University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXVII.

On Preeminence (Ch`ao-chi).

They who have worked through more than a thousand
chapters and less than ten thousand books, who know how to
explain this plethora of fine sayings, and how to fix the meaning
and the reading, and who as teachers impart to others the results
of their studies, are very learned. If they can analyse their ideas,
abridge or enlarge the texts, report to the throne and memorialize,[1374]
argue a point and discuss a question, adding paragraph to paragraph
and chapter to chapter, they are men of letters and eminent
scholars. Hard working students of profound learning and imposing
erudition there are ever so many, but not one among ten thousand
is qualified to write books or compose essays on subjects of the
past or the present time. Only men of great learning understand
to avail themselves of these subjects for literary purposes.

The big and small trees which we see on a mountain are a
familiar sight to us, and in the higher or lower plants which we
discover in the country we find nothing new. Still we cannot cut
down the trees, and work them into cottages, or gather the plants,
and prepare medicines from them. We know trees and plants,
but cannot use them. A learned man may have an extensive
knowledge, but he is unable to gather it into an essay. Such a
man remains an obscure scholar and is merely book-learned.

In so far as Confucius is believed to have read three hundred
Odes and transmitted them for the benefit of those ignoring the
principles of government, he is on a level with those who cannot
fell trees or collect herbs. But, on the other hand, Confucius took
the chronicle[1375] and transformed it into the Ch`un-ch`iu. When he
came to setting forth his own views and developing his ideas,
praising and condemning, rewarding and punishing, without regard
to the chronicle, his wonderful thoughts poured out from his heart.[1376]

That which is so much esteemed in learned men is their
creative power. Those who do nothing but reading, reciting verses
and humming over learned treatises, may peruse over a thousand
chapters, they are after all but talking parrots. The imaginative
faculty necessary for books and stories and a rich and smooth
diction are special gifts of men of genius. Well informed people
there are plenty in every age, but writers are rare even in successive
generations.

In recent times Liu Tse Chêng, father and son, Yang Tse Yün,
and Huan Chün Shan[1377] have flourished simultaneously like Wên Wang,
Wu Wang, and Chou Kung. Otherwise such men appear sporadically,
resembling pearls and jewels, which owing to their preciousness are
never found in masses.

Whoever is able to explain one Classic is a scholar.[1378] Those
well versed in ancient and modern literature are learned,[1379] those
who collect books and records and present memorials to the throne,
are men of letters,[1380] and those never in need of ingenious thoughts
to compose themselves, joining paragraphs and chapters, are eminent
scholars.[1381] Thus scholars surpass common people, the learned outvie
the scholars, men of letters outrival the learned, and eminent
scholars are superior even to men of letters. Eminent scholars are,
so to speak, twice superior. To contrast them with ordinary
scholars, in spite of their double superiority, is like comparing an
elegant carriage with a common cart, or a silk embroidery with a
quilted garment, for they leave them far behind. Setting them
against common people is like collating the foot and the summit
of Mount T`ai with the plant and the neck of a tall Ti;[1382] a comparison
is impossible.

Hills and mountains are formed of earth and stones, copper
and iron are very seldom found in them. Copper and iron are
rare, but eventually mountains harbour even gold and gems.
Eminent scholars are the gold and the gems of their age. They
are rare in the second degree, but though so extraordinary, they
still eclipse one another by their talents.

There are various degrees of learning. Scholars apt to explain
the meaning of words in a school are far ahead of uncultured
persons. Some are unable to interpret one Canon[1383] and teach their
pupils, others gather crowds of disciples around them; their words
flow like a stream, and they are regarded as experts of the Classics.
Some cannot complete one tablet or write one essay, others discourse
on right and wrong and offer their advice to the government.
Their words resemble those of the Classics and records, and their
style is as luminous as the moon and the stars. Those of the
highest order come up to Ku Tse Yün and T`ang Tse Kao.[1384] Commentators
move in the same sphere as memorialists,[1385] they are not
productive themselves.

Some savants collect and enumerate historical facts of ancient
and modern times and narrate things that have happened. Such
are Sse-Ma Ch`ien and Liu Tse Chêng.[1386] They have thus compiled
a great number of chapters, and their sentences are counted by
tens of thousands. They surpass Ku Tse Yün and T`ang Tse Kao by
far. But they rely on accomplished facts and merely record former
events, without producing anything from their own minds like Lu
Chia and Tung Chung Shu,[1387] who, arguing on the affairs of the world,
propound their own ideas and do not borrow from without. All
shallowness thus becomes easily manifest. Nevertheless the readers
will call their productions records.

