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Scriptures and Their Popularization:The Case of the Lun-yu and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty

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(1)(Journal of Humanities East/West). Vol. 18, December 1998, pp, 137-165. College of Liberal Arts, National Central University. Scriptures and Their Popularization:. The Case of the Lun-yu and. Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. Yen-zen Tsai *. r i. T. '" f. * Associate Professor, Department of History, National Chengchi University.

(2) 138 Journal ofllumanities East/West. Abstract The Lun-yu (Analects of Confucius) and Hsiao-ching ( Book on. Filial Piety) , two texts of chuan or commentary type, and the Wu ching, the recondite and voluminous Five Classics, formed an inseparable Confucian scriptural corpus in the Han Dynasty. Because of textual shortness and simplicity, the former two texts were widely distributed and learned. Also because people in Han China believed that Confucius was their author, they were highly respected. Han rulers then used these two small scriptures as ideological foundation to build up their empire.. They even employed them for such practical. purposes as promulgation of Confucian ethics, recruitment of officials, and selection of imperial consorts. The Lun-yu and Hsiao-ching were inferior in scriptural status in comparison with the Five Classics, but their sacredness and authority were by no means lower. There were at least two important reasons for this. First, each of these two small scriptures contained the tao by itself, hence its own independent status. Second, their succinct outline form was supposed to be summary of the profound Five Classics, hence serving to integrate the latter. On account of these two scriptural characteristics, the Lun-yu and Hsiao-ching became more popularized. From the perspective of functionality and practicality, the article argues, these two chuan should exceed the Five Classics in importance and influence. And to popularize the profound Five Classics via simpler texts for functional considerations has exactly been one of the salient scriptural phenomena in Confucian tradition. Key words: Lun-yu, Hsiao-ching, Five Classics, Confucianism, Hermenutics. t (. s s (. s c r. t.

(3) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 139 the Lun-yu and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. i ­. I I. I As a sacred text, scripture designates a special class of words, either in oral or written form, that claim special meanings among believers of a faith community. It exercises great. authority and exerts enormous influence on those who read and. study it with reverence. ~ . It provides its believers with a rich depository from which. a belief system is formed and to which one's deeds and conducts are referred.. It is. never a neutral object, but rather a "relational concept" the significance of which can be perceived only through the reciprocal relationships between the believers and this text in the changing religio-historical circumstances. I Different scriptures enjoy different sacred status, and how each of them comes to being, evolves in history, and becomes canonized also varies in different cultural or religious traditions. Similar to a literary canon whose process of formation is "a narrative of some intricacy, depending on places and times and opportunities,,,2 the sacrality, power, authority, and function of a scripture is intimately linked to the socio-historical contexts in which it arises.. More complex is the situation where. one finds not only a scripture or a collection of sacred books but different groups of scriptures interacting, complementing, or even competing with one another.. r .... I. The. division between the primary texts versus the secondary texts, as found in many religions or cultural traditions, by some scholars is thus a response to this intricate scriptural phenomenon.'. However, some intriguing questions ensue as a result of. the classification between different scriptural groups. When we make distinction between the primary sacred texts versus the secondary sacred texts, do we presuppose discrepancies of value attributed to each. r. of these two groups? On what basis do we ground our value judgment? Is it necessary the case that the primary scriptures possess higher degree of sacrality,. I. power. and authority than that contained in the secondary scriptures?. I. tell?. How do we. It often happens that some scriptures, because of their archaic and abstruse. nature, need interpretations or expositions, hence the productions of commentaries, primers, or introductory writings.. Scholars of religion tend to regard these. original texts as primary and their interpretations as secondary, as far as the.

(4) 140. Journal of Humanities East/West. classification of the overall scriptures is concerned.. In actuality, the commentaries. re an. or primers, due to their easier accessibility and wider circulation, may reach more people and henceforth exert greater influence. Should we, then, based upon this consideration of functionality or practicality, reassess the relationships between the primary scriptures and the secondary scriptures?4 For example, the Mishnah is. cc. considered to be divinely revealed in Rabbinic Judaism, and as the oral Torah, it explains and continues the majestic written Torah. The Hadith, a collection of the Prophet Muhammad's words and deeds, has been so revered by Muslims that its sacred status almost matches that of the Qur'an, and as such it has been used as. m. authoritative references in matters of diverse areas. In Indian tradition, the Puranas, compendia of Hindu myths and rituals created during the medieval period, often function scripturally as the most sacrosanct Vedas and hold wide devotion. (}. from among the masses. Whereas in Buddhism, there is no easy way to categorize the primary texts in contrast to the secondary texts due to innumerable amount of. u. pI. A. sutras, except the fact that many Buddhist communities, predicated upon their respective religious convictions, would single out a particular scripture or scriptures for their special reverence. 5 Indeed the demarcation between the primary scriptures and the secondary scriptures is hard to draw, as each religious or cultural tradition has its own unique definition of the sacred, concept of scripture, process of canonization, way of scriptural application, etc.. r believe, nonetheless, that it is heuristic to explore this scriptural phenomenon because it will lead us into understanding not only scriptures in general but the very nature of a religious or cultural tradition. As we will see in the following pages, ancient China also exhibited its own scriptural features which involved intricate relationships between the primary ching texts and the secondary chuan writings. From a comparative perspective, an investigation of the Chinese case will help us, on the one hand, clarify the issues mentioned above and, on the other hand, bring Confucianism into meaningful dialogue with other religious traditions. For these purposes, I will take the scriptural phenomena in Han China (206 BCE - 220 CE) for illustration. In particular, my paper will focus upon the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching, long thought to be two minor or secondary Confucian scriptures, and examine how they were popularized in the society. It will further discuss their. •. I. a.

(5) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 141 the Lun-yii and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. les )re. relationships with the Wu ching, traditionally treated as the primary scriptures in ancient China, and see how these different types of scriptures fared in the Chinese. liS. context.. he. r. i'l. II. . it :he its. '?. as. The Wu ching (Five Scriptures or Five Classics) as a collection of the five most sacred texts refer to the Shih (Book of Odes), Shu (Book of Documents), Li. :he )d,. (Rites), I (Book of Changes), and Ch'un-ch'iu (Spring and Autumn Annals).. provenance is ambiguous, and their authorship has remained pseudonymous. 1. on. i. Ancient Chinese, however, regarded them as the embodiment of the tao, the. ize. ultimate truth.. of. which in turn were redacted and transmitted by Confucius.. r. ::m. They believed these scriptures to be composed by former sages, The educated took. them as the norm, searching in them guidelines which would orient their life in both. 'es. the private and public arenas.. ry. treasured, carefully studied, and highly venerated in ancient China.. 'al. of. Their. ?. As a integral corpus, the Wu ching were thus The reverent. feeling toward these Five Scriptures reached its apogee in the Han Dynasty when the imperial household began to promote the Confucian school, with which these. IS. Scriptures were associated, and excluded other competing schools from public. to. learning.. )r. and tremendously shaped the intellectual and religious outlook in the subsequent. ,0. m. '" (. There are two other very important texts, in addition to the recondite Wu ching, that commanded wide respect and exerted immeasurable influence in Han China:. i,. the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching.. '.. r. 6. generations.. !. 'e. o. The Wu ching hence enjoyed an incontestable status never seen before. I !. In the bibliographical list of the "I-wen chih". (Treatise on Literature) of the Han shu (History ofFormer Han), the Liu i (Six Arts. or Six Scriptures, later Wu Ching or Five Scriptures 6) are followed by the Lun-yii Hsiao ching, and Hsiao hsiieh. While the last Hsiao hsiieh are a corpus of. ii. philological writings that serve as fundamental primers to the profound Liu i texts/. i,. the fact that the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching are juxtaposed with the orthodox. r. Scriptures is highly significant.. The "I-wen chih" asserts that there should be nine.

