A Research On English Version Of Mencius Critical Notes By James Legge,with References Of Confucian Five Classics

James Legge(1815-1897)was a famous sinologist of Modern Britain,who was the Principal of Anglo-Chinese College in Hong Kong.The College was formed in Malacca but moved to Hong Kong in 1843.James served in those two cities.When James worked in Hong Kong he fulfilled the plans of translation the Chinese Pre-Qin Classics to English,which became the texts of foreign student to study Chinese culture.The format of the Classics included Chinese,English translation,critical notes and prolegomena.The Work of Mencius was his masterpiece.The target of this dissertation are the critical notes of The Work of Mencius,quotations from the Confucian's Five Classics.Both of the well criticisms and the misunderstanding judgements will be discussed.Chapter one:James Legge was a missionary from London to China,but he became a sinologist.His masterpiece The Chinese Classics English translation affected the Western World very much.These four volumes collections included Confucian Analects,The Great Learning,The Doctrine of the Mean,The Work of Mencius which called Four Books,The Shoo King attached with The Annals of the Bamboo Books,The She King and The Ch'un Ts 'ew with The Tso Chuen.Chapter two:James Legge translated The Yi King into English.Legge quoted two passages of The Great Appendix to explain Mencius.The first passage explained the term Shan-nang but no mention the term the words of Shan-nang.The second spoke the posts of gatekeeper and watchman which were defensive measures.Legge considered that the two posts were done by one staff.However this was not the meaning of Mencius.Legge used mythological literature approach to interpret the evolution of Shan-nang.Chapter three:Legge translated The Shoo King into English which was divided into five parts,The Book of T'ang,The Books of Yu,The Books of Hea,The Books of Shang,and The Books of Chow.According to Shwo Wan Legge accepted The Canon of Yaou as a document of The Book of T'ang.Such was a theory of The Reformed Classic School.There were forty-four passages of sixteen documents referred.The documents quoted five times or above were The Canon of Yaou,The Canon of Shun,The Counsels of the Great Yu,The Announcement of Chung-hwuy and The Great Declaration.Legge had not directly quoted the text of The Shoo King to comment Mencius but referred to the chapter and verse and the title of the documents.Legge commented that Mencius changed many words of the quotation texts but Legge had not analysed this problem.Mencius changed the words of the quoted texts because of using different version of The Shoo King.Sometimes Mencius used modem language to replace old language and such method was also very general in Sze-ma Ts'een's Historical Records.Mencius aimed to abstract the scriptures to enhance the arguments.Legge used three literature method to explain The Shoo King,including separate sound and separate meaning,real number to show imaginary picture,complementary of translation and interpretation.However Legge had no talking about The Pseudo Shoo King.Chapter four:Legge translated The She King into English.Legge accepted the system of Chu Hsi's The Collected Comments on the She.Thirty-five passages of twenty-eight odes were quoted,Wan wang and Meen both three times,Nan shan and Sang yew both two times.Legge also had not directly quoted the text of The She King to interpreted Mencius,but referred the ode's title,chapters and verses.Legge based on Maou's Explations of the She and The Collected Comments on the She to explained some words of the scriptures.However,Legge followed Chfi Hsi's opinions more.The effort of Legge was convenient for western readers.Legge had not researched into the aim of Mencius for quoting The She King.Mencius used the texts to emphasize the arguments.Legge used Chu Hsi's Collected Comments on the She as document base,which used the literary view on The She King,so that Legge viewed The She King as a literary work.But Legge also emphasized Maou's Explanations of the She,so he emphasised on both of the literary thought and political thought.Moreover,Legge used separate sound and separate meaning,literary approach to interpret the classic.Chapter five:Legge referred twenty-six articles of the Three Rites:Chau-li,I Li,Book of Rites.Tewelve articles of Chdu-li were cited.The citations of Chdu-li were very different.Legge interpreted the quoted texts so the quotations were longer than the other references.The difference between Chau-li and Mencius were pointed out.Legge chose the suitable saying if the word had different pronunciations.Legge based on Chu Hsi's The Collected Comments on the Four Books and Chu Hsi's Sayings,The Dictionary and The Collected of Spplyment Observation on the Four Books to interpreted the text of Chdu-li.Those passages explained the officer structure and rites of Chau Dynasty mentioned by Mencius.Two passages of I Li were quoted,one from The Crowning Ceremony and the other from The Marriage Ceremony.Legge commented that Mencius' citations were different from the original texts of I Li.Legge translated Book of Rites into English.Fifty-one passages of eighteen documents were used as references.Legge quoted eighteen passages from Doctrine of the Mean,five passages from Great Learning,three passages respectively from Khu Li,The Than Kung and The Royal Regulations.Although Doctrine of the Mean and Great Learning were documents of Book of Rites Legge followed the system of The Four Books.The passages were not directly quoted but were pointed out the title and chapter.The rites and idea of the texts were used to compare what Mencius said.The translation of Ki I might be used to explaine the related discussion of Mencius.Both of the quotations of The Doctrine of Mean and Legge's critical notes on this document might be used to explain Mencius.Legge quoted those passages to explain the traditional rites.But,the passages of The Doctrine of the Mean and The Great Learning were quoted to compare the thought of Mencius.Mencius had no idea to explain the Three Rites but used the texts to emphasize the discussions.Legge used the classics comparision method and folk legend method vividly to show the personality character of Book of Rites.Chapter six:Legge translated The Ch'un Ts'ew with The Tso Chuen into English.Three passages were quoted to explain historical celebrities.The concept of Righteous Battle was discussed.But Legge had not expounded the term Righteous Battle meant the battle launched or ordered by the Emperors of Chau Dynasty.Legge used complementary of translation and interpretation method to show the personality character of The Ch 'un Ts'ew with The Tso Chuen.The discussions of James Legge could be concluded eight points:the first,research on the biography or saying of historical sages;the second,research on the grammar of words;the third,research into historical events;the fourth,research into political thoughts;the fifth,research on social and family ethics;the sixth,research into political systems;the seventh,research on ancient ritual system;the eighth,research on human nature philosophy.