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Prose Translation of three of the Mottos of

the Chapters.

I.

To die for his king, is the noblest act of a faithful minister.

To grieve for his father's loss, is the last duty of a pious son.

Though the dispositions and inclinations of mankind unite them a hundred different ways;

Yet the ties which bind them in the Five relations surpass them all.

II.

Let not the wicked and deceitful boast of their prudence and sagacity:

Who knows but their designs may be discovered, when they least think of it.

Be advised, Friend: concealment from the of man will not suffice.

eyes

There is a Power above that watches and overlooks thee.

III.

He possessed the exterior appearance of talent, but wanted judgment.

When business occurred, he was tardy and undecisive.

Yet he would not listen to the advice of others, but trusted in himself.

Thus his good qualities were no match for his faults.

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It is more than probable, that in consequence of the want of an alphabet to fix the sounds of the Chinese language, the present enunciation of the words is totally different from that which was originally in use upon the first settlement of the country. Supposing the language to have been originally polysyllabic-yet, the ideas being represented by symbols, having no reference whatever to the pronunciation, the changes in the language might be extended to every conceivable variety and form of speech, without any traces of such variation remaining to testify it. It is probable that, at first, the characters invented, and in use, were but few. These, they would, of course, find little difficulty in distinguishing by monosyllabic names. These names, then, have perhaps survived and usurped the place of the original language of the country-It is pretty certain, that a much greater variety

of syllabic sounds was in use formerly than at present-We find upwards of four thousand distinct syllables noticed in the emperor Kanghee's Dictionary, although not so many as fifteen hundred can be recognised as essentially different at present.

As the art of writing advanced towards perfection, the number of characters was, of course, increased-it became necessary either to deviate from the original plan of giving monosyllabic names to characters, or to repeat those already in use. As they adhered to their monosyllables, they at length arrived, after subdividing them by means of tones and aspirates, at the present state of the language: a vast body of characters, whose vocal names are comparatively few. In writing, this produces no confusion-though the same words, when spoken or read aloud, would be equivocal and often unintelligible. Hence has arisen the present very material distinction between the written and the spoken language of the Chinese. In the latter; although the monosyllabic names of the characters are still used to convey the idea represented by them, they are rendered very frequently polysyllabic in effect, by the addition of particles to prevent ambiguity-thus, in the commonest words

Je, the sun, becomes Je-teou:-Yue, the moon, Yue-leong-Yee, a coat, Yee-foo-Mao, a hat, Mao-tse-She, time, She-heou.--Sometimes they drop the proper word, or not having one, adopt a circumlocution—as trade, Maymay-that is, buying and selling-compass, Ting-nan-tchin, south-pointing needle-telescope, Chen-lee-tching, thousand-mile glass, &c.

The best translations must be defective--The Chinese word is perhaps a very expressive one-The corresponding word in English, is either much less so-and therefore tame and insipid, and incapable of doing justice to the original; or it is equally expressive, but not exactly in the same way as the word in the original, and so far causes the translation to be unfaithful This dilemma may be avoided by a circumlocution-but then the peculiar style and manner is entirely departed from. Then, as to metaphors-one which is extremely happy in the original, may be very trite and vulgar in English-or it may be so remote and obscure in its allusion, as to be almost unintelligible-or, what is worse, it may convey a totally different idea-as for instance, a Chinese, speaking of the qualities of the heart, generally means those which we should rather term intellectual or of the mind.

Notices of Chinese Books.

THE Tang-leu, or Laws of the Dynasty of Tang, edited in A. D. 654—direct, that foreigners, in respect to disputes among themselves, should be governed by their own laws -but in respect to disputes with natives, or with other foreigners of a different nation, by those of China.

The Ta-ming-chee-shoo, or Laws of the Ming Dynasty-direct, that foreign Kings should receive the emperor's letters kneeling.

King-ping-moey, a Novel.

Table of Contents.

Preface-laudatory and explanatory-dated in the reign of Kang-hee.

List of the most remarkable passages in the Novel.

Explanation of some peculiar phraseologies.

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