The Texts of Taoism, Part II

SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE AMEN CORNER, EC. THE

1RANSLA1ED

F. MAX MULLER VOL. XL A.T THE CLARENDON PRESS 1891 [ All rights reserved ] Ojforfc

THE

JRANSLATED B\

THE WRITINGS OF ATWANG-3ZE

THE THAl-SHANG TRACTATE OF ACTIONS AND THEIR RETRIBUTIONS

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1891 [All rights reserved]

CONTENTS. THE WRITINGS OF AWANG-3ZE.

XVIII. XL Kih Lo, or Perfect Enjoyment i XIX. xn. Td Shang, or the Full Understanding of Life . 1 1 XX. xin. Shan Mu, or the Tree on the Mountain . . 27 XXI. xiv. Thien Bze-fang . .... 42 XXII. xv. Alh Pei Yu, or Knowledge Rambling in the North 57

XXIII. i. Kang-sang Khu . . 74 XXIV. 11. HsuWu-kwei . 91 XXV. in. 3eh-yang . . . .114 XXVI. iv. W& Wu, or What comes from Without 131 XXVII. v. Yu Yen, or Metaphorical Language . . . 142 XXVIII. vi. Zang Wang, or Kings who have wished to resign the Throne . . 149 XXIX. vn. Tao A'lh, or the Robber ^ih . . .166 XXX. vm. Yueh A^ien, or Delight in the Sword-fight . 186 XXXI. ix. Yu-fu, or the Old Fisherman . . .192 XXXII. x. Lieh Yu-khau 202 XXXIII. xi. Thien Hsia, or Histoncal Phases of Taoist Teaching 214 THE THAl-SHANG TRACTATE OF ACTIONS AND THEIR RETRIBUTIONS. Translation of the Tractate . ... 235 VUI CONTENTS. APPENDIXES.

I. Khmg A'Sng A'mg, or the Classic of Purity . . 247 II. Yin Fu A"mg, or Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and the Unseen .... 255 III. Yu Shu Amg, or Classic of the Pivot of Jade . . 265 IV. ZAh Yung A'mg, or Classic of the Directory for a Day . 269 V. Analyses by Lm Hsi-^ung of several of the Books of A^wang-jze ... . 273 VI. List of Narratives, Apologues, and Stories in the Writings of A'wang-jze . ... . . 298 VII. The Stone Tablet in the Temple of Lao-jze. By Hsieh Tio-hang of the Sui dynasty . . . . .311 VIII. Record for the Sacrificial Hall of A'wang-^ze. By Su Shih 320 INDEX TO VOLS XXXIX, XL . . 325 Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Transla- tions of the Sacred Books of the East 337 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM.

K ih Lo, or * Perfect Enjoyment V i. Under the sky is perfect enjoyment to be found or not ? Are there any who can preserve themselves alive or not ? If there be, what do they do ? What do they maintain ? What do they avoid ? What do they attend to ? Where do they resort to ? Where do they keep from ? What do they delight in ? What do they dislike ? What the world honours is riches, dignities, lon- gevity, and being deemed able. What it delights in is rest for the body, rich flavours, fine garments, beautiful colours, and pleasant music. What it looks down on are poverty and mean condition, short life and being deemed feeble 2 . What men consider bitter experiences are that their bodies do not get rest and ease, that their mouths do not get food of rich fla- vour, that their persons are not finely clothed, that their eyes do not see beautiful colours, and that their ears do not listen to pleasant music. If they do not 1 See vol. xxxix, pp. 149, 150. 2 Of riches, dignities, longevity, and their opposites, enough is said, while the other two qualities are lightly passed over, and re- ferred to only in connexion with ' meritorious officers/ I can only understand them as in the translation. [40] B 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xvni. get these things, they are very sorrowful, and go on to be troubled with fears. Their thoughts are all about the body ; are they not silly ? Now the rich embitter their lives by their incessant labours ; they accumulate more wealth than they can use . while they act thus for the body, they make it external to themselves 1 . Those who seek for honours carry their pursuit of them from the day into the night, full of anxiety about their methods whether they are skilful or not: while they act thus for the body they treat it as if it were indifferent to them J . The birth of man is at the same time the birth of his sorrow ; and if he live long he be- comes more and more stupid, and the longer is his anxiety that he may not die ; how great is his bit- terness ! while he thus acts for his body, it is for a distant result. Meritorious officers are regarded by the world as good ; but (their goodness) is not sufficient to keep their persons alive. I do not know whether the goodness ascribed to them be really good or really not good. If indeed it be considered good, it is not sufficient to preserve their persons alive ; if it be deemed not good, it is sufficient to preserve other men alive. Hence it is said, ' When faithful remonstrances are not listened to, (the re- monstrant) should sit still, let (his ruler) take his course, and not strive with him/ Therefore when 3ze-hsu 3 strove with (his ruler), he brought on him- 1 If they did not do so, they would be content when they had enough 2 Wishing to attach it more closely to them. 8 Wti 3ze-hsu, the scourge of Kh& ; and who perished miser- ably at last, when the king of Wu would no longer listen to his remonstrances; in about B.C. 475. PT. II. SECT. xi. THE WRITINGS OF tfWANG-SZE. 3 self the mutilation of his body. If he had not so striven, he would not have acquired his fame : was such (goodness) really good or was it not ? As to what the common people now do, and what they find their enjoyment in, I do not know whether the enjoyment be really enjoyment or really not. I see them in their pursuit of it following after all their aims as if with the determination of death, and as if they could not stop in their course ; but what they call enjoyment would not be so to me, while yet I do not say that there is no enjoyment in it. Is there indeed such enjoyment, or is there not ? I consider doing nothing (to obtain it) to be the great enjoyment *, while ordinarily people consider it to be a great evil. Hence it is said, * Perfect en- joyment is to be without enjoyment ; the highest praise is to be without praise V The right and the wrong (on this point of enjoyment) cannot indeed be determined according to (the view of) the world ; nevertheless, this doing nothing (to obtain it) may determine the right and the wrong. Since perfect enjoyment is (held to be) the keeping the body alive, it is only by this doing nothing that that end is likely to be secured. Allow me to try and explain this (more fully) : Heaven does nothing, and thence comes its serenity ; Earth does nothing, and thence comes its rest. By the union of these two inac- tivities, all things are produced. How vast and im- perceptible is the process ! they seem to come from 1 This is the secret of the Tdo. 2 The last member of this sentence is the reading adopted by Wu -ffMng towards the conclusion of the thirty-ninth chapter of the Tao Teh .ATmg, instead of the common B 2 4 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XVIII. nowhere! How imperceptible and vast! there is no visible image of it ! All things in all their variety grow from this Inaction. Hence it is said, ' Heaven and Earth do nothing, and yet there is nothing that they do not do V But what man is there that can attain to this inaction ? 2. When Awang-jze's wife died, Hui-jze went to condole with him, and, finding him squatted on the ground, drumming on the basin 2 , and singing, said to him, ' When a wife has lived with her husband, and brought up children, and then dies in her old age, not to wail for her is enough. When you go on to drum on this basin and sing, is it not an excessive (and strange) demonstration ? ' A^wang-jze replied, * It is not so. When she first died, was it possible for me to be singular and not affected by the event ? But I reflected on the commencement of her being 3 . She had not yet been born to life ; not only had she no life, but she had no bodily form ; not only had she no bodily form, but she had no breath. During the intermingling of the waste and dark chaos 3 , there ensued a change, and there was breath; another change, and there was the bodily form ; another change, and there came birth 1 Compare similar statements in the Tao Teh A'mg, ch. 48, et al. 2 The basin or tub, not ' a basin.' The reference is, no doubt, to the basin of ice put down near or under the couch on which the body was laid. I suppose that Awang-$ze was squatting so as to have this between his legs. 3 Is the writer referring to the primal creation as we may call it, or development of things out of the chaos, or to some analogous process at the birth of his wife ? However that be, birth and death appear to him to be merely changes of the same kind in the per- petual process of evolution. PT. II. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 5 and life. There is now a change again, and she is dead. The relation between these things is like the procession of the four seasons from spring to autumn, from winter to summer. There now she lies with her face up, sleeping in the Great Chamber l ; and if I were to fall sobbing and going on to wail for her, I should think that I did not understand what was appointed (for all). I therefore restrained myself 2 ! ' 3. Mr. Deformed 3 and Mr. One-foot 3 were looking at the mound-graves of the departed in the wild of Khwan-lun, where Hwang-Tl had entered into his rest. Suddenly a tumour began to grow on their left wrists, which made them look distressed as if they disliked it. The former said to the other, * Do 1 Between heaven and earth. 2 Was it necessary he should fall singing to his- drumming on the basin ? But I subjoin a note here, suggested by the paragraph, which might have found, perhaps, a more appiopnate place in the notice of this Book in vol. xxxix, pp. 149, 150. In Sir John F. Davis' ' Description of the Empire of China and its Inhabitants (edition of 1857),' vol. h, pp. 74-90, we have the amusing story of 'The Philosopher and his Wife/ The philosopher is ^wang-jze, who plays the part of a magician ; and of his wife it might be said, ' Frailty! thy name is uoman ' ' Sir John Davis says, * The story was translated into French by Pere d'Entrecolles, and supplied the materials of Voltaire's Zadig/ I have not met in Chinese with Father d'Entrecolles' original. All of Zadig which can be supposed to have been borrowed from his translator is only a few sentences. The whole story is inconsistent with the account in paragraph 2 of the death of -tfwang-jze's wife, and with all which we learn from his writings of his character. 3 We know nothing of these parties but what we are told here. They are called Shu, meaning 'uncle/ often equivalent in China to our ' Mr/ The lesson taught by them is that of submission to pain and death as merely phenomena in the sphere of change. For the phraseology of their names, see Bk. Ill, par. 3, and Bk. IV, pan 8. 6 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xvin. you dread it ? ' ' No/ replied he, ' why should I dread it ? Life is a borrowed thing. The living frame thus borrowed is but so much dust. Life and death are like day and night. And you and I were looking at (the graves of) those who have undergone their change. If my change is coming to me, why should I dislike it ? ' 4. When ATwang-jze went to Khh, he saw an empty skull, bleached indeed, but still retaining its shape. Tapping it with his horse-switch, he asked it, saying, * Did you, Sir, in your greed of life, fail in the lessons of reason, and come to this ? Or did you do so, in the service of a perishing state, by the punishment of the axe ? Or was it through your evil conduct, reflecting disgrace on your parents and on your wife and children ? Or was it through your hard endurances of cold and hunger ? Or was it that you had completed your term of life ? ' Having given expression to these questions, he took up the skull, and made a pillow of it when he went to sleep. At midnight the skull appeared to him in a dream, and said, * What you said to me was after the fashion of an orator. All your words were about the entanglements of men in their lifetime. There are none of those things after death. Would you like to hear me, Sir, tell you about death ? ' ' I should/ said A^wang-jze, and the skull resumed : ' In death there are not (the distinctions of) ruler above and minister below. There are none of the phenomena of the four seasons. Tranquil and at ease, our years are those of heaven and earth. No king in his court has greater enjoyment than we have/ ATwang-jze did not believe it, and said, ' If I PT. II. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF -STWANG-3ZE. J could get the Ruler of our Destiny 1 to restore your body to life with its bones and flesh and skin, and to give you back your father and mother, your wife and children, and all your village acquaintances, would you wish me to do so ? ' The skull stared fixedly at him, knitted its brows, and said, ' How should I cast away the enjoyment of my royal court, and under- take again the toils of life among mankind ? ' 5. When Yen Yuan went eastwards to K/A, Con- fucius wore a look of sorrow 2 . 3 ze ~kung left his mat, and asked him, saying, ' Your humble disciple ventures to ask how it is that the going eastwards of Hui to K/ii has given you such a look of sadness/ Confucius said, ' Your question is good. Formerly Kwan-jze 3 used words of which I very much ap- prove. He said, " A small bag cannot be made to contain what is large ; a short rope cannot be used to draw water from a deep well V So it is, and man's appointed lot is definitely determined, and his body is adapted for definite ends, so that neither the one nor the other can be augmented or diminished. I am afraid that Hui will talk with the marquis of A7/1 about the ways of Hwang-Ti, Yao, and Shun, and go on to relate the words of Sui-san and Shan Nang. The marquis will seek (for the correspond- ence of what he is told) in himself; and, not finding 1 I suppose the Tao; but none of the commentators, so far as I have seen, say anything about the expression. 2 Compare the long discourse of Confucius with Yen Hui, on the latter's pioposing to go to Wei, in Bk. IV. 8 Kwan 1-wu or Kwan Aung, the chief minister of duke Hwan of Khiy whom he is supposed to have in view in his ' small bag and short rope/ 8 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK.XVIII. it there, will suspect the speaker ; and that speaker, being suspected, will be put to death. And have you not heard this ? Formerly a sea-bird alighted in the suburban country of Lti \ The marquis went out to meet it, (brought it) to the ancestral temple, and prepared to banquet it there. The Alft-shdo 2 was performed to afford it music ; an ox, a sheep, and a pig were killed to supply the food. The bird, however, looked at everything with dim eyes, and was very sad. It did not venture to eat a single bit of flesh, nor to drink a single cupful ; and in three days it died. ' The marquis was trying to nourish the bird with what he used for himself, and not with the nourish- ment proper for a bird. They who would nourish birds as they ought to be nourished should let them perch in the deep forests, or roam over sandy plains ; float on the rivers and lakes ; feed on the eels and- small fish ; wing their flight in regular order and then stop ; and be free and at ease in their resting- places. It was a distress to that bird to hear men speak ; what did it care for all the noise and hubbub made about it ? If the music of the A^iti-shio 3 or the Hsien-/>ih 4 were performed in the wild of the Thung-thing 4 lake, birds would fly away, and beasts would run off when they heard it, and fishes would dive down to the bottom of the water ; while men, when they hear it, would come all round to- 1 Perhaps another and more ridiculous version of the story told in * the Narratives of the States/ II, i, art. 7. 8 The name of Shun's music , see the Shu (in vol. iii), par. 2. 8 Called also Td Shao, in Book XXXIII, par. 2. 4 Hwang-Ti' s music ; see Bk. XIV, par. 3. But the genuine- ness of the whole paragraph is called in question. PT. II. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 9 gether, and look on. Fishes live and men die in the water. They are different in constitution, and therefore differ in their likes and dislikes. Hence it was that the ancient sages did not require (from all) the same ability, nor demand the same perform- ances. They gave names according to the reality of what was done, and gave their approbation where it was specially suitable. This was what was called the method of universal adaptation and of sure success/ 6. Lieh-jze (once) upon a journey took a meal by the road-side. There he saw a skull a hundred years old, and, pulling away the bush (under which it lay), he pointed to it and said, * It is only you and I who know that you are not dead, and that (aforetime) you were not alive. Do you indeed really find (in death) the nourishment (which you like) ? Do I really find (in life my proper) enjoyment ? The seeds (of things) are multitudinous and minute. On the sur- face of the water they form a membranous texture. When they reach to where the land and water join they become the (lichens which we call the) clothes of frogs and oysters. Coming to life on mounds and heights, they become the plantain ; and, receiv- ing manure, appear as crows' feet. The roots of the crow's foot become grubs, and its leaves, butter- flies. This butterfly, known by the name of hsii, is changed into an insect, and comes to life under a furnace. Then it has the form of a moth, and is named the >^u-to. The Ail-to after a thousand days becomes a bird, called the <an-yii-kti. Its saliva becomes the sje-ml, and this again the shih- hsl (or pickle-eater). The Mo is produced from the pickle-eater; the hwang-kwang from the IO THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XVIII. ft; the mau-zui from the pft-khwan. The ying-hsi uniting with a bamboo, which has long ceased to put forth sprouts, produces the /iing- ning; the >^ing-ning, the panther; the panther, the horse ; and the horse, the man. Man then again enters into the great Machinery (of Evolu- tion), from which all things come forth (at birth), and which they enter at death V 1 A much larger paragraph from which this must have been abbreviated, or which must have been enlarged from this, is found in the first Book of Lieh-jze's works (pp. 4, 5). In no Buddhist treatise is the transrotation of births more fully, and, I must add, absurdly stated, PT. II. SECT. XII. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. It BOOK XIX. PART II. SECTION XII. Shang, or * The Full Understanding of Life 1 .' i. He who understands the conditions of Life does not strive after what is of no use to life ; and he who understands the conditions of Destiny does not strive after what is beyond the reach of knowledge. In nourishing the body it is necessary to have beforehand the things (appropriate to its support) 2 ; but there are cases where there is a superabundance of such things, and yet the body is not nourished 2 . In order to have life it is necessary that it do not have left the body; but there are cases when the body has not been left by it, and yet the life has perished 3 . When life comes, it cannot be declined ; when it goes, it cannot be detained. Alas ! the men of the world think that to nourish the body is sufficient to preserve life ; and when such nourishment is not sufficient to preserve the life, what can be done in the world that will be sufficient ? Though (all that men can do) will be insufficient, yet there are things which they feel they ought to do, and they do not try to avoid doing them. For those who wish to 1 See vol. xxxix, pp. 150, 151. 2 Wealth will supply abundantly the things that are necessary and fit for the nourishment of the body, but sudden death may render them unavailing. 3 That is, the higher life of the spirit has perished. 12 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK.XIX. avoid caring for the body, their best plan is to aban- don the world. Abandoning the world, they are free from its entanglements. Free from its entangle- ments, their (minds) are correct and their (tempera- ment) is equable. Thus correct and equable, they succeed in securing a renewal of life, as some have done 1 . In securing a renewal of life, they are not far from the True (Secret of their being). But how is it sufficient to abandon worldly affairs ? and how is it sufficient to forget the (business of) life ? Through the renouncing of (worldly) affairs, the body has no more toil ; through forgetting the (business of) life, the vital power suffers no dimi- nution. When the body is completed and the vital power is restored (to its original vigour), the man is one with Heaven. Heaven and Earth are the father and mother of all things. It is by their union that the body is formed ; it is by their separation that a (new) beginning is brought about. When the body and vital power suffer no diminution, we have what may be called the transference of power. From the vital force there comes another more vital, and man returns to be the assistant of Heaven. 2. My master 2 Lieh-jze 2 asked Yin, (the warden) of the gate 2 , saying, 'The perfect man walks under 1 I think I have caught the meaning. The phrase signifying ' the renewal of life ' has been used to translate ' being born again ' in John's Gospel, ch. 3. 2 We find here Lieh-jze (whose name has already occurred several times) in communication with the warden Yin, who was a contemporary of Lao-jze,and we must refer him therefore to the sixth century B. c. He could not therefore be contemporary with our author, and yet the three characters of the text mean ' My Master, Lieh-jze;' and the whole of the paragraph is found in Lieh-jze's second Book (4 a -5 a ) with a good many variants in the text. PT. II. SECT. XII. THE WRITINGS OF J2TWANG-3ZE. 1 3 water without encountering any obstruction, treads on fire without being burned, and walks on high above all things without any fear ; let me ask how he attains -to do this 1 ?' The warden Yin replied, 1 It is by his keeping of the pure breath (of life) ; it is not to be described as an achievement of his skill or daring. Sit down, and I will explain it to you. Whatever has form, semblance, sound, and colour is a thing; how can one thing come to be different from another ? But it is not competent for any of these things to reach to what preceded them all ; they are but (form and) visibility. But (the perfect man) attains to be (as it were) without form, and be- yond the capability of being transformed. Now when one attains to this and carries it out to the highest degree, how can other things come into his way to stop him ? He will occupy the place assigned to him without going beyond it, and lie concealed in the clue which has no end. He will study with de- light the process which gives their beginning and ending to all things. By gathering his nature into a unity, by nourishing his vital power, by concen- trating his virtue, he will penetrate to the making of things. In this condition, with his heavenly consti- tution kept entire, and with no crevice in his spirit, how can things enter (and disturb his serenity) ? * Take the case of a drunken man falling from his carriage ; though he may suffer injury, he will not The gate was at the passage leading from the Royal Domain of those days into the great feudal territory of 2in; from the north-west of the present province of Ho-nan into Shen-hsi. 1 Lieh-jze puts an absurd question to the warden, which is re- plied to at length, and unsatisfactorily. We need not discuss either the question or the answer m this place. 14 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XIX. die. His bones and joints are the same as those of other men, but the injury which he receives is dif- ferent : his spirit is entire. He knew nothing about his getting into the carriage, and knew nothing about his falling from it. The thought of death or life, or of any alarm or affright, does not enter his breast ; and therefore he encounters danger without any shrinking from it. Completely under the influence of the liquor he has drunk, it is thus with him ; how much more would it be so, if he were under the influence of his Heavenly constitution ! The sagely man is kept hid in his Heavenly constitution, and therefore nothing can injure him. 'A man in the pursuit of vengeance would not break the (sword) Mo-ye or Yii-iang (which had done the deed) ; nor would one, however easily made wrathful, wreak his resentment on the fallen brick. In this way all under heaven there would be peace; without the disorder of assaults and fighting, with- out the punishments of death and slaughter: such would be the issue of the course (which I have de- scribed). If the disposition that is of human origin be not developed, but that which is the gift of Heaven, the development of the latter will produce goodness, while that of the former would produce hurt. If the latter were not wearied of, and the former not slighted, the people would be brought nearly to their True nature. 1 3. When A!ung-n! was on his way to Kkh, as he issued from a forest, he saw a hunchback receiving cicadas (on the point of a rod), as if he were picking them up with his hand ! . ' You are clever ! f said he 1 This paragraph is also found with variations in Lieh-jze, PT. II. SECT. XII. THE WRITINGS OF J5TWANG-3ZE. 15 to the man. * Is there any method in it ? ' The hunchback replied, ' There is. For five or six months, I practised with two pellets, till they never fell down, and then I only failed with a small frac- tion 1 of the cicadas (which I tried to catch). Having succeeded in the same way with three (pellets), I missed only one cicada in ten. Having succeeded with five, I caught the cicadas as if I were gathering them. My body is to me no more than the stump of a broken trunk, and my shoulder no more than the branch of a rotten tree. Great as heaven and earth are, and multitudinous as things are, I take no notice of them, but only of the wings of my cicadas ; neither turning nor inclining to one side. I would not for them all exchange the wings of my cicadas ; how should I not succeed in taking them ?' Confucius looked round, and said to his disciples, ' " Where the will is not diverted from its object, the spirit is con- centrated ; " this might have been spoken of this hunchback gentleman/ 4. Yen Yuan asked Aung-ni, saying, 'When I was crossing the gulf of A^ang-shan 2 , the ferryman handled the boat like a spirit. I asked him whether such management of a boat could be learned, and he replied, " It may. Good swimmers can learn it quickly; but as for divers, without having seen a boat, they can manage it at once." He did not Bk. II (9 a ). The dexterity of the hunchback in catching the cicadas will remind some readers of the account given by the butcher in Book III of his dexterity in cutting up his oxen. 1 The names of two small weights, used anciently for ' a frac- tion/ ' a small proportion/ 2 This is another paragraph common both to our author and Lieh- jze, but in neither is there any intimation of the place. 1 6 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XIX. directly tell me what I asked ; I venture to ask you what he meant/ JKung-nl replied, * Good swimmers acquire the ability quickly; they forget the water (and its dangers). As to those who are able to dive, and without having seen a boat are able to manage it at once, they look on the watery gulf as if it were a hill-side, and the upsetting of a boat as the going back of a carriage. Such upsettings and goings back have occurred before them multitudes of times, and have not seriously affected their minds. Wher- ever they go, they feel at ease on their occurrence. ' He who is contending for a piece of earthenware puts forth all his skill *. If the prize be a buckle of brass, he shoots timorously ; if it be for an article of gold, he shoots as if he were blind. The skill of the archer is the same in all the cases ; but (in the two latter cases) he is under the influence of solicitude, and looks on the external prize as most important. ' All who attach importance to what is external show stupidity in themselves/ 5. Thien Kh&i-/ih 2 was having an interview with duke Wei of Alu 2 , who said to him, ' I have heard that (your master) Kb. Hsin 2 has studied the subject of Life. What have you, good Sir, heard from him about it in your intercourse with him ? ' Thien Khi-ih replied, 'In my waiting on him in the courtyard with my broom, what should I have heard from my master?' Duke Wei said, * Do not put the question off, Mr. Thien ; I wish to hear what 1 I think this is the meaning. is defined by f$ jfij $|) $J, 1 to compete for anything by archery/ 2 We have no information about who these personages and the others below were, and I have missed the story, if it be in Lieh-jze. The duke, it will be seen, had the appanage of ATau. PT. II. SECT. XII. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. I/ you have to say.' Kh&i-/ih then replied, ' I have heard my master say that they who skilfully nourish their life are like shepherds, who whip up the sheep that they see lagging behind V ' What did he mean ? ' asked the duke. The reply was, ' In Lti there was a Shan Pio, who lived among the rocks, and drank only water. He would not share with the people in their toils and the benefits springing from them ; and though he was now in his seventieth year, he had still the complexion of a child. Un- fortunately he encountered a hungry tiger, which killed and ate him. There was also a JZang 1, who hung up a screen at his lofty door, and to whom all the people hurried (to pay their respects) 2 . In his fortieth year, he fell ill of a fever and died. (Of these two men), Pao nourished his inner man, and a tiger ate his outer ; while I nourished his outer man, and disease attacked his inner. Both of them neglected whipping up their lagging sheep.' A^ung-nt said, ' A man should not retire and hide himself; he should not push forward and display himself; he should be like the decayed tree which stands in the centre of the ground. Where these three conditions are fulfilled, the name will reach its greatest height. When people fear the dangers of a path, if one man in ten be killed, then fathers and sons, elder brothers and younger, warn one another that they must not go out on a journey without a large number of retainers ; and is it not a mark of wisdom to do so ? But there are dangers which 1 Pay more attention to any part of their culture which they are neglecting. 2 It served its purpose there, but had not been put in its place with any special object. [40] C 1 8 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xix. men incur on the mats of their beds, and in eating and drinking ; and when no warning is given against them ; is it not a mark of error l ? ' 6. The officer of Prayer 2 in his dark and square- cut robes goes to the pig-pen, and thus counsels the pigs, ' Why should you shrink from dying ? I will for three months feed you on grain. Then for ten days I will fast, and keep vigil for three days, after which I will put down the mats of white grass, and lay your shoulders and rumps on the carved stand ; will not this suit you ?' If he had spoken from the standpoint of the pigs, he would have said, ' The better plan will be to feed us with our bran and chaff, and leave us in our pen/ When consulting for himself, he preferred to enjoy, while he lived, his carriage and cap of office, and after death to be borne to the grave on the ornamented carriage,, with the canopy over his coffin. Consulting for the pigs, he did not think of these things, but for him- self he would have chosen them. Why did he think so differently (for himself and) for the pigs 3 ? 7. (Once), when duke Hwan 4 was hunting by a marsh, with Kwan A'ung 6 driving the carriage, he saw a ghost. Laying his hand on that of Kwan 1 This may seem to nourish the body, but in reality injures the life. 2 Who had the charge also of the sacrifices. 3 Lm Hsf-^ung says that the story shows the many troubles that arise from not renouncing the world. Ensnared by the world, men sacrifice for it their higher life, and aie not so wise as pigs are for their life. The short paragraph bristles with difficulties. 4 The first of the leading chieftains among the princes; B.C. 683-642. 5 His chief minister. PT. II. SECT. xn. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-SZE. IQ , he said to him, 'Do you see anything, Father Acting ? ' 'Your servant sees nothing,' was the reply. The duke then returned, talking' incoherently and becoming ill, so that for several days he did not go out. Among the officers oiKki there was a Hwang- jze Kfto-Ao 1 , who said to the duke, 'Your Grace is injuring yourself; how could a ghost injure you? When a paroxysm of irritation is dispersed, and the breath does not return (to the body), what remains in the body is not sufficient for its wants. When it ascends and does not descend, the patient becomes accessible to gusts of anger. When it descends and does not ascend, he loses his memory of things. When it neither ascends nor descends, but remains about the heart in the centre of the body, it makes him ill/ The duke said, ' Yes, but are there ghostly sprites 2 ?' The officer replied, ' There are. About mountain tarns there is the Li ; about furnaces, the -Oieh; about the dust-heaps inside the door, the Lei- thing. In low-lying places in the north-east, the Pei-a and Wa-lung leap about, and in similar places in the north-west there dwells the Yi-yang. About rivers there is the Wang-hsiang; about mounds, the Hsin; about hills, the Khwei; about wilds, the Fang-hwang; about marshes, the Wei- tho.' ' Let me ask what is the Wei-tho like ? ' asked the duke. Hwang-^ze said, ' It is the size of the 1 An officer introduced here for the occasion, by surname Hwang, and designation Kdo-ao. The 3ze simply = Mr. 2 The commentators have a deal to say about the folklore of the various sprites mentioned. The whole shows that ghostly sprites are the fiuit of a disordered mind.' It is a touch of nature that the prince recovers as soon as he knows that the ghost he had seen was of good presage. C 2 2O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XIX. nave of a chariot wheel, and the length of the shaft. It wears a purple robe and a red cap. It dislikes the rumbling noise of chariot wheels, and, when it hears it, it puts both its hands to its head and stands up. He who sees it is likely to become the leader of all the other princes/ Duke Hwan burst out laughing and said, ' This was what I saw/ On this he put his robes and cap to rights, and made Hwang- jze sit with him. Before the day was done, his ill- ness was quite gone, he knew not how. 8. Ki Hsing-jze was rearing a fighting-cock for the king 1 . Being asked after ten days if the bird were ready, he said, ' Not yet ; he is still vain and quarrelsome, and relies on his own vigour/ Being asked the same after other ten days, he said, ' Not yet; he still responds to the crow and the appear- ance of another bird/ After ten days more, he re- plied, 'Not yet. He still looks angrily, and is full of spirit/ When a fourth ten days had passed, he replied to the question, * Nearly so. Though another cock crows, it makes no change in him. To look at him, you would say he was a cock of wood. His quality is complete. No other cock will dare to meet him, but will run from him/ 9. Confucius was looking at the cataract near the gorge of Lii 2 , which fell a height of 240 cubits, and 1 According to the Lieh-jze version of this story (Bk. II, 1 7 b ), the king was king Hsuan, B.C. 827-782. The trainer's rule seems to have been that his bird should meet its antagonist, with all its vigour complete and undisturbed, and not wishing to fight. 2 I think that there are two versions of this story in Lieh-jze. In Bk.VIII (4 b , 5 a ), it appears that Confucius was on his way from Wei to Lu, when he stopped his carnage or cart at this spot to view the cataract, and the incident occurred, and he took the oppor- tunity to give the lesson to his disciples. PT. II. SECT. xii. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 21 the spray of which floated a distance of forty 11, (pro- ducing a turbulence) in which no tortoise, gavial, fish, or turtle could play. He saw, however, an old man swimming about in it, as if he had sustained some great calamity, and wished to end his life. Confucius made his disciples hasten along the stream to rescue the man ; and by the time they had gone several hundred paces, he was walking along singing, with his hair dishevelled, and enjoying him- self at the foot of the embankment. Confucius followed and asked him, saying, ' I thought you were a sprite ; but, when I look closely at you, I see that you are a man. Let me ask if you have any par- ticular way of treading the water/ The man said, * No, I have no particular way. I began (to learn the art) at the very earliest time ; as I grew up, it became my nature to practise it ; and my success in it is now as sure as fate. I enter and go down with the water in the very centre of its whirl, and come up again with it when it whirls the other way. I follow the way of the water, and do nothing con- trary to it of myself ; this is how I tread it/ Con- fucius said, c What do you mean by saying that you began to learn the art at the very earliest time; that as you grew up, it became your nature to prac- tise it, and that your success in it now is as sure as fate ?' The man replied, * I was born among these hills and lived contented among them ; that was why I say that I have trod this water from my earliest time. I grew up by it, and have been happy tread- ing it ; that is why I said that to tread it had be- come natural to me. I know not how I do it, and yet I do it ; that is why I say that my success is as sure as fate/ 22 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XIX. 10. A7zing, the Worker in Rottlera 1 wood, carved a bell-stand 2 , and when it was completed, all who saw it were astonished as if it were the work of spirits. The marquis of Lti went to see it, and asked by what art he had succeeded in producing it. ' Your subject is but a mechanic/ was the reply; 'what art should I be possessed of ? Nevertheless, there is one thing (which I will mention). When your servant had undertaken to make the bell-stand, I did not venture to waste any of my power, and felt it necessary to fast in order to compose my mind. After fasting for three days, I did not presume to think of any congratulation, reward, rank, or emolu- ment (which I might obtain by the execution of my task) ; after fasting five days, I did not presume to think of the condemnation or commendation (which it would produce), or of the skill or want of skill (which it might display). At the end of the seven days, I had forgotten all about myself; my four limbs and my whole person. By this time the thought of your Grace's court (for which I was to make the thing) had passed away ; everything that could divert my mind from exclusive devotion to the exercise of my skill had disappeared. Then I went into the forest, and looked at the natural forms of the trees. When I saw one of a perfect form, then the figure of the bell-stand rose up to my view, and I applied my hand to the work. Had 1 The 3ze orrottlera was and is a very famous tree, called ' the king of trees/ from its stately appearance and the excellence of its timber. 8 The ' bell-stand' is celebrated in the Shih King, III,i, Ode 8. A complete peal consisted of twelve bells, suspended in two tiers one above the other. PT. II. SECT. xii. THE WRITINGS OF JSTWANG-3ZE. 2 3 I not met with such a tree, I must have aban- doned the object ; but my Heaven-given faculty and the Heaven-given qualities of the wood were con- centrated on it So it was that my spirit was thus engaged in the production of the bell-stand/ 1 1. Tung-ye Ki 1 was introduced to duke A*wang 2 to exhibit his driving. His horses went forwards and backwards with the straightness of a line, and wheeled to the right and the left with the exactness of a circle. The duke thought that the lines and circles could not be surpassed if they were woven with silken strings, and told him to make a hundred circuits on the same lines. On the road Yen Ho 3 met the equipage, and on entering (the palace), and seeing the duke, he said, 'ATs horses will break down/ but the duke was silent, and gave him no reply. After a little the horses did come back, having broken down ; and the duke then said, ' How did you know that it would be so ?' Yen Ho said, ' The horses were exhausted, and he was still urging them on. It was this which made me say that they would break down/ 12. The artisan Shui 4 made things round (and square) more exactly than if he had used the circle 1 Al would be the name of the charioteer, a gentleman of Lu, called Tung-ye, ' eastern country/ I suppose from the situation of his estate 2 Duke Awang would be the marquis Thung of Lu, B.C. 693-662. 3 Yen Ho was probably the chief of the Yen family at the time. A scion of it, Yen Hui, afterwards became the favourite disciple of Confucius. He could hardly be the same Yen Ho who is men- tioned in Bk. IV, par. 5. K\ has had, and still has, his representa- tives in eveiy country. 4 Shui is mentioned in the Shu King, V, xxh, 19, as a famous maker of arrows. Some carry him back to the time of Shun. 24 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XIX. and square. The operation of his fingers on (the forms of) things was like the transformations of them (in nature), and required no application of his mind ; and so his Intelligence l was entire and en- countered no resistance. 13. To be unthought of by the foot that wears it is the fitness of a shoe ; to be unthought of by the waist is the fitness of a girdle. When one's wisdom does not think of the right or the wrong (of a ques- tion under discussion), that shows the suitability of the mind (for the question) ; when one is conscious of no inward change, or outward attraction, that shows the mastery of affairs. He who perceives at once the fitness, and never loses the sense of it, has the fitness that forgets all about what is fitting. 14. There was a Sun Hsift 2 who went to the door of 3 z e-pien AvJing-jze, and said to him in a strange perturbed way, ' When I lived in my village, no one took notice of me, but all said that I did not culti- vate (my fields) ; in a time of trouble and attack, no one took notice of me, but all said that I had no courage. But that I did not cultivate my fields, was really because I never met with a good year ; and that I did not do service for our ruler, was because I did not meet with the suitable oppor- tunity to do so. I have been sent about my business by the villagers, and am driven away by the registrars of the district ; what is my crime ? O Heaven ! how is it that I have met with such a fate?' 1 Literally, ' Tower of Intelligence/ a TSoistic name for the mind. 2 A weakling, of whom we know only what we read here. PT. II. SECT. XII. THE WRITINGS OF ^WANG-SZE. 2 5 Pien-jze l said to him, ' Have you not heard how the perfect man deals with himself? He forgets that he has a liver and gall. He takes no thought of his ears and eyes. He seems lost and aimless beyond the dust and dirt of the world, and enjoys himself at ease in occupations untroubled by the affairs of business. He may be described as acting and yet not relying on what he does, as being superior and yet not using his superiority to exer- cise any control. But now you would make a display of your wisdom to astonish the ignorant ; you would cultivate your person to make the in- feriority of others more apparent ; you seek to shine as if you were carrying the sun and moon in your hands. That you are complete in your bodily frame, and possess all its nine openings ; that you have not met with any calamity in the middle of your course, such as deafness, blindness, or lame- ness, and can still take your place as a man among other men ; in all this you are fortunate. What leisure have you to murmur against Heaven? Go away, Sir/ Sun-jze on this went out, and Pien-jze went inside. Having sitten down, after a little time he looked up to heaven, and sighed. His disciples asked him why he sighed, and he said to them, ' Hsiti came to me a little while ago, and I told him the characteristics of the perfect man. I am afraid he will be frightened, and get into a state of perplexity/ His disciples said, * Not so. If what he said was right, and what you 1 This must have been a man of more note. We find him here with a school of disciples in his house, and sought out for counsel by men like Sun Hsifi. 