A History of Chinese LiteratureGiles, Herbert Allen
History
A History of Chinese Literature
Giles, Herbert Allen
Chinese literature -- History and criticism
When the French fleet returned to Shanghai in 1885 after being repulsed
in a shore attack at Tamsui, a local wit at once adapted a verse of
doggerel found in the _Tso Chuan_:--
“_See goggle-eyes and greedy-guts
Has left his shield among the ruts;
Back from the field, back from the field
He’s brought his beard, but not his shield;_”
and for days every Chinaman was muttering the refrain--
“_Yü sai, yü sai
Ch‘i chia fu lai._”
[Sidenote: KU-LIANG AND KUNG-YANG]
There are two other commentaries on the Spring and Autumn, similar,
but generally regarded as inferior, to the _Tso Chuan_. They are by
KU-LIANG and KUNG-YANG, both of the fifth century B.C. The following
are specimens (Legge’s translation, omitting unimportant details):--
_Text._--“In spring, in the king’s first month, the first day of the
moon, there fell stones in Sung--five of them. In the same month, six
fish-hawks flew backwards, past the capital of Sung.”
The commentary of Ku-liang says, “Why does the text first say
“there fell,” and then “stones”? There was the falling, and then
the stones.
In “six fish-hawks flying backwards past the capital of Sung,”
the number is put first, indicating that the birds were collected
together. The language has respect to the seeing of the eyes.
The Master said, “Stones are things without any intelligence, and
fish-hawks creatures that have a little intelligence. The stones,
having no intelligence, are mentioned along with the day when
they fell, and the fish-hawks, having a little intelligence, are
mentioned along with the month when they appeared. The superior man
(Confucius) even in regard to such things and creatures records
nothing rashly. His expressions about stones and fish-hawks being
thus exact, how much more will they be so about men!”
The commentary of Kung-yang says, “How is it that the text first
says “there fell,” and then “stones”?
“There fell stones” is a record of what was heard. There was heard
a noise of something falling. On looking at what had fallen, it was
seen to be stones, On examination it was found there were five of
them.
Why does the text say “six,” and then “fish-hawks”?
“Six fish-hawks backwards flew” is a record of what was seen. When
they looked at the objects, there were six. When they examined
them, they were fish-hawks. When they examined them leisurely, they
were flying backwards.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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