4. Table of Contents of the Lun-hêng.
1Book I.
1. Chap. I. Fêng-yü
###.
This chapter treats of the relation between
officers and their sovereign. To be appreciated and successful an official must
find the right prince, who understands him and puts him in the right place. One
must not make the successful responsible for their success, or the unsuccessful
for their failure, because not their talents, but time and circumstances are
decisive. 2. Chap. II. Lei-hai
###.
The difficulties and annoyances which people
have to endure come from abroad, and are not the result of their own works.
Therefore they must not be blamed. Fear and good conduct have no influence on
fortune or misfortune. "Fortune is what we obtain without any effort of our
own, and misfortune what happens to us without our co-operation." The chief
annoyances of officials at the court and in the provinces are slanderous
reports of envious persons. Three kinds of calumnies are distinguished. The
wise do not feel troubled about this, and lead the life which most suits
them. *3. Chap. III. Ming-lu ### (On Destiny and Fortune).
Destiny predetermines the length of man's life,
and whether he shall be rich and honourable, or poor and mean. There is no
correspondence between human virtue and fate. The wicked and the unintelligent
are very often happy, whereas men endowed with the highest faculties and the
noblest character perish in misery, as is shown by various examples from
history. The knowing, therefore, do not hunt after happiness, but leave
everything to Heaven, suffering with equanimity what cannot be avoided, and
placidly awaiting their turn. The opinions of several philosophers holding
similar views are given. *4. Chap. IV. Ch`i-shou ### (Long Life and Vital Fluid).
There are two kinds of fate, the one
determining the events of life, the other its length. The length of life
depends on the quantity of the vital fluid received at birth. Accordingly the
body waxes strong or weak, and a strong body lives longer than a feeble one.
The normal length of human life should be a hundred years. The Classics attest
that the wise emperors of the Golden Age:---Yao, Shun, Wén
Wang, Wu Wang, and others all lived over hundred years. Book II.
*5. Chap. I. Hsing-ou ###
(On Chance and Luck).
Happiness and misfortune are not the outcome of
man's good or bad actions, but chance and luck. Some have good luck, others
bad. Good and bad fortune are not distributed in a just way, according to
worth, but are mere chance. This is true of man as well as of other beings.
Even Sages are often visited with misfortune. *6. Chap. II. Ming-yi ###
(What is meant by Destiny?).
The school of Mé Ti
denies the existence of Destiny. Wang Ch`ung follows the
authority of Confucius. There are various kinds of
destinies. The length of human life is regulated by the fluid of Heaven, their
wealth and honour by the effluence of the stars, with which men are imbued at
their birth. Wang Ch`ung rejects the distinction of
natural, concomitant, and adverse fate, but admits contingencies, chances, and
incidents, which may either agree with the original fate and luck, or not. The
fate of a State is always stronger than that of individuals. *7. Chap. III. Wu-hsing ### (Unfounded Assertions).
At birth man receives the vital fluid from
Heaven. This fluid determines the length of his life. There are no means to
prolong its duration, as the Taoists pretend. Some examples from history are
shown to be untrustworthy. At death everything ends. The vital force disperses,
and the body is dissolved. *8. Chap. IV. Shuai-hsing ### (The Forming of Characters).
There are naturally good, and there are
naturally bad characters, but this difference between the qualities of low and
superior men is not fundamental. The original fluid permeating all is the same.
It contains the germs of the Five Virtues. Those who are endowed with copious
fluids, become vrituous, those whose fluid is deficient, wicked. But by
external influences, human nature can turn from good into bad, and the reverse.
Bad people can be improved, and become good by instruction and good example.
Therefore the State cannot dispense with instructions and laws. *9. Chap. V. Chi-yen
### (Auspicious Portents).
Auspicious portents appear, when somebody is
destined to something grand by fate, especially, when a new dynasty rises.
These manifestations of fate appear either in the person's body, or as lucky
signs in nature, or under the form of a halo or a glare. A great variety of
instances from ancient times down to the Han dynasty are
adduced in proof. Book III.
10. Chap. I. Ou-hui
###.
Fate acts spontaneously. There are no other
alien forces at work besides fate. Nobody is able to do anything against it.
Human activity is of no consequence. *11. Chap. II. Ku-hsiang ### (On Anthroposcopy).
The heavenly fate becomes visible in the body,
and can be foreseen by anthroposcopy. The Classics contain examples. The
physiognomists draw their conclusions from the osseous structure and from the
lines of the skin. The character can also be seen from the features. *12. Chap. III. Ch`u-ping ### (Heaven's Original Gift).