26 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XIX. said was wrong, the wrong will certainly not be able to perplex the right. If what he said was wrong, and what you said was right, it was just because he was perplexed that he came to you. What was your fault in dealing with him as you did ? ' Pien-jze said, ' Not so. Formerly a bird came, and took up its seat in the suburbs of Lft l . The ruler of Lft was pleased with it, and provided an ox, a sheep, and a pig to feast it, causing also the A'lti-shdo to be performed to delight it. But the bird began to be sad, looked dazed, and did not venture to eat or drink. This was what is called " Nourishing a bird, as you would nourish yourself." He who would nourish a bird as a bird should be nourished should let it perch in a deep forest, or let it float on a river or lake, or let it find its food naturally and undisturbed on the level dry ground. Now Hsift (came to me), a man of slender intelligence, and slight information, and I told him of the charac- teristics of the perfect man, it was like using a carriage and horses to convey a mouse, or trying to delight a quail with the music of bells and drums ; could the creatures help being frightened ? ' 1 Compare par. 5, Bk. XVIII. PT. II. SECT. XIII. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 2J BOOK XX. PART II. SECTION XIII. Shan Mft, or ' The Tree on the Mountain 1 .' i. ./Twang- jze was walking on a mountain, when he saw a great tree 2 with huge branches and luxuriant foliage. A wood-cutter was resting by its side, but he would not touch it, and, when asked the reason, said, that it was of no use for anything. Awang-jze then said to his disciples, 'This tree, because its wood is good for nothing, will succeed in living out its natural term of years/ Having left the moun- tain, the Master lodged in the house of an old friend, who was glad to see him. and ordered his waiting-lad to kill a goose and boil it. The lad said, * One of our geese can cackle, and the other cannot ; which of them shall I kill ? ' The host said, * Kill the one that cannot cackle/ Next day, his disciples asked ^sfwang-jze, saying, * Yesterday the tree on the mountain (you said) would live out its years because of the uselessness of its wood, and now our host's goose has died be- cause of its want of power (to cackle) ; which of these conditions, Master, would you prefer to be in ? ' A'wang-jze laughed and said, * (If I said that) I would prefer to be in a position between being fit to be useful and wanting that fitness, that would 1 See vol. xxxix, p. 151. 2 Compare the accounts of great trees in I, par.6; IV, par. i; et al. 28 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xx. seem to be the right position, but it would not be so, for it would not put me beyond being involved in trouble ; whereas one who takes his seat on the Tcio and its Attributes, and there finds his ease and en- joyment, is not exposed to such a contingency. He is above the reach both of praise and of detraction ; now he (mounts aloft) like a dragon, now he (keeps beneath) like a snake ; he is transformed with the (changing) character of the time, and is not willing to addict himself to any one thing ; now in a high position and now in a low, he is in harmony with all his surroundings ; he enjoys himself at ease with the Author of all things 1 ; he treats things as things, and is not a thing to them : where is his liability to be involved in trouble ? This was the method of Shan Nang and Hwang-Ti. As to those who occupy themselves with the qualities of things, and with the teaching and practice of the human relations, it is not so with them. Union brings on separation ; success, over hrow ; sharp corners, the use of the file ; honour, critical remarks ; active exer- tion, failure ; wisdom, scheming ; inferiority, being despised : where is the possibility of unchangeable- ness in any of these conditions ? Remember this, my disciples. Let your abode be here, in the Tdo and its Attributes 2 / 2. 1-lisio 3 , an officer of Shih-nan 3 , having an in- 1 The Tdo; called ^ ^C ^c, in Bk. XII, par. 5. 2 But after all it comes to be the same thing in point of fact with those who ground themselves m the Tao, and with others. 8 The 1-lido here was a scion of the ruling House of Kh^ and is mentioned fortunately m the Supplement to the 3o-^wan, under the very year in which Confucius died (B.C. 479). His residence was m the south of the ' Market Place ' of the city where he lived, PT. II. SECT. xin. THE WRITINGS OF JHVANG-3ZE. 29 terview with the marquis of Lft \ found him looking sad, and asked him why he was so. The marquis said, c I have studied the ways of the former kings, and cultivated the inheritance left me by my prede- cessors. I reverence the spirits of the departed and honour the men of worth, doing this with personal devotion, and without the slightest intermission. Notwithstanding, I do not avoid meeting with calamity, and this it is which makes me sad.' The officer said, * The arts by which you try to remove calamity are shallow. Think of the close-furred fox and of the elegantly-spotted leopard. They lodge in the forests on the hills, and lurk in their holes among the rocks ; keeping still. At night they go about, and during day remain in their lairs ; so cautious are they. Even if they are suffering from hunger, thirst, and other distresses, they still keep aloof from men, seeking their food about the Alang and the Ho; so resolute are they. Still they are not able to escape the danger of the net or the trap ; and what fault is it of theirs ? It is their skins which occasion them the calamity. 'And is not the state of Lft your lordship's skin ? I wish your lordship to rip your skin from your body, to cleanse your heart, to put away your desires, and to enjoy yourself where you will be which is the meaning of the Shih-nan in the text. The description of his character is that no offer of gam could win him, and no threatening terrify him. We find him here at the court of Lu in friendly conference with the marquis, and trying to persuade him to adopt the ways of Taoism, which he presents to him under the figure of an allegory, an Utopia called 'the State of Established Virtue/ in the south of Ytieh. 1 Probably known to us as ' duke Ai.' 3O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XX. without the presence of any one. In the southern state of Yiieh, there is a district called " the State of Established Virtue." The people are ignorant and simple; their object is to minimise the thought of self and make their desires few ; they labour but do not lay up their gains ; they give but do not seek for any return ; they do not know what righteous- ness is required of them in any particular case, nor by what ceremonies their performances should be signalised ; acting in a wild and eccentric way as if they were mad, they yet keep to the grand rules of conduct. Their birth is an occasion for joy; their death is followed by the rites of burial. I should wish your lordship to leave your state; to give up your ordinary ways, and to proceed to that country by the directest course/ The ruler said, ' The way to it is distant and difficult ; there are rivers and hills ; and as I have neither boat nor carriage, how am I to go ? ' The officer from Shih-nan rejoined, ' If your lordship abjure your personal state, and give up your wish to remain here, that will serve you for a carriage/ The ruler rejoined, ' The way to it is solitary and distant, and there are no people on it ; whom shall I have as my companions ? I have no provisions prepared, and how shall I get food ? how shall I be able to get (to the country) ? ' The officer said, 1 Minimise your lordship's expenditure, and make your wants few, and though you have no provisions prepared, you will find you have enough. Wade through the rivers and float along on the sea, where however you look, you see not the shore, and, the farther you go, you do not see where your journey is to end ; those who escorted you to the shore will PT. II. SECT. xni. THE WRITINGS OF J5TWANG.-3ZE. 3 I return, and after that you will feel yourself far away. Thus it is that he who owns men (as their ruler) is involved in troubles, and he who is owned by men (as their ruler) suffers from sadness ; and hence Ydo would neither own men, nor be owned by them. I wish to remove your trouble, and take away your sadness, and it is only (to be done by inducing you) to enjoy yourself with the T&o in the land of Great Vacuity. 1 If a man is crossing a river in a boat, and an- other empty vessel comes into collision with it, even though he be a man of a choleric temper, he will not be angry with it. If there be a person, however, in that boat, he will bawl out to him to haul out of the way. If his shout be not heard, he will repeat it; and if the other do not then hear, he will call out a third time, following up the shout with abusive terms. Formerly he was not angry, but now he is ; formerly (he thought) the boat was empty, but now there is a person in it. If a man can empty himself of himself, during his time in the world, who can harm him ?' 3. Pei-kung She 1 was collecting taxes for duke Ling of Wei, to be employed in making (a peal of) bells. (In connexion with the work) he built an altar outside the gate of the suburban wall ; and in three months the bells were completed, even to the suspending of the upper and lower (tiers). The king's son Kfcmg-ki* saw them, and asked what 1 Pei-kung, 'Northern Palace/ must have been the name of Sh6's residence, and appears here as if it were his surname. 2 A son, probably of king -Smg of jST&u (B. c. 544-529). On the whole paragraph, see par. 10 of the preceding Book. 32 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XX. arts he had employed in the making of them. She replied, * Besides my undivided attention to them, I did not venture to use any arts. I have heard the saying, "After all the carving and the chiselling, let the object be to return to simplicity." I was as a child who has no knowledge ; I was extraordinarily slow and hesitating ; they grew like the springing plants of themselves. In escorting those who went and meeting those who came, my object was neither to hinder the comers nor detain the goers. I suffered those who strongly opposed to take their way, and accepted those who did their best to come to terms. I allowed them all to do the utmost they could, and in this way morning and evening I collected the taxes. I did not have the slightest trouble, and how much more will this be the case with those who pursue the Great Way (on a grand scale) ' ' 4. Confucius was kept (by his enemies) in a state of siege between A^an and 3hii \ and for seven days had no food cooked with fire to eat. The ThAi-kung Zdn 2 went to condole with him, and said, * You had nearly met with your death/ * Yes,' was the reply. ' Do you dislike death ? ' 'I do.' Then Zan continued, * Let me try and describe a way by which (such a) death may be avoided. In the eastern sea there are birds which go by the name of I -Is 3 ; they fly low and slowly as if they were deficient in power. They fly as if they were 1 Compare Analects XI, ii. 8 We might translate Thdi-kung by 'the grand-duke/ We know nothing about him. He tries to convert Confucius to Tdoism just as l-lia^o does the marquis of Lfi in par. 2 ; and for a time at least, as Awang-jze makes it appear, with more success. 8 Were these 1-is swallows ? So some of the critics say. PT. II, SECT. xni. THE WRITINGS OF JHVANG-3ZE. 33 leading and assisting one another, and they press on one another when they roost. No one ventures to take the lead in going forward, or to be the last in going backwards. In eating no one ventures to take the first mouthful, but prefers the fragments left by others. In this way (the breaks in) their line are not many \ and men outside them cannot harm them, so that they escape injury. ' The straight tree is the first to be cut down ; the well of sweet water is the first to be exhausted. Your aim is to embellish your wisdom so as to startle the ignorant, and to cultivate your person to show the unsightliness of others. A light shines around you as if you were carrying with you the sun and moon, and thus it is that you do not escape such calamity. Formerly I heard a highly accom- plished man say, " Those who boast have no merit. The merit which is deemed complete will begin to decay. The fame which is deemed complete will begin to wane." Who can rid himself of (the ideas of) merit and fame, and return and put himself on the level of the masses of men ? The practice of the Tao flows abroad, but its master does not care to dwell where it can be seen ; his attainments in it hold their course, but he does not wish to appear in its display. Always simple and commonplace, he may seem to be bereft of reason. He obliterates the traces of his action, gives up position and power, and aims not at merit and fame. Therefore he does not censure men, and men do not censure him. The perfect man does not seek to be heard of ; how is it that you delight in doing so ? ' 1 A clause of uncertain meaning. [40] D 34 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XX. Confucius said, ' Excellent ;' and thereupon he took leave of his associates, forsook his disciples, retired to the neighbourhood of a great marsh, wore skins and hair cloth, and ate acorns and chestnuts. He went among animals without causing any confusion among their herds, and among birds without troub- ling their movements. Birds and beasts did not dislike him ; how much less would men do so ! 5. Confucius asked 3ze-sang Hfi 1 , saying, ' I was twice driven from Lti ; the tree was felled over me in Sung; I was obliged to disappear from Wei ; I was reduced to extreme distress in Shang and A'&u 2 ; and I was kept in a state of siege between A^an and 3h&i. I have encountered these various calamities ; my intimate associates are removed from me more and more ; my followers and friends are more and more dispersed ; why have all these things befallen me?' 3 ze ~ san g Hft replied, 'Have you not heard of the flight of Lin Hui of K\&*\ how he abandoned his round jade symbol of rank, worth a thousand pieces of silver, and hurried away with his infant son on his back ? If it be asked, " Was it because of the market value of the child ? " But that value was small (compared with the value of the jade token). If it be asked again, " Was it because of the troubles 1 Supposed to have been a recluse. 2 I do not know the particulars of this distress in Shang and AISu, or have forgotten them. A still more full recital of the sage's misfortunes occurs in Lieh-jze, VII, 8 a . 3 The text here appears to be somewhat confused. Lm Hui is said to have been a man of the Yin dynasty, and of a state which was called .Aja, and for the verification of such a state I have searched in vain. The explanation of his conduct put here into his mouth is veiy good. PT. II. SECT. xiii. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 35 (of his office) ? " But the child would occasion him much more trouble. Why was it then that, abandoning the jade token, worth a thousand pieces of silver, he hurried away with the child on his back ? Lin Hui (himself) said, "The union between me and the token rested on the ground of gain ; that be- tween me and the child was of Heaven's appoint- ment." Where the bond of union is its profitable- ness, when the pressure of poverty, calamity, dis- tress, and injury come, the parties abandon one another ; when it is of Heaven's appointment, they hold in the same circumstances to one another. Now between abandoning one another, and holding to one another, the difference is great. Moreover, the intercourse of superior men is tasteless as water, while that of mean men is sweet as new wine. But the tastelessness of the superior men leads on to affection, and the sweetness of the mean men to aversion. The union which originates without any cause will end in separation without any cause/ Confucius said, * I have reverently received your instructions/ And hereupon, with a slow step and an assumed air of ease, he returned to his own house. There he made an end of studying and put away his books. His disciples came no more to make their bow to him (and be taught), but their affection for him increased the more. Another day Sang Hti said further to him, ' When Shun was about to die, he charged l Yii, saying, ' Be 1 The j|L yfr of the text here are allowed on all hands to be spurious, and lit fj^ have been substituted for them. What follows, however, from Shun to Yii, is far from being clear, in itself, or in its connexion. D 2 36 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XX. upon your guard. (The attraction of) the person is not like that of sympathy ; the (power of) affection is not like the leading (of example). Where there is sympathy, there will not be separation ; where there is (the leading of) example, there will be no toil. Where there is neither separation nor toil, you will not have to seek the decoration of forms to make the person attractive, and where there is no such need of those forms, there will certainly be none for external things/ 6. .A^wang-jze in a patched dress of coarse cloth, and having his shoes tied together with strings, was passing by the king of Wei, who said to him, ' How great, Master, is your distress ? ' ^fwang-jze replied, v It is poverty, not distress ! While a scholar pos- sesses the Tclo and its Attributes, he cannot be going about in distress. Tattered clothes and shoes tied on the feet are the sign of poverty, and not of dis- tress. This is what we call not meeting with the right time. Has your majesty not seen the climbing monkey ? When he is among the plane trees, rottleras, oaks, and camphor trees, he grasps and twists their branches (into a screen), where he reigns quite at his ease, so that not even I 1 or Ph^ng Mang 1 could spy him out. When, however, he finds himself among the prickly mulberry and date trees, and other thorns, he goes cautiously, casts sidelong glances, and takes every trembling movement with apprehension ; it is not that his sinews and bones 1 t; see Book V, par. 2. Phang Mang was a contemporary of t, learned archery from him, and then slew him, that he might himself be the foremost archer in the kingdom ; see Mencius IV, 11, 24. PT. II. SECT. Xlii. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 37 are straitened, and have lost their suppleness, but the situation is unsuitable for him, and he cannot display his agility. And now when I dwell under a benighted ruler, and seditious ministers, how is it possible for me not to be in distress ? My case might afford an illustration of the cutting out the heart of Pi-kan l ! ' 7. When Confucius was reduced to great distress between 7\7/an and Kh&\, and for seven days he had no cooked food to eat, he laid hold of a decayed tree with his left hand, and with his right hand tapped it with a decayed branch, singing all the while the ode of Pi^o-shih 2 . He had his instrument, but the notes were not marked on it. There was a noise, but no blended melody. The sound of the wood and the voice of the man came together like the noise of the plough through the ground, yet suitably to the feelings of the disciples around. Yen Hui, who was standing upright, with his hands crossed on his breast, rolled his eyes round to observe him. A'ung- ni, fearing that Hui would go to excess in manifest- ing how he honoured himself, or be plunged in sorrow through his love for him, said to him, ' Hui, not to receive (as evils) the inflictions of Heaven is easy ; not to receive (as benefits) the favours of men is difficult. There is no beginning which was not an end. The Human and the Heavenly may be one 1 'A spurious paragraph, no doubt.' Lin H&f-^ung thus con- cludes what he has to say on this paragraph , but it is not without its interest and lessons. 2 I do not know who this was, nor what his ode or air was. Lu Teh-ming read the character dSL and says that Piao-shih was one of the old royal Tis who did nothing. In all my texts it is wrongly printed with three 38 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XX. and the same. Who, for instance, is it that is now singing 1 ? ' Hui said, * I venture to ask how not to receive (as evils) the inflictions of Heaven is easy/ -ATung-nl said, ' Hunger, thirst, cold, and heat, and having one's progress entirely blocked up ; these are the doings of Heaven and Earth, necessary incidents in the revolutions of things. They are occurrences of which we say that we will pass on (composedly) along with them. The minister of another does not dare to refuse his commands ; and if he who is discharging the duty of a minister feels it necessary to act thus, how much more should we wait with ease on the commands of Heaven 2 '' ' What do you mean by saying that not to receive (as benefits) the favours of men is difficult ? ' jffung- nl said, * As soon as one is employed in office, he gets forward in all directions ; rank and emolument come to him together, and without end. But these advantages do not come from one's self; it is my appointed lot to have such external good. The superior man is not a robber ; the man of worth is no filcher; if I prefer such things, what am I 3 ? Hence it is said, " There is no bird wiser than the swallow." Where its eye lights on a place that is not suitable for it, it does not give it a second glance. Though it may drop the food from its 1 This question arose out of the previous statement that man and Heaven might be one, acting with the same spontaneity. 2 Confucius recognises here, as he often does, a power beyond his own, 'his appointed lot,' what we call destiny, to which the Tao requires submission This comes veiy near to our idea of God. 3 Human gifts had such an attraction, that they tended to take from man his heavenly spontaneity ; and were to be eschewed, or received only with gieat caution PT. II. SECT. XIIT. THE WRITINGS OF JHVANG-SZE. 39 mouth, it abandons it, and hurries off. It is afraid of men, and yet it stealthily takes up its dwelling by his ; finding its protection in the altars of the Land and Grain l . ' What do you mean by saying that there is no be- ginning which was not an end?' A'ung-nl said, 'The change rise and dissolution of all things (con- tinually) goes on, but we do not know who it is that maintains and continues the process. How do we know when any one begins ? How do we know when he will end ? We have simply to wait for it, and nothing more 2 .' 4 And what do you mean by saying that the Human and the Heavenly are one and the same ? ' A\mg-ni said, ' Given man, and you have Heaven ; given Heaven, and you still have Heaven (and nothing more). That man can not have Heaven is owing to the limitation of his nature 3 . The sagely man quietly passes away with his body, and there is an end of it.' 8. As A'wang A"au was rambling in the park of Tiao- ling 4 he saw a strange bird which came from the south. Its wings were seven cubits in width, and 1 What is said here about the swallow is quite obscure. Hsi- /fcung says that all the old attempts to explain it are ridiculous, and then propounds an ingenious one of his own; but I will leave the passage with my reader to deal with it as he best can. 2 Compare with this how m Book XVIII we find -wang-^ze singing by the dead body of his wife. * That man is man and not Heaven is simply from the limi- tation of his nature, his * appointed lot ' 4 Tiao-lmg might be translated 'Eagle Mount/ Where it was I do not know , perhaps the name originated with JEwang-jze, and thus has become semi-historical. 4O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XX, its eyes were large, an inch in circuit. It touched the forehead of K&& as it passed him, and lighted in a grove of chestnut trees. * What bird is this ? ' said he, ' with such great wings not to go on ! and with such large eyes not to see me!' He lifted up his skirts, and hurried with his cross-bow, waiting for (an opportunity to shoot) it. (Meanwhile) he saw a ciqada, which had just alighted in a beautiful shady spot, and forgot its (care for its) body. (Just then), a preying mantis raised its feelers, and pounced on the cicada, in its eagerness for its prey, (also) for- getting (its care for) its body ; while the strange bird took advantage of its opportunity to secure them both, in view of that gain forgetting its true (instinct of preservation) ] . A'wang A'du with an emotion of pity, said, * Ah ! so it is that things bring evil on one another, each of these creatures invited its own calamity/ (With this) he put away his cross-bow, and was hurrying away back, when the forester pur- sued him with terms of reproach. When he returned and went into his house, he did not appear in his courtyard 2 for three months 2 . (When he came out), Lan $u 3 (his disciple) asked him, saying, ' Master, why have you for this some time avoided the courtyard so much ? ' /iwang-jze replied, ' I was guarding my person, and forgot myself; I was looking at turbid water, till I 3 -tfwang-jze might now have shot the bird, but we like him the better for letting it alone. 2 So then, masters of schools, like AVang-jze, received and taught their disciples in the courtyard of their house ; in China as elsewheie. For thiee 'months/ it is conjectured, we should read three ' days/ 8 The disciple Lan 3^ appears heie, but not, so far as I know, elsewhere. PT. II. SECT. XIII. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE, 41 mistook the clear pool. And moreover I have heard the Master say *, " Going- where certain cus- toms prevail, you should follow those customs," I was walking about in the park of Tido-ling, and forgot myself. A strange bird brushed past my forehead, and went flying about in the grove of chestnuts, where it forgot the true (art of preserving itself). The forester of the chestnut grove thought that I was a fitting object for his reproach. These are the reasons why I have avoided the courtyard/ 9. Yang-jze, having gone to Sung, passed the night in a lodging-house, the master of which had two concubines; one beautiful, the other ugly 2 . The ugly one was honoured, however, and the beautiful one contemned. Yang-jze asked the reason, and a little boy of the house replied, 4 The beauty knows her beauty, and we do not recognise it. The ugly one knows her ugliness, and we do not recognise it.' Yang-jze said, ' Remember it, my disciples. Act virtuously, and put away the practice of priding your- selves on your virtue. If you do this, where can you go to that you will not be loved J ? ' 1 Who was this 'Master?' 2 The story here is found in Lieh-jze II, 15 a b . The Yang- jze is there Yang ^ft, against whom Mencius so often dnected his arguments. 3 See the greater part of this paragraph m Prdmare's c Notitia Linguae Smicae/ p. 200, with his remarks on the style. 42 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXI. BOOK XXI. PART II. SECTION XIV. Thien z i. Thien 3 ze ~f an g> sitting in attendance on the marquis Wan of Wei 2 , often quoted (with approba- tion) the words of Khi Kung 3 . The marquis said, * Is Kh\ Kung your preceptor?' 3 ze ~f an g replied, ( No. He only belongs to the same neighbourhood. In speaking about the T&o, his views are often correct, and therefore I quote them as I do.' The marquis went on, ' Then have you no preceptor ? ' ' I have/ ' And who is he ? ' ' He is Tung-kwo Shun-jze 4 / 'And why, my Master, have I never heard you quote his words ? ' 3 ze "f an g replied, ' He is a man who satisfies the true (ideal of humanity) r ' ; a man in appearance, but (having the mind of) Heaven. Void of any thought of himself, he accommodates himself to others, and nourishes the true ideal that belongs to him. With all his purity, he is for- bearing to others. Where they are without the Tdo, he rectifies his demeanour, so that they under- stand it, and in consequence their own ideas melt 1 See vol xxxix, pp. 151, 152. 2 B c. 424-387 3 Some well-known worthy of Wei 4 A greater worthy still. He must have lived near the outside suburban wall of the capital, and his residence became a sort of surname. B The Human and the Heavenly were blended in his personality. Pi. II. SECT. xiv. THE WRITINGS OF J5TWANG-3ZE. 43 away and disappear. How should one like me be fit to quote his words ? ' When 3ze-fang went out, the marquis Wan con- tinued in a state of dumb amazement all the day. He then called Lung Ll-A4Sn, and said to him, 1 How far removed from us is the superior man of complete virtue ! Formerly I thought the words of the sages and wise men, and the practice of benevo- lence and righteousness, to be the utmost we could reach to. Since I have heard about the preceptor of 3ze-fang, my body is all unstrung, and I do not wish to move, and my mouth is closed up, and I do not wish to speak ; what I have learned has been only a counterfeit of the truth \ Yes, (the possession of Wei) has been an entanglement to me/ 2. Wan-po Hsueh-jze -, on his way to Kh\, stayed some time in Lti, where some persons of the state begged to have an interview with him. He refused them, saying, ' I have heard that the superior men of these Middle States 3 understand the (subjects of) ceremony and righteousness, but are deplorably ignorant of the minds of men. I do not wish to see them/ He went on to Khi\ and on his way back (to the south), he again stayed in Lfi,when the same persons begged as before for an interview. He then said, ( Formerly they asked to see me, and now again they seek an interview. They will afford me 1 So the Khang-hsf dictionary defines the phrase ; f a wooden image made of earth,' says Lfi Shti-/$ih. 2 A 1 aoist of note from some region in the south, perhaps from A'/fcu, having his own share of the Taoistic contempt for knowledge and culture. 3 Probably Lu and the northern states grouped closely round the royal domain, 44 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxi. some opportunity of bringing out my sentiments.' He went out accordingly and saw the visitors, and came in again with a sigh. Next day the same thing occurred, and his servant said to him, ' How is it that whenever you see those visitors, you are sure to come in again sighing ? ' 'I told you before/ was the reply, ' that the people of these Middle States understand (the subjects of) ceremony and righteous- ness, but are deplorably ignorant of the minds of men. Those men who have just seen me, as they came in and went out would describe, one a circle and another a square, and in their easy carriage would be like, one a dragon and another a tiger. They remonstrated with me as sons (with their fathers), and laid down the way for me as fathers (for their sons). It was this which made me sigh/ Aung-ni saw the man, but did not speak a word to him. 3 ze ~lti sa id, ' You have wished, Sir, to see this Wan-po Hsueh-jze for a long time ; what is the reason that when you have seen him, you have not spoken a word ? ' A^ung-ni replied, * As soon as my eyes lighted on that man, the Tao in him was appa- rent. The situation did not admit of a word being spoken/ 3. Yen Yuan asked Afung-nl, saying, * Master, when you pace quietly along, I also pace along; when you go more quickly, I also do the same ; when you gallop, I also gallop ; but when you race along and spurn the dust, then I can only stand and look, and keep behind you V The Master said, ' Hui, what do you mean?' The reply was, 'In saying that "when you, Master, pace quietly along, I also pace 1 They are both supposed to be on horseback. PT. II. SECT. xiv. THE WRITINGS OF *WANG-3ZE. 45 along," I mean 1 that when you speak, I also speak. By saying, " When you go more quickly, I also do the same/' I mean 1 that when you reason, I also reason. By saying, " When you gallop, I also gallop," I mean 1 that when you speak of the Way, I also speak of the Way ; but by saying, " When you race along and spurn the dust, then I can only stare, and keep behind you," I am thinking how though you do not speak, yet all men believe you ; though you are no partisan, yet all parties approve your catholicity ; and though you sound no instrument, yet people all move on harmoniously before you, while (all the while) I do not know how all this comes about ; and this is all which my words are intended to express 2 / A'ung-nl said, ' But you must try and search the matter out. Of all causes for sorrow there is none so great as the death of the mind ; the death of man's (body) is only next to it The sun comes forth in the east, and sets in the extreme west; all things have their position determined by these two points. All that have eyes and feet wait for this (sun), and then proceed to do what they have to do. When this comes forth, they appear in their places ; when it sets, they disappear. It is so with all things. They have that for which they wait, and (on its arrival) they die; they have that for which they wait, and then (again) they live. When once I receive my frame thus completed, I remain unchanged, awaiting the consummation of my course. 1 In these thiee cases the ^ of the text should be ^. 2 So Hui is made to represent the master as a mental Thauma- thurgist, and Confucius is made to try to explain the whole thing to him ; but not to my mind successfully. Still a distinction is maintained between the mind and the body. 46 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxi. I move as acted on by things, day and night with- out cessation, and I do not know when I will come to an end. Clearly I am here a completed frame, and even one who (fancies that he) knows what is appointed cannot determine it beforehand. I am in this way daily passing on, but all day long I am communicating my views to you ; and now, as we are shoulder to shoulder you fail (to understand me) ; is it not matter for lamentation ? You are able in a measure to set forth what I more clearly set forth ; but that is passed away, and you look for it, as if it were still existing, just as if you were looking for a horse in the now empty place where it was formerly exhibited for sale. You have very much forgotten my service to you, and I have very much forgotten wherein I served you. But nevertheless why should you account this such an evil? What you forget is but my old self; that which cannot be forgotten remains with me/ 4. Confucius went to see L&o Tan, and arrived just as he had completed the bathing of his head, and was letting his dishevelled hair get dry. There he was, motionless, and as if there were not another man in the world \ Confucius waited quietly ; and, when in a little time he was introduced, he said, * Were my eyes dazed ? Is it really you ? Just now, your body, Sir, was like the stump of a rotten tree. You looked as if you had no thought of anything, as if you had left the society of men, and were standing in the solitude (of yourself). 1 Lao Tan replied, ' I was enjoying myself in thinking about the commencement 1 He was in the Taoistic trance, like Nan-kwo 3ze-^i, at the beginning of the second Book. PT. II. SECT. xiv. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 47 of things 1 / * What do you mean ?' ' My mind is so cramped, that I hardly know it; my tongue is so tied that I cannot tell it ; but I will try to describe it to you as nearly as I can. When the state of Yin was perfect, all was cold and severe; when the state of Yang was perfect, all was turbulent and agitated. The coldness and severity came forth from Heaven ; the turbulence and agitation issued from Earth. The two states communicating to- gether, a harmony ensued and things were produced. Some one regulated and controlled this, but no one has seen his form. Decay and growth ; fulness and emptiness ; darkness and light ; the changes of the sun and the transformations of the moon : these are brought about from day to day ; but no one sees the process of production. Life has its origin from which it springs, and death has its place from which it returns. Beginning and ending go on in mutual contrariety without any determinable commence- ment, and no one knows how either comes to an end. If we disallow all this, who originates and presides over all these phenomena ? ' Confucius said, ' I beg to ask about your enjoy- ment in these thoughts/ Lo Tan replied, ' The 1 This 'commencement of things' was not the equivalent of ' our creation out of nothing/ for Lao Tan immediately supposes the existence of the primary ether in its twofold state, as Yin and Yang; and also of Heaven and Earth, as a twofold Power working, under some regulation and control, yet invisible ; that is, under the Tio. In the same way the process of beginning and ending, growth and decay, life and death go on, no one knows how, or how long. And the contemplation of all this is the cause of unceasing delight to the Perfect man, the possessor of the Tdo. Death is a small matter, merely as a change of feature; and Confucius acknowledges his immeasurable inferiority to Lao-jze. 48 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxi. comprehension of this is the most admirable and the most enjoyable (of all acquisitions). The getting of the most admirable and the exercise of the thoughts in what is the most enjoyable, consti- tutes what we call the Perfect man/ Confucius said, ' I should like to hear the method of attain- ing to it/ The reply was, 'Grass-eating animals do not dislike to change their pastures ; creatures born in the water do not dislike to change their waters. They make a small change, but do not lose what is the great and regular requirement (of their nature) ; joy, anger, sadness, and delight do not enter into their breasts (in connexion with such events). Now the space under the sky is occupied by all things in their unity. When they possess that unity and equally share it, then the four limbs and hundred members of their body are but so much dust and dirt, while death and life, their ending and beginning, are but as the succes- sion of day and night, which cannot disturb their enjoyment ; and how much less will they be troubled by gains and losses, by calamity and happiness ! Those who renounce the paraphernalia of rank do it as if they were casting away so much mud ; they know that they are themselves more honour- able than those paraphernalia. The honour belong- ing to one's self is not lost by any change (of con- dition). Moreover, a myriad transformations may take place before the end of them is reached. What is there in all this sufficient to trouble the mind ? Those who have attained to the Tdo understand the subject/ Confucius said, ' O Master, your virtue is equal to that of Heaven and Earth, and still I must borrow PT. II. SECT. xiv. THE WRITINGS OF tfWANG-SZE. 49 (some of your) perfect words (to aid me) in the cultivation of my mind. Who among the superior men of antiquity could give such expression to them?* Lio Tan replied, 'Not so. Look at the spring, the water of which rises and overflows ; it does nothing, but it naturally acts so. So with the perfect man and his virtue ; he does not culti- vate it, and nothing evades its influence. He is like heaven which is high of itself, like earth which is solid of itself, like the sun and moon which shine of themselves ; what need is there to cultivate it ?' Confucius went out and reported the conversation to Yen Hui, saying, ' In the (knowledge of the) Tdo am I any better than an animalcule in vinegar ? But for the Master's lifting the veil from me, I should not have known the grand perfection of Heaven and Earth/ 5 At an interview of Awang-jze with duke Ai L of Lti, the duke said, ' There are many of the Learned class in Lu ; but few of them can be com- pared with you, Sir.' AVang-^ze replied, ' There are few Learned men in Lft.' ' Everywhere in Lfi,' rejoined the duke, * you see men wearing the dress of the Learned 2 ; how can you say that they are few ?' ' I have heard,' said A"wang-jze, * that those of them who wear round caps know the times of heaven ; that those who wear square shoes know the contour of the ground ; and that those who saunter about with semicircular stones at their 1 Duke Ai of Lu died in B.C. 468, a century and more before the birth of A'wang-jze. On that, as well as on other grounds, the paragraph cannot be genuine. 2 Compare the thirty-eighth Book of the Li A*i, where Confucius denies that there was any dress peculiar to the scholar. [40] E 5O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK, XXI. girdle-pendents settle matters in dispute as they come before them. But superior men who are pos- sessed of such knowledge will not be found wear- ing the dress, and it does not follow that those who wear the dress possess the knowledge. If your Grace think otherwise, why not issue a notification through the state, that it shall be a capital offence to wear the dress without possessing the knowledge/ On this the duke issued such a notification, and in five days, throughout all Lfi, there was no one who dared to wear the dress of the Learned. There was only one old man who came and stood in it at the duke's gate. The duke instantly called him in, and questioned him about the affairs of the state, when he talked about a thousand points and ten thousand divergences from them. A^wang-jze said, ' When the state of Lfi can thus produce but one man of the Learned class, can he be said to be many?' 6. The ideas of rank and emolument did not enter the mind of Pai-ll Hsl 1 , and so he became a cattle- feeder, and his cattle were all in fine condition. This made duke MA of K/im forget the meanness of his position, and put the government (of his state) into his hands. Neither life nor death entered into the mind of (Shun), the Lord of Yii, and therefore he was able to influence others 2 . 