Yang-Ch`êng Tse-Chang wrote the Classic of Music and Yang
Tse Yün the T`ai-hsüan-ching[1388] for the furtherance of thought, works
so profound and abstruse, that but a man of almost perfect talents
could have produced them. Confucius wrote the Ch`un-ch iu, and the
two scholars each produced a Classic. They most remarkably
followed the traces left by Confucius, as it were, and by their
grandeur and elegance proved themselves to possess the genius of
second sages.

Wang Kung Tse asked Huan Chün Shan about Yang Tse Yün.
Huan Chün Shan replied that from the rise of the Han dynasty

there had not been such a man. In discriminating talents he may
be said to have correctly distinguished between high and low.
The minds of the lapidaries are more admirable than their precious
stones, and the skill of those who perforate tortoise-shells is more
wonderful than that of the tortoises. Similarly he who knows
how to discriminate between the talents of all the scholars and
assign his rank to each, must be superior to those thus ranked.[1389]

Besides Huan Chün Shan wrote the "New Reflections," in which
he treats of the affairs of the world, clearly distinguishing between
truth and falsehood. Unfounded assertions, lies, and fictions are
all reduced to their proper entities. Among critics like Yang-Ch`êng
Tse-Chang and Yang Tse Yün, Huan Chün Shan is the foremost.[1390] From
him downwards there have been many great and brilliant talents,
and we have had excellent works. The style writing words, the
heart must have produced the ideas. Words issue from the bosom,
and the heart manifests itself through words. If these words
appear unusually fine and remarkable, we may say that we have
an able writer.

Consequently, prolific authors are a pride of mankind. They
have their roots below, their leaves and blossoms above, their solid
kernels within, and their husks without. The painted characters
and the expressions are the leaves, the flowers and the husks of
the writers. Their genuine ideas are in their bosoms, and the
written words appear on bamboo and silk. Thus there is an
interaction and a harmony between inside and outside. When
the mind sets to work, the pencil follows suit. Then characters
appear, and the kernels come out.

A man of letters resembles a bird with feathers. These
feathers are variegated and all grow on the body. Should there
be no idea illustrated by the letters, it would be like a variegated
plumage of a bird growing ruffled and disorderly.

At a competition of archery the mind must be tranquil, the
body straight, the bow and the arrow firmly grasped, then the
mark may be hit. Arguing is like shooting arrows:—the arguments
must be in accordance with reason, as the arrows must hit the
target. An archer proves his skill by hitting the mark with his
arrow, and a debater shows his superiority by his writings. Both
abilities proceed from the mind, their essence is the same.

In writing deep thoughts and vast schemes may find expression.
Somebody may not be able personally to put into action the administrative
devices of sovereigns and their ministers, or to fix
them by word of mouth, but he can give expression to his feelings
and prove himself qualified to carry out those designs. Confucius
wrote the Ch`un-ch`iu in which he reveals the ideas of the princes.
Thus the Ch`un-ch`iu of Confucius is a chronicle of the usual way
of living of rulers. The records of other scholars describe the
usual proceedings of ministers. From the Ch`un-ch`iu we learn to
know the minds of princes, and the other scholars acquaint us
with the thoughts of ministers.[1391]

They say that the cutting of meat by Ch`ên P`ing[1392] was a
forecast of his future premiership, and that Sun-Shu Ao's[1393] finding
a new channel for the Ch`i-sse river foreshadowed his becoming a
prime minister. The study of historical works and adjusting
government matters is more than those presages of the meat and
the water-channel.

Without strong feet one cannot walk long, and without a
sharp[1394] edge one cannot make a deep cut. Thus the composition
of paragraphs and chapters requires great talent and a savant of
exceptional genius.

Some contend that authors, provided they possess a vast
experience, and a thorough erudition, learning and practice, may
proceed by analogies and thus write their books, that literary
productions are something external and do not necessitate a combination
of genuine talent and learning. Moreover, poor thoughts,
they say, are hidden in flowers of speech, there is no depth, no
roots, and no kernels. The writers lose sight of the great principles
and the main points. Therefore it is very seldom that they
achieve success. In times of danger men of learning are not there

to help, thus showing that they cannot accomplish remarkable
deeds, and merely know how to ply their pen.

I reply that this is not true. In the Chou time all the writers
were practical politicians, and under the régime of the Han all the
outspoken scholars have been officials of great learning. Why
then say that literary productions are not like leaves and flowers
evolved from roots and kernels? Thoughts engender devices, and
several tablets joined together form an essay. Feelings appear in
expressions, and ideas manifest themselves in words.

