu dans
tirer des qui
l'?cri
une caract?ris notions,
serait une des
de l'esprit humain."
Prof. Moritz
Cantor,1 disposes of Leibnitz's interpretation of "Mr. had Duhalde because proved them to be projective He adds that they must, accord drawings of the knotted cords." on to account of their names, not as num Bouvet, be regarded, ing the Kwa
bers, but as physical symbols, and explains Leibnitz's theory as exclusively due to his philosophical interpretation of the binary sys an was to which him in favor of his conception of a evidence tem, creation from nothing or zero with the sole assistance unit.
But Cantor
seems
or the
of One
to overlook
that in this very respect the of the Chinese closely resembles
ancient Yang and Yin philosophy Leibnitz's idea, whether we regard the Kwa as numbers, or as a binary system of such symbols as are still more general and indefi The
nite. nificance
fact of both their presence remains
the
same
and
cannot tit
and be
their philosophical
sig
doubted.
Yih is inLatin. It was made fjpj by the Jesuit P. Regis with the assistance of some of his colleagues, and edited in two volumes by Julius Mohl.2 The
first translation of the
Prof. James Legge's translation is based upon the idea that the in its main parts and originally was intended to be a kind of political testament of King Wen and theDuke of Cheu, enlarging on
book
moral
and social questions, but enigmatically written after the man ner and fashion of diviners. He therefore tries to bring his mind en rapport with the mind of its authors and paraphrases the mean ing of the disconnected
words
and
sentences
in the sense
that he
zum Kulturleben der V?lker, Halle, 1In his Mathematische Beitr?ge 1863, p. 49. 2Y ex Sinarum latina interpretatione P. Regis liber, quem King, Antiquitissimus ex Soc. aliorumque Jesu P. T., edidit Julius Mohl. Stuttgartiae et T?bingae. 1834
THE
230
in the text. He
finds indicated
I hope,
that I have
however,
intelligible
to readers.
hexagrams
there
should
encloses his additions
in parentheses,
:
saying ''
MONIST.
is often
be deemed
been
If, after all,
accountable
about
to make
in this way
they shall conclude
ado
'much
able
the translation
that in what
is said on
the
it is not the translator who
nothing,'
for that, but his original."
A peculiar conception of the Yih King has been propounded by P. L. F. Philastre, who lays much stress on the tradition that Fuh Hi received his first idea of the Kwa by contemplating the starry heavens
and believes
that he discovered
in the Kwa
a
combinations
of symbolising the astronomical lore of the ancient Chinese. lucubration embodies translations of the most important Chi
method His nese
commentaries.1
published a translation of the Yih King in which he ventures to open its mysteries "by applying the key of I have not seen it and quote only what comparative mythology." Canon McClatchie
has to say about
Professor Legge XVI, p. xvii) : '
Such
a key was
not necessary
found sundry
things towhich
not pleasant
to look at or dwell
minds
of Chinese
scholars
it {Sacred Books
and
I have
the author
upon,
to conceive
and
by the application
referred
occasionally
of theEast,
happily
of
in my notes.
it has never
Vol.
it, has
They
entered
are
into the
them."
de Lacouperie2 believes that the Yih King is a mere containing those word-symbols which the Bak families
A. Terrien
vocabulary brought with them as a sacred
inheritance of the Elamo-Babylonian
civilisation. P. Angelo Zottoli Sinicae : "A. Terrien shoot
of
had been that
the Elamo-Babylonian
carried with
1Annales 2The
are
270 Strand,
Book 1892.
Guimet,
with
Vols.
of the Chinese,
of the third millennium
their VIII.
civilisation
is an off
in the very stage of development
civilisation
the script which
word-symbols
in his Cursus Literaturae
the old Chinese
that
them to the new homes,
du Mus?e
Oldest
believes
a little after the middle
reached
ary of the ancient
Nutt,
de Lacouperie
the hexagrams
China,
says of the Yih King
the Bak and
tribes,
the Yih King
lexicographical
B. C,
the oldest
civilisers
is originally explanations,
that
and claims of
a diction the mean
and XXIII.
the Yi King
and Its Authors.
London:
D.
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE
as embodying
to the book
"The of
later on misunderstood
was
ing of which attached
book
the symbols
the permutations
the Duke
dergo
the two elements
which
it is called Yih
quality
their mutual
as being
relation
one hexagram
as compared
idea is deduced
containing
lots, in order
is the book
Such
schools.
instructions,
natural.
Since
employed
for fortune
communication
Therefore,
the book
although
author
quite
exaggerated, as
some doubt.
for eliciting moral
classics,
obtrusive,
text will
occult
as a perfect
revelation, Hence
the praises
will be seen specially
the common
goes,
opinion
of life, events.
future
light, as
throughout to it by
attributed
added
and
has been
happiness of
knowledge
nor
and po
plain,
understand,
to gain by it the highest and
in the
down
or mysterious,
in the Appendix
that he himself
is the
of the Appendix."1
the originator of the idea that the nature of the does not accept Lacouperie's theory of an He says in the preface origin of the Yih King.
