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CHAPTER XVII.

TWO LITERARY STATESMEN OF THE SUNG DYNASTY.

THERE are many eminent scholars of the Sung age of whom we know little except that they were opposed to Wang-ngan-shi, and wrote commentaries on the Yi King. Of all to whom this description applies, the palm of eloquence was by common consent awarded to Su-che, whose strictures on the Government have already been quoted. The life of this worthy, like that of Ssema-kwang, has a more than personal interest, as the account of his administration 1 gives a clearer picture than we have yet obtained of the way in which the Chinese ideal of paternal government was realized under the occasional rule of learned and popular governors.

1

After his report on the disaffection of the graduates, he was naturally out of favour at court, and his disgrace took the form of appointment to the governorship of Hang-chow. The neighbourhood had suffered severely from brigandage, and even more from the excesses of the troops sent to put down the brigands. The new governor's discriminating firmness soon restored order, the officers who had connived at oppression were put to death, the common soldiers pardoned, and the people protected. The water supply of the town was in a deplorable state; the reservoirs built during the Tang Dynasty and the canals which fed them had been allowed to fall out of repair, and the public health was suffering from the want of drinkable water. Money was scarce and the necessary works very extensive, but the governor posted an eloquent proclamation, beginning with the elementary proposition of modern sanitary science—that nothing contributes so much to preserve the health and life of mankind as a sufficient supply of wholesome water-and then appealing to the people to do the necessary work themselves, without payment, for the good of posterity and their own parents and children.

Canals and cisterns were cleaned, the lake dredged and dyked, and the embankment laid out as an ornamental promenade, with bridges over the openings for admitting water into the town reservoirs from the Kiang and the lake. The new causeway was formed almost entirely of the refuse and soil obtained in deepening and cleansing the lake bottom, and besides serving as a convenient roadway, it was planted with avenues of trees and became a favourite pleasure resort of the citizens. Martini describes the lake as still edged in his time with quays of cut stone and crossed by ▲ Mémoires concernant les Chinois, vol. x. pp. 70-107.

causeways, furnished with lofty bridges to allow of the passage of boats; and, though the city itself has much contracted in size and splendour since Marco Polo's day, the Chinese still regard it as a paradise and sober Englishmen as "a spot of peculiar attraction "-which might surely be heightened by a little knowledge of its historic associations. Part of the shore of the lake Si-hou planted by him with trees and water-lilies is still called "The quay of Master Su." All the neighbourhood had contributed cheerfully to the work, which was accomplished in four years. In commemoration of its success the citizens had their governor's portrait taken, and every householder insisted on providing himself with a copy.

Su-che belonged to a younger generation than Ssema-kwang, having only taken his degree in 1057, and the vicissitudes of his career were not yet over. He was removed to Su-chow, where his rule was equally beneficent. But on his next change of office, when required by custom to write a letter of thanks to the emperor, he allowed himself again to remonstrate on the subject of the new regulations; and his eloquence being of a rather fiery kind, his enemies took the opportunity of accusing him, not only of addressing the emperor in an improper manner, but also of having written. certain biting satires and epigrams which were in the mouths of all men. The point of some of these is visible even to the European eye, and others only need to have their allusions explained for us to appreciate the sensation caused by such a revival of the plain-speaking of the satirical odes. Wangngan-shi may be excused if he thought there was not room in the same Government for him and the author of an epigram: "Kwan was employed by Yao and put to death by Shun; how many Kwans will have to be put to death by the successor of our august Yao, the wise prince under whom we have the happiness of living!"

The following was à propos of a duty on salt, and alludes to an anecdote of Confucius, who was so enraptured by some ancient melodies called Chao-yo that for three months afterwards the choicest delicacies made no impression on his palate, he had no taste for anything but the music.1 "Who can doubt the power of the music Chao? its effects have been renewed in our own days. For three whole months our food has lost its savour!"-the fact being that for three months the people had either gone without salt or procured it contraband, rather than supply themselves from the Government stores. A treasonable sense was ascribed to other less intelligible verses, and, notwithstanding the emperor's admiration for all Su-che's writings, and his reluctance to have them misinterpreted, the satirist was deprived of his charges and imprisoned, though not for long, and then sent to reside under surveillance in a provincial town.

