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Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education 15
David Lewin
Karsten Kenklies Editors
East Asian
Pedagogies
Education as Formation and
Transformation Across Cultures and
Borders
Contemporary Philosophies and Theories
in Education
Volume 15
Series Editors
Jan Masschelein, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Lynda Stone, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Editorial Board
Gert Biesta, Arts & Social Sci, Halsbury Bldg, Brunel University
London, Uxbridge, UK
David Hansen, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Jorge Larrosa, Barcelona University, Barcelona, Spain
Nel Noddings, Stanford University, Ocean Grove, NJ, USA
Roland Reichenbach, Erziehungswissenschaft, University of Zurich,
Zurich, Switzerland
Naoko Saito, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University,
Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Paul Smeyers, Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University and KU
Leuven, Ghent, Belgium
Paul Standish, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
Sharon Todd, Professor of Education, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland
Scope of the Series
Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education signifies new directions and
possibilities out of a traditional field of philosophy and education. Around the globe,
exciting scholarship that breaks down and reformulates traditions in the humanities
and social sciences is being created in the field of education scholarship. This series
provides a venue for publication by education scholars whose work reflect the
dynamic and experimental qualities that characterize today’s academy.
The series associates philosophy and theory not exclusively with a cognitive
interest (to know, to define, to order) or an evaluative interest (to judge, to impose
criteria of validity) but also with an experimental and attentive attitude which is
characteristic for exercises in thought that try to find out how to move in the present
and how to deal with the actual spaces and times, the different languages and
practices of education and its transformations around the globe. It addresses the
need to draw on thought across all sorts of borders and counts amongst its elements
the following: the valuing of diverse processes of inquiry; an openness to various
forms of communication, knowledge, and understanding; a willingness to always
continue experimentation that incorporates debate and critique; and an application
of this spirit, as implied above, to the institutions and issues of education.
Authors for the series come not only from philosophy of education but also from
curriculum studies and critical theory, social sciences theory, and humanities theory
in education. The series incorporates volumes that are trans- and inner-disciplinary.
The audience for the series includes academics, professionals and students in the
fields of educational thought and theory, philosophy and social theory, and critical
scholarship.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 Introduction: Positioning, Encountering,
Translating, Reflecting���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3
Karsten Kenklies and David Lewin
Part II Positions
2 Filial Piety, Zhixing, and The Water Margin������������������������������������������ 11
William Sin
3 Western Image of the Teacher and the Confucian Jūnzǐ���������������������� 25
Qasir Shah
4 Being-in-the-World: to Love or to Tolerate.
Rethinking the Self-Other Relation in Light
of the Mahāyāna Buddhist Idea of Interbeing�������������������������������������� 51
Chien-Ya Sun
5 Cultivation Through Asian Form-Based Martial Arts Pedagogy�������� 63
George Jennings, Simon Dodd, and David Brown
Part III Encounters
6 Tu Weiming, Liberal Education, and the Dialogue
of the Humanities ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 81
Paul Standish
7 Quiet Minding and Investing in Loss: An Essay on Chu Hsi,
Kierkegaard, and Indirect Pedagogy in Chinese Martial Arts������������ 103
Viktor Johansson
v
vi Contents
Part IV Translations
12 From Comparison to Translation: Mutual Learning
Between East and West���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 179
Naoko Saito
13 Sumie Kobayashi and Petersen’s Jena-Plan:
A Typical Case of the Acceptance
of Western Pedagogy in Japan���������������������������������������������������������������� 191
Hiroyuki Sakuma
Part V Reflections
14 The Tradition of Invention: On Authenticity
in Traditional Asian Martial Arts ���������������������������������������������������������� 205
Paul Bowman
Part I
Introduction
Chapter 1
Introduction: Positioning, Encountering,
Translating, Reflecting
Conceptions of culture are bound to conceptions of human being and human becom-
ing. Cultures endure through the processes of formation that they, consciously or
unconsciously, initiate. But the ideas that underpin educational formation are
diverse, complex, and often inexplicit. In general, a conception of human being is at