Ch. de Harlez, Yih King
is lexicological,
Elamo-Babylonian to his French translation of the Yih2 '' Notre
. . . nous
syst?me
mi-philosophique
There
de
:
fait voir dans
termes et de sentences,
remains one more
le Yih plein
un
to believe
1Translated the Yih King, 2Published
The
mi-lexicologique,
original
studies and I am in
to say on the subject
is quoted
by Legge
Bruxelles,
rue de Louvain,
that is
in his Preface
p. xviii. in 1889 by F. Hayer,
11.
et de sagesse."?P.
hypothesis on the nature of the Yih He has Riedel, of Brooklyn, N. Y.
that he has something
from the Latin.
reccueil
de raison
King which is by Dr. Heinrich inmy own Chinese given me much assistance clined
as handed
sublime
anything
in the Chinese
to the life of man.
if it is true at all
of the book,
spirits
as a magic
appears
and conformable
Confucius,
with
by drawing
in life or to solve
of the original
telling, one expects
mysterious
spiritual
as a reader
this book,
of
and a certain
that can be consulted
in it rather a subtle play
such as can be found
litical
the body
together,
or image of the tri
is developed
of Confucius
neither
or topmost,
from the difference
sometimes picture
un
What,
or bisected
the continuous
or coming
fit for guidance
expect
I see
of Permutations.
the symbol
like an oracle
to the explanations
you must or vile.
unseemly
anything
something
From
the hexagrams
or in the middle
separated,
a certain
to another,
according
Therefore,
From
; further, from
some warning
to obtain
this.
or virtue of the trigrams,
from the quality
grams,
and
opposed
themselves
of
the Book
of King Wen,
of Confucius.
in the composition
either at the bottom
their position
or form of the trigrams
of the divinations
Hi,
the commentaries
? It is, briefly,
then, is this famous Yih King
was
that naturally
of the sages of yore."
or Yih King,
(the permutator),
of the lines,
and
of Cheu,
the awe
losing
the wisdom
the figures of Fuh
of
consists of
without
231
108.
to
THE
232
MONIST.
Since his observations have never been published, worth hearing. I deem it advisable, for the sake of sinology, to present some chips from his workshop. Dr. Riedel regards theYih as a calendar of the lunar year, being 's book on the Yih indicated, a T'ung Shu, what the title of Cheu-tsz' " a universal " book," or almanac," embodying everything in the do main of science, religion, ethics, and even sport that appeared of in " ?< terest. T'ung Shu means and 6 X 64= 384 (the number calendar, is the number of days of the intercalary of strokes in the hexagrams) to the hexagrams, Dr. Riedel order of the sixty-four hexagrams which
year.
As
insists that "the
specific is carefully preserved and that remind us of the Massoretic pre
sacredly guarded by devices cautions taken in regard to the Hebrew has yet received little if any attention,
texts of the Bible is the soul and
and which
substance
of
the Yih King," and trusts to be able to prove that the circular de vice of hexagrams including the square represents "the problem of Here are, in a condensed form, some points squaring the circle." of his theory : There
is in Chinese
by homonyms; through mistake
authors a frequent substitution of symbols ancient authors either says: "The
as Gabelentz
or in emergency, or by sheer whim, used to replace of a word by another one which probably in their age the same or a very similar sound." (Gr. Ch. Gr. p. 100.) And
the character had
this must more
to have be expected freely than in other books.
Yih King
and replace
taken place in the Yih King rather Now take the first sentence of the
it by homonyms
as follows :
" " lines read nearly alike : Kfien yuen h?ng li ching ; but " the former means K'ien, origin (and) progress determined by ad while the latter means " See the circle's path rec ventageousness," Both
tified by reason." The aphorism belonging to the first (viz. the lowest) Yang line of the first Kwa, which reads "Ts'ien lung wuh, yung," Dr. Riedel
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
233
: "A hidden dragon through negation is action," which is to set forth the mathematical and logical powers of naught (o).
translates meant
into a passage inwhich robbery to teach ethics {Sacred Books of theEast, III., p. 203, we The becomes clear when ? 48). paragraph, however, adopt Dr. to regard robbery as a game like chess and RiedePs proposition Legge is declared
to bring sense
is unable
"
or
translate
it by
peasants allusions
that occur in the passage,
or laborers,
exposed,"
board the
"latrunculi
"
"attacking,"
i. e.,
or
sages
Legge second kwa thus :
line
second
"(The
by "pawns." such as "false moves," remind
captured,"
advisers,
us
our
of
divided)
horses,
and
carriages,
the attribute
[shows
without
(Its operation)
Other "leaving
own
chess
in the Yih passim with generals,
the aphorism of the second Yang
translates
and great.
translated
In addition, we meet
terms.
tsz',
be
should
i.e.
Burden-bearers,
robbery-game.
repeated
efforts will
of] being be
elephants.1
line of the
square,
straight,
in every respect
advan
tageous."
Dr. Riedel '' Rectify
a more
proposes
square
no gain."
greatly
literal translation
(viz. ever so much),
:
not continuously
employing
naught,
The Yang and Yin lines are designated by kiu and luh two characters which ordinarily mean nine and six. Dr. Riedel claims with great plausibility, that they are employed to designate diameter and radius. Kiu means not only "nine," but also "to to the end of; homonym with go
join ; to connect." \Whj which means also "to divide
to go through; or, to bring together." It is a its inversion,2 which means " to take hold of; to Further, luh means "six," and in analogy with
into sixes"
and "to divide
into two," luh means and then sextant, the sixth part of a circle
"two"
or the radius which
is equal to the chord of a sextant. This makes it that kiu in the Yih King means diameter-line ; and luh probable radius line, which again are identified with the full line of Yang and the broken line of Yin. 1On 2
the chess chi?,
of the Chinese
"to
take hold of,"
see Williams's
Middle
Kingdom,
represents
a creeping
plant
I., p. 827.
twining over a wall.
