commenced with the immediate disciples of the sage, and by the time of Mencius it was already a species of idolatry, expressed in such sayings as this:

"Since first there were living men until now, there has never been another Confucius." (Bk. ii., pt. i., c. ii., v. 23.)

"From the birth of mankind till now, there has never been another like our Master." (Bk. ii., pt. i., c. ii., v. 27.)

So also, among the Greeks and Romans, the very name, "philosopher," i. e., "lover of wisdom," which Socrates gave to himself as one who did not pretend to be wise already, but who merely sought wisdom earnestly, soon lost its true meaning, as veneration for Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle took the place of the child-like, simple, open-minded search for truth which they inculcated as the obvious duty of intelligent beings. In other words, the positive teaching of these great minds became in due time prescriptive authority in the view of their followers, while the essential factor in the thought of each of the great teachers, that the mind should be open-should, in the words of St. Paul, "try all things and hold fast that which is good"-gave way to a prohibition against questioning any declaration of the Master, and later against questioning any of the accepted derivations. and corollaries of the authoritative sayings.

It is to be remembered that Confucius never made claim to be inspired; to be sure, he said of

himself, "If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a mortal yet to be born, should not have got such a relation to that cause, but this was rather a declaration of the universality of divine providence than a claim of special 'inspiration.

Later, however, the commentators virtually claimed it for him, i. e., that he was "divinely sent," as in the Annotation of Kung-Yang quoting the Adjunct of the Spring and Autumn and also in the Adjunct of the Hsiâo King, in which Confucius is represented as reporting to Heaven the completion of his writings and as receiving divine approval in the form of a red rainbow arching down and becoming transformed into yellow jade with words carved upon it.

This book is written to afford others opportunity for the same inspiring understanding of the true nature of the Confucian conception of good conduct as an encouragement of independent, clear thinking concerning the purposes of life and what may be done with it, which met so warm a welcome in my own mind when I first fortunately chanced upon a really good translation of the Analects of Confucius. What is here attempted is but an unworthy recognition of the great benefit, which, across twenty-five centuries, the Chinese sage conferred upon me.

My thanks are due to various persons who have aided me with criticisms and suggestions; but very especially to Chen Huan Chang, Ph.D.

(Columbia), Chin Shih of 1904 A.D. (i.e., winner of the prize in the highest competitive examination in China on the teachings of Confucius), formerly Secretary of the Grand Secretariat at Pekin, now President of the Confucian Society in China and leader of the successful movement there to restore public recognition of Confucian ethics and observances. Dr. Chen has looked up for me all doubtful interpretations of texts, advising me of the variant views and enabling me to choose among them. In general, and with almost no exceptions, the commonly accepted meaning is given.

THE WORKS OF CONFUCIUS, HIS DISCIPLES, AND MOST IMPORTANT FOLLOWERS

Including Ancient Books Edited by Him, Books of His Sayings, and Accounts of His Teachings by His Disciples and by Early Apostles and Commentators.

Confucius was born in 552 B.C. and died in 479 B.C. His name was K'ung Ch'in Chung-ni, of which K'ung was the family name, Ch'in the personal (i.e., what we call Christian) name, and Chung-ni the special name given upon reaching full age. He was called K'ung Fu Tse later, the appellation Fu Tse meaning "Master"; and this has been Latinized into Confucius.

I. The actual authorship of but one book is

ascribed to him, viz: Ch'un Ch'in, "Spring and Autumn" (English Edition, vol. v., "Chinese Classics").

This book is said to have been written by Confucius himself, in his seventy-second year, and to have been designed by him to serve as an epitome of his teachings upon all ethical, social, and religious subjects. At least, Mencius so speaks of it. The book, in a different form and known as "The Annals of Lu," was in existence before Confucius, and his task seems, after all, to have been to edit and amplify it. The work as it has come down to us, however, undoubtedly unchanged since the Han dynasty, is a bare record of events, almost utterly devoid of instruction and even of interest.

A collection of conversations with Confucius, containing many of his most important sayings, was made by his disciples after his death. It is known as:

Lun Yü, "The Analects," translated by James Legge, and published in "The Sacred Books of the East."

Several important books or collections of books, already ancient when Confucius was born and regarded as classics, were edited by Confucius and further edited by his early disciples. These are: 3. Yi King, the "Book of Changes."

4. Hsiao King, the "Book of Filial Piety." 5. Shu King, the "Book of History."

6. Shi King, the "Book of Poetry," also called "The Odes."

7. Li Ki, the "Book of Ceremonies."

All of these were translated by James Legge and published in "The Sacred Books of the East."

The last mentioned is also often called "Younger Tai's Record of Rites," and it is affirmed that the "Li-Ching," said to be an older and greatly variant edition, should be accepted instead. In this book or collection of books are comprised two of very special importance:

8. "The Great Learning," said to have been committed to writing by Tse-Tse, the grandson of Confucius, from his recollections of the teachings of his grandfather and from reports of the same by his father and other disciples of Confucius. His text is elucidated by commentaries in the "Li Ki." This book has also come down separately.

9. "The Doctrine of the Mean," also the work of disciples of Confucius and their early successors. This has also come down separately.

There is also the very valuable volume of the sayings of Meng Tse, the great apostle of Confucianism in the second century later-whose name is Latinized into:

This Book of Mencius was also translated by James Legge and is published in "The Sacred Books of the East."

"The Four Books," meaning thereby the elements and very core of Confucian doctrine, is the