Mr. Davis on the Poetry of the Chinese. 4^35 



footsze, given by Dr. Morrison at p. 147 of the Third part of his Dictionary, 

 comes under this head. It commences thus : 



" Venerate heaven and earth : perform the rites to the gods ; 

 Worship your ancestors : be dutiful to your parents : 

 Observe the laws : revere your teachers and superiors, 

 Love your brothers : and be true to your friends," &c. 



The whole piece bears some resemblance to the Golden verses of Pytha- 

 goras, particularly in the commencement, which may be thus literally ren- 

 dered : 



" First, as the laws ordain, th' immortal gods 

 Worship : observe your vows : the great of yore 

 Next, and the manes of the dead revere : 

 Honour your parents, and your next of kin," &c. 



There are innumerable poems, or rather metrical essays, whose object it 

 is to convey the doctrines and precepts of the great national sages and 

 others. The whole of the well-known work called Shingyu, or Instructions 

 addressed to the people by the second Emperor of the present Tartar fa- 

 mily, has been cast into a short, chyming verse. The example, given in 

 Part I. at page 401, comes likewise under this head ; as do all the similar 

 productions of the Budhists, and other sects. We must consider them as 

 forming a portion of the national literature in the gross, although they have 

 nothing to do with Confucius or his doctrines, and are commonly held by 

 the privileged learned in as great contempt as the superstitions to which 

 they pertain. 



In the course of their lighter works, Chinese writers frequently introduce 

 moral reflections in verse with very good effect. A couplet, a quatrain, or 

 a passage of eight or more lines agreeably engages the reader's attention in 

 his progress through a romance or novel, and generally accompanies the 

 transition to some other part of the story. They are not altogether unlike 

 the rhymes at the close of the scenes in our older plays, and usually consist, 

 as those did, of some reflection upon what has gone before, or what is im- 

 mediately to follow ; though in a narrative they certainly find a more proper 

 place than in the drama, and are not there subject to the reproach of bad 

 taste, which has very properly excluded such passages from our own modern 

 stage pieces. Here follow examples from the " Fortunate Union." 



