UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO Donated in memory of Jghn W. Snyder by His Son and Daughter Digitized ty tine Internet Arcliive in 2007 witli funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littpV/www.arcliive.org/details/confuciuscliineseOOIoomiala : Confucius Chinese Classics OR, Readings in Chinese Literature. EDITED AND COMPILED BY REV. A. W. LOOMIS. SAN FRANCISCO: A. ROMAN, Agent, PUBLISHER- BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD. 1882. Entered according to Act of ConejresR. A. D. 1867, by A. ROMAN & COMPANY, In the Clark's Office of ihe District Court of the United States for the District of California. Wm. Fauvkner tt, Son, Stereotypbks, 411 Clay Street . CONTENTS. PART I, HISTORY AND BIOGRAPliy. Fags. Chinese History down to the Christian Era 15 Ancient Empire of China 27 Life of Confucius 44 PART II. THE FOUR BOOKS. BOOK FIRST—CONFUCIAN ANALECTS. Chapter I. —What the Disciples of Confucius say of Him 67 " II.—Theology and Religion 82 " III.—Domestic Relations 86 " IV.—Ethics 90 " V.—On Government 117 " VI.—Maxims 126 BOOK SECOND—THE GREAT LEARNING. Chapter I. —Government of Family and State 131 " II.—State Offices and Emolumeats 135 " III.—Self-Culture 138 BOOK THIRD—THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. Chapter I. —The Path of Dntv 142 " II.—Picture ot the FerJect Man 146 " III. —Rules for the Government of the Empire 150 " IV.—Religion 153 " V.—Miscellaneous 156 vi CONTENTS. BOOK FOURTH—MENCIUS. Pagb. Chapter. I.—On Government 164 " II.—Metaphysics and Morals 205 " III.—Ideal of the Perfect Man 225 " IV.—Domestic Regulations 236 ** V.—^Miscellaneous 251 PART III. SELECTIONS. Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties 265 A Confucian Tract 268 A Budhist Tract • • 275 The Rationalists 278 Tablet Literature 289 Directory for the Whole Life 292 Rules of Etiquette 298 The Mirror of the Mind 307 A Precocious Youth 312 Harmony between Husband and Wife 318 Thousand Character Classic 331 Examples of Filial Duty 337 Chinese Moral Maxims 344 Apothems and Proverbs 351 Aphorisms by Dr. Hu Tsin-Yang 356 Ancient Chinese Poetry 357 Modern Chinese Poetry 360 A Recent Visit to the Classic Grounds of China 371 PART IV. EDITORIAL REVIEW. Remarks on the Doctrines taught by the Chinese Sages, and their Influence on the Chinese Mind. 393 PREFACE. Recently there has been an unusual call for books on China. The increasing commerce between this coun- try and that ancient and wealthy kingdom has attracted the attention of all intelligent men of business, while the close proximity of our western coast to China has awa- kened a desire among a large portion of our people to gain a more thorough acquaintance with our neighbors : especially has this been found to be the case since the establishment of the line of mail steamers by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, by which both commerce and travel are destined to be greatly augmented. The presence of many Chinamen in our own country is another reason for the strong desire that has been ob- served to obtain books which may enable one better to understand the character, social habits, and religious be- liefs of this strange people. To meet all these demands, a Book Firm of this city Vni PREFACE. has spared no pams or expense to bring together as com- plete a collection of works on China as was possible. Such as were not to be obtained at home have been ordered from abroad ; and among the publications so collected—chief among them, we may say—are the first four of a work, which, when complete, will consist ol fourteen thick octavo volumes, which, when finished, will be a translation of all the Chinese classics. In them are given both the original Chinese text and the English translation; having copious notes in English, with Chinese characters interspersed. While these volumes are a rare literary curiosity, and of immense value to every student in the Chinese lan- guage and literature, yet the price at which they are of- fered holds them far above the reach of the mass of readers. We hope, however, as these volumes shall suc- cessively appear, they may be honored with a place on the shelves of most of our public libraries : the libraries of all literary institutions ought by all means to pos- sess them. Because this work contains a vast amount of valuable and interesting matter which should in some form be laid before the public, the compiler of this book has been urged to undertake the work, the result of which he herewith offers to the reader. A large portion of this volume consists of extracts from the famous Four Books of Confucius and his disci- PREFACE. IX pies, trmslated by the Rev. James Legge, D.D., one of