Tao, The Great Luminant (Huai Nan Tzu)

Index Next TAOTHE GREAT LUMINANT

BY

HON. D.D. UNIVERSITY OF WALES

J. C. FERGUSON PH.D. [SHANGHAI, 1933] Index Previous Next

The two articles by Dr. Evan Morgan which appeared more than ten years ago in the Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society were the harbingers of this volume. The first article, in the 1922 issue, was based on the twelfth essay of Huai Nan Tzû and had the alternative title of "The operations and manifestations of the Tao examplified in history, or the Tao confirmed by history." Either of these titles is a long paraphrase of the cryptic title of the original Tao Yin. The contrast between the verbose title in Ennlish, which tries to reveal the meaning, and the laconic prototype in Chinese, which successfully conceals it, may be taken as an instructive introduction to the study of ancient Taoist philosophy in the terms and according to the norms of western philosophy. The second article, which may be found in the 1923 Journal, discusses "The Taoist Superman"—chih jên. In these two contributions one may enter the portals of this volume.

writings. These recent books by Chinese writers have been chiefly occupied with textual criticism; but Dr. Morgan's interest is in the contents. Like all westerners his mind is analytic. He wants to know the why and the wherefore. What is the Tao? He defines it as the Cosmic Spirit. Thence he proceeds to discuss the response of matter to this Cosmic Spirit, the transforming power of this Cosmic Spirit, in creation, beginning and reality and other allied metaphysical problems. Dr. Morgan combines an accurate knowledge of the meaning of the text with a sound understanding of the teachings of western philosophy. The obscurities of the original text are illuminated by his rare scholarship, and thus the reader is able to obtain a fair concept of the ideas of the young Prince. These writings of the early philosophers of the Tao school are not easy to understand. They are characterized by freedom in the expression of ideas and by liberality of thought as contrasted with the recorded sayings of the Ju school represented by Confucius and Mencius; but their fundamental basis is a conception of nature, unknown to western philosophy. In all of the philosophies which have sprung from Egypt or Mesopotamia and been developed by Greece or Rome, the intellectual power of man has been projected into his conception of the deity. God is thought of as the All-Wise, the intelligent Creator of an intelligible universe. With the early Chinese it was the physical side of man, his power of procreation, that gave the first clue to the mystery of nature. Male and female among themselves, and in the animal life about them, were the source of new life; and it was only to them a natural extension of this known principle to an unknown material world which caused them to believe in the dual powers of nature, male and female, yin and yang. Spontaneity is the original law of creation. Male and female follow their own propensities, and new life is the resultant. This is a dualistic philosophy, but it is not the dualism of mind and matter, nor of good and evil, but of male and female. It is this fundamental difference in conception as to the origin of things, between the Mediterranean schools of thought and the Chinese, that makes it so difficult, and at times almost misleading, to translate early Taoist terms into western languages. The word Tao is a case in point. Dr. Morgan renders it as Cosmic Spirit and perhaps has hit upon as a good a term as can be found. In my Chinese Mythology I had translated it as Nature, for it is the great force which sustains Heaven and Earth. By it the sky revolves; while the earth remains motionless. It causes the winds to rise, the clouds to gather, the thunder to roll and the rain to fall. All things follow this natural bent; and, from their male and female instincts, life is continuous. With such a conception as to Tao, shall this term be translated Nature or Cosmic Spirit? The question need only to be asked to call forth the answer that both show the limitations of translating composite characters, like Tao, into an alphabetic term. Tao is Nature; but it is more; it is Nature at work. It is also more than Cosmic Spirit, for in it inheres the idea of a Spirit in spontaneous activity. Philosophic consistency in the accepted western sense cannot be expected of these early Taoist teachings. They never remind me of Plato or Socrates, but always of Philo Judaeus, an English translation of whose works may be found in Bohn's Ecclesiastical Library. Philo used an allegorical method of interpretation in his attempt to reconcile the statements of the divinely inspired Hebrew Scriptures with the speculations of Greek philosophers. The ideas of Plato were identified as the angels of the Old Testament, and they are all collected into a divine world-spirit, the logos, which, in the opinion of Philo, remained a cosmic power without personality. This logos of Philo resembles closely the Tao of the Prince of Huai Nan, but without the sexual implication of the latter. This logos of Philo is very different from the Johannine conception which approaches closely to the Chinese idea of Wên, as a manifestation of the Tao. The task which Dr. Morgan set for himself has required long years of quiet research and patient toil; but he has the reward of giving to our western world the first adequate translation of the work of Liu An, the unhappy and ill-fated Prince of Huai Nan. JOHN C. FERGUSON. Peiping, November 1933 Index Previous Next PREFACE For some years, now, I have been, off and on, a student of the essays of Huai Nan Tzû. Occasional papers on his work have been read before the Royal Asiatic Society (N. C. B.) and other societies. Some who heard the papers thought a translation of the essays was most desirable. In the course of time this object has been kept in view, and, at long last, it is now possible to publish, in English, eight of the twenty-one essays. The work of Huai Nan Tzû has always been highly esteemed by all scholars. This is not surprising. It contains great ideals and passages of matchless beauty. It is a work not easy of interpretation. But though the shell is hard, the core is sweet. There are unusual words in the composition: the ideas are often recondite and vague. There are many things not clear in the description even of the phenomena of the visible world; but in the description of the invisible world the conceptions are often vague and the language necessarily not clear. To increase the difficulty there is frequent use made of paradox, hyperbole, the indirect and the allusive method: there is often the subtle reference and occultive meaning. The theme also occupies a field of its own. Taoism is an original and unique philosophy. To anyone unaquainted with its teaching the language and ideas will seem strange and hard. As Huai Nan Tzû deals with the doctrine of Lao Tan, and was a keen follower of his teaching, it is essential for his readers to have some familiarity with the writings of that sage. These are found in the Tao Tê Ching. Unfortunately, there are no perspicuous translations of this important work. The best two are those of Dr. James Legge and Mr. Spurgeon Medhurst. But often they contain passages as vague as the original! The meaning does not shine out from the words. The translation seems quite correct; but yet the meaning is not quite clear. This leads me to venture an opinion on what a translation should be. It should always convey a definite meaning and expressed as clearly as possible. The translation should be as near the original as possible. But the chief requisite is that each sentence must have a meaning clearly expressed. Otherwise the translation is useless. It is admitted that a paraphrase may sometimes be necessary; but if this conveys the meaning, it will be a good translation. The Tao Tê Ching is hard to be understood. But a study of it is fruitful. It is conceded that Lao Tzû was one of the most original thinkers of China. His must have been a unique personality. He commanded the love and loyalty of a disciple, Chuang Tzû, who came 200 years after him, and was one of China's most celebrated scholars. He spent his talents and life in explaining and extolling the master. How much did this master ever write? We only know of the 5,000 words of the Tao Tê Ching. There are critics who doubt if such a person as Lao Tan ever existed. Those who hold such a view have to explain Chuang Tzû. That safe and sound critic Dr. J. Legge, is firmly convinced that he was a historical person and that the Tao Tê Ching is his work. It has often struck me that Lao Tan bore some similarity to Mr. Bernard Shaw. The modern Irishman and the Chinese of a distant age have a floating resemblance, as they possess things in common. They take a delight in the paradoxical way of writing and in making strange affirmations. Sometimes a doubt hovers round the mind of the reader as to whether they expected him to believe their statements. Both like to shock the public by a seeming absurdity of assertion. Yet all becomes understood when one realises that the writers' great desire is to awaken men from dead tradition to a more real life. They discharge the function of the gadfly to which Socrates compared himself. It stings people to a new consciousness. There is, however, a difference of method. Mr. Shaw speaks much in the first personal pronoun, and vigorously. It would be transgressing against a fundamental principle of Lao Tan to do this. Suppression of self is a leading tenet of the Taoist philosophy. The Ego is only a medium for the expression of the Tao. Besides a translation of eight of the essays, there are ancillary helps to the understanding of the work. And there are Notes and Annotations, Elucidations, Epitomes and Analyses. Under the heading of introduction, there are various themes discussed,—themes that have naturally arisen out of and that have been suggested by the subject-matter of the Dissertations. These, it is hoped, will be a help to a better understanding of the romantic mind of a thinker whose life-long meditations have been concerned with the profoundest subjects that can occupy human thought, the cosmos, spirit and man. These notes may help to solve some of the puzzling questions that are suggested by the work, such as, the science of "do nothing and there will be nothing undone" which will be recognised as conveying a deep truth connected with human and Divine nature. That "the existent comes from the non-existent" will not seem to be an irreconcilable contradiction: and the phrase "a wide experience gives but a little knowledge" is really not so absurd as it seems on the face of it. There are also words that are different in meaning but which seem so much alike that it is not easy to see the nuances suggested. The author has ventured to give a new translation of the word Tao, viz., Cosmic Spirit. This seems to cover all the ideas found in the original. However, it is necessary to say, in anticipation of legitimate criticism, that the name has not been consistently used throughout. That of "Tao" is often retained. I have not prepared a Bibliography nor a critique of the text. It is sufficient to say that a Chinese edition of Huai Nan Tzû can be bought in most old book shops. But the best edition is that published by the Commercial Press and edited by Liu Wen-tien. The introduction to this is by Dr. Hu Shih. I have taken the work as arranged in the ###, as the basis of my translation. I have been under great obligation to many friends for help in preparing the book, and I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude. I would like to mention Mr. Chou Yun-lou, Mr. Tu Shao-heng, Mr. C. F. Yeh and others. Especially am I indebted to Mr. T. M. Lien, an accomplished scholar. He has helped me in many ways. The essay on "The Life and Times of Lao Tan" has been prepared from materials supplied by him: also much of the matter in the elucidations and other subjects. The diagrams are also from him, I should also like to express my gratitude to the share my wife has had in the work. Her help has been invaluable. I offer my hearty thanks to all these friends. Index Previous Next CONTENTS PAGE FOREWORDi PREFACEv CONTENTSix

LIFE AND TIMES OF LAO TANxi THE TWO WORLDSxxi FREEDOM OF LIFExxvi TAOxxxi WU WEIxxxvi PERSISTENCE AND CONTINUITYxl LIU ANxliii TRANSLATIONS THE COSMIC SPIRIT2 BEGINNING AND REALITY31 LIFE AND SOUL58 NATURAL LAW80 RESPONSE OF MATTER TO THE COSMIC SPIRIT102 INFLUENCE OF THE COSMIC SPIRIT143 GENERALSHIP AND PREVENTION OF ANARCHY182 ENDEAVOUR AND DUTY220 NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS244 ELUCIDATIONS AND ANALYSES271 TITLES OF THE UNTRANSLATED ESSAYS288 DIAGRAMS Index Previous Next INTRODUCTORY

AN INTRODUCTION TO HUAI NAN TZÛ Written from materials supplied by Mr. M. T. Lien. The writings and the philosophy of Huai Nan Tzû, are deeply rooted in the ideas of Lao Tan, the reputed founder of Taoism. In order, therefore, to have a better understanding of the teaching of Huai Nan Tzû, it is necessary to be acquainted with the learning of Lao Tan. It is well to remember that there were two influences in the training of Lao Tan, one being his vocation, the other his environment. His vocation was that of Royal Historiographer. He had, thus, the means of knowledge and of intercourse denied to most. His environment, undoubtedly, coloured his views and modified all his ideas. It, in many respects, directed his thoughts, as he surveyed his surroundings, to a consideration of the true and lasting foundation of social and political life. It was the conditions of Eastern Chou that formed his environment. The laws of the State were in decay and human relationships in ruins. Loyalty and filial piety, which are the pillars of society, were rotten; and truth and justice were languishing. Ministers murdered their princes and sons their fathers. There was anarchy and disloyalty. Lao Tan, being the historian, knew well the history of the country from ancient times, and could trace the causes that had produced the lamentable anarchy of his times. This explains a passage in the Han work, Records of the Arts and Literature of the Han ### which says that the Taoist stream of ideas issued from the Ministry of History. The Minister had studied and knew the successive periods of the rise and fall, the vitality and dissolution of kingdoms, through the ages, and, therefore, appreciated important principles and grasped the essentials of the success and failures of government. The principles of success, he judged, depended on purity, spirituality, humility and yieldingness." These sentences may help us to understand the thoughts that sprung up in the mind of Lao Tzû as he contemplated the lessons of history and the deplorable conditions that prevailed at his time. So, in a sense, the Tao Tê Ching is the philosophy of the history of contemporary times. That little classic of 5,000 words was the background of Huai Nan Tzû and his friends, in their studies and writings. So, in reading his essays, the ideas of Lao Tan must be kept in mind and read with that in view. We may consider Lao Tan's ideas from six points of view. 1. His cosmology. This is based on Naturalism. He recognised a fundamental cause. Comparing his view with that of Abraham, we find that he was less positive. His is a more abstract view than Abraham's. The latter was more concrete in his theory. He gave the name of Jehovah to the Power which he saw manifested in the universe. This concrete appellation was a useful personification of the abstract. It, at once, revealed the genius of the Hebrew people in religious matters. It was a more intimate mode of thinking of the Power behind the universe, than that thought of by Lao Tzû in the word Naturalism. It was, also, less definite than the name used by Abraham. But they are similar in one sense: both recognise the manifestation of Power. This is explicitly stated in Chapter 25 of the Tao Tê Ching. "There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of exhaustion)! It may be regarded as the mother of all things. "I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao." "I am, also, forced to add the name Great." Great Tao. His definition is vague and shadowy, but it is clear, that he thought of it as independent and unvariable, somewhat similar to the Christian term 'sole and primary nature',—'the Absolute, without beginning and ending', "with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning." He thus viewed Naturalism as the absolute. No name was big enough to cover it; so he gave it the conventional name of Tao. He added the word "Great", lest Tao, alone, might be confused with the ordinary tao in current use. This word great may be compared with Lord. In a way it may be synonymous with Jehovah. Yet it would not be right for us to give the same significance to Tao. Tao begat one, and one begat two: two begat three, and three begat all things, i.e., Creation. The existent came from the non-existent. Now Lao Tzû had said that Heaven followed Tao, Tao followed Naturalness. So when he said, "Tao begat one and one begat two," it may be concluded that he implied that there was something above Tao which begat it. This something was Naturalness. This is like 'self-existing'. And it may be legitimately argued that he was an advocate of monotheism, and, indirectly his teaching may imply a Trinity. 2. His view of Life. His view of the cosmos being vague, consequently his view of life, likewise, could not be clear. His view partakes somewhat of negativity. All things are examined and judged from the standard supplied by the Annals or the Spring and Autumn Classic. This classic is a description of the anarchy of the period,—about 242 years. During this period, there were 36 cases of regicide, of which more than half were parricides. It was this tragic state that led Confucius to compose the Annals. Though Mencius said this work aroused fear in the hearts of regicides, yet it is to be questioned whether the statement is correct. Confucius did his best; but reform, to be effectual, must be radical in dealing with such conditions. The reforms of Confucius were not radical enough. In his social system, he placed the relation of prince and minister at the head of the five relationships. But in this he erred. The head relationship should be husband and wife. If this had been so established, the others would follow without derangement. Just think! The emperor takes nine wives: the dukes married 5 women each. Besides these, there were the women in the three palaces, the 27 honourable women on the 6 courts; the 81 "court wives" and a multitude of others! In the palace of the Emperor, Ch‛in Shih, there were concubines who had not seen the face of the emperor for 36 years! The nine ladies who were taken, were the sisters of the 9 empresses; and the wives of their brothers all came into the Court. The idea of getting them all from the clan, was the hope that it would bring harmony and concord into the imperial circle, that strife and contention would be averted and the spirit of coöperation would exist amongst them all. It never occurred to them that this method was the subversion of the ordinances of Heaven. Strife and bickerings were rampant in the palace circle, which, in fact, were more bitter than a war between two countries. The children and the young people that were brought up in this circle moved in a most poisonous atmosphere. They heard the gossip of the women from morning to night. The chief topics would concern state affairs and the work of the regicides and parricides, and all the rivalries and schemings that were all too rife. What an environment! What an evil training for young people who would be future rulers in the kingdom. One can't picture the iniquities of these women nor be surprised at their machinations. The blight of Heaven fell and rested on the children, because the marital relationships were corrupt. Confucius did not attempt to make any radical and healthy reform in all this mass of iniquity, arising from a social condition that was monstrously wrong. He did not pull tile fire from under the kettle—the only radical way of reforming the evils,—he simply added a little more water to the boiling kettle, which, in the end, made things all the worse. This hell was not quenched, but rather made more fierce. He, himself, was a divorced person. His sons and grandsons were all tainted with the same blemishes. He helped, thus, to increase the anarchy of the times. Hence, Lao Tzû said, "If the sage does not die, robbers will not cease from the land.": and again, "Stop the sages and abandon the wise, and the good of the people will be advanced a hundred-fold. Stop benevolence, abandon righteousness, and, then, the people will have filiality. Stop cleverness, give up the practice of profit, and there will be no robbers." He says again, "When the Great Way is abandoned, the sage (Confucianist) resorts to jen i, benevolence and justice." But these creations are artificial: they have the appearance of wisdom and knowledge; but they give rise to many counterfeits and hypocrisies. "When the six relationships came to lack harmony, filial sons did appear. When the country came to anarchy, loyal ministers appeared." (Chap. 18). From these words we see that Lao Tzû assigned the anarchy of a country to the teaching of the sages. Further, that the sages were illogical in their method of advancing the art of wisdom and cleverness. That is to say, this method was not radical in reforming and guiding society. The true method of reform is to take the fuel from under the pot—the boiling hell. To explain the foregoing. The first two sentences mean that the sage, in his use of jen and i, was not consistent with the Great Way. His use of wisdom and cleverness made it easy for counterfeits to appear. The last two sentences show that the stress on filial piety, by the sage, led to the loss of other human relations: and the high value placed on loyalty of minister, sacrificed the interests of the country leading to anarchy and confusion. Lao Tzû, in the passages quoted, wholly opposed the doctrines of the Confucian sage, and said they should be abolished. Then Society would benefit. For, as long as they existed, progress was impossible. The contrast in the result of the one and the other is marked and great. The artificial creation of moralities invariably leads to the desire to possess: the possessive element appears strongly. But the natural morality has a creative impulse. It enriches the nature, and therefore there is a constant advance in life and freedom. The artificial morality tends to enslave men and bind them down in the bonds of traditionalism. Work depends on the spiritual and not on the material. In the spiritual sphere, there is always the giving and the receiving. One does not exist without the other. "He that hath shall have more: he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.' We shall see this more clearly if we examine the official life of Confucius. When he was Minister in Luh, his face generally wore a smile. But his rule was stern. He put to death powerful politicians and dismissed others. He issued death capitulations which were rigorous. These measures show his domineering nature and his attempt to be the supreme master. All had to follow his will, and those who refused were threatened with death. In face of this, Lao Tzû said, "Heaven and Earth (according to the Confucian creed) have no humanity: all things are considered as 'grass dogs'. Humanity is of no more value than a scarecrow." The Confucian justified his severity by saying that nature produces, in spring, and kills, in autumn. This is a most inhuman doctrine. Nature's course is constructive and for the well being of man. The slaying of opponents is quite another matter and bears no relation to the beneficent work of nature. The sage, in his acts, made it impossible to find the harmony of things. The result was that the rule of Confucius lasted only three months. When he paid a visit to the temple of Duke Huan and saw the leaning vessel—which stood upright when half full, but turned right over when full to the brim, he was awakened to the correct meaning of the lesson and how man should not be proud of his powers. He met Lao Tzû when he visited Chou. Lao Tzû, in bidding him good-bye, said: "The scholars of the present time are most learned; but, when they criticise people, they get near death: wide and profound criticism of life is well; but when the evil of men is exposed, there is danger to the critic. A man should not live to himself: a minister should not consider himself." Confucius said. "Most respectfully do I receive your instruction," When he saw the bronze man with the sewn-up lips, with the inscription on the backside saying: "Be warned, Be warned! Don't speak much: many words mean many defeats. Don't meddle in many things: meddling with many things means much sorrow. Be warned in your joys, and in your life of quiet! Good behaviour brings no regrets. Don't say it is of no consequence; it may bring a long anguish." "Don't say: What harm is there in it? The harm may be great. Don't say: "There is no in jury in doing this." The distress may be overwhelming. Don't say: "Nobody hears it." (God will not know). The Spirit watches actions. The flame when not extinguished may burst into a consuming fire. If the driblets of water are not stopped, they will become streams and rivers. When the silk thread is pulled without end, it may become a net (i.e., small faults may entrap you, so that that you cannot get free). The growing sprig, if not pulled up, will become the handle of a hammer (which will do mischief). Real carefulness is the root of happiness." Again we have, "What harm is it?" says one. "Ah! such a view is the gate of disaster." The aggressive man will not have a natural death. He who is fond of striving to be first will meet with defeat. The arrogant and aggressive master will not be welcomed at the head of affairs. The Superior Man, who understands that an aggressive person will not stand at the top, keeps humble: he knows the aggressive man is not liked, so will keep in the background. People long for the man who is gentle, sincere, virtuous. Meekness will not strive to be first: yet, nothing will get ahead of it. If all were to scramble for first place, yet, humility and yieldingness would be my attitude, even if I was the only one. Were all to hesitate in following humility, yet, I would follow, even were I the only one. I would hide my intelligence and not display my skill, even then were I in a most honourable position, men would not harm me. Who can act thus? Rivers, though winding, are longer than brooks. The Heavenly Way, though high and distant, is humbler than men's." Confucius understood and withdrew. 3. His method of self-culture. This consists of (a) Simplicity. (b) Self-knowledge. (c) Self-control. Simplicity casts out all lustful desire. Lust of wine, women, wealth, pleasure, extravagance, luxury, amusements will be eliminated. This is what Lao Tzû means when he speaks of the 5 colours blinding men's eyes, the five tones deafening men's ears and the 5 flavours tickling men's appetites, riding and hunting which derange men's minds. (Chap. 12). Rare objects, and strange, encourage the evil desires of men." Such are his ideas of simplicity, viz., the elimination and suppression of the seductions of eye, ear and taste. Lao Tzu said: "He who knows men, has wisdom: Self knowledge is clarity: he who overcomes men has strength, and he who overcomes himself is mighty: he who has contentment has wealth, and he who has self-conquest has will-power. Knowledge of men is nothing but a kind of wisdom: but he who knows himself, has true light. Wisdom is gathered from environment and is outward; but the true light comes from within. When the inner clarity is beclouded, wisdom is befogged. Jesus said, "If the light within thee is dark, the darkness is profound." "The overcoming of men is strength; but self-mastery is the great energy. True wisdom is wealth and the exercise of strength is volition. Persistence will ensure eternal life. The Taoist method of seeking immortality is not that of the school of Chang Tao-ling, hunting for the elixir of immortality, and their art for becoming a genii. All this is unscientific. 4. His moral system. He has three views on ethics, which may be taken as mottoes of life. (a) Mercifulness. (b) Thrift. (c) Meekness. Lao Tzû says, (Chap. 67) "I have 3 precious things which I prize and hold fast. Gentleness, economy and a shrinking from taking precedence of others" (Legge). Compassion, self-restraint, refusal to claim precedence of others (Medhurst). Compassion gives courage; temperance gives ample-mindedness and liberality. By shrinking from the struggle for precedence, the physical life is lengthened. When men abandon these three precious things, they hurry on in the path of death. Compassion will be victorious in life: rely on it and you will be firm. Heaven always protects with compassion. It is recognised that Lao Tzû had courage; but it is forgotten that this came from his compassion: men recognise he had liberality but forget that it sprung from his temperance: they know, too, his preëminence; but they are unaware that this came from his diffidence and his not pushing himself forward. Jesus also said: "The last shall be first and the first last." The spirit that is willing to be last, comes to be the first. 5. His Political theory. Purity and tranquility are the leading ideas. Ancillary to these, we have (ning) peace of mind and unity. So Lao Tzû says: "Heaven is bright and pure, by unity: earth is restful, by unity: the soul wins unity through the spiritual: the valleys are full through it (unity); creation is life-giving, through unity: rules get the model of life, which they give to all, by it. (unity: tao). (C. 39) All these are the work of the One, (Tao). When the unity or the Cosmic Spirit is obtained, there is no need for rigorous laws and stern regulations, in order to win the people and keep them. Hence, the 1st Emperor of the Han, when he entered and occupied the Han Ku Pass, swept away the rigorous laws of Ch‛in Shih Huang and made a few simple and humane laws. These were the foundation of the Han dynasty. These plans were determined by Hsiao Ao, Ts‛ao Ch‛an, Ch‛en P‛ing, Ch‛ang Liang. (Advisers of the emperor). As a result of these spiritual ideas, the Western Han was most peaceful under the Taoist regime of ideas. The first principle of the Taoist conception of government is to have peace and concord. The idea is expressed in the 80th chapter of Tao Tê Ching. It was to be a kingdom of simplicity. That would be his ideal, if he were ruler. The ideal is wholly different from the complex state of modern times. It was a state of moderate population: a people rude and uncultured, abstaining from war and all travel, having little intercourse with others and without the appliances of civilization. This is, in idea, similar to other Utopias of the world. 6. His view of war. Lao Tzû was averse to the use of soldiers and was definitely anti-war. He has given expression to this in many places, but, in particular, in the 30th chapter. "He who would assist his sovereign by the Tao will not coerce the State by armies. Such action is most likely to come back on the user. Where the hosts meet, there thorns and briers will spring up. After great military movements there is sure to ensue bad years. The soldier is a vessel of bad omen. If anyone rejoices in using them there are but ill prospects ahead. The world is a spiritual vessel and should not be subject to this physical force. He who handles this instrument will be defeated finally: he who grasps it will lose it. If weapons are used in the coercion of men, it will be vain: for the people do not fear death really. So how can death be used to frighten them? People think little of death, if they can get fulness of life. These 6 points express the main ideas of Lao Tzû, as seen in his little classic of 5,000 words. The Taoist view of war may be summed up in this way. Militarism is not required, when the government is governing. When there is good government and the military is efficient, no vassal would dare to attack. When war is inevitable, the organization should be so perfect that victory would be certain in the most sanguinary conflict. But it is to be remembered that, over and over again, war is denounced as harmful and most anti-social. Index Previous Next

Theme suggested by the material given in the 7th Essay of Huai Nan Tzû. The Taoist philosophy maintains three fundamental essences, as outlined in the 7th chapter. These are ching ###, the ethereal part, as opposed to the gross in human beings. This is spoken of by some as instinct: ch‛i ### élan vital, transformed into material substance. The word is the same as the word for air and is that which is looked upon as substance; and finally shen ### the animal-spirits, the mind and so on: by some it is thought of as conscience. These three are, or should be, under the command of the will. Volition is the vanguard. The combination of these three, results in the issue of beings. The organization of the different classes is due to the different quantities of the essences in the combination. That which has only partaken of ch‛i becomes mineral. A combination of ching and ch‛i forms the lower form of organic matter, such as plants and animals. But those objects that are possessed of the three elements, ching, ch‛i and shen, go to form the highest form of beings,—beings with mind and soul. Within such beings the due harmony of the ching and shen constitute what may be called "the spirit." This highest form of beings has the power of will to choose its own path in life: but, for their own welfare, they should adopt the will of the Tao as their fundamental director. The processes of creation proceed on very natural lines. The combination of the three factors, as mentioned previously, proceeds continuously and gives birth to the Cosmos,—Heaven, Earth and Man. Since these are creations proceeding through the instrumentality of the Tao, their full life can only be maintained by entire harmony and identity with this Cosmic Spirit. But, being endowed with a power of will in himself, man is inclined to neglect this, by the seduction of the senses and through ignorance, thus making an artificial life for himself where the senses and the flesh predominate, to the neglect of the spirit and culminating in the final ruin of life. But Heaven and Earth still maintain their original contact and implicitly follow the movement of the Tao, in all their motions. "As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be," in regard to these. But man, being endowed with power of will, does not follow the impulse of the Tao, but goes on, following his own desires, and conducts his administrative, executive, educational and ceremonial systems, wholly regardless of the direction of the Tao, and has thus lost reality and created an artificial state of life. So the natural harmony is lost, to a great extent. In turn, this artificiality has altered (swerved) the course of Heaven and Earth. The human body is constituted as a microcosmos: it is a miniature form of the universe. The four limbs and the whole body have a resemblance to the larger universe. The part affects the whole; and so, if the part has lost its full power of interaction and coöperation, the larger whole is affected. Heaven and Earth have a way of wholesomeness, in order to follow the volition of the Tao. This consists in the economy of the use of all or any of its powers, care of its talents and love and regard for its soul. So that, if we do not follow them, but do everything in artificial ways,—following our own wills, the harmony of nature will be spoiled, as well as our own economies of life. Losing this wholesomeness of life will create great disadvantages, inducing the four corruptions of the body, which will invitably entail death. If the microcosmos suffers, the macrocosmos cannot escape infection. There is a close connection between the Universe and Man. There is intimate connection between Man and all things. There is an equality and an essential unity. This is the ontology of life. Since human beings neglect or are ignorant of this wholeness, and are disobedient to the will of Tao, painful consequences follow, such as the pangs of birth, sickness, old age and death. Men, being ignorant of the true course of evolution and laws of nature, think of life as pleasure, and death as bane, or regard strength as the summum bonum, and decay and the ills of life as evil and unfortunate,—all which implies that a great mistake has been made about the natural system, and, in consequence, many unnatural things are brought about. Accordingly, the first thing to do is to guard the mind; for the mind is the throne of the spirit: it is the tablet of the soul and the spot where the 'jades' (precious things) of life are presented. It is the shrine of life. If there is no tablet, presentations will have no value, and nothing can be done in averting evils. So all real men safe-guard the mind. They never let it drift, and so they accomplish great things, and great results are achieved. The attitude is one of stillness or a perfect equilibrium of forces, i.e., not disturbed by passion. They are, however, full of activity. They understand that the changes occurring in the body are only the natural processes of evolution; they feel assured that the spirit can never die; and accordingly, look on it as a matter of supreme importance to safe-guard the spirit through the mind, or safe-guard the heart,—the soil whence the spirit comes. This is most important! Evolving from the chen jen ###, true man, there grows, naturally, the chih jen ### superman,—the highest class of beings in nature. It may be permitted us to think that the word mind used in the foregoing passage is much similar to the word reason as used by Plato. Here, then, we have a very interesting analogy between two ancient writers, living not very distant in time from one another, but very distant in space. One in Greece, the other in China. And it will well repay us to compare the two worlds which both discussed. One the world of sense, the other the world of spirit. We have already seen the Taoist conceptions of the two worlds; let us now hear the Platonic view. I will quote from Martineau's "Types of Ethical Theory." "According to Plato, the leading distinction between its immortal part and its mortal is expressed by the words Reason and Sense. The adhesive entanglements of sense and passion grow around the soul, and cover her with an earthly mass so dense and wild, that her primitive divine nature is unperceived: but if you only notice the insight that she can show into the true and good, and the converse she aspires to with the godlike and immortal, you may imagine what she would appear if, lifted out of the gulf in which her life is plunged, and with the unsightly accretions all struck off. The immortal part of the soul is simple and uncompounded: but the other is composed of a nobler and a less noble part, of which the higher,—impulse or energy of Will, mediates between the extremes of Intellect and Sense: and the lower,—appetite, or the selfish desire of having rather than of being, is in complete opposition to reason, and through the force of the intervening impulse to be in rightful subordination to it. This leads to the conception of character. What is the highest good? Are we entangled in the delusions and fascinations of the senses? We must clear ourselves from them, learn to converse with ideas, subjugate the body, and welcome death as an emancipation from the last hindrance of our wisdom. Are we sharers in that divine Reason which informs and organises the universe? We must recognise and welcome it everywhere, and follow it out as it ramifies through the world of sense, and touches pleasure itself with the ray of beauty. There is nothing inconsistent in this double view, which regards the material system now as the opaque veil to hide, now as the transparent medium to reveal, the inner thought which is the divine essence of all: and seek, at one time, into the intellectual glory, by escape from detaining appearances: at another, to descend with that glory as it streams into the remotest recesses of the phenomenal world." Pp. 65-7. And then we are led on from this to consider the matter from the view-point of the two worlds,—the visible and the invisible. As is clear to those who have read these essays, the matter is ever present to these ancient Taoists—possibly in a very vague way and not to be compared with the clearness and the ardour of the Christian mystic. Possibly no modern life brings out this more manifestly than the life of the late Cardinal Newman. "In words of strange and wrapt solemnity he gave simply and unfalteringly his tidings of that "other world", to him so real, that "other world", half-hidden yet mysteriously present, veiled by the world of sense, yet laying from time to time, and unawares, upon the heart some intimation, some mystic hint, that it was close at hand." And a further quotation from the same source will remind us that the description given of him bears much resemblance to that given, in ancient time, of the ancient "perfect man" of the Taoists. "One who knew him speaks of his "intense stillness", when in repose. This stillness was but the outward expression of his inward quietude, the quietude of one rapt in contemplation of a vision. Mathew Arnold speaks of him as a "spiritual apparition." "There's Newman", the students used to say, as they met him, "with head thrust forward and gaze fixed as though at some vision seen only by himself, with swift, noiseless steps he glided by". From the seclusion of the study, from abstinence and prayer, from habitual dwelling in the Unseen, he seemed to come forth, that one day of the week (Sunday), to speak to others of the things he had seen and known." J. L. May's "Cardinal Newman". Pp. 30, 33. Index Previous Next

Liberty is a prominent question in this philosophy. There is more implied than what is openly expressed. The Imperial Authority, grandfather though he was to the Prince of Huai Nan, was jealous of his autocratic powers, and, perhaps, rightly so, for regicide was a common thing in the days before the Annals. The prince was a favourite at one time and at another time he was an object of suspicion. So he did not venture to openly advocate freedom of life in his writings. He had to broach the subject under occultive language such as "the fish forgetting its existence in the sea." Nevertheless, he did make clear his views that he opposed the suppression of liberty by oppressive laws. Further he made it plain that liberty and freedom can only be found and cherished in one way by surrender of the mind to the Tao. That is the only guarantee, that is the only sure basis. And the liberty that was under this spiritual bondage was the true liberty. It guaranteed true freedom of life, though the chains of the tyrant bound the person. This superlative teaching runs through all the thought of the writings especially those of Essays 6 and 8; and the exhibition of such a shining vision tinges the whole of life with optimism. You will notice, first of all, the sentence in which the idea is expressed. "The fish forget each other." (p. 37., l. i.) There is no mutual jealousy, no definite opposition, no desire to make profit by one at the expense of another. The heart does not think of these things nor the mind consider any idea of self-aggrandisement. It is as though others do not exist for my sake. And this follows the principle of Naturalism and embraces the power of the Tao. Accretions resulting from the flesh, temptations arising from the mind, cease to exist where Naturalism is supreme and life is governed by the Tao. In this way, and in this way alone, the believer's vital faith is the momentum of Life. This is what is meant by the "Freedom of Life." There is a similarity in it to what Christ and the Psalmist said: "The truth shall make you free. Thy word is truth." This is the great view of life. It is different from, and sometimes antagonistic to, the ideals of the Confucian school. Now this antagonism and difference of view arises from different basic conceptions. The diagrams attached will help to distinguish these different sources and conceptions. The Confucian idea of Cosmos is more rigid and inflexible than that of the Taoist and the Christian. It is necessarily so; for it is more allied to the physical. The other is attached to the Spirit and, therfore, more flexible. He who thinks that everything proceeds from a material Heaven, with its rigid laws and principles, is less elastic in his views than he who follows the Spirit. Thus, the Confucian is said to be in bondage to li, law, and to the innumerable ceremonies that arise from law. In a way this is the same idea, though covering a narrower range, than we find expressed in the great epistles of St. Paul concerning "Law and Grace." The Confucian tends to bondage; the Taoist towards liberty. "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," says Paul. (2 Cor. 3. 17.) This idea of liberty leads us to another fundamental thought, viz., that of forgetfulness. This is expressed by the fishes forgetting each other. Thus, the True Man, standing firmly on a spiritual foundation, the basis of Heaven and Earth, his centre, or heart, moving freely in this sphere, is possessed of the fulness of virtues, and is warmed by the rays of harmony. Naturally all things become full of the vividness of life's happiness. In that case, who would be willing to change that state for one full of perplexity and complexity, arising from the intrusion of desire and passion, selfishness, ambition, pride and so on? Now, everything depends on the base or foundation. This is all important. The base is Naturalism, which is the Tao. Everything must be based on the Tao. All other bases are ropes of sand. And we may rely on them; or get this base through Forgetfulness. This forgetfulness is not neglectfulness. The latter is carelessness, which implies want of attention and concentration, or consciousness of mind. Forgetfulness is a state or condition in which all things live their own free lives, unhindered and without interference. The opposite word is Remembrance. This word is a very pleasing one, and most welcome when referring to acts of friendship and so on. But, in other respects, it is a word portentous of danger. And in explaining it, we may take the figure of the fishes, as typical of the "jades" and gains of the world. People never forget their fishes: they always want to catch them. They invent innumerable ways of catching them, and get them for their own uses. There is always a struggle of class for privileges and benefits. Powers and individuals from time immemorial have sought their own advantage, and struggled, fought and litigated for position. They are like bandits who plot to get the money and wealth of others. We may use the words of St. James, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not from your lusts that war in your members?" So Forgetfulness of these lusts would give us full peace, within and without. Now, a little further on, we read that the "connective relations result in a Tao Unity." The original is One. This word "One" is significant. It means the major principle of existence, Naturalism or Tao, Logos. It is maintained by some that Tao issues from Naturalism. But it is more probable that they are identical, just as, in Christian theology, we say that God must be governed by the eternal law, as if law were outside God. The only way is to regard them as identical. Just a little further on, (page 38, the 2nd paragraph,) we read "the person who follows narrow and crooked conventionalism," etc. Here the Confucianists are again attacked, for the error of their doctrines and principles. These are accused of being narrow, crooked and trifling, and do not come from the real and true source of being and life. In Biblical language they are no more than "hewn cisterns that hold no water" and soon dry up. To use these in the cultivation and the reform of life is but to tinker with the problem of existence. To try to reconstruct and keep in proper order social life, by means of these trifling things, is like patching an old garment. It is not renewing it. Rites and ceremonies and the arid virtues that have issued from a purely human invention and are entirely based on social ideas, such as monarchism, filialism and the five relations, and not the natural outcome of the virtue which is based on the Tao are totally insufficient for the purpose of human renewal. The Confucian, in fact, attempts to reform and maintain society on things that are only trifling, viz., ritualism and physical ethics. It is not to be denied, it is granted, that the Confucian system has certain merit and achieves certain social ends. They have the will power to accomplish their end and to satisfy their desires. They have a tao, but in the words of Han Yü,—and his words may be used to attack his own theory,—his tao is not, the true Tao; and his tê-virtue, is not the real virtue. With their inferior rate tao they have produced certain effects. But the effects are of secondary value, only, and incomparable, in value, to those influences that emanate from the great Tao itself. The effects of the working of this is lofty, sure and lasting. The contrast between the real life and the artificial is elaborately described, and the attainments of the true Taoist, are extolled in noble language. Who but he can really achieve the ideal life? All others must fail in true achievement (Pp. 37-40). With regard to these minor and artificial philosophies of the schoolmen, they are described, in another place, as the molten drops that fall on the ground, when a worker in iron beats the glowing mass. Who is the Perfect Man (###)? He is the ideal follower of the Tao. He is identified with it, and, through its influence, he becomes the great personality that he is. The question of personality is not definitely discussed nor, even mentioned, except it be in such passages as the description of the man who has undergone a great physical change through same mishap and looks upon his reflection in the water and magnifies the Creator for such an endowment as he has received, etc. And the perfect-man is the only free man. Identity with the spiritual gives the true freedom of mind and spirit. All other methods fail to do so. This self-surrender to the Spirit assures the best freedom. The background to all human liberty and successful life is authority. Liberty without this authority can only result in license. And the man who feels most a subjection to this authority is the one who will do most for the world. We may compare the Taoist view of life in this repect with that of Socrates. Socrates maintained that he was at his best when his daimonion was working; and his thought clearest when he was most sure of divine guidance. Prof. Bury says that "Socrates represents his own life work as a sort of religious quest: he feels convinced that in devoting himself to philosophic discussion he had done the bidding of a superhuman guide and he goes to death rather than be untrue to his personal conviction. Because of this he became the champion of free discussion and the supremacy of the individual conscience over human law." And we have the Taoist view that human enactments and the wisdom of Sages may be abolished. Tradition binds man and therefore is inferior to "conscience." If men followed the Tao they would never be opportunists, but always act according to principle and right. Both had unbounded faith in spiritual law. Mere human knowledge is of itself wholly inadequate and uncertain. But the Tao is always full to those who have the mind for it. Index Previous Next TAO Mankind has always been concerned about the "Power manifesting itself in the universe." It could not be otherwise. The world is full of wonder and the signs of power. The starry heavens above and the pullulating earth below have ever urged on the mind of man to seek the cause and origin of the forces behind phenomena. There are as many opinions as there are minds. And the record of the many interpretations of this Power is both long and various. The study of the impressions made on men, by it, falls generally within the sphere of religion. For it concerns a subject which it is not easy to examine by experiment. There can only be philosophical deductions and religious impressions. The experience is as wide as the human race, and exists without regard to the states of civilization or the standards of culture. Savages and cultured people both have experience of the Power, though expressed in different ways, and having divers social effects. The guise under which the Power is conceived starts a wide study in human experience. Our chief concern is with how the Chinese have thought of this Power manifesting itself in the universe. A comparison with other races can only be very brief. Is it thought of as personal and approachable, as good or malign? Some looked on it as being outside and as external to the world. But Aristotle did not think so. He did not conceive of it as being outside and as an external providence, designing earthly structure and events: rather the design is internal and arises from the type and function of the thing. In his view "Divine providence coincides completely with the operations of natural causes. Yet there is a God." (W. Durrant). In his book, "Progress in Religion," Dr. T. R. Glover discusses what is the Great Original, as expressed by the Greeks; and he seems to think it was expressed by Air. The Taoists, too, think of air, but they deny it was the ordinary air we breathe, but quite something of another quality. Would it be ether they were thinking of? And it is not easy to conclude how the Taoist view compares with that of Aristotle. On the whole they differ. The Tao is conceived of as something self-existent and being independent of the visible world. It belongs to the invisible world and the visible comes from it. The ancients judged of the world without mechanical aids. What they would have concluded had they had at their command all the modern mechanism for surveying the universe, passes our imagination! But, as the Taoist saw it, he judged that the invisible was greater than the visible: that spirit, from every point of view, was more excellent than matter. Lao Tan felt that behind all,—not only the visible world, but also behind the invisible world, there is a Supreme Power to which he gave the conventional name of Tao, or, as it may be translated the Cosmic Spirit. But this is only a conventional term: we cannot comprehend it and therefore it is impossible to give it an adequate name. Its quality, its power and its magnitude is so vast and deep that no human language,—language belonging to the material universe alone—can describe it. And, of course, were any term comprehensive enough to connote it, in all its mysterious greatness, it would, at once, lose its chief characteristic of the Infinite. Once a thing is defined, it becomes limited. So the conventional name of Great Tao is only an indicative name,—indicative of immensity and quality and the way. But whilst no name can adequately define it, yet it is possible for the mind to have a good conception of it, through description of its works and by analogues of what it is like. It is the Source of all and the Eternal Sustainer of all creation. It gives out energy, but without the least exhaustion of its own powers and resources. These comparisons and descriptions of the Tao are so fully and frequently made, that it is unnecessary to say more. In the 1st essay, in particular, a wealth of illustration is given to show its nature and quality. Throughout the work there are significant suggestions made that in it, alone, will be found the secret of life and strength adequate to bring all human affairs to a successful issue. The State and the individual can find the perfect life in it. The "Perfect Man" will make the perfect state; and the Perfect Man is so because of a full alliance with the Tao. A description of this "Perfect man" may occasion some difficulty. He is described as being ashen grey in the face and so unconcerned with life and business, as though he did not care for any of these things. He looks incompetent. It is easy to understand the intention. It is a concrete way of depicting a man who is wholly under the domination of the Tao. It is a way of saying that the chief things in life are the things of the Tao. It is the greatest thing. "He who looks into the mirror of the Great Purity sees with great clearness. He who perambulates in the regions of the Tao has lucidity equal with sun and moon. Where the Tao was, there was truth and uprightness. Those who had the Tao, had perfect liberty. "We see all things in God," said Malebranche. There was no ritual in the service of the Tao. It does not seek the outward manifestation of rites, but guards unity in the heart so that the possessor may reach communion with High Heaven and with all the world below. In this the Taoist is far superior to the Confucianist. The latter is involved in endless etiquettes from which the Taoist is free. This is a fundamental difference which pervades the two systems. This arises from the difference in origins. The Taoist maintains a spiritual origin which has far reaching results in life and conduct. The Confucianist conceives a physical origin to all things. He begins with heaven and ends with earth. Even his name for the Supreme Being smells of the physical, the "Ruler Above, Shang Ti." His moralities have, therefore, not the naturalness of the Taoist's. Hence the controversies. The Taoist is left without a rag of man-made ceremonies. His is all spiritually natural. He has not even that of the noble Roman boy pictured by Virgil, whose purple-edged toga suggested not only the weakness of boyhood and its need of protection by a holy garment, but kept daily before the eyes and mind of its wearer that duty to family, state and gods which was the foundation of all that was best in the Roman character. I am not quite certain whether there was any communion in worship and prayer. But this should be guardedly said. For there are indications that there are responses to those who pursue and press forward on it. There are statements about such meditations in which all outside things are forgotten,—some Yoga practice. There are indications that there was the practice of abstraction from outward things, that the unseen world became the chief thing, similar to what the Sadhu Sundar Singh says of his communion with the spiritual. The Tao being one with naturalness (###) is not composed of any fixed principles. "It is not a fixed compound, nor has it any definite limitations. Hence the use of scientific formulae to describe it is not possible. It may not be stated in any logical terms" or explained by syllogistic forms. Its form and applications are interminable and are self-acting and self-determining. It may, further, be said that the inherent nature of the Tao is purity, tranquility, rest and unity. Whenever it is present in human affairs, it is never divorced from these four inherent qualities. These words are leading words in the philosophy: purity, tranquility, rest and unity. Their purport is easily understood, and it means that the spiritual must predominate in all things. The senses are to be instruments in its service. But the mistake men make is that they make the senses supreme and allow them to get the mastery. The result is that the whole of life is put into a state of anarchy. Purity, tranquility, rest and unity are lost, and the whole of nature is disturbed, in consequence. The Tao, being what it is, has four qualities of purpose, viz., forethought, accomplishment, deliberation and action without force. There is no forcing the Tao. Whoever tries to use the Tao in a compulsive way, bending and twisting it to suit his own ideas, can only lead to sham and hypocrisy. A peaceful world can only come through the adoption of the Tao. Anarchy is the fruit of disobedience to it. But when the world adopts and embodies the principles of the Tao, and coöperates with naturalness, through the Tao, it follows that creation will receive its wealth of gifts. The assimilation of the Tao has its foundation in meekness, tenderness, poverty of spirit and quietness. These are expressed sometimes by one word, emptiness. An aggressive spirit will be brought low, pride leads to a fall, violence will end in defeat, all which come from misunderstanding the real use of the Tao. The problem of self-culture is not overlooked. The most esteemed method is the reduction of desire and the suppression of the senses. This will give the power to govern the mind. When the heart is empty and pure, the seeds of truth may be sown in the field of the mind. The spirit will be nourished and perfected, and its usefulness made available for the whole world. Index Previous Next

These two words, which taken literally mean "not doing," form a distinctive term in Taoist philosophy. It should be stated, at once, that the literal meaning is not the true meaning. This is clearly stated in the 19th essay. The writer of that essay says, "Some maintain that the person who acts in the spirit of wu wei is one who spends his time in serenity and meditation, doing nothing: he will not come when called nor be driven by any force. I never heard such an explanation from any sage." And he goes on to say that the men who act in the wu wei method are the most laborious men in the world. They are hard workers in every field. I think it also means more than the mere influence of personality. The late Dr. Edkins once wrote, "The principle of wu wei, non-action, is also Confucian. Confucius says that Shun ruled the empire by non-action. By this he meant that people obeyed him, from admiration of his virtue." This is quite true; but the influence of personality or a good life is not quite the same as wu wei. It is said that Lord Grey dominated the House of Commons. He had but to rise to his feet in order to command rapt attention. Yet he was not a great speaker and did not often speak. And Lord Northcliffe said of Charles Hind: "When he spoke, everybody listened; but to Charles nothing seemed to matter. He had an effortless superiority." Professor Driesch calls attention to what M. Baudouin calls "the law of reversed effort." I resolve to make a suggestion, and herein lies the volition. For the rest, the formula is now: "It will happen, and it does happen." In effect, "I do nothing; but the thing is done. That is something like the activity of inaction." (Times, Lit. Sup. Aug. 21. 30.). The language is similar to the Taoist; yet there is no resemblance in the doctrine. Taoism is not a mere matter of willing. It is a principle of life. The difficulty is that wu is always looked upon as a negative and nothing else: Just only the opposite of yu, has or "is." This narrow definition forgets the possibility of language: and wu, the negative, may become a term of positive quality. The vast empty spaces of the universe are looked upon as purely negative quality, but they may become to be looked on from another point of view, as the immense abode of ether or some other fluid, and, thus, have a positive significance. From being looked on as a vast invisible space, containing nothing, it may be looked on as the great expanse full of vital fluid. So the vast empty spaces that were looked upon as the abode of the non-existent may come to be looked on as the source of all existence. The existent is begotten of the non-existent. So we have the statement "what is" comes from that "which is not"; "form" comes from the "formless": the "material" comes from the "immaterial". It is something in this way that we can find the true meaning of wu wei. It is not negative, but something positive. To go a step further, it is said, "Wu and tao are equally the mother of all things." Thus wu and tao are the same. So it may be said that wu wei, no action is tao wei, action by the spirit. It is in this sense that the phrase, wu wei erh wu pu wei, "there is no doing, but there is nothing undone" is to be understood. Of course, wu wei must be rendered by "spirit action," which makes the meaning full of force. Lao Tzû says: "Heaven and earth and all things were begotten of what is; and what is is begotten of wu, the non-existent, physically, i.e. tao, the spirit. A further help to the understanding of this much-misunderstood term may be had from the frequent references made to the simplicity of a pristine people, a people of an earlier age, an age that was free from the entanglements of a later civilization which had been corrupted by desire. This people is given as an example of a mode of life that was governed by the spontaneity of an uncorrupted nature. This people had no recognition of things, so as to desire them. Did this mean that the sight of a pile of gold, for example, did not arouse the feelings of cupidity? or could it refer to a time of innocency,—a state of innocency before a fall? Sincerity was natural, without any affirmation in speech, a condition that Jesus tried to lay as a command on his followers. "Let your nay be nay," etc. But there happened to come a gradual deterioration of nature. Somehow this pristine people passed into the region of carnality and desire. The rise of desire was the beginning of ruin. Lao Tan tried to get men restored to the state of pristine nature. And most of his sententious sayings convey this meaning. Was it possible to recognise the existence of things without creating desire? In this case wu refers to the non-recognition of things and, therefore, has the negative sense. Things were looked on as non-existent. But the difficulty involved is great. It meant a people without increase of knowledge through travel, and without increase of learning and work on the field of experiment. This difficulty was felt and is shown in the 19th essay, the 8th Dissertation. Here the writer pleads for education and the advancement of knowledge. Possibly the difficulty was solved by turning this negativity of the absence of desire into a positivity of great value. This positivity is seen in their two superior men, the chen jen, true man, and the chih jen, the perfect man. And how did they attain to these positions of unworldliness and perfection of character, with desire suppressed or eliminated? They rose to this by identity with the tao. The secret lay not in perpetual struggle with a corrupt heart, but in the realisation of an identity with the Cosmic Spirit. Here, then, the Taoist idea has much in common with the Christian ideal of the Saint. Both are under the command of the inward spirit. It may now be possible to mention the last and final idea underlying the meaning of wu wei. Generally speaking it is that no dependence can be or should be placed in mere human strength. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." The time-server and the person who seeks to get on by human skill: the opportunist who watches chances for gaining an advantage and pushing his way to the front: the clever demagogue who wins applause by insinuating speeches are all contemned and disesteemed by the Taoist. The intellect must be kept in abeyance and not allowed to get the mastery. It is to be supposed that the description given, often, of the Taoist sage comes from this conception. He is ashen grey in colour: he looks as though he were incompetent to deal with affairs: he appears as though not interested in any subject. We are to understand by these descriptions that the individual is not under the sway of the senses but is governed by the spirit. Index Previous Next PERSISTENCE AND CONTINUITY. UNIFORMITY OF BIRTH AND DEATH. Birth and death are the great events of life. There is nothing greater in popular estimation. Confucian scholars have done much to encourage such an opinion. The Confucianists emphasised these two events and made of them the grand events of existence. Consider the multitudinous ceremonies traditionally bequeathed from one generation to another. These show that birth is to be rejoiced in and death is to be mourned over. May this not be a reversal of the proper order? Anyhow the popular view has won the day, and the observance of birth and death, as joy and sorrow, has become universal. Birth is welcomed and death is dreaded. Connected with these two events there are now established many rites and ceremonies, and the observance of these fulfils the human idea of civilization. These rites have become onerous; for the growing boy has to perform innumerable ceremonies, from the day of birth to his marriage day. The wedding ceremonies are important. And in mourning for parents, the normal wife and the eldest son, there is a three years exclusion. Much of the life of the strict Confucian scholar is occupied with these rites. They occupy more of the attention of life than that given to social service. A succession of deaths in the family takes a period of 12 years, when all public service is barred. Such a view of life and waste of energies has been severely condemned by Mei Tzû, the great sociologist. The Confucianist fails to recognise that birth and death is only a transformation, something like a silkworm. Life is a revolution; there is nothing for glorification and nothing for mourning. Chuang Tzû, tells a story of one Li Chih, a beautiful girl of a small country, who was selected to be the wife of the Duke of Ts‛in. At the prospect she wept daily on her mother's breast. But after the wedding she was very happy in the new home,—so happy that she forgot her mother completely. And he makes this a parable of birth and death. So, when he lost his own wife, instead of the usual wailing and weeping, he began to sing. This astonished his friends, who were surprised at this uncommon and unusual attitude of a mourner. So he explained: "During her critical illness I could not but shed a few tears: but after her death I realised that she originally had no life. Not only so, she had no form: moreover she had no vitalism, ch‛i (air). In the vast void, there, she was changed to the positive of these negatives, and there was the vitalism state, the form-state, the life-state. And death induced the change. The four seasons, in their succession, are somewhat similar; they change and transform and develop but the unity persists through all changes. She is now lying in the big sleeping-room, and I began to weep and made such an unhappy sound, which I concluded was most unreasonable. Therefore, I am singing instead of monrning." He has also another story about death and burial. When about to die, his disciples wished to have a sumptuous funeral for the master. But he declined their suggestion, and said "I have the heaven and earth for my coffin: I have the sun and moon for my jades: I have the stars and planets, as the pearls to fill my mouth. I have all things round as my funeral presents. Don't you think these are ample? And what can be added to these natural beauties, for funeral ceremonies"? His disciples replied, "but we are afraid the kites and the hawks will eat you: the eagle will pounce on you." "To be eaten by birds" he said, "is better than to be eaten by ants, in the bowels of the earth. You want to rob the birds and are partial to maggots." The Taoists seem to have had a clear view of the meaning and significance of the change and flux in nature. It is akin to the modern scientific view that in the perpetual changes, which matter undergoes, there is no actual loss of anything. The candle may burn out, but there has been no loss: change of form has been the only consequence. This truth was strenuously held, and possibly Chuang's view of death came from this consideration. There is a persistence and continuity in all things. But it does not seem quite clear whether they held the persistence of personality. I think perhaps they did. They affirm that spirit does not undergo the changes that matter does. Spirit never dies. Indeed, in one of the essays, there is a very imaginative piece of writing on this point; but whether it was the fancy of the individual writer or was the view generally held is not clear. This writer, following the theory held by the founders that spirit is more permanent than matter, imagines that material existence may be compared to a dream. When we dream, we feel it reality, and only on waking are we aware that the experience in sleep was only a passing show. So he imagines that this material life, in which we now spend our existence, is no more than a dream. It is when we pass out of it, through the great change of death, that we come to the reality and enter real existence. The present is shadowy and but the fabric of a dream. When this passes, we enter on the truer and more real state of being. And then there is the question of being and non-being. These have their sources in the Tao and find their unity there. And the relation is indicated by the word hsuan, profound. Index Previous Next

He was the grandson (great-grandson?) of the founder of the Han dynasty. He died 122 B. C. He was editor of the famous essays in the work known as "Huai Nan Tzû." The first editor of this work was Kao Yu. The short life of Liu An given here is from the record given by Kao Yu. In modern time Mr. Liu Wen-tien has spent most of his life revising and editing the text. The result of his work was published on June 15th of the l0th year of the Republic. His edition is published by the Commercial Press in 6 volumes, with a Preface by Dr. Hu Shih. Kao Yu states that Liu An was the son of Prince Li, the son of the Emperor Kao, and so he was the grandson (?) of the emperor. Prince Li's mother was a Court Lady of the Prince of Chao. She came to be the mother of Prince Li, in this way. In the 7th year of the reign of Emperor Kao, an expedition was sent to arrest a rebellious general, Han Hsin, who had fled to Mongolia. On the return of the expedition and passing through the domain of Chao, the emperor paid no respect to the prince of the place. This led Chao to send the beautiful Court maid as a courtesy gift to the Emperor. Kao accepted her and she became his concubine. Later on, Kuan and Kao, two generals of the principality of Chao, rose in rebellion against the Emperor. The Prince of Chao was arrested and his domain confiscated. The Court lady, who was still in the old Court, was also taken. The Court lady gave birth to a son. But the mother hated herself and committed suicide. The baby was taken by the emperor, who ordered the empress to adopt him. The title given to this royal child was the Prince of Huai Nan. After the death of Emperor Kao, his son Hsiao Wen came to the throne. The Prince of Huai Nan (i.e. Prince Li) wrote to the new Emperor asking for an interview; and this led to mutual friendship. But later, the Prince killed an officer who had been mixed up in former intrigues. The Emperor Hsiao Wen was angry, and the Prince apologised; but the Emperor confiscated four of the counties of the Prince. On the return of the Prince to his territory he built a yellow house and called himself the Emperor of the East. For this he was exiled to Ssuchuan where he died. The Emperor had pity on his four sons and made each of them a duke, and later gave also some land to each, practically giving back what had been confiscated from the father. One of the four sons died soon after, and his son inherited the land and the title of the Prince of Huai Nan. A minister thought it unwise to have bestowed this land and foretold trouble, which actually happened when Liu An and a brother rebelled. Liu An, Prince of Huai Nan, was gifted with great talents; so he was favoured with many interviews and became a favourite of his adopted father. Hsiao Wen highly honoured him and asked him to write an introduction to the Li Sao (a celebrated book by Chü Yuen on rhymes in poetry ). He did this in one morning, before breakfast,—a few hours after the decree was issued. The emperor treasured it as a precious possession. Liu An became very popular, and all men of talent resorted to him. He was inclined to Taoism and attracted men of similar tastes. Amongst the latter there were eight famous scholars. They gathered together for study and chose the subject of Tao and jen, i, Love and justice, as the theme. This is how the essays of Huai Nan Tzû came to be written. The main theme is akin to the principles of Lao Tzû: sober and serious thought and wu wei were the leading themes and the function of emptiness, tranquility, and so on, in life. They discussed everything in their conferences, as will be seen from the titles of the 21 essays. The range of search was wide, and history was ransacked, for proof of the theories advanced. The question of the gains and losses in following the Tao was a central theme. There was nothing in Heaven and Earth that did not arouse the curiosity of their enquiring minds. It was this fund of variety, this exuberant research into every department of life, in the search for a true standard—or to put it in another way,—this exuberant search into the nature of the Tao that finally led to the name of hung lieh, "greatness and luminosity," i.e., "the Tao," being given to the book. Scholars who have not read the book will fail to realise the profound significance attaching to the Tao, by the fraternity. It is a most illuminating treatise on the profound subject of the Tao. Index Previous Next

"To every form of being is assigned An active principle:—howe'er removed From sense and observation, it subsists In all things, in all natures: in the stars Of azure Heaven, the unenduring clouds, In flower and tree, in every pebbly stone That paves the brooks, the stationary rocks, The moving waters and the invisible air. Whate'er exists hath properties that spread Beyond itself, communicating good, A simple blessing, or with evil mixed: Spirit that knows no insulated spot, No chasm, no solitude; from link to link It circulates, the soul of all the worlds." Wordsworth. Excursion. Book VI, 1-15. Christianity has, also, found a difficulty in finding a term to express the Divine Being; and so, sometimes, it has been left and expressed under the general term, THE NAME. Christian doctrine found that the term "God" did not adequately express the great idea in the one word, but was more complete under the threefold expression: "Father, Son and Holy Spirit."

