554
Poo Nang Che tsang sin.
ན
រំ
OCT.
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défects convey ideas of the existing state of things, such as you might in vain look for in the most 'celebrated authors, that ́pretended to ac- tual' 'delineation of facts. Another instance of distorted genius we have in the case of Sỏo Tungpoo, who has often had the 'honor 'of passing for a poet, though he is in fact ́a mere' essayist. ¦ ¦ He ́has' col- lected edicts,' epigrams, poems, ditties, discourses," remonstrances,' and we do not know what besides, and has gained every high'rénown ́ with his countrymen. But, when you have perused all, 'you' find that' your knowledge about the 'times in which he lived is by no means expanded, and that the historical novel of the Sung dynasty, is, so far as information goes, far more valuable. A spell has come over the host of Chinese authors, a magical narrowmindedness, communicat- ed by the book-making fraternity at Peking, the highest doctors and literary characters of the empire. They fiever write sober prose, or detail simple matters of fact; consequently the servile crowd of imitators, throughout the provinces, dare not deviate from the está- blished 'rule.
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Such a state of things has more than one disagreeable conse- quence. The worst perhaps is, that foreigners, and even natives of common education, can understand only a small part of these works. Wherever there are quotations, ́ taken at random from some quaint authors, without regard to the context, even Chinese literati äre at a' stand. The great bulk of books, therefore, must first be attentively studied, before they can be intelligible to the 'common reader. One can not take up a work and read on, without constantly meeting with hard passages, which may perhaps 'be explained by repeatedly perusing the whole context. Few then, however, have either leisure or patience to do so, and hence it happens, that by far the greater part of the written language, remanis' sealed up in libraries. We have seen extensive collections of books in Chinese houses, scarcely one of which, if not a novél, håd'éver been touched since it came out of the hands of the binder.”712 HNETUR 9mg là sail
"But, notwithstanding all these faults, the Chinese highly esteem and admire their national literature. It is their darling object of pur- suit. -- Whether good or bad, books will always fifid a publisher, and be reprinted in endless succession! All that they have of their own productions, however ancient, are written in a living language which is spoken at this day, with few variations. Their numerous characters have rendered the imprint of their thought's lasting; the men who first civilized their country are of their own flesh and blood and their errors and excellencies are perpetuated amongst their posterity.