 | CHAPTER XXIV. Lunheng |  |
CHAPTER XXIV.
Literary Exaggerations (Yi-tsêng).
It is a common weakness of human nature to exaggerate the
truth, while relating something. In compositions and speeches truth
is drowned in a flood of words. Praising some goodness, they
over-estimate its excellence, and referring to some wickedness, they
over-colour the guilt. This is due to the bias of ordinary people
for the marvellous, for they do not care for any but strange stories.
Consequently, unless in belauding somebody you magnify his merits,
the hearers are not pleased, and unless in running him down you
aggravate his crimes, the audience is not satisfied. Hearing one
thing, by exaggeration they make ten of it, and seeing a hundred,
they increase them to a thousand. A plain and simple object is
cut into ten pieces and split into a hundred particles, and a true
statement is turned round and round again a thousand or ten
thousand times.[1210]
Mê Tse wept over boiled silk, and Yang Tse over by-roads,[1211]
for they were sorry that people should lose their original nature,
and regretted their departing from truth. Flying rumours and
numerous traditions emanate from the mouths of uncultured people,
and are current in lanes and alleys. They are such exaggerations.
The words of the philosophers however, the lucubrations of their
pens, the writings of wise men, and the collections of fine thoughts,
should all agree with truth, and yet even here we find exaggerations.
As regards the classical literature, in point of truthfulness,
there are no utterances more reliable than those of the Sages.[1212]
The classical literature continues immutable through all the ages,[1213]
and yet it is not quite devoid of hyperboles over-charging the truth.
But these coloured reports are all based on some facts and not
exaggerated. Those who seriously study this question, maintain
that there is a difference between the exaggerations of classical
literature and common sayings and traditions. These classical
exaggerations are of various kinds. Usually something conspicuous
is put forward with a view to captivating those who still harbour
some doubts. It goes to their hearts and enters their heads, thus
opening their understanding and awakening their intelligence.
The remark of the Shuking that [harmony was established
among ten thousand countries][1214]
is intended to extol Yao's virtue,
which leads to universal peace, the effects of which were not only
felt in China proper, but also among the I and Ti tribes. The
affirmation that harmony prevailed in the border lands is correct,
but the ten thousand countries are an exaggeration.
Under Yao and during the Chou period, the entire domain
did not embrace more than five thousand Li. In the Chou time,
there were one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three feudal
States. Adding the wild dependencies, those of the Jung, and the
guarded ones,[1215]
together with the people without the Four Seas[1216]
which do not live on grain, such as the tribes with covered breasts,
with hanging ears, the Pigmies, and the Po-chung,[1217]
we obtain an
aggregate sum of less than three thousand. All countries which
Heaven covers and Earth sustains, are within the number of three
thousand. The ten thousand people mentioned by the Shuking
must therefore be held to be an exaggeration overshooting the
mark, meant as a homage to Yao, implying his excellence and that
great multitudes fell under its influence. All China as well as the
countries, which comes near the thousands and hundred thousands
of descendants mentioned in the Shiking.[1218]
This is a tribute paid to the virtue of King Hsüan of Chou.[1219]
In recognition of his diligence in serving Heaven and Earth, these
latter blessed him with so many descendants, that they amounted
to thousands and hundreds of thousands. One may well say that
his progeny was extremely numerous, but to speak of thousands
and hundreds of thousands is straining the point, for however
numerous they were, it could not be thousands or hundreds of
thousands. From a desire to praise, the poets of the Shiking have
gone beyond the truth.
From the time, when Hou Chi[1220]
was invested with T`ai,[1221]
down
to King Hsüan,[1222]
he with all his nearer and farther blood-relations
could not be thousands and hundreds of thousands.[1223]
A thousand
and ten thousand are names of big numbers:—ten thousand denotes
a great many. Therefore the Shuking speaks of ten thousand countries,
and the Shiking of thousands and hundreds of thousands.
The Shiking says that [the crane cried amidst the nine pools
of the marches, and that its cry was heard in the sky.][1224]
The
meaning is that the crane cried in the marshes, which were divided
into nine pools, and that its sound was still heard in the sky, an
illustration of the cultivation of virtue by the superior man, whose
name reaches the court in spite of his humble position. I agree
that the sound may be heard at a great altitude, but to say that
it was heard in the sky, is hyperbolical.
