Tuesday, 16th. Public executions. At a very early hour this morning, two male factors were conducted by a guard of soldiers to the hall of judgment, and from thence to the place of execution just without the southern gate of the city, where they expired surrounded by crowds of spectators. The first was Chin Sanjun, a native of Shuntih, the district south of Canton; he was condemned for robbery, and decapitated. The second malefactor was a female, named Leaou Tsǎngshe; she was condemned for poisoning her husband's parents, and suffered death by the slow and painful process of being cut into pieces. Saturday, 20th. The disturbances in Shanse, by latest accounts from Peking, were not settled. It was reported in Canton early this month, that in the district of Chaouching more than 3000 banditti surrounded the chief city of the district by night, and commenced an assault in which the cheheën was killed. The fooyuen of the province immediately dispatched soldiers to that place, and also a flying messenger to inform the great emperor; who instantly sent general Saeshangah, with 2000 troops to put down the insurrection. The Peking gazettes for the 5th and 10th ultimo, or rather extracts from them, state that the cheheën and all his family, thirteen in number, were killed, and his house and the prison of the district were burned. The magistrate was Chang Yenleäng; the leader of the malcontents was Tsaou Shun, a man who 'practiced and promulgated wicked doctrines.' The magistrate hearing of Tsaou's conduct took measures to arrest him, when Tsaou with his numerous accomplices arose and made their assault. Orders are issued to seize the rebels; and the heart of the leader is to be torn out and offered in sacrifice to appease the manes of the cheheën. The extracts before us are very unsatisfactory; they do not specify the time of the insurrection, the false doctrines which were being promulgated, the number of insurgents, or the mea. sures taken to suppress them; we conclude therefore that the affair' is unsettled. A temple is to be erected to the unfortunate but faithful Chang Yenleäng, and he and his family are to be rewarded for his zeal in endeavoring to exterminate those who dared to disseminate heterodoxy. Szechuen. It is rumored that the disturbances in that quarter have been quelled. Some notices of disturbances in the western part of the Chinese empire have reached us by the way of Bengal, but they are unsatisfactory In one of the notices, it is stated that the leader of the insurgents is a son of the famous chief Changkihurh, or more properly, Jehanguir. Saturday, 27th. Local officers. Governor Loo, having recently sent his triennial report to the capital giving an account of himself and those under his authority, has received the imperial will, giving him permission to continue in his present station at Canton. His excellency is taking great care to watch and guard against 'crafty barbarians,' is sending out his spies to detect 'traitors' and to give notice of the approaching enemy,' and is pushing on with all convenient dispatch the repair of forts at the Tiger's Mouth. Peking. The Chinese officers, Wang and Le, who conducted the Siamese tribute-bearers to Canton, and others, report that the capital was quiet when they left; and that the literary examinations had gone off with great eclat. The chief among the tsin sze, or promoted scholars,' was Chang Kingsing, a native of Chekeäng. The whole number of promoted scholars was 264, only ten of whom belong to the province of Canton. Sodomy. Nine full pages of the gazette for the 26th day of the 2d moon, of the current year, (March 24th,) are filled with details of a case of this abominable practice, which exists to a great extent, in almost every part of the empire, and particularly in the very officers of the 'shepherds of the people,' the guardians of the morals of the celestial empire. The sodomite was Woopaou, formerly a soldier under the Tartar banners, aged thirty-four years. 'In the 12th year, 8th moon, 27th day of the reign of Taoukwang (Sept 21st. 1832), Woopaou being at the house of Mrs. Wei, where her grandson was at play, seized the lad, and binding him in a blanket (to prevent him from alarming the neighbors,) committed violence on his person. The boy then ran home crying, followed by the villain; but his grandmother was enraged, and would listen to no overtures; Woopaou therefore fled, and after an absence of two years returned, was seized, and delivered over to the criminal court for trial." What is to be the result, we have not yet learned The boy was only eleven years old. THE CHINESE REPOSITORY. VOL. IV. - JULY, 1835.-No. 3. ART. I. Santsze King, or Trimetrical Classic; its form, size, author, object, and style; a translation with notes; the work ill adapted to the purposes of primary education. STANDARD and popular works in China, as in countries of the west, are published in a great variety of forms and sizes. We have before us three different editions of the Trimetrical Classic. The first is called Keae yuen Santsze King, "Trimetrical Classic, by a senior graduate.' The second is, Santsze King choo sheih, "Notes and explanations of the Trimetrical Classic." The third is, Santsze King heun koo," Trimetrical Classic, elucidated and explained." The first of these three contains simply the text, which is written in large characters, thirty of which fill a page. The books of the Chinese, like those of the Hebrews, commence on the right: they are not, however, read horizontally from the right to the left hand, but from the top downwards; in the Santsze King, thus :— Each of these columns, it should be observed, contains two lines, each composed of three characters, and hence the name, Three Character, or Trimetrical, Classic. In quoting from Chinese books and giving the sounds of the Chinese characters, it is unnecessary and inconvenient to follow their order of arrangement; it being more easy and natural to conform to the European method. The five columins quoted above, with the accents and diacritical marks, will then appear in five double lines, thus: Jin che tsoo, sing pún shen; 2. 3. Kow puh keaoù, sing nae tseen; 4. 