7. The ruler Yuan 3 of Sung wishing to have a map 1 Pai-li Hsi, a remaikable character of the seventh century B.C, who rose to be chief minister to Mu, the earl (or duke) of A^m, the last of the five Leading Princes of the kingdom. Mu died in B c. 621. Mencms has much to say of Pai-li Hsf. 2 Shun's parents wished to kill him ; but that did not trouble his mind , his filial piety even affected them 8 His fiist year as duke of Sung was B.C. 530. The point of the story is not clear. PT. II. SECT. XIV. THE WRITINGS OF .KAVANG-32E. 5 I drawn, the masters of the pencil all came (to under- take the task). Having received his instructions and made their bows, they stood, licking their pencils and preparing their ink. Half their number, how- ever, remained outside. There was one who came late, with an air of indifference, and did not hurry forward. When he had received his instructions and made his bow, he did not keep standing, but proceeded to his shed. The duke sent a man to see him, and there he was, with his upper garment off, sitting cross-legged, and nearly naked. The ruler said, * He is the man ; he is a true draughtsman/ 8. King Wan was (once) looking about him at 3ang x , when he saw an old man fishing 2 . But his fishing was no fishing. It was not the fishing of one whose business is fishing. He was always fishing (as if he had no object in the occupation). The king wished to raise him to office, and put the government into his hands, but was afraid that such a step would give dissatisfaction to his great minis- ters, his uncles, and cousins. He then wished to dismiss the man altogether from his mind, but he could not bear the thought that his people should be without (such a) Heaven (as their Protector). On this, (next) morning, he called together his great officers, and said to them, * Last night, I dreamt that I saw a good man, with a dark complexion and a 1 Where 3 an g was cannot be told. 2 The old fisherman here was, no doubt, the first maiquis of Kh\, after the establishment of the dynasty of A'au, known by various names, as Lu Shang, Thai-kung Wang, and ^iang 3ze-ya. He did much for the new rule, but his connexion with kings Wan and Wu is a mass of fables. The fishing as if he were not fishing betokened in him the aimlessness of the Tao. E 2 52 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXI. beard, riding on a piebald horse, one half of whose hoofs were red, who commanded me, saying, "Lodge your government in the hands of the old man of dang ; and perhaps the evils of your people will be cured."' The great officers said eagerly, 'It was the king, your father.' King Wan said, * Let us then submit the proposal to the tortoise-shell/ They replied, * It is the order of your father. Let not your majesty think of any other. Why divine about it ? ' (The king) then met the old man of ;}ang, and committed the government to him. The statutes and laws were not changed by him ; not a one-sided order (of his own) was issued , but when the king made a survey of the kingdom after three years, he found that the officers had destroyed the plantations (which harboured banditti), and dis- persed their occupiers, that the superintendents of the official departments did not plume themselves on their successes, and that no unusual grain measures were allowed within the different states 1 . When the officers had destroyed the dangerous plantations and dispersed their occupants, the highest value was set on the common interests , when the chiefs of de- partments did not plume themselves on their suc- cesses, the highest value was set on the common business ; when unusual grain measures did not enter the different states, the different princes had no jealousies. On this king Wan made the old man his Grand Preceptor, and asked him, with his own face to the north, whether his government might be extended to all the kingdom. The old 3 That is, that all combinations formed to icsist and waip the course of justice had been put an end to. PT IT. SECT. xiv. THE WRITINGS OF 5TWANG-3ZE. 53 man looked perplexed and gave no reply, but with aimless look took his leave. In the morning he had issued his orders, and at night he had gone his way ; nor was he heard of again all his life. Yen Yuan questioned Confucius, saying, ' Was even king Wan unequal to determine his course ? What had he to do with resorting to a dream?' A^ung-ni replied, ' Be silent and do not say a word ! King Wan was complete in everything. What have you to do with criticising him ? He only had recourse (to the dream) to meet a moment's difficulty.' 9. Lieh Yu-khclu was exhibiting his archery l to Po-hwan WO-^an 2 . Having drawn the bow to its full extent, with a cup of water placed on his elbow, he let fly. As the arrow was discharged, another was put in its place ; and as that was sent off, a third was ready on the string. All the while he stood like a statue. Po-hwan WtWan said, ' That is the shooting of an archer, but not of one who shoots without thinking about his shooting. Let me go up with you to the top of a high mountain, tread- ing with you among the tottering rocks, till we arrive at the brink of a precipice, 800 cubits deep, and (I will then see) if you can shoot.' On this they went up a high mountain, making their way among the tottering rocks, till they came to the brink of a precipice 800 cubits deep. Then Wft-an turned round and walked backwards, till his feet were two- 1 This must be the meaning of the ^), 'for/ The whole story is found in Lieh-ze, II, p. 5. From Lieh's Book VIII, p. 2, we learn that Lieh-jze's teacher in archery was Yin Hsi, the warden of the pass famous in the history of Lao-jze. 2 Mentioned in Book V, par. 2. 54 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK.xxr. thirds of their length outside the edge, and beckoned Yu-khdu to come forward. He, however, had fallen prostrate on the ground, with the sweat pouring down to his heels. Then the other said, ' The Per- fect man looks up to the azure sky above, or dives down to the yellow springs beneath, or soars away to the eight ends of the universe, without any change coming over his spirit or his breath. But now the trepidation of your mind appears in your dazed eyes ; your inward feeling of peril is extreme ! ' 10. A'ien Wft asked Sun-shu Ao 1 , saying, ' You, Sir, were thrice chief minister, and did not feel elated; you were thrice dismissed from that posi- tion, without manifesting any sorrow. At first I was in doubt about you, (but I am not now, since) I see how regularly and quietly the breath comes through your nostrils. How is it that you exercise your mind?' Sun-shO Ao replied, ' In what do I surpass other men ? When the position came to me, I thought it should not be rejected ; when it was taken away, I thought it could not be retained. I considered that the getting or losing it did not make me what I was, and was no occasion for any mani- festation of sorrow ; that was all. In what did I surpass other men ? And moreover, I did not know whether the honour of it belonged to the dignity, or to myself. If it belonged to the dignity, it was nothing to me ; if it belonged to me, it had nothing 1 Sun-shu Ao; see Mencius VI, 11, 15. He was, no doubt, a good and able man, chief minister to king A^wang of Khb. The legends or edifying stories about him are many , but ^wang- jze, I think, is the author of his being thrice laised and thrice dismissed from office. PT. II. SECT. xiv. THE WRITINGS OF tfWANG-SZE 55 to do with the dignity. While occupied with these uncertainties, and looking round in all directions, what leisure had I to take knowledge of whether men honoured me or thought me mean ? ' A'ung-ni heard of all this, and said, ' The True men of old could not be fully described by the wisest, nor be led into excess by the most beautiful, nor be forced by the most violent robber. Neither Fft-hst nor Hwang-Tl could compel them to be their friends. Death and life are indeed great con- siderations, but they could make no change in their (true) self, and how much less could rank and emolument do so ? Being such, their spirits might pass over the Th&i mountain and find it no obstacle to them l ; they might enter the greatest gulphs, and not be wet by them ; they might occupy the lowest and smallest positions without being distressed by them. Theirs was the fulness of heaven and earth ; the more that they gave to others, the more they had/ The king of Kh& and the ruler of Fan 2 were sitting together. After a little while, the attendants of the king said, 'Fan has been destroyed three times/ The ruler of Fan rejoined, 'The destruction of Fan has not been sufficient to destroy what we had that was most deserving to be preserved/ Now, 1 It is difficult to see why this should be predicated of the 1 spirits' of the True men. 2 Fan was a small state, held at one time by descendants of the famous duke of .ffau; see the 3o .Owan, I, vii, 6; V, xxiv, 2. But we do not know what had been the relations between the powerful Khb and the feeble Fan, which gave rise to and could explain the remarks made at the entertainment, more honourable to Fan than to JE&ft. 56 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK.XXI if the destruction of Fan had not been sufficient to destroy that which it had most deserving to be preserved, the preservation of Khh had not been sufficient to preserve that in it most deserving to be preserved. Looking at the matter from this point of view, Fan had not begun to be destroyed, and had not begun to be preserved. PT. II. SECT. XV. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 57 BOOK XXII. PART II. SECTION XV. Pei Yu, or ' Knowledge Rambling in the North 1 / i. Knowledge 2 had rambled northwards to the region of the Dark Water 3 , where he ascended the height of Imperceptible Slope 3 , when it happened that he met with Dumb Inaction 2 . Knowledge addressed him, saying, ' I wish to ask you some questions : By what process of thought and anxious consideration do we get to know the Tdo ? Where should we dwell and what should we do to find our rest in the Tao ? From what point should we start and what path should we pursue to make the Tao our own ? ' He asked these three questions, but Dumb Inaction 2 gave him no reply. Not only did he not answer, but he did not know how to answer. Knowledge 2 , disappointed by the fruitlessness of his questions, returned to the south of the Bright 1 See vol. xxxix, p. 152. 2 All these names are metaphorical, having more or less to do with the qualities of the Tao, and are used as the names of per- sonages, devoted to the pursuit of it. It is difficult to translate the name .Owang Khh ( Jjl). An old reading is f|jj, which Medhurst explains by 'Bent or Crooked Discourse/ ' Blurter/ though not an elegant English term, seems to express the idea our author would convey by it. Hwang-Tf is different from the other names, but we cannot regard him as here a real personage. a These names of places are also metaphorical and Tdoistic. 58 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxil. Water 1 , and ascended the height of the End of Doubt 1 , where he saw Heedless Blurter, to whom he put the same questions, and who replied, * Ah ! I know, and will tell you/ But while he was about to speak, he forgot what he wanted to say. Knowledge, (again) receiving no answer to his questions, returned to the palace of the Ti 2 , where he saw Hwang-T! 3 , and put the questions to him. Hwang-Tl said, ' To exercise no thought and no anxious consideration is the first step towards know- ing the Tcio; to dwell nowhere and do nothing is the first step towards resting in the Tio; to start from nowhere and pursue no path is the first step towards making the To your own/ Knowledge then asked Hwang-Tl, saying, ' I and you know this ; those two did not know it ; which of us is right ? ' The reply was, ' Dumb Inaction tj is truly right ; Heedless Blurter has an appearance- of being so ; I and you are not near being so. (As it is said), " Those who know (the Tao) do not speak of it ; those who speak of it do not know it 4 ; " and " Hence the sage conveys his instructions without the use of speech 4 /' The Tao cannot be made ours by constraint ; its characteristics will not come to us (at our call). Benevolence may be practised ; Righteousness may be partially attended to ; by Ceremonies men impose on one another. Hence it 1 See note 3, on preceding page. 2 Ti might seem to be used here for * God/ but its juxtaposition with Hwang-T i is against our translating it so. s See note 2, on preceding page. * See the Tio Teh King, chaps. 56 and 2. ^ffwang-^ze is quoting, no doubt, these two passages, as he vaguely intimates I think by the ^, with which the sentence commences. PT. II. SECT. XV. THE WRITINGS OF ATWANG-3ZE. 59 is said, "When the Tdo was lost, its Characteristics appeared. When its Characteristics were lost, Bene- volence appeared. When Benevolence was lost, Righteousness appeared. When Righteousness was lost, Ceremonies appeared. Ceremonies are but (the unsubstantial) flowers of theTio, and the com- mencement of disorder V Hence (also it is further said), " He who practises the To, daily diminishes his doing. He diminishes it and again diminishes it, till he arrives at doing nothing. Having arrived at this non-inaction, there is nothing that he does not do V Here now there is something, a regularly fashioned utensil ; if you wanted to make it return to the original condition of its materials, would it not be difficult to make it do so ? Could any but the Great Man accomplish this easily 2 ? ' Life is the follower of death, and death is the predecessor of life; but who knows the Arranger (of this connexion between them) 3 ? The life is due to the collecting of the breath. When that is collected, there is life ; when it is di s spersed, there is death. Since death and life thus attend on each other, why should I account (either of) them an evil ? 1 Therefore all things go through one and the same experience. (Life) is accounted beautiful be- cause it is spirit-like and wonderful, and death is accounted ugly because of its foetor and putridity. But the foetid and putrid is transformed again into the spirit-like and wonderful, and the spirit-like and wonderful is transformed again into the foetid and 1 See the TSo Teh A'mg, chaps. 38 and 48. 2 This sentence is metaphorical of the Tao, whose spell is broken by the intrusion of Knowledge. 3 This ' Arranger ' is the Tdo. 6O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXII. putrid. Hence it is said, "All under the sky there is one breath of life, and therefore the sages prized that unity 1 / Knowledge 2 said to Hwang-Ti 2 , ' I asked Dumb Inaction 2 , and he did not answer me. Not only did he not answer me, but he did not know how to answer me. I asked Heedless Blurter, and while he wanted to tell me, he yet did not do so. Not only did he not tell me, but while he wanted to tell me, he forgot all about my questions. Now I have asked you, and you knew (all about them) ; why (do you say that) you are not near doing so ? ' Hwang-Tl replied, 'Dumb Inaction 2 was truly right, because he did not know the thing. Heedless Blurter 2 was nearly right, because he forgot it. I and you are not nearly right, because we know it.' Heedless Blurter 2 heard of (all this), and considered that Hwang-Tl 2 knew how to express himself (on the subject). 2. (The operations of) Heaven and Earth proceed in the most admirable way, but they say nothing about them ; the four seasons observe the clearest laws, but they do not discuss them ; all things have their complete and distinctive constitutions, but they say nothing about them 3 . The sages trace out the admirable operations of Heaven and Earth, and reach to and understand the distinctive constitutions of all things ; and thus it is that the Perfect Man (is said to) do nothing and the Greatest Sage to originate nothing, such language showing that they look to Heaven and Earth as 1 I have not been able to trace this quotation to its source. 2 See note 2, p. 57. 8 Compare Analects XVII, xix, 3. PT. II. SECT. XV. THE WRITINGS OF J5TWANG-3ZE. 6 1 their model 1 . Even they, with their spirit-like and most exquisite intelligence, as well as all the tribes that undergo their transformations, the dead and the living, the square and the round, do not under- stand their root and origin, but nevertheless they all from the oldest time by it preserve their being. Vast as is the space included within the six car- dinal points, it all (and all that it contains) lies within (this twofold root of Heaven and Earth) ; small as is an autumn hair, it is indebted to this for the com- pletion of its form. All things beneath the sky, now rising, now descending, ever continue the same through this. The Yin and Yang, and the four seasons revolve and move by it, each in its proper order. Now it seems to be lost in obscurity, but it continues ; now it seems to glide away, and have no form, but it is still spirit-like. All things are nou- rished by it, without their knowing it. This is what is called the Root and Origin ; by it we may obtain a view of what we mean by Heaven 2 . 3. Nieh A7meh 3 asked about the Tio from Phei-1 3 , who replied, * If you keep your body as it should be, and look only at the one thing, the Harmony of Heaven will come to you. Call in your knowledge, and make your measures uniform, and the spiritual (belonging to you) will come and lodge with you ; the Attributes (of the Tdo) will be your beauty, and the Tao (itself) will be your dwelling-place. You will have the simple look of a new-born calf, and 1 Compare the Tdo Teh A'mg, ch. 25. 2 The binomial ' Heaven and Earth ' here gives place to the one term ' Heaven/ which is often a synonym of Tao. 3 See his character in Book XII, par. 5, where Phei-t also is mentioned. 62 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxil. will not seek to know the cause (of your being what you are)/ Phei-f had not finished these words when the other dozed off into a sleep. Phei-1 was greatly pleased, and walked away, sing- ing as he went, ' Like stump of rotten tree his frame, Like lime when slaked his mind became 1 . Real is his wisdom, solid, true, Nor cares what's hidden to pursue. O dim and dark his aimless mind! No one from him can counsel find. What sort of man is he ? ' 4. Shun asked (his attendant) A7;ang 2 , saying, ' Can I get the Tao and hold it as mine ?' The reply was, ' Your body is not your own to hold ; how then can you get and hold the Tao? 1 Shun resumed, ' If my body be not mine to possess and hold, who holds it ?' A r ^ang said, ' It is the bodily form entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth. Life is not yours to hold. It is the blended harmony (of the Yin and Yang), entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth. Your nature, constituted as it is, is not yours to hold. It is entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth to act in accordance with it. Your grandsons and sons are not yours to hold. They are the exuviae 3 entrusted to you by Heaven and Earth. Therefore when we walk, we should not know where we are going ; when we stop and rest, we should not know what to occupy ourselves with ; 1 See the account of Nan-kwo $ze-khi in Book II, par. i 2 Not the name of a man, but an office. 8 The term m the text denotes the cast-off skin or shell of insects, snakes, and crabs. See the account of death and life in par. i. PT.IT. SECT. xv. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 63 when we eat, we should not know the taste of our food; all is done by the strong Yang influence of Heaven and Earth *. How then can you get (the Tao), and hold it as your own ? ' 5. Confucius asked Lo Tan, saying, * Being at leisure to-day, I venture to ask you about the Per- fect Tdo/ Lao Tan replied, ' You must, as by fasting and vigil, clear and purge your mind, wash your spirit white as snow, and sternly repress your knowledge. The subject of the Tao is deep, and difficult to describe ; I will give you an outline of its simplest attributes. * The Luminous was produced from the Obscure ; the Multiform from the Unembodied ; the Spiritual from the Tdo; and the bodily from the seminal essence. After this all things produced one another from their bodily organisations. Thus it is that those which have nine apertures are born from the womb, and those with eight from eggs 2 . But their coming leaves no trace, and their going no monu- ment ; they enter by no door ; they dwell in no apartment 3 : they are in a vast arena reaching in all directions. They who search for and find (the Tao) in this are strong in their limbs, sincere and far-reaching in their thinking, acute in their hearing, and clear in their seeing. They exercise their minds without being toiled ; they respond to everything aright without regard to place or circumstance. Without this heaven would not be high, nor earth 1 It is an abstiuse point why only the Yang is mentioned here, and described as ' strong/ 2 It is not easy to see the pertinence of this illustration. 8 Hu Wan-ying says, ' With this one word our author sweeps away the teaching of Purgatorial Sufferings/ 64 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XX II. broad; the sun and moon would not move, and nothing would flourish : such is the operation of the T&o. ' Moreover, the most extensive knowledge does not necessarily know it ; reasoning will not make men wise in it ; the sages have decided against both these methods. However you try to add to it, it admits of no increase ; however you try to take from it, it admits of no diminution ; this is what the sages maintain about it. How deep it is, like the sea ! How grand it is, beginning again when it has come to an end ! If it carried along and sus- tained all things, without being overburdened or weary, that would be like the way of the superior man, merely an external operation ; when all things go to it, and find their dependence in it ; this is the true character of the Tao. ' Here is a man (born) in one of the middle- states 1 . He feels himself independent both of the Yin and Yang 2 , and dwells between heaven and earth ; only for the present a mere man, but he will return to his original source. Looking at him in his origin, when his life begins, we have (but) a gela- tinous substance in which the breath is collecting. Whether his life be long or his death early, how short is the space between them ! It is but the name for a moment of time, insufficient to play the part of a good Ydo or a bad A'ieh in. 1 The fruits of trees and creeping plants have their distinctive characters, and though the relation- 1 The commentatois suppose that by 'the man 'here there is intended ' a sage ; ' and they would seem to be correct. 2 Compare the second sentence in the Tdo Teh ^mg, ch. 42. PT. ii. SECT. xv. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-SZE. 65 ships of men, according to which they are classi- fied, are troublesome, the sage, when he meets with them, does not set himself in opposition to them, and when he has passed through them, he does not seek to retain them ; he responds to them in their regular harmony according to his virtue; and even when he accidentally comes across any of them, he does so according to the Tdo. It was thus that the Tls flourished, thus that the kings arose. * Men's life between heaven and earth is like a white 1 colt's passing a crevice, and suddenly dis- appearing. As with a plunge and an effort they all come forth ; easily and quietly they all enter again. By a transformation they live, and by another trans- formation they die. Living things are made sad (by death), and mankind grieve for it ; but it is (only) the removal of the bow from its sheath, and the empty- ing the natural satchel of its contents. There may be some confusion amidst the yielding to the change ; but the intellectual and animal souls are taking their leave, and the body will follow them : This is the Great Returning home. * That the bodily frame came from incorporeity, and will return to the same, is what all men in com- mon know, and what those who are on their way to (know) it need not strive for. This is what the multitudes of men discuss together. Those whose (knowledge) is complete do not discuss it ; such discussion shows that their (knowledge) is not com- plete. Even the most clear-sighted do not meet 1 Why is it the colt here is ' white ? ' Is it to heighten the im- pression made by his speedy disappearing? or is it merely the adoption of the phrase from the Shih, II, iv, 2 ? [40] F 66 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXII. (with the T&o) ; it is better to be silent than to reason about it. The Tio cannot be heard with the ears ; it is better to shut the ears than to try and hear it. This is what is called the Great Attainment/ 6. Tung-kwo 3 ze * asked AVang-jze, saying, 'Where is what you call the To to be found?' A'wang-jze replied, ' Everywhere/ The other said, * Specify an instance of it. That will be more satis- factory/ * It is here in this ant/ * Give a lower instance/ ' It is in this panic grass/ ' Give me a still lower instance/ ' It is in this earthenware tile/ ' Surely that is the lowest instance ? ' ' It is in that excrement 2 / To this Tung-kwo 3 z e gave no reply. A"wang-jze said, ' Your questions, my master, do not touch the fundamental point (of the Tdo). They remind me of the questions addressed by the super- intendents of the market to the inspector about ex-' amining the value of a pig by treading on it, and testing its weight as the foot descends lower and lower on the body 3 . You should not specify any particular thing. There is not a single thing with- out (the Tao). So it is with the Perfect Tao. And if we call it the Great (Tao), it is just the same. There are the three terms, "Complete," "All- embracing," " the Whole." These names are differ- 1 Perhaps the Tung-kwo Shun-jze of Bk XXI, par. i. * A contemptuous reply, provoked by Tung-kwo's repeated in- tei rogation as to where the Tao was to be found, the only question being as to what it was. 8 We do not know the practices from which our author draws his illustrations here sufficiently to make out his meaning clearly. The signification of the characters Jp and jjfig may be gathered indeed from the 1 Li, Books 7-9 ; but that is all, PT. II. SECT. XV. THE WRITINGS OF tfWANG-3ZE, 67 ent, but the reality (sought in them) is the same ; referring to the One thing 1 . 'Suppose we were to try to roam about in the palace of No-where ; when met there, we might discuss (about the subject) without ever coming to an end. Or suppose we were to be to- gether in (the region of) Non-action ; should we say that (the To was) Simplicity and Stillness ? or Indifference and Purity ? or Harmony and Ease ? My will would be aimless. If it went nowhere, I should not know where it had got to ; if it went and came again, I should not know where it had stopped ; if it went on going and coming, I should not know when the process would end. In vague uncertainty should I be in the vastest waste. Though I entered it with the greatest knowledge, I should not know how inexhaustible it was. That which makes things what they are has not the limit which belongs to things, and when we speak of things being limited, we mean that they are so in themselves. (The Tao) is the limit of the unlimited, and the bound- lessness of the unbounded. * We speak of fulness and emptiness ; of withering and decay. It produces fulness and emptiness, but is neither fulness nor emptiness ; it produces wither- ing and decay, but is neither withering nor decay. It produces the root and branches, but is neither root nor branch ; it produces accumulation and dispersion, but is itself neither accumulated nor dispersed/ 7. A-ho Kan 2 and Shan Nang studied together 1 The meaning of this other illustiation is also very obscure to me ; and much of what follows to the end of the paragraph. 2 We can hardly be said to know anything more of the first and third of these men than what is mentioned here. F 2 68 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXII. under L&o-lung Ki. Shan NSng l was leaning for- ward on his stool, having shut the door and gone to sleep in the day time. At midday A-ho Kan pushed open the door and entered, saying, 'Lo- lung is dead/ Shan NSng leant forward on his stool, laid hold of his staff and rose. Then he laid the staff aside with a clash, laughed and said, ' That Heaven knew how cramped and mean, how arrogant and assuming I was, and therefore he has cast me off, and is dead. Now that there is no Master to correct my heedless words, it is simply for me to die 1 ' Yen Kang, (who had come in) to condole, heard these words, and said, 'It is to him who em- bodies the Tclo that the superior men everywhere cling. Now you who do not understand so much as the tip of an autumn hair of it, not even the ten- thousandth part of the Tao, still know how to keep hidden your heedless words about it and die ; how - much more might he who embodied the T^o do so I We look for it, and there is no form ; we hearken for it, and there is no sound. When men try to discuss it, we call them dark indeed. When they discuss the Tao, they misrepresent it. 1 Hereupon Grand Purity 2 asked Infinitude 2 , say- ing, ' Do you know the Tdo?' ' I do not know it/ was the reply. He then asked Do-nothing 2 , who replied, ' I know it/ ' Is your knowledge of it de- Shan Nang is well known, as coming in the chronological list between Ffl-hsf and Hwang-Tl; and we are surprised that a higher place is not given to him among the Taoist patriarchs than our author assigns to him here. 8 These names, like those in the first paragraph of the Book, are metaphorical, intended, no doubt, to set forth attributes of the TSo, and to suggest to the reader what it is or what it is not. PT. ii. SECT. XV. THE WRITINGS OF ffWANG-3ZE. 69 termined by various points? 1 'It is/ 'What are they?' Do-nothing 1 said, 'I know that the To may be considered noble, and may be considered mean, that it may be bound and compressed, and that it may be dispersed and diffused. These are the marks by which I know it/ Grand Purity took the words of those two, and asked No-beginning 1 , saying, * Such were their replies ; which was right ? and which was wrong ? Infinitude's saying that he did not know it? or Do-nothings saying that he knew it ? ' No-beginning said, ' The " I do not know it" was profound, and the "I know it" was shallow. The former had reference to its internal nature ; the latter to its external conditions. Grand Purity looked up and sighed, saying, ' Is " not to know it" then to know it ? And is " to know it" not to know it ? But who knows that he who does not know it (really) knows it ? ' No-beginning replied, 'The T&o cannot be heard; what can be heard is not It. The T&o cannot be seen; what can be seen is not It. The Tio cannot be expressed in words ; what can be expressed in words is not It. Do we know the Formless which gives form to form? In the same way the Tdo does not admit of being named/ No-beginning (further) said, 'If one ask about the T&o and another answer him, neither of them knows it. Even the former who asks has never learned anything about the Tdo. He asks what does not admit of being asked, and the latter answers where answer is impossible. When one asks what does not admit of being asked, his questioning is in (dire) 1 See note 2 on last page. 7O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXII. extremity. When one answers where answer is im- possible, he has no internal knowledge of the subject. When people without such internal knowledge wait to be questioned by others in dire extremity, they show that externally they see nothing of space and time, and internally know nothing of the Grand Com- mencement l . Therefore they cannot cross over the Khwan-lun 2 , nor roam in the Grand Void/ 8. Starlight 3 asked Non-entity 3 , saying, 'Master, do you exist? or do you not exist?' He got no answer to his question, however, and looked sted- fastly to the appearance of the other, which was that of a deep void. All day long he looked to it, but could see nothing ; he listened for it, but could hear nothing ; he clutched at it, but got hold of nothing 4 . Starlight then said, ' Perfect ! Who can attain to this ? I can (conceive the ideas of) existence and non-existence, but I cannot (conceive the ideas of) non-existing non-existence, and still there be a non- existing existence. How is it possible to reach to this?' 9. The forger of swords for the Minister of War had reached the age of eighty, and had not lost a hair's-breadth of his ability 6 . The Minister said to 1 The first beginning of all things or of anything. 2 The Khwan-lun may be considered the Sacred Mountain of Taoism. 3 The characters Kwang Yao denote the points of light all over the sky, ' dusted with stars/ I can think of no better transla- tion for them, as personified here, than * starlight/ * Non-entity ' is a personification of the Tao; as no existing thing, but the idea of the order that pervades and regulates throughout the universe. 4 A quotation from the Tao Teh -dfing, ch. 14. 8 Compare the case of the butcher in Bk. Ill, and other similar passages. PT. II. SECT. XV. THE WRITINGS OF ffWANG-3ZE. 71 him, ' You are indeed skilful, Sir. Have you any method that makes you so ?' The man said, 'Your servant has (always) kept to his work. When I was twenty, I was fond of forging swords. I looked at nothing else. I paid no attention to anything but swords. By my constant practice of it, I came to be able to do the work without any thought of what I was doing. By length of time one acquires ability at any art ; and how much more one who is ever at work on it ! What is there which does not depend on this, and succeed by it ? ' 10. Zan AVzift 1 asked A'ung-ni, saying, 'Can it be known how it was before heaven and earth ?' The reply was, ' It can. It was the same of old as now/ Zan A^ift asked no more and withdrew. Next day, however, he had another interview, and said, ' Yesterday I asked whether it could be known how it was before heaven and earth, and you, Master, said, " It can. As it is now, so it was of old." Yesterday, I seemed to understand you clearly, but to-day it is dark to me. I venture to ask you for an explanation of this/ Aung-nl said, * Yesterday you seemed to understand me clearly, because your own spiritual nature had anticipated my reply. To- day it seems dark to you, for you are in an unspiritual mood, and are trying to discover the meaning. (In this matter) there is no old time and no present ; no beginning and no ending. Could it be that there were grandchildren and children before there were (other) grandchildren and children 2 ? ' 1 One of the disciples of Confucius ; Analects VI, 3. 2 Hfi Wln-ying says, ' Before there can be grandsons and sons there must be grandfathers and fathers to transmit them, so before 72 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXII. Kfa& had not made any reply, when A^mg-ni went on, ' Let us have done. There can be no an- swering (on your part). We cannot with life give life to death ; we cannot with death give death to life. Do death and life wait (for each other) ? There is that which contains them both in its one com- prehension \ Was that which was produced before Heaven and Earth a thing ? That which made things and gave to each its character was not itself a thing. Things came forth and could not be be- fore things, as if there had (previously) been things ; as if there had been things (producing one an- other) without end. The love of the sages for others, and never coming to an end, is an idea taken from this 2 / ii. Yen Yuan asked Aung-nl, saying, 'Master, I have heard you say, " There should be no demon- stration of welcoming ; there should be no move- ment to meet ;" I venture to ask in what way this affection of the mind may be shown.' The reply was, ' The ancients, amid (all) external changes, did not change internally ; now-a-days men change internally, but take no note of external changes When one only notes the changes of things, himself continuing one and the same, he does not change. How should there be (a difference between) his changing and not changing ? How should he put himself in contact with (and come under the influence of) those external changes ? He is sure, however, there were (the present) heaven and earth, there must have been another heaven and eaith.' But I am not sure that he has in this remark exactly caught our author's meaning. 1 Meaning the Tao. 2 An obscure remark. PT.II. SECT. XV. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 73 to keep his points of contact with them from being many. The park of Shih-wei 1 , the garden of Hwang- Tl, the palace of the Lord of Yii, and the houses of Thang and Wfi ; (these all were places in which this was done). But the superior men (so called, of later days), such as the masters of the Literati and of Mohism, were bold to attack each other with their controversies ; and how much more so are the men of the present day ! Sages in dealing with others do not wound them ; and they who do not wound others cannot be wounded by them. Only he whom others do not injure is able to welcome and meet men. ' Forests and marshes make me joyful and glad ; but before the joy is ended, sadness comes and succeeds to it. When sadness and joy come, I can- not prevent their approach ; when they go, I cannot retain them. How sad it is that men should only be as lodging-houses for things, (and the emotions which they excite) ! They know what they meet, but they do not know what they do not meet ; they use what power they have, but they cannot be strong where they are powerless. Such ignorance and powerlessness is what men cannot avoid. That they should try to avoid what they cannot avoid, is not this also sad ? Perfect speech is to put speech away; perfect action is to put action away ; to digest all knowledge that is known is a thing to be despised/ 1 This personage has occurred before in Bk. VI, par 7, at the head of the most ancient sovereigns, who were in possession of the Tao. His ' park ' as a place for moral and intellectual inquiry is here mentioned ; so early was there a certain quickening of the mental faculties in China. 74 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxin. BOOK XXIII. PART III. SECTION I. Kang-sang Khh^. i. Among the disciples 2 of Lo Tan there was a Kang-sang Kku, who had got a greater knowledge than the others of his doctrines, and took up his residence with it in the north at the hill of Wei-lei 3 . His servants who were pretentious and knowing he sent away, and his concubines who were officious and kindly he kept at a distance ; living (only) with those who were boorish and rude, and employing (only) the bustling and ill-mannered 4 . After three years there was great prosperity 5 in Wei-lei, and the people said to one another, ' When Mr. Kang- sang first came here, he alarmed us, and we thought him strange ; our estimate of him after a short acquaintance was that he could not do us much good ; but now that we have known him for years, we find him a more than ordinary benefit. Must he not be near being a sage? Why should you not 1 See vol. xxxix, p. 153. * The term in the text commonly denotes ' servants.' It would seem here simply to mean ' disciples.' 8 Assigned variously. Probably the mount Yii in the ( Tribute of Yu/ a hill in the present department of Tng-au, Shan-tung 4 The same phraseology occurs in Bk. XI, par. 5 ; and also in the Shih, II, vi, i, q. v. 8 That is, abundant harvests. The J| of the common text should, probably, be 3 PT. III. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF JHVANG-3ZE. 75 unite in blessing him as the representative of our departed (whom we worship), and raise an altar to him as we do to the spirit of the grain l ? ' K&ng- sang heard of it, kept his face indeed to the south 2 , but was dissatisfied. His disciples thought it strange in him, but he said to them, ' Why, my disciples, should you think this strange in me ? When the airs of spring come forth, all vegetation grows ; and, when the autumn arrives, all the previous fruits of the earth are matured. Do spring and autumn have these effects without any adequate cause ? The processes of the Great Tcio have been in operation. I have heard that the Perfect man dwells idly in his apartment within its surrounding walls 3 , and the people get wild and crazy, not knowing how they should repair to him. Now these small people of Wei-lei in their opinionative way want to present their offerings to me, and place nfe among such men of ability and virtue. But am I a man to be set up as such a model ? It is on this account that I am dissatisfied when I think of the words of Lao Tan V 2. His disciples said, * Not so. In ditches eight cubits wide, or even twice as much, big fishes can- not turn their bodies about, but minnows and eels find them sufficient for them 5 ; on hillocks six or 1 I find it difficult to tell what these people wanted to make of JPXft, further than what he says himself immediately to his disciples. I cannot think that they wished to make him their ruler. 2 This is the proper position for the sovereign in his court, and for the sage as the teacher of the woild. Kh& accepts it in the latter capacity, but with dissatisfaction. 3 Compare the Lf A", Bk. XXXVIII, par. 10, et al. 4 As if he were one with the Tdo. c I do not see the appropriateness here of the &(j in the text. 76 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxm. seven cubits high, large beasts cannot conceal them- selves, but foxes of evil omen find it a good place for them. And moreover, honour should be paid to the wise, offices given to the able, and preference shown to the good and the beneficial. From of old Yo and Shun acted thus ; how much more may the people of Wei-16i do so ! O Master, let them have their way!' Kang-sang replied, ' Come nearer, my little child- ren. If a beast that could hold a carriage in its mouth leave its hill by itself, it will not escape the danger that awaits it from the net ; or if a fish that could swallow a boat be left dry by the flowing away of the water, then (even) the ants are able to trouble it. Thus it is that birds and beasts seek to be as high as possible, and fishes and turtles seek to lie as deep as possible. In the same way men who wish to preserve their bodies and lives keep their persons concealed, and they do so in the deepest retirement possible. And more- over, what was there in those sovereigns to entitle them to your laudatory mention ? Their sophis- tical reasonings (resembled) the reckless breaking down of walls and enclosures and planting the wild rubus and wormwood in their place ; or making the hair thin before they combed it ; or counting the grains of rice before they cooked them J . They would do such things with careful discrimination ; but what was there in them to benefit the world ? If you raise the men of talent to office, you will create disorder ; making the people strive with one 1 All these condemnatory descriptions of Yo and Shun aie eminently Tdoistic, but so metaphorical that it is not easy to appreciate them. PT. ill. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 77 another for promotion ; if you employ men for their wisdom, the people will rob one another (of their reputation) ! . These various things are insufficient to make the people good and honest. They are very eager for gain ; a son will kill his father, and a minister his ruler (for it). In broad daylight men will rob, and at midday break through walls. Aell you that the root of the greatest disorder was planted in the times of Ydo and Shun. The branches of it will remain for a thousand ages; and after a thousand ages men will be found eating one another V 3. (On this) Nan-yung Kh\\ 3 abruptly sat right up and said, * What method can an old man like me adopt to become (the Perfect man) that you have described ? ' Kang-sang 3 z e said, ' Maintain your body complete ; hold your life in close embrace ; and do not let your thoughts keep working anxiously : do this for three years, and you may become the man of whom I have spoken/ The other rejoined, 1 Eyes are all of the same form, I do not know any difference between them: yet the blind have no power of vision. Ears are all of the same form ; I do not know any difference between them : yet the deaf have no power of hearing. Minds are all of the same nature, I do not know any difference between them ; yet the mad cannot make the minds of other men their own. (My) personality is indeed like (yours), but things seem to separate 1 Compare the Tdo Teh A'ing, ch. 3. 2 Khh is in all this too violent. 8 A disciple of K^ng-sang Khb ; ' a sincere seeker of the Tdo, very much to be pitied/ says Lin Hsf-ung. 78 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM, BK. xxm. between us 1 . I wish to find in myself what there is in you, but I am not able to do so \ You have now said to me, " Maintain your body complete ; hold your life in close embrace ; and do not let your thoughts keep working anxiously." With all my efforts to learn your Way, (your words) reach only my ears/ Kang-sang replied, ' I can say nothing more to you,' and then he added, ' Small flies cannot transform the bean caterpillar 2 ; Yiieh 3 fowls can- not hatch the eggs of geese, but LA fowls 3 can. It is not that the nature of these fowls is different ; the ability in the one case and inability in the other arise from their different capacities as large and small. My ability is small and not sufficient to transform you. Why should you not go south and see Lio-jze ? ' 4. Nan-yung Kh& hereupon took with him some rations, and after seven days and seven nights arrived at the abode of Ldo-jze, who said to him, ' Are you come from Kktis ? ' 'I am/ was the reply. 