Destiny comes down upon man already in his
embryonic state, not later on during his life. It becomes mind internally and
body externally. This law governs all organisms. Heaven never invests virtuous
emperors, because it is pleased with them, for this would be in opposition to
its principle of spontaneity and inaction. Utterances of the Classics that
Heaven was pleased and looked round, etc. are to be taken in a figurative
sense. Heaven has no human body and no human qualities. Lucky omens are not
sent by Heaven, but appear by chance. *13. Chap. IV. Pén-hsing ### (On Original Nature).
The different theories of Chinese moralists on
human nature are discussed. Shih Tse holds that human
nature is partly good, partly bad, Mencius that it is
originally good, but can be corrupted, Sun Tse that it
is originally bad, Kao Tse that it is neither good nor
bad, and that it all depends on instruction and development, Lu Chia that it is predisposed for virtue. Tung Chung Shu and Liu Hsiang
distinguish between natural disposition and natural feelings. Wang Ch`ung holds that nature is sometimes good and
sometimes bad, but essentially alike, being the fluid of Heaven, and adopts the
Confucian distinction of average people, people above, and people below the
average. The latter alone can be changed by habit. *14. Chap. V. Wu-shih
### (The Nature of Things).
Heaven and Earth do not create man and the
other things on earth intentionally. They all grow of themselves. Had Heaven
produced all creatures on purpose, it would have taught them mutual love,
whereas now one destroys the other. Some have explained this struggle for
existence by the hypothesis that all creatures are filled with the fluid of the
Five Elements, which fight together and overcome one another. Wang Ch`ung controverts this view and the symbolism
connected therewith. *15. Chap. VI. Chi-kuai ### (Miracles).
Wang Ch`ung proves by
analogies that the supernatural births reported of several old legendary
rulers, who are said to have been procreated by dragons or a special fluid of
Heaven, are impossible. The Spirit of Heaven would not consort with a woman,
for only beings of the same species pair. Saints and Sages are born like other
people from their parents. Book IV.
16. Chap. I. Shu-hsü
###.
The chapter contains a refutation of a series
of wrong statements in ancient books. The assertion that Shun and Yü died in the South is
shown to be erroneous. Wang Ch`ung explodes the idea
that the "Bore" at Hang-chou is caused by the angry
spirit of Wu Tse Hsü, who was thrown into the
Ch`ien-t`ang River, and remarks that the tide follows
the phases of the moon. (Bk. IV, p. 5v.) 17. Chap. II. Pien-hsü ###.
Wang Ch`ung points out
that many reports in ancient literature concerning extraordinary phenomena, not
in harmony with the laws of nature, are fictitious and unreliable,
e. g. the story that touched by the virtue of Duke
Ching of Sung, the planet Mars
shifted its place, that Heaven rewarded the Duke with 21 extra years, or that
the great Diviner of Ch`i caused an earthquake. Book V.
18. Chap. I. Yi-hsü
###.
The impossibility of some miracles and
supernatural events is demonstrated, which have been handed down in ancient
works, and are universally believed by the people and the literati,
e. g. the birth of Pao Sse from
the saliva of dragons. 19. Chap. II. Kan-hsü
###.
Wang Ch`ung contests
that nature can be moved by man and deviate from its course. Various old
legends are critically tested:--- the alleged appearence of ten suns in
Yao's time, the report that the sun went back in his
course, the wonders which happened during the captivity of Tsou Yen and Tan, Prince of
Yen.
The tenor of the last four chapters all
treating of unfounded assertions or figments "hsü" is
very similar. Book VI.
*20. Chap. I. Fu-hsü
### (Wrong Notions about Happiness).
Happiness is not given by Heaven as a reward
for good actions, as the general belief is. The Mêhist
theory that the spirits protect and help the virtuous is controverted by facts.
Wang Ch`ung shows how several cases, adduced as
instances of how Heaven recompensed the virtuous are illusive, and that fate is
capricious and unjust. *21. Chap. II. Huo-hsü ### (Wrong Notions on Unhappiness).
The common belief that Heaven and Earth and the
spirits punish the wicked and visit them with misfortune, is erroneous, as
shown by examples of virtuous men, who were unlucky, and of wicked, who
flourished. All this is the result of chance and luck, fate and time. *22. Chap. III. Lung-hsü ### (On Dragons).
The dragon is not a spirit, but has a body and
lives in pools. It is not fetched by Heaven during a thunderstorm, as people
believe. The different views about its shape are given:---It is represented as
a snake with a horse's head, as a flying creature, as a reptile that can be
mounted, and like earthworms and ants. In ancient times dragons were reared and
eaten. The dragon rides on the clouds during the tempest, there being a certain
sympathy between the dragon and clouds. It can expand and contract its body,
and make itself invisible. *23. Chap. IV. Lei-hsü ### (On Thunder and Lightning).