the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, and who here presents lis some of the ripe fruit of a thirty years' study of the Chinese language and literature. We flatter ourselves that the task we have undertaken will be regarded by the translator as a friendly office, by which his herculean labors and patient study in this di- rection will be brought into more general notice than otherwise they could have been, and thereby, as we be- lieve, a demand will be created for the entire work. Except for the great distance and the ocean inter- vening, we might have availed ourselves of his better judgment both in the selections and in the arrangement. So far as regards the selections from the Four Books, our design has been to go carefully through them, and gather a few sentences on the various subjects which were treated by the Chinese authors, and arrange them under their appropriate heads. Those familiar with the originals may miss some pas- sages which they have met in their reading and greatly admired, and which, in their opinion, would have en- hanced the value of this volume ; our object, however, has not been to exhaust the mine, but merely to pro- duce a few specimens ; and we can assure the reader that as valuable ore remains to reward his search as any that we have here produced. The reader will find in this volume not merely what has I* ; X PREFACE. been gatliered from the Four Books, but also selections from several other departments of Chinese literature. The " Middle Kingdom," by Dr. S. Wells Williams, has afforded us valuable assistance. The Life of Con- fucius, which we have inserted, has been compiled from the British Encyclopedia, from Williams, and from other sources. The sketch of history is from Williams and from Legge, and others. We have obtained help from the Chinese Repository, and from the "Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society." The variety of miscellaneous pieces will be found credited, where they occur, to their respective authors and translators, so far as they were known. One design in the issuing of this work has been to answer some of the numerous questions which people are constantly asking respecting the Chinese, their po- litical, domestic, and social habits, their religious be- liefs, and the source from which they have been de- rived. By this volume the reader is introduced to Chinese society as it existed two thousand years ago and as Chinese customs, ceremonies, religious and po- litical creeds have changed but little during this suc- cession of generations through twenty centuries, to learn what China was in the days of Confucius is to learn, in a great measure, what China is to-day. China is the oldest kingdom on the globe ; the wise sta""esman will, therefore, avail himself of the means PREFACE. XI here afforded for learning what causes may have Oj)erated towards the preservation of this one nation, while in all other parts of the earth thrones have been set up and demolished, and kingdoms have arisen and decayed in constant succession. This book is desirable, not as a curiosity merely : it contains a large amount of sound instruction. The chapter on Political Economy is worthy of careful studv by all college professors. The considerations which should govern in the choice of public officers, the mo- tives which should actuate the candidate m the accept- ance of office, and the line of conduct which public men ought ever to pursue, are treated in an admirable style, and will be admired not only for their wisdom, but as particularly appropriate for the country and the times in which we live. Those fond of metaphysics and of ethics will, at least, be entertained with the readings under these heads, which are supplied from Mencius. The character which was impressed upon the old Puri- tan stock, and which through many generations has not yet been entirely worn away, was in part enstamped upon the susceptible minds of the children, while study- ing the pictures, the texts, and the sentiments which were cut in the bricks of those spacious fire-places in which they lived in Holland : so in China, the walls of their dwellings, shops, and public halls are adorned with Xii PREFACE. scrolls on which are inscribed sentiments from their an- cient authors ; even the bowls with which three times a day their tables are set, and the cups from which at all hours they sip their tea, are written over with verses from the Book of Odes, with proverbs, and maxims. Let us, therefore, learn what is the character of the mottoes and maxims which they are constantly reading and repeating, and which must exert a powerful influence in forming and preserving, as it is, the character of this nation of three hundred and sixty or four hundred millions of people.