stake, i.e. an anthropology which includes ideas of what a good life or educated
person looks like. In particular, the relations between those educating, those under-
going education, and the subject matter of education, are thereby shaped by distinc-
tive normative considerations reflecting the diverse cultural circumstances of their
origin. This, of course, is also true for those who discuss educational concepts and
practices originating in contexts other than the author’s contexts: those presenta-
tions are usually done for formative, i.e. educational reasons, and those educational
aspirations also need to be reflected upon with regard to the normative anthropolo-
gies which underlie, enable and restrict the way those presentations are shaped. A
book such as this, which intends to raise questions of international and intercultural
comparative education must, therefore, reflect on the ways it attempts to achieve its
goal, which is to participate in the dialogue between different educational cultures,
or, more specifically: between our (i.e. the editors’) own cultures and those we
might in a preliminary (and maybe overly hasty) step call East-Asian cultures. This
collection of essays seeks to explore the Anglo-American traditions of educational
trans−/formation and Germanic constructions of Bildung, alongside East Asian tra-
ditions of trans−/formation and development. Whether such juxtapositions are
legitimate or worthwhile must itself be explored.
Juxtaposition, dialogue, comparison … how are we to begin? Immediately envi-
sioning certain difficulties with even beginning (language capacities or, more pre-
cisely, the lack thereof, and the lack of cultural insights that result from being
immersed in a culture for a long time come to mind), the question arises why one
should embark on such a journey at all? Given the constructive exercise of writing
a text like this, we should ask about what our constructions are founded upon. Why
build an edifice on foundations that might not be fit for purpose or that are estab-
lished on prejudices, stereotypes, and banalities? Is it only the promise of entering
a quarry where we may discover a rich seam of new concepts to be explored freely
in developing theoretical and practical ideas, extracting them from their natural
environment to build our own houses, or cathedrals of education? Are we simply
looking for inspiration to expand the catalogue of our own educational theorems
and activities? Are we looking for material to be plundered or transplanted from
‘there’ to ‘here’ as so often seems to be the case with regard to the international
comparative studies (like PISA)? These studies are seemingly used as an answer to
the question: What can we do to become equally or more successful in subject XY
(of course, usually in complete oblivion of the different cultural contexts that not
only provide the conditions which make those concepts and practices possible in the
first place, but also offer the normative framework within which something like
‘success’ is defined in a very specific and not so easily translatable way)? It cannot
be denied that pragmatic thoughts like this are initially part of most decisions to
present and engage with concepts and practices that are not one’s own: one wants to
learn something new that might be enriching, maybe even useful for oneself.
However, whereas this might actually happen sometimes – within the boundaries
hinted at above – to see this as the main reason for subjecting oneself to the efforts
related to encountering the other might be misleading. It would, at least, be mislead-
ing to take it as the only reason for us here to be interested in East Asian pedagogy.
It might have been serendipity that brought both of us into contact with East Asian
culture in general, and East Asian pedagogy in particular, and yes, we did learn
something new, i.e. new ideas, new practices, new ways to see the world, but actu-
ally, more happened: we experienced what in continental traditions of educational
thinking is often called Bildung; through the encounter with the other, i.e. through a
crisis-inducing self-alienation that is inevitably part of this encounter, we became
(or so we believe) more ourselves in the sense that we became more aware of our-
selves. As Gadamer has described: it is in the encounter with the other that we
become more aware of our own prejudices, of our prejudgements, of our fundamen-
tal expectations and therefore of all that we think of as normal; and it is only through
this awareness that one becomes able to critically engage with those otherwise hid-
den foundations of thought and action. Indeed, it is this process of raising the aware-
ness of others, but equally of ourselves, which drives us to engage with a project like
the one in hand. Despite these difficulties, as editors we still affirm the basic idea
that it is only the encounter with something or someone very different which enables
us to understand both ourselves and others – as individuals and as cultures. But we
must continue to ask ourselves: how far do we really allow the genuine encounter
with difference?
