king Wăn, the hû of prince Chwang, the kan-tsiang, mỗ-yê, chû-chüch and p'i-lü of Ho-lü—these were the best swords of antiquity; but without the grindstone and whetstone they would not have been sharp; without the strength of the arms that wielded them they would not have cut anything. The hwd-liú, the li-ch'i, the hsien-lî, and the lü-r-these were the best horses of antiquity; but there were still necessary for them the restraints in front of bit and bridle, the stimulants behind of whip and cane, and the skilful driving of a Tsão-fâ, and then they could accomplish a thousand li in one day. So it is with man :-granted to him an excellent capacity of nature and the faculty of intellect, he must still seek for good teachers under whom to place himself, and make choice of friends with whom he may be intimate. Having got good masters and placed himself under them, what he will hear will be the doctrines of Yao, Shun, Ya, and Tang ; having got good friends and become intimate. with them, what he will see will be deeds of selfconsecration, fidelity, reverence, and complaisance :—he will go on from day to day to benevolence and righteousness, without being conscious of it: a natural following of them will make him do so. On the other hand, if he live with bad men, what he will hear will be the language of deceit, calumny, imposture, and hypocrisy; what he will see will be conduct of filthiness, insolence, lewdness, corruptness, and greed :—he will be going on from day to day to punishment and disgrace, without being conscious of it; a natural following of them will make him do so. The Record says, ‘If you do not know your son, look at his friends; if you do not know your prince, look at his confidants.' All is the influence of association! All is the influence of arsociation ! 右.傅者,邪、處、義,則 日,靡食 貪則而所聞事 而驊力艮曶.正. 前騮則劒闔桓 長劍也然而不加砥厲則不能利不得人 属鉅 不見者之雖 必不也,閭公 身誣者敬湯而美後之緑 且詐靡讓之友而 加偽使之道之心 於也然行也,得 所也,也得賢 戮見今身良師 而者與日友而將 之 不進 事求也。 加也 右靡而已矣靡而已矣 傅日不知其子視其友不知其君視其左 II. AN EXAMINATION OF THE NATURE OF MAN.-BY HAN WĂN-KUNG. The NATURE dates from the date of the life; the FEELINGS date from contact with external things. There are three GRADES of the nature, and it has five CHARACTERISTICS. There are also three GRADES of the feelings, and they have seven CHARACTERISTICS. To explain myself:--The three grades of the nature are-the Superior, the Middle, and the Inferior. The superior grade is good, and good only; the middle grade is capable of being led: it may rise to the superior, or sink to the inferior; the inferior is evil, and evil only. The five characteristics of the nature are-Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Sincerity, and Knowledge. In the Superior Grade, the first of these characteristics is supreme, and the other four are practised. In the Middle Grade, the first of these characteristics is not wanting: it exists, but with a little tendency to its opposite; the other four are in an ill-assorted state. In the Inferior Grade there is the opposite of the first characteristic, and constant rebelliousness against the other four. The grade of the nature regulates the manifestation of the feelings in it. Again:-The three grades of the feelings are the Superior, the Middle, and the Inferior; and their seven characteristics are-Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Fear, Love, Hatred, and Desire. In the Superior Grade, these seven all move, and each in its due place and degree. In the Middle Grade, some of the characteristics are in excess, and some in defect; but there is a seeking to give them their due place and degree. In the Inferior Grade, whether they are in excess or defect, there is a reckless acting according to the one in immediate predorainance. The grade of the feelings regulates the influence of the nature in reference to them. Speaking of the nature, Mencius said:-"Man's nature is good;' the philosopher Hsün aid :--‘Man's nature is bad ;' the philosopher Yang said :'In the nature of man good and evil are mixed together.' Now, to say that the nature, good at first, subsequently becomes 之孟品,七甚於喜品。之也五者而上 性性 也有七日情於不也,五上 中 亡所也怒之五少主日下下 子性 甚然 之性惡揚子之言性日人之性善惡混夫始 孟子之言性日人之性善荀子之言性日人 始人 而合 行其 於七也動而處其中中焉者之於七也有所 者中焉日其 四.日焉焉 韓文公原性篇 情篇 中信而而日,為也 四,於焉日已巳何性者 性四者智.矣.矣.也。