Thunder is not the expression of Heaven's
anger. As a spirit it could not give a sound, nor could it kill a man with its
breath. It does not laugh either. Very often the innocent are struck by
lightning, and monsters like the Empress Lü Hou are
spared. The pictorial representations of thunder as united drums, or as the
thunderer Lei Kung, are misleading. Thunder is fire or
hot air, the solar fluid Yang exploding in its conflict
with the Yin fluid, lightning being the shooting forth
of the air. Five arguments are given, why thunder must be fire. Book VII.
*24. Chap. I. Tao-hsü
### (Taoist Untruths).
Man dies and can become immortal. The Taoist
stories of Huang Ti and Huai Nan
Tse's ascension to heaven, of the flying genius met by Lu Ao, and of Hsiang Man Tse's travel
to the moon are inventions. The magicians do not possess the powers ascribed to
them. The Taoist theory of prolonging life by quietism and dispassionateness,
by regulating one's breath, and using medicines is untenable. *25. Chap. II. Yü-tsêng ### (Exaggerations).
Wang Ch`ung points out a
number of historical exaggerations e. g. that the
embonpoint of Chieh and
Chou was over a foot, that Chou
had a wine-lake, from which 3,000 persons sucked like cattle, that
Wên Wang could drink 3,000 bumpers of wine, and
Confucius 100 gallons, and some mis-statements
concerning the simplicity of Yao and Shun, and the cruelty of Shih Huang
Ti, and tries to reduce them to the proper limits. Book VIII.
*26. Chap. I. Ju-tsêng ### (Exaggerations of the Literati).
Wang Ch`ung goes on to
criticise some old traditions:---on the abolition of punishments under
Yao and Shun, on the wonderful
shooting of Yang Yu Chi and Hsiung
Ch`ü Tse, on the skill of Lu Pan, on
Ching K`o's attempt upon Shih Huang
Ti's life, on the miracles connected with the Nine Tripods of the
Chou dynasty, etc. 27. Chap. II. Yi-tsêng ###.
People are fond of the marvellous and of
exaggerations, in witness whereof passages are quoted from the
Shuking, the Shiking, the
Yiking, the Lun-yü, and the
Ch`un-ch`iu. Book IX.
*28. Chap. I. Wên
K`ung ### (Criticisms on Confucius).
The Confucianists do not dare to criticise the
Sages, although the words of the Sages are not always true and often
contradictory. It is also, because they do not understand the difficult
passages, and only repeat what the commentators have said. Wang Ch`ung vindicates the right to criticise even
Confucius. Such criticisms are neither immoral nor
irrational. They help to bring out the meaning, and lead to greater clearness.
Wang Ch`ung then takes up a number of passages from the
Analects for discussion, in which he discovers contradictions or other flaws,
but does not criticise the system of Confucius or his
theories in general. Book X.
*29. Chap. I. Fei Han
### (Strictures on Han Fei Tse).
Han Fei Tse solely
relies on rewards and punishments to govern a State. In his system there is no
room for the cultivation of virtue. He despises the literati as useless, and
thinks the world to be so depraved and mean, that nothing but penal law can
keep it in check. Wang Ch`ung shows by some examples
taken from Han Fei Tse's work that this theory is wrong.
Men of letters are as useful to the State as agriculturists, warriors, and
officials, for they cultivate virtue, preserve the true principles, and benefit
the State by the good example they set to the other classes. *30. Chap. II. T`se
Mêng ### (Censures on Mencius).
Wang Ch`ung singles out
such utterances of Mencius, in which according to his
view his reasoning is defective, or which are conflicting with other dicta of
the philosopher. Book XI.
*31. Chap. I. T`an-t`ien ### (On Heaven).
The old legend of the collapse of Heaven, which
was repaired by Nü Wa, when Kung
Kung had knocked with his head against the "Pillar of Heaven," is
controverted, as is Tsou Yen's theory of the existence
of Nine Continents. Heaven is not merely air, but has a body, and the earth is
a square measuring 100,000 Li in either direction. *32. Chap. II. Shuo-jih ### (On the Sun).
A variety of astronomical questions are
touched. Wang Ch`ung opposes the view that the sun
disappeares in darkness during the night, that the length or shortness of the
days is caused by the Yin and the Yang, that the sun rises from Fu-sang
and sets in Hsi-liu, that at Yao's time ten suns appeared, that there is a raven in the
sun, and a hare and a toad in the moon. Heaven is not high in the south and
depressed in the north, nor like a reclining umbrella, nor does it enter into
or revolve in the earth. Heaven is level like earth, and the world lying in the
south-east. The sun at noon is nearer than in the morning or in the evening.
