Editing Barbarian (section)

====Idealization====
Some Chinese classics romanticize or idealize barbarians, comparable to the western [[noble savage]] construct. For instance, the Confucian ''[[Analects]]'' records:
* The Master said, The [夷狄] barbarians of the East and North have retained their princes. They are not in such a state of decay as we in China.
* The Master said, The Way makes no progress. I shall get upon a raft and float out to sea.
* The Master wanted to settle among the [九夷] Nine Wild Tribes of the East. Someone said, I am afraid you would find it hard to put up with their lack of refinement. The Master said, Were a true gentleman to settle among them there would soon be no trouble about lack of refinement.<ref>3/5, 5/6, 9/14, tr. by Arthur Waley (1938), ''The Analects of Confucius'', Vintage, pp. 94–5, 108, 141.</ref>
The translator [[Arthur Waley]] noted that, "A certain idealization of the 'noble savage' is to be found fairly often in early Chinese literature", citing the ''[[Zuo Zhuan]]'' maxim, "When the Emperor no longer functions, learning must be sought among the 'Four Barbarians,' north, west, east, and south."<ref>Zhao 17, Waley (1938), p. 108.</ref> Professor Creel said,
<blockquote>From ancient to modern times the Chinese attitude toward people not Chinese in culture—"barbarians"—has commonly been one of contempt, sometimes tinged with fear&nbsp;... It must be noted that, while the Chinese have disparaged barbarians, they have been singularly hospitable both to individuals and to groups that have adopted Chinese culture. And at times they seem to have had a certain admiration, perhaps unwilling, for the rude force of these peoples or simpler customs.<ref>Creel (1970), 59–60.</ref></blockquote>

In a somewhat related example, [[Mencius]] believed that Confucian practices were universal and timeless, and thus followed by both Hua and Yi, "[[Shun (Chinese leader)|Shun]] was an Eastern barbarian; he was born in Chu Feng, moved to Fu Hsia, and died in Ming T'iao. [[King Wen of Zhou|King Wen]] was a Western barbarian; he was born in Ch'i Chou and died in Pi Ying. Their native places were over a thousand ''li'' apart, and there were a thousand years between them.  Yet when they had their way in the Central Kingdoms, their actions matched like the two halves of a tally.  The standards of the two sages, one earlier and one later, were identical."<ref>''Mencius,''D.C Lau tran. (Middlesex:Penguin Books, 1970),128.</ref>

The prominent (121 CE) ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]'' character dictionary, defines ''yi'' 夷 as "men of the east" 東方之人也. The dictionary also informs that ''Yi'' is not dissimilar from the ''Xia'' 夏, which means Chinese. Elsewhere in the ''Shuowen Jiezi'', under the entry of ''qiang'' 羌, the term ''yi'' is associated with benevolence and human longevity. ''Yi'' countries are therefore virtuous places where people live long lives. This is why Confucius wanted to go to ''yi'' countries when the ''dao'' could not be realized in the central states.<ref>Xu Shen 許慎, ''Shuowen Jieji'' 說文解字 (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963), 213, 78.</ref>