In 1072 the Emperor was advised that it was time to have the historical memoirs of his dynasty arranged, and he at once proposed that the commission should be given to Su-che, for whose style he had an inextinguishable admiration. He had already, some ten or twelve years previously, suggested that Su-che should be employed as one of the historians of his 1 Analects, vii. p. 13.

own reign, but was dissuaded by Wang, who had a well-grounded foreboding of the figure he and his master were likely to cut in a history written by the most eloquent of their critics. When the emperor's proposal was overruled, a certain Tseng-kong was appointed. He tried his skill upon the interesting reign of the founder of the dynasty, and the result was submitted to the emperor, who, having read to the end, asked for pencil and paper, and wrote silently: "I appoint Su-che to the post of historiographer."

Apparently at this time, though the reigning emperor did not read what was written of his own days, the memoirs of previous reigns were open to inspection, and were edited from time to time, when the moment had come for an impartial revision. In a literary age no doubt the tendency was to abridge increasingly the conventional delays. The official history of the Tang Dynasty was not put in hand till the year 1060, and the incompleteness of the previous works of unofficial writers was explained by the statement that they had not had access to the documents of the Tribunal of History, which were now made public for the first time. The reigning Sung emperors apparently wished to do for their own immediate predecessors what had hitherto only been done for the preceding dynasty.

When Tche-tsong began to govern in 1093, the regulations of Wangngan-shi were revived, and Su-che was again hunted by his enemies from one post to another and finally exiled on a renewed charge of satirizing the Government. At his place of banishment, no house was provided for his residence, and the officials refused to render him any assistance; so he resorted to his old method of appealing to the general public. He posted up a placard: "The exiled Su-che wishes to build a hut, but has not the wherewithal." All the passers-by stopped to read, and the scholars began to exclaim one to another: "Su-che! the great man who saved Su-chow from inundation and made the great causeway in the lake Si-hou! surely it is our business to work for him if he is in need of help ;" and promptly a subscription was opened and a neat dwelling built, where the exile proceeded contentedly to edit the commentary on the Yi King begun by his father. He died in 1100, just after the amnesty for a new reign which put an end to his exile.

One of the most interesting documents bearing on the private life of the period is the will of the learned doctor Yang-chi1 (died 1132), whose testamentary counsels to his children show, with rather touching simplicity, how the principles of Confucian morality are still expected to regulate the conduct of Chinese households. His last will and testament is a quite practical document, but he begins it by summing up the theoretical base of good behaviour. A man must choose his line in life beforehand; every one wishes to live wisely, and the first step to that result is to set the will resolutely and consistently towards it; action is determined by the promptings of the heart, which therefore must be guarded against corrupting influences and trained in the love of justice. But the heart is guided 1 Mém. conc. les Chinois, iv. p. 196, and x. p. 119 ff.

by the thoughts, and therefore the thoughts of the mind must be rigorously examined and controlled, the good thoughts adopted by the heart and translated into action and the evil ones rejected and forgotten. If the heart cleaves to the True and the conscience to the Good, Heaven and all beneficent influences will be favourable; while those who take the opposite course will find Heaven, Earth, all spiritual influences, and the remorse of their own consciences against them.

After this prelude, the document passes at once to practical matters. The sons are assured that it is not at all necessary to take a literary degree or to obtain office; but if they do the latter, they must not disgrace their father's memory by failing in uprightness or zeal for the common good. Their mother is an excellent and right-minded woman, they must conform in all things to her views; if they fail in piety towards her, their father's ghost will punish them-if it can. The two brothers are enjoined to live together without dividing their inheritance; the character of the younger one is impetuous, and his elder is requested to bear with him in this respect, while the younger is charged to apologise if he has offended.