(6) 142. Journal of Humanities East/West. groups of writings included as far as the Liu i are concerned. 8 It thus implies that these two classical texts are part and parcel of the Confucian Scriptures and should be placed on an equal footing with the other major six (or five) texts.. est~. clai the. The Po-hu t'ung, an ideological thesaurus crystallized at the imperial Po-hu Council (79 CE), devotes a section to the discussion of the "Wu ching" as a scriptural category. This section conclusively states that Confucius fixed the Five Scriptures in order to manifest the tao in the chaotic world. In a significant way, it continues its discourse in such a rhetorical question-and-answer form:. Oftl. tex. tW(. we. "Since the Ch'un-ch'iu had already been composed, why was, in addition, the Hsiao. cln. ching produced? [That was because Confucius] wished especially [by this book] to. In. establish the correct [norms.].... Lun-yit?. Why did his disciples note down, in addition, the . [That was] to show how the precepts issued by the Master, while. encountering difficulties and extraordinary events, became the correct standards.,,9. Han Confucians in this way regarded the Hsiao ching and Lun-yu as Confucius' intentional compositions and as norms created to reinforce the implementation of the tao embedded in the Wu ching. They brought these two texts together with the other Confucian Scriptures, suggesting that they be treated with special attention. lO In contrast to the Wu ching which are either voluminous in length or recondite in meaning, the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching are textually short and simple. Consisting of terse sayings and anecdotal accounts about Confucius and his disciples, the Lun~yu conveys such crucial ethicoreligious insights asjen (humanity, humaneness) and i (righteousness, rightness) which the Master industriously promulgated in his lifetime. The Hsiao Ching, on the other hand, is an aphorism-like text that contains less than two thousand Chinese characters. Composed of sayings about filial piety and cast in a highly programmatic and structured manner, it gives. instructions to people of various classes as to what kind of duty they are supposed to observe in order to be recognized as people of filial piety. It was the simple and. straightforward features of these two texts, along with Confucius' authorship, that often bound them together in the Han Dynasty. This explains that when K'uang Heng, a learned Confucian official, submitted his memorial to Emperor Ch'eng (r. 33-7 BCE), he made it unequivocal that the Liu i were the norm the ancient sages. the Th. COl. ml ha. "n. to its. Lz re to pI n(. T C!. Sl. c n. tl.

(7) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of the Lun-yii and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. 143. hat established to guide human activities.. lid. "As to the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching," he. claimed, "they are the summary of the words and deeds of the sage [Confucius;] their meanings should be investigated with due sensitivity.,,11 hu. f. :a. However. to say that the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching were highly revered and. ve. often juxtaposed with the Wu ching does not mean that they were actually ching. ,it. texts, i.e. scripture of the highest category.. l I t. ao. The bamboo strips used to record these. two texts, one-foot two-inches for the Hsiao ching and eight-inches for the Lun-yii, were always shorter than those of two-foot four-inch length applied to the Wu. ching; 12 this concrete physical aspect tells of the former's lower scriptural status.. to. In addition, many historical accounts indicate that people of Han China alluded to. he. the Lun-yii with a beginning of "Chuan yiieh" ("The Commentary says ..... ,,).13. ile. They reveal that although a Confucian scripture, this text was still a type of commentary.. As to the Hsiao ching, because its title contains the word ching, it. IS'. might create the impression that it was a ching scripture.. )f. have pointed out that the ching in the title of this text refers to the meanings of. Ie. "norm" and "universal standard" that should be observed in the society rather than to its own scriptural genre. 14. r. e. J. ". Many scholars, however,. People of the Han Dynasty might quote this text by. its title, 15 they unmistakably regarded it as a chuan writing. 16 The most impressive evidence which shows the common chuan status of the. Lun-yii and Hsiao ching is that in the Han Dynasty, no po-shih (literally erudites,. ~. referring to Academicians appointed by the state) office was permanently assigned. r. to either of these two texts. I 7. I. promoted Confucian scholarship and selected national po-shih for the Wu ching, neither the Lun-yii nor the. After Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 BCE) had exclusively R~iao. ching received its own po-shih appointment. This is an obvious sign that with regard to scriptural status, the Lun-yii and Hsiao I. 7. ching were inferior to the Wu ching in Han China.. Furthermore, in the ongoing. debates between the ku-hsiieh (old learning) and the chin-hsiieh (modern learning) scholars, these two small texts never emerged in the foreground of controversy. One might attribute this fact to their characteristics of simplicity and clarity, but it might be more likely that because of their chuan status, they attracted less attention than the majestic ching Scriptures. IS.

(8) 144. Journal of Humanities East/West. The Lun-yu and Hsiao ching, however, were not ordinary chuan scriptures. In the first place, people in the Han Dynasty were convinced that Confucius was the. bibl. original author of these two texts, although his disciples were the scribes, and their. chil. further disciples the final compilers.. 19. The recognition of this authorship. dep. It is important to. Ilati. emphasize again that the Wu ching were regarded as ching primarily because they. fon. Confucius, as Lu Chia (ca. 240-170 BCE). fun.. qualitatively distinguished them from other chuan writings. were creations of the ancient sages.. expressed on behalf of the Han Confucians, was the hou-sheng (later sage) who resumed the responsibility to continue the transmission of the tao, a process inaugurated by those hsien-sheng (former sages) and passed down by the. chung-sheng (middle sages)?O same tao tradition.. He and those sages before him were thus in the. Analogically, since he authored the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching,. these two texts should be treated in relation to and on a par with the Wu ching. That was also why they differed from other works created by chu-tzu (philosophers) in the pre-Ch'in period and were grouped with the Liu i in the Han Dynasty.21 Of equal significance is that the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching generated their. fun. cha sprl. oft. According to the "I-wen chih,". spe Hsi. the Lun-yu had two different versions in the early Han, the Ch'i Lun (Lun-yu of Ch'/). weI. and the Lu Lun (Lun-yu of Lu), each with its own master-transmitters and. as t. respective and diversified commentarial traditions.. commentaries.. 22. Likewise, there were at least five different commentarial schools. stemming from the Hsiao ching when the Han Dynasty was newly established, with each school creating its main commentary. 23. The attributes normally associated. with the ching scriptures were now connected to the' chuan texts.. This feature. bespeaks the respectful status of these two scriptures, to which Han Confucians paid their homage in the same way they did to the Wu ching.. to der scr. pee. Yw. The scriptural genre of the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching was indeed ambiguous.. He. There was no consensus as to whether one should assign these texts to the ching or. ap~. to the chuan category.. Some traditional Chinese scholars designated them as. fu-ching chih chuan (chuan texts attached to the ching Scriptures) because they, of chuan kind, are annexed to the £iu i in the Han shu. 24 Others rather called them ching chih er (secondary ching texts or ching of lower kind) also for the same reason.. 25. These two terms, however, were derived from consideration of the. Ch CE rna. he sta.

(9) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 145 the I.lJn-yii and H~jao-ching in the Han Dynasty. Ires. , the heir ship t to. :. f. bibliographical order set up for these two texts and the Wu ching in the "I-wen chill.". They tend to give us the impression that the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching were. dependent upon and, as such, less important than the Five Scriptures upheld in the national academy.. This impression in fact contradicts the historical reality that the. they. former were two independent texts and that they, in a sense, excelled the latter in. CE). functional importance.. who cess. III. the the. ling,. 'ing. ers). In Han times, the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching were far more popular and, functionally speaking, far more influential than the fVu ching.. Thanks to their. characteristics of simplicity and comprehensiveness, they were promulgated and spread to the farthest corner of the Han empire.. Those who specialized in anyone. of the Wu ching were also conversant with these two texts as a precondition of their. neir. specialization?6. ih,". Hsiao ching if he or she aimed at Confucian scholarship.. 'h'i). were instructed to study them from early ages;27 these two chuan scriptures served. lnd. as the universal intellectual foundation for the people of Han China?B. No educated person could have possibly ignored the Lun-yii and Even the commoners. ols. 'ith. ted. lre. lid. Anyone in the Han Dynasty who aspired to scriptural learning was instructed to read the Lun-yii first as a basic, indispensable text.. Historical records. demonstrate that many Han scholars were particularly conversant with this chuan scripture in their early years. people's devotion to it.. Abundant examples show its wide circulation and. Wei HsUan-ch'eng (?- 36 BCE), Chancellor of Emperor. Yuan (r. 49-33 BCE), was enthusiastic about scriptural learning in his childhood.. IS.. He was knowledgeable on the Lun-yii and Odes, and because of this, he was. or. appointed as the Grand Tutor of the heir apparent before he finally became the. as. Chancellor.. of. CE), was an expert in the Spring and Autumn Annals.. m. mastered the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching when he was only nine years old.. Ie. he was also learned in the Lao Tzu, he was a stout defender of Confucian learning, a. Ie. stance that might have been shaped by his early education in the above two chuan. 29. Fan Sheng, a po-shih in the reign of Emperor Kuang-wu (r. 25-57 His biography tells that he Although.

