 | CHAPTER XXI. Lunheng |  |
CHAPTER XXI.
The Necessity of Eulogies (Hsü-sung).
The rulers and sovereigns of antiquity having accomplished
memorable deeds, wanted some able pen to eulogise and chronicle
their achievements. Thus their deeds were made public, and all
ages heard of them. If we ask the commentators of the Shuking
who said the words following the passage ["He was reverential,
intelligent, accomplished, and thoughtful"],[995]
they will reply:—the
editor, and who is the editor?—Confucius. Consequently the able
writer is Confucius.[996]
[It was after his return from Wei to Lu[997]
that
he arranged the Odes, when the festive songs and panegyrics got
their places.[998]
] His great literary activity falls in this time.
Some maintain concerning the Shang-shu (Shuking) that shang
means superior:[999]
—what the superiors have done is written down
by the inferiors. And who are these inferiors? The officers. Ergo
the officers commit to writing the actions of the superiors.
If we inquire of the scholars why rites are said to be instituted[1000]
and songs to be composed,[1001]
their reply will probably be that the
rites are instituted by the superiors and therefore called institutions,
whereas songs being composed by the inferiors are, on that account,
termed compositions. When the empire enjoys perfect peace,
panegyrics and tunes are composed. At present there is universal
peace throughout the empire; might panegyrics, odes, songs, and
tunes be composed? The scholiasts would not know it and deserve
to be called pedants.
In view of the inscription on the tripod of K`ung K`ui[1002]
of
Wei the officers of Chou admonished one another, and because the
emperor Hsiao Hsüan Ti praised the prefect of Ying-ch`uan,[1003]
Huang
Pa[1004]
for his excellent service and bestowed a hundred pounds of
gold on him, the Han officers exerted themselves in the administration.
Thus a ruler of men praises his officers, and the officers should
extol their sovereign. That is in accordance with propriety.
When under Shun the empire was at peace, K`uei[1005]
sang the
virtue of Shun. The kindness of King Hsüan[1006]
was so perfect, that
the Shiking extols his doings. Lord Shao[1007]
performed his duties in
such a way, that in Chou they sang the song on the sweet-pear
tree.[1008]
Thus there are 31 eulogies of Chou, 5 of Yin, and 4 of Lu,
40 in all in which the poets sing the praises of exalted persons.[1009]
Whence it is plain that subjects should eulogise their sovereigns.
The scholars contend that the Han have no sage emperors,
and that their administration has not brought about universal peace.
In our chapter entitled "Praise of the Han Dynasty"[1010]
we have
shown that the Han have holy emperors, and that their government
has led to perfect peace, and in the chapter "Further Remarks on
the State"[1011]
we have investigated into the excellence of the Han
and found out that it is extraordinary and far surpassing that of
all the other dynasties.
To illustrate virtue, and praise merits, and to extol and
panegyrise rulers, is nothing more than the eulogistic allusions of
the Shiking and a duty of noble officers. It cannot be accounted
virtue, should somebody forget his own family and look to other
people's houses, or despise his own father, and speak in high terms
embracing the whole world, and compared to the present sovereign,
people and officers, the former emperors are like the old gentlemen.
To know the virtue of a monarch and praise his excellence, to
see the greatness of a State and glorify its deserts is much better
than to doubt and suspect them of incapacity.
[Confucius said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign; it is
only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it. The
people could find no name for it."][1012]
Some one of fifty was beating
clods of earth on the road. An observer remarked, "Grand
indeed is the virtue of Yao!"—The man who was playing with
earth replied, "At sunrise I begin my work, and at sunset I take
my rest. I dig a well to drink, and labour my field to eat. What
sort of energy does Yao display?"[1013]
—Confucius by saying "Great
indeed was the virtue of Yao" showed that he knew him. To
be coeval with a sage and not to know the holy ruler, is like
being blind and incapable of distinguishing between green and
yellow, and to know such a holy ruler, but not to praise him, is
like being dumb and unfit to discourse on right and wrong.
The present blind and dumb literati are no more gifted than
the people of T`ang beating the earth. Confucius and the man of
T`ang who spoke of Yao's greatness were both aware of his virtue.
