Things Chinese: Being Notes on Various Subjects Connected with China

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S. Low, Marston, and Company, 1893 - 419 pages

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Page 173 - I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews bought and sold have ever earned.
Page 177 - While a man's father is alive, look at the bent of his will; when his father is dead, look at his conduct. If for three years he does not alter from the way of his father, he may be called filial.
Page 443 - As nearly as one can describe it, Tao seems to be "(1) the Absolute, the totality of being and things ; (2) the phenomenal world and its order; and (3) the ethical nature of the good man and the principle of his action.
Page 71 - Kin-sai, a name that signifies "the celestial city," and which it merits from its preeminence to all others in the world, in point of grandeur and beauty, as well as from its abundant delights, which might lead an inhabitant to imagine himself in paradise.
Page 258 - When we turn from the ravings of the Zendavesta, or the Puranas, to the tone of sense and of business of this Chinese collection, we seem to be passing from darkness to light — from the drivellings of dotage to the exercise of an improved understanding : and, redundant and minute as these laws are in many particulars, we scarcely know any European code that is at once so copious and so consistent, or that is nearly so free from intricacy, bigotry, and fiction.
Page 472 - ... or making him kneel for a long time, are among the illegal modes. Striking the lips with sticks until they are nearly jellied, putting the hands in stocks before or behind the back, wrapping the fingers in oiled cloth to burn them, suspending the body by the thumbs and fingers, tying the hands to a bar under the knees, so as to bend the body double, and chaining by the neck close to a stone, are resorted to when the prisoner is contumacious. One magistrate is accused...
Page 326 - ... Society, of Government, of Manufactures, of Commerce, of Language, Literature, Science, Art, this same evolution of the simple into the complex, through successive differentiations, holds throughout. From the earliest traceable cosmical changes down to the latest results of civilization, we shall find that the transformation of the homogeneous into the heterogeneous, is that in which Progress essentially consists.
Page 108 - ... 3. Cultivate peace and concord in your neighbourhoods, in order to prevent quarrels and litigations. 4. Recognize the importance of husbandry and the culture of the mulberry-tree, in order to ensure a sufficiency of clothing and food.
Page 443 - THE Tao which can be expressed in words is not the eternal Tao; the name which can be uttered is not its eternal name. Without a name, it is the Beginning of Heaven and Earth; with a name, it is the Mother of all things.
Page 420 - Converse with virtuous friends and renounce heartless companions. If people insult you, injure you, revile you, abuse you, — how ought you to take it? You ought to bear it, suffer it, endure it, and forgive it. Don't ask immoral people to drink wine with you. Don't believe those who are righteous with their mouths and unrighteous in their hearts. Do not frequent people who turn you a cold shoulder, and are without heart or faith. Do not despise people whose fortune has turned; for you will only...

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