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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
In support of the theory set forth in the pages of this Journal (Part III. 1890, Art. IX.) that the Chinese classics, supposed to have been brought to light again towards the close of the second century b.c., were probably forged at that time, it would be advisable to give a literal translation of the first few chapters of the Historical Records by the great historian Ssŭma Ch'ien, written circâ b.c. 91. The introductory chapter is by Ssŭma Chêng (the ‘Lesser Ssŭma’), who lived a.d. 720, and made the Records the study of his lifetime. It is usually printed with the Records, and forms an integral part of it.
page 269 note 1 In other legends contained in the Lushih of Lopi, Fuhsi (by which name this worthy is best known) is said to have been born after a gestation of twelve years, and he is also said to have become king when he was twelve years old. We see also below that he reigned eleven years. Of course the historian had the planet Jupiter in his mind when he invented this fabulous Emperor. The expression ‘succeeded Heaven as King,’ becomes more intelligible after reference to the late Canon McClatchie's remarks in the Appendix to his translation of the Yi King (pp. 407–411), where he points out that “the full title of the highest deity known to the Chinese is ‘luminous Heaven, the Supreme Emperor,’ who is worshipped in Peking under his triplication, ‘Heaven, Earth, and Man,’ which three are but one Ch'i, or Air, whose title is ‘Shangti or the Supreme Monad.’ This deity is sacrificed to under the title T'ai hao or Fuhsi. Fuhsi, in his human character is the son of Chien, or Heaven, while in his deified character he is Heaven himself.” It is plain that there was a confusion between the father and son in this worship (which he maintains was nothing but a phase of phallic worship), though he ‘is in reality the same person viewed under a somewhat different aspect’ (Faber, Orig. Idol. p. 22). “The great monad is declared to be both male and female, and the great father and mother of all things. Chien, or Heaven, being the head of a gigantic deity, we have a clear connection established between the Shangti of Confucius, and the Bel of ancient Babylon, who ‘was the recognized head of the Babylonian pantheon,’ and therefore properly identified by the Greeks with their Zeus or Jupiter” (Rawlinson, Herod, i. p. 246). In the Zendavesta (Yaçna, i. 34) Ahuramazda signified the planet Jupiter, who presided over six subordinate genii, five of whom were the same as the five Chinese elements. The planet was called the year-star from the analogy of the twelve lunar revolutions of the year, Jupiter revolving round the sun in eleven years and 318 days, or nearly twelve years. It is noticeable that Fuhsi is stated to have had a ‘serpent's body,’ as showing the acquaintance of the historian with Hindoo chronology. Fergusson (Chinese Researches, p. 247) gives a comparative table of the Hindoo Nakshattras with their assignment to the twelve Hindoo months in the order as stated in Burgess' Translation of the Surya Siddhanta; and the twelve Chinese animal cycle names derived from the Hsü or lunar mansions in the order as stated by Perny. He observes that the Hindoos omitted the twenty-second of the Nakshattras in the order of twenty-eight, when they reduced the number by one, and the Chinese system is reckoned with only twentyseven Hsü, or the fourteenth Hsü is here omitted to make the parallel between it and the Hindoo system. The chief point insisted on here to illustrate the comparison, is, that as the first Hindoo month Karttika represents Jupiter, and the first Chinese che and the first name of the twelve animal cycle represent the serpent and Jupiter also, the serpent is assigned the first place in the Chinese series, which has been assigned by the Hindoos to Karttika. This would almost identify Karttika with Shêtiko, which is the first name of Ssŭma Ch'ien's cycle. The serpent again was a phallic symbol. Cox (Myth, of Aryan Nations) says the symbol of the phallus suggested the form of the serpent, which thus became the symbol of life and healing, so