5p.Qian,Part 1,Spirit and Self - ScholarSpace

Character Appraisal 21
a dark, secretive disposition, and that he would surely do injury to good
men, so he kept his mouth shut and engaged in no discussions or consultations.
If any of his contemporaries inquired of him about any person,
he would not pass judgment, whether high or low, but would uniformly
say, ‘The man’s excellent.’” 5
The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Chin says: “[Wang] Yen [256–
311] had a flourishing reputation, and his contemporaries attributed to
him a perspicuous ability of jen-lun chien-shih. He once evaluated the
gentlemen of the realm, saying: ‘Wang Ch’eng is number one; Yü Ai number
two; and Wang Tun number three.’” 6
The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Chin says: “[Wang] Chi [ca.
240–ca. 285] had a perspicuous ability of jen-lun chien-shih. Since a
young man, he had exceeded others in differentiating the elegant from
the vulgar and the right from the wrong.” 7
Conceptualized within the above context, an early reference relevant
to the jen-lun in jen-lun chien-shih may be traced back to the Li-chi (Record
of rites): “A person [jen] should be compared only with those of his own
category [lun].” 8 In his commentary on this line, Tu Yü (222–284) points
out that “lun is similar to lei (category or type). An official should be compared
with other officials, and a gentleman with other gentlemen.” 9 As a
Chin scholar, Tu Yü must have been acutely aware of the prevalence of
the jen-lun chien-shih, and his interpretation of lun no doubt reflects the
common understanding of the term jen-lun in his time. Confined by the
text on which he comments, Tu Yü here limits lun to social ranking, but
the overall idea of jen-lun referring to “human types” is clear.
As for chien-shih, Han sources have chien referring to “mirror,” which
“is used to observe or check one’s appearance,” 10 and shih, meaning “to
know.” 11 Chien and shih together signify judging (chien) and knowing or
recognizing (shih) something (say, human types). Further, as a word compound,
chien-shih was interchangeable with shih-chien during the Wei-
Chin period. For example, Liu Chün’s commentary has two accounts that
relate the Chin gentleman Huan I (275–328) to this intellectual practice.
One says: “Huan I had a perspicuous ability of jen-lun chien-shih,” 12 and
the other says: “[Huan I’s] shih-chien was clear and bright.” 13 The Shihshuo
hsin-yü also includes a chapter titled “Shih-chien,” which recounts