THE
234 A passage '' The In both
from K'ung
quoted tortoise
spirit
respects
it had
MONIST.
carried
the digits
Tsz'
Ngan
a writing up to nine''
Quoh
and methodically
reads
:
arranged
divisions.
in the Book of Three Characters1 Comparing this with a passage which declares that the five elements "have their origin in num " bers, Dr. Riedel deduces from observations made on the carapace of a half-grown Chrysemys picta,2 which on account of its abnormal number of inner and outer plates a Chinaman would class as a shan kwei, or spirit tortoise, the following writing of the nine digits as a hypothetical
reconstruction
123
4
The
of the Loh
Shu 6
5
in its substance 7
:
8
g
sum of the Kiu
lines is i6, of the Luh lines 29. on the back of the tortoise yield the same numbers
The plates in the same proportion. There are sixteen large inner plates, while there are twenty-three small outer plates, and in addition we have three pairs of small ones that appear to be superimposed upon the three vertebral plates in the centre. The symbols of the five ele ments, as written on p. 208, yield sixteen long and twenty-nine short lines.
Now, by means of the same distribution of whole and broken lines amongst the nine digits, Dr. Riedel claims to have constructed "an anagram of the number n in one hundred and twenty-three decimal places, exhibiting the sixty-four Yih kwa in their specific The use order, placed in rows of eight each, from below upwards." of an anagram for the purpose of laying down a scientific truth at the time inaccessible, is by no means a device unheard of in the his recent times such men as ; for in comparatively have and done the same thing. Galileo, Huygens
tory of science
Roger Bacon, The spiritual tortoise accordingly
Open
Court, No. 2See Fig.
412.
* An English The passage
10 on p. 207.
is a /usus naturae which
translation quoted
above
of this booklet is characters
is published 199-204.
ap
in The
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
235
pealed to the mathematical mind of the Chinese and caused them to see in it a spiritual being. If Dr. RiedePs theory is not the restoration of the ancient Chi nese
we
conception,
may
rest
assured
that
it was
some
quite
analo
scheme.
gous
Dr. Riedel, in further attempts at proving the presence of the number n in the order of the Kwa of the Yih King, quotes from Hi tsz' (App. iii, I, ? 70) the sentence : " The Yih contains the great extreme," and says, "Now as the great extreme which is symbolised by a circle is not mentioned at all, and as we have in the Yih King proper only the mutations of Yang and Yin, the Luh and Kiu, the two symbols (Liang must con ?), I conclude that they, if anything, " the tain the number by which to calculate the circle symbol (i. e., In addition to this argument, Dr. Riedel of the great extreme). quotes
the passage
Yih Nih
Shu Ye, i. e.,
"the
mutations
a (are) in Shwoh
refractory number," "refractory number" being defined Kwa acquainted with the future," which (App. V. 2) by "making is the opposite to a number that has reference to the past, and is or "compliant." consummated says Dr. Riedel, "Accordingly,'' "a we
refractory number can, in the adduced call
an
irrational
passage,
mean
only what
number."
In the beginning of the same Appendix we read : "The holy men of yore who composed the Yih, concealed their help in spiritual light and thus gave life to the milfoil stalks. They triangulated1 the heaven, made twofold the earth, and relied upon calculation." All commentators and interpreters agree that in this sentence heaven means the circle, and earth the square. Dr. Riedel suggests that twofold the earth (viz., the square) indicates the primitive "making method of approximating nby circumscribed and inscribed squares." The aphorism of the fourth hexagram declares : one, proceed.
"Inexperienced The
youthful
propounded. Tedious !The Compare
and
shall
inexperienced
Further
details
do not seek
We
seek us.
the second
(literally,
the youthful
and
inexperienced.
In its first (elements) and
divination
third) would
be
tedious.
rules are not propounded." ancient
character
the English
word
for the verb
"to
"trigonometry."
triangulate"
contains
three
triangles.
is
THE
236
MONIST.
to the original meaning of "divination" in the minds of the Chinese, Dr. Riedel adduces from an English-Chinese dictionary the "the which denotes Chinese character swan, abacus," explanatory As
"to cipher," "a calculation," which goes far to prove that the fun damental meaning of "divination" is closely connected with math ematical, arithmetical, and logical determination. to all this it is, at least, a strange coincidence that after which the present book of the name of the dynasty Cheu, " " means Yih is called, The verb cheu periphery, curve, enclosure. "to make a circuit; to environ." is translated byWilliams, In addition
It cannot be my purpose to enter further intoDr. Riedel's argu ments, not only because an elaborate proof must, in the very nature of things, be very complicated, but also because I am not sufficiently acquainted with all the details of his further evidence. Dr. Riedel's is, to say the least, not less probable than any one of proposition I have the other theories of the Yih King that have been advanced. it is as yet unknown, and, being devoted more space to it because very striking and ingenious, it is worthy of a careful consideration. Many of his observations which I have inquired into as carefully as I could, with my still limited knowledge of the Chinese language, to adopt appear tome correct : but I have not as yet been persuaded his main theories, that the Yih is a calendar and that a portion of it is devoted to the problem of squaring the circle.
TIEN
TI Jtl rff AND SHANG rjl THE AND SHANG TI JL PERSONAL
/\
BELIEF
IN A
GOD.
At first sight there does not seem to be much room in theYang the Chinese and Yin philosophy for a personal God. Nevertheless,
believe in universe The conduct T'ien,1
2
and
|^
'j^ the sole
theLord onHigh, who is the sole rulerof the all the mythological deities. to which men look up as to their authority of
God
divine power
above
is commonly designated with the impersonal i. e., Heaven, which may be translated by Godhood
7 Hen consists
of
"great"
and
*
*
"one."
term or Deity.
