University of Virginia Library

APPENDIX[1]

The Ssŭ-k`u ch`üan shu tsung-mu Notice

Han-shih wai-chuan, 10 chüan. Edition in common circulation.
Compiled by Han Ying of the Han.

[Han] Ying was a native of [the state of] Yen. Under the
Emperor Wên (B. C. 179-156) he became a po-shih, and in the
time of the Emperor Ching (B. C. 156-140) he advanced to the
position of Tutor to [the Prince of] Ch`ang-shan. The "Essay on
Literature" in the Han shu[2] lists a Han ku [OMITTED] in 36 ch., a Han
nei chuan [OMITTED] in 4 chs., a Han wai chuan [OMITTED] in 6 chs., and a
Han shuo [OMITTED] in 41 ch. With the passage of time they have been
scattered or lost. In the case of the Han ku, a version in 22 chapters
is still recorded in the Hsin T`ang-shu;[3] thus Liu An-shih speaks
of[4] having read the "Yü wu chêng"[5] ode in the Han shih. But
Ou-yang Hsiu[6] already says that in his time only the Wai chuan
was preserved, so that in Northern Sung times some scholars had
seen the Han shih and some had not. When, in the Shao-hsing
period (1131-1163), Fan Ch`u-i wrote the Shih pu chuan [OMITTED],[7]
he did not credit Liu An-shih with having really seen a copy of the

Han shih; so it was lost at the time of the change from Northern
to Southern Sung. This Wai chuan alone is still preserved to the
present day. However from the "Essay [on Literature]" in the
Shi [shu] on, it has been [listed as having] four chapters more than
[the six credited it] in the Han [shu] "Essay"; this is probably
the result of redivision by later editors.

This book variously quotes old stories and sayings, illustrating
them with lines from the Shih. [The meanings ascribed by it to
these lines] are not in accord with the [proper] sense of the Classic;
hence the name "Wai chuan" ("Secondary commentary").
The materials assembled in it largely overlap with the philosophical
writings of Chou and Ch`in [times]. In discussing the Three
Schools of the Shih, Pan Ku speaks of its "on occasion culling
from the anecdotal literature or choosing stories from various
sources, but never in accord with the true meaning [of the
Classic]." Here is he not pointing out this sort of thing?

Hung Mai in his Jung-chai sui-pi[8] has discussed its story about
the maiden of A-ku (1/3). Other examples, where it speaks of
P`êng-tsu's fame on the same level with that of Yao and Shun
(1/6), or of immortality [as the result of Inaction] (1/23), or of
there being no reason for fearing the transformations of Heaven
(2/6), or of shield and spear as being employed in the shao (4/9),
or that Shun's having two wives was wrong (4/9), or of Ching
K`uai-jui's retainer's not "continuously maintaining his virtue"
(8/4), all of them are objectionable. It says that "Liu-hsia Hui
sacrificed himself to perfect his trustworthiness" (1/8); that
Confucius made an analogy with driving to explain compassion
for the people (2/11); that Confucius made the statement in the
`Shun was born in Ming-t`iao' section;[9] that it was King Ch`êng[10]
of Ch`u whom Lun-pien answered (5/6); that Jan-yu said Yen,
Wu, Ch`u, and Tai were going to attack the king of Ch`in[11] (8/24):
all these are at variance with fact. The incident of Yen Yüan,

Tzŭ-kung, and Tzŭ-lu telling of their respective ambitions (7/25,
9/15), as well as that of Shên Ming's dying as a result of the
insurrection of the Governor of Po (1/21, 10/24)[12] are both
repeated in different parts of the book; in such cases we find also
unnecessary repetition. But where he has quoted Hsün Ch`ing's
"Diatribe against the Twelve Philosophers"[13] (4/22), in expunging
the two names of Mencius and Tzŭ-ssŭ, and preserving
only ten philosophers, he shows considerable discrimination in
his selection. Moreover his metaphors of the cocoon and the
thread, and the egg and the chick (5/17) were borrowed by Tung
Chung-shu in his [Ch`un-ch`iu] fan-lu;[14] while the explanation of
[OMITTED] as [OMITTED] and of [OMITTED] as [OMITTED] was used by Pan Ku in the Po hu t`ung.[15]
Thus refined principles and famous sayings occur throughout the
book. We should not view it as a work solely devoted to exegesis.

The usual thing in this book is for each section to quote a line
from the Shih, but there are twenty-eight[16] sections without such
quotations; also the "I tell you" beginning one section (6/7) is
out of context. In both cases there is probably a defect in the
text. In his commentary on the Wên hsüan, Li Shan quotes from
the Wai-chuan, "Confucius climbed Mt. T`ai and looked out over
more than seventy [representatives of] ruling families not of the
Chou clan,"[17] and also the story of the two women of Han-kao,[18]
both of which are lacking in present-day texts. It is likely that
in these two cases we have also to do with textual omissions. As
to quotations like "Snow flowers have six petals" in the I-wên
lei-chü,[19] since they all deal more with exegesis, it is likely they
are quotations from the Nei-chuan text that through a copyist's

error have been falsely attributed. Tung Ssŭ-chang[20] is probably
mistaken in taking them all as parts lost from the Wai-chuan.

The Han[-shu] "Essay" in entering the Han wai-chuan in the
Shih classification seems to be doing so by analogy with the Nei-Chuan.
Wang Shih-chên[21] speaks of the Wai-chuan as quoting
the Shih to illustrate the story, not telling the story to throw light
on the Shih; his remark is very apt. Today the explanations of the
Shih contained in the Nei-chuan are lost, while the Wai-chuan
has no connection with the interpretation of the Shih. Still, as
the sole work of the period preceding Mao Ch`ang, it has been
placed at the head of old commentaries of the Shih; as a result
when students open the book they do not find what they are first
of all looking for. We do not see any sense in so placing it. On
the other hand, there is no place for it outside the Shih classification,
and so by analogy with the I wei and the Shang-shu ta-chuan
we put it off at the end.