(10) 146 Journal of Humanities East/West. scriptures.. 3o. In the biography ofMa HSii, a scholar-general in the time of Emperor. occa. Shun (r. 125-144 CE), one reads that, "at seven, he was well-versed in the Lun-yu;. Fina. at thirteen, he was proficient in the Documents; at sixteen, he was engaged in the study of the Odes.,,3! This description of Ma Hsu's programmatic and progressive. (Del. Sine. development indicates the importance of the Lun-yu in the formation of Han. It is in this context that when Hsun Shuang (128-190 CE) demonstrated his impressive knowledge on the Lun-yu and Spring and Autumn Annals at the age of twelve, the experienced scholar, Tu Ch'iao praised him highly and predicted that he would be a great master; Hsiin indeed became what had been expected ofhim. 32. com. scholars' educational background.. Thi~. I. pop. ). inte. mOl. con. The popularity of the Lun-yu demanded that many qualified Confucian. ( 12. As a result, scholars learned in the Wu ching and naturally. the. scholars teach this text.. proficient in the Lun-yu as well, assumed this task.. The biography of Wang Chi (fl.. 85-48 BCE) emphasizes that although he was originally trained in the Five. 011i. Scriptures, he instructed the Odes and Lun-yu to whomever came to study with him. 33. thr. The great master Chang Yii (?-5 BCE), whose commentary on the Lun-yu. sy~. had far-reaching influence in subsequent generations, was summoned to lecture on. Pi<. the Lun- yu to the heir apparent of Emperor Yuan (r. 49-33 BCE), although he was also a seasoned scholar of the Changes. 34. Another imperial tutor Pao Hsien was. invited to teach the Lun-yu, although he was actually expert in the Odes, toO. 35. bu. I. I. Along with the demand for more masters to teach the Lun-yu came the appearance of more commentaries on this scripture.. to. commentaries of their own, most likely out of the need to teach this text to their. fr. Unlike the institutionalized Wu ching which had long and distinctive. commentarial traditions, the Lun-yu had its own commentaries produced on an individual and situational basis.. The Han shu reports that Hsia-hou Sheng, when. til. ,. I. h L. Henceforth learned scholars such as Wang Chi, Hsiao. Wang-chih, and Wei Hsiian-ch'eng all created their own exegetical notes on the. Lun-yu based on different textual versions.. This phenomenon of multiplication. H. ir. serving as the imperial Grand Tutor, was ordered by Emperor Hsiian (r. 74-49 BCE) to write the Lun-yu shuo (Exposition of the Lun-yu), evidently for the sake of the heir apparent's learning. 36. on gl4. In addition to a few. commentaries listed in the "I-wen chih," many more Han scholars wrote followers.. de. f,. .... t.

(11) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 147 the Lun-yu and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. 'or. occasioned some confusions among the learners as to which one they should adopt.. ii;. Finally Chang Yii, consulting various opinions, wrote his Lun-yu chang-chii. he. (Detailed Exegesis o/the Lun-yu) and submitted it to Emperor Yiian (r. 49-33 CE).. ve. Since his commentary was regarded by the scholar-cominunity as most. an. comprehensive and well-balanced, it was immediately accepted and spread afar. 57. I1g. This, however, did not put an end to the generation of new commentaries.. '1g. ed l1e. The. popularity of the Lun-yu still compelled many scholars to try their hand at ~. I. interpreting this scripture.. In the Later Han Dynasty, efforts of this kind became. more obvious and concentrated. 38. commentary on it.. The erudite Ho Hsiu (129-182 CE) wrote a. Both Ma lung (79-166 CE) and his disciple, Cheng Hsiian. an. (127-200 CE), two of the most learned scholars in their generations, also created. Iy. their respective commentaries. 39. ~fl.. v'e. r. Functionally speaking, the mastery of the Lun-yii was directly connected to one's ascendance to officialdom.. th. In the Han Dynasty, the most popular channel. through which one was able to enter government service was the recommendation. rU. system.. 10. In particular, the selection of people to the office of hsiao-lien (Filially. Pious and Incorrupt) in the local areas was fundamental to the operation of the. IS. bureaucracy of the empire. 4o. IS. It is true that knowledge of the Hsiao ching and. demonstrated filial reverence, as we will see momentarily, were most crucial, but. e. r. v. p. e r. ;. one's learning in the Lun-yu was also indispensable.. The following three examples. gleaned from historical records will be sufficient to prove this point. In the reign of Emperor Hsiian (r. 74-49 BCE), Wang Chiin was recommended to be an official.. His biography specifies that he had actually received instructions It was. from his father, the famous Wang Chi, in the Lun-yu and other Scriptures. this early scriptural knowledge that contributed to his later promotion.. 4. !. Pao. Hsien, an imperial tutor, had also mastered the Lun-yu and Odes before his intellectual competence was recognized and recommended to the post of. hsiao-lien. 42 Chou Hsieh (fl. 100-150 CE) was conversant with the Odes and Lun-yii when he was ten years old; some years later he also became an expert in the Rites and Changes. be a hsiao-lien. 43. Thanks to this scriptural knowledge, he was recommended to.

(12) 148 Journal of Humanities East/West. The Lun-yii was thus fundamental to one's qualification for government office. There are many other cases of recommendations of intellectually talented people to the hsiao-lien office that do not specifically mention this chuan scripture.. We are,. however, confident that it should be included because of its status as a common, fundamental text to the deeper scriptural learning.. This is why when Hsti Fang,. the unyielding advocate of chang-chu (literally "chapter and verse," designating hermeneutical methods and activities) learning and shih-fa (literally "master-rule,". indicating authority of one's teacher's commentary) tradition, suggested to Emperor Ho (r. 88-106 CE) that selection of the Confucian scholars to advanced government offices be based upon the Wu ching. be included.. As to the Lun-yu, he proposed, it should not. (cr. is 1. pie. bel. en,. rar co. th~. qu. The reason for this exclusion was that the Lun-yu was so universal. and fundamental that it shou Id be regarded as the basis of Confucian scholarsh ip; to include it in the examination would have been superfluous and redundant.. 44. su. thl. (r.. Parallel to the Lun-yu, the Hsiao ching was used as a basic text in the pedagogical agenda of the Han society.. Han rulers such as Emperor Chao (r.. 87-74 BCE), Emperor HsUan (r. 74-49 BCE), and Emperor YUan (r. 49-33 BCE) were well-versed in the Lun-yu in their childhood.. Because it was customary to. learn the R,iao ching along with or even before the Lun-yu, to be knowledgeable in the latter always presupposed proficiency in the former. 45. According to the. historical records, these emperors indeed mastered the Hsiao ching. 46. at. er. er H. Furthermore,. like the Lun-yii, the Hsiao ching was promoted and promulgated among the. III. households of the imperial consorts and the meritorious ministers for educating their young clan members.. This effort was most conspicuous in the reign of. Emperor Ming (r. 57-75 CE).47. SI. f. f;. Because the Hsiao ching conveys the message of hsiao, deciding whether one has mastered this scripture was based upon whether one was a child of filial piety. In other words, what was emphatically stressed about this scripture was its practical. dimension.. It is in this sense that the Hsiao ching or the practice of hsiao was. often taken as the criterion by which the Han rulers were evaluated.. Emperor. Ch'eng (r. 33-7 BCE), for example, in one of his edicts highly praises King Hsiao of Ch'u, his half brother, who was then bedridden.. He first quotes a sentence from. the "Sheng chih" (The Government of the Sages) of the Hsiao ching: "Of all. P E.

