2940 B.C.; and to them the invention is attributed of communicating ideas by fmall knotted ftrings, like the Quippos of the Peruvians; and to Fo-hi that of writing. The celebrated annals of the empire Tum-kien kam-mo (c), together with many other authors, are extremely moderate in honouring their Theuth, or Cadmus; fince they maintain, that he continued the use of the ftrings, and only invented fome parallel lines, which, being differently combined, were confidered by him as fufficient to exprefs all hu

Kuen. Ken.

man thoughts. Fo-hi, neverthelefs, they fay, exhibited no more than eight of thefe combinations, which he drew from a fort of map delineated on the back of a dragon, which miraculously appeared to him on the banks of the river Hoam-ho.

Thefe groups of parallel lines are known by the name of Pa-kua, or eight trigrams conftructed as follows, to which I have added the pronunciation and fignification* attributed to them by their firft interpreter.

(c) See a French Tranilation by Father Mailla, edited by Grofier-"Hiftoire Générale de la Chine," 12 vols., 4to, à Paris, 1777. See alfo Fourm. Gram. Sinic., p. 377.

*The Chineic characters correfponding to the pronunciation and fignification of the above eight Kua will be found in the centres of the eight octagonal figures, difpofed in two columns, at p. xx of Dr. Hager's Analyfis, remembering to apply to them the above Arabic figures in the Chinese order; namely, commencing from the top of the right column down to the bottom, and then again from the top of the left column down to the laft of the octagons. This arrangement of the Kua correfponds with that by Intorcetta, Couplet, Fourmont, Vitdelou, &c. The above mentioned octagonal figures were intended by Dr. Hager to exhibit the fixty-four hexagrams refulting from all the poffible combinations of the Kua, two by two; but the miftakes are fo numerous, that they reprefent no more than forty-one of them; as may be perceived by the frequent repetitions which occur of fimilar hexagrams, even in the fame octagon. As to the characters above alluded to, they are pretty correct; but we must be aware of two remarkable blunders, one of the printer, and the other of the engraver, both bindly following their blind employer. The former has placed the third octagon of

thunder, fire, torrents, heaven.

the right column upfide down, as the Doctor properly observes in the errata; and the latter has engraven the block of the first figure on the left column quite reverfe, and in no way could it be placed right by the printer. This neither the Author nor the Reviewers have yet obferved. Whoever would fee how the character in the center of this figure ought to be, muft hold the book facing a mirror, which will reflect it in its light pofition.-But what do the Reviewers lay to this wretched, blundering difplay of this fagacious triumvirate? Why, they give an octagon as a fpecimen; and, having felected the third, they have, in courfe, corrected the printer's inversion, as directed by Dr. Hager; but they have proved themfelves more ignorant than even the author himself, by felecting one of the two most incorrect, having only three hexagrams right out of the eight, as the three repetitions, which occur in the hexagrams, fufficiently fhew. [Sec Critical Review for April 1801, p. 365.]-The length of this note obliges me, Mr. Editor, to refer your Readers to the end of the prefent Letter, where additional obfervations will be given on this MOST INFAMOUS PAGE XX of Dr. Hager's Analyfis, in order that his gros ignorance may be clearly demonftrated, and HIS MOST BASE AND ARTFUL PLACIAKISM fully expofed, and mathematically proved.

characters and Tartaric alphabets.Dr. Hager, in his Monument of Yu, has published the fpecimens of the thirty-two Chinese editions; but has mifled the reader as to the order and denomination of the characters, as we fhall fee in the sequel. A French translation, with the historical accounts of thefe thirty-two Chinese hand-writings, was published by De Guignes, à Paris, 1770, 8vo, entitled "Eloge de la Ville de Moukden."

Dr. Hager, imprudently trufting, as ufual, to the miffionaries, gives thefe characters Siam-him, at p. xliv of his Analyfis, an inaccurate interpretation; and moft ignorantly affures the reader, that the Chinese thus call their antient characters. Now Siam means figure, image—and him a body, in a very general fenfe; and, fince only a few of the most antient characters represented real images of bodies, fuch a denomination could not belong but to those few, and never to the others, which were mere fymbols by compact, either fimple or compound, according to the other rules of the Lo-xu,

fo altered or repeated, that the thing meant is as clearly pointed out as if indicated with our hand to the reader. For inftance: if the unity or fingle ftroke be repeated two or three times, it will evidently point out the numbers two or three. If the image of a tree be repeated three or four times in a fingle character, it will naturally point out a foreft or grove. If to the character meaning a precious vase the strokes expreffing drops be added, it will be plain that fuch a veffel is to hold liquids, and precious liquids, as wine, or any other. If the character upper be reverfed, it will fhew of itself the meaning of lower.

意會

Hoei-y, or affo

III. ciation of ideas: that is to fay, by putting together feveral images, each representing the principal acceffories or integral parts of the thing meant, so as to constitute a fort of definition. Thus, if to the character meaning mouth were to be put another reprefenting a dog, it would not be difficult to affociate thefe ideas, and fuppofe it to exprefs barking.

IV.

馨諧

coincidence.

Hiai-yn, or vocal

When to the image of an animal fpecies, for inftance, another character was added, which by its vocal utterance imitated fomewhat the noife of the particular animal we mean to exprefs, though not founded in reading. Thus the Chinese put to the character bird another that is pronounced go, to exprefs a goofe. We are ourselves proud, when we find words expreffing the meaning intended by onomatopoeia. The English language is particularly rich in fuch words. This rule has been extended by the Chinese to the attribution of different fignifications to one and the fame character, by affigning to it two, three, and more different founds.

V.