It was paramount, and by inquiring how Yao's capacity was, the
peasant beating the earth proved his ignorance of his virtue.[1014]
When at night a candle is lifted the space illuminated by its
light may be measured, but when the sun shines over the world
the places near and far, big and small reached by its rays are
hard to be limited. Navigating on the Huai and the Chi,[1015]
all
people know their windings and turnings, but on the Eastern Sea
they cannot make out north and south. The square-mensuration
of very great planes offers many difficulties, and great depths are
hard to be fathomed by wading through with tucked-up clothes.
The excellence of the Han is as extensive[1016]
as the sunlight reaching
have no idea of their grandeur.
The Han writers mostly go back as far as the Yin and Chou
dynasties, and the various scholars working together all treat of
other matters and have not a word of praise for the Han dynasty,
which the Lun-hêng has. The State eulogies in the Shiking are
called eulogies of Chou; they bear a resemblance to the Han eulogies
offered by Tu Fu and Pan Ku.[1017]
Under the reign of Hsüan Ti portraits were painted of the
entire body of Han officers. If some were left out, their descendants,
later on, felt abashed that their ancestors had not been
found worthy to be painted. A eulogy is much more than a
simple picture. If after many generations people conversant with
classical literature will find there nothing in praise of the Han
dynasty, later ages must wonder at this omission. Formerly, officers
well versed in the Classics were in the habit of recording the
glorious feats of their rulers on bamboo and silk and of engraving
encomiastic inscriptions regarding their illustrious virtue on tripods.
Contemporaries of literary abilities would exert themselves on this
behalf. If the fame of the Han falls short of that of the Six
Reigns, it is owing to the incompetence of those writers.
The earth has elevations and depressions, whence there are
high and low places. But by means of picks and spades one may
level the ground. All generations reading the Classics dealing
merely with the Five Emperors and the Three Rulers, no notice
being taken of the events of the Han era, must imagine that these
sovereigns[1018]
are far superior to those of the Han dynasty. But
one may use arguments as picks and spades and, by diminishing
the grandeur of the Five Emperors and Three Rulers,[1019]
fill up the
baseness of the house of Han, which is more than levelling, for
the Han thus will become exalted and those rulers abased.
Ponds and lakes there are of various kinds and of different
sizes, and their depths may be measured by immerging poles.
The Han have swayed the empire no less than all the other dynasties,
and by a thorough investigation their respective merits
and demerits may be ascertained. In default of long poles the
depths cannot be measured, and without the arguments of the
Lun-hêng we do not learn to know the real state of these dynasties.
If the Han, being the last of all these dynasties, be contrasted
ponds and lakes, but unless there be a clever writer, it is inevitable
that a mediocre scribbler takes his place who admires antiquity and
disparages the present, and we may expect that the Han will not
barely not come up to the other dynasties, but be ranked below them.
A posthumous title is a trace left by a man's actions. Good
titles are Ch`êng and Hsüan, bad ones, Ling and Li.[1020]
Ch`êng T`ang
met with a drought and King Hsüan of Chou likewise, yet Ch`êng T`ang
got the epithet Ch`êng and King Hsüan was called Hsüan.[1021]
These
pernicious calamities could not affect their government, and the
officials in appending the posthumous designations did not depart
from truth. From this point of view Yao is also a good title.[1022]
In his time there was also the Great Flood, and the people were
not at ease, still his case having been thoroughly examined, he
was given the name of Yao. Even the one word of a posthumous
title should be illustrative of its bearer, how much more ought
this to be required of discourses containing many hundred words,
or of eulogies numbering many thousands. Ships and carts carry
people, but how can they equal the number of pedestrians, and
how can simple carts and unadorned ships compete with those
covered with polish and beautifully painted? Excellent writers
are the polish and adornments of the State-ship and the State-cart.[1023]
Without strong husbandmen the crops do not grow, and
unless a State possess vigorous writers its virtues remain hidden
and are not made public. The ever-flowing virtue of the Han is
lost among the many generations, because the vigorous writers
among the literati do not record it. It is true that from Kao Tsu
downward the books written discuss this subject:
Sse-Ma Hsiang-Ju of the Han time published a work on the
hill sacrifice, but this book is very short and incomplete. Sse-Ma
Ch`ien wrote on the time from Huang Ti till Hsiao Wu Ti,[1024]
Yang Tse
Yün described the period from Hsüan Ti to Ai Ti and P`ing Ti,[1025]
eulogy on Hsiao Ming Ti. The merits and achievements of the house
of Han may well be learned therefrom. Our reigning Lord, after his
accession, has not yet found a panegyrist, therefore the author of the
Lun-hêng has done his best for this purpose, whence originated the
chapters:—Equality of the Ages, Praise of the Han Dynasty, Further
Remarks on the State, and Ominous Signs Investigated.[1026]
Without clouds and rain, a dragon cannot soar to heaven.