CHINESE
PHILOSOPHY.
as a personal being T'ien Sovereign, or the Lord on High.
If conceived High
237
is called
Shang Ti,
i. e. the
The worship of Shang Ti must be very old, forwe read that after a severe drought Ching Tang, the founder of the Shang dy nasty, which began 1766 B. C, publicly paid religious worship to Shang Ti, confessing his offences, which were six. He had scarcely finished his confession when the rain fell in torrents. We must add that on this occasion
the worship of Shang Ti is not related as an as means a but of deliverance that naturally suggested innovation, itself to a good ruler.1 In the very oldest documents of the Shu King the term " " Heaven is used as is our deity, implying even the conception of a personal being. : Thus we read in the Counsels of K?o-Y?o 1
The work [i. e., the bringing to an end] is Heaven's ; but men must act for it.2 '* are the relationships with their several duties. From Heaven From Heaven
are
the [social] distinctions with their several ceremonies. '1 Heaven the guilty. punishes ' Heaven hears and sees as our people hear and see. Heaven
and displays
its terrors as our people
ion is between
the upper
and
brightly
approve
and overawe. Books
lower (worlds)."?Sacred
brightly approves Such
of the East,
connex III.,
pp.
55-56.
like these can be multiplied by the thousands. We Quotations have purposely limited them to the most ancient documents in the in order to prove that the idea of a supreme personal Shu King not At present the worship of Shang Ti is of modern date. deity is regarded as so holy that the emperor, as the High nation, is alone permitted to perform the ceremony.
Priest
of the
Peking, the capital of China consists of three cities : the Tartar city to the North, the Forbidden city with the imperial palaces and parks lying within the Tartar city, and the Chinese city to the South. In the southern part of the Chinese city is a park of about a square and the Altar3 of Heaven, mile containing the Temple of Heaven 1See Williams's
The Middle
Kingdom,
II.,
p.
154.
but men must work for it." '' 1' 3 it is misleading translation retain this traditional since We altar, although idea that itmust be an altar such as we see in Catholic it suggests the erroneous churches or as it was used by the ancient Greeks. 2Or better
: "Consummation
is Heaven's,
THE
238
MONIST.
sacred spots on earth. The " the Altar of of Heaven praying for (or more correctly, Temple a in feet marble terrace, twenty-seven height, sur grain ") is triple rounded with marble balustrades and crowned with a temple which are
which
the most
to the Chinese
rises to the height of ninety-nine feet. The three terraces and the renders it The symmetry of the proportions temple are circular. most beautiful ; its dome imitates in shape and color the vault of are shaded
by blinds of blue an azure light sun casts strung together, the entering glass-rods upon the rich carvings and paintings in the inside. The same park of Heaven in which the Temple stands, contains the Altar of and
heaven,
as
the round windows
by an outer square wall and an inner cir cular wall ; and it is here that the emperors of China at the time of our Christmas have been in the habit, from time immemorial, of wor is enclosed
which
Heaven,
Shang Ti, "the Lord on High," or as the Emperor " the trueGod." The Altar of Heaven Ranghi expressed himself : (a picture of which forms the frontispiece to the first volume ofWil shipping
"
It is a beautiful
dle stage
A
noticed
concentric this each
It is upon
Kih, 0> '' Four
worshipping
are placed
God.
On
which
are placed
Bose,
multiple
is reached
But Middle New
of vastly
greater
Kingdom,
York,
I., 76-77,
1887 (pp. 57-64).
and
the square
in the outermost
row.
plateau
solstice."
-
to the next lower stage, the stars, and
stand vessels
sundry animals importance
and around
piece,
is the symbol of the continues : Williams
the four stairways
of cloth and
the bundles
height
at the winter
lead from this elevation
at the end of
be
that the Em
the upper
remember,
may
forming nine
of nine until
and his ancestors
Heaven
slabs,
a central
to the spirits of the sun, the moon,
tablets
offerings.
1See Williams's
with marble
tne ultimate ground of being.
the ground
mon, by Du
of
its multiples terrace, whose
uppermost
inclosing
philosophy)
in the centre
flights of nine steps each
where
sacrificial
stone
round stone, we must
This T'ai
of Chinese
the single round
kneels when
stones
of a successive
layer consisting
receding
(a favorite number
of nine
feet, is paved
eighteen
inner of nine
circles?the
The
this pile.
of
three and
the number
of
symbolism
is about
the ground
above
peror
curious
in the measurements
by a richly carved
terrace encompassed
each
is 210, mid
base
whose
terrace of white marble,
triple circular
top 90 feet in width,
150, and
balustrade.
as follows1 :
byWilliams
is described
liams's Middle Kingdom)
constituting
than
these
The Dragon,
the Year
of bronze
in
a part of the
in the matter
Image,
and De
of
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE is the great furnace,
burnt-offering
on three of
ascended
some hundred
its sides
without
and
of the sacrificial
house
orate winding
the altar,
of
is consumed
the yearly
of seventy-two
erected
a burnt-offering The
ceremony. Altar,
and
green porcelain,
In this receptacle,
east of the North
stands
or cloister
faced with
staircases.
blemish?at
bullock
passage,
feet high,
by porcelain
feet to the southeast
bullock?entire
nine
239
of a
slaughter
at the end of an elab each
compartments,
ten feet in
length."
is the religious and popular conception of Shang T?, which is as deeply rooted in the Chinese mind, and perhaps more deeply Such
than is the God-idea
But
in theWest.
