The interrogation in this sentence is formed by yen, the first character to

the right.

6. The character

ngan, ease, comfort, has in some instances the

force of the interogative hho. This is the case in the following sen

tence, which occurs in the first volume of the Lee-khee;

Should the mountain T'hai fall, how can I expect another?"* Lee-khee, vol. i.

In this sentence the interrogation is formed by the character ngan, in the fourth line from the right.

7. The substantive

00, which originally means a crow, is said by

the compilers of the Imperial dictionary to be used occasionally in the sense

of hho, 'what?' To confirm this, they quote from the Se-kee, the following

* This sentence is figurative: it forms part of a conversation between Confucius and Tse-koong, added to the Lee-khee by those who revised that work with the sage's additions thereto. In this conversation Confucius had been describing himself under the figure of the mountain 7'hai, and representing his fall or death as a matter of small importance. This gave rise to the exclamation above, which is Tse-koong's.

The interrogation in this sentence is formed by the character oo, the first on the right.

8. The character

hhoh has also the force of the interrogative 'how?' or 'in what manner?' This it seems to have obtained early; for it is found in the second volume of the 'Shoo-king. It occurs in a soliloquy of the emperor P'han-kung, who, reflecting on the virtues of his grandfather Thang, the founder of the Syang dynasty, says,

9.kee, 'a little,' &c. is sometimes used interrogatively, as equivalent to, how many?' Of this an instance occurs in the second volume of Mung. On being visited by one of his disciples, with whom he was displeas

ed, the philosopher addresses him thus,

In this sentence the interrogative is formed by the character kee in the

third line from the right.

10. The phraseshin-mò' is so often heard in conversation, that it would be improper to pass it over in silence, although it is seldom met with in respectable compositions.

Shìn-mò yin lai?

What man came?' with other expressions of this kind, may often be heard in conversation; to which however they seem almost wholly confined.

11. Another interrogative which, if not strictly a pronoun, has a close affinity thereto, iskhee why?' or 'wherefore?' which may also be translated, 'what cause?' This character is pretty ancient, of which the following passage from the first volume of the Shoo-king, furnishes a proof. Thaikhang, the grandson of the emperor Yu, growing supine and negligent, his younger brother delicately attempted to arouse him to a sense of his duty by singing a kind of sonnet in his hearing, which contains the following sentence;

"A man to transgress thrice ;-why should a sovereign wait the disclo

sure of his faults by a nation's murmurs ?"

Shoo-king, vol. i.

In this sentence, khee, in the third line from the right, forms the interrogative' why?' It is often used, however, so as to convey a strong negative. It frequently recurs in the standard writings of the Chinese, and is occasionally heard in conversation.

12. Lastly, the Chinese have also an interrogative character which con

tains within itself a negative. It is hhoh, why not?' which occurs in

the following address of Confucius to Yen-yuen and Kee-loo, while standing

"Why does not each of you frankly disclose the wish of his heart?" Lun-yu, vol. i.

In this sentence hhoh, the first character to the right, has the force of a negative in the interrogative form.

CLASS III. Demonstratives, Possessives, &c.

We now come to the Third, and most numerous Class of the Chinese pronominal characters, which comprizes no less than four kinds, the Demonstrative, Possessive, Distributive, and Indefinite pronouns. By some grammarians these have been termed Adjective Pronouns; a name indeed which agrees with nearly all of them, but not with them alone; several of the interrogatives having a claim to that name equally well founded.

The Demonstratives. Beside the personal pronouns, which have been already described as occasionally performing the office of demonstratives, there are certain characters, which are peculiarly so, being scarcely ever used in any other sense. Among these tse, this; se, this; and

chyèa, this; are used to express the person or thing most immediately in view; and pee, that, nà, that, the person or thing more

remote.

1. Tsé, 'this,' seems not to have been so anciently used as some of the pronominal characters; as it seldom occurs in the Shoo-king. It is however much used by Confucius and Mung, and is applied to both persons and things. The key of it is chée, to stop, to rest. Of its force the

last sentence quoted page 339, furnishes one example, and another may be adduced from the first volume of Mung. Detailing the misery which a king's giving himself up wholly to sports and idle recreations, bring on his people, the philosopher Mung represents them as exclaiming,

"This springs from no other cause than his having no joy in common with his people."

Mung, vol. i.

2. The character se, also expresses the demonstrative ‘this.” Though

employed in certain cases to convey the idea of dividing, instances of its

being used as a demonstrative are far more frequent. They occur as early

as in the Lee-khee; as the following example shews,