Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-26
LIBRARY RECEIVES
CHINESE CLASSICS
Former Shantung War Lord
Gives Complete Set to
Congress Institution.

Chang Tsung-chang, formerly war
lord Of Shantung, has presented to the
Library of Congress through the Ameri-
can Minister at Picking, complete set
of the Chinese classics in facsimile
script Of the ninth century, AID, 1t
was announced at the Library yester-
day.
The original texts from which this
massive printed edition was made were
carved on stone in the reign of the
Tang Emperor K'ai-ch'eng, in 1877
AID, and are therefore known as the
K ai-ch'eng engraved classics" The
capital of the empire was then in Sian,
the present capital of Shensi Province,
where the stones are still housed in the
famous Pei-lin, or Monument Grove"
The idea of carving the classics on
stone originated after the burning of
the books by the self-styled First En-
peror in the third century BIC. The
Five Classics were SO engraved in ITS
AID. and set up before the gate Of the
Imperial College. Other sets were en-
graved in subsequent dynasties, but of
these only fragments remain. The old
est reasonably complete set engraved
on stone today Is the one in the "Monu-
ment Grove" Of Sian. But even this
set was greatly mutilated in the great
earthquake Of 1855, and while rub
bings" of the original, or Of the restored
stones, are sometimes obtainable, the
text has suffered more or less corrlp-
ton.
Used Expert Engravers.
For several years past the Shantung
war lord, almost without the knowledge
OF his own countrymen, has had a corps
OF skilled wood engravers at work In
the great Fa Yuan Ssu Temple in
Peking, reproducing the ancient script
In wood so as to make the inscribed
classics Of the Tang period available
not only In cumbersome "rubbings"-
in which the characters are white
on black background-but in the
ordinary printed form as we'll. He was
fortunate to obtain for this purpose
very rare old rubbing" that had
been struck of prior to the earthquake
of 1855, thus affording not only a COM
plete text of the classics but also a
perfect reproduction of the original
calligraphy of 1877 AID.
Before those calligraphers could COM
NIT their writing to stone, they FIRST
had to write the characters with a
brush on white paper, which was pasted
to the monument so that the workman
might carve the characters in fac
smile. Now again, after the lapse OF
IL centuries, these engravings on wood
permit the reproduction OF the charac-
tiers just as they were first written
namely, black ideographs on white
paper.
The text that was carved in s37 COM
priSed only IL of the IS classics the
Book Of Mencius was omitted, not being
regarded then as a part of the canon
1t was only after the labors of the
great twelfth century commentator,
Chu Hsi, that the works of Mencius OBJ
tanned parity with the other classics
In the seventeenth century his works
also were engraved on stone In the
manner of the Tang script and placed
IN the Monument Grove" beside the
other tablets.
This text, of course, is reproduced in
Chang Tsung- Chang's great collection.
The whole set of the Thirteen Classics
as now reprinted comprises "a vol
umes leach 3D. by 10 inches) with 60
large characters to each page-a char
acter being approximately three -fourths
OF an inch high.
Offer Moral Ideas.
In q preface that reproduces his
own calligraphy, the former Shantung
general states that his purpose in re-
producing this ancient text was not
merely to preserve the beautiful script
Va dH dIlClenL dynasty, put TO dlSSem1-
nate. In an age of great political and
social confusion, the moral ideas of the
classics. Himself native Of the prov.
ince in which Confucius was born, he
wishes to revive the principles for
which Confucius stood. The preface
closes with the following quotation
from Mencius: ct wish to rectifv
mems hearts, put an end to perverse
doctrines, resist Objectionable behavior,
Danish lawless expressions, and thus
carry on the work of the sages."