The Cosmic Spirit (Tao)1 embraces Heaven and supports Earth. It stretched the four quarters of the The properties of the Tao. Universe and generated the eight points of the the firmament. There is no limit to its height, and its depth is unfathomable. It constituted Heaven and Earth and endowed them with the primary elements, when as yet they were without form. Flowing like a fountain, bubbling like a spring, impalpable, its energies bubbled forth in the void and filled space. Continuing to effervesce, it transformed the murky air of chaos into crystal clearness. Hence it filled Heaven and Earth and stretched to the uttermost parts of the sea. It spent itself without exhaustion: there was no morning or evening, i.e., rise and decay, no fatigue and revival. Expanding, the Cosmic Spirit overspread every part of the firmament, earth, time and space. Rolled together, it was not a fistful; compressed, it can expand; opaque, it can yet be clear; yielding, yet strong, soft, yet firm. It is a macrocosmos as well as a microcosmos. It holds, as in a net, the four poles: and comprehends the active and passive forces of creation. It links the universe together and makes the sky luminous. It is most substantial and full of sap; most tenuous and fine: so delicate is it that it penetrates every pore and crevice. It gives height to the mountain and depth to the abyss. It fashioned beasts to walk and birds to fly. Sun The work of the Tao. and moon are luminous by its power, and the planets revolve in their courses because of it: the Chilin comes forth through its energy, and the phoenix wheels in the empyrean through its might. In the beginning, the two forces Yin and Yang,2 having obtained the essence of the Tao, became the central Agency of Yin and Yang. organizing powers. Their divinity and influence determined the transformations of Heaven and the stability of Earth. The revolutions of the Universe were unfailing. It was through the Tao that the heavens first revolved and the earth was made fast: the successive revolutions failed not. The waters eternally flowed without ceasing and were conterminous with creation. The winds blew; the clouds steamed. There was nothing which should not be. Every thing was as it should be. The thunder pealed; rains fell: each and all responding to the movement of the Tao without cessation. Mysterious in its operations like the emergence of spirit, or the arrival of the phoenix, or the transformations of the dragon, its vestiges may be traced. As the potter moves the wheel, the hub turns, one complete turn following on the other. In the universal Flux of matter. flux, organisms, when finished and polished, dissolve again into their rough elements and constituent parts. Without (apparent) doing, things came into existence under the inspiration of the Tao. There is no sound or speech to indicate activity: the successive evolutions proceed with energies permeating all. Without love or hate, impartially, and in no boastful spirit, the perfect harmony is attained. The myriad varieties are organised each with its own nature. The energy of the Tao is imparted to the minutest thing: and, also, it operates in the greatest, composing the mighty universe. Its virtue gives flexibility to nature and harmonizes into unity the operations of Yin and Yang. It divides the four seasons and co-ordinates the five elements. Its beneficent spirit breathes on all, fructifying creation and the world of life. It sends forth its fattening dews on grass and tree; it bathes metal and stone with lustre; it makes bird and beast strong; it gives sheen to scale and feather, and strength to wing; and it begets the horns (of cattle). Through its powers the embryo of beasts do not miscarry nor the eggs of birds addle. It is due to the Tao that fathers have no occasion to mourn over the untimely death of their children,3 nor the The Tao preserves men from calamity. elder brother weep over the untimely death of a younger member. Children are not made orphans nor wives widows. That the ill-starred rainbow does not appear, nor unlucky comets career in the sky, is due to the harmonious control of the Tao.4 The supreme Tao begets all creation, but keeps itself as though it did not exist, i.e. makes no boast of it. It Its transforming power. produces all phenomena, yet without appearing as the controller. Creatures that walk and breathe, that fly to and fro, and all creeping things depend on it for life, yet are unconscious of the merits of the Tao in their well-being. They await its behests for death, without bearing any grudge at the change. The benefits of the Tao in life are not extolled: the decay of death, through wear and tear, is not blamed. Accumulations of goods and stores must not be boasted of as wealth, nor are their distributions and donations to be looked upon as any impoverishment. Its fluxes are incomprehensible; its delicate operations are interminable. Build it up and you cannot give it any more height of glory. Subtract from it and you cannot rob it of any virtue. Multiply it and it is the same number; detract from it and it is no fewer; hack it and it is no thinner; slay it yet it is not destroyed; dig into it and it is without depth; fill it in and it will be no shallower. Oh! how swift! how sudden! No form does it take: how exhaustless. Profound, Oh! Obscure, Oh! Responsive, Oh! Answer there is, Oh! Effective, Oh! Never does it move in vain, Oh! Conterminous with heaven and earth in its expansion and contraction, Oh! Ascending and descending with Yin and Yang, Oh! In olden times Feng I and Ta Ping were great charioteers by virtue of the Tao.5 They rode on the chariot Examples of Tao enduement. of clouds, entering the rainbow and floating on the lambent air: they raced into the infinite distance and the utmost height. They crossed the hoarfrost and snow, yet without any vestiges: and no shadow of theirs fell when the sun shone on them: they were diaphonous. They mounted aloft in circling spirals like those of the ram's horn, so swift were they. They crossed mountains and rivers; they vaulted over the K‛un Lun. They mounted aloft, opened the gate of the Presence and entered the abode of the Deity. The finest chariot of these latter days, hitched to the fleetest horses urged by the sharpest thongs could not compete with them in the race. Thus we see that the great man interested in the Tao lives happily without anxieties: his outlook is without fears because he feels Heaven is a covering, the Earth is a chariot, the four seasons his steeds, Yin and Yang his drivers. He rides on the pinnacle of the clouds, through space, a compeer of the Creator.6 He gives reins to his will; he opens out his mind to travel the great empyrean. He walks when he so desires, or rushes on when he so wills. He commands the Rain Spirit (star) to irrigate his way, and employs the Wind God to sweep away the dust. The lightening he takes for whip, the revolving breath of thunder as wind for his chariot wheels. Above, he travels in the boundless waste of space; below, he comes forth at the gates of the great void. He looks all round in space and gazes abroad on everything, yet keeping all under the central organ7: master of the four quarters he brings everything within the range of the master spirit within. And so it was that, with Heaven canopying all, there was nothing outside the pale of his influence: with Earth as chariot, there was nothing outside his range: with the four Seasons as steeds, he has all things as ministers: with Yin and Yang as charioteers, there is nothing lacking; the processes of creation are complete. So there is no instability in this immense effort: there is no toil in the profound operations. There has been no fatigue of body nor diminution of intelligence.8 How was it that they gained a knowledge of the conditions of Heaven and Earth? It was because they had the authority of the Tao that they traversed the illimitable world. Therefore the affairs of empire should not be regulated in detail by legal interference, inasmuch as they operate in Four Fundamental Principles. Purity, Quiescence, Peacefulness, Unity. a natural way,9 i.e. Wu Wei. The fluxes of creation need not be examined into: get the vital Tao and the fluxes will be understood. Take an illustration from a mirror or from water. When these receive the form of an object, they mirror it faithfully without any accretions; so the lineaments are exactly reflected. The echo is only partly true to the sound: the shadow is not different from the substance. The sound mysteriously reaches its own sound-like form. Man is quiescent10 by nature; but desire moves in response to outward influences which are the outward expression of things. The spirit responds to the impact of matter, giving rise to mental perception. The response of inward perception to the impact of outward things begets love and hate. When love and hate have taken form, perception is seduced from the right way by outward suggestion: it is unable to go back on itself; and reason or right is destroyed. Therefore those who are permeated or possessed of the Tao do not barter away the Divine for the human.11 Subject as they are to outward changes, they do not lose the inward purity of nature; i.e. the impact of the world does not create concupiscence. This nature is purely spiritual and ready to respond to every demand of nature. The Seasons run their course; the ever-changing times circulate, yet without confusing the basal unity.12 The small and great, the long and short, are each in their appointed realms. Creation, in all its mighty leaps and restless movements, proceeds without any dislocation: everything is in its proper place. Therefore those who are placed in power are not regarded as a burden by the people: those who are at the head receive no harm from the people: that is to say they are looked up to and loved! The whole empire is drawn to them: the lawless and unruly fear them. Because they have no strife with creation, therefore no one dares to strive with them. An angler who goes to the river bank with the finest of hooks, lines and bait, who plies his skill with the Great Principles are superior to temporary expedients. expertness of Tan Ho13 and Yuan Huan14 for a whole day, nevertheless cannot hope to compete with the catch of the net in magnitude. An archer who can draw the Wu Nao15 of a Seng Meng Tzu16 in shooting the bird on the wing nevertheless, cannot compete with the use of a net in the greatness of the bag. And the reason is the smaller size of the instrument. Thus in ruling men, the great law is better than a multitude of minor regulations.17 A dart is inferior to a cho, a battering ram, and a cho is inferior to something still greater, that is to a great principle of action. The comparison between the exercise of a great principle and the use of policies of opportunism, are not unlike the example of setting a shrimp to catch a rat, or a frog to catch a flea. Opportunist policies are indeed unequal to arrest evil or stem wickedness: they rather tend to aggravate them. In ancient times, Emperor Kun of Hsia built a towering wall; but the Lords rebelled and the distant people became Force leads to force. suspicious and wily. And so Yü, seeing the opposition of the kingdoms, rased this wall to the ground and filled in the moats, scattered the wealth accumulated, burnt the implements of war and administered the empire on the principles of virtue, not of force. As a result, the distant people brought their tributes and the barbarian tribes their offerings. The concord sealed at the conclave of the Lords, at T‛u Shan,18 resulted in valuable tributes from myriad kingdoms. From this we see that when a scheming mind is cherished, the sincerity of purpose is not perfect nor the spiritual energies complete; (singleness of mind is lacking.) The ruler whose vision is narrow fails to appreciate how to command the services of those who are far away. From this we see that militarism begets militarism. A fortified wall implies war chariots, and a coat of mail leads others to sharpen their swords. If boiling water is added to boiling water, it will but make it more violent. Likewise to beat a vicious dog or whip a kicking horse, in order to correct it, would not succeed even though Yin I or Tsao Fu19 were to do it. When the vicious disposition has been quelled within, the tail of a hungry tiger can be played with: how much more so such creatures as the dog or the horse! It is certain that he who is in sympathy with the Tao and acts accordingly, wins his end with ease and is never Tao is expressed in naturalism and adaptation. at a loss. The man of many plans who lives by schemes, on the other hand, labours away without success. Violent measures and rigorous punishments are not instruments for either a tyrant or a king. Blows and flagellations constantly rained on subjects, are not the way to make dogs and horses travel far. The excellent vision of Li Chu20 could see the point of a needle from the distance of more than a hundred paces; yet he could not discern the fish in a pool. The intelligence of Shih Kuang21 could distinguish the winds from the eight quarters and harmonize the five notes of the eight scales; but his fine sense of hearing could not discern anything more than ten li off. Hence one man's strength, however much, is not enough to regulate even a small domain.22 But the man who conforms to the art of the Tao, in accordance with the natural way of Heaven and Earth, would find it easy to manage the whole world. Thus it was that Yü was able to engineer the canals by following the nature of water and making it his guide. Likewise, Shen Nung, in the sowing of seed, depended for instruction on the guidance given by the nature of the germ. The duckweed has its roots in water, and the tree has its root in earth. The bird stretches his wing and flies in the void: the feet of beasts clutch the solid ground and walk: the scaly dragon inhabits the water: the tiger and leopard dwell in mountains. Such is their inherent nature. The rubbing together of two pieces of wood begets heat: when metal is held in fire it becomes liquid: wheels revolve; cylinders and scooped-out articles, as boats or shells, float. Natural conditions these, arising from form and following natural law. Similarly when the Spring winds arrive, the gentle rain falls, bedewing the whole creation into fruitfulness. The feathered tribes burst the egg, and the hairy creatures conceive and beget. Plants and trees put on bloom: birds and beasts bear their eggs and conceive their young. Nothing is seen of these operations, but the results are being achieved. The autumn chills bring the hoar-frosts, leading to the drooping and fall of the flora. The eagle and heron strike their prey mercilessly; creeping things hibernate. Plants and trees live on their roots: fishes and turtles congregate in the deep pools. Their doing these things is not seen: traces of these hidden activities is annihilated. Birds that perch on trees use twigs for nests; water animals have holes. Wild beasts spread straw in their lairs: human beings dwell in houses. Cows and horses are for service in dry districts; boats require much water: the Hsiung Nu produce and wear raw skins: Hunan and Kuangtung grow fine hemp. Each produces that which is required for its own climate to meet the conditions of dry and damp. Each is able to protect itself against the cold and heat, by means of its own produce, and in order to obtain what is necessary for itself: convenient goods and commodities meet the requirements of each place. From these evidences we see that creation is strong in its naturalness. What need then for government by the sage?23 There is no need for him to act. Naturalness is enough. South of the Chiu I, dry-land industry is scarce and the water-way industries are many. The inhabitants use short trousers for convenience of fording waters: they have short sleeves for convenience in propelling their boats. These habits arise from the watery nature of the districts. North of Yen Men, the natives do not eat cereals. They pay little regard to seniority and age, admiring rather lusty youth and virility. The conventional view pays respect to lusty strength. It is a custom for men never to let go the bow from their hands nor to unsaddle their horses. Such is their habit. Hence Yü disrobed when he entered the Nudity (Lo) kingdom, and wore his robes again when he emerged from its border; this he did because he did not wish to interfere with custom.24 Now if people, in transplanting trees, should digregard the fit time for doing so, all would wither and decay. On these grounds an orange tree, when it is transplanted north of the river, changes its nature and becomes a citron. The mynal and parrot (Ku) never cross the Tsi. If the Ho, badger (?) crosses the Wen river, it dies. Its nature does not permit this transmigration. Its habitat cannot be changed. Everything linked to the Tao rests in undisturbed repose. They who are in line with the nature of things ultimately rest in wu wei.25 Such nourish their life on quietism: they rest their spirit in passiveness. By so doing they enter the gate of Heaven.26 What is meant by "Heaven" is purity, clarity, directness, grounded on reality, luminosity. Such is nature, as endowed by Heaven, when, as yet, it is unmixed with worldly impurities. What is meant is that man has an implication of accidental accretions, such as bias, angularity, sharpness of intellect, duplicity, whereby men follow the world and traffic in the conventional. Now we see that the natural thing is for kine to have cloven hoofs and horns in the head and for horses to have manes and hoofs, undivided and whole: but it is the device of man to put bits in the horse's mouth and run a noose through the ox's nose. They who follow Heaven, or the natural order, flow in the current of the Tao. They who follow men get mixed with conventional ways. It would be useless to tell the fish in the well about the horizon of the great ocean, because it is cribbed in a narrow place. It would be vain to speak of the cold of winter to the creeping things that know only of the summer's heat: they are cognizant only of their own seasons. It would be useless to discuss broad views with a narrow-minded scholar: he is bound to the conventional and tied to his own orthodoxy. Hence the sage must not tarnish heavenly law by human things: nor confuse natural laws with concupiscence. Without any planning, affairs find their correct issues: without a multitude of words, faith is achieved, credence is found: without anxiety, life is attained; and without effort, success is won. He whose spirit is identified with the cosmic soul27 is partner of the Creator in governing men. A good swimmer may sink; a good horseman may have a fall. That in which each excels may become an Clever men may miss the mark. occasion of injury. Hence it is not impossible for the smart man of affairs not to hit the mark. The polemical person may meet with embarrassment, and the man who strives for gain may not get all he is after. The might of the ancient (engineer) Kung Kung28 struck at the Pu Chou mountain and crumpled down the South Eastern corner of the Earth; yet in contending with Kao Hsin for the throne, he was overwhelmed in defeat, involving ruin to his clan and failure of succession to his family (for ancestral worship). I,29 the king of Kuangtung, fled to the hills and dwelt in caves to escape being king; but the people smoked him out of his cave and he failed to consummate his own desire for retirement. From these examples it is evident that success depends on opportunity (times) rather than on strength, (for preeminence), government (or action) should rest on the Tao rather than on the Sage.30 The ground is placed low and not high, hence it ever abides in peace, free from the dangers of a giddy height. Water flows down, the currents do not compete for precedence. So it flows swift, uninterrupted, undelayed.31 In ancient time, Shun, for a whole year, tilled the land at Li Shan, and as a result of his example, the tillers of Success of those who followed Tao. the soil struggled for every crooked and awkward corner, each anxious to concede the fertile plot to his neighbour. He also fished for a whole year on the river's bank, and, as a result, the fishermen strove together for the currents and rapids, each keen to concede the deep pools and quiet corners to the other. During these times, Shun gave no lectures on morality nor on conduct, but, maintaining the great way in his heart, his influence sped as though it were divine. Suppose now that Shun were without this uprightness of character he would never convert a single individual, though he were to preach to the public and go talking from house to house. Thus we see that the unspoken Tao has a mighty sweep. It is able to control the San Miao (aborigines) and induce the Yü people to offer their tributes. It can Achievements of Tao. transform the "Unclad Nation" and get revenues from Su Ch‛en (a distant tribe of the north) without the issuing of a summons, or the heralding of edicts. The Tao can resolve customs and change habits, by means of merely spiritual influence. How could laws or punishments ever achieve so much? For this reason the sage pays every attention to the culture of the fundamental rather than to the adornment of accidental means (such as the impositions of laws and punishments). He guards the spirit, and keeps the intellect in abeyance. Profoundly the work is that of wu-wei "no action"; nevertheless there is nothing left undone. Placidly no authority is excercised; yet there is nothing which is uncontrolled. The meaning of Wu wei, is that there is no going in advance of things. The meaning of "wu pu wei" "there Wu Wei. is nothing undone" is that, in following the cosmic spirit33 everything is done. The meaning of "wu chih chô," ("not governing") is that there is no interference with naturalness. And the phrase "there is nothing that is not governed", means that the end is attained in correspondence with the mutual fitness of things. There is a raison d'être in the springing to birth of all creation; and each thing knows how to guard its root.33a There is a raison d'être in the appearance of hundreds of affairs: attention is only given to the intrusion of what enters. Hence the exhaustless is probed, the limitless is reached, and matter is illumined without confusion. There is mutual response without fatigue. By this is meant that there is an understanding of the mind of Heaven. The Way is understood. Hence they who have attained the Tao, possess a yielding mind; nevertheless their work is invincible. (The Four Atributes of Tao. Meekness, Tenderness, Humility, Emptiness. heart is humble, but the work is forceful). Now what I mean by this statement is this: a yielding will has a reposeful ease, soft as downy feathers,—a quietude, a shrinking from action, an appearance of inability to do. Placidly free from anxiety, one acts without missing the opportune time; one moves and revolves in the line of creation, One does not move ahead but responds to the fitting influence. Hence the exalted and those placed in high station will inevitably adopt the symbol of unworthiness,35 even as a high tower must depend on its lowly base for foundation. Depending on the small, one comprehends the large; from a circumscribed central seat (small space) one regulates the outside domains: or the senses are controlled from within. Exercising a yielding spirit one is firm: through tenderness one can be strong, and by these evolutionary movements, in accordance with the number of things, one attains the doctrine of unity or the one.36 One is able, through this Unity, to adjust the interests of all.37 Let us now discuss what is meant by the statement; "His acts are strong or forceful." During times of change, one is equal to any sudden crisis; one disposes of calamities, and wards off difficulties, with invincible strength. There is no enemy that is not overcome. Being capable of meeting every change and judging the times, nothing can harm such an one. We may see, therefore, that he who would have firmness must do so by yieldingness. He who would be strong The power of yieldingness: non-resistance. must guard it by tenderness. A wealth of yieldingness gives an abundance of firmness: an accumulation of tenderness yields strength. Take note of the nature of the predominant events, and you will have an indication of whether misfortune or happiness impends. Strength will overcome an unequal combatant; but two of equal strength will have an equal resultant. Yieldingness will overcome anything superior to itself; its strength is boundless. For this reason military strength (is as a fire) will be extinguished. The strength of the tree bends to the wind and is sawn for timber. The strong skin (of a drum) will crack. Teeth are stronger than the tongue; but they decay sooner. Hence yieldingness and non-resistance or tenderness are the mainstay38 of life; but the firm and hard are the lackeys of death. Pioneers39 come to the end of their tether and die out early. Those who follow, clutching to their skirts, reach the goal. How can it be known that it is so? All who attain the good age of seventy, nevertheless have gained from the past as regarding their actions and feel dissatisfied with most of their work, as they look back on their mistakes. It is so even until they are dead. Hence men like Ch‛ü Pei Yü40 felt that 49 years out of the fifty had been ineffectual, the reason being that the pioneer has the disadvantage of inexperience; whereas his successor finds it so much easier to achieve the purpose. The pioneer climbs high; his successor follows and gets help from him. The pioneer descends to the depths and falls into ruin; he who follows will step on the shoulder of the pioneer and take measures based on the experience of his predecessor. The pioneer falls into dangers; the man who comes after gains from experience. The pioneer is baffled in his plans, but his successor avoids the pitfalls. From this it is seen that the pioneer forms the sharp point of his successor's arrow. He is, as it were, the point of the lance. The point strikes the difficult obstacle, breaks its resistance and becomes a buffer; but the handle suffers no harm, for the reason that it occupies a secondary position and is cushioned by the buffer. This may be taken as the universal view. The worldly-wise and intelligent cannot avoid the consequences of this impulsion of the senses. What I mean by "successors" does not imply that they are immobile and without initiative, nor that they are petrified and incapabable of motion. But what these do is to pay attention to the harmonizing of every plan and act in concert with occasion and take account of times and seasons. By the power of the Tao one meets the need of every change, using the beginning to govern the end, and the end to govern the beginning.41 His principle is that he does not lose that whereby men are governed i.e. tao, for this reason that acting through the tao others cannot control him. A critical business42 does not permit of miscalculation: too early an act may miss fire; too late an act may fail to hit the occasion. Time is ever on the flux and waits for no man, and so the Sage43 does not value a foot of jade, but rather an inch of time. Time is that which it is difficult to get and easy to lose. Yü44 took time by the forelock and never went back for a lost shoe, nor would he delay business by getting a hat from the peg. Not that he strove for first place with another, but that he strove to catch every opportunity.45 Hence the Sage46 guarded a freedom from passions, and preserved yielding complaisance. Acquiescent, men meet every crisis, always following and not leading. By yieldingness and tenderness they gain repose;47 by equanimity and peace they find stability. Great in achievement, they wear down every difficulty, and no one can compete with them. Nothing in the world is more yielding and softer than water; yet its greatness cannot be measured, nor its depths Greatness of yieldingness illustrated by water. sounded. Its distance48 is endless; its vast expanse is without horizon. Its rise and fall, its ebb and flow are immeasurable. Up in the skies it becomes the rain and dew; down below it forms the fattening moisture, so that the whole creation springs to birth and everything comes to fruition. Its greatness embraces all living things; there is no trace of partiality; its enrichment reaches even to the lowly worms, yet it asks no thanks: its abundance suffices for the whole world and is never exhausted. Its virtue is distributed over all nations, yet without self-expenditure. Its operations can never come to an end; they are inexhaustible. It is so fine that it is impossible to grasp a handful of it; strike it, yet it does not suffer hurt: grab it, and it is not wounded: sever it, and yet it is not divided: burn it, and it does not ignite. Lost in the slush, flowing into invisibility, disappearing as it gets mixed with earth, nevertheless, it is not possible to scatter it into nothingness. Its advantage is that it will penetrate into stone and metal; its strength consists in going to every shore bearing ships for mankind. Moving full and free in the immaterial regions, wheeling and revolving on high, as clouds, it returns again, falling into the rivers and valleys and courses in bounding floods over the wide plains! All creation, without partiality, receives its beneficent bounty.49 Whether enough and to spare, or given sparsely, it comes from and returns to Heaven and Earth, and is bestowed on creation without favouring one or the other. It is copious on every hand. Its heaving movements are great and concurrent with all nature. It knows neither left nor right, curls round and encircles everything, and is commensurate and contemporary with creation. This is termed Supreme Excellency (Chih Te). Now the reason of water achieving this supreme excellency in the world lies in its virtue of penetrativeness, in its irrigating and effusive properties, so that Lao Tan was led to speak of it as the softest thing in the world galloping through the hardest: issuing from the non-material, it enters into the non-spatial, i.e. enters everything. "I know therefore," he said, "that Wu wei is most advantageous." Now the immaterial, the formless, is the great ancestor of wu, matter: the soundless, i.e. that which makes no sound, is the great founder of sound. Their son is light; their grandson is water.50 All these are begotten of the formless or immaterial. Light, indeed, can be seen but not grasped; water can be handled but not destroyed. Therefore, of those things that have shape nothing excels or is more honourable than water. In coming into life it enters into death i.e. into the shades of the carnal world: from non-existence, it treads the way of existence, i.e. in having form, it departs from its original: from existence it passes into non-existence, thus becoming a ruin.51 Hence this hidden purity, spiritual repose, is the supreme power (te chih chih yeh).52 And yieldingness and tenderness are essentials of the Tao: The immaterial53 in happy repose gives rise to all things for the use of man. Reverently responding to influences, it instantly reverts to its own root and then becomes merged in the formless.54 What is expressed by "formless" is Unity. What is termed the Unity55 Unity of Tao. means something without compeer in the universe. Uniquely it stands alone. Being-like it is placed alone.56 Above, it fills the heavens,57 below it interpenetrates or connects together the nine Points, the vastnesses, of the world.57 No circle can compass, no square can fit it.58 It is the Great Absolute and forms the Unity.56 This unity is the life of myriad generations, everlasting without beginning, and most mysterious. It embraces (enfolds) the Universe and opens the portal of the Tao59 (and is the Tao in operation). Profound and abstruse, invisible, unalloyed, it alone abides in pure virtue. It ever gives, but is never exhausted: it labours without effort. So, in looking for it, you behold not its form: listening for it, you hear not its sound: feeling for it, you get at no body. The formless (tao) begets the living form. The soundless (wu-sheng) begets the five tones.60 The non-flavour harmonizes, or gives substance to, the five flavours: the non-colour creates the five colours. Therefore all that is seen comes from that which is not seen (wu). The material springs from the immaterial. The Universe is its sphere. The nominal and the real exist together. The tones are limited to five: but the variations and combinations of the five tones are more than can be distinguished by the ear. The composition of flavours61 is only five; but the combinations that can be made of them are more than can be tasted. The colours are not more than five; but their transformations are more than eye can apprehend. Hence in the matter of tones, when Kung, the key, is set, the five tones are harmonized. In the matter of taste, with sweet as base, the five tastes are completed. As regards colour, with white as the ground, the five colours are blended. As to the Tao, when the Unity62 is established, creation comes to birth. Therefore the doctrine of the Unity covers the deep62 the pervasion of the Unity forms the mechanism of the world. How pure in its entirety, similar to the unadorned jade!63 When scattered, how turbid! It is opaque, but gradually becomes clear, ethereal, yet gradually it becomes substantial. How stable! still as a deep pool. How buoyant! It is like a floating cloud! It is as though it were not, and yet is: as though lost, yet abiding. Creation massed together passes through the one portal:64 the root of all things emerges through one gate (the tao). Its movements have no form: its transformations are God-like; its actions leave no vestiges, constantly behind and yet moving in advance. Therefore the tao-man in governing hides his intelligence; he blots out his symbols of majesty. Depending on the Tao, he does away with cleverness: he acts in common with the people, and everything is done on public ground. All is law. His regulations are circumscribed; his demands are few; the lust for glory is eliminated; concupiscence is expelled; anxieties are renounced. Regulations, not being multifarious, can be superintended. Demands, being limited, are easily satisfied, and results are gained. He, on the other hand, who depends on the seeing of the eye, the hearing of the ear, going by what he hears and sees, is full of care, yet without clear vision. He who governs by knowledge and anxious thought, is full of labour, yet without definite results. Therefore the Sage-King uniformly follows law,65 he does not change the ought nor alter the constant of things. He follows the square; he is guided by the plumb line; he conforms to the varying order of things. Now the movements of pleasure and anger are a corruption of the Tao;66 trouble and grief are abortions Self Culture. Reduce desire restrain feeling. of virtue; love and hate are the failures of the heart; concupiscence and lust are the embarrassments of nature. Great anger destroys the negative force (Yin) of man's nature, and great joy disorders the positive (Yang). Great anger brings dumbness; great fear leads to madness; sorrow and grief cause rage; sickness gathers strength; when likes and dislikes come in profusion, then follow adversities in their train. But a heart free from care and joy, supplies the perfection of virtue. To be permeated with the Tao and not subject to vacillation. gives the perfection of repose: not to be loaded with carnal desires gives perfection of hsü, purity. When there is no love and hate, (likes and dislikes) there is the perfection of equanimity. When the mind is not distracted by things, there is the perfection of simplicity (or intrinsic truth). Ability to possess these five attributes ensures true fellowship and communion with God.67 Fellowship with God gives possession of the inner self.68 Hence he who controls the extraneous, i.e. carnal desires, by this inner self will fail in nothing. The mind having found itself, there will be full control of the senses. Possessing the self the five inward parts will be maintained in peace and anxieties tranquilised; the organs of the body will function correctly and one will not give way to unseemly joy and anger. One's nerves will be firm and strong. The sapient ear and eye will have a comprehensive penetration and not err. Being resolute and firm, one will never break down. Autocrat of the World. One will not overshoot the mark nor come short in one's actions. Such an one will not be unhappy in a lowly position: nor will he eschew great duties. His soul is not impetuous, his spirit is not unstable (perturbed). Profound and undefiled, serene and reposeful, he is the autocrat of the universe.69 The Great Way (Tao) is broad and level, not far from the person. The seeker finds it in himself: going out for it, again and again, he returns within for it.70 Pressure on it will move it; touching it or feeling after it will bring a response.71 Its mutations are without substantial form and its visitations are generous and free; everything is done with deliberation and serenity; to every matter a suitable solution is found, as fittingly as an echo answering to the sound or as an image reflecting an object. Whether such an one mounts to a high station or descends to a low position, he never loses what he grasps (of the Tao): whether treading the way of danger or walking in the paths of peril, there is no forgetting the Tao. He who abides in this frame will lack not in virtue; he disposes successfully of the myriad affairs of every complexity that crowd before him. In attending to the affairs of empire, he is expeditious, like (a boat) sailing with the wind.72 This is the meaning of Supreme ability,73 and with this supreme ability comes joy. There were men of old who lived in hermit caves without losing their high spirit. In later times there have been those exercising great power, but they had daily anxieties and were not free from sorrow.74 We may gather from this that the princely state75 does not lie in actual ruling so much as in getting the Tao: Joy does not lie in riches and honours, but consists in the possession of virtue and harmony. Knowing the greatness of the higher self, paying little value to possession of empire, is indeed to be near the Tao. What is termed as joy? How can it be necessary to be placed in palaces and towers, to serenade on lakes and in gardens,76 to hear the Chiu Shao and Liu Ying77 orchestras, to dine on seasoned meats, to gallop in broad avenues or shoot the turquoise kingfisher, in order to find it? Can these be said to compose joy? The joy I speak of is the finding of the true self.78 The possessor of this true life will not regard ostentatious expenditure as joy, nor will the simple life be looked on with regret. He will accept a lot lowly or bright,—just as the flower shuts and opens in response to the season. Wen Tzŭ expands the idea in these words:—"He cherishes the truth of Heaven, he embraces the heart of Heaven; he breathes in the spirit of Yin and Yang; he blows out the old (foul) and breathes in the new: he closes with the Yin and opens with the Yang: he contracts with the firm and expands with the tender: with the Yin and Yang, he looks up and down: he is of one mind with Heaven and of one body with the Tao: there are no joys and no sorrows: there are no pleasures and no angers." Thus Tsû Hsia was thin, so long as his mind was at war with itself, i.e. when governed by desire; but he became fat on getting the Tao. The Sage will not allow his person to be the instrument of matter, nor permit his peace to be disturbed by Spiritual joy lasts. desire. Thus, when he rejoices, it is not with boisterous hilarity. When he sorrows, he will not suffer his nature to be wounded. Circumstances ever change and vary; there is nothing stable about life's conditions. The Tao-man, alone, lives triumphantly (or cherishes the magnanimous point), abandoning worthless things. He keeps step with the Tao. Therefore he has the wherewith to find his true nature. Whether his pilgrimage be under a stately tree, or his dwelling be in a secluded cave he finds enough to satisfy his nature. But the man who has not found his true self, though he possess the empire for home, and the myriad people for ministers and concubines, will not, on that account, find the satisfaction of life.79 He who reaches the state of spiritual joy80 will find everything minister joy to his person. And he who enjoys this joy has tasted the supremest joy. Suppose every imaginable pleasure were at command of a person. The bells and drums are prepared; pipes and Carnal joy vanishes. organs arranged; the richest carpets are spread and the ivory ornamented poles are gay with embroidered bunting; the ear hears the passion-moving music of Chao Ko and Pei Pi; the most lovely courtesans are present, the tables are laden with wines and delicacies, and the carousings are carried on from evening to dawn. In the daytime he goes hunting, shooting at the high-flying bird, or with the hounds stalking the wily hare. These are his pleasures, glowing with excited passions under sensual enticements. I grant they have attractions; but they are mixed with mortification, for when the carriage is unhitched, and the horses unharnessed, the wine has ceased to flow and the music is ended, then the heart is pulled up, as though the chill of death had passed over it: it is filled with vexation, as though it had lost something. And the reason? They have not taken the joy within to supply the joy without, but rather used adventitious joys to create an inward pleasure. There is pleasure as long as the music lasts, but when the song is ended, sadness creeps on. Under such conditions, sorrow and joy change about and mutually beget each other. The spirit is disordered. Not a moment's rest can be found! If the reasons be examined how it is that one failed to get the substance of joy and thus continued to injure The reason. one's life daily? The cause is found in this that one has lost that, the doing of which would give the possession of virtue to the mind.81 Hence the mind within, not being at the centre (tao), one decorates oneself with those things which come from without. These are artificial and do not enter into the marrow and bone of life: they do not abide in the will nor remain in one's being. Therefore, those things that enter from without, finding no host within, do not abide: those things that issue from within, not being responsive to the outward, fail to operate. Hence even an uninstructed person may be pleased on hearing good words for guidance, and a worthless character may also esteem an account of noble deeds and perfect conduct. Many approve, but few are those who carry these good things out: the many approve, but few there are who act. The reason for this is, that they are unable to recover the lost mind: they fail to revert to the real nature. The inner and real nature fails to open out. What is learnt is by way of compulsion: when this is the case, what is heard by the ear is not impressed on the mind. The position is not unlike to the deaf man singing and not hearing his own sounds. It is made for (the gratification of) others, without any personal share in the enjoyment. The sound issues from his mouth and passes away without his hearing it. Now the heart is the govenor of life.82 It, therefore, controls all the members and the circulation of the fluids of sensation, referring everying, forthwith, to the moral When the Tao governs the mind a monarchy is needless. realm (of conscience): conscience, in turn, enters the avenues of every action. Therefore, when the mind lacks the inner control, any pride of authority in the art of governing men may be compared to a person who is deaf trying to ring the bell and beat the drum, or to a blind person trying to find pleasure in works of art. It is plain they are perfectly incompetent to do so. So it is clear that the king's instruments of government must not be artificial, (such as policy, schemes, opportunism). An artifical creation would ruin the country, and he who grasps power would lose it. In elucidation, the case of Hsü Yu might be given, who thought little of the pomp of empire and would not change places with Yao. His mind was not set on place and power. How may we account for such a view of life? Because of empire and for empire.83 The essentials of empire are not in pomp but in the individual, not in men but in myself: not in Yao the monarch, but in Hsü Yu the individual representative: not in others, but in each individual.84 To centre all in one is an artificial way. The natural way lies in each following the law of nature. When the individual has got the Tao he possesses everything. Thus clear on the principles of the mind, it will be found that carnal desires, love and hate, are extraneous things, and do not pertain to the mind.85 Hence there is no ground for pleasure, for joy, for pain. The whole creation is in identity with Heaven. There is no right or wrong.85a Everything is as it should be. All flux is under the light of Heaven: life is as death. Further the empire is possessed by the individual and the individual is possessed by the empire. There can be no alienation between the individual and empire. There is mutual identity. Thus, surely, there is no necessity for the person who possesses the empire to exercise authority or grasp at power or to have the prerogative of life and death, the promulgation of edicts and so on. What I mean by "possessing the empire" is not such as this: I mean that the person has found himself. When self is found, the empire has also got a man. When there is this mutual possession, we each exist together without a break. How can it be that there is any alienation and that the empire cannot use me? The meaning of "finding self" is that life is perfected—or the culture of the person is perfect. When this is done, there is identity with the Tao.86 Now if a person were able to enjoy himself by promenading on riverbanks and by the sea shore (i.e. the Physical and spiritual joy compared. emperor, who can go anywhere and do anything), by racing the great hunter Niao, and decorating his umbrella with the turquoise feathers (a great minister), by witnessing the great military dances and music (of Wu), by listening to the strains of the Yao Lang, Ch‛i Lu, Chi Chen: by the performance of the popular music of Cheng and Wei, by harmonizing the high and low sounds, by shooting the high flying birds on the banks of the Chao, by hunting wild beasts in the Imperial park of Yuan Yu, well and good. Why those are the very sports that the multitude delights in and gets intoxicated with. The Sage man, placed amongst these, does not find that they are any enticements to his spiritual life or allurements to seduce his will and purpose, moving his heart by sudden passion and leading him to lose his true nature. Rather he would prefer to live in a secluded and poor village or to crouch within the recess of some dark gully or in the retirement of some jungle, cribbed within a small hut, which has fresh grass for thatch, a grass-made postern and an old crock for window, the hinges of the gate formed of wisps of thc mulberry. The hut may leak above and be dank below, the north-facing booth may be filled with dampness. After snow and sleet have made slush of the ground, he plants his own melons and chiang (grain only eaten by the poorest); he takes his walks abroad through the wide morass and tramps back and fore in the gorge of the mountain. Were the generality of people faced with this sort of life they would wrinkle their faces, blink their eyes and be full of distress at the disagreeable prospect. The sage placed in such a situation, would not feel sad, downcast, envious or misanthropic, nor would he, for the world, lose the grounds of his own inward joy by such hardship. And the reason? Because within he is in touch with the spiritual realm: he does not lose his will to virtue because of a high or lowly station,87 of wealth or poverty, of ease or labour of body. Just like the crow's "ya ya," and the Outward change does not move the mind. magpies "tsie, tsieh;"—these sounds do not change with every changed condition of the weather. The man of tao has his mind fixed, nor does he depend on compulsion of circumstances in the flux of things: his mind does not await any single chance of fortune to determine the ground of his self possession (tzû tê). So what I mean by "possession" is that the nature of his life is established in that which gives peace. Now the soul and body issue from the central source. When the body functions perfectly, (moral) then nature and life are completed. When these are completed, then the affections, such as love and hatred, are begotten (a point of danger). Thus scholars have fixed principle of morality in intercourse: and women have an unchanging rule of action as to marrying again. These can never be changed.88 The eternity of Heaven and earth, the height of Chiu mountain is not changed by one ascending a high hill or descending into a depth; nor is a low location counted near. Therefore, the man who has the Tao is not perturbed by poverty nor exhilarated by success. Being placed on a giddy height gives him no feeling of danger; though holding a full cup, it will not be upset. He is not polished at one time and rough at another time: he does not change colour with time, he is not burnished when new and tarnished when old. He can undergo trial89 without wear The tao-man wears well. and tear. He does not depend on power to be esteemed, nor on riches to be honoured, nor on force to be strong. Agreeably he moves forward in harmony with the fluctuating movements of the Cosmic Spirit. Thus he is naturally like the metal hidden in the hills or the pearl in the deep. He does not look on affluence as the source of joy nor lust for the symbols of power. Therefore he does not look on success as ease of mind, nor on ingloriousness as a thing to be dreaded. He does not consider a high position as peace nor a low position as danger. Body, soul, spirit and will are each in the Heaven-appointed place. Now the body is life's tenement, the breath (passion nature)90 is life's fulness: the soul is life's regulator. The three suffer by the aberration of anyone from its function. The Sage-King gives to each man his proper office where each will do his own work without interference of one with the other. Therefore, to place the body in that which does not bring contentment is to waste energies: to exercise the spirit in a sphere which is not suitable to it is to scatter power: to employ the soul in operations that are unfitting is to becloud clarity. It is essential that strict attention be paid to the proper exercise of each of these three factors—body, breath, soul. Now let us consider such insignificant creatures as creeping worms and zoophytes in their wriggling movements or crawling actions; they have their likes and dislikes; they know what is helpful or harmful by reason of the instincts they possess; these they follow. Should they suddenly lose these, flesh and bones would be of no value to them. Now what is that power in man which enables him to gaze clearly and hear distinctly, enables the body to stand erect and the limbs to bend and stretch at will; what are those faculties that help him to distinguish white and black, to appreciate the ugly and beautiful: what is that knowledge by which he differentiates similarities and dissimilarities and which enlighten him in right and wrong? It is a fulness of spirit (ch‛i),90 the passion-nature that supplies the person with capacity; and the soul gives it direction. How may it be known that such is so? Men who have their wills bent on some object and their minds concentrated solely on that, become oblivious to all else, so that in walking they fall into a pit: the head may hit a post without their being conscious of it: call him, and he does not hear. It is not because he has given away eyes and ears that he is unable to respond. And the reason? The mind or soul has let go that which it holds, i.e., the body. And so when it is centred on the particular; it is dead to the general: centred in the inner, it is dead to the outer: centred on the high, it is dead to the low: centred on the right, it is dead to the left.91 When the soul is all-pervading, then it is omnipresent. Therefore, the tao-man prizes the pure spirit uncontaminated by desire, and his thoughts dwell in the spiritual. Now consider an imbecile. He does not know to avoid the hazards of fire or water; he goes all unheeding into deep waters that are dangerous. It is not that he, too, has not got a body, soul, spirit, will, but that he uses these differently from other men. He has lost the proper use of these faculties and fails in the correct exercise of them. For this reason his actions are erratic, his movements not being under control. He acts, through life, like a tottering person, staggering in passing through an uneven gate, falling into miry drains or into the midst of pits and holes. Though endowed as others with the motors of life, he cannot help being an object of merriment to men. And the reason? Body and spirit do not act in mutual harmony. Thus, we may deduce that where the soul is the dominant force, the body follows to purpose. But where the soul follows the motions of the body, disaster ensues. Men of a covetous and ambitious nature, and of many passions, are allured insatiably by power and ensnared by the lust of position. They aspire to stand in the high places of the world, by reason of superior abilities which implies a daily expenditure of their spirit. The longer this goes on, the farther is the distance between spirit and body: steeped in these excesses, return to normality is less likely. The body being closed up by these desires, the heart opposes the entrance of higher influences. Thus the pure spirit of the natural endowment has no freedom of action. Thus it constantly happens in the world that disasters befall men who fail to see the right and who act contrary to justice and who have the lost mind. Such people are of the "tallow candle" class. This means that fire that burns quickly will die out all the sooner. The soul and spirit that are in repose are daily at the full and make for strength. The impetuous spirit wears itself out early, leading to senility (weakness). Therefore, the Sage-man nourishes his soul and moulds his spirit in yieldingness and keeps the body in repose (equanimity): up and down in the height and in the depth, he oscillates with the Tao. Serenely he yields to it: compelled to take office, he makes use of it. He yields to it as to the robe he puts on himself: he uses it as it were a swift arrow. Thus in all the fluxes of nature there is nothing he fails to respond to: in the changing affairs of life there is nothing he does not answer. Index Previous Next

Unheard the dews around me fall,  And heavenly influence shed: And silent on this earthly ball  Celestial footsteps tread. Night moves in silence round the pole,  The stars sing on unheard, Their music pierces to the soul,  Yet borrows not a word. Noiseless the morning flings its gold,  And still the evenings place: And silently the earth is rolled  Amidst the vast of space. In quietude Thy Spirit grows  In man from hour to hour: In calm eternal onward flows  Thy all-redeeming power. Lord, grant my soul to hear at length  Thy deep and silent voice: To work in stillness, wait in strength,  With calmness to rejoice. STOPFORD A. BROOKE. "In the Grand Beginning of all things there was nothing in all the vacancy of space: there was nothing that could be named. It was in this state that there arose the first existence: the first existence, but still without bodily shape. From this, things could be produced, (receiving) what we call their several characters. That which had no bodily shape was divided, and then without intermission there was what we call the process of conferring. The two processes continued to operate, and things were produced. As they were completed, there appeared the distinguishing lines of each, which we call the bodily shape. That shape was the body preserving the spirit, and each had its peculiar manifestation which we call its nature." Kuang Tzû, translated by Dr. LEGGE.

Beginning: Reality: The reality of the Cosmic Spirit. There was an evolution in the non-existence towards the realization of the existene. This process is described in the terms "The Beginning: The Reality." The processes of evolution. (1) There was "the beginning:"1 (2) there was a beginning of an anteriority to this beginning: (3) there Reality Beginnings. was a beginning of an anteriority even before the beginning of this anteriority. (4) There was "the existence." (5) There was "the non-existence." (6) There was "not yet a beginning of non-existence." (7) There was "not yet a beginning of the not yet beginning of non-existence." (1) the meaning of "There was the beginning" is that there was a complex energy which had not yet pullulated into germinal form, nor into any visible shape of root and seed and rudiment. Even then in this vast and impalpable void there was apparent the desire to spring into life; but, as yet, the genera of matter were not formed. (2) At "the beginning of anteriority before the beginning" the fluid of heaven first descended and the fluid of earth first ascended. The male and female principles interosculated, prompting and striving among the elements of the cosmos. The forces wandered hither and thither, pursuing, competing, interpenetrating. Clothed with energy, they moved, sifted, separated, impregnated the various elements as they moved in the fluid ocean, each aura desiring to ally itself with another, even when, as yet, there was no appearance of any created form. (3) At the stage "There must be a beginning of an anteriority even before the beginning of anteriority," Heaven contained the spirit of harmony, but had not, as yet, descended: earth cherished the vivifying fluid, but had not ascended, as yet. It was space, still, desolate, vapoury,—a drizzling humid state with a similitude of vacancy and form. The vitalising fluid floated about, layer on layer. (4) "There was the existence" speaks of the coming of creation and the immaterial fluids assuming definite forms," implying that the different elements had become stabilized. The immaterial nuclei and embryos, generic forms as roots, stems, tissues, twigs and leaves of variegated hues appeared. Beautiful were the variegated colours. Butterflies and insects flew hither and thither: insects crawled about. We now reach the stage of movement and the breath of life on every hand. At this stage it was possible to feel, to grasp, to see and follow outward phenomena. They could be counted and distinguished both quantitatively and qualitatively. (5) "The non-existence" period. It was so called because when it was gazed on no form was seen: when the ear listened, there was no sound: when the hand grasped, there was nothing tangible: when gazed at, it was illimitable. It was limitless space, profound and a vast void,—a quiescent, subtile mass of immeasurable translucency. (6) In "There was not yet a beginning of non-existence," implies that this period wrapped up heaven and earth, shaping and forging the myriad things of creation: there was an all-penetrating impalpable complexity, profoundly vast and all-extending; nothing was outside its operations. The minutest hair and sharpest point were differentiated: nothing within was left undone. There was no wall around, and the foundation of non-existence was being laid. (7) In the period of "There was not yet a beginning of the not yet beginning of non-existence," Heaven and Earth were not divided: the four seasons were not yet separated: the myriad things were not yet come to birth. Vast-like even and quiet, still-like, clear and limpid, forms were not visible. One says, "I can appreciate non-existence, but the non-existence of non-existence is too profound for me to apprehend! How may one come to this apprehension?" These fluxes are most mysterious, beyond the ken of the mind. None can trace the workings of these mysterious operations and penetrate into ultimate depths.2 Now Heaven has endowed me with a body and given me work in life. It has made it pleasant for me during Joy of life and death. old age and has prepared for my dissolution in death.3 The agencies that are good for life are those which are good for death.4 People assume that a boat hidden in a cave, or an island in a lake are safe and firm. Nevertheless a man of mighty Nothing lost. strength may carry them away at midnight and escape, without the sleepers knowing anything about it.5 If the world is hidden in the world, then there is no Tao does not decay. possibility of concealing it. In other words the Tao is coextensive with the universe and it is safe from change and decay. The emergence of the human form in creation is pleasureable. If man undergoes a myriad transformations Resurrection. without end, dying and coming to renewed life, this is a source of joy that cannot be expressed. Decay and resurrection are triumphant sources of joy. Take an illustration of a person in a dream. He dreams he is a bird flying in the air; he dreams he is a fish lost (immersed) in the pool. In the dream he is insensible of its being a dream: only when he returns to consciousness, does he become aware that it was but a dream. Now is looked on as the time of life; afterwards this now-life will be looked on as a great dream. In the prenatal state, how can one know the joys of life? Likewise how can we venture to deny, before we die, that death has no joy? In ancient times, Kung Niu-ai6 had a fit of madness and, during seven days, was changed into a tiger. His brother peeped in at the door to look at him and was seized by the tiger and killed. Hence the human limbs had changed into the claws and teeth of the wild beast. A Certain continuity persists when form changes. Will and mind had changed: spirit and body were transformed, and then he was a tiger. In that state he was ignorant that he had been a human being previously. Just when he was a man, he was totally unaware that he would be a tiger as well. Each of these two alternations had its several pleasures according to the form: but the creature, in the one form, was wholly unconscious of his existence in the other form. The change of state by the substitution was immense; but there was a continuity of pleasure in both the assumed forms. Cunning and stupidity, right and wrong! Who can say how they spring up?7 Water, on the approach of winter, congeals and becomes ice. Ice meets with spring and melts to become water again. Water and ice are periodic changes of form. In the wheel's revolution of flux, who may imagine which is pain and which is joy? Therefore the bodily form suffers from the rigours of cold, heat, dryness and dampness. The body wastes, but the spirit is hale. On the other hand, the spirit may suffer from the outrages of joy, anger and anxieties. Whilst the vitality of spirit is being exhausted, the form may remain in abundance of strength. Again, when the carcasses of worn-out horses are skinned, the hide is found to be dry and brittle: but the carcass of a young hound, on the other hand, is found to be full of sap, when Spirit does not die with body. killed. Hence the ghost of him who has an untimely death (from injury) is troubled. The spirit of him who dies full of years is rigid.8 All these instances indicate that body and spirit do not end together9 and are not identical. Now the sage makes use of his mind, leans on his nature, depends on his spirit; and when these are mutually helpful, a tranquil life is lived and ended. Hence he has no dreams during his sleep and has no anxieties during consciousness.10 The ancients lodged within the realm of the Tao; desire was controlled and passion mastered; and, in Utopia. consequence, the spirit did not wander into the extraneous. They derived repose from the calm of creation: they were not disturbed by the baneful effects of comets and the tail of the Great Bear. Though noxious, they refused to be disturbed by their appearances. During this period, the people were in a state of Arcadian simplicity: they ate and rambled about: they smacked their stomachs and rejoiced. All together enjoyed the blessings of heaven and ate of the fruits of the earth. They did not wrangle in mutual recriminations, nor dispute over rights and wrongs. Peace and plenty existed. This may be called the Ideal Rule.11 During such times, rulers employed, in all offices, men who did not confuse the nature of the people.12 There were officers for guiding and cherishing the people without disturbing the spontaneity of virtue in their minds. Therefore the artificial doctrines of humanity and justice12 were absent, and all creation luxuriated and fattened. Without the device of rewards and punishments, the whole empire flocked to pay its tribute. The doctrine is as splendid as it was successful. Nevertheless it is not easy to specify its movements with any detail, just as progress may not be manifest in any one day, though a whole year may show great achievement. As the fish forgets its relative existence in the river and lake, so men forget themselves in their relation to the way and art of the Tao. The perfect man (Chen-jen) of ancient time stood in the very root and centre of being, the foundations of Heaven and Earth themselves, and wandered at will, unhasting and free, in this central seat of being. He cherished and diffused virtue, he enkindled the spirit of harmony of existence and thus enabled creation to come to full maturity. Which of them, then, would involve himself in the commotions of men, and embroil his soul in the pothers of life? Nevertheless the Tao has its rules and principles; its connective relations result in a (Tao) Unity, so that the thousand twigs and myriad leaves are connected and related. Get at the unit, and the interrelations will fall into line. Hence, when in office, (the superior man) has the means to diffuse his commands; when out of office, he has the power to forget that he is of little count; when poor, he rejoices in his work; when difficulties assail, he can control Difficulties show the man. them. It is only with the arrival of the great cold, when the frost and snow descend, that we become aware of, and appreciate the evergreen of the pine and cypress. Likewise it is only when difficulties confront men, and the ways of danger are trodden, and the path in front is threaded with perils, that we see how the Sage-man never loses the Tao. Therefore the man who can 'put on the doctrine' treads the path of life (securely): he who looks into the mirror of the Great Purity, sees with great clearness. It is the man who can establish the peace of empire who is made king, i.e. regulates the sacrifices and issues the commands. He who perambulates in the regions of reconditeness (tao) has equal lucidity with sun and moon. Consequently, such take the Tao for a rod, virtue for the fishing line; they use etiquette and music for hook, and love and justice for bait. They cast these into the rivers and sea (world), and thus there is nothing that they fail to hook from the abundant life of creation.13 On the other hand, the person who follows narrow and crooked conventionalism, who tinkers with things, and who in his plans and designs for the reform of human institutions, simply cobbles here and there in altering and improving the ingtitutions of men, acts in a most superficial Reforms must not be patchwork. way, dealing only with extrinsic and trifling things. I grant that they give scope to their wills and find satisfaction to their desires. How much more do they find satisfaction, who cherish the jasper ring (Tao)14 who, forgetful of liver and gall—their very life,—abandon eye and ear15 and are not guided by the play of the senses, but float in the Tao-men follow Tao not senses. uncircumscribed, transcendental universe; they do not get contaminated by rubbing with the world, but, going in and out within the spiritual16 frontiers, keep in touch with Heaven and Earth. Is it not so? Men such as these suppress their understanding and cling to the pristine nature, the uncontaminated root. They take no heed of gain and loss,—worthless dust are these,—and look on death and life just as night and day. So when they look upon the Jade Coach17 with its snow-white ivory appearance, when they listen to the pure and crystal tones of the five-reed organ, the equanimity of their soul is not disturbed by these (sensual objects), When they ascend precipitous and lofty heights of T‛ai hang, Fei-hu, Ko-Wang,18 or approach True to principle. some deep abyss, which even a monkey would fear to look on, they do not become giddy and lose their balance. They may be likened to the jade of the Kun-lun mountain which, if heated in the fire for three days and nights, loses none of its liquid and soft colour, showing them to be the finest work of nature. We may, hence, see that if life fails to enslave the sage (i.e. he will die if necessary), how, then, will gain move his mind? If death will not thwart him, much less will danger frighten him! They who are clear on the distinction of life and death, (i.e. different phases of one thing) and who apprehend the alternations of fortune, will never entertain the idea19 of giving a hair of their leg in exchange for the greatest thing in the world: for empire they will not abandon the Tao. Such matters as honours and poverty coming on are looked upon as but a passing breath, i.e. a passing phase Unconquerable. of fortune. Slander and backbiting are no more to such a man than the flitting of a mosquito or a gadfly over the body. He holds fast the pristine luminosity and suffers it not to be tarnished. He acts with pure sincerity: there is no jobbing or double-dealing. Placed in darkness, he is not dark; lodging in the cold regions of the Arctic regions, he never succumbs. The Meng-men, Chung-chuang mountains cannot obstruct his course. It is only the man with the Tao who is able not to succumb: neither rushing waters, nor whirlpools, nor the depth of the Lu-liang can delay him. The dangers of T‛ai-Hang, Shih-chien, Fei-hu, Ko-wang are no difficulty to him. Therefore, he who, voyaging on the rivers and the seas of life, has his mind directed on spiritual pilgrimages into the precincts of the Highest, is the same who is in unity with the One Source (tao). (Or, another rendering. He who mixing with the world, yet keeps his heart in the secret place, is he who is united with the Tao.) Who else would not be defeated? Therefore, they who dwell with the perfect man, are led to forget family poverty; and the honourable of the Influence of the perfect man. world do not display their splendours when he is present, (one course suffices for the feast), but rejoice in simplicity. In his presence the hero shrivels his martial spirit, and the covetous man suppresses his concupiscence. Sitting down, he has no need to instruct; standing up, he has no need to criticise; and the guest who comes with receptive heart goes away loaded with solid truth. So, without speaking, he quenches the thirst of men with truth. Hence the perfect Tao is wu wei, (an action of the spirit), operating like the action of the dragon or the snake.20 These stretch out or contract, change their form and throw off the skin according to the time. Outwardly he follows convention, but inwardly he maintains his nature. His eye and ear are not confused by a show of power, nor is his mind perplexed by doubt. The spirit which he cherishes being uniquely great, he thereby roams in the Great Purity (tao), encouraging and stimulating the whole creation. It may thus be concluded that he who uses his spirit in a complexity of things, loses his spirit; he who nourishes his spirit, the spirit abides. The Tao issues from the One fountain21 and communicates with the nine gates22 of Heaven: it is distributed The great unity. over the six23 thoroughfares (of existence): it flows over the uncircumscribed frontiers of the universe, by immateriality: it acts on matter by inoperose inaction rather than by operose action (passive evolution). Matter has been acting in the past; therefore all things have followed the tao, not by personal action of the tao, but by evolution of the tao. What the dome of Heaven covers, what earth sustains, what the six corners of the earth embraces, what the positive and negative respire, what the rain and clouds moisten and fertilise, and what truth and virtue maintain, all come from the one father and mother24 and are interpenetrated by one harmony. Hence, the oak (in the north) and the orange tree (in the south) are brothers: and the Miao25 and the San Wei25 are one family. The eye watches the flight of geese, the ear listens to the organ, yet, at the Unity runs through all. same time, the mind may wing its flight to the distant Yen-men pass. These experiences happen in one body, and the spirit divides itself and roams over the six corners of the world: by one movement it traverses a myriad miles. Hence, from these diversities we see that from that which is near, the liver and gall, i.e. the one body, may move to the far south or the distant north. But looked at from the identity of the person, all things are of one Unity. Each school has its own theory, issuing from principles peculiar to each, such as the theories of Mei, Yang, Schools only contain bits of truth. Shen, Shang26 on the way of government. Now each may be looked on as the rib of one umbrella or as the spoke of a wheel. If the complement number is complete, well: if not, it is of little importance to practical use. These schoolmen considered themselves important, but were not in line with the nature of the universe: their range was small. As to their existence, we may take an example from the smelter in a foundry casting a vessel. It is inevitable that in the casting of an image some drops of the molten mass should be scattered on the ground. As these drops touch the ground, they harden and assume some definite shape. It is possible that such pieces, thus fortuitously formed, will be of some small service; yet they are not to be compared with the Nine-tripod Vessel27 of the Chou house. Much less could they be compared with a vessel the lines of which have been finely drawn. The point is, the tenets of these schoolmen are far and away inferior to the Tao—the body of truth. Now the distributions and bifurcations of creation, the divisions of matter into leaves and twigs, roots and branches, all spring from one stock. Though having only one trunk, yet the offshoots branch out into myriad forms. These divisions befall the recipients and not the creative power, "which is unity. Thus, then, these are all recipients and not the giver which is the Tao. The recipients are not givers. The giver embraces everything: he covers the emanations of his creation. These are the reflections of its own giving, and these reflections of the giver are owned, like the cloud which falls and moistens all things: but the cloud is cloud and the moisture is moisture. There is a separation and yet a unity. In giving itself, this unity is not lost and the tao does not change or lose anything. So it is not itself. An example of the statement "there is nothing not received" may be had in a thick cloud full of rain, particles massed together and distributing themselves in heavy rain. It steeps the myriad things in moisture, but does not get wet itself, i.e. it gives itself to others. Now a skilful archer has expediences and contrivances, even as the bow-maker has the skill of rule and compass. An expert is only expert in his own craft. Each of these has severally been attained by practice and skill. Each is expert in his own line. The one could not be an expert in the attainment of the other, even as Hsi Chung was incapable of becoming a P‛eng Meng: nor could Tsao Fu be a Pei Lo.28 That is to say, an acquaintance with one locality does not give knowledge of the whole range of a country. When an article of purple colour is dyed with black alum, the result will be that the article becomes darker than the dye itself. Likewise when a green article is dyed with indigo blue, it will come out a deeper colour than the dye itself. Though purple is not black, and green not blue, they owe their origin to black and blue respectively, and they can never recover their original shade. The colour gets faint and deteriorates by the dyeing. How much more that which has not yet undergone the creative agency. The transformations have been innumerable which no pen can fully describe.29 From all this we may learn that there is no matter which has not sprung from that which is past. The varieties are profuse in the extreme. Again, the minute autumn hair30 can disappear into the non-spatial, yet, though so minute, it is great compared Tao is most fine so most pervasive and great. with the Tao. The thickness of the feathery nexus within the reed is almost equal to nothing, and yet it is thick (compared with the Tao). The Tao, more minute than the hair-like feather of autumn or the thinness of the feathery nexus, spreads out into every cranny and fills infinity: nothing can obstruct or stand in its way: subject, as it is, to the minute and abstruse, it vivifies creation and controls its fluxes.31 Its operations are immense. This goes without saying. Now a swift wind that will uproot trees is unable to pull out a hair. A lofty tower, in falling, will break the backbone or crush the head of a resident; but small insects will hum as they fly about in the falling ruins. Creeping and moving insects have equally been endowed with nature's springs of action. Nevertheless, it is the class of such minute creatures that can most easily fly, and those creatures of a small and delicate structure that can save themselves most easily. How much more so, then, can that which has not received a corporeal form at all, fly about most easily. From such considerations it is clear that the formless produces forms. Hence, the sage man commits his soul to Form comes from the formless and senses used after Tao illumination. the spiritual realm and reverts to the beginning of creation.32 He looks into the profound and listens in the voiceless regions.33 He, alone, is clear within the realm of the spirit (profound). Within the immobile void (vast stillness), he, alone, has the illumination. He can use it, because he does not use; but later the non-use gives use: he knows, because he does not know: and afterwards the non-knowing leads to knowing.34 Now when the firmament was not fashioned, the sun and moon could not run their courses; when the Earth Honest truth only from the honest man. was not established, the trees and plants could not be planted. When that which composes the body, was not stabilized, that which is and which is not, had no form.35 Hence, it may be concluded that when the True man is there, true knowledge,36 also, is there. They who hold what is not clear, how can they know that the knowledge I speak of is the knowledge? Now accumulation of kindnesses, abundance of generosity, wealth of love, and such things as persuasive speech, encouragement of the people by largess, inducements to the people to the enjoyment and to the delighting of their nature, compose Jen, benevolence. To set up great merit, to gain fame, to make real the loyalties of king and ministers, to arrange the regulation of classes, to know laws of kindred and strangers, to divide the classes, to support falling states, to preserve a decaying house, to quell rebellions, to control turmoils, to restore decadent clans, to continue a dying house and to suppress anarchy, compose I, righteousness.37 (What are the real values?) To close up the avenues of the senses; to repress the ambitions of the mind; to abandon the mere art of cleverness and knowledge and revert to the state of Wu Shih, non-cognition: to roam in the void, as outside the world of sensibility and move in the regions of "nothings" (no affairs); to imbibe the Yin, and exhale the Yang and move in step with the harmony of creation, is Tê. Therefore, where the Tao distributes itself, there is Tê (and constitutes the variety of virtues in man). When these attributes abound and overflow, we have (the real) benevolence, jen, and righteousness, i.38 But when the Confucian school sets up benevolence and righteousness as the ultimate, then the Tao and its attributes Tê are abandoned and lost. A large tree39 is cut down and carved into sacrificial cups. It is carved with chisel and foot-measure, with art and skill. It is embellished with the figures of beautiful bells, of dragon, snake, tiger and leopard. It is most decorative.40 But a piece of this timber has fallen as waste. The difference between the carved goblet and the piece which has gone uncarved is the difference between beauty and roughness. All the pieces of timber have lost Broken away from Tao conduct is artificial. the natural sap of wood. Likewise, the spirit of man has lost its sap, when dispersed abroad and not rooted in the Tao. Its language is garish: when tê, the attribute of the tao, is lost, actions become insincere and meretricious. This leads to the death of vitality within. Conduct is regulated by environment. When such is the case, it is inevitable that the body has become the slave of matter. Now when language is garish and action meretricious, it implies that the spirit has been trading with the senses Fine manners do not make a gentleman. (and not dealing with tê, the attributes of the tao). When words are garish and action meretricious, everything is sought from without and spiritual vitality vanishes and (in the consequent perplexity) endless efforts are resorted to in order to supply the lacunae. This process digorganises the mind and beclouds the spirit, thereby confusing the foundation of life. Since, therefore, the fundamental basis is reduced to a state of uncertainty and the mind imbibes from the external world the base conventions of worldly habits, and since there are disconnections, inconcinnities , gaps and failures, the inner light becomes misty and dim. As a consequence, there ensues a state of inward conflict, and not a moment of peaceful tranquility can be had. The sage-man,41 however, cultivates the tao-method within and makes no outward adornment of benevolence The sage cultivates Tao first and last. and righteousness. The impressions conveyed by the senses of eye an ear have no influence on him, but he moves in tune with the soul and spirit. He who is thus minded penetrates the three fountains42 below and seeks the nine entrances into Heaven above. The mind opens out to the frontiers of the earth and penetrates into the depths of creation. This is the sage's movement of spirit. But the Chen Jen,43 True Man,43 moves in a still more exalted sphere. He moves in the regions of the completely The true man moves in spiritual realm. immaterial and travels the deserts of annihilation. He rides on the Fei Lien44 and follows Tun Yü, (the immortal genii). He journeys into the extra-mundane regions and rests in a spiritual house. He has the ten suns for his candle, the wind and rain for his servants, the thunder-lord is his minister, and Kua Fu,45 the genii, is his messenger. He allies himself with the female genii, Mi-fei46 and Chih-nu. How could Heaven and Earth be enough for the operations of such a being?47 Hence the Immaterial and Spiritual is the home of the Tao: equanimity and ease are its nature. Man, on the other hand, driving his soul, disturbs his spirit. He strives after insipid honours and gain: he pursues after the things of the outside world. These efforts all ruin his clarity of spirit and separate him from its true abode. (Now take an example of the theme). He who is freezing in winter thinks of the genial warmth of spring. The fevered subject of the heat of summer looks for the cool breezes of autumn. He who has a disease in his system shows it in heightened colour of the face. Again the ch‛en tree gives a blue tincture which, when used as a collyrium, will cure inflammation of the eyes; and some snails, also, cure ophthalmia. Infusions for the eye are made from these. Now, were anyone to apply these to an eye without inflammation, they would produce the very disease they would cure and produce obscurity of vision.48 The means used by the Confucian sage for terrifying Laws and Punishments not the best. the world will not be used by the perfect man, (the chen jen of Taoism). The methods used by the Confucian worthies for stemming worldliness will not be applied by the Taoist sage. Further, a shallow pool such as an ox can wade will have no foot-long carp in it. The hill, K‛uei-fu, will bear no timber of ten-foot girth, for the reason that the capacity of these hills is limited and they cannot bear anything big. All material things are circumscribed, which, by implication, leads us to understand the immensity of the immaterial and formless. It is the immaterial which creates the great mountains and deep waters. Great is the Tao! Moreover, when men are tied by the world, they are circumscribed, and the spiritual energies are cramped. Sensual illusions cramp men. The body thus languishing, the spirit runs to waste, an emptiness is inevitable. The virtues emanating from the tao in a world of perfect tê gave men a life full of cheerfulness and the elasticity of simplicity and innocence. They moved in the sphere of the original endowment of mind. They consulted their natural instincts and eschewed the sensual illusions of things (were not slaves to the allurements of the world). They looked to the pristine nature49 for a standard of life and roamed unfettered (by the bonds of desire) in the wide fields of nature. The Sage, therefore, inhales the fluid of the Yin and Yang, and all creatures, being full of ease, were expectant on his virtue, in order to induce general like-mindedness. At this period, with no governing authority, the people lived their life in quietness. The world was a unity without division into classes nor separation into orders (lit: a disorgnised mass): the unaffectedness and homeliness of the natural heart had not, as yet, been corrupted: the spirit of the age was a unity, and all creation was in great affluence. Hence, if a man with the knowledge of 'I'50 appeared, the world had no use for him. Following the course of history until we come to the decay of the world, we arrive at the times of Mr. Fu Hsi.51 Simplicity lost in the complexity of life from new learning. His principles seemed profound and vast, breathing the spirit of virtue and cherishing the feeling of cordiality. These influenced and stirred the people: and so there appeared, for the first time, the desire for learning and its concrete fruits. The people began to abandon simplicity of heart and they tended to become sensible to the allurements of the universe. Therefore, their virtue became dissipated over many interests, so that it was difficult to preserve unity. However, it was with the advent of Shen Nung52 and Huang Ti53 that there arose a division and separation of A veiled attack on the policies of the time. the main elements of life. The spirit of enquiry led men to penetrate into and regulate the principles of the celestial and terrestrial hemispheres. They applied Yin and Yang to natural events and harmonized or adjusted the theories of the hard and soft elements, thus producing the different divisions and classifications of creation. They gave each thing its laws and place. Whereupon the people began to be inquisitive (stare and gape) and interested. All were in an attitude of attention and expectation through ear and eye. Hence, the spirit of cooperation was lost in government by the rise of private opinion. When we come to a still later time, to the periods of K‛un Wu and Hsia Hou, we find that the desires of men were centred on the material and sensual: their intelligence was allured by the objective impression of the senses, so that they lost hold of the central principles of life. Proceeding still further, we come to the decay of the House of Chou. Purity was vitiated, simplicity Rise of ceremonies etc.: disappeared. Truth was adulterated by various opinions, and virtue was restrained in its operation by hurtful actions. Specious theorists (schismatics) sprung up like mushrooms. With the decay of the Chou House, the true kingly way, too, fell. Confucian and Meian54 theories then, first, came into being. With the rise of private opinion, recusancy and polemics began. Whereupon the philosophies of Yang and Mei54 rose and strove for equality with the sage.55 By plausible and specious theories, the orthodox55 was slandered and the multitude captivated. Confucian writers, too, set up their own schools of music and dances; and, by embroidering their talk with quotations from the Odes, they 'bought' fame and became renowned in the world. The system of ceremonies in imperial interviews or social intercourse became excessive; the fashions in dress became luxurious. A crowd of assistants was not sufficient to meet all the changing ceremonies, nor the accumulation of wealth enough to meet all the extravagant expenses. At this juncture, the people first began to form themselves into schools and parties, each desiring to carry out its own opinion and specious views, and become the oracles of the world. By Loss of the Reality. such a show of cleverness and knowledge, they won reputation and êclat. But the people, groping in the wilderness of bewilderment, lost the fundamental ideal of life. But the wherefore of losing the soul 57 by men was a matter of long process: the causes of decay and This loss gradual. deterioration came on gradually and imperceptibly. The causes were old. Hence the doctrine of the Sage is, by the desire of returning nature to the original, to exercise the mind in non-desire (Hsu).58 The schoolmen's59 doctrine is, by desiring (freedom of nature) to exercise nature in deep knowledge, to have the consciousness of the abstruse. But as to popular and conventional philosophy, it is different (i.e. Confucian classics) from either of the foregoing. Its eclectic ethic cramps nature, leading to an inward anxiety of spirit and an Worldly renown useless. outward misuse of eye and ear. And, for the first time, we have the rise of a minor philosophy dealing with the small and insignificant details of things to the detriment of the spiritual values, dissipating the practices of benevolence, etiquette and music, so that they could not act, using them with an unusual cleverness to gain a name and renown in the world. This was not at all praiseworthy, and, personally, I refuse to imitate them. I hold it is better to have the true ease of spiritual culture than the sweets Value of life important. of empire. It is better to roam in the infinitude of naturalness and have a true apprehension of the relationship between the visible and the invisible,60 than to have the pleasure of glory and renown. To possess a well-ordered life and have a logical apprehension of Being and non-Being61 is the great thing. Universal praise adds no encouragement to such a man, nor would there be any abatement of purpose, even were the whole realm to be hostile. These men have a clear and definite idea of the value of life and death, and a clear perception of that which constitutes honour and shame. Were fire or flood to overwhelm the world, the spirits of these men would not quail, nor would it give them any surprise. Thus they look upon this span of life as but a feather wafted on the winds, or a floating straw on the waters, (Empire and its glories are but a bubble). Who, then, would wish to centre his thoughts on this material and passing world! The nature of water is to be clear and pure; but it is made turbid by the soil. The disposition of man is serene and tranquil; but lust and desire have disturbed it. What men have received from Heaven are such things as the sense of the ear's power of hearing, the eye's appreciation of colour, the sense of taste and smell, by mouth and nose; the sense of cold and heat, through skin and nerve. The passions (Ch‛ing) are one. How is it, then, it may be asked, that some are clever and some almost stupid? The difference lies in the way of control (one governs himself by the outward or senses; the other governs himself by the inward or the tao). It is clear, then, that the soul is the well of intelligence. When the well is clear, the intelligence will be pellucid. The intelligence is the store-house of the mind. When the intelligence is correct, the mind will be just. Men don't make mirrors of rushing waters, but make mirrors of still waters, because it is quiet. Men don't peer into mirrors of rough metal for seeing the form, but into burnished metal, in order to see their images; and this, because of its evenness. Now, evenness and stillness are qualities that can reveal the nature of other things. From which consideration it may be concluded that the positive rests on the negative, i.e. movement rises from quiescence: or water and metal are unconscious of having qualities that can be of service. Hence, the empty room, i.e. the unsullied heart, begets the white, that is to say the tao; and blessings come to rest there.62 A bright mirror cannot be defiled by dust: the appetites cannot disorganise a soul that is pure.63 The spirit that Light and truth come from within not from ear and eye. is scattered and dissipated in the external senses, and the efforts to restore it by works, is nothing other than the neglect of the root and the attempt to restore it by cultivation of the branches. There is no correspondence between the outward and the inward: the desire to get in contact with things bedims the original light and is nothing but a search for knowledge through ear and eye. What is this but the abandonment of the brilliancy of the (tao) and the pursuance of truth through the obscurity of the senses? This is what is called losing the tao. When the mind has an objective, the spirit follows and is held there. When a return is attempted to the realm of the spirit, passion, (tao) and then concupiscence are held in check only by effort. It is thus the sage nourishes the spirit. Hence the rulers of ancient time felt the necessity of an understanding of the real facts of nature and of the Unity in diversity. human lot (the rich, poor, educated and illiterate, etc.). Though their actions were not all alike, yet their agreement with the tao was one. Furs are not worn in summer, not because people are not fond of furs, but because of the oppressive heat. Fans are not wanted in winter, not because people dislike them, but because the air is already cool enough. The Sage eats just enough to satisfy his wants, and wears just sufficient clothes to cover his person.64 He Simplicity. limits expenditure on himself truly. How, then, could impurity and concupiscence spring up in his heart! Therefore, were empire within his grasp, he would not look at it as his own (from a selfish idea): or, had such an one the capacity to govern, he would not want to do so. It is not worth it. Were fame to come to him! Well! He would never make an effort to seek it. The Sage has that which can be followed: pursuing this, the appetites and desires cease. Kung and Mei's disciples taught the methods of benevolence and justice to the world: nevertheless, they could not Artificial moralities inferior. personally be free from anxieties, since, being without power, they failed to put these virtues into operation. How much more so was it the case with their successors. Why this failure? Their tao was an outside one. (They treated the matter extraneously and not fundamentally). They proceeded backward, by starting with the accidental and extrinsic65 they tried to return to the fundamental,—a process that Hsü Yu66 would not use. And where he would fail, Purity gives power. the majority of people would never succeed. Given real permeation into the nature of life, benevolence and justice will be found to follow; they will accompany and be the result of a sincere nature. There are no likes and dislikes (bias) to trip the heart.67 When the soul is not clogged with desires, nor the mind loaded with sophism, the inward light is clear and penetrating and the mind easy and at leisure from the weight of the senses; unclogged and unobstructed, it meets every impression of the senses without bias and in serenity,—a state which no force can beguile, which no sophist with cunning words can shake, which no voluptuousness or licentiousness can seduce, nor art and beauty submerge, which no clever man can move or shake, nor a powerful man frighten. This is the Tao of the True Man. Such a person as this shapes creation and cooperates with the Creator in governing man. Nothing in Heaven or Earth can rob him of immortality! The power which brings about organic life does not die itself,68 nor does the transformer of inorganic things Polished scholarship not enough. change. The spirit69 crosses the Lu Mountain and the T‛ai Hang without finding difficulty. It enters the Four Seas and the Nine Rivers70 without getting soaked. Placed in the narrowest and most exiguous space, it is not cramped; stretched out over the vast regions of the Universe, it can do so without 'panting.' He who does not comprehend this (who has not this secret), though his eyes were keen enough to count an innumerable herd of sheep, his ears fine enough to distinguish the eight musical tones, his feet nimble enough to dance the Yang Ah and his hands adroit enough te beat the time of the Yen Shui;71 though he knows the profundities of creation, and his perspicacity is clear as sun and moon, though he could juggle with words72 and were his arguments as polished as the lustre of jade and stone, such accomplishments were vain and unprofitable in the government of men. Quiescence and ease, contemplation and meditation, ease and tranquillity (free from passions) are the means for nourishing the nature. Harmony and happiness, unaffectedness and freedom from passions (Hsü wu) are the means He who has Tao has all. for nourishing tê, virtue. When the outward senses do not produce inward perturbations, then nature finds its true centre. When passions (hsing) do not move the harmony (of mind), then tê, virtue, is settled in its sphere. When life is nourished to pass through life73 and virtue is cherished to win full years, this may be called the embodiment of the Tao. In the case of such people there is no irregularity in their pulses nor noxious humours in their system. Neither bane nor blessing can disturb their life. Neither criticism nor praise can raise the least irritation. In this way Perfection is reached. Nevertheless who can reach this standard without a proper environment? Such a man might, indeed, appear; but if the times were unpropitious, even his life would not be safe. The man without the tao would be much less likely to keep free of entanglements. Further, the senses, (ear and eye) of men are in contact with and respond to impressions. The mind and Longing for quiet and freedom. will are cognitive of anxiety and joy; the hand and foot feel the itch of things. People want to avoid heat and cold. When a wasp or scorpion bites the finger, the spirit is restless; when a mosquito or gnat (gadfly) bores the skin, the mind is ill at ease. The onset of troubles and anxiety harass the mind of men to a far greater degree than do the poisonous sting of wasp and scorpion or the annoying pain of the bite of a mosquito. And the longing for quiet, solitude, detachment and freedom from passion, cannot but be strong. How can it be attained? Again, when the eye examines the speck of autumn hair, the ear does not hear the clap of thunder: when the ear is intent on distinguishing and harmonizing the sounds of the jade and stone, the eye does not see the height of the T‛ai Shan. What then? It is just this. When the little commands attention, the great is often lost. Now the onset of the world upheaves our nature and stirs the passions Most easy to sully the spirit. in a continuous stream, like the flow of a fountain. Though one desired to break away wholly from them, such a wish could hardly be realized. Trees planted and cultivated by the work of ten men, by means of irrigation and fertilisation, could be pulled up by one man and a clean sweep made of every vestige in one night. How much more so were the whole country to engage in the work of destruction of what has been planted! Though a desire existed for a lengthy life, how could it be attained? Take again the example of a bowl of turbid water standing in some hall. It would take more than a day for it to settle and become so transparent that the eye-lashes could be seen reflected: on the other hand, it can he made turbid in a moment, so that you could not distinguish square from round in it. Man's spirit is easily befouled and most difficult to clarify: it is very similar to the example given by the bowl of water. How much befouled the soul would be if the pollution had been continued through a long time. Moreover, how can the spirit find a moment's peace, subject to the worries and cares and temptations of the world?74 In the golden age75 of ancient time, the shopman found pleasure in his shop, and the farmer had joy in his farming; the minister found peace in his affairs and the retired scholars cultivated the way (of the ancient kings). At that time, winds and rains did not destroy nor injure the Advance the Tao. trees nor did plants die prematurely: the nine tripods76 were heavy: the jade and pearl were lustrous. The Lo river threw forth the Red book;77 the Yellow river emitted the Green plan (map);78 Hsü Yu, Fang Hui, Shan Chuan, Pei I,79 therefore, were able to get an understanding of their doctrines. How did this come about? Because the masters of men (kings) truly desired to advance the interests of the empire; hence these four men found the opportunity and leisure to advance the practice of the Truth (Tao). It was not that these four men had such perfect talents that they were superior to all others, but no one else could compete with them in the lustre of their teaching, because they fell on the favourable times of Tang and Yü.80 But when we come to the epochs of Chieh of Hsia and Chou of Yin, and the world will have peace. these monsters roasted men alive, they put good men that dared to criticise them on the top of poles, forcing them, by the heat of irons, to fall into the lake of fire below, laughing at their agony. They cut open the hearts of the worthy, and exposed the tendons of hardy men.81 They made mince-meat of the daughter of Kuei Hou, and ground the bones of Mei Pei. During these monstrosities, the Jao mountain tumbled down, and the three rivers ran dry. Flying birds were wounded in the wings and walking wounded beasts limped along. It would be wrong to say that it was only during these periods there were no sages. The fact was they could not do anything to put their teaching into practice, since they fell on uncongenial times. Birds even at the height of a thousand jen,82 and beasts stalking in the depth of Environment important. thick reeds, were not safe from the untimely shafts of the hunter. How much more difficult, then, was the lot of the masses! From this we may see that the practice of the Truth does not lie with the professor alone but also hangs on the condition of the age, The city of Li Yang83 (Yang Chow) was turned into a lake, in one evening. Valour, talent, as well as timidity, the godly and the ungodly were all caught and engulfed. A favourable wind on the height of the Wu mountain carried a fire forward, consuming the finest tallow-trees and medicinal grasses, as well as the common plants and grasses. The fishes in the Yellow River fail to see, on account of the turgid waters: the tender and late grains fail to mature, because of untimely frosts. These are the results of naturally unfavourable circumstances. Likewise, when there is proper government, the foolish and stupid individuals cannot alone produce anarchy. Similarly, the wise, alone, cannot, without cooperation, induce a proper government. Treading in the way of an anarchical world and failing to put into operation the Tao, as he would, is a situation similar to that of shackling Ch‛i and I84 together, and expecting them to do the full journey of a thousand li. Place a monkey in a cage, and he will be like a pig showing none of his nimbleness and pranks, since he has no room for exercising these. Shun's A favourable destiny. ploughing and hoeing could be of no benefit to his native village. When he was made King, however, his virtue spread over the four quarters of the empire; not on account of any more overflowing of merit, but due, rather, to being favourably placed. An influential position gives the opportunity. The Sages-of-old, were men of harmony, joy, ease, and quietude that pertained to their nature. But it was the favourable destiny (of place and position) that made it possible for them to propagate the doctrine. Hence, when nature is seconded by destiny, things will go: when destiny is seconded by nature, everything will be clear. The Wu Hao bow, the Hsi Tzŭ crossbow, could not be shot without the string. The small boats of Yueh, and the few plank boats of Szechuen cannot be floated without water. When the air above is full of the darts of the crossbow, and the earth beneath is spread full of nets and snares, though one were to desire to soar high and stir the world by his teachings, it could not be done. At the Odes say:— 'I was gathering and gathering the mouse-ear,' 'But could not fill my shallow basket,' 'With a sigh for the man of my heart,' 'I placed it there on the high way.' Odes Pt. I. Bk. I. Ode 3. A longing is expressed in these words for the days—the golden age—of the long past. Index Previous Next

