The Lun-heng is not a systematic digest of Wang Chung's philosophy. Chinese philosophers like the Greeks before Aristotle have not yet learned the art of connecting their thoughts so as to form a complete system, in which each chapter is the logical sequence of the preceding one. But Wang Chung has already made one step in this direction. Whereas the Analects and the works of Mencius, Lich Tse and Chuang Tse are hardly anything else than collections of detached aphorisms, each chapter embracing the most heterogeneous subjects, each chapter of the Lun-hêng is a real essay, the theme of which is given first and adhered to throughout. But there is not much connection between the separate essays.

These essays are not all of equal value. Some may perhaps interest a Chinese, but are not calculated to enlist our interest. For this reason I have not translated the whole work, but made a selection. It comprises the philosophical essays, and of the others the most characteristic, enabling the reader to form an adequate idea of the author and his peculiarities. My chief aim has been to set forth Wang Chung's philosophy. The introduction contains a sketch of his system, which I have attempted to abstract from his writings.

Of the 84 essays of the Lun-heng I have translated 44. I have taken the liberty of arranging them more systematically than is done in the original, classing them under several heads as metaphysical, physical, critical, religious, and folklore. The division. is not a strict one, because with many chapters it is doubtful, to which class they belong. Especially between metaphysics and physics it is difficult to draw a distinction, since purely physical questions are often treated metaphysically. From a table of contents of the Lun-heng in its entirety the reader will learn the subject of those essays, which have not been translated, and by its help he can easily find the place, which each chapter takes in the original.

With the exception of the Autobiography and the two chapters on Confucius and Mencius translated by Hutchinson (China Review, vol. VII and VIII) the essays of Wang Chung have not been put into any European language before. A Chinese commentary to the Lun-hêng does not exist. I hope that my translation may prove trustworthy. For any misunderstandings, which in Chinese and philosophical works particularly are unavoidable, I count upon the indulgence of my critics.

As far as lay in my power, I have endeavoured to trace the sources from which Wang Chung has quoted, which has not been

an easy task, and I have added such explanatory notes as to enable even persons not knowing Chinese to understand the text. For the many proper names the index at the end of the volume will be of advantage.

To my thinking, Wang Ch'ung is one of the most ingenious. Chinese writers, a satirist like Lucian and an esprit fort like Voltaire, whose Lun-heng well deserves the widest publicity.

INTRODUCTION.

1. The Life of Wang Ch'ung.

The principal data of Wang Chung's life are furnished by his autobiography and by the biographical notice in chapter 79 p. 1 of the Hou Han-shu, the History of the Later Han Dynasty, which was written by Fan Yeh in the 5th cent. A.D. and commented on by Prince Chang Huai Hsien of the Tang dynasty. There we read:

"Wang Chung, whose style was Chung Jen, was a native of Shang-yü in Kuei-chi. His forefathers had immigrated from Yuancheng in the Wei circuit. As a boy he lost his father and was commended in his village for his filial piety. Subsequently he repaired to the capital, where he studied at the academy.

The book of Yuan Shan Sung says that Wang Ch'ung was a very precocious youth. After having entered the academy, he composed an essay on six scholars on the occasion of the emperor visiting the Imperial College.

His teacher was Pan Piao from Fu-feng. He was very fond of extensive reading, but did not trouble much about paragraphs or sentences. His family being poor, he possessed no books. Therefore he used to stroll about the market-place and the shops in Loyang and read the books exposed there for sale. That which he had once read, he was able to remember and to repeat. Thus he had acquired a vast knowledge of the tenets of the various schools and systems. Having returned to his native place, he led a very solitary life as a teacher. Then he took office in the prefecture and was appointed secretary, but in consequence of frequent remonstrances with his superiors, disputes, and dissensions with his colleagues, he had to quit the service.

Wang Chung had a strong penchant for discussions. At the outset, his arguments would often appear rather queer, but his

final conclusions were true and reasonable. Being convinced that the ordinary savants stuck too much to the letter, and thus would mostly lose the true meaning, he shut himself up for meditation, and no longer observed the ceremonies of congratulation or condolence. Everywhere near the door, the windows, and on the walls he had his knives and pens placed, with which he wrote the Lun-hêng in 85 chapters containing over 200,000 words.