that this is the key to both tree and serpent worship. The latter worship began among the Ethiopians, and spread to the Egyptians and Akkadians, who, it has been proved, were the ancestors of the Chinese. India was a great country for the worship of Nagas, a class of serpent demons, having human faces with serpent-like lower extremities, who lived in one of the lower regions below the earth called Patala. This description very closely resembles that given by our historian of Fuhsi. When Buddhism was introduced into Ceylon and Burma, it was grafted on serpent and Naga worship, with which, as well as with the worship of numerous Hindu gods, it continues to be adulterated in the present day. The fifth day of the moon in Sawan is a great fête in Nagpur, where pictures of snakes in all positions are sold as valentines (Williams' Buddhism, 220). Looking at the serpent under a different aspect, we find that Brown, in his ‘Great Dionysiak Myth,’ says that the serpent had six principal points of connection with Dionysos, one of which was connected with fertilizing moisture. Nature-worship is a prominent feature in all eastern religions, and we can understand that when the thunderbolt of Indra flashed, and the annual return of the rains brought life to the parched earth, the primitive Hindus were overwhelmed with joy and thanksgiving. Turning to Chinese authors we find that, according to the Yi King, the symbol Chên 
(thunder), corresponding to the third of the four primary developments of the creative influence, is synonymous with lung, a serpent-like monster, and, in conformity with this dictum, the powers and functions of nature governed by the forces thus indicated, such as the East, spring, etc., are ranked under the symbol ch'ing lung (azure dragon), which also designates the eastern quadrant of the uranosphere. The Shuowên dictionary (a.d. 200) states that of the 360 species of scaly reptiles, the dragon is the chief; it wields the power of transformation, and the gift of rendering itself visible or invisible at pleasure. In the spring it ascends to the skies, and in autumn it buries itself in the watery depths. The watery principle of the atmosphere is pre-eminently associated with the lung. The dragon, as chief among the beings divinely constituted is also peculiarly symbolical of all that pertains to the Emperor, whose throne is entitled the dragon-seat, and whose face is described as the dragon-countenance (Mayers' Manual, i. 451). Now the first of the seven constellations of the Eastern quadrant, named the Horn (α and ζ of Virgo) on the head of the azure dragon is said to be ‘the chief of the productive energies of spring.’ According to another Chinese author ‘the horn constellation is the head of the azure dragon. When it appears the birds and beasts shoot out their horns, and the plants break from their coverings. It is the lord of the metamorphoses of creation.’ In the first month of spring—February—according to the Book of Rites, plants and trees shoot out their buds. The dragon was said to cover itself in the mud in the autumnal equinox, and to awake in spring; thus announcing by its awakening the return of nature's energies, it became naturally the symbol of the productive force of moisture, that is of spring, when by means of genial rains and storms all nature renewed itself (Schlegel, Uran. Chin. p. 53).
page 271 note 1 With this ‘footprint of a giant’ we must compare the honour paid to the sacred S'ripâda, or footprint of Buddha in India, Siam, Burmah, etc., and the passage would show how imbued the historian is with Buddhist sentiments. We find similar miraculous conceptions throughout the Classics, e.g. the ancestress of the Chow dynasty conceived after treading in the toe-print of a god (l.c. iv. p. 465). Mr. Clement Allen says that the ode in which this story is related is ‘the only one in the whole classic of poetry which he can acknowledge to be a solar myth,’ although he is not sure that Houchi, whose birth is here described, had a real existence.
page 271 note 2 See note on p. 269.
page 271 note 3 Here follows a quotation from part 2, chapter 2 of book iii. of the Book of Changes, called ‘Confucius' Commentary.’