'And why, Sir, have you come with such a multitude of attendants 4 ?' Nan-yung was frightened, and turned his head round to look behind him. Lclo-jze said, ' Do you not understand my meaning ? ' The other held his head down and was ashamed, and then he lifted it up, and sighed, saying, ' I for- got at the moment what I should reply to your 1 The J|J^ in the former of these sentences is difficult. I take it in the sense of ^, and read it phi. 2 Compare the Shih, II, v, Ode 2, 3. 8 I believe the fowls of Shan-tung are still larger than those of ang or Fti-&en. 4 A good instance of LSo's metaphorical style. PT. III. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF JSTWANG-3ZE. 79 question, and in consequence I have lost what I wished to ask you/ * What do you mean ? ' ' If I have not wisdom, men say that I am stupid *, while if I have it, it occasions distress to myself. If I have not benevolence, then (I am charged) with doing hurt to others, while if I have it, I distress myself. If I have not righteousness, I (am charged with) injuring others, while if I have it, I distress myself. How can I escape from these dilemmas ? These are the three perplexities that trouble me ; and I wish at the suggestion of Kkb to ask you about them/ Lio-jze replied, * A little time ago, when I saw you and looked right into your eyes 2 , I understood you, and now your words confirm the judgment which I formed. You look frightened and amazed. You have lost your parents, and are try- ing with a pole to find them at the (bottom of) the sea. You have gone astray ; you are at your wit's end. You wish to recover your proper nature, and you know not what step to take first to find it. You are to be pitied ! ' 5. Nan-yung Kith, asked to be allowed to enter (the establishment), and have an apartment assigned to him 3 . (There) he sought to realise the qualities which he loved, and put away those which he hated. For ten days he afflicted himself, and then waited again on Lio-jze, who said to him, ' You must purify yourself thoroughly ! But from your symptoms of 1 In the text j. The must be an erroneous addition, or probably it is a mistake for the speaker's name ftjg. 2 Literally, ' between the eye-brows and eye-lashes/ 8 Thus we are as it were in the school of Ldo-jze, and can see how he deals with his pupils. 8O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxill. distress, and signs of impurity about you, I see there still seem to cling to you things that you dislike. When the fettering influences from without become numerous, and you try to seize them (you will find it a difficult task) ; the better plan is to bar your inner man against their entrance. And when the similar influences within get intertwined, it is a difficult task to grasp (and hold them in check) ; the better plan is to bar the outer door against their exit. Even a master of the T&o and its character- istics will not be able to control these two influences together, and how much less can one who is only a student of the Tdo do so ! f Nan-yung Kh\i said, 'A certain villager got an illness, and when his neigh- bours asked about it, he was able to describe the malady, though it was one from which he had not suffered before. When I ask you about the Grand To, it seems to me like drinking medicine which (only serves to) increase my illness. I should like to hear from you about the regular method of guarding the life ; that will be sufficient for me/ Ldo-jze replied, '(You ask me about) the regular method of guarding the life ; can you hold the One thing fast in your embrace ? Can you keep from losing it ? Can you know the lucky and the unlucky without having recourse to the tortoise-shell or the divining stalks ? Can you rest (where you ought to rest) ? Can you stop (when you have got enough) ? Can you give over thinking of other men, and seek what you want in yourself (alone) ? Can you flee (from the allurements of desire) ? Can you maintain an entire simplicity ? Can you become a little child ? The child will cry all the day, without its throat becoming hoarse ; so perfect is the harmony (of PT. III. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 8 1 its physical constitution). It will keep its fingers closed all the day without relaxing their grasp; such is the concentration of its powers. It will keep its eyes fixed all day, without their moving ; so is it unaffected by what is external to it. It walks it knows not whither ; it rests where it is placed, it knows not why; it is calmly indifferent to things, and follows their current. This is the regular method of guarding the life V 6. Nan-yung Kith said, 'And are these all the characteristics of the Perfect man ? ' Lio-jze replied, * No. These are what we call the breaking up of the ice, and the dissolving of the cold. The Perfect man, along with other men, gets his food from the earth, and derives his joy from his Heaven (-conferred nature). But he does not like them allow himself to be troubled by the consideration of advantage or injury coming from men and things ; he does not like them do strange things, or form plans, or enter on undertakings ; he flees from the allurements of desire, and pursues his way with an entire sim- plicity. Such is the way by which he guards his life/ ' And is this what constitutes his perfection ? ' ' Not quite. I asked you whether you could become a little child. The little child moves unconscious of what it is doing, and walks unconscious of whither it is going. Its body is like the branch of a rotten tree, and its mind is like slaked lime 2 . Being such, misery does not come to it, nor happiness. It has 1 In this long reply there are many evident recognitions of passages in the Tio Teh ^Tmg; compare chapters 9, 10, 55, 58- a See the description of &ze-&fii's Tdoistic trance at the begin- ning of the second Book. [40] G 82 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXIII. neither misery nor happiness ; how can it suffer from the calamities incident to men 1 ? ' 7. 2 He whose mind 3 is thus grandly fixed emits a Heavenly light. In him who emits this heavenly light men see the (True) man. When a man has cultivated himself (up to this point), thenceforth he remains constant in himself. When he is thus con- stant in himself, (what is merely) the human element will leave him 4 , but Heaven will help him. Those whom their human element has left we call the people of Heaven 4 . Those whom Heaven helps we call the Sons of Heaven. Those who would by learning attain to this 5 seek for what they cannot 1 Nan-yung Khh. disappears here. His first master, Kang-sang , disappeared in paragraph 4. The different way in which his name is written by Sze-ma, A7/ien is mentioned in the brief intro- ductory note on p 153. It should have been further stated there that in the Fourth Book of Lieh-jze (IV, 2^-3^) some account of him is given with his name as written by Khizn. A great officer of .Oan is introduced as boasting of him that he was a sage, and, through his masteiy of the punciples of Lao Tan, could hear with his eyes and see with his ears Hereupon Khang-jhang is brought to the couit of the marquis of Lti to whom he says that the report of him which he had heard was false, adding that he could dispense with the use of his senses altogether, but could not alter their several functions. This being reported to Confucius, he simply laughs at it, but makes no remark. 2 I suppose that from this to the end of the Book we have the sentiments of ^"wang-jze himself. Whether we consider them his, or the teachings of Ldo-jze to his visitor, they are among the depths of Taoism, which I will not attempt to elucidate in the notes here. 3 The character which I have translated 'mind' here is fe meaning ' the side walls of a house/ and metaphorically used for 'the breast,' as the house of the mind. Hu explains it by ^ jjgj. 4 He is emancipated from the human as contrary to the heavenly. The Tao. PT. III. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF ATWANG-3ZE, 83 learn. Those who would by effort attain to this, attempt what effort can never effect. Those who aim by reasoning to reach it reason where reasoning has no place. To know to stop where they cannot arrive by means of knowledge is the highest attain- ment Those who cannot do this will be destroyed on the lathe of Heaven. 8. Where things are all adjusted to maintain the body ; where a provision against unforeseen dangers is kept up to maintain the life of the mind ; where an inward reverence is cherished to be exhibited (in all intercourse) with others ; where this is done, and yet all evils arrive, they are from Heaven, and not from the men themselves. They will not be sufficient to confound the established (virtue of the character), or be admitted into the Tower of Intelli- gence. That Tower has its Guardian, who acts unconsciously, and whose care will not be effective, if there be any conscious purpose in it 1 . If one who has not this entire sincerity in himself make any outward demonstration, every such demonstration will be incorrect. The thing will enter into him, and not let go its hold. Then with every fresh demonstration there will be still greater failure. If he do what is not good in the light of open day, men will have the opportunity of punishing him ; if he do it in darkness and secrecy, spirits 2 will inflict the punishment. Let a man understand this his relation both to men and spirits, and then he will do what is good in the solitude of himself. 1 This Guardian of the Mind or Tower of Intelligence is the Tao. 2 One of the rare introductions of spiritual agency in the early Taoism. G 2 84 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXIII. He whose rule of life is in himself does not act for the sake of a name. He whose rule is outside himself has his will set on extensive acquisition. He who does not act for the sake of a name emits a light even in his ordinary conduct ; he whose will is set on extensive acquisition is but a trafficker. Men see how he stands on tiptoe, while he thinks that he is overtopping others. Things enter (and take possession of) him who (tries to) make himself exhaustively (acquainted with them), while when one is indifferent to them, they do not find any lodg- ment in his person. And how can other men find such lodgment ? But when one denies lodgment to men, there are none who feel attachment to him. In this condition he is cut off from other men. There is no weapon more deadly than the will ] ; even Mit-y6 2 was inferior to it. There is no robber greater than the Yin and Yang, from whom nothing can escape of all between heaven and earth. But it is not the Yin and Yang that play the robber ; it is the mind that causes them to do so. 9. The T4o is to be found in the subdivisions (of its subject) ; (it is to be found) in that when com- plete, and when broken up. What I dislike in con- sidering it as subdivided, is that the division leads to the multiplication of it ; and what I dislike in that multiplication is that it leads to the (thought of) effort to secure it. Therefore when (a man) 1 That is, the will, man's own human element, in opposition to the Heavenly element of the Tdo. 2 One of the two famous swords made for Ho-lii, the king of Wu. See the account of their making in the seventy-fourth chapter Of the 'History of the Various States; 1 very marvellous, but evidently, and acknowledged to be, fabulous. PT. III. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 85 comes forth (and is born), if he did not return (to his previous non-existence), we should have (only) seen his ghost ; when he comes forth and gets this (return), he dies (as we say). He is extinguished, and yet has a real existence : (this is another way of saying that in life we have) only man's ghost By taking the material as an emblem of the im- material do we arrive at a settlement of the case of man. He comes forth, but from no root; he re- enters, but by no aperture. He has a real existence, but it has nothing to do with place ; he has con- tinuance, but it has nothing to do with beginning or end. He has a real existence, but it has nothing to do with place, such is his relation to space; he has continuance, but it has nothing to do with beginning or end, such is his relation to time ; he has life ; he has death; he comes forth; he enters; but we do not see his form ; all this is what is called the door of Heaven. The door of Heaven is Non-Existence. All things come from non-existence. The (first) existences could not bring themselves into exist- ence ; they must have come from non-existence. And non-existence is just the same as non-existing. Herein is the secret of the sages. 10. Among the ancients there were those whose knowledge reached the extreme point. And what was that point? There were some who thought that in the beginning there was nothing. This was the extreme point, the completest reach of their knowledge, to which nothing could be added. Again, there were those who supposed that (in the begin- ning) there were existences, proceeding to consider life to be a (gradual) perishing, and death a return- ing (to the original state). And there they stopped, 86 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXIII* making, (however), a distinction between life and death. Once again there were those who said, ' In thfc beginning there was nothing ; by and by there was life ; and then in a little time life was succeeded by death. We hold that non-existence was the head, life the body, and death the os coccygis. But of those who acknowledge that existence and non- existence, death and life, are all under the One Keeper, we are the friends/ Though those who maintained these three views were different, they were so as the different branches of the same ruling Family (of Khti) \ the Aaos and the A*ings, bear- ing the surname of the lord whom they honoured as the author of their branch, and the Alas named from their appanage ; (all one, yet seeming) not to be one. The possession of life is like the soot that collects under a boiler. When that is differently distributed; the life is spoken of as different. But to say that life is different in different lives, and better in one than in another, is an improper mode of speech. And yet there may be something here which we do not know. (As for instance), at the Id sacrifice the paunch and the divided hoofs may be set forth on separate dishes, but they should not be considered as parts of different victims ; (and again), when one is inspect- ing a house, he goes over it all, even the adytum for the shrines of the temple, and visits also the most private apartments ; doing this, and setting a different estimate on the different parts. Let me try and speak of this method of appor- 1 Both LSo and A*wang belonged to Khb, and this illustration was natural to them. PT. III. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 87 tioning one's approval : life is the fundamental consideration in it ; knowledge is the instructor. From this they multiply their approvals and dis- approvals, determining what is merely nominal and what is real. They go on to conclude that to them- selves must the appeal be made in everything, and to try to make others adopt them as their model ; prepared even to die to make good their views on every point. In this way they consider being em- ployed in office as a mark of wisdom, and not being so employed as a mark of stupidity, success as entitling to fame, and the want of it as disgraceful. The men of the present day who follow this differen- tiating method are like the cicada and the little dove * ; there is no difference between them. ii. When one treads on the foot of another in the market-place, he apologises on the ground of the bustle. If an elder tread on his younger brother, he proceeds to comfort him ; if a parent tread on a child, he says and does nothing. Hence it is said, ' The greatest politeness is to show no special respect to others ; the greatest righteousness is to take no account of things ; the greatest wisdom is to lay no plans ; the greatest benevolence is to make no demonstration of affection ; the greatest good faith is to give no pledge of sincerity/ Repress the impulses of the will ; unravel the errors of the mind ; put away the entanglements to virtue ; and clear away all that obstructs the free course of the TSo. Honours and riches, distinctions and austerity, fame and profit ; these six things pro- duce the impulses of the will Personal appearance 1 See in Bk. I, par. 2. 88 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxm. and deportment, the desire of beauty and subtle reasonings, excitement of the breath and cherished thoughts ; these six things produce errors of the mind. Hatred and longings, joy and anger, grief and delight ; these six things are the entanglements to virtue. Refusals and approachments, receiving and giving, knowledge and ability ; these six things obstruct the course of the Tio. When these four conditions, with the six causes of each, do not agitate the breast, the mind is correct. Being cor- rect, it is still; being still, it is pellucid; being pellucid, it is free from pre-occupation ; being free from pre-occupation, it is in the state of inaction, in which it accomplishes everything. The To is the object of reverence to all the virtues. Life is what gives opportunity for the dis- play of the virtues. The nature is the substantive character of the life. The movement of the nature is called action. When action becomes hypocritical, we say that it has lost (its proper attribute). The wise communicate with what is external to them and are always laying plans. This is what with all their wisdom they are not aware of ; they look at things askance. When the action (of the nature) is from external constraint, we have what is called virtue ; when it is all one's own, we have what is called government. These two names seem to be opposite to each other, but in reality they are in mutual accord. 1 2. 1 l was skilful in hitting the minutest mark, but stupid in wishing men to go on praising him without end. The sage is skilful Heavenwards, but stupid 1 See on V, par. 2. PT. III. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. 89 manwards. It is only the complete man who can be both skilful Heavenwards and good manwards. Only an insect can play the insect, only an insect show the insect nature. Even the complete man hates the attempt to exemplify the nature of Heaven. He hates the manner in which men do so, and how much more would he hate the doing so by himself before men ! When a bird came in the way of 1, he was sure to obtain it ; such was his mastery with his bow. If all the world were to be made a cage, birds would have nowhere to escape to. Thus it was that Thang caged 1 Yin by making him his cook 1 , and that duke Mfi of A^in caged Pai-li Hs! by giving the skins of five rams for him 2 . But if you try to cage men by anything but what they like, you will never succeed. A man, one of whose feet has been cut off, dis- cards ornamental (clothes) ; his outward appearance will not admit of admiration. A criminal under sentence of death will ascend to any height without fear ; he has ceased to think of life or death. When one persists in not reciprocating the gifts (of friendship), he forgets all others. Having for- gotten all others, he may be considered as a Heaven-like man. Therefore when respect is shown to a man, and it awakens in him no joy, and when contempt awakens no anger, it is only one who shares in the Heaven-like harmony that can be thus. When he would display anger and yet is not angry, the anger comes out in that repression of it. When he would put forth action, and yet does not do so, 1 See Mencius V, i, 7. 2 Mencius V, i, 9. 9O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXIII. the action is in that not-acting. Desiring to be quies- cent, he must pacify all his emotions ; desiring to be spirit-like, he must act in conformity with his mind. When action is required of him, he wishes that it may be right; and it then is under an inevitable constraint. Those who act according to that in- evitable constraint pursue the way of the sage. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF tfWANG-3ZE. 9 1 BOOK XXIV. PART III. SECTION II. Hsu Wti-kwei 1 . I. Hsii Wti-kwei having obtained through Nil Shang 2 an introduction to the marquis Wfl of Wei 3 , the marquis, speaking to him with kindly sympathy 4 , said, ' You are ill, Sir ; you have suffered from your hard and laborious toils 4 in the forests, and still you have been willing to come and see poor me 5 / Hsii Wfi-kwei replied, ' It is I who have to comfort your lordship ; what occasion have you to comfort me ? If your lordship go on to fill up the measure of your sensual desires, and to prolong your likes and dislikes, then the condition of your mental nature will be diseased, and if you discourage and repress those desires, and deny your likings and dislikings, that will be an affliction to your ears and eyes 1 See vol. xxxix, pp. 153, 154. 2 A favourite and minister of the marquis Wfi. 8 This was the second marquis of Wei, one of the three princi- palities into which the great state of 3 in na d been broken up, and which he ruled as the marquis Kl for sixteen years, B.C. 386-371. His son usurped the title of king, and was the ' king Hui of Liang/ whom Mencius had interviews with. Wfi, or { martial/ was ATs honorary, posthumous epithet. 4 The character (^) which I thus translate, has two tones, the second and fourth. Here and elsewhere in this paragraph and the next, it is with one exception in the fourth tone, meaning ' to com- fort or reward for toils endured.' The one exception is its next occurrence, ' hard and laborious toils. 1 5 The appropriate and humble designation of himself by the ruler of a state. 92 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXIV. (deprived of their accustomed pleasures) ; it is for me to comfort your lordship, what occasion have you to comfort me?' The marquis looked con- temptuous, and made no reply. After a little time, Hsu Wti-kwei said, ' Let me tell your lordship something : I look at dogs and judge of them by their appearance l . One of the lowest quality seizes his food, satiates himself, and stops ; he has the attributes of a fox. One of a medium quality seems to be looking at the sun. One of the highest quality seems to have forgotten the one thing, himself. But I judge still better of horses than I do of dogs. When I do so, I find that one goes straight- forward, as if following a line ; that another turns off, so as to describe a hook ; that a third describes a square as if following the measure so called ; and that a fourth describes a circle as exactly as a compass would make it. These are all horses of a state ; but they are not equal to a horse of the kingdom. His qualities are complete. Now he looks anxious ; now to be losing the way ; now to be forgetting himself. Such a horse prances along, or rushes on, spurning the dust and not knowing where he is/ The marquis was greatly pleased and laughed. When Hsu Wft-kwei came out, Nil Shang said to him, ' How was it, Sir, that you by your counsels produced such an effect on our ruler ? In my coun- sellings of him, now indirectly, taking my subjects from the Books of Poetry, History, Rites, and Music ; now directly, from the Metal Tablets 2 , and the six Bow-cases 2 , all calculated for the service (of the 1 Literally, ' I physiognomise dogs.' 2 The names of two Books, or Collections of Tablets, the former PT. in. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 93 state), and to be of great benefit ; in these coun- sellings, repeated times without number, I have never seen the ruler show his teeth in a smile : by what counsels have you made him so pleased to-day?' Hsu Wft-kwei replied, ' I only told him how I judged of dogs and horses by looking at their appearance/ ' So?' said Nu Shang, and the other rejoined, 'Have you not heard of the wanderer l from Ytieh ? when he had been gone from the state several days, he was glad when he saw any one whom he had seen in it ; when he had been gone a month, he was glad when he saw any one whom he had known in it ; and when he had been gone a round year, he was glad when he saw any one who looked like a native of it. The longer he was gone, the more longingly did he think of the people ; was it not so ? The men who withdraw to empty valleys, where the hellebore bushes stop up the little paths made by the weasels, as they push their way or stand amid the waste, are glad when they seem to hear the sounds of human footsteps ; and how much more would they be so, if it were their brothers and relatives talking and laughing by their side ! How long it is since the words of a True 2 man were heard as he talked and laughed by our ruler's side !' 2. At (another) interview of Hsii Wti-kwei with the marquis Wfl, the latter said, ' You, Sir, have been dwelling in the forests for a long time, living containing Registers of the Population, the latter treating of mili- tary subjects. 1 Kwo Hsiang makes this * a banished criminal/ This is not necessary. 8 Wu-kwei then had a high opinion of his own attainments in T&oism, and a low opinion of Nil Shang and the other courtiers. 94 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXIV, on acorns and chestnuts, and satiating yourself with onions and chives, without thinking of poor me. Now (that you are here), is it because you are old ? or because you wish to try again the taste of wine and meat ? or because (you wish that) I may enjoy the happiness derived from the spirits of the altars of the Land and Grain? 1 Hsu Wft-kwei replied, ' I was born in a poor and mean condition, and have never presumed to drink of your lordship's wine, or eat of your meat. My object in coming was to comfort your lordship under your troubles/ ' What ? comfort me under my troubles ? ' ' Yes, to comfort both your lordship's spirit and body/ The marquis said, 'What do you mean?' His visitor replied, ' Heaven and Earth have one and the same purpose in the production (of all men). However high one man be exalted, he should not think that he is favourably dealt with ; and however low may be the position of another, he should not think that he is unfavourably dealt with. You are indeed the one and only lord of the 10,000 chariots (of your state), but you use your dignity to embitter (the lives of) all the people, and to pamper your ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. But your spirit does not acquiesce in this. The spirit (of man) loves to be in harmony with others and hates selfish indul- gence 3 . This selfish indulgence is a disease, and therefore I would comfort you under it. How is it that your lordship more than others brings this disease on yourself ? ' The marquis said, ' I have wished to see you, Sir, for a long time. I want to love my people, and by the exercise of righteous- 1 Wti-kwei had a high idea of the constitution of human nature. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF tfWANG-3ZE. 95 ness to make an end of war ; will that be sufficient ?' Hsu Wft-kwei replied, * By no means To love the people is the first step to injure them 1 . By the exercise of righteousness to make an end of war is the root from which war is produced l . If your lordship try to accomplish your object in this way, you are not likely to succeed. All attempts to accomplish what we think good (with an ulterior end) is a bad contrivance. Although your lord- ship practise benevolence and righteousness (as you propose), it will be no better than hypocrisy. You may indeed assume the (outward) form, but suc- cessful accomplishment will lead to (inward) conten- tion, and the change thence arising will produce outward fighting. Your lordship also must not mass files of soldiers in the passages of your gal- leries and towers, nor have footmen and horsemen in the apartments about your altars 2 * Do not let thoughts contrary to your success lie hidden in your mind ; do not think of conquering men by artifice, or by (skilful) plans, or by fighting. If I kill the officers and people of another state, and annex its territory, to satisfy my selfish desires, while in my spirit I do not know whether the fighting be good, where is the victory that I gain ? Your lordship's best plan is to abandon (your purpose). If you will cultivate in your breast the sincere purpose (to love the people), and so respond to the feeling of Heaven and Earth, and not (further) vex yourself, then your people will already have escaped death ; what 1 TSoistic teaching, but questionable. 2 We need more information about the customs of the feudal princes fully to understand the language of this sentence. 96 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxiv. occasion will your lordship have to make an end of war ? ' 3. Hwang-Tt was going to see Td-kwei l at the hill of A'u-jhze. Fang Ming was acting as charioteer, and A^ang Yii was occupying the third place in the carriage. .A'ang Zo and Hs! Phang went before the horses ; and Khwan Hwun and Kft KM followed the carriage. When they arrived at the wild of Hsiang- Mng, the seven sages were all perplexed, and could find no place at which to ask the way. Just then they met with a boy tending some horses, and asked the way of him. ' Do you know/ they said, ' the hill of A"u-jhze?' and he replied that he did. He also said that he knew where T-kwei was living. * A strange boy is this ! ' said Hwang-Tl. * He not only knows the hill of A\i-jhze, but he also knows where Tcl-kwei is living. Let me ask him about the government of mankind/ The boy said, ' The administration of the kingdom is like this (which I am doing) ; what difficulty should there be in it ? When I was young, I enjoyed myself roaming over all within the six confines of the world of space, and then I began to suffer from indistinct sight. A wise elder taught me, saying, " Ride in the chariot of the 1 T (or Th&i)-kwei (or wei) appears here as the name of a person. It cannot be the name of a hill, as it is said by some to be. The whole paragraph is parabolic or allegorical ; and Ta- kwei is probably a personification of the Great T do itself, though no meaning of the character kwei can be adduced to justify this interpretation. The horseherd boy is further supposed to be a per- sonification of the ' Great Simplicity/ which is characteristic of the Tdo, the spontaneity of it, unvexed by the wisdom of man. The lesson of the paragraph is that taught in the eleventh Book, and many other places. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF JSTWANG-3ZE. 97 sun, and roam in the wild of Hsiang-A'Mng." Now the trouble in my eyes is a little better, and I am again enjoying myself roaming outside the six con- fines of the world of space. As to the government of the kingdom, it is like this (which I am doing); what difficulty should there be in it ?' Hwang-Tl said, * The administration of the world is indeed not your business, my son ; nevertheless, I beg to ask you about it/ The little lad declined to answer, but on Hwang-Ti putting the question again, he said, * In what does the governor of the kingdom differ from him who has the tending of horses, and who has only to put away whatever in him would injure the horses ? ' Hwang-Tl bowed to him twice with his head to the ground, called him his ' Heavenly Master 1 ,' and withdrew. 4. If officers of wisdom do not see the changes which their anxious thinking has suggested, they have no joy ; if debaters are not able to set forth their views in orderly style, they have no joy; if critical examiners find no subjects on which to exer- cise their powers of vituperation, they have no joy : they are all hampered by external restrictions. Those who try to attract the attention of their age (wish to) rise at court ; those who try to win the regard of the people 2 count holding office a glory; those who possess muscular strength boast of doing what is difficult ; those who are bold and daring exert themselves in times of calamity ; those who are able 1 This is the title borne to the piesent day by the chief or pope of Taoism, the representative of ^ang Tao-ling of our first century. 8 Taking the initial ung in the third tone. If we take it in the first tone, the meaning is different. [40] H 98 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxiv. swordmen and spearmen delight in fighting ; those whose powers are decayed seek to rest in the name (they have gained) ; those who are skilled in the laws seek to enlarge the scope of government ; those who are proficient in ceremonies and music pay careful attention to their deportment ; and those who profess benevolence and righteousness value opportunities (for displaying them). The husbandmen who do not keep their fields well weeded are not equal to their business, nor are traders who do not thrive in the markets. When the common people have their appropriate employ- ment morning and evening, they stimulate one another to diligence ; the mechanics who are masters of their implements feel strong for their work. If their wealth does not increase, the greedy are dis- tressed ; if their power and influence is not growing, the ambitious are sad. Such creatures of circumstance and things delight in changes, and if they meet with a time when they can show what they can do, they cannot keep them- selves from taking advantage of it. They all pursue their own way like (the seasons of) the year, and do not change as things do. They give the reins to their bodies and natures, and allow themselves to sink beneath (the pressure of) things, and all their lifetime do not come back (to their proper selves) : is it not sad 1 ? 5. -ffwang-jze said, ' An archer, without taking aim beforehand, yet may hit the mark. If we say that he is a good archer, and that all the world may 1 All the parties in this paragraph disallow the great principle of Taoism, which does everything by doing nothing. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF JfWANG-SZE. 99 be Is *, is this allowable ? ' Hui-jze replied, ' It is/ A^wang-jze continued, ' All men do not agree in counting the same thing to be right, but every one maintains his own view to be right ; (if we say) that all men may be Yios, is this allowable ? ' Hui-jze (again) replied, * It is;' and A^wang-jze went on, * Very well ; there are the literati, the followers of Mo (Ti), of Yang (Aft), and of Ping 2 ; making four (different schools). Including yourself, Master, there are five. Which of your views is really right ? Or will you take the position of Lft K\\ 3 ? One of his disciples said to him, " Master, I have got hold of your method. I can in winter heat the furnace under my tripod, and in summer can produce ice." Lfl Ku said, " That is only with the Yang element to call out the same, and with the Yia to call out the yin ; that is not my method. I will show you what my method is." On this he tuned two citherns, placing one of them in the hall, and the other in one of the inner apartments. Striking the note Kung 4 in the one, the same note vibrated in the other, and so it was with the note A"io 4 ; the two instru- ments being tuned in the same way. But if he had differently tuned them on other strings different 1 The famous archer of the Hsia* dynasty, in the twenty-second century B. c. 2 The name of Kung-sun Lung, the Lung Li-^Aan of Bk. XXI, par. i. 8 Only mentioned here. The statement of his disciple and his remaik on it are equally obscure, though the latter is partially illus- trated from the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and other hexagrams oftheYih^mg. 4 The sounds of the first and third notes of the Chinese musical scale, corresponding to our A and E. I know too little of music myself to pronounce further on Lu JTtt's illustration. H 2 IOO THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxiv. from the normal arrangement of the five notes, the five-and-twenty strings would all have vibrated, without any difference of their notes, the note to which he had tuned them ruling and guiding all the others. Is your maintaining your view to be right just like this ? ' Hui-jze replied, ' Here now are the literati, and the followers of Mo, Yang, and Ping. Suppose that they have come to dispute with me. They put forth their conflicting statements ; they try voci- ferously to put me down ; but none of them have ever proved me wrong : what do you say to this ? ' A"wang-$ze said, ' There was a man of Kki who cast away his son in Sung to be a gate- keeper there, and thinking nothing of the mutilation he would incur ; the same man, to secure one of his sacrificial vessels or bells, would have it strapped and secured, while to find his son who was lost, he would not go out of the territory of his own state : so forgetful was he of the relative importance of things. If a man of Khh, going to another state as a lame gate-keeper, at midnight, at a time when no one was nigh, were to fight with his boatman, he would not be able to reach the shore, and he would have done what he could to provoke the boatman's animosity 1 .' 6. As A'wang-jze was accompanying a funeral, when passing by the grave of Hui-jze 2 , he looked 1 The illustrations m this last member of the paragraph are also obscure. Lin Hsi-ung says that all the old explanations of them are defective ; his own explanation has failed to make itself clear to me. 2 The expression in the last sentence of the paragraph, the Master/ makes it certain that this was the grave of A"wang-jze's fnend with whom he had had so many conversations and arguments. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-SZE. IOI round, and said to his attendants, 'On the top of the nose of that man of Ying 1 there is a (little) bit of mud like a fly s wing/ He sent for the artisan Shih to cut it away. Shih whirled his axe so as to produce a wind, which immediately carried off the mud en- tirely, leaving the nose uninjured, and the (statue of) the man of Ying 1 standing undisturbed. The ruler Yuan of Sung 2 heard of the feat, called the artisan Shih, and said to him, ' Try and do the same thing on me/ The artisan said, c Your servant has been able to trim things in that way, but the material on which I have worked has been dead for a long time/ A'wang-jze said, ' Since the death of the Master, I have had no material to work upon. I have had no one with whom to talk/ 7. Kwan A^ung being ill, duke Hwan went to ask for him, and said, 'Your illness, father Acting, is very severe ; should you not speak out your mind to me ? Should this prove the great illness, to whom will it be best for me to entrust my State ?' Kwan ATimg said, * To whom does your grace wish to en- trust it ?' 'To Pdo Shft-yaV was the reply. ' He will not do. He is an admirable officer, pure and incorruptible, but with others who are not like him- self he will not associate. And when he once bear's 1 Ying was the capital of Khh. I have seen in China about the graves of wealthy and distinguished men many life-sized statues of men somehow connected with them. 2 Yuan is called the ' ruler * of Sung. That duchy was by this time a mere dependency of KJA. The sacrifices of its old ruling House were finally extinguished by Kh\ in B. c. 206. 3 Pdo Shft-y had been the life-long friend of the dying premier, and to him in the first place had been owing the elevation of Hwan to the maiquisate. IO2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxiv. of another man's faults, he never forgets them. If you employ him to administer the state, above, he will take the leading of your Grace, and, below, he will come into collision with the people ; in no long time you will be holding him as an offender/ The duke said, ' Who, then, is the man ? ' The reply was, ' If I must speak, there is Hsl Phang 1 ; he will do. He is a man who forgets his own high position, and against whom those below him will not revolt. He is ashamed that he is not equal to Hwang-Tl, and pities those who are not equal to himself. Him who imparts of his virtue to others we call a sage ; him who imparts of his wealth to others we call a man of worth. He who by his worth would preside over others, never succeeds in winning them; he who with his worth condescends to others, never but succeeds in winning them. Hsi Phang has not been (much) heard of in the state ; he has not been (much) distinguished in his own clan. But as I must speak, he is the man for you/ 8. The king of Wfi, floating about on the Alang, (landed and) ascended the Hill of monkeys, which all, when they saw him, scampered off in terror, and hid themselves among the thick hazels. There was one, however, which, in an unconcerned way, swung about on the branches, displaying its cleverness to the king, who thereon discharged an arrow at it. With a nimble motion it caught the swift arrow, and the king ordered his attendants to hurry forward and shoot it ; and thus the monkey was seized and killed. The king then, looking round, said to his friend Yen 1 For a long time a great officer of Kh\, but he died in the same year as Kwan ATung himself. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-SZE. 1O3 Pti-1 1 , 'This monkey made a display of its artful- ness, and trusted in its agility, to show me its arro- gance; this it was which brought it to this fate. Take warning from it. Ah ! do not by your looks give yourself haughty airs !' Yen Pti-t 1 , when he returned home, put himself under the teaching of Tung Wft 1 , to root up 2 his pride. He put away what he delighted in and abjured distinction. In three years the people of the kingdom spoke of him with admiration. 9. Nan-po 3ze-/z! 3 was seated, leaning forward on his stool, and sighing gently as he looked up to heaven. (Just then) Yen A^ang-jze 3 came in, and said, when he saw him, ' Master, you surpass all others. Is it right to make your body thus like a mass of withered bones, and your mind like so much slaked lime ? ' The other said, ' I formerly lived in a grotto on a hill. At that time Thien Ho 4 once came to see me, and all the multitudes of Khi congratulated him thrice (on his having found the proper man). I must first have shown myself, and so it was that he knew me ; I must first have been selling (what I had), and so it was that he came to buy. If I had not shown what I possessed, how should he have known it; if I had not been selling (myself), how should he have come to buy me ? I pity 1 We know these names only from their occurrence here. Tung Wu must have been a professor of Taoism. 2 The text here is ^[f, ' to help ;' but it is explained as = $j|, ' a hoe/ The Khang-hsi dictionary does not give this meaning of the character, but we find it in that of Yen Yuan, 8 See the first paragraph of Bk. II. * 5J 7JC must be the 5J 5ft] of Sze-mS -Oien, who became marquis of Kh\ in B. c. 389. IO4 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXiv. the men who lose themselves l ; I also pity the men who pity others (for not being known) ; and I also pity the men who pity the men who pity those that pity others. But since then the time is long gone by ; (and so I am in the state in which you have found me) 2 . 