Wang Ch`ung further speaks on the rotation of the sky,
the sun, and the moon, on the substance of the sun and the moon, on their
shape, the cause of the eclipses, meteors, and meteorological phenomena. 33. Chap. III. Ta-ning ###.
On the cunning and artful. Book XII.
34. Chap. I. Ch`êng-t`sai ###.
The difference between scholars and officials
is pointed out. Wang Ch`ung stands up for the former,
and places them higher than the officials, because they are of greater
importance to the State. The people however think more of the officials. 35. Chap. II. Liang-chih ###.
The same subject as treated in the preceding
chapter. 36. Chap. III. Hsieh-tuan ###.
Men of letters as well as officials have their
shortcomings. The former are interested in antiquity only, and neglect the
present, the Ch`in and Han time.
They only know the Classics, but even many questions concerning the age and the
origin of the Classics they cannot answer. The officials know their business,
but often cannot say, why they do a thing, since they do not possess the
necessary historical knowledge. Book XIII.
37. Chap. I. Hsiao-li
###.
The chapter treats of the faculties of the
scholars and the officials, and of their energy and perseverance displayed in
different departments. 38. Chap. II. Pieh-t`ung ###.
There is the same difference between the
learned and the uncultivated as between the rich and the poor. Learning is a
power and more important than wealth. 39. Chap. III. Ch`ao-chi ###.
There are various degrees of learning. Some
remarks are made on the works of several scholars, e.g.
the philosopher Yang Tse Yün and the two historians
Pan. Book XIV.
40. Chap. I. Chuang-liu ###.
Scholars do not strive for office. As for
practical success they are outrivalled by the officials, who are men of
business. *41. Chap. II. Han-wên ### (On Heat and Cold).
Wang Ch`ung contests the
assertion of the phenomenalists that there is a correspondence between heat and
cold and the joy and anger of the sovereign. He points out that the South is
the seat of heat, and the North of cold. Moreover the temperature depends on
the four seasons and the 24 time-periods. *42 Chap. III. Ch`ien-kao ### (On Reprimands).
The savants hold that
Heaven reprimands a sovereign whose administration is bad, visiting him with
calamities. First the causes extraordinary events. If the sovereign does not
change then, he sends down misfortunes upon his people, and at last he punishes
his own person. Heaven is represented like a prince governing his people. These
heavenly punishments would be at variance with Heaven's virtue, which consists
in spontaneity and inaction. Heaven does not act itself, it acts through man,
and speaks through the mouths of the Sages, in whose hearts is ingrafted its
virtue. The utterances of the Classics ascribing human qualities to Heaven are
only intended to give more weight to those teachings, and to frighten the
wicked and the unintelligent. Book XV.
*43. Chap. I. Pien-tung ### (Phenomenal Changes).
Heaven influences things, but is not affected
by them. All creatures being filled with the heavenly fluid, Heaven is the
master, and not the servant. The Yang and the
Yin move things, but are not moved. The deeds and the
prayers of a tiny creature like man cannot impress the mighty fluid of Heaven,
and the sobs of thousands of people cannot touch it. Heaven is too far, and its
fluid shapeless without beginning or end. It never sets the laws of nature
aside for man's sake. 44. Chap. II. Chao-chih ###.
(This chapter has been lost.) 45. Chap. III. Ming-yü ###.
The rain sacrifice, which during the
Ch`un-ch`iu period was performed at times of drought,
forms the subject of this essay. People use to pray for rain and happiness, as
they implore the spirits to avert sickness and other evils. Some believe that
rain is caused by the stars, others that it depends on the government of a
State, others again that it comes from the mountains. The last opinion is
shared by Wang Ch`ung. 46. Chap. IV. Shun-ku
###.
The chapter treats of the religious ceremonies
performed to avert inundations, in which the beating of drums is very
important. Book XVI.
47. Chap. I. Luan-lung ###.
As a means to attract the rain by the
sympathetic action of similar fluids Tung Chung Shu had
put up a clay dragon. Wang Ch`ung attempts to
demonstrate the efficacy of this procedure by 15 arguments and 4 analogies. 48. Chap. II Tsao-hu
###.
Wang Ch`ung controverts
the popular belief that, when men are devoured by tigers, it is the wickedness
of secretaries and minor officials which causes these disasters. 49. Chap. III. Shang-ch`ung ###.
The common belief that the eating of the grain
by insects is a consequence of the covetousness of the yamenIllegal HTML character: decimal 156
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