...Si vis me flere dolendum est
Primum ipsi tibi....
[30] Each invisible atom of which combines to produce a perfect whole.
[31] Referring to an echo.
[32] This remains, while all other things pass away.
[33] On the 23rd June 1900, almost while these words were being written, the Han-lin College was burnt to the ground. The writer’s youngest son, Mr. Lancelot Giles, who went through the siege of Peking, writes as follows:—“An attempt was made to save the famous Yung Lo Ta Tien, but heaps of volumes had been destroyed, so the attempt was given up. I secured vol. 13,345 for myself.”
[34] Chinese note-paper is ornamented with all kinds of pictures, which sometimes cover the whole sheet.
[35] Said of the bogies of the hills, in allusion to their clothes. Here quoted with reference to the official classes, in ridicule of the title under which they hold posts which, from a literary point of view, they are totally unfit to occupy.
[36] A poet of the T‘ang dynasty, whose eyebrows met, whose nails were very long, and who could write very fast.
[37] This is another hit at the ruling classes. Hsi K‘ang, the celebrated poet, musician, and alchemist (A.D. 223-262), was sitting one night alone, playing upon his lute, when suddenly a man with a tiny face walked in, and began to stare hard at him, the stranger’s face enlarging all the time. “I’m not going to match myself against a devil!” cried the musician after a few moments, and instantly blew out the light.
[38] When Liu Chüan, Governor of Wu-ling, determined to relieve his poverty by trade, he saw a devil standing by his side, laughing and rubbing its hands for glee. “Poverty and wealth are matters of destiny,” said Liu Chüan, “but to be laughed at by a devil—,” and accordingly he desisted from his intention.