者接 爲之也之上其中日五,於 情於混,於焉所焉性情物 焉者情下 者以者之 者七視焉也之爲可品品生 其於所 之日其者 者一 bad; or that, bad at first, it subsequently becomes good; or that, mixed at first, it subsequently becomes, it may be, good, it may be, bad :-in each of these cases only the nature of the middle grade is dealt with, and the superior and inferior grades are neglected. Those philosophers are right about one grade. and wrong about the other two. When Shû-yü was born, his mother knew, as soon as she looked at him, that he would fall a victim to his love of bribes. When Yang Sze-wo was born, the mother of Shû-hsiang knew, as soon as she heard him cry, that he would cause the destruction of all his kindred. When Yüeh-tsião was born, Tsze-wăn considered it was a great calamity, knowing that through him the ghosts of the Zo-ão family would all be famished.-With such cases before us, can it be said that the nature of man (i.e. all men) is good ? When How-chi was born, his mother had no suffering; and as soon as he began to creep, he displayed all elegance and intelligence. When king Wän was in his mother's womb, she experienced no distress; after his birth, those who tended him had no trouble; when he began to learn, his teachers had no vexation.-With such cases before us, can it be said that the nature of man (i. e. all men) is evil? Chû was the son of Yao, and Chün the son of Shun; Kwan and Ts'âi were sons of king Wăn. They were instructed to practise nothing but what was good, and yet they turned out villains. Shun was the son of Kû-sâu, and Yû the son of K'wăn. They were instructed to practise nothing but what was bad, and yet they turned out sages.-With such cases before us, can it be said that in the nature of man (i. e. all men) good and evil are blended together ? Having these things in view, I say that the three philosophers, to whom I have referred, dealt with the middle grade of the nature, and neglected the superior and the inferior; that they were right about the one grade, and wrong about the other two. It may be asked, 'Is it so, then, that the superior and inferior grades of the nature can never be changed?' I reply:-The nature of the superior grade, by application to learning, becomes more intelligent, and the nature of the inferior grade, through awe of power, comes to have few faults. The superior nature, therefore, may be taught, and the inferior nature may be restrained; but the grades have been pronounced by Confucius to be unchangeable. 下學日,其故之也嶷后果也生叔者歟善 日,性瞽 稷善子 之乎。 也.皆 也師不煩人之性果惡乎 也,無 其一而失其二者也 之性善惡果混乎 下者可制也其品則孔子謂不移也 學而愈明下之性畏威而寡罪是故上者可學而 日然則性之上下者其終不可移乎日上之性就 故曰三子之言性也舉其中而遺其上下者也得 瞽叟之舜鯀之禹習非不惡也而卒爲聖人人 均文王之管蔡習非不善也而卒爲 之其 者,也。 移是移 也。故,乎 It may be asked, 'How is it that those who nowadays speak about the nature do so differently from this?' I reply:-Those who nowadays speak about the nature blend with their other views those of Buddhism and Lão-tsze; and doing so, how could they speak otherwise than differently from me? 異,而奚言老雜言老雜言今也。此異性之日, 不言者,而佛也,而佛者之日,何於者,言今 CHAPTER III. OF YANG CHỦ AND MO TỈ. SECTION I. THE OPINIONS OF YANG CHỦ. 1. The words of Yang Chú and Mo Ti,' said Mencius, 'fill the world. If you listen to people's discourses throughout it, you will find that they have adopted the views of the one or of the other. Now, Yang's principle is-"Each one for himself," which does not acknowledge the claims of the sovereign. Mo's principle is-"To love all equally," which does not acknowledge the peculiar affection due to a father. To acknowledge neither king nor father is to be in the state of a beast. If their principles are not stopped, and the principles of Confucius set forth, their perverse speakings will delude the people, and stop up the path of benevolence and righteousness. 'I am alarmed by these things, and address myself to the defence of the doctrines of the former sages, and to oppose Yang and Mo. I drive away their licentious expressions, so that such perverse speakers may not be able to show themselves. When sages shall rise up again, they will not change my words'.' His opposition to Yang and Mo was thus one of the great labours of Mencius's life, and what he deemed the success of it one of his great achievements. His countrymen generally accede to the justice of his claim; though there have not been wanting some to say— justly, as I think and will endeavour to show in the next section -that Mo need not have incurred from him such heavy censure. For Yang no one has a word to say. His leading principle as stated by Mencius is certainly detestable, and so far as we can judge from the slight accounts of him that are to be gathered from other quarters, he seems to have been about 'the least erected spirit,' who ever professed to reason concerning the life and duties of man. 2. The generally received opinion is that Yang belonged to the 1 Bk. III. Pt. II. ix. 9, 10. |