Handbook of Universal Literature | Page 8

On account of the
great preponderance of the pictorial element in them, they may be

called the metaphorical languages, while the Indo-European, from the
prevailing style of their higher literature, may be called the
philosophical languages. The Semitic nations also differ from the
Indo-European in their national characteristics; while they have lived
with remarkable uniformity on the vast open plains, or wandered over
the wide and dreary deserts of their native region, the Indo-Europeans
have spread themselves over both hemispheres, and carried civilization
to its highest development. But the Semitic mind has not been without
influence on human progress. It early recorded its thoughts, its wants,
and achievements in the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt; the Phoenicians,
foremost in their day in commerce and the arts, introduced from Egypt
alphabetic letters, of which all the world has since made use. The
Jewish portion of the race, long in communication with Egypt,
Phoenicia, Babylonia, and Persia, could not fail to impart to these
nations some knowledge of their religion and literature, and it cannot
be doubted that many new ideas and quickening influences were thus
set in motion, and communicated to the more remote countries both of
the East and West.
The most ancient languages of the Indo-European stock may be
grouped in two distinct family pairs: the Aryan, which comprises two
leading families, the Indian and Iranian, and the Graeco-Italic or
Pelasgic, which comprises the Greek family and its various dialects,
and the Italic family, the chief-subdivisions of which are the Etruscan,
the Latin, and the modern languages derived from the Latin. The other
Indo-European families are the Lettic, Slavic, Gothic, and Celtic, with
their various subdivisions.
The word Aryan (Sanskrit, Arya), the oldest known name of the entire
Indo- European family, signifies well-born, and was applied by the
ancient Hindus to themselves in contradistinction to the rest of the
world, whom they considered base-born and contemptible.
In the country called Aryavarta, lying between the Himalaya and the
Vindhya Mountains, the high table-land of Central Asia, more than two
thousand years before Christ, our Hindu ancestors had their early home.
From this source there have been, historically, two great streams of
Aryan migration. One, towards the south, stagnated in the fertile
valleys, where they were walled in from all danger of invasion by the
Himalaya Mountains on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, and

the deserts of Bactria on the west, and where the people sunk into a life
of inglorious ease, or wasted their powers in the regions of dreamy
mysticism. The other migration, at first northern, and then western,
includes the great families of nations in Northwestern Asia and in
Europe. Forced by circumstances into a more objective life, and under
the stimulus of more favorable influences, these nations have been
brought into a marvelous state of individual and social progress, and to
this branch of the human family belongs all the civilization of the
present, and most of that which distinguishes the past.
The Indo-European family of languages far surpasses the Semitic in
variety, flexibility, beauty, and strength. It is remarkable for its vitality,
and has the power of continually regenerating itself and bringing forth
new linguistic creations. It renders most faithfully the various workings
of the human mind, its wants, its aspirations, its passion, imagination,
and reasoning power, and is most in harmony with the ever progressive
spirit of man. In its varied scientific and artistic development it forms
the most perfect family of languages on the globe, and modern
civilization, by a chain reaching through thousands of years, ascends to
this primitive source.

CHINESE LITERATURE.
1. Chinese literature.--2. The Language.--3. The Writing.--4. The five
Classics and four Books.--5. Chinese Religion and Philosophy, Lao-tsé,
Confucius, Meng-tsé or Mencius.--6. Buddhism.--7. Social
Constitution of China.--8. Invention of Printing.--9. Science, History,
and Geography. Encyclopaedias.--10. Poetry.--11. Dramatic Literature
and Fiction.--12. Education in China.
1. CHINESE LITERATURE.--The Chinese literature is one of the
most voluminous of all literatures, and among the most important of
those of Asia. Originating in a vast empire, it is diffused among a
population numbering nearly half the inhabitants of the globe. It is
expressed by an original language differing from all others, it refers to a
nation whose history may be traced back nearly five thousand years in
an almost unbroken series of annals, and it illustrates the peculiar
character of a people long unknown to the Western world.
2. THE LANGUAGE.--The date of the origin of this language is lost in
antiquity, but there is no doubt that it is the most ancient now spoken,

and probably the oldest written language used by man. It has undergone
few alterations during successive ages, and this fact has served to
deepen the lines of demarkation between the Chinese and other
branches of the race and has resulted in