Relatively little work in this area has been undertaken and many questions about
the commensurability of North American, European and East Asian pedagogy
remain. It is not obvious that educational formation as Bildung is generalizable at
1 Introduction: Positioning, Encountering, Translating, Reflecting 5
all. Nor is it obvious that the lifeworlds of these different traditions are mutually
illuminating or at all commensurable. What is striking, though, is the continued
interest in the varied ways of (self-)formation through various East Asian practices,
from varied martial arts to health and spiritual practices and religious paths (e.g.
Aikido, Tai Chi, Yoga, mindfulness, Buddhism, etc.), suggesting that ‘traditional
East-Asian’ practices, their underlying anthropologies, their ideas about pedagogi-
cal relationships, about teaching methods and curricula, have something important
to contribute to modern educational life despite the marginal place they seem to
occupy (for different reasons) within educational discourses.
Of course, dialogues as the one suggested pose certain difficulties, and an intro-
duction to such a book as presented here has to begin with qualifications and caveats
acknowledging these difficulties, in order to establish the proper scope and limits of
the project being undertaken. The key task of our introduction is just this: acknowl-
edging proper scope and limits. This entails: sketching borders in terms of what will
and will not be relevant, and why; acknowledging the dangers of a supposed univer-
salism from which the other can be imagined; in short: becoming self-aware. It will
therefore be a helpful first step to reflect on the structure of what is presented here.
1.1 Positions
1.2 Encounters
Paul Standish introduces the reader to one of the most eminent contemporary
Confucian scholars, Tu Weiming, and brings him in conversation with positions of
the classic Western tradition of Liberal Education. Thus, we move from presenting
concepts and practices to a second step: relating positions, and it is in the second
part of the book – Encounters – in which the individual chapters present the reader
6 K. Kenklies and D. Lewin
1.3 Translations
The third part, then, goes one step further: in discussing attempts to translate peda-
gogies from one context into the other, the authors reflect on the specific opportuni-
ties, but also difficulties of such attempts. Acknowledging the paradoxical condition
of translating what is ‘untranslatable’, Naoko Saito debates the general approach
for translations from one culture into another, whereas Hiroyuki Sakuma discusses
a more concrete example of such a translation by showing what actually happens
when someone tries to transplant one concept into another culture.
1.4 Reflections
However, those different steps that hopefully lead us into a more general dialogue
about education, might lead to more complexity but they are not yet resulting in
self-awareness. To achieve this, the book must also reflect on itself, and it is the last
section, and the chapter of Paul Bowman, that aspires to put a question mark against
the very distinction that is at the foundation of the book – the distinction between
what we called our ‘own cultures’ and ‘East-Asian culture(s)’. What do we think we
are doing when we juxtapose, compare and put in dialogue? We cannot repeat all the
discussions around Orientalism and Reverse Orientalism, around Colonialism and
Post-Colonialism, about cultural essences, about trans- and inter-culturality.
However, in including this last chapter, we at least wanted to acknowledge the need
for such an awareness, and we would like to leave it to the reader to take the insights
of this last chapter and read again all the preceding chapters to see how they might
be affected, how they might change in the light of those kind of questions. The book
might end with that chapter – the reflections, however, do not.
So where do we stand with respect to the question of East Asian pedagogy? How
is it that the concerns raised in this book are concerns at all? In view of the possible
problems of Orientalism and Colonialism just mentioned, what in our circumstances
1 Introduction: Positioning, Encountering, Translating, Reflecting 7
leads us to imagine that an encounter with other cultures will help us to catch sight
of the self? Does this mean that the other culture serves only the project of self-
understanding and self-formation? Are we restoring a universalist assumption of the
priority of the subject and its inalienable right to interpret the other for the self?
