The Confucian Analects

As the Board of Great Scholars term: Boshi, or "Doctors of Erudition," who served as official imperial consultants in charge of the Five Classics original: Five King was established in 135 BCE, we may suppose that the previous arrangement—which included Mencius—hardly lasted half a century. The fact that it did exist for a time, however, shows the value placed upon the writings of Mencius. It confirms the point I have tried to establish in this section: that the works of Mencius were in circulation in China before the Han dynasty and were eagerly recognized and cherished by the scholars under that dynasty, who were responsible for collecting the ancient literary productions of their country.

SECTION II.

original: CHAOU K'E AND HIS LABOURS UPON MENCIUS

1. It has been shown that the works of Mencius were sufficiently well known from nearly the beginning of the Han dynasty; however, the more distinguished scholars of that era do not seem to have devoted themselves to studying or explaining them. The primary classics claimed their first attention. There was much work to be done in collecting and organizing the fragments of those older texts, and to reveal their meaning was the chief duty of anyone who felt equal to the task. Mencius was seen as just one of the many learned men original: literati, a scholar like themselves. He could wait. We must move forward to the second century of the Christian era to find the first commentary on his writings.

In the preliminary essays original: prolegomena to the Confucian Analects (Section I, 7), I spoke of Cheng Xuan original: Ch'ing Heuen, also known as Cheng Kang-shing original: Ch'ing K'ang-shing. He died at the age of 74, sometime between 190–220 CE, after having written commentaries on every ancient classical book. It is said by some¹ that he included

1. In the History of the Sui Dynasty original: Books of the Suy dynasty (589–617 CE), Book 39, "Treatise on Classics and Books, Part 3" original: 經籍志, 三, we find that there were then three works on Mencius in the national libraries—those by Zhao Qi original: Chaou K'e, Cheng Xuan, and Liu Xi original: Lew He. Liu Xi was also a scholar of the Han dynasty, though probably not active earlier than Zhao Qi. These same works still existed during the Tang dynasty (624–907 CE); see the History of Tang, Book 49, "Treatise on Literature, Part 3" original: 藝文志, 三. By the rise of the Song dynasty (975 CE), however, the latter two were both lost. The entries in the records of the Sui and Tang would seem to prove that Cheng Xuan had written on Mencius, but in the biographical sketches of his life that I have consulted—and the one in the History of the Later Han Dynasty, "Biographies, Chapter 25" original: 列傳第二十五, must be the basis of all the rest—there is no mention made of him having done so.