Great writers are the clouds and the rain of a State; they carry
in their records the virtue of the State, and transmit its fame, that
it is still illustrious after numberless generations. Does this greatness
not rise even higher than the sky?
The earth of the city-wall is nothing but common soil which
men have used their strength to ram down and raise near the moat.
The great achievements of a State are loftier than a city-wall, and
the strength of the gentlemen of the pen is greater than that of
the rammers.
The brilliant virtue and the success of a holy ruler should,
at all events, be praised and put on record; how can the current
of these records suddenly be drained and exhausted?
When somebody has won laurels, either those who extol him
hit the truth, or they would fain praise him, but cannot express
themselves, or what they say is bad, and they are reluctant to
speak their mind freely. Which of these three classes of people
deserves the prize? The epoch of the Five Emperors and the Three
Rulers was particularly prosperous in this respect. During the time
of Hsiao Ming Ti, plenty of lucky presages appeared together, and
there was no lack of officers and functionaries, but of all encomiasts
of the State only men like Pan Ku may be said to have praised it
properly. Should we not rather use high-flown panegyrics, to make
the virtue of the Han illustrious among all generations, that its emperors
shine like sun and moon, than be ineloquent or speak badly
and improperly?[1027]
When Ch`in Shih Huang Ti travelled to the south-east and ascended
Mount Kuei-chi, Li Sse composed a laudatory stone-inscription
recording the excellent deeds of the emperor, and when the latter
reached Lang-yeh he did the same.[1028]
Ch`in was a depraved State, but
readers must have taken it for the age of Yao and Shun, whence
the necessity of eulogies becomes obvious. At present, we are not
short of talents like Li Sse who might take part in the ascent of
Mount Kuei-chi and pass over the terraces of Lang-yeh.
When musicians play beautiful airs on the guitar, and the
audience does not applaud, the musicians become apathetic and
lose their enthusiasm, because exquisite music is very difficult to
play, and yet the spectators do not appreciate it. When a wise
State keeps an excellent administration, and officialdom withholds
its praise, but hopes to benefit by it, it will not be carried
on. Now we possess many recipe books written on bamboo
and silk which do not give the name of the inventor by whom
the recipes were issued. The public does not use and overlooks
them. If, however, it is stated in the headings that a recipe
is that of Mr. So-and-so, and that it has already been tested,
then those willing to try it will compete in copying the recipes
and carving them in wood, and will regard them as a hidden
treasure.
In the capital memorials are written, and in the provinces
reports are drafted in order to recommend officials, praising them
for their skill and their abilities. The publication of these memorials
and reports induces the officials to virtue and honesty,
because in the memorials their conduct is divulged, and through the
reports their talents are exhibited. If the virtue of the State, in
spite of its gloriousness, does not meet with applause, so that the
holy State of the Great Han enjoys but scanty fame, the fault
lies with the common scholars who do not make correct statements.
In ancient and modern times there has been no want of holy
emperors, and the corresponding auspicious signs have also been
very numerous. These signs must not, of necessity, be identical
with former ones, and sometimes they had already appeared, but
people ignored it. The ordinary scholars explaining omens are
prone to magnify antiquity and detract from the present, and in
speaking of omens they over-estimate the past and depreciate later
ages. This should be changed, and the Han no more be slighted.
When the Han have some real good things, those scholars do not
mention them, conversely, they fervently believe in every imaginary
excellent quality of antiquity. They trust in falsehoods, provided
they be old and far away, and they despise truth, in case it be
near and modern. This is the reason why the three chapters on
"How to become a Sage"[1030] and on "True Sagehood"[1031] originated.
The Literati in their praise of the sages overshoot the mark,
and when they contrast them with those of the Han, the latter do
not come up with them, not because they do not equal them, but in
consequence of the statements of the Literati which make it impossible.
As a matter of fact, the Han are difficult to be equalled,
under whom the crops ripen and the years pass in peace, owing to
the influence of holy emperors thus successful in their efforts.
The chapter "Periods of Government"[1032]
is an effusion for
the Han. Order has its fixed time, and disorder has its period.