They urge that the sound was heard in the sky. Beholding
a crane crying in the clouds, they hear it from the earth, and
conjecture that, since this sound is heard on the earth, it must
also be possible to hear it in the sky. For, when a crane cries
in the clouds, man hears its voice, and looking up, his eyes decry
the ear hears its voice, the eye perceives its form. But hearing
and vision do not extend beyond ten Li. A cry in the empyrean
is inaudible for us. Why? Because the distance between the
sky and man measures several ten thousand Li.[1225] Consequently the
eye cannot see, and the ear cannot hear so far. If we hear a
crane crying from below, it is because it is near us, but the inference
that, on account of its voice being audible from below, its
cry ought to be heard in the sky, when it is uttered on the earth,
is erroneous.
When a crane cries in the clouds, man hears it from below,
but when it cries in the nine marshes, man is not up in the sky;
what means has he to know that it is perceptible there? He does
not know it, but makes this inference by analogy. Perhaps the
poet was not aware of this and earnestly believed what he said,
or he knew the fact, but wished to use it by way of illustration,
and therefore stretched the point.
The Shiking says that among the blackhaired people of Chou
not a single one was left out.[1226]
This signifies that, in the time of
King Hsüan of Chou, the empire was afflicted with a great drought.
Aggrieved by the severity of this drought, under which the people
had to suffer, the poet said that not a single person was left but
shared in the general distress. The drought may have been very
severe, but to maintain that not a single individual was left out
is an exaggeration.
The people of Chou are like the people of to-day. When
the latter are visited with a great drought, the poor and the
destitute who have not stored up provisions, beat their breasts
and yearn for rain,[1227]
whereas the rich who have a sufficient supply
of grain and food, and whose granaries and store-houses are not
empty, do not feel the pangs of hunger in their mouths and bellies.
Wherefore should they be grieved then?
When Heaven sends down a drought, mountain and forest
tracts are not dried up, and, when Earth has an inundation, the
tops of hills and mounds are not submerged. Mountain and forest
allegation that not a single person was spared, is merely a figure
of speech designed to describe the intensity of the drought.
In the Yiking there is the following passage:—["It shows its
subject with his house made large, but only serving as a screen
to his household. When he looks at his door, it is still, and there
is nobody about it."][1228]
There is not nobody, but no wise men.
The Shuking says, "Do not leave the various offices vacant."[1229]
Vacant is empty, and various, many:—Let not all the offices be
empty. To leave, for want of men, is equivalent with letting empty,
whence this expression.
Now all short-witted people are imbued with the Five Virtues,
but their gifts are scanty and inadequate, so that they cannot
become fully wise. They are not wilfully obtuse and doltish, but
their innate wisdom is incomplete. Virtue may be great or small,
and talents of a higher or a lower order. Those who are in office
and fill a post, all strive to do their best in the service, the officers
of the Shuking and the inmates of the Yiking, therefore, can still
be of use; why then speak of emptiness and nobody? The Shiking
says, ["How numerous were the scholars? Wên Wang was blessed
with them."][1230]
That means to say that Wên Wang found many
more wise men than imbeciles. Now the Yiking ought to say, "it
is still, and there are but few persons," and the Shuking should
say, "Let not be there too few officers for all the offices." "Few"
is the proper word, "empty" and "nobody" are likewise exaggerations.
The Five Grains are such that they all, when eaten, appease
hunger. The taste of rice and millet is sweet and savoury, beans
and barley are coarse, it is true, yet they satiate as well. Those
eating beans and barley are all agreed that they are coarse and
not sweet, but they do not pretend that, having eaten them, their
stomachs remain empty, as if they had eaten nothing. Bamboo and
wooden sticks both can support a sick man, but the strength of a
bamboo stick is weak and does not equal wood. If somebody takes
a bamboo stick, he says that it is not strong, but not that his
officials are like beans, barley, and bamboo sticks.
For the Yiking to say that there is nobody, whereas all the
officials are kept in the houses, is really too disdainful. In all the
officials of the Shuking those of minor talents are also included,
the remark that the offices must not be left vacant is too cutting
therefore.
We read in the Analects, ["Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign!
How grand was he! The people could find no name for it."][1231]
Furthermore, there is a record that a man 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?"[1232]
These words are supposed to corroborate
his grandeur, which no language could express. The term
grandeur may well be used, but the assertion that the people could
find no name for it is a stretch of fancy.
That, throughout the land within the Four Seas and amongst
thousands of people, nobody could find a name for Yao's virtue must
be impossible. Now the utterance of the man beating the earth
"What sort of virtue does Yao display" implies that the people
could not find an expression for it.[1233]
But the observer had said,
"Grand indeed is the virtue of Yao," ergo the people still knew
of what sort it was. If something is possible, but those who know
deny it, they exaggerate.
The works of the Literati also narrate that the people of
Yao and Shun might have been called to office house by house.[1234]
That means to say that in every family they behaved like superior
men, so that all might have been made officials. It is admissible
to say that they might be called to office, but the remark "house
by house" is an exaggeration.