(13) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 149 the Lun-yu and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. Ice. ! to. (creatures with their different) natures produced by Heaven and Earth, human being is the noblest. Of all the actions of a human being there is none greater than filial. ire, on, .ng, ing Ie," :ror. piety." He then praises King Hsiao of Ch'u for having acted as a man of benevolence and filial reverence; this ethical virtue qualifies him to gain the 48 emperor's sympathy and reward. In a similar manner, when Ma Yen, a high ranking official in the reign of Emperor Kuang-wu (r. 25-57 CE), recommends his cousins as candidates for the heir apparent's consorts. In addition to portraying their fair appearances, he describes them as "filially pious, cautious, and gentle and quiet with good knowledge of propriety.,,49 This stress on the virtue of filial piety. lent not rsal I; to. was applied to the choice of imperial consorts and even to the decision of the successor to the throne. One of the reasons why the Marquis of Ch'ang-an, also the future Emperor An (r. 106-125 CE), could be chosen to succeed Emperor Shang (r. 106-106 CE) was his distinction in this virtue. 50. the (r. :E) . to. What is of more significance are the Han emperors' conscious and systematic attempts to popularize the Hsiao ching among the commoners. Their efforts enabled this Confucian scripture to be spread eventually throughout the whole Han empire. Primarily thanks to Wang Mang as mastermind, Emperor Ping (r. I BCE-6 CE) in 3 CE inaugurated a grand-scale educational program. He first. ~. in the ore, the ing of. Ine. :ty.. cal las. ror of. ). appointed supervisors for scriptural learning. In the larger political units like marquisates and counties, he assigned a master of the Wu ching to each of them; this master would also have been proficient in the Hsiao ching. In the minor units such as the districts and villages, he stationed a hsiao ching shih (master of the Hsiao ching) at every one of them. 51 This unprecedented project tremendously facilitated the on-going promulgation of this Confucian scripture. Because of this project, the demand for qualified Hsiao ching masters greatly increased. In 5 CE, Emperor P'ing summoned experienced scholars of the ancient scriptures, including the Wu ching, Lun-yu, and Hsiao ching, to the capital in the name of "broadening the tao-and-its art. ,,52 One of his practical intentions was evidently to recruit more qualified masters of the Hsiao ching to execute the aforementioned nation-wide program.. )m. all. Emperor P'ing's ambition to "broaden the tao-and-its-art" might have been temporarily interrupted immediately after the fall of Wang Mang, but the.

(14) 150. Journal of Humanities East/West. popularization project of the Hsiao ching was not seriously affected.. Emperor. Re,. Kuang-wu (r. 25-57 CE), himself a scholar, consciously promoted scriptural learning, expanding the po-shih posts to fourteen.. scriptun. His academic renovation. Han Dy. implied encouraging the learning of the Hsiao ching as the preparatory work. 53. chuan t venerat(. The next ruler, Emperor Ming (r. 57-75 CE), continued the agenda of scriptural learning and pushed the Hsiao ching to the acme of its popularity.. The Hou Han. inconte:. shu reports that he not only demanded that the imperial relatives and powerful aristocrats study this book but also obliged the palace guards to learn it by heart. 54. to be al doubt t. His continued effort of promotion created an unprecedented zeal for mastering this scripture.. from c(. Even the nomadic Hsiung-nu, who were considered by Han Chinese as. class. a~. extremely uncultured, admired the Hsiao ching and sent their young men to Han China to learn it!55. Fl. Positions for those who taught this scripture or the Hsiao ching Later the responsibilities of these masters, in addition to. govern. teaching, even extended to supervising the examination of scriptural learning in. expres:. 56 genera.I. increa~. shih were even instituted.. ~. these. were (. IV. were. resortf The textual transmissions of the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching in the pre-Ch'in period are not clear to us, but at least from the beginning of the Han Dynasty, they already enjoyed wide respect and popularity.. Similar to the major Confucian. Scriptures such as the Spring and Autumn Annals, Documents, and Odes, these 1\vo. chuan texts had their respective ku-wen (old text) and chin-wen (modern text). \. l. versions. 57 This means that textual disagreements might have caused scholarly debates.. The reason behind this historical fact could be attributed to their simplicity and clarity; perhaps this was the reason why there was no controversy over their slight textual variations.. It could also be due to the fact that no po-shih office was. established for either of them because of their chuan status, making it pointless to argue over setting up commentarial schools for them.. wide conve. 1 even. presci. In the on-going controversies over the problem of official recognition of. certain commentarial schools, however, these two small texts were never implicated.. author. l. filial whicl. Han I Hsim text ideol. Han.

(15) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of the Lun-yu and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. 151. ~ror. lral ion k.53. lral. fan rful 1.. 54. :his as. ~. lan. ing I to In. Reasons like those mentioned are still insufficient to account for the lofty scriptural status and continuous popularity of the Lun-yil and Hsiao ching in the Han Dynasty.. They are not able to answer the critical question that among many. chuan texts, why were these two but not others like the Mencius and, Lao Tzu venerated and popularized?. One may answer that it was because of the. incontestable, sacred name of Confucius that the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching, believed to be authentic words of the Master, enjoyed such a privilege. doubt that this was a. m~ior. factor.. There can be little. A more convincing answer, however, comes. from consideration of the pragmatic policy of the state with which the Han ruling class associated these two texts. Functionality, we should repeat and underscore, is the key behind the Han government's motivation to promote these two small scriptures. expressly contains the sayings of the Master.. The Lun-yil. To allude to this text definitely. increased the credibility and persuasiveness of the user.. Because of the fact that. these short, concise sayings originated in specific real-life situations and that they were collected and compiled without indicating these contexts, their applications were subject to multiple possibilities.. Han emperors and intellectuals alike. resorted to the Lun-yil very frequently on different occasions, citing it as source of. 'in. ey. in. authority to support their arguments.. Thus rich and comprehensive contents plus a. wide range of possible applications enabled the Lun-yii to become a highly convenient reference for many who were proficient in it.. va. 1). The Hsiao ching, on the other hand, also a collection of the Master's words, is. Iy. even shorter and simpler.. )f. prescribing the respective duties for people of different classes.. :d.. filial piety, the foundational virtue, it provided an overarching framework within. d. which each person in Han China oriented his behavior properly in the society.. It. Han rulers thus emphasized and expanded the concept of filial piety and utilized the. s. Hsiao ching for religious, political, and social purposes. That is to say, this small text was used fundamentally out of practical considerations; it served as the. J. The whole text is actually a programmatic blueprint, Centering upon The. ideological foundation for the Han empire, as well as the guideline of action for the Han people..

(16) 152 Journal ofHurnanities EastIWest. Because of the important functions these two texts practically assumed, both the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching were consciously promoted by the Han government. They were first employed as elementary textbooks in the pedagogical program thanks to the short, easy, and clear nature of their contents. Consequently, the educated; whether from the ruling lass or the populace, had to master them before they proceeded to learn the Wu ching. Aided by the need of the recommendation system by which the government selected the competent candidates to serve in officialdom, these two scriptures were furthermore popularized. We can safely conclude that the personality of the Han people and the ideological foundation of the Han empire were shaped by these two texts to an immeasurable degree. If the preceding observations are an appropriate description and evaluation of the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching, scriptures of the chuan type, in the Han Dynasty, we then proceed to explore their relationship to the Wu ching, scriptures of the most respected ching category. The J1i'u ching were too voluminous and profound as texts, therefore their accessibility was limited only to some learned scholars. The promotion of and emphasis on the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching, by contrast, provided the general public with easily accessible texts that were also part and parcel of the Confucian Scriptures. People of Han China believed that these two scriptures contained sacred words bequeathed by the "later sage," Confucius; therefore, like the Wu ching, they were embodiments of the invariable tao. If this were the case, to approach this tao by the easy Lun-yii and Hsiao ching would be just as valid as by the difficult Wu ching. The former were in this sense the simplification of the latter.. It was a common phenomenon for scholars in the Han Dynasty to concentrate upon one Confucian Scripture, such as the Spring and Autumn Annals or the Changes, in order to grasp the Wu Ching as a whole. This might be done out of frustration with textual difficulty, but it was also out of the genuine belief that one particular Scripture could represent all the rest of the Wu ching. 58 In this connection, the popularity of the Lun-yii and Hsiao Ching could be explained as following this epistemological outlook. Many Han people intended to employ. either These To ma: precon self-su. T]. most c teachir fol/oWi WUChl. why th. in the The It by the of the ching; not sue. U from tI their 0 intend Chines What I ching ~ Confu< words ching. T. in the value. to con.

