The Chinese Classics
Confucius (James Legge translation)
783 passages indexed from The Chinese Classics (Confucius (James Legge translation)) — Page 11 of 16
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The Chinese Classics, passage 71
There were all written, however, in the most ancient form of the Chinese character [1], which had fallen into disuse, and the king returned them to the K'ung family, the head of which, K'ung An-kwo [2], gave himself to the study of them, and finally, in obedience to an imperial order, published a Work called "The Lun Yu, with Explanations of the Characters, and Exhibition of the Meaning [3].' 4.
The Chinese Classics, passage 712
子 析] or 子楷), a native of Lu, fifty years younger than Confucius. 35. Following Tsze-hsun is Kung-sun Lung [al. Ch'ung] styled Tsze- shih (公孫龍 [al. 寵], 字子石), whose birth is assigned by different writers to Wei, Ch'u, and Chao (趙). He was fifty-three years younger than Confucius. We have the following account:-- 'Tsze-kung asked Tsze-shih, saying, "Have you not learned the Book of' Poetry?" Tsze-shih replied, "What leisure have I to do so?
The Chinese Classics, passage 609
'A bishop'-- and I quote the term with the simple meaning of overseer-- 'must be blameless.' It seems to me, however, that in the progress of society in the West we have come to think less of the power of example in many departments of state than we ought to do. It is thought of too little in the army and the navy.
The Chinese Classics, passage 533
Mencius, when lecturing to the ruler of T'ang on the proper way of governing a kingdom, told him that he must provide the means of education for all, the poor as well as the rich. 'Establish,' said he, 'hsiang, hsu, hsio, and hsiao,-- all those educational institutions,-- for the instruction of the people [4].' 1 2 See the 大清通禮卷十二. 3 Ana. XIII. xxx. 4 Mencius III. Pt. I. iii. 10. At the present day, education is widely diffused throughout China.
The Chinese Classics, passage 362
in the present department of Ho-nan of the province of the same name. The reigning sovereign is known by the title of Chang [7], but the sovereignty was little more than nominal. The state of China was then analogous to that of one of the European kingdoms during the prevalence of the feudal system. At the commencement of the dynasty, the various states of the kingdom had been assigned to the relatives and adherents of the reigning family.
The Chinese Classics, passage 776
The arrangement of the characters is according to their tones and final sounds. My copy of it, with a supplement published about ten years later, is in forty-five large volumes, with much more letter-press in it than the edition of the Dynastic Histories mentioned on p. 133. The Ching Tsi Tswan Ku, ping Pu Wei (經籍□(纂上饗下)詁并補遺), 'A Digest of the Meanings in the Classical and other Books, with Supplement,' by, or rather under the superintendence of, Yuan Yuan (p. 132).
The Chinese Classics, passage 257
Revolving them in my own mind often and long, I collect from them the following as the ideas of the author:-- Firstly, Man has received from Heaven a moral nature by which he is constituted a law to himself; secondly, Over this nature man requires to exercise a jealous watchfulness; and thirdly, As he possesses it, absolutely and relatively, in perfection, or attains to such possession of it, he becomes invested with the highest dignity and power, and may say to himself-- 'I am a god; yea, I sit in the seat of God.' I will not say here that there is impiety in the last of these ideas; but do we not have in them the same combination which we found in the Great Learning,-- a combination of the ordinary and the extraordinary, the plain and the vague, which is very perplexing to the mind, and renders the Book unfit for the purposes of mental and moral discipline?
The Chinese Classics, passage 254
'Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.' Here we pass into the sphere of mystery and mysticism.
The Chinese Classics, passage 760
The present Work is by Wang Su of the Wei (魏) dynasty, grounded professedly on the older one, the blocks of which had suffered great dilapidation during the intervening centuries. It is allowed also, that, since Su's time, the Work has suffered more than any of the acknowledged Classics. Yet it is a very valuable fragment of antiquity, and it would be worth while to incorporate it with the Analects. My copy is the edition of Li Yung (李容), published in 1780.