This man is freed from servile bands Of hope to rise, or fear to fall: Lord of himself, though not of lands, And having nothing, yet hath all. SIR H. WOTTON. "As for the soul of man, "the bounds of the soul," said Heraclitus, "thou could'st not by going discover though thou didst travel every road: so deep a logos hath it." Logos is one of Heraclitus' chief contributions to philosophy, a cosmic principle, actively intelligent and thinking, and operative in man and in all nature, rational and divine." "Nature tries to hide herself and eyes and ears are bad witnesses to such as have barbarian souls", said Heraclitus. The harmony of all things will not be obvious. But, in any case, underlying the variety of things, is unity: and they speculated, as to what the unity is. Is water the substance of all things, or fire, or the vaguer 'infinite'? They extended the reign of law to all phenomena." "He, without toil, rules all things by his will." From Progress in Religion by Dr. T. R. Glover.

The title in Chinese is ching shen ###. Ching is the breath of life the material generation—the original endowment of the body. Shen is the soul-life in man. It may mean body and soul, or spirit and soul. There is implied in the words the sense of guardianship which has suggested the alternative title of KEEPER of LIFE. Of old, before the creation of Heaven and Earth, I consider there was the void without form or shape; profound, opaque, vast, immobile, impalpable and still: it was a nebulosity, infinite, unfathomable, abysmal, a vasty deep without clue of class or genera. The twin and undivided divinities were born (born together and undivided), who superintended the way of Heaven and organized the path of the Earth. Deep-like indeed! No end could be discerned. Great-like indeed! No limit could be set. At a juncture, the divinities Yin and Yang were Order of creation. separated and the eight points of the universe were resolved: the hard and soft being mutually united (cooperation of the Yin and Yang), creation assumed form. The murky elements went to form reptiles: the finer essence went to form man. Hence, spirit belongs to Heaven and the physical belongs to Earth. When the spirit returns to the gate of Heaven and the body seeks its origin, how can I exist? The "I" is dissolved. The Sage-man, therefore, learns of Heaven and follows nature. He should not be tied by convention nor enticed Absence of equilibrium is death. by the sophism of man. He looks to Heaven as father and Earth as mother: on Yin and Yang as the determining principles and the four seasons as the fundamental periodicity. Heaven is in repose1 by purity. Earth is stable through tranquility.2 When these are absent in creation death ensues. The imitation of these principles is life. The Repose, being boundless, forms the dwelling of the soul. The Unconditioned3 is the abode of the Tao. Hence, should it be sought from without it will be missed within: should The Tao is within and without. it be held as being alone within, it will be lost without, just as root and branch, which may be taken in illustration, train from the root outwards, the thousand branches and myriad leaves follow without failure.4 Now the soul is that which is received from Heaven: the physical form is what is received from Earth. Hence the saying: "One begets two; two begets three; three begets all things."5 Creation's back is Yin (it rests downward on earth); its front is Yang (it embraces and looks up to Heaven): The body has correspondence in the cosmos. the unity of the two is the harmonizing organ through which all form attains birth. Hence the saying, "there is an embryo in a month: which is covered with skin in the second month: in the third and fourth there is tissue and more definite shape: in the fifth there is muscle: bone in the sixth: it completes itself in the seventh: moves in the eighth: is active in the ninth and there is parturition in the tenth. When the body is perfect the Five Viscera6 have form. The lungs regulate the eye, the kidneys regulate the nose, the gall the mouth, the liver the ear. The senses are the outward and the viscera the inward regulators. The opening and closing, the expansion and contraction,6 each of these has its fixed work. Hence the head is round like the shape of the dome of Heaven: the foot is square like the Earth. Heaven has the Four Seasons, the Five Elements, the Nine Cardinal Points and the 366 days. These find a correspondence in Man's four limbs, five viscera, nine passages or orifices of the body and the 366 joints and branches. Heaven has wind, rain, cold, heat; and man has the activities of giving and taking, or reciprocity of feelings, and emotions of joy and anger. Therefore, the gall may bear correspondence to vapour (cloud),7 the lungs to breath, Harmony necessary. the liver to wind, the kidneys to rain. The spleen corresponds to thunder. Thus man, heaven and earth are mutually intermixed and inter-related. The heart is the master. Therefore, the eyes and ears are as the sun and moon. The humours of the body as the wind and rain. Within the sun we have the bird standing on three-legs, and the three-legged toad in the moon.8 Were the sun and moon to miss their course, we should have the calamity of eclipse and loss of light. Should the winds and rains fail, life would be destroyed and plagues arise. Should the five stars9 fail in their courses the several kingdoms would be doomed to disaster. The Way of Heaven and Earth is great and boundless:10 nevertheless it conserves its variegated lights and avoids all waste. Eyes and ears cannot be expected to last for ever and work without rest. How can spirit ever speed Restraint required. on, without coming to exhaustion? Therefore, the constitution (animal energies) is man's bloom of vitality, and the five viscera his sap. Nevertheless, when the animal energies are one with the five viscera and do not strain, the chest and stomach will be full11 and there will be no overdraft on the powers through the waste arising from desires. When the chest and stomach are full, and there is no overdraft through The physical co-operates with the moral. desires, the eyes, and ears are clear, and the seeing and hearing are effective. When the eye and ear are clear, the seeing and hearing effective, it may be said there is understanding. When the five viscera conform to the leadings of the heart and do not issue in vicious humours, evil purpose is dispersed; when the breath (Ch‛i) is not scattered and there is no aberration in action, the spirit is exuberant. When the breath is not wasted and the spirit is exuberant we have order: with order comes equal adjustment: with equal adjustment comes clarity: with clarity comes spirituality of ideas: with this spirituality nothing is Economy of life. invisible to the sight and nothing is unheard by the ear; nothing is unaccomplished in action. Hence trouble and distress are not able to enter and find a lodgement: nor can a noxious humour find an occasion of clinging. Hence when a search is made for it (Tao) in the far distance it is not found: when found it is in the person unconsciously; though unperceived, it is present. Hence when the search is over a wide range the acquirement is little: the more that is seen the less is the real understanding.12 Now the orifices are doors and windows of the spirit: breath and will are the messengers and signals of the five viscera, i.e., the animal life. When the eyes and ears are When desire predominates, life is confused. under the allurements of colour and sound then the passions (five viscera) are moved and not in a state of rest. When this is the case flesh and blood sweep onward in their sensuousness unceasingly: then, in turn, the spirit gallops forth wildly into the outward world of sense and does not guard itself within its self-contained domain.13 When this condition is reached, the coming of distress and joy, though mountainously great, is not understood. On the contrary, were the ear and eye clear and pure without the allurement of desires: the breath and will simple and unalloyed, happy and contented and few in its appetites: the animal life reposeful, not being wasted and scattered: the spirit self-possessed and centred within the bodily frame The contrary. and not scattered without: when these conditions exist, it would follow that the past ages could be known and the coming events of the future could be seen, and even more than this could be done.14 Hence it is said a large exploration only gives a little knowledge. That is to say the spirit should not be Four elements of corruption. exercised in the extraneous. Look within. The five colours confuse the eye, causing it to lose its clarity. The five tones derange the ear, leading to loss of true perception. The five flavours disorganise the palate, causing it to injure the taste, likes and dislikes confuse the heart, causing it to lose its proper course in action. These four, i.e. the five colours, the five sounds, the five tastes, likes and dislikes, though they are the means by which life is carried on, yet, involve all men in their toils. Hence the saying, appetites induce loss of spirit: love and hate give rise to travail in the hearts of men. If they are not quickly dominated, a daily waste of will-power follows. These are reasons why people are unable to run the full course of life, being overtaken by a destiny which arrests it midway, and caught untimely in the meshes of retribution. Why so? There is excessive indulgence in the illicit use of the senses.15 There is too much attention given to the life of the senses. The full life would be attained by a denial of the sensuous. There is mutual correspondence in the fluxes of Nature. Creation is governed by unity. When this unity is comprehended there is nothing which is not apprehended. But through ignorance of this universal unity (The Tao) it is not possible to know any one thing.16 For example, I am placed in the world and count also as a unit in it. May it not be that creation must have me to make it complete; would it be perfect without me? Nevertheless, I am a parcel of matter and creation is matter and I am matter. Why name each and other? We are all one matter. Nevertheless, is life, given me by Heaven, of any worth that it adds to the value of creation or would my annihilation be any injury to it? Further, since the Creator made me an ignorant clod, i.e., a man, I must submit to its decrees. How then may it be said that the invalid who seeks a leach, desiring to prolong his life, is not mistaken? How may it be sure that the man who seeks death by suicide is not happy in Value of personality. his attempt? It may be that life will be but slavery and death would be a rest and surcease from toils. Life is but a vague mystery (vast wilderness) who knows what it signifies? Shall the Creator be asked not to give life? Shall he be asked not to give death? Desiring life yet not striving for it, disliking death and yet not refusing it. If my condition in life is humble, I will not despise it; if honourable, yet I will not rejoice. Waiting on the times of Heaven (or Nature) the True Man does not rush to prolong life. In life I have a seven-foot body, in death I have a coffin-length of soil. As a living being, I add one to the kind of those who have form: just as, in death, I sink into the formless kind. Thus the sum of matter is not increased by my living: even the thickness of the soil is not swelled by my death. How then should I feel the joy of life or sorrow of death, the gain of one or loss of the other? Again, the Creator's moulding and guidance of matter may be illustrated by the potter's kneading of clay. He takes it from the soil and having made it into a bason or dish it is still not different from what it was in the soil, since, when the vessel is broken, it gets dispersed and returns again to its source: and in this state it is in no wise different in nature from a plate or bason as made. The people who live in villages bordering on the river lead its waters to irrigate their gardens, to which the water has no objection. The poor people disgusted with the filthy pools around drain them into the flowing river, but the foul water feels no exhilaration. Therefore, there is no difference whether the water is in the river or irrigating the garden: it is a matter of indifference to the water whether it lies in the filthy pool or in the flowing Chiang.17 Therefore the Sage rests satisfied with his position, whether high or low, and joyfully follows his work and avocation of Sage. Grief and joy are aberrations from virtue (tê): pleasure and anger are the excesses of man trying to follow Tao: love and hate are the exasperations of the mind. Therefore the saying, "life is as the change of the seasons: death is as the flux of matter." Immobile, it is inactive with Yin (negative, all avenues are closed up): mobile, it is active with Yang, (positive, all avenues open out). The spirit begins pure, unadulterated, with a fund of tranquility, and undisturbed by the friction of life, has the world at Pearl of the heart. his feet in virtue. The heart is the master of the physical body and the spirit is the pearl of the heart. When the body travels without rest there ensues a collapse: when the spirit is ceaselessly used exhaustion will follow. Hence the Sage esteems and respects the body and the spirit and dares not abuse them. Think of the semi-circular seal of jade belonging to Hsia Hou's family.18 It was locked in a box and put in a safe because it was most precious. But how precious the spirit! It is to be prized even more than the seal of Hou-Hsia. Therefore, the Sage responding to everything with an unbiassed mind,18 with a mind free from prepossession, he approaches all facts, and must investigate the law that governs them. Spending his life in the spirit of sweet reasonableness, unmoved by sensuous desire, necessarily he looks thoroughly into the economy of things and so completes his life in peaceful happiness. Hence he does not separate himself very much from the one nor is attached overmuch to the other.19 He cherishes virtue, and, he Mind sees things through the spirit. warms himself at the fires of harmony that he may be in line with Heaven. He is in agreement with the Tao; he is neighbour of virtue. He does not put happiness first nor is he the first to create distress.20 The aura and soul are domiciled in his home, (the body), and the Spirit guards the vital root. Death and life make no difference to him. So the name "Most Spiritual." He who is named the True Man,21 implies an identity of his nature with the Tao. Thoroughly equipped he yet The True Man. gives the appearance of having nothing, (like an immortal). Reality is he, yet he gives the appearance of being witless. He stands on the one thing (The Tao) with undivided attention and has no second thing in mind: he enriches his inner life without being governed by the affections, such as like and dislike.22 Conscious of the primordial simplicity His principles. of being, he does not strive (for the decorations of an outward culture) but reverts to (pristine and unadultered) simplicity. He is concerned with foundations, he protects the spirit that he may soar to the circumference of the Universe. Far and wide, at pleasure, (or following his own volition) he soars beyond this "world of dirt": and suspires in the sphere His acts. of wu wei, spirit-action. How vast and wide his attainments! He harbours no scheme of cunning in his heart: hence life and death are both great and dignified: they are alike. Though the firmament covers and the earth sustains all, yet he is not tied to them (but maintains an independency): the spirit is above the fluxes. Life in the Spirit has the great quality of stillness. True in his judgments, free from defects, by which evil could enter, he has no controversies with life.23 Though the world is empirical,23 and tries this and that method, one essays thas another that, but he sticks to principles. Such an one as this is verily in harmony with his being, depending not on the sight of the eye or the hearing of the ear or on courage, he has his heart and purpose governed by the spirit within. The will is concentrated on the inner life: he is permeated with and a partner of the Tao-Unity. He lives in a state of unconciousness of his actions, he is unaware of whither he goes: i.e., he is not uncertain how to act, the spirit is clear Achievement. and will guide action unerringly.24 He comes and goes as it were mechanically and his actions are prompt. There is no physically prompted action, the heart is as dead ashes. All material things are as nothing. Without learning he knows; without seeing he sees; without doing he achieves; without immediate study he can discuss; he responds to influence; he only moves under stress. Thus, he moves forward without choice and Inner light. as a result of this influence there is a flash as from light and a shadow as of substance.25 With the Tao as the rule of life, he waits, in this spirit, on every thing, in secret. He preserves the foundation of the Great Purity entertaining none of the appetites: matter in no way seduces him. He is impervious to the sway of the senses and free from anxieties. Were you to heat a great lake of water it wouldn't make him feel hot: if you were to freeze the rivers, he wouldn't feel their cold: if the thunderstorm sundered the mountains, he wouldn't be Is master of all. frightened: if raging tornadoes obscured the day he wouldn't be perturbed. Such is the man whose heart is fixed on the Tao. The senses have no power to disturb him. Hence the sight of a precious jade or jewel affects him no more than an ordinary stone. An interview with the emperor does not flurry him more than the visit of an ordinary guest. A sight of the two beauties Mao Ch‛iang and Hsi Shih stirs him no more than a sight of an ugly person would. Death and life are looked on as but a transformation: the myriad creation is all of a kind, there is a kinship through all. Being one in essence with the fundamental of the Great purity he moves in the realm of the formless. The soul is part of the whole. He does not pollute the essence, nor abuse the spirit, i.e., he does not sully the pristine element of life nor waste the energies of the spirit. The soul is a hving part of a whole universe, and is placed in an environment of great clarity. Therefore he does not dream during his sleep: the intelligence is not dimmed; the spirit maintaining its own unity, his knowledge is not mixed with scheming concepts. The animal spirits are not depressed nor is the spirit too buoyant. His activities and movements, from first to last, are of a homogeneity. Closing the eyes on the world of sense, he lives in the abstruse realms of the Tao, yet he sees as House of light. though he were in a house full of light. Reposing in this ideal realm (not in the crooked ways of schemes) he takes his flight into regions of formless space. Living in regions that could not be visualized, roaming without a fixed location, his movements have no vestiges, his tranquility no substance. In being, he is as one lost, living, he is as one dead: he can go in and out through the impenetrable; the ghosts of the dead and of the divinities are his ministers. He probes into the unfathomable, he penetrates into the unspatial since the Tao transmits the varied forms. The beginning and end are as a circle, so others can't find the truth. This is the wherefore of the spirit. All life hangs together in the Tao. This spirituality mounts aloft to the Gymnastic exercises will not get tao. Tao. This is the peregrination of the Perfect Man. As to such motions as breathing and blowing, inhaling and exhaling, spitting out the old, drawing in the new breath, imitating in gymnastic the steps of the bear, the fluttering and expanding of the wings of birds, the ablutions of the duck, the stooping of the gibbon, the glare of the owl, the concentrated stare of the tiger,—these motions are the means used by man to cultivate the bodily form.26 The Perfect Man does not bother his mind about them. They are those things that disarrange and confuse the mind. When the spirit in its peregrinations does not lose its abundance of life, and when it never deteriorates it will ever have the everlasting vernal vivifications of matter.27 In this unison with the tao, the seasonable transformations take place in the heart. Without disorder of time, or detriment to matter there is ample benevolence. Moreover should some disability or disease strike the bodily frame, or should it undergo change this would in no wise harm the spirit. Should the earthly tenement fail the spirit is in no way Body may decay soul never dies. destroyed. Should a man be leprous, for instance, he still can walk and the purpose of the mind is in no wise changed, during life. Should a person, on the other hand, be seized with madness, his physical form is not despoiled, but the spirit is about to take its flight and pass beyond its bounds. No one can ever say what a madman will do next. Though the form dies the spirit does not die, because that which can undergo no change supplies and responds to that which The Spirit does not die. is subject to change, and to the myriad fluctuations and thousand changes which never come to an end. That which is subject to death reverts, in turn, to the formless. That which does not change lives on with Heaven and Earth. Wood dies because the sap has left it. But can wood give life to itself? That which gives body to the form is not the form itself: (it is Ch‛i, vitalism.) The Giver of life has never died, but that which it begets is subject to death. That which causes the flux of matter (Tao) does not undergo the flux, but what it changes undergoes the change. He who makes light of the world, or thinks little of empire, has an undivided heart and an untroubled spirit. He looks on death and life as being of a piece. Viewing life as a minor affair, he has no fears. Cognisant of the flux of life, the understanding is free from perplexity and void of doubts. Seeing that the multitude looks on this doctrine as so many idle words let me give a few examples to substantiate it. The reason why people think it a matter of joy to be masters of men is that these have all that the senses can desire, and can command all those luxuries that minister to the comfort of the person. Lofty fabrics and storied palaces people affect and covet: yet Yao did not decorate Great men lived simply. his house, nor carve and paint his palace columns. Rare delicacies of unusual taste are things people like, but Yao lived on the simplest fare and the plainest soups. Embroidered white fox furs are what people covet, but Yao covered his person with the plainest calico, and a deer skin fended off the cold. He did not regale himself with luxuries more than others, but he superimposed the anxieties of office on himself. Hence in transferring the empire to Shun,28 the act was not simply a matter of renunciation, but truly a release from burden. This was really to think little of the glories of empire. Yü travelled south inspecting the Empire, and when crossing the River a yellow dragon shouldered the boat. The boatmen changed colour, but Yü, smiling genially said, "I'm doing my utmost in the interest of the people, discharging my duties in obedience to Heaven. Living, I'm but a guest, dying I return home. Why should we be and worked hard. disturbed in our peace? The sight of a dragon is no more than a lizard." Since he didn't turn colour, the dragon pressed his ears and dropping his tail departed. Yü thought it a little matter to see monstrous animals. A ghost-like witch of Cheng, telling the fortune of Hu Tzŭ Lin, thought he couldn't live long, and mentioned the fact to Lieh Tzŭ. Lieh Tzŭ went weeping to tell Hu Tzŭ. Hu Tzŭ replied "I hold that our spiritual nature comes from Heaven, and our physical frame from the Earth. Honours and wealth are not lasting, death comes on apace." Thus we see that Hu Tzŭ looked on life and death as being but the same thing. Tzû Ch‛iu when he was 54 years of age had an illness which left his body deformed. The nape of his neck was higher than his head, his jaw was bent to his chest, his lips were distorted and his head was twisted. He crawled one day to a well and seeing his reflection in the water, exclained: "How wonderful! Great is the work of the Creator, who hath fashioned me in this goodly way!" The change did not disfigure the real form, in his view. We may, therefore, deduce that in Yao's view of life, the empire, or being an emperor, was of no great consequence. No fear of death. Considering Yü's mind it is clear that he thought empire was a paltry affair. Probing Hu Tzû's disquisition we can see that life and death are but two phases of the same thing, in his estimation. From the action of Tzŭ Ch‛iu we know that the fluxes of life are governed by identical laws. Now the Perfect Man29 leans on a support that cannot be uprooted and travels on an unobstructed road.30 He is endowed with an inexhaustible store of spiritual goods Sustained by the Tao. and instructed in the methods of "no-death":31 none of his journeys are unsuccussful: there is no avenue not open to him. Life does not clog his mind, nor death cloud his spirit. He guards the Heavenly dispensation in all his activities without departing from its behests. Adversity and happiness, loss and gain, the thousand changes and myriad fluxes of life fail to worry him. A man of this calibre preserves his pristine spirit, and upholds his mind. Like the cicada and snake he can throw off his mortal coil and wander in the great Empyrean. With light or airy step and with the greatest ease he swiftly enters the sable Heaven (out of sight). These good men great. Even the phoenix cannot keep him company in pace, much less the (fabulous) Ch‛ih Yen. How can Power, Emoluments, or Position influence or shrivel such a mind. When Yen was near death, he refused to break his faith by entering into a treaty with Ts‛ui Chu, the traitorous minister, who designed to slay the king. The threats of Ts‛ui failed to shake Yen Tzû's loyalty. Chih Hua did not fear death in battle, and so the Prince of Lu vainly tempted him with a great bribe to stay out of battle. Hence we gather that Yen Tzû could act under the compulsion of goodness, but could not be frightened by military force. Chih Hua could be arrested in his course by the power of right, could not be moved by gain. The superior man will die for right, but he cannot be detained by the thoughts of honours and gain. He was determined to do the right and could not be disturbed by fear of death. These men, then, had in view nothing but righteousness. They were not hampered by material things. How much Wu-wei man is greatest. less so can worldly allurements deceive the Man of Wu-wei, of spirit-action. Yao looked not on the empire as a thing of honour (to cling to): he therefore handed it to Shun. Kung Tzû Cha conceded the throne, as he did not consider it the chief honour of life. Tzû Kan did not look on the possession of the jade to be true riches, so refused the throne—the precious jade. Wu Kuang would not injure righteousness by living, so he threw himself into the whirling pool (and died). From these instances it is clear that the highest honour is not that pertaining to official position: the greatest wealth is not that which comes from worldly riches. The Empire is the very greatest thing in the world, yet this has been relinquished (by Yao) to another. There is nothing dearer to a man than his body, but it was thrown into the whirlpool. Having said this the last word is said. These are the greatest things, and in saying this all is said. These instances refer to people who have not been entangled by the world,—men with spirits free from the glamour of life who do not look upon a throne as a thing of honour to be coveted. Thinking of these men that stand right above us, and considering their view of life, probing their profound meaning of Tao and its works of virtue, we cannot but blush as we look on the conventional life we live. Therefore an apprehension of Hsü Yu's ideas lead us to abandon the study of the Ching Teng and Pao t‛ao, the two classics on militarism, as having no place in the cultured life. Yen Leng Chi Tzû refused the throne of Ideals of life. Wu State (to which he was entitled), which fact coming to the ear of two men wrangling over a bit of land led them to cease their law suit. Think of Tzû Han who laid no store by a precious jade, which act led a party that was wrangling over a deed, a title to some property, to be ashamed of themselves. Think of Wu Kuang who would not be contaminated by the world. These ideals of life filled those who lusted for gain and snatched at every means of prolonging their span of life, with uneasiness. Hence, except those people who have a vision of the higher life, others do not realize that existence isn't worth lusting for: except those who have heard the great (divine) words, others do not understand that empire is not worth hankering after. Let us take an illustration of our theme. In a very rustic state of Society people sing together to the music made by striking a crock, or tapping an ewer, and they think this is music. They do it with gusto. But once they have heard the tapping on the taute drum, and the ringing of the great bell, they are surprised, and the music of the crock and ewer fills them with shame. He who has a library of good books and cultivates his own scholarship, yet who does not understand the real message of life, is but a disciple of the crock and ewer. Nevertheless he who has no lust for empire is he who is concerned with the great music. Honourable position and great profits are what men desire: but let them have a warranty of the gift of empire in the right hand and a knife for cutting the throat in the left (i.e., let them think that the venture for empire will cost life), even a stupid person will refuse the great honour if it means death. From which we gather that life is of more value than the possession of empire, in the estimation of all. The Sage eats just enough to keep body Externals not of the essence of life. and soul together: his clothes are just enough to cover his body. These meet his needs; he asks for no more. If he has no empire, he feels no deprivation to his nature. Should he possess a throne there is no accretion to his state of contentment. The possession or absence of a kingdom makes no difference. Suppose the Ao37 granary were put at the service of a man and a river of water were given him, he would eat when hungry and drink when thirsty from these supplies. Still he can take only a peckful of grain and a ladleful of water into his stomach. So that when he is satiated the corn in the granary is little less in quantity, and the water in the river is not exhausted after he has filled his belly with it. Those who have these supplies cannot eat more than what satiates appetite. Those Simplicity of life. who are without these ample supplies do not starve: that is to say it is just the same amount they eat and drink as those who have only a small home consumption. Great anger indicates the bursting of the Yin element (like ice broken in pieces), and great joy the collapse of the Yang element. Great anxiety leads to inward decay i.e., upsets Cultivate the spirit. the five viscera: great fear begets nervous tension. Expel the dust of life, get rid of the entanglements of the world: but it would be better still if there had been no departure from the foundation (tao). That would be the enlightenment. It would be well if there never had been entanglement. The eye that is single will refuse to look on the world, a trained ear will not hear the jargon of the world: the closed mouth will not speak: the consecrated heart will not be seduced. Abandon mere human understanding and return to the pristine nature: cultivate the spirit and throw away scheming methods. Thus consciousness will be as though insensible, and life will be as though it were death. When finally a person returns to his source, he revolves into the prenatal state, before the transformation. Death is one with life. Just think of the tillers of the soil carrying their tools and baskets of earth: the saltish sweat runs down in streams, the breath comes in gasps, they pant and heave: coming on a shady tree and resting under its ample shade they throw down their burdens, and are glad. The dead, resting within the shade of a cave in the mountain, have much more peace and gladness than men find in the shade of a tree. A person suffering from cancer of the stomach No fear of death. beats his breast, presses his stomach, nurses his knees, knocks his head in anguish: he sits with his legs crouched up under him, moaning all the night long without getting sleep. In this agony should he get a moment's relief so that he can sleep, his waiting relatives are so glad and rejoice. But the dead who get the long night's sleep (untroubled by the cares of the world) find a joy greater far than the patient's momentary joy. He who realizes the greatness of the universe cannot fear death. He who has the Great Law will not be enslaved in the toils of pleasures. He who is aware of the joys of a former existence will not be alarmed by death. He who knows that Hsü Yu's choice (refusal of a throne) was better than Shun's will not lust for goods that serve the purpose of gain or the gratification of desire. A wall that is built up is inferior to its state when lying prone. How much better then if it had never been made into a wall! The congealed ice is in a worse state than if it The secret of life is with the man of Tao. were free. How much better then if it were never crystallized at all. To pass from non-existence to a state of existence: to pass from a state of existence to non-existence is a continuous round without end or beginning. It is the great Wheel of the Law. Where it all sprouts from is not known, i.e., the end and beginning of existence is a mystery.38 Who can repress the desires except he who is versed in the inner and outer view of life, the esoteric man. Uncircumscribed infinity is most great, and the microcosm of the Tao is most precious. He, who comprehends this truth of the great and precious, has the Tao at his command and has all avenues open to him. A corrupt and decadent age heaps up its superficial learning to gain honours and to win a name from the studies of others, ignorant (of the need) to probe their own mind and the necessity of constant reversion to original nature. They carve and decorate their nature; they hew Rites rob life of bloom. their affections or character into symmetry with the conventional precepts of life. Though, there is a desire for the Tao, men restrain it by mere rules, they regulate their tastes by etiquette. Though they rejoice in it, yet they curtail it with their courtesies and obeisances; they push themselves into the grooves and rules and formalities of custom: they demean themselves by prostrations. They must stand to rigid attention on great ceremonies, whilst the meat may be rotting in the larder and the wine be turning sour in the cup. The person is hampered by ceremonies without and his originality tied by precepts within. The concord of the inward life is gagged, the affections and nature of life are under bondage to these conventional rules of life; the whole of existence is burdened by such restrictions as these.39 But the man who is enlightened in the Tao is not so. He regulates his natural passions and controls the activities of the emotions. He nourishes them with the harmony of life and maintains them by suitable processes. The person Freedom of the man in truth. who delights in the Tao forgets his mean position, and he who finds rest in virtue does not think of poverty. Whilst his nature has no illicit desire, there is no desire that is ungratified. Whilst his heart is not given to sensuous pleasure, there is no true joy which he doesn't possess. He does not entangle himself with anything unprofitable to his nature, nor disturb the equilibrium of life by anything inconvenient to nature. Hence when such a person lets himself go and gives the reins to his ideas his system can serve to form a pattern for the empire. The Confucian literateurs of the present day fail to dig into the root of the simple and pure nature and deal fundamentally with the culture of life, but try to restrain desires by rule when they break out. They do not draw from the true fountain of joy but in the effort at mending and patching they shut up the little joy that they have. This way of dealing with the genesis of appetites and desires is just as though the source of a river were not led into the proper and natural channel but allowed to burst Artificial methods. out anywhere indiscriminately and an attempt made to stop the rushing water by the hand. This would never succeed. Far better to deal with the water at the source and lead it into the natural channel at the fountain. The methods of the Confucianist in dealing with the people and pastoring them are just like the ways used in dealing with wild animals.40 The rules and etiquettes are like the fetters and shackles to restrain animals. Will tying the legs with fetters and penning the people in enclosures succeed? Never! Even the very best disciples of Confucius did not succeed. Yen Hui, Chi Lou, Tzŭ Hsia, Jan Pei Niu were the expert disciples of Confucius. Nevertheless Yen had an untimely death. Chi Lou was mutilated in the war with Wei. Tzŭ Hsia lost the sight of his eyes through weeping for the loss of his son. Jan Pei Niu became leprous. All these men, great though they were, were buffeted by nature, and labouring under the restraints of life's handicaps, failed to reach the harmony of life. So Tseng, meeting Tzŭ Hsia, noticed that he was at one time thin, and fat at another time, and asked him the cause. "The fact is," Tzŭ Hsia replied, "when I went forth into the world and saw the pleasures pertaining to riches and honours I began to desire these. Returning again to college and listening to the doctrine of the Ancient Kings I had pleasure in these again. Being torn in mind between these two contending ideas I got wasted in body. The Law of the ancient kings triumphing, I got plump again,"—i.e., by freedom from inward strife. His mind, we may conclude, was neither satisfied with lusting for wealth and honours, nor was he averse to thinking of extravagant pleasure: it was only when he repressed his nature and suppressed these natural desires in the wish to follow the teaching of the Master that he found himself. Nevertheless though his heart was pure, and he suppressed his desires, yet the effort for self-mastery was artificial, therefore he failed to attain the full span of life through his inward conflict. On the other hand, the Perfect Man eats just as he wants: he clothes his person as he feels necessary: he exercises his body as required: he satisfies the desires of nature: for the rest, he has no lust for empire: he gives up the desire for the gain of worldly goods. Placed as he is in the vast domain of Heaven, he can roam in this endless expanse: he ascends the regions of Heaven, he depends on the T‛ai I, the good God: he has all Heaven and Earth in the hollow of his hand for a plaything. Who will say that he is poor or thin and wasted? The Confucianist, on the contrary, is unable to extract the root of desire from the mind, he can only restrain it. He is not able to extirpate the source of pleasure, he only curbs it when it appears. And to keep society from thieving and brigandage by fear of punishment is not such a good way as to extirpate the desire for thieving from the heart.41 The people of Yüeh (Chih Kiang), when they caught a python looked on it as the greatest delicacy. But the Chinese had a repugnance for it, it was valueless to them. Therefore, knowing its valuelessness, the covetous are able to renounce the lust for it: but if its use should become known even the unavaricious would desire it. The cause for a king bringing his kingdom to shame and destruction, injuring and abandoning the ancestral gods, and suffering death at the hands of his enemies, being derided by all the multitude, came from lust of gain. Chou Yü42 lusted for the bribe of the Great Bell and lost his kingdom. The prince of Yu hankered after the Tsui-Chi jade and became a captive. The sensual pleasures in which Duke Hsien indulged created a state of anarchy for four generations. Duke Huan loved the pleasures of the table and did not meet with a timely burial.43 The king of Hu found pleasure in sensual music and the dance of women and lost his best land. Now these five men, if they had been satisfied with just enough to meet the cravings of nature and had renounced every wanton excess, and had taken their own manhood as the standard of life, unmoved by the inducement of the senses, they would not have met with the disasters that overtook them. An archer cannot hit the mark without an arrow: but he who practises archery knows nothing of the craft of Concentrate on the tao. making the tools. A charioteer cannot drive without reins: yet he who practises the art of driving knows nothing of the making of reins.44 The man who knows that a fan is no use for him in winter, nor a fur in summer, will understand that the flux of life is but a minute speck.45 Therefore, to try and arrest the course of boiling by adding more water will not stop it. He who knows really the root of things will take the fire from underneath the pot: this will be effective.46 Index Previous Next

"Medieval thought regarded the universe as an articulated whole, and everything in it as both a part and a whole. The world is cosmos, a divinely instituted harmony. And, in accordance with the Neoplatonic philosophy, the higher principle is not divided up when it 'comes down' in its creative power to give life and order to the lower ranks of being. It is present everywhere in its entirety, though enfeebled to a greater or less degree in its operation, from its admixture with lower existences. Therefore, every institution and even every individual is a microcosm or minor mundus (hsiao tien). God, the Absolute One, is above the plurality of the world, the source and also the goal of every living being. Hence the lex eterna, the eternal law of God, permeates all the apparent multiplicity of the world. 'All multitude', it was said, 'is derived from the One, and is brought back to the One': in other words, all order consists in the subordination of plurality to unity. The heavenly bodies have their unity in the primum mobile. So, in societies, there must be a unum regens in every whole." "The State Invisible is the kingdom of absolute values, the kingdom of eternal life." W. R. INGE, D.D.