just as Western philoso into a philosophical prin
of religion phers translate the God-idea mention Absolute, Schopenhauer's ciple, (I Hegel's
Will,
Fichte's
definition of Substance, Moral World-Order, Spinoza's etc.,) so the educated Chinese speak of Lao-tsz' 's Tao orWorld-Logos, of Cheu Tsz' 'sT'ai Kih or the ultimate ground of existence, and of Chu Hi's Li or immaterial principle. Chu Hi touches upon the problem of the personality of God in his expositions on the immaterial prin ciple and primary matter. He says after quoting three passages from the classics
the terms Shang Ti and T'ien imply the idea of a personal God
in which
and Heaven)
High
' All
these and
there is a Lord and men
like expressions,
such
and Ruler
who
only carry out
are but
[expressions
acts
do
the azure
sky
they imply that above
in this style ?
I reply,
; it is that the immaterial
idea
on
thus, or is it still true that heaven
their reasonings
of] one
(the Lord :
has no mind,
these
principle
three
things
of [the cosmic]
is such."
order
seems to imply that his conception sonality ; but he adds : This '1 The
in its evolutions
one of decay,
and after a period
going on in a circle.
if things were Chinese
Vol.
Repository,
There
and God 1See
Term ib. pp.
XIII.,
The
forDeity," 105-133,
There
of decline,
never was
it again
of fulness has
flourishes
a decay without
; just as
a revival."?
p. 555.
is an extensive
tian missionaries God
hitherto, after one season
primary matter,
experienced
of the k'i implies per
literature on the question
; for some Chris
to the translation of Shang Ti by objected by Shang Ti, proposing other words in its place.1
Chinese
have
Repository,
byWilliam 161-187,
Vol.
J. Boone, 209-242,
XVII., Bishop
265-310,
on the pp. 17-53, 57-89 ("Essay of the Protestant Episcopal Church); Term for Deity," 321-354 ("Chinese
THE
240
MONIST.
The
Catholic missions. controversy began with the Roman an unusual missionary genius, who rendered the Jesuit Ricci, Chinese government so many valuable services that he commanded
The
theEmperor's up
highest respect and unbounded confidence, had drawn for his Christian converts in which he permitted certain
rules
rites, such as honoring the memory of Confucius and of an cestors, justifying these acts by an explanation of their purely sec ular significance. Ricci at the same time translated, as a matter of
Chinese
the word
course,
with
"God"
Shang T?,
and his methods
were
in Rome.
silently approved a Spanish Morales,
Dominican,
jealous of the great for pandering to Ricci
however,
success
of his Jesuit brethren, denounced condemned Ricci's methods as sinful, idolatry. The propaganda and Pope Innocence confirmed the sentence in 1645. The Jesuits remonstrated and succeeded. Pope Alexander VI. issued another
deci directly revoking his predecessor's in with in agreement which, policy,1 1665, The Dominicans did not let the Jesuits drew up forty-two articles. things rest here ; Navarette, one of their order, renewed the old de nunciations, and Bishop Maigrot, an apostolic vicar living inChina, inwhich, without
decree,
sion, he sided with Ricci's
issued a mandate ing more
than "the material
and rites were China
in which he declared heaven,"
that "T'ien"
signified noth and that the Chinese customs
to the Emperor of Jesuits applied explanation of the significance of the words and of the Chinese rites, whereupon Kanghi the Emperor idolatrous.
The
for an authentic
forGod
(in 1700) that T'ien meant the true God, and the ceremonies of China were political. But the efforts of the Jesuits to influence the Pope failed ; Pope
declared
Clement
XI.
(published
confirmed
in 1703) inwhich
by Dr. W. H. Medhurst); and ib. pp. Missionary"); to Boone"). Bishop Reply 1Ricci's Illustrata,
"Divine 1667.
Law"
of Bishop Maigrot in a bull the words T'ien and Shang T? were
the mandate
ib. pp. 357-360 ("A Few Plain Questions by a Brother 489 et seq., 545 et seq., and 601 et seq. ("Dr. Medhurst's is published
in an unabridged
form
in Kircher's
China
CHINESE
as pagan,
rejected
was
Heaven,
while
PHILOSOPHY.
the expression
241 T'ien
i. e. Lord
Chu,
of
of.
approved
From
these days the rapid decline of the Roman Catholic mis in China begins. Ricci's doctrines were not countenanced in
sions
and Maigrot's
Rome,
followers were persecuted
by the Chinese
gov
ernment.
the Rev. Dr. Boone proposes Among Protestant missionaries = to translate God by Shin Spirit,1 and takes the field against all those who use the terms Shang T? or T'ien; but he is opposed by the majority of his colleagues, Dr. Medhurst, Sir George Staunton, Dr. Bowring, Mr. Dotty, and Professor Legge. Prof. James Legge has written a learned discussion on the sub in corroboration of his views. ject2; adducing innumerable passages In his introduction to the Shu King he quotes Tai T'ung's " T?." Tai T'ung ary in defining the meaning of the word ' T? called
is the honorable
Shang
Heaven?that
T?