As editors we take the project of self-understanding and understanding the other
to be mutually related, even dialectical. The metaphorical educational journey, or
Bildungsreise of this book concerns the relations between knowing the other and
knowing the self. This capacity for mutual illumination between self and other pro-
vides justification for making the effort to learn about the other. Through alienation
from the familiar, the self may be understood. Paul Ricoeur has described this path
to self-understanding as involving a ‘long route’ by way of a mediated opening to
and interpretation of the other (Ricoeur 1992). Taking further this image of a long
detour, interpreted through the concepts of the ‘way’ from East-Asian thinking (e.g.
道; Chinese: dao, Japanese: dō) towards self-understanding and self-cultivation, the
path has often been understood as hard, rough, narrow, and often steep. There is an
admitted mutuality between understanding the self and the other, and we resist pri-
oritising the one over the other, despite the obvious risks of appropriating the other
into the self, which may, indeed, never actually entail leaving the self.
It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge some of the other conditions that
have made the pathway (the Bildungreise) and the product of this book possible. In
2012, Naoko Saito and Paul Standish published Education and the Kyoto School of
Philosophy: Pedagogy for Human Transformation (Springer), a text which set the
stage for intercultural encounter and dialogue. In November 2017 some of the
authors from this text were invited to a conference generously supported by the
Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB) and the University of
Strathclyde in Glasgow at which some of the initial ideas for projects around inter-
national comparative education and intercultural dialogue were developed. Some of
those papers formed drafts for chapters for this book and we are grateful to partici-
pants for their enthusiasm for, and commitment to, this ongoing project. We are also
grateful to Jan Masschelein and Lynda Stone, editors of the ‘Contemporary
Philosophies and Theories in Education’ series of which this book is a part, and the
editorial team at Springer for their support.
Reference
Ricoeur, P. (1992) Oneself as another (K. Blamey trans) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Part II
Positions
Chapter 2
Filial Piety, Zhixing, and The Water Margin
William Sin
What are the demands of Confucian filial piety (or xiao 孝)? How stringent are they
in comparison to the demands of impersonal morality1? Between the demands of
filial piety and those of impartial justice (which is a prominent instance of imper-
sonal morality), how should individuals find a place for their personal interests
within the confines of Confucian doctrines? In this paper, I attempt to answer these
questions with reference to the virtue of zhi直 or zhixing 直性. Zhixing refers to an
agent’s ability to act ‘straightly’ in accordance with his beliefs.2 An agent with such
a character will be inclined to act from self-honesty, courage, and determination in
situations where moral dilemmas arise.
1
‘Impersonal morality’ here refers to the demands of morality from a neutral perspective; that is, a
morality that gives everybody reason to obey it. Standard cases of impersonal morality involve the
demands of justice, the impartial operation of legal rules, as well as humanistic concerns to
improve the lives of those affected by extreme poverty, disease, or starvation in the world. Both
Kantian ethics and Utilitarianism tend to generate impersonal moral demands – such demands are
also called the demands of impartiality. The nature of such demands differs from those which stem
from special relations between people. For instance, the reasons that we must care about our par-
ents’ or friends’ interests are uniquely applicable to us, but not to anyone else (see Scheffler 1982,
p. 123; Sen 1983; Nagel 1986, pp. 152–3, 171–175; Parfit 1984, p. 104).
2
Strictly speaking, zhixing is not a concept found before the Han period, whereas the concept of
zhi is prevalent in the Analects. However, as the literal meaning of zhixing is ‘the nature of zhi,’ in
the context of this paper I will regard them as two expressions of the same kind. In the rest of this
paper, I will express zhi as a character trait and zhixing a virtue. Here, the concept of zhixing is
taken to be a thematic extension of zhi, as we see that in The Water Margin, the major heroes are
often described to have the virtue of zhixing, and their characteristic traits demonstrate to a large
extent Confucius’s idea of zhi (on the Confucian idea of zhi, see Feng (2001, pp. 311–319); on an
elaboration of zhixing as a moral virtue, see Sin (2018, pp. 238–241).
