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.
Sinology
The Chinese character 道 Tao or Dao in
TaoismFrederic Balfour followed the
Wade-Giles method of
transcription favored 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 of understanding, shows how far
Taoist studies have evolved.
- 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)
: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
skeptical 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.
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
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. 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.
Essays
- Preaching The Gospel (1872)
- Sermons Never Preached (1879)
- The Principle of Nature (1880)
- The Song Of Songs (Which Is Solomon?) (1893)
- The Higher Agnosticism (1897)
- Religious Systems of the World (1901)
- The Relation of Spiritualism to Orthodoxy (1905)
- A Curious Physical Phenomenon (1906)
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)