The Chinese Classics, passage 594
As to the institutions of government, the laws and arrangements by which, as through a thousand channels, it should go forth to carry plenty and prosperity through the length and breadth of the country, it did not belong to Confucius, 'the throneless king,' to set them forth minutely. And indeed they were existing in the records of 'the ancient sovereigns.' Nothing new was needed. It was only 1 中庸, xx. 3. 2 Mencius, I. Pt. I. vi. 6. 3 中庸, xx. 8.
The Chinese Classics, passage 412
Different food was assigned to the old and the young, and different burdens to the strong and the weak. Males and females kept apart from each other in the streets. A thing dropped on the road was not picked up. There was no fraudulent carving of vessels. Inner coffins were made four inches thick, and the outer ones five. Graves were made on the high grounds, no mounds being raised over them, and no trees planted about them.
The Chinese Classics, passage 318
An enmity was thus commenced between the two families of K'ung and Hwa which the lapse of time did not obliterate, and the latter being the more powerful of the two, Chia's great-grandson withdrew into the State of Lu to avoid their persecution. There he was appointed commandant of the city of Fang [11], and is known 1 佛父何. 2 魴(al. 方) 祀. 3 I drop here the 父 (second tone), which seems to have been used in those times in a manner equivalent to our Mr. 4 厲公.
The Chinese Classics, passage 159
He has before him on one side, the people, the masses of the empire, and over against them are those whose work and duty, delegated by Heaven, is to govern them, culminating, as a class, in 'the son of Heaven [3],' 'the One man [4],' the sovereign. From the fourth and 1 Chinese Repository, vol. iii. p. 98 2 太學, not 大學. See the note on the title of the Work below. 3 天子, Cl. (classical) Text, par. 6, 2. 4 一人, Comm. ix. 3.
The Chinese Classics, passage 511
The legends assign to his figure 'nine-and-forty remarkable peculiarities [1],' a tenth part of which would have made him more a monster than a man. Dr. Morrison says that the images of him which he had seen in the northern parts of China, represent him as of a dark, swarthy colour [2]. It is not so with those common in the south. He was, no doubt, in size and complexion much the same as many of his descendants in the present day. Dr.
The Chinese Classics, passage 20
divination); and the imperial Physician, Li Chu-kwo [6], to examine the Books on medicine. Whenever any book was done with, Hsiang forthwith arranged it, indexed it, and made a digest of it, which was presented to the emperor. While this work was in progress, Hsiang died, and the emperor Ai (B.C. 6-A.D. 1) appointed his son, Hsin [7], a Master of the imperial carriages, to complete his father's work.
The Chinese Classics, passage 352
525, the chief of the small State of T'an [3], made his appearance at the court of Lu, and discoursed in a wonderful manner, at a feast given to him by the duke, about the names which the most ancient sovereigns, from Hwang-ti downwards, gave to their 1 Li Chi, II. Sect I. i. 10; Sect. II. iii. 30; Pt. I. i. 6. See also the discussion of those passages in Chiang Yung's 'Life of Confucius.' 2 Li Chi, II. Sect. I. i. 23. 3 See the Ch'un Ch'iu, under the seventh year of duke Chao,-- 秋, 郯子來朝 .
The Chinese Classics, passage 448
Ch'an, which formed part of the present province of Ho-nan, lay south from Wei. After passing the small State of Ts'ao [5], he approached the borders of Sung, occupying the present prefecture of Kwei-teh, and had some intentions of entering it, when an incident occurred, which it is not easy to understand from the meagre style in which it is related, but which gave occasion to a remarkable saying.
The Chinese Classics, passage 604
The three considerations which may overrule these grounds are-- first, if, while she was taken from a home, she has now no home to return to; second, if she have passed with her husband through the three years' mourning for his parents; third, if the husband have become rich from being poor.
The Chinese Classics, passage 737
SECTION I. CHINESE WORKS, WITH BRIEF NOTICES. 十三經註疏, 'The Thirteen Ching, with Commentary and Explanations.' This is the great repertory of ancient lore upon the Classics. On the Analects, it contains the 'Collection of Explanations of the Lun Yu,' by Ho Yen and others (see p. 19), and 'The Correct Meaning,' or Paraphrase of Hsing Ping (see p. 20).