(17) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 153 the Lun-yu and HSiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. )th nt.. either of these two texts to represent the entire corpus of Confucian Scriptures.. 1m. These two scriptures hence served to summarize as well as to unity the Wu ching.. :he )re. To master the former, as people of Han China were convinced, was not merely the. on. self-sufficient act.. in ~Iy. of. precondition of understanding the latter but was itself an independent and. The actualization of the tao embodied in the Confucian Scriptures had been the most crucial ideal and unceasing pursuit in Confucianism.. Applying the sages'. teachings to the concrete human world was the ultimate concern for the true I. followers of Confucian tradition.. The realization of those teachings written in the. of. Wu ching, however, was an extremely difficult, if not impossible, task.. we. why the sages left the world with their noble agenda unfulfilled and so, recording it. )5t. in the Scriptures, hoped that the later comers would reassume and actualize it.). (That was. The Lun-yu and Hsiao ching as foundational texts of the Han empire were utilized by the rulers to deal with practical issues in many aspects.. eir. nd. lie. As simplified versions. of the Wu Ching, they were more practical, functional, and popular than the Wu ching; this pragmatie dimension was what the Wu ching inherently aimed at but did not successfully achieve.. an. ed. Unlike those chuan commentaries that derived their scriptural significance. Vu. from the ching texts upon which they commented, the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching had. to )y. their own texts and advocated their independent messages.. 1e. Chinese intellectuals, including Confucius himself, with these two chuan texts. 59. Confucius did not. intend to replace the Wu ching, the utmost respected literary corpus for ancient What he rather wanted, as the Lun-yu tells us, was to transmit and expound these. te. le. )f. ching scriptures (7: 1). The unintended consequence was that later followers of the Confucian tradition, the Han rulers included, elevated and utilized the Master's words to such an extent that their functional importance surpassed that of the Wu ching.. Ie. is. Thus in the Han Dynasty, the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching were not simply chuan,. lS. in the sense that they explicated the Wu ching and thereby obtained their scriptural. y. value.. In actuality, they summarized the Wu ching, and as such they were thought. to convey the holistic vision embodied in these sacred Scriptures.. This feature.

(18) 154 Journal of Humanities East/West. qualitatively distinguished these two texts from other chuan commentaries, which branched off from rather than reintegrated the Wu ching. Now by way of the simple access which the Lun-yii and Hsiao ching provided, one was able to reach the ultimate tao not only theoretically but also practically. These two scriptures became ching (norm, principle, constancy) to which the people of Han China resorted faithfully. To study and master them was itself sufficient to realize the ideal bequeathed by the ancient sages. In the context of Han China, the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching were no longer fu-ching chih chuan (chuan texts attached to ching scriptures) but themselves scriptures in their own right.. popular involve owing 1 than th~. TI. scriptu highly chuan second and he into d appro,. v Liu Hsieh (c. 46617-538/9 CE), the first literary critic in Chinese history who systematically theorized about I:lncient texts, asserted that "the tao [had to] rely upon the sages to transmit its writings, whereas the sages [had to] rest upon the writings to manifest the tao." 60 Here he perspicaciously brought forth the tao, the. featun fails tl. F. of the As w. sages, and the ancient texts into the foreground when dealing with the scriptural phenomena and highlighted their organic relationships. These three, in a word, stood independently, but they claimed their respective significance only through the auxiliary role of the others. This trinary theory summarizes well what we have been discussing about the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching in the Han Dynasty. A deeper reflection, however, makes it clear that the tao, among the three, should occupy the leading position. It is the tao that the ancient texts intended to carry, and it is also the tao that the sages strove to realize. Whatever this tao might be construed and understood, it undoubtedly remained the ultimate concern in the minds of ancient Chinese. This tao, furthermore, was invariable, but it could be transmitted and expressed in various forms. What a scripture appeared to be seemed less important than what it actually was. As long as this scripture was deemed to contain the tao, it enjoyed a lofty position. That was why the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching were treated as effectively as the Wu ching. As Confucian scriptures, their. trajec Socia tende howe On tl secta the acco secu and cont. l. in a wer.

(19) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 155 the Lun-yii and HSiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. rJ. e. popularization did not diminish their sacrality and authority.. h s. involvement from the ruling class did not reduce their scriptural status.. owing to their popularity and practical function, they assumed more important role. a. than the dignified Wu ching in Han China.. e ii. g. o. v. ". Even political Rather,. The exposition above leads us to the understanding that to distinguish scriptures between the primary and the secondary and regard the former more highly than the later is subject to reevaluation. Our case study shows that the. chuan texts, traditionally treated as commentaries or simpler texts and hence secondary, may exceed the ching texts, commonly understood as original scriptures and hence primary, in popularity and importance. The classification of scriptures into different groups might be a convenient device by which one can better approach the complex scriptural corpora. Without looking into specific scriptural features manifested in a particular religion or cultural context, however, one easily 61 fails to do justice to the role or function a scripture actually assumes.. ~. Related to this prejudice toward scriptural grouping is the common assumption of the concept of the sacred versus the secular. This, too, requires our rethinking. As we saw, the popularization of the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching moved along the trajectory from the recondite ching genre to the more accessible chuan texts. Sociologically it proceeded from the elite to the less educated commoners. The tendency of reaching out to more people and taking deeper root in the society, however, did not discredit the sacred status of the Confucian scriptures as a whole. On the contrary, one rather sees the extension of the sacred texts into the wider sectors of the society. As the popularity of these two small chuan scriptures grew, the reverent feelings toward the tao, Confucius, and his writings increased accordingly. secularization.. Popularization of scriptures thus does not necessarily entail It may rather see the effect of sacralizing the secular.. The sacred. and the secular, at least in the Chinese case, do not appear contradictory but form a continuum that well covers the entire society.62 The popularization of the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching also has deep implications· in our modern context. If the tao was the ultimate concern which the scriptures were thought to embody and if diverse and simpler forms could be adopted for.

(20) 156 Journal of Humanities Easu'West. carrying this tao, there exist many possible literary expressions which one can use for scriptural education. Particularly in a world like ours that is characterized by instantaneousness and speediness, further simplification of scriptures for educational purposes seems necessary and inevitable. It is legitimate, of course, to ask to what extent can or should this scriptural simplification be allowed so that the major scriptural features such as sacrality, authority, and power would not be sacrificed. Answers will undoubtedly vary or even cause ceaseless controversies, yet in our modem, "de-scripturalized" world, this is a challenge that we cannot and should not avoid if we still take our religious or cultural heritage seriously. 63. fore. hist. seri. cor. sac. 5. . Wi. 6. . n. of. aT. Notes. Sl. C 1. . A group of scholars of religious studies have recently proposed to reevaluate the rich. el. meanings of "scripture" as a generic concept as well as a comparative category.. h. Their reinterpretation of this important religious theme or "human activity" deserves. l-. our serious attention.. s. See Wilfred C. Smith, "The True Meaning of Scripture: An. Empirical Historian's Nonreductionist Interpretation of the Qur'an," International. Journal of Middle East Studies II (1980), pp. 487-505; What b Scripture?. A. 7.. Comparative Approach (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993); Miriam Levering, ed., Rethinking Scripture: Essays from Comparative Perspective (Albany: SUNY Press, 1989); Frederick M. Denny and Rodney Taylor, eds., The Holy Book in Comparative. Perspective (Columbia: University of South Carolina, 1985).. I basically subscribe to. their proposal and, as the reader can detect from the following pages, join their conversations from the Confucian approach. 2. . 3. . Hugh Kerner, "The Making of the Modernist Canon," in Canons, ed. Robert von Hallberg (Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1984), p. 373.. 8.. William A. Graham, "Scripture" in The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Mricea Eliade. 9.. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987), vol. 13, p. 134; Beyond the. Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pp. 3-4. 4. . The translation of a scripture from its original language to another or many other.