A man of fifty is a father of a family. If such a father does
not know his sovereign, how can he instruct his son?
During an age of universal peace, every family consists of
superior men, every one observes propriety and righteousness, the
father does not infringe the laws of decorum, and the son does not
neglect his duty. Those who do their duty possess knowledge, and
nobody knows the sovereign better than the officials. Officers as
well as wise men know their sovereign, and knowing him, can govern
the people. Now, how could those who were ignorant of Yao, be
appointed to official posts?
The man of fifty playing with earth, on the road, was in this
respect a playfellow of small boys not yet grown up, but how
could he be accounted a wise man?
When [Tse Lu got Tse Kao appointed governor of Hou],[1235]
Confucius
took exception on the ground that he had not yet studied,
nor acquired knowledge. The man with the earth was an ignoramus;
how could he be called to office? Praising Yao's grandeur,
one cannot say that house by house the people might have been
appointed,[1236]
and contending that house by house there were wise
men fit to be appointed, one cannot propose simpletons and ignorant
fellows.[1237]
Keeping in view the man playing with earth, it is difficult
to say "house by house," and taking this second alternative,[1238]
it
is awkward to insist upon Yao's grandeur. The dilemma owes its
origin to an exaggeration overcolouring Yao's excellence.
The Shuking tells us that Tsu Yi,[1239]
remonstrating with Chou,
said, ["Among our people to-day there is none but desires the king's
death."][1240]
None means nobody: The people of the whole empire
all wish the king dead. One may say that they wished the king
dead, but to pretend that all had this wish is going too far.
Although Chou was depraved, yet many of his subjects and officers
had received his favours. But Tsu Yi would use high flying words,
with the object of frightening the king. Therefore I say that,
unless the words be highly coloured, the heart does not take alarm,
are used, in order to frighten and to stir up.
Su Ch`in[1241]
told the king of Ch`i that [in Lin-tse[1242]
the naves of
the chariot-wheels were knocking together, and the men thronging
shoulder to shoulder. Lifting their sleeves they formed tents, and
the fronts of their coats joined together were the curtains. Their
perspiration wiped off fell down like rain.][1243]
In spite of all its
splendour, Ch`i could not come up to that. Su Ch`in employed such
high-flown language, for the purpose of rousing the king of Ch`i.
Tsu Yi's admonitions of Chou are like the remonstrances addressed
to the king of Ch`i by Su Ch`in.
In the fanciful reports of the wise and the sages, the events
thus described have not always a true basis. From the chapter
"Completion of the War"[1244]
we learn that, when Wu Wang overthrew
Chou, so much blood was spilled, that the pestles swam in it.[1245]
So
numerous were the combatants standing up for Wu Wang, that their
blood flowed like that, all wishing the annihilation of Chou. But
would they have been willing to fight in such a wholesale destruction?
The remark of Tsu Yi that everybody wished the death of
Chou is like Su Ch`in's exaggeration and the reference in the chapter
"Completion of the War" to the pestles floating in streams of blood,
which is likewise overshooting the mark.
The blood of the slain is shed, of course, but how could
pestles swim in it? When Wu Wang smote Chou in the plain of Mu,
the country north of the river was elevated, and the soil no doubt
scorched up and dry. The weapons being blunted, and the blood
flowing forth, it must at once have entered the hot soil; how could
pestles have floated in it then? The warriors of Chou and Yin all
carried their provisions with them, and perhaps had prepared dried
preserves, therefore they needed no pestles or mortars; where then
did these pestles come from?
This statement about the pestles swimming in blood is meant
to imply that, when Chou was destroyed, the weapons were blunted,
and the soldiers wounded, and that, in consequence, the pestles floated
in the blood.
"During the `Spring and Autumn' period, on the hsin-mao day,
in the fourth month of summer, in the seventh year of Duke
Chuang, at midnight, the common stars were invisible, and stars fell
down like rain." Kung Yang in his commentary asks:—[What does
"like rain" mean? It is not rain; then, why use this expression?
"The unrevised Ch`un-ch`iu" says, "Like rain. The stars, previous
to approaching to within a foot of the earth, departed again."
The Sage corrected this, and said, "The stars fell down like rain."]
"The unrevised Ch`un-ch`iu" refers to the time, when the Ch`unch`iu
was not yet revised. At that time the Chronicle of Lu had
the following entry:—"It rained stars, and before they came near
the earth, at a distance of over a foot, they seemed to depart again."
The Sage denotes Confucius. Confucius revised it, and said "The
stars fell like rain."[1246]
Like rain means like rain in appearance.
