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444
THE LÎ kt.
BK. XLII.
nating and guarding. The quarter of the north suggests the idea of winter, the name of which denotes also what is kept within :—and the being within leads us to think of being stored up. On this account, when the son of Heaven stands up, he keeps (the quarter of the life-giving) intelligence on his left hand, faces (the quarter of) benevolence, has that of justice on his right hand, and that of depositing behind him".
19. It was the rule that his attendants should face the east; thus (making) the principal guest to be the chief (party) at the festivity.
1 The Khien-lung editors say that portions of this paragraph have been lost, and that other parts are out of their proper place; and they suggest the additions and alterations necessary to make it right. It is not worth while, however, to consider their views. No alterations will remedy its incurable defects or reverse the severe judgment passed on it by P. Callery :—The method,' he says, 'by which the author proceeds is exceedingly eccentric, and partakes at once of the nature of the pun, of allegory, and of mysticism. He begins by basing his comparisons on the resemblance of certain sounds, or the homophony of certain words. Then he seeks to find in the sense, proper to those words that are homophonous or nearly so, connexions with the principal word in the text; and as those connexions are far from being natural or simply plausible, he puts his spirit to the torture, and goes to seek in the mysterious action of nature points of contact of which no one would think. Thus in the sound khun # ) he finds a natural analogy between the slow and gradual movement of a worm without eyes, and the march, equally slow and gradual, of vegetation in spring; in the sounds hsiâ and kiâ (0, 2) he finds a direct connexion between greatness and the action which makes plants become great in summer. So in the same way with the other sounds which he deals with. To many Chinese this fashion of reasoning appears to be very profound; but, as I think, it is nothing but a childish play on words and hollow ideas.'
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