Page images
PDF
EPUB

THE PRAXIS,

Or, Remarks on the Characters in TA-HYOH.

THE Ta-hyoh being given with a translation, an explanation of the characters it contains seems desirable, that those who feel the wish, may have an opportunity of examining the Chinese text. Of doing this, there are two ways; that of giving all the characters arranged under their proper keys, and that of explaining them as they occur in each paragraph; but as in the first, a knowledge of the Elements would be necessary in order to trace each character, which, however easy of attainment, can scarcely be expected in every one who may wish to explore a Chinese sentence, it seems better to explain each character as it occurs in the work; to which explanation any one can recur on meeting with it a second time. While this mode of arranging the characters, however, precludes the necessity of resorting to their respective keys, it affords an opportunity of illustrating the method of finding the characters by the key, which, in consulting a dictionary, is of equal importance with tracing a Hebrew -root, or the root of a verb in Greek or Latin.

Mode of tracing the Characters.--In a Chinese dictionary, the reader will find every character placed under some one of the two hundred and fourteen Elements, as its key. The key of a character is therefore the first thing he has to discover: in doing which, the following rules may assist him:

1. If the character be a simple one, or one not evidently divisible into two distinct elements, the complete element which he can discern therein will generally be the key. Thus in tsai, (char. 5) he may discern theo, the earth, as a complete element, which he will find the key; but the other part is no complete character. So also in, hyöh, learning, (ch. 2) the key tsé, a son, can be discerned at the bottom; but the upper part, though composed of several, exhibits none complete.

2. In characters formed of two elements, the key is generally that on the left. Thus in taò, the way (4), the key khyoh, irregular motion, is on the left. In JJ ming,

E

bright, the key

yih, the sun, is on the left; as is nyú, a woman, the key of hab, good, (24.) In a few instances, that on the right is the key: as in 4 chee, knowledge, the key of which is khóu, the mouth; but this is more rare.

3. In a character composed of an element and a primitive, or those in which one part is an element, while the other part contains an element with some addition, or perhaps two united, or possibly three, the element which appears most prominent and clear will generally be found the key: which will commonly be that on the left. The exceptions to these rules are occasioned chiefly by ;

4. Certain particular elements which prefer a different position; of these about twenty-four claim the top; as ts'háo, grass, chooh, a bamboo,

&c.

mun, a door, yuch, the moon,

About sixteen prefer the right side, of which the chief are tao, a knife, flih, strength, nyáo, a bird, and Tych, the head. About six prefer the bottom, as mooh, wood, khan a chasm, ming, a vessel. A few which have the key in the middle, or otherwise so disguised as not to be easily discerned, the Chinese arrange together without regard to the keys, under the number of strokes which they contain. With these exceptions, the rest, more than three fourths, fall under these rules.

In the Imperial Dictionary, which may serve as a sample of the rest, these keys or Elements are arranged according to the number of strokes they contain. The key itself is the first character explained; then follow such as are formed by the addition of one point or stroke; afterward those formed by the addition of two, three, or four strokes, to the highest number. It is here, that, counting the additional strokes, the student has to look for the character in question; the key and the number of strokes added thereto in the characters of any page, being marked on the margin. Any character being thus found by its number of strokes, the next thing seen will be its obsolete form, if it have any, then the Initial and Final of which the name is formed, and lastly its meaning. Thus in the character [] ming, for example, we shall find J, said to be its ancient form: then from the Kwang-yuen, a more ancient dictionary, woo, and It ping, are quoted, as the two characters to be divided,' in order to form the sound of the character; but the Tsa-yuen, the Yuen-hooi, and the Ching-yuen, three

[ocr errors]

other dictionaries, are quoted as adducingm-y, and p-ing, to form its true sound, which,' says the editor, being divided, accord in sound with the character ming. Thus the sound of every Chinese character is defined by an initial and a final, the latter of which is supposed also to mark the tone of the character. The name or sound thus ascertained, authorities are then quoted for its meaning, the first of which, from the Shyuh-wun, is light, brightness, splendor;' which is confirmed by various authorities, too long to be inserted here, as this character occupies a whole page; one of them, however, is the following sentence, Yih yuehchhing koò ming yea, The sun and moon coalesce, therefore, brightness,' is meant. Thus then are the characters arranged, their various meanings defined, and supported by authorities when they exist; which may be the case with about two fifths of the characters in the Imperial dictionary.* If this process fail of discovering the character, either the key is mistaken, or the number of additional strokes not rightly counted, for which the remedy is easy.