10. A^mg-ni, having gone to Khh, the king ordered wine to be presented to him. Sun Shft-ao 3 stood, holding the goblet in his hand. 1-liao of Shih-nan 3 , having received (a cup), poured its contents out as a sacrificial libation, and said, 'The men of old, on such an occasion as this, made some speech/ A'ung-nt said, ' I have heard of speech without words ; but I have never spoken it; I will do so now. 1-liao of Shih-nan kept (quietly) handling his little spheres, 1 In seeking for worldly honours. 2 That is, I have abjured all desire for woildly honour, and de- sire attainment in the Tao alone. 3 See Mencms VI, li, 15. Sun Shfi-ao was chief minister to king -Owang who died in B.C. 591, and died, piobably, befoie Confucius was born, and 1-liao (p. 28, n-3) appears in public life only after the death of the sage. The three men could not have appeared together at any time. This account of their doing so was devised by our author as a peg on which to hang his own lessons in the rest of the paragraph. The two historical events referred to I have found it difficult to discover. They are instances of doing nothing, and yet thereby accomplishing what is very great. The action of t-lio in ' quietly handling his balls ' recalls my seeing the same thing done by a gentleman at ^u-fau, the city of Confucius, in 1873. Being left there with a companion, and not knowing how to get to the Grand Canal, many gentlemen came to advise with us how we should proceed. Among them was one who, while tendering his advice, kept rolling about two brass balls in one palm with the fingers of the other hand. When I asked the meaning of his action, I was told, * To show how he is at his ease and master of the situation.' I mention the circumstance because I have nowhere found the phrase m the text adequately explained. PT. III. SECT. ii. THE WRITINGS OF JSTWANG-3ZE. 1 05 and the difficulties between the two Houses were resolved ; Sun Shu-do slept undisturbed on his couch, with his (dancer's) feather in his hand, and the men of Ying enrolled themselves for the war. I wish I Jiad a beak three cubits long V In the case of those two (ministers) we have what is called ' The Way that cannot be trodden 2 ;' in (the case of A'ung-ni) we have what is called ' the Argu- ment without words 2 .' Therefore when all attri- butes are comprehended in the unity of the Tio, and speech stops at the point to which knowledge does not reach, the conduct is complete. But where there is (not) 3 the unity of the Tao, the attributes cannot (always) be the same, and that which is be- yond the reach of knowledge cannot be exhibited by any reasoning. There may be as many names as those employed by the Literati and the Mohists, but (the result is) evil. Thus when the sea does not reject the streams that flow into it in their eastward course, we have the perfection of greatness. The sage embraces in his regard both Heaven and Earth ; his beneficent influence extends to all under the sky ; and we do not know from whom it comes. There- fore though when living one may have no rank, and when dead no honorary epithet ; though the reality (of what he is) may not be acknowledged and his name not established ; we have in him what is called ' The Great Man/ A dog is not reckoned good because it barks well ; and a man is not reckoned wise because he speaks 1 This strange wish concludes the speech of Confucius. What follows is from ATwang-jze. 8 Compare the opening chapters of the Tdo Teh A'mg. 3 The Tao is greater than any and all of its attributes. IO6 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxiv. skilfully ; how much less can he be deemed Great ! If one thinks he is Great, he is not fit to be ac- counted Great ; how much less is he so from the practice of the attributes (of the Tdo) 1 ! Now none are so grandly complete as Heaven and Earth ; but do they seek for anything to make them so grandly complete ? He who knows this grand completion does not seek for it ; he loses nothing and abandons nothing ; he does not change himself from regard to (external) things ; he turns in on himself, and finds there an inexhaustible store ; he follows antiquity and does not feel about (for its lessons) ; such is the perfect sincerity of the Great Man. ii. 3 ze ~^ 2 had eight sons. Having arranged them before him, he called Ajto-fang Van 3 , and said to him, ' Look at the physiognomy of my sons for me ; which will be the fortunate one ? ' Yan said, 1 Khwan is the fortunate one/ %zt-khi looked startled, and joyfully said, * In what way?' Y&n replied, * Khwan will share the meals of the ruler of a state to the end of his life.' The father looked uneasy, burst into tears, and said, ' What has my son done that he should come to such a fate ? ' Yan replied, * When one shares the meals of the ruler of a state, blessings reach to all within the three branches of his kindred 4 , and how much more to his father and mother ! But you, Master, weep when you hear this ; you oppose (the idea of) such happiness. It is the good fortune of your son, and 1 See note 3 on previous page. 8 This can hardly be any other but Nan-kwo %zz-khi 8 A famous physiognomist ; some say, of horses. Hwdi-nan 3ze calls him -ffift-fang Kdo (JpO. 4 See Mayers/s Manual, p. 303, PT.ili.SECT.il, THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. IO/ you count it his misfortune. 1 3 ze ~^ sa ^, ' O Yin, what sufficient ground have you for knowing that this will be Khwan's good fortune ? (The fortune) that is summed up in wine and flesh affects only the nose and the mouth, but you are not able to know how it will come about. I have never been a shep- herd, and yet a ewe lambed in the south-west corner of my house. I have never been fond of hunting, and yet a quail hatched her young in the south-east corner. If these were not prodigies, what can be accounted such ? Where I wish to occupy my mind with my son is in (the wide sphere of) heaven and earth; I wish to seek his enjoyment and mine in (the idea of) Heaven, and our support from the Earth. I do not mix myself up with him in the affairs (of the world) ; nor in forming plans (for his advantage) ; nor in the practice of what is strange. I pursue with him the perfect virtue of Heaven and Earth, and do not allow ourselves to be troubled by outward things. I seek to be with him in a state of undisturbed indifference, and not to practise what affairs might indicate as likely to be advan- tageous. And now there is to come to us this vulgar recompense. Whenever there is a strange realisation, there must have been strange conduct. Danger threatens ; not through any sin of me or of my son, but as brought about, I apprehend, by Heaven. It is this which makes me weep ! ' Not long after this, 3ze-M sent off Khwan to go to Yen 1 , when he was made prisoner by some robbers on the way. It would have been difficult to sell him if he were whole and entire, and they thought 1 The state so called. IO8 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM, BK. xxiv. their easiest plan was to cut off (one of his) feet first. They did so, and sold him in KM, where he became Inspector of roads for a Mr. Kh\i l . Never- theless he had flesh to eat till he died. 12. Nieh KMeh met Hsu Yft (on the way), and said to him, ' Where, Sir, are you going to ? ' * I am fleeing from Yo,' was the reply. 'What do you mean ? ' ' Yo has become so bent on his benevo- lence that I am afraid the world will laugh at him, and that in future ages men will be found eating one another 2 . Now the people are collected together without difficulty. Love them, and they respond with affection ; benefit them, and they come to you ; praise them, and they are stimulated (to please you) ; make them to experience what they dislike, and they disperse. When the loving and benefiting proceed from benevolence and righteousness, those who forget the benevolence and righteousness, and those who make a profit of them, are the many. In this way the practice of benevolence and righteous- ness comes to be without sincerity and is like a borrowing of the instruments with which men catch birds 3 . In all this the one man's seeking to benefit the world by his decisions and enactments (of such a nature) is as if he were to cut through (the nature of all) by one operation ; Yo knows how wise and superior men can benefit the world, but he does not 1 One expert supposes the text here to mean c duke Khv,' but there was no such duke of Khl . The best explanation seems to be that Khu was a rich gentleman, inspector of the roads of A^t, or of the streets of its capital, who bought Khwan to take his duties for him. 8 Compare in Bk. XXIII, par. 2. 8 A scheming for one's own advantage. PT.lll.SECT.il. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-SZE. IOQ also know how they injure it. It is only those who stand outside such men that know this V There are the pliable and weak ; the easy and hasty ; the grasping and crooked. Those who are called the pliable and weak learn the words of some one master, to which they freely yield their assent, being secretly pleased with themselves, and think- ing that their knowledge is sufficient, while they do not know that they have not yet begun (to under- stand) a single thing. It is this which makes them so pliable and weak. The easy and hasty are like lice on a pig. The lice select a place where the bristles are more wide apart, and look on it as a great palace or a large park. The slits between the toes, the overlappings of its skin, about its nipples and its thighs, all these seem to them safe apart- ments and advantageous places ; they do not know that the butcher one morning, swinging about his arms, will spread the grass, and kindle the fire, so that they and the pig will be roasted together. So do they appear and disappear with the place where they harboured : this is why they are called the easy and hasty. Of the grasping and crooked we have an example in Shun. Mutton has no craving for ants, but ants have a craving for mutton, for it is rank. There was a rankness about the conduct of Shun, and the people were pleased with him. Hence when he thrice changed his residence, every one of them became a capital city 2 . When he came to the wild 1 I suppose that the words of Hsu Yu stop with this sen- tence, and that from this to the end of the paiagraph we have the sentiments of A"wang-jze himself. The style is his, graphic but sometimes coarse. 2 See note on Mencius V, i, 2, 3. 1 10 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxiv. of T&ng 1 , he had 100,000 families about him. Y&o having heard of the virtue and ability of Shun, appointed him to a new and uncultivated territory, saying, ' I look forward to the benefit of his coming here/ When Shun was appointed to this new terri- tory, his years were advanced, and his intelligence was decayed; and yet he could not find a place of rest or a home. This is an example of being grasping and wayward. Therefore (in opposition to such) the spirit-like man dislikes the flocking of the multitudes to him. When the multitudes come, they do not agree ; and when they do not agree, no benefit results from their coming. Hence there are none whom he brings very near to himself, and none whom he keeps at a great distance. He keeps his virtue in close embrace, and warmly nourishes (the spirit of) harmony, so as to be in accordance with all men. This is called the True man 2 . Even the knowledge of the ant he puts away ; his plans are simply those of the fishes 3 ; even the notions of the sheep he discards. His seeing is simply that of the eye ; his hearing that of the ear ; his mind is governed by its general exercises. Being such, his course is straight and level as if marked out by a line, and its every change is in accordance (with the circum- stances of the case). 13. The True men of old waited for the issues of events as the arrangements of Heaven, and did not by their human efforts try to take the place of Heaven. The True men of old (now) looked on 1 Situation unknown. 2 The spirit-like man and the true man are the same. 8 Fishes forget everything in the water. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF *WANG-3ZE. 1 1 1 success as life and on failure as death ; and (now) on success as death and on failure as life. The operation of medicines will illustrate this: there are monk's-bane, the ^ieh-kSng, the tribulus fruit, and china-root ; each of these has the time and case for which it is supremely suitable ; and all such plants and their suitabilities cannot be mentioned particularly. KHu-^ien 1 took his station on (the hill of) Kwdi-^t with 3,000 men with their buff-coats and shields: (his minister) jfCung knew how the ruined (Yueh) might still be preserved, but the same man did not know the sad fate in store for himself 1 . Hence it is said, ' The eye of the owl has its proper fitness ; the leg of the crane has its proper limit, and to cut off any of it would distress (the bird).' Hence (also) it is (further) said, * When the wind passes over it, the volume of the river is diminished, and so it is when the sun passes over it. But let the wind and sun keep a watch together on the river, and it will not begin to feel that they are doing it any injury: it relies on its springs and flows on/ Thus, water does its part to the ground with undeviating exactness ; and so does the shadow to the substance ; and one thing to another. Therefore there is danger from the power of vision in the eyes, of hearing in the ears, and of the inordinate thinking of the mind ; yea, there is danger from the exercise of every power of which man's constitution is the depository. 1 See the account of the struggle between Kau-^ien of Ytieh and Fft-Mi of Wu in the eightieth and some following chapters of the 1 History of the various States of the Eastern jOu (Li eh Kwo -ATih).' We have sympathy with Kau-^ien, till his ingratitude to his two great ministers, one of whom was Win Aung (the Aung of the text), shows the baseness of his character. 112 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxiv. When the danger has come to a head, it cannot be averted, and the calamity is perpetuated, and goes on increasing. The return from this (to a state of security) is the result of (great) effort, and success can be attained only after a long time ; and yet men consider (their power of self-determination) as their precious possession : is it not sad ? It is in this way that we have the ruin of states and the slaughtering of the people without end ; while no one knows how to ask how it comes about. 14. Therefore, the feet of man on the earth tread but on a small space, but going on to where he has not trod before, he traverses a great distance easily; so his knowledge is but small, but going on to what he does not already know, he comes to know what is meant by Heaven 1 . He knows it as The Great Unity; The Great Mystery; The Great Illuminator ; The Great Framer ; The Great Bound- lessness ; The Great Truth ; The Great Determiner. This makes his knowledge complete. As The Great Unity, he comprehends it; as The Great Mystery, he unfolds it; as the Great Illuminator, he contem- plates it; as the Great Framer, it is to him the Cause of all ; as the Great Boundlessness, all is to him its embodiment; as The Great Truth, he examines it; as The Great Determiner, he holds it fast. Thus Heaven is to him all ; accordance with it is the brightest intelligence. Obscurity has in this its pivot ; in this is the beginning. Such being the 1 This paragraph grandly sets forth the culmination of all in- quiries into the Tdo as leading to the knowledge of Heaven; and the means by which it may be attained to. PT. III. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF tf WANG-8ZE. 113 case, the explanation of it is as if it were no ex- planation; the knowledge of it is as if it were no knowledge. (At first) he does not know it, but afterwards he comes to know it. In his inquiries, he must not set to himself any limits, and yet he cannot be without a limit. Now ascending, now descending, then slipping from the grasp, (the T&o) is yet a reality, unchanged now as in antiquity, and always without defect : may it not be called what is capable of the greatest display and expansion ? Why should we not inquire into it ? Why should we be perplexed about it? With what does not perplex let us explain what perplexes, till we cease to be perplexed. So may we arrive at a great freedom from all perplexity ! [40] 114 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxv. BOOK XXV. PART III. SECTION III. Seh-yang 1 . i. 3eh-yang having travelled to Kh&, 1 A"ieh 2 spoke of him to the king, and then, before the king had granted him an interview, (left him, and) re- turned home. 3 e h-y an g went to see Wang Kwo 3 , and said to him, ' Master, why do you not mention me to the king ? ' Wang Kwo replied, ' I am not so good a person to do that as Kung-yueh HsiftV * What sort of man is he ? ' asked the other, and the reply was, ' In winter he spears turtles in the A"iang, . and in summer he rests in shady places on the mountain. When passers-by ask him (what he is doing there), he says, " This is my abode." Since 1 Aleh was not able to induce the king to see you, how much less should I, who am not equal to him, be able to do so ! 1 A^ieh's character is this : he has no (real) virtue, but he has knowledge. If you do not freely yield yourself to him, but employ him to carry on his spirit-like influence (with you), you will certainly get upset and benighted in the region of riches and honours. His help will not be of a virtuous character, but will go to make your virtue 1 See vol. xxxix, pp 154, 155. 2 A native of jOfi, and, probably, a parasite of the court. 8 An officer of A^u, ' a worthy man/ 4 A recluse of Khb, but not keeping quite aloof from the court. PT. III. SECT. III. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 115 less; it will be like heaping on clothes in spring as a protection against cold, or bringing back the cold winds of winter as a protection against heat (in summer). Now the king of Khh. is of a domineering presence and stern. He has no for- giveness for offenders, but is merciless as a tiger. It is only a man of subtle speech, or one of correct virtue, who can bend him from his purpose l . ( But the sagely man 2 , when he is left in obscurity, causes the members of his family to forget their poverty; and, when he gets forward to a position of influence, causes kings and dukes to forget their rank and emoluments, and transforms them to be humble. With the inferior creatures, he shares their pleasures, and they enjoy themselves the more , with other men, he rejoices in the fellowship of the Tdo, and preserves it in himself. Therefore though he may not speak, he gives them to drink of the harmony (of his spirit). Standing in association with them, he transforms them till they become in their feeling towards him as sons with a father. His wish is to return to the solitude of his own mind, and this is the effect of his occasional inter- course with them. So far-reaching is his influence on the minds of men ; and therefore I said to you, "Wait for Kung-yiieh Hsifi.'" 2. The sage comprehends the connexions be- tween himself and others, and how they all go to constitute him of one body with them, and he does not know how it is so ; he naturally does so. In fulfilling his constitution, as acted on and acting, he 1 Much of the description of 1 Al'ieh is difficult to construe. 2 Kung-yueh Hsift. I 2 Il6 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxv. (simply) follows the direction of Heaven ; and it is in consequence of this that men style him (a sage). If he were troubled about (the insufficiency of) his knowledge, what he did would always be but small, and sometimes would be arrested altogether ; how would he in this case be (the sage) ? When (the sage) is born with all his excellence, it is other men who see it for him. If they did not tell him, he would not know that he was more excellent than others. And when he knows it, he is as if he did not know it; when he hears it, he is as if he did not hear it. His source of joy in it has no end, and men's admiration of him has no end ; all this takes place naturally 1 . The love of the sage for others receives its name from them. If they did not tell him of it, he would not know that he loved- them ; and when he knows it, he is as if he knew it not ; when he hears it, he is as if he heard it not. His love of others never has an end, and their rest in him has also no end : all this takes place naturally ] . 3. When one sees at a distance his old country and old city, he feels a joyous satisfaction 2 . Though it be full of mounds and an overgrowth of trees and grass, and when he enters it he finds but a tenth part remaining, still he feels that satis- faction. How much more when he sees what he saw, and hears what he heard before ! All this is to him like a tower eighty cubits high exhibited in the sight of all men. 1 That is, ' he does so m the spontaneity of his nature/ The Iffi rec l u i res the employment of the term 'nature* here, not according to any abstract usage of the term, but meaning the natural constitution. Compare the ^ ^ in Mencms VII, i, 30. 2 So does he rejoice in attaining to the knowledge of his nature. PT. III. SECT. III. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-SZE, II 7 (The sovereign) ZSn-hsiang 1 was possessed of that central principle round which all things re- volve 2 , and by it he could follow them to their completion. His accompanying them had neither ending nor beginning, and was independent of impulse or time. Daily he witnessed their changes, and himself underwent no change ; and why should he not have rested in this ? If we (try to) adopt Heaven as our Master, we incapacitate ourselves from doing so. Such endeavour brings us under the power of things. If one acts in this way, what is to be said of him ? The sage never thinks of Heaven nor of men. He does not think of taking the initiative, nor of anything external to himself. He moves along with his age, and does not vary or fail. Amid all the completeness of his doings, he is never exhausted. For those who wish to be in accord with him, what other course is there to pursue ? When Thang got one to hold for him the reins of government, namely, Man-yin Tang-hang 3 , -he employed him as his teacher. He followed his master, but did not allow himself to be hampered by him, and so he succeeded in following things to their completion. The master had the name ; but that name was a superfluous addition to his laws, and the twofold character of his government was made apparent 4 . Aung-nl's ' Task your thoughts to the utmost* was his expression of the duties of a 1 A sage sovereign prior to the three Hwang or August ones. a See the same phraseology in Book II, par. 3. 8 I have followed Lin Hsi-ung in taking these four characters as the name of one man. 4 There was a human element in it instead of the Heavenly only; but some critics think the text here is erroneous or defective. Il8 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxv. master. Yung-khang said, 'Take the days away and there will be no year ; without what is internal there will be nothing external V 4. (King) Yung 2 of Wei made a treaty with the marquis Thien M&u 3 (of Kh), which the latter violated. The king was enraged, and intended to send a man to assassinate him. When the Minister of War 4 heard of it, he was ashamed, and said (to the king), 'You are a ruler of 10,000 chariots, and by means of a common man would avenge yourself on your enemy. I beg you to give me, Yen, the command of 200,000 soldiers to attack him for you. I will take captive his people and officers, halter (and lead off) his oxen and horses, kindling a fire within him that shall burn to his backbone. I will then storm his capital ; and when he shall run away in terror, I will flog his back and break his spine/ Al-jze 6 heard of this advice, and was ashamed of it, and said (to the king), 'We have been raising the wall (of our capital) to a height of eighty cubits, and the work has been completed. If we now get it thrown down, it will be a painful toil to the convict builders. It is now seven years 1 Said to have been employed by Hwang-Ti to make the calendar. 2 BC STQ-S 1 ?- s I do not find the name Mau as belonging to any of the Thien rulers of Kh\. The name of the successor of Thien Ho, who has been before us, was ^p, Wu, for which ^, M&u, may be a mistake, or 'the marquis Mau' may be a creation of our author. 4 Literally, ' the Rhinoceros' Head/ the title of * the Minister of War ' in Wei, who was at this time a Kung-sun Yen. See the memoir of him in Sze-ma -Oien, Book IX of his Biographies. 5 I do not know that anything moie can be said of Kl and Hwa than that they weie officers of Wei. PT. ill. SECT. III. THE WRITINGS OF 1TWANG-3ZE. IIQ since our troops were called out, and this is the foundation of the royal sway. Yen would introduce disorder ; he should not be listened to. 1 Hwi-jze l heard of this advice, and, greatly disapproving of it, said (to the king), ' He who shows his skill in say- ing "Attack Kkl" would produce disorder; and he who shows his skill in saying " Do not attack it" would also produce disorder. And one who should (merely) say, " The counsellors to attack K/A and not to attack it would both produce dis- order/' would himself also lead to the same result/ The king said, ' Yes, but what am I to do ? ' The reply was, ' You have only to seek for (the rule of) the Tao (on the subject)/ Hui-jze, having heard of this counsel, introduced to the king T&i 3in-an 2 , who said, ' There is the creature called a snail ; does your majesty know it ?' ' 1 do/ ' On the left horn of the snail there is a kingdom which is called Provocation, and on the right horn another which is called Stupidity. These two kingdoms are continually striving about their territories and fighting. The corpses that lie on the ground amount to several myriads. The army of one may be defeated and put to flight, but in fifteen days it will return/ The king said, * Pooh ! that is empty talk ! ' The other rejoined, ' Your servant begs to show your majesty its real signifi- cance. When your majesty thinks of space east, west, north, and south, above and beneath can you set any limit to it ? ' * It is illimitable/ said the king ; and his visitor went on, ' Your majesty knows 1 See note 5 on preceding page. 2 Evidently a man of considerable reach of thought. I2O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK.XXV. how to let your mind thus travel through the illimit- able, and yet (as compared with this) does it not seem insignificant whether the kingdoms that communi- cate one with another exist or not?' The king replies, ' It does so ; ' and Tdi 3in-^an said, finally, * Among those kingdoms, stretching one after an- other, there is this Wei ; in Wei there is this (city of) Liang 1 ; and in Liang there is your majesty. Can you make any distinction between yourself, and (the king of that kingdom of) Stupidity?' To this the king answered, * There is no distinction,' and his visitor went out, while the king remained disconcerted and seemed to have lost himself. When the visitor was gone, Hui-jze came in and saw the king, who said, ' That stranger is a Great man. An (ordinary) sage is not equal to him/ Hui-jze replied, ' If you blow into a flute, there come out its pleasant notes ; if you blow into a sword-hilt, there is nothing but a wheezing sound. Y&o and Shun are the subjects of men's praises, but if you speak of them before Tdi j$m-zan, there will be but the wheezing sound.' 5. Confucius, having gone to Khh, was lodging in the house of a seller of Congee at Ant-hill. On the roof of a neighbouring house there appeared the husband and his wife, with their servants, male and female 2 . 3 z e-l& said, ' What are those people doing, 1 Liang, the capital, came to be used also as the name of the state ; as in Mencius. a ' They were on the roof, repairing it/ say some ' They had got on the roof, to get out of the way of Confucius/ say others. The sequel shows that this second interpretation is correct ; but we do not see how the taking to the roof facilitated their departure from the house. PT. III. SECT. III. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 121 collected there as we see them ? ' ATimg-nJ replied, ' The man is a disciple of the sages. He is burying himself among the people, and hiding among the fields. Reputation has become little in his eyes, but there is no bound to his cherished aims. Though he may speak with his mouth, he never tells what is in his mind. Moreover, he is at variance with the age, and his mind disdains to associate with it ; he is one who may be said to lie hid at the bottom of the water on the dry land. Is he not a sort of 1 Li&o of Shih-nan ? ' 3ze-\& asked leave to go and call him, but Confucius said, ' Stop. He knows that I understand him well. He knows that I am come to Kh&, and thinks that I am sure to try and get the king to invite him (to court). He also thinks that I am a man swift to speak. Being such a man, he would fee] ashamed to listen to the words of one of voluble and flattering tongue, and how much more to come himself and see his person! And why should we think that he will remain here ? ' 3ze-10, however, went to see how it was, but found the house empty. 6. The Border-warden of A^ang-wfi 1 , in question- ing 3ze-l&o 2 , said, ' Let not a ruler in the exercise of his government be (like the farmer) who leaves the clods unbroken, nor, in regulating his people, (like one) who recklessly plucks up the shoots. Formerly, in ploughing my corn-fields, I left the clods un- broken, and my recompense was in the rough unsatisfactory crops; and in weeding, I destroyed and tore up (many good plants), and my recompense was in the scantiness of my harvests. In subse- 1 Probably the same as the -ff^ang-wfl Qze in Book II, par. 9. 9 See Analects IX, vi, 4. 122 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXV. quent years I changed my methods, ploughing deeply and carefully covering up the seed ; and my harvests were rich and abundant, so that all the year I had more than I could eat/ When A"wang-jze heard of his remarks, he said, ' Now-a- days, most men, in attending to their bodies and regulating their minds, correspond to the descrip- tion of the Border-warden. They hide from them- selves their Heaven(-given being) ; they leave (all care of) their (proper) nature ; they extinguish their (proper) feelings ; and they leave their spirit to die : abandoning themselves to what is the general prac- tice. Thus dealing with their nature like the farmer who is negligent of the clods in his soil, the illegiti- mate results of their likings and dislikings become their nature. The bushy sedges, reeds, and rushes, which seem at first to spring up to support our bodies, gradually eradicate our nature, and it be- - comes like a mass of running sores, ever liable to flow out, with scabs and ulcers, discharging in flow- ing matter from the internal heat. So indeed it is ! ' 7. Po A^u 1 was studying with Lio Tan, and asked his leave to go and travel everywhere. Lao Tan said, ' Nay; elsewhere it is just as here/ He re- peated his request, and then Lao Tan said, ' Where would you go first ? ' ' I would begin with KM' replied the disciple. * Having got there, I would go to look at the criminals (who had been exe- cuted). With my arms I would raise (one of) them up and set him on his feet, and, taking off my court robes, I would cover him with them, appealing at 1 We can only say of Po Ku that he was a disciple of LSo-jze. PT. in. SECT. III. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-SZE. 123 the same time to Heaven and bewailing his lot, while I said \ " My son, my son, you have been one of the first to suffer from the great calamities that afflict the world 2 ."' (Uo Tan) said 1 , * (It is said), " Do not rob. Do not kill." (But) in the setting up of (the ideas of) glory and disgrace, we see the cause of those evils ; in the accumulation of pro- perty and wealth, we see the causes of strife and contention. If now you set up the things against which men fret ; if you accumulate what produces strife and contention among them ; if you put their persons in such a state of distress, that they have no rest or ease, although you may wish that they should not come to the end of those (criminals), can } our wish be realised ? 4 The superior men (and rulers) of old considered that the success (of their government) was to be found in (the state of) the people, and its failure to be sought in themselves; that the right might be with the people, and the wrong in themselves. Thus it was that if but a single person lost his life, they retired and blamed themselves. Now, however, it is not so. (Rulers) conceal what they want done, and hold those who do not know it to be stupid ; they require what is very difficult, and condemn those who do not dare to undertake it ; they impose heavy burdens, and punish those who are unequal to them ; they require men to go far, and put them to death when they cannot accomplish the distance. When the people know that the utmost of their 1 There are two Q here, and the difficulty in translating is to determine the subject of each. 2 The SI of the text here is taken as = M, 124 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxv. strength will be insufficient, they follow it up with deceit. When (the rulers) daily exhibit much hypo- crisy, how can the officers and people not be hypocri- tical ? Insufficiency of strength produces hypocrisy; insufficiency of knowledge produces deception ; in- sufficiency of means produces robbery. But in this case against whom ought the robbery and theft to be charged ? ' 8. When AAI Po-yii was in his sixtieth year, his views became changed in the course of it 1 . He had never before done anything but consider the views which he held to be right, but now he came to condemn them as wrong ; he did not know that what he now called right was not what for fifty-nine years he had been calling wrong. All things have the life (which we know), but we do not see its root ; they have their goings forth, but we do not know the door by which they depart. Men all honour that which lies within the sphere of their know- ledge, but they do not know their dependence on what lies without that sphere which would be their (true) knowledge : may we not call their case one of great perplexity ? Ah ! Ah ! there is no escaping from this dilemma. So it is ! So it is ! 9. Afung-ni asked the Grand Historiographer 2 Tfi Th&o, (along with) Po A"ang-ien and A^ih-wei, saying, 'Duke Ling of Wei was so addicted to 1 Confucius thought highly of this JSTd Po-ytt, and they were friends (Analects, XIV, 26; XV, 6). It would seem from this paragraph that, in his sixtieth year, he adopted the principles of Taoism. Whether he really did so we cannot tell. See also Book IV, par. 5. 8 We must translate here in the singular, for in the historiographer's department there were only two officers with the title of ' Grand ; ' Po Khang-kh\en and A^ih-wei would be inferior members of it. PT. III. SECT. III. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. 125 drink, and abandoned to sensuality, that he did not attend to the government of his state. Occupied in his pursuit of hunting with his nets and bows, he kept aloof from the meetings of the princes. In what was it that he showed his title to the epithet of Ling 1 ?' T Thdo said, * It was on account of those very things/ Po AT^ang-^ien said, ' Duke Ling had three mistresses with whom he used to bathe in the same tub. (Once, however), when Shih-jhift came to him with presents from the imperial court, he made his servants support the messenger in bearing the gifts 2 . So dissolute was he in the former case, and when he saw a man of worth, thus reverent was he to him. It was on this account that he was styled " Duke Ling/' ' jOih- wei said, ' When duke Ling died, and they divined about burying him in the old tomb of his House, the answer was unfavourable ; when they divined about burying him on Sh-Mift, the answer was favour- able. Accordingly they dug there to the depth of several fathoms, and found a stone coffin. Having washed and inspected it, they discovered an inscrip- tion, which said, " This grave will not be available for your posterity ; Duke Ling will appropriate it for himself/' 1 Ling (jfH), as a posthumous epithet, has various meanings, none of them very bad, and some of them very good. Confucius ought to have been able to solve his question himself better than any of the historiographers, but he propounded his doubt to them for reasons which he, no doubt, had. 2 We are not to suppose that the royal messenger found him in the tub with his three wives or mistresses. The two incidents mentioned illustrate two different phases of his character, as some of the critics, and even the text itself, clearly indicate. 126 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxv. Thus that epithet of Ling had long been settled for the duke \ But how should those two be able to know this ? ' 10. Shdo K\h 2 asked Thdi-kung Thido 2 , saying, * What do we mean by " The Talk of the Hamlets and Villages ? " ' The reply was, ' Hamlets and Villages are formed by the union say of ten surnames and a hundred names, and are considered to be (the source of) manners and customs. The differences between them are united to form their common character, and what is common to them is separately apportioned to form the differences. If you point to the various parts which make up the body of a horse, you do not have the horse; but when the horse is before you, and all its various parts stand forth (as forming the animal), you speak of " the horse." So it is that the mounds and hills are made to be the elevations that they are by accumulations of earth which individually are but low. (So also rivers like) the A^iang and the Ho obtain their greatness by the union of (other smaller) waters with them. And (in the same way) the Great man exhibits the common sentiment of humanity by the union in himself of all its individualities. Hence when ideas come to him from without, though he 1 This explanation is, of course, absurd. 2 These two names are both metaphorical, the former meaning ' Small Knowledge/ and the latter, < The Grand Public and Just Harmonizer/ Small Knowledge would look for the Tdo in the ordinary talk of ordinary men. The other teaches him that it is to be found in ' the Great man/ blending in himself what is 'just ' in the sentiments and practice of all men. And so it is to be found in all the phenomena of nature, but it has itself no name, and does nothing. PT. III. SECT. III. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. 1 2 7 has his own decided view, he does not hold it with bigotry ; and when he gives out his own decisions, which are correct, the views of others do not oppose them. The four seasons have their different elemental characters, but they are not the partial gifts of Heaven, and so the year completes its course. The five official departments have their different duties, but the ruler does not partially employ any one of them, and so the kingdom is governed. (The gifts of) peace and war(are different), but the Great man does not employ the one to the prejudice of the other, and so the character (of his administration) is perfect. All things have their different constitutions and modes of actions, but the Tao (which directs them) is free from all partiality, and therefore it has no name. Having no name, it therefore does nothing. Doing nothing, there is nothing which it does not do. ' Each season has its ending and beginning ; each age has its changes and transformations ; misery and happiness regularly alternate. Here our views are thwarted, and yet the result may afterwards have our approval ; there we insist on our own views, and looking at things differently from others, try to correct them, while we are in error ourselves, The case may be compared to that of a great marsh, in which all its various vegetation finds a place, or we may look at it as a great hill, where trees and rocks are found on the same terrace. Such may be a description of what is intended by " The Talk of the Hamlets and Villages." ' Shdo Alh said, ' Well, is it sufficient to call it (an expression of) the T&o?' Thii-kung Thido said, 1 It is not so. If we reckon up the number of things, 128 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXV. they are not 10,000 merely. When we speak of them as " the Myriad Things," we simply use that large number by way of accommodation to denomi- nate them. In this way Heaven and Earth are the greatest of all things that have form ; the Yin and Yang are the greatest of all elemental forces. But the Teio is common to them. Because of their greatness to use the To or (Course) as a title and call it "the Great Tao" is allowable. But what com- parison can be drawn between it and " the Talk of the Hamlets and Villages ? " To argue from this that it is a sufficient expression of the Tdo, is like calling a dog and a horse by the same name, while the difference between them is so great/ ii. Shdo K\}\ said, 'Within the limits of the four cardinal points, and the six boundaries of space, how was it that there commenced the production of all things?' Thai-kung Thiao replied, 'The Yin and Yang reflected light on each other, covered each other, and regulated each the other ; the four seasons gave place to one another, produced one another, and brought one another to an end. Likings and dislikings, the avoidings of this and movements towards that, then arose (in the things thus pro- duced), in their definite distinctness ; and from this came the separation and union of the male and female. Then were seen now security and now in- security, in mutual change ; misery and happiness produced each other ; gentleness and urgency pressed on each other ; the movements of collection and dispersion were established : these names and pro- cesses can be examined, and, however minute, can be recorded. The rules determining the order in which they follow one another, their mutual influence PT. III. SECT. ill. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. I2Q now acting directly and now revolving, how, when they are exhausted, they revive, and how they end and begin again ; these are the properties belonging to things. Words can describe them and knowledge can reach to them ; but with this ends all that can be said of things. Men who study the Tio do not follow on when these operations end, nor try to search out how they began : with this all discussion of them stops/ Shdo JCih said, ' Ki j&in 1 holds that (the Tdo) forbids all action, and Afieh-jze l holds that it may perhaps allow of influence. Which of the two is correct in his statements, and which is one-sided in his ruling ? ' Thdi-kung Thido replied, ' Cocks crow and dogs bark ; this is what all men know. But men with the greatest wisdom cannot describe in words whence it is that they are formed (with such different voices), nor can they find out by think- ing what they wish to do. We may refine on this small point ; till it is so minute that there is no point to operate on, or it may become so great that there is no embracing it. " Some one caused it ; " " No one did it ; " but we are thus debating about things ; and the end is that we shall find we are in error. " Some one caused it;" then there was a real Being. " No one did it;" then there was mere vacancy. To have a name and a real existence, that is the condition of a thing. Not to have a name, and not 1 Two masters of schools of Taoism. Who the former was I do not know ; but Sze-md -Oien in the seventy-fourth Book of his Records mentions several Taoist masters, and among them -ATieh-gze, a native of KJ& 9 'a student of the arts of the Tdo and its Characteristics, as taught by Hwang- Tt and Lao-gze, and who also published his views on the subject.' [40] K I3O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxv. to have real being ; that is vacancy and no thing. We may speak and we may think about it, but the more we speak, the wider shall we be of the mark. Birth, before it comes, cannot be prevented ; death, when it has happened, cannot be traced farther. Death and life are not far apart ; but why they have taken place cannot be seen. That some one has caused them, or that there has been no action in the case are but speculations of doubt. When I look for their origin, it goes back into infinity ; when I look for their end, it proceeds without termination. Infinite, unceasing, there is no room for words about (the To). To regard it as in the category of things is the origin of the language that it is caused or that it is the result of doing nothing, but it would end as it began with things. The Tao can- not have a (real) existence ; if it has, it cannot be made to appear as if it had not. The name Tao is a metaphor, used for the purpose of description l . To say that it causes or does nothing is but to speak of one phase of things, and has nothing to do with the Great Subject. If words were sufficient for the purpose, in a day's time we might exhaust it ; since they are not sufficient, we may speak all day, and only exhaust (the subject of) things. The Tao is the extreme to which things conduct us. Neither speech nor silence is sufficient to convey the notion of it. Neither by speech nor by silence can our thoughts about it have their highest expression. 