To be able to change disorder into order, is excellent, and only
an excellent man possesses this faculty. In the first year of Chiench`u[1033]
, a pernicious air arrived just at the time of a sage. The
emperor through his virtue succeeded in averting the calamity.[1034]
Therefore in the chapters "On the Rain Sacrifice" and "Gentle
Drums"[1035]
the sudden changes referred to are brought about by the
good auguries of the Han dynasty.
Calamitous changes sometimes take place during the age of a
sage, there being either a drought or an inundation. These calamities
have been discussed with reference to the Han. The Ch`unch`iu
period left a method for them which the Lun-hêng has explained.
If a person be turned from the gate to the court and listen
to what is spoken in the hall and the inner rooms, he will miss
nine words out of ten. If, however, he ascend the hall and peep
into the rooms, he will not lose one word out of a hundred. The
author of the Lun-hêng is living in an old desolate place at a
greater distance (from the capital) than that between the gate and
the courtyard.[1036]
In a quarter of an hour the sun traverses several
thousand Li, yet people do not consider it far by reason of the
great distance. When, on the fifteenth, there is much rain during
the night, the light of the moon is not extinguished, but its splendour
the light of the sun and moon, but since he lives in the central
province, and is concealed within a hundred Li, the reports about
him that transpire and are heard afar, are not reliable. His glorious
appearance not being well known, it is hard to discourse on it.
Only when imperial edicts are issued, or a chi-li[1037] arrives, one learns
something about his holy government. These are the reasons why
the difference between the encomiums of his merits and reality are
mountain high, and the eulogies on his excellence lack profusion
and elegance. Only those at the foot of the throne who walk in
the steps of Pan Ku and Chia Yi, can properly chaunt the praise
of the emperor's attainments without omitting any smaller detail.
Wu Wang erected a tumulus for Pi Kan, and Confucius illustrated
the three ways of amassing merit. The excellence of the great
Han dynasty is not merely like that of Pi Kan or that acquired
in the three ways. When on a highway a sign-post indicating
the State is put up under which the road passes, all those looking
at this post know their way exactly. The virtue of the Han is
conspicuous, but nothing has as yet been said equivalent to such
a sign-post, therefore their extensive virtue does not yet shed its
lustre on the ages.
The words following the above passage are generally regarded as forming
part of the original merely edited by Confucius. But we find nearly the same words:—
[OMITTED] in the Preface to the Shuking which is attributed to Confucius.
Various explanations of the term shang [OMITTED] in Shang-shu [OMITTED] have
been proposed by Chinese critics. It is said to mean the "highest" i. e., the most
venerable book or the book of the "highest antiquity" (cf. Legge, loc. cit. Note).
Wang Ch`ung here takes it to signify the book treating of sovereigns.
A noble of the Wei State, 5th cent. b.c., who took a leading part in a
revolution in Wei, which cost Tse Lu his life. The tripod with the inscription was
conferred upon him by the duke. The encomiastic inscription, eulogising the ancestors
of the recipient, is given in the Liki, Chi-t`ung p. 66r. (Legge, Sacred Books Vol.
XXVIII, p. 252).
Huang Pa was first thrown into prison by the emperor, but then re-instated
and highly honoured. He died in b.c. 51. See Giles, Bibl. Dict. No. 865.
These 40 odes form Part IV of the Shiking. The term [OMITTED] eulogy is
given a different meaning by modern commentators viz. "songs for the ancestral
temple" or "sacrificial odes." See Legge, Shiking Part II, p. 569, Notes.
Cf. p. 187. Legge in his Prolegomena to the Shiking p. 13 adduces the
words of the peasant as the "song of the peasants in the time of Yao."
I think that the question of the peasant has not this purport. He only
means to say that he does not care for Yao in the least. In the "song of the
peasants" this idea is more clearly brought out:—[OMITTED].
[OMITTED] means "to expand, to propagate" scl. civilisation, consequently HsüanWang
is the Civilising King.
The people are the pedestrians, the rulers, those riding in the State-cart,
and their panegyrists are compared to the adornments of this cart.
73 b.c.-1 a.d. The work alluded to was perhaps the Yang Hsiung fu shihêrh
p`ien [OMITTED] mentioned in the Catalogue of the Han-shu
chap. 30, p. 32v.
We do not appreciate panegyrists and their bombastic and coloured
descriptions, but want true historians.
| CHAPTER XXI. Lunheng | |