page 271 note 4 The eight Trigrams, said to have been developed by Fuhsi from a drawing or plan revealed to him on the back of a dragon-horse, are specially referred to in the Book of Changes, and are named as follows: Heaven, or male principle; thunder; water; mountains; earth, or female principle; wind; fire; and dew, or watery exhalations. These eight are reducible to two, the male and female principles, and they again to an ultimate unity or Supreme God. A ceaseless process of revolution is held to be at work, in the course of which the various elements or properties of nature, indicated by the diagrams, mutually extinguish and give birth to one another, thus producing the phenomena of existence (Mayers' Manual, ii. p. 241). I cannot help suspecting that the original drawing was a representation of the Linga, and when we read in the commentary of Confucius “that the River gave forth the plan, and the Lo gave forth the scroll,” we must understand that the delineation of the object in question was first seen in the Lo country, brought there, doubtless, from India, where its worship is so prevalent.
page 272 note 1 Knotted cords were used for recording events among the Peruvians and other branches of the Accadian stock. The chiefs of the ancient Tungus gave warrant to their commands by means of carved sticks, and the Man tribes in China are said to have used them in making agreements (Watters' Essays, p. 120).
page 272 note 2 The five planets with their corresponding elements, etc., which revolve in rotation, each dynasty being supposed to be under the influence of one or the other, are as follows:
The worship of the sun, moon, and planets was, doubtless, brought from Chaldæa, where, according to Sir H. Rawlinson, the temple of the seven spheres, built about 1100 B.C., was dedicated to the seven planets, and coloured with the colours attributed to them by the Sabæan astrologers, but which are not the same colours as those ascribed to them by the Chinese (Chalmers' Origin of the Chinese, p. 24).
page 272 note 3 Mount T'ai, to the north of the town of T'aian in Shantung province, has the epithet of ‘honorable’ attached to it, being the most famous of the mountains of China, and burnt sacrifices are offered at the T'ai altar to Heaven by the Emperor of China in the second month of every year. Hills were frequently chosen for adoration in sun worship as being nearer to the deity, and so in China the Emperor goes to the East, that being the quarter whence everything is said to originate, as Ssŭma piao says. It would be interesting to trace what the first ceremony of the ‘fêng’ was, for, of course, this one is not really historical. “In the 3rd month of the Yuanfêng year (110 b.c.) the Emperor ordained that a stone should be set up on Mount T'ai, and that (a libation) should be poured out. In the 4th month of the year, His Majesty went to Mount Liangfu, and offered sacrifice to the lord of the soil. On the day I mao he ordered the literary men, and the fur-cap-wearing gentry among his attendants, to kill a ball by shooting it with arrows. He then performed the fêng ceremony on Mount T'ai, at the foot of the hill to the East, following the ceremonial styled kiao, in honour of the great Unity. He set up a fêng monument twelve feet wide and nine feet high, and below it were lodged the royal genealogical tablets covered with secret writing. The ceremony being over, the Son of Heaven, accompanied solely by the young prince who assisted him in mounting his chariot, ascended Mount T'ai, and again performed the ceremony of the fêng, the view thereof being interdicted to all. The next day he descended by the shady path. On the ping chên day he performed the shan ceremony on Mount Sujan, at the foot of Mount T'ai on the north-east side, the observances being similar to those performed on sacrificing to Queen Earth. The Son of Heaven on all occasions personally prostrated himself before the altar, his vestments being yellow, and music being always played. … It was officially stated that inasmuch as the previous period (beginning 116 b.c.) was styled ‘original tripod’ in consequence of a valuable tripod having been exhumed, so this year should bear the style ‘original fêng monument.’” The primitive form fo the character ‘fêng’ represented the ‘top of a trident above the soil,’ and its first meaning seems to have been to heap up earth for an altar (Legge's CI. III. ii. 1, 10). It also signifies a fief, or territory over which a prince is lord; great; wealthy; to seal up; a title of nobility. The shan ceremony was often performed at the same time as that of the fêng. Shan, according to the T'ung chien Kang mu, means to clear away the earth and sacrifice, or to level ground for an altar (cf. l. c. III. v. 6, 4). From the foregoing it seems certain that the fêng ceremony was the erection of a stone in the shape of the phallus, while shan meant to hollow out earth in the shape of the yoni.
