of life appears in II. iv. VIII. III. ii. X. upbraids the passiveness of certain good men, who kept themselves quiet like the infant she, or personator of the dead in the ceremonies; it advises them to listen to the complaints of the poor farmers, who carry on their shoulders the plants they have cut down, i.e, who perform painful labours. Ole I. of the next Book regrets the loss of the ancient majesty of the royal court.

Such is a slight sketch of the data furnished by the She-king for the history of the wars and revolutions of ancient China. We have seen the notices much more numerous which it supplies us with for the history of the manners of this early age, and which serve to justify or illustrate the fuller exhibitions of the Le Ke, as the others became the base of the memoirs by Sze-ma Ts'ëen.

To complete my labour, I had prepared a table of the quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles, and vegetables mentioned in the She-king. As all the odes in this collection relate to the countries comprised between the 33rd and 38th degrees of latitude, it appeared to me desirable to study both the species of the animal kingdom and of the vegetable kingdom, which formerly existed on this zone of eastern Asia, and I should say that this same thought occurred before me to a Chinese author, who has written a special treatise precisely on this subject. M. Julien was good enough to procure for me from his library this Work, adorned with figures, and mentioned in the Chrestomathy of M. Bridgman. I have been able to consult, besides, the identifications given by M. Remusat in his general index to the Japanese encyclopædia, vol. XI. of Notices of Manuscripts. Unfortunately, those helps were still insufficient to afford a sure identification of all the names mentioned in the She-king with the species which we are acquainted with. The animals may generally be recognized, because their names have not varied. The figures of the Japanese Encyclopædia and of the treatise to which I have referred being happily accompanied with descriptions, we learn that different species such as the tiger, the leopard, the rhinoceros, and the jackal, were successively driven from northern and central China by the clearing of the forests. We find unmistakeable mention of the monkey, and the elephant would appear to have existed in eastern China from the 25th to the 28th degree of latitude. But there is still uncertainty about some species of which the description is mingled with fables. As for the vegetables, the figures in the Punts'aou, the Japanese Encyclopædia, and the Chinese treatise, are excessively incorrect, and the descriptions are very vague. The author of the treatise proves even that frequently one and the same name designates different vegetable species in different parts of China, and the commentators themselves often vary in the identification of the name in the She-king with the plants which they know according to their Punts'aou.

With elements so uncertain I believe it more prudent not to publish the table which I had prepared. I refer the reader to the notes appended by Lacharme to his translation of the She-king, and will here terminate my researches on a monument so curious and so authentic of the ancient Chinese civilization.

CHAPTER V.

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS WHICH HAVE BEEN CONSULTED

IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME.

SECTION I.

CHINESE WORKS; WITH BRIEF NOTICES OF THEM.

1. In the += (see proleg. to vol. I., p. 129):

[i] containing Maou's Explanations of the She (see p. 11; but whether this was the work of Maou Chang, as there stated, or of his predecessor Maou Hăng, is not positively determined), and Ch'ing K'ang-shing's 'Supplementary Commentary to the She of Maou (see also p. 11),' with his 'Chronological Introduction to the She (pp. 11, 12).' There are in it also of course K'ung Ying-tah's own paraphrase of Maou and Ch'ing (E), and supplemental discussions, with citations from Wang Suh's (E) Works on the She, from Lew Choh () and Lew Heuen (of the Suy dynasty, and from other early writers. The edition which I have used is beautifully printed, and appeared in 1815 (+ , under the supervision of Yuen Yuen (see proleg. to vol. I., p. 133). It contains his examination of the text of all K'ung Ying-tah's work ;-a very valuable addition.

[ii.]

3.

See proleg. to vol. III. p. 201.

K, Compilation and Digest of Comments and Remarks on the She-king. By imperial authority.' In 21 chapters; with an appendix containing the Prefaces, and Choo He's examination and discussion of them,-in whole, and in detail. It was commanded towards the end of the period K'ang-he, and I have generally called it the K'ang-be She; but it did not appear till 1727, the 5th year of the period Yung-ching. The plan of it is similar to the imperial edition of the Shoo-king, which I have described in the proleg. to vol. III., p. 201; and it is entitled to equal praise. The compilers drew in the preparation of it from 260 writers:-1 of the Chow dynasty; 25 of the Han; 3 of the kingdom of Wei; 2 of that of Woo; 4 of the Tsin dynasty; 2 of the Leang; 1

of the northern Wei; 1 of the Suy; 15 of the T'ang; 1 of the Posterior Tsin; 1 of the southern Tang; 94 of the Sung; 23 of the Yuen; and 87 of the Ming.

Immediately after the text there follows always the commentary of Choo He in his 'Collected Comments on the She and this the editors maintain as the orthodox interpretation of the odes, while yet they advocate, in their own 'decisions,' wherever they can, the view given by Maou in accordance with the Little Preface. Choo's commentary was published in the winter of 1177. My own opinion on Choo's principle of interpretation, and on the Preface, has been given in Chapter II. of these prolegomena, and in many places when treating of particular odes.

4. I have made frequent reference to the imperial editions of the Ch'un T'sëw and the Le Ke;-and also to those of the Chow Le (周禮), and the E Le (儀禮).

