163. 三傳者 San1 chuan4 che3 Three record one The three commentaries upon the above San see title. Chuan is composed of 人 jen man as radical, and 專 chuan (line 8) as phonetic, and means a chronicle, a biography. See line 269. Read ch'uan2 , it means to transmit, to deliver as orders, to summon (line 213). Che see line 49. 164. 有公羊 Yu3 kung1 yang2 Have kung yang include that of Kung-yang, Yu see line 14. Kung see line 147. Yang see line 77. [Kung-yang is here a double surname, being that of the author of one of the three commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals, who flourished in the 5th cent. B.C. Like that of Ku-liang (Hue 166) it is much inferior to the great work of Tso (line 165); indeed, from striking similarities in the two former, it has been suspected either that one is a copy of the other or that both may be from the same hand.] 165. 有左氏 Yu3 tso3 shih4 Have tso family that of Tso, Yu see line 14. Tso is composed of the old form for 手 shou hand as radical, over 工 kung labour, its modern radical, and means the left hand, calling to mind the discredited position of the left hand among Hindus and other eastern nations. The left is now the place of honour in China, but in ancient times the right; hence left is found in literature with such senses as wrong, heterodox, etc. Here it stands for the surname of 左邱明 Tso-ch'iu Ming, the most important of the three commentators and a reputed disciple of Confucius. His commentary is of infinitely more value, from every point of view, than the original text, and is popularly known as the Tso Chuan. Shih is said to be the picture of a landslip, with an obsolete phonetic added. It is now a radical meaning family name, family, clan, and is often tacked on to surnames. In the case of a woman, it then means her maiden name. 166. 有榖梁 Yu3 ku3 liang1 Have ku liang and that of Ku-liang. Yu see line 14. Ku see line 75. Liang see line 73. [The last two characters are the double surname of the third commentator, who lived in the 5th cent. B.C.] |
San Tzu Ching >