The Chinese Classics, passage 781
CHINA: its State and Prospects. By W. H. Medhurst, D. D., of the London Missionary Society. London, 1838. L'UNIVERS: Histoire et Déscription des tous les Peuples. Chine. Par M. G. Pauthier. Paris, 1838. HISTORY OF CHINA, from the earliest Records to the Treaty with Great Britain in 1842. By Thomas Thornton, Esq., Member of the Royal Asiatic Society. In two volumes. London, 1844.
The Chinese Classics, passage 151
Pauthier, in the 'Argument Philosphique,' prefixed to his translation of the Work, says:-- 'It is evident that the aim of the Chinese philosopher is to exhibit the duties of political government as those of the perfecting of self, and of the practice of virtue by all men.
The Chinese Classics, passage 118
Book XVII. i, 饋 for 歸; xxiv. 2, 絞 for 徼. Book XVIII. iv, 饋 for 歸; viii. 1, 侏 for 朱. These various readings are exceedingly few, and in themselves insignificant. The student who wishes to pursue this subject at length, is provided with the means in the Work of Ti Chiao-shau [2], expressly devoted to it. It forms sections 449-473 of the Works of the Classics, mentioned at the close of the preceding section.
The Chinese Classics, passage 287
And moreover, others who are not so naturally may make themselves to become so. Some will have to put forth more effort and to contend with greater struggles, but the end will be the possession of the knowledge and the achievement of the practice. I need not say that these sentiments are contrary to the views of human nature which are presented in the Bible.
The Chinese Classics, passage 237
It is with him, how- 1 This conversation is given in the Li Chi, II. Sect. II. Pt. ii, 1. ever, as a thinker and writer that we have to do, and his rank in that capacity will appear from the examination of the Chung Yung in the section iv below. His place in the temples of the Sage has been that of one of his four assessors, since the year 1267. He ranks with Yen Hui, Tsang Shan, and Mencius, and bears the title of 'The Philosopher Tsze-sze, Transmitter of the Sage [1].' SECTION III.
The Chinese Classics, passage 171
The words which I have quoted are followed by a very striking enunciation of the golden rule in its negative form, and under the name of the measuring square, and all the lessons of the chapter are connected more or less closely with that. The application of this principle by a ruler, whose heart is in the first place in loving sympathy with the people, will guide him in all the exactions which 1 See Comm. ix. 3. 2 See Comm. x. 1.
The Chinese Classics, passage 638
When a comparison, however, is drawn between it and the rule laid down by Christ, it is proper to call attention to the positive form of the latter, 'All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.' The lesson of the gospel commands men to do what they feel to be right and good. It requires them to commence a course of such conduct, without regard to the conduct of others to themselves.
The Chinese Classics, passage 244
It there appears in two p'ien, of which we have the following account from the author of 'Supplemental Remarks upon the Four Books:'-- 'The proper course now is to consider the first twenty chapters in Chu Hsi's arrangement as making up the first p'ien, and the remaining thirteen as forming the second. In this way we retain the old form of the Treatise, and do not come into collision with the views of Chu. For this suggestion we are indebted to Lu Wang-chai' (an author of the Sung dynasty ) [1].
The Chinese Classics, passage 530
With thee are associated the philosopher Yen, Continuator of thee; the philosopher Tsang, Exhibiter of thy fundamental principles; the philosopher Tsze-sze, Transmitter of thee; and the philosopher Mang, Second to thee. May'st thou enjoy the offerings!' I need not go on to enlarge on the homage which the emperors of China render to Confucius. It could not be more complete. He was unreasonably neglected when alive. He is now unreasonably venerated when dead. 2.
The Chinese Classics, passage 390
VII. xiii. 4 Some of these are related in the 'Narratives of the School;'-- about the burning of the ancestral shrine of the sovereign 釐, and a one-footed bird which appeared hopping and flapping its wings in Ch'i. They are plainly fabulous, though quoted in proof of Confucius's sage wisdom. This reference to them is more than enough. 5 家語, 卷二, 六本. 6 Ana. XII. xi. 7 Ana. XIII. iii.
The Chinese Classics, passage 504
The rule of Chau is to perform it at the top of the western steps, treating the dead as if he were a guest. I am a man of Yin, and last night I dreamt that I was sitting with offerings before me between the two pillars. No intelligent monarch arises; there is not one in the kingdom that will make me his master. My time has come to die.' So it was. He went to his couch, and after seven days expired [2]. Such is the account which we have of the last hours of the great philosopher of China.
