322 BOW THE GOVERNMENT OF TIJF. F.MIMRE SHOULD G Reat Plan With Nike Divisions Which Ye Got From Heaven. 1. —J- ml, —tlie commentator? observe that jjfJJ, the Shang term for 'year,' is here used instead of the Chow flEi the viscount of Ke using the chnracter to which he had been accustomed. acc. to Ts'ae, = g£ fftj f{{] —'went to and asked him.' It implies 'consultation.' See the uote on the History of the Book. 2. -|- =~ Jj^,—1 the king thereupon spoke, saying.' The ~J*j protracts the stylo, and indicates the deliberation with which tlie king made his inquiry. So in the next paragraph,— S-f-7>#0- -king Woo, it is observed, addressed the noble by his Shang title, not having yet invested him with the territory of Corea. It may be so: but he might also address him thus, the old designation being familiar to him, even if he had already given him his new appointment. |\ & m % m JBHti-tt*—w 'by a hidden influence;' Kg = ^jjj*, 'to settle.' Sze-ma Ts'een gives the text as jjr^ ^jE* I\ which shows at least how he understood the term ^f^. The meaning then of the first clause is that 'Heaven, working unseen, has made men with certain hidden springs of character.' As Gan-kwd says, W" Iff) $c A£ T K Thi8 intpr pretation is much to be preferred to that adopted by Keang Shing and others from Ma Yung, who makes = '*° rover,' 'to overshadow,' and ^f{j = = = /^t, 'to produce.' jj£ pf}| is thus simply = 'Heaven that overshadows produced the inferior people.' The next clause is continuative. and is to be referred to Heaven as its subject. ffi (3d tone) =4J/J, 'to aid.' \fa - 'to unite,' 'to harmonize.' J^,—' their dwelling or abiding.' This expression is difficult. Both the ' Daily Explanation,' and Keang Shing paraphrase it by It jSjf & _[£ £ 3Ejg, 'the principles in which they ought to abide.' Gan-kwo's language upon it is enigmatical. He says that ' Heaven thus aids and harmonizes their abiding, so that they shall have a provision for prolonged life,' ^ It -gf 'fT 'rfj ^fe ^ Yin«-U in expanding this has some striking things. He says that 'the people have been produced by supreme Heaven (jji ^ ^ jj/p ifr), and both body and soul are Heaven's gift jjjjjj ^ ^ Wi tS'^ ^Icn Iiavc "1US t,,e material body and the knowing mind, and Heaven further assists them, helping them to harmonize their lives. The right and the wrong of their language, the correctness and errors of their conduct, their enjoyment of clothing and food, the Tightness of their various movements:—all these things are to be harmonized by what they are endowed with by Heaven. Accordance with the right way gives life, and error from it leads to death. Thus Heaven has not only given life to men, and conferred upon them a body and mind, but it further assists them to harmonise their conditions of life, so as to have a provision for its continuance' The fact is that the obscure text j can only be brought out obscurely. We cannot 1 do better than understand as meaning the principles in which men should rest in tflieir various conditions,' belonging to the complex constitution which God has given them. I have said that Heaven is the subject spoken of in jjfg, jjfc Jg. The text certainly supplies no other; but Wang Suh supposed a before jjffit thinking the meaning to be that 'Heaven having produced men with their peculiar constitution, and taking an interest in them, it devolves on the sovereign to give effect to the wishes of Heaven for men's virtue and happiness.' Keang Shing follows this view. It cannot be said not to be in harmony with the general teaching of the classics. The text is thereby, indeed, brought into strict accordance with that in the 'Announcement of T'ang,' p. 2. But the language in that passage is sufficiently explicit. 1 can find no subject in the text for j|,j|> jjj^ but The next clause, how ever, must be understood, I think, with reference to the duty of the sovereign, so that the whole paragraph may bo considered as very nearly equivalent to that referred to in the 'Announcement of T'ang,' ^ * & ^ m a* & Woo, say many critics, knew very well all about the subject, but he thus speaks to bring out the learning of the viscount of Ke. We may rather suppose that he speaks with reference to the Great Plan and its Divisions, of which he had merely heard. ^^'='^j'» 'constant,' regular;' meaning here the naturo of man, acting according to the regular laws of its constitution appointed by Heaven. Compare in the She King, Pt, III., Bk. III., Ode vi., , -J T* S** -r^L~ I'M*' giving birth to the multitudes ot men, to every endowment appointed its appropriate law. The people, holding fast this constant nature, love the virtue which is admirable.' ^ = ^ 'the rclatious of human society,' iu which are w^xm^nftM® o 3 The viscount of Ke thereupon replied, "I have heard that of old time K'wan dammed up the inundating waters, and thereby threw into disorder the arrangement of the five elements. God