The sun., 1883-12-09
Gems or Chiaese Literature.

FhIuobS thc bOOhb w WhlCh lsllHhSu NDiho-
lognes have recently ondeavored to give tho
general reader nm inkling Of the literary treas
ures OF tho Middle Kingdom. little volume.
compiled by MIR. II. A. GILES. and called Gems
| from Chinese Literature tBernnrd Quaritoh).,
| will be found particularly useful by way
| Of Introduction to tho extensive transla-
| tions OF DIR. Legge. On the scorc both Of plan
| and dexecution. this manual is decidedly superior
| TO any other venture Of the kind with which we
are acquainted. The selections nre arranged
In chronological order. ind thus. while illus
trating the scope and quality OF tho writings
quoted. they enable us to trace tho historical
| development OF Chinese letters. The author be-
| gins. for instance with extracts from the great
| classic authors OF the Chou and Chin dynasties
| 1850 to 900 b. C.). including. OF course Confu-
| cius. Mencius and the most famous exponents
| OF the doctrines OF Lao Tzu. He proceeds to
| give some interesting citations from tho great
historians OF the Han dynasty tB. G. 2O0-A. ID.
20O,. from tho poets. historians. and essayists
OF tho Sung era 900 1900 A. d. which may be
regarded as tho Chinese renaissance; and he
| brings his collection to u close with some eN-
| cerrts from the writer's of tho Mongol and
| Ming dynastios t1200-l5l6 A. d.. whose rule
| may be looked upon as n period OF gradual
literary decay. finally sinking to tho medi-
ocrity which marks the compositions produced
under tho present dynasty. As regards the
method of translation Mr.. Giles has rightly
made strict verbal accuracy his constant aim.
30 far as tho reproduction OF tho authors
thought and tho original turn OF expression
are concerned. He has omitted. however. tho
| long strings OF unpronounceable proper names.
| and multitude OF recondite allusions. whose
| explanation would require volumes OF COM
| mentary. The result s that his version OF So
| lected passages Is extremely readable. which
| is IN more than can DO said for some moro ambi-
| tiouS performances.
| OF the extracts from tho discourses OF Con-
| fucius some have long been familiar. but they
cannot be too often ropeatod when we remem-
| Der that these sayings were pronounced by
man who was born at least century before
Socrates and five centuries and n half before
Jesus Christ Among the dicta here quoted ia
| ono which his countrymen. in their epoch of lit
| crary decadence. seem to have forgotten. name-
| ly: Learning without thought is labor lost"
| To check mon. however. from imagining that
the present can be rightly interpreted without
a knowledge Of the past. Confucius hastened
to add that " thought without learning is in
tellectual DEATH" A suggestion full OF prac-
tlcal wisdom is the following: II you suspect
n man. don't employ him: il YOU employ
him. don't suspect him." In the next sem
tence Confucus draws the limo between
proper deliberation and excessive hesitation:
| Chi Wen thought thrice. and then acted. Tho
mastor said Twice will do" In other words.
second thoughts are better than third thoughts.
because the latter are apt to revert to the first
impulse. 1t Is wel known that Confucius
taught no system OF philosophy; that with re-
gard to such problems as future life. and tho
provldential government OF the universe. his
attitude was almost precisely ident with
that OF the modern agnostlcs. 1t was one OF his
| declarations that tho study OF tho supernat-
ural is injurious indeed" and We are told. in
ono OF his discourses. that a disciple. having
| inquired about serving tho spirits of the dead.
| tho master said: You arc not even able to
servo living mon: how. then. should you
servo sprits?" Boing further interrogated
about death. the master said You do not even
understand life; how. then should you under
stand death ?" Here are his definitions OF knowl-
| edge and charity: Shall 1 teach you" asked
Confuclus. in what true knowledge consists
To know what you do know. and to know what
| you do not know: that is true knowledge"
disciple having desired him to define charity,
he snid. Love ono another" Being again
| called upon to define knowledge from an OBJ
| jcctive rather than subjective point OF Wow
he answered. Know one another" Hero Is
| Mr.. Ges's version OF tho Confucian counter
part to the Golden Rule. A disciple having re-
questcd II rule of life in word tho master
said: Is not Reciprocity that word? What
not unto them" We think that Mr.. Giles rates
the ethical value Of this Injunction too highly.
and that the currcnt criticism is we'll founded
| which makes the Confucan utterance n merely
negative cnunciation OF the precept expressed
in positive terms by Jesus. Confucius, speaking
as worldly legislator. levels his al monition
against the commission OF injuries whilo
Christ whose scheme OF ethics originally con-
templated the speedy establishment OF king
| M n anrth lyyb; b;oh hoa
been materially modified by his disciples since
his coming was seen to be continually post
poned cnloncd the ceascless practice
OF unstinted benelcencs. There is an
analogous difference between another Of
Christ's teachings and tho corresponding
Confucian monition: and here again it
will be observed that the Christian COM
munty. since the dream Of millennium
was dispelled. has in practice substituted the
rule laid down by Confucius for Christ's
Some one asked Confucius saying Mastor,
what think you concerning tho principle that
good should be returned for evil?' The master
replied. What. then. will YOU return for good?
No; return good for good; for evil JUSTICE"
1t is curious co find the pessimism OF Hobbies
and Schopenhauer formulated with precision
by Chinese philosopher. Hsun-T Tzu. who
wrote in the third century b. O. by nature" Z"
SAYS Hsun-Tzu. man Is evil II q man is good
being what 1t Is. he Is influenced first OF all by
desire for gain. Hence he strives to get all he
can without consideration for his neighbor
Secondly. he is prone to envy and hate. Hence
he seeks the ruin OF others and loyalty and
truth are set aside Thirdly. he is slave to
his animal passions Hence he commits ex-
cesses. and wanders from the path OF duty and
right. Thus. conformity with mans natural
disposition leads to ali kinds OF violence dsor-
der. and ultimate barbarsm. Only under the
restraint OF law and Of lofty moral influences
does man eventually become 1T to be men,
Der OF regularly organized society,"" This the
ory that the nature ofsman is evil has always
been heterodox in China; the orthodox optim-
istic view is set forth in the following
extract from Mencius tB. G. 372-2s9,.
the great eNpounder OF Confucius. and
China's second sage We shall observe
that Mencius can find nothing better than a
J metaphor by which to support his proposition