Both brothers are married, the elder to the daughter of a graduate, the younger to the daughter of an officer. Unless both husbands look to it, this circumstance may lead to incidents fatal to domestic peace and decorum. The mandarin's daughter is not to dress too gaily, which would try her sister-in-law's patience; the best way will be for them to dress alike, and the brothers should set them the example. They should also all take their meals together; if each dined apart with his wife, they would, before long, love each other less. If any dispute arises between them, they must refer it to the arbitration of friends, and in no case go to law; if either were guilty of an appeal to the magistrate, the other was to produce this Will to convict him of a breach of filial piety; the wise magistrate will doubtless then exhort and admonish the dissentient, so as to effect a reconciliation, for which he may count upon the testator's gratitude-if the souls of the dead have any power to serve the living.

There are four cousins in the family who have not been on very friendly terms with the testator, but he exhorts his sons to respect them, and in regard to certain family property, of which the division is not yet complete, they are rather to yield part of their just rights than engage in litigation. The sons are warned to beware of persons who may try to profit by their youth, to lead them into extravagance and licentiousness; they are urged to use their studies as a means of spiritual cultivation, not to waste time upon the poets, but to read the Classics with a good master, and cultivate the society of solid and right-minded persons of independent judgment. The apartments of the women should be kept as secluded as possible, and the girls over ten strictly confined to them; visits from outside should be discouraged; there are women who only come to promote intrigues and encourage secret sales and thefts.

There should be a storehouse for the provisions, such as wine, oil, fruit, and salt meat, and a barn for rice and vegetables; the accounts and keys

should be kept by the master of the household. The table should be frugal, clothing suitable to one's station, and useless expenditure on furniture and buildings, for the sake of imitating neighbours, rigidly avoided. The 400 mow of good land, of which the estate consists, should suffice for the two sons, but economy will be necessary; if they wish to add to the property for their children's sake, they are warned, on no account, to run risks with borrowed money; in general, the thirst for wealth is a folly; expenses and burdens increase faster than revenues, and the rich are exposed to many vexations besides the chance of official persecution.

Then follows a characteristic paragraph, in which the sons are told, in quaint detail, how to cultivate the kind of good manners which the barbarians Jou and Jouy admired in the State of Chow; they are never to take the best place or the best piece for themselves; to return courtesy for rudeness, and, if they are ever obliged in self-respect to stand on their dignity, they must be careful not to appear in the least contemptuous. Maxims that Macchiavelli or La Rochefoucauld would have turned into cynical epigrams are laid down in all seriousness and good faith as a part of politeness and morality. The good that one sees done should be praised and published, and the evil one hears forgotten. If somebody says, “So-andso has done you a service," you should answer: "It is the more generous on his part, as I have never been able to oblige him in any way." If you are told that somebody else is speaking against you, reply: "We have always been on good terms, and I cannot believe that he would wish to affront or injure me." Both answers will be repeated to those whom they concern, and even the ill-will, if it existed, will be disarmed by such charitable disbelief. Such conduct is not only virtuous, it is the only way to secure the peace and tranquillity of a household.

The testator proceeds to lay down rules for his sons' conduct towards their other relations. He himself had a full brother and two sisters (the tie between the children of different mothers is evidently not a close one). This uncle has four sons, all rich and prosperous; these need no help, but both aunts are in poor circumstances, and the sons are charged to care for and respect them as their own father. Two other aunts and any other relations are to be assisted as far as possible in case of need, as for funeral or marriage expenses, and this duty is irrespective of their friendliness or good behaviour. A younger sister is to be assisted liberally as long as her husband's circumstances are such as not to make her independent ; and the sons are solemnly exhorted not to grumble or remonstrate at any presents their common mother may like to give her daughter. The family of Yang-chi has certain customs in regard to the teachers of different generations; it is not stated what they are, but the sons are exhorted to observe them, and warned against the ingratitude of the age; sons and grandsons, it is said, should share or inherit these feelings of gratitude, so it is probable that the customs referred to include some system of gifts or pensions to former tutors.

The last clauses of the Will refer to the provision to be made for servants

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