Frederic H. Balfour
Encyclopedia
Frederic Henry Balfour (fl.
1871–1908) was a British expatriate editor
, essayist, author, and sinologist, living in Shanghai during the Victorian era
. He is most notable for his translation
of the writings known today as the Tao Te Ching
. Many of these translations appeared in his 1884 treatise
: Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative, also known simply as Taoist Texts. Although later discoveries of supplemental manuscripts have somewhat obscured Balfour's early sinology, his work is still used as a primary source
for many scholars of the Tao Te Ching.
Frederic Balfour followed the Wade-Giles
method of transcription
favoured during the Victorian era
. The first rough translations of ancient Chinese texts helped to shape future methods of transliteration
. Comparing translations of the same passages in the Tao Te Ching
by two sinologists, separated by a century, shows the tendency away from literal exposition in favour of figurative, artistic prose in Taoist studies.
Frederic H. Balfour also proved to be sceptical that Laozi
was the author of the Taoist book Tao Te Ching; notably writing in Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook that Laozi "is a philosopher who never lived." Balfour believed that Laozi was an amalgam of wise ministers, or perhaps a literary device which Chuang Tzu used, as he expounded on his philosophy to students; very similar to the academic debate over the Greek
philosopher Socrates
.
on emerging societies. He also wrote several lengthy discourses on agnosticism. His letters about famine conditions in China were highly regarded, as little credible news regularly made it out of China during this period. Many of these letters appeared in Harper's Magazine
. Balfour published several fiction novels; under his own name, as well as under the pseudonym Ross George Dering. For most of his time in China, Balfour worked as editor-in-chief for North China Daily News
, The Shanghai Evening Courier, and The Celestial Empire newspapers.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
1871–1908) was a British expatriate editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, essayist, author, and sinologist, living in Shanghai during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. He is most notable for his translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
of the writings known today as the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
. Many of these translations appeared in his 1884 treatise
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
: Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative, also known simply as Taoist Texts. Although later discoveries of supplemental manuscripts have somewhat obscured Balfour's early sinology, his work is still used as a primary source
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
for many scholars of the Tao Te Ching.
Sinology
Wade-Giles
Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...
method of transcription
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
favoured during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. The first rough translations of ancient Chinese texts helped to shape future methods of transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
. Comparing translations of the same passages in the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
by two sinologists, separated by a century, shows the tendency away from literal exposition in favour of figurative, artistic prose in Taoist studies.
- Frederic H. Balfour, 1884:
-
- Although the Great Principle of Nature – Tao – has no form, it brought forth and nourishes Heaven and Earth; though it has no passions, it causes the Sun and Moon to revolve; though it has no name, it produces the growth and nurture of all things. As I do not know its name, I am compelled to call it simply, Tao.
- Now this Principle includes the pure and the turbid; the active and the motionless. For instance, Heaven is pure, and Earth turbid; Heaven moves, and the Earth is still. The Masculine is pure, the feminine turbid; the Masculine is active and the Feminine at rest. Emerging from its source and flowing on to all its developments, it produced the visible creation. The pure is the origin of the turbid, and the active of the motionless. If a man is able to remain permanently pure and motionless, Heaven and Earth will both at once come and dwell in him. (tr. Balfour 1884)
- Livia Kohn, 1993:
- Now this Principle includes the pure and the turbid; the active and the motionless. For instance, Heaven is pure, and Earth turbid; Heaven moves, and the Earth is still. The Masculine is pure, the feminine turbid; the Masculine is active and the Feminine at rest. Emerging from its source and flowing on to all its developments, it produced the visible creation. The pure is the origin of the turbid, and the active of the motionless. If a man is able to remain permanently pure and motionless, Heaven and Earth will both at once come and dwell in him. (tr. Balfour 1884)
- The Great Tao has no form; It brings forth and raises heaven and earth. The Great Tao has no feelings; It regulates the course of the sun and the moon. The Great Tao has no name; It raises and nourishes the myriad beings. I do not know its name – So I call it Tao.