page 273 note 1 Hsüchü and Ch'uan yu were names of towns in Shantung province, the former being an old name for Tungpingchow, and the latter being a name for Mêngyin, a district town in Yichow department (Playfair's Cities, 7717; 4859).
page 274 note 1 Ch'uyung, also called Ch'ungli, was the god of Fire (Mayers' Manual, i. 87, 121).
page 274 note 2 ‘Cutting off the feet of a tortoise to set up the four corners of the earth’ is something like the Hindoo notion of the world being supported on the back of an elephant standing on a tortoise. One of Vishnu's incarnations was the tortoise, whose back formed a pivot for Mount Mandara (William's Hinduism, p. 105).
page 274 note 3 Fire and ox were both representatives of the male energy. The Greeks made their Taurine Bacchus, or bull with a human face, to express both sexes (Knight's Worship of Priapus, p. 34). The Chinese Yang and Yin theory is the exact counterpart of the doctrine of the Magi with their principles of good and evil, the former represented by light and the latter by darkness. The sect of the Magians was revived by Zoroaster in about the thirty-sixth year of Darius, and he introduced one supreme god who created both first causes, and out of these everything else. He also directed worship, first to the sun as the most perfect fire, and then to their sacred fires (Fishes, Flowers, and Fire-worship, p. 96).
page 274 note 4 The following few lines are a quotation from ‘Confucius’ Commentary to the Yi King' as it is called.
page 275 note 1 Binding trees with garlands is part of the old tree-worship, the tree being also a phallic emblem. Our May-day is similar to the festival of Bhavani, celebrated by the Hindoos, who erect a pole, adorn it with garlands, and then worship the powers of nature. Sir W. Ouseley says 'as votive offerings, or as tokens of veneration, wreaths, fillets, and chaplets or garlands were often suspended from the sacred branches. … Statius records a vow, promising that a hundred virgins of Calydon, who ministered at the altars, should fasten to the consecrated tree, chaplets, white and purple interwoven (Cultus Arborum, p. 30).
page 276 note 1 Fergusson (op. cit.) points out that the nine brothers, sovereigns of man, closely resemble the nine sons of the Indian sovereign, Acnydrouven, who reigned each over one portion of the nine regions into which the earth was divided.
page 276 note 2 Huntun and Yuch'ao are names for the years b.c. 93 and 101 respectively (l.c. iii. proleg. iii. app.).
page 276 note 3 The other names after Wuhuai are said to be Fuhsi, Shênnung, the Fire Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, Ch'uanhsü, Tiku, Yao, Shun, Yü, T'ang, and Ch'êng, son of King Wu and nephew of Chowkung. Kuan Iwu, or Kuanchung, is stated to have been minister of Ch'i 685 b.c. (Mayer's Manual, 293). Dr. Edkins says that the myth of these seventy-two emperors was invented for the purpose of flattering the Emperor Ch'in Shĭ huang and glorifying the T'ai mountain. He says that religious romance began about b.c. 400 (cf. China Review, xiii. p. 407).
page 277 note 1 The capture of the Lin or Ch'ilin, which has been identified with the giraffe, is said to have happened two years before Confucius died.
page 277 note 2 If the principle of the Babylonian antediluvian period be identified as Mr. Oppert states with the Scripture period of 1656 years, owing to their analogous division by 72, the period of 3,276,000 years is similarly connected with the chronology of the ten antediluvian patriarchs of the Bible by it being also divisible by 72—3,276,000 ÷ 72=45,500 (Fergusson, , op. cit. p. 86)Google Scholar.
