Chien Tzu Wen - The Thousand Character Classic, A Chinese Primer

296 Pages·34.7 MB·English

by  Francis W. Paar

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'I T
C H E N Z U W E N
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The Thousand Character Classic
A CHINESE PRIMER
o-
His in C S Ü hou
Edited by
FRANCIS W. PAAR
Calligraphy in Five Scripts by
FONG-CHIH LUI
(LÜ FENG-CH'I)
3 q. .
º
ſ
English, French, German,and Latin
translations
With transliterationand notes
FREDERICK UNGAR PUBLIS HIN G CO.
NEW YORK
Copyright© 1963 by Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Catalog Card No.63-12902
F OR EW ORD
Ch'ien Tzu Wen, the Thousand Character Classic, was written be
tween 507 and 521 A.D. by Chou Hsing-szu. There are various ver
sions of the legend of the composition of this work. The following is
a summary of these stories (the summary being taken in part from
Bridgman, who is mentioned in the bibliography): In a history of
the Liang dynasty, it is stated that the emperor commanded his
minister Wang Hsi-chih to write out a thousand characters, and give
them to Chou Hsing-szu, that he might form them into an ode, or
rhythmical composition. Thishe did and presented it to His Majesty,
who pronounced it excellent and rewarded him with rich presents.
In another work it is said that Wu-ti, the last emperor of the Liang
family, commanded all the princes and high officers of his court to
write on some subject which they might choose for themselves; he
then ordered one of his ministers to select from their writings 1000
characters, and copy them on a thousand separate slips of paper.
These being thrown together in confusion, the emperor summoned
Chou Hsing-szu, and asked him if he was able to form them into an
ode. He immediately undertook the task, and completed it in a
single night; but such was the labor of his mind that all the hair
ofhis head turned white! Another story is that this task was imposed
on Chou Hsing-szu as a punishment for some crime he had
committed.
The Ch'ien Tzu Wen is China's oldest primer. It antedates the
simpler San Tzu Ching by about seven centuries. The two works
have been used for hundreds of years to teach reading to Chinese
children. Chou Hsing-szu's work aims at teaching a maximum of
characters in a minimum of text. By organizing a list of 1000 char
acters in a somewhat coherent and rhymed form, learning was made
easier and more interesting.
Chinese calligraphers acquire their beautiful and difficult art
after many years of sometimes enthusiastic and sometimes merely
3
patient practice. They have often chosen the Thousand Character
Classic as a suitable text for displaying their skill. In addition, the
Ch'ien Tzu Wen has won such a place for itself that tsthousand
i
characters, arranged inorder, are used sometimes asafanciful way
ofcounting ornumbering from one toathousand.
The Ch'ien Tzu Wen, being composed of 1000 characters no
one ofwhich isrepeated, isbroken into 250 lines offour characters
each. Every two lines form a unit. Every four lines usually form a
kind ofstanza with the rhyming scheme abc b,although the first
two “stanzas” haveaab a.The ending, “ang", occurs over and over
inthe rhymes of the first fifty lines. After that other endings are
repeated.
T T
CON EN S
SUMMARY
5
THE CLASSIC IN BRIEF
with the text inthe running script and arather
literal translation by the editor 7
THE CLASSIC IN DETAIL
with the text nfour other scripts, with notes,
i
and translations nfour languages 37
i
BIBLIOGRAPHY 288
SUMMARY OF THE CH'IEN TZU WEN
Heaven, Earth, and Man (Lines 1-36)
1. Heaven and Earth in the vastness of space and time.
(Lines 1-2)
Heaven: sun, moon, stars, weather, seasons, Yin and Yang.
(Lines 3-10)
Earth: gold, jade, pearls, fruit-trees, plants, birds, and fish.
(Lines 11-18)
Man: the monarchs of the early ages: their beneficent
influence. (Lines 19-36)
II.
Virtue and Duty (Lines 37-102)
1. Precepts on morality, the conduct of life, the force of a
good example, and the value of time. (Lines37-60)
Duties to parents, prince, relatives, teachers and friends.
Be industrious and persevering to obtain advancement.
Social distinctions. (Lines 61-92)
The great virtues. (Lines 93-102)
III.
The Magnificent Imperial Capitals. Illustrious men.
Remarkable places (Lines 103-162)
1. The palacesin thetwo capitals. (Lines 103-118)
2. Their collections of books. Brilliant assemblage of min
isters of state. Commemoration of great men of the past.
(Lines 119-152)
Remarkable places in theempire: mountains, lakes, towns,
etc. (Lines 153-182)
IV. Self-discipline and the Management of the Family
(Lines 163-248)
1. Agricultural pursuits. More on virtue. Retirement and
recreation. Beauties of the plant world. The love of read
ing. Beware of speaking rashly. (Lines 163-200)
2. Moderation in eating. Domestic occupations, with a de
scription of a prosperous family. The sacrifices offered by
a father's heir. Rules to observe in writing letters and in
speaking. Punishments. Men noted for their special tal
ents. (Lines 201-234)
3. Two famous beautiful ladies. Of time and the heavenly
bodies. Be respectful and unobtrusive. (Lines 235-248)
The Auxiliary Particles (Lines 249-250)