INTRODUCTION original: PROLEGOMENA

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CHAPTER I.

ABOUT THE WORKS OF MENCIUS.

SECTION I.

THEIR RECOGNITION DURING AND BEFORE THE HAN DYNASTY.

1. In the third catalogue of Liu Xin original: Lew Hin,¹ which contains a list of the "Summary of the Various Masters" original: 諸子略, Zhūzǐ Lüè² collected up to his time (around 1 AD), and in the first subdivision dedicated to authors of the classical or orthodox school, there is an entry: "The Works of Mencius, in eleven books."³ At that date, therefore, Mencius's writings were known and recorded as a part of the literature of China.

2. A century before Liu Xin, we have the testimony of the historian Sima Qian original: Sze-ma Ts'een. In the seventy-fourth book of his Historical Records⁴, there is a brief biography of Mencius, where he says that the philosopher, having retired into private life,

"with his disciples, Wan Chang and others, edited the Classic of Poetry and the Book of Documents original: She and the Shoo, explained the views of Confucius, and wrote 'The Works of Mencius, in seven books.'"⁵

The discrepancy that appears between these testimonies regarding the number of books that went by the common name of Mencius will be considered in the following sections. In the meantime, it is shown that the writings of Mencius were recognized by scholars a—

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¹ See Volume I, introduction, pages 4, 5.
² Summary of the Various Masters original: 諸子略.
³ Mencius in eleven books original: 孟子十一篇.
⁴ Historical Records, Book 74, Biographies, Number 14 original: 史記 七十四, 列傳, 第十四.
⁵ Together with Wan Chang and his followers, he edited the Poetry and Documents, expressed the intentions of Confucius, and composed Mencius in seven books original: 與萬章之徒, 序詩書, 述仲尼 之意, 作孟子七篇.