W. Sin (*)
Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong
e-mail: wwlsin@eduhk.hk
The virtue of zhixing is worthy of our attention because when an ordinary person
is faced with a moral dilemma and cannot fulfill both the demands of filial piety and
those of impersonal morality, he may be confused and overwhelmed by emotion.
Even if this person eventually complies with the demands of impersonal morality,
he might only do this because it is viewed as acceptable in the public eye. In con-
trast, the person with zhixing has a different motivational source. For him, it is more
important to be committed to his principle than to live safely, or to live free from
reprimand or the moral disapproval of others.
In the early part of this paper, I will engage with the debates between Liu
Qingping and his critics on the priority of filial piety against the values of other
virtues and those of impersonal morality (Liu 2003, pp. 234–250, 2007, pp. 1–19,
2009, pp. 173–188). Liu argues that Confucianism attaches overriding importance
to the spirit of “consanguineous affection”, and that as such Confucianism has con-
tributed to the spread of corruption in Chinese society. Liu’s arguments germinate
in his discussion of the cases in Analects 論語13.18 and Mencius 孟子7A35, which
will be introduced in section one.3 In sections two and three, I offer an alternative
reading of the demands of filial piety with reference to the two cases in Analects
13.18 and Mencius 7A35. I argue that in these cases, Confucian teachers have delib-
erately created moral dilemmas to train their students’ reactions. I believe that the
criteria of an appropriate response to the dilemmas is not necessarily determined by
the position the agent takes, but by the way he handles the normative concerns in the
scenario. The character trait of zhi is pertinent here as it enables the agent to perform
well in difficult situations. I will explain this point by analyzing the case with
regards to Analects 13.18. Finally, in section four, I will use the narratives of The
Water Margin 水滸傳 to demonstrate the myriad ways filial piety can be expressed.4
I will focus on the case of Zhu Tong 朱仝and that of Song Jiang 宋江. Zhu is a
person with zhixing, who can respond to moral dilemmas with authenticity, even
though he protects his friend’s interests over the demands of impartial justice. In
contrast, in Song’s case, because of his lack of sincerity, he seldom performs well in
moral dilemmas, despite how often he proclaims the importance of the demands of
impartial justice or that of filial piety to him.
3
Liu also discusses the case in Mencius 5A3, which is about an agent’s obligation towards his elder
brother. I will put it aside, as my primary focus here is on the conflict between the demands of filial
obligation (or filial piety) and of justice.
4
In regard to the classical novel The Water Margin, there are various translations. Even the title of
the novel in the different translations are not the same. For example, Shapiro uses ‘Outlaw of the
Marsh’ whereas John and Alex Dent Young use ‘The Marshes of Mount Liang’ and a different
subtitle for different volumes. For the sake of consistency, I use The Water Margin as a reference
for the novel in this paper, regardless of its various editions.
2 Filial Piety, Zhixing, and The Water Margin 13
In Analects 13.18, Confucius 孔子makes a brief reply to the Duke of She regarding
his opinion on the idea of uprightness. Confucius states that an ‘upright’ son should
not report his father’s theft (of a sheep) to the authorities; he should conceal his
father’s wrongdoing and an upright father would do likewise to conceal his son’s act
of theft too.
The Case of Concealment: The Duke of She said to Confucius, “In our village we have one
Straight Body [Zhigong直躬]. If a father steals a sheep, his son will give evidence
against him.”
Confucius answered, “In our village those who are straight are quite different. Fathers
cover-up for their sons, and sons cover-up for their fathers. In such behavior is straightness
to be found as a matter of course” (Analects 13.18, in Lau 1979, with my modification).
