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Art. XX.—The Late Appearance of Romances and Novels in the Literature of China; with the History of the Great Archer, Yang Yû-chî
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
It is well known that, as Mr. Wylie has said, “Works of Fiction par excellence are not admitted to form a part of the Chinese National Literature.” We look in vain for such books in the Catalogue of the Imperial Library. In the Supplements to the Ch'un Ch'iû of Confucius, especially in that of Tso Ch'iû-ming, we find many narratives full of stirring adventure, which have secured for him the title of “The Froissart of China.” But his Work belongs to the department of history, and the finest passages in it owe their interest to the ability of the author, whom the late Stanislas Julien used to denominate, in his letters to me, “Un grand écrivain.” In the works of Lieh-tsze, who could hardly be later than Tso Ch'iû-ming, and of Chwang-tsze, we have a good deal of Tâoist mythology and speculation; and, later on, Han Fei, Hwai-nan Tsze, Han Ying, Liû Hsiang, and others supply us with a multitude of incidents and anecdotes, with now and then an apologue, employed to point the moral of some classical passage or important statement of the authoritative writings of the Schools to which they severally belonged.
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References
page 799 note 1 Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 161.
page 799 note 2 Opinions differ as to the personality, the date, and even the name of Tso-shih. See what I have written on these points in the prolegomena to the Chinese Classics, vol. v. ch. i. sect. iv. It is well established that his work made its appearance very early in the Han dynasty (B.C. 206).
page 799 note 3 Mayers describes Lieh-Tsze as “a metaphysician whose period is assigned to the age immediately succeeding that of Confucius.”
page 799 note 4 Of the fourth century B.C. See my Introduction to the Texts of Taoism, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxxix. p. 5.
page 799 note 5 Died by his own hand in B.C. 236.
page 799 note 6 Or Liû An, King of Hwâi-nan: also died by his own hand in B.C. 123.
page 799 note 7 Of the second century B.C.
page 799 note 8 Of the first century B.C.
page 800 note 1 Of the fourth century B.C. He drowned himself on the fifth day of the fifth moon and his death is still commemorated on that day and month of every year.
page 800 note 2 
, Fû Yî had been in office under the Sûi dynasty, and was made grand historiographer by the founder of the T'ang. He died in A.D. 639.
page 800 note 3 
styled T'ûi-chih 
and known by his local name of Ch'ang-lî 
a.d. 768–824. He was canonized as Han Wân Kung 
“Han, Duke of Literature.”
page 801 note 1 
styled Tszr-hâu 
and known also as Liû Liû-châu 
from his banishment at a time of political disgrace to the charge of Liû-châu district.
page 801 note 2 
and 
with the local designation of Ch'ing-lien 
a.d. 699–762.
page 801 note 3 
designated Tsze-mei 
with the local designation of Tû-ling 
page 801 note 4 a.d. 841–846.
page 802 note 1 See my “Christianity in China,” pp. 48, 49.
page 802 note 2 Ch'ăng Hâo 
styled Po-shun 
and also Ming-tâo 
a.d. 1032–1085; and Ch'ăng Î 
styled Chăng-shû 
and also Ich'wan 
a.d. 1033–1107.
page 802 note 3 The father Sû Hsün 
styled Ming-ytm 
and also lâo-ch'wan 
1009–1066, with his two sons, Sû Shih 
styled Tsze-chan 
and Tung-p'o 
1036–1101; and Sû Chêh 
styled Tsze Yu 
and Ying-pin 
1039–1112.
page 802 note 4 
styled Chün-shih 
and also Sû-shûi 
1009–1086.
page 802 note 5 
styled Yüan-hui 
Chung-hûi 
and Hûi-an 
with several other literary designations or pseudonyms, and canonized as Wăn L'î 
“The highly Cultured,” 1130–1200.
page 803 note 2 
see Williams', “Middle Kingdom,” revised edition, vol. i. p. 677Google Scholar.
page 804 note 1 Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 161.
The sovereigns of the Yüan dynasty were of the Mongolian race.
