The Chinese Classics (Prolegomena) | Page 5

Books, as distinguished from the greater Ching, had also previously found a
place in the literature of China [1].
SECTION II. THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS.
1. This subject will be discussed in connexion with each separate Work, and it is only
designed here to exhibit generally the evidence on which the Chinese Classics claim to be
received as genuine productions of the time to which they are referred.
2. In the memoirs of the Former Han dynasty (B.C. 202-A.D.
24), we have one chapter which we may call the History of Literature [2]. It commences
thus: 'After the death of Confucius [3], there was an end of his exquisite words; and when
his seventy disciples had passed away, violence began to be done to their meaning. It
came about that there were five different editions of the Ch'un Ch'iu, four of the Shih, and
several of the Yi. Amid the disorder and collisions of the warring States (B.C. 481-220),
truth and falsehood were still more in a state of warfare, and a sad confusion marked the
words of the various scholars. Then came the calamity inflicted under the Ch'in dynasty
(B.C. 220-
205), when the literary monuments were destroyed by fire, in order to keep the people in
ignorance. But, by and by, there arose the Han dynasty, which set itself to remedy the evil
wrought by the Ch'in. Great efforts were made to collect slips and tablets [4], and the way
was thrown wide open for the bringing in of Books. In the time of the emperor Hsiao-wu
[5] (B.C. 140-85), portions of Books being wanting and tablets lost, so that ceremonies
and music were
1 For the statements in the two last paragraphs, see ¦èªe¦X¶°, ¤j¾Ç ÃÒ¤å, ¨÷¤@.
2 «eº~®Ñ, ¥»§Ó, ²Ä¤Q¨÷, ÃÀ¤å§Ó.
3 ¥ò¥§.

4 ½gÄy, slips and tablets of bamboo, which supplied in those days the place of paper.
5 ¥@¬É§µªZ¬Ó«Ò.
suffering great damage, he was moved to sorrow and said, "I am very sad for this." He
therefore formed the plan of Repositories, in which the Books might be stored, and
appointed officers to transcribe Books on an extensive scale, embracing the works of the
various scholars, that they might all be placed in the Repositories. The emperor Ch'ang
(B.C. 32-5), finding that a portion of the Books still continued dispersed or missing,
commissioned Ch'an Nang, the Superintendent of Guests [2], to search for undiscovered
Books throughout the empire, and by special edict ordered the chief of the Banqueting
House, Liu Hsiang [3], to examine the Classical Works, along with the commentaries on
them, the writings of the scholars, and all poetical productions; the Master-controller of
Infantry, Zan Hwang [4], to examine the Books on the art of war; the Grand
Historiographer, Yin Hsien [5], to examine the Books treating of the art of numbers (i.e.
divination); and the imperial Physician, Li Chu-kwo [6], to examine the Books on
medicine. Whenever any book was done with, Hsiang forthwith arranged it, indexed it,
and made a digest of it, which was presented to the emperor. While this work was in
progress, Hsiang died, and the emperor Ai (B.C.
6-A.D. 1) appointed his son, Hsin [7], a Master of the imperial carriages, to complete his
father's work. On this, Hsin collected all the Books, and presented a report of them, under
seven divisions.'
The first of these divisions seems to have been a general catalogue [8] containing perhaps
only the titles of the works included in the other six. The second embraced the Classical
Works [9]. From the abstract of it, which is preserved in the chapter referred to, we find
that there were 294 collections of the Yi-ching from thirteen different individuals or
editors [10];
412 collections of the Shu-ching, from nine different individuals;
416 volumes of the Shih-ching, from six different individuals [11]; of the Books of Rites,
555 collec-
1 §µ¦¨¬Ó«Ò.
2 ¿ÖªÌ³¯¹A.
3 ¥ú¸S¤j¤Ò¼B¦V.
4 ¨B§L®Õ¼¢¥ô§».
5 ¤Ó¥v¥O¤¨«w.
6 ¨ÍÂå§õ®Û°ê.
7 ¨Í¤¤©^¨®³£¼¢Ýõ.

8 ¿è²¤.
9 ¤»ÃÀ²¤.
10 ¤Z©ö, ¤Q¤T®a, ¤G¦Ê¤E¤Q¥|½g. How much of the whole work was contained in each
½g, it is impossible to determine. P. Regis says: 'Pien, quemadmodum Gallice dicimus
"des pieces d'eloquence, de poesie."'
11 ¸Ö, ¤»®a, ¥|¦Ê¤@¤Q¤»¨÷. The collections of the Shih-ching are mentioned under the
name of chuan, 'sections,' 'portions.' Had p'ien been used, it might have been understood
of individual odes. This change of terms shows that by p'ien in the other summaries, we
are not to understand single blocks or chapters.
tions, from thirteen different individuals; of the Books on Music,
165 collections, from six different editors; 948 collections of History, under the heading
of the Ch'un Ch'iu, from twenty-three different individuals; 229 collections of the Lun Yu,
including the Analects and kindred fragments, from twelve different individuals; of the
Hsiao-ching, embracing also the R