The origin and processes of all creation issue from the Cosmic Spirit. The causes of Natural Law and anarchy, the winning of power and the loss of it proceed on constant lines. Chinese Editor. The rule of the T‛ai Ch‛ing1 was in accord with Heaven, and beneficial to creation. Nature (hsing) was constant, the spirit simple and centred, (i.e. not scattered over a multitude of things). The mind had no appetites, (desire): it was quiescent: it was active, not stagnant. Mental activities were inwardly consonant with the Tao, and outward activities were in agreement with right. The activities of the mind worked artistically; action was correct with benefit to things. Words were prized and in accord with reason. Actions were simple and direct, in accordance with nature. The mind was contented and without cunning. Felicity of all order in the Cosmic Spirit. Actions were simple and without ostentation. So there was no recourse to horoscopy and divination of the eight signs2 and the tortoise. There was no thought of where to begin and how to end. (There was no such thing as scheming policy). Action took place when it was demanded. Principles were embodied: the spirit of Yin and Yang were envisaged. All was in conformity with the four seasons. All was bright and clear as the sun and moon: man was a fit mate of the Creator. Hence Heaven overshadowed them with grace, and Earth sustained them with life. The four seasons did not lose their order, nor did the wind and rain fall with violence. The sun and moon were limpid and lucent, shining in their brightness, and the five planets moved in their orbits without error. During these periods the primal fluid was surpassingly glowing (in men of the period) and transmitted its brilliancy. The phoenix and the Lin nestled on the land; the divining grass and tortoise were found. The fattening dews descended; the flowering bamboo came to ripeness; the yellow jade appeared; the vermillion grass showed itself in the palace precincts. Portents of good omen were all these. Men's hearts were free from secret craftiness and the smartness of cunning. When we arrive at the decadent age, we find that men dug into the mountains for precious stones. They Decadent age marked by wrought metal and jade into cunning vessels and broke open oysters in search of pearls: they melted brass and iron; the whole of nature withered under the exploitation. They ripped open the pregnant and slew the young, untimely (in order to get skins and furs). The Chilin, as a result, did not visit the land. They broke down nests and despoiled the birds that had not lain, so that the phoenix no longer hovered around. They drilled wood for fire: they piled Luxury and poverty. up timber to make verandahs and balustrades: they burnt forests to drive out game and drained the waters for fish. In spite of this, the furniture at the service of the people was not enough for their use, whilst the luxuries of the rulers were abundant. Thus, the world of life partially failed and things miscarried so that the larger half of creation failed of fruition. The classes made mounds and built on high grounds: they fertilized their land and sowed their corn: they dug the land for wells, to drink from, and opened up irrigation channels, for their enrichment. They laid foundations for Rapacity of man disturbed Nature. their cities, so that they were munitioned. Captured wild beasts were domesticated: thus, there was grievous rupture of the Yin and Yang, and the succession of the four seasons failed. Thunder-bolts wrought havoc, and hail-stones fell with violence. Noxious miasma and untimely hoarfrosts fell unceasingly, resulting in atrophy and the failure of nature to bear abundantly. Luxuriant grass and thick brushwood were cut down in order to get land. They cut down the jungle in order to grow ears of corn. The plants and trees that died before germination, flowering and bearing fruit, were innumerable. Next we see the building of great palaces and houses with their great erections of rafters and door pillars, the short rafters of the eaves and the smaller ones that support the tiles of the eaves. These were elaborately decorated and carved: one was dove-tailed into the other and all decorated with the lotus and calthrops. One colour vied with the other, and their harmonious blending in a whole was artistic and elegant. Rooms were decorated with pictures of every kind of plant and bird. The decorations were such as the cunning of craftsmen and skill of artisans, of the type of Kung Shu and Wang Erh, who plied the chisel and saw, producing the most perfect carvings and filigree work and every kind of fretwork, could not do. Nevertheless, all this lavish ornamentation seemed as though insufficient to satisfy the desires of the rulers. The cypress, the pine and the flowering bamboo, that bloom the year round, died even in summer (because the intrinsic nature of Yin and Yang was offended): the rivers and streams, too, dried up and ceased flowing, Nature became savage. in consequence. The spectre of the Lares appeared in some rural parts. The flying locusts filled the land. The drought was great, the very soil cracking and yawning. The Phoenix did not come. Eagles, bears, wild bulls and horned creatures became ferocious. The cottages of the people were built of reeds, rude and poor: travellers and guests could not be entertained. The frozen and hungry perished in great numbers, lying on the roads, shoulder to shoulder. In the course of time, the mountains and streams were divided into boundaries and frontiers: censuses of the Social fission. people were taken in order to know the population of this place and that: cities were built and moats and dykes dug: barriers were erected and weapons forged, for defensive purposes: officials were created for the departments with various robes and badges and with laws: they differentiated classes and masses and distinguished the worthy from the vulgar: they organized a system of reprimands and approbations, of rewards and punishments. Following these, there arose soldiers; and firearms were made, which gave birth to wars and strifes. The untimely death and annihilation of the oppressed people ensued. There was arbitrary murder of the guiltless, and the punishment and death of the innocent. These inquities all sprang up at these times and on such occasions. The harmonious cooperation of Heaven and Earth, the evolution of creation by the Yin and Yang depends on Cosmic order deranged by human enmity. the spirit of man. Hence, when there is an estrangement between the classes and masses or rulers and the people, the very air of Heaven becomes noxious and disorganised: when prince and minister are not in harmony, the crops in the fields fail to ripen. For forty-six days before the winter solstice, the firmament retains its own aura, which does not descend: the Earth embosoms hers, which does not ascend; that is to say the operations of the Yin and Yang are in abeyance.4 At this period, the forces of Yin and Yang are in suspense, as though undetermined what to do. Their abundant and wide inspiration and expiration embrace and bathe all the aura of the universe. They plan and determine the myriad varieties which are mutually connected, each to each, and endowing every thing with what each should possess. It is by this inspiration of every matter, each influencing the other and thus fermenting with life, the host of species is organized and sustained. This is the order. But when Spring is cold and Autumn hot, when there is hail in Winter and hoar-frost in Summer, the reason is that the proper fluids are short and evil humours have entered. Hence, we may say that this universe is of a similar nature to the human body and the spaces within the six cardinal points similar to its internal economy. We may say that he who is of an intelligent nature is not alarmed at any of the operations of Nature: The sage confident in the Unity. he who is wise, by experience, is not disturbed by any unusual phenomena. The sage thus deduced the far from the near and concluded that the myriad varieties were based on an unity. The ancients were one in spirit with Nature and identified with the spirit of the age. At this period there were no guerdons or largesse and congratulations, nor was there the dread of disciplinary punishment. Ceremonies, duty, honesty, (the pillars of society) had not been recognised: nor had the practice of ridicule, compliments, and Bathed in the Tao. niggardliness hegun. Thus the people never thought of deceiving, of oppressing, of victimising or of preying on each other. It was as though they were bathed in the great climate of the Tao. If we consider, on the contrary, the decadent age of the world, we find that men were many and wealth little: even laborious work failed to bring in the means of subsistence. So there sprang up strifes and struggles. Thus it came about that benevolence, jen, came to find a high place (in the philosophy of life). Benevolence and niggardliness are inconsistent with each other. The men of narrow mind and those of catholic views both formed parties and factions. Schemes of cunning appeared; expediency and sophism Rise of petty moralities. were cherished. The simplicity and purity of man's nature died out with the development of this ingenuity of mind. Hence we see how duty and petty virtues came to be honoured. The nature of the Yin and Yang elements is never uninfluenced by sexual feelings.5 Men and women congregating together in their houses and mustering in cities, without segregation, gave rise to ceremonies.6 Passions of life, being exuberant and compulsive, there arose, involuntarily, want of harmony and lack of cordiality, from which issues sprang the value of music to soothe and cordialize man. Thus, we see that whilst benevolence, ceremony, duty, music have the power to deliver men from degeneration, Partly due to sex feeling. they are not the most perfect instruments in the art of government. Benevolence is the means for saving men from war: duty that of saving men from loss of nature: ceremony that of saving men from lewdness of life: and music that of saving men from sorrow and trouble of mind. When the spirit which is ordained by heaven is centred on spiritual things and is free from passion, and when this Virtuous Nature is the essential. spirit of wu wei is prevalent, the people will be good.7 People's nature being virtuous, Nature and the Auras are favourable and afford protection. Thus, then, wealth will be enough, and men will be contented; neither cupidity, avarice, strife nor war will arise. It is clear that, under such conditions, benevolence and duty have no place in the economy. When ethics and moral nature are predominant in the world and the people are simple and unaffected, then it will follow that the eye will not be influenced by beauty nor the ear be ravished by lascivious strains. Amusements, theatricals, merrymaking and jollity, even if they were the allurements of the beauties, Mao Ch‛iang and Hsi Shih, will stir up no desire. Neither will classical music, and dance of Piao Yu and Wu Hsiang give rise to mirth. Being unaffected by lewdness, it is clear that ceremony and music have no place under such a condition. Therefore it was that virtue having deteriorated, benevolence came to birth. The failure of human conduct caused the rise of duty. Concord being lost, there arose music; See the root is healthy. and an extravagant ceremonial induced a regulated ettiquette. From this we gather that the spiritual or divine made men aware of the insufficiency of the ethical: a knowledge of the ethical led men to apprehend that benevolence and duty were insufficient for practical life; a knowledge of benevolence and duty led men to see that rites and music were not sufficiently comprehensive.8 Men, to-day, have turned their backs on the root, and gone in search of the branch. They have abandoned fundamental principles and paid attention to mere details, so that it is impossible to arrive at real truth.9 The greatness of Heaven and Earth can be shown and be known by measurement: the motions of the heavenly bodies can be calculated by science: the reverberating sound of thunder can be estimated by striking the drum: the change of wind and weather can be gauged by the twelve laws of sound. Hence, the visible, vast though it be, can be measured: the luminaries that can be seen can be investigated; sound that can be heard can be harmonised: colour that can be observed can be differentiated. Notwithstanding, the greatest thing of all, (the Tao), cannot be contained by Heaven and Earth: and, being so fine and tenuous, the human mind cannot classify it. Now, with regard to the creation of laws and instruments for differentiating the five colours, for Rites artificial. distinguishing the high and low notes and the five flavours, there is an implication that the original nature has been changed into an artificial application: the creation of benevolence and duty, the establishment of rites and of music imply that natural virtue has been replaced by an artificial one. Once the artificial came into operation, clever people overawed the simple and cunning schemes were used to deceive superiors. But remember that what the skill of one can do will be matched by somebody else's skill. Only the man who abides in the real nature can rule. In ancient times, Tsang Chueh invented the art of writing, and (in alarm) Heaven rained corn; the demons cried the night through (fearing the rise of skill and craft). When Pei I bored for the first well, the dragon ascended the sable cloud and made its spiritual roosting place in the K‛un-Lun mountain. Thus, the more the display of ability, the less becomes the power of virtue. Therefore, the maker of the Chou Ting (Urn), cast the figure of Ts‛ui, a man biting his finger, on the surface of an urn, in token of his opinion that cunning works of skill should not be the creation of human skill, but great art comes from Wu-Wei, not from craft, Yu-Wei.10 With regard to government by the Perfect Man, it is thus: his mind and spirit function together: his body Govern in the spirit. blends with his nature. With this tranquillity he embodies the virtue (tê); in movement he is permeated with reason; his nature conforms spontaneously and follows automatically the flux of nature; he is permeated with the spirit of Wu-Wei, and the empire spontaneously is at peace: he is unruffled by desire, and so the people, as a consequence, are simple in their habits: he is not interested in omens or myths, and so the people meet with no untimely fates: there is no strife, and so plenty exists.11 Equally the whole world and generations to come share these advantages. But it was not known to whom to ascribe these operations,12 or how they could be described. Therefore, he has no honours, during his life-time nor ascriptions of praise after death. He accumulates no wealth, and no monument of adulation is raised to him. It is all the work and merit of the tao. The giver does not reckon his gifts to be charity, nor does the recipient look on it with anything but sincerity. What is given and received is a matter of course. Virtue fills every act and there is nothing done without it. Hence that which is unified by tê, virtue, is not such as can be injured by Tao—i.e. they are indentical in spirit. What the understanding does not comprehend cannot be explicated by a gifted speaker. The tao is inexplicable. The tao that cannot be expressed is embosomed in the very Heaven of Truth. This Tao can be used without exhaustion, and it yields its treasures without ever being the poorer. Its source is unknown: let us call it the Yao Kuang, the north constellation. Yao Kuang is the treasury and granary of creation. To save the needy and supply the deficient gave rise to the name jen, benevolence: to advance the interests of men and eliminate the sources of misfortune, arrest anarchy and stop violence is the work of the soldier. Were the world without plagues and evils, even an angel would find no room for the exercise of charity. Were the classes and masses living in amity, even the most worthy would find no channel for the dispensation of good works and the establishment of merit. In olden times, when Yung Ch‛eng13 was king, old and young observed the precedence of the road like geese: Historical observations. an infant could be placed in a bird's nest; surplus corn could be left in the open fields for anyone to share in; the tail of the tiger and leopard could be played with; the viper could be stepped upon. Nevertheless, none knew the cause of such a state, but simply said it was natural. Coming to the times of Yao, ten suns once appeared together, scorching the crops, killing trees and plants, so that the people had nothing to eat: ferocious dragon-like beasts, baboons with long teeth, monsters of the deep, gorillas or bears, great boars and pythons are hurtful to people. So Yao employed I to slay the baboons in the wastes of Ch‛ou Hua and killed the monsters on the shore of the evil waters (of the barbarian north); he bound the evil beast that creates hurricanes in the marshes of the Ch‛ing Chiu; he shot the ten suns above and destroyed the dragon-like beast below; he cut down the python in T‛ung Ting lake and captured the wild boars in the Mulberry forest. The people were delighted and placed Yao on the pedestal of the Son of Heaven.14 It was then, for the first time, that the empire had any cartography. The country was divided into nine divisions, with specifications of mountains and plains, and distances were mapped out. During the time of Shun, the engineers mismanaged the floods and the obstreperous waves beat in violence against the land. The Lung Men was not then opened, nor the Lu Liang mountain tunnelled: the Yangtse and Hui rivers were still one, and the sea filled all the plains below. The people sought the high grounds and dwelt in the trees. So Shun employed Yü to drain the Three Rivers and the Five Lakes, to tunnel the I Ch‛üeh mountain and lead forth the waters of the Ch‛an and Chien. Channels and drains were made to lead all the waters to the Eastern Sea: the great flood flowed away and the continent dried up. The people found repose and ascribed Yao and Shun to be sages.15 At a later age, the emperors Chieh and Chou16 built marble houses and jasper terraces, porches of ivory and beds of jade. Chou had a forest of meats and game hanging for his tables, and a lake of wine. He exhausted all the natural resources of the country and wasted the energies of the people: he extracted the heart of his minister (who ventured to reprimand him) and ripped open a pregnant woman in order to examine the embryo. He put the empire into confusion and oppressed the people. At this juncture, T‛ang, accordingly, with 300 chariots of war, overthrew Chieh at Nan Ts‛ao and imprisoned him in a great tower. Wu Wang, too, with 3000 armoured soldiers, destroyed Chou in Mou Yeh, slaying him at Hsüan Shih. Whereupon the empire was settled in peace, and concord multiplied. These were, therefore, named the worthies of Tang and Wu. From this we may gather that to gain the ascription of a Worthy or Sage it was essential to fall on the troublous times of anarchy. Today how many perfect men, born in an age of turmoil, full of virtue, and cherishing the Tao, possessing inexhaustible knowledge, yet keeping silence, putting a muzzle on their own mouths and a gag on their lips, have died without the age knowing how to esteem their silence.17 Hence the Tao that can be explained and spoken is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be defined is not the eternal name. Such as can be inscribed on bamboo, carved and cut in metal and stone and transmitted, are only secondary and inferior goods. The Five Emperors and Three Kings differed in their achievements; but all had a common purpose. They went by different roads, but reached the same end. Later scholars have been ignorant of that which formed the Unity of the Tao and the essential and important points of the embodiment of virtue. They appropriated ready-made opinions and adopted old fashions. Stiffly seated opposite each other, they discussed these ready-made theories and beat the drum and shouted for joy and danced in their pleasure or joined in animated and lively argument. Thus, savants hear much, but are filled with many doubts,17 a condition aptly described by the words of the Ode 11. 6 Bkv. Pt. 2. THEY DARE NOT, WITHOUT WEAPONS, ATTACK A TIGER; THEY DARE NOT CROSS THE HO, WITHOUT A BOAT. THEY KNOW ONE THING; BUT THEY ONLY KNOW THAT ONE. The Sage-Emperor embodies the principle of wu-wei. The King imitates the Yin and Yang. The Autocrat copies the Four Seasons. The Prince uses the Six Laws.18 The Supreme (God) holds sway over Heaven and Earth and keeps in subjection the mountains and rivers.19 Emperor, King, Autocrat, Prince. He sends forth and calls in the Yin and Yang, and lengthen out, as well as draws in, the Four Seasons. He stretches out the Heavens and holds together the six quarters of the globe: he supports and covers all things, sending dew, giving light, affording guidance. His mercy overflows without selfish partiality. He is impartial in His love and dislike; all flying insects or creeping things (all creation) depend on His energy for birth. Yin and Yang, with harmonious endowments from Heaven and Earth, give bodily form to myriad varieties: possessing the tempered fluids, the flux of matter proceeds to the end, so that the embryos of species may be produced. The expansion and contractions, the impalpableness and tenuity cannot be fathomed. The beginnings and the endings, the unformed, with its later maturity, proceed in their paths in unceasing march. Of the Four Seasons the Spring begets, the Summer fructifies, the Autumn gathers, the Winter conserves. There is method in the reception and bestowment: there are times for ingress and egress. The pullulating arid withering seasons, the expansion and suspension of life have their timely order: there is no mistake in the process. Spring (joy), Autumn (anger) (asperity), Summer (strength), Winter (weakness), never depart from their appointed courses. The Six Laws20 may be thus expressed. They concern the granting of life or sentence of death, rewards and punishments, bestowment or alienation of lands. Anything not administered according to these harmonies would be without principle. Therefore, such a man is careful of the weights and measures,21 of the standards and measuring lines, (or is equitable, just and true), sees to it that (even small things) are correct, so that his country may be governed properly. We may also conclude that the man in sympathy with T‛ai I (the Supreme) is enlightened as to the facts of The Characteristics of their rule. Heaven and Earth and animated with the obligations due to tao and te: his intelligence is clear as the noontide; his spirit is identified with creation: his activity and rest synchonize with Yin and Yang: his joy and anger act in cordiality with the Four Seasons. His virtuous charity reaches the most distant parts, and his name is transmitted to later generations. This is the man, the Emperor, who embodies the principles of the T‛ai I. The King imitates Yin and Yang; his virtue stands on a par with Heaven and Earth; his intelligence is comparable with the sun and moon; his spiritual character is like the divinities. He is similar to Heaven and Earth (they are the round and square); he maintains the principles of right, justice and truth. Able to govern himself, he obtains the adhesion of men. So there are none in the empire who do not follow and give general assent to laws and commands, as they are issued and promulgated. The Autocrat copies the Four Seasons and acts flexibly, but not with impatience, firmly, but not with harshness, generously, but not with excess, eagerly, but not refractorily. Leisurely, flexibly, deliberately, persistently he acts so as to nourish the various things and affairs of life. His goodness tolerates the simple, and suffers the reprobates. There is no trace of a baleful partiality. The Princes use the Six Laws, suppress anarchy, arrest the violent, advance the worthy and degrade the unfit: they brush away the incompetent and forcibly correct them: they straighten out the rough and awkward and bend the crooked to make him straight. These know what to prohibit and permit, what to encourage and what to discourage. Following the spirit of the times and popular ideas, they act so as to command the allegiance of men. Now, when he who is emperor acts in sympathy with Yin and Yang (and not with God, as he should) he will Abuse of the proper order leads to failure. suffer from the aggression of others. When the king imitates the Four Seasons, he will have his territories sliced away. When the autocrat uses the six laws, he will suffer shame at the hands of his neighbours. When the prince loses his square and line i.e. righteousness and justice, he will see the defection of his people. Thus we may conclude that when a man of minor gifts attempts deeds beyond his abilities, he will act in a very defective manner, lacking all the marks of a finesse of A Square peg in a round hole. detail which is the characteristic of the first-rate man, so the people are estranged. When the man in a superior station deals with second-rate affairs, it will follow that his government will be narrow and his plans skinny. His plans will offer no room for development of great things. When the classes and masses attend to their own businesses, each to each, the empire will be properly ruled. Heaven is careful of its own powers and Earth of its own elements: men guard their own natures. The powers of Heaven are sun, moon, planet, thunder, lightening, wind and rain. The elements of Earth are fire, water, metal, wood, soil. The nature of man consists of feeling, thought, meditation, intelligence, joy and anger. And so, when the four senses are closed up and the "five extravagances" are suspended, the being or individual will be immersed in the tao. Hence the spiritual faculties will be hidden in the invisible world, and the spirit will return to the Perfect Body (or the Perfect Realm). In such a state the eye will be clear, but not occupied with seeing; the ear will be quick, but not given to hearing; the mind will be exquisitely intelligent, directly intuitive, but not occupied with thinking. There will be an abandon and no energetic activity: harmonious concord will prevail, without giving rise to pride of self (or boastfulness). The appetites, the passions, will be in a state of calm, and there will be no employment of human wisdom and clevernesses. The spirit fills the eye, so he sees clearly; it is present in the ear, so he hears acutely; it abides in the mouth, and so the person's words are with wisdom; it accummulates in the mind, so his thoughts are penetrative. Hence the closing down of the Four Senses gives the body rest from troubles, and the individual parts have no sickness. There is no death, no life, no void, no excess: in such a condition of spirit, like the diamond, it will not wear away: such are the characteristics of the Perfect Man.24 All anarchy springs from excess: the causes of excess may be traced to the extravagant use made of the five elements. Let us take these in order.25 Extravagant and Luxurious Use of Wood.—A lavish use of timber in building, with rafter and post interlacing Waste and excesses the cause of anarchy. each the other, in the creation of palaces and residences, lofty storeys are built, with high passages connecting the one with the other: spacious basements, rafters, poles, pillars, planks and boards, of every description, are used, each and all mutually connected and affording mutual support, one being clamped and dovetailed into the other. Cunning workmanship is used to engrave the floating dragon and crouching tiger on these, or in decoration of the rooms. The most dazzling colours are used to depict pictures of water and flowers, wreathing and encircling in tortuous lines the pillars and walls, elaborate designs of luxuriant scenes of grass and water, one following on the other, in great profusion. Extravagant and Luxurious Use of Water.—Long and deep channels are dug through the ground, stretching right to the far distance. Waters are led into these from the hills. Ornamental and zigzag ways are created, slabs of stone are piled up; squares of marble are built into ornamental banks or jetties and landing places; obstacles are placed in the water to create artificial waves and fountains, the waters being lashed into angry waves. The water is bent in its path, being deviated hither and thither,—now straight, now oblique, here turning sharply round, there moving in a curving channel, in imitation of the waters of Yü, Ou, and Wu. The lotus and the chestnut plants are grown in abundant luxuriance in these waters, to feed the tortoises and fishes. Great herons, the turquoise kingfishers26 fly about; paddy rice and millet abound. The dragon boats, with the fabulous bird painted on the prow, sail along, to the sound of gala music. Extravagant and Luxurious Use of Soil.—High walls are built round the cities for defence: trees are planted for bulwarks:27 parapets of earth and timber of surpassing height are admired and sought after: extensive walled and unwalled gardens for housing the rarest animals; portals and houses of giddy heights are erected, touching the very clouds and rivalling the Kun-Iun mountain itself in height. Men erect walls and parapets and build thoroughfares over giddy heights. Elevations are lowered and depressions raised: earth is piled on earth, mountain high. To pass quickly from one place to another and in order to reach distant parts, roads are straightened, and obstructions and dangers removed. There is constant riding to the hunt, but no accidents through horses stumbling. The Extravagant and Luxurious Use of Metal.—Great bells and tripods, beautiful vessels, works of art are manufactured. The decorations cast on these have been superb. The mountain dragon, or pheasant, and all animals of variegated plumage, the aquatic grass, flamboyants and grains of cereals were engraven on them, one symbol interwoven with another. The sleeping rhinoceros and crouching tiger, the dragon, wreathed in coils, were wrought. These figures shone with the brilliancy of the sun, dazzling the eyes: the decorations and the engravings in metal shone with different rays and variegated hues: there were zigzag lines, dovetailing traceries. Roughness was smoothed out; every flaw was eliminated; the lines were exceedingly fine, like those of the bamboo and water reeds with the whiteness of snow. They were close together and yet each apart, distinct and clear. Though carved, the lines could not be felt, so smooth and even was the work. The Extravagant and Luxurious Use of Fire.—By roasting, frying, broiling and stewing, they sought to perfect the cooking of foods and to give the viands flavour, rivalling the sweet and acid tastes of Ching and Wu, in their variety, by sauces made from the salt of Ch‛i. Forests were burnt for the chase, great timbers being scorched and charred. Bellows blew the fires of the stoves, so that the very iron and brass of these were melted by the roaring heat. So it went on, day by day. There were no big trees left on the mountains nor wild mulberry in the fields: wood was burnt into charcoal; grass was scorched and burnt into ashes; the grasses of the fields, betimes, were scorched white, so that nothing found its seasonable ripeness. The sky, above, was hidden by the smoke, and the wealth of the land, below, was exhausted by the extravagance. One, alone, of these five extravagant wastes would be enough to bring the empire to ruin! Consider the simplicity of the ancient court of the Ming Tang28 in ancient times. They were simply built to ensure that no damp should arise from the ground, nor rain and fog enter from above, and that they might be shielded from the winds that blow from the four quarters. This was thought enough. The walls were not ornamented: the woodwork was not carved (or even sawn or planed too fine). The metal vessels were not engraved; clothes were not cut out with any elaboration (i.e. the corners were not cut off, but shaped much in the way of a kimono). Hats were not shaped with elaborate corners,29 but in a simple style. The Ming Tang was built just large enough for people to move about comfortably in attendance on their duty: it was kept so quiet and clean as to be fit for the worship of God and for the ceremonies of 'All Souls.'30 The people were thus taught to practise economy in expenditure. But music, painting and the five flavours, the rare delicacies and curios of distant countries, wonderful and Luxury inflames the passions. curious articles are enough to agitate the mind and give inconstancy to the will, to stir the soul and inflame the passions in an indescribable way. The production of wealth by Nature consists really of no more than the five elements. The sage king, by the economical use of these,31 governed without excesses. All people whose natures and minds are blended in harmony, without anger or joy, and whose desires are simple, are animated with the feeling of pleasure. Pleasure seeks to express itself in movement: movement gives rise to motion, the tripping of the feet: this again leads to song and dance. When song and dance are spontaneous, wild animals come in and join in the dance.31a When people's minds and natures are in sorrow, by reason of death, there arises grief; and with grief comes mourning. Weeping excites the nerves, and excitement leads to passion. Passion, on the other hand, wants to express itself in physical movements; so there ensues the gesture of hand and foot. Anger gets hold of a person who sees his land pillaged and raided. Anger rises in this way: the blood, coursing fast in the veins, gives rise to temper, and violence of spirit issues in the ebullition of anger. Once anger has been vented, the hatred of the mind has been released. Thus, bells, drums, flutes, whistles, shields and feather flags are the symbolic embellishments of joy. Garments of frayed edges, caps of hemp, rough hemp clothes and mourning staff32 are the symbolic ornaments of a mourning spirit. The pangs of sorrow have their regulations, whereby grief is restrained within bounds. Arms, wands, metal drums, battle-axes and halberds symbolise anger. There is the fact; and the symbolic representation of it is shown. In ancient times, the sage sat in the seat of honour administrating and instructing impartially: and the feeling of kindness and goodwill blended: high and low were of the same mind, prince and minister were in concord. The necessaries of life were enough and to spare. Families and individuals had enough. Fathers were sympathetic; sons were filial, elder brothers kind and the younger ones cooperative. There was no grumbling at life nor regrets at death.33 The empire was permeated with the spirit of concord and everyone was satisfied. As the joy and goodwill that filled the heart of everybody needed some means of expressing itself, the Sages created music for the people, in order that they might possess an instrument for this self-expression. In the government of these modern days, the taxes on agriculture and fisheries are heavy: the octrois and local Heavy taxes lead to despair taxes are collected harshly: prohibitions against fishing and the use of weirs make it impossible to use the nets. It is useless to plough the fields. The strength of the people is spent in attending to the demands of the official minions, and their wealth is used up in paying the poll taxes. There is no food at home; there is no corn for those who go forth:34 the aged are not fed nor the dead buried. Wives are sold and children are disposed of, in order to meet the demands of the authorities. Even these desperate measures fail to meet every claim. Rustic people and simple women, homeless and wandering, have lost their spirit, and their minds are filled with despair. It would be an entire misuse of the essential idea of music to strike the great bell, to tap the resonant drum, to blow the pipe and flutes and play on the organ to people under such distressing and unhappy circumstances. In ancient times the authorities imposed light taxes and the people had enough. The prince exercised his goodness; the minister discharged his loyalties; the father dispensed his kindness; the son consummated his filial duty. All were moved by the feelings of love, and there was no room for any unfriendly spirit. The three years mourning is not to be observed as matter of compulsion (but of real feeling); at such a time, music has no pleasure; good food has no taste: the mind can't leave off thinking of the departed. But the manners and customs of these modern times have deteriorated: extravagant desires have multiplied: and deterioration of life rites have degenerated. Prince and minister are given to mutual deception: father and son are suspicious of one another; the spirit of antipathy and aversion fills every breast; thoughts of true filiality are dead in the mind. A feeling of hilarity and levity exists in those who are clad in the mourning dress and who wear the white cap: and though there is a full three years observance of mourning rites, the real feelings of mourning are wanting. In olden times, the king's demesne of a 1,000 square li and the land of the feudal lords of a 100 li were sufficient Unworthy ruler to be removed. for the needs of each; there was no need of mutual aggression; each attended to his own possessions. Should it happen that a recalcitrant appeared who did not act in this princely spirit, but oppressed the people, quarrelled over territory, plundered land, created anarchy in government, violated prohibitions, who neither responded to summonses, nor obeyed commands,—a person whom no laws could keep in check nor admonitions change, there was nothing for it but to move troops against him for punishment, take him captive and disperse his supporters, wall up his cemetery and substitute a party to sacrifice at the hearth in his place. One of his sons or grandsons was selected by lot to continue the reign. In these later times, on the contrary, kings plan to enlarge their dominions and snatch frontiers, by The right use of Soldiers. appropriating the land of others and increasing their possessions unceasingly. Their use of soldiers is without just grounds: they punish innocent countries, slay guiltless people and exterminate the descendants of the holy kings of old. Other great countries follow their example of aggrandisement, and rulers, committing the cares of their own country to petty allies, rush forth to rob people of their cattle and make slaves of their children. They destroy the ancestral temples and move away the precious inheritance; they fill the land with rivers of blood and create desolation by their ferocity. All this is done to satisfy the desires of lustful lords. Soldiers were never meant to be used in this way.35 The 'raison d'être' of the soldiers is to suppress oppression, not to be oppressors, Similarly, music was created And decay of music. for the consummation of concord in human nature, not to be the cause of voluptuousness. Mourning is a rite expressive of the feeling of grief, and not meant to be merely an artificial act. There are, therefore, principles in the service of parents, love being the predominant element. There are demeanours and miens observed in the Court, with the feeling of reverence as the chief factor. There are ceremonies in the observances of mourning, but the dominating idea is grief. There is an art for the use of the military, and justice should be the ruling idea in their employment. Build on the foundation, and the Tao will operate: when the foundation is neglected, the Tao will fail. Index Previous Next RESPONSE OF MATTER TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE COSMIC SPIRIT. A COMPARISON. We may compare the Taoist view of life in one respect with that of Socrates. Socrates maintained that he was at his best when his daimonion was working, and his thought clearest when he was most sure of divine guidance. Prof. Bury says that "Socrates represents his own life-work as a sort of religious quest: he feels convinced that in devoting himself to philosophic discussion he had done the bidding of a superhuman guide and he goes to death rather than be untrue to his personal conviction. Because of this he became the champion of free discussion and the supremacy of the individual conscience over human law." And we have the Taoist view that human enactments and the wisdom of Sages may be abolished. Tradition binds man and therefore is inferior to "conscience". If men followed the Tao they would never be opportunists, but always act according to principle and right. Both had unbounded faith in spiritual law. Mere human knowledge is of itself wholly inadequate and uncertain. But the Tao is always full to those who have the mind for it.

The title is "Tao Ying (###)" Tao, the Cosmic spirit. There is the idea of 'hovering over,' 'moving on the face' of all things, and all, in acting, give an automatic response to the tao. In examining the good and evil of every event, we shall see the results of the corresponding responses. The mystery of existence.—Great Purity asked Exhaustless1 whether he knew anything of the Tao. Exhaustless replied he knew nothing. He also asked Wu-wei,2 who replied he had some knowledge. "And is the knowledge you have of it finite?" "Yes, it is finite," Wu-wei replied. "Well, then, how much do you know about the Tao?" "I know that such things as yieldingness, firmness, courtesy and severity, the negative and positive, the recondite and clear are possible through the Tao. Thus it is possible for the Tao to enwrap Heaven and Earth, and to operate with perfect response through the whole universe. This is the limit of my knowledge." Great-Purity also asked Without-Beginning,3 saying: "Formerly I asked Exhaustless about the Tao, who replied he had no knowledge; and subsequently I asked Wu-wei who replied that he had knowledge. We have thus the knowledge of Wu-wei and the non-knowledge of Exhaustless. Which of them is right and which is wrong?" Without-Beginning replied, "The non-knowledge of Exhaustless is the more profound; knowledge is superficial; non-knowledge knows the intrinsic, but knowledge only the extrinsic; non-knowledge sees the essence, knowledge the accident." Great-Purity was surprised, and, sighing, replied; "Thus, then, is non-knowledge the same as knowledge? And is not-knowing the same as knowing? There is no difference, who but knows that knowledge is non-knowledge and non-knowledge is (really) knowledge. Isn't that so?" Without-Beginning replied, "The Tao cannot be heard; the Tao that can be heard is not the Tao. The Tao cannot be seen; that which can be seen is not the Tao. The Tao cannot be spoken; were it possible to express it, then it would not be the Tao. Who is it that can understanding the form of the formless?" Thus Lao Tzû said: (Chap. 2)4 THE GOODNESS THAT IS RECOGNIZED AS SUCH BY ALL THE WORLD IS NOT THE GOODNESS: AND SO IT MAY BE SAID, HE WHO KNOWS DOES NOT SPEAK, AND HE WHO SPEAKS DOES NOT KNOW. A case of conscience. Silence is golden.—Duke Pei asked Confucius "May men use dark hints or an obscure and subtle way of speech?" Confucius made no response. Duke Pei5 said, "What about a stone thrown into the water?" Confucius replied, "The expert swimmers of Wu and Yüeh would get to the bottom and feel it." He again enquired: "What about the effect of throwing water into water? No trace of one, as distinct from the other, would be found. Confucius replied, "The two waters Chih and Sheng of Ch‛i, though mixed, would be detected as to the tastes of each by such as I Shen." Duke Pei then said, "Such being the case, men certainly cannot use occult language." To which Confucius replied, "Why say it cannot be done?" Who knows the sense of words that are spoken? He who knows what words signify does not express (his thought) in words."6 "A fisherman must enter the deep water to catch his fish; a hunter must brave danger and enter the lair to get his prey. This is inevitable and not a mere matter of pleasure. Hence the most perfect language7 does away with words, and the perfect action consists in Wu-wei. He who has but a superficial knowledge of a matter in dispute, is shallow and fails to go to the root." Duke Pei failed to adopt this advice (of Confucius) and died at Yu Shih. Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 73.) WORDS ARE ONLY A BASKET FOR MORALITY: AFFAIRS ARE THE MEDIUM FOR REVEALING THE TAO: THE IGNORANT FAILS TO UNDERSTAND MY WORDS.8 This fits the case of Duke Pei exactly. Theoretical laws are useless.—Hui Tzû created a system of laws for King Hui for governing the kingdom. When completed, these were shown to all the scholars, who, without exception, praised them. They were then presented to King Hui, who was very pleased with them and showed them to Tsê Chien, who said they were good. King Hui said, "Since they are good they should be put into operation." But on Chai Tsê Chien objecting to the suggestion, the King wanted to know his reason. Tsê Chien replied that when men carried a heavy log of wood, they ha'd and ho'd, those behind responding to those before. This is the song they have for stimulus in carrying heavy loads. They do not use the more classic songs of Cheng and Wei with their high plaintive notes, simply because such are not so fitting to the work. The rites for governing a country do not consist of written enactments. Too much law is not good. This is as Lao Tzu says: (Chap. 57.) "WHEN LAWS AND COMMANDS ABOUND, THIEVES AND ROBBERS ARE MANY." The art of education is to teach, "How to see."9—T‛ien Pien was expounding certain principles of the Tao to the King of Ch‛i, and the King, in the conversation, said, "What I am faced with are the practical policies of the Kingdom of Ch‛i; these principles of yours are useless as means to abolish the distresses of the land. I want to hear something definite and practical on the art of government." T‛ien P‛ien replied that though his words contained nothing on government, yet they could be made to apply. And he gave this illustration. "A forest is composed of raw timber; it has no ready-made material. Wood must be dressed accordingly to suit the need. Would the king kindly examine the principles he had stated and adopt them to the needs of the government of Ch‛i. The King would find them adaptable. Though they may not abolish the embarrassments of the country, yet this is the Tao that moves Heaven and changes the world in the evolutionary flux. The affairs of Ch‛i are small in comparison." This episode exemplifies Lao Tan's statement: (Chap. 14.)

The King wanted practical advice on the administration of Ch‛i, and T‛ien P‛ien gave him general principles. Now the actual manufactured article is of less importance than the trees of the forest, since the one depends on the other. The forest is nothing without rain; rain is nothing without the operations of Yin and Yang; Yin and Yang are nothing without the essential co-operating harmony; harmony is nothing without the Tao. A word of advice to the avaricious profiteer. True self-interest.—When Sheng, the Duke of Pei, gained the kingdom of Ching, and on his failing to distribute the contents of the Treasury between the people, members of his party, after the lapse of seven days, came in and told him, "If what is gained illicitly is not distributed to the public, distress is sure to come. It is better to burn the treasures, if they cannot be distributed amongst the people, so that disaster may not befall us." Duke Pei would not listen to the advice. In nine days Duke Shê attacked the place, and having gained entrance, distributed the goods in the treasury amongst the multitude: he also issued the munitions of war, in the Treasury, to the people. In consequence of this he captured Duke Pei after investing his palace for nineteen days. The Kingdom didn't really belong to Pei and his desire for it may be said to be a piece of avarice. That he failed to act generously towards the people, and serve his own true self-interest thereby, showed that he was most stupid as well as avaricious. The niggardliness of Duke Pei was in no way different from the love of the owl for its young.10 This agrees with Lao Tzu's saying: (Chap. 9.) IT IS ENOUGH TO CARRY A FULL VESSEL; DON'T TRY TO ADD TO IT AND MAKE IT TO OVERFLOW. TRYING TO SHARPEN A POINT ALREADY SHARP MAY MAKE IT HARD TO KEEP AN EDGE AT ALL. Character is the essential thing in a ruler. Hereditary power is useless.—Chao Chien Tzû adopted Hsiang Tzŭ as his heir. Tung Ngo Yu objected on the grounds of Wu Hsü's (Hsiang Tzŭ) obscurity, holding he was not fit to be a successor. Chien Tzŭ replied, "that his character was such as to ensure success. He would bear indignity for the sake of the kingdom." Some time after, Chih Pei when drinking with Hsiang Tzŭ slapped his face. A minister suggested he should be put to death for this, but Hsiang Tzŭ, the King, argued that the deceased Prince had adopted him because he could bear personal indignity for the throne. "Do you think," he said, "that he put me in this place to slay people?" After the passing of ten months Chih Pei invested Hsiang Tzŭ at Ching Yang. Hsiang Tzŭ divided his army and attacked him on either side and routing Chih Pei slew him and made his skull into a drinking vessel. This confirms Lao Tzŭ's saying: (Chap. 26.) HE WHO IS CONSCIOUS OF HIS PROWESS BUT AT THE SAME TIME WHO MAINTAINS GENTLENESS AND PATIENCE, IS HE TO WHOM WILL FLOW ALL THE STREAMS OF EMPIRE. The inspired man is the discerning man.—Yeh Ch‛üeh sought to know the Tao from Pei I. Pei I replied, "If you correct your deportment, and guard your eyes from wandering, the blessings of Heaven will come down on you. If you preserve your knowledge, and rectify your standards the Spirit will soon settle on your person: and virtue will abide with you. If you exercise the Tao it will make its abode with you. Unsophisticated as a new born calf, never asking the why or wherefore of its origin,"—but before he had finished this sentence, Yeh Ch‛ueh seemed to have lost interest in what Pei I was saying, so he got up and departed singing this ditty as he was going, "His form and limbs look withered and dried up: his mind looks dead like ashes. Truly I don't know how to deal with such a show of stupidity. I have no mind to talk to him. What kind of a man is he really?" This just confirms Lao Tzŭ's saying: "CAN HE WHO IS CLEAR ON EVERY MATTER BE WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE IN DISCERNMENT?" The use of the mailed fist is not the way to maintain the fruits of victory.—Chao Hsiang Tzû attacked Ti and overpowered him and took his two prefectures of Yu Jen and Chung Jen. The messenger came to announce the victory and to offer congratulations, and when Hsiang Tzû was about to sup, it was noticed that he was of a sad countenance, which led them to say, "People find it a matter of joy to become possessors of two cities in a morning. So what may be the cause of the present sadness of the Prince?" Hsiang Tzû replied to them, "The floods of the two rivers last only three days at most. Storms of winds and rain pass over quickly. There is no accumulated merit in our Chao family; how is it that now, in one morning, two cities have fallen to me? Is not this ominous of disaster?" When Confucius heard of this, he said, "The good fortune of the family of Chao must increase. Dejection, or moderation of spirit, is the foundation of greatness, and hilarity is the root of decay. It isn't victory that is difficult, but the maintenance of the fruits of victory: this is the difficulty. The worthy kings of the past who maintained victory in this spirit, handed down their happiness to their successors. Ch‛i, Ts‛u, Wu, Yueh gained victories in their time, but eventually fell into decay, simply because they failed to apprehend how to maintain victory. This can only be done by making the Tao dominant." Confucius, for example, could manipulate the ponderous gate of the city, but never displayed his physical strength before man. It is said that Mei-tzû (who knew no art of war) maintained the defensive and offensive against Duke Yu P‛an and brought him to submission, but not by military force. They knew that the effective way of maintaining victory was by looking upon gentleness, right not might, as the strong power, just as Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 4.) WHEN THE IMPALPABLE TAO IS OPERATING, THE RECIPIENT IS UNCONSCIOUS OF ITS OVERFLOW. Not Might but Right.—Hui Meng had an interview with King Sung K‛ang. He wore his characteristic way of restless feet, of humming, and coughing, and speaking with rapidity, during the visit. The King said, "What I admire is the achievements of valour, humanity and justice. Have you, Sir, anything to instruct me?" Hui Meng replied, "Your servant has a Way according to which even the shafts of the valiant will do me no harm, neither can force, however cleverly used, succeed against me. Great Prince have you truly a mind to try it?" The King replied, "Very excellent! It's just what I want to hear about." Hui Meng continued, "But the shaft that will not penetrate me, the attack that will not succeed against me, do not seem, after all, the best. Your servant has still a superior way; such a way that a man with courage will not dare to use force against me: though possessing the power, he will not venture to use it against me. This lack of daring to thrust and attack will not be from want of will. Your servant has a way still higher than this even. This highest form will make men naturally lose the desire to stab and kill for the display of daring and courage. Still simple absence of the intention of using force does not produce a mind of love and care. So I have something still better than even this way, which will give unfailing delight to all men and women. This best way is of more worth than the valour of force: it is superior to these four other ways. Is the Great King the only one not desirous of it?" King Sung responded that he desired above all things to get this. Hui Meng replied. "This way is really no other than the doctrines of Confucius and Mei. Kung Ch‛iu and Mei Tsê were princes, though they had no territory: they were leaders, though without official status. None in the country, be they men or women, but craned their necks and stood on tip-toe that they might find and win the help of their doctrines. You are a great King, ruling a large empire: were you sincerely to have this ambition, every part of your kingdom would benefit; and so you would greatly excel Confucius and Mei. King Sung having nothing to say in reply, Hui Meng departed. The King said to those about him, "What a talker! My guest overcame me thoroughly, when speaking." This way agrees with what Lao Tzu says: (Chap. 23.) COURAGEOUS IN NOT USING FORCE IS THE WAY OF LIFE. Whence we may gather that the greatest courage lies in not exercising the might that may be at one's command. The King is the conning man.—In ancient times, Yao had nine assistants, Shun seven, and Wu Wang had five. Yao, Shun and Wu Wang were not experts in any one thing, like their assistants. They sat in their offices receiving the reports of successful operations. They were, however, masters in their estimate of the abilities of men. Now, a runner can never beat the great horse, Chi, in a race: but when this horse is hitched to a carriage, it is not able to beat a man. In the north is a beast, which goes by the name of Chüeh, with front quarters like a rat, and hind quarters like a hare. When it runs, it stumbles (as it has short forelegs and long hindlegs); it falls when it walks. This animal always picks out the fragrant grass for the Chiung Chiung Chü Hsü and supplies it with this grass (another animal with long forelegs and short hindlegs. It can't ascend hills). The Chiung Chiung, therefore, always carries the Chüeh on its back, because of the infirmity of its legs. Here we have a case of one ability throwing its disability on another. This fits in with Lao Tzu's words: (Chap. 74.) "THE INEXPERIENCED WHO WOULD DO THE WORK OF A MASTER-CARPENTER, STRANGE IT WOULD BE WERE HE NOT TO INJURE HIS HANDS." Everything is easy to him who has the Law.—Po I counselled Prince Wei Ssu (the new king) on the art of government on civil and moral lines. The Prince said, "Mine is a small country, a country of only 1,000 chariots. I would apply your advice to such." Po I replied that Wu Hu, the lifter of 100 catties would think nothing of lifting one catty. This means that a small country can all the more easily carry on government on moral and civil methods. Tu Hê counselled Chou Chao Wen, the Prince, on how to pacify the empire.—After the disruption of Chou, Wen Chun asked advice of Tu Hê on the best way to settle the country, saying, "I would earnestly learn from you how to bring peace to Chou." Tu Hê replied. "If you cannot act on the words of your servant, there is no possibility of pacifying Chou. If you can put my words into practice, Chou will settle down of itself." This is the meaning of the saying: 'Don't fight for peace. Peace will come naturally.' The principle is expressed by Lao Tzû thus: (Chap. 28.) "THE GREAT LAW MUST NOT BE CUT UP AND TAKEN IN DRIBLETS. TO TELL THE PARTS OF A CARRIAGE DOES NOT MAKE A CARRIAGE." Be guided by big and generous ideas. Avoid a parsimonious spirit.—It was a law in Luh that, when any of their people were taken prisoners and made slaves by the Feudal Lords, their ransom should be paid out of the Treasury, should an opportunity offer itself to liberate them; Tzû Kung ransomed one such captive but declined the redemption money offered by the Treasury. Confucius told him: "Tzû, you have not done quite right. Whenever the sage takes any matter in hand (or acts), he supplies a principle that affects the conventions of life and the manners of society, with the result that the effects of the teaching would be handed down to succeeding generations. He never acts with a view to his own individual case. The kingdom, at the present time, has but few wealthy people; the majority are poor. To receive the cost of a ransom from the Public Treasury should not be looked on as avaricious: it would be impossible to redeem many under present conditions, if help from the Treasury were not accepted. Under such circumstances, no Luh prisoners in the hands of the Feudal Lords could be ransomed after this." This view of Confucius showed that he was profoundly versed in the true spirit of reform and proper principles of action, which is consonant with Lao Tzu's dictum: (Chap. 52.) "PERCEPTION OF THE GERM IS ENLIGHTENMENT." Militarism is baneful.—Wei Wu Hou enquired of Li K‛e12 the cause of the decay of the Wu nation. His reply was: "Wu often fought and often conquered," i.e., Wu was too often victorious in war. Wu Hou answered that frequent victories in war should lead to the greatness of a country, and he could not see how this could be the cause of decay. Li K‛ê replied, "Frequent wars exhaust the people: frequent victories make the masters drunk with pride. The more the pride, the more is the vitality of the people consumed in vainglorious wars. Few are the countries that can stand such a strain and not decay. Pride and arrogance lead to licence and anarchy, exhausting resources and people. Thus, there come hatred and dislike, leading to all sorts of schemes and devices (for amelioration of hardships). The strange thing is that Wu did not succumb much earlier." When it did fall, Fu Ch‛ai (the minister) committed suicide at Kan Sui. Lao Tzu's words give the principle: (Chap. 9.) "TO WITHDRAW AFTER SUCCESS IS WON AND NAME ESTABLISHED IS A GOOD PRINCIPLE OF ACTION, AND IT IS THE LAW OF HEAVEN." The Saviour of his Country.—Ning Yüeh13 desired an official post from Duke Huan of Ch‛i, but he had no means of getting an interview with him. In the meantime he followed the work of a merchant, and was on his way to Ch‛i, driving his cart loaded with goods. Resting one evening outside the city gate, Duke Huan came out to receive a guest for whom the gates were opened. The carts round the gate were ordered to move off. The lamps and lights were many and the retainers were numerous. Ning Yüeh saw his opportunity and, tapping the horns of his cow, sang a ditty in high clear notes. Duke Huan tapped the arm of his attendant, saying, "How strange! That singer can be no ordinary person. Let him come in the train of the carriages."14 When Duke Huan had returned home, his attendants waited his instructions regarding the guest. The Duke prepared court robes for him for an interview. Ning Yüeh talked about how to govern a country at the interview. Duke Huan was delighted and was about to offer him a post, when the entourage remonstrated that the guest was a man of Wei, and that Wei was not far away. The prince had better send a man to enquire about his past record and, if good, he could then be engaged." "Not so," replied the Duke, "if it be found that there are some minor defects against him, we shall lose the excellent services of a man for some slight error of his in the past. This is how governors lose the scholars of the country. You can always judge from what you hear: and, after hearing, there is no need of enquiries into the past. This man is quite agreeable to me. To get just the right men is a difficult matter. Men must be estimated at their best." Duke Huan acted quite correctly in this matter. Thus Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 25.) "HEAVEN IS GREAT; EARTH IS GREAT; THE TAO IS GREAT; THE KING IS ALSO GREAT. WHEN THOSE FOUR GREATNESSES EXIST WITHIN THE BORDERS, THE KING SHARES ONE OF THEM."15 The man worthy to rule and be king.—Tan Fu,16 the great ancestor, lived in Pin. Being attacked by the Tartars, he hid tribute of furs, cotton, silk fabrics, precious stones, which, being refused, made him say, "What the Tartars want is land: wealth and goods will not satisfy them." T‛ai Wang Tan Fu17 reasoned in this way: "To live with the people (elder brothers) and kill their brothers, to mingle with the fathers and slay their sons are acts I will not be a party to; so rest you here in peace. To serve the Tartars will not be different from serving me. Moreover I have heard it said, "Don't hurt the people for the sake of territory." So, taking his staff, he departed. The people clung to him, and they went forth and founded a kingdom near the Ch‛i mountain. The great ancestor Tan Fu may be accredited with knowing how to preserve his kind. Though rich and honourable, he did not injure his person by his mode of life: though poor and lowly, he did not permit the love of gain to entangle his person. As it is now, there are those who would look upon it as a great calamity to lose the titles and emoluments of their ancestors; but they regard it as a light matter to mar the bodies handed down through long ages. Is this not a silly view of life? Listen to what Lao Tzu says: (Chap. 13.) "THE EMPIRE CAN BE ENTRUSTED TO HIM WHO HONOURS HIS BODY FOR THE SAKE OF HIS COUNTRY. THE EMPIRE CAN BE COMMITTED TO HIM WHO LOVES HIS BODY FOR THE SAKE OF HIS COUNTRY." Moral strength is gained by conquest of the desires. Loss of two worlds. True vision.—Kung Tzû Mu of Chung Shan, talking to Chan Tzû, said, "What is your opinion of the man whose thought and will are always occupied in guarding his inner life or personal nature?" Shan Tzû replied. "He has the best view of life. Thinking thus of life, he condemns the sway of passion." Kung Tzû Mu said, "Though knowledge of the law may exist, what if there is failure to subdue the desires?" To which Chan Tzû replied, "Failure in self-conquest means submission to desire. Would you not grieve at acquiescence to the passions? On the other hand, inability to win self-conquest and a forced submission to the passions implies a double loss. Persons who experience this double suffering belong to a short-lived race." Lao Tzû speaks thus: (Chap. 55, 32.) "THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HARMONY IS CALLED THE CONSTANT LAW OR RULE OF LIFE. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONSTANT LAW GIVES TRUE INTELLIGENCE: THE WELL-BEING OF LIFE IS CALLED HAPPINESS. THE MIND, USING THE FORCES OF THE FLESH, IS CALLED ANIMAL STRENGTH. SO, BY USING THE LIGHT AND REVERTING TO THIS ENLIGHTENMENT, NO CALAMITY WILL THEN BE BEQUEATHED TO THE BODY."18 A mere knowledge of the art of government is insufficient for ruling.—Chuang Wang of Ts‛u consulted Chan Ho on how to govern a country. He replied, "I am versed in the government of the person, but not in the government of a country." Tz‛u Wang further said: "I have come into possession of the Penates and Lares19 and would like to learn how to preserve them." Chan Ho replied, "Your servant has never heard of any country being in disorder when the person of the ruler is well-governed: nor, on the other hand, have I ever heard that order can be had in a nation where the personal life of the ruler is disordered. So I place the whole responsibility (of government) on the person,—personal renovation. I would not venture to attribute it to the art of government itself." This is confirmed by what Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 54.) "THE PERSON WHO IS UNDERGOING TRAINING IN VIRTUE POSSESSES THE REAL VIRTUE." There is no bloom in any stereotyped law of life.—Duke Huan was reading in his study, when a wheelwright, who was trimming wheels outside, leaving his adze and awl, came near and asked the Duke what he was reading. The Duke replied "The books of the Sages." The wheelwright asked where these men were now, to which the Duke responded that they were all dead. The wheelwright said: "These books are but the dregs and lees of the Sages." The Duke Huan was angered and said, as the colour mounted his cheeks: "Do you, a workman, venture to criticise my reading! If you can justify yourself, well: otherwise you will be put to death." The wheelwright replied, "Of course I can justify myself. Permit your servant to explain himself from his own work of wheelwright. If the wedges are driven in too fast, they will not enter (but break): if driven in too slowly, they will not be firm: neither too slow nor too fast is an art whereby the hand and will wholly act in concert, and in this way perfect workmanship is got. Your servant cannot transmit this expertness to his son, nor can the son get it from him, and so he is still working at wheels, though close on 70 years of age. It is so with the words of the sages; the real bloom of them died with their authors, and there is nothing but the empty lees and husks remaining."20 Lao Tzŭ's words supply the principle: (Chap. 1.) "THE TAO THAT CAN BE EXPRESSED IN WORDS IS NOT THE UNCHANGING TAO; THE NAME THAT CAN BE NAMED IS NOT THE UNCHANGING NAME." A wily old diplomat.—In ancient time Han Tzŭ, the city-engineer, being Prime Minister of Sung, spoke to the King, making the following suggestion: "The peace and unrest of a nation, the government and the anarchy of the people depend on the king's rewards and punishments. Rewarding with titles and the giving of largesse is what the people like. Let the King himself exercise this power. But the death penalty and punishment arouse the disgust of the people. Let your servant, therefore, discharge this function." The King of Sung replied, that it was a good suggestion, since he would get the praise and his minister bear the brunt of opprobrium, and he was sure that the Feudal Lords would not scorn him for this. Nevertheless, continued the King, when the people realized that the autocratic powers of death were in the hands of the minister, the officers would pay him respect and the people would fear him. In less than a year, Tzŭ Han overshadowed the king and usurped the power of government. Lao Tzŭ says: (Chap. 36.) "THE FISH SHOULD NOT LEAVE HIS POOL. THE SHARP TOOLS OF AUTHORITY SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN INTO OTHER HANDS." Tradition is no law of life.—Wang Shou carried his books and went to see Hsü Feng at Chou. Hsü Feng observed that things should respond to change and circumstance. Customs and practices change, and what does for the present may be useless for a later time. Books come from words, words come from knowledge, and knowledge changes. A library becomes dead stock and so useless. The knowing man knows this. On hearing this, Wang Shou burnt his books very joyfully. Thus Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 5.) "THOUGH IT IS POSSIBLE FOR WORDS TO EXPRESS THE THEME EXHAUSTIVELY, YET IT IS BETTER NOT TO GO INTO EVERY DETAIL." Conserve and concentrate the mind.—Tzû Pei, Mayor of the Palace, invited Chwang Wang to a feast, which he accepted. Tzû Pei was wanting in courtesy; and so the king did not keep the appointment. One day the Mayor was standing in the courtyard and looking north (towards the King), Tzû Pei said, "Ancient kings kept their appointments; do you not really mean to go? I fear your servant has committed some fault." "I have been told," replied the King, "that you prepared a feast for me in the Ch‛iang T‛ai. This fairy edifice looks south on the Liao mountain, at the foot of which are the waters of Fang Huang. On the left is the Yangtse, on the right is the Hui river. The joy of such a scene would make one forget death itself. Such joy is not for such an imperfect man as myself. I would be afraid that I should never return, were I to go." As Lao Tzû says: "NOT TO LOOK ON WHAT STIRS THE DESIRES IS THE WAY TO KEEP THE MIND FROM WANDERING." A discerning wife.—Chung Erh, the son of the Duke of Tsin, in the course of his wandering life happened to pass through Ts‛ao, the prince of which country showed him no courtesy. However, the wife of Hsi Fu Chi, a minister, said to her husband: "The prince is not very attentive to the son of the Duke of Tsin. I notice that all who accompany him are able men. When they return into power they are certain to come and attack Ts‛ao. Why don't you pay some attention to them?" Hsi Fu Chi, in consequence, presented them with a costly feast and sent a present of jade. Chung Erh took the food but declined the jade. After returning to his country, he organised an expedition against Ts‛ao and gained its submission. He commanded the three regiments not to enter the village of Hsi Fu Chi. We find this principle enunciated by Lao Tzu in the words: (Chap. 39.) "IN HUMILITY YOU WILL FIND SALVATION; IN BENDING YOU WILL FIND FREEDOM." Stoop to conquer.—K‛ou Chien, the King of Yüeh, failed to win in the war with Wu. He lost his country and fled. He was in distress at K‛uei Chi. His anger blazed; his courage rose like the gushing waters of a fountain. He had a mind to marshall his best troops and attack the enemy. But he thought discretion the better part of valour. Instead, he submitted to his enemy, and his wife became a serving maid. He personally carried the musket before the King, like a common soldier. Notwithstanding, he eventually took his master Wu a prisoner at Kan Sui. Thus we find Lao Tzû saying: (Chap. 40.) "THE YIELDING SPIRIT WILL OVERCOME THE FIRM SPIRIT: THE GENTLE SPIRIT WILL TRIUMPH OVER THE AGGRESSIVE. THERE IS NO ONE IN THE WORLD BUT KNOWS IT; YET NO ONE IS ABLE TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE." The King of Yüeh put it into practice himself and rose to be the autocrat of China. Noblesse oblige.—Chao Chien Tzû died, and before his burial, the magistrate of Chung Mu transferred his allegiance to Ch‛i. Five days after the burial, Hsiang Tzû took his troops to the attack of Chung Mu: however, before his soldiers were even posted round the place, 100 feet of the wall fell down, whereupon Hsiang Tzû sounded the retreat and withdrew. The commanders remonstrated with the Prince, maintaining that Heaven itself showed its approval of their cause in punishing the crime of Chung Mu, in that it had caused the wall to crumble of itself before them, a sure indication that they should not retire. The prince replied in these words: "I have heard that Hsü Hsiang used to say: 'The Superior Man doesn't take advantage of an enemy's difficulty nor press him when he is in danger.' Let them mend their breech and we will renew the attack." The people of Mu, on hearing of this fine spirit, begged that they be received back and capitulated. This episode illustrates this saying of Lao Tzû: (Chap. 42.) "YOU HAVE ONLY NOT TO STRIVE AND NO ONE IN THE EMPIRE WILL BE ABLE TO CONTEND WITH YOU." Intuitive sagacity.—Duke Mu of Ts‛in spoke to the horse-expert, Pei Lu, asking him whether his son Tzû Hsing, seeing he was old himself, could buy him a good horse. His reply was that a good horse may be judged from its form, stand, muscles and bones: but a super-excellent horse was not to be judged by these outward points. In looking for such a horse, form should be lost sight of; the stand of the horse may be indecisive or need not be particularly good, the texture may be indifferent. A unique horse of this kind would not raise dust in galloping nor leave a trace of its steps behind it. My son's qualities are secondary. He may recognise a good horse, but not the unique one. I have an assistant, however, who helps me in feeding and grooming the horses, who is in no whit inferior to myself: his name is Chiu Fang Yin. Please interview him." The Duke commissioned this person to buy a horse. He returned in three months with the information that he had got a horse in Shan Ch‛iu. Duke Mu asked him what kind of a horse it was, and he replied that it was a stallion of yellow colour. Men were sent for it, and, when it came, it was found to be a black mare. The Duke called Pei Yoh and said what a mess the man whom he had recommended had made of things. He neither knew the colour of the hair, nor the quality of the animal: neither was he aware of whether it was a stallion or a mare. "What kind of a horse-fancier could such an individual be?" Pei Yoh breathed deeply and heaved a sigh saying: "Is it as bad as that! This man is a thousand times superior to me as a connoisseur of horses. What Yin sees in a horse is its natural endowments and not merely the outward accidents. In seeking its vitality, he doesn't think of the flesh and bone: he looks for the intrinsic merits, without regarding the extrinsic form. He searches for the essentials and has no eyes for the non-essentials. He looks for what he wants to see and pays no attention to what he doesn't want to see. Such points as he observes are above the mere form of the horse." When the horse was led in, it proved to be truly a horse of a thousand li. This illumines the saying of Lao Tzû: (Chap. 45.) "THE LONG STRAIGHTNESS LOOKS AS THOUGH CROOKED: THE BIG CLEVERNESS AS THOUGH DULL." The maxim that necessity knows no law is alien to the true art of government.—Wu Ch‛i filled the office of Prime Minister of Ts‛u. Going to Wei, he told Ch‛u I Jo that the King had overlooked his demerits and made him Prime Minister; so he asked Ch‛u to please give an opinion on his personal qualities as a man. Ch‛u Tzû asked, in turn, what his real aims were; to which Wu Ch‛i replied that his policy was to lower the power of the nobles, to equalize the scale of salaries, by lowering some and increasing the salaries of those who had too little, to make the armaments of the nation perfect and, by constant struggle, gain a dominant place for his country in the empire. Ch‛u Tzû responding said: "The ancients governed best by not making any changes in past methods and not altering the usual practices. But since you propose doing so, let me tell you it will not be good. I have also heard that enmity is an inversion of nature: the military is an obnoxious instrument, on which people depend in settling their quarrels. Strife is what men desire to eliminate. You now secretly plan this method of brute force, and delight in the use of this hurtful instrument. If you were to carry on those struggles, you would be acting most banefully. Further, when you employed the Luh troops against Ch‛i, you gained your purpose in spite of a bad cause: in like manner, you conquered Ts‛in in the face of all right. I have heard it said, If you keep from bringing disaster and miseries on men, you will keep yourself from your own ruin. By ruining others, you complete your own ruin. I firmly believe that our country's King has transgressed the laws of Heaven and wrecked human principles often; but no disaster has, hitherto, overtaken him, and it must be that you are the man to bring this on. Ah: wait and see!" Wu Ch‛i became alarmed and asked if there were a possibility of avoiding such a catastrophe. Ch‛u Tzû replied that as the catastrophe impending over all had already taken form,22 it would be impossible to avert it. All that could be done was to alleviate any deleterious effects by generous love and sincere actions. As Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 45.) "BLUNT THE EDGE OF YOUR DESIRES; SCATTER YOUR TENDENCY TO STRIFE; GET THE TRUE LIGHT OF THE TAO; MAKE YOURSELF ONE WITH THE COMMON MAN.21 Great is humility.—When Tsin was going to attack Ts‛u, and when the army was not more than 105 li away and still coming on, the ministers of Ts‛u asked authority to meet the enemy and strike him. King Chuang responded that Tsin did not attack Ts‛u, in the days of former Princes, so it must be that he was personally guilty of something to bring on such shame. All the ministers replied that Tsin did not attack Ts‛u during the regime of past ministers, so it must be owing to their fault that Tsin came to attack the country now. They begged for an order to meet the attack. The King weeping bitterly, the tears falling down his garments, rose up and made obeisance to all the ministers. When the people of Ts‛in heard of this, they said, "King and ministers are vying the one with the other, each asking to bear the responsibility of our aggression, the King even doing homage to his ministers." So they said, "This expedition must not be made." The army returned. Just as Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 46.) "HE WHO CAN BEAR INDIGNITY FOR THE NATION HE IS THE MAN TO BE ITS MASTER." The character of a man worthy to be King.—In the time of Duke Ching of Sung, the planet Mars was in the heart constellation, which so alarmed the Duke that he called the astronomer Tzŭ Wei for consultation on the portent, who reported that the appearance of Mars signified a judgment of Heaven, since the heart constellation was the celestial arc that governed the territory of Sung.23 Further the Prince would have to bear the impending calamity: nevertheless it would be possible to shift this on to the shoulders of the Prime Minister. But the Duke objected to this since he carried the work of government and it would be unfortuitous for him to die. "In that case," Tzŭ Wei said: "It could be shifted on to the people." Again the Duke objected on the plea that if the people were to die, he would have no one over whom to rule, and it would be preferable for him alone to die. "Let it then be transferred on to the Seasons," said Tzŭ Wei. Once more the Duke expressed his unwillingness to this proposal, since the livelihood of the people depended on the Seasons; for, should the people experience a famine, they would die. "And were I," he continued, "to risk the life of the people to save my own, who would desire to have me as their King! My days are finished; so there's an end of it. Don't say anything more." Tzû Wei turned to the north, making his obeisance, said: "May I venture to congratulate your Majesty? Though Heaven is placed high, it yet hears those below. The Prince has given expression to the thought of a good man in his three objections. So Heaven will surely reward the Prince threefold. To-night this planet will move 21 li and the Duke will have 21 years' lease of life." In response to the question of what assurance there was of this, Tzŭ Wei replied: "The Prince spoke three times the words of a wise man and the star must remove the distance I indicated. May I ask you to come outside and see? If it doesn't deviate the distance mentioned, you may take my life." The Duke assented. That evening the star did move away 21 li. Lao Tzŭ says: (Chap. 49.) "HE WHO CAN TAKE ON HIMSELF THE ILL OMENS OF A NATION SHALL BE THE KING." Room for all.—In olden times during the days of Chao, Kung Sung Lung said to his disciples, "I have no use for men without talent." A guest came along, wearing rough serge and a girdle of common hemp. He said, at an interview: "Your servant has the talent of being able to shout." Kung Sung looked him up and down and said to his disciples "Have we any criers?" They replied that they had none. So the King ordered this stranger to be entered on the register. A few days later, the disciples went to call on Yen Wang for consultation: on coming to a river, the ferry boat was found to be far away at the opposite bank. So the newly-enlisted crier was ordered to vociferate his loudest. The boat came, after he shouted once. It is written that the Sage does not readily overlook the service of any man with ability. Just as Lao Tzû expresses it: (Chap. 50.) "THERE IS NO MAN QUITE USELESS; THERE IS NO ARTICLE THAT IS WORTHLESS; THE UNITY OF THESE DIVERSE THINGS MAKE UP THE SUM TOTAL OF LIFE." Who should get the decoration?—Tzû Fa attacked and overcome Ts‛ai. The King Hsuan went out to meet him on his return, and gave him 100 acres of the best land for the purposes of sacrifices. But Tzû Fa refused this grant on the grounds that all government administration and tributes and the visits of the Feudal Lords were the result of the King's merits. The issue of commands, the distribution of orders and the dispersion of the enemy, even before the army was engaged in battle, were the result of the awe inspired by the chief commander. The victory of the army in battle was the result of the people's effort. To take advantage of these successes, in order to increase personal emoluments and honours, would be neither humane nor just. Hence I refuse." This episode shows what Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 51.) "HE HAS ACHIEVED SUCCESS BUT DOES NOT THINK OF IT: THE VERY FACT OF NOT DWELLING ON IT ENSURES THAT THE RENOWN SHALL ABIDE WITH HIM." A contract is more than a scrap of paper.—Duke Wen of Tsin, in going to attack the Yuan State, assured his ministers that the enemy would submit in three days, and he converted them to his enterprise by this hope. But when the three days had passed without the capitulation, Duke Wen withdrew his troops. An officer said the place would capitulate in a day or two, therefore let them hold on. The Prince replied that he was fully convinced that Yuan could be taken in three days, when he made the promise: but as he failed to capture it within the prescribed time he had given to his ministers, he had, therefore, broken faith with them by such a promise of taking Yuan: so he would not take it. When the people of Yuan heard this they said: "Having such a Prince, can we refrain from surrendering?" Which they did forthwith. The people of Wen, hearing these things, also begged to be received. Thus Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 52.) "HOW DEEP AND ABSTRUSE! WITHIN THE TAO THERE IS THE ESSENCE; THE ESSENCE IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE; IN ITS VERY CENTRE REPOSE SINCERITY AND GOOD FAITH." First things first.—When Duke Kung I became Premier of Luh, the whole country brought him presents of fish, knowing that he was fond of it; but he refused to accept it. His pupils remonstrated with him and wanted to know why he refused every gift of fish, seeing he was so fond of it? He gave as his reason that he declined the presents for the very reason that he was fond of it. Were he to accept such, he said, it would involve his vacating the post of minister; though he liked fish, yet he could not afford to buy it himself (out of office). But his refusal to accept any presents of fish did away with the necessity of retiring from office, and thus he could afford to supply himself with fish always. Thus he was clear on altruism and egoism. Just as Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 53.) "BY PUTTING HIS PERSON LAST, IT CAME TO BE FIRST. BY DENYING HIS BODY, HE PRESERVED IT. IT WAS NOT WHOLLY A MATTER OF UNSELFISHNESS THAT HE WAS ABLE TO GRATIFY HIS PRIVATE DESIRES." Another saying of his is: "SATISFIED WITH WHAT ONE HAS WILL PRECLUDE THE OCCASION OF SHAME." An elderly man of Hu Ch‛iu said to Sun Hsü Ao, "People have three kinds of hatreds. Do you know them?" Well they are: "The scholars envy a high noble; the king dislikes a great officer; and all dislike those with big salaries." Sun Hsü Ao replied, "The greater my nobility, the less is my aim: the higher my post, the lowlier my heart: the higher my salary the more I distribute. May I escape these three hatreds, do you think? As Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 39.) "THE EXALTED MUST MAKE LOWLINESS THEIR BASE. THE HIGH MUST TAKE THE LOW AS A FOUNDATION." The man who acted as smith for Ta Ssû-ma was still beating buckles at 70 years of age without ever making a mistake in shaping even the finest edge. The minister said to him: "Is it skill or is there some secret about it that you can work thus?" The smith replied: "It is practice and attention. When your servant was twenty years old, I liked to beat buckles, and paid no attention to anything else. I never examined an article that wasn't a buckle." Therefore in the use of this skin, it came to be second nature to him, and by this concentrated practice he became perfect. How much more may it be said of that which is in constant use! This unconscious habit is even more than Wu-wei, Lao Tzu says: (Chap. 54.) "TO ACT ACCORDING TO THE TAO IS THE WAY THAT MAKES A PERSON ONE WITH THE TAO ITSELF." Bear present indignity and wait for empire.—Wen Wang sharpened his virtues and cultivated his government, so that, in three years, two-thirds of the country owned him allegiance. Chou, the emperor, was troubled when he heard it, and said: "I really can't rise early and retire late and mend my ways and cultivate virtue, belabouring my mind and wearing my body with heavy toils! But if I don't do it and let him go and think no more about him, I fear he would attack me." Ts‛un Hou Hu said to him; "Chou Pei Ch‛ang24 i.e. Wen Wang, is a person of benevolence and justice and of good judgement. His eldest son, Fa, is a man of courage and determination. His second son, Tan, is a person of pious and frugal habits and possesses the gift of reading the drift of the times. But should you try to follow his example, you cannot escape the danger of such a course; if you take no notice of him and let him go free, you are bound to come to a bad end. Even an ugly cap must be worn on the head. So I counsel you to check him before his schemes are matured." Thereupon Ch‛u Shang held Wen Wang captive in Yu Li. Whereupon San I Sheng, having a thousand ingots of silver, sought for the most curious and precious stones in the empire. He obtained a tandem of the tiger-marked horses, 300 pieces of black jade, 500 cowries, the dusky leopard, the yellow p‛i, (bear) the blue kan (wild dog), and 2,000 pieces of the white tiger with the striped skin. Having collected these, he presented them to Chou by means of an intermediary, the minister Fei Chung. When Chou saw the gifts, he was delighted with them and liberated Wen Wang, killing an ox and offering it to him as a parting gift. On his return home, Wen Wang simulated an infatuation for building doors inlaid with jade and lofty towers, played with girls and spent his time dilly-dallying with drums and music; but really he was waiting his chance to fall on Chou. When Chou heard of these infatuations, it made him say: "Chou Pei Ch‛ang has changed his way and altered his course of life. There will be no more disquiet for me." Chou, however, did not mend his ways, but cast the iron man,25 he took out the heart of Pei Kan, and ripped out the embryo of a pregnant woman and slew the minister who remonstrated with him. Wen Wang at length arose at these enormities and put his plans into execution. Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 28.) "CONSCIOUS OF GLORY, YET BEARING PRESENT SHAME, SUCH A MAN IS AS A VALLEY TO WHICH ALL THE CURRENTS OF EMPIRE SHALL CONVERGE." Kings should stand in awe of the people.—Ch‛eng Wang sought advice from Yen I on political matters, desiring to know how he should act so that the authorities could gain the affection of the people. Yen I replied in these words: "Employ them at suitable seasons:26 be mindful of their interests: respect their feelings." In response the king wanted to know, further, how these things were to be done. Yen replied, "Act with circumspection as though you were approaching a deep pool or treading on thin ice." In turn, the king said, "Fearful for kings then." Yen said, "Within the whole empire, if the king acts well, the people recognise him as their pastor: if he acts ill, they look on him as an enemy. The servants of Hsia and Shang became the enemies of the kings, Chieh and Chou, and transferred their allegiance to Tang and Wu. The people of Hsü Hsia attacked their ruler and allied themselves to Shen Nung.27 All the world knows these things. Kings should stand in awe." The principle is given by Lao Tzû in these words: (Chap. 12.) "WHAT MEN STAND IN AWE OF IS TO BE FEARED BY ALL KINGS." The principles of the Sages should be abolished, as they are the maxims of robbers.—The followers of Chê, when asking their chief if thieves had any principles, received the reply that it was not possible for them to be without such. The person who could guess where the treasure was stored, was a superior man: the first to enter was the man of courage: the last to leave, was the hero. In the average division of spoils there was an element of justice. The member of the gang who knew when to act was the man of knowledge. Where one of these five factors was lacking no great act of plunder could be successful. Nothing in the world could be done without these principles. From this it may be inferred that the mind of the brigand must needs borrow the teaching of the sages for carrying on his trade. Lao Tzŭ says: (Chap. 19.) "ABOLISH THE PRINCIPLES OF THE SAGES, ABANDON SAGACITY, AND THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE WILL BE INCREASED A HUNDREDFOLD." Use for the rough diamonds of Society.—General Tzŭ Fa of Ts‛u liked to look out for men of skill. He encouraged everyone who showed any talent. Now there was a clever thief in Ts‛u who heard of this, so he went to see the general, saying that he had heard he was on the look out for men of skill; that his was in thieving, and as he would like to try his skill, he offered himself as a soldier. Hearing this, the general was in such haste to see him that he could hardly wait to put on his hat and robes to receive him civilly. His attendants tried to dissuade him from showing any civility to a thief. The general replied that this was no business of theirs. Not long after, Ch‛i marshalled its troops to attack Ts‛u. Tzŭ Fa, the commander of the Ts‛u army, was pressed and had to withdraw his forces three times. The best leaders of Ts‛u had exhausted their plans and used every device, but the army of Ch‛i still advanced and was stronger than ever. Just then the quondam thief begged permission of the general to use his little talent. Tzŭ Fa consented, and without asking any particulars, sent him off. So the thief entered the camp of the Ch‛i commander and stole the curtain of his bed, as he was sleeping, and brought it to his general. The general thereupon sent it back by a messenger with the words that one of his soldiers found the commander's curtains, when gathering fire sticks: so he was returning it to the man in charge, by a messenger. The next day, the thief soldier stole the pillow of the commander, as he was sleeping. This again Tzŭ Fa returned in the same way. The next day he went and abstracted the commander's hair-fastening. Tzŭ Fa once more returned the article. When the soldiers became aware of this, they were greatly alarmed, and the commander held a consultation with his officers maintaining that if they didn't immediately return home, it was not impossible that the King of Ts‛u would get the commander's head next! He then withdrew the troops and departed. This is, as the common saying has it, no gift is too little, no ability too slight for the king to use. Just as Lao Tzŭ says: (Chap. 27.) "THE ROUGH DIAMONDS OF SOCIETY ARE THE MATERIALS FOR THE USE OF THE GOOD MAN." The true culture of the Tao and life.—Yen Hui told Chung Ni (Confucius) "I have made progress." "How so?" asked Chung Ni. He replied "Hui28 can forego Etiquette and Music." Confucius said: "Good, but your progress is not yet complete." Another day, Yen Hui saw Confucius and said: "Hui has made progress." "In what way? asked Confucius. "I have dispensed with Jen and I, Benevolence and Justice" answered Hui. Confucius said "Very good, there is yet room to advance." Yet another day, on seeing him again, Hui said, "I can sit without being conscious of my body. I have reached the abstraction of the Tao." Confucius suddenly asked, "What do you mean by sitting in a state of abstraction?" Yen Hui replied: "Lose all sense of the physical body: I can be detached from sentiency, and be oblivious of this outward form and abandon knowledge: thus situated I penetrate within the spiritual flux: passivity is what I mean by sitting in a state of insensibility." Chung Ni replied, "Penetration into these implies a state without shan, goodness, virtue: the state of spiritual passivitity or flux implies a state without the constant principles and maxims of the Sages. You have entered sainthood before me. I must beg to follow after you." Lao Tzŭ says: (Chap. 10.) CLOTHED WITH ANIMAL SPIRIT AND SOUL EMBRACING THE UNITY AND ABIDING THERE, WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, THE UNDIVIDED VITAL BREATH IN A STATE OF YIELDINGNESS, SIMILAR TO AN INFANT CHILD, THIS IS WHAT IT IS TO BE BATHED IN THE TAO. A false move.—Duke Mu of Ts‛u mobilised his troops for a surprise attack on Cheng. Ch‛ien Hsü disagreed with the proposal, on the grounds that for a surprise attack to be successful, the chariots must not be over 100 li away, and the infantry not over 30 li from the objective; that the plans must be secret and not divulged; the soldiers' keenness must not have lost its edge (as it would, after long marches); the commissariat must not be depleted: the people must not be exhausted; but all, by uniting their keen spirit and abounding strength in the objective, attack the enemy, and overawe him. "But in the case before us," he said, "the distance is several thousand li: the territories of several Feudal Princes must be crossed to make this surprise attack. Your servant wonders whether the King would not reconsider the plan." But Duke Mu refusing the advice, Ch‛ien Hsu in sending forth the troops wore mourning hemp garments, and wept. The army on its march had to pass through Chou and was met on the east of it by a trader from Cheng Hsuan, Kao by name, who had come, inspired by the command of the Baron of Cheng, to welcome the weary troops of Ts‛in by an offering of 12 oxen. The three commanders were alarmed, and deliberated, saying they had marched several thousand li to a surprise attack on a people, but before they had reached their objective, people were aware of their purpose and so were prepared: the surprise therefore would be impossible. The troops were withdrawn and departed. Just then Duke Wen of Tsin fell sick and died; but before the burial had taken place, Hsien Chen spoke to the young king, Hsiang Kung, saying: "My former Prince, in days gone by, was friendly with Duke Mu, as is well known to everybody, and none of the Feudal Lords but was aware of it. But here we find that, even ere our dead King is buried, he (Mu) does not offer his condolences nor ask permission to pass over our territory. This is because he sees our King is dead and despises our new King. I beg for authority to attack him." This being granted, Hsien Chen called up the army and, meeting the forces of Ts‛in at Yao, routed them. He captured their three commanders and led them captive. On hearing these tidings, Duke Mu put on sack-cloth and wailed in the temple, as he related the events to the people. Lao Tzu says: (Chap. 71.) "TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE AND YET APPEAR NOT TO KNOW, IS THE HIGHEST ATTAINMENT. TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE AND YET GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF KNOWING, IS CHICANERY."29 In the choice of a wife, don't be led away by the senses.—After the death of the queen of Ch‛i, the King desired to choose a queen-consort from the concubines. The matter still pending, he took counsel with the ministerial body. Duke Hsueh, wishing to fall in with the purpose of the King, sent a present of ten ear-rings of which one pair was most beautiful. One morning, later, he enquired of the servitors which of the maids had the beautiful pair and advised the king to make her his consort. (He thus wished to curry favour with the king and the new queen). The king of Ch‛i was most delighted and heaped honours on Duke Hsueh. Thus when the master's desires are revealed to the servant, a handle is given the servant to control the master. Just as Lao Tzu says: (Chap. 52.) "PLUG UP THE AVENUE OF THE SENSES; CLOSE UP THE DOOR OF THE DESIRES. THIS WILL STOP THE CARES OF LIFE." Another case of Newton and the sands.—Lu Ao,30 a man haughty and proud, went touring towards the North Sea to find an arhat. Having crossed through to the limit of the North, he entered the Hsuan Ch‛üeh mountain and arrived at the top of the Meng Ku range. Here he met with a scholar-like person whose eyes were deep set, his temples were covered with jet black hair, tears stood in his eyes: he had the shoulders of a kite; his head was generous above and receding below. He seemed full of merriment, as he danced in the breezes. He looked at Lu Ao and appeared ill-pleased to see him there: the arms, that were swaying in his gyrations, he let fall and slipped behind a stone column. Lu Ao came forward and looked at him, just as he was seated on a tortoise shell and swallowing oysters. Lu Ao addressed him thus: "I thought I was the only individual who had turned his back on kith and kin to get a thorough observation of the uttermost parts of the world. As a young man I was fond of travel, nor have I changed my habits in old age; so having traversed the four quarters of the earth, I still had the extreme north unvisited. To-day I find you, Sir, here! May it not be possible that we may be friends?" The scholar-like man smilingly replied: "Hsi! you are from China and have chosen to come to this distant spot. But you musn't think this is very far. Here there are still the sun and moon, the stars, too, are hung out here. Here the Yin and Yang still operate, and the four seasons come and go. These parts compared with the unnameable places are still circumscribed. But where I roam to the south there is the boundless waste; to the north I stop in the profound gloom; to the west there is an illimitable vista; on the east I go beyond the orient. In these distant regions there is no firmament above nor earth below: there is no sound to be heard nor vista on which to gaze; still further on, there is only the sound as of rolling waters. Thither it is I have not been able to reach. Now Sir, having reached this place to which you have voyaged for the first time, you musn't think you have reached the end of the world: as a matter of fact you are far from that. Rest here, Sir: I must go to Han Man.31 beyond the range of the nine Heavens. I musn't abide here long." This strange man then lifted his arms and pulling together his body, forthwith disappeared in the clouds. Lu Ao, looking after him, saw him not. He stopped his chariot. Feeling annoyed with himself and with the turn things had taken, he said: "Compared with that person I am no more than a yellow heron or a worthless worm of the earth; I can only crawl a few feet in a whole day, whereas he has already sped a long way. Isn't it grievous!" Thus Chuang Tzu says: "THE CREATURES OF A SHORT YEAR ARE INFERIOR TO THOSE OF A LONG YEAR. A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS INFERIOR TO GREAT KNOWLEDGE. THE MOTH THAT SEES THE MORNING LIGHT, DIES BEFORE A MON'TH COMES ROUND. THE CICADA KNOWS NEITHER AN AUTUMN NOR SPRING." These words show clearly that there are many things we can never know.32 Let the King cultivate a conscience in the people.—Ch‛i Tzŭ ruled Shan Fu for three years. Wu Ma-ch‛i, making himself incognito, went about to see the effect of his administration. Seeing a fisherman throw back into the stream a fish he had taken, he asked the reason why he did so, telling him that fishermen as a rule kept the fish they had taken. What was the reason for his not doing so? The fisherman replied that Ch‛i Tzŭ didn't wish people to capture small fishes. That was the reason. Wu returned to Confucius and told him this, remarking that Ch‛i Tzŭ's virtue was perfect, in that he had induced men to act in their privacy as though a monitor stood by their side with the warning and admonitions of severe punishment. How could he have attained to this degree of excellence? Confucius replied: "I have seen the statement that in government sincerity in one thing will also appear in other things. Ch‛i Tzŭ has exercised this art in his administration." Lao Tzû puts it in this way: (Chap. 12.) "EJECT THIS TO ACCEPT THAT, i.e. SUPPRESS THE PASSIONS AND FOLLOW THE TAO." Follow the Spirit and cultivate the habit of Wu-wei.—The Spirit of the water said to Shadow: "Is Luminosity a spirit?" The Shadow replied, "Nay". The Spirit of the water said, "How do you know?" Shadow replied, "The light passes Fu Sang,33 the orient, and daily illumines the Universe. The brilliancy of the light, tinging the four seas and the world, has no means of entering the closed door and the stopped-up window, but spirit penetrates everywhere and floods everything. Above, it spreads to the very borders and limits of heaven, below it covers the earth, nourishing all creation. An image cannot be made of it. Up and down, even to the extremities of the world and beyond, the Spirit's energies operate. Luminosity cannot be such as spirit." As Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 43.) "THE MOST YIELDING THING IN THE WORLD INTERPENETRATES THE FIRMEST." Brilliancy asked Non-Being, "Have you really an existence or are you really non-existent?" Non-Being made no reply to this.35 Not able to see any objective form which he could address, he kept gazing on Non-Being's appearance, dim and vague. He gazed, but saw no manifest form; he listened, but discerned no sound; he clutched at it, but failed to grasp anything; he viewed it, but could not fathom it. Brilliancy exclaimed. "Wonderful! Who can attain to this? I can be the Invisible Spirit, but I cannot differentiate his qualities; I can get to be nothing, but I cannot attain to the elimination of nothing itself."36 As Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 43.) "SINCE THE NON-BEING ENTERS INTO THE NON-SPATIAL, I KNOW THEREFORE THAT WU-WEI IS PROFITABLE." The Supremacy of the Spirit.—Pei Kung Sheng37 meditated a revolution. After the end of an audience, he stood leaning on his lance; the point pricked his jaw and the blood flowed, but without his being conscious of it. When the people of Cheng heard of it, they said: "If he is unconscious of this, what will he not be unconscious of!" This shows that when the spirit follows ideas beyond the physical frame and the mind is flooded with thoughts and designs, there is no attention paid to wounds nearer home. Hence, when the mind is occupied with distant objects, things nearer the body are foregotten. Just as Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 47.) "BY NOT GOING OUT OF YOUR DOOR YOU MAY LEARN OF THE AFFAIRS OF THE COUNTRY. WITHOUT LOOKING OUT OF YOUR WINDOW, THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINE CAN BE KNOWN. THE FARTHER YOU TRAVEL IN YOUR RESEARCHES THE LESS YOU KNOW." The saying is illustrated by the foregoing historical episode. Forts are not the best guardians of a frontier.—The emperor Ts‛in,38 anxious about maintaining the empire he had won, assigned guardposts on the frontiers, built the Great Wall, organized likin stations and bridges, erected fortifications, prepared express services and appointed frontier officials. Nevertheless Liu Pang captured the empire most easily.39 When Wu Wang punished Chou and broke his power at Mu Yeh, he nevertheless sealed up the grave of Pi Kan (Chou's founder): he exhibited notices of immunity and protection over the shops of the merchants; he placed a guard at the door of Ch‛i Tzu.40 He offered his respects at the temple of Ch‛eng Ch‛iao; he distributed the grain at Chu Ch‛iao; he disbursed the money-hoards at Lu T‛ai; he broke his war drum and war staff; he unbent his bows and broke their strings; he abandoned his palace and lived in the suburbs to show the settlement of peace and the change of regime. He laid by the sword and adopted the ivory tablet,41 to show that all enmity had been laid aside. Whereupon the whole empire became jubilant and praised him. The Feudal Lords brought their tributes (silk) and paid court for 34 generations, without a break. As Lao Tzŭ says: (Chap. 27.) "HE WHO CLOSES WELL, THOUGH WITHOUT BAR AND BOLT, YET IT CANNOT BE OPENED. HE WHO BINDS WELL, THOUGH WITHOUT ROPE AND CORD, YET IT CANNOT BE UNTIED." The mental condition that will lead to mastery.—Yin Hsü tried to learn driving, for three years, without success. He was extremely troubled and thought hard on the matter. One night, in a dream, Ch‛iu Chia (the great charioteer) appeared as his teacher. Going to call, the following day, on his usual instructor, he was greeted with the remark, "It isn't that I dislike instructing you; I fear it is that you are incapable of instruction. To-day I am going to tell you the art of Ch‛iu Chia (I can't do more)." Yin Hsü turned to go, but did the usual courtesy saying: "Your pupil has met with great good fortune. I truly received his instruction in a dream last night." This is what Lao Tzü says: (Chap. 16.) "WHEN THE MIND IS CONVINCED OF THE UNREALITY OF VISIBLE THINGS AND HOLDS STEADFASTLY TO THIS UNDISTUBED STATE, THOUGH THE WHOLE CREATION IS SPREAD OUT BEFORE THE EYES, I LOOK TO THE MIND."42 Superior Men.—Formerly Sun Hsü Ao thrice gained the post of Prime Minister without showing any special gratification. He also vacated the office thrice without any compunction or manifestation of chagrin. Chi Tzû of Yen Ling was pressed by the Wu people to become their King, but refused the honour. Hsü Yu declined the throne and refused to accept it. An Tzû made an oath to Ts‛ui Shu that he would not change his loyalty to the old house, though he were to suffer death for it. All these loyal men had a vision of something beyond the present. Their spirits were indifferent to life and death, and so they were not to be beguiled by any material conditions or worldly goods. The spirit of Self-sacrifice.—The Ching nation had a man named Tz‛u Fei, who gained an excalibur in the army of the Kan country. On returning from the war, he had to cross a river. When midway, a violent storm was raised by Yang Hou, the spirit of the water, and two scaly dragons clutched the sides of the boat. Tz‛u Fei asked the ferrymen whether they had ever survived another such storm. They replied it was most unusual. So Tz‛u Fei with wide-open eyes, rolling up his sleeves and drawing out his sword exclaimed: "A soldier may be persuaded by the courteous way of kindness and justice, but he refuses to submit to intimidation. You rotten and despicable creatures of the river! I wouldn't grieve if I lost my precious sword in attacking you!" So, jumping into the river, he slashed at the dragons and cut off their heads. All the passengers were saved, and the wind and waves died away. Tz‛u Fei was made a Baron of Ching, with territory. Confucius, hearing of it, remarked, "Tz‛u Fei did well in drawing his sword at the hideous monsters of the river." Thus Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 75.) "HE WHO ACTS, REGARDLESS OF LIFE, IS WORTHIER THAN THE MAN WHO PUTS LIFE BEFORE ALL." The man of fickle purpose is unfit to be a leader.—Shun Yu K‛un of Ch‛i counselled King Wu to adopt the principle of Federation. The King accepted the advice and gave him ten fine chariots to go to Ching. When about to depart, his men held that federation was not good enough; so he offered the King the further advice of Imperialism.43 Just as he was departing with this alternative idea, the King stopped him, as he had lost confidence in a man who had as suddenly abandoned the purpose of federation, holding such a person incompetent to work out the principle of imperialism, as he was unstable. Words should be based on conviction, and business should be carried forward on fundamental principles. When these are both lost, devices, though many, are useless. This is the significance of the figure biting his finger cast on the Chou tripod.44 It showed the mind of the ancient kings how they did not care to use forced cleverness. Hence Sheng Tzû says, "A carpenter knows how to make a door. If he only made one to open and not to shut, he would not know the intention and raison d'être of a door." Personality must not be hampered.—Tien Chiu of the sect of Mei Tzû followed the master's method. Desiring to see King Hui of Ch‛ing, he hung up the reins of his fine carriage, vainly waiting audience. He remained a whole year at the court without getting an interview. Some one advised him to go and see the King of Ts‛u. This king received him gladly and gave him credentials to go as minister to Ch‛ing. On arriving, King Hui finding that he was duly accredited with a general's commission, received him willingly and gave him an audience. In leaving the palace, he sighed deeply, saying to those around him: "I stayed for three years at Ch‛ing without an audience; never did I imagine I could get one viâ Ts‛u." In business matters it may be said: "The near is distant, and the distant is near." Hence the ways of the great man may not be gauged by any routine formula. He arrives at his object in his own way, and that is all about it, as Kuan Tzu remarks: "An owl will not get to its destination if its wings are tied." The great depths of the Feng waters do not keep any dust and debris on the surface. Throw a needle in and it is quite visible at the bottom. It isn't the depth, but clearness that matters. Neither fish, turtle, dragon, nor snake care to appear within. For the same reason cereals will not grow on a stone, nor do deer and stags roam on the bare hills, since there is no cover to give them hiding. Generosity of spirit.—Once on a time, Chao Wen Tzû asked Shu Hsiang45 which of the six generals of Tsin would die first. He replied that it would be Chih of the centre army: "because," he said, "this man in administering, carried on his examination with harshness; he informed himself of vexatious details; he regarded loyalty to consist in being stingy to his underlings and reckoned that merit lay in gaining many good marks from the government. Such a person may be likened to one stretching leather. Pull it, and it can be made larger. Nevertheless, this is the way to tear it. Lao Tzû says: "HE WHO ADMINISTERS IN A GENEROUS SPIRIT WILL HAVE A SINCERE AND SIMPLE PEOPLE: HE WHO IS PETTYFOGGING AND VEXATIOUS WILL HAVE A PEOPLE IN POVERTY." Strict justice and loyalty.—The Duke of Ching asked T‛ai P‛u what was the effect of his teaching? And the reply was: "It can shake the Earth." An Tzû, the Prime Minister, went to interview the duke, and the duke said to him, "T‛ai P‛u told me his ability could shake the Earth. Now how can he shake the Earth?" An Tzû was silent and made no reply. He went out and spoke to T‛ai P‛u saying, "I saw formerly the planet Kou in the region of Fang Hsin (###). Did it shake the earth?" T‛ai P‛u replied, "Naturally it did." An Tzû withdrew and T‛ai P‛u went to the Duke, saying he didn't mean to say that he could shake earth, but that the earth was about to shake from natural causes. Tien Tzû Yang, hearing this, said, "The perplexing silence of An Tzû arose from his desire to shield T‛ai P‛u from death." His interview with T‛ai P‛u showed his desire to know the truth, fearing lest the king should have deceived him in what he had said. It may be truly said that An Tzû acted loyally to his superior and graciously towards those under him. As Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 58.) "SQUARE IN CONDUCT WITHOUT DEFECTS, TO BE JUSTLY STRICT WITHOUT INJURING, STERN IN DUTY WITHOUT IN JUSTICE." A mistaken judgement.—Viscount Wei Wen, at a feast he gave to his ministers at Yang Ch‛ü (Tai Yuan), being somewhat under the influence of liquor, sighed deeply, as he said: "I alone have no minister like to Yu Jang." For loyalty Ch‛un Chung poured out a large cupful of liquor and held it up to the king saying: "May it please you to drink up this 'as a fine.'" "Why so," replied the king. "Your servant has heard it said, that the carrying out of the requests of parents is not thought of as filial piety. A just prince does not think of the loyalty of ministers who carry out their duties." Now what kind of man was Yu Jang's king? He was a defeated prince. Viscount Wen drank the cup at one gulp, saying: "The deed of Yu Jang arose from the lack of loyal ministers of the type of Kuan Chung and Pao Hsü." Loyalty is seen in times of anarchy. Hence Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 18.) "THE ANARCHY OF A NATION REVEALS LOYAL MINISTERS." Do not be puffed up by knowledge.—When Confucius was viewing the fane of Duke Huan, in which was a vessel called Yu Chih,—or the leaning tube,—he exclaimed: "How splendid that we have seen this vessel!" Turning to his disciples, he said, "Boys, bring some water." When the vessel was half filled, it stood upright; but when the water reached the brim, the centre of gravity was shifted and the vessel overturned. Suddenly Confucius changed countenance saying, "Perfect is the lesson of holding the full vessel!" Tzû Kung, standing at his side, said, "Please tell us more of this holding of a full vessel." "Superfluity brings its penalty. There is danger in superabundance," said Confucius. "What do you mean by this?" "When a thing has reached luxuriance, decay has also set in. Mirth is followed by melancholy; the sun goes down after its zenith; a full moon wanes." Hence quick intelligence and a rich wisdom should be preserved by simplicity, encyclopaedic information and wide attainments by lowliness, martial strength and bold courage by awe, great wealth and position by economy, universal beneficence by reserve and modesty. It was by observing these five qualities that the empire was preserved. History affirms that the spirit of these five principles could not be contravened with impunity. As Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 15.) "THEY WHO ADHERE TO THIS DOCTRINE HAVE NO DESIRE FOR EXUBERANCE. ONLY BY NOT BEING OVERFLOWING, ONE IS ABLE TO (LIVE) QUIETLY AND NOT TO HAVE NOTORIETY AND THUS BE ABLE TO KEEP A STATE OF MODESTY WITHOUT OUTWARD OSTENTATION." A criticism of current methods of government which were based on opportunism and therefore a great contrast to true government based on the Tao.—Wu Wang enquired of T‛ai Kung an opinion on his action in punishing Chou, whether the world would not look on it as the murder of a master by his servant, and whether his fears were groundless that the example might be followed by later ages, giving rise to constant employment of troops and the perpetuation of strifes. T‛ai Kung replied that the king's question was most excellent, saying, in illustration, that sportsmen were anxious lest the hit was too slight before they had the prey: but, once they had the bag, the fear was lest the flesh had been torn too much. Did the king therefore desire to hold the nation securely for long, he should shut up the avenue of the senses, i.e. the eye, ear, nose, mouth of the people. The Tao was useless for the people and education but an evil.47 When the people are all pleased with their occupations and their desires all gratified, the cap of the general may be changed for that of the scholar. Let the sword be sheathed and the ivory displayed. Let the people be made to be in mourning for three years so that the population be diminished. Let the high refuse office and the masses yield their rights, and so keep them from strifes and struggles. Let them rejoice in social feasts and be amused with music and orchestras: let them be awed by religion: multiply etiquettes and swell ceremonies in profusion, so that simplicity of nature may be buried in these artificialities: let burials be costly and mourning be protracted, in order to weaken the family power. Let them spend freely on pearls and ornaments: on silk tassels elaborately worked, so that they may be impoverished. Let them dig deep trenches and build high walls to exhaust their energies. Impoverished in family wealth, diminished in population, their whole attention will be concerned with their poverties. Let social reforms move on these lines and it will be possible to keep the country without the fear of loss. As Lao Tzû says: (Chap. 37.) WHEN DESIRES RE-ENTER THE HEART, THEY SHOULD BE SUPPRESSED BY THE UNADORNED SUBSTANCE OF THE NAMELESS TAO. Index Previous Next