Shang Yang[1395] as minister of Ch`in brought about its supremacy
and wrote a book on agriculture and war. Yü Ch`ing[1396] formed
plans for Chao and determined its moving forward and backward.
He resolved to write a Ch`un-ch`iu[1397] and offered his advice for the
city.[1398] The work on agriculture and warfare was a sheme kept in
the archives of Ch`in. Lu Chia[1399] superseded the devices of Lü Pu
Wei,[1400] whose work[1401] had the same purport as his "New Words,"
and Huan Chün Shan[1402] abrogated the scheme of Ch`ao Ts`o,[1403] which
was agreeing with his own "New Reflections." In the case of
Ku Yung's "Reports"[1404] and T`ang Lin's[1405] "Words that must be
said"[1406] or of Liu Hsiang's "Earnest Propositions,"[1407] we see how
the notes originally taken were sent up to the Throne. How can
they be held to be elegant writings and beautiful sayings or flowers
of speech without a raison d'être?

When deep feeling issues from the heart, it touches people to
the core. Thus in consequence of the flying letter of Lu Lien[1408] a general

of Yen laid violent hands upon himself, and on receiving the memorial
from Tsou Yang King Hsiao of Liang opened his prison.[1409]
The letter and the memorial had taken the heart out of them. To
compose such writings it does not suffice to possess great learning
or much practice in writing.

Eminent scholars are scarce, but men of letters a great many.
Are governors, ministers, and high functionaries not to appreciate
them, and should they merely use their intellectual faculties for
scribbling on boards and tablets? Provinces or prefectures having
troubles, these scholars can take all necessary measures, report to
the emperor, and arrange all complications. Provided that a province
or a prefecture be in difficulties and possess officers like
T`ang Tse Kao and Ku Tse Yün,[1410] who would set to work, strain
their minds, and exert their literary abilities, would all disturbances
not easily be removed?

Since it is difficult to find records of men of letters in ancient
days, which are too distant, or in out-of-the-way places at the
outskirts of the empire, we shall confine ourselves to Kuei-chi in
recent times. There lived a student of the very first order, Chou
Ch`ang Shêng.[1411] In a province he was engaged in writing memorials
for the governor Jên An, and in a prefecture he made the reports
for the prefect, Mêng Kuan. Matters were settled and all troubles
removed. The province and the prefecture were delivered of all
difficulties, and the two governors well off. Chou Ch`ang Shêng was
not honoured, not because his knowledge was inferior, or his deserts
too insignificant, but his two chiefs liked the common type of men
and could not appreciate him. Had he lived in a former age under
Prince Chao of Yen, he would have met with the same favour as
Tsou Yen.[1412] After the death of Chou Ch`ang Shêng, the province and
the prefecture were thrown into disorder, for want of officials to
draw up reports, so that the complications could not be adjusted.
Officers were commissioned and payed their respects to those in
authority, but the literate were neglected and their productions
ceased. Officialdom gave much annoyance to the emperor indeed.

But the jottings of Chou Ch`ang Shêng were not all, and his
ability did not solely assert itself in his official documents, he also
wrote the Tung-li[1413] in ten chapters, recording all the smallest details
and minutiæ from Huang Ti down to the Han dynasty. as the Grand
Annalist did in his Tables. Chou Ch`ang Shêng went up to remote
antiquity and down to recent times, whence the title of his work:
Tung-li (i. e. Connexions). He was not only a man of letters, but
an eminent scholar.

In former times there was Yen Fu Tse,[1414] later on Wu Chün
Shang,[1415] and finally Chou Ch`ang Shêng. White pheasants were brought
as a tribute from Annam, and odoriferous plants were offered from
Ferghana.[1416] In Yung-chou jewels are found, and Ching and Yang-chou[1417]
are productive of gold. As precious things grow in unknown, far
distant countries of the four quarters, so it cannot be said that
there are no extraordinary men.

["Wên Wang is no more, said Confucius, but have we not here
his writings?"][1418] The works of Wên Wang were in the hands of
Confucius, and the works of Confucius in the hands of Tung Chung
Shu. Would after the death of Tung Chung Shu his works not be
in the hands of men like Chou Ch`ang Shêng?

What does extraordinary mean? It denotes the excellence and
superiority of writings. T`ang Lo[1419] and Sung Yü[1420] were also men
of letters of Ch`u, but their names have not been transmitted on

bamboo or silk. Ch`ü Yuan has outshone them. Should Chou Ch`ang
Shêng have been the only literary talent of Kuei-chi? He takes
precedence among those who are not mentioned.[1421]

In the Nine Provinces[1422] there are many mountains, but Mount
Hua and Tai[1423] are the highest. There are many rivers in all directions,
but the Yangtse and the Yellow River are the main streams.
Mount Hua and Tai are the most elevated, and the Yangtse and the
Yellow River the largest of their kind, and so was Chou Ch`ang Shêng
the greatest man of his prefecture and his province.

