The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Mencius, The Chinese Classics: Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius [1875] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. 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Trübner, 1875). Author: Mencius Translator: James Legge About This Title: This volume contains a long introduction on the life and works of Mencius, following by 7 books from his writings. The 2 indexes have not been reproduced in the HTML version of the file but can be viewed in the facsimile PDF version. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2269 Online Library of Liberty: The Chinese Classics: Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The text is in the public domain. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2269 Online Library of Liberty: The Chinese Classics: Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius Table Of Contents Preface. Prolegomena. Chapter I.: Of the Works of Mencius. Section I.: Their Recognition Under the Han Dynasty, and Before It. Section II.: Chaou K‘e and His Labours Upon Mencius. Section III.: Other Commentators. Section IV.: Integrity; Authorship; and Reception Among the Classical Books. Chapter II.: Mencius and His Opinions. Section I.: Life of Mencius. Section II.: His Influence and Opinions. Appendix. I.: That the Nature Is Evil. II.: An Examination of the Nature of Man. Chapter III.: Of Yang Choo and Mih Teih. Section I.: The Opinions of Yang Choo. Section II.: The Opinions of Mih Teih. Universal Love. Part I. Universal Love. Part II. Universal Love. Part III. The Works of Mencius. * Book I. ** King Hwuy of LËang. Part I. King Hwuy of Leang. Part II. Book II. * Kung-sun Ch‘ow. Part I. Kung-sun Ch‘ow. Part II. Book III. * T‘Ăng WĂn Kung. Part I. T‘Ăng WĂn Kung. Part II. Book IV. Le Low. Part I. Le Low. Part II. Book V. * Wan Chang. Part I. Wan Chang. Part II. Book VI. * Kaou-tsze. Part I. Kaou-tsze. Part II. Book VII. * Tsin Sin. Part I. Tsin Sin. Part II. THE PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2269 Online Library of Liberty: The Chinese Classics: Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius LIFE AND WORKS of MENCIUS. with essays and notes. by JAMES LEGGE, D.D., LL.D. LONDON: TRÜBNER & CO., 57 & 59, LUDGATE HILL 1875 [All Rights reserved.] JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2269 Online Library of Liberty: The Chinese Classics: Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius [Back to Table of Contents] PREFACE. When the author, in 1867, published “The Life and Teachings of Confucius,” he intimated that it would be followed by the present volume, “as soon as the publisher should feel authorized by public encouragement to go forward with the undertaking.” It was not long till the publisher gave him notice that he was ready to go to press with an edition of Mencius, which might therefore have appeared in 1868. By that time, however, the author was occupied with the fourth and fifth volumes of his larger Work, containing the ancient poetry of China, and the history of the feudal kingdom of Chow from bc 721 to 480; and it was not till towards the end of 1872 that the publication of the fifth volume was completed. The author then began to take Mencius in hand, and to give the translation and notes in the second volume of his larger Work a careful revision. That was published in 1861, and, as a result of his studies during the intervening years, he saw that some improvement might be effected in his earlier labours. He therefore wrote out afresh the translation of the seven Books of Mencius, and the notes also with a special view to their suitability to an edition of the Chinese philosopher for general readers. The volume thus prepared is now submitted to the Public. In the preface to the former volume the author referred to a re-publication of his translation of the Chinese Works contained in it in the United States, and mentioned that the appearance of that re-publication was a principal reason why his publisher had asked him to issue a popular edition of the Chinese Classics in his own name. The title-page of the volume, moreover, says expressly that it was “reproduced for general readers from the author’s Work, containing the original Text, &c.” If Dr John Heinrich Plath of Münich had taken the trouble to read the preface or even the title- page, he would hardly have done the injustice to the author which appears in his “Confucius und Seiner Schüler Leben und Lehren.” There, in his “Leben des Confucius, 1,” on p. 15, he has said that “The Life and Teachings of Confucius is a delusion practised on the Public, being a mere reprint of the author’s Translations in his Chinese Classics, without the Chinese Text, and with his short Life of Confucius.” The author cannot suppose that Dr Plath does not understand plain English sufficiently well to have saved him from such a misrepresentation. He did not practise any delusion on the Public, and it ought not to have been even insinuated that he had been guilty of such a thing. London, 1st March, 1874. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2269 Online Library of Liberty: The Chinese Classics: Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius [Back to Table of Contents] PROLEGOMENA. CHAPTER I. OF THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. SECTION I. THEIR RECOGNITION UNDER THE HAN DYNASTY, AND BEFORE IT. 1.In the third of the catalogues of Lew Hin,1 containing a list of the Works of Scholars which had been collected up to his time (about ad 1), and in the first subdivision, devoted to authors of the classical or orthodox School, we have the entry—“The Works of Mencius, in eleven Books.” At that date, therefore, Mencius’ writings were known and registered as a part of the literature of China. 2. A hundred years before Hin, we have the testimony of the historian Sze-ma Ts‘?en. In the seventy-fourth Book of his “Historical Records,” there is a brief memoir of Mencius, where he says that the philosopher, having withdrawn into private life, “with his disciples, Wan Chang and others, prefaced the She and the Shoo, unfolded the views of Confucius, and made ‘The Works of Mencius, in seven Books.’ ” The discrepancy that appears between these testimonies, in regard to the number of the Books which went by the common name of Mencius, will be considered in the sequel. In the mean while it is shown that the writings of Mencius were recognized by scholars a hundred years before the Christian era, which takes us back to little more than a century and a half from the date assigned to his death. 3. Among writers of the Han dynasty earlier than Sze-ma Ts‘ëen, there were Han Ying, and Tung Chung-shoo, contemporaries, in the reigns of the emperors Wăn, King, and Woo, (bc 178—86). Portions of their Works remain, and in them are found quotations from Mencius. Later than these there were Yang Heung (bc 53—ad 18), who wrote a commentary on Mencius, which was existing under the Sung dynasty, and Wang Ch‘ung (died about ad 100), who left a chapter of animadversions on our philosopher, which still exists.