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POSTSCRIPT.

This second volume of the Lun-hêng contains the 40 chapters omitted in Vol. I, and referred to in the Additional Note Vol. I, p. 576. The version of Wang Ch`ung's work is now complete, only the sequence of the chapters differ from the original. A Comparative Table of the Chinese Text and the Translation on p. 421 seq. will enable the reader in possession of the original to find each chapter of the translation without difficulty.

As the time of the publication of the Lun-hêng I gave the years 76-84 A.D. (Vol. I, p. 9). A passage on p. 207 of this volume allows of a still narrower limitation. Wang Ch`ung there speaks of the sixth year of the emperor Chang Ti = 81 A.D. Consequently the Lun-hêng must have been written after 81 and prior to 84 A.D.,viz. in 82 or 83 A.D.

It has been noticed that the Lun-hêng originally contained more than a hundred chapters, whereas we now only possess 84, and of one the mere title. From the present volume we learn the names of three more lost chapters: "Recognising the Cunning" (p. 48 Note 3), probably in the style of the existing chapter VI "On the Cunning and Artful," "How to become a Sage," and "True Sagehood" (p. 227 Notes 2 and 3), most likely propounding similar views to those contained in chapters XIII "The Real Nature of Knowledge" and XXVI "The Knowledge of Truth."

In the Introduction to Vol. I p. 11, I mentioned a separate edition of the Lun-hêng printed under the Ming dynasty which I had not seen, and of which I was ignorant whether it was still to be found in the book-shops, since my efforts to buy one had been unsuccessful. In the meantime I was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of this edition, which I regard as the best of the three current editions, and for this reason have used it as the basis of the second volume of my translation.

This Ming edition referred to by Chang Chih Tung in his bibliography (Ed. B) was prepared by a certain chin-shih, Liu Kuang Tou (Hui Chi, Jên Wei) (T. ) of Chin-ling = Ch`ang-chou-fu in Kiangsu, together with his friends, all fervent admirers of Wang Ch`ung, most likely in 1626 A.D. Each of them has written a preface, so that we have five altogether. Two of these prefaces are dated 1626.

Liu Kuang Tou informs us that in course of time the text of the Lun-hêng had been disfigured by misprints and errata sometimes completely altering the sense. Searching into the libraries and spending much money, his friend Yen Kuang Piao (Tse Yi) (), a native of Ch`ien-t`ang in Chekiang, at last succeeded in hunting up a good edition of Yang Wên Ch`ang , a chin-shih of the Sung time. This Sung edition was first revised by Liu Kuang Tou, afterwards by Yen Kuang Piao and his friends Ma Yuan (Jên Po) (T. ) and Shih Chuang (K`ang Fu) (T. ). Yen Kuang Piao finally fixed the text and edited it at his own expense. His preface dates from his "Hall of Frozen Perfume," whence this edition is designated as on the title-page.

My copy seems to be the original edition, and a red stamp on the title-page to contain the name of Yen (Kuang Piao). Another red impression states that the blocks of this edition are kept in the office of the owner, and that any unauthorised reprint will be pursued to a thousand Li's distance: .

I have denoted the edition of the Han Wei ts`ung-shu as Ed. A, the Ming edition as Ed. B, and the edition contained in the Tseshu-po-chia as Ed. C. In my notes to Vol. II, I have frequently pointed out differences in the three editions, which after all are not very great. In regard to correctness of the text Ed. B ranks first, then follows Ed. C, and Ed. A comes last. Whenever there is any divergence, Ed. A and C mostly agree, but Ed. C avoids the apparent misprints of which Ed. A has a great many. This remark refers to my own edition of the Han Wei t`sung-shu which is not very good. In the newly acquired copy of the Royal Library in Berlin many mistakes have been corrected. Ed. C would seem to be a revised reprint of Ed. A. Ed. B is much more independent, and in most cases gives the best reading.

Wang Ch`ung is very fond of quoting the Classics and other old authors, notably the Analects, the Shuking, and the Shi-chi. Since not only his reading often differs from the now authorised text, but his explanations also not seldom disagree with those of modern commentators, I thought it worth while preparing a list of all the quotations I was able to trace, which may be useful for a critique of the old texts.

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