Gems of Chinese Literature/Tso-Ch'iu Ming-Burning a Wizard

←

Gems of Chinese Literature
translated by Herbert Allen Giles

Burning a Wizard by Tso-Ch'iu Ming

How Yen-Tzŭ would not Die with his Prince

→

TSO-CH‘IU MING.

PROBABLY 4TH AND 5TH CENTURIES B.C.

[Very little is known of this writer, whose very name is a matter of doubt. His important work, the Tso Chuan,^[1] was a so-called commentary on the Annals of the Lu State, mentioned on p. 1. Those annals consisted of bald statements of the principal events which took place in the successive years of each prince's reign. Tso-ch'iu Ming supplemented these by detailed accounts of the various incidents alluded to; and thus we have a vivid panorama of the wars and treaties, the intrigues and dissensions, the loves and hates, of China's feudal age. The style of the work is grand in the extreme, and is a perfect repertory of Chinese proverbs and familiar household words.]

1515460Gems of Chinese Literature — Burning a WizardHerbert Allen GilesTso-Ch'iu Ming

[Twenty-first year of Duke Hsi:―In summer there was a great drought.―Annals.]

Thereupon the duke wished to burn a wizard; but his chief minister said to him, “That will avail nothing against the drought. Rather mend the city walls; diminish consumption; be economical; and devote every energy to gathering in the harvest. This is the proper course to take: what can a wizard do for you? If God now desires his death, he might as well have never been born. And if he can cause a drought, to burn him would only make it worse.”

The duke followed this advice; and in the ensuing season, although there was distress, it was not very bad.

↑ This title has been taken by some to mean literally “Helping Commentary,” and the work has been attributed to Confucius himself.

[1] This title has been taken by some to mean literally “Helping Commentary,” and the work has been attributed to Confucius himself.

[1]