In perusing this little work, it is necessary that the reader bear in mind, what has been already explained so much at large in the Grammar, that while a character expresses an idea, it is its position which fixes it as a part of speech. Hence if a character perform the office of a verb in the first instance, it may occur in the next line as a substantive or an adjective. Thus in the first sentence HJ ming is a causal participle enlightening,' &c. but in the next line it forms a part of the compound ming-tuh, 'the intellectual faculty, reason.' Thus also ting, the 6th cha

racter in the second paragraph, may be deemed the substantive 'fixedness,' governed by the verb yêu, to have; but ting, the next character, is the passive participle fixed,' and thus with others. To analyse each character thus, as often as it occurs, would too much swell the volume; for although less than four hundred, as

As writing the characters is by far the most effectual way of imprinting them on the memory, a word or two on that subject may not be useless: The Chinese write them with a brush or pencil, held upright between the thumb and the two first fingers, the arm lying straight on a flat table. This mode is to be recommended to beginners, particularly the young. It is however possible to write the characters with considerable accuracy and dispatch, with an English pen, if the hollow part be turned inwards to the right, which a student who wishes to write the meaning in English with the same pen, will often find highly convenient. The Chinese generally begin with

E 2

repeated in the work they form above two thousand. However one sentence may be thus analysed, which will enable the ingenious reader to form some idea of the rest.

The First sentence in the Tà-hyoh analyzed.

(1)★ Tà, (an element,) great, an adjective. (2) hyoh, (key tsé, a son ;) learning; generally the verb to learn, but here a substantive denoting the thing taught, learning or doctrine. (3)tchee, (key, phyjeh, oblique,) a pronom. character, and also a genitive particle, which last is its office here; see p. 220. (4) taò, (shyeu, the head added to the key_khyčh, interrupted motion,) the way, physically and morally; a substantive. (5) tsải, (key † t'hoo, the earth,) to be, to be situated in, &c.; a character signifying the substantive verb as connected with place; see p. 451. (6) [♫ ming, ( ♬ yuch, the moon, added to the key yih, the sun,) bright, or brightness; here its position gives it the force of a causal participle. (7) tuh, (the obsolete ch. tuh, habit, faculty, added to the key chhih, a short step,) habit, power, faculty; often used for habitual virtue: ming-tuh, W ming, added to tuh, to form a compound denoting the understanding, reason, the intellectual faculty. See p. 516. Etsài, consists,' a verb as in 5. which see. (8) lts’hin, near, a relative, as father, mother, &c. but here the commentators read it sin, and ascribe to it the meaning of sin, new; to renovate; thus understood, it has the force of an active participle. (9) min, (the key I shee, a name,) people, nation; the people: a substantive. tsai, a verb, see 5. (10) J† chếe, (an ele

ment,) to stop, to rest, to remain; an active participle. (11) yu, (key fang, a rule;) at, in ; a prepositive character, see p. 231. (12)tchee, (an element,) to arrive at : here it has the force of a superlative; see Adjectives, p. 290. (15) shyèn, (key khóu, a mouth,) virtue, here a substantive.This may serve to give the reader some idea of the mode of analyzing a Chinese sentence. characters will be explained as they occur.

The other

with the left side of the character, and make the horizontal before the perpendicular strokes, except that at the bottom, which generally finishes the character.

The remaining characters in the TA-HYOH Explained.

Characters occurring in "the KING."

14.

Paragraph 2d.

chee, (khou, the mouth, added to the key chhee, an arrow,) to know; knowledge.

15. irr, (one of the elements,) the copulative conjunc. and; see p. 489.

16. hyeù, (key khóu, the mouth ;) a sovereign's consort; the second; afterward.

17. yếu, tsò, the left, added to the key EJ yuěh, a month,) the verb to have. 18. Eting, GE the obsolete ch. for ching, right, &c. and the key myen, a shed,) decided, firm, established; fixedness, &c.

19.fnung, (the keyyoh, flesh,) can, &c. an auxiliary serving to the potential mood; see. p. 410. 20.tsing, (tsung, quarrel, added to the k. s'hing, natural colour,) tranquil, calm, collected. 21.ngan, nyú, a woman, added to the key myen, a shed,) ease, comfort, happiness; to be at ease, &c.

22. lyù, (se, thought, added to Jhoó, a tyger, the key sin, the

[blocks in formation]

28.

choong,toong, winter, added to the k.se, silk,) end, consummation. 29.chhee, t'hai, a certain star, added to the key nyú, a woman,) source, beginning; to begin.

30. Ef só, († kin, a weight of 22 oz. added to the key hoò, a door,) the relative who or which. See p. 323.

31.syen, (key Lyin, the obsolete ch. for man,) before, first; cause. 32. hyeù, (the key chhuh, a short step,) after, last; effect.

« PreviousContinue »