The Chinese Classics, passage 134
This alteration and his various transpositions of the text are found in Mao Hsi-ho's treatise on 'The Attested Text of the Great Learning [5].' Hardly less illustrious than Ch'ang Hao was his younger brother Ch'ang I, known by the style of Chang-shu [6], and since his death by that of I-chwan [7].
The Chinese Classics, passage 388
There is a sufficient foundation in nature for government in the several relations of society, and if those be maintained and developed according to their relative significancy, it is sure to obtain. This was a first principle in the political ethics of Confucius.
The Chinese Classics, passage 575
'Chi Lu asked about serving the spirits of the dead, and the master said, "While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?" The disciple added, "I venture to ask about death," and he was answered, "While you do not know life, how can you know about death [3]."' Still more striking is a conversation with another disciple, recorded in the 'Narratives of the School.' Tsze-kung asked him, saying, 'Do the dead have knowledge (of our services, that is), or are they without knowledge?' The master replied, 'If I were to say that the dead have such knowledge, I am afraid that filial sons and dutiful grandsons would injure their substance in paying the last offices to the departed; and if I were to say that the dead have not such knowledge, I am afraid lest unfilial sons should leave their parents unburied.
The Chinese Classics, passage 294
This sincerity becomes apparent. From being apparent, it becomes manifest. From being manifest, it becomes brilliant. Brilliant, it affects others. Affecting others, they are changed by it. Changed by it, they are transformed. It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can transform [3].' It may safely be affirmed, that when he thus expressed himself, Tsze-sze understood neither what he said nor 1 Ch. xxi. 2 Ch. xxii. 3 Ch. xxiii.
The Chinese Classics, passage 564
of Poetry, the Book of History, and the maintenance of the rules of Propriety.' 'He taught letters, ethics, devotion of soul, and truthfulness.' 'Extraordinary things; feats of strength; states of disorder; and spiritual beings, he did not like to talk about [1].' Confucius is not to be blamed for his silence on the subjects here indicated. His ignorance of them was to a great extent his misfortune. He had not learned them.
The Chinese Classics, passage 88
Thus, Book V is given to the disciples of Tsze-kung; Book XI, to those of Min Tsze-ch'ien; Book XIV, to Yuan Hsien; and Book XVI has been supposed to be interpolated from the Analects of Ch'i. Even if we were to acquiesce in these decisions, we should have accounted only for a small part of the Work.
The Chinese Classics, passage 458
7, and also in the 'Narratives of the School.' I would fain believe it is not true. The wonder is, that no Chinese critic should have set about disproving it. 7 Ana. XII. x. 8 晉. that when a man in his own person is guilty of doing evil, a superior man will not associate with him. Pi Hsi is in rebellion; if you go to him, what shall be said?' Confucius replied, 'Yes, I did use those words.
The Chinese Classics, passage 182
'The Learning for Adults,' he says, 'at the outset of its lessons, instructs the learner, in regard to all things in the world, to proceed from what knowledge he has of their principles, and pursue his investigation of them, till he reaches the extreme point. After exerting himself for a long time, he will suddenly find himself possessed of a wide and far-reaching penetration.
The Chinese Classics, passage 668
He was distinguished for his purity and filial affection. His place in the temple is the first, east, among 'The Wise Ones,' immediately after the four assessors. He was first sacrificed to along with Confucius, as is to be understood of the other 'Wise Ones,' excepting in the case of Yu Zo, in the eighth year of the style K'ai-yuan of the sixth emperor of the T'ang dynasty, A.D. 720. His title, the same as that of all but the Assessors, is-- 'The ancient Worthy, the philosopher Min.' 3 .
The Chinese Classics, passage 180
According to his method, the chapter on the connexion between making the thoughts sincere and so rectifying the mental nature, should be preceded by one on the completion of knowledge as the means of making the thoughts sincere, and that again by one on the completion of knowledge by the investigation of things, or whatever else the phrase ko wu may mean.