If the philosopher says that mental phenomena cannot be accounted for wholly in physiological terms, and that the behaviour of living organisms cannot be exhaustively described by laws of mechanics, he not only cannot be scientifically refuted, but he will find a number of scientific men to agree with him. And if he says that the whole evolutionary process cannot be attributed to chance, but points to the gradual realization of some gupreme purpose, he will still find scientific men willing to follow him—a little faint, perhaps, but pursuing. The Times, London.

The title is Fan Lun ###. The meaning of fan is a large expanse of water; overflowing water. Here it is used to describe a wide survey of history from the beginning of time, to discover the gains and losses, with the tao as the standard of measurement; and everything is referred to it as the unity. An ancient king1 did not wear the crown and royal robes to govern the empire. He cherished the people and Kingship lies in good government not in pomp. made no use of degrading punishments. He gave wealth to the people rather than extracted it from them. The empire did not mind the absence of regal symbols, since it respected the virtues of his person. During such a period, the Yin and Yang were in harmonious cooperation; the rain and wind were seasonable, and creation flourished. Nests could be looked into and the birds fondled. Wild beasts could be held in the leash and led about.2 What need was there for the authorities to wear broad phylacteries and the embroidered symbols of power, such as a crown, etc.? In ancient times, the people, living in humid plains, dug caves further and further into the earth. When the Sages ameliorated hard social conditions. people were not able to bear the severities of winter with its cold and frosts and fogs, nor the heat of summer with its stinging bites of mosquitoes and gnats, the Sages arose and planned their relief. They dug foundations, and made timber houses for them; they made them of rafters, above, and covered roof and sides with boards, as a protection against wind and rain and a shelter from cold and heat. These measures gave satisfaction to the people. Pei Yu was the first tailor to fashion clothes. People twisted hemp with their fingers and made it by spinning into cloth of web and woof. Thus they had the wherewith to cover their persons and fight the cold. The ground was tilled, in primitive times, with sharp-pointed sticks and hoed with the bones of shell fish (clam). They cut grass with a wooden sickle and carried water in earthen vessels. The people worked hard, with only meagre gains. Later generations made ploughs and hoes and picks for mowing and hoeing; they drew water up in buckets, by means of a winch. The people were eased and got more profitable returns. In ancient times, as great rivers and famous channels interrupted communication and prevented intercourse, they Transport improved. scooped out timber and joined logs together for rafts and boats. Thus it was possible to interchange commodities, and by the saddling of horses to cover great distances. The labour of carrying heavy loads was lightened by the creation of wheels, made by bending wood, and making it into carts to which were harnessed horses and kine, so that travel to distant parts was possible without fatigue. Men had no means of defence against the depradations of ravenous beasts and wild animals, until swords and pikes were cast and fashioned into defensive weapons. It was only then possible to ward them off and keep men free from their spoliations. Thus people, driven by necessity of their difficulties, sought means of relief. Forced by their trials, they devised means of alleviation. By empirical knowledge, every one sought means of relief from his necessitous circumstances. Finding out the economical, they gradually changed their implements to suit their requirements. The customary tool need not be followed, and implements of the past need not be conformed to. Thus the standards of former kings are changed. We may instance the case of marriage. The ancient custom determined that the parties themselves should not Not incumbent to follow convention. arrange the marriage ceremony (but that it should be left to relations), Shun, however, married without telling his people about it. This was quite not permissible from the point of view of propriety. The rule in the selection of an heir was that the eldest be chosen; but Wen Wang passed by Pei I Kuo, the eldest, and designated Wu Wang. This was constitutionally irregular. It was the custom that people should marry only on attaining the age of thirty, but Wen Wang begat Wu Wang when he was only fifteen. Such was against the law. The House of Hsia placed the tablet of a deceased member to the east of the central steps; the House of Yin Custom only temporary, placed it between the central pillars; the House of Chou on the west. These practices differed. The House of Yu used earthenware coffins. The Hsia House made a brick grave and reclined the corpse within, covering it over with earth. The Yin House used coffins made of cypress. The Chou House decorated the walls of the grave (with feathers). Thus the practices of burial have been dissimilar. Again, the house of Hsia offered their sacrifices in their houses at midnight (in the dark). The Yin people sacrificed in the Ancestral Hall in the twilight. The Chou people sacrificed from sunrise to evening, in the Audience Hall. This shows the existence of diversity in the practice of sacrifices. Yao had the Ta Chang imperial music: Shun used the Chin Shao music, Yü the Ta Hsia, T‛ang the Ta Hu, Chou the Wu-Hsiang, These show that the music used by the different dynasties differed. Thus we see that whilst there was a diversity in the practices of the Five Emperors,4 nevertheless their virtues equally embraced the whole empire. The Three Kings used different methods; but the renown of each equally became a tradition. Now all these changed their methods in unison with the times, and regulated their etiquette and music and may be abrogated. accordingly. As an illustration, take the case of a blind musician who, in fixing the bridge of a psaltery (violin), moves it up and down into position. Though he has no definite measurements to guide him, yet he gets the tune (key) unerringly. Therefore he who is versed in the spirit of the art of music, can fix the key. The discernment being within the mind, he can judge and decide the proper positions of the whole gamut. Duke Shao of Lu had a foster mother whom he loved. When she died, he wore a white linen cap in mourning. Thus arose the custom of mourning for foster mothers. Yang Hou slew Liao Hou (at a feast) and took his wife. Owing to this, the custom of women's presence at a feast was abrogated.5 Thus when the practices of the Ancient Kings appeared to be unsuitable to new times, they were abandoned; but when suitable to and compatible with the demands of still later times, they were revived and observed. These show that there have been no uniform standards of ceremonies and music, in the past. Sages regulated them according to the times. They were not bound by any. There is only one fundamental and unvarying law in all rule, that is the good of the people. There is a constant The good of the people principle in governing and in education, of which the important factor is, that commands should be such as can be observed readily. There is no need for any literal imitation of the ancients, if methods in use are beneficial to the people. There is no need to follow precedent, if existing plans meet the needs of the time. The decay of Hsia and Shang came about through obstinate conservatism and refusal to change decaying methods. This resulted in the end of the dynasties. The The unvarying law. rise of the Three Kingdoms was due to the use of new methods, independent of the traditionary, and the exercise of rule on these new lines. Hence, the Sages legislated to suit the changing times and reformed the ceremonies according to Obstinate conservatism fatal. modified customs and new ideas. Dress and utensils have followed the law of utility. Laws and regulations have been adopted fitting to the occasion. Hence, it cannot be said that any wrong has been done in changing ancient practices, and to follow established custom is not altogether praiseworthy. A hundred streams issue from different springs; but Methods differ. The aim one. all converge towards the one centre, the sea. Sage statesmen varied in their methods and regulations; but all concentrated their thoughts towards good rule. It was when the princely rule was failing, that poetry was created in the hope of reviving it. When the Why the Odes were made House of Chou was crumbling, and propriety and justice were decadent, the Annals were written (as a stimulating admonition to the world). These classics are extolled by those who studied them. But it must not be forgotten that they are the creations of decadent ages. Scholars drunk in their principles and art as an education, for a guidance to the world. But surely they are not comparable to the golden age of the Three Kingdoms. To regard the Odes and Annals as the way of the ancients, and honour them as such, may be very well; but we have to remember that there is still something But Tao is the vital matter. better, viz:—the ages before the Odes and Annals were composed. A Tao that is imperfect is not comparable to the Tao in its perfection. The humming of the Odes of former Kings is inferior to a realization of the principles that inspired them. But to put into words this inspiration is not possible. Words cannot express this. Hence this saying.6 THE TAO THAT CAN BE EXPRESSED IN WORDS IS NOT THE ETERNAL TAO. Duke Chou, in his service of Wen Wang, arrogated no arbitrary authority. He administered nothing on his Duke of Chou own responsibility. He had the air of an incompetent individual (as though his person were unable to carry his clothes): he seemed as though he could not express his mind. In attendance on Wen Wang, he appeared most pliable and submissive, as though he could not sustain his position, always showing a fear lest he should fail. In this he may be said to be a true son. When Wu Wang died, and Cheng Wang was still young, Duke Chou carried on the work of Wen Wang. He attended to the Census, transacted the affairs of administration, suppressed the disturbances of the I and Ti: he executed his two brothers, Kuan and Tsai. He sat with his back to the screen and faced south;8 and gave audience to the Feudal Lords. He had no counsellor in administering rewards and punishments, in organizing and deciding.9 His authority was respected everywhere, and his renown filled the land. In this he may be said to be perfect as a great statesman. After Ch‛eng Wang had grown to manhood, the Duke handed back to him the insignia of empire and once more took the position of facing north, offering the homage and service of a minister. He acted only after consultation and did the business of his office after receiving the imperial reply. He showed no trace of an ambitious will nor any shade of boastfulness of his merits. Thus he may be said to be a perfect minister. Thus we see, in the person of one man, that, in order to sustain the duties of the several times, he had to make three changes. How much more necessary is a change incumbent on a prince who experiences many changes or on a country which has a succession of kings! Man, according to his position, follows his taste and predilections and relies on his power to satisfy what his desires command. But it is plain that the application of one uniform principle or fixed rule to the demands of every different time and the appreciation of the mating of them to every issue, will never result in a proper equilibrium. Therefore, the sage's spring of action is called the Tao. His deeds are called affairs (Shih). The Tao is like a bell The Tao is unchangeable. or a stone musical instrument. Their tunes are unvarying. Affairs may be likened to the violin and psaltery. Each string has its tone. Different strings imply different plans. Laws, ceremonies, justice are the instruments of governing men, and are not the cause or raison d'être of government, which must be in the tao of the ruler. Hence (jen) humanity is the web, and justice (i) is the woof. These are the unchanging principles of every age in the art of governing. Methods vary. But as to man, an estimate of his worth and examination of his suitability to the times must be made. Given these, what matters it, though there be a daily change in events and circumstances. Apart from the fundamental moral principles, just enumerated, there can be no unchanging law for all time. Harmony with the times, agreeableness with human experience, conformity to the laws of Nature, acceptance by the Divinity, these are the principles which will ensure a proper government. In ancient times, men were simple and sincere; work was real; commerce was honest, and woman was virtuous and faithful. Under such conditions it was an easy matter for government and education to convert people and correct Laws must suit the times customs. But now that virtue is much on the wane and the manners of the people superficial, it would be idle to attempt to apply a law which may have been applicable to an age full of sincerity and honesty, to a people already lawless and base. It would be just like an attempt to control a restive horse without bit, bridle, stirrups and a whip. Of old, Shen Nung10 never issued laws; nevertheless the people followed him. T‛ang and Yü had a system of laws without punishments. The House of Chow governed by faithfulness: they never broke their word. The House of Yin demanded an oath from the people. The House of Chou went further and entered into covenant by blood.9a When we come to consider the present age, when the people think lightly of the shame of castigation and punishment, and do not consider a lustful disposition degrading, any attempt to apply the way of Shen Nung in government would lead to inevitable anarchy. Pei Ch‛eng Tzŭ Kao refused the position of a feudal lord and continued to till his land. This renunciation won universal admiration. But should a man now refuse office and go into retirement, he would be looked an as the lowest in the district. He could never have the same standing as was awarded to such independence of mind, in olden times. In olden times, the soldier was simply armed with bow and sword. Their pikes had no points, their long lances no barbs. But soldiers of a later age must be equipped with battering rams for attack; the defenders must have shields to stop the arrows. The bow became a multiple one and it was needful to have a cow drag the carriage into battle.11 In olden times it was not the custom to slay youths in taking a kingdom nor to make captives of men whose temples were getting grey. What was counted good in ancient times is now laughed at. What was looked on as glory in the past is now regarded as a shame. The art of ruling as carried on by the ancients is now considered anarchical and out of date. Though Shen Nung and Fu Hsi dispensed no rewards and punishments people did no wrong. Nevertheless, legislators cannot (now), in imitation of them, do without law and succeed in governing men. Shun used the lancers and dances and the rebellious aborigines became willing subjects. Notwithstanding, pacificators cannot hang up their instruments and do without soldiers and arms in governing a violent people. From these considerations it is evident that the nature of legislation must be determined, as to its means and use, Times and needs must determine nature of legislation. by a consideration of national conditions; and regard to its nature must be determined by the urgency of the times. It should be swift and severe in disturbances, easy and tolerant in times of tranquility. Implements are changed with the times and fixed to suit circumstances, and the legislation of the sage is such that all things settle down in mutual conformity. The worthies organize ceremonies so that even bad men pay heed to them. The people under law cannot respond to a very idealistic regime; those under the restraints of ceremonies cannot meet every change (i.e., the rustic knows the simple rules of social etiquette, but he would be at a loss in the ceremonies of the court). It is useless to commission one who has no ear for music to produce a tune. He who has no appreciation of the fundamental origins of order and disorder of human nature should not be entrusted with the making of laws. There must be the understanding ear and clear vision before the Tao can be entrusted to anyone for action. Yin altered the regime of Hsia; Chou altered that of Yin; and the dynasties of the Annals changed the customs of Chou. Since the ceremonies of the Three Dynasties were dissimilar, what need is there for us to follow and conform to antiquity? A fundamental principle is that the leaders should create, and associates should follow. They who know the sources from which law and government spring, will change their methods in response to the times. They who have no apprehension of the fountain-head of law and the art of ruling, can never maintain tranquility, even though they follow ancient ways. Legislation should change with the times; ceremonies and etiquette should alter with new ideas. Students who Die-hards. A square peg in a round hole. follow traditional methods; they who walk after the ways of predecessors, who stick to habits, think no government can be carried on except on these traditional lines. This attitude may be expressed by the saying "He tries to fit a square peg into a round hole." It would be difficult to obtain, by any such procedure, satisfactory and firm issues, such as are desired. At present the Confucianist and Meist extol the Three Dynasties, the Wen and Wu systems,12 but do not act up Superficial Reforms. to their professions. They preach what they do not practise. They reprobate the present manners, but do not reform them. They thus do what they condemn. They praise what is good, but operate what is bad. Thus they are full of anxieties the whole time, but fail to give any help in ruling. They toil with their bodies and exercise their intelligence without giving any help to the King or the age. Modern artists paint monstrosities, such as demons and nymphs, and dislike to paint common objects, such as dogs and horses, because demons and nymphs never appear, whereas dogs and horses may daily be seen.13 (People could say whether the art was good and correct them). Now it is not possible without knowledge to meet critical situations. People of even limited intelligence can well enough praise the merits of the ancients. Words alone are a simple matter. The sages, however, refuse to bring into being laws that cannot be put into practice. Good kings will not listen to advice that cannot be verified in practice. There is nothing greater in the fluid of Nature than the creative harmony. When this creative spirit operates, Yin and Yang work, day and night are distinguished, and creation moves into birth; seed sown in spring matures in autumn. Both in birth and fruition Nature of the rule of the Tao-Sage. there must be the essence of the creative life (ho). Hence, the Tao of the sage is generous and yet dignified, severe and yet benign, pliant and yet firm, stern and yet benevolent. Too much sternness will defeat its own ends by He finds the equilibrium. breaking the offender; too much leniency will lead to laxity. The sage stands just midway between harshness and benignity, and so he finds the very root of the Tao. An accumulation of the Yin fluid will result in depression; an accumulation of the Yang fluid will lead to overbuoyancy. When the Yin and Yang fluids combine, the happy medium is found resulting in creative harmony. A line used for measuring can be both rolled up and stretched out. Drawn out and expanded, it is straight and a measurement taken by it. It is in some similar way that the sage uses his body. Now a rope has length without breadth. Though short, it is interminable, i.e., it can be used successively in measurement. It is straight and yet not stiff. Its results are and harmony lasting, i.e., the measurements, etc., which it has taken are determined and cannot be altered. These are the qualities of the line. And its symbolic qualities are seen in the acts of the sage. Hence, he appears benign in the exercise of his kindness; being benign, he does not strike terror. The enforcement of severity implies harshness; but where there is pure harshness, concord is absent. The application of love tends to leniency; pure leniency results in disobedience to commands. The use of punishment means cruelty, and cruelty wears away the spirit of affection. In olden times, Duke Chi Chien lost control of his kingdom, by committing the whole power to his great Ruler must not be too indulgent. ministers. His generals, prime minister and regents assumed authority, and these parties created factions, so that justice failed in the land. This resulted in Ch‛en Ch‛eng, T‛ien Ch‛ang, Ch‛ih I and Tzŭ P‛i, slaying their master (the Duke). Lü Shih overthrew the imperial altars, and Ch‛en got the Kingdom. This tragic result arose from the indulgence (of the ruler). On the other hand, Cheng Tzû Yang was harsh, he loved to decapitate and punish. He lacked the reforming spirit in his punishments. His bow was broken by one of his ministers, and he, fearing decapitation for his fault, slew Tzŭ Yang with a crowbar in a melée. This was the result of harsh severity. People do not understand the power of the Tao, so But must have a dominating conduct. when they see the gentle being despoiled, they all strive to be aggressive; seeing the aggressive coming to a bad end, they strive to be gentle,—a result arising from the lack of one dominating principle of conduct. So when any untoward event is heard of or seen, they have no definite means to meet it. Take an illustration. A person who does not know the music of a gong, will sing too low in the bass and fail to recover; the tenor will get too high and screech and lose the harmony. As a contrast, the lyric singing of Han Nyo, Tsing Ch‛ing, Hsieh T‛an, the ballads of Hou Tung and Yen Sheng came hot from the soul of these singers and welled up from their inspired feelings, with a richness of voice, so that every note was correct and harmonized with the listener's mind. The secret was that they had a mastery of their music which gave them control over the And exercise control. high and the low without outward or artificial help; they had the scale and time in their own minds. Again a blind man, wending his way, follows the direction of others. He goes to the right or left as directed. A gentleman gets out of his way; but a rustic may cause him to swerve into a ditch, because he cannot see. Therefore the two generals Lou Tzŭ and Wu Ch‛o lost Hsi Ho (territory of the Wei Kingdom); Min Wang delegated full power to Nao Ch‛ih and died at Tung Miao. These tragic events were caused by lack of proper plans and forethought in their defensive methods, and in the king's failure to exercise strong control. On the contrary, Wen Wang used his two ministers Lu Wang and Kung Shih and extended his empire. Tsŭ Wang used only one minister, Sun Shu Ao, and became the supreme ruler. These men had method in their defensive operations, and exercised control. The orchestra, drum and dance are the instruments of music; obeisances and bowing are the practices for cultivating etiquette. Generous expenditure in funerals and protracted mourning in the obsequies of the dead, were established by Confucius. But these proprieties were condemned by Mei Tzŭ. Universal love, altruism, respect for the saints, adoration of the spirits, disbelief in destiny, were the creations of Mei Tzû; but these practices and ideas were condemned by Yang. The preservation of one's nature, the maintenance of reality and refusal to let circumstances entangle one's person, were the creations of Yang; but they were criticised by Mencius. Thus, each man has Each faculty in life must be used in the right sphere. his own method and ideas in the principles he adopts and the opinions he opposes. Therefore, right and wrong have each their place. These found, there can be no mistake. When the right and the wrong are not properly placed, there can be nothing right. The Tan Hsueh, Tai Ming, Fan Chiung Kung Tung, Ta Hsia Pei Shih, Ch‛i Hung Hsin Ku tribes have each their standards of what is right and wrong; their customs respectively vary. But in China, king and minister, husband and wife, father and son, have their laws of mutual service. In these views of right and wrong, what one person looks on as right the other regards as wrong, and vice versa. Just as, for example, a hatchet, an axe, a bradawl, a file each has its own work. When Yü was King, he heard all the affairs of empire by the help of the five musical tones.14 There was hung the bell, the drum, the sonorous stone, the bell and clappers, to receive and give notice of the arrival of visitors from the Four Parts. The purpose of this arrangement may be explained in the words of the Classics "Those who have anything to teach me on principles, let the drum be struck: Those who have any instructions on right, let the bell be struck; those who have anything to say on State affairs let the clappers be sounded; those who have urgent words on a crisis, let the sonorous stone be sounded; those who have pleas should strike the flat drum with the clappers." Under such a regime he was busy. He got up from his meal ten times; often he had no time to dress his hair after a bath, but answered the summons clutching his hair in his hand. Such was his toil in the service of the people; and if anyone failed to be good and loyal under such an example, it was the person's fault.15 In the age of Ts‛in16 (the fashion was) to build lofty belvederes and grand-stands, to lay out extensive gardens Militarism is costly in lives an suffering. and mark out long race-courses and cast big bronze men. Soldiers were deputed to guard the frontier walls, and tributes of corn and levy of money were received for the public use. Poll taxes were collected and sent to the Exchequer. Strong men were conscripted and sent to Lin Ch‛ao and Ti Tao on the West, to Kuei Chi and Fu Shih, on the East, to Yu Chang and Kuei Lin, on the South, and to Fei Hu and Yang Yuan, on the North, viz.: to most distant parts and on laborious expeditions. Along the roads corpses filled the ditches. The good and loyal men who protested against these unjust practices were called "ill-omened fellows"; and the preachers of humanity and justice were laughed at as fanatics. When we come to the epoch of the Emperor Kao, we find that he preserved tottering states and continued princely houses who left no issue. In elevating great principles through the empire, he was full of zeal; his body burned with ardour and he rolled up his sleeves in taking up arms to control the lawless, beseeching the Almighty on behalf of the people. During this period, the valiant, valorous, brave and gallant braved death in desert and marsh. The vanguard received arrow and stone; the rearguard dropped into ditches and gullies. Wounded a hundred times, they offered their whole life to contest the possession of power. Burning with military ardour, they trod the path of full sacrifice, surrendering their precarious lives. At that time those people who wore flowing garments and broad sashes (scholars) and who preached Confucianism and Meism, were looked on with disfavour. Thus it continued until the anarchy was overcome. After the settlement of the country the regime of Wen was resumed and the glory of Wu reestablished. When the emperor's title to the royal power was secure, the house of Lin created its own symbolic crown. The doctrines of the literati, of Mei, of Lu and of Ch‛u were unified and the traditional teachings of the former sages were understood and practised. The banners of the King were displayed and the great coach17 ridden in; the nine pennants gonfallon were furled; the great bell sounded; the musical drum played; the imperial music Hsien Ch‛ih was presented and the Kan Chi dance performed. The emperor would hesitate to order a recrudesence of militarism in the time of peace. Thus, during this period, the civil and military, with their blessings and evils, alternated according to the times. The militarists of the present time despise the civilians. The pacificists (civil) condemn the militarists. There are mutual recriminations. Both fail to appreciate the different needs of alternating times and the necessity for the application of divers methods, each suitable to its time. Each faction looks at the matter from a one-sided point of view. So one party, looking only to the eastern side, does not see the west window; looking at the north he does not see the south. Thus, as there is no comprehensive view, there Morality essential to national well-being can to be no kind of understanding. Moral truth is the principle by which nations are preserved. Families decay because morality is being clogged. Yao had not a hundred families under his rule. Shun had but a pin point of territory. Howbeit they gained the empire in the end. Yü had not even 18 people nor Tang as much as seven li of land, yet finally they ruled the Feudal Lords. Wen Wang was placed between Ch‛i and Chou, with no more of a territory than 100 li; yet he rose to be emperor. These Rise and fall of Nations men exercised the kingly way.19 On the other hand, Hsia, Chieh, Yin and Chou were most powerful. Wherever the foot of man went or boat penetrated was within their territories; nevertheless, these kings were slain by the hand of man and became the laughing-stock of the world. These men practised the way of decay. Therefore, the sages judge of success by the life of the people. The indications of the rise and decay of morality appear beforehand in life and manners. Hence, they who have hold of the right way are bound to grow, though small at first. They who have the seed of death in them and are bound to come to an end, even though they have attained to the possession of great power. Consider; when Hsia20 was about to fall, Chung Ku, the Prime Minister, anticipating the disaster, fled beforehand to Shang; just three years afterwards, Chieh, the emperor, perished. When Yin was about to be overthrown, Huang and I, ministers, went over to Wen Wang, just a year before the death of Chou. We thus see that the sages, in their discernment of the symptoms of rise and fall, and the crises of success and failure, have no need to wait for the actual days of Ming T‛ao and Yeh Chia.21 Now, people seeing that success comes to the strong, measure their land and count their numbers. Thinking that Not by power nor might. gain comes to the wealthy, they total up their corn and calculate their cash. On such lines the prince of a thousand chariots could not fail to become the dominant power, and the power of a myriad chariots would dissipate every sign of decay. Were these the symptoms of preservation and decay it would be easy to know them! A rustic man and an unsophisticated woman could discourse on them. However these are not the means of success, nor the law of continuance, Hsiang Tzû of Chao, by means of the one city of Tsin Yang, became an autocrat, Chih Pei through possessing San Tsin, fell a victim.22 Min Wang perished, though he ruled Reign of Law essential. the Great Ch‛i. T‛ien Tan won renown by the possession of Chieh Mei, Hence we see that kingdoms, however great, if decadent, cannot be upheld, but where there is law, small countries may not be slighted. From these examples we may learn that the preservation of kingdoms does not depend on their bigness but on the reign of law; and their ruin results from the loss of truth and not from their littleness. The Ode says:—"God looked towards the West and favoured that reign."22a These words speak of locality, indicating the removal of Yin (on the east) by the advance of Chou (from the west). Therefore, we find this great principle, that princes of anarchical countries who strive to extend their territory, Humanity and Justice. but who neglect to fill the land with the practices of humanity and justice, who seek to aggrandise their power and who fail to advance truth and righteousness, neglect the very means that could establish and preserve them and create the very conditions of decay and ruin. For these reasons, when Chieh became the prisoner (of T‛ang) in Chiao Men, he did not even then repent of his evil ways, but rather only regretted that he had not killed T‛ang, when he had him prisoner in Hsin Tai.23 Likewise Chou, when he was confined in Hsuan Shih, had no sorrow for his wickedness, but only regretted that he had not killed Wen Wang at Chin Li.24 These two princes, when they were mighty and strong, failed to realize their wrong-doing. If they had Avengers of might. cultivated the way of right and justice, T‛ang and Wu would not have dared even to come and pay obeisance to them; much less would they have ventured to attack and slay them! These men confused the lights of Heaven and lost the hearts of men. Even insignificant mortals—let alone T‛ang and Wu—would have invaded their lands. Themselves unmindful of their conduct, their deeds paved the way to their own ruin. There are more than one Tang and Wu in the world; even though these were killed, others would arise to continue their work. Furthermore, Tang and Wu, though small and weak at first, eventually rose to imperial power, because they maintained the way of truth. Chieh and Chou were placed in positions of immense power, yet were despoiled of everything, because they failed to walk in the paths of rectitude. This is the guiding law. If the principles of a government by right are not acted on, but rather the selfish policy of personal gain is followed, which ends in seizure of territory, then such a course leads directly to ruin. When Wu Wang overthrew Yin, some of his people wished to build a fortress on the Wu Hsing mountain. Forts cannot preserve a nation. The Duke of Chou opposed the scheme, justifying his opposition by maintaining that the Wu Hsing mountain was a position of strength and inaccessible, naturally. "If my virtue," he said, "can spread over the empire, people would find it difficult to bring their tribute and reports over these heights, if fortified. Were I to act in an arbitrary and illegal way, the people would fall on me and make difficulties." Based on such principle, the house lasted for thirty-six generations without losing any of its territory. The Duke of Chou, in thus refusing to build fortifications, may be said to have conserved the interests of the kingdom. There is an old saying of a Chou book: "The words of the authorities are put in practice by the subjects. The words of the subjects are put into use by the authorities. They thus mutually help in carrying on the country." The words of the authorities are the prince's law, the words of the people are a guide to meet the needs of the country and carry on administration satisfactorily. These are the ways to success, of expediency and failure. The sages, alone, know what is expedient; others look on a literal faithfulness in words, or a strict adherence to time Minor sins permissible to shield great principles. as excellent conduct for ruling a country. The father of Chih Kung appropriated some strayed sheep, and his son confessed. Wei Sheng lost his life in keeping an assignation. Now this testimony of the son to the crime of the father, who was drowned for his crime, was an act of literal faithfulness. Faith was carried to an extreme; but such acts are little esteemed. It is generally held a great fault for the soldier to go beyond his command. When the Duke Mu moved his soldiers to make a surprise attack on the Cheng country, he had to pass Chou, on his march eastward. Hsü An-kao, a merchant of Cheng, travelling west with cattle to the markets, met the Ts‛in commander on the confines of Chou and Cheng. He feigned to have an order from the Baron of Cheng. And so he told the Commander that he was A deception justified deputed to come with a present of 12 heads of cattle to him. This he did to stop the army and save the Cheng nation. Thus, it comes to pass, sometimes, in certain things, that fidelity becomes a fault and the telling of an untruth a great merit. Under what circumstance, then, can it be said that equivocation is praiseworthy and meritorious? An example will help us in answering. Kung Wang of Ts‛u, once upon a time, was captured at Yin Ling. P‛an Wang, Yang T‛ien Chi, Huang Shuai Wei, Kung Sun Ping made a compact to rescue their captured King. Kung Wang feigned great fear and stood trembling, as though he had lost all his manhood. Huang Shuai Wei kicked him, whereupon the king, showing great anger at this indignity, rushed after them, and they took him off. Now all this feigning was flagrant deception, but justifiable by the circumstance. Ts‛ang Wu Jao married a wife and gave her to his brother because of her beauty. But this act, though showing an affectionate loyalty, should not have been done. We may, then, judge that the sage considers the circumstances and suits his methods to the end in view; he The Sage guided by times and seasons. accommodates his actions to the times and has no fixed methods of application to any and all occasions. Now he bends, now he is unbendable; now he yields, now he is adamantine. He has no unalterable mode of action. According as the times are difficult or easy, he humbles himself, swaying like the reed before the wind, yet not so as to give way before an aggrandising power. Strong and firm, his resolution mounts high like the floating clouds and yet without any haughtiness of spirit. He responds to every change according to the call of the time and occasion. Intercourse, according to the rules of propriety, demand that the minister should bend the knee and bow the head in reverence and respect. But in an exiguous crisis, no one would affirm that the lifting of the foot to kick the person of the prince would be wrong. Therefore, if etiquette should he wanting at times, it arises from the exigency of the occasion. Filial service demands a pleasant countenance, a humble demeanour and an orderly deportment from the son, when he stoops to tie the gaiter The right of impiety. and the shoe of the father; but when one's father is drowning, the son may pull the father out by the hair, to save him. No one would think the son guilty of any contumely to the person of a father, in so doing. Thus we see that the pulling of a father by the hair or the mention of the King's name25 in prayer, is a natural act demanded by the circumstances. This is the demand of expediency. Listen to the words of Confucius: "Those who study together may not equally find the way. There may even be a common agreement on theories, but it does not follow that all will be established in the way. Even though there be a common practice, it may be that all will not concur in a matter of expediency." Analects BK IX. Chap. 29. The Sage, alone, is able to see the way of expediency. Therefore, what appears, at first, incompatible, later on The Sage avoids varnish and seeks reality. turns out to be correct, which shows a knowledge of what is expedient. A loss of expediency turns a good occasion into a failure. From all this we see that etiquette is but an outward varnish on the real material, an artificially created decoration, and is of no use in a sudden crisis. So the Sage carries on the conventions of society by means of etiquette, but applies reality in the administration of affairs, fitting occasion to the needs of the case. He is not bound by any one custom nor tied to any unchangeable or crystallized form. For this reason his failures are few, his successes many. His commands carry to all parts of the empire without opposition. The ape has a cognizance of the past, but none of the future. The Eastern magpie26 knows the future, but not the past. This is a differentiation in merits and shortcomings. Formerly Chang Hung was the astrologer of the house of Chou. There were neither laws of climatic conditions nor of changes in weather, with which he was not conversant; nevertheless he was not able to foresee his own death through a carriage accident. Su Ch‛in was a common man who generally rode shanks's pony. But he rose to travel in a stylish carriage and be the adviser of great kings. Mere capacity not enough. The Feudal Lords unhesitatingly followed his advice, nevertheless, he, too, did not succeed in avoiding a wreck when travelling. Hsü Yen Wang's duties lay in great philanthropy, and he did the works of mercy and justice. The whole Thirty-six Kingdoms paid him court; nevertheless he was killed, and having neither sons nor grandsons, his house perished. Ta Fu Chung was the right-hand man of Wang Chu: Ch‛ien of Yueh righted his wrongs and wiped out his disgrace by capturing the person of Ch‛ien Fu, his enemy, He extended the national territories by about a thousand li. Yet he threw himself from the top of the tower, Shu Lou, (given him by the king), and died. All these persons were versed in the essentials of government and in the means of self-preservation. Chang Hung was proficient in astrology but not in human affairs. Su Ts‛in knew the art of weighing the merit of plans and schemes, but did not know what constituted misfortune and happiness. Hsü Yen Wang was a proficient protagonist in the exercises of love and mercy, but not in the signs of the times. Ta Fu Chung knew how to be loyal, but not how to plan for his own person. The sages did not so act. They weighed every matter in all their deliberations of world conditions and acted Sages careful in planning. accordingly. Their policies were regulated in view of circumstances. Therefore, whilst the greatest need of empire was met, the petty needs of a locality were not neglected for a moment. Let us suppose the empire in anarchy, law and order being suspended, the principles of government abandoned, the strong and weak in mutual conflict, everyone striving to gain power, the distinction of prince and minister lost, the differentiation of classes extinct, the military verminous from constant service, the swallows building their nests in the camps, and the soldier with never a respite from service: only when the country had come to these straits, did the people realize the gravity of affairs and feel a sense of responsibility: but it was too late to revive the country. Disaster was inevitable. Suppose the country at rest, the government in concord, the people in comfort and peace, high and low in mutual harmony, and then those persons who only think of getting into the public service, come out with zeal and energy to serve their country, when all is calm. They would inevitably be the subject of public castigation. Now both those who realized the sense of danger too tardily, and those who come out into public service only during an era of peace, are useless. On the contrary, the action of the sage is very different. Only such as he can accommodate himself to obscurity and publicity; he, alone, can be pliant or obdurate; he, alone, can be active or quiet, according to the times. He will act according to the circumstance. He will apprehend what direction forces will take. He will study the fluctuations of affairs in their beginnings, act compatibly with their transformations and respond to them as they shift. Therefore, he will have no and in weighing events. embarrassments during his life's activities. Thus we see there will be matters that can be performed, but not discussed; there will be matters that can be discussed, but not performed. Some that are difficult of completion may be easily ruined. Some will be easy of action, but difficult to bring to fruition. The former means that some plans can be acted on and that others must be abandoned. The second means that some plans are wholly wrong. The next means that what is difficult of completion and easily spoilt pertains to reputation. These four categories are what the sage, alone, can discern clearly and to which he pays great attention. It is the sage that gains a yard by giving an ell. This is his method of action. Superior men may swerve a little from Minor faults no bar to service. the strict rules of morality, in order to gain the full truth. This is their method of action. As examples we may quote the case of the Duke of Chou who bore the obloquy of putting his brother to death. Huan Kung of Ch‛i carries the odium of raising strife in the country. Notwithstanding, the Duke of Chou wore out the infelicity of his act, by the justice inherent in his case. And Huan Kung slew the dragon of ill repute, by his valorous merits: so both these are amongst the worthies. Now were we to hide and tarnish a life of brilliancy for even small faults, there never would be any great kings or worthy ministers. When the eye is troubled with a little sore, provided it does not interfere with sight, no one would think of cauterizing it. When the throat is sore, provided it does not interfere with breathing, no one would apply the knife to it. The mounds along the river bank are innumerable; yet the country generally may be said to be level. An obstacle in flowing water raises wavelets; but the high and low being near and many, it may be said that the surface is even. Formerly, Ts‛ao Tzŭ, a general of Luh, was thrice defeated in battle and lost 1,000 li of land. Ts‛ao Tzŭ never looked back or retraced his steps, but went forward, ready, if need be, to die in battle, and thought the worst that could happen would be no more than a reputation of a loser of battles and a captured general. Notwithstanding, Ts‛ao Tzŭ was not mortified by his defeats but rather felt ashamed of dying without achieving his purpose; so, during the treaty at Kô, he drew out his dagger and, clutching the coat of Huan Kung, threatened to kill him. He thus won back in a day what he had lost in three defeats. The renown of his valour spread over the empire and his deeds were enshrined in the Luh nation. Kuan Chung27 attempted to rescue his King, Baron Chin, but he cannot be praised for intelligence, for he fled and escaped and had no share in the tragic death of his King (as a minister should). For this he cannot be called valorous. Bound and handcuffed and yet unashamed of his chains, he cannot be said to be faithful. For these unmeritorious acts, an ordinary man would not claim his friendship nor would a prince ever make a minister of him! Nevertheless, freed from the shackles of bondage after becoming the leading minister in Ch‛i, he united the 9 Feudal states into one empire. Had he rushed to death and lost his life, without regard to later plans for the empire, he would never have accomplished the work of unifying the empire under one dominant power. As things are now, princes do not weigh the supreme merit of their ministers, nor regard their preeminent abilities, as a whole, but rather select them for some small personal Small defects must not stand in the way of service. goodness, and thus they miss the chance of getting really able men. Therefore, when men are distinguished by a generous humanity, there is no need to enquire into some small blemish or some crux in their characters, or to criticise them for some minor failt, when their fame is established. No leviathan or sturgeon can be bred in a puddle, made by rain in the footprints of an ox, and a beehive cannot be the nest of an ostrich. A small form cannot contain a large body. No nature is wholly free from some shortcoming. It is enough to weigh the general purpose of the life. A trifling shortcoming must not be allowed to entangle the whole person. Of course, if a person fails to have any great scheme or purpose in life, then he is useless for great office, even though he may be well-spoken-of in his village. Yen Hsin Chu of Liang Fu was a bandit, but rose to be a loyal minister of Ch‛i. Tuan Kan Mu was a Character considered as a whole. piece-goods broker of Ts‛in and became the instuctor of Baron Wen. Meng Mao married his sister-in-law and had five sons by her; but he became the Prime Minister of Wei. He pacified its turbulence and dissipated the national troubles. Ching Yang was a drunkard, an unkempt fellow and a whoremonger; but as a General of Wei, he brought the Feudal Lords to their knees. Now all these men had each his shortcomings; yet their work and renown have not perished. This may be attributed to the great powers of their character, as a whole. Chi Huang, Ch‛en Chung Tzŭ were worthy men and independent in action. They refused to enter the Too idealistic standards. unwholesome atmosphere of the Court, nor would they eat the food of anarchy and so they died of hunger. Their idealism failed wholly to save the country and throne, because they lost the conception of the general good in a narrow view of personal integrity. Thus we see that a narrow view of life will never achieve anything great. Men have no use for a censorious critic of the age. The knarled rings in a big body are more Moral indiscretions not a bar. widely distributed; a big foot will make a long pace. There never has been a wholly perfect man from the begining till now. So the I Ching says: "Small mishaps may, if they do not discourage one, lead on to fortune." This means that there are none without some faults and indiscretions: the only thing to be feared is lest these small faults should get the mastery of life. Yao, Shun, Tang and Wu were masters of the world during its most brilliant periods. Ch‛i Huan and Tsin Wen were the heroic figures of the Five Autocracies.28 Yet Yao had the name of being unkind, Shun bears the reproach of haughtiness towards his father. Tang and Wu are sullied by those affairs of slaying people. The Five Barons have the reputation of planning rebellions. Thus, no gentleman will demand a perfect and complete virtue in anyone individual. You cannot lop off a part of a perfect limb and correct moral character, nor tear a piece from a virtuous life. A person of extensive knowledge must not be defamed (though he may have a blot on the scutcheon). A perfect knowledge of civil and military things must not be asked of any one man. What can be expected from one person should not be above what one man's strength can bear. Personal virtue comes by the cultivation of the tao; never demand of a person more than what the strength of one man can easily render. The Moral culture not easy. cultivation of the person in virtue is a most difficult business. When this difficult work is achieved, the person's conduct is high. To make any service possible implies that the demand shall be moderate. The precious jade-piece of the house of Hsia Hou is not without flaws. A most brilliant diamond is not free from lines of crystallization, Yet these masterpieces with their little flaws are regarded as the most precious things in the empire; small blemishes are not enough to hide their great beauty. It were indeed difficult to find any worthy men in the empire, if men of purpose were lost because of their shortcomings rather than prized for their great achievements. Pei Li Hsi was a cattle-broker, Yi Yin a cook, T‛ai Kung was a butcher, Ning Ch‛i a ballad singer. But subsequently their merits as ministers are not forgotten. Before they rose to power, the multitude only saw the Discernment in choosing men. lowliness of their avocations and their degrading occupations. They failed to appreciate their general excellencies and thought of them as degenerates. It needed the penetration of the kingly mind to see their worth. It was only after they became the assistants of Kings and were made the Prime Ministers of the Feudal Barons, that the populace saw their worth and realized that they were exceptional men. To be advanced from the kitchen, to emerge from the butchery, to be raised, after deliverance from the prisoner's shackles, to be exalted from a broker's position, for such, I say, to be bathed in the bath of nectar and purified by the heating streams of the sun, exalted to high positions in the Court and seated in high office of State, on the right hand of the Three Dukes, for them to stand unabashed in the Palace of the Kingdom and feel pride of dignity abroad amongst the Barons, with powers matching those of princes,—all this shows that it required the penetration of Yao to discern their merits, whilst they were as yet undistinguished. This is the way Yao knew Shun. The populace only became cognizant of his merits after he had completed his great work and established his reputation. Such, only, is the popular knowledge of Shun. Were anyone to rely merely on his own eyes and intelligence, Given only to a few. without having the proper methods of judging a worthy, and were he to go and try to find him in palace or hamlet, he would assuredly miss many a one. Ordinary men cannot go and imitate Yao in his discovery of Shun, since they have not the acumen for discovering men. Now, as a rule, all things have a great similarity. There is outwardly but little difference between one man and another. And mediocre princes and governors of the world may be deceived easily by appearances. A white bone much resembles ivory; most men fail to distinguish the one from the other. So with men. The specious kind appears to have goodness, but it is not really so. The bravado kind has not really got courage. Now, did men really appear as distinct in character as a jade does from stone, or beauty from ugliness, it would be easy to judge them. There are four varieties of plants very much alike and hard to be distinguished, so that people often mistake them. Similarly the sword-maker may err in thinking a Sword is like (the famous) Mo Hsieh sword. Only the expert, O Yen, could give an authoritative opinion. The diamond-cutter may Easy to err in judgement. mistake a piece of jade, thinking it to be an imitation stone, the P‛i. But I Tun, alone, would never miss the lustre. The prince of An was misaken in a wicked minister who had only the devices and sharpness of a knave. But the perfect gentleman is discerned only by the sage who can see clearly the true marks by slight indications, just as the length of a snake may be gauged by the head uplifted just one foot. The size of an elephant may be guessed from its tusk. The expert in swords, Chu Yung Tzu of Hsieh, was able to discern the keenness of the edge by an apparent image of the Fox cuirass on the blade.29 If the waters of the Chih and Sheng rivers were mixed, Hsü Erh and I Yü could yet disinguish the one from the other by sipping the mixture, distinguishing the sweet and bitter. In like manner, too, the Sage determines a worthy man from a single act of his, and can thus differentiate between a worthy and an unworthy one. Confucius, by refusing the magistracy of Ling Ch‛in, showed that he was free from the love of empty gain. By the refusal of Imperial power, Hsü Yu manifested, by this one act, the purity of his life. Similarly, it might be said that he who has not been burnt will not grasp fire, since Taste and act show character. he knows it burns. He who has not been wounded wlll not clutch a blade because he sees its danger. We may thus gather that a glance is enough for a man to decide, withou actual experience, so that the character of a person may be known from a mere trifle. Hence, in judging a person's principles, if he is of the nobility, see what theories he advances; if wealthy, see how he dispenses his money; if poor, see what he declines; if a commoner sees what he will not do; if impoverished, see what he will not accept. You will find out the courage of a person if he refuses to yield to difficulties; if tempted by enjoyments and luxuries, see how he comports himself. Surrounded by wealth and riches, it will be possible to judge of his benevolence; agitated by fears, it will be possible to decide his virtues. These various symptoms embrace the whole of human nature. The ancient method of rewards was good, involving but little expenditure of money, yet resulting in wide-spread Value of rewards and punishments. influence. Their method of punishment was good. It was thus, by a few exemplary acts they stopped all wickedness. Their method of giving was also good. It was discreet but effective in results. Their method of exacting revenue was also excellent and brought in a large supply from the contributors without compunction. Examples of such may be given from history. Chao Hsiang Tzŭ, after the raising of the investment of Tsin Yang, bestowed the chief reward on Wu Jen Kao Hê. Others criticised this, alleging that the man did but little to save the situation when they were besieged in Tsin Yang. So the King explained his action by saying, "When I was besieged and my house and country were in critical danger, all my ministers were disrespectful to me in my plight: Wu, alone, preserved still the proper courtesies between prince and minister in this time of humiliaton." This act had great influence in the whole empire by inspiring the feeling of loyalty. None there was, but showed respect to his King after this example. This, then, is an illustration of the saying, 'All were inspired by an exemplary reward.' Again, Wei Kung of Ch‛i prepared a cauldron of boiling oil in the central area of his court, and addressing the officer of Wu Yen, said, "The report of your fine reputation reached my ears daily, but when I came to examine the facts, I found that your district was a waste, your granaries empty and prisons full. It was by wickedness that you served me." He was, thereupon, thrust into the cauldron. After this exemplary punishment, for the next 32 years, articles dropped on the road and lost were quite safe. This is an example of the saying, "By an exemplary punishment crime is stopped." Once an expediticn lost a favourite horse which kicked the traces and ran away. It was captured by some rustics Art of conciliation. and eaten. When the Duke Mu Kung saw them, he said, "You ate my horse, but I fear it will hurt you since you did not take wine with it. Let me now invite you all to take some wine, which will save you from any ill effects." A year after this event, King Kung of Ts‛in pressed the Duke hard in the battle at Han. The soldiers of his enemies were about to capture his carriage, when 300 local people rushed to his rescue and saved him. These were the people who had eaten his horse and had been regaled with wine by him. This is an example of the saying, "Discretion in giving largesse leads to influential results." Further, Huan Kung of Ch‛i, purposing a military expedition, was short of equipment for his troops. So he issued a notice that great criminals should be pardoned, if they supplied him with the materials for making cuirasses: criminals should be redeemed by a gift of metal, the quantity to be determined by the gravity of the guilt. Unsuccessful litigants were to be consoled, if they gave a gift of arrows. The people thought well of the plan and worked to make arrows from poles; metal was melted into swords. Thus, the lawless were subdued, and the unruly corrected. In this way he became the dominant lord of the empire. This illustrates the saying, "They contributed much without grumbling." The sage, then, will influence the people by that which commands their goodwill and restrain evil-doors by following what the people detest. So that, by the exemplary reward of one man, the King wins popular applause; by an exemplary punishment of one man, all the people are filled with fear. Thus the perfect way of rewards demands no lavish expenditure. The most perfect form of punishment does not need that many suffer. Confucius slew Shao Cheng and stopped crime in Luh. By putting Teng Hsi to death, Tzû Ch‛an closed up the ways of criminals in Chêng. Thus the distant regions are warned by an intimate act, and the big known from the little. Similarly the Sage, by a few acts, is able to reach and rule the wide stretches of empire. There is nothing in the world easier than goodness and nothing more difficult than depravity. By "goodness" is Easy to be good. meant tranquility of mind, undisturbed by cupidity. By "depravity" is meant a grasping spirit with many cravings. He who is satisfied with the simple needs of his nature, refusing the superfluous delights of the world, will not be tempted by any seductions. He who follows the law of his nature, will preserve his soul, without any inward conflicts. Hence the statement "It is easy to be good." Clambering up city walls, scaling dangerous heights, thieving the official keys, forging Not easy to be bad. and stealing official money, rebelling and murdering, lying and bearing false witness, are acts contrary to human nature. Hence the saying, "It is difficult to be bad." The reason that men commit criminal acts and endanger their lives springs from unsatiated appetites which are uncontrolled by proper restraints. How may this be proved? The promulgated laws of the Empire state: "The removers of graves shall be decapitated; thieves and bandits shall be punished." These are under the administration of the authorities. The law commands that the police should always be on the track of criminals and catch them. Now if an ignorant man or stupid woman knows well there is no escape for criminals, transgressors of the law cannot hope to evade the penalty. Nevertheless the good-for-nothing people who cannot control their lusts, brave the penalty of death, and incur the obloquy of punishment. In spite of this terrifying result, the executioners lead an endless train of guilty persons to execution after the autumn assize, and the blood of the culprits who die deluges the streets. It is the lust for gain that brings people to this tragic end. Armies in battle, ready for action, one facing the other, are addressed by their respective generals in such words as, "Whoever slays an enemy shall be loaded with honours; the craven shall be decapitated." Notwithstanding this, the front line of soldiers, being incapable of advancing and of winning the promised laurels of a victor, came under the sentence of decapitation. The very act of fleeing, through fear of death, brought on them the certainty of death as a punishment. Hence the gain, on one side, becomes a loss, and vice versa. Thus the intimate connection of infelicity should not be neglected. So that in the desire of gaining a certain end, the good is missed. As an example take the instance in Tzŭ, where some passengers travelling by boat met with a big wind, which swept the waves over the boat. The passengers, in their fright, jumped into the water. They wished to live and feared death; but the attempt to escape it, in one form, brought it on them, in another form. Men governed by the appetites are just like these. A Ch‛i individual stole some money at a crowded bazaar. He was walking away with it when the police asked him why it was that he stole the money in the market. The thief replied that the sight of the money filled his mind to the exclusion of the policeman. So his desires made him forgetful of the nature of his act. The Sage, therefore, watches the fluctuations of the emotions; he weighs the measures of repugnance and The psychology of crime. admiration; he understands the feelings of joy and anger. When the emotions are under proper control, no excesses, therefore, come to disturb life: no faults can incriminate, when the act of taking and giving are rightful. No sorrow can approach, when admiration and repugnance are regulated; when anger and joy are within proper limits, no compunctions can molest. Thus, then, the man who is under the rule of reason does not hanker after money nor does Be ruled by reason. he decline good luck when it comes. What he has he will not throw away and he makes no demand for that which he does not possess. He is always satisfied. The drops caught from the eaves can fill a bowl; a broken cup can never ladle out all the waters of a Yellow river or a Yangtse. Men's hearts are very similar to the things just instanced. They should be governed as to their needs, by the due measure of their wants. Just enough food to satisfy one's hunger and enough clothes to protect the body against the cold should suffice for a form of six feet. Where there is no rule or measure to govern one's thrift, it would be found that the highest position in the land would be insufficient to give satisfaction, and the wealth of the empire inadequate to give enjoyment to such a person. Sun Hsü Ao thrice declined the premiership without any regrets. The seductive attractions of position and emoluments could not entangle him. Chung Tzû Fei stood unmoved when the two dragons clutched his boat, the monsters failed to frighten him. When the heart of the sage is at ease and his mind firm, and when his spirit rules within, nothing can raise doubts and fears. A drunken man stoops in entering a city gate as though it were a small door in his house; he enters the deep waters of rivers as though they were but the little streams in the valley, because his spirit is besotted by wine. The timid, seeing a pillar in the night, thinks it a ghost; he imagines a stone lying prone to be a tiger. Fear has robbed him of his spirit. There are no such things as ghosts and goblins. When male and female are mated and the Yin and Yang crossed, the feathered tribes appear as fowls and such like; and the hairy tribe as foals and colts. The soft element became skin and flesh, the hard element teeth and horns. But as they are common sights, they are not objects of strange curiosity. The water breeds dragons and sea serpents, mountains grow metal and jade, and these no one looks on as objects of wonder. An old cypress takes fire by spontaneous combustion; old corpses become phosphorescent; yet people do not think these things strange. The Hsiao Yang30 stalks the mountains. The undines (Yin Hsiang) are begotten by the waters. The trees give birth to the Pi Fang, fabulous bird, (Hamadryad) (Satyr). The well begets the Fen Yang Rain naiad. That people should think these strange comes from their rarity and the mind's superficial acquaintance with things. The sage, alone, knows these fantastic things; people of understanding, alone, comprehend the use of them. The strange and unnatural create doubt in the minds of the generality of men. Those things which are not understood, and on which the people are not informed, are taken as spiritual manifestations and are used as means to warn and restrain the people. All these appearances are used as parabolic teaching. Popular Use of myths superstitions became educative. The following are examples. The people say that pork is the best offering to the spirits of ancestors. In the burial obsequies of the dead, furs must not be used. The ancestral spirit will strike the arms of those playing with sharp swords. To make a pillow of the door step, and sleep there, is unlucky, since ghosts pass in and out that way and step on the sleeper's head. And so on. Now all such sayings as these are not found written in any code, and the Sage does not speak of any such popular superstition. There is an explanation of them all. Take the superstition that pork is the best offering to a dead ancestor. A pig is really no better than any other wild beast or deer, but it is used in the service of the spirits simply because it is the animal most commonly fed in every home, and is an article easily got. It is held in esteem for this purpose because of its accessibility. It is not meant that the dead should not be buried in furs because they are not equally serviceable as silks and linen for warmth to the body, but because people regard it difficult to obtain them and so look upon them as articles of great value. And they could not be handed down from father to son, if they were buried; whilst, at the same time, they are useless to the dead but of great utility to the living. Hence they are loth to use furs for this purpose. The saying that the spirit of the dead will strike those playing with swords, arises from accidents that may happen. From an accidental wound, strife and enmity often come, eventuating in punishment and death. The ignorant do not appreciate these results, so the saying is used to restrain them. The folklore that ghosts will step on those who sleep in doorways may equally be attributable to social utility. If ghosts are immaterial beings, they have no need of doors and windows for access; if they depend on holes for ingress and egress, there would be no occasion for them to step on anyone. The fact is, doorways and windows are the passages for wind and air. These elements are the result of the clashing forces, Yin and Yang; so that it is just here they strike anyone with a cold, and illness will be the result. Hence the idea of ghosts and spirits is used to make people desist from the practice and save them from harm. It is impossible to record all similar folk-lore found in books and script, and store them up in the archives for public instruction; therefore, the ignorant are instructed by means of these mythological sayings, and are being instructed in those things of whose harm they are ignorant, by such inculcation, and by the dread of demons of which use is made. This folklore is of great antiquity. The uninitiated, therefore, look upon ghosts and demons as being inauspicious, or auspicious, as the case may be, and fear them accordingly. The bold do not believe in them, and those of understanding know the real significance of these superstitions. It must not be thought that the spirits can eat the sacrifices offered by the people to the well, kitchen, door, window, basket, brook, mortar, pestle, and so on; but the sacrifices offered to them are a display of the gratitude of people to the spirits for their boundless kindness and trouble. Hence, whenever there is an act of worship for kindness, it is an occasion for remembering their meritorious service. T‛ai Shan is the only mountain that can give rise to the stone round which the flock of clouds collect which, uniting into one whole cumulus, will disperse in rain, in a short time. The streams and rivers are the only channels that run unceasingly, even when the land is parched by a three years drought, fertilizing the land and enriching every Why sacrifice? plant. These are the reasons why the King seasonably offers them sacrifices. So the horse, which has eased the labours of man, is buried when it dies. The ox, when it dies, is stretched out on a carriage. Ox and horse should not be forgotten for their services. How much more so should this be the case in respect of man! The Sage, therefore, pays great attention to humanity and multiplies the ceremonials of gratitude and thanksgiving. For such reasons, Yen Ti,31 reigning under the symbolic essence of fire, was created to be the Kitchen God. Yü spent a laborious life in the service of the empire and was deified as the lares of the home. Hou Chi,32 on his death, was made the god of agriculture for his great services to men in the art of Why demon worship? tilling the ground. I eliminated the pests from the empire and was deified as the rustic divinity of the farmer. These instances supply the reasons for the creation of the cult of demon worship. Once upon a time there was a man in North Ts‛u, who had the reputation of being a pugilist and helping the oppressed with his fists. His children often exhorted him not to do so and to give up his gymnastic cult, but without avail. A local thief broke into his dwelling one night and, in this way, his gymnastic exercises came to be known to the officials. The pugilist was frightened and fled. He was pursued and captured; but those people whom he had helped, in the past, came to his rescue and fought for him. Thus escaping, he returned and spoke to his children, saying "You have often advised me to desist from my exercises, but I have saved the family this evening by my arts. So that such advice as you gave was useless." This man knew how to deliver himself from trouble, but not how to keep himself from trouble. His wisdom may truly be doubted. A man of Sung, about to give his daughter in marriage, said to her: "I fear this marriage cannot be consummated, unless you can make a little money yourself. It would be easy to marry you, could you get a little wealth." The girl understood what her father hinted at and purloined the private goods of her grandfather. When the grandfather knew of the theft, he drove the girl from home. The father did not blame himself for this, but rather prided himself on the success of his scheme. He knew how to get some stolen money, but failed to apprehend that this stolen money would lead to making the girl an out-cast. Such reasoning as the father's arouses our ire. A man who overloaded a hired conveyance so that no ox could draw it, fearing lest the axle would break, thought it well to strengthen the shafts, without realizing that the added bit of material would more swiftly cause the axle to break. The King of Ts‛u, when he went to hunt the hare, provided himself with two jade ornaments on his girdle, in case one should break in the chase; but the very fact of two being in juxtaposition, one knocking against the other, made it all the more easy for them both to be broken. The government of a disturbed nation is very similar to the experiences recorded in these examples. The eyes of the owl are big, but not of such keen vision as those of rats. A centipede has many feet, but is not so quick as a snake, in its motion. Thus we may see that the big is unequal to the little and the many unequal to the few. Even the strong may be weak and the weak strong; the man of the weak constitution is he who suddenly dies. Who but the sage can discern the true merits of the great and little, the lordly and the lowly? These cannot be decided by appearances. Wherever the Tao exists, there will be honour. An illustration will make this plain. When the emperor abides in the Chiao pavilion, the officers of state hasten with him, the ministers walk alongside, those who sit bend their heads, those who stand do so reverently. At this very time in the Ming T‛ang and the T‛ai Miao,33 hats are hung, swords are unstrapped, girdles are unloosed and sleepers lie about. And this not because the Chiao pavilion is big and the others small, but the presence of the emperor makes the difference and gives the dignity. Now the honour conferred by the Heavenly Doctrine is even greater than that conferred by the presence of the King. Wherever it is, all creation looks up to it with reverence. Hibernating insects, the jays in their nests, all turn their faces towards this one divine unity, the centre of perfect creative harmony. If the King could verily maintain the endowments of the Tao, in perfect harmony, then birds and beasts, plants and trees would all, without exception, share in the divine enrichment. How much more would man so share! Index Previous Next