The vapours of mountains become clouds. Above, they do
not reach up to the sky, and below, they form clouds. When it
rains stars, the stars falling revert to the sky, before they have
touched the earth. Whence the expression "like rain." Confucius
has employed the proper words. Stars falling either reach the
earth or not, but it is difficult to ascertain the number of feet,
and the statement of the chronicle that the distance was of one
foot is also a stretch of fancy. For there are towers and high buildings,
hills and mountains on the earth; how can they speak of
one foot's distance? Confucius said "like rain," and that was correct.
Confucius wrote the Ch`un-ch`iu, and then altered the text into "like
rain." Had Confucius not written the Ch`un-ch`iu, the reading that
the stars came near the earth within a foot's distance, would have
been handed down to the present day.
Under the reign of the emperor Kuang Wu Ti,[1247]
a clerk of a
ministry, Pên Kuang of Ju-nan[1248]
sent in a report containing the
statement that the emperor Hsiao Wen Ti[1249]
lived in a palace of
brilliant splendour, and that only three men were sentenced in the
whole empire.[1250]
This was a compliment paid to the emperor Wên
Ti, setting forth his achievements. But Kuang Wu Ti replied that,
in Hsiao Wên Ti's time, they did not live in a palace of brilliant
splendour, and that there were not only three men sentenced.
All accomplishments and virtues are put down to those who
are famous, therefore the superior man loathes the company of low
class people.[1251]
Pên Kuang presented his report to a Han emperor,
the Han epoch is our age, yet he exaggerated their merits and
excellent qualities, going beyond the truth. Now, fancy the rulers
and sovereigns of times out of mind, which have long passed away.
When wise men of later ages give glowing reports of them, it is
of frequent occurrence that they miss the truth and deviate from
the historical facts. Had Pên Kuang not met with Kuang Wu Ti,
but made his report ages after, this narrative about Hsiao Wên Ti
would have found its way into the classical literature, and nobody
would have known that the splendour of the palace and the three
sentenced men were exaggerations, and they would have been taken
for undeniable facts.
Here Wang Ch`ung himself commits the fault which he lays at other people's
door. All Orientals like big numbers, which have become quite a special feature
of the Chinese language, in which a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand merely
serve to express many.
This statement is open to criticism:—all the classical texts have undergone
some alterations in course of time.
Shuking Part I, chap. I, 2, Yao-tien (Legge, Classics Vol. III, Part I, p. 17)
Wang Ch`ung writes [OMITTED] like the Shi-chi. The Shuking has [OMITTED].
[OMITTED]. All these semi-fabulous tribes are in
the T`ai-p`ing-yü-lan ranked among the southern barbarians. The Ch`uan-hsiung
seem to have received their name from a peculiar sacklike costume merely covering
their breasts. The Tan-êrh were in the habit of disforming their ears, that they
hang down upon their shoulders. The Chiao-chiao = Pigmies are often mentioned in
Chinese literature. Lieh Tse gives them a height of 1 foot 5 inches, in the Chia-yü
Confucius describes them as 3 feet high. According to the Hou Han-shu they live in
the surroundings of Yung-ch`ang-fu in Yünnan and measure 3 feet. About 110 a.d.
three thousand of them submitted to the Han and sent as tribute ivory and zebus.
They live in caverns and are dreaded by birds and beasts. For Po-chung, who are
nowhere else mentioned, we had better read Ch`i-chung [OMITTED], a tribe said to
walk on tiptoe.
Legge loc. cit. p. 481, Note says that there is no evidence to whom the Ode
is addressed. Some hold that it is King Ch`êng.
Wang Ch`ung is mistaken here; calculating is not his strong point. One
couple after about 42 generations may well have tens of thousands of descendants.
Shiking Part III, Book III, Ode IV, 3 (Legge, Classics Vol. IV, Part II, p. 530).
Already Mencius remarked that this passage must not be taken literally (Legge, Classics
Vol. II, p. 353).
Shuking Part II, Book III, 5 (Legge, Classics Vol. III, Part I, p. 73). Legge
gives a different interpretation of the passage:—"Let him not have the various
officers cumberers of their places," which does not agree with Wang Ch`ung's
explanation.
The meaning of this question would rather seem to be that the peasant
scorned the idea of Yao's excellence and therefore disdainfully asked about it.
Cf. p. 222, Note 3.
Analects XI, 24, where, however, the place is called Pi [OMITTED] and not Hou
[OMITTED]. Cf. the quotations in Vol. I, p. 407 and 449 with the reading Pi.
| CHAPTER XXIV. Lunheng | |