Powers
is, the Sovereign?is
called
Professor Legge '' Here
sonal
expressed
proper
years.
occurs
name
by any other word
has
been God
in the old Chinese
but God
therefore Heaven ; and
is
the Son
of
T?."
by which
; and when
Our word
like the Zeus
rule,
the five T?
the idea of Supreme
the Chinese
would
the terms T? and Shang T? ;?saying, they began to use the word God.
thousand
character
and
called
they use
name,
fathers did, when " T? is the name which five
lordship are
says :
adds :
then is the name Heaven,
is vaguely
absolute
of
designation
; the Elementary
diction
employed Classics.
of the Greeks. than I can
in China
fits naturally
it by a per
for this concept
It never became
zan
our early
what
into every passage
I can no more
translate
speak I believe,
in the
Power of
with
for fully
where
translate T? or Shang by anything
the a
the people
T?
else but man.
"
general belief that the Chinese are obstinately opposed to Christianity and Christian ethics is a great error. The Chinese have The
a contempt only for the dogmatism that is commonly preached to In spite of all the missionary efforts of Chris them as Christianity. tians, the Chinese know of Christianity as little as, or even less than, Western
nations know of Confucius,
2The Notions
of the Chinese
Concerning
Lao-tsz',
and Buddha.
God and Spirits,
Hong
Kong,
How
1852.
THE
242
MONIST.
the simple story of Jesus and his preachings of love and can charity impress the Chinese mind, if it is told in a truly Chinese without way, identifying Christianity with beef-eating or the opium deeply
trade, can be
from the fact that the Tai Ping revolution, Empire, was conducted by
learned
shook the throne of the Celestial
which
could no longer stand the persecutions of the a simple schoolmaster, Hung Sew Tseuen, who in his youth had seen visions entrusting him with a religious mission, read the Gospel, and, being impressed with itsmoral truths, native Christians who
Confucian
authorities.
baptised himself and began to preach Christ's ethics of good-will toward all. He was discharged and persecuted because he refused to pay the customary worship to Confucius ; but he continued to until he saw himself at the head of an army that might have the government of the Chinese Empire. While this overpowered preach
raged in China, the English did not even know that the rebels were Christians. So little did they know of the affairs of the interior of China ! rebellion
Sew Tseuen
Hung
as
Gleaner
sionary
in The Chinese and General Mis
is described
"of
about
appearance,
ordinary
five
feet
four
or five inches high, well built, round faced, regular featured, rather handsome, about middle age, and gentlemanly in his manners." Chinese Thomas Taylor Meadows, interpreter inH. M. Civil a detailed account of the Tai Ping revolu Service, has published tion1 in his book, The Chinese and Their Rebellions, London, 1856. He says on page 193 : ' My Protestant ness of
missionaries their labors,
tarian creeds,
could
there perhaps
an
mored 'were that
of
knowledge
that
had
Christians,'
convert,
great religious 1See
some
through
sectarian God,
Th. Hamberg's
when
setting
Imperial
tracts of a Chinese
spontaneously
Christianity, and
eliminate
and
article
in theN.
once
here and
or twice ru
armies
at defiance
It did not occur
to me
convert, might
either
and con
the dogmas
then by preaching
the pure morality
into our sec
except
itwas
the rumor credence.
them), might
truth of One
also Rev.
to give
the Chinese,
among
that
admissions
of the fruitless
as hardened
that Christianity,
who were
made
occasionally
Consequently
of men
I refused
forms of merely
me
to the dejected
joined
standing
find converts
individual.
isolated
fail to see, or (if he saw
mind,
years'
convinced
not possibly
the large body
the Chinese
gealed
the Chinese of many
of Christ's
simply
the
on
the
Sermon
Am. Review, Vol. LXXIX.,
p. 158.
CHINESE obtain
Mount,
seen above,
of followers
numbers
the immorality
that
they and
this was
those
PHILOSOPHY. among
people
disgusted
them were
around
the case with Hung
actually
243 with
engulfed
the idolatry and in.
As we have
Sew Tseuen."
AND CONFUCIUS
LAO-TSZ
The Yang and Yin conception of the ancient Chinese has exer cised a dominating influence upon all Chinese thinkers1, with the sole exception of Lao-tsz', who lived at the end of the sixth century before Christ. sic on Reason
Lao-tsz"s Tao-Teh-King ^ ||l ^ and Virtue," that wonderful booklet on
(" the Clas Tao, i. e,,
or Reason, the Logos, thatwas in the theWord on Teh virtue,2 propounding an ethics that repu beginning and diates all self-assertion, closely resembling the injunctions of both or Method,
the Path
Buddha It is not
and Christ), stands alone in the whole literature of China. less monistic than the doctrines of the T'ai Kih, but less
rigid,less a priori, less self-sufficient. It would nese better than the Confucian philosophy. defines
Williams '
A
road, path,
or way;
in the classics
; used
either
in ruling or observing
500 A. D.,
the Buddhists
tao> as follows :
Sjj$
proves
have served the Chi
... a a doctrine, that which the mind ap principle, in the sense of the right path in which one ought to go rules
called
or right reason
; rectitude
themselves
tao-yan,
i. e., men
; in early (seeking
Taoists].8 to speak,
the literature
chinesischen published
of China,
see Schott's
'' Entwurf
einer Beschreibung der in der Akademie der Wissenschaften," and Litteratur, gelesen 1850, Klasse in the Philosophisch-Historische in 1853, pp. 293-418.
w!SR
3The
;
to converse."