"No more the thirsty entrance of this soil Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood. No more shall trenching war channel her fields Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes, Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bred, Did lately meet in the intestine shock And furious close of civil butchery, Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks, March all one way: and be no more opposed Against acquaintance, kindred and allies: The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife, No more shall cut his master." SHAKESPEARE.

Kao Yu's explanation of the title Ping Lueh (###) is: Military functions are for defence against incipient anarchy (nip it in the bud), consonant with the Chinese saying ### 'take it before it comes on.' To do this well lies in tactics. In ancient times the military was employed neither for the enlargement of territory, nor for lust of gain, but Military defensive in purpose. rather its use arose from the wish, either to preserve decaying houses, to continue the succession of some dynasty, or the pacification of rebellious people and the elimination of the perils that afflicted the people. All creatures of flesh and blood are endowed with teeth, horns, claws, or heels. Those with horns butt; Animals endowed with arms. those with teeth bite; those with venom poison; and those with heels kick. They like to play and gambol when pleased, and to hurt when angry. This is nature. The appetites of man demand food and clothes: and since there are not enough for them all, they congregate in Social struggles. communities, in various clans, high and low, in different places. When goods are unequally distributed, contending communities struggle for possession; and it follows that the strong oppress the weak, and the bold terrorize the timid. Since man is without the strong muscle and bone of the animals, and lacks the advantages of tooth and claw, Sage works for social justice. he therefore cuts hide for armour and makes swords of iron. And it comes to pass that the greedy and gluttonous rob and despoil others, disturbing the tranquillity of the world. Anon, the wise man, grieved, appears to quell the rapacity of the unruly, to bring peace to disturbed peoples and to define the path of duty. He extirpates the dangerous and exterminates the foul, thus making the turbid clear and the perilous places safe. In this way a peaceful settlement is obtained. The origin and sources of militarism are to be found in the distant past. Huang Ti, once upon a time, warred Soldiers were for defence. against Yen Ti, in the deserts of Cho Lu. Chuen Hsü made war on Kung Kung. Yao fought against the unrighteous king on the banks of the Tan river. Yao punished the Three Aborigines.1 Ch‛i fought Yu Hu. From the era of the Five Emperors, the land has not been free from the clash of arms, especially in times of decay and degeneration. Now the reason for the existence of soldiers arose from the necessity of preventing lawlessness and the To quell the lawless. quelling of anarchy. Because Yen Ti was a fire-pest, he was captured by Huang Ti. And Kung Kung was slain by Chuan Hsü, because he was corrupt as the guardian against floods. These culprits had the knowledge of truth and the guidance of morals; but since they refused to be led by such, they were disciplined by the majesty of power. Unsubmissive to the power of majesty, they were coerced by military force. These were the principles on which the Sage Kings acted in the employment of soldiers. The method may be compared to the combing of the hair, and the hoeing of the ground. The elimination was that of weeds only. The hurt from this was little; the advantage was great. No crimes are greater than the killing of the innocent, and the feeding of a lot of unprincipled rulers. There can be no calamity greater than the grabbing of territory, done When bad men held military power. in order to satisfy the lust of an ambitious individual. Take the case of Chieh of Hsia and that of Chou of Yin. If they had been taken in hand immediately, when the people began to suffer, it would have never come about that a person would be roasted on hot irons, as happened after the iniquitous reign had gone on for long. Again if Li of Tsin and Kang of Sung, who lost their lives and ruined their countries by unprincipled acts, had been arrested early in their evil course, it could never have come Execution of kings justified. about that they robbed in their aggression and in their violence as they did. Anarchy of the realm causes general suffering to the people. One man, by pandering to his vicious desires, fills the land with woe. Such outrages are intolerable to the law of Heaven. The restraint of violence and the punishment of anarchy are the prime reasons for the establishment of Kings set up for order. kings. But it has come about that kings take up advantage of the might of the myriad people and turn it to an instrument for burdening others, and use it as an occasion for rapine and slaughter. They play the tiger and the panther. Is it not justifiable, then, to exterminate such monsters? If you want to breed Tyrants to be exterminated. fish in a lake, you must first destroy the otters. If you wish to breed animals, you must first destroy the wolves. How much more is such a course necessary in the case of shepherding the people! Hence the militarism of the autocrat and king was a matter of anxious consideration by conference, of arrangement by plans, and of support by justice. The object was not to overthrow the existing but to keep waning powers alive. Therefore, when it was heard that the prince of an enemy country was adding oppression to oppression on his people, troops were put in motion and came to the confines of his country. He was reprimanded for his injustice, Just to discipline unruly princes. and rebuked for his errors. When the army reached his kingdom, the commandant issued general orders to his troops forbidding the felling of trees, the injuring of graves, the burning of crops, the destruction of property, the enslavement of the people, the robbing of animals. An announcement was also made to the people saying that the prince of their country was arrogant towards Heaven, a reviler of the spirits, his judgments were unjust and he killed the innocent. For these crimes he was doomed by Heaven and hated by the people. The army had come to oust the unrighteous prince and put a righteous one in his place. Whoever trespasses against the law of Heaven is the leader of traitors to the people. He himself must die and his clan be exterminated. A family giving ear to the proclamation would have a family's reward; a hamlet would have a hamlet's; a village a village's; a district a district's. The country that surrenders will have its freedom. In a word, the punishment of the kingdom shall not fall Banish a bad prince but treat his people kindly. on the people. With the punishment of the king, and a change of government, the gentry shall be honoured, the worthy employed, the orphans and widows shall be cared for, and kindness shown to the poor and needy. Further, innocent prisoners shall be released and the meritorious shall be rewarded. Such justice and clemency will ensure the allegiance of the people, who will open their doors to the invading army and await its coming. Tribute will be willingly given in grain and goods. The people's only fear will be lest it should not come. Such were the principles by which Tang and Wu won the kingship, and the method by which Duke Huan2 of Ch‛i became the leader of the hegemony and autocrats. We thus clearly see that when a king is without the Tao, his subjects look on the invading soldiers even as the parched land looks for rain and the thirsty long for water. When just soldiers, therefore, come, there would be no war. The soldiers of later times, in every case, even when the king is without the Tao, dig moats and trenches; they Altruistic idea lost. hold the bastions and guard the city. The invading army comes to the attack with an aim of conquest and aggrandisement, and not for the purpose of curbing the wrongdoer and cleaning the land from iniquity. Thus it is we have come to have slain men in war, and streams of blood in the daily and continuous sanguingary conflicts. The merits of the autocrats and kings no longer appear in the world, for the reason that it is all for self now. When the cause of war arises from the lust of territory, it would be vain to hope for true kingship. He who fights In just war the goodwill of the people essential. for his own self, ends by finding no accruing merit. When, on the contrary, a case arises which involves the interests of the people all will help: but an aggressor for personal ends will always be left to his fate. He who has the goodwill of the people, will be strong in spite of small resources. The powerful monarch, on the other hand, who has lost the goodwill of the people, is certain to perish. If an army has lost the Tao it is weak; if it possesses the Tao, it is strong. If the commandant loses the Tao, he will be powerless, but if he has the Tao, he will be proficient. If a country is imbued with the Tao, it will abide: if it loses the Tao, it will perish. What is meant by the Tao? To embody the Round and3 imitate the Square.4 It carries the Yin and embraces the Yang: Its left is soft, its right hard. Its base is dark, its crown is light. Its transformations are irregular (inconstant). It possesses the root of the Unity in order to satisfy the whole creation.5 This is Enlightenment!6 By "Round" is meant Heaven, and by "Square," Earth. There is no beginning point in the rotundity of Heaven; there is no boundary to the squareness of Earth, hence it is not possible to peer in through its doors. Heaven revolves, bringing fecundity at every turn; yet it has no shape or form. Earth begets and nourishes boundlessly. Profound and exuberant! Who can sound the depths of their resources? Every created thing has some beginning. It is the Tao alone that has no beginning. The reason of its having no beginning is that it has no constant and rigid form. It revolves, but is inexhaustible, like the Sun and Moon in their convolutions, like the Spring and Autumn in their sequences, like Day and Night. When one ends, the other begins. Light is followed by dark. It is impossible to take count of their records. The Tao creates form, but is without form itself; and for this reason its work is achieved. It creates matter, but is not matter: hence it is victorious and is not subjugated. Destruction No war best. is, at best, the soldier's aim. There is yet a better aim still, viz., not to have destruction,—to have no war. Therefore the superior soldier is not harmful, being in line with the Divine afflatus. The tools of war are not sharpened, yet no enemy dare attack. The great drum is not brought out from the armoury7 and there is not one of the feudal lords but trembles and shows the white feather. They stand in awe and dare not lift their heads towards the place. Hence he who fights without going from the temple is the Emperor. He whose virtue is felt where he goes, is the King. "Warring in the temple" implies the imitation of the way of Heaven. He whose transforming virtue is felt, imitates the duties of the four seasons. The practice of a perfect government within the kingdom leads outside people to long for such virtue. The perfect rule is the way of Heaven. Victory won without drawing the sword, resulting in the obedience of the Feudatories to their Lord, implies the art of perfect rule. Hence he who has won the true art of governing is in repose and imitates the way of Heaven: in action, he follows the way of the Sun and Moon. His anger and gentleness are consonant with the four seasons: his calls are like peals of thunder; his voice and spirit are not forced, but harmonious: the eight tones of harmony never fail to respond correctly. Everything is in harmony. There is no disobedience to the five elements. Below are scaly creatures, and above the feathered tribes: Perfect order in nature. every twig and leaf throughout creation is arranged, from root to branch, in the most perfect order. Therefore the creative energy enters the smallest crevice without force, and fills the largest spaces with ease: it baptizes the metals and stones with lustre, and all grasses and trees glisten with its sheen. Even the very tiniest hair is arranged and the six quarters of the world are stretched by it. There is nothing discordant. The baptism and the enduements of the Tao penetrate all, even the tiniest pore. Its triumphant powers are many. If there is any miscalculation in archery, the target will never be hit. If there is any sinew or joint which the Ch‛i horse does not put into full use, it will never do a thousand li in the day. Likewise failure to obtain victory, The Tao state need never war. does not happen from any error on the day the drum is sounded, but from faults of long standing. The preparatory days have been wanting in discipline. Therefore, the soldiers that are imbued with the Tao,8 need never send the war chariot forth; the edge of the sword never need reek with blood; the horse need not be saddled, nor need the drum have the dust fall from it when struck, nor the flag be unfurled: the arrows need not leave the quiver; the seat of government need not be shifted about; the tradesman does not need to leave his shop nor the ploughman his field. Unity of purpose gives unity of aid. Why? Because when justice is advertised to the many and the delinquent is reprimanded for his faults, the powerful state will pay attention, and the small principality will bow the head, in obedience to the wish of the people, who desire peace. The reprimand is made and takes advantage of the strength of the people. For it is to their own interests, to eliminate wrongs and expel wrongdoers. Identity of interests brings mutual co-operation: identity of feeling brings unity of action and mutual achievement. When there is identity of desire, mutual help follows, and when action is carried on in the spirit of the Tao, the whole empire is responsive. When the anxieties of the people are considered, the whole empire will join in a conflict. The hunter, following the chase, gets every ounce of strength out of carriage and horse and man: this mutual help comes not from the fear of punishment but from mutual interest. The roads are packed with those eager to help. When fellow-passengers on a boat, crossing the Yangtse meet with a strong wind and rolling billows, then every son of them, though perfect strangers, joins in helping to keep the boat from foundering. Their anxiety is common, and so they all equally strive to save the ship. No mutual exhortation is needed. Likewise, the enlightened king in the use of soldiers acts in the interests of the community and for the A disinterested king wins. elimination of the evil in the land. All participate in the benefit. The people in the service of country are like sons working for the father. The majesty of action is overwhelming, like a falling mountain or the rushing torrent from a crumbling dam. No enemy can withstand the onset. Hence the wise employment of troops consists in their service being for all, themselves included. The man who is not able to use them is he who is working for his own personal ends. When used for public ends, there is nothing they cannot do; when used selfishly, it is but little that can be accomplished. In military governing there are three important points to note. (a) The highest method of its functions is this, Conditions of success unity and loyalty. to regulate and govern the country, to administer justice, to actuate moral ideas, to establish correct laws, to shut up all avenues of evil, to keep the community and ministers friendly and the people acting in concert; high and low, all of one mind. King and minister must co-operate in their energies, the Feudal Lords respect such majestic force, and all parts of the empire must cherish splendid virtue. When such conduct as the above is cultivated in the Temple,9 even the distant parts will bend and point to such high examples, and the whole empire will be responsive. (b) The next step in excellence is this. discipline, efficiency. When the territory is wide, the people numerous, the prince virtuous, the generals loyal, the country rich and the soldiers strong; when contracts are faithfully kept, and the military is disciplined, then when the bell tolls and the drum calls to war, the army of the enemy will flee before battle is joined. (c) The lower method is this. To know the lie of the land, to be versed in the points of danger and vantage, to anticipate unexpected situations and be conversant with all methods strategy and courage. of deployment, to have the drum attached to the arm ready for instant action; then with naked swords and flying arrows to come out of the sanguinary battle victorious, trampling the bloody field strewn with corpses for a thousand li, and with the chariots moving about laden with the dead and wounded, thus winning a decisive battle. This is the baser use of militarism. To-day the empire knows only the application of rules in a superficial way. There is no application of Aids to victory. fundamental principles. The root is abandoned and the branch alone is cultivated. The points wherein the military may be of assistance in victory are many; but the essential points in securing victory are few. The armour may be strong, the tools sharp, the chariots firm, the horses excellent, the commissariat full, the soldiers abundant and chariots many; these things are the army's capital. But the essentials of victory do not lie in these. To be learned in the movements of the heavenly bodies and in the art of divining the psychology of the soldier The Tao of the General. and his destiny; to be versed in strategy;—these are all aids to warfare: but they are not all. The general's essential of victory lies in intuitive genius, the endowment of intelligence which is inborn: his essential is in the Tao that cannot be expressed. It is this which differentiates him from the multitude. Now the utmost care is required in the selection of good officers and the elimination of the bad. The different The choice of officers. duties may be apportioned as follows: Times for movement and rest of troops; the division of soldiers; the arrangements of companies and battalions, fitting each and all into the right places; the preparation for the call of the drum and the unfurling of Right man in right place. the flags; these are the duties of the Yü officers. The knowledge of dangerous and advantageous positions; a survey of the enemy's position and knowledge of his soldiers and finding out his situation, is the work of the Scout Master. To find out the conditions of the road for quick marching and spots where are convenient wells for cooking, are the duties of the Ssû Kung officers.10 The care of the commissariat so that nothing is abandoned in moving camp; the supervision of conveyances so that there shall be enough without any Fitness in service. waste; the digging of trenches is the work of the transport officers. And the relation of these five heads to the General may be compared to the relation of the arm, hand and leg to the body. Thus there must be a selection of different abilities to ensure the efficient doing of the work. There must be instruction in administrative duties; all must be informed by command: and their service must be similar to the tiger and the leopard in the use they make of their teeth and claws, or the birds in the use of the principal feathers of the wings. Nothing and no one shall be without its place and Worth in Command. use. Nevertheless these are only the assisting instruments of the General towards victory, and not the vital instrument by which it shall be won. Victory and defeat of the army ultimately lie with the High Authorities. When they are worthy, the people below will be obedient to those above; and the army will be strong. When the people are more worthy than their rulers, there will be a cleavage and an estrangement between them. In that case, the army will be weak. When virtue and justice are enough to influence the whole people of the empire; when means are sufficient to Essential point of victory. meet all the urgent matters of the empire; when selection of officers is broad enough to win the approbation of the good; when measures and plans are made with enough care to know the conditions of strength and weakness—these measures form the essential points of victory. Broad territories and many people are not enough to make a country strong, nor are a virile soldiery and sharp implements enough to ensure victory. High walls and deep moats are not enough to supply firm stability. Power lies in good rule. Stringent commands and multitudinous punishments are not sufficient to inspire awe. Given an existing government with good rule, and a country, though small, will abide; but a rotting government will perish, however big the country may be. The ancient kingdom of Ts‛u embraced the waters of Yuan and Hsiang, on the South, and on the North it was Examples. bounded by the waters of Ying and Ssû. On the West, it included the territories of Shu Tung. On the East, there was Kuo T‛an Huai, with the waters of Yin and Ju serving as fosses. The Yangtse Chiang and the Han River were its ramparts and the Teng forests its battlements. High mountains that sought the clouds and fathomless abysses were its frontiers. The position of its territories was most advantageous. Its people were courageous. They had rhinoceros-hides for armour and caps made of tapir skins. Their spears were long and their claymores were short. The army vanguard was complete and its rearguard was thick with the cross-bow. Strong war-chariots guarded its flanks. Speedy as the flying arrow were they. When travelling together, they sounded like roaring thunder; they were like wind and rain when going in loose formation. Nevertheless, these formidable troops were annihilated at Tsui Hsia and their power wrecked at Pei Chu. The powerful Ts‛u, great of territory, numerous of people, possessed half the empire; nevertheless its king, Huai Wang feared Meng Chang Chun of the North. He had to leave his lares and penates and become the slave of the mightier Ts‛in. His soldiers were captured, his lands were appropriated, and he died in servitude and never returned home. Hu Hai,11 Ch‛in Shih Huang, the second, held the imperial power of the world. His kingdom was most wealthy. Where the foot of man went, no spot on which oars plied the boats but was embraced within his rule. In the pursuit of his extravagancies and his lusts of eye and ear he exhausted every art. He never heeded the hunger, poverty and cold of the people. He built myriad chariots and the famous palace of Ao Fang.12 He conscripted the youths of the villages, sending them to disant parts as indentured soldiers. He exacted taxes, amounting to more than half the nation's wealth. He drafted people from afar into his service and punished mercilessly any delinquents. Countless numbers were dying without food and clothes. How many myriads died daily I do not know. Discontent prevailed throughout the land. The people had no peace; they were giddy with heat and bent with hard labour. There was no mutual help between officials and the common people. Mutual suspicion filled every breast. A rustic, named Ch‛en Sheng,13 in Ta Tze, appeared in rebellion, with bared shoulders, proclaiming that he was establishing the Great Ts‛u. He called, and the whole nation responded to his call. He had no well-furnished armoury nor trained soldiers with strong cross-bows and sharp swords. But they made lances of brier and date trees, fixing into them sharpened iron points. These, alone, were their weapons. With only such arms they met an army furnished with lances and cross-bows. They attacked fortified cities and occupied territories. Everything fell before them. The people of the whole empire were seething with discontent like writhing worms. So the rebel army swept all before it. The old order passed away like a fleeting cloud or a rolling mist. This man, of humble origin and with such extemporized arms, turned out in the rough, won the whole land to his cause, which responded to his call, because the hearts of the people were full of anger and resentment. Another example:—When King Wu undertook the chastisement of Chou,14 he met with discouraging omens in his enterprise, such as great rains, when he came to Fan: the head of the Kung mountain collapsed into the river when he came near. A comet appeared, with its tail pointing to the east, which seemed to be an omen favourable to Yin (Chow) and indicating that Wu would be routed. During the war, the elements were boisterous for the space of ten days, and in the middle of the march, the army was embarrassed by storms of wind and rain. Nevertheless, those who pressed on, though not encouraged by rewards, nor laggards urged by the threat of punishment, succeeded, with but little serious fighting, in winning a victory that wrested the empire from the hands of Chou. Therefore, we learn that he who governs well need never fear an enemy: and he who wars well, on high moral principles, will have no battles to wage. He who is clear on the doctrine of prohibitions and permissions,15 on what to open and on what to close taking the right opportunity and following the popular wish, wins that day. Therefore, he who would govern well, accumulates virtue. He is a good general who arouses the spirit of his soldiers. The people will serve loyally if there is a fund of virtue in the leader, and the exercise of authority will enhance the power of awe. Therefore, where the accretion of spirit is slight, the strength for victory will be small. Where there is a large flow of benevolent virtue towards people there will be a wide influence of awe. Where awe prevails there will be strength in the one and weakness in the other. It follows, then, that a wise general will first use such methods as exist for weakening the enemy, and only subsequently should he engage in battle. In which case with less than half the expenditure of power applied, results will be doubled. The territory of Tang was only 70 li in extent. It became a kingdom through the cultivation of virtue. Chih Pei had a 1000 li of land, yet he perished, enfeebled by militarism. So the kingdom of a thousand chariots expanded through the cultivation of virtue: the kingdom of ten thousand chariots became extinct through too much inclination to use military operations. Hence conquering troops must first gain the victory through well thought out plans, and battle may then be undertaken. Undisciplined troops go headlong into war and expect victory simply by an engagement of arms. Given equality of virtue16 in the contending parties, the victory will lie with the party with most soldiers. Armament Equality in virtue. being equal, the clever will overcome the stupid: and the man of plans will beat the man without them. He who would employ troops must beforehand win his battles in the Sacred Fane.17 It is from here that victory is got. Here it is the King weighs whether he or his enemy is the worthier, and which side has the abler General; whose people is the more loyal to his sovereign: which of the two has the better rule; which has husbanded the greater resources; whose officers are the more efficient; whose implements are the sharper and the best prepared. Hence victory in decided by the weighing of plans and policy in the Palace of State. When this is the case, victory is certain, though the field of battle be a thousand li away. Visible strongholds are seen of all: there are military works which are handed on and studied from one age to another. All such are the visible means of getting a victory. But he who is apt in these visible things does not stake his all on them. What he esteems still more is the tao. He esteems this because of its formlessness. Being without material form it cannot be imposed upon, it cannot be fathomed.18 Skill may be met by skill; the form visible can be met with opposition; the appearance of the whole army may be concealed with ambush; the appearance of arms will be met by preparation in arms. Movements, The Tao mind. envelopments, feints, withdrawals, can be cunningly met by similar action. None of these are good. The movements of the Tao-inspired are like a spirit's emergence and a demon's action, unexpected and sudden, like the sudden shining of the stars and their sinking into darkness again; like the rising of the fabulous bird Luan, and the excitation of the Lin, like the flight of the phoenix or the ascension of the dragon. Skilful movement is like the autumn wind, swift like the electric fish. Similarly the capable commander attacks the leisurely manner of his opponent with vigorous activity. With abounding vitality he smothers the crumbling ineptitude of the other; with swiftness he stifles the slowness of the other: with affluence he controls the hunger of his enemy. These are the conquering factors. The effect is like water extinguishing fire; like heat liquefying snow. Thus whatever is done, succeeds; success follows every action. All pervasive through the regions of the mind, the spirit speeds to the boundless without. The will, active in the invisible world, will issue forth in most unexpected ways: with power it goes, with suddenness it comes. There is no divining its movements. It emerges clear and hits the object truly. The objective of the spirit is known to no mortal. It is swift as the lightning and rapid as the wind and the rain. It seems as though it sprang from earth or fell from heaven. Alone it issues, alone it enters: nothing can withstand it. It is like the shuttle and the bronze-pointed arrow. There is none to compare with it! Now light, now dark! Who can know its beginning? Who can divine its end? Before it is seen, it has already accomplished its purpose. Therefore, he who is a wise leader, when he sees the weak spot of his enemy, presses on him without rest: Swift energy of the wise leader. he pursues him without giving him breathing space: he hangs on to him and does not let him go for a moment. He attacks the enemy when he is unprepared and falls on him when he least expects it, quick as is the thunder, which allows no time to stop the ears; swift as the lightning which gives no time to shield the eyes. The wise leader of troops is swift as an echo which follows the sound, or as the drum responding to the tattoo. Dazed, there is no time to rub the eyes, nor space to draw in the breath after a cry! So when the onset starts, the enemy beholds the thick host upon him; he has no time to look up to heaven or down to earth. Hands fail to grasp the lance; the soldier can't even draw out his sword. Thus, swift as lightning or the sweep of a hot wind, or as the flame of the fire, or the plunge of a wave, he leaps upon the enemy, who thus suddenly paralysed, has no way of defending himself, if he stands still, nor does he know what action to take, if he moves. So with the tattooing of the drum and the waving of the flag, every obstacle will be swept away. Nothing under heaven can withstand the awe-inspiring force; no one will dare to contest and stand against such might! The attacking power will always overcome the defensive force. He who has pondered in mind the problems before him, will always conquer the man who has not thought out his plans. The cool soldier is strong. In unity there is strength and concentrated fierceness: Fearlessness of death and Unity of will. fixity of purpose makes the hero. Hesitation results in defeat, and divided strength leads to weakness. Hence, he who can sow the seeds of disintegration in the soldiers of another man and throw hesitation into the enemy's ranks, will make it possible for the few to overthrow the many. Where this is impossible, double the number of soldiers would not he enough to do the work. Thus the soldiers of Chou had a hundred myriad minds: the three thousand soldiers of Wu Wang were of one mind. So a thousand soldiers who are of one mind give a thousand men's strength. But ten thousand soldiers, each of different mind, will not have the power of one man. When general and soldier, officers and people move as one body, the enemy can be met and engaged in battle. Confidence and Preparedness. Therefore, when plans are fixed and issued, when operations are put in motion without divided authority, when the General has no doubts on the plans fixed upon and the soldiers are of one mind, when movements are without procrastination and waste; when there are no contrary orders and no empirical attempts, the enemy will be met with vigour, and the operations will be intense. So the General looks on the people as the body, and the people regard the General as the heart. Given a sincere heart, the bodily members will rush on naked steel: but when the heart hesitates as though in doubt, the bodily members will be confused and timid. When the heart is divided with contrarieties, the bodily members will fail to act together. Where there is a lack of perfect sincerity in the general, the soldiers will be wanting in valour. We may say thus, that a good general's soldiers are as the teeth of the tiger, the horns of the rhinoceros, the feathers of a bird, the legs of the centipede. They can walk, they can toss, they can bite and they can butt. Though strong, the enemy will not succeed, though numerous, it will cause but little injury. The result of unity of heart is mighty! Where the soldiers sincerely follow the command, they will have no fear, though few. On the contrary, when they do not follow, sincerely, the supreme command, they are weak in power, though they be a host in number. And so when the masses below have no regard for the powers above, they put no heart into their service. When the soldier has no fear of the general it will be seen in the demeanour of slackness in battle. There must be the essential of firmness in defence, and the essential of victory in attack. Without even awaiting a close engagement, the occasion of success and failure may verily be learnt from the outward demeanour and conduct of the army. An army has three Influences and two Adjustments (ch‛uan). There is the Influence of Morale, the Influence of Position, and the Influence of (yin.) Opportunity. When Three Influences. the general is full of courage and despises the enemy, the soldiers go to battle then really with courage and joy. As the captain of a mighty host, whose will is as buoyant as the floating cloud, whose spirit is as resilient as the wafted breeze, whose cry is like the thunder reverberating, whose accumulated stores of sincerity towards his men, he will fall on the enemy as an avalanche, with majestic awe. This may be said to be the Influence of Morale. An exiguous pass, a ferry pontoon, a great mountain, a serpentine defile, a cul-de-sac, a dangerous pitfall, a narrow ravine, full of winding ways like the intestines of a sheep, a hole like a fisher's net, which admits, but from which there is no exit, are situations in which one man can hold back a thousand. They may be called the Influence of Position. The Influence of Opportunity is the tiredness, the disorder, the hunger and thirst, the coldness, the uncertainty of the time of attack, unwatchfulness in the time of tent-pegging, or the striking of the camp, of the enemy. Skilful in the use of bluffing and spying, in finding out the mistakes and in calculating the troubles of the enemy Two Adjustments. and in preparing ambushes and camouflage; concealing one's own movements and falling on the enemy unawares, so that his soldiers have no means to prepare against the irruption—all such Power. methods belong to Influence of Power, the adjustment of knowledge. Correct arrangement of the line of battle; placing picked soldiers in front: arranging orderly advance and retreat: disposing of the attacking platoons so that the front and rear do not tread on each other, or the right and left mutually clash, thus ensuring few casualties, yet inflicting many on the enemy: such may be called Tactics. Tactics. Adjustment of tactic power and influence must have expression. In this way. Officers and soldiers must be allotted, each to his own department. The selection of the able, the employment of talent, fixing schemes and perfecting plans, getting the right men for officials, the timely advance and dismissal of men, carefully thinking out gains and losses,—these measures will enhance Administration. the spirit of awe. Given these conditions, vigorous attack must be made without waiting for the armoured chariots and scaling ladders. And thus the city is taken. To break the enemy even without actual battle at close quarters, depends on the essentials of victory having been thought out and matured beforehand. War, therefore, must not be thoughtlessly entered into without the assurance of certain victory. When victory Battle joined must be with power. is certain, then the battle may be joined. After the army is put in motion. The soldiers are massed in order and not scattered about. The army must never go forth and return without good results. If it does not move, well! But if it does advance, it must do go in a stupendous way. It must astonish heaven and shake the earth: it must sustain Taishan19 and startle the whole world: even the demons must shuffle out of the way: birds and beasts must be petrified with fear. Thus, stupendously powerful, there will be no battlefield; for the enemy will not come near. The cities of the kingdom will need no guards to hold them. Impetuosity will be controlled by fundamental repose. Disorder will be held in check by order. By imperturbability of mind the commander calms turbulence, and by orderly government, he controls disorder. The invisible governs all the visible, and Wu wei, Wu wei secret of success.Tao action, meets every change. Though victory may not be got over the enemy, yet, there is no way by which the enemy can possibly conquer. If the enemy makes the first move, his intentions may be seen. He being in commotion, and I at rest with the fundamental, has his strength worn out. When his movements are seen, the possibility of victory may be controlled. When his strength is on the wane, then will be my chance to show power. Seeing his movements, I may adapt my plans according to all his changes. Watching the enemy's weak and strong points, gives me the control of his life. I offer him the baits which he desires, until he is satiated with them, and so, when I see any weak spot for an opening, I rush in to seize the advantage. When his strategy has come to an end, then I grip him: and when his various schemes are exhausted, then the opportunity to overthrow him has arrived. On the other hand, if the enemy should also resort to non-activity, he must be met by some exceptional strategy: if he will not come to an open engagement, then will be the time to perfect plans and wait for him to engage. If the enemy manoeuvres, in open response to his opponents movement, which being seen, there may be mutual attempts to circumvent the rear of each other. When he expects "me" to follow in pursuit of his feint of deployment, he will naturally concentrate his best soldiers in one spot; with the result that his army will be thinned in other parts: when the seasoned soldiers wheel to the left, his right wing (west) will be endangered. When his troops get separated, then will be the time to give pursuit. When the enemy is very near and yet shows no sign of moving to the attack, and he is in a state of lethargy, then is the time to attack him with a rush like thunder and mow down his troops like grass and trees. It will be easy work: flash on him like lightning: accelerate speed with speed. The enemy will have no time to wheel round: his chariots will be paralyzed. His troops will be stock-still like trees: his bows will be stiff like rams' horns: his troops, though multitudinous, will not dare to face "mine" in battle. Whoever has a full perspective of conditions will gain the victory. All outward and concrete actions can be countered and met. Therefore, the wise man conceals the outward expression of purpose within the wu, the invisible, the mind. The mind roams in the region of the immaterial. Winds and rain can be closed against, but cold and heat cannot be shut out because they have no form. Now those things that can penetrate through the minutest pores, (like water through the pores of blotting-paper) and infiltrate metal and stone and reach to the utmost distances, and place themselves above the ninth heaven, or wreathe themselves underground21 can only do so by wu hsing, the formless. A general, able in handling soldiers, should attack the enemy in disorder, but not attack him when he is in good order. No surprise attack can be made on a redoubtable army nor an assault carried out against flags that stand upright and float proudly. When the outlook regarding the enemy is not clear, then is the time to consider the star of destiny22a in Look to the star of destiny. preparing to meet him. When he seems to be inert, then is the occasion to overwhelm him. When the enemy seems to be in good luck, then it is not the time to make a move. If the tiger and the leopard would keep quiet they would not fall into the pitfall. When the tailed deer and the stag keep still, they will not get entangled in the snare. When birds keep Caution in moving. quiet, they will not be caught in the fowlers net. When fish and lobster keep still, they will not be trapped by hook and gin. Creatures have never been put in subjection except through movement. Hence the sages value tranquility. Tranquility, then, can meet turbulence: and the soldiers who move last can stand against the soldiers who move first. The diligent will beat the slack: the complete plan will beat the imperfect plan. Therefore a capable commander should have his soldiers animated by the same spirit, and by concentration increase their strength. The brave must not advance alone, nor the apprehensive retreat without support. When the soldiers halt, it must be as one, and they must show the firmness of the Ch‛iu22 mountain. They must deploy like the wind and rain, simultaneously and vigorously. With such a front no enemy can stand against them. There is nothing that will not be broken up by them. On the march and in halting the action must be as of one man. This attitude is invincible. Many of the enemy may be wounded, and yet there need not be much hand to hand fighting. To flick with the fingers is not so deadly as a blow with the fist. If a myriad soldiers went out to fight one by one the result would be feebler than if they went out in squads of Cooperation essential. hundreds. Tigers and leopards are nimble of body: different kinds of bears are of great strengh: nevertheless, people eat the flesh of these and spread their skins on their beds. And the reason is that these beasts of nimble foot and ferocious strength are not able to use understanding to unify their strength. As a rule the few cannot match the many. The strength of water overcomes fire. The Chung-hua pavilion was on fire, and a ladle of a pint capacity was used to try and quench the raging flames. But though all the water in the well and the lake were ladled out, the effort would be all in vain. If a large kettle and cauldron-size vessels were used, the fire could be soon extinguished. But man vis-à-vis man bears not the mutual relation that fire does to water. A few men cannot overcome the many. This is evident. The military, it is true, are fond of saying the few can match the may. But this saying is for the home consumption of the military. It is not true in fact. It is not true in the stern test of war. There are times when the army is big, but of little use: because it is not animated by unity of spirit. There are times when the soldiers are few, but their utilities many and great, which comes from its unity. Nevertheless, were all men on both sides to bring out and exert the utmost ability of each, and use all their strength, it has never been known that the few could conquer the many. Of all spirits Heaven is the most honoured: in strategy nothing is superior to a good vantage ground: in movement of troops there is nothing so urgent as times and seasons. In the use of soldiers, there is nothing more trenchant that the getting of the right men. These four points are the pillars and the cardinal principles of military action. Nevertheless, the Tao must be waited for before any action is taken and movement begun. Now, superior vantage ground is of more importance than times and seasons. And a skilful plan is even better than superior vantage ground. Power conquers man. Therefore, he who depends on times may be misled by appearances: who depends on vantage ground will be too tied down: he who depends on seasons will be coerced: he who depends on men will be duped. And courage, benevolence, faith, economy are all the good qualities and talents of men. Nevertheless, the courageous may be led into error, the benevolent may be gulled, the man of faith is easily deceived, the economical man may be easily hoodwinked. Now if a commander of hosts has all these virtues but should he show any one of them, men will take him in their schemes. From this we may gather that the soldier must rely on the tao law23 to control victory, and not on human talents. This is naturally evident. Therefore, the long tailed deer may be caught in the land net: the fish and lobster will be caught in the sea net: the swan and the heron may be shot at by the bow: since all these are visible objects.24 What can't be got at are the invisible things: there is no way of dealing with these. Hence the sage secretes himself in the 'no source'25 (even before the pullulating of visibility): so his will and mind cannot be known. His movements are in the incorporeal, so his paths are not fathomed and made use of. Without rules and models, when things come, they are fittingly met. Without names, without definitions, changes bring about visible things. Oh how deep! Oh how profound! Whether it be Winter, Summer, Spring or Autumn, always and ever, the Tao is higher than the highest Heaven, deeper than the deepest depths. The fluxes and movements proceed unobstructed without stop. The Tao establishes the life of man in the spaces of the profound, and buries his will in the deepest depths. The most clear-sighted cannot penetrate into his nature. The secret pondering of plans in military things is a matter of the Tao: charts and maps are of the earthly orders, and instructions pertain to the human side. Hence, assured victory depends on the stamp of power. So the commanders of superior quality, in their use of soldiers, use the highest gift of all which is the way of Heaven. Then they find the vantage grounds of earth and for the medium they get the hearts of men. These are put in action with skill and displayed with power: then the army will not be broken nor the soldiers defeated. The commander of second rate quality is not so good. He does not get the way of Heaven, that is to say, he has none of the secret and profound thoughts on militarism: nor does he know anything of the advantages of earth. He looks, wholly, to men and power. Though he may not get a decisive victory, yet, on the whole, his victories are not a few. The commander of inferior quality is he who gathers wide information but yet is confused in himself: he knows a lot, but is himself without resolution. In the camp he is hesitating, in the field he is undecided, patching up temporary plans and always probing for ways and means. Therefore he is often in trouble and taken by the enemy. Now suppose that two men were engaged in a battle Confidence and boldness win. of swords: they are equal in skill and in the want of it. Thus being equally matched, what is the reason that the bolder of the two contestants is sure to win? The simple reason is that he is without uncertainty. He acts with boldness. Again a big axe is applied to hard varnish-tree wood to get fire wood: suppose there is no waiting for a propitious day and lucky hour for splitting it, if the big axe is in contact with the varnish-wood and there is no man-power behind the axe, and even though the lucky days have been given and the propitious moment taken, yet it will not be possible to split that wood because there is no power applied to the axe. So a strong current will give energy. A good arrow will go far. But even if the arrow is made of the finest Force and mind must be behind finest tools. bamboo and tipped with silver and lead, yet it will not penetrate even through a thin felt covering, or an armour made of the rotten leaves of the lotus, without some force behind it. But if there is muscle and sinew and the force of the bow string behind it, then it will penetrate the hide of a rhinoceros and the shield of leather. The swiftness of wind will take the roof off a house and break trees: an empty cart going down or ascending Certain factors in success. a steep hill does so by the help of man. Hence the power of the skilful commander of troops overflows like water rushing down from a burst dyke of a myriad feet high or a rock tumbling from a great height. When the enemy sees that my troops are ready for action and the appearance is not a mere bluff, who would dare fight against them? A hundred men ready to die are of more worth than a myriad who are on the point of turning tail. How much more the weight of three armies which will face water and fire, and never show the heel! Who would try to seduce them? Who would try to master them? What is meant by astrology is to have the star Ching Lung on the left and Pai Hu on the right, the star Chu Chiao in front and Hsuan Wu behind.26 What is meant by a favourable position is to have rising ground behind and flat terrain in front: to have a mountain on the left and deep water or valley, on the right. What is meant by human affairs is that the imperial bounty of land and honours and money be faithfully done and punishments dealt without favour shown. There are times for activity and inactivity. Action and non-action should be with celerity. It is quite true that rules and regulations are made by tradition, but these are not born of tradition but by reason of change according to times and seasons. Therefore the hour and season may be known from the shadow in the Ming Tang, Ancestral27 fane. The cold and heat of the country is indicated by the level of water in the bottle. But the interactions of these things are very trifling. Only the Sage can see their furthest import. The drum is not one of the five tones, but it is the master sound of all. Water Commander stands alone. is not one of the five tastes but it is the medium of blending all. The Commander-in-chief is not one of the Five Officers of the army, but he superintends all and has power over all. Therefore, that which is the master of the five tones is not of them: that which is the medium in the five tastes has no part in the five tastes: he who controls the five commandants cannot be fathomed. Therefore, the mind of the Commander-in-chief is full of ferment like the Spring: it is abundant in life like the Summer: it is lustrous like the Autumn: uniformly rigid like the Winter. According as the enemy shows himself, so he is to be met, by a change in disposition. Alteration is made to meet He matches the enemy. him every time. Now the shadow does not give a straight figure for the crooked. The echo does not alter the soprano tone into bass. Perceiving the reasons for the advent of the enemy, he will be more than matched in everyone of his plans. Therefore, following the right in movement and going according to reason in every action, the blow will be struck at the weakest spot, just as the man breaking bamboo will do it at the joints. The measure of success will be according to resources. The enemy may know my coming forth, but he will not know the objective of the army. The enemy may know when the other army starts, but he will not know where it will settle down. In the beginning, I am like the fox and so the enemy will come on lightheartedly: but in the engagement I will be as the rhinoceros and the tiger, making the enemy flee pell-mell. When birds advance to the attack there is a hanging down of the head. In the ravening of fierce beasts there Hides his plan and power. is a hiding of the claws. The tiger and the leopard do not show their claws: and in biting, they do not show the teeth. So the principle of war is to give the enemy an impression of yieldingness but to receive him with firmness: to give the impression of weakness, but fall on him unawares with might: appear to the enemy as though you were few, but put out your strength when he comes to meet you. When you want to go west, make as though you were going east. At first look as though you had no stomach for the fight, but then close up in vigorous action with him. At first the plan is dark to him, afterwards show its clarity. Be like the demon that shows no traces of plans, like the water that leaves no mark of cleavage, when divided. Therefore, where you seem to be making for, is not the place you arrive at; what is seen is not the real design. Action and non-action, movement and rest must not be apparent, like the thunder-clap which comes unawares and can't be prepared for. When the plan is not a mere repetition of an old one, the victory is a hundred-fold greater, the commander seeming to be in league with the genius (spirit); and there is no knowing his mind. This is what is meant by 'most spiritual' in speaking of a general's schemes. That wherein the military is mighty is in the people. What makes the people feel ready to die is a spirit of loyalty to king, and loyalty or patriotism exercised in action, is inspired by majesty. Hence, the people are instructed by A genius. ceremonies and united by military awe. This is what is meant by 'victory must be had.' When majesty and patriotism go hand in hand, and act pari-passu, we have what is called irresistible might. What man rejoices in is life: what he hates is death. Notwithstanding, when the city walls are built high and the moats dug deep, when arrows and stones fall like rain, when the battle is in process in the plain and by the broad water, and when naked swords are flashing, the soldiers vie with one another to be the first in the fight. It is not because the soldier looks lightly on death or likes to get wounded; it is the sure reward and the certain punishment that move him. Therefore, when the ruler looks on those below as sons, then those below look on those above as father. When the ruler regards the people as brothers, then the people look on him as the elder brother. When the ruler looks on the people as sons then he will inevitably exercise the kingly way over the empire. When the people look on him above as father, then the empire will necessarily be well governed. When the ruler loves the people like brothers, then it will not be difficult to get them to die for him. When the people look on him above as elder brother, it will not be so difficult for them to sacrifice life. That state will not be easily attacked where all are father and sons, elder and younger brothers, since there has already been abundant kindness dispensed. If on the contrary four horses are unequally matched (i.e. one is slow), the best driver will not be able to drive the chariot far: if the bow and arrows are not of the same poise, even a famous archer would not be sure to hit the centre. If prince and minister lack confidence in each other, even the famous general Sun Tzû would not be able to meet the enemy. Wherefore if the government is internally well ordered by an overflow of goodness, and externally the weak points of danger are closed up so as to command the awe of aliens, when an examination is made into who are industrious and who lazy, so that it be known who is well fed, who hungry, Officer one with men. then, when the day of battle comes, the soldiers will look on death as nothing but a going home. Hence the commander must be one with the soldier in both sweet and bitter experiences, and partake with him of his cold and hunger. In this way the soldier will go willingly to face death. So the eminent commander of old necessarily put himself in front of the soldiers, in war. He had no umbrella in the heat and no furs in the cold: he faced heat and cold, like a common soldier. He did not ride in dangerous passes, he dismounted when ascending hills. Thus he put himself on a level with the soldier whether in action or at ease. When the army had finished its cooking the commander ventured to eat. After the army had drawn its water from the well, the commander took his turn at drinking. Thus in hunger and thirst he was one with the men. When battle was joined he stood where the arrows flew, and all equally shared both security and danger. The good commander in his use of Mutual obligation. soldiers, constantly attacked by taking advantage of the accumulated hatred in the heart of the enemy soldier towards his own superior, also by the accumulated goodness cherished in the heart of his own soldiers: his accumulated kindness he used to strike at the accumulated dislike of the enemy for his superior. So did he win the victory. What the lord demanded from the people were two things. He asked them to labour for him and desired them to be ready to give up their lives for him. The people looked for three things from their lord, viz., that they could eat when hungry, rest when weary, and be rewarded for merit. If the people rendered the two services expected of them and the king missed bestowing the three benefits expected of him, then, in that case, though the country was large and the soldiers many, nevertheless, the army would be weak. But if they were assured Faith to be kept. that they would be certain of his praise in distress, and of the reward of toil, and remission of the death penalty for valour, and that their posterity would get its proper reward after their death they would face any danger. The fidelity of the king in these four conditions being assured, the soldiers would be mighty. Though the emperor might be enjoying himself shooting birds in the high clouds, or fishing in the deep pools, or playing the organ and the harp, or sounding the bell and the flute, or throwing the dice and playing chess at home, he could feel confidence that the soldiers in distant parts would be strong and his commands would be always carried out. Hence when the emperor could be respected, those below were willing to serve him: when his virtue was sufficient to command awe, then his majesty would be established. A commander must have three sciences: he must have four loyalties: he must have five virtues: he must have ten tenacities. The three sciences are: knowledge of the heavenly bodies; acquaintance with the form of the earth; discernment of the nature of man. The four loyalties are: prosecuting the interests of the kingdom without overtaxing the army; disregard of bodily ease in service to the king; fearlessness of death in the face of danger; reliance on his own judgement in a matter of doubt, without consideration of consequences. The five virtues are: gentleness without being made the catspaw of others; firmness without being unduly influenced; benevolence without becoming the dupe of men; sincerity and truthfulness, without being taken in; courage that shall not be affronted. The ten tenacities of character are: purity of soul that cannot be contaminated; firmness that cannot be shaken; a clear intelligence that cannot be beclouded; freedom from covetousness and dissoluteness; mental balance in argument; no dabbling in fortune telling; no undue mirth; no show of anger. In other words, the mind must remain calm whatever happens. This state is that which is called profound. Who is there who could fathom a man with such a nature? When beginning any undertaking, he inevitably hits the correct balance. His words are infallibly well weighed, his actions are unfailingly well-timed, and his decisions are well reasoned. He seizes the right opportunity for action and inaction. He sees clearly just when to begin and when to end an affair. He estimates the advantage or harm of movement and its cessation. He is as swift as the stretched string of the bow and as strong as the flying arrow; he moves with the stealth and silence of the dragon and the snake, giving no clue to his purpose. No one can say where and how he will strike. It is never known whence he will come nor whither he will end. No one will be able to stand up against his attack, nor will it be possible for anyone to break his defences. I have heard that a good commander first makes his own resources perfect and afterwards considers the conditions of others. He first sees that his own defences are impregnable and then seeks victory for his own arms. Well organised himself, he then seeks victory over the enemy. To go to battle with an enemy, unprepared and in disorder, would be like trying to extinguish fire with fire or stopping an overflow with water,—a method which must spell failure. There must be a dissimilarity in order to gain success. Take the following example. Suppose a potter dissolved himself into a lump of mud, he could not possibly, in that condition, make a bowl or a crock. If a woman worker in silk made herself into silk, she could There must be a mind behind matter and art. not then weave silk. Articles of the same nature cannot work on each other. Hence the opposite or contrary must be the complement for work. Two sparrows fighting, fail to kill one another because of the sameness of species: but the eagle and falcon arrive and put an end to all, by eating up both, because of the differentiation in kind. So calmness is the opposite or contrary of violence: order is the opposite to disorder: satiety the opposite of hunger: leisure the opposite of labour. But the difference between the positive and negative is like the difference between water and fire, metal and wood, female and male. They are unable to co-exist identically and simultaneously in mutual contact. The wise commander observes the aura of the five elements, viz., metal, wood, water, fire, earth, following Aura of the five elements. the lucky indications of each in replying to the enemy. Thus he is able to make his victory complete. The unskilful commander neglects a concurrence with these five elements. Instead, he adopts the five deaths—because greed impels him to try and snatch a victory at every opportunity, without regard to the signs of the indicators. And so he gets caught in his own net. What is important in military affairs is that plans are concealed from the enemy, and visible movements camouflaged. Attack the enemy altogether unexpectedly and give him no time to prepare. Once contemplated plans are made known, their use is finished. When the visible operation is manifest, then it can be met and controlled. Hence the skilful commander gets the concealments of "heaven above" and those offered by "earth below": in between these The nature of the terrain. there is the "concealment offered by human affairs." Nothing can interfere with the concealment through heaven. What is meant by this is, and may be made plain by examples, from great cold, overpowering heat, swift winds and violent rain, thick fog, eclipse of the sun. Advantage may be taken of these in order to do the unexpected. The "concealments of the earth" are, for example, mountain heights, rising ground, forests, dangerous defiles, etc. These can be used as cover and ambush to prevent any outward movement from being seen. "Human concealment" is when, for example, men hide in the van when the enemy expects him to be in the rear; or some abnormal action within the line of battle, like an appearance sudden as a thunder-clap; a stroke swift as pelting rain or rushing wind, or the rolling up of the Many helps to victory. flags, the stopping of the beating of the drum, marching under cover, a movement to which no clue is found. Hence when the van and rear are in perfect order, the square in perfect line, the marching the dismissal, or falling into line are without mutual hindrance; to have the wings light is to their advantage. Not to break the line whether in deployment forward or to the rear, and, in disbanding, to have like order, is the mark of skill in the organizing and the training of the regiment. To be versed in the occult, in geomancy, in the elements that are mutually destructive and the opposite, in the five elements: to view the weather and read the stars: to take the horoscope of the tortoise: to divine omens,—all these belong to transcendental philosophy. Then there is the working out of plans and schemes, the lying in ambush in grass, the use of water and of fire, Many ways of skill. the introduction of some strange surprises, the cries and shouting of the army so as to confound the ear of the enemy, the dragging of branches so as to raise a screen of clouds of dust whereby to bewilder his eyes. These are the skilful ways of feints and stratagems. To make defences by planting the mighty hammer, etc., to that the soldiers gain confidence and are not frightened, the avoidance of bribery by bestowed of power or advantage, these are skilful ways by means of which to gain power and fitness. Celerity, swiftness, intrepidity, courage, contempt of danger and of the enemy are the essentials of surprise attacks. The survey of the land comprises the erection of serried ranks of huts or tents, the construction of stockades, the occuption of high ground and of beacon towers, making sure of the line of communications, and so on, is what is meant by a skilful use of terrain. Take advantage of the enemy's hunger and thirst, of biting cold and torrid heat, of his labours and fatigue, of his exhaustion and consequent lack of discipline, of his nervousness, and the afflicted state of his feet and footwear, and then select your warriors and attack him in the depth of night. This is the skill which makes use of special occasions and adapts action to circumstances. Ride in chariots where the roads are level: in difficult climbs or winding mountain roads, take to horse: for the most part use the simple bow (not the crossbow), in crossing water: and the crossbow when in mountain defiles. Let the banners fly in the day and light many fires for the night, and in the twilight let the drums be well sounded. This is the skill used in making preparations. All these eight matters are necessary; not one should be omitted. Notwithstanding, they are not the most important The most important is for the General to have a clear mind. in military affairs. The following are more vital. He who is commanding should see and know better than any other. He is the only one who sees what other men don't see, the only one who knows what other men do not know: the only one who sees what other men don't see means that he may be said to be clear-minded: knowing what other men don't know, means him to be mentally penetrating and to have taken the first steps towards victory. To have a defence that cannot be assaulted, and to be undefeated in battle, are matters of care in preparation. What is meant by carelessness is a disunion between those above and those below, viz., that the petty officers are not acting together, that treatment is Preparation and unity of spirit. not just, that there is a growing resentment in the soldiers' minds, resulting in disobedience. What is meant by care is that the emperor is clear-minded and the commanders are honest, that superiors and subordinates are of one spirit and the whole rise and act together. This is what is meant by "care in preparation." If water is thrown on fire, what happens is a collapse of the fire: a retreat follows pressure or coercion. Hardness and yieldingness are mutually incompatible. Victory is the result of stable equilibrium. Victory where the right spirit prevails. When the strong and weak are of dissimilar strength, the victory will rest with that side which has real strength. Hence successful attack does not depend on the fewness of soldiers: a skilful defence with the smallness of the country: victory will be where awe prevails: defeat follows the loss of the right Spirit. Now where there is the right spirit, there will be ardent fighting: where this is lacking there will be flight. Where there is an overflow of vital unity there will be might: where there is degeneracy and decay defeat follows. Fu Ch‛a, king of Wu, had a territory Examples. of 2,000 li and armoured armies of 700,000 men. In the south he warred with Yüeh and captured him at Ku‛ei Chi. In the north he warred with Ch‛i and broke his power at Ai Ling. In the west he met with the Duke of Ts‛in and took him prisoner at Huang Ch‛ih. These successes he won through the spirit of his people. Afterwards he became inordinately proud, and gave reins to his lust for women, wealth and territory. He despised the remonstrances of his ministers and pursued his lawless pleasure and continued in his evil ways. It was impossible to correct his habits by good advice. The great minsters hated and resented him and the soldiers refused him obedience. The king of Yüeh picked 3,000 troops and took him prisoner in Kan Sui. He captured him through his vanity and want of solidity. Now the spirit of man has its times of strength and weakness just as light must give way, at times, to darkness. Thus the conquering soldiers do not always possess strength, and defeated soldiers are not always weak. The right plan is to be able to give the strength of unity to the spirit of the people in order to meet the want of harmony in the enemy's camp. The incompetent man disunites the spirit of unity in his people, and meets the united spirit of others with divided strength. Hence the spirit of solidarity or the reverse are two elements highly considered in military affairs. When any country faces danger the king calls his commander to the palace In case of war. and instructs him, saying: "The life of our home-land is in the hands of you as commander of the army, and in the trouble now facing it, I beg you; my General, to face the danger." The commander received the commands. The emperor then orders the minister of worship and the diviner, first having observed three days of ceremonial cleansing, to go to the ancestral temple and test the mystic tortoise, and cast a horoscope for the auspicious day for giving out the drum and the flags of war. The king enters the temple gate and stands facing west. The commander enters the temple, and proceeding with arms akimbo (a sign of respect) to a place below the hall, stands facing north. The king takes the great hammer and holds it by the head and gives the handle to the commander saying: "From henceforth, the commander of our armies controls all, even up to Heaven above," again taking the smaller hammer by the head he gives the handle to the commander saying, "All below, even to all the seas, is under the control of the commander of our armies." And the commander having received both hammers replies, saying, "The kingdom in its politics is not to be ordered from outside. i.e. by the army: the army will not be directed from the palace. There can be no divided heart in the service of the king, nor can there be any hesitation in dealing with the enemy. I, the commander, having received control as herein expressed, and I, having received the authority of the drums, the hammers, will not seek instructions again. May the king no more give any word of instruction to me. If the king does not agree to this compact I will not dare to act.32 If the king agrees, then I bid goodbye and go to pare my nails,33 and prepare my shroud. I go out by the dread door."34 Mounting the commander's chariot and loading the drum, flags, with the two hammers, he departs, weighted with great responsibility. When the commander gets near the enemy, he engages in battle, regardless of death. There is no divided mind; he fights unconscious of heaven above, of earth below, of enemy in front or king behind; he presses forward, thinking not of glory or of guilt, should there be retreat. His thought is centred only on the battle. That the people be protected, and the king magnified, are his only thoughts. This is what is important to the kingdom that the principles of the high commanders be such as these. These things being so, the wise will take thought of them: the brave will fight for their country. Spirit will be Victory. ardent and high as the clouds, swift like the racing horse, Wu. In this way, even before battle is joined, the enemy will be filled with dread. If victory is won and the enemy put to flight, the end is attained. There will follow the distribution of honours and largesse. Officers will be advanced in position. Officials will get titles and emoluments. Areas will be apportioned for stations of the troops before they return to their country: the conduct Dispositions. of the soldiers will be decided within the army and the guilty executed. When it returns to the country, the commander will furl his flags to enter the gate, and surrender the hammer and the halberd and inform the prince of the end of the war, saying, "The army has no control after this. I go to put on calico garments and into retirement,35 please define my guilt." The prince will say: "Forgiveness is granted. Go and put on silk clothes." After a great victory, the commander returns home after a residence of three years in the palace, two years residence after a moderate victory, and one year for an inconsequential victory, The Country against whom the army is sent is necessarily a lawless one and the possibility of a victorious campaign is promising because the war is not one of revenge. Results: Territory taken from the enemy shall not be given back: the people shall not have any pestilence: the commander will not have an untimely death: the crops will be luxuriant: the wind and rains will fall seasonably. A victory in foreign parts will ensure great prosperity at home. And so renown is secure and there will be no excess of calamity afterwards.36 Index Previous Next ENDEAVOUR AND DUTY. "To tell you the truth, Cephalus, I replied, I delight in conversing with very old persons. For as they have gone before us on the road over which perhaps we also shall have to travel, I think we ought to try to learn from them what the nature of that road is,—whether it be rough and difficult, or smooth and easy." The Republic Of Plato. VIII DISSERTATION ON ENDEAVOUR AND DUTY. An interpretation of Wu Wei. Hsiu (###) means endeavour. Wu (###) to rush eagerly towards a goal. The sages always rush to do things according to the times. They do not think in their so doing of winning a high position and glory, nor do they study their own personal affairs. They are weighed with the conviction that they must use the doctrine of humanity and justice to rescue the world. This is the meaning of the title. Some may maintain that the person who acts in the spirit of Wu Wei is one who is in serenity, without speaking, and in meditation, without acting: he will not come when called nor be driven by force. And this demeanour is, it is assumed, the phenomenal appearance of one getting the Cosmic Spirit. Such an interpretation of Wu Wei I cannot admit. I never heard such an explanation from any sage. Now if it be granted that Shen Nung, Yao, Shun, Yü and T‛ang1 were sages, authors and writers cannot Wu Wei is not inaction. neglect their significance; for it is quite evident that none of these sages were men of Inaction, (Wu Wei in the literal sense) though they acted on the principle of Wu Wei. People of old fed on grass, drank spring water, plucked the fruits of the trees for their food and fed on the flesh Men of Wu Wei were men of action. of wasps and mussels. They often were sick and poisoned. Then Shen Nung appeared and taught them, for the first time, the art of sowing and planting cereals, how to discern the relative values of lands and the seeds suitable to the soil; he taught them to differentiate between the dry and humid, the rich and poor, the high and low lands. By empirical methods of tasting the flavours of the various plants and grasses, of testing the bitter and sweet waters in the springs, he enabled the people to avoid the noxious. It was then, under his regime, that, in one day, 70 kinds of poisonous plants were discriminated. Yao founded the doctrines of filial piety, mercy, benevolence and love, which established the people in brothrerhood. Thus he instructed the Wo people, to the west; he went to the black-teeth people,2a on the east; he looked after the people of the gloomy regions in the north and taught the cloven-footed people of the south. Yao banished his minister, Huan Tou, to the Ch‛un mountain; he drove out the (prince of the) Three Aborigines to the outer San Wei; he exiled the Superintendent of works to Yu Chou; he transported Chi Kun to the mountain Yu.2 Shun taught the art of building houses, by erecting walls and thatching roofs; of breaking-up fallow land and planting cereals and trees, thus helping the people to do away with the rough life of caves, by each having a house of his own. He died at Tsang Wu (Hunan), as he was making a tour of inspection in the south and instructing the Three Aborigines. Yü3 toiled through rough and stormy weather: the wind combed his hair and the rain drenched his person. He brought the mighty Chiang within banks and led the yellow river into channels. He bore a way through the mountains, hewing the Dragon Gate and drilling away through I Ch‛ueh for the waters to issue forth. He built the dykes and made the Po Yang lake, in the marshy regions. By building roads along the mountains' base, hewing down the thick timber in the way, he opened up lines of communication. In this way he settled 1800 kingdoms. (Book of Histories Pt iii. Bk I. Sec. I.) T‛ang early and late meditated on the multitude of state affairs of his country and became wise in them. Being frugal and economical in his personal habits, he exacted but light taxes and thus enriched the rustic people. His virtue and kindness flowed everywhere, so that the oppressed and poor were relieved. He comforted those who mourned for the dead; he enquired after the sick and fed the orphan and widow. The people clung to him with affection, his commands were readily obeyed in the country. He drilled his troops at Ming Tiao; he invested Hsia at Nan Ch‛ao, and, having reprimanded him for his sins, exiled him to Li Shan. These Five Sages were the brilliant masters of the empire. They did not spare themselves: they toiled, with They toiled. mind and body, in the interests of the people; the cup of anxieties was full, working out economical plans and expelling all that was detrimental. They were not lazy. A person will raise a glass of wine without changing colour; but he who lifts the amphora, a picul in weight, will have the sweat running down his cheeks. How much more so he who carries the anxieties of empire and the affairs of the country. Such anxieties are far heavier than an amphora of a hundred weight. Moreover, the Sage doesn't mind the indignity of labour or the absence of honour: what he is troubled about is lest there be a failure of the Tao in practice: he is not grieved over an early death, but he is concerned about the difficulties and poverty of They yearned over the people. the people. It was this that led Yü to drain the waters, sacrificing his life at the river Yang Hsü: similarly T‛ang offered his person in his prayer at the forest of the Mulberry mountain. Thus the Sages yearned over the people is clearly shown by these instances. Such was their clearsighted vision. To assume that they followed the principle of Wu Wei, in the sense of doing nothing, is a grievous misconception. Further the creation of emperors and kings in ancient times did not arise from any wish to gratify personal desire. Kings are for protection. Sages trod the way of kings with no selfish object in view of gaining personal pleasure. They took this office rather because the strong oppressed the weak; the many outraged the few; the wily cheated the simple; the bold robbed the timid. In a word, they became kings, because men who were in possession of knowledge did not impart it to others; because those with wealth did not share it with others. It was thus that they came to play the role of kingship by the needs of state. They felt they could equalize and adjust social matters best in that way. The wisdom of any one man is not great enough to illumine all the empire, so the offices of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers were created, wings on the king's right and left hand to assist the throne. With this help it was possible to overshadow distant kingdoms with kingly virtue and generosity, to influence the various customs and to open up the distant and rustic regions, and the system of Feudal With ministers to help. Lords was established to instruct all by education. Thus, with this assistance, the whole land was reached and the duties of every season attended to. Officers, being free from dereliction of duties, no public good was neglected. Therefore, the needy were clothed and the hungry fed; the aged and feeble were nourished and tired toilers were rested. Let us consider those sages who (started life as common people) were the people of the cotton clothes, and the foot travellers. There was Yi-yun4 who had his first acquaintance with T‛ang, the emperor, when he was cook Sages are toilers. and carried the saucepan: there was Yü-wang5 who made the acquaintance of the future emperor of Chou when he was a butcher: Peh-li-hsi,6 a man of Yu, who sold himself for five pieces of hide to the Duke Mu of Ts‛in and became Prime Minister: there was Kuan Chung7 who became a captive and later rose to great power: there was Confucius whose cooking stove was never warm for he was always out travelling: and there was Mei Tzû but who seldom warmed his domestic bed in his zeal for the public good. These Sages8 thought no mountain too high, no river too broad to traverse in the pursuit of their work: they bore every buffeting, by waiting on kings. It wasn't because they lusted after emoluments or sought positions of power that they did so; but they desired rather to advance the good of the empire and to expel everything hurtful to the people. I have read in an old book that Shen Nung was tanned and, that Yao was thin, that Shun was swarthy and that Yü was horny of hands and feet. Whence we may learn of the intense solicitude and toil of the Sages for the people. (Hence it has never been seen that government could be carried on successfully or affairs be transacted satisfactorily if king and people did not exert their physical and mental energies). The configuration of the earth causes water to Kings toil according to natural law. flow eastward; nevertheless man must open channels for it in order to lead the water to run in streams (not lie over the land). Cereals sprout in spring; but it is necessary to add human labour, in order to induce it to grow and mature. If everything were left to nature and birth and growth were waited for without human labour, then there would be no accruing merits to Kun and Yü,9 and the knowledge of Hou Chi9a could not be put to use. What is meant, therefore, in my view, by Wu Wei, is that no selfish idea or personal will can enter and interfere with natural justice: no personal lust or desire may twist and wrench the true course of action. Reason and right must guide in action, in order to exercise power according to the intrinsic properties of things. This is a natural exercise of force, and, by so doing, there will be no room for any subtle art or craftiness. Thus, in any achievement human merit finds no ground of glory; in any success personal renown will find no place. This is not to say there is no response to stimulus, no movement after compulsion. Now were there such a thing as a workman drying up a well by fire, or were the waters of the river Huai led to irrigate a mountain, such things would be personal effort and actions contrary to the natural law. Such deeds may be called Yu Wei or Yu Wei effort. work by effort, i.e. they are deeds contrary to the course of nature. But in the case of the use of boats on water, sledges for running over sands, sleighs over mud, or the use of chairs on mountains, the digging of channels for summer floods, means for protection against cold in winter, the making of arable land on high ground, reserving low ground for marshes, such activities are not what I call Yu Wei, i.e. they are according to natura rerum. The Sages, in all their diverse methods of actions, follow the nature of things. Though there were diversities of methods, yet all reverted to the one objective the preservation of the tottering, the righting of the crooked, which are governed by the one purpose, which is never forgotten, for a moment—the desire to benefit the people. This may be Examples. demonstrated by many examples such as that in ancient times when the king of Ts‛u desired to conquer Sung, Mei Tzŭ, hearing of it, was grieved and hastened from Luh to interview the king. He travelled ten days and nights; he tore his garments in order to wrap and ease his swollen feet. Having arrived, he told the king in an interview that he had heard of the meditated attack on Sung, and he assumed the purpose to be the capture of territory. "Will you still attack," he said, "when you think what sufferings the movement of troops will cause the people? Think of the expenditure on the weapons of war and the odium of an unrighteous name that will be transmitted to the whole empire! Will you still embark on this expedition when you cannot gain an inch of territory?" The king replied: "Of course I mean to gain possession of Sung: that is the object of my attack." Mei Tzu replied, "I see the Great King is bent on violating the principle of right. Withal I assure him he will not gain possession of Sung." The king responded, "Kung Shu, the master craftsman of the empire, has created a ram reaching to the clouds for storming the city of Sung which will ensure me the capture of it." Mei Tzû replied, "If you order Kung Shu Pan to erect this ram, permit me to say that I will aid the defenders." Kung Shu Pan, hereupon, attacked with his turret-ram. Mei Tzŭ prepared defensive means and repulsed nine attacks successfully. Subsequently, the attacking force, owing to its failure, was recalled. Tuan Kan Mu refused the emoluments of office and dwelt at home. Wei Wen Hou happened to pass his village and wished to pay his respects. Tuan's servant asked why he came, and Wen Hou replied. "To pay my respects to a worthy man at his home." The servant said. "Tuan Kan Mu is a private individual, and for the Duke to come thus is surely overstepping etiquette." To which reprimand Wei Wen Hou replied: "Tuan Kan Mu is a man who doesn't seek gain or the exercise of power—a true gentleman. His name has travelled widely, though he lives in retirement and in a mean abode. I dare not pass without offering my cordial respects. Tuan Kan Mu is renowned for his virtue, Influence of personality. I for my power. Tuan is rich in righteousness, I in wealth. But power is not so estimable as virtue, not is wealth comparable to righteousness. Kan Mu wouldn't change place with me. I am constantly grieved at my unworthy deeds. I am afraid of my shadow, i.e. from failure to duty. You shouldn't look so slightingly on your master and think I shouldn't pay my respects in passing." Later on, when Ts‛in was about to attack Wei, Ssŭ Ma Yü remonstrated, on the grounds that Tuan Kan Mu, the sage, lived there, and that his Prince had gone even to his home to pay his respects. This fact was universally known, amongst the Feudal Lords. To move an army against the country of such a person would be to violate right. Whereupon the troops were disbanded and the attack was never made. Thus Mei Tzû saved both Ts‛u and Sung by his forced and swift journey; and Tuan Kan Mu, in the quietude of his home, settled the trouble between Ts‛in and Wei. The one did it by a journey, the other without stirring out. The method of action was radically different, the end attained the same. Both saved their countries from war. Take, again, the stamping out of a conflagration. Water is hauled from wells and carried to the scene of fire. Unity in Variety. It may be by means of buckets or jugs, basons or pails. Their shapes may be different, one being round, the other square; one may be cylindrical, another globular; again, each vessel may be of a different capacity; but their efficiency in extinguishing the flames is equal. The songs of Ts‛in, of Ts‛u, of Yen and of Wei are in differing keys, but all give joy to the hearers: all the songs are music. Again the wails of the nine I and eight Ti tribes are very different in sound, but all show the signs of grief. Thus songs are the evidence of joy, wailings the result of grief. What stirs the heart is seen in the outward expression. Hence, each sends forth what moves the feelings. The Sages, neither night nor day, forgot their desire to help the people and, wherever their kindnesses came, it was effective and great. There are many strange theories to account for the degraded morals of the age. Some account for it by saying that men's natures have their differences, some being good and some bad, just as there is a difference in the leaping Education will not change the nature. of fishes or the spotted colouring of the cranes. Such difference pertains to natural qualities and are unalterable. Even learning will not alter natural qualities.12 I do not agree with this explanation. The leaping of fishes, the colours of the cranes are similar in nature to that which makes man a man and horse a horse. For the qualities of bone, tissues and form which each has received from nature cannot be altered. The difference is one of kind. But this is not true of man's nature. When a horse is yet a colt in pasture, he gambols, kicking his heels and erecting his tail, he is not subject to But will enlighten endowment. control in such a state. He bites and kicks to the danger of life and limb. However put him in training and let him be trained by a wise trainer, let him be controlled by bit and harness and he will become docile and obedient. So that whilst, in form and bone and tissue, a horse is a horse always and may not be changed, it yet may be