of what was once a picture of grass or coir, and was pronounced so = a rain-coat, for which 蓑 is now used. Read shuai and coupled with hsing it means the decadence which is supposed to follow and precede with unerring regularity all periods of national or private prosperity. [The lessons rather than the facts of history are here emphasised.]
| 259. | 讀 | 史 | 者 | Ye who read history | |
| Tu2 | shih3 | chê3 | |||
| Read | history | one |
Tu see line 110.
Shih see line 176.
Chê see line 49.
| 260. | 考 | 實 | 錄 | must study the State Annals, | |
| K'ao3 | shih2 | lu4 | |||
| Examine | true | record |
K'ao is composed of 老 lao old in its contracted form as radical, and 丂 ch'iao an obsolete word meaning vapour struggling to escape. Its original meaning was old (= lao), and, in addition to its common signification, it has also that of a deceased father.
Shih is composed of 宀 mien a roof with 貫 kuan strings of money, valuables, beneath it, and originally meant wealthy; hence it came to mean full, solid, fruit, etc.
Lu is composed of 金 chin metal as radical, and a common phonetic. It is defined as the colour of metal or gold, and comes to mean to copy out. [The shih lu are the official annals of each monarch, which he is not allowed to see and which are published only after the close of the dynasty. Orders are occasionally given for the life of some eminent statesman to be included in these annals. Eitel translates these two lines by "Reading historical works or rather that-which-constitutes-it, consists in searching out the essential