If a chief of the clan be a clever man, it is not right that
his clan's-people slight him, to confer their praise upon a chief of
another family. Chou Ch`ang Shêng was such a chief of the spoken
word, whom all men of learning revered. That his name alone is
mentioned is for the same reason that in the Ch`un-ch`iu the first years
are designated after the chronology of Lu.[1424]

Common people are prone to exalt antiquity and belaud what
they have heard about it. If the question be about the deeds of
the ancients, even cabbage tastes sweet to them, and as to the
recent achievements of their successors, even sweet honey and
cream have a sour taste. Chou Ch`ang Shêng's home was in Kuei-chi
and he lived in the present era. In spite of the excellence of his
writings, he is looked upon as an epigone by many critics.

Heaven is filled with the primogenial fluid, and man endowed
with the original essence. How could there be such an enormous
difference between old and new? The good rank highest, and the
enlightened come first. Those who understand the true nature of
things[1425] and see the difference between right and wrong, take them
whom they find unworthy from their first place and push them
into the background, and conversely they promote the worthy from
the present time and rank them with the ancients. The brightness
of their mind and their clear intellect act as a safeguard against
common prejudices.

Pan Shu P`i[1426] continued the work of the Grand Annalist in
more than a hundred chapters, recording everything with the greatest
care. His style was easy, but his principles all right. The readers
were of opinion that he was even superior to the Grand Annalist.

When his son Pan Mêng Chien[1427] was secretary of a board, his
style bore a great resemblance to that of Pan Shu P`i and not
only a remote one. They were as similar as the Dukes of Chou and
Shao, or Lu and Wei,[1428] so to say. Provided that antiquity must
be upheld, then Pan Shu P`i, father and son, are not worth mentioning.

The Chou had a brilliant literature, although they came after
a hundred generations. The Han likewise are preceded by a hundred
generations: why should their literary productions not be conspicuous?
Great things may be illustrated by small ones, and from
the family affairs of a citizen we may obtain a glimpse upon the
imperial court:—

When a cottage has been built, there are usually mulberry trees
and hemp first. After many years' residence, the children having been
succeeded by grand-children, there are peach trees, pear, plum, and
apricot trees covering the hills and overshadowing the plain. Roots
and stems being so many, leaves and flowers grow in abundance.

It is long since the house of Han has been established. Vast
is their territory and numerous their people. Rectitude flourishes,
and everthing prospers. Why then should there be no exuberance
of exquisite literary compositions? Blossoms usually grow together
with fruit, and plants which bear fruit, but have no blossoms, are
very rare. How should a barren mountain become densely wooded,
or a dry field grow fertile? The Han era is peculiarly fertile in
literary talents, an eloquent testimony to its brilliant growth. When
the sky is clear, the stars twinkle; when it is covered and rainy,
the sun and the moon are obscured. That in our age so many
able writers have appeared simultaneously, sheds a lustre on the
Han dynasty.[1429]

Kao Tsu reading a book of Lu Chia exclaimed with a sigh,
"Ten thousand years for such a man!" Hsü Yüeh and Chu Fu Yen[1430]

were appointed secretaries in consequence of their memorials. I
have not heard that at present it never happens that a dish proves
bitter or sour, but, if the mouth dislikes the taste, the hand does
not lift the food to feed the mouth. Very often an imperial rescript
is issued concerning a man belonging to one of the Four Branches,
conspicuous in composition, thought, classical or historical literature.
Such an edict is couched in most graceful terms, highly appreciative
of literary merit. Had the afore-mentioned memorials had
no purport and the book no sense, what would have been the cause
of the exclamation "Ten thousand years" or the appointment by
imperial grace?

They who adorn their faces all desire to become beautiful, but
very few persons deign to look at them. Good musicians would like
to touch their hearers, but those whose ear they win are not many.
Before Lu Chia edited his book, and the schemes of Hsü Yüeh and
Chu Fu Yen obtained a hearing, the great majority used to speak
like blind people, using coarse expressions. Their style was unpolished
and unrefined, and what they said had no sense. They
could congratulate themselves that for their licentious and dissolute
talk they were not banished to sandy shores in distant parts; as
the saying is, how could they have deserved any appointment
by imperial favour?