was thereby roused to anger, and did not give him 'the great Plan with its nine Divisions,' whereby the proper virtues of the various relations were left to go to ruin. K'wan was then kept a prisoner till his death, and Yu rose up to continue his undertaking. To him Heaven gave 'the great Plan with its nine Divisions,'and thereby the proper virtues of the various relations were brought forth in their order. seen the virtues of man's nature, intended by 1 cette regie: quelle est elle?' Medlmrst endea <fi£ = Itilr • Arfr £$tt &fr IH &tt yours to keep more close to the text:—1 Heaven !" IK. n\' INC. 41* r)\ K\ /HX.' has secretly settled the lower people, aiding and according with that in which they rest; 'how they are arranged.' I have said that this clause is to be understood with reference to the work and duty of the sovereign. Gan-kw6, indeed, supposes that Heaven is still the subject (^j^ jffl 9*' M 'f^f liP' but the otller view is senc" rally adopted. The explanation of the whole paragraph, given by Ch'in Ya-yen (lit = ; Ming dyn.) is the best which I have seen: &W. A Pit Zfk ft Z )Vr!thing which 1 don,t undcr8tand- M W\ fa. Gaubil's translation is-'Le del | £E -9ee the ^Can' of S,,un'> 12' a des voies secrettes, par lesquelles il rend le! ^ J*J §^ ^ $t ^ —we nav8 peuple tranquille et fixe. II s'unit a lui pour 1 seen, in the second introductory note, how it is l'uider a gardcr bon Etat. Je ne connois point j fabled that Yu received the great Plan from H. "of those divisions, the first is called 'The five Elements;' the second is called 'The Reverent Practice of the five Businesses'; the third is called 'Earnest Devotion to the eight objects of Government;' the fourth is called 'The Harmonious Use of the five Arrangements'; the fifth is called 'The Establishment and Use of Royal Perfection'; the sixth is called 'The Cultivation and Use of the three Virtues'; the seventh is called 'The Intelligent Use of the Examination of Doubts'; the eighth is called 'The Thoughtful Use of the various Verifications'; the ninth is called 'The Hortatory Use of the five Happinesses, and the Awing Use of the six Extremities.' This paragraph is supposed to be the work of Yu. According to Lew Hin, indeed, the whole 65 characters were upon the back of the tortoise;—see the |jff '/J| 'ff fe, Gan-kwOi says he did not know how many characters were on the back of the 'first,' 'second,' &c., (%]] —■ ffi m, m ' ~Z^~ZZ)' leavi"gt,le »•""* of tI,e us, the characters ^Jj ^-y, ^ w, &c, had come down from the times of Ilea; perhaps the $fc iff' zil )H' &c-' lmJ do'10 t,,e wunei ffll —* 0' 5^ ——■ EJ> ^c'' wcre sPoken | by the viscount of Ke in the narrative which he gave to Woo. While discarding the 'book of lid,' it will be [ a help to the student's memory, and in his i reading of the various lore on the Plan, if I append here ait gutljne of the 'Book ' with phe Heaven. Lin Che-k'e held that all which is meant by the text is that Heaven gave Yu the mind and the enlightenment to conceive and describe the Plan. Choo He was asked what he thought of this view, and whether it was not contrary to the Yih King, which says that ' the J& gave forth the Book.' He answered, 'Suppose that Heaven had only now given the Book of L6, if it did not also give the mind to interpret it, no man would understand it! Neither the old account, nor Lin Che-k'e's, is to be set aside' mum* t«r us n •&>■ 1 have said I don't understand how the virtues and relations were left to go to ruin, in consequence of K'witn's failure; Chin Sze-k'ae has tried to explain the difficulty, but with little success. He says :-[^) j§ 2: |$, M Ch. II. P. 4. Tiik oiiKvr Pl An And Its nine Divisions. The reader must not suppose that the great Plan was something different from its nine Divisions. It was merely the combination of them. ^0000001 M ~p 7k s m =. =■ — III. [i.] "First, of the five elements.—The first is named water; the second, fire; the third, wood; the fourth, metal; the fifth, earth. The nature of water is to soak and descend; of fire, to blaze and ascend; of wood, to be crooked and to be straight; of metal, to obey and For the names of the subjects of the nine Divisions, see on their several paragraphs that follow. With regard to the 'five ||f.,' it is said they are to be reverently used. The being personal, belonging to the government of one's self, it is required to be 'reverent' in respect to them. [Keang Sbing, after Lew Hin, reads s for £j£ m, but £j£ rests on good authority;—see the M loc.~]. The 'eight 'are to be used 'liberally.' 'with considerate examination.' The as to attract men 1 towards ' (^WB) what is desired. No numbers, it is observed, are used with reference to the fifth Division, the perfection which it indicates not being capable of measurement. Ch. III. Pp. 5—40. Particular DescripTion Of The Nine Divisions. 