When Kublai 
as he is called, the grandson of Jenghis, began in 1271 to feel himself secure on the throne of China, Liû Ping-chung 
one of his ministers, suggested to him to assume Yüan 
as the dynastic title of his rule, with reference to the signification of that term, = “first and greatest,” in the first sentence of the Yî-ching.
page 804 note 2 Jenghis (variously spelt) is taken from the Chinese attempt to give the title by which his vassals hailed the Mongol chieftain in 1206, after the successful conquests of his early career. The Chinese characters for it are 
“Ch'ăng Chî Shih,” which we may translate by “The Successful and Fortunate.” They cannot have been intended to give the sound of the Mongol name as nearly as Chinese characters could do; but were a new title, like the Yüan, adopted for the name of the dynasty.
page 804 note 3 Chin (Kin) was the dynastic title 
assumed by the Nü-chăn 
Tartar tribe, said to be ancestors of the present Man-châus, who held Pekin and a considerable part of the kingdom against the later Sung dynasty for about a century (1115–1234).
page 805 note 2 
The title is taken from the ode in the Shih king.
page 805 note 4 
Mr. Wylie describes this as “a tale with very little plot in it,” the author having seemingly exhausted his efforts in description, dialogue, and the figures of rhetoric generally.
page 805 note 5 
Written by Shih Nâi-an 
of the Yüan dynasty.
page 806 note 3 Under B.C. 614, the entry is 
page 807 note 1 Under this year is the entry 
page 807 note 2 In B.C. 878.
page 807 note 3 “Defiantly,” the King of Châu having refused in 706 to sanction the assumption of the title.
page 807 note 4 The entry, under 606, is 
page 808 note 1 The name of the capital of Ch'û from the time of king Wû; a little way north from the present departmental city of Ching-châu in Hû-pei.
page 808 note 2 The Tâus 
were a numerous and distinguished clan in Ch'û, and many members of it had been eminent in their service of the State; no one more so than the minister of king Ch'ăng (B.C. 671–625), who has come down to us with the designation of Tsze-Wan 
The story of his birth reminds us of the legend of Romulus and Remus. His grandfather, Tâu Zo-âo 
had married a daughter of the Count of Yün, and died after she had born a son named Po-pî 
The daughter of Yün then returned with her child to her native State, and the boy grew up in the palace of his maternal uncle, becoming a great favourite with his wife, who loved him, we are told, as if he had been her own son. She had a daughter, and the two children grew up together in great intimacy. Even when grown up, they were allowed to meet, and the result was that the princess became with child. Then, indeed, the mother was enraged; but not wishing to let her daughter's shame be known, she confined her to an apartment, and gave out that she was ill. Ere long a boy was born, and Po-pî went back in disgrace to Ch'û. Without telling her husband what had happened, the Countess of Yün wrapped the infant in a mat, and caused it to be thrown away in the marsh of Măng, probably in the present department of Yo-châu. It happened that the count, soon after, was hunting near the marsh, and saw a tigress crouching at a certain spot, which kept her place, notwithstanding several arrows discharged at her. It turned out that the tigress was watching over and suckling an infant, and the count hastened home and told his wife of the prodigy. “It must be the child,” she said, “whom I caused to be thrown away.” And she thereupon related the whole story of their daughter, urging, from ancient instances, that the infant, whose life had been so wonderfully preserved, was sure to, prove a great and good man. It was accordingly brought home to its mother, who was forgiven, and sent to Ch'û to be regularly married to Tâu Po-pî. The boy grew up and fulfilled his grandmother's hope, becoming, in course of time, the famous minister Tsze-wăn. In his earlier years he was called Tâu Ku yū-t'u 
or Tâu Tiger-suckled; Kû, in the common speech of Ch'û, having the meaning of “to suckle,” and Yû-t'û being the name for “a tiger.” The people of Ch'û had a different language from their northern conquerers. Other names in the records of the State, such as Zo-âo, which we now receive simply as names, might, no doubt, be similarly explained if we had the necessary information about them.
page 819 note 1 This would probably be a refugee prince from Ch'û.