1On
2
to
for) reason ' after pu -ti
or intelligent men, denoting thereby their aspiration " or Logos of the rationalists ; the Reason bodhi), intelligence [the so-called " . . . [As a verb tao means] to lead, to direct, to go in a designated path
[enlightenment], (Sanskrit
times, up
is a combination
Taoists
who
of the three radicals
regard
themselves
as
to go, followers
" "
straight,
"
of Lao-tsz'have
and
"
heart.
distorted
The Tao religion is best characterised beyond recognition. and Punishments," in full only into French in "The Book of Rewards translated Paris, by Stanislaus Julien under the title Le livre des r?compenses et des peines. and Taoism, See also Confucianism by Prof. Robert K. Douglas. 1835. their master's
doctrines
"
244
The
THE
MONIST.
tao, is composed at the head."
character
of "to
go" and "head,"
denoting "marching are told that Confucius We
visited Lao-Tsz', who, being by a half century his senior, must then have been about eighty years the maxims of justice, the old old. While Confucius propounded
"
Confucius,
justice
what
Teh-King, "The goodness
to fathom Lao-tsz'
then will
you
and
toward every one, say
's meaning,
kindness?
recompense
recompense
kindness
I would
also meet
with
injury with
Recompense
the gist of his ethics propounds where he says :
not-faithful
replied :
with kindness."
The good I would meet with goodness. 2 ; for the teh (virtue) is good (throughout).
The
faith.
unable
(punishment),
Lao-tsz'
of good-will
injury with kindness."
Recompense
"With
the principle
urged
philosopher ing -}
in ? 49 of the Tao I would
not-good The
also meet with
faithful I would
meet with
faith ; (for) the teh (virtue)
is good
(throughout)."
to the very basis of Confucian morality. to make people good by teaching them pro Confucius expected were if but respectful to parents and superiors, if they they priety; to the shrines of their ancestors, and observed the brought sacrifices Lao-tsz'
objected
rules and ceremonies, mankind would become moral. appropriate Lao-tsz' exhibited an undisguised contempt for externalities and He demanded purity of heart, emptiness of de ancestor-worship. a surrender of all self-display, in imitation of the great Tao sire, and (Reason), which serves all without seeking its own.3 Sz' Ma Ts'ien,4 who lived about 163-85 B. C, reports on the B. of that Confucius in his Chwang-tsz' (about 330 authority C.) interview with Lao-tsz', the wisdom 1
John Chalmer's
3See 4The
original
Confucianism
Chinese
lentz in his Anfangsgr?nde
Lao-tsz'
traditions.
The Speculations
also Douglas's
by reverence said :
showed himself overawed
of the ancient
of the Old Philosopher,
and Taoism,
text with a German der Chinesischen
pp.
p. xviii.
176 et seq.
translation
Grammatik,
Lau-tsz\
for
p.
is published 111 et seq.
by Gabe
CHINESE of whom
"Lord,
rotted away.
gether
his time, he rises;
carried
about
ures]
deeply,
as
is what
as though
I have
plans.
run.
the running,
For
the flying, one makes wind
and
dragon
?1
clouds "
up
like a P'ung
wishes,
one makes As
to heaven.
and
[his treas
hides
virtue
gives
y?.1
your external
with
appearance
to the sage's
This
person.
sir ; that is all."
' : Of
the birds
that they can swim, of the beasts
arrows.
find plant
on the sand
growing
simple-minded
to his disciples
; and he said
can fly, of the fishes I know
about
alto
sage
:
continues went
Confucius
to you,
if a
A sage of perfect
all are of no advantage
These
have
Moreover,
a wise merchant
empty.
spirit, your many
to communicate
Sz'-Ma-Ts'ien '
to be a plant,
[he were]
I suppose,
their bones, extant.
heard,
or safe] were
if [his house
up your proud
your exaggerated
and
I have
by the wind].
the appearance
'' Give
the men
only are still
by the commentators
easily himself
speak, words
245
if he does not find his time, he wanders
is described
[which
you Their
PHILOSOPHY.
nooses
To-day
was more congenial for he was more typically Chinese. Confucius
I know
; for the swimming,
to the dragon,
I know, that they that they can
one makes
nets
; for
I do not know how he rides upon
I saw Lao-tsz'.
Is he perhaps
like the
to his countrymen than Lao-tsz', Although his life had been an
chain of disappointments, Confucius succeeded after his His in becoming the moral teacher of the Chinese people.
unbroken death
agnostic attitude inmetaphysics and religion which neither affirms nor denies the existence of a beyond, of God, or gods, and of ghosts, reverence for but avoids investigating the matter, his unbounded the past, his respect for scholarship and book-learning, his ethics of traditionalism, which implies an extreme conservatism, his exag geration of propriety, his ceremonialism, and above all his ideal of to authority have more and more become of the Chinese nation. submission
national
traits
a pity that the weakness of China is an exaggerated vir virtue inwhich America is as much tue ; it is reverence run mad?a What
deficient as China It was
1Gabelentz bols
is in excess. of a typical Chinaman
characteristic
translates
denoting "monkey" ary of the Chinese Language,
^(j^ and p.
" dumm" y? by or mind." "heart 1120.
The
like Confucius
character
See Williams's
contains Syllabic
that
the sym Diction
THE
246 he should have admired because
it came down
1' Should ing the Yih
We
a few more
and
the Yih King solely on account of its age, to him from the sages of yore. He said :
years be granted
thereby could
know much
MONIST.
tome,
I shall have
be free from erring greatly."?L?n
more
about Confucius
applied
fifty to study
Y?, VII.,
than about
16.1
any other that he was
philosopher, emperor, or saint, but it appears of a moral teacher than a philosopher or mathematician, and it is probable that the Yih King was to him a book with seven seals, the unintelligibility of which fascinated him.