Yuan Shan Sung says in his book that at first the Lun-heng written by Wang Ch'ung was not current in the central provinces. When T'sai Yung came to Wu, he discovered it there, and used to read it secretly as a help to conversation. Afterwards Wang Lang became prefect of Kuei-chi, and likewise got into possession of the book. On his return to Hsü-hsia his contemporaries were struck with the great improvement of his abilities. Some one remarked that, unless he had met with some extraordinary person, he must have found some extraordinary book. They made investigations, and found out that in fact it was from the Lun-hing that he had derived this advantage. Thereupon the Lun-hing came into vogue. Pao P'u Tse relates that his contemporaries grudged T ́sai Yung the possession of a rare book. Somebody searched for it in the hiding place behind his curtains, and there in fact found the Lun-heng. He folded some chapters together in order to take them away, when Tsai Yung proposed to him that they should both keep the book, but not divulge its contents.

He explained the similarities and the diversities of the different classes of things, and settled the common doubts and errors of the time.

The governor Tung Chin made him assistant-magistrate. Later on he rose to the rank of a sub-prefect. Then he retired and returned home. A friend and fellow-countryman of his Hsieh I Wu addressed a memorial to the throne, in which he recommended Wang Chung for his talents and learning.

In the book of Hsieh Chéng it is stated that in recommending Wang Ch'ung, Hsieh I Wu said that his genius was a natural gift and not acquired by learning. Even Mencius and Sun Ching in former times, or Yang Hsiung, Liu Hsiang, or Sse ma Chien more recently in the Han epoch could not surpass him.

Su Tsung commanded a chamberlain to summon Wang Chung into his presence, but owing to sickness, he could not go. When he was nearly seventy years of age, his powers began to decline. Then he wrote a book on " Macrobiotics" in 16 chapters, and refraining from all desires and propensities, and avoiding all emotions, he kept himself alive, until in the middle of the Yung-yuan period, when he died of an illness at his home."

By his own testimony Wang Chung was born in the third year of the Chien-wu cycle, i. e. in A.D. 27, in Shang-yü-hsien, the present Shao-hsing-fu of the province of Chekiang. His family had originally been residing in Yuan-ch eng Ta-ming-fu in Chihli. His father's name was Wang Sung. Owing to their violent temper his ancestors had several times been implicated in local feuds, which are still now of frequent occurrence in Fukien and Chekiang, and were compelled to change their domicile. Wang Chung's critics are scanda-] lized at his coolly telling us that his great-grandfather behaved like a ruffian during a famine, killing and wounding his fellow-people. If Wang Chung's own description be true, he must have been a paragon in his youth. He never needed any correction neither at the hands of his parents nor of his teachers. For his age he was exceptionally sedate and serious. When he was six years old, he received his first instruction, and at the age of 8 he was sent to a public school. There the teacher explained to him the Analects and the Shuking, and he read 1,000 characters every day. When he had mastered the Classics, one was astonished at the progress he made, so he naïvely informs us. Of his other attainments he speaks in the same strain and with the same conceit. The Hou Han-shu confirms that he was a good son.

Having lost his father very early, he entered the Imperial College at Loyang, then the capital of China. His principal teacher was the historian Pan Piao, the father of Pan Ku, author of the History of the Former Han dynasty. In Loyang he laid the foundation of the vast amount of knowledge by which he distinguished himself later on, and became acquainted with the theories of the various schools of thought, many of which he vigorously attacks in his writings. His aim was to grasp the general gist of what he read, and he did not care so much for minor details. The majority of the scholars of his time conversely would cling to the words and sentences and over these minutiæ quite forget the whole. Being too poor to buy all the books required to satiate his hunger for knowledge, he would saunter about in the marketplace and book-shops, and peruse the books exposed there for sale, having probably made some sort of agreement with the booksellers, who may have taken an interest in the ardent student. His excellent memory was of great service to him, for he could remember, even repeat what he had once read. At the same time his critical genius developed. He liked to argue a point, and though his views often seemed paradoxical, his opponents could not but admit the justness of his arguments.