page 278 note 1 In the annals of the Bamboo books we find these further details about this fabulous monarch, viz., that Huangti's mother Fupao saw a great flash of lightning surrounding the star Chu (α Dubhe) of the great bear constellation, whereupon she became pregnant, and gave birth to Huangti after twenty-four months gestation at the hillock of Shou (Shantung province). He was called prince of Yuhsiung state, and the second son of the prince of Shaotien. The term Yuhsiung is frequently used by the historian to designate a country as well as a personage, e.g. the records of King Wên, of the Chou dynasty, and the state of Ch'u records. M. Lacouperie gives 2332 b.c. as the rectified date of the first year of Huangti, the ordinary date according to the common scheme being 2697, while 2388 b.c. is the date in the Bamboo annals. In the Tsoch'uan this Emperor is also given the name of Hung The Yuhsiung state is, according to a commentator, Hsinchêng district in the prefecture of K'aifêng, Honan province. For remarks on the names Shaotien, and Hsienyüan, vide my article entitled ‘Chinese Antiquity’ in Vol. XXII. for 1890 of this JournalGoogle Scholar.
page 278 note 2 According to Huangfumi it was not Shênnung himself, who is here referred to, but his descendant Yuwang. Under the usual chronological scheme Shênnung reigned from b.c. 2737 to 2698.
page 278 note 3 Ch'ihyu is, according to a collection of legends, said to have been the chief of a band of eighty-one brothers, who had bodies of beasts with foreheads of iron, spoke like men, ate dust, made weapons of war, and oppressed the people; so Huangti ordered Yinglung to attack Ch'ihyu, who calling on the chief of the winds and the master of the rain for aid, a great storm arose. Huangti then sent the daughter of heaven, Pa (god of drought), to check the great rain caused by the enemy, and Ch'ihyu was taken and slain at Cholu, now Pao-anchow.
page 279 note 1 Ball hill is on the south-east coast of Shantung, near the old town of Langye.
page 279 note 2 ‘Hollow cave’ is said to have been the name of a hill in Kansu province, where Huangti studied philosophy from a supernatural being called Kuangchêngtzŭ, the essence of his teaching being as follows: “See nothing, hear nothing, let your spirit be wrapped in contemplation, and your body will assume its right form. Attain absolute repose and absolute purity, do not weary yourself, nor injure your vital powers, and you will live for ever. If the eye becomes incapable of seeing, the ear of hearing, and the mind of thinking, the body will never die. Ponder on inward thoughts and shut out external influences, for much learning is a curse.” These are, of course, simply Buddhist doctrines.
page 279 note 3 We are reminded of three historical events, which must have been present to Ssŭma's mind when he wrote this account, viz. the discovery of a large tripod in the year b.c. 113, the inauguration of the fêng and shan sacrifices iu the year b.c. 110, and the adjustment of the calendar b.c. 104. The first two were considered to be of sufficient importance to justify the six-year periods, ‘Original tripod’ period, and ‘Original fêng’ altar period to be named after them respectively. It is noticeable that the historian makes every one of the ‘Five gods’ busy himself in framing a calendar, a work on which the historian was himself engaged in the year b.c. 104.
page 280 note 1 A native commentator observes “The beyond sea classic says ‘In the Eastern sea there is an island called Tuso, on which there grows a large peach tree which twists and coils about for 3000 li. To the north-east there is a door called the spirit-door, where the myriad spirits dwell. The god of heaven sends a holy being called Yülei, who keeps these spirits in check, and if any of them work harm to men, they are bound with reed withes, shot with arrows made from the peach-tree, and thrown to the tigers who eat them.’”
page 282 note 1 Here follows the whole of the first chapter of the Book of History, called ‘Canon of Yao,’ with the exception of the first paragraph, and a few words at the end. It is not quoted word for word, however, simpler words being occasionally employed, the meaning being retained. Dr. Legge translates the opening passage thus (l. c. III. 17): “He was able to make the able and virtuous distinguished, and thence proceeded to the love of the nine classes of his kindred, who all became harmonious. He also regulated and polished the people of his domain, who all became brightly intelligent. Finally, he united and harmonized the myriad states of the empire.” In the great learning, however (Comm. i. 4), Dr. Legge translates: “He was able to make illustrious his lofty virtue;” and this we are told in the same classic is to be carried out by the following process: (1) investigation of things, (2) completion of knowledge, (3) making the thoughts sincere, (4) rectification of the heart, (5) self-cultivation, (6) regulation of the family, (7) ordering the state, and (8) tranquillization of the empire.