(21) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 157 the Lun-yii and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. e. y. foreign languages is also a form of scriptural popularization, as one can witness in the. ,r. histories of Buddhist and Christian missionary activities.. o. scriptural translation also serves as a good example by which we may engage in a. e. comparative study of the original scripture and its translated work(s) with respect to. e. sacrality, power, authority, and function.. .,. This phenomenon of. 5. . William A. Graham, Beyond the Written Word, pp. 3-4, chs. 6-9.. 6. . The most popular term for the Wu ching before the Han Dynasty and in the early part. d of the Former Han as well was Liu i, which included, in addition to the five named ancient texts, the yiieh (Music).. This term appeared towards the end of the Warring. States Period (403 - 222 BCE) and grew into popularity in the early Han time; see Lu Chia (ca. 240-170 BCE), Hsin yii, in Chung-kuo ssu-hsiang ming-chu, Yang Chia-luo,. h. ed. 12 vols. (Taipei: Shih-chieh shu-chil, 1959), "Tao chi," p. 2.. t.. The yiieh text,. however, got lost during the process of its transmission before the Han time.. s. Although only five kinds of scriptural texts existed, the general appellation, £iu i, was. 1. still customarily retained.. 1 7. . This corpus collects various lexicons such as Hsiin-ts'uan and Ts'ang-chieh which deal with the six writing styles in ancient China.. Since the Confucian Scriptures have the. "Old Text" and "New Text" versions, besides containing many abstruse, archaic words, these lexicons are indispensable tools for Han scholars.. It was a usual practice for. children of Han China to learn these philological writings in their early school days; see Wang Hsien-ch'ien, Han shu pu-chu (Complementary Annotations on the History. of Former Han) (Taipei: I-wen yin-shu-kuan, 1956; rpt. of HsU-shou-t'ang edition, 1900), 30, pp. 22b-26b (hereafter abbreviated as HSPC); Pan Ku, Han shu (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chil, 1962), 30, pp. 1719-] 721 (hereafter abbreviated as HS).. 8. . HSPC, 30, pp. 27 a-b, HS, 30, p. 1723.. 9. . Chen Li, Po-hu t'ung shu cheng, in Chung-kuo tzu-hsiieh ming-chu chi-ch'eng, ed. Hsiao T'ien-chih, vol. 086 (Taipei: Chung-kuo tzu-hsUeh ming-chu chi-ch'eng pien-yin chi-chin-hui, 1980), 9 ("Wu ching"), pp. 26b-27a; I use Tjoe Som Tjan's translation with some stylistic modifications; see his Po Hu T'ung: The Comprehensive. Discussions in the White Tiger Hall, 2 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1949-52), vol. 2, p. 607..

(22) 158 Journal of Humanities EasUWest. 10. The juxtaposition of the Lun-yu and Hsiao Ching with the Wu Ching was henceforth followed by subsequent Confucian scholars.. 2:. For example, the "Ching-chi chih". (Treatise on Scriptures) of the Sui shu (History of the Sui Dynasty) produced in the. 15. Ir. seventh century, the most comprehensive piece of literature dealing with classical. (". texts after the "I-wen chih," adopts the "nine-scriptural scheme" set up in the Han shu,. ('. besides including one more category of wei shu (apocryphal texts); see Wei Cheng,. E. Sui shu (Peking: Chung-hua shu-eM, 1973), 32, pp. 903-951.. The Ching-tien. b. shih-wen by Lu Te-ming (556-627 CE), an influential work of philological exegesis of. 16. 1. the classical texts, also lists the Hsiao Ching and Lun-yu immediately after the Wu. a. Ching, a clear sign that they are together treated as belonging to the same Confucian. (. literary body; see "HsU lu" of this book (Peking: Chung-hua shu-eM, 1983), pp. 17.. 6a-7b. 11. HSPC, 81, p. 8b; HS, 81, p. 3343. 12. Wang Hsien-ch'ien, Hou-Han shu chi-chieh (Collected Annotations on the History of Later Han) (Taipei: I-wen yin-shu-kuan, 1956; rpt. of 1915 ed., Changsha), 35, p. 8b (hereafter abbreviated as HHSCC).. Fan Yeh, Hou Han shu (History of Later Han). (Peking: Chung-hua shu-eM, 1965), 35, p. 1203 (hereafter abbreviated as HHS). Huang Hui, Lun-heng chiao-shih (Taipei: Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan, 1983; rpt. of. 18.. Shang-wu edition, Changsha, 1938), 28 ("Cheng shuo"), pp. 1131-32; 12 ("Hsien tuan"), p. 560 (hereafter abbreviated as LHCS).. For a description of the written. communications in the Han time, one may refer to Michael Loewe, Records of han Administration, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967), vol. 1, pp. 19.. 25-47. 13. For instance, Liu Hsin in his accusatory letter to the national Academicians quotes the Lun-yu (19:22) by saying, "The Chuan says ... ;" HSPC, 36, pp. 34b-35a; HS, 36, p. 1971.. 20.. Empress dowager Teng, consort of Emperor Ho (r. 88-106 CE), in her remarks. about her intention to have the youngsters of imperial family instructed in Confucian Scriptures, also refers to the Lun-yu (17:22) by using "The Chuan says ... " formula; HHSCC, lOA, p. 21a; HHS, lOA, p. 428. 14. Such Ch'ing scholars as Juan YUan and Liu Kuang-fen are good examples; see Chen Tieh-fan, HSiao-ching hsueh yuan-liu k'ao (Taipei: Kuo-li pien-i kuan, 1986), pp.. 21.. (.

(23) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of the Lun-yu and Hsiao-chin/!: in the Han Dynasty. 159. )rth tih". the. 25-26; also Hiraoka Takeo, Keisho no seiritsu, (Tokyo: Sobunsha, 1983), pp. 21-23. 15. In most cases, when they alluded to this book, they simply said "Hsiao ching yileh". ical. ("The Hsiao ching says").. 'hu,. ("The Chuan says").. :ng,. Emperor Cheng (r. 33-7 BCE) quotes a passage from the chapter "Chu-hou" (Vassal). 'ien. by saying "Chuanyiieh;" HSPC, 84, p. 9b; HS, 84, p. 3423.. But on some rare occasions, they also used "Chuan yileh". For example. in his edict to his Chancellor Chai Feng-chin,. ; of. Wzl ian pp.. 16. The eminent scholar Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (1873-1929) has a short but incisive argument about this point; see his Ku-shu chen-wei chi-ch'i nien-tai, ed. Chou Chuan-ju et al (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chi.i), 1962. 17. Chao Ch'i (ca. 110-20 I CE) in his iHeng Tzu chu-shu reports that Emperor Wen (r. 180-157 BCE) once established the po-shih posts for the Lun-yiJ, Hsiao ching,. Mencius, and Er Ya, all texts of the chuan type.. No other historical documentations. of. can verify this piece of information.. 8b. positions might have existed only ephemerally.. rn). chu-shu, ed. Juan YUan, 8 vols. (Taipei: I-wen yin-shu-kuan, (985; rpt. of Nan-ch'ang. )j.. fu-hsUeh edition, 1815), p. 8a.. of. en. m In. p.. But if his report is credible, these official See his book, in Shih-san-ching. 18. This however, does not mean that these two chuan texts were not mentioned in the scholarly debates.. The "I-wen chih" actually lists a Lun-ya i-tsou (Discussions and. Proposals about the Lun-ya), a product of the Shih-ch'ii Council in 51 BCE; HSPC 30, p.20a; HS, 30, p. 1716. 19. P'i Hsi-jui, Ching-hsiieh Ii-shih, annotated by Chou Yii-t'ung (Taipei: I-wen. e. ).. s. yin-shu-kuan, 1974), pp. 27, 58-59. 20. Wang Li-ch'i. Hsin ya chiao-chu (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chii, 1987), A ("Tao chi"), p. 18.. Similarly, K'uang Heng's remark that the Lun-ya and Hsiao ching summarize. Confucius the sage's words and deeds and should be treated with respect is also another good evidence to support my point. 21. See Ch'ien Mu, "K'ung Tzu yii Ch'un-ch'iu," and "Liang Han po-shih chia-fa k'ao," all in his Liang Han ching-hsaeh chin-ku-wen p'ing-i (Taipei: Tung-ta t'u-shu, 197 [), pp. 182, 249; Liu Shih-p'ei, Kuo-hsaeh fa-wei, in Liu Shen-shu hsien-sheng i-shu, ed..