Chinese more
Having impressed upon the nation his personality, Confucius on in the lived souls of his countrymen ; and, following their mas to study the Yih King ter's injunction, the Chinese continued Instead of avoiding without finding the solution of its problems. they committed authority and ceased
grave mistakes, traditional
the gravest one : they relied upon to be self-dependent. Instead of
deciphering the eternal revelation of truth that surrounds us in the living book of nature and of our individual experiences, they pon dered over the secret meanings of the holy Yih King ; and even to day there are many among them who believe that the Yih King con tains all the wisdom, physical, moral, and metaphysical, that can be conceived by any of the sages of the world.2 The mistake of the Chinese is natural and perhaps excusable, for it is founded upon a profound, although misunderstood and mis applied, reverence for the great sages who laid the cornerstone of We, as outsiders, can easily appreciate the merits the errors of the fundamental principles of Chinese
their civilisation. and
reject thought ; but not all of us are conscious of the fact that inmany re spects we too suffer from an exaggerated reverence for traditionalism. 1Such
to Dr. Riedel, is the translation which, after a comparison according the original, I find, so far as I can judge, as literal as possible. Professor Legge translates : "If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to," etc.
with
2The sense
claim
as we might
multiplication-table
contains all science should be interpreted in the same that logic contains all possible rules of thought, and the is the essence of all possible numerical relations.
that the Yih declare
PHILOSOPHY.
CHINESE
247
CONCLUSION.
may be the solution of the mystery of the Yih King, it is almost certain that the Chinese themselves do not understand it. Whatever
in spite of the simplicity of their philosophy of permutations, as we may briefly call the theory of constructing a world-conception fromYang and Yin elements, all their thinking, planning, and yearn Thus
ing is dimmed by mysticism ; and the vain hope of divination fills their minds with superstitious beliefs which makes them, on the one hand, slavishly submissive to the various evils of life, and, on the other hand,
self-satisfied
in the belief
that their sages alone are in All this renders the Chinese
stone. possession of the philosophers' to of the unfit grasp significance reality, and abandons them almost hopelessly to the mercy of their own barbarous institutions, such as their antiquated penal laws and prison practices, extortionate taxa tion, and the arbitrary government system, to which they patiently submit.
is a virtue which is much admired in China and highly in prose and verse, as the basis of self-control, domestic praised read in the famous Pih Jin Ko, peace, and good government. We on Universal Patience":1 the "Ode Patience
"This
song of patience
Of universal
universal, sings.
patience
Can
one be patient,
summer
Can
one be patient,
winter
Can
one be patient,
poverty
Can
one be patient,
long life may
With With
yet be protracted.
little evils change
impatience,
a good nature
Tse?n
Tan
of Yen,
Sze Tih,
when
Chaou,
spit upon
for want
to great
of moderation,
waited
was
for revenge
; lost and perished.
let it dry;
a very dunce.
1See Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., p. 48, where an English translation.
together with
wolfish.
in the end was
in the face, patiently
of patience,
;
at length becomes
tasted gall, and patiently from want
;
is yet happy;
impatience,
Kow
Tih
is not hot is not cold.
the original
Chinese
is published
THE
248 The
benevolent
The
wise
endure
submit
To
repress
To
wear
anger
and
other men
what
to what
is the watchword
for laying
is the watchword
for forming
Patience
is the watchword
to succeed
Patience
is the watchword
to rule
one bear
Can
one refrain from wild
excess,
Can
one
forbear
tattle, one will
Can
one
forbear
strife and
Can
one submit
Can
one bend
Once
patient,
all
patient,
every woe
Once
to abuse
and
avoid
of patience
of perfection
barbarians
among
have
savages
a superabundance
slander
;
:
free from violent
disease.
;
one dissipates one
and
hatred
his caliber learning.
is burnt
;
and obstinate.
shows
raillery,
;
the root of virtue.
study, one accumulates come
blessings
the foundation
one will be
contention,
to thorough
is the square
the violent
one will
labor,
;
is the rule of patience.
Patience
Can
bear
endure.
the passions
and be humble,
Patience
toil and
can hardly
never would
others
restrain
the petticoat,1
MONIST.
and
resentment.
;
in company; to ashes."
The Chinese government, and with it the Chinese nation, seem to be at present in a pitiable plight ; and, indeed, their empire is like a Colossus of brass on clay feet. there is at the foundation of the Chinese civili Nevertheless, sation
and
of the Chinese
worth
and
intellectual
national
character which
a nucleus come
of moral
to the front
may capabilities To conquer China inwar may be easy enough, but to com again. pete with her children in the industrial persuits of peace may prove to the less noisy but The conqueror often succumbs impossible.
more
Thus Greece overcame powerful virtues of the conquered. the Normans. Rome and the Saxons Anglicised the walls When break down which separate China from the rest of the world so as a chance of learning from us all they can, it is the result of a free competition with the Chinese imperturbable patience, their endurance, their stead
to give the Chinese very doubtful what will be. Their fast character,
their pious
reverence,
their respect
for learning,
JThis phrase means "to be submissive to authority, as a wife ought to be her husband," in English being the reverse of a well-known slang. expression
to
philosophy.
chinese
should
not be underrated.
249
If these virtues
are but turned
in the
right direction and tempered by that breadth of mind which is in forprogress, the Chinese will soon recover; and nothing dispensable more is apt to produce a national rebirth than hard times, trials, and humiliations. China
the chance of a spir of this opportunity, she
is offered in her recent misfortunes
itual rebirth.
Should
she avail
herself
would, with her four hundred millions of inhabitants and her untold virgin resources, at once take a prominent rank among the nations of the earth ; and her civilisation
might become
strong enough
influence and modify our own. Editor.
to