8. The 呂氏家塾讀詩記三十二卷(Leu's Readings in the She for his Family School; in 32 chapters.' The author of this work was Leu Tsoo-k'een (or Leu Pih-kung (1), a contemporary of Choo He (born 1137; died 1181). It gives not only the author's view of the text, but those of 44 other scholars, from Maou down to Choo, very distinctly quoted. The peculiarity of it is, that the explanations of Choo He which are adduced are those held by him, at an carly period, before he had discarded the authority of the Prefaces. In 1182 Choo wrote a preface to Leu's Work, saying that the views attributed to him in it were those of his youth, 'shallow and poor,' and he regretted that Pih-kung had died before he had an opportunity of discussing them anew with him. To the Work he assigns the characters of comprehensiveness, clearness, and mildness. The edition in my possession is a beautiful one, published in 1811. 9. + 'Supplemental Commentary to the She; in 30 chapters.' The writer mentions only his style of Yih-chae(), but Choo E-tsun and others have identified him with Fan Ch'oo-e (范處義), G), another great scholar of the 12th century, who took high rank among the graduates of the third degree in the Shaou-hing (period. He was a vehement advocate of the Prefaces, and of Maou's views; but he was not sufficiently careful in his citation of authorities.

10. +Collected Explanations of Maou's She; in 42 chapters.' By whom this work was first edited I do not know; but it contains the views of three scholars, all of the first half

of the 12th century: Le Choo (李樗; styled 仲 and 若林); Hwang Heun (黃標; styled實夫); and Le Yung (李泳). They were all natives of Fuh-keen province. Ch'oo was a near relative of Lin Che-k'e, of whose commentary on the Shoo I have spoken in the proleg. to vol. III., p. 202;—of vast erudition, yet possessing a mind of his own. Why his interpretations and those of Hwang Heun were edited together, it would be difficult to say, for they do not always agree in opinion. Le Yung's remarks are supplemental to those of the two others.

11. Et A Commentary on the She, from all sources; in 36 chapters.' This is the famous commentary on the She, by Yen Tsan (嚴粲; styled坦叔, and華谷), to which I have made very frequent reference. The preface of the author, telling us how he made his commentary in the first place for the benefit of his two sons, is dated in the summer of 1248. In general he agrees with the conclusions of Leu Tsoo-k'een; but he was familiar with the labours of all his predecessors, and was not afraid to strike out, when he thought it necessary, independent views of his own. His view of the Prefaces has been mentioned on p. 32. Among all the commentators on the She of the Sung dynasty, I rank Yen Ts'an next to Choo He.

12. A Supplement to the Commentary on the She; in six chapters.' This is a work by Choo Keenstyled H), a grandson of Choo He. It was intended, no doubt, specially to supplement Choo's great Work, and the materials were mainly drawn. from his recorded remarks upon the odes, and which were not included in it.

13. - 'Talk about some of the Odes; in one chapter.' This is a small treatise of hardly a dozen paragraphs, on the meaning of passages in a few of the Ya and the Sung, by a Chang Luy (張耒;styled 文潛), a writer of the last quarter of the 11th century.

14. Doubts about the She; in two chapters.' By Wang Loo-chae, or Wang Pih, whose 'Doubts about the Shoo' is mentioned in the proleg. to vol. III., p. 203. The author was of the school of Choo He; but he was freer in his way of thinking about the Classical Books even than the great master; contending that many of the present odes were never in the old collection sanctioned by Confucius, and that many more have got transposed from

their proper places. His two chapters are worth reading as specimens of Chinese rationalism.

15, 16.

-CAR-E Commentary on the She; in one chapter'; 'Tractate on the She; in one chapter.' Both of these treatises are found in the collection of the 'Books of Han and Wei': -the former ascribed to Confucius's disciple, Tsze-kung; the latter to Shin P'ei, mentioned on p. 8 in connexion with the old Text of Loo. They are acknowledged, now, however, to be forgeries, the Work of a Fung Fang; styled, a scholar of the Ming dynasty, in the first half of the 16th century. If the treatise ascribed to Tsze-kung were genuine, we should have to reconsider many of the current opinions about the She; but neither of the forgeries has any intrinsic value.

17. An Exposition of Maou's She, from six points of view; in four chapters.' This is a more extensive Work than we might suppose from its being merely in four chapters. It is interesting as being the Work of Seu Kwang-k'e styled the most famous of the converts of Matteo Ricci; though there is nothing in it, so far as I have observed, to indicate the author's Christianity, if indeed it was written after his conversion. The copy which I have used, belonging to Wang Taou, is the original one, published, according to a preface by a friend of the author, in 1617. Seu's 'six points of view' are Choo He's interpretations

; the interpretations of Maou and Ching ; new interpretations of others and himself; illustrations from old poems and essays(); the names of birds, animals, and plants ; and the rhymes E. It is a valuable compilation. It has been republished with considerable alterations by a Fan Fang present dynasty.

; of the

19. 詩序廣義二十四卷(The She and the Preface to it fully discussed; in 24 chapters.' This may be called the commentary on the She of the present dynasty, by Keang Ping-chang, styled

and published first in 1762. He would appear to have published an earlier Work, called of which this is an enlargement. His view of the Preface has been alluded to in p. 32. Though very often opposed to Choo He, he is not slow to acknowledge his great merits, and to adopt in many cases his interpretations in preference to those of the old school. The work is thoroughly honest and able; not without its errors and prejudices, but deserving to rank with those of Maou, Choo He, and Yen Ts'an.