(24) 160 Journal of Humanities EasllWest. Cheng Yu-fu (Ningwu: Nan-shih, 1934-36), vol. 13, pp. 3a-b.. 22. HSPC, 30, pp. 19b-2Ia; HS, 30, pp. 1716-17. 23. HSPC, 30, pp. 2Ia-22b; HS, 30, pp. 1718-19. 24. Chang HsUeh-ch'eng (1738-1801) is a typical advocate of this view; see Wen-shih 29.. t'ung-i chiao-chu, 2 vols., (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chil, 1985), p. 94. 25. Kung Tzu-chen (1792-1841), for example, agrees to this opin\on; see Kung Tzu-chen. 30.. chuan-chi, 2 vols., collated by Wang P'ei-cheng (Shanghai: Chung-hua shu-chil, 1959), p.37.. 31.. 26. According to Li Hsien the commentator of the Hou Han shu, the Han kuan-i, a book. 32.. describing Han government offices and attributed to Ying Shao (fl. 165-ca. 204 CE),. 33.. stipulates that the Superintendent of Ceremonial was responsible for selecting from among the po-shih a dean to lead the imperial academy.. 34.. The qualifications of this. dean, among others, included comprehensive knowledge of the Changes, Documents,.. Lun-yu, and Hsiao ching; HHSCC, 33, pp. 5b-6a; HHS, 33, p. 1145.. 35.. The same. requirements seemed to have been applied to all the po-shih in the end of the Han. 36.. Dynasty; see Tu Yii (734-812 CE), T'ung TIen, 13 ("Hsiian-chu"), pp. 13a-b (Shanghai:. 37.. Ch'ien-ch'in t'ung shu-chii, rpt. of Che-chiang shu-chil, 1896 edition). 38.. 27. The Ssu-min yueh-ling (Monthly Instructions for the Populace) by Ts'ui Shih (fl. 39.. 141-170 CE), a collection of records about the monthly activities of the ordinary Han people, lists a curriculum schedule for scriptural learning.. It reads that children (at. the age of nine to fourteen) were supposed to enter the elementary school to learn. ')It. 40.. I. basic characters or words in the first month; while in the eleventh month, they should study the Lun-yu and Hsiao ching.. age) were taught the Wu ching at the high school.. It is thus evident that the Lun-yu. and the Hsiao ching as fundamental core courses were extremely popular in the Han Dynasty; see this book edited and annotated by Tang Hung-hsiieh, in Sui-shih hsi-su. tzu-liao hui-pien, 29 vols. (Taipei: I-wen yin-shu kuan, 1970, rpt. of I-Ian-t'ang tS'ung-shu edition, Chengtu, 1922), vol. I, pp. 2a, 14a, 15a. 28.. 41.. Only the young adults (fifteen to twenty years of. For an insightful discussion of this subject see Wang Kuo-wei, "Han Wei po-shih. ~. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46..

(25) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of the Lun-yii and Hsiao-ching in the Han Dynasty. 161. k'ao," pp. 156-164; Chien Ch'ao-Iiang, Lun-yii chi-chu pu-cheng shu-shu, in Chung-kuo hsiieh-shu ming-chu, cd.. Yang Chia-Iuo, 14th annotation, no. 3, vol. 2. (Taipei: Shih-chich shu-chil, 196 \, rpt. of tu-shu t'ang ed.), p. 36b; also Hsil Fu-kuan, Chung-kuo ching-hsueh-shih te chi-ch'u (Taipei: hsueh-sheng shu-chu, 1982), p. 188. ~hih. 29. Ssu-ma Ch'ien, Shih chi (History ofthe Grand Historian) (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chil, 1982), 96, p. 2688; HSPC, 73, pp. 5a, 8a; HS, pp. 2108,2113. 'hen. 159),. ook. 30. HHSCC, 36, pp. 6b-9a; HHS, 36, pp. 1226-27. 31.. HHSCC, 24, p. 23b; HHS, 24, p. 862.. "'7 .:>_.. HHSCC, 62, pp. la-8a; HHS, 62, pp. 2050-58.. ~E),. 'om. this ,ts,.. me. Ian. hai:. :f1. an. (at. m. 33. HSPC, 72, p. 8a; HS, 72, p. 3066. 34. HSPC, 81, pp. 11a-b; HS, 81, pp. 3347-48. 35. HHSCC, 798, p. 2a; HHS, 798, p. 2570. 36. HSPC, 75, pp. 4b-5a; HS, 75, P. 3159. 37. HSPC,81,p.14a;HS,81,p.3352. 38. HHSCC, 798, p. 12a; HHS, 798, pp. 2582-83. 39. HHSCC, 60A, p. 14a; 35, p. 14b; HHS, 60A, p. 1972; 35, p. 1212. 40. Huang Liu-chu, Ch'in Han shih-chin chih-tu. (Hsian: Hsi-pel ta-hsileh ch'u-pan-she, 1985), pp. 148-151.. Id. of ~U. 41. HSPC, 72, p. 8a; HS, 72, p. 3066. 42. HHSCC, 798, p. 2a; HHS, 798, p. 2570.. In. •u. 43. HHSCC, 53, p. 3a; HHS, 53, p. 1742 .. Ig. 44. HHSCC, 44, p. 5b; HHS, 44, pp. 1501-02. 45. Wang Kuo-wei, Han Wei po-shih k'ao. pp. 160-162.. h. 46. HSPC, 71, p. 4b; 8, p. 3a; 71, p. 4a; 78, p. 8b; HS, 7, p. 223; 8, p. 238; 71, p. 3039; 78, p.3282..

(26) 162 Journal of Humanities EastlWest. 47. HHSCC, 79A, pp. lb-2a; HHS, p. 2546.. of For the translation, I use Legge's with my. Ch. modification; see his The Hsiao King, in The Sacred Books of the East, ed. F. Max. 7b­. MUller (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1879), p. 476.. tha. 48. HSPC, 80, pp. 5a-b; HS, 80, p. 3319.. p. 49. HHSCC, lOA, pp. 7b-8a; HHS, lOA, p. 408.. Ch. wa. 50. HHSCC, 5, p. Ib; HHS, 5, p. 203.. on. 51. HSPC, 12, pp. 6b-7a; HS, 12, p. 355.. an,. 52. HSPC, 12, p. 9b; HS, 12, p. 359.. th( co. 53. HHSCC, 69A, pp. la-b; HHS, 69A, p. 2545.. yil 54. HHSCC, 69A, p. 2a; HHS, 69A, p. 2546. 59. Li. 55. Ibid. This remarkable enthusiasm for the Confucian Scriptures in general and the. cc. Hsiao ching in particular in Emperor Ming's time had great impact on subsequent Han. (0. scholars.. For example, when the zeal for Confucian scholarship declined in the reign. in. of Emperor Ho (r. 88-106 CE), Fan Chun, a Gentleman of the Secretariat, in his. th. memorial to the emperor recounts this particular, past glory in order to revitalize the. n4. old interest; see HHSCC, 32, pp. 5b-7b; HHS, pp. 1125-27; Martin 1. Powers aptly 60. L. calls the reign of Emperor Ming, particularly because of the emperor's stress on the Hsiao ching, a period of "classical revival;" see his Art and Political Expression in. 61. B. Early China (New Haven and London; Yale University Press, 1991), pp. 160-161.. Sl. 56. HHSCC, "Chih," 27, p. 9a ; HHS, "Chih," 27, p. 3614. 57. HSPC, 30, pp. 7a, 19b-22b; HS, 30, pp. 1706, 1716-19. 58. Many Han Confucians explicitly expressed this conviction in their writings.. For. instances, Han Ying, a po-shih in the reign of Emperor Wen (r. 180-157 BCE), affirmed that the "kuan chU" chapter of the Odes was" [the point] to which myriads of things were tied and upon which all the living depended for their lives;" Han-shih wai-chuan, annotated by Chou Yen-tsai (Shanghai: Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan, 1917), 5, p. lao Tung Chung-shu (c. 179-c. 104 BCE), a po-shih of Emperor Ching (r. 157-141 BCE) and the foremost scholar in Han China, singled out the Ch'un-ch'iu as the root. i. P. I. tl. l. t.