1 A very important statement with regard to the meaning of the name T&o. PT. III. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF J5TWANG-SZE. BOOK XXVI. PART III. SECTION IV. Wdi Wti, or * What comes from Without V i. What comes from without cannot be deter- mined beforehand. So it was that Lung-fang 2 was killed ; Pi-kan immolated ; and the count of Ki (made to feign himself) mad, (while) O-lcli died 3 , and A^ieh and K&M both perished. Rulers all wish their ministers to be faithful, but that faithfulness may not secure their confidence ; hence Wti Yiin became a wanderer along the Alang 4 , and A^ang Hung died in Shfi, where (the people) preserved his blood for three years, when it became changed into green jade 5 . Parents all wish their sons to be filial, but that filial duty may not secure their love; hence 1 See vol. xxxix, p. 155. 2 The name of Kwan Lung-fang, a great officer of ./Lieh, the tyrant of Hsid ; see Bk. IV, par i, et al. 3 A scion of the line of Kh\& whose fortunes culminated in Shih Hwang-Tf. O-lai assisted the tyrant of Shang, and was put to death by king Wu of ^au. 4 The famous Wu 3ze-hsii, the hero of Revenge, who made his escape along the -Slang, in about B. c. 512, to Wu, after the murder of his father and elder brother by the king of jOu. 5 See Bk. X, par. 2. In the 3o-wan, under the third year of duke Ai, it is related that the people of Kba killed <iang Hung ; but nothing is said of this being done in Shu, or of his blood turning to green jade 1 This we owe to the Khun Khti. of Lti. K 2 132 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxvi. Hsi&o-t l had to endure his sorrow, and 3ang Sh&n his grief 2 . When wood is rubbed against wood, it begins to burn ; when metal is subjected to fire, it (melts and) flows. When the Yin and Yang act awry, heaven and earth are greatly perturbed; and on this comes the crash of thunder, and from the rain comes fire, which consumes great locust trees 3 . (The case of men) is still worse. They are troubled between two pitfalls 4 , from which they cannot es- cape. Chrysalis-like, they can accomplish nothing. Their minds are as if hung up between heaven and earth. Now comforted, now pitied, they are plunged in difficulties. The ideas of profit and of injury rub against each other, and produce in them a very great fire. The harmony (of the mind) is consumed in the mass of men. Their moonlike intelligence cannot overcome the (inward) fire. They thereupon fall away more and more, and the Course (which they should pursue) is altogether lost. 2. The family of ./Twang K&M being poor, he went to ask the loan of some rice from the Marquis Super- intendent of the Ho 5 , who said, * Yes, I shall be 1 Said to have been the eldest son of king Wu Ting or Kao Sung of the Yin dynasty. I do not know the events in his expe- rience to which our author must be referring. 8 The well-known disciple of Confucius, famous for his filial piety. 8 The lightning accompanying a thunderstorm. 4 The ideas of profit and injury immediately mentioned. 8 In another version of this story, in Liu Hsiang's Shwo Ytian, XI, art. 13, the party applied to is ' duke W&n of Wei ; ' but this does not necessarily conflict with the text. The genuineness of the paragraph is denied by Lin Hsf-^ung and others ; but I seem to see the hand of ATwang-jze in it. PT. III. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. 133 getting the (tax-) money from the people (soon), and I will then lend you three hundred ounces of silver ; will that do ? ' TSfwang K&M flushed with anger, and said, ' On the road yesterday, as I was coming here, I heard some one calling out. On looking round, I saw a goby in the carriage rut, and said to it, "Goby fish, what has brought you here ? " The goby said, " I am Minister of Waves in the Eastern Sea. Have you, Sir, a gallon or a pint of water to keep me alive?" I replied, " Yes, I am going south to see the kings of Wft and Yueh, and I will then lead a stream from the Western A^iang to meet you; will that do ?" The goby flushed with anger, and said, " I have lost my proper ele- ment, and I can here do nothing for myself; but if I could get a gallon or a pint of water, I should keep alive. Than do what you propose, you had better soon look for me in a stall of dry fish/' ' 3. A son of the duke of Z&n 1 , having provided himself with a great hook, a powerful black line, and fifty steers to be used as bait, squatted down on (mount) Kw&i Khi, and threw the line into the Eastern Sea. Morning after morning he angled thus, and for a whole year caught nothing. At the end of that time, a great fish swallowed the bait, and dived down, dragging the great hook with him. Then it rose to the surface in a flurry, and flapped with its fins, till the white waves rose like hills, and the waters were lashed into fury. The noise was like that of imps and spirits, and spread terror 1 I suppose this was merely a district of Kh^ and the duke of it merely the officer in charge of it ; according to the practice of the rulers of -ffM, after they usurped the title of King. 134 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXVI. for a thousand li. The prince having got such a fish, cut it in slices and dried them. From the A!eh river l to the east, and from 3hang-wft 2 to the north, there was not one who did not eat his full from that fish ; and in subsequent generations, story-tellers of small abilities have all repeated the story to one another with astonishment. (But) if the prince had taken his rod, with a fine line, and gone to pools and ditches, and watched for minnows and gobies, it would have been difficult for him to get a large fish. Those who dress up their small tales to obtain favour with the magistrates are far from being men of great understanding ; and therefore one who has not heard the story of this scion of Zan is not fit to take any part in the government of the world; far is he from being so 3 . 4. Some literati, students of the Odes and Cere- monies, were breaking open a mound over a grave 4 . The superior among them spoke down to the others, ' Day is breaking in the east ; how is the thing going on ?' The younger men replied, ' We have not yet opened his jacket and skirt, but there is a pearl in the mouth. As it is said in the Ode, " The bright, green grain Is growing on the sides of the mound. 1 The ffl ffi of th e text = the Jjjff jfc, still giving its name to the province so called. 2 Where Shun was buried. 8 This last sentence is difficult to construe, and to understand. The genuineness of this paragraph is also questioned, and the style is inferior to that of the preceding. 4 I can conceive of ATwang-jze telling this story of some literati who had been acting as resurrectionists, as a joke against their class ; but not of his writing it to form a part of his work. PT. III. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF JSTWANG-3ZE. 135 While living, he gave nothing away ; Why, when dead, should he hold a pearl in his mouth 1 ?"' Thereupon they took hold of the whiskers and pulled at the beard, while the superior introduced a piece of fine steel into the chin, and gradually separated the jaws, so as not to injure the pearl in the mouth. 5. A disciple of Lo Ldi-jze 2 , while he was out gathering firewood, met with jfifung-nl. On his return, he told (his master), saying, c There is a man there, the upper part of whose body is long and the lower part short. He is slightly hump-backed, and his ears are far back. When you look at him, he seems occu- pied with the cares of all within the four seas ; I do not know whose son he is.' Lo Ldi-gze said, * It is Khih] call him here;' and when ICung-ni came, he said to him, ' jOiu, put away your personal conceit, and airs of wisdom, and show yourself to be indeed a superior man/ A\mg-nl bowed and was retiring, when he abruptly changed his manner, and asked, * Will the object I am pursuing be thereby advanced ?' Lo Ldi-jze replied, * You cannot bear the sufferings of this one age, and are stubbornly regardless of the 1 This verse is not found, so far as I know, anywhere else. 2 Lao Lai-jze appears here as a contemporary of Confucius, and the master of a Taoistic school, and this also is the view of him which we receive from the accounts in Sze-ma -Oien and Hwang- fft Mi. Sze-ma says he published a work in fifteen sections on the usefulness of Taoism. Some have imagined that he was the same as Lao-jze himself, but there does not appear any ground for that opinion. He is one of the twenty-four examples of Filial Piety so celebrated among the Chinese ; but I suspect that the accounts of him as such are fabrications. He certainly lectures Confucius here m a manner worthy of Lao Tan. 136 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXVI. evils of a myriad ages : is it that you purposely make yourself thus unhappy ? or is it that you have not the ability to comprehend the case? Your obstinate purpose to make men rejoice in a partici- pation of your joy is your life-long shame, the proce- dure of a mediocre man. You would lead men by your fame; you would bind them to you by your secret art. Than be praising Yo and condemning Aleh, you had better forget them both, and shut up your tendency to praise. If you reflect on it, it does nothing but injury; your action in it is entirely wrong. The sage is full of anxiety and indecision in under- taking anything, and so he is always successful. But what shall I say of your conduct ? To the end it is all affectation.' 6. The ruler Yuan of Sung 1 (once) dreamt at mid- night that a man with dishevelled hair peeped in on him at a side door and said, ' I was coming from the abyss of 3^i'16 commissioned by the Clear Amng to go to the place of the Earl of the Ho ; but the fisher- man Yii 3u has caught me/ When the ruler Yuan awoke, he caused a diviner to divine the meaning (of the dream), and was told, ' This is a marvellous tor- toise/ The ruler asked if among the fishermen there was one called Yu 3u, and being told by his atten- dants that there was, he gave orders that he should be summoned to court. Accordingly the man next day appeared at court, and the ruler said, 'What have you caught (lately) in fishing ? ' The reply was, ' I have caught in my net a white tortoise, sieve- like, and five cubits round/ ' Present the prodigy here/ said the ruler ; and, when it came, once and 1 Compare in Bk. XXI, par. 7. PT. III. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 137 again he wished to kill it, once and again he wished to keep it alive. Doubting in his mind (what to do), he had recourse to divination, and obtained the answer, ' To kill the tortoise for use in divining will be fortunate/ Accordingly they cut the creature open, and perforated its shell in seventy-two places, and there was not a single divining slip which failed 1 . ./sfiing-nl said, ' The spirit-like tortoise could show itself in a dream to the ruler Yuan, and yet it could not avoid the net of Yu 3u. Its wisdom could re- spond on seventy-two perforations without failing in a single divination, and yet it could not avoid the agony of having its bowels all scooped out. We see from this that wisdom is not without its perils, and spirit-like intelligence does not reach to everything. A man may have the greatest wisdom, but there are a myriad men scheming against him. Fishes do not fear the net, though they fear the pelican. Put away your small wisdom, and your great wisdom will be bright ; discard your skilfulness, and you will become naturally skilful. A child when it is born needs no great master, and yet it becomes able to speak, living (as it does) among those who are able to speak/ 7. Hui-jze said to TTwang-jze, ' You speak, Sir, of what is of no use/ The reply was, ' When a man knows what is not useful, you can then begin to speak to him of what is useful. The earth for in- stance is certainly spacious and great ; but what a 1 The story of this wonderful tortoise is found at much greater length, and with variations, in Sze-mS, Alien's Records, Bk. LXVIII, q. v. The moral of it is given in the concluding remarks from Confucius. 1 38 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxvi. man uses of it is only sufficient ground for his feet. If, however, a rent were made by the side of his feet, down to the yellow springs, could the man still make use of it ?' Hui-jze said, ' He could not use it/ and ./ifwang-jze rejoined, * Then the usefulness of what is of no use is clear V 8. A^wang-jze said, ' If a man have the power to enjoy himself (in any pursuit), can he be kept from doing so ? If he have not the power, can he so enjoy himself? There are those whose aim is bent on concealing themselves, and those who are deter- mined that their doings shall leave no trace. Alas ' they both shirk the obligations of perfect knowledge and great virtue. The (latter) fall, and cannot re- cover themselves ; the (former) rush on like fire, and do not consider (what they are doing). Though men may stand to each other in the relation of ruler and minister, that is but for a time. In a changed age, the one of them would not be able to look down on the other. Hence it is said, " The Perfect man leaves no traces of his conduct." 'To honour antiquity and despise the present time is the characteristic of learners 2 ; but even the dis- ciples of A^ih-wei 3 have to look at the present age ; and who can avoid being carried along by its course ? It is only the Perfect man who is able to enjoy him- self in the world, and not be deflected from the right, 1 See Bk. I, par. 6, and XXIV, par. 14. The conversations between our author and Hui-jze often turned on this subject. * Does our author mean by ' learners ' the literati, the disciples of Confucius ? 8 JTMi-wei, see Bk. VI, par. 7. Perhaps 'the disciples of A%ih-wei ' are those who m our author's time called themselves such, but were not. PT. ill. SECT. iv. THE WRITINGS OF JHVANG-3ZE. 139 to accommodate himself to others and not lose him- self. He does not learn their lessons ; he only takes their ideas into consideration, and does not discard them as different from his own. 9. ' It is the penetrating eye that gives clear vision, the acute ear that gives quick hearing, the discrimi- nating nose that gives discernment of odours, the practised mouth that gives the enjoyment of flavours, the active mind that acquires knowledge, and the far-reaching knowledge that constitutes virtue. In no case does the connexion with what is without like to be obstructed ; obstruction produces stoppage ; stoppage, continuing without intermission, arrests all progress ; and with this all injurious effects spring up. ' The knowledge of all creatures depends on their breathing 1 . But if their breath be not abundant, it is not the fault of Heaven, which tries to penetrate them with it, day and night without ceasing; but men notwithstanding shut their pores against it. The womb encloses a large and empty space ; the heart has its spontaneous and enjoyable movements. If their apartment be not roomy, wife and mother- in-law will be bickering ; if the heart have not its spontaneous and enjoyable movements, the six facul- ties of perception 2 will be in mutual collision. That 1 There seems to underlie this statement the Taoist dogma about the regulation of the ' breath/ as conducive to long life and mental cultivation. 2 Probably what in Buddhist literature are called ' the Six En- trances (^ ,A)/ what Ma 7 ers denominates 'The Six Organs of Admittance, or Bodily Sensations,' the Sha^dyatana, the eye, ear, nose, mouth, body, and mind, one of the twelve Niddnas m the Buddhist system. J4O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK.XXVI. the great forests, the heights and hills, are pleasant to men, is because their spirits cannot overcome (those distracting influences). Virtue overflows into (the love of) fame ; (the love of) fame overflows into violence ; schemes originate in the urgency (of cir- cumstances) ; (the show of) wisdom comes from rivalry; the fuel (of strife) is produced from the obstinate maintenance (of one's own views) ; the business of offices should be apportioned in accord- ance with the approval of all. In spring, when the rain and the sunshine come seasonably, vegetation grows luxuriantly, and sickles and hoes begin to be prepared. More than half of what had fallen down becomes straight, and we do not know how. 10. ' Stillness and silence are helpful to those who are ill ; rubbing the corners of the eyes is helpful to the aged ; rest serves to calm agitation ; but they are the toiled and troubled who have recourse to these things. Those who are at ease, and have not had such experiences, do not care to ask about them. The spirit-like man has had no experience of how it is that the sagely man keeps the world in awe, and so he does not inquire about it; the sagely man has had no experience of how it is that the man of ability and virtue keeps his age in awe, and so he does not in- quire about it ; the man of ability and virtue has had no experience of how it is that the superior man keeps his state in awe, and so he does not inquire about it. The superior man has had no experience of how it is that the small man keeps himself in agree- ment with his times that he should inquire about it/ 1 1. The keeper of the Yen Gate 1 , on the death of 1 The name of one of the gates in the wall of the capital of Sung. PT. III. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE his father, showed so much skill in emaciating his person l that he received the rank of ' Pattern for Officers/ Half the people of his neighbourhood (in consequence) carried their emaciation to such a point that they died. When Ydo wished to resign the throne to Hsu Yti, the latter ran away. When Thang offered his to Wti Kwang 2 , Wti Kwang be- came angry. When Ki Th 3 heard it, he led his disciples, and withdrew to the river Kho, where the feudal princes came and condoled with him, and after three years, Shan Thfi-tl 4 threw himself into the water. Fishing-stakes 6 are employed to catch fish ; but when the fish are got, the men forget the stakes. Snares are employed to catch hares, but when the hares are got, men forget the snares. Words are employed to convey ideas ; but when the ideas are apprehended, men forget the words. Fain would I talk with such a man who has forgot the words ! 1 The abstinences and privations in mourning were so many that there was a danger of their seriously injuring the health ; which was forbidden. 2 See Bk. VI, par. 3 ; but in the note there, Wu Kwang is said to have been of the time of Hwang-Tt ; which is probably an error. 8 See IV, par. 3 ; but I do not know who J5Ti Thd was, nor can I explain what is said of him here. 4 See again IV, par. 3. 8 According to some, ' baskets.' This illustration is quoted in the Inscription on the Nestorian Monument, II, 7. 142 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xx VII. BOOK XXVII. PART III. SECTION V. Yu Yen, or * Metaphorical Language 1 / i. Of my sentences nine in ten are metaphorical ; of my illustrations seven in ten are from valued writers. The rest of my words are like the water that daily fills the cup, tempered and harmonised by the Heavenly element in our nature 2 . The nine sentences in ten which are metaphorical are borrowed from extraneous things to assist (the comprehension of) my argument. (When it is said, for instance), ' A father does not act the part of' matchmaker for his own son/ (the meaning is that) * it is better for another man to praise the son than for his father to do so/ The use of such meta- phorical language is not my fault, but the fault of men (who would not otherwise readily under- stand me). Men assent to views which agree with their own, and oppose those which do not so agree. Those which agree with their own they hold to be right, and those which do not so agree they hold to be wrong. The seven out of ten illustrations taken from valued writers are designed to put an end to disputations. Those writers are the men of hoary eld, my predecessors in time. But such as are un- 1 See vol. xxxix, pp. 155, 156. 2 See Bk. II, par. 10. PT. III. SECT. v. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 143 versed in the warp and woof, the beginning and end of the subject, cannot be set down as of venerable eld, and regarded as the predecessors of others. If men have not that in them which fits them to precede others, they are without the way proper to man, and they who are without the way proper to man can only be pronounced defunct monuments of antiquity. Words like the water that daily issues from the cup, and are harmonised by the Heavenly Element (of our nature), may be carried on into the region of the unlimited, and employed to the end of our years. But without words there is an agreement (in prin- ciple). That agreement is not effected by words, and an agreement in words is not effected by it. Hence it is said, c Let there be no words/ Speech does not need words. One may speak all his life, and not have spoken a (right) word ; and one may not have spoken all his life, and yet all his life been giving utterance to the (right) words. There is that which makes a thing allowable, and that which makes a thing not allowable. There is that which makes a thing right, and that which makes a thing not right. How is a thing right ? It is right because it is right. How is a thing wrong ? It is wrong because it is wrong. How is a thing allow- able ? It is allowable because it is so. How is a thing not allowable ? It is not allowable because it is not so. Things indeed have what makes them right, and what makes them allowable. There is nothing which has not its condition of right ; nothing which has not its condition of allowability. But without the words of the (water-) cup in daily use, and harmonised by the Heavenly Element (in our 144 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. EK. XXVII. nature), what one can continue long in the possession of these characteristics ? All things are divided into their several classes, and succeed to one another in the same way, though of different bodily forms. They begin and end as in an unbroken ring, though how it is they do so be not apprehended. This is what is called the Lathe of Heaven ; and the Lathe of Heaven is the Heavenly Element in our nature. 2. AVang-jze said to Hui-jze, f When Confucius was in his sixtieth year, in that year his views changed l . What he had before held to be right, he now ended by holding to be wrong ; and he did not know whether the things which he now pronounced to be right were not those which he had for fifty-nine years held to be wrong/ Hui-jze replied, ' Confucius with an earnest will pursued the acquisition of know- ledge, and acted accordingly. 1 jfiTwang-jze rejoined, ' Confucius disowned such a course, and never said that it was his. He said, " Man receives his powers from the Great Source 2 (of his being), and he should restore them to their (original) intelligence in his life. His singing should be in accordance with the musical tubes, and his speech a model for imitation. When profit and righteousness are set before him, and his liking (for the latter) and dislike (of the 1 Compare this with the same language about Kii Po-yti in Bk. XXV, par. 8. There is no proof to support our author's assertion that the views of Confucius underwent any change. 2 ' The Great Source (Root) ' here is generally explained by ' the Grand Beginning/ It is not easy to say whether we are to understand an ideal condition of man designed from the first, or the condition of every man as he is born into the world On the 1 powers ' received by man, see Mencius VI, i, 6. PT. III. SECT. v. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 145 former), his approval and disapproval, are mani- fested, that only serves to direct the speech of men (about him). To make men in heart submit, and not dare to stand up in opposition to him ; to esta- blish the fixed law for all under heaven : ah ! ah ! I have not attained to that." ' 3. 3^ng-jze twice took office, and on the two occasions his state of mind was different He said, ' While my parents were alive I took office, and though my emolument was only three fti 1 (of grain), my mind was happy. Afterwards when I took office, my emolument was three thousand ^ung 2 ; but I could not share it with my parents, and my mind was sad/ The other disciples asked A'iing-nf, say- ing, ' Such an one as Shan may be pronounced free from all entanglement : is he to be blamed for feeling as he did 3 ? ' The reply was, ' But he was subject to entanglement 4 . If he had been free from it, could he have had that sadness ? He would have looked on his three fft and three thou- sand ^ung no more than on a heron or a mosquito passing before him.' 4. Yen A^ang 3ze-yft said to Tung-kwo ze.-kh\. 6 , * When I (had begun to) hear your instructions, the first year, I continued a simple rustic ; the second 1 A ffi = ten tdu and four shing, or sixty-four shing, the shing at present being rather less than an English pint. 2 A ung = sixty-four tdu; but there are various accounts of its size. 8 This sentence is difficult to construe. 4 But Confucius could not count his love for his parents an entanglement. 6 We must suppose this master to be the same as the Nan-kwo ofBk. II. [40] L 146 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM BK. xxvn. year, I became docile ; the third year, I compre- hended (your teaching) ; the fourth year, I was (plastic) as a thing ; the fifth year, I made advances ; the sixth year, the spirit entered (and dwelt in me) ; the seventh year, (my nature as designed by) Heaven was perfected ; the eighth year, I knew no difference between death and life ; the ninth year, I attained to the Great Mystery 1 . ' Life has its work to do, and death ensues, (as if) the common character of each were a thing pre- scribed. Men consider that their death has its cause ; but that life from (the operation of) the Yang has no cause. But is it really so ? How does (the Yang) operate in this direction ? Why does it not operate there ? ' Heaven has its places^ and spaces which can be calculated ; (the divisions of) the earth can be assigned by men. But how shall we search for and find out (the conditions of the Great Mystery) ? We do not know when and how (life) will end, but how shall we conclude that it is not determined (from without) ? and as we do not know when and how it begins, how should we conclude that it is not (so) determined ? ' In regard to the issues of conduct which we deem appropriate, how should we conclude that there are no spirits presiding over them ; and where those issues seem inappropriate, how should we conclude that there are spirits presiding over them ? ' 1 In illustration of the text here Lu Shu-&h refers to the use of Miao (j$), m the account of the term Spirit/ in the fifth Ap- pendix to the Yt, par. 10, as meaning 'the subtle (presence and operation of God) wiih all things/ 3ze-yu's further exposition of his attainments is difficult to understand fully. PT. III. SECT. v. THE WRITINGS OF HTWANG-3ZE. 147 5. The penumbrae (once) asked the shadow 1 , saying, ' Formerly you were looking down, and now you are looking up; formerly you had your hair tied up, and now it is dishevelled; formerly you were sitting, and now you have risen up ; formerly you were walking, and now you have stopped : how is all this?' The shadow said, 'Venerable Sirs, how do you ask me about such small matters ? These things all belong to me, but I do not know how they do so. I am (like) the shell of a cicada or the cast-off skin of a snake 2 ; like them, and yet not like them. With light and the sun I make my appearance ; with darkness and the night I fade away. Am not I dependent on the substance from which I am thrown? And that substance is itself dependent on something else ! When it comes, I come with it ; when it goes, I go with it. When it comes under the influence of the strong Yang, I come under the same. Since we are both produced by that strong Yang, what occasion is there for you to question me ? ' 6. Yang 3ze->u 3 had gone South to Phei 4 , while L&o Tan was travelling in the west in A^in 6 . (He thereupon) asked (Ldo-jze) to come to the border (of Phei), and went himself to Liang, where he met him. L&O-JZC stood in the middle of the way, and, looking up to heaven, said with a sigh, ' At first I thought that you might be taught, but now I see that you cannot be/ Yang 3ze-ii made no reply ; 1 Compare Bk. II, par. 1 1. 2 Such is the reading of 3iao Hung. 8 No doubt the Yang Kb of Lieh-jze and Mencius. * Seem XIV, 26 b. 6 In the borders of Phei; can hardly be the great State. L 2 148 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxvil. and when they came to their lodging-house, he brought in water for the master to wash his hands and rinse his mouth, along with a towel and comb. He then took off his shoes outside the door, went forward on his knees, and said, * Formerly, your disciple wished to ask you, Master, (the reason of what you said) ; but you were walking, and there was no opportunity, and therefore I did not presume to speak. Now there is an opportunity, and I beg to ask why you spoke as you did/ L&O-JZC replied, ' Your eyes are lofty, and you stare ; who would live with you ? The purest carries himself as if he were soiled ; the most virtuous seems to feel himself de- fective/ Yang 3ze-^u looked abashed and changed countenance, saying, ' I receive your commands with reverence/ When he first went to the lodging-house, the people of it met him and went before him. The master of it carried his mat for him, and the mistress brought the towel and comb. The lodgers left their mats, and the cook his fire-place (as he passed them). When he went away, the others in the house would have striven with him about (the places for) their mats \ 1 So had his arrogant superciliousness given place to humility. PT. III. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 149 BOOK XXVIII. PART III. SECTION VI. Zang Wang, or ' Kings who have wished to resign the Throne V i. Yao proposed to resign the throne to Hsu Yti, who would not accept it. He then offered it to 3^e-^au A'ih-ftl 2 , but he said, ' It is not unreasonable to propose that I should occupy the throne, but I happen to be suffering under a painful sorrow and illness. While I am engaged in dealing with it, I have not leisure to govern the kingdom/ Now the throne is the most important of all positions, and yet this man would not occupy it to the injury of his life ; how much less would he have allowed any other thing to do so ' But only he who does not care to rule the kingdom is fit to be entrusted with it. Shun proposed to resign the throne to 3 ze ~^ u A'ih-po 2 , who declined in the very same terms as Alh-fti had done. Now the kingdom is the greatest of all concerns, and yet this man would not give his life in exchange for the throne. This shows how they who possess the Tio differ from common men. 1 See vol. xxxix, pp. 156, 157. * We know nothing of this man but what is related here. He is, no doubt, a fictitious character. A'ih-fti and ATih-po are supposed to be the same individual. See Hwang-ffi Mi, I, 7. I5O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxvm. Shun proposed to resign the throne to Shan A'iian *, who said, ' I am a unit in the midst of space and time. In winter I wear skins and furs; in summer, grass-cloth and linen ; in spring I plough and sow, my strength being equal to the toil , in autumn I gather in my harvest, and am prepared to cease from labour and eat. At sunrise I get up and work ; at sunset I rest. So do I enjoy myself between heaven and earth, and my mind is content : why should I have anything to do with the throne ? Alas ! that you, Sir, do not know me better ' ' Thereupon he declined the proffer, and went away, deep among the hills, no man knew where. Shun proposed to resign the throne to his friend, a farmer of Shih-hft 2 . The farmer, however, said (to himself), * How full of vigour does our lord show himself, and how exuberant is his strength ' If Shun with all his powers be not equal (to the task of government, how should I be so ?).' On this he took his wife on his back, led his son by the hand, and went away to the sea-coast, from which to the end of his life he did not come back. When ThAZ-wang Than-fti 3 was dwelling in Pin ', the wild tribes of the North attacked him. He tried to serve them with skins and silks, but they were not satisfied. He tried to serve them with dogs and horses, but they were not satisfied, and then 1 Nor do we know more of Shan Auan, though Mi relates a visit of Yao to him. 2 Name of a place ; where it was is very uncertain. * An ancestor of the House of ^Tau, who about B c. 1325 removed from Pin (in the present small department so called of Shen-hsi), and settled in the district of -OJ-shan, department of F&ig-jhiang. He was the grandfather of king Wan. PT. III. SECT. vi. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 151 with pearls and jade, but they were not satisfied. What they sought was his territory. Thdi-wang Than-fft said (to his people), * To dwell with the elder brother and cause the younger brother to be killed, or with the father and cause the son to be killed, this is what I cannot bear to do. Make an effort, my children, to remain here. What difference is there between being my subjects, or the subjects of those wild people ? And I have heard that a man does not use that which he employs for nourishing his people to injure them/ Thereupon he took his staff and switch and left, but the people followed him in an unbroken train, and he established a (new) state at the foot of mount Kh\ l . Thus Thdi-wang Than-ffl might be pronounced one who could give its (due) honour to life. Those who are able to do so, though they may be rich and noble, will not, for that which nourishes them, injure their persons, and though they may be poor and mean, will not, for the sake of gain, involve their bodies (in danger). The men of the present age who occupy high offices and are of honourable rank all lose these (advan- tages) again, and in the prospect of gain lightly expose their persons to ruin : is it not a case of delusion ? The people of Yueh three times in succession killed their ruler, and the prince Su 2 , distressed by it, made his escape to the caves of Tan, so that Yueh was left without a ruler. The people sought 1 See note 3, p. 150. * Sze-ma A^ien takes up the history of Ytieh at a later period, and we have from him no details of this prince Sau. Tan-hstteh was the name of a district in the south of Ytieh, in which was a valley with caves containing cinnabar ; the fabled home of the phoenix 152 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXVIII. for the prince, but could not find him, till (at last) they followed him to the cave of Tan. The prince was not willing to come out to them, but they smoked him out with moxa, and made him mount the royal chariot. As he took hold of the strap, and mounted the carriage, he looked up to heaven, and called out, 1 O Ruler, O Ruler, could you not have spared me this ? ' Prince Sau did not dislike being ruler ; he disliked the evil inseparable from being so. It may be said of him that he would not for the sake of a kingdom endanger his life ; and this indeed was the reason why the people of Yueh wanted to get him for their ruler. 2. Han 1 and Wei 1 were contending about some territory which one of them had wrested from the other. gze-hwa ^ ze 2 wen t to see the marquis A'ao-hsi (of Han) 3 , and, finding him looking sorrowful, said, 1 Suppose now that all the states were to sign an agreement before you to the effect that " Whoever should with his left hand carry off (the territory in dispute) should lose his right hand, and whoever should do so with his right hand should lose his left hand, but that, nevertheless, he who should carry it off was sure to obtain the whole kingdom ;" would your lordship feel yourself able to carry it off?' The marquis said, ' I would not carry it off/ and 3ze-hw& rejoined, 'Very good. Looking at the thing from this point of view, your two arms are of more value to you than the whole kingdom. But 1 Two of the three states into which the great state of 3 in was divided about the beginning of the fifth century B.C. * A native, we may call him a philosopher, of Wei. 8 Began his rule in B.C. 359. FT. III. SECT. vi. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANGrSZE, 153 your body is of more value than your two arms, and Han is of much less value than the whole kingdom. The territory for which you are now contending is further much less important than Han : your lord- ship, since you feel so much concern for your body, should not be endangering your life by indulging your sorrow/ The marquis A^o-hsi said, ' Good ' Many have given me their counsel about this matter; but I never heard what you have said/ 3 7 -e-hwi 3ze may be said to have known well what was of great importance and what was of little. 3. The ruler of Lfi, having heard that Yen Ho 1 had attained to the Tao, sent a messenger, with a gift of silks, to prepare the way for further communi- cation with him. Yen Ho was waiting at the door of a mean house, in a dress of coarse hempen cloth, and himself feeding a cow 2 . When the messenger arrived, Yen Ho himself confronted him. * Is this/ said the messenger, ' the house of Yen Ho ? ' * It is/ was the reply ; and the other was presenting the silks to him, when he said, ' I am afraid you heard (your instructions) wrongly, and that he who sent you will blame you. You had better make sure/ The messenger on this returned, and made sure that he was right ; but when he came back, and sought for Yen Ho, he was not to be found. Yes; men like Yen Ho do of a truth dislike riches and honours. Hence it is said, 'The true 1 Perhaps the Yen Ho of IV, 5. 2 The same thing is often seen at the present day. The party in charge of the cow pours its prepared food down its throat from a joint of bamboo. 154 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxvili. object of the Tio is the regulation of the person. Quite subordinate to this is its use in the manage- ment of the state and the clan ; while the govern- ment of the kingdom is but the dust and refuse of it' From this we may see that the services of the Tls and Kings are but a surplusage of the work of the sages, and do not contribute to complete the person or nourish the life. Yet the superior men of the present age will, most of them, throw away their lives for the sake of their persons, in pursuing their (material) objects ; is it not cause for grief? When- ever a sage is initiating any movement, he is sure to examine the motive which influences him, and what he is about to do. Here, however, is a man, who uses a pearl like that of the marquis of Sui l to shoot a bird at a distance of 10,000 feet. All men will laugh at him ; and why ? Because the thing which he uses is of great value, and what he wishes to get is of little. And is not life of more value than the pearl of the marquis of Sui ? 4. 3 z e 2 Lieh-jze 2 was reduced to extreme poverty, and his person had a hungry look. A visitor men- tioned the case to 3ze-yang, (the premier) of A"ang, saying, ' Lieh Yii-khiu, I believe, is a scholar who has attained to the T&o. Is it because our ruler does not love (such) scholars, that he should be living in his state in such poverty ? ' 3 ze -y an g immediate!) ordered an officer to send to him a supply of grain. 1 Sui was a small feudal state, a dependency of Wei. Its name remains in the Sui-Mu, Teh-an department, Hti-pei. The story is that one of its lords having healed a wounded snake, the creature one night brought him a large pearl in its mouth. 2 The phraseology is peculiar. See Introductory Note on Bk XXXII. PT. in. SECT. vi. THE WRITINGS OF J5TWANG-3ZE. 155 When Lieh-jze saw the messenger, he bowed to him twice, and declined the gift, on which the messenger went away. On Lieh-jze's going into the house, his wife looked to him and beat her breast, saying, ' I have heard that the wife and children of a possessor of the Tao all enjoy plenty and ease, but now we look starved. The ruler has seen his error, and sent you a present of food, but you would not receive it ; is it appointed (for us to suffer thus) ? ' 3ze Lieh- jze laughed and said to her, ' The ruler does not him- self know me. Because of what some one said to him, he sent me the grain ; but if another speak (differently) of me to him, he may look on me as a criminal. This was why I did not receive the grain/ In the end it did come about, that the people, on an occasion of trouble and disorder, put 3 ze ~Y an g to death. 5. When king A'ao of Kkb l lost his kingdom, the sheep-butcher Yueh followed him in his flight. When the king (recovered) his kingdom and returned to it, and was going to reward those who had followed him, on coming to the sheep-butcher Yueh, that personage said, 'When our Great King lost his kingdom, I lost my sheep-killing. When his majesty got back his kingdom, I also got back my sheep- killing. My income and rank have been recovered * why speak further of rewarding me ? ' The king, (on hearing of this reply), said, ' Force him (to take the reward);' but Yueh said, * It was not through any crime of mine that the king lost his kingdom, 1 B.C. 515-489. He was driven from his capital by an invasion of Wfi, directed by Wft 3ze-hsU. 156 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXVIII. and therefore I did not dare to submit to the death (which would have been mine if I had remained in the capital). And it was not through any service of mine that he recovered his kingdom, and therefore I do not dare to count myself worthy of any reward from him/ The king (now) asked that the butcher should be introduced to him, but Yiieh said, ' According to the law of Kh^, great reward ought to be given to great service, and the recipient then be introduced to the king ; but now my wisdom was not sufficient to pre- serve the kingdom, nor my courage sufficient to die at the hands of the invaders. When the army of Wfi entered, I was afraid of the danger, and got out of the way of the thieves ; it was not with a distinct purpose (of loyalty) that I followed the king. And now he wishes, in disregard of the law, and violations of the conditions of our social compact, to see me in court ; this is not what I would like to be talked of through the kingdom.' The king said to 3ze-/zi, the Minister of War, ' The position of the sheep-butcher Yueh is low and mean, but his setting forth of what is right is very high ; do you ask him for me to accept the place of one of my three most distinguished nobles V (This being communicated to Yueh), he said, ' I know that the place of such a distinguished noble is nobler than a sheep-butcher s stall, and that the salary of 10,000 ^ung is more than its profits. But how should I, through my greed of rank and emolument, bring on our ruler the name of an unlawful dispensation of his gifts ? I dare not 1 Literally, ' My three banners or flags/ emblems of the favour of the sovereign. PT. III. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 157 respond to your wishes, but desire to return to my stall as the sheep-butcher/ Accordingly he did not accept (the proffered reward). 6. Yuan Hsien 1 was living in Lfl. His house, whose walls were only a few paces round, looked as if it were thatched with a crop of growing grass ; its door of brushwood was incomplete, with branches of a mulberry tree for its side-posts ; the window of each of its two apartments was formed by an earthen- ware jar (in the wall), which was stuffed with some coarse serge. It leaked above, and was damp on the ground beneath ; bu-t there he sat composedly, playing on his guitar. 3 ze "kung, in an inner robe of purple and an outer one of pure white, riding in a carriage drawn by two large horses, the hood of which was too high to get into the lane (leading to the house), went to see him. Yuan Hsien, in a cap made of bark, and slippers without heels, and with a stalk of hellebore for a staff, met him at the door. ' Alas ! Master/ said 3ze-kung, ' that you should be in such distress ! ' Yuan Hsien answered him, ' I have heard that to have no money is to be poor, and that not to be able to carry one's learning into prac- tice is to be distressed. I am poor but not in dis- tress/ 3ze-kung shrank back, and looked ashamed, on which the other laughed and said, ' To act with a view to the world's (praise) ; to pretend to be public- spirited and yet be a partisan ; to learn in order to please men ; to teach for the sake of one's own gain ; to conceal one's wickedness under the garb of 1 A disciple of Confucius, called also Yuan Sze; see Confucian Analects VI, iii, 3. With the description of his house or hut, com- pare in the U t, XXVIII, 10. 158 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXVIII. benevolence and righteousness ; and to be fond of the show of chariots and horses : these are things which Hsien cannot bear to do/ 3ang-jze was residing in Wei. He wore a robe quilted with hemp, and had no outer garment ; his countenance looked rough and emaciated ; his hands and feet were horny and callous ; he would be three days without lighting a fire ; in ten years he did not have a new suit ; if he put his cap on straight, the strings would break ; if he drew tight the overlap of his robe, his elbow would be seen ; in putting on his shoes, the heels would burst them. Yet dragging his shoes along, he sang the ' Sacrificial Odes of Shang ' with a voice that filled heaven and earth as if it came from a bell or a sounding stone. The Son of Heaven could not get him to be a minister; no feudal prince could get him for his friend. So it is that he who is nourishing his mind's aim forgets his body, and he who is nourishing his body discards all thoughts of gain, and he who is carrying out the To forgets his own mind. Confucius said to Yen Hui, ' Come here, Hui. Your family is poor, and your position is low ; why should you not take office ?' Hui replied, ' I have no wish to be in office. Outside the suburban dis- trict I possess fields to the extent of fifty acres, which are sufficient to supply me with congee ; and inside it I have ten acres, which are sufficient to supply me with silk and flax. I find my pleasure in playing on my lute, and your doctrines, Master, which I study, are sufficient for my enjoyment; I do not wish to take office/ Confucius looked sad, changed countenance, and said, ' How good is the mind of Hui ! I have heard that he who is con- PT. ill. SECT. vi. THE WRITINGS OF "WANG-3ZE. 159 tented will not entangle himself with the pursuit of gain, that he who is conscious of having gained (the truth) in himself is not afraid of losing other things, and that he who cultivates the path of inward rec- tification is not ashamed though he may have no official position. I have long been preaching this ; but to-day I see it realised in Hui : this is what I have gained/ 7. Prince Mdu 1 of .ATung-shan l spoke to ATan-jze 2 , saying, * My body has its place by the streams and near the sea, but my mind dwells at the court of Wei ; what have you to say to me in the circum- stances ? ' A'an-jze replied, * Set the proper value on your life. When one sets the proper value on his life, gain seems to him unimportant/ The prince rejoined, ' I know that, but I am not able to over- come (my wishes)/ The reply was, ' If you cannot master yourself (in the matter), follow (your inclina- tions so that) your spirit may not be dissatisfied. When you cannot master yourself, and try to force yourself where your spirit does not follow, this is what is called doing yourself a double^ injury ; and those who so injure themselves are not among the long-lived/ Mu of Wei was the son of a lord of ten thousand chariots. For him to live in retirement among crags and caves was more difficult than for a scholar who had not worn the dress of office. Although he 1 Prince Mau was a son of the marquis of Wei, and had been appointed to the appanage of A^ung-shan, corresponding to part of the present Ting Aau in Pei ^ih-li. 2 A worthy officer or thinker of Wei. One is not sure that his advice was altogether good. l6O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXVIII. had not attained to the T4o, he may be said to have had some idea of it. 8. When Confucius was reduced to extreme dis- tress between Khan, and 3hcii, for seven days he had no cooked meat to eat, but only some soup of coarse vegetables without any rice in it. His countenance wore the appearance of great exhaustion, and yet he kept playing on his lute and singing inside the house. Yen Hui (was outside), selecting the vegetables, while 3 ze "lft and 3 ze ~kung were talking together, and said to him, 'The Master has twice been driven from Lu ; he had to flee from Wei ; the tree (beneath which he rested) was cut down in Sung ; he was re- duced to extreme distress in Shang and A"du ; he is held in a state of siege here between A^an and 3hi ; any one who kills him will be held guiltless ; there is no prohibition against making him a prisoner. And yet he keeps playing and singing, thrumming his lute without ceasing. Can a superior man be without the feeling of shame to such an extent as this ? ' Yen Hui gave them no reply, but went in and told (their words) to Confucius, who pushed aside his lute, and said, ' Yft and 3hze are small men. Call them here, and I will explain the thing to them.' When they came in, 3 ze '^ said, ' Your present condition may be called one of extreme distress/ Confucius replied, ' What words are these ! When the Superior man has free course with his principles, that is what we call his success ; when such course is denied, that is what we call his failure. Now I hold in my embrace the principles of benevolence and righteousness, and with them meet the evils of a disordered age ; where is the proof of my being PT. ill. SECT. vi. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE l6l in extreme distress? Therefore looking inwards and examining myself, I have no difficulties about my principles; though I encounter such difficulties (as the present), I do not lose my virtue. It is when winter's cold is come, and the hoar-frost and snow are falling, that we know the vegetative power of the pine and cypress. This strait between Kh&s\ and 3h^i * s fortunate for me/ He then took back his lute so that it emitted a twanging sound, and began to play and sing. (At the same time) 3 ze '^ hurriedly, seized a shield, and began to dance, while 3ze-kung said, * I did not know (before) the height of heaven nor the depth of the earth/ The ancients who had got the Tao were happy when reduced to extremity, and happy when having free course. Their happiness was indepen- dent of both these conditions. The Tdo and its characteristics! let them have these and distress and success come to them as cold and heat, as wind and rain in the natural order of things. Thus it was that Hsu Yft found pleasure on the north of the river Ying, and that the earl of Kung enjoyed him- self on the top of mount (Kung) J . 9. Shun proposed to resign the throne to his friend, the Northerner Wti-Mi 2 , who said, ' A strange man you are, O sovereign ! You (first) lived among the channeled fields, and then your 1 This takes us to the famous Kung-ho period (B c. 842-828), but our author evidently follows the account of it found in the 'Bamboo Books;' see the prolegomena to the Shti King, p. 154. 2 We found, in Book XXI (see vol. xxxix, p. 133), Wti-ai as the name of Thien 3ze-fang. Here is the same name belonging to a much earlier man, ' a man of the north.' [40] M 1 62 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXVin. place was in the palace of Yo. And not only so: you now further wish to extend to me the stain of your disgraceful doings. I am ashamed to see you/ And on this he threw himself into the abyss of A^ing-lang 1 . When Thang was about to attack Aleh, he took counsel with Pien Sui, who said, * It is no business of mine/ Thang then said, ' To whom should I apply?' And the other said, 'I do not know/ Thang then took counsel with W6 Kwang, who gave the same answer as Pien Sui ; and when asked to whom he should apply, said in the same way, ' I do not know/ ' Suppose/ Thang then said, ' I apply to 1 Yin, what do you say about him ? ' The reply was, ' He has a wonderful power in doing what is disgraceful, and I know nothing more about him ! ' Thang thereupon took counsel with 1 Yin, attacked Aleh, and overcame him, after which he proposed to- resign the throne to Pien Sui, who declined it, saying, ' When you were about to attack TTieh, and sought counsel from me, you must have supposed me to be prepared to be a robber. Now that you have conquered A^ieh, and propose to resign the throne to me, you must consider me to be greedy. I have been born in an age of disorder, and a man without principle twice comes, and tries to extend to me the stain of his disgraceful proceedings ! I cannot bear to hear the repetition of his proposals/ With this he threw himself into the AHu 2 water and died. 1 At the foot of a hill in the present department of Nan-yang, Ho-nan. 2 The reading uncertain. PT III. SECT. vi. THE WRITINGS OF WANG-3ZE. 163 Thang further made proffer of the throne to W6 Kwang 1 , saying, * The wise man has planned it ; the martial man has carried it through ; and the benevolent man should occupy it : this was the method of antiquity. Why should you, Sir, not take the position ? ' Wft Kwang refused the proffer, saying, 'To depose the sovereign is contrary to right; to kill the people is contrary to benevo- lence. When another has encountered the risks, if I should accept the gain of his adventure, I should violate my disinterestedness. I have heard it said, " If it be not right for him to do so, one should not accept the emolument ; in an age of unprincipled (government), one should not put foot on the soil (of the) country : " how much less should I accept this position of honour ! I cannot bear to see you any longer/ And with this he took a stone on his back, and drowned himself in the Lu water 2 . 10. Formerly, at the rise of the K&M dynasty, there were two brothers who lived in Kft-/ll 3 , and were named Po-1 and Shfi-i. They spoke together and said, ' We have heard that in the west there is one who seems to rule according to the Right Way; let us go and see/ (Accordingly) they came to the south of (mount) Khi ; and when king Wft heard of them, he sent (his brother) Shft Tan to see them, and make a covenant with them, engaging that their wealth should be second (only to that of the king), and that their offices should be of the first rank, 1 Not elsewhere heard of, save in the same connexion. 2 In the west of L&o-tung. 8 A small principality, in the present Lwan-&u, department of Yung-phing ^ih-lf. M 2 164 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxvm. and instructing him to bury the covenant with the blood of the victim after they had smeared the cor- ners of their mouths with it l . The brothers looked at each other and laughed, saying, 'Ah! How strange ! This is not what we call the Right Way. Formerly, when Shan Nang had the kingdom, he offered his sacrifices at the proper seasons and with the utmost reverence, but without praying for any blessing. Towards men he was leal-hearted and sincere, doing his utmost in governing them, but without seeking anything for himself. When it was his pleasure to use administrative measures, he did so ; and a sterner rule when he thought that would be better. He did not by the ruin of others estab- lish his own power; he did not exalt himself by bringing others low; he did not, when the time was opportune, seek his own profit. But now A^u, seeing the disorder of Yin, has suddenly taken the government into its hands; with the high it has taken counsel, and with those below employed bribes ; it relies on its troops to maintain the terror of its might ; it makes covenants over victims to prove its good faith ; it vaunts its proceedings to please the masses ; it kills and attacks for the sake of gain : this is simply overthrowing disorder and changing it for tyranny. We have heard that the officers of old, in an age of good government, did not shrink from their duties, and in an age of disorder did not recklessly seek to remain in office. Now the kingdom is in a state of darkness; the virtue of K&u is decayed. Than to join with it and 1 According to the usual forms in which a covenant was made and established. The translation is free and diffuse. PT. in. SECT. VI, THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 165 lay our persons in the dust, it is better for us to abandon it, and maintain the purity of our conduct/ The two princes then went north to the hill of Shdu-yang \ where they died of starvation. If men such as they, in the matter of riches and honours, can manage to avoid them, (let them do so) ; but they must not depend on their lofty virtue to pursue any perverse course, only gratifying their own tendencies, and not doing service in their time : this was the style of these two princes. In the piesent department of Phfi-fau. Shan-hsi t 1 66 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxix. BOOK XXIX. PART III. SECTION VII. Tdo ATih, or 'The Robber Alh 1 .' i. Confucius was on terms of friendship with sia Ki 2 , who had a brother named Tao K\h. This T&o jKih had 9,000 followers, who marched at their will through the kingdom, assailing and oppressing the different princes. They dug through walls and broke into houses; they drove away people's cattle and horses ; they carried off people's wives and daughters. In their greed to get, they forgot the claims of kinship, and paid no regard to their parents and brethren. They did not sacrifice to their ancestors. Wherever they passed through the country, in the larger states the people guarded their city walls, and in the smaller the people took to their strongholds. All were dis- tressed by them. Confucius spoke to Liti-hsia Ki, saying, * Fathers should be able to lay down the law to their sons, 1 See vol. xxxix, pp. 157, 158. 2 Better known as Lifi-hsia Hui, under which designation he is mentioned both m the Confucian Analects and in Mencius, but it is an anachronism to say that Confucius was on terms of fiiendship ttith him. He was a scion of the distinguished family of -an in Lu, and was called -an Hwo and Aan Khm. We find, in the 3o A!Van, a son of his employed in an important expedition in B.C. 634, so that he, probably, had passed away before Confucius was born in B.C. 551, and must certainly have deceased before the death of 3ze-lu (480), which is mentioned in the Book. PT. III. SECT. vii. THE WRITINGS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 167 and elder to instruct their younger brothers. If they are unable to do so, they do not fulfil the duties of the relationships which they sustain. You, Sir, are one of the most talented officers of the age, and your younger brother is this Robber Kih. He is a pest in the kingdom, and you are not able to instruct him better ; I cannot but be ashamed of you, and I beg to go for you and give him counsel/ Liti-hsia Ki replied, 'You say, Sir, that fathers must be able to lay down the law to their sons, and elder to instruct their younger brothers, but if sons will not listen to the orders of their fathers, nor the younger receive the lessons of their elder brothers, though one may have your powers of per- suasion, what is to be done ? And, moreover, Alh is a man whose mind is like a gushing fountain, and his will like a whirlwind ; he is strong enough to resist all enemies, and clever enough to gloss over his wrong-doings. If you agree with him, he is glad ; if you oppose him, he is enraged ; and he readily meets men with the language of abuse. You must not go to him/ Confucius, however, did not attend to this advice. With Yen Hui as his charioteer, and 3 ze ~k un g seated on the right, he went to see Tao Alh, whom he found with his followers halted on the south of Thdi-shan, and mincing men's livers, which he gave them to eat. Confucius alighted from his carriage, and went forward, till he saw the usher, to whom he said, ' I, Khung Khfa of LA, have heard of the general's lofty righteousness/ bowing twice respectfully to the man as he said so. The usher went in and announced the visitor. But when Alh heard of the arrival, he flew into a great 1 68 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXIX. rage ; his eyes became like blazing stars, and his hair rose up and touched his cap. * Is not this fellow,' said he, ' Khung Ktiih, that artful hypocrite of Lfi ? Tell him from me, "You invent speeches and babble away, appealing without ground to (the examples of) Wan and Wfi. The ornaments on your cap are as many as the branches of a tree, and your girdle is (a piece of skin) from the ribs of a dead ox. The more you talk, the more non- sense you utter. You get your food without (the labour of) ploughing, and your clothes without (that of) weaving. You wag your lips and make your tongue a drum-stick. You arbitrarily decide what is right and what is wrong, thereby leading astray the princes throughout the kingdom, and making its learned scholars not occupy their thoughts with their proper business. You recklessly set up your filial piety and fraternal duty, and curry favour with the feudal princes, the wealthy and the noble. Your offence is great ; your crime is very heavy. Take yourself off home at once. If you do not do so, I will take your liver, and add it to the provision for to-day's food." ' But Confucius sent in another message, saying, I 1 enjoy the good will of (your brother) Ki, and I wish and hope to tread the ground beneath your tent 1 / When the usher had communicated this message, Tfio Alh said, ' Make him come forward/ On this Confucius hastened forwards. Declining to take a mat, he drew hastily back, and boweii twice to T&o Alh, who in a great rage stretched 1 That is, I wish to have an interview with you, to see and speak to you face to face. PT. III. SECT. vn. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. 169 his legs apart, laid his hand on his sword, and with glaring eyes and a voice like the growl of a nursing tigress, said, 'Come forwards, A7nti. If what you say be in accordance with my mind, you shall live ; but, if it be contrary to it, you shall die/ Confucius replied, ' I have heard that everywhere under the sky there are three (most excellent) qualities. To be naturally tall and large, to be elegant and hand- some without a peer, so that young and old, noble and mean, are pleased to look upon him ; this is the highest of those qualities. To comprehend both heaven and earth in his wisdom, and to be able to speak eloquently on all subjects; this is the middle one of them. To be brave and courageous, resolute and daring, gathering the multitudes round him, and leading on his troops ; this is the lowest of them. Whoever possesses one of these qualities is fit to stand with his face to the south l , and style himself a Prince. But you, General, unite in your- self all the three. Your person is eight cubits and two inches in height; there is a brightness about your face and a light in your eyes ; your lips look as if stained with vermilion ; your teeth are like rows of precious shells; your voice is attuned to the musical tubes, and yet you are named " The Robber Jfih." 1 am ashamed of you, General, and cannot approve of you. If you are inclined to listen to me, I should like to go as your commissioner to Wfi and Yueh in the south ; to Khi and Lti in the north ; to Sung and Wei in the east ; and to 3in and Kh& in the west. I will get them to build for you a great city several hundred 11 in size, to To take the position of a ruler in his court. 270 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. IV. his lips be glued together, and his teeth be firmly pressed against one another. Let him not look at anything with his eyes, nor listen to a single sound with his ears. Let him with all his mind watch over his inward feelings. Let him draw long breaths, and gradually emit them, without a break, now seeming to breathe, and now not. In this way any excitement of the mind will naturally disappear, the water from the kidneys will rise up, the saliva will be produced in the mouth, and the real efficaciousness becomes attached to the body. It is thus that one acquires the way of prolonging life. 2. During the twelve hours of the day let one's thoughts be constantly fixed on absolute Purity. Where one thought (of a contrary kind) does not arise, we have what we call Purity ; where nothing (of a contrary kind) enters the Tower of Intelligence ( = the mind), we have what we call the Undefiled, The body is the house of the breath ; the mind is the lodging of the spirit. As the thoughts move,' the spirit moves ; as the spirit moves, the breath is distributed. As the thoughts rest, the spirit rests ; when the spirit rests, the breath is collected. The true powers of the five elements unite and form the boat-like cup of jade, (after partaking of which), the body seems to be full of delicious harmony. This spreads like the unguent of the chrismal rite on the head. Walking, resting, sitting, sleeping, the man feels his body flexible as the wind, and in his belly a sound like that of thunder. His ears hear the songs of the Immortals, that need no aid from any instrument ; vocal without words, and resounding without the drum. The spirit and the breath effect a union and the bloom of APP. IV. CLASSIC OF THE DIRECTORY FOR A DAY. 27! childhood returns. The man beholds scenes un- folded within him ; Spirits of themselves speak to him ; he sees the things of vacuity, and finds himself dwelling with the Immortals. He makes the Great Elixir, and his spirit goes out and in at its pleasure. He has the longevity of heaven and earth, and the brightness of the sun and moon. He has escaped from the toils of life and death. Accustomed to the phraseology of the Text all his life, the commentator Li, as has been seen, did not think it necessary to append here any notes of explanation. A few such notes, however, will be welcome to an English reader. 'The twelve hours of the day:' a Chinese hour is equal to two of our hours, and their twelve to our twenty-four. The twelve hours are named by the twelve branch terms of the cycle. 1 The boat-like cup of jade ' seems to be a satisfactory rendering of the Chinese characters to kwei in the Text, which might be translated ' knife, and jade-symbol. 1 But to, commonly meaning 'knife,' is in the Shih King (I, v; VII, s) used of 'a small boat.' In the Khang-hsi Thesaurus, under the phrase, we have the following quota- tion, as if from Ko Hung's Biographies of Immortals : 1 KJian Hsi, a native of the territory of Wu, was studying the Tao in Shu, when the master Lo sent a beautiful young lady to him with a tray of gold and a cup of jade filled with medicine, and the message, " This is the mys- terious elixir ; he who drinks it will not die " And on this he and his wife had each a to kwei.' See the account in Ko Hung's work, which is much more diffuse. In the mention of * the chrismal rite ' there is a reference to what Dr Williams calls 'a kind of Buddhist baptism or holy unction, by sprinkling, which confers goodness, 1 'administered to children, idols, &c. J (See under the characters kwdn and ting.) 3. Do not allow any relaxation of your efforts. During all the hours of the day strive always to be 272 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. IV. pure and undefiled The spirit is the child of the breath ; the breath is the mother of the spirit. As a fowl embraces its eggs, do you preserve the spirit and nourish the breath. Can you do this without intermission ? Wonderful ! wonderful ! The mystery becomes still deeper ! In the body there are seven precious organs, which serve to enrich the state, to give rest to the people, and to make the vital force of the system full to overflowing. Hence we have the heart, the kidneys, the breath, the blood, the brains, the semen, and the marrow. These are the seven precious organs. They are not dispersed when the body returns (to the dust). Refined by the use of the Great Medicine, the myriad spirits all ascend among the Immortals. If we were sure that we had exactly hit the meaning and spirit of every part of this paragraph, it would hardly be worth while to give more space to its illustration. A sufficient number of the best of the Treatises of the later Tioism have been placed before the reader to show him how different they are from the writings of Lao and A^wang, and how inferior to them. It might seem as if A"wang-$ze, when he ceased to write, had broken the staff of Taoism and buried it many fathoms in the earth. We can hardly wonder that Confucianists, such as ATu Hsi, should pro- nounce, 'What the sect of Tao chiefly attend to is, the preservation of the breath of life;' and that Buddhists, such as Lid Mi, should say of it, * Long life being attained, its goal is reached/ APPENDIX V. Analyses by Lin Hsl-/ung of several of the Books of BOOK I. The Hsido-yio in the title of this Book denotes the appearance of perfect ease and satisfaction. The Yu, which conveys the idea of wandering or rambling about, is to be understood of the enjoyment of the mind. The three characters describe the chief characteristic of our ' Old A'wang's ' life, and therefore he placed the Book at the beginning of his more finished compositions or essays. But when one wishes to enjoy himself in the fullest and freest way, he must first have before him a view like that of the wide sea or of the expanse of the air, in order that his mind may be free from all restraint, and from the entanglements of the world, and that it may respond in the fitting way to everything coming before it : it is only what is Great that can enter into this enjoyment. Throughout the whole Book, the word Great has a significant force. In paragraph i we are presented with the illustration of the phang. Long was the journey which it would undertake, when it contemplated removing to the South. That it required a wind of 90,000 It to support it, and even then only rested after a flight of six months, was owing to its own Great size, and also because the Southern Ocean was not to be easily reached by a single effort. What is said, in paragraph 2, about men, when going anywhere, proportioning the provisions which they take [40] T 274 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. V. with them to the length of the journey has the same meaning. How should such creatures as the cicada and the little dove be able to know this ? Knowledge is great or small, because the years of the parties are many or few : so it is that one is inferior to another. Have they not heard of the ming-ling and tci-^un, which make their spring and autumn for themselves? And so does the phang, as we may understand. Its not resting till the end of six months is really not a long time to it. The case ofPhang3uis not worth being taken into account. This description of the greatness of the phang is not any fabrication of our author's own, nor any statement peculiar to the Kh\ Hsieh The same things are told in the * Questions of Thang to A'i/ as in paragraph 3. As to the long journey of the phang and the marsh- quail's laughing at it, that is not different from what the other two little creatures said above ; arising simply from the difference between the great and the small. And what difference is there between this and the case of those who enjoy themselves for a season in the world ? Yung-jze of Sung is introduced (and immediately dismissed), as not having planted himself in the right position, and not being Great. Then Lieh-jze is brought forward, and dismissed as not being Great, because he had something to wait for. It is only he who rides on the twofold primal ether of the Yin and Yang, driving along with the six elements through all their changes as they wax and wane, and enjoying him- self at the gate of death, that can be pronounced Great. This is what is called the Perfect Man; the Spirit-like Man ; and the Sage Man. In illustration of this, as instances of the Great Man, we have, in paragraph 4, Hsu Yd, regardless of the name ; the personage on the hill of Kft-shih, in paragraph 5, with no thought of the services he could perform ; and Yao with his deep-sunk eyes, in paragraph 6, no longer thinking much of his throne, and regardless of himself. All these characteristics could be used, and made their possessor great ; but let not this lead to a suspicion of greatness as BK. II. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JHVANG-SZE. 275 incompatible with usefulness. As a caution against this, we have, in paragraph 7, the salve to keep the hands from being chapped ; a Great thing when used properly, but of little value when not so used. Let those who exercise their minds look at this : should they not seek to be useful, and so become Great ? We have also the weasel and the yak, the one of which gets into trouble by its being of use, while the other escapes harm by its being of no use. Let those who have work to do in the world look at this. The Great calabash and the Great tree are, each of them, a phang : why may we not abandon ourselves to our natural feeling of enjoyment in connexion with them? Let men be satisfied with their Greatness and seek for nothing more. As to the style of the Book, the sudden statement and the sudden proof; the sudden illustration and the sudden reasoning ; the decision, made to appear as no decision ; the connexion, now represented as no connexion ; the repetition, turning out to be no repetition : these features come and go on the paragraphs, like the clouds in the open firmament, changing every moment and delightful to behold. Lft Fang-hu describes it well : ' The guiding thread in the unspun floss ; the snake sleeping in the grass/ BOOK II. In writings intended to throw light on the T&o we find many different views, affirmations on one side and denials on the other. These may be called Controversies, and the reason why they are not adjusted is that every one will hold fast to his own view. But every peculiar view arises from the holder's knowledge. Such knowledge, however, tends to the injury of his mind, and serves no purpose, good or bad, in illustrating the nature of the To; it only increases the confusion of controversy. Hence when we wish to adjust controversies, we must use our knowledge well ; and to use our knowledge well, we must stop at the point beyond which it does not extend. T 2 276 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. V. In this whole Book knowing and not knowing is the thread that runs through it, (and binds its parts together). The expressions about men's being 'in darkness/ in paragraph 2, and the Tdo's being c obscure/ in paragraph 3, indicate the want of knowledge ; those, also in paragraph 3, about ' the light of the mind/ and ' throwing that light on a subject/ indicate the good use of knowledge; those, in paragraph 5, about 'the scintillations of light from the midst of confusion and perplexity/ and ' the store of light/ in paragraph 7, indicate the stopping at the point to which our knowledge does not extend. And what is to be done when we stop at this point ? Nothing more can be done ; we have simply, as it is said in paragraph 6, to stop here. When Nan-kwo &e-k/i\ says, in paragraph I, I had lost myself/ he fully expresses the subject-matter of the Book. If we think that the affirmations and denials made by men's minds are fictions, made out from nothing to be something, that is like the myriad different sounds of the wind, suddenly appearing in their innumerable variations. But who is it that produces all these sounds ? As is said in paragraph 2, they are ' the sounds of Earth which are really the notes of Heaven ' The minds of men speak from their possession of knowledge. However great or small their words may be, they are all of their own making A discourse under a thousand Heads with a myriad Par- ticulars, suddenly arising and as suddenly stopping, may suggest the idea of what we call ' a True Ruler/ But the idea is vague, and though our knowledge does not reach to such a subject, men toil their intelligence to the end of their lives, never stopping till both mind and body are exhausted. What is the reason of this? It is because they have their c minds completely made up (par. 3).' Now if words were like the chirpings of very young birds that come upon the ear, there would be no difference between them as regards truth or falsehood, right or wrong ; but there is some obscuring influence, through which the different views of the Literati and Mohists are produced, with their confusion and uncertainty. All this is because BK. II. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF WANG-3ZE. 277 the parties do not use their knowledge well. In their controversies each looks at the other's view only from his own standpoint, and throwing on the subject from that the light of Heaven, thus emptily replying to one another without end. And is this purposely intended to make a violent end of their disputations? (It is not so), for the T&o is originally one. High and low, beautiful and ugly, ordinary and strange, success and overthrow, have nothing to do with it. The intelligent know this ; those who weary their minds in trying to bring about a unity do not know it. At this point the sages throw on the subject the light of Heaven, also wishing to rest in Heaven, and so they come to a natural union : this is how they use their know- ledge well. And what are we to consider the highest reach of know- ledge (see par. 5) ? The ancients thought it necessary to place this in the time before anything began to be A second class would have it that there had (always) been (some) things ; and a third class held that between those things (and men) there had been a relativity. Thus it was that gradually there came differences of opinion, in affirma- tions and denials ; and when these once arose, there could not but be the experiences of success and failure. But any one-sidedness in controversy is not sufficient to be accounted a proof of success or of failure Not only is the Tao radically one ; but those who employ it, however they may seem to differ, will be found to be substantially one and the same. When the sages, in the midst of slippery confusion and doubtful perplexity, yet find the clearness of conviction, is it not because they place the controversies that we speak of among the things that are not to be used ? But if there were no affirmations and denials, there would be no words. And let me think here. Suppose there were no words of controversy, we must not infer from that that there were no words at all. Is this word correct? Then if I also employ it, I form one class with all who do so ? Is it not correct ? Then if I also deny it, I form another class with those who do the same. Formerly, 278 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. V. when speaking of men's words, I said that they should change places, and look at things from the different stand- points of each other ; so with reference to my own words, my holding my ' Yea/ does not interfere with my changing my place, and taking my position with those who say 1 Nay ' in the case. If indeed there be no words of affirma- tion and denial, what words will there be? We must go back to the beginning when there were no words. We must go back still farther, to the vacuity before the beginning when there were no words. If we try to go back even farther still, then great and small, long life and short life, heaven and earth and all things, fade away, blending together in the One. But that ONE is also a word In this way we go on without end, wishing to make an end of controversy, and instead of doing that, our endeavour only serves to increase it. The better plan is to stop, as is proposed in a former paragraph, to stop at this point. Even this word about having no controversy may be spared. The sage, by avoiding discussion, reasoning, and the drawing of distinctions, while he availed himself of words, yet retained the advantage of eschewing words, and was also afraid of calling the demarcations (of propositions) by their eight qualities (see par. 7). Still, however, the trace of the use of words remained with him. It is not so in the case of the Great Tao and the Great Argument. The Tao (which is displayed) is not the Tao ; the Argu- ment (which is most subtle) does not reach the point ; the degree of Non-action is very great , but notwithstanding it is difficult to speak of what is entirely empty of purpose. The way by which the knowledge of the ancients reached the highest point was their stopping when their knowledge extended no farther. If they could know what they did not know, it was by means of the Heavenly Treasure-house ; it was thus they could take their place in the centre of the circle, to which all lines converged, and from which all questions could be answered. If they added what they did know to the sum of what they did not know, they then BK. II. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 279 possessed the Store of Light ; and it was thus that they made provision for the scintillations of slippery doubt. To the same effect was what Shun told Yao (end of par. 7). As to the referring what is advantageous and what is hurtful, and the mysteries of life and death, to the sphere of the unknown, that is set forth in the conver- sation between Nieh A7/ueh and Wang f (par. 8). As to how it is that rulers and grooms, other men and one's self, do not know each other, that is seen in the conversation between K/iu 3hiao-jze and -Oang-wfi $ze. As to what is said about the substance and shadow waiting on each to make their manifestations, and not knowing how they were brought about, and about the dreamer and the man awake doubting about each other, and not knowing how to distinguish between them, we have knowledge stopping at the point to which it does not extend, and gradually entering into the region of transformation. Is there anything still remaining to be done for the adjustment of controversy ? One idea grows up out of another in the Book, and one expression gives rise to another apparently quite different. There is a mutual connexion and reference between its parts. Suddenly the style is difficult as the slope of Yang-Mang, and vanishes like the path of a bird , suddenly it looks like so many steep cliffs and successive precipices. When ordinary scholars see this and cannot trace the connexion of thought, if they put it on one side, and did not venture to say anything about it, they might be forgiven. But when they dare to follow their prejudices, and to append their licentious explanations, breaking up the connexion of thought, and bringing down to the dust this' wonderful composition, the admiration of thousands of years ; ah ! when the old jfifwang took his pencil in hand, and proceeded to write down his thoughts, why should we be surprised that such men as these cannot easily understand him ? 28O THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. v. BOOK VI. 'The Great and most Honoured Master' is the Tao. It appears separately in the Heavenly and Human elements (of our constitution), and exists alone and entire in what is beyond death and life ; being, as we say, that which nothing can be without. To describe it as that which stands out superior and alone, we use for it the character Koh (_^t) (par. 5); to describe it as abiding, we call it the True; to describe it as it vanishes from sight, we apply to it the names of Purity, Heaven, and Unity (par. 12) When men value it, it is possible to get possession of it. But he who wishes to get it must, with the knowledge which he has attained to, proceed to nourish what that knowledge is still ignorant of. When both of these are (as it were) forgotten, and he comes under the transforma- tion of the Tdo, he enters into the region in which there is neither life nor death ; to the Human element (in him) he has added the Heavenly. Now what knowledge does not know is "the time of birth and death, and what it does know is what comes after birth and precedes death. It would seem as if this could be nourished by the exercise of thought ; but if we do this after birth and before death, we must wait for the time of birth and death to verify it. If we try to do so before that time, then the circumstances of the Human and the Heavenly have not yet become subject to their Ruler. It is this which makes the knowledge difficult, and it is only the True Man with the True Knowledge who has no anxiety about it. In the position which the True man occupies, he has his adversities and prosperities, his successes and defeats, his gains and his losses, his seasons of security and of unrest, all the changes of his circumstances ; but his mind forgets them all, and this result is due to his possession of both the Knowledge and the T&o. As to his bodily conditions, he has his sleeping and BK, vi. