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III, THE ANALECT_ 7I
suggests, the sickness recorded in VIII. 3 and 4, was fatal,
but we have no evidence as to the date of his demise. Dr.
Legge thinks " we shall not be far wrong if we determine
its date about the end of the fourth, or begining of the
fifth century before Christ," a date that seems unnecessarily
late. For if, as Dr. Legge thinks, the book " was compiled
by the disciples of the disciples of the Sage,", and, if such
disciples were indeed the followers of T_ng Tzfi and Y'u
Tzfi, a conclusion which Dr. Legge somewhat summarily
declares "does not stand investigation," then such disciples,
whoever they were, must have been far advanced in years.
• It seems more reasonable to place tlle compilation of the
Analects nearer the middle than the beginning of tile fifth
century, B. C.
Whoever the editors were their attempts at arrangement
shew little knowledge either of historical or philosophic
order, for" while the first e[ght or ten chapters seem, in a
haphazard sort of way, to be classified _ubjectively, the
rest are thrown together without any consideration either
of subject or period. This and the repetition of clauses
has led some writers to ascribe various books to various
disciples or their followers, but it seems more accordant
with reason to believe that the material generally is from
different hands, and that the actual editors,-possessing
neither historic sense nor philosophic insight, collected
their material into its present shape to the best of their
meagre ability. They at any rate regarded all the
material in their possession as tob precious to allow
of any excision, as witness the numerous repetitions
that occur,