The second case is from Mencius 7A35. Mencius 孟子’s disciple Tao Ying桃應
asks him a hypothetical question. If Shun舜’s father (Gu Sou瞽瞍, who is a blind
man) commits a murder, should Shun, being the emperor, excuse him for the crime
or allow the authorities to apprehend him? After an initial exchange, Tao Ying
presses Mencius for a more precise response. Mencius affirms that Shun would
abdicate the throne and carry his father away, living outside the bounds of civil
society.
The Case of Evasion: Tao Ying asked: “If Shun was Emperor and Gao Yao 臯陶 the judge,
what should have been done if the Blind Man killed a man?”
“The only thing to do is to apprehend him.”
“In that case, would Shun not try to stop it?”
“How could Shun stop it? Gao Yao had authority for what he did.”
“Then what would Shun have done?”
“Shun thought of casting aside the Empire as no more than discarding a worn shoe. He
would have secretly carried the old man on his back and fled to the edge of the Sea and lived
there happily, never giving a thought to the Empire” (Mencius 7A35, in Lau 1970, with my
modification).
Liu Qingping believes that the above two cases support the view that Confucianism
places filial piety above the value of the principle of justice, and even the Confucian
ideal of humane government (Liu 2004, p. 859, 2007, pp. 4–5). Liu calls it the spirit
of “consanguineous affection,” representing an integral feature of the Confucian
theory. There are general statements in both the Analects and Mencius attributing a
prime position to the value of filial piety or xiao: You Zi 有子, a disciple of
Confucius, states that being filial and having brotherly respect is the root of a per-
son’s character (Analects 1.2). Mencius also says that the substance of benevolence
is serving one’s parents and that the substance of righteousness is obedience to one’s
elder brothers (Mencius 4A27). And the greatest achievement a filial son can make
is to serve his parents and honor them (Mencius 4A19; 5A4).
Critics of Liu have provided useful reminders on how we should understand the
circumstances of the Cases of Concealment and Evasion. They point out that even
if a value is outweighed by another in a circumstance, it does not follow that this
value is unimportant or will lose its normative force in other circumstances. In fact,
Chapter 3
Western Image of the Teacher
and the Confucian Jūnzǐ
Qasir Shah
3.1 Introduction
The jūnzǐ (君子), the moral exemplar presented by Confucius, is the ideal individual
human to be aspired to via self-cultivation through her own moral effort. She is a
person of irreproachable character embodying the Confucian Wǔ cháng (五常): The
Five Constant Virtues of Humanity. These are: rén 仁 (humanity); lǐ 禮 (propriety or
rites); yì 義 (appropriateness); zhì 智 (wisdom); and xìn 信 (faithfulness). The five
virtues have at their heart the propagation of humanity rather than individuality;
these virtues find their application in the jūnzǐ.1 However, of particular significance
in terms of the character of a jūnzǐ, is the overarching virtue rén, which can be stated
as: “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.” (Lau 12:2)2, and is
embodied in the Confucian saying “The man of rén, wishing to establish his own
character, also seeks to establish the character of others. Wishing to succeed, he also
seeks to help others succeed” (Legge 6:30). What though does this have to do with
teaching and the teacher? Teaching is a profession unlike any other; it involves the
education of the young and those seeking to further their knowledge and skill in
particular fields. Teachers are in a privileged position of authority, and can influence
the views, beliefs, and behaviour of their students. For me the aforementioned vir-
tues ought to form an important element of a teacher’s character. As Carr noted
1
These virtues shall be described in more detail later in this chapter.
2
The principal translations of Confucius’ Analects used in this chapter are those by D.C. Lau
(1979) and James Legge (2005). When cited, the numbering refers to the book number within the
Analects, followed by the chapter.
Q. Shah (*)
University College London, London, UK
e-mail: qasir.shah.14@ucl.ac.uk
FOOTNOTES:
[13] See my “Ravenna; a Study” (Dent), 1912.