- The Tao can be pure or turbid; moving or tranquil. Heaven is pure, earth is turbid; Heaven is moving, earth is tranquil. The male is moving, the female is tranquil. Descending from the origin, Flowing toward the end, The myriad beings are being born. Purity – the source of turbidity, Movement – the root of tranquility. Always be pure and tranquil; Heaven and earth Return to the primordial. (tr. Kohn 1993)
- Although the Great Principle of Nature – Tao – has no form, it brought forth and nourishes Heaven and Earth; though it has no passions, it causes the Sun and Moon to revolve; though it has no name, it produces the growth and nurture of all things. As I do not know its name, I am compelled to call it simply, Tao.
Frederic H. Balfour also proved to be sceptical that Laozi
Laozi
Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...
was the author of the Taoist book Tao Te Ching; notably writing in Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook that Laozi "is a philosopher who never lived." Balfour believed that Laozi was an amalgam of wise ministers, or perhaps a literary device which Chuang Tzu used, as he expounded on his philosophy to students; very similar to the academic debate over the Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
philosopher Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
.
Published Translations
- Waifs & Strays from the Far East (1876)
- The Divine Classic of Nan-hua: Being the Works of Chuang Tsze, Taoist Philosopher (1881)
- Idiomatic Dialogues in the Peking Colloquial (1883)
- Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative (1884)
- Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook (1887)
Man of letters
Frederic H. Balfour was a prolific religious scholar, and published several volumes discussing the implications of theismTheism
Theism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that at least one deity exists.In a more specific sense, theism refers to a doctrine concerning the nature of a monotheistic God and God's relationship to the universe....
on emerging societies. He also wrote several lengthy discourses on agnosticism. His letters about famine conditions in China were highly regarded, as little credible news regularly made it out of China during this period. Many of these letters appeared in Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
. Balfour published several fiction novels; under his own name, as well as under the pseudonym Ross George Dering. For most of his time in China, Balfour worked as editor-in-chief for North China Daily News
North China Daily News
North China Daily News was an English-language newspaper in Shanghai, China, called the most influential foreign newspaper of its time.The paper was founded as the weekly North-China Herald and was first published on 3 August 1850. Its founder, British auctioneer Henry Shearman , died in 1856...
, The Shanghai Evening Courier, and The Celestial Empire newspapers.
Essays
- Preaching The Gospel (1872)
- Sermons Never Preached (1879)
- The Principle of Nature (1880)
- The Song Of Songs (Which Is Solomon?) (1893)
- Cherryfield Hall (1895)
- Unthinkables (1897)
- The Higher Agnosticism (1897)
- Religious Systems of the World (1901)
- The Relation of Spiritualism to Orthodoxy (1905)
- A Curious Physical Phenomenon (1906)
- A Patagonia Mage (1907)
Novels
- Writing as Frederic H. Balfour
- The Expiation of Eugene (1904)
- Austin And His Friends (1906)
- Writing as Ross George Dering
- Giraldi (1889)
- The Virgin's Vengeance (1889)
- The Undergraduate (1891)
- Dr. Mirabel's Theory (1893)
See also
- :Chinese language
- Chinese classics
- Chinese literatureChinese literatureChinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
- SinologySinologySinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...
- Wade-Giles Romanization system for Chinese transliterationWade-GilesWade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...
- TaoismTaoismTaoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
Additional Sources
- The Westminster Review, Richard Bentley & Son, London 1897
- China Review IX (1880–1881), p. 380–382
- China Review IX (1880–1881), p. 281–297
- The Ch'ing Ching Ching, in Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative, Frederic H. Balfour, Trübner and Co, 1884
- Tao – The Way: Special Edition, ELPN Press, 2005 ISBN 1934255130
- Qingjing jing, Scripture of Clarity and Quiescence, Livia Kohn in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Routledge, 2007, p. 800–801
- Frederic H. Balfour, Harvard University Press http://books.google.com/books?id=zhkNAAAAYAAJ
- Frederic H. Balfour, Harvard University Press http://books.google.com/books?id=SteRPgIWXAEC&dq=Idiomatic+Dialogues+in+the+Peking+Colloquial&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=1741kWnnrA&sig=OfUJ1bBuBe4iprhxy2srCOvmwY8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
- The Annals of Psychical Science (1906). Reprint by Kessinger, 2004 ISBN 1417977973
- World Mystery by G.R.S. Mead, Kessinger, 1987 ISBN 0922802912
External links
- The Taoist Texts by Frederic H. Balfour at Sacred Texts