Frederic H. Balfour

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.[1] 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.

Contents

Sinology

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.

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)
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)

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.[2]

Published Translations

Man of letters

Frederic H. Balfour was a prolific religious scholar, and published several volumes discussing the implications of theism 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.[3] Balfour published several fiction novels; under his own name, as well as under the pseudonym Ross George Dering.[4] 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.[5]

Essays

Novels

  • The Expiation of Eugene (1904)
  • Austin And His Friends (1906)
  • Giraldi (1889)
  • The Virgin's Vengeance (1889)
  • The Undergraduate (1891)
  • Dr. Mirabel's Theory (1893)

See also

References

  1. ^ Tao Te Ching at Sacred Texts
  2. ^ Balfour, Frederic H. Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook in "Biographies of Immortals – Legends of China," ELPN Press (February, 2010) ISBN 1-934255-30-0
  3. ^ Harper's Magazine Restored Archives
  4. ^ Harvard University Press
  5. ^ Amazon Digital Research Frederick H. Balfour
  6. ^ Harvard University Press

Additional Sources

External links