5. Of the Jive elements. Gaubil does not translate ^y, but gives always—'les cinq king.' We have got into the habit of rendering it in English by 'elements.' But it seems hardly possible to determine what the Chinese mean by the term. By 'elements' we mean 'the first principles or ingredients of which all bodies are composed.' The Pythagoreans, by their four elements of earth, water, air, and fire—a classification first made, apparently, by Ocellus—did not intend 30 much the nature or essence of material substances, as the forms under which matter is actually presented to us. The term ^y, meaning 'to move,' 'to be in action,' shows that the original conception of the Chinese is of a different nature; and it is said, in the diet., that 1 the five king move and revolve throughout heaven and earth, without ever ceasing, and hence they are so called tributed,' say the editors ot Yung-ching's Shoo, 'through the four seasons, they make the "five arrangements;" exhibited in prognostications, they give rise to divination by the tortoise and the reeds; having lodgment in the human body, they produce "the five businesses;" moved by good fortune and bad, they produce " the various verifications;" communicated to organisms, they produce the different natures, hard and soft, good and evil; working out their results in the changes of those organisms, they necessitate here benevolence and there meanness, here longevity and there early death:—all these things are from the operation of the five hag. But if we speak of them in their simplest and most important character, they are, as here, what man's life depends upon, what the people cannot do without.' Leaving all this jargon, and turning to the 'counsels of Yu' parr. 7, 8, we find that ' water, fire, metal, wood, and earth' are, along with 'grain,' the 'six magazines,' from which the people are to be provided with what is necessary for their sustenance and comfort. We 'five ^jg' are to usedeb 'encouragingly,'^so 1 may content ourselves, therefore, with under to change; while the virtue of earth is seen in seed-sowing and ingathering. That which soaks and descends becomes salt; that which blazes and ascends becomes bitter; that which is crooked and straight becomes sour; that which obe\'S and changes becomes acrid; and from seed-sowing and ingathering comes sweetness. [ii.] "Second, of the five businesses.—The first is called demeanour; the second, speech ; the third, seeing; the fourth, hearing; and the fifth, thinking. The virtus of the demeanour is called respectfulness; of speech, accordance with reason; of seeing, clearstanding ~Jj ^-y here as 'the five essentials to human life.' From Q }Pj ~J? downwards is to be taken as the language of the viscount of Kc, or of the chronicler of Chow, to whom we owe the 'great Plan' of the Shoo; but the language is affected by the study of the Yih-king, which had come into vogue. £3 }f*j |>>—' water may be described as moistening and descending.' ^ jcjl, it is said, i|^r ==, 'describe the nature of the elements' But nature in such a case is only expressive of some qualities belonging to them. again, is said to be descriptive of the virtue of earth (J/j[ fjjjj^j); for it—'les cinq occupations ou affaires and hence we read -J-^ ^ |^ ^fc, and not 1 rrom tl>e language of p. j^j $• -f-~ 0 ^jjit^jn)- 'Metal obeys and changes'; i.e., it alters its form when acted on by tire From |> to the end we have the tpj^or 'five tastes' of the elements;—not, however, the tastes that are proper to them, but those which they are found in course of time to assume. This is denoted by which I have translated 'becomes.' Hea Seucn has snid, 'The reason why we find ^jp. used in connection with the five tastes or flavours of the elements is this.—Water as it issues from the spring is not salt;—but when it flows away to the sea, and is there collected and coagulated together for a long time, the salt taste is pro duced, and the saltness is made by the soaking and descending. When fire, blazes on without ceasing, charring and scorching for a long time, the bitter taste is produced, and the bitterness is made by the blazing and ascending'; &c, &c. The reader may find a reasonable meaning in all this, if he can. Ts'ae observes that the five elements have their several sounds, colours, and airs, as well as tastes, but the text only speaks of their tastes, those being of greater importance to the people than the others. P. 6. Of the Jive businesses. To translate 3lj|^ by 'the five businesses' reads awkward and uncouth; but I can do no better with it. Medhurst renders the phrase by ' the five senses,' which is plainly inadmissible. Gaubil gives «businesses'(i-^^fj^). =f0$£, —^j^^ 'accordance,' that is, obedience to right and reason. It is strange that the old interpreters, Gan-kwfi, K'ang-shing, and Ma Yung, all agree in defining by pj* making the meaning to be—' the virtue of speech is that it move others to follow the speaker.' This is manifestly wrong. 4?s£ |