The Chinese Classics, passage 162
Intelligent Chinese, whose minds were somewhat quickened by Christianity, have spoken to me of this defect, and complained of the difficulty they felt in making the book a practical directory for their conduct. 'It is so vague and vast,' was the observation of one man. The writer, however, has made some provision for the general application of his instructions.
The Chinese Classics, passage 470
XV. i. 2, 3. 2 家語, 卷二, 在危, 二十篇. 3 Ana. XI. ii. 4 Ana. VII. xviii. 5 Ana. XIII. xvi. and who is he that will change it for you? Than follow one who merely withdraws from this one and that one, had you not better follow those who withdraw from the world altogether?' With this he fell to covering up the seed, and gave no more heed to the stranger. Tsze-lu went back and reported what they had said, when Confucius vindicated his own course, saying.
The Chinese Classics, passage 485
Confucius was now in his sixty-ninth year. The world had not dealt kindly with him. In every State which he had visited he had met with disappointment and sorrow. Only five more years remained to him, nor were they of a brighter character than the past. He had, indeed, attained to that state, he tells us, in which 'he could follow what his heart desired without transgressing what was right [3],' but other people were not more inclined than they had been to abide by his counsels.
The Chinese Classics, passage 150
It must synchronize pretty nearly with the Analects, and may be safely referred to the fifth century before our era. SECTION III. ITS SCOPE AND VALUE. 1. The worth of the Great Learning has been celebrated in most extravagant terms by Chinese writers, and there have been foreigners who have not yielded to them in their estimation of it.
The Chinese Classics, passage 213
I have no thought of asserting my independence [3].' To the same effect is the account of Tsze-sze, which we have from Liu Hsiang. That scholar relates:-- 'When Chi was living in Wei, he wore a tattered coat, without any lining, and in thirty days had only nine meals. T'ien Tsze-fang having heard of his 1 See the 四書集證, in the place just quoted from. For the incident we are indebted to K'ung Fu; see note 3, p. 36. 2 Li Chi, II. Sect. I. ii. 7. 3 See the 四書集證, as above.
The Chinese Classics, passage 328
As might be expected, the birth of the sage is surrounded with many prodigious occurrences. One account is, that the husband and wife prayed together for a son in a dell of mount Ni. As Chang-tsai went up the hill, the leaves of the trees and plants all erected themselves, and bent downwards on her return.
The Chinese Classics, passage 649
Such as it was, however, it existed, and it is remarkable that Confucius, when consulted on the subject, took no notice of it, but affirmed the duty of blood-revenge in the strongest and most unrestricted terms.
The Chinese Classics, passage 347
VII. viii. answer three times, when he burst into tears, and said, 'Ah! they did not make their graves so in antiquity [1].' 'Confucius mourned for his mother the regular period of three years,-- three years nominally, but in fact only twenty-seven months. Five days after the mourning was expired, he played on his lute, but could not sing. It required other five days before he could accompany an instrument with his voice [2].
The Chinese Classics, passage 146
With regard to the Work having come from the disciples of Tsang Shan, recording their master's views, the paragraph in chapter sixth, commencing with 'The disciple Tsang said,' seems to be conclusive against such an hypothesis. So much we may be sure is Tsang's, and no more. Both of Chu Hsi's judgments must be set aside. We cannot admit either the distinction of the contents into Classical text and Commentary, or that the Work was the production of Tsang's disciples. 2. Who then was the author?
The Chinese Classics, passage 721
鄔＊], 字子家), a native of Lu. His place is next to that of No. 51. 54. Chu [al. Kau] Tsing-ch'iang [and simply Tsing], styled Tsze- ch'iang [al. Tsze-chieh and Tsze-mang] (句 [al. 勾 and 鉤] 井疆 [and simply 井], 字子疆 [al. 子界 and 子孟]), a native of Wei, following No. 52. 55. Han [al. Tsai]-fu Hei, styled Tsze-hei [al. Tsze-so and Tsze-su] (罕 [al. 宰] 父黑, 字子黑 [al. 子索 and 子素]), a native of Lu, whose tablet is next to that of No. 53. 56. Ch'in Shang, styled Tsze-p'ei [al. P'ei-tsze and Pu-tsze] (秦商, 字 子丕 [al.