注轉

Chuen-chu, or derivative extention. When a character fignifying a part of fpeech is extended to exprefs any other conveying the fame or an analogous idea: thus, whatever fignifies union be adapted to exmay prefs likewife, unanimous, jointly, &c. The English language has almost all its nouns like the verbs, adjectives, &c. But it will be here neceffary to inform the reader of the very philofophical claffification and denomination of the

parts of fpeech according to the They divide them into

Chinese.

實

into

Xe, or folid and full; and

虛

Hiu, or empty. These

laft evidently point out the numerous expletives of the Chinese, quite empty of meaning, but exceedingly harmonious, and great ly contributing to perfpicuity. The folid are again fubdivided into

Ho, or living; and

死

Now, are we to fuppofe that the above judicious rules were made by the author of the Pa-hua, and expreffed with knotted firings? par ticularly the fecond of them, which fo ftrongly fuppofes the previous invention of real images of things. Befides, how could the eminent author, who was the first to transmit thofe golden rules to pofterity by writing, be paffed over in filence by the Chinese hiftorians? It feems

unavoidable either to refufe to Fohi fuch an ingenious invention, or to make him, with Kien-lum and others, the author of the primitive

Chinese characters.

Nevertheless, the annals above quoted, agreeably to the foregoing aphorifm, relate that Çam-hie, one of the Prime Minifters of Hoam-ti, and Prefident of the Tribunal of Hiftory, is the inventor of chaidea from the veftiges left on a fandy racters, and that he took his first prompted to difpute this record bank by a flight of birds. We are by another inconfiftency arifing from it befides the above. If we except the celebrated monument of Yu(h), which is compofed of feventy-feven characters only, and was about 2280 B.C., no other older infcriptions are left to us, except a few ones of the dynafty of Xam, about 1750 B.C. Yet, in these, the older they are, the more frequent characters are found reprefenting real images of things and animals, as we find regiftered in

done

fince it means the fix liberal arts, and not the Lo-xu. But in thofe vol. funt bona mixta malis.

(h) Dr. Hager having publifhed an account of this monument, à Paris chez Didot (An. X.), 1802, I forbear now entering fully upon this fubject, till that volume will be reviewed by me; yet it will be requifite to fay a word or two upon it a few lines hence. See alfo this monument inferted in Dr. Hager's Elements, p. xxxvii, which is the moft correct part of that work, because he had no other hand in it than

pointing out the piece to the engraver,

the Dictionaries Chim-çu-tum; Chuençu-lui, and other authors (¿): how, then, could the fcratchings of birds fuggeft the idea of outlines of real objects? Belides, is the inftitution of the Tribunal of Hiftory to be fuppofed coeval with the invention of characters ?

Again: Çam-hic is faid to have only compofed five hundred and forty characters; and we are to fuppofe, that with fo fmall a number of figns hiftory was written till the reign of Xun, about 2250 B.C., when he expreffing his regret at the fcantiness of thefe figns of human ideas, many fet about compofing characters conformable to the primitive five hundred and forty already invented, which they multiplied by affociating and diverfifying them according to the above rules of the Lo-xu, as we may perceive by an attentive infpection of the infcriptions of the dynafties Xam and Cheu [fee Note i].

Thefe primitive characters have very much the appearance of fo many little infects, and were thereKo-teu (k)

fore called

up

斗科

(i) See Fourm. Gram. Sin., pp. 362 and 365; alfo "Lettre de Pékin," where many antient infcriptions are fewed with it, taken from volume LIX of the Philofophical Tranfactions. (k) We must not confound thefe characters with thofe exhibited by Dr. Hager at p. xxvii of his Analyfis, they being quite an unusual and purely ornamental fort of characters, which though called Ko-teu, are different from thefe above alluded to, fince they fignify tadpoles, of which thofe characters are an imitation; but not of fnakes' eggs, as Dr. Hager wrongly tranflates. The characters for the claffical Ko-ten, as given by me, are taken from the hiftorical preface to the Xu-kim, of which I have a Chinefe edition in twenty volumes. Thefe claffical characters are conftantly called by Dr. Hager Ku-ven, blindly following the "Mémoires des Miffion!" but Ku-ven mean antient compofition, and not antient characters; and when we find fuch words in the dictionaries, the authors of them mean to obferve, that

being the name of a fouthern infect pretty common in thofe parts of the Chinefe empire.

Notwithstanding the many changes that the Chinefe caligraphy has undergone, it feems that not only many inferiptions, but also the Kim, or facred books, were written in Ko-teu till the times of Confucius; and, indeed, till the univerfal conflagration of books about 200 B.C., as we thall fee hereafter (1).

But towards the fourth century of the long reign of the dynasty of Cheu, the empire being divided into various fmall principalities, for peculiar purpofes, particularly concealed from all (as Kien-lum obferves, p. 150) but thofe acquainted with the fecret, characters were multiplied and diverfified to a prodigious degree. This confused mass of writings was never diftinguished by their proper claffes and denominations till towards the close of the dynafty of Han; and before that time, all fuch characters were known under the very general name of Chuen-çu, or an

字篆

tient letters.

the antient characters in queition are of the moft genuine ftamp, as found in the antient compofition of the Kim, and not of dubious authority, as many of them are: however, their name is either Ko-teu, Ku-chuen, or Siao-chuen.

But what do the learned Critical Reviewers obferve on this head [vide as quoted in Note e]-They most accurately copy the Doctor's nonfenfe (as ufual), and pafs off ignorance for erudition. O tempora! O mores!

(1) The hiftorians unanimoufly agree in relating that thofe facred books, found hidden (under the Han, about one hundred years after the conflagration) in the walls of the house of Con fucius, were written in Ko-teu; and fince the ftudy and use of thefe cha racters had been prohibited during the reign of the dynafty Çin for about forty years, and never much revived afterwards, they had great trouble in deciphering them.

(To be continued.)