CHINA. 



-L . . 



employed any kind of punctuation, it would discredit a 

 Modern author, and almott infallibly expose hi* piece* to 

 condemnation, were they disfigured by the useful but 

 vulgir invention of points. 



> of In consequence of thi* faithful adherence to the an- 

 cients, the language ht und< iyone no radical change, 

 inc* the days of Coi.ftioiun, whose style and manner 

 differ very little fr -m those of the Ix^t modern Chinese 

 productions, except that these latter are seldom so con- 

 rite ; and there i* (till extant a dictionary, entitled See- 

 ooen, compil'-d under the dy; ian, about 2000 



year* old, which is ttll considered as of high authority. 

 The Chinese teem to cherish a kind of sacred reverence for 

 their written character ; and it is accounted not merely 



want of taste, but even a positive misdemeanour, to tear 



written paper, and throw away the fragments. Every 

 scrap of writing is carefully picked up, and put into a 

 small pouch, or hollow bamboo, which every man of 

 letters came* about with him for the purpose. The 

 circumstance of a language, spoken by so large a por- 

 tion of the human race, continuing during such a length 

 of time without any material change, has been consider- 

 ed as a striking confirmation of the observation of Dr 

 Johnson, in the preface to his Dictionary, that " the 

 language most likely to continue long w.'.hout altera- 

 tion, would be that of a nation raised a little, and but a 

 little, above barbarity, secluded from strangers, and to- 

 tally employed in procuring the convenience* of life." 



fchtrature. There is still very little known in Europe of the state 

 of literature in China, and of the contents of their va- 

 rious writings. Their books are distributed into four 

 classes ; 1. The sacred, or canonical books, which com- 

 prehend every thing relating to the study of the lan- 

 guage ; 2. The writings of the historians ; 3. Those of 

 the philosophers ; and, 4. The miscellanies, or poetry, 

 eloquence, &c. Of these, the most esteemed, and the 

 most studied, but at the same time the least understood, 

 are the few books, or rather fragments, which are sup- 

 posed to have escaped the conflagration of Shee-hoang- 

 ;ee, and which are distinguished by the name of King. 

 These are generally reckoned five in number, though 

 the three first only are considered by many of the Chi- 

 nese as properly entitled to the name. 



1. Y-king, or the explanation of the lines of Fo shee. 

 These lines are supposed to be the most ancient piece of 

 Chinese writing, and arc ascribed to the pen of Fo-shee, 

 who is said to have observed them upon the back of a 

 dragon ; and are regarded, most absurdly, by many Chi- 

 nese, as the basis of their written character. They are 

 called Kooa, and arc supposed to contain the principles 

 ef all things that exist, the formation of the universe, and 

 the whole system of nature. The emperor Ven vang at- 

 tempted, by short notes, to give some explanation of 

 this philosophical enigma, increasing the number of kooa 

 from 8 to 61; his son Tcheoo kang added a more am- 

 ple interpretation ; Confucius at length published a com- 

 mentary, both upon the lines themselves, and upon the 

 notes of the two emperors ; and these several pieces form 

 the contents of the Y-king. These lines oeem, after all 

 to be utterly incomprehensible, and to admit of no better 

 interpretation than that of Mr Barrow, who considers 

 them as nothing else than the school-boy's amusement of 

 the magic square, in which the nine figures are arranged 

 in such a manner as to make the number 15 in whatever 

 war t^ry are added. 



Thi( view of them may be rendered more intelligible 

 fey tbc following diagram from that author : 



Literature* 



fet 



. 



Linn of 

 1'ushcc. 



f 



T 



2. The Shoo-king, a collection of historical record* of 

 the earliest sovereigns of China, arranged and edited by 

 Confucius ; a book, which is rcgaided as divine, and the 

 characters of which are all numbered ; which teaches the 

 strictest stoical morality, and which is the basis of the 

 government and laws of China ; which inculcates, under 

 the form of history, the reciprocal duties of the prince 

 and people, and the perusal of which is accounted the 

 most improving study for the emperor and his minis- 

 ters. 



S. Slice-king, a collection of ode?, and maxims, but 

 so full of obscure metaphor, as to render <t translation 

 very difficult and uncertain. 



4. Lee-kee, or a compilation of laws, ceremonies, usages, 

 and maxims of Confucius, collected by the disciples of 

 that philosopher. 



5. Tchun-tsieoo, consists chiefly of annals of the king- 

 dom of Loo, composed by Confucius. 



There is also another class of books called King, of an 

 inferior order. 



1. The See-shoo, or four books of Confucius, called 

 Ta-hio, or sublime science ; Tchong-yong, or just me- 

 dium ; Lun-y u, or words and discourses, and the works 

 of the philosopher Meug-tsc. 



2. Two books upon the rites of the dynasty of 

 Tcheoo. 



3. Books on filial piety, and certain poetical compo- 

 sitions, entitled Tsoo-tse, and Shan-hay-king. 



4. The three ancient commentaries upon the book of 

 Tchun-tsieoo. 



5. The works of the historian Se-ma-tsien, and of 

 some other authors. 



The greater part of the King have been translated Transit, 

 and published in France by tin- Jesuit mi sionarie^. But tloni ol 

 their translations are censured by those who are skilled in *~ 

 the subject, as having too much of the European cha- 

 racter and style engrafted upou the Chinese originals, 

 and as neither conveying an accurate idea of the origi- 

 nal, nor a certain transcript of the meaning. As far as 

 can be judged from the portion of these books which is 

 intelligible, they impart very little knowledge either of 

 the ancient or modern state of China. 



Among the principal Chinese productions which are 

 known in Europe may be mentioned the Ta tsing huti- 

 tien, which contains a compendium of the existing laws, 

 with all the forms and regulations of the several depart- 

 ments of the state ; of the rites and ceremonies of the 

 empire, the administration of justice, the system of re- 

 venue ?nd finance, &c. and which would afford, it is 

 supposed, the most important information respecting the 

 state and government of China ; the Tay-tsing-ee-tung- 

 tse, a complete Encyclopaedia of arts and sciences, ex- 



worki. 