5. Kenou che taou, kwei é chuen. The Trimetrical Classic contains 178 of these double lines, inaking 1068 characters. Several of these characters, however, are repeated, and some of them more than once. For example, jin, the first character in the first line, occurs twelve times; che, the second, nine times; tsoo, the third, twice: so that the whole number of different characters is only about 510. With a few exceptions the text in the three editions, which we have noticed above, is the same. The edition with notes and explanations, and that with the elucidations, are very similar in their character and plan. The commentators take up one, two, or more lines separately, and by explanations and illustrations endeavor to make them intelligible to the young learners: but in this, however, they have not always succeeded; for not unfrequently the notes are as obscure and as hard to be understood as the text itself. Of these two editions, the one containing the elucidations is the most extensively used, and is the one which we shall follow, in the notes appended to the text. These elucidations were written by a man of the same family name with the author of the work, and their names are placed together on the title page, thus: Wang Pihhow, seénsăng tswan; Wang Tsinshing, seensang choo. Written by doctor Wang Pihhow ; The latter prefaces his work with the following remarks: "In the time of the Sung dynasty, a scholar of the Confucian sect, doctor Wang Pihlow, wrote the Trimetrical Classic for the use of his domestic school. The language is simple, the principles important, the style perspicuous, and the reasoning clear. It embraces and combines the three great powers [celestial, terrestrial, and human, or the clements of the whole circle of knowledge]; and forms a passport into the regions of classical and historical literature. It is in truth a ford, which the youthful inquirer may readily pass, and thereby reach the fountain-head of the higher courses of learning.-Forgetting the barrenness and obtuseness of my own intellectual faculties, I have rashly attempted an elucidation of this book. This, I cannot but be aware, will draw upon me the censures of the learned; yet, as an assistant in forming the habits of the young, it may be found perhaps in some small degree useful." The grand object of this little hornbook is to make the youth who study it acquainted with the language of the country, and the first principles of those subjects which are afterwards to occupy their attention, by impressing them on their memory through the medium of versification. It is used in all the provinces of China Proper; and is generally the first work which is put into the hands of children when they begin to learn to read. How well, both in re gard to its matter and style, it is fitted for this purpose will be better understood by the reader when he has perused the translation which we here introduce. We retain the double lines, but without any attempt to render the version metrical. The poetry of the Chinese must be reserved for a series of separate papers. The following is a translation of the Trimetrical Classic. The argument is not in the original; it contains the leading topics of the piece. THE ARGUMENT. The nature of man; necessity and modes of education. The importance of filial and fraternal duties. Numbers; the three great powers; the four seasons; the cardinal points; the five elements; the five constant virtues; the six kinds of grain; the six classes of domestic animals; the seven passions; the eight notes of music; the nine degrees of kindred; the ten relative duties. Course of academical studies, with a list of the books to be used. General history, with an enumeration of the successive dynasties, &c. Incitements and motives to learning drawn from the conduct of ancient sages, statesmen, and from considerations of interest and glory Men, at their birth, are by nature radically good; In this, all approximate, but in practice widely diverge. If not educated, the natural character is changed; A course of education, is made valuable by close attention. 5 Of old, Mǎng's mother selected a residence, And when her son did not learn, cut out the [half-wove] web. 10 To educate without rigor, shows a teacher's indolence. 15 For if they do not learn in youth, what will they do when old? So men untaught, cau never know the proprieties. Let the sons of men, while yet in early life, With teachers and friends learn proper and decorous conduct. Yung in his fourth year, could give up his pear; 20 Duty to elders, ought early to be understood. First, practice filial and fraternal duties; next, see and hear; Understand certain numerical classifications, and certain branches of science. Units advance to tens, tens ascend to hundreds; Hundreds to thousands, and thousands to myriads. 25 There are three powers,-heaven, earth, and man. There are three lights,-the sun, moon, and stars. There are three bonds,-between prince and minister, justice; Between father and son, affection; between man and wife, conWe speak of spring and summer, of autumn and winter; [cord. 30 These are four seasons, which incessantly revolve. We speak of south and north, also of west and east ; We speak of joy and anger, of sorrow and of fear, Of love, hatred, and desire,—these are the seven passions. The gourd, earth, skin, wood, stone, and metal, Silk, and bamboo, form [materials for] the eight kinds of music. 45 Great-grandsire's sire, great-grandsire, grandsire, sire, and myself, My own son, together with my grandson, Great-grandson, and great-grandson's son, Are nine degrees of kindred, comprising the human relations. Mutual affection of father and son, concord of man and wife, 50 The older brother's kindness, and the younger one's respect, Order between seniors and juniors, friendship among associates, On the prince's part regard, and on the minister's fidelity,— These ten moral duties are invariably binding among men. All teachers of youth, should give lucid explanations, 55 Adduce illustrations and proofs, and clearly mark the periods. Every scholar must make a suitable beginning. The Easy Lessons being finished, then take up the Four Books. The Dialogues are contained in twenty sections, In which his disciples have recorded the sage's (Confucius) words. 60 Mängtsze's sayings are comprised in seven sections; He discourses on reason, virtue, benevolence, and justice. The compiler of the Constant Medium was Tszesze: 'Medium' means not distorted; 'constant,' immutability. The compiler of the Superior Lessons was Tsăngtsze: [ment. 65 From personal and domestic, he proceeds to national, governWhen Filial Duty, and the Four Books are made familiar, Then the six classics may be forthwith commenced. The Odes, Records, Changes, Ritual, Spring and Autumn annals, |