(27) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 163 the Lun-ytl and H~iao-ching in the Han Dynasty. of the "grand rightness" by which every human affair should be judged; Su Yu, my. Ch'un-ch'iu fan-Iu i-cheng (Peking: publisher unknown, 19 I 0), 5 ("Cheng kuan"), pp.. [ax. 7b-9a.. Ssu-ma Ch'ien the grand historian subscribed to Tung's opinion and asserted. that "the foundation of existence of myriads of things lay in the Ch'un-ch'iu;" SC. 130, p. 3297.. Pan Ku, author of the Han shu, however, in his "I-wen chih" made the. Changes precede the other Four Scriptures and conclusively remarked that the former was the later's source; HSPC, 30, p. 26b; HS, 30, p. 1723.. The Li chi (Commentary. on the Rites), a collection of expository writings on rituals and proprieties by anonymous pre-Han and Han scholars, rather regarded the Rites as the testament of the most important Confucian teachings in which all other sacred texts should converge; Li chi chu-shu, in Shih-san-ching chu-shu, ed. Juan Yuan (Taipei: I-wen yin-shu-kuan, 1985),50 ("Ching chieh"), pp. la-6a. 59. Liu Shih-p'ei (1884-1919) makes an interesting distinction between these two literary he. an ~n. is. le. corpora that deserve our attention.. He calls the Liu i or Wu ching "ju-chih-yeh". (occupation of the scholars), meaning that they are texts requiring all the scholars or intellectuals to read and practice.. And for the Lun-yu and the Hsiao ching, he names. them "shih-chih-yeh" (occupation of the Master), indicating that they are the Master's notes which explicate the recondite Wu ching; see his Kuo-hsuehfa-wei, p. 3a.. y. e. 60. Liu Hsieh, /iVen-hisn tlao-lung, I ( .. Yuan Tao ").. n. 61. Besides the case we are now investigating, another parallel example that can substantiate our present observation happened in the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 CE). Primarily owing to the effort ofChu Hsi, ( I 130-1200), the Ssu shu (Four Books), i.e. the Lun-yu, Mencius, Great Learning, and Doctrine ofthe Mean, formerly considered to be chuan texts or merely some chapters of a ching scripture, were elevated to the canonical status.. They eventually replaced the Wu ching and became the standard. texts by which all candidates for government offices had to learn by heart.. For a. detailed introduction to this intellectual and scriptural history, see Daniel K. Gardner, "Principle and Pedagogy: Chu Hsi and the Four Books," Harvard Journal of Asiatic. Studies, 44: 1 (June 1984), pp. 57-8 I; Chu Hsi and the Ta-hsueh.: Neo-Con/ucian Reflection on the Confucian Canon (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986)..

(28) 164. Journal of Humanities East/West. 62. That the western scholarly tradition tends to use "scripture" to refer to the Christian Bible and "classic" to designate the Graeco-Roman literary collection may not be applicable in the Chinese case.. As the Chinese do not hold the binary concept of the. sacred versus the secular, this distinction between classics and scripture fails to reflect the true nature of Confucian ancient texts.. Wilfred C. Smith's observation that "the. Confucian Classics have for many Chinese at many periods been received scripturally" confirms my argument and deserves our attention; see his What Is. Scripture?, p. 179.. See also William E. Paden, Religious Worlds: The Comparative. Study ofreligion (Boston: Beacon Press, 1988), p. 82. 63. There are two modern examples which suitably tell of the ongoing of scriptural simplification.. One is that some religious communities have adapted Confucian. scriptures for their particular religious purposes.. The I-kuan tao sect (The Way of. Pervading Unity), for instance, has done its commentary on the Great Learning and. Doctrine qf the Mean and turned the two chuan texts into an easier and more readable form for their followers.. Leaving aside the question of whether its exegetical. operation is divinely inspired, as this religious group has positively claimed, one clearly finds that its work is a further simplification of part of the Ssu shu; see Hsueh. rung ch'ien-}'en hsin-chu, annotated by Lil Tsu (Taipei: Cheng-i shan-shu ch'u-pan-she, n. d.). The other example is the cartoonist Chih-chung Tsai who popularized the. Chuang Tzu by making it into a comic.. Its effect is yet to be evaluated, but the fact. that such a dignified institute as Princetion University was willing to publish this comic book bespeaks the gradual recognition, on the part of traditional scholars, of the necessity of scriptural popularization; see Chih-chung Tsai, Zhuangzi Speaks: the. Music ofNature, tr. Brian Bruya (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).. I. f. *!!iJ..

(29) Scriptures and Their Popularization: The Case of 165 the LUIl·Yu and Hsiao·chillg in the Han Dynast). stian ,t be. i«< 1Ifl 1;4 it:M: IX 1;4 I V 'I L. :. ria: /' ..... IX.". ..... S. fthe fleet. ~~ i#! 1~ B"J rnu gffW ~ ~~ ~ ~tl. "the ived. Is. rt. ltive. ~. ~. 1- *. ural Gian. of. of. lit. and. •. Ible. ieal. one ueh. [jffil~~W$m~:tEr~{~1t!i~~Jt:~~8~ftMll. '. Jt:~1!1i*~8~~m1}jUl!:~. *::fl'iJf.j- , Jf::1iffJi:{~~m~!l:f~JR:@U~~::f~~;m~ll ::t3tmtH ' [jffilB~W 0. she,. ~*~3t~9~~,* ' ?~A3Z.gE~1L-TRPJt:('F~ , Wl:f~{ll*;:~ , '4~Z ~'*. the. r~Z*Jt¥t;::l§JJlftJJW::t/j \*~ij!;:lLJt:*~Z;~~~f~Hf31W ' Mz~JlftfF~~~. aet. Jt:1tMr~¥~' jF)at;ffr±fr§B~Z~~I~. his o. the. , i&fl:fujitlJJf ' ¥~~~~~ , ::f. ttZE~1i*~. ,rnrill!i1i*~. 'he. 0. , If:t-*~!filt<DPft*'~Z{~ , {f3Jf!::~~?~AJJJtr:f'J;J1~1ffiP*~ , ~~AA~ , ::t3t:tElf:tg2J:Dl'- , 0. 1'1 -=--Wr~b~~ --7il1i8!~?!I':~i3'T ~A"'liJiliI*~mnh3lft.'P, EIilW~+ .tt;~7 :r: ~m Y..A~~XP±tf¥~K-1f7G""l1Jtt{ii)JJJ ' amH'iCL.. '-T«fTtcJl~J S IX .... ,2f~~.JJ ' f!x'K-_LlJE:c.. mm~~Z@~::f&,Jt:~~ttwm~ttlli*~.&@~~~~. it. 0. ~lf:tt<D?ftJ;b~~[jffilB~fElri~;. , If:tJJWlj\*~~m~tt&m~1i*~ ,. @If:t~&1t, Ei-lAAOO~J;J~~s~~~~H~1*. ~m~:. •• ,••. * ~ 11:. iI.Lf; J\. '* 8t it ~ ~Ht tt. ,~.,.*,~~.. ' lEJf::1~~*~ti1!1$Mt8~.

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