LUN HENG
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The republication, unchanged and in an excellent edition, of Alfred Forke's Lun Heng, by the Paragon Book Gallery in 1962, is clearly a most significant event. Just how valuable is Forke's work?
When first published in 1907 and 1911, Forke's translation of the Lun Heng was rightly lauded by Pelliot (Journal Asiatique 20, 1912, pp. 156-171), and later by Karlgren (Bulletin, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, 23, 1951, pp. 107-135). Forke's translation, done without the use of a Chinese commentary, was not only one of the greatest Western sinological works, but was also the first serious study of the Lun Heng in any language. We now have several studies and commentaries in Chinese, and also partial translations and summaries in English. Does Forke's work still stand up today?
As a translation, Forke's great work still stands alone. There is no other complete translation, not even in Japanese. Translations into Polish and into Mandarin have been announced but, so far as I know, not completed. Thirteen chapters (out of the 84 extant) have been translated into Mandarin in the Chung-kuo che-hsüeh-shih tzu-liao hsüan-chi, Liang Han chih pu, 1960, Peking, pp. 215-421.
As for the quality of the translation, I have already pointed out in my "Contribution to a New Translation of the Lun Heng", T'oung Pao 44, 1956, pp. 100-149, that many rough edges and minor inaccuracies need to be eliminated. Nevertheless Forke's understanding of the text is excellent. Comparison with the minute portions translated by E. R. Hughes (Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times, 1942, pp. 317-336), D. Bodde (Fung Yu-lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, Vol. II, 1953, pp. 150-167), Burton Watson (in Sources of Chinese Tradition, 1960, pp. 250-155), and Chan Wing-tsit (A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, 1963 pp. 292-304) shows that these scholars, with all the modern aids unavailable to Forke, can still only make slight improvements to his translation.
Until the welcome publication of this second edition, copies of Forke's translation were almost unobtainable (£30 was a quoted figure). I suggested in my "Contribution" that a new translation was required to fill the gap. If such a translation is to be done now that Forke's is again available, it would need to be fully
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