page 283 note 1 Tanchu means red cinnabar, which was the basis of the mystical compounds by which the alchemists of our historian's days pretended to be able to produce gold, and confer the gift of immortality.
page 284 note 1 Here follows the second chapter of the Book of History, styled ‘Canon of Shun,’ quoted in its entirety, except the first paragraph. A few sentences are interspersed here and there, which have the effect of bringing out the meaning.
page 284 note 2 A sentence interpolated from Mencius V. i. iv. 1.
page 285 note 1 It is doubtful who the six honoured ones are. Some commentators maintain that they are the seasons, cold and heat, the sun, the moon, the stars, and drought.
page 286 note 1 A few sentences, which are almost a repetition of the ohservations about the superintendent of works and Kun as controller of the flood, are here interpolated.
page 286 note 2 An interpolated sentence. Dr. Légge (l. c. III. p. 40) says: “It seems to me that every unprejudiced reader of the classic must understand this as meaning twenty-eight years, reckoning from Shun's accession to the administration of affairs, mentioned page 4, so that Yao's death would occur in the hundredth year of his reign, b.c. 2257. The matter is complicated, however, by what is related in the Historical Records, that Yao, getting Shun in the seventieth year of his reign, employed him for twenty years, and only then resigned to him the administration, dying himself eight years after. This account would make Yao's reign extend over ninety-eight years. The conclusion we draw from the classic is all against this view.” The commentators are at variance on the point. Huang Fumi, a celebrated scholar, who lived 215–218 a.d., says that Yao reigned alone ninety years, and was “associated with Shun in the government” twenty-eight years longer. Some of the interpolated sentences are similar to sentences found in Mencius V.
page 287 note 1 The foregoing seven lines are also from Mencius V. i. v. 7.
page 287 note 2 This descent of Shun is puzzling, for it would make Shun's great-great-grandfather Yao's contemporary, although Shun married Yao's two daughters. This is an instance of the carelessness of which the historian is frequently guilty. The name of Shun's great-grandfather, Chümang, suggests 
the genius of spring, one of the five spiritual beings who correspond to the five points, although the name is not written with the same characters (Mayers' Manual, ii. 165).
page 289 note 1 These various attempts of the relations of Shun to kill him, and their after behaviour, are also related, although in slightly different language, in Mencius V. i. II. 3.
page 289 note 2 Here follows a long extract from the Tsoch'uan (vi. 18. 9). The Emperor Shaohao, although mentioned here, is not included in the historian's chronological scheme. He is generally placed between Huangti and Ch'uanhsü (b.c. 2597–2514). After the extract a few sentences are repeated, and the ‘Canon of Shun’ quotation is then concluded, except the last few words.
page 293 note 1 References to passages in ‘Tribute of Yü’ (l. c. III. pp. 147, 127).
page 293 note 2 Reference to a passage in ‘Yi and Tseih’ (l. c. III. 88).
page 293 note 3 Reference to a passage in ‘Counsels of the Great Yü’ (l. c. III. 66).
page 294 note 1 In the historian's observation which concludes the chapter, we find a remark to the effect that all the old men he met in his travels spoke to him about Huangti, Yao, and Shun, mentioning where they lived, etc. Most sinologists of the present day are agreed in stating that these worthies were not historical characters, and so if they were emanations from Ssŭma's own brain, he probably tried to persuade the old men that they really did exist, which would account for their repeatedly referring to them. At any rate, one cannot help suspecting that the historian did invent these characters, and also that he is the author of parts of the Book of Mencius.