[14] So Jornandes who asserts that Aquileia was so utterly
destroyed “ita ut vix ejus vestigia ut appareant reliquerint.”
IX
ATTILA’S HOME-COMING
Such was the return, such was the failure of Attila. He had looked
to hold the world in fee; he returned for the last time across the
Danube his desire unaccomplished, his hopes dead. He had struck
first the East and perhaps ruined it, but he had failed to take
Constantinople. He had struck Gaul and left its cities shambles, but
he had not destroyed the armies of Aetius. He had desired Rome for
his plunder and his pride, but Leo had turned him back before he
crossed the Po. Every attack had ended in a long retreat; if he
brought ruin to a hundred Imperial cities, at last he but achieved his
own. He returned to his wooden stockade in the heart of Hungary
with all his hopes unfulfilled, all his achievements undone, a ruined
man.
That he did not realise his failure is but to emphasise the fact that
he was a Barbarian. To him, doubtless, destruction and booty, ruin
and loot seemed the end of war, he had not even in this his last hour
begun to understand what the Empire was. And so if we ask
ourselves what in reality the enormous energy of the Hunnish
onslaught achieved in the first half of the fifth century, we are
compelled to answer, nothing; nothing, that is, consciously and
directly. Unconsciously and indirectly, however, the restless brutality
of Roua and of Attila brought to pass these two great and even
fundamental things; it was the cause of the passing of Britain into
England, and it founded the republics of the lagoons which were to
produce Venice the Queen of the Adriatic.
Of all this, of his failure as of those strange achievements, Attila
was wholly unaware. He came home like a conqueror to his wooden
palace in the midst of a great feast prepared for him, to be greeted
as Priscus describes he had been greeted before, on his return from
the ruin of the East and his failure to reach Constantinople. He had
made the West his tributary; he was laden with the gold and the spoil
of northern Italy. It was enough for him, and so he made ready with
joy to marry yet another wife, to add yet one more to his concubines;
not that Honoria who would have been the sign of his victory, but one
rather a prey than a prize, pitiful in her youth and helpless beauty,
Ildico, or as the German legends call her Hildegrude, perhaps a
Frankish or a Burgundian princess.
It is said, we know not with how much truth, that upon that long
and last retreat as he crossed the river Lech by Augsburg an old
woman with streaming hair, a witch or a sorceress, cried out to him
thrice as he passed, “Retro Attila!” It is part of the legend which
makes so much of his history.
Upon the night of his last orgy or wedding he had feasted and
drunk beyond his wont and he was full of wine and of sleep when he
sought the bed of the beautiful and reluctant Ildico, the last of his
sacrifices and his loot. What passed in that brutal nuptial chamber
we shall never know. In the morning there was only silence, and
when his attendants at last broke into the room they found Attila
dead in a sea of blood, whether murdered by his victim or struck
down by apoplexy cannot be known. It is said that Ildico had much to
avenge—the murder of her parents and her brothers as well as her
own honour.
From that dreadful, characteristic chamber the Huns bore the body
of their King, singing their doleful uncouth songs, to bury him in a
secret place prepared by slaves who were duly murdered when their
work was accomplished. Jornandes has preserved or invented for us
the great funeral dirge which accompanied the last Barbarian rite. It
celebrated Attila’s triumphs over Scythia and Germany which bore
his yoke so meekly, and over the two Emperors who paid him tribute.
He left no memorial but his terror written in the fire and smoke of
burning cities, and that tradition of “frightfulness” to which Kaiser
Wilhelm II first appealed to his troops on their departure for China,
and which he is practising upon the body of Europe to-day. For upon
his death Attila’s vast and barbaric hegemony fell to pieces.
Enormous revolts broke it in sunder, and e’er many years had
passed the very memory of it was forgotten.
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AMMIANI MARCELLINI RERUM GESTARUM LIBER XXXI