was a disciple of the sage, who consulted along with him the historical records of Loo, before making his great Work; that when it was made, it was not advisable to publish it because of the praise and censure, the concealments and suppressions, which abounded in it, and that therefore he delivered it by word of mouth to the disciples, who thereupon withdrew and gave different accounts of the events referred to in it; that K‘ëw-ming, in order that the truth might not be lost, made his commentary, or narratives of those events, to make it clear that the master had not in his text used empty words; and finally, that it was necessary for him to keep his work concealed, to avoid the persecutions of the powerful rulers and officers whose conduct was freely and fully described in it.² Pan Koo’s account is correct thus far, that we have in Tso's Work a detailed account of most of the events of which the text of Confucius gives only hints. The Ch‘un Ts‘ëw may be loosely compared to the headings or summaries of contents which are prefixed to the chapters in many editions of our Bibles, and Tso's commentaries to the chapters themselves. But we shall find that they contain more than this.
2. Who Tso was it is not easy to say. In the Analects, V. xxiv., Confucius says, ‘Fine words, an insinuating appearance, and excessive respect;—Tso-k‘ëw Ming was ashamed of such things, Who Tso was.and I also am ashamed of them. To conceal resentment against a person, and appear friendly with him;—Tso-k‘ëw Ming was ashamed of such conduct, and I also am ashamed of it.’[1] Chaou K‘e says, on the authority of K‘ung Gan-kwoh, that the person whom Confucius spoke of thus, was the grand historiographer of Loo, but adds nothing as to his being contemporary with the sage, or of an earlier time. The critics generally hold that he was some Worthy of an earlier age, on the ground that Confucius only drew comparisons between himself and men of a former period.[2] I am not fully convinced by their reasonings. The Chinese text of the Analects is not so definite as the English translation of it. What Confucius says about Tso-k‘ëw Ming might be rendered in the present tense in the same way as what he says about himself. Nothing, however, would be gained by discussing a text on which it is not possible to arrive at a
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