Volume 1
A dictionary of the Chinese language, in three parts / By the Rev. Robert Morrison.
- Robert Morrison
- Date:
- 1815-1823
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A dictionary of the Chinese language, in three parts / By the Rev. Robert Morrison. Source: Wellcome Collection.
27/974
![MfiCMe conflux of waters extended high and wide as the heavens，what could Yu do to remove them?” One. replies, that he had heard a third Person give it as his opinion, that tlie Deluge was similar to the calamities which now take place by ex- cessive rains; and that in the close of 亨芒 Yaou's reign, the same thing had happened for several years. The phrase, 滔天 T haou fheen, 44 Reaching high as heaven,must be understood as a local figurative expression. The chief part of the calamity consisted io the excessive fall of rain； after it had fallen, and Yu bad scooped passages for it, it gradually subsided in the Autumn In a marginal note, this opinion is rejected as the groundless conjecture of a self-conceited mind. Perhaps few will think thafc the supposition quite removes all the difficulties^ The site of the Kew-chow, or nine regions, into wliich Yu divided the earth, puzzle not a little the Chinese Expo- •itors. They have made Maps of them, both old ones and new ones, which are limited to tlie extent of Modern China Proper,* which is the world in the estimation of the Chinese. Others, more judicious, confess, that ^ fp] the Anc'ient and Modern Geography are not the sai肥 They further say，that 土在四海中言胃乏九州十“ The nine reSions encompassed by the surrounding ocean, are the Nine Chow and that 串 士也[JCj )每內 jftj 大^一 華 In ancient times, Shin-nung measured the land surrounded by the ocean, and found it to be from East to West 900,000 Le, ( 250 Le make a degree) and from North to South 810,000 Le. M. De Guignes, however, relieves all parties from Liieir difficulties, by applying to the period spoken of, a definition of the Character Chow, which wa& adopted perhaps, thousands of years afterwards; viz. that aj|^J Chow, consisted of 2500 fa- milies； and, having assumed these data, (a happy thought that never occurred to any native Chinese, A*om the days of Confucius to the present time) be reduces the question, as to the extent of the peregrinations of Yu, to a matter of simple multi- plication, and glories in his discovery as containing in it, the full evidence of mathematical demonstration.^ M. De Guignes also proposes to alter the pointing of the Chinese Classic and Commentary, and to read these words,评_ T*haou t'lieen, hea min, with the point after Hea, instead of after T'heen, then making the phrase, uThe water* cxteiuled over Uie Empire,” instead of “ High aiid wide as the heavens.，，But this reading is different from the maimer in which the natives have ever read their own Books. To say natliing of the modesty of this attempt, it would not answer his purpose； for the phrase which lie would alter, occurs not only in ths passage which he conceives is capable of a different pointing，but also in other places where no pointing whatever would produce the change he wishes. Thus, Shoo-king, 11 page, 告 I裳 |J_J Hung sliwiiy t'haou fheen ； haou haou hwae shaa seang ling, hea min hwan teen, ^The Deluge rose high and spread wide as the spacious vault of heaven ； the people astonished to stupefaction sunk in the waters.5* Hea min, is a phrase as much used to denote 44 The people/' as T!heen hea, is t() denote “ Empire.” And moreover, the phrase T heen hea, is more like the European word World, than Empire； it is sometimes used in a proper, sometimes in a limited sense. The world, as known to the Chinese^ is expressed by it； as world once denoted the Roman Empire, and now often means only Europe. But in its proper sense, all under heaven is implied by it. I shall notice only one more Criticism of M. De Guignes. It applies to the usual Chinese expression for Yaou^s Deluge, -viz * The reigning Family makes Manchow Tartary oiie of the Chow; and that in which the court of Yaou was held. 十 Vide，書 Liih-shoo. ；{： Vide, Map of China，with Explanatory Remarks。 ^ Vide, Dictionaire Chinois Preface Pages 22 and 2a.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2201178x_0001_0027.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