trained into obedience by bit and harness. And if an irrational creature may be instilled with sense by the will of man, how much more so may a rational creature, like man, be so instilled with and influenced by the mind and thought of another. It may be granted that the superior man whose person is correct and nature good, whose every movement breathes It is for the normal not the abnormal humanity and whose every action overflows with justice—a nature that all praise—such a man needs no instuction to make him good. Every action is consonant with truth. Such were Yao, Shun and Wen Wang.13 Granted again that the other extreme class, such as the drunken and sensual, are incorrigible, whom no instruction can enlighten nor command bring to reason: such incorrigibles a disciplinarian father can never correct by moral instruction nor good men convert. Such were Tan Chu (Yao's son) and Shang Chun (Shun's son). People of beautiful physique need not add powder and lavender to make others like them. Such were Hsi Shih and Yang Wen (two famous beauties). Ugly and deformed persons with narrow chests and protruding stomachs, thick lips and crooked mouths, on the other hand, though they daub themselves with powder and paint and pencil their eyebrows, can never hope to get people to admire their good looks: such were Mo Mu and P‛i Sui. But the bulk of men do not belong to either extremes, the one needing no instruction, the other incapable of it. Improvement is possible. The majority, that is to say, can be led in the way of instruction; to such a fragrant and generous education may be given. And though there may be a few perverse sons such as would be parricides, yet it can't be maintained that all fathers, for this reason, should be estranged from their sons, since, generally speaking, all sons love their parents. It may be confessed that there are some unworthy scholars; but the fact that The normal is the rule. the truth of former kings still prevails, shows that the bulk of scholars carry out their precepts and are good men. Now it would be foolish to give up learning because there are a few bad scholars, just as foolish as to give up eating because of an attack of indigestion: or to refuse to use one's legs because of an occasional stumble. A good horse needs no stirrup and whip to urge it on; but double thongs will not make a bad horse move any faster. Nevertheless, it would be absurd to argue that, therefore, a whip and spurs should never be used! The majority of horses are of the mediocre class. A timid person carrying a sharp sword would be afraid to hew down a person or stab him with it. But a person of courage would roll up his sleeves and sway it and run it into the bone and marrow. But it wouldn't be at all logical to give up the use of all famous swords, the Kan Chiang and Mo Yeh,14 and fight only with fists for these reasons! What we mean to say applies to things generally, common to all and current in society: we don't refer to the rare and exceptional, to anything at either extreme.14a The extremes of anything cannot be taken as a general standard in an argument. Some oranges and pumeloes grow in winter; but people say that, in winter, things die, because most things die in winter. Some wheat and greens die in summer; yet people say that summer begets things, because most things do grow in summer. Rivers and streams do, now and then, meander and at times wend north and south; yet people say all water flows eastward. The Nieh T‛i, the star near the Great Bear, the Chen Star, sun and moon revolve eastwards; yet people speak of the constellations moving westwards. It is a general way of speaking. It is a manner of speech. There are Mongols of a penetrating knowledge; yet people generally consider the race sluggish. The southern Unusual talents. tribes15 have people that are slow-witted; yet we generally think of them as quick and fiery. The common designation springs from the general tenour. Let us again take the common saying that Yao had eyebrows of eight hues and nine penetrative senses; that his acts were all just and free from self-interest. Every word of his was enough to unify the people. Shun is said to have had double pupils which gave him an overwhelming power of penetration in understanding men; an act of his became law, a word an example to the world. Yü had three orifices to the ear which gave him great comprehension of world affairs, enabling him to advance the interests of the people and to eliminate what was detrimental to them, such as the dredging of rivers and the clearing of obstructions from streams. Wen Wang is said to have had four teats and so was prolific in his methods of social economy, resulting in the adhesion of the empire and the affection of the people. Kao Yao16 had equine, long lips and so was called "the perfectly faithful" and spoke no nonsense: hence he judged criminals with perspicacity and his knowledge of men was penetrative. Yü was born as a result of the influence of the stone on his mother: Hsieh as the result of his mother's pregnancy through eating a swallow's egg. Shih Huang17 could write as soon as he was born. All these nine noted men embrace a period of a thousand years; but they are thought of as each one, following on the heels of the other (Sages are rare). At the present time there are no five Sages inspired by Heaven: it is most difficult to obtain the services of such four great men of talent. But to adandon learning on this account and simply follow instinct, would be similar to abandoning the ferry boat and walking through the river. When the two famous swords, Ch‛un Kou and Yu Chang,18 were first put in the furnace, they could neither Function of education. cut nor pierce an object. But after the process of grinding and the finishing of the edge, they could cleave the great dragon boat and pierce the rhinoceros' armour. A bright mirror is opaque in its rough state and no object is visible in it; but when ground and burnished with quicksilver, it will show the smallest hair and the finest line. Now education is as the quicksilver, grindstone and file. To say that there is no advantage in education is to Education is fruitful. misuse argument. The deficiency of a man of knowledge is inferior to the knowledge of an ignorant person. The lack of the wise is inferior to the general information of the public. How may these propositions be substantiated? Let us do so by some examples, such as the Sung art, the Wu methods of smelting and decorative work in carving. Their work in lines and decorations was profoundly wonderful and their workmanship exquisitely fine. No sage like Yao or Shun could touch it. The embroidery work of the maidens of Honan and the young girls of Wei was marvellous in the combination of colours. Their embroideries and patterns on cloth were a wonderful combination of black, and white and other colours worked into a harmonious whole. It was such that the knowledge of Yü and T‛ang could never match. What heaven covers, what earth sustains is all embraced within the six points and supported within the universe. It gives knowledge. Yin and Yang beget the vitality of life (animals). Those animals that have teeth and carry horns, those with claws in front and heels behind, birds that fly to and fro, lizards and reptiles that wriggle, unite when they are pleased with each other and fight when enmity exists between them. When they see anything of advantage, they get near: when they scent danger, they go away. This is natural instinct. In this they are not different from men. Though their teeth Instinct alone not reliable. and claws are superior and their muscles are stronger than those of men, yet they cannot escape being controlled by man. They cannot combine through want of knowledge, their ability cannot bring unity between them. Each uses its natural strength in its own line and does not seek extraneous help. Hence their own strength being limited, they find no success. Geese fly with the wind to preserve their strength: they sail along with straws in their beaks to ward off any attacks from the shooting arrow. The ant knows to build its mound: the badger and otter build their zigzag paths underground: the tigers have their lairs of grass and the boar its home in the leaves. The moles have their winding subterranean passages as a home for protection against the rain, in cloudy weather, and the sun in its heat. Thus we find that beast and bird know, by their instincts, how to seek for those safeguards that suit them and which will be a means of defence to them. Now think of a person born in a secluded and rustic place, growing up in a poor hamlet and a mean abode. Growing up, he has no brothers, and he loses his parents young. Such an one has had no experience of rites and ceremonies. He has had no opportunity to hear the teachings of ancient sages. Living in solitude in his small home and never going out to the world, he, though not stupid by nature, yet could never have much knowledge. In ancient times Tsang Hsieh invented the written character. Yung Ch‛eng,19 made charts of the heavenly Progress depends on education. bodies and almanacs; Hu Ts‛ao20 was the creator of clothes; Hou Chi invented the System of agriculture; I Ti21 made wine; Hsi Chung22 was the creator of carriages. These six men in their inventions were divinely gifted, and possessed the traditions of the wise. The inventions which men have transmitted to posterity could not all have been done by one individual. Each man is expert in his own speciality, and concentrates on that which he desires to be proficient in. These results have become of use to the whole world. Had these six men changed about from that in which each was superior to another, these inventions would never have accrued. Why so? Because creation is vast, and one person's knowledge is not enough to compass the whole. The successors of the house of Chou possessed no individual having the talent of these six men; yet all practise what these invented. The present generation has none with the talents of any one of these; but they comprehend the methods of these savants. And how? Because they know, by imitation, what these transmitted, and continue to practise what was given, and so they have the knowledge and can do what was invented. These examples make clear that education cannot be abandoned. Again think of a blind person who cannot distinguish night from day, nor differentiate between white and black; yet he can run his fingers over the strings of the harp and strike the correct note, without a single mistake. Now, The trained mind is best. if a person with the penetrating eyes of Li Chu23 were to beat the drum or run his fingers over the strings of the harp without any previous practice, he would surely fail: his fingers could never run up and down the strings correctly. And the secret is that such a proficiency can only be reached by assiduous practice and accumulated experience. The bow must be stretched on a frame to give it shape. The sword must be ground to give it edge. The jade of incomparable hardness must be carved with figures of beasts, by the application of the stone file. Wood, straight as a line, may be bent into the shape of a wheel so that it becomes exactly circular by the force of the bevelling tool. The hardest quality of the T‛ang jade stone may be made into serviceable utensils by scalloping and cutting. How much more so may the mind of man be improved by training. The human spirit is plastic and impressionable, subtile and tenuous. It responds to change instantly, ever following influence. The clouds soar up, the wind hurries on; each distributing itself where it is. The superior man, by Effort gives illumination. constant application and labourious investigation, sharpens his talents: by intensitive understanding and scientific review over the wide field of matter, he apprehends the complexity of the material world, seeing the clews to the beginning and the end of things: he views the illimitable frontiers; he moves in the sphere of the profound, preeminently independent and unhampered by the conventions of the world. In this way does the Sage exercise his mental powers. He refuses to sit idly at home in silent meditations, thrumming the drum or zither or reading the lore of the ancients. But not so the Worthies (second rate men). They discuss literature all day for their pleasure. They are empiricists in history, enquiring and differentiating the clear and obscure, the good and bad. They seek the reasons for the rise and fall of things in order to find the sources of disaster and happiness. They organize ceremonies and create precedents which may serve as laws. They examine the beginning and end of principles and fathom the essence, even the cause and effect of events. They uphold the true and eliminate the false for the enlightenment of posterity. Dead they bequeathe their art: living they have an honourable name. All this is within the capacity of men. Why is it, then, that men fail in attaining to this? It comes from the superficiality and laziness of men in the pursuit of knowledge. We see that many people in poor districts strive after perfection; but the people of rich places, like Soochow, have Effort necessary. few attainments because of their love of ease. From such considerations we may learn that intelligent men who refuse to exert themselves are not equal to less intelligent people who strive after education. It has never been known that anything has been accomplished by any person, from the highest to the lowest, who has not striven for success. As the Odes say:—"The day revolves; the night wanes and there is a storing of learning that will reach luminosity." This illustrates my theme. "Renown can be won by effort. Merit can be gained by struggle." Hence the superior man concentrates his thought on correct principles and selects capable guides. He animates his life by purity of purpose and lofty aims, and breaks off connection with ordinary conventionalism. How may we know this is true? In olden time Nan Yung Chou24 who, being ashamed of failure in carrying out the teaching of the Sages, braved the inclemencies of weather, travelled over wilds and mountains, pushed his Renown won. way through deep jungle, and for a hundred days, with blistered feet, dared not rest on his journey until he arrived at the southern objective, the abode of Lao Tzû, whom he had come to see. His spirit was enlightened; he listened to truth that made things clear to him. He was so refreshed by what he heard that, though he took no food for seven days, yet he felt as though he feasted on the best joints. It was thus that he gained a comprehensive knowledge of all things and became illustrious. He apprehended the laws of Heaven and Earth and could distinguish the finest points (the autumn hairs on cereals). His reputation grew from one age to another, and is not forgotten even today. This illustrates the saying: "Merit is gained by exertion." Wu had a war with Ts‛u. Ta Hsin,25 the captain of the hosts, on going into battle, touched the arm of his aide-de-camp saying, "Today we are facing the force of the enemies' naked swords and hurtling darts. What if we die, Merit won. yet the victory of our soldiers will ensure the safety of the country and the preservation of our hearths. That is the great thing! Is it not?" Whereupon he went into battle, never hesitating. He was disembowelled and his head struck off. Never once did he turn his foot round nor falter in his charge; and so died. Shen Pao Hsü,26 on the other hand, felt that were he to use his bodily strength in facing a terrible enemy, and by shedding his blood fall a corpse, it would be no more than what an ordinary infantryman could do. So he adopted a most effective way. Regardless of personal inconveniences and the shame of it, he became a suppliant to the Feudal Lords, begging their help. To meet the national crisis he wrapped a little food in a napkin, marched on foot, crossing mountains and rivers and valleys. Ascending great mountains, he plunged into the jungle and crossed deep gorges; he traversed over marshes in his journey to Ts‛in. He forced his way past the guards that held the passes. He pushed through thickets and walked over arid plains and stony paths. He was covered with briers and thorns. Though his knees were swollen and his feet raw to the bone, he did not loiter on his journey of seven days and nights, until he came to the palace of Ts‛in. He wept day and night with his face to the wall crying for help and relief. He was so agitated that his face became ashen grey, and his colour changed to black. His tears and humours trickled down, one on the other: eager was he for an interview with the prince of Ts‛in to plead for relief. On an interview being granted, he said that Wu was as a great boar or mighty snake slowly worming its way to the predominant place in the world; the oppression of Ts‛u was but the first movement towards this end. 'I, the king,' he said, 'am already driven from home and compelled to live in a mean abode. My people are scattered; men and women are at their wits end, fleeing hither and thither. This is the urgency of my appeal." The king of Ts‛in, hereupon, sent a large army of 70,000 men and 1,000 chariots to the rescue of Ts‛u under the command of Tzû Hu. He crossed over the Eastern pass, and engaging the forces of Wu, routed them at the Chu waters on the Yangtse. In this way the kingdom of Ts‛u was saved. This martial prowess has been inscribed in the ancestral temple and illuminated in the records. Such is an example of the saying, 'Merit is gained by exertion.' Now the lives of mortals have much in common. Their bodies, minds, knowledge, anxieties, troubles and toils, their sensibilities to pain, heat and cold are similar; and the Sage, realizing the difficulties of men, exerts himself to gain success. He toils and worries and acts most carefully: he never avoids any trouble: he always confronts every crisis. I have heard that Wen Tzŭ Fa27 (General of Ts‛u) went to the war forthright, straight as an arrow. His strategy was superb. His convergence of troops was like the roar of thunder: his deployment of them like the wind and rain. He wheeled troops into circles methodically: he formed them into squares exactly. He broke the power Success depends on effort. of the enemy by his strategy, putting their battalions into danger and preventing any new combinations. He was certain of victory in the open ground. His success in assault of cities was assured. It was not that he was regardless of his person or courted death. He bent his energies on the objective, paying no heed to fame and riches. His fame was thus established, and it has never been forgotten. This example illustrates the dictum of 'Personal effort assuring success.' The farmer who is not energetic will never have overflowing granaries. The charioteer who does not train his mind, will never be an expert in his art. Generals and statesmen who are not forceful, will never bring any labour to consummation. Kings and dukes who are indolent, will have no renown in posterity. The Ode says:— MY HORSES ARE PIEBALD; THE SIX REINS ARE SILKEN: I GALLOP THEM AND URGE THEM ON, EVERYWHERE SEEKING INFORMATION AND COUNSEL.28 These words speak of those who concentrate the mind on their business. Persons conversant with work are not to be frightened by anything uncommon. Persons who are well-informed Education gives truth. in principles are not to be moved by any unusual portent. Persons who can weigh words are not moved by mere names. Persons who see into the heart of things are not to be deceived by appearances. Many men of the world esteem what is ancient and despise the modern, hence, plausible speakers29 make use of the authority of the God of Agriculture, or Huang Ti, to gain an entrance into men's minds. Ignorant rulers of an anarchical age magnify these sources of antiquity and honour the speakers by giving them office. Scholars, confused by traditional hearing, captivated by the authority of distinguished names, reverently sit down, and, adjusting their dress, (parrot like) repeat (traditional truisms)—and chant them.30 It is clear that they lack the power of clear discrimination to judge a work on its merits. A person with the genius of Hsi Chung31 could not shape things into round and square without rule and compass: though he were a Luh Pan,32 he could never shape things into straight and angular, without line and square. It was because there was no one left to appreciate his music, after the death of Chung Tzu Ch‛i,33 that Pei Ya34 snapped the string and smashed his violin and played no longer. Chuang Tzŭ35 uttered no more oracles after the death of Hui Shih,36 because there was no appreciative hearer left to him in the world. Hsiang T‛o,37 a child of seven years, was a teacher of Confucius who paid heed to his words. A youth speaking to an elder generally gets his face slapped; but this boy was saved a castigation by the wisdom of his words. In ancient times Hui, King of Ts‛in, gave an interview to Sie Tzŭ and gladly listened to his suggestions. But when he questioned T‛ang Ku Liang, he heard from him that Sie Tzŭ was nothing but a charlatan, always suiting his clever talk to the listener, being only desirous of gaining the goodwill of his prince. Hui Wang, therefore, changed his mind and, when Sie Tzŭ came again, he was not welcomed. Again music never varies; it is always the same. A mistake of a note lies in the faulty ear not in the string. To think sweet is bitter does not lie in any changed quality of an article but in the taste of the palate. A man of Ts‛u boiled a monkey and invited his neighbours to partake of it. When told it was broth made of dog's flesh, they enjoyed it. But hearing later it was monkey's broth, they vomited it all up. The symptom was governed by mental conditions. The musician, Han Tan,38 composed a new tune, giving out it was the creation of Li Ch‛i.39 Everybody strove to learn it. But on hearing later that it was not his creation, they gave it up. They really didn't judge from its merit as music. They hadn't the taste for that. They were enamoured of a name. A rustic found a rough jade and prized it as a thing of beauty. When he showed it to others, they said it was a common stone, which made him throw it away. He hadn't the connoisseur's discernment and knowledge of the preciousness of jade. Thus when there is a true knowledge there is real appreciation. This is a universal proposition. Whenever there is no real appreciation, then people esteem things simply because of their antiquity or tradition. This was the case with Mr. Ho who got a piece of hardest jade from a thicket of bramble, at the cost of much blood. Two successive kings, thinking he was trying to palm this on them as real jade, cut off the one and the other of his feet. They did not know its real value. Now let us mention an old sword, rusty, indented, knarled and blunt but with the reputation of being the sword of Ch‛ing Hsiang and much prized: for the possession of it there is quite a competition: or a lute, which may be out of tune, its strings flabby, its tuning keys cracked; but let it be looked on as a lute of Ts‛u Chuang, even the Palace ladies and Temple musicians all want to play on it. A ram's-head sword, made from the rich ore of the Miao mines, which can cut the sides of a ship or pierce the rhinoceros-hide armour, has no competitors for its possession. A lute whose body is made of the hardest wood, gathered from near the waters of Chien, does not find eager players though its tones be mellow, resonant, and harmonious. However, an expert does not look on things in that light. A swordsman desires edge on his sword rather than a mere renown of name such as a Mei Yang, or a Mo Hsien sword. An organist seeks tone, volume, harmony in his instrument rather than merely a celebrated name such as Lan Hsieh, Hao Chung. What a rider wants is a horse that can do a 1,000 li a day, not mere famous names. A poet or scholar wants reason and solid matter in his books and not merely names such as Hung Fan and Shang Sung.40 The Sage discriminates between the true and false in literature, just as his eye distinguishes light and dark, or as the ear discriminates bass from tenor. But not so the multitude. It is not governed by any real standard in what it accepts. For example: A son born after his father's death, when the time comes for him to pay his vows at the grave, he will do so with ceremonious tears: but his heart will not really be stirred. It is just the same in the case of twins that are so much alike that only the mother can know the one from the other. In the case of pieces of jade of equal hardness and quality, it is only a good artificer that can discriminate them. It is only a sage can appreciate the fine and delicate points in a book. Now if a new and great writer appears and composes a book, should it be attributed to Confucius or Mencius, litterateurs thumb each sentence and finger each word. Many will accept and read it. Beauties need not all be of the kind of Hsi Shih. Savants need not be of the type of Confucius or Mencius to express clearly the knowledge they have of matters. Hence, in composing a book, a writer aims at a clear expression of ideas to gain appreciative readers. When a reader of intelligence is found whose mind reflects as in a mirror the truth expounded, he doesn't mind whether the book he reads is of ancient or modern date. A writer could die without regret feeling that he had written his work with clearness for the information of his readers. Of old Duke Ping of Ts‛in, Shansi, ordered his foundry-man to cast a bell. When this was done, he asked the minister of music, Shih Kuang, for his opinion on its tone. Shih Kuang replied that it was imperfect. Duke Ping, in turn, said that the opinions of the expert artificers were all favourable. How then did he consider it imperfect? Shih Kuang replied that it might do if posterity were without a person who understood music: but a true musician would at once discern its imperfection. Thus the wish of Shih Kuang was for a perfect-toned bell to satisfy the ear of a musician of all times. Now the men of the Three Dynasties, were such as I am: the Five Worthies were of similar knowledge to mine. Endeavour necessary. However, the difference lies in this that these men had the solid reputation of sages: but, as to me, I am an unknown member of a rustic village, living in an alleyway, all unknown. These have made name and reputation; but I spend my life in careless inutility to no purpose. What I mean may be illustrated. Mao Ch‛iang and Hsi Shih are the eminent beauties of the ages. Were they to decorate themselves with the furs of rotten rats and cloak themselves with the skins of hedgehogs or clothe themselves in leopard robes, and use dead snakes for girdles, then even women dressed in common calico On correct lines. would look askance at them and stop their noses as they passed by. But suppose them fragrant with lavender, with eyebrows annointed, and decorated with ear-rings and ornaments. Suppose them painted with powder and beautified with jade girdles. Were such to put on wanton smiles and cast seductive glances, pucker their mouths and show their teeth in seductive fashion, they would lead even palace people, of high purpose and noble aims, to look on them and keep them in mind and be seduced by their arts. Today people with only ordinary talents and intelligence and of no distinction, without any definite calling and who cultivate no art, will not escape the finger of scorn and the contempt of the world, if they neglect education. Take the case of acrobats. They bend their bodies into a ring and turn and twist themselves into all sorts of strange and fantastic shapes, like genii. Their bodies are as flexible as are the autumn hairs to the winds. They can twist and twirl their bodies with lightning speed. Gymnasts, again, can lift heavy weights and bend tough sticks: they can mount trees like monkeys, play in the branches and do their dressing as they stand on a twig of a tree: they hurry and skip, jump and gambol like a dragon, in a way that stops the heart of the looker-on and makes the knees of the beholder tremble and shake. But they themselves are indifferent and smile nonchalantly. These, however, were not born thus with such nimble limbs. Gymnasts have no specially supple joints. They attained this art by immersing themselves in it, and by exercise they perfected themselves, step by step. Hence, a growing tree is not seen to add to its stature. The wearing away of a hard substance is not visible in the Education gives culture. grinding; but it gets thinner with time. The bramble and pulse plants are of mushroom growth and jump up in a day: but they would never serve for a beam of a house. The Keng tree, the box, the elm and camphor trees are of slow growth. It takes seven years to see any advance in them. But it is the quality of such that can make a coffin or boat. We may sum up and say, anything that costs only small labour is of little worth. That which is difficult of attainment, only, is of value. A gentleman who cultivates the beautiful, may reap no immediate gain: happiness is in the coming. Such will be gathered only in posterity. Hence the Ode says:— "THE DAYS COME AND GO: LEARNING TAKES TIME TO GAIN BRILLIANCY." Pt: IV. Bk 1. IV This, then, is the lesson. Index Previous Next NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS. THE COSMIC SPIRIT. DISSERTATION I.—Pp. 1-30. This is the lst Essay in the series. The Chinese title is Yuan Tao Hsun, (###). The Tao is discussed in a separate article. It needs here only to say that an innovation has been made in the translation of the word Tao by Cosmic Spirit. To anticipate perfectly just criticism to which the translation is open that there is a lack of consistency in the use, it is well to say that Cosmic Spirit is sometimes used, and sometimes the transliterated sound Tao is used. This is a compromise. The Cosmic Spirit really indicates and expresses comprehensively the idea of the Tao in Chinese. The Chinese word is retained because it is being adopted into English partly; and in many cases it is a simpler form for use. 1. Fu tao cho ###. The chô follows the theme indicating the matter discussed. It also implies personality, but not so here. 2. Yin and Yang. The negative and positive principles conceived of as existing in nature universally: male and female: light and darkness. 3. There are no surprising calamities, because all is natural and well-ordered. It may refer more to ill-starred signs than actual physical disturbance. 4. The rainbow is a bad sign: no one dares to point the finger at it. 5. The introduction of such persons here and elsewhere with the exaggerated description of their powers may have contributed to the Taoist degeneration of later days. If such passages were introduced by the original writer, it was done to denote the great power of the Tao, in rhetorical terms. 6. The Creator, i.e., the Tao. There may be here a personification of natural forces under the sway of the Tao. 7. Central organ. The authority of the mind under the sway of the Tao. 8. No fatigue, etc: One of the great themes of the work is that there is no diminution of powers, where the Tao is the dominant force. But a reliance on the senses leads to early exhaustion. This is a fundamental teaching. 9. Legal interference. One of the Liberal principles is that the State should interfere as little as possible by legal enactments. Things have a power of settling themselves without the meddling of opportunist policies and cleverness of the politician. 10. Quiescent. One of the great words of the ancient Taoist philosophers. It implies a perfect equilibrium in human nature, when undisturbed by the entrance of the disturbing forces of passion, desire and all the inventions of the tinkers that crowd the human stage, people who have invented many methods to aid virtue,—the te that results from tao. This refers to the Confucianist theories of jen, love, and i, justice. It should be remembered that there was a great controversy between the Taoist and the Confucianist on the origin of being and on the doctrine of human nature. 11. Do not change the tao-nature for the human, not the spiritual for the sensual. 12. Cp: Mencius Book vi. I: 8, 4. 13. Tan Ho. For Tan read chan. A famous angler. 14. For Yuan Huan read Chüan Huan. 15. For Wu Nao read Hu Hao. The story of how the branches of the mulberry tree came to be used for the most famous bow is that the crows used to rest in the branches. But when springing off, there was such reaction in the branch that the crows got frightened and refused to fly away and so cried in the tree. Another story is that when Huang Ti was flying away to be a genii from the people who loved him, that they shot at the dragon on which he was flying to bring him back, but missed the object; and so the people wailed and the bow came to be known as the "crying bow." 16. For Seng Meng Tzu read Peng Meng Tzu. 17. The original is rather difficult to render; but the idea is "Be guided by great principles and not by temporary policies." 18. T‛u Shan. There are 4 places of this name. The one in the text was in Anhui, 8 li S. E. of Huai Yuan. There was a hill, river and place of the same name. The concord is that between the great Yü and Feudal Lords. 19. Yin I. A famous Prime Minister of T‛ang who kept his emperor prisoner until he amended his ways. 20. Li Chu. A minister of Huang Ti. (2698 B.C.), noted for keenness of eyesight. Mencius mentions him in Book IV Li Lou, Pt. 1. Chap. 1. 21. Shih Kuang. Great musician. He blinded his eyes for concentration on music. 22. A small domain, lit: a terrain of 3 li. 23. Another slap at the Confucian 'sage'. Here the writer touches on a vital Taoist view. It is something akin to the modern view partly expounded by Tolstoy. When men are properly self-governing and taught by the inward monitor, there is no need for the enactment of law or for human government. This is implied in the common saying "The law is only for bad men." The underlying idea is of a natural scheme of life contrary to the Confucian theory of life which is entirely artificial. Weight and measure. The yard and foot-rule came into existence after the loss of the natural state, through strife and cunning and ambition and greed. These standards gave an occasion for dishonesty and injustice. The doctrine of jen, i, benevolence and justice are an artificial creation which has led the world away from the fundamental truths of life and principles of action. Old Mause in "Old Mortality" gives vent to the idea when he says:—"Your leddyship and the steward has been pleased to propose that my son Cuddie suld work in the barn wi a new-fangled machine for dighting the corn frae th' chaff, thus impiously thwarting the will o' Divine Providence by raising wind for your leddyship's ain particular use by human art, instead of soliciting it by prayer." 24. These items are mentioned, in detail, to show the adaptations of nature and to emphasise its naturalness. 25. Wu wei. Lit., No action, not doing. This, of course, is not correct. Wu has not its usual meaning of not; but of invisible existence. Yu Wu comes from Wu yu; the existent comes from the non-existent. It is the invisible state from which all visible things come. Thus it is a synonym of Tao. Hence wu wei means tao action. The same idea is seen in the words of thc Psalm. "There is no voice nor sound: their language is not heard." 26. The gate of Heaven. This is explained by the next paragraph. 27. Cosmic Soul. The original is Tao. Tao has been translated by many words, such as Nature, First Cause, Primum mobile, etc. 28. Kung Kung. One of the two ancient engineers. 29. I, king of Kuang Tung mentioned in other essays too. He is the subject of one of the most popular plays in the country. 30. Sage here refers to Confucius himself. His systems of ethics are man-made moralities and not emanating from the Tao. Hence the contention. 31. Naturalness is sure in its ways. There may be a veiled attack on ambitious politicians and statesmen who force the course of things. Giddy height Cp. Richard III. "Who raised me to this giddy height." 32. Wu wei, Translate by no-action, for antithesis. 33. Affairs settle themselves. Time is a healer. 33a. Knows how to guard its roots. It knows when to pullulate and when to close up flowering etc. 34. The passage is obscure; but the general meaning is there can be no wrenching of the natural. 35. Symbols of unworthiness. Princes, dukes, lords use depreciatory terms in speaking of themselves, such as orphans, the lonely one and so on. 36. The Unity. May not mean Tao here, but rather to have a commanding control, mental or physical of any situation or thing. 37. Just as one general governs the army. 38. Mainstay. The word is ### i.e. the trunk of a tree. 39. Pioneers. May there be a reference to ambitious persons? 40. Ch‛ü Pei-yü. A minister of Wei. 41. The meaning is according to the official commentator, "The Taoist discusses affairs from the tao point of view, and hence is certain in judgment. The tao is before the advent of any affair and so can control it. It also governs the end and issue. 42. A critical business. Any situation fraught with tense issues. 43. Sage. The Taoist sage. 44. Yü,—the great emperor. 45. This passage throws some light on wu wei, viz. that it does not mean laissez faire. He strove: he is prompt in every act: instantaneous to the call of duty. 46. Cp: Book of History. Bk II. Chap. 2. Sect. 14. 47. Gain repose. Not ease and leisure, but the freedom from sense agitation aroused by any anti-tao state. 48. Distance. The word is Hsiu ### which usually means salary, but here length of time or distance. 49. The action of wu wei. The reference is to the Tao Te Ching Chap. 43. This is a magificent description of water and its power. It worthily shows the exhaustless and beneficial operations of tao. 50. Light bears a nearer relation to the Formless Spirit than water does, because it has no substance. Water is the grandson, because it has form and substance. 51. The passage of anything from the immaterial to the material means deterioration. Plato says "Generation leads to corruption". In Christian theology there is the question of the sinfulness of the flesh. The view is also in Buddhism. 52. The Supremacy power. The stability given by an inward repose arising from identification with tao. There are no accretions from the flesh. 53, 54. Immaterial, Formless. Great terms in Taoism. The political conditions of the time is ever hovering over the thought of the writer. He was himself in difficult positions. Indirectly he may be referring to the emperor, his grandfather, and implying that were he living in fellowship with tao, there would be freedom from the complexities of passion and he would have at his service all the powers of the spirit and nature. 55. Unity. A commentator says unity is the foundation of the Tao. 56. It is difficult to say whether he intends to attribute personality to the Unity. It is evident he would give it a separate existence from all else. But as Martineau says, "It is certain that in ancient philosophy words expressive of mental life and action were employed where no proper idea of personality was present." "Types of Ethical Theory," Vol. I. p. 87. 57. Includes the centre and circumference of the universe. 58. No circle etc. It can't be measured nor fathomed. 59. Unity opens the entrance or is the gate of Tao. The idea is the entrance through narrow defile to empire. 60. Five tones. Kung, shang, chüeh, chi (cheng), yu. 61. Sweet, acid, saline, acrid, bitter. 62. The unity here may mean the point of transition from the immaterial into the material and vice versa. Unity covers the deep, i.e., everywhere. The point when the invisible passes into the visible, and is all pervasive. 63. Cp., Cowper's lines, "Like the cerulean arc we see Majestic in its own simplicity." 64. Lao Tan referring to the everlasting, natural tao, said ### but tao is used only conventionally for the nameless. It is not easy to give a name to it. One portal. The portal of generation of matter: passing from the invisible to the visible, from spirit to matter, so entering corruption. 65. Follows law. All is law. The invisible law of the nature of things. In tune with this there can be no erratic ways. 66. Corruption of tao. Joy and anger are excesses of the equanimity of the tao. 67. Repose, purity. Great names in the system, Ching, hsü. 68. Shen Ming, Spiritual and Spirit. 69. Autocrat of the Universe. Triumphant confidence in the tao. 70. He returns within. The tao is within and without. Cp. this with the idea of Plato. "Are we sharers in that divine Reason which informs and organises the universe? We must recognise and welcome it everywhere, and follow it out as it ramifies through the world of sense. There is nothing inconsistent in this double view, which regards the material system, now as the opaque veil to hide, and now as the transparent medium to reveal, the inner thought which is the divine essence of all: and seeks at one time to ascend into the intellectual glory by escape from detaining appearances: at another, to descend with that glory as it streams into the remotest recesses of the phenomenal world." Martineau. "Types of Ethical Theory," Vol. I. p. 67. 71. This passage seems to imply that if the seeker knocks, he will find. The Tao will respond to human pressure: in other words, prayer is effective. Also it implies the personality of the Tao. The words used are Hsuan fu, ### the hidden secret and profundity. 72. The Tao-man finds his work expeditious, when guided by Tao. 73. Highest excellence, tê, the tao in action. 74. Possibly a reference to his own disturbed times. One reason for writing the 21 essays was the hope to assuage the anarchy of the day, by the application of the tao. 75. Nobility of life: true nobility. 76. There were famous historical palaces in Ts‛u, also famous lakes in the country. This was the prominent kingdom of the age. 77. Chiu Shao ###. Music composed by Shun, the emperor. Liu Ying ### the music composed by Chuen Shu, minister of Shun. 78. The individual under the true order of eternal law, not swayed by the senses and passions. 79. The satisfaction of life does not come from without but from within,—the reconciliation and harmony of the spirit with naturalness. 80. Spiritual joy. Wu loh, (###) Wu not to be read as negative but as implying freedom from sense and passion's contamination. 81. To the mind. That is the true self spoken of before. 82. Governor of life. In the text the 5 viscera. 83. Hsü Yu. A hermit of Ch‛i Shan. For his sanctity Yao, the emperor, desired him to take the throne which he refused. Cp., Mencius Bk IV Chap. 9. 1. Also Analects XXII Chap. 2. 2. 84. Each is an empire in himself. There is no need for organised monarchy when the tao rules each. Cp. what Mencius says, "Wan wu chieh pei yü wo ###." "I am a miniature cosmos." 85. With this compare what Mencius says, BK VII. 4. 1. 85a. That is when external impressions are eliminated. 86. Pp. 24-28 may have some spurious sentences as a later addition. It does not seem probable that the same writer wrote all. 87. This has been said before in the essay. The recipient is governed by the tao within, which no outward circumstance can change. 88. The compass and square cannot each be both round and square: kou sheng pu neng ch‛üeh chih (###). The plumb and line cannot be crooked and straight. Eternal principles are not to be made to suit conventional life and temporal expedients. 89. He is not scorched by fire nor soaked by water. Figurative language to describe a firm spirit. 90. Fulness of spirit. Ch‛i ### is not air. It always has a special meaning in this philosophy. It is something spiritual not physical. Vitalism. Cp. Analects VII Chap. 10. 1. 91. Cp. Great Learning Chap VIII 1. 2. 3. An example. Duke Pei of Tsu was lost in constant thought how to overthrow the king and get his throne. He was leaning on his lance which pierced his jaw of which he was unconscious. Concluding remark. It is evident from certain passages in this essay, especially in the latter parts, that the circle of writers were seeking the consolations of philosophy and religion against the anarchy and warring ambitions of the times. REALITY. DISSERTATION II.—Pp. 31-58. This is the 2nd essay in the Chinese text. The exordium is difficult. As a supplementary explanation and analysis is given later, it is not necessary to say more here, than that the author tries to describe the various steps in the evolution of the cosmos. As a rule, Confucianism is satisfied with describing material phenomena and so starts with Heaven. The Taoists go further back and think of Naturalness and Tao. 1. The author tries to see and to describe not only the phenomena of the cosmos but also what is beyond—the various steps in the eternities of time and space. He pushes the thought back to that which is behind all phenomena. Heaven is the ultimate of the Confucian School; but to the Taoist philosopher there is the tao and naturalism. 2. Ultimate depths. These are in the beginnings and shrouded in profound mystery. 3. In death. Chuang Tzu says: Life is the time of movement, death of rest. 4. All things change, but nothing is lost. 5. The illustration of a man moving a mountain in the night is a common proverb implying something sudden and miraculous. The use of it here is to show the inadequacy of a man-made doctrine divorced from the tao. So Confucianism and Meiism may disappear and lose their sway, because they are not founded on tao. What comes from tao cannot disappear, because it is coextensive with the cosmos. 6. Kung Yu-ai. A mythical case. 7. The world is a mystery and all events a riddle beyond human solution. For man himself is a part of created things. The Taoist insists that there is a purpose in the cosmos, but only known to the Unknown One. 8. The Taoists hold that the tao-man has no kuei (ghost) after death. He may have a shen, spirit. 9. The Taoists preserve their bodies and spirits well, so end their lives naturally; and the personality of the spirit enters and is lost in the Cosmic Spirit. They leave no ghost. But those who die prematurely and unnaturally leave a ghost. 10. As the Taoists let the tao rule the heart, so no worldly desires clamour within. Hence, they have no cares or worry: their thoughts are tranquil and serene in simplicity. So in sleep the mind rests and there are no dreams. 11. The Chinese have an account of the Utopian State which is much admired, but more for its style of writing rather than for the nature of the state. 12. The Confucian moralities, benevolence, justice, jen, i, etc., are artificial because not connected with the real source of all things (tao). They were false standards and confuse human nature. 13. Cp. Mencius Bk. VII Pt. 1. Chap. 7. Also 1 Cor. 3, 22. The whole passage beginning with "As the fish forgets, etc.," deals with the freedom of life. The fishes forget the existence of others. No mutual interference. See separate elucidation. 14. Jasper ring. The jasper is a rare jade ### produced in a distant land and difficult to get, implying that the tao is rare and hard to get. 15. Abandon eye and ear etc. Perfect altruism. 16. Spiritual frontiers. The formless, wu hsing. 17. Jade Coach. Imperial coach. 18. T‛ai hang etc., Precipitous heights: mountains. 19. A hair of the leg. Strong: will not entertain the idea. 20. Action of dragon & snake. Transformation of the dragon is invisible. The snake changes its skin naturally. 21. One fountain. The Unity. 22. Earth has nine continents, and heaven has nine corresponding realms. 23. Six avenues. The six directions of space. 24. One father and mother. The positive and negative. 25. San Wei. Aborigines. 26. Mei or Mu Ti the founder of the doctrine of universal altruism. 4th-5th century B.C. Yang. Died 338 B.C. He made many agrarian reforms and reformed the civil and military administrations. Ennobled as the Prince of Shang. Shen. A contemporary of Yang. He advocated the authority of law as against the arbitrary authority of individuals. 27. Nine-Tripod Vessel. The casting was of rough mould. Who had the tripod must be the monarch. The schools that did not issue from the tao were artificial. They did not issue from the unity, the stock, as the myriad branches do from the trunk. 28. Peng Meng. An expert with the bow. Tsao Fu-an expert driver of horses. Pei Lo. A fine judge of horses. 29. The idea contained in this difficult passage is that the Confucianist and other schools have corrupted the tao by their own philosophies. In so doing, they have interrupted its free play. The transformations of cloud and moisture. Moisture implies change and generation. Generation enters into corruption. 30. Cp. Mencius Bk I. Pt. I. Chap 7. Sec 10. 31. The original is ### Like a potter he can shape as he likes. 32. May this mean, "A heart free from human accretions: i.e., the impressions of the senses and the accretions that come from mere human knowledge, and so on? He lives in the spiritual realm, with its pristine purity. 33. Voiceless regions. The realm of meditation and prayer (?) He is blind to the world of sense, but alight with the spiritual illuminations. 34. He can use it because he does not use it, etc.: He does not lean on the work of the senses as the main thing. He does not use directly and foremost the mental functions, but he has something higher which gives an inward direction and so with this inward direction he can use to more and better effect all the functions of the mind. Similarly non-knowledge leads to knowledge. By not depending on the knowledge gained through the senses, he comes, by first depending on the illumination of the tao, to a truer and better knowledge. More correct and more judicial because untainted by mental prejudice and the errors of bias. A paradoxical statement. The whole idea is the principle of wu wei. This is the chief instruction of these passages. Knowledge is artificial: non-knowledge is real. 35. No form. Before the body is constituted, there can be no standard for judging right and wrong. Morality can't exist without body (?) 36. True knowledge. Man without falsity gives true knowledge. The word is ### chen, same as the specific true man. 37. These two passages describe Confucian morality and politics. The Confucian jen and i, benevolence and justice, is a travesty of the real, because they do not issue from the true source. The following paragraphs describe the real tê virtue which is a quality of the tao. The Confucian virtue is a mongrel. 38. 39. The 'senator of the forest' (Keats). 40. One of the words is crooked, chüch. Crooked lines made into artistic design. 41. The sage-man, i.e., the Taoist sage. 42. Three fountains. The very depths of the earth. 43. Chen jen. The true man. There are three grades. 44. Fei lien. A kind of animal in antiquity with long hair and large wings. 45. Kua Fu. One of the genii. 46. Mi Fei. Daughter of Fu Hsi. She drowned herself in the river Lo because of the genii of the river. 47. Extravagantly imaginative. 48. An attack on Confucianism for wrong methods of reform. Diseased Society. Let well alone. 49. Pristine nature. The commentary explains this as "The Eastern wilds: the Orient, whence the sun comes forth, natural movement." 50. I. A mythical person of great powers. 51. Fu Hsi. Supposed the first emperor of China or the first man to civilize the world. His behaviour harmonised with the creation. So he is likened to the sun and moon. He taught men to fish and cook. He taught men to use domestic animals. He invented the eight diagrams ### for divination. He had a name Pao Hsing ###: Pao means, "cooking." 52. Shen Nung. 838 B.C. A legendary ruler. 53. Huang Ti. One of the 6 Rulers. 2698 B.C. Some writers attribute the teaching of the Tao Tê Ching to him and others. 54. Yang Chu. 4th century B.C. The founder of the school of Egoism and selfishness: the direct antithesis of Meiism-altruism. Each advanced his theory for the organisation of the state. Mei Tzu promised a golden age, if his principles were adopted. Mencius opposed his teaching. Yang founded his school in opposition to Mei's. Of Yang Mencius says, he would not part with a hair of his leg to save the world, but Mei Tzu would have sacrificed his all. 55. The sage. Confucius. 56. Losing the soul. It must not be concluded that the author was hostile to education, nor that he advocated the Arcadian simplicity of prehistoric times. So to understand his attitude we must recall the political conditions of the times. His narrative is a veiled attack on the rulers of the age. He wrote soon after the death of Ch‛in Shih Huang who had stirred the time most impressively. But in many respects his rule was destructive. It had been disturbing and inquisitive. The era was such. So he veiled his attack in honeyed words descriptive of a state of society the very opposite of that of the time-arrogant authority. 57. Soul. Hsing ming, life 58. Non-desire. Hsing ### is naturally good but ch‛ing ### passions hurts it. So desire must be abolished. 59. Schoolmen. Ta jen chih hsueh (###). Learned School. 60. This is the misuse of eye and ear. Laborious effort of fighting against human nature when not properly cultivated. 61. Being and non-being. The view of being (###) which means gains and non-being (###) loss of the minor philosophies is a false one. A true standard is essential and should be thoroughly appreciated. 62. Since the heart and mind are occupied with the tao, passion and desire will find no place. So there can be no pain and cares, therefore, blessings come to rest there. 63. A soul that is pure shows that the spirit is keeping a keen watch over the intruding appetites so there is no chance left for any disturbing force. 64. Not extravagant in frills and embroideries. Just enough to keep the body warm. 65. The foundation is tao and its practice is te ###, behaviour. One of its branches is jen and i, love and justice. To take these as the foundation is a Confucian error and far from reality. 66. Hsu Yu. A contemporary of Yao. A man of wu wei, that is action by the tao. 67. While the tao is embraced all other things become of no importance. The world cannot move the heart. 68. This is Heaven; the transformer is te virtue from the tao. 69. The spirit, shen? Shen, the spirit: ching, crosses. Li not Lu. 70. Nine rivers. Four seas and nine rivers, i.e., the empire. 71. Yen Shui. Yang Ah Yen Shui, Name of ancient dances. 72. Juggle with words. The original are words used for a puzzle. 73. To pass through life. Attend to the duties of life. 74. That is, without a proper environment. 75. Golden age. Cp. with this the golden age of Hesiod and the Stoic. v. Hastings, "Dictionary of Ethics," under Ages of the World. 76. Nine tripods. Symbol of the nine virtues. The tripods increased or decreased in weight according to the quality of government. 77. Red book. A book about tao written by Huang Ti. Mythology says it was delivered from Heaven by a red bird. 78. Green plan. Attributed to Huang Ti who got it from the river, The writing was green. 79. The three worthies. Fang Hui is straightforward (### fang) and humble (### hui). Shan chuan. Concentrated the mind (###) on reading. Péi I. The meaning of his name is "To throw the cloak over the shoulder without taking the trouble to button it." That is to pay no attention to worldly things. These 3 men were the contemporaries of Yao, the emperor, whose names were unknown so their characters became names for them. 80-84. LIFE AND SOUL. DISSERTATION III.—Pp. 58-78. Essay 7 in the Chinese text. The theme may be translated also by Spirit and Consciousness. The word Spirit comes from 3 values, Ching ### Ch‛i ### and Shen ###. Ching and shen may be termed Ling. Spirit. Ch‛i ### has more of a physical meaning and may denote the body. 1. Repose ###. The state of being undisturbed by passions. It gains the unity by purity. This and the following word tranquillity are leading words in the system. 2. Tranquillity ###. Earth gains stability by tranquillity. Unity gives life and the absence of it is death. 3. Unconditioned. That is unlimited by the material. 4. The true factors of life are inward not outward so not to be obtained from the physical and outward but from the inward operation of the spirit. The Cosmic Spirit is omnipresent and simply a derivative in the mind. Root is the life principle within: the branches are the life without activity. Thought and act are intimately connected. 5. One interpretation is that One is the tao: two is reason or spirit: three is the spiritual harmony. Another is, One is the original ch‛i or spirit, breath: this gives birth to two, i.e. heaven and earth. Two begets three, creation. Yin and yang flow through all and creation is at birth. Still another explanation. One is the tao: two is the spirit (shen ming ###): three is the harmony. And again, One is the primal aura and begets two, heaven and earth, and two begets three heaven and creation. When heaven and earth are established yin and yang circulate and all things come to birth. 6. The Five Viscera. The heartcorrespondingtofire### lungs""metal### kidneys""water### stomach""earth### liver""wood### The opening and closing, expansion and contraction etc.: the function of inhaling and exhaling etc. 7. Gall, tan, has correspondence in vapour. Metal and stone come under water so the correspondence. 8. Sinister powers of nature. 9. Five planets are ###, ###, ###, ###, ###. They are now called Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn. 10. Great and boundless. A Chinese idiom: most expansive by its vastness. It implies a power to expand according to need. 11. Variegated lights is the literal translation. Its brilliant powers. When there is no waste the chest will be normal and its energies at the full. 12. The idea is the centrality of thought in the spirit within gives the greatest knowledge and power: wandering desires weaken the powers. 13. Excess of lust and passion prevent spiritual culture. 14. Past known . . . future seen. Cp: Chung Yung Chap 24. Sincerity is able to foreknow. 15. Cp: Math. 10. 39. 16. The first unity is tao and the 2nd is unity of wu, things. The relative worth of life's parts can only be truly valued by the tao. The tao is head and source of all and ignorance of it implies that one knows nothing. 17. The cultured man should not dislike death since it means only a return to original nature by dissolution. Here there is another insight into the trend of thought under stress of danger and anarchy. 18. Seat of Hsia Hou. A precious jade, of half a circle, of the Hsia dynasty. Half circle implies winter: in winter earth is in lethargy: so heaven only active. 19. This is different from the nil admirari state of mind. For there is an admiration of the tao which is seen from the next sentence "he cherishes virtue and warms himself," etc. 20. Happiness is not the aim of his life. 21. True Man ###. Such was Fu Hsi ###. B.C. 2953-2838. The 1st of the Five Emperors of the legendary period. Taught the people to hunt, fish and keep flocks. Huang Ti ### 2698 B.C. Said to be inventer of wheeled vehicles, armour, ships, pottery. Phoenix and Chilin appeared in his reign. Lao Tan ### b. 604 B.C. They are the reputed founders of Taoism and some maintain that the Tao Te Ching originated with the first two and not with Lao Tan. But for this there is no sufficient evidence. 22. Like and dislike. The inner life is under perfect control. Love and hate do not move him. 23. Cp: Analects. Bk. 8 C. 19. 1. 24. To use a modern phrase now much in vogue, 'there is guidance' and his emptiness is filled. The following sentences describe a person whose mind is completely under the spirit and not concerned with worldliness. 25. He gives the impression of possessing the divine power. 26. The true Taoist does not indulge in these physical gymnastics. He is concerned with the body only as the medium of the spirit. 27. The spirit is the true source of all power. 28. In the original the suggestion is that Shun should offer the sacrifices 29. The 'perfect man' ###. There are 3 kinds of men named according to their attainments in the tao. They are ###, The sage: ###, The true man: ###, The Perfect man. 30. There are no closed avenues to the spiritual man. 31. No death. There are two deaths. One of the body one of the soul. No death of the body is used to lead men on to think of the eternal life of the soul. When a man has the two his spirit preserves the unity after death and is not dispersed into 7 parts as is commonly said. No death, refers to this. Unity is preserved. 32. Yen Tzu: a minister of the State of Ch‛i. 33. Ts‛ui Chu. It was he who slew Duke Chuang. 34. Cp: Mencius Bk. VI. Pt. 2. VI. 5. 35. These men just mentioned are great men—but they are men of the school of artificial virtue created by sages and not men of the wu wei standard of life. 36. Wu Kuang. T‛ang, the emperor, ceded the throne to him and he refused it. He finally hung a stone round his neck and jumped into a river. 37. AO granary. In Yung yang a city of Honan. Famous in history. 38. Plato said that the generation of matter implies entering a state of corruption. The wall mentioned in the section refers to the body. Its life is short and temporal it would be better if it had remained in the spiritual stage and not have been born. 39. "Man when perfected is the best of animals: but when isolated he is the worst of all: for injustice is more dangerous when armed: and man is equipped at birth with intelligence and with qualities of character which he may use for the vilest ends. Wherefore if he have not virtue, he is the most unholy and savage of all animals, full of gluttony and lust." Aristotle. 40. 41. A fresh attack on Confucianism and its ideals of life. 42. Chou Yu. An ancient kingdom outside Shansi. 43. His 5 sons in the struggle for power after the death of their father neglected to coffin him and to attend to the funeral arrangements. 44-46. NATURAL LAW. DISSERTATION IV.—Pp. 79-101. 1. This is the 8th essay in the text. T‛ai Ch‛ing: Lit., Most pure. It also means the beginning of wu wei, not doing, by human intelligence which is corrupt. Here possibly used historically referring to the happy period before the Three Emperors, The Utopian age. T‛ai Chi is the beginning of creation and born of the tao. 2. Eight Signs, the pa kua. The diagram of divination. A most mysterious code. It originated from Fu Hsi who attempted to reveal the tao and its significance in creation, by 8 signs. Later, Wen Wang altered the combination into 64 signs and arranged it for finding the destiny and the cyclic changes of the universe and human beings. The system is the I Ching, but, since Confucius, the key to it is lost. The use made of it by fortune tellers is only to deceive the people. 3. The appearance of the T‛u ti shen—the spirit of the soil, was a warning of national decay. The verbal description in the original is noteworthy. 4. Therefore the land etc.: Building operations are entirely tabooed at the time. The reason may be gathered from the sentences following. The cosmology of the Chinese is extensive. 5 Lit.: flesh and blood: eroticism: sexual feelings. 6. Gave rise to ceremonies. Here directly connected with sex passion which is to be controlled by ceremonies. 7. In the text we have the mind reverting to the beginning, that is to the time before the rise of desire and lust. 8. Tao te is the root, and Jen i the branch. Jen i, benevolence and duty are greater than li yoh, ceremony and music. 9. 10. Art is from wu wei, or as we should say, the inspired genius. 11. Cp: Analects VIII, 19. 1. 12. Because they were the work of Tao and wu wei. 13. Yung Cheng. An officer in the service of Huang Ti who founded the calendar and the reckoning of time. 14. Made him emperor, son of Heaven. 15. Conservancy work of ancient time. See article by M. Von Heiderstam, N.C.B.R.A.S. Journal. Vol. 53. p. 21. 16. Chou and Chieh, the two most notorious and evil emperors in the whole history of China. 17. The silence prepares for the logical consequence which follows in next sentence. These men had the inspiration of the Tao, different from the tao of those who only theorise. "Professing to profess," as Wordsworth says. Another explanation of the passage is: When a man knows of a danger he will be careful: but there are invisible dangers much more insidious. The unseen dangers are many. 18. Here we have the 3 types of the superior men, as thought of by Taoists. (1). The Emperor is their sheng jen or sage, who acts on the principle of wu wei, spiritual action. (2). The King carries on government on principles of right and law, and (3) the Autocrat who governs by might and military. 19. Compels them to collect clouds and rain. 20. This refers to the harmony existing amongst men, and the correspondence of the six laws (###). (The six laws of music are Hwang chung ###, Tai chu ###, Ku Hsi ###, Sen pin ###, I Tsê ###, Wang she ###), and the Four Seasons. Here we may see a clew to much of Chinese thought. The great man deals in great principles. The smaller man deals with careful exactness and details. This principle has been a ruling principle in the past history of China. 21. Cp: Analects Bk. Chap I. 6. 22. The Five Extravagances. Wu Tun (###). The word tun seems to imply a person immersed in and intoxicated with a subject, like a gambler or a man giving his mind to luxury. The meaning here is the garish world of things which seduces men and betrays their best nature. 23. Perfect body or realm may mean the realm of the spiritual abode—'walking in the spirit.' When the body is not imprisoned by the senses, it becomes the abode of the spirit. 24. Perfect body and perfect man. Perfect has the same words in the original. 25. The description of the five extravagances are superb in Chinese. The 5 elements are symbolic of an idea which may be expressed by worldliness. 26. This is the name in Giles' Dictionary. The Chinese, however, say it is of the goose kind. 27. The native commentary says, 'make it difficult of attack and easy of defence.' 28. Ming T‛ang. One of the great names. The fane of empire where God was worshipped and ancestors honoured and where Feudal Lords had audience of the emperor. 29. Like the blinkers of a horse. 30. "All Souls." Lit.: kuei shen ###. 31. Viz.: Water, fire, wood, metal, earth. Water is under Yin ###: Fire under Yang ###: Wood under heat, Metal under cold, Earth under wind. These 5 aura are in constant operation and hence called wu hsing ###. 31a. A favourite topic with the ancients Cp: Isaiah 11. 6-10. 32. The staff is made of (###) bamboo which dies naturally. So it was carried to show that the deceased died a natural death. Wang's comment is that the staff is used to drive away the ghosts along the way of the funeral cortege. 33. The people had the tao and spent a full life and died in peace. 34. There were few inns, and travellers carried their own food. 35. These latter passages may have been prompted by the distressing circumstances of the times. RESPONSE OF MATTER. DISSERTATION V.—Pp. 102-141 Essay 12, in Chinese text. These impressive historical instances are given to illustrate and confirm the truth of some of Lao Tzû's recondite sayings. The instances may be crude, but they help to elucidate the theme. Please note that paragraphs in this Dissertation have no cut-in-heads, and the omission is balalaced by headings in italics. These are not in the original. References to chapters from Lao Tzû are from the Tao Tê Ching. The order in the different editions are not always the same, so there may be a discrepancy. 1. Great Purity is the essence of the primal fluid. Exhaustless is the Formless and may refer to the tao. There are other personifications in this essay of abstract names. 2. Wu wei. See special article on this term. Knowledge has shape and form. It is the phenomena as opposed to noumena, body as the opposite of soul. Therefore, as it has form, it knows. Knowledge is of form, and therefore has entered the sphere of corruption. An appreciation of this view will help the understanding of these passages and many others similar, in these essays. Plato also held that all movement from the spiritual into the physical was an entrance into corruption. 3. Without-beginning. The aura existing before the beginning of created matter. 4. The quotations are from the Tao Tê Ching. The meaning of the classic term is The classic of the Cosmic Spirit (Tao) and its works of (te). This te is different from the ordinary te of Confucianism, which is virtue and work of an artificial kind, since it is man-made and therefore smells of corruption. 5. Duke Pei. Son of Tai Tzu-ch‛ien and grandson of king P‛ing of Ts‛u. Ping had slain his son, Tai, and the son of the latter now sought to avenge his father's death by slaying his grandfather. He wanted to know whether he could make dark hints on his meditated deed. 6 The language of the heart is best understood and needs no words. 7. Perfect language of the heart. 8. My words. Pei Lo-tien, the Tang poet, wrote a skit on the words of Lao Tzû, reminding us of Carlyle who wrote of the doctrine of silence in 40 volumes. His words are:— "Who speaks much little knowledge has indeed: The wise is silent, thus is Lao Tzû's creed. If Lao Chun ranks among the men who know, Why does he make one thousand words to flow? 9. Dr. N. D. Hillis says:—"Some of our schools are open to criticism because the teachers emphasise facts to be known rather than the vision that sees the fact. The teacher should teach how to see." 10. The owl loves its young: but, when grown up, the young eats the mother. 11. A small country can be carried by the Cosmic Spirit equally well with a large one. 12. Li Ke. Prime Minister of Wu Hou. 13. This is the classic story for children in China. 14. Cp: Odes Pt. 2 Bk. 8 Ode 6. 1. 15. This implies that the king has and can sustain great responsibility. 16. Tan Fu. The progenitor of the House of Chou, 14th century B.C. 17. T‛ai Wang. Translate by great ancestor. 18. Legge's translation is not the same. See The Texts of Taoism Pt. 1. p. 99. See also Medhurst's Tao Tê Ching, Chap. 55. 19. i.e., the Throne. 20. An appeal to all to be endued with the Cosmic spirit, and so have the bloom of life. 21. A truly humane view and a democratic principle. 22. Ch‛eng hsing chih t‛u. The meaning is that the calamity has already taken form in persons. 23. There is an intimate relation between the Royal House and the starry heavens. 24. Ch‛ang, the personal name? Chou, the name of country and Pei, the rank. The posthumous name is Wen Wang, the founder of the Chou dynasty. 25. The persecuted had to clasp this iron man when hot. 26. Cp: Analects Bk. I Chap. 16. The people had to give from 1 to 3 years service to government, according to the good and bad years. 27. In the interval between Fu Hsi and Shen Nung, Kung Kung, a Feudal Lord, got power and became the autocrat of empire. 28. Hui is used to avoid the use of I. Chung Ni, the personal name of Confucius. Yen Hui was his favourite disciple. Etiquette, music, benevolence, justice, knowledge or wisdom, all these are acquired, and so artificial and consequently are inferior in quality. Wisdom = cleverness of seeing and hearing. Physical body = the Corpse of life. Sentiency = feelings. 29. Chicanery. Lit.: disease. 30. Lu Ao. A Peking man commanded by the Emperor Ch‛in Shih Huang to find out the Fang kingdom of the East and to seek the Shen Hsia arhat. Description of the head implies great intellectual powers. 31. A name of some mythical deity unknown. A fine piece of imaginative writing. Cp., the opening of Essay 2. 32. "The world is only on the threshold of knowledge" (H. G. Wells.) 33. Fu Sang (###). There is a wood of this name in the Orient, and this name became the name of Japan. 34. Brilliancy (###). 35. This deals with the problem of existence. Form is begotten of the formless. How can matter be begotten? is the question. "He hangeth the world on nothing." 36. Alternate translation. "I can know that of which the form or idea, but not the substance (wu ###), exists: but I cannot know that of which the idea, even, does not exist." Also it may mean, "But how did this nothing come to be the state of nothing?" 37. The people of Cheng were the enemies of Pei Kung-sheng. 38. Ch‛in Shih Huang. B.C. 259-210. For detail of his life see Giles' Biographical Dictionary No. 1712. He ascended the throne of Ch‛in when 13 years old. He fought the States still loyal to the House of Chou. In B.C. 221 he was master of the whole of China, from Chihli to Chinkiang and from Hunan to the Eastern Sea. He made a clean slate of China's past history and began as First Emperor with the understanding that his successors would be Second, Third and so on. Everything was to begin from his reign, literature and everything: so he burnt the books. He built the the famous mansion which could seat 10,000 people. He made coinage. He died in Chihli and had a famous grave: the workmen who have made the passages were buried within, so that no one would know the internal labyrinth. In spite of such precaution and power, his dynasty only lasted about 45 years. This is one of the great proofs used that militarism is not the true system of government. This paragraph helps to fix the date of this dissertation. 39. Most easily, Lit.: as easily as turning the spinning wheel. 40. Ch‛i Tzu died in Korea 12th century B.C. One of the foremost nobles under Chou Hsin, the last Emperor of the Yin dynasty. For protesting against the evil life of his master, he was thrown into prison and released thence by Wu Wang, in 1122. He would not serve under Wu, since he looked on him as an usurper and has remained as a great example of loyalty. 41. The Ivory tablet. The symbol of peace and harmony. 42. Alternate reading:—Striving for the state of emptiness (i.e. uncontaminated by passion and desire) to the utmost: and guarding with unwearying vigour the quiesence of spirit (i.e. not disturbed by the motions of the flesh), the myriad movements of creation will then be seen in their true nature. (When the senses govern there is an arificiality in viewing the nature of things and even the names given partake of this.) 43. Imperialism. The word used is ### or ###. 44. See and compare Essay 8. 45. Hsu Hsiang. A clairvoyant. 46. Yu chih ### A vessel fixed on the right side in the temple of the Sages, to teach humility. 47. Education an evil. Cp: Anal. XIV Chap., 18. 2. People should follow a path without understanding its import. The view expressed all through is the view of T‛ai Kung, the Prime Minister. INFLUENCE, ETC. DISSERTATION VI.—Pp. 142-180. Essay 13 in the Chinese text. Certain remarks may be made on the attitude of the writers towards progress. Usually it is concluded that the Chinese have been a most conservative race; and, in a sense, that is generally true. But we must also remember that they have had a broad outlook on things. For example, in this Essay, there are very illuminating passages showing that the writer was most liberal in his thought and not obstinately conservative in his attitude towards government and Society. It is shown that change was welcomed and often necessary. There are the fundamental principles of right and morality on which no change can be permitted: but, in other respects, change is a healthy and welcome symptom. Alteration in practices may be incumbent, for the sake of the times, and so on: 1. Ancient Kings. Kings before and including the Three Emperors. Amongst them were supposed to be the true founders of the taoist system. There were no symbols of pomp and power and royalty. Their kingliness was seen in good and perfect government. To govern the empire: 'to king' the world. 'To king' always implied government by right and not by might. Stress was laid on the character of the individual ruler. 2. Cp. Isaiah Chap. II. 3. Hsia Family. Dynasty founded by the great Yü, a man great ability. His father was executed by Emperor Yao, for his failure to stem the flood. Yü took up the work thus arrested and put his whole soul in it. He spent 8 laborious years at it, refusing even to drop in at his own home, when near by, for fear of delaying his exacting work. The task completed won him renown, and Emperor Shun appointed Yü his successor. The Hsia family held the sovereignty for 422 years, B.C. 2205-1786. 4. Five Emperors. They are: Yao ### of T‛ang ### dynasty 2357 B.C., Shun ### of Yu ### 2255 B.C., Great Yü ### of Hsia ### 2205 B.C., Ch‛eng T‛ang ### of Shang ### 1766 B.C., Wu Wong ### of Chou ### 1122 B.C. 5. In ancient times it was the custom for the host duke to pour out the wine into the cups of his guests and the hostess to hold the wine jug. 6. See Tao Tê Ching, Chap. I. 7. Kuan and Ts‛ai. They were ambitious for first places of power and accused their brother of aiming at the throne, and, on this ground, started a rebellion. See The author's "A New Mind And Other Essays." Duke of Chou. 8. The king always faces South. 9. He took full responsibility. V. "A New Mind And Other Essays," p. 68, for a full life of the Duke. 9a. 10. Shen Nung ### B.C. 2838. Said to be the 2nd emperor of China formally recorded in history. He introduced agriculture and taught the people to grow cereals. Removed his capital from Honan to Shantung. Tested all plants for medicine. 11. A carriage with swords stuck to the sides, for mowing down the enemy. 12. Principles of Wen ### and Wu ### were anti-egoism and the advancement of the people. They abolished the goal system: substituted a kind of parole, leaving it to the man's honour not to go beyond the bounds allotted. They started coöperation in work. They established a formal marriage, instead of the old free love. To love the old and train the young, not only of your own house but of one's neighbours, also became the new social system: mutual love, service, and sacrifice. 13. So that people could give and get judgments. 14. Heard the affairs: by the help of the 5 musical tones. The drum harmonizes all tones in music, as the tao regulates dualism of yin and yang. So the sound of drum indicates that some one is going to discuss tao with the emperor. Likewise the sound of the bell is a sign of warning to keep to right and justice: the clapper is the shape of the mouth with a tongue insides indicating discussion of affairs: the sonorous stone has a tone of urgency betokening sad and critical affairs: the flat drum, rattle etc: indicate things to be argued before the Court. 15. The Duke of Chou was noted for his promptness in responding to any call. He left his food unfinished and his hair undressed, to hasten to public affairs. He was a devoted servant of the State. 16. Ch‛in ###, the successor to the Chou ### dynasty. The 1st emperor was called Shih Huang Ti. Made a drastic reformation by sweeping away all duchies and the nobility and controlling all with an iron hand—the great dictator. Famous for his tyranny, building the Great Wall, burning the books and burying alive the obstructive scholars. 17. Great Coach and the symbolic crown. The emperor went in the great jade coach to great functions of State. One of the most solemn was the sacrifice in the South Suburb. He started before dawn: lamps lit the way. A full account may be found in Ma Tuan Lin's "T‛ung Wen K‛ao." 18. Yao had not a 100 families when he began. 19. The kingly way. Wang Tao ###. The Principles of this is right as opposed to might. It is a pure civil form. The opposite of this was the pa tao (###) or (###) the military way which holds that might is right. 20. See Note 3. 21. Ming t‛iao (###). A popular wilderness in ancient Shansi. Here it was that T‛ang defeated Ch‛ieh, the last of the Hsia family, and captured him. (B.C. 1784) Chia Tzu ###. The date when Wu Wang defeated emperor, Tsou, the last of Shang dynasty. (B.C. 1133). The translation should be amended and read, "the wilderness of Ming T‛iao and the date of Chia Tzu." 22. 22a. Ode. Yin ### was on the East and Chou ### on the West. 23. T‛ang, a prisoner of Chieh. 24. Killed Wen Wang. Note the noble humanity and grand ideals of the whole passage. 25. The king's name is always taboo. 26. Ape. A different type of ape from the African etc. It was common in the N. & S. of China. When caught, people made it work and taught it to talk. Tradition states that this ape-man knew the names of all people, after meeting them once. It is good luck to have the magpie cheep to one in the early morning. It implies good news. The bird takes no thought of the destruction of its nest in the past: it seems to forget it and tries to make a new one in the same place. 27. Kuan Chung. Considered to be the most intelligent and learned man of antiquity and one of the greatest generals of all time, as well as a great administrator. He assisted Huan ###, the duke of Chi ###, to win the hegemony of the duchies. 28. Five autocracies. Five leaders of the dukes, viz: Huan ### of Chi ### Hsiang ### of Sung ### Wen ### of Tsin ### Mu ### of Tsin ### and Chuang ### of Ts‛u ###. 29. Fox cuirass. ### may be a misprint. It should be ###, the nail of the claw, meaning a small bit of a thing. The son of Chu Yang could estimate the quality of a sword by a mere glance of a small bit (chua chia) of it. 30. Hsiao Yang ###. The owl, the sprite of the mountain, is described as "It is the essence of the mountain: it has a man's body, long and big, a black face covered with hair: the feet have the heels turned back. It laughs, on seeing men. Yin Hsiang. The sprite of the water. Dragon-like in appearance. Pi Fang. The sprite of the wood. A hamadry. It has a bird-like appearance: red claws: does not eat grain. Fen Yang. The sprite of the soil. Rain naiad. 31. The title for Shen Nung ### Emperor. The Chinese Characters are ### not the Yen Ti mentioned in the beginning of the essay. 32. Hou Chi ### Disliked at birth by his mother who threw him away, hence the name of (ch‛i ###), thrown away. Under emperor Yao he was instructor in agriculture and Minister of Agriculture under emperor Shun. Hou Ch‛i the title of the Ministry was given to the holder for his merits and he was known by that name ever after. 33. T‛ai Miao. The family temple where Emperors worship ancestors. Ming Tang,—Grand hall built in a palace where grand ceremonies were to be held,—offerings to Heaven, worshipping of ancestors, interviewing dukes, honoring worthy persons and aged people, etc. GENERALSHIP. DISSERTATION VII.—Pp. 181-218. The law of naturalness should be followed. An efficient army is not the chief factor in winning victory. The chief factor is a spiritual one. Essay 75. 1. All these examples are famous episodes in ancient history. 2. Duke Hunan ### of Ch‛i ### d. B.C. 643, the most celebrated of the 5 chieftains in the 7th century B.C. 3. May the Tao mean the movements of the mind in this essay? The definition immediately following gives a clue. 4. That is, the principles underlying all. Round and square imply wholeness and measureless. 5. Whole creation. Perhaps limitless. 6. Enlightenment. Shen ming. ### means Tao, God. It has other meanings. Shen ### the spirit of a man, the soul: ming ### enlightened. The soul that has been in contact with the tao is, therefore, enlightened. 7. The war drum played an important part in the army. Used for carrying out commands, direct a charge, etc. It was not used except in war and to sound victory. 8. Imbued with the Tao. This implies that the country walk in the way of the Tao, in righteousness and justice. 9. Temple. In ancient times Heaven represented the unseen God. The emperor represented Heaven, so son of Heaven. The temple and Ming Tang were most sacred and solemn places for dealing with great events, political, military and educational, etc., and showed that the emperor did all in the sight of Heaven. 10. Officers of works. 11. The son of the great Ch‛in Shih Huang. 12. Ah Fang. Most famous palace of antiquity, built by Ch‛in Shih Huang, but burnt down by the revolutionists, a few years later. 13. Hu Hai. Second son of Ch‛in Shih Huang. 209-206 B.C. 14. Chou ###. The notoriously wicked emperor, the last of the Shang dynasty. 1154 B.C. 15. Geomantic references: right land lucky days: may have moral references. 16. The army must be trained in moral efficiency. 17. Ancestral temple. Sacred spot of empire for cultivation of high principles, and the spot for thinking out things. 18. High morale. The army that is touched with the tao is just and righteous. It cannot be tricked and deceived. Men are strong when they have the tao. 19. Sustain T‛aishan. The great power against evil. The mountain is in Shantung. 20. The mind the invisible. The word is wu ###; not, i.e., it is not material. 21. Underground, ###, yellow grave, the upper layer of hell, deepest layer of earth. 22. Ch‛iu is simply hill here and not the Ch‛iu hill. 22a. Star of destiny. ### divination. Calculate the future. Fate uncertain. 23. The text is taoli not tao. Tao li may mean right principles or read as two words. 24. Deer refers to, and are similar to, an army without art and method; fish and lobster symbolise the army scattered; swan and heron show the army is on high ground, without cover. 25. No source. wu yuen, i.e., before pullulating into visibility. 26. Geomancy. To harmonise the plan with nature. 27. Ming Tang. The Ming should be omitted. Tang a grand hall, always open, and so the light of sun and moon always to be seen there. 28. A general of king Wu. 29. Possibly means that the general, commander and king are one and the same. 30. Muddled by deep plans. 31. The great hammer. Shows the army unbeaten, and, in being. 32. Absolute power is given to the Commander. 33. Pare the nails. Done only for the dead. Conquer or die is the idea. 34. The door through which the dead are carried out. 35. Calico, the sign of mourning. The implication is not defeat but that injustice may have happened in the war. But some imply the passage means defeat. 36. ENDEAVOUR AND DUTY. DISSERTATION VIII.—Pp. 219-242 This is Essay 19 in the Chinese text. You, will note the great liberality of thought that is here revealed. There is no die-hard rigidity in sticking to tradition. They looked with open minds on the world and were prepared to accommodate institutions to the times. 1. These five are Shen Nung ### 2838. B.C. Yao of T‛ang ### 2357 B.C. Shun of Yü ### 2255 B.C. Great Yu of Hsia ### 2205 B.C. T‛ang of Shang ### 1766 B.C. In the 4th paragraph there is (a) People of the black teeth, they of Formosa, Japan, Annam (b) Cloven footed: so called because of the local pronounciation, the foot and name of place being similar in sound. They are the Annamese. 2. Chi Kun. Read, Transported (chi). Chi is not a part of name. Kun father of Yü who was executed by Yao at Yu m't. 3. See article in Journal R.A.S. by Rev. G. G. Warren. Vol. 46. P. 77. 4. Yi-Yin was a prominent minister of Emperor T‛ang, of Shang dynasty who administered all national affairs on the principles of the Tao. 5. Lü Wang. His first name Chiang (###) who utilised the principles of the tao, in carrying out his military and political plans, to unite the empire for the emperor Wu Wang. It is said that he was 83 years of age when power was delegated to him to act. His work, Six Principles (###) are looked upon as classical up to this day, though they are hard to be understood. 6. Pei Li-hsi, a man of great ability: almost a sage. He had been most unlucky before he fell into the hands of Duke Ch‛in (###), who bought him for 5 pieces of goat skin, while he was a slave in the duchy of Ts‛u (###). The ascendency of Emperor Shih Huang Ti owed much of its success to the administrative work of this minister. N. B. Mencius should be consulted on these illustrations. Bk. V: Pt. 1. C. 8, IX, 2. 7. Kuan Chung. He was criticised for not dying with his prince and defended his action that he was worth more alive than dead to his country. 8. Referring to Great Yü who dealt with the flood and Hou Chi who devised a system of agriculture, and herbs for medicine. 9. V. Notes 2 and 3. 9a. 12. So education would be useless. 13. Famous founder of the Chou dynasty, Hero of Confucius. 14. Kan chiang and Mo Yeh (hsieh). Two famous swords. 14a. Lit. the zenith of the 9th heaven, and, the bottom of the yellow spring—the nether world. The two extremities. 15. The ancient yüeh ### people: covers chiefly Chekiang, also Fukien; Annam, Canton, etc., were barbarous then. 16. Kao Yao. The Gaol warden of Emperor Shun. 2204 B.C. 17. Shih Huang or Chieh Hang named Ch‛ang Chieh ### the initiator of Chinese handwriting. Suggested by the footprints of birds on mud. Some say discovered from the marks on the back of tortoise. 18. 19. Yung Ch‛eng ###. Ancient astronomer who had charge of the Calendar under Huang Ti (Yellow emperor). 2698 B.C. 20. Hu Ts‛ao ###. Court officer of Huang Ti. Invented the mode of clothes. 21. I Ti ###. A man of the time of Great Yü. Yü's daughter told him to make wine. After tasting it, Yü discharged the maker by way of punishment, saying, it would be the cause of distress to the world. 22. Hsi Chung ###, Officer of Great Yü, the inventor of carpentry. 23. Li Chu ###. Of the time of Huang Ti. Had the keenest sight. 24. Nan Yung Chou ###. Double surname. A zealous Taoist of Shantung. 25. Ta Hsin ###. A brave young general of Ch‛u ###, by name Te Ch‛en ###. 26. Shen Pao Hsü ###. A loyal minister of Ch‛u. 27. Wen Tzû-fa. The Wellington of China. 28. Odes Pt. 2 Bk. 1 Ode 3. 29. Plausible speaker. Better perhaps, Faithful followers of Tao. 30. Chant them, without understanding their import. 31. 32. Luh Pan ###. A skilful carpenter in Shantung. Hence name Luh. 33. Chung Tzu-chi ###. A chopper of wood by profession, but became the sage in music. He could divine the author's mind from hearing his music. His friend Pei ya, another expert in music. These men attached to Tao through their gifts in music. 34. 35. Chuang Tzû ### named Chou ###. 3rd & 4th cent. B.C. A native of Meng, Anhui. He devoted his life to the glorification of Lao Tzû. A most distinguished Taoist and a great scholar. He refused to accept post of Prime Minister of the Ch‛u State, on the ground that he had no wish to be the fattened ox for sacrifice. He wished to be buried under the open sky and not under ground. To be eaten by kites was better than by ants etc: 36-38. The text contains all that is known of them. 39. Li Ch‛i ### a prominent musician in ancient Peking. 40. Hung Fan ### Written by Chi Tzû containing the principles or laws of Heaven for the world and presented to Wu Wang. V. Book of History. Shang Sung ###. Songs of praise used in the worship of past emperors. Index Previous Next

