Chinese Literature

Chinese Literature - Comprising the Analects of Confucius, the Sayings of Mencius, the Shi-King, the Travels of Fâ-Hien, and the Sorrows of Han

The following drama was selected from the "Hundred Plays of Yuen," which has already supplied to Europe two specimens of the Chinese stagethe first, called the "Orphan of Chaou," translated by Pre Premare; and the second, entitled an "Heir in Old Age," by the author of the present version. "The Sorrows of Han" is historical, and relates to one of the most interesting periods of the Chinese annals, when the growing effeminacy of the court, and consequent weakness of the government, emboldened the Tartars in their aggressions, and first gave rise to the temporizing and impolitic system of propitiating those barbarians by tribute, which long after produced the downfall of the empire and the establishment of the Mongol dominion. The moral of the piece is evidently to expose the evil consequences of luxury, effeminacy, and supineness in the sovereign. "When love was all an easy monarch's care, Seldom at councilnever in a war." The hero, or rather the chief personage, of the drama, came to the throne very near the beginning of the Christian era, about B.C. 42. The fate of the Lady Chaoukeun is a favorite incident in history, of which painters, poets, and romancers frequently avail themselves; her "Verdant Lamb" is said to exist at the present day, and to remain green all the year round, while the vegetation of the desert in which it stands is parched by the summer sun. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 10056
Author: Confucius, 551 BCE-479 BCE
Release Date: Nov 1, 2003
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Contributor (Author): Faxian, 337?-422?, Mencius, 372? BCE-289? BCE
Editor: Wilson, Epiphanius, 1845-1916

Translator: Davis, John Francis, Sir, 1795-1890, Jennings, William, 1847-1927, Legge, James, 1815-1897