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ties, that can exist under heaven, who shows himself quick in apprehension, clear in discernment, of far-reaching intelligence and all-embracing knowledge, fitted to exercise rule; magnanimous, generous, benign, and mild, fitted to exercise forbearance; impulsive, energetic, firm, and enduring, fitted to maintain a firm hold; self-adjusted, grave, never swerving from the Mean, and correct, fitted to command reverence; accomplished, distinctive, concentrative, and searching, fitted to exercise discrimination.

2. All-embracing is he and vast, deep and active as a fountain, sending forth in their due seasons his virtues.

3. All-embracing and vast, he is like heaven. Deep and active as a fountain, he is like the abyss. He is seen, and the people all reverence him; he speaks, and the people all believe him; he acts, and the people are all pleased with him.

4. Therefore, his fame overspreads the Middle kingdom, and extends to all barbarous tribes. Wherever ships and carriages reach; wherever the strength of man penetrates; wherever the heavens overshadow and the earth

this chapter is an expansion of the clause in the last paragraph of the preceding," The smaller energies are like river currents." Even if it be So, it will still have reference to Confucius, the subject of the preceding chapter. K'ang-shing's account of the first paragraph is :-" It describes how no one, who has not virtue such as this, can rule the empire, being a lamentation over the fact that while Confucius had the virtue, he did not have the appointment," that is, of Heaven, to occupy the throne. Maou's account of the whole chapter is:-"Had it been that Chung-ne possessed the empire, then Chung-ne was a perfect sage. Being a perfect sage, he would certainly have been able to put forth the greater energies, and the smaller energies of his virtue, so as to rule the world, and show himself the coequal of Heaven and Earth, in the manner here described." Considering the whole chapter to be thus descriptive of Confucius, I was inclined to translate in the past tense,—“ It was only he, who could," &c. Still the author has expressed himself so indefinitely, that I have preferred translating the whole, that it may read as the description of the ideal man, who found, or might have found, his realization in Confucius. 1. The sage here takes the place of the man possessed of entire sincerity. Collie translates :-"It is only the most HOLY man.” Rémusat:-" Il n'y a dans l'univers qu'un SAINT, qui... So the Jesuits: Hic commemorat et commendat summe SANCTI virtutes." But holiness and sanctity are terms which indicate the humble and pious conformity of human character and life to the mind and will of God. The Chinese idea of the "sage man is far enough from this. 3. "He is seen; "-with reference, it is said, to "the robes and cap," the visibilities of the ruler.

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sustains; wherever the sun and moon shine; wherever frosts and dews fall :-all who have blood and breath unfeignedly honour and love him. Hence it is said," He is the equal of Heaven.'

XXXII. 1. It is only the individual possessed of the most entire sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can adjust the great invariable relations of mankind, establish the great fundamental virtues of humanity, and know the transforming and nurturing operations of Heaven and Earth;-shall this individual have any being or anything beyond himself on which he depends?

2. Call him man in his ideal, how earnest is he! Call him an abyss, how deep is he! Call him Heaven, how vast is he!

3. Who can know him, but he who is indeed quick in

speaks; "--with reference to his "instructions, declarations, orders." "He acts; "—with reference to his "ceremonies, music, punishments, and acts of government." 4. This paragraph is the glowing expression of grand conceptions.

32. THE EULOGIUM OF CONFUCIUS CONCLUDED. "The chapter," says Choo He, "expands the clause in the last paragraph of chapter xxix., that the greater energies are seen in mighty transformations.” The sage

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is here not merely equal to Heaven :-he is another Heaven, an independent being, a God. 1. King and Lun are processes in the manipulation of silk, the former denoting the first separating of the threads, and the latter the subsequent bringing of them together, according to their kinds." The great invariabilities of the world." I translate the expansion of the last clause which is given in "Confucius Sinarum Philosophus : "The perfectly holy man of this kind, therefore, since he is such and so great, how can it in any way be, that there is anything in the whole universe on which he leans, or in which he inheres, or on which he behoves to depend, or to be assisted by it in the first place, that he may afterwards operate ? " 2. The three clauses refer severally to the three in the preceding paragraph. The first it speaks of is virtuous humanity in all its dimensions and capacities, existing perfectly in the sage. Of the sage being "a deep," I do not know what to say. The old commentators interpret the second and third clauses, as if there were an "as" before "deep" and "heaven," against which Choo He reclaims, and justly. In one work we read :-" Heaven and man are not originally two, and man is separate from Heaven only by his having this body. Of their seeing and hearing, their thinking and revolving, their moving and acting, men all say—It is from ME. Every one thus brings out his SELF, and his smallness becomes known. But let the body be taken away, and all would be Heaven. How can the body be taken away? Simply by subduing and removing that self-having of the ego. This is the taking it away. That being done, so wide and great as Heaven is, my mind is also so wide and great, and production and transformation cannot be

apprehension, clear in discernment, of far-reaching intelligence, and all-embracing knowledge, possessing all heavenly virtue?

XXXIII. 1. It is said in the Book of Poetry, “Over her embroidered robe she puts a plain, single garment,' intimating a dislike to the display of the elegance of the former. Just so, it is the way of the superior man to prefer the concealment of his virtue, while it daily becomes more illustrious, and it is the way of the mean man to seek notoriety, while he daily goes more and more to ruin. It is characteristic of the superior man, appearing insipid, yet never to produce satiety; while showing a simple negligence, yet to have his accomplishments recognized; while seemingly plain, yet to be discriminating. He knows how what is distant lies in what is near. He knows where the wind proceeds from. He knows how what is minute becomes manifested. Such an one, we may be sure, will enter into virtue.

2. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "Although the fish sinks and lies at the bottom, it is still quite clearly seen.

separated from me. Hence it is said-How vast is his Heaven." Into such wandering mazes of mysterious speculation are Chinese thinkers conducted by the text:-only to be lost in them. As it is said, in paragraph 3, that only the sage can know the sage, we may be glad to leave him.

33. THE COMMENCEMENT AND THE COMPLETION OF A VIRTUOUS COURSE. The chapter is understood to contain a summary of the whole Work, and to have a special relation to the first chapter. There, a commencement is made with Heaven, as the origin of our nature, in which are grounded the laws of virtuous conduct. This ends with Heaven, and exhibits the progress of virtue, advancing step by step in man, till it is equal to that of High Heaven. There are eight citations from the Book of Poetry, but to make the passages suit his purpose, the author allegorizes them, or alters their meaning, at his pleasure. Origen took no more license with the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament than Tsze-sze and even Confucius himself do with the Book of Poetry. 1. The first requisite in the pursuit of virtue is, that the learner think of his own improvement, and do not act from a regard to others. See the She-king, Pt I. Bk V. iii. 1. The ode is understood to express the condolence of the people with the wife of the duke of Wei, worthy of, but denied, the affection of her husband. 2. The superior man going on to virtue, is watchful over himself when he is alone. See the She-king, Pt II. Bk IV. viii. 11. The ode appears to have been written by some officer who was bewailing the disorder and misgovernment of his day. This is one of the comparisons which he uses;-the people are like fish in a shallow pond, unable to save themselves by diving to the bottom. The application of this to the superior

Therefore, the superior man examines his heart, that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause for dissatisfaction with himself. That wherein the superior man cannot be equalled is simply this,-his work which other men cannot see.

3. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "Looked at in your apartment, be there free from shame, where you are exposed to the light of heaven." Therefore, the superior man, even when he is not moving, has a feeling of reverence, and while he speaks not, he has the feeling of truthfulness.

4. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "In silence is the offering presented, and the spirit approached to; there is not the slightest contention." Therefore, the superior man does not use rewards, and the people are stimulated to virtue. He does not show anger, and the people are awed more than by hatchets and battle-axes.

5. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "What needs no display is virtue. All the princes imitate it. Therefore, the superior man being sincere and reverential, the whole world is conducted to a state of happy tranquillity.

man, dealing with himself, in the bottom of his soul, so to speak, and thereby realizing what is good and right, is very far-fetched. 3. We have here substantially the same subject as in the last paragraph. The ode is the same which is quoted in chapter xvi. 4, and the citation is from the same stanza of it. We might translate it:

"When looked at in your chamber,

Are you there as free from shame in the house's leak ?"

"The house's leak," according to Choo He, was the north-west corner of ancient apartments, the spot most secret and retired. But the single panes, in the roofs of Chinese houses, go now by the name, the light of heaven leaking in through them. Looking at the whole stanza of the ode, we must conclude that there is reference to the light of heaven, and the inspection of spiritual beings, as specially connected with the spot intended. 4. The result of the processes described in the two preceding paragraphs. See the She-king, Pt IV. Bk III. ii. 2. The ode describes the imperial worship of T'ang, the founder of the Shang dynasty. The first clause belongs to the emperor's act and demeanour; the second to the effect of these on his assistants in the service. They were awed to reverence, and had no striving among themselves. The "hatchet and battle-axe” were anciently given by the emperor to a prince, as symbolic of his investiture with a plenipotent authority to punish the rebellious and refractory. The second instrument is described as a large-handled axe, eigh catties in weight. I call it a battle-axe, because it was with one that kir Woo despatched the tyrant Chow. 5. The same subject continued.

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6. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "I regard with pleasure your brilliant virtue, making no great display of itself in sounds and appearances." The Master said,

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Among the appliances to transform the people, sounds and appearances are but trivial influences. It is said in another ode, 'Virtue is light as a hair.' Still, a hair will admit of comparison as to its size. The doings of the supreme Heaven have neither sound nor smell.'-That is perfect virtue."

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The above is the thirty-third chapter. Tsze-sze having carried his descriptions to the extremest point in the preceding chapters, turns back in this, and examines the source of his subject; and then again from the work of the learner, free from all selfishness, and watchful over himself when he is alone, he carries out his description, till by easy steps he brings it to the consummation of the whole empire tranquillized by simple and sincere reverentialness. He farther eulogizes its mysteriousness, till he speaks of it at last as without sound or smell. He here takes up the sum of his whole Work, and speaks of it in a compendious manner. Most deep and earnest was he in thus going again over his ground, admonishing and instructing men :-shall the learner not do his utmost in the study of the Work?

the She-king, Pt IV. Bk I. Sect. I. iv. 3. But in the She-king we must translate," There is nothing more illustrious than the virtue of the sovereign, all the princes will follow it." Tsze-sze puts another meaning on the words, and makes them introductory to the next paragraph. The superior man "must here be "he who has attained to the sovereignty of the empire," the subject of chapter xxix. Thus it is that a constant shuffle of terms seems to be going on, and the subject before us is all at once raised to a higher and inaccessible platform. 6. Virtue in its highest degree and influence. See the She-king, Pt III. Bk I. viii. 7. The “I” is God, who announces to king Wẵn the reasons why he had called him to execute his judgments. Wăn's virtue, not sounded nor emblazoned, might come near to the being without display of the last paragraph, but Confucius fixes on the word "great " to show its shortcoming. It had some, though not large exhibition. He therefore quotes again from Pt III. Bk III. vi. 6, though away from the original intention of the words. But it does not satisfy him that virtue should be likened even to a hair. He therefore finally quotes Pt III. Bk I. i. 7, where the impereptible working of Heaven, in producing the overthrow of the Yin vnasty, is set forth as without sound or smell. That is his highest contion of the nature and power of virtue.

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