The Cosmic Spirit. Dissertation 1. Pp. 2-30 Epitome. The nature and scope of the Cosmic Spirit. The transformations induced by the Cosmic Spirit are illimitable. Consider the experiences of some ancients Taoists. Purity, Stillness, Tranquillity and Unity are of the essence of the Cosmic Spirit. There are great disadvantages following any abuse of the principles of the Cosmic Spirit. Proofs are given of the foregoing statement. Naturalness is a fundamental condition to the approach of and getting near the Cosmic Spirit. There is much difference, on the one hand, between adopting and following artificial rules and ceremonies, and following, on the other hand, the natural and fundamental principles of the Cosmic Spirit. True achievements depend on non-action, or, in a more strictly correct expression, in action made under the guidance and influence of the Spirit. This is wu wei. It may be asked how may the Cosmic Spirit be got and won? The answer is by meekness and emptiness. Emptiness means freedom from the accretions of desire and the influence of the senses. The Cosmic Spirit is a unity and is invisible. To find the way, a reduction of desires and suppression of the passions are essential factors. Mastery over the mind is of primary importance. Spirit, material substances, volition and mind are elemental conditions. Splendid examples are given of those who are governed by the Cosmic Spirit and those who are under the domination of the Senses. Beginning and Reality. Dissertation 2. Pp. 32-58 (i) Epitome. Beginning and evolution of the Cosmos. Nothing is lost. All things undergo transformation. Persistence and continuity. Uniformity of birth and death. Freedom of Life. The Great Unity. Cultivation of the Spiritual and natural. Consequence of leaving the natural and spiritual. Anarchy and Confusion. Power of the Inner Life. Tranquillity and anarchy. The secret of embodying the tao is in naturalness as fundamental and as adaptation in application. The achievements of the tao. Four attributes or influences of the tao: Meekness, tenderness, humility, and emptiness. Non-existence and Monism. True self-culture lies in the control of the desires and the restraining of feelings. Guarding of the heart. Its sentinels. Three values of the Tao. Physical (body), spiritual, vital. (ii) Analysis. There are seven topics stated in the exordium. Following these, demonstrations are given proving the validity of the statements. These are: 1.There was the beginning of time and space, (Creation). 2.There was time and space before the beginning of time and space. 3.There was time and space even anterior to 2. 4.There was the time and space of existence. 5.There was the time and space of non-existence. 6.There was the time and space before those of non-existence. 7.There was the time and space before that of 6. It will be noticed that in 4 there is a dividing line between the positive and the negative view,—in other words, between the visible and the invisible, or between the absolute spiritual period and the period of phenomena, between the form and the formless. Then, after the exordium, there follows a fuller description and explanation of 1-7, in more detail. As written on the bamboo boards, the leading topic is No. 4. There was the time and space of existence. The first 3 refer to the positive state of material existence. The last 3 refer to the negative view, the purely spiritual state. And this indicates that space and time, i.e., those things that are come from that which is not. The question is: What is existence? It is all created things put in the midst of time and space. This has been a point of contention and debate. The Confucianist and the Taoists are opposed in their ideas, and the difference between them is fundamental. The Confucianist holds by the traditions of antiquity; whilst the Taoist looks more to the eternal source of things. Tradition becomes stale and unsuitable and tends to keep its adherents in bondage. The Taoist method ensures more freedom of spirit. The difference is more clearly seen in a later age and amongst another race. The Pharisees clung to their traditions; but Jesus engendered quite another spirit,—the spirit of freedom, by leading men to look to the ever-active Spirit, rather than to be tied by the letter of tradition. So the Taoists desired to liberate the mind from the bondage of letterism and tradition, and return to the naturalness of life. Naturalism is a major doctrine with the Taoists. It is asserted by some that the theory of Naturalism is prior to the Tao itself. But this may be a too refined exposition. It may be better to look upon the two as being identical, or in mutual relationship, just as we sometimes hear that even God must act in accordance with eternal law. In one sense, law may be looked on as outside God; but, in another way, God, Himself, is the law. This fundamental difference of view leads to other vital views of life. Confucianism led to artificial creations, in its view of rites and ceremonies. Even in its idea of virtue, it retained the inevitable sense of artificiality. Its righteousness and justice did not issue from the true source, viz: the Tao,—the spiritual origin of everything, but from secondary causes which were thoroughly artificial. The result was the increase of rites and ceremonies, which became a burden hard to be carried mechanically. The contrast may again be seen in the arguments of St. Paul, regarding Law and Life. (iii) Elucidation. The exordium is extraordinarily difficult. In a way the sentences are quoted from Chuang Tzû. The ideas come from this most distinguished of all Taoists. The analysis of the passage (i) may help to elucidate the meaning. Compare with this those lines of Milton: "They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixt, And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs" "Paradise Lost". Bk. III. line 482, and note in Edition by W. C. Browne. Vol. 1. p., 343. There is some similarity between all ancient descriptions. The textual commentator says: "The beginning and reality. The reality of the Tao has its beginning in (wu) nothing (non-physical, formless), or the visibly non-existent. By transformation, through birth, there came existence. This gives the name emergence of reality into creation." It is difficult to give a satisfactory analysis of the different phases described in the vast ideas brought before the mind. Naturally the object presented is vague and the description cannot be anything better. I offer a further analysis with some hesitation; but it may help to convey a meaning of the bythos of space and creation, which has commanded the thought of Valentinus and others to offer an explanation. See "Dictionary of Religion and Ethics" Hastings, Art. Aeons. The author proceeds, step by step, to outline his conception. I do so, in more ways than one, in the hope that these several divisions may suggest a correct and perfect idea. 1. The Dawn of Creation. 2. Anterior to this dawn, there was a beginning. 3. There was a beginning even anterior to the beginning, before the dawn (2). In explanation of this it may be said that: A. 1. The dawn implies the germinal stage of created forms. 2. Anterior to the beginning which is before the dawn, there was nothing tangible, in the vast and profound, to which a name could not be given. 3. In the beginning anterior to the dawn, when there was, as yet, no sign of created matter, there was nothing,—not even embryonic symptoms. B. 1. What is meant by "the dawn" is that the germs had not, as yet, pullulated. (This is the pregerminal stage). The shoots had not taken any definite form: the nucleus, the embryos, the roots and the stumps were there. There was a heaving, panting movement as though there was a desire to arise into birth, but without becoming any definite species of matter. 2. The "beginning anterior to the dawn" implies that the heavenly aura was beginning to descend, and the earthly aura was beginning to ascend. The Yin and Yang were mobile and mutually striving to get the spirit of harmony within the universe, prompting the inosculation of the elements. These forces wandered hither and thither, pursuing, competing, interpenetrating. Clothed with energy, they sifted, separated, impregnated and moved about in the fluid ocean, desiring to ally one aura with another, even whilst, as yet, there was no appearance of any unusual forms. 3. In the beginning anterior to the dawn, when there was, as yet, no sign of created forms, there was nothing, not even embryonic symptoms. This stage marked heaven drinking in harmony, but not descending: the earth embraced the aura, but had not yet ascended. It was a vast, vacuous space, still, desolate, vapoury, a drizzling humid state. In the chaos, the vitalising fluid floated about, layer on layer. There was no difference between that which was not and that which was; all was alike. The Visible Creation. The myriad things came into existence and the spiritual fluids assumed definite forms and were stabilised. The spiritual nuclei and embryos assumed generic forms, as roots, stems, tissues, twigs and leaves of variegated forms and hues. Beautiful were the different colours! Butterflies and insects flew hither and thither: insects crawled about. We now reach the stage of movement and the breathings of life, on every hand. It was possible to feel, grasp and see, and to follow outward phenomena. They could be distinguished and counted. Life and Soul. Dissertation 3. Pp. 58-78 (i) Elucidation. Concerning the sources and resources of life and soul (Spirit). Since the spirit derives its origin from naturalness, or Tao, it is best, therefore, for it to follow always the Tao and keep to the law of nature: in this way it will be kept from losing its root. The whole of creation is produced through the instrumentality of the positive and the negative, (Yin and Yang). Heaven and Earth are most thrifty in the use of the spirit and vital energy; and this should be a lesson to human beings not to waste their vitality on the vain and useless. The best way to attain this end is to reserve the vital forces by the reduction of desires and suppression of the passions. There is a uniformity in all creation, both in that with life and that without life. I, myself, am apart of matter, and am, in no sense, superior to it. Birth and death are one. Accordingly, human beings should rest satisfied with the order of nature and not worry about life or death and, in this way, avoid loss of spirit and vitality. People should avoid the over-stimulus of feeling and emotionalism. The way to get into touch with the Tao is to be in a state of tranquillity and emptiness (freedom from the government of the senses) which will keep the spirit from anarchy and confusion. Only the physical and the material come under the sphere of life and death. The spirit never dies. In the light of this, we should pay greater attention to the cultivation of the spirit than to matter. When the spirit is well cultivated, the whole creation is at the service of such a man; and death is just a natural transit. The perfect man is not enslaved in the physical. Guard the spirit so as to be fit to meet all circumstances. Keep away from, and don't be allured by, material attractions; then the real pleasure of nature will be found. Know the origin whence you came and be guided by correct principles without diminution or excess, and hit the central way. This will be the resting-place for the spirit. The best way to govern the mind is not to let it wander. Confucianism is reprehensible in that its idea of morality, of love and justice is based on the physical and not the spiritual. And, finally, the perfect man finds, in the protection of the spirit, the fulfilment of life's satisfaction. (ii) Summary and Analysis. Spirit and consciousness are united to form a single whole, which will form the essential part of man; and in combination with the material part we have the whole person. The following summary is an attempt to give, in other words than in the cut-in-heads, the contents of the essay. The numerical divisions are only a general attempt to get at clews. 1. Origin of spirit and consciousness, and of beings. 2. The physical part is based on the spiritual, i.e., spirit and consciousness. The body, therefore, must rest on the root, the spiritual. In other words, man should submit to the law of Heaven and Earth. 3. Creation proceeds through negativity and positivity, or male and female. There are correspondences in man to Heaven and Earth. Man is a small cosmos. Harmony is the coöperation of all correspondences. 4. Matter must have hygenic environment to be healthy. The cosmos has harmony which is its hygiene. The small cosmos must have it, too; and it comes through identity with tao. This hygiene is self-culture. But this is spiritual and moral. Have as few desires as possible and be fed with the spirit. Nourish the spirit; mortify the flesh. 5. The four corruptions. The ego is a part of the universal cosmos. There is uniformity between the ego and all things. And this leads to the conclusion that birth and death are also uniform and are but different phases of the same thing. They are both natural movements. We should not worry about death; this would hurt the spirit. 6. The pearl of the heart, the spirit, should not be injured by emotions, feelings and sentiments. The attitude of mind of the True Man and the effects of his work. His attitude is one of stillness or presence of mind and his movements are those of activity. By these the spirit will be nourished. 7. The body undergoes dissolution on death; but there is no change of the spirit. Once the spirit is born, no change can ever happen to it. Thus matter is different from spirit in its constitution. 8. The nourishment of the spirit is to let it alone. Do not seek for the comfort of the body alone. There is something higher. 9. Once the spirit finds stability, it has great power to command all things. Death is nothing to it. 10. The ancient men of the spirit looked out of the mind on the world wholly with the eye of the spirit. They moved under the direction of the spirit and refused to be governed by the senses. They judged all by spiritual values. 11. Therefore, he has a pleasure of his own. He is not troubled at all by the material. He knows how to keep the spirit. 12. Examples are given of the tao-men, and certain deductions made. 13. The attitude of the supreme man. He never mistakes the Tao. He guards it by stillness, and hits the very centre of the Tao in all. There are men who walk after the manner of the cult of the branch, jen, i, benevolence and justice; and they have results; but fruitfulness is far inferior to that of the tao-man. 14. In order to govern the mind, the consciousness must be guarded and it must not wander from the centre. This will ensure the constant presence of the Spirit. 15. A severe reproof is administered to the Confucian view of life. They do not know how to cultivate the spirit. They pursue after the physical pleasure and idea. This is far and away insufficient. 19. Example of 4 sages who walked in the great way or word. Externalities should be eschewed. Internalities are valuable things to be cherished. 20. Satisfaction comes from identity with the spirit. This is the real happiness and the true knowledge. 21. The warning is—get at the root of things. Don't bother with etiquette and ceremonies. These cut the wrong way. Natural Law. Dissertation 4. Pp. 79-100 (i) Elucidation. In ancient times, during the days of the three sages,—Fu Hsi, Shen Nung, Huang Ti,—the system of government in vogue was according to wu wei, which ensured the spirit of harmony in the universe: there being no violence done to this spirit, the result was peace and freedom from disturbance. However, in the course of time, with the growth of art and cunning inventions, the human mind, gradually, became divorced from the natural and tended to the artificial. Leading men and those in authority were the chief instigators in these artificial productions; and the more they followed the seductions of the senses, the more marked was the decadence in life and the inequalities in social conditions. There was growing luxury amongst those who had wealth, and the poverty of others greatly increased. Concurrently there arose moral corruption and the spirit of selfishness. There naturally followed the spirit of envy, dissatisfaction, struggle and contention. As the love of pleasure and luxury grew, the social contrast became more marked. The rich ceased to consider the poor; the misery of the people was bitter. The spirit of concord was lost, and turmoil, more and more, disturbed the land. Good men felt the dangers of the situation, and many uprose to stem the tide of evil and wickedness. The sages created a moral system which was chiefly composed of jen, i, benevolence, righteousness, rites and music, hoping, by the inculcation of these ideas and corrective methods of culture, to help men to suppress the reign of the senses which threatened to drown the higher life. But these good intentions and noble practices failed. All was in vain. The reason is clear; they created an artificial system of culture, and so far from arresting the tendency to become the slaves of the senses, these new methods only added to the seductive charms that misled the world away from the real source of power. (ii) Epitome and analysis. (a) The governing system adopted and in vogue during the age of the three sages,—the age of the T‛ai Ch‛ing. The system adopted was that of wu wei,—the governing force being the rule of the spirit and not that of the senses. The results were most felicitous. The whole of nature glowed with peace and harmony. When the leaders of men neglected this system, the harmony was marred, and peace was broken. Private pleasure took the place of public good, as the standard of life. The happiness of the people was not considered. The rapacity of the powerful disturbed nature. It became savage. Calamities failed to warn the transgressors. In order to counteract the mistakes and selfishness of the times, education and law, rewards and punishments were established, so as to correct the evils of the times; but this system of minor moralities failed to reach the end in view. The artificial methods used were a poor substitute for the true principle of action viz., wu wei. The thing that should have been done was to restore the principle of wu wei and thus follow the force that governs the harmony of Heaven and Earth. These were founded on the principle of harmony: yin and yang will play their part properly, when there is universal harmony. The method of governing the country used by the sages was wholly on the principle of naturalness. The people were simple and easy-going. But the world, later, deteriorated; and the disadvantages of benevolence, righteousness, rites and music were pointed out. Rites and music are inferior to jen, i, benevolence and righteousness; and jen, i, again, is inferior to tao te (this tao te, morality is the artificial form of Confucian morality). (b) As the age deteriorated and manners became worse, falsehood and hypocrisy grew more manifest, and the leaders adopted policies and diplomacies in governing the people. Heaven, with all its constellations, and the Earth, with its varieties, exhibit the greatness of the Tao. The laws of the Tao should be followed implicitly. Benevolence, righteousness, rites and music are fascinating ideas; but they only lead into artificiality, more and more. Compare these artificial methods with the method of the Perfect Man with the systems of Yao and Shun, of T‛ang and Wu Wang. The better results of these at once become evident. The Chih jen, the Perfect Man of the Taoist system, always acts in the spirit of wu wei, of apparently doing nothing. He withdraws from the active arena of affairs and retires into seclusion and does not interfere in public agitations and turmoil; but, as we have already seen, their influence is very effective. The silence they observe carries out the Tao of wu wei, which is of priceless value. But merely learned persons do not appreciate this method nor understand the value of the wu wei method: and they engage in purposeless discussions and the vanity of words. (c) Here follows an account of the policies of emperors, kings and dukes in governing the empire. They followed naturalness generally. There are several systems; the system of T‛ai i, the primum mobile; of yin and yang, harmony; of time and seasons; of the six laws. The last borders on the artificial, being human creation. Then follows an account of the results of these different methods. It should be observed that these methods, again, were adapted to the rule of each. The emperor stood for the primum mobile: kings used the method of harmony: the autocrat used the regime of seasons, and the duke that of the six laws. (These ideas are obscure, and it is not clear what was really intended by the description.) It is enjoined that each of the four grades should strictly act within the sphere of each. (d) We now come to the system of the Chen jen, or True Man. It is he who is most economical of the spirit and energy. He takes care to close up the 4 Passes, or the Senses: and to stop the 5 Extravagances. These are the wrong and extravagant use made of the resources of nature. (Both these are fully explained in the text.) We may well enquire into the causes of unrest and anarchy. It will be found that these causes lie in giving rein to the senses and in the wasteful use made of the sources of wealth. When a country's resources are used to minister merely to the love of pleasure and luxury, distress of the people will follow and anarchy will come. Luxury inflames the passions: heavy taxes lead to despair. The ancient sages were thrifty in the use they made of the five resources. (e) Closing remarks on the use of the military, on music and funerals. Joy, anger and mourning should be natural and not artificial. There is a difference between ancient and modern music and also in ceremonials connected with funerals and the rites of mourning. There is also a great dissimilarity of intention in the use of an army, between the ancient and the modern. The original purpose of all the above was constructive and not destructive, helpful and joyful to the community, rather than the contrary. Influence of the Cosmic Spirit. Dissertation 6. Pp. 143-180. Epitome and Analysis. Before and during the time of the Three Sages, naturalness was the guiding principle for ruling. All creation, as a result, worked together in harmony. During the age of the Five Emperors, rites, ceremonies, music and other social accomodations came into vogue. These were established to meet the needs of the people and in response to the changing times. But these conveniences were not made with any idea that they should be used or altered by successors who were not under the inspiration of the Tao. All leaders of the people should, therefore, (a) follow the law of nature, (b) supply the needs of the people, and (c) adapt the method of government to suit the changing times. If any one of these three things is neglected, it is certain that disturbances and ruin will follow. It is clear that all sages followed the Tao in their administration of affairs and supplied the needs of the public according to the times. In the time of the 5 Rulers, 2953-2914 B.C., there were men who preferred to be farmers than Court officers and Ministers of State. The practices in war were humane: the weapons were sword and bow and arrow, only; in war they did not capture soldiers whose temples were getting gray, nor kill the young. There were no strict forms of punishments and rewards. There was a general spirit of tolerance, which it was possible to practice, for the reason that the people were simple and guileless. These tolerant practices could not be used in later generations, on account of changes in habits and thoughts. So, later leaders had need to adopt the system of a mixture of sternness and meekness—one composed of the negative and positive principles. In a word, leaders could not blindly follow past practices but had to adapt rule to the times. Mere imitation is never possible. In the Confucian system, different sages had different ideas. Confucius stressed jen, i, benevolence and righteousness. Mei Tzû was the advocate of universal love and altruism. Yang Tzû stood out for Egoism or love of self. Mencius was the advocate of princely Sovereignty and righteousness, etc. Tradition must not be followed blindly. Morality is most important. Its neglect may lose a kingdom, and the observance of its rule may gain a kingdom. A survey of history will convince us of the truth of this. Emperor Yao began his kingdom with 100 families. Shun had no supporters and land. Chieh lost his sovereign power because he was morally bankrupt. Chou ruined the country because he neglected the welfare of the people in the search of illicit pleasures and selfish perversion. What is true of a kingdom is equally true of the individual. Success and failure depends on the character of the person. There are many examples given to prove the theory. And it is to be observed that men who have greatly succeeded may have been at some period of their lives guilty of some misbehaviour and minor faults. These, however, should not bar their way to advancement, should they show that the main purpose of their life is in accordance with the Tao. Men must be judged at their best and not at their worst. This should be a clear principle of action. And again, instances are given of men who won out in spite of past faults and of some wrong doing that weighted them down. It is easy to be good and to do good things: it is not easy to be bad and do bad things. Man's nature in its origin is good, and it requires some effort to bend it towards evil. Man's inability to control the passions is the chief cause of evil. The senses and desires govern the motions of life, when they are not under the Tao. Herein is the great difference between the sage and the worldly man. The sages have an even mind and a strong will power; so they keep the senses from racing into the outward world: they guard the spirit within, and, thus, they are not tempted and attracted by outward things. They have curbed desire and suppressed the passions, or, in the words of the classic, "they have a scale for themselves." The conclusion is that nations and individuals, whether they belong to the nobility or the commons, must follow the Tao as the law of life. Generalship. Dissertation 7. Pp. 182-218. Summary. In early times, during the years of the Three Sages and Five Worthies, the aim of all military action, by the governing power, was the welfare of the people. In no sense was the army raised on account of private disputes or in order to satisfy individual ambition or to serve aggressive purposes. The aim was similar to that of wise men, when they make use of weapons. They use them to pacify disturbances and rid the country of pests and dangers, just like fishermen who, in rearing fish, destroy all otters and seals from the preserves, so that the fish may grow in peace. Such a process is natural, and those who act thus follow the law of nature. On the contrary, if anyone should use the military for private purposes and to serve selfish ends, it would be against the law of nature, and the result would be fatal to success and right order. Such a proposition can be verified by innumerable historical instances. The law of nature, or in other words, Tao is of infinite variety in its operations. It meets the myriad affairs of existence not by any one rigid rule, but by multifarious methods, suiting each action to the needs of the case. The Tao is the only principle to follow. There is no other safe way. He who follows Tao is strong; but he who disobeys this law will certainly perish. It seems more right and more consonant with the Tao to have punishment inflicted, but without recourse to actual physical engagement in battle. To refer to the ancient method, a properly organised soldiery would never need to actually engage in battle: for if one's own army is properly organised on Tao principles and statesmen have carried on their part with truth and justice, there never need be any fighting. When it is time to act, the people on both sides readily respond to statesmen who draw from the well of truth. Even before any movement has taken place, the enemy has already dissolved and ceased to be. There are three fundamental things to be observed by those who have armies. 1. Right government of the nation. 2. Administration, on the basis of benevolence and righteousness. 3. The exercise of justice in all affairs. But now-a-days leaders and people are ignorant of the fundamental idea of things, viz., the Tao. They think that victory lies with the sharpest arms. But this is disproved by history. It is plain that it is the nation with the best government, and not with the best army, which survives. The nation nearest to the Tao is the nation that continues. No military preparation can take place without form. This is quite evident. Just think of fortresses, ammunition factories, arsenals and armouries: these are material and are of visible form. This being so, the visible things can be overcome by means of tactics. The force which can operate without form is the only one sure of victory. Nothing can overcome formless force, which works through invisibility. But the Tao is without visible form. To possess the Tao assures victory. The method of sage rulers, when they are obliged to undertake military operations, is one consonant with right. They work on the principles of the Tao; all is done according to truth and justice. They do not want war: the mind is calm, whatever the conditions may be. They keep still, and this very stillness shatters the unrest of the enemy, who is tossed about by selfish ambitions and the pursuit of private ends. The enemy is not animated by any just aim in his counsels, so he is fatally weak. They maintain a unity of mind in all their work, which is in such contrast to the scattered-brain condition of those who act without the Tao. They maintain a vitality of spirit, whilst their enemies waste resources in uncertain and dubious plans. They act speedily in order to protect those under their charge,—so unlike their opponents, who hesitate and are tardy. Further, they preserve a fundamental quality in all good action; that is to say, they keep to the harmony of Heaven and Earth and give it place in all human affairs. Such, then, are the main-springs of action which seeks always to follow the Tao. The nation that follows the Tao, though mild in spirit, will bend the toughest opponent: fewer in number, it will yet gain victory over the many: though small in size, it will vanquish the biggest enemy. A word should be said on the character and spirit of the Commander himself, as the essay contains not a little about this. As for leaders and generals of the army, there are a few important things that are essential. These may be summed up under two captions. The first exhibits the need of three fundamental points, and the second two superlative advantages, which should be gained over the enemy. To take the first point, first. (1) The existence of a courageous spirit. How may this be best got? There is one certain way, and that is that all action and thought must have its origin in the well of truth; and the aim of all action must be the righting of wrong and the adjustment of unfair conditions. Possessed with this sense of right, the spirit of the men will be fired with the greatest courage and make them mighty, so that when they swoop down on an enemy, it will be swept away, just as a strong gust of wind snips the leaves from off the tree; or it may be compared to the sharp peal of thunder breaking into the stillness of the quiet air. The spirit animated by a sense of truth and justice is an awe-inspiring power and one able to overpower the enemy. 2. The Commandant should occupy strategic positions, which will make the fortress impregnable, and at the same time, standing on high ground, be a fitting place for the arrows to be rained down on the enemy. 3. The third and last point is to find out the weak spots of the enemy and to utilise them for his certain defeat. The two superlative advantages are as follows: 1. Good scouting, in order to get knowledge of the enemy's condition. Through these investigations, plans for attack and ambuscading can be worked. 2. Perfect training and discipline of the soldiers, so that under the trying conditions of battle, there may arise no confusion, either with regard to order or disposition. Now, as to the generals themselves. There must be self-discipline. They should inure themselves to bear heat and cold; they must always be ahead of the soldier in attack; they must have great courage to rush the most difficult passes; they must eat after the soldier has had his food, and drink after the thirst of the soldier has been quenched. They, thus, gain the affection and loyalty of the men. And this comradeship is of incalculable value in war. They should be well-educated and cultivate the habit of a healthy life, both physical and moral. Endeavour and Duty. Dissertation 8. Pp. 219-242. Epitome. The purpose of this essay is to show that the ancient worthies strove to fulfil their duty of serving the people. In so doing, the ancient sages were adherents of wu wei, which literally means no action, but which really means action according to naturalness or the Tao. It is quite true that there are many who think that quietness and stillness mean motionless activities. But it is quite a mistake to think that the distinguished adherents of wu wei, and even the founders of the theory, were men who did nothing. They were, on the contrary, men of laborious toil, men who incessantly laboured for the good of the people. They were diligent workers in all fields of human activities and served the people in their difficulties. This may be proved historically by the example of Shen Nung, the great investigator of vegetation and the classifier of plants, and discoverer of their values, as drugs for human sickness: by Yao, the kindest and wisest of emperors who loved the people: by the emperor Shun, also, a person of great activity, who did immense good by designing houses for the people, thus removing them from the dangers of cave-dwelling and living in precarious nests in the trees; by Yü, the emperor, also, whose skin was tanned black in his toils to stem the waters and the flood. T‛ang may also be called as a witness. He was the founder of the Shang dynasty and delivered the oppressed subjects of the cruel monarch Chieh, the last emperor of the Hsia dynasty. Some of these five rulers are regarded as the founders of the spiritual elements in Taoism. And the conclusion to be drawn from their lives is that they were laborious workers and were governed by the principle of wu wei. So the term is not a doctrine of non-performance, but one of in-performance—to play on the words in and non. Their lives were truly sacrificial lives. Indeed, it may be said, that the creation of emperors, kings and the nobility was originally due to the election of good men to guard the interests of the people and the oppressed. They maintained the cause of right and justice: they warded off danger of enemies and relieved the people, by humane measures of government and social benefits. And they were acting, in the doing of all this ameliorative work, by spiritual means,—naturalness of the Tao. In no sense were they of the cult of 'doing nothing', indolent and lazy, as some of the more modern disciples affirm. Anything opposed to wu wei, naturalness, is yu wei, action by effort as wu wei is action, in accordance with the spirit. But this implies hard training and heavy tasks and education. Improvement through education, except in certain cases, is possible. Some are born perfect; others are born wicked. In many cases education may prove to be a failure. But generally education is appreciated by all. All should be educated up to the standard of life, and there should be no curtailment because of the failures of some. Animals have instinct, and depend on it in order to avoid harm and gain advantage. If education is abandoned and people left to their natural instinct, they would soon become like birds and beasts. It lies in education to advance the progress of the world and to civilize people. It gives men an expert knowledge and an enlightenment of mind. Fame is won by hard study, and merit by hard work, as may be shown by numberless instances. Further, education is a factor in human evolution. Those who insist on sticking to old views, hinder progress and shut out inventions, to the detriment of their minds. This, in turn, will create loss of harmony and coöperation. Education gives knowledge and consequent mastery. Without education the power of management will suffer. Ignorance leads to unnecessary suffering. Real knowledge is got by profound study and kept by a retentive memory. Superficial knowledge is of little value, and to study merely to get a name, is worse than useless. The multitude is not led by real and true standards. Reality and not dilettantism is what is wanted. One must not be deceived by mere appearances. Nevertheless, one may have the accomplishments of the great leaders of old in learning; but without tê, virtue, it will be useless. Also, there must be a field for its exercise. Here follow illustrations of the powers of education. If progress is slow, there must be no discouragement. In the end, if there is no stopping half way in education, there will be results. Index Previous Next

No. in the Text. 3.The hosts of Heaven and Earth declare the wonder and the glory of the Tao. 4.The earth and all physical phenomena are indications of the operations of the Tao. 5.The seasons and the divisions of time are phenomena indicative of the directing power of the Tao. 6.A survey of the invisible and profound changes that happen will reveal original causes which are indicative of the Tao. 9.When the rule of the emperor conforms to the principles of the Tao, there will be effective results. 10.Names savour of locality, and each folklore has a nature of its own. To reduce all to a common denomination, for unification, must be done by a unification of the heart first. 11.The nomenclature of things throw some light on their origin. In investigating these we are seeking for the truth. 14.The whole creation is symbolic of the Tao. 16.The majesty of the mountain symbolizes the accumulation of the truth of the Tao. 17.The Tao is the origin of the myriad things; their unity is like to the congregation of the trees of the forest. 18.An analysis of human history reveals the losses and gains following on the neglect or pursuit of the Tao. 20.In the myriad forms of creation a pure unity is manifested everywhere. 21.A summary of the contents and a commentary on the 3rd essay. Index Previous Diagrams