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 28 1 awaking, his eating and resting, his constant experiences ; but his mind (also) forgets them all. For the springs of action which move to the touch of Heaven, and the move- ments of desire are indeed different in men; but when we advance and examine the proper home of the mind, we find no difference between its place and nature at the time of birth and of death, and no complication in these after birth and before death . so it is that the Mind, the Tao, the Heavenly, and the Human are simply One. Is not the unconsciousness of the mind the way in which the True man exercises his knowledge and nourishes it? Carrying out this unconsciousness, from the mind to the body and from the body to the world, he comprehends the character of the time and the requirements of everything, without any further qualification. Hence, while the mind has not acquired this oblivion, the great work of life always suffers from some defect of the mind, and is not fit to be com- mended But let the mind be able to exercise this quality, and it can be carried out with great and successful merit, and its admirable service be completed This is the mind of the True man, never exercised one-sidedly in the world, and gaming no one-sided victory either Heavenward or Man ward. Given the True Man with the True Knowledge like this, the nature of death and life may begin to be fully described. Death and life are like the night and the dawn ; is there any power that can command them? Men cannot preside over them. This is what knowledge does not extend to ; but within the sphere of knowledge, there is that which is dearer than a Father (par. 5), and more to be honoured than a Ruler ; the Eminent, the True, and that moreover over which Heaven cannot preside. Valuable therefore is the nourishing of this Knowledge; and what other art in nourishing it is there but the unconsciousness of which we speak ? Why do we say so ? The body is born, grows old and dies. This is the common lot. However skilful one may be in hiding it away, it is sure to dis- appear. Men know that the body is not easily got, but 282 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. v. they do not know that what might seem like man's body never comes to an end. Being hidden away in a place from which there is no escape for anything, it does not disappear. This takes place after birth and before death, and may be verified at the times of birth and death ; but how much better it is to consider Heaven good, old age good, the beginning good and the end good, than vainly to think that the nourishing of knowledge is making the body good ! The doing this is what is called the Tao. And the sage enjoys himself in this; not only because the Tao itself does not disappear, but also because of all who have got it not a single one has ever passed away from notice. But it is not easy to describe the getting of the Tdo. In the case about which Nu Yu told Nan-po 3zc-khwei (par. 8) ; the talents of a sage and the Tao of a sage came together in the study of it , three, seven, and nine days are mentioned as the time of the several degrees of attainment ; the learner went on from banishing all worldly matters from his mind as foreign to himself till he came to the utter disregard of time In this way was he led from what was external, and brought inwards to himself; then again from the idea of the Tao's being a thing, it was exhibited as Tranquillity amid all Disturbances, and he was carried out of himself till he understood that neither death nor life is more than a phenomenon. The narrator had learned all this from writ- ings and from Lo-sung, searching them, and ever more the more remote they were. Truly great is the difficulty of getting the T^o ! And yet it need not be difficult. It was not so with 3ze-yu (par. 9), in whose words about one arm being transformed into a fowl, and the other into a cross-bow, we see its result, as also in what he said about his rump- bone being transformed into a wheel, his spirit into a horse, and one loosing the cord by which his life is suspended. (Again) we have a similar accordance (with the Tao) in 3ze-li's question to $ze-\a,i (P ar - IO )j about his being made the liver of a rat or the arm of an insect, with the latter's reply and his remark about the furnace of a founder. BK.Vi. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 283 These were men who had got the To; as also were 3ze-fan and K/im K&ng (par. n), men after the Maker's mind, and who enjoyed themselves, disporting in the one vital ether of heaven and earth. The same may be said of Mang-sun 3hi (par. 12). If he had undergone a transformation, he would wait for the future transformation of which he did know. So it was that he obtained the Tdo. He and all the others were successful through the use of their mental unconsciousness ; and they who pursue this method, must have the idea of \-r 3ze, who wished to have his branding effaced, and his dismemberment removed by hearing the substance of the Tao (par. 13). Parties who have not lost the consciousness of their minds and wish to do so must become like Yen Hui (par. 14), who separated the connexion between his body and mind, and put away his knowledge, till he became one with the Great Pervader. Of such as have lost (in part) the consciousness of their minds and wish to do so entirely, we have an instance in 3 Z( >sang (par. 15), thinking of Heaven and Earth and of his parents as ignorant of his (miserable) condition, and then ascribing it to Destiny. He exhibited the highest obliviousness : was he not, with the knowledge which he possessed, nourishing that of which he was ignorant ? Such were the True Men, and such was the True Know- ledge. In this Book are to be found the roots of the ideas in the other six Books of this Part. In this they all unite. It exhibits the origin of all life, sets forth the reality of all cultivation, and shows the springs of all Making and Trans- formation, throwing open the door for the Immortals and Buddhas. Here is the wonderful Elixir produced by the pestle of Jade, the touch of which by a finger produces the feathers of Transformation. As to its style, a vast lake of innumerous wavelets, the mingling of a hundred sparkling eddies, a collection of the oldest achievements in composi- tion, a granary filled with all woods ; it is only in the 284 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. V. power of those who admire the leopard's spots to appre- ciate it ! BOOK IX. Governing the world is like governing horses. There is the government, but the only effect of it is injury. Po-lao's management of horses (par. i) in a way contrary to their true nature was in no respect different from the way of the (first) potter and the (first) carpenter in dealing with their clay and wood in opposition to the nature of those substances, yet the world praises them all because of their skill, not knowing wherein the good government of the world consists Now the skilful governors of the world simply caused the people to fulfil the conditions of their regular nature (par. 2). It was their gifts which they possessed in common, and their Heaven-inspired instincts which constituted the (Early) age of Perfect Virtue. When the sages fashioned their benevolence, righteousness, ceremonies, and music, and the people then began to lose their perfect virtue, it was not that they had themselves become different. For benevolence, righteousness, ceremonies, and music, are not endowments forming a part of their regular nature ; they are practised only after men have laid aside the Tao and its characteristics, and abandoned the guidance of their nature and its feelings This is what we say that the mechanic does when he hacks and cuts the raw materials to form his vessels. Why should we doubt that it was by Po-lao's dealing with horses that they became wise enough to play the part of thieves (par. 3) ; and that it was by the sages' government of the people that their ability came to be devoted to the pursuit of gain ? The error of the sages in this cannot be denied. From beginning to end this Book is occupied with one idea. The great point in it grew out of the statement in paragraph 3 of the previous Book, that 'all men are furnished with certain regular principles,' and it is the easiest to construe of all ATwang-jze's compositions ; but BK. XI. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF ffWANG-3ZE. 285 the general style and illustrations are full of sparkling vigour. Some have thought that, where the ideas are so few, there is a waste of words about them, and they doubt therefore that the Book was written by some one imitating TTwang-jze; but I apprehend no other hand could have shown such a mastery of his style. BOOK XL That the world is not well governed is because there are those who try to govern it. When they try to govern it, they cannot but be ' doing* (to that end). Unable to keep from this * doing,' they cause the world to be happy or to be miserable, both of which things the instincts of man's nature refuse to accept. Although the arts of governing are many, they only cause and increase disorder. Why so ? Because they interfere with men's minds. Now when men are made to be miserable or happy, they come to have great joy or great dissatisfaction. The condition ministers to the expansive or the opposite element (in nature), and the four seasons, the cold and the heat, all lose their regularity. This causes men everywhere in a contentious spirit to indulge their nature to excess, bringing about a change of its attributes, and originating the practice of good and evil. All unite in bringing this state about ; and in the end all receive its consequences. Hence such men as A"ih the robber, 3^ng Shan, and Shih $htii ought not to be found in a well-governed age. But those who governed the world went on to distinguish between the good and the bad, and occupied themselves with rewarding and punishing. When they wished men to rest in the requirements of their nature, was it not difficult for them to realise the wish ? And how much more was it so when they went on in addition to insist on acute hearing and clear vision, on benevolence, righteousness, ceremonies, music, sageness, and knowledge (par. 2) ! They did not know that these eight things were certainly of no use to the world, but injurious to it. Led astray by them, and not perceiving 286 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. V. this, they continued to practise them, and to do this every day more and more. This is what we see indeed in the ordinary men of the world, but not what we should have expected from superior men. The Superior man does nothing, and rests in the instincts of his nature. He values and loves his own person, which fits him to be entrusted with the charge of the world, and thereupon we see things becoming transformed of themselves. Yes, we see indeed that men's minds are not to be interfered with (par. 3). Let me try to attest this from (the example of) the ancient Tis and Kings. These in their interference with the minds of men, began with their inculcation of benevo- lence and righteousness, proceeded to their distinctions of what was right and wrong, and ended with their punish- ments and penalties. Their government of the world ended with the disordering of it. And the result can be seen, the Literati and the Mohists still thinking how they can remedy them. But let us ask who it really was that brought things to this pass The answer is supplied to us in ^ the words of L&o Tan (see T. T. K., ch. 19), * Abolish sageness and cast away wisdom, and the world will be brought to a state of good order.' But the issue does not commence with the state of the world. When Kwang .Oang-jze replied to Hwang-Ti's questions, he said (par. 4), ' Watch over your body, and increase the vigour of things. Maintain the unity, and dwell in the harmony.' What he said, about the rain descending before the clouds collected, about the trees shedding their leaves before they were yellow, about the light (of the sun and moon) hastening to extinction, about Hwang-Ti's mind being that of a flatterer of which he would make no account, and about how he should do nothing but rest in the instincts of his nature, and not interfere with the minds of men : all these are expressions bearing on the value and love which should be given to the body. And the lesson in his words does not end with the watching over the body. There are the words addressed by Hung Mung to Yun BK. XI. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 287 A^iang, * Nourish in your mind a great agreement (with the primal ether). (Things) return to their root, and do not know (that they are doing so). As to what you say, that " the mysterious operations of Heaven are not accomplished, that the birds all sing at night, that vegetation withers under calamity, and that insects are all overtaken by disaster. about all these things there is no occasion for anxiety." While you do nothing, rest in the promptings of your human nature, and do not interfere with the minds of men ; such is the genial influence that attracts and gatheis all things round itself (par. 2).' But the Superior man's letting the world have its own course in this generous way; this is what the ordinary men of the world cannot fathom. When such men speak about governing, they examine carefully between others and themselves, and are very earnest to distinguish between differing and agreeing. Their only quest is to find how they may overcome others, and the end is that they are always overcome by others. They do not know that in order to reduce others to the level of things, there must be those who cannot be reduced by others to that level. Those are said to be the sole possessors of the power (par. 6). The teaching of the Great man, however, is not of this nature. He responds to others according to their qualities, without any selfish purpose. Although he is the sole pos- sessor of the power, that power comes to be nothing in his view. Between having and not having there is to him no difference in the use. Doing nothing, and yet sometimes obliged to act, he forthwith does so ; when he acts, yet no one sees that he has acted, and it is the same as if he did not act. So it is according to the Tao; but therein there are both the Heavenly and the Human elements. In accord- ance with this there are (in actual government) the Lord and the Minister (par. 7) When one discerns this, and knows which element is to be preferred, convinced that it is doing nothing which is valuable, what difficulty has he in governing the world ? 288 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. v. The thread of connexion running through this Book is ' Doing Nothing.' Whether it speaks of the promptings of the nature or of the minds of men, it shows how in regard to both there must be this 'doing nothing/ In the end, with much repetition it distinguishes and discusses, showing that what doing there may be in doing nothing need not trouble us, and is not the same as the ' Extinction ' of the Buddhists. There is not much difference between the teaching of this Book, and what we read in the Confucian Analects, 'He did nothing and yet governed efficiently (Bk. XV, ch. ivy This is an instance of the light thrown by our 'old -/Twang' on the ^ing, and shows how an under- standing may take place between him and our Literati. In the style there are so many changes and transform- ations, so many pauses and rests as in music, conflicting discussions, and subtle disquisitions, the pencil's point now hidden in srnoke and now among the clouds, the author's mind teeming with his creations, that no one who has not made himself familiar with a myriad volumes should pre- sume to look and pronounce on this Book. BOOK XX. The afflictions of men in the world are great, because their attainments in the Tao and Its Attributes are shallow. The Tdo with Its Attributes is the Author of all things. To follow It in Its transformings according to the time is not like occupying one's self with the qualities of things, and with the practice and teaching of the human relations, which only serve to bring on disaster and blame. He who seeks his enjoyment in It, however, must begin by emptying himself. Hence we have, ' Rip your skin from your body, cleanse your heart, and put away your desires (par. 2) ; ' then afterwards 'you can enjoy yourself in the land of Great Vacuity.' In this way one attains to the status represented by coming across 'an empty vessel* and escapes 'the evils which the close-furred fox and the elegantly-spotted leopard ' are preparing for themselves. These are the ideas in the paragraph about 1-lido of BK. xx. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 289 Shih-nan which may help to illustrate, and receive illus- tration from, what AVang-jze says (par. i) that 'he would prefer to be in a position between being fit to be useful and wanting that fitness/ In the case of Pei-kung She collecting taxes for the making of a peal of bells, we have only the exercise of a small art (par. 3). He could, however, put away all thought of self, and act as the time required. He was e as a child who has no knowledge/ so slow was he and hesitating in this respect ; there escorting those who went, here welcoming those who came. But from all this we may know how far he had advanced (in the knowledge of the Tao). But on consideration I think it was only Confucius of whom this could be spoken. Did not he receive a great share of the world's afflictions (par. 4) ? When Th&i-kung Z&n spoke to him of ' putting away the ideas of merit and fame, and placing himself on the level of the masses of men/ he forthwith put away the idea of himself and com- plied with the requirements of the time. This was the art by which he enjoyed himself in the Tao and Its attributes, and escaped the troubles of the world. He could put away the idea of self in responding to the world, but he could not do so in determining his associa- tions. In consequence of this, more distant acquaintances did not come to lay further afflictions on him, and his nearer friends perhaps came to cast him off because of those afflictions. What was he to do in these circumstances ? If one be able to comply with the requirements of the time in his relations with men, but cannot do so in his relations to Heaven, then in the world he will indeed do nothing to others contrary to what is right, but he will himself receive treatment contrary to it ; and what is to be done in such a case? 3 z e-sang Hti saw the difficulty here and provided for it What he said about 'a union of Heaven's appointment/ and about 'the intercourse of superior men being tasteless as water/ shows how well he knew the old lessons about a connexion growing out [40] U 2QO THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. V. of external circumstances and one founded in inward feeling. When one has divested himself of the idea of self, there will not again be such an experience as that of Confucius, when his intimate associates were removed from him more and more, and his followers and friends were more and more dispersed. And Confucius himself spoke of such a case. What he said about its being 'easy not to receive (as evils) the inflictions of Heaven,' and ' difficult not to receive as benefits the favours of men (par. 7),' shows how truly he perceived the connexion between the Heavenly and the Human (in man's constitution), and between ' the beginning and end ' of experiences. When one acts entirely according to the requirements of the time, the more he enlarges himself the greater he becomes, and the more he loves himself the more sorrow he incurs. If he do not do so, then we have the case of him who in the prospect of gain forgets the true instinct of his preservation, as shown in the strange bird of the park of Tiao-ling (par. 8), and the case of the Beauty of the lodging-house, who by her attempts to show off her superiority made herself contemned. How could such parties so represented occupy themselves with the Tao and Its attributes so as to escape the calamities of life ? This Book sets forth the principles which contribute to the preservation of the body, and keeping harm far off, and may supplement what still needed to be said on this subject in Book IV. The Tao and Its attributes occupy the principal place in it ; the emptying of Self, and conforming to the time, are things required by them. The exquisite reasonings and deep meaning of the Book supply excellent rules for getting through the world. Only the sixth para- graph is despicable and unworthy of its place. It is evidently a forgery, and I cannot but blame Kwo 3ze-hsuan for allowing it to remain as the production of ATwang-jze. BOOK XXII. The T&o made Its appearance before Heaven and Earth. It made things what they are and was Itself no THING, BK. XXII. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 2QI being what is called their Root and Origin (par. a). If we consider It something existing, It was not such ; if we consider It as something non-existing, that does not fully express the idea of it The ' I know it (of Hwang-Ti) ' is an addition of ' Knowledge' to the idea of it, and (his) ' I will tell you * is the addition of a description of it (par. i). Therefore he who would embody the Tao can only employ the names of c Do Nothing ' and { Returning to the Root/ and then go forward to the region of the Unknown and the Indescribable. Now the Tao originally was a Unity. The collection of the breath, constituting life, and its dispersion, which we call death, proceed naturally. The denominations of the former as ' spirit-like and wonderful ' and of the latter as c foetor and putridity ' are the work of man. But those of 6 Non-action ' and f Returning to the Root ' are intended to do honour to the Unity. Knowledge, Heedless Bluster, and Hwang-Ti, all perceived this, but they also went on to reason about it, showing how not to know is better than to know, and not to talk better than to talk. As it is said in par. 2, 'the beautiful operations of Heaven and Earth, and the distinctive constitutions of all things,' from the oldest time to the present day, go on and continue without any difference. But who is it that makes them to be what they are ? And what expression of doubt or speculation on the point has ever been heard from them ? It is plain that the doctrine of the Tao originated with man. When Phci-i (par. 3) told Nieh A7/ueh, c Keep your body as it should be ; look only at the One thing ; call in your knowledge ; make your measures uniform . ' all this was saying to him that we arc to do nothing, and turn to (the Tao as) our Root. When he further says to him, 'You should have the simple look of a new-born calf; and not ask about the cause of your being what you are : ' this is in effect saying that knowledge is m not knowing, and that speech does not require the use of words. If you suddenly (like Shun in par. 4) think that the Tdo U 2 2Q2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. V. is yours to hold, not only do you not know what the Tao is, but you do not know yourself. How is this ? You are but a thing in the Tao. If your life came to you without its being produced by the T&o, you would yourself be a life-producer. But whether one lives to old age or dies prematurely he comes equally to an end. Your life properly was not from yourself, nor is your death your own act. You did not resist (the coming of your life) ; you do not keep it (against the coming of death); you are about to return to your original source. This simply is what is meant by the Sage's c Do nothing, and return to your Root/ As to * the bodily frame coming from incor- poreity and its returning to the same (par. 5),' that certainly is a subject beyond the reach of our seeing and hearing ; and how can any one say that the Tao is his to hold ? What Lao-jze (says to Confucius in par. 5), and what A^ang tells Shun (in par. 4), have not two meanings ; but notwithstanding, it should not be said that the Tio is not to be found anywhere (par. 6). Speaking broadly, we may say that its presence is to be seen in an ant, a stalk of panic grass, an earthenware tile, and in excrement. Seek- ing for it in what is more delicate and recondite, let us take the ideas of fulness and emptiness, of withering and decay, of beginning and end, of accumulation and dispersion. These are all ideas, and not the names of things ; and (the Tao) which makes things what they are has not the limit which belongs to things. No wonder that Tung-kwo $ze should have been so perplexed as he was ! Those who think that the Tio has no positive existence (par. 7), speak of it as c The Mysterious and Obscure/ and then it would seem to be equivalent to the name * Mystery/ which cannot be rightly applied to it. And those who think that it has a positive existence speak of it as being considered now noble and now mean, now bound and compressed, now dispersed and diffused, and what is One is divided into the noble and the mean, the compressed and the dispersed ; a mode of dealing with it, of which the Tdo will not admit. Better is it to say with No- BK. XXII. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 293 beginning, c There should be no asking about the Tao ; any question about it should not be replied to. 1 The opposite of this would imply a knowledge of what is not known, and the use of words which should not be spoken. In accordance with this, when Star-light puts his question to Non-entity, and it is added, * To conceive the ideas of Existence and Non-existence is not so difficult as to con- ceive of a Non-existing non-existence, 5 this is an advance on speaking of (the Tao) as Non-existent ; and when the forger of Swords says to the Minister of War that by long practice he came to the exercise of his art as if he took no thought about it (par. 9), this is an advance on speaking of (the Tao) as existent. The substance of what we know is to this effect : The Tao was produced before heaven and earth. It made things what they are and is not itself a thing. It cannot be considered as of ancient origin or of recent, standing as it does in no relation to time. It had no beginning and will have no end. Life and death, death and life equally proceed from It. To speak of It as existing or as non-existing is a one-sided presentation of It. Those who have embodied It, amid all external changes, do not change internally. They welcome and meet all men and things, and none can do them any injury (par. u). Whatever they do not know and are unequal to, they simply let alone. This is the meaning of * Doing nothing, and turning in everything to the Root/ Where the want of knowledge and of language is the most complete, Zan Kh\& (par. 10) and Yen-jze (par. n) apply to JTung-ni for his judgment in the case, and the consideration of it comes to an end. In this Book the mysteries of the T do are brought to light; one slight turn of expression after another reveals their successive depths, beyond the reach of Reasoning. Lfi Fang-hft says, ' Master this Book, and the MahdyAna of the Tripi/aka will open to you at the first application of your knife.' Well does he express himself 1 294 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. v. BOOK XXVI. Those who practise the T^o know that what is external to themselves cannot be relied on, and that what is internal and belonging to themselves, does not receive any injury (par. i). They are therefore able to enjoy themselves in the world, emptying their minds of all which would inter- fere with their pursuing their natural course. What men can themselves control are their minds ; external things are all subject to the requirements and commands of the world. Good and evil cannot be prevented from both coming to men, and loyalty and filial duty may find it hard to obtain their proper recompense. From of old it has been so ; and the men of the world arc often startled to incessant activity with their minds between the thoughts of profit and injury, and are not able to overcome them (par. i). But do they know that among the enemies (of their serenity) there are none greater than the Yin and Yang? The water and fire of men's minds produce irregularity in their action, and then again overcome it; but after the harmony of the mind has been consumed, there remains in them no more trace of the action of theTao. On this account, when ATung-ni was obstinately regard- less of a myriad generations (in the future), Lao Lai-jze still warned him to have done with his self-conceit (par. 5). His reason for doing so was that wisdom had its perils, and even spirit-like intelligence does not reach to everything (par. 6). It was so with the marvellous tortoise, and not with it only. The sage is full of anxiety and indecision (par. 5), and thereby is successful in his undertakings ; the man of the greatest knowledge puts away (the idea of) skill, and without any effort shows his skill . they can both look on what seems to have no use and pronounce it useful, and allow their nature while it is able to enjoy itself to take its course without being anxious about its issue in advantage or injury (par. i). And moreover, it is not necessary that they should leave BK. xxvi. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JTWANG-3ZE. 295 the world in order to enjoy themselves. There are the distinctions of antiquity and the present day indelibly exhibited in the course of time (par. 8). The way in which the Perfect man enjoys himself is by his passing through the world of men without leaving any trace of himself. His way is free and encounters no obstruction (par. 9) ; his mind has its spontaneous and enjoyable move- ments, and so his spirit is sure to overcome all external obstructions. Very different is this from the way of him who is bent on concealing himself, and on extinguishing all traces of his course (par. 8). He will seek his enjoy- ment in the great forest with its heights and hills, and not be able to endure the trouble of desiring fame, having recourse also to violence, laying plans, seeking to discharge the duties of office so as to secure general approval. Thus the Perfect man obtains the harmony of his Heaven (-given nature), and his satisfactions spring up, he knows not how, as when the growing grain in spring has been laid by the rains (par 9). As to the arts of curing illness, giving rest to old age, and restraining hasty measures to remedy the effects of errors, he can put them on one side, and not discuss them; thus playing the part of one who has apprehended the ideas and then forgets the words in which they were conveyed (par. n). Let him who occupies himself with the Tao beware of ' seeking the fish-baskets and hare-snares,' and falling into such mistakes as are instanced in the cases of emaciation to death, or suicide by drowning. This Book points out the true form of substances, and gave rise to the talk in subsequent ages about the Khdn and Li hexagrams, and about the lead and quicksilver. Nearly the whole of it has been called in question, and the second, third, and fourth paragraphs are so marked by the shallowness of their style, and the eccentricity of their sentiments, that it may be doubted if they are genuine. I suspect they were written and introduced by some imitator of -STwang-jze, and therefore call attention to them and cast them out of my analysis. 296 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP, v. BOOK XXXII. Lin Hsi-ung omits Books XXVIII, XXIX, XXX, and XXXI from his edition of A"wang-jze's Writings. Our Book XXXII, the Lieh Yu-khau, is with him Book XXVIII. He explains and comments on its various paragraphs as he does in the case of all the previous Books. Instead of subjoining an Analysis and Summary of the Contents in his usual way, he contents himself with the following note. In the Notice given by Sfi Sze-^an 1 of the Sacrificial Hall to A"wang-jze, he says that after reading the last paragraph of Book XXVII (the Yu Yen, or < Metaphorical Words'), about Yang 3ze-u, and how (when he left the inn) the other visitors would have striven with him about the places for their mats, he forthwith discarded the four Books that followed, the Zang Wang, the Tao A'lh, the Yueh -STien, and the Yu-ffl; making the Lieh Yu-khdu immediately follow that paragraph. Having done so, he fully saw the wisdom of what he had done, and said with a laugh, ' Yes, they do indeed belong to one chapter ! ' So did the old scholar see what other eyes for a thousand years had failed to see No subsequent editor and com- mentator, however, ventured to take it on him to change the order of the several Books which had been established, following therein the Critical Canon laid down by Con- fucius about putting aside subjects concerning which doubts are entertained 2 ; but we ought not to pass the question by without remark. The subject of the last paragraph of the Lieh Yu-khau is /Twang-jze, 'when he was about to die/ It clearly 1 Sfl Shih (j|jp ^j), styled 3*e-*an (-^r (j||) and also, and more frequently, Tung-pho Qpf i^fe), one of the most celebrated statesmen and scholais of the eleventh century (1036-1101). The notice of the Saciificial Hall of JTwang-ftze was written in 1078 See Appendix viu a See the Confucian Analects II, xvm : ' Learn much and put aside the points of which you stand in doubt, while you speak cautiously at the same time of the others.' BK. XXXII. ANALYSES OF BOOKS OF JHVANG-3ZE. 297 intimates how he, the man of .Oi-yuan, from that time ceased to use his pencil, just as the appearance of the Lin (in the 3o-wan) did in the case of Confucius. Not a single character therefore should appear as from him after this. We have no occasion therefore to enter into any argument about the Thien Hsia (Book XXXIII). We may be sure that it was made, not by A"wang-jze, but by some editor of his writings. Later writers, indeed, contend vehemently for A"wang-jze's own authorship of it. We can only say, Great is the difficulty in treating of the different views of Scholars l ! 1 The arguments both of Sa Shih and Lin Hsf-ung as set forth in this note are far from conclusive APPENDIX VI, List of Narratives, Apologues, and Stories of various kinds in the Writings of A%ang-jze. BOOK I. Paragraph i. The enjoyment of the Tao by such vast creatures as the Khwan and the Phang. 2. The enjoyment and foolish judgments of smaller crea- tures Big trees and Phang 3^- 3. Questions put by Thang to K\. The Tao in different men : Yung-jze ; Lieh-jze ; and an ideal Taoist. The Perfect man, the Spirit-like man, and the Sagely-minded man. 4. Yao wishing to resign the throne to Hsu Yu. 5. A'ien Wti and Lien Shft on the ideal Tdoist. 6. A cap-seller of Sung Yao after visiting the four Perfect ones. 7. Hui-jze and -XVang-jze the great calabashes ; the hand-protecting salve; and the great Ail ant us tree. BOOK II. Par. i. Nan-kwo %zz-kh\ in a trance, and his disciple. The notes of heaven, earth, and man. 4. ' In the morning three : ' the monkeys and their acorns 7. Yio and Shun, on the wish of the former to smite some small states. 9. Li K\ before and after her mairiage. 10. The penumbra and the shadow. TTwang-jze's dream that he was a butterfly. BK V. LIST OF NARRATIVES OF JTWANG-3ZE. 2Q9 BOOK III. Par. 2. King Wan-hui and his cook ; how the latter cut up his oxen. 3. Kung-wan Hsien and the Master of the Left who had only one foot. 4. The death of Ldo-jze ; and adverse judgment on his life. BOOK IV. Pars, i, 2. Yen Hui and Confucius; on the proposal of the former to go and convert the ruler of Wei. 3, 4. 3 z e-kcio and Confucius ; on the mission of the former from KM to Kh\. 5. Yen Ho and Ku Po-yu ; on the former's undertaking to be tutor to the wayward son of duke Ling of Wei. 6. The master-mechanic and the great tree; so large and old through its uselessness. 7. Nan-po 3ze-/*i and the great tree, preserved by its uselessness. Trees of Sung cut down because of their good timber. Peculiarities exempting from death as sacrificial victims. 8. The deformed object Shti and his worth. 9. Rencontre between Confucius and the madman of KM. BOOK V. Par. i. Confucius explains the influence of the cripple Wang Thai over the people of Lft. 2,. The fellow-students 3ze-Mn and the cripple Shan- thti Kia. 3. Confucius and Toeless of Shfl-shan. Judgment of Toeless and Lao-jze on Confucius. 4. Duke Ai of Lti and Confucius ; on the ugly but most able and fascinating man, Ai-thAi Tho. Admiration for Confucius of duke Ai. 5. The deformed favourites of duke Ling of Wei and duke Hwan of KM. Argument between ATwang-jze and Hui-jze, growing out of the former's account of them. 3OO THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. VI. BOOK VI. Par. 8. Nan-po 3ze-khwei and the long-lived Nu Yu. How Pti-liang 1 learned the Tao. 9. Four Taoists, and the submission of 3ze-yu, one of them, a poor deformed hunchback, to his lot, when he was very ill. 10. The submission of 3ze-lai, another of the four, as his life was ebbing away. n. Three Taoists, and the ways of two of them on the death of the third. Conversation on the subject between Confucius and 3ze-kung. 12. Confucius and Yen Hui on the mourning of Mang- sun 3hai. I 3- l~r 3 ze an d Hsu Yti. How the Tao will remove the injuries of error, and regenerate the mind. 14. Confucius and Yen Hui. The growth of the latter in Taoism. 15. 3ze-yu and 3^e-sang. The penury of the latter and submission to his fate. BOOK VII. Par. i. Nieh ATAueh, Wang f, and Phti-i-jze. That Shun was inferior in his Taoistic attainments to the more ancient sovereign, Thai. 2. jSHen WQ and the recluse AV/ieh-yu ; on the ideal of government. 3. Thien Kan and a nameless man ; that non-action is the way to govern the world. 4. Yang 3ze-u and Lao Tan on the nameless govern- ment of the Intelligent Kings 5 Lieh-jze and his master Hti-jze. How the latter defeated the wizard of 7\Tang. 6. The end of Chaos, wrought by the gods of the southern and northern seas. BOOK VIII. Par. 4. How two shepherd slaves lose their sheep in BK. XII. LIST OF NARRATIVES OF JTWANG-3ZE. 30 1 different ways. The corresponding cases of the righteous Po-1 and the robber JSTih. BOOK X. Par. i. Murder of the ruler of KtA by Thien ATMng-jze, and his usurpation of the State. 2. How the best and ablest of men, such as Lung-fang, Pi-kan, jOang Hung, and 3 ze "hsu, may come to a disas- trous end, and only seem to have served the purposes of such men as the robber Tfih. 3. Evils resulting from such able men as 3&ng Shan, Shih jdfcifl, Yang A'u, Mo Ti, Shih Khwang, KAui, and Li ^u. 4. Character of the age of Perfect Virtue, and sovereigns who flourished in it in contrast with the time of ATwang- jze. BOOK XL Par. 3. Shui Kku and Ldo-jze. The latter denounces the meddling with the mind which began with Hwang-Ti, and the spread of knowledge, as productive of all evil. 4. Hwang-Tf and Kwang A7/ang-jze, his master, who discourses on the mystery of the Tao, and how it promotes long life. 5. Yun jfifiang and Hung Mung, or the Leader of the Clouds and the Great Ether ; the wish of the former to nourish all things, and how they would be transformed by his doing nothing. BOOK XII. Par. 4. The loss and recovery by Ydo of his dark- coloured Pearl ; the Tdo. 5. Hsu Yu's reply to Ydo on the character of Nieh K/iueh and his unfitness to take the place of Sovereign. 6. Ycio rejects the good wishes for him of the Border- warden of HwcL 7. Yu and Po-/zang 3ze-kdo. The latter vindicates his resignation of dignity and taking to farming. 9. Confucius and L^o-jze; on the attitude to the Tdo of a great sage and ruler. 3O2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. VI. io. ySTiang-lu Mien and Kl Khh ; on the counsel which the former had given to the ruler of Lti. n. 3 z e-kung and the old gardener; argument of the latter in favour of the primitive simplicity, and remarks thereon by Confucius. 12. ^Tun Ming and Yuan Fung; on the government of the sage ; of the virtuous and kindly man ; and of the spirit-like man. 13. Man Wti-kwei and K/tih-kang Man-//i; that there had been confusion and disorder before the time of Shun ; and the character of the age of Perfect Virtue. BOOK XIII. Par. 6. Yo and Shun; on the former's method of government. 7. Confucius, wishing to deposit some writings in the royal Library, is repulsed by Lao-jze. Argument between them on Benevolence and Righteousness in relation to the nature of man. 8. Shih-//ang Kh\ and Ldo-flze ; the strange conferences between them, and the charges brought by the one against the other. io. Duke Hwan and the wheelwright Phien ; that the knack of an art cannot be conveyed to another, and the spirit of thought cannot be fully expressed in writing. BOOK XIV. Par. 2. Tang, a minister of Shang, and ATwang-jze on the nature of Benevolence 3. Pei-man AV/ang and Hwang-Ti , a description of Hwang-Tfs music, the Hsien-/Wih. 4. Yen Yuan and A"in, the music-master of Lti, on the course of Confucius ; the opinion of the latter that it had been unsuccessful and was verging to entire failure. 5. Confucius and Ldo-jze. The former has not yet got the Tao, and Ldo-jze explains the reason. 6. Confucius and L&o-jze. Confucius talks of Benevolence BK. xvili. LIST OF NARRATIVES OF J5TWANG-3ZE. 303 and Righteousness ; and how the tables are turned on him. He is deeply impressed by the other. 7. 3 ze- kung, in consequence of the Master's report of his interview, goes also to see L&o-jze ; and is nonplussed and lectured by him. 8. Confucius sees Ldo-jze again, and tells him how he has profited from his instructions. The other expresses his satisfaction with him. BOOK XVI. Par. 2. The state of Perfect Unity, and its gradual Decay. BOOK XVII. Pars. 1-7. The Spirit-earl of the Ho and ZQ of the Northern Sea ; on various metaphysical questions growing out of the doctrine of the Tao. 8. The khwei, the millipede, the serpent, the wind, the eye, and the mind , how they had their several powers, but did not know how. 9. Confucius in peril in Khwang is yet serene and hopeful. 10. Kung-sun Lung and Mu of Wei. The Frog of the dilapidated well, and the Turtle of the Eastern Sea. The greatness of A'wang-jze's teachings. 1 1 . K wang-jze refuses the invitation of the king of KM to take office. The wonderful tortoise-shell of the king. 12. Hui-jze and ^wang-jzc. The young phoenix and the owl. 13. Hui-jze and ATwang-jze; how ^Twang-jze understood the enjoyment of fishes. BOOK XVIII. Par. 2. Hui-jze and -KVang-jze; vindication by the latter of his behaviour on the death of his wife. 3. Mr. Deformed and Mr. One-foot ; their submission under pain and in prospect of death. 4. ATwang-jze and the skull ; what he said to it, and its appearance to him at night in a dream. 304 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. vi. 5. The sadness of Confucius on the departure of Yen Hui for Kh\y and his defence of it to 3 z e-kung. The ap- pearance of a strange bird in Lti, and his moralizings on it. 6. Lieh-jze and the skull. The transmutations of things. BOOK XIX. Par. 2. Lieh-jze and Kwan Yin ; on the capabilities of the Perfect man. 3. Confucius and the hunchback, who was skilful at catching cicadas with his rod 4. The boatman on the gulf of -Oang-shan, and his skill. 5. Thien Khdi-ih and duke Wei of Ku ; on the best way to nourish the higher life. How it was illustrated by Thien's master, and how enforced by Confucius. 6. The officer of sacrifice and his pigs to be sacrificed. 7 Duke Hwan gets ill from seeing a ghostly sprite, and how he was cured. 8. The training of a fighting-cock. 9. Confucius and the swimmer in the gorge of Lu. 10. K/tmg, the worker in rottlera wood, and the bell- frame; how he succeeded in making it as he'did. 11. Tung-y K\ and his chariot-driving ; how his horses broke down. 12. The skill of the artisan Shui. 14. The weakling Sun Hsiu and the Master 3 ze -P* cn AYzing-jze, with his disciples. BOOK XX. Par. i. ^wang-jze and his disciples ; the great tree that was of no use, and the goose that could not cackle. 2. 1-liao of Shih-nan and the marquis of Lti ; how the former presses it on the marquis to go to an Utopia of Taoism in the south, to escape from his trouble and sorrow. 3. Pei-kung She and prince Khmg-ki; how the former collected taxes and made a peal of bells. 4. How the Th&-kung Zan condoled with Confucius on his distresses, and tried to convert him to TAoism. BK. XXII. LIST OF NARRATIVES OF J5TWANG-3ZE. 305 5. Confucius and 3ze-sang Hu. The Tdoistic effect of their conversation on the former. The dying charge of Shun to Yu. 6. ATwang-jze in rags before the king of Wei. The apologue of the climbing monkey. 7. Confucius and Yen Hui ; on occasion of the perilous situation between AY/an and 3hi. Confucius expounds the principles that supported him. 8. A'wang- jze's experiences in the park of Tiao-ling ; *- has the character of an apologue. 9. The Innkeeper's two concubines ; the beauty dis- liked and the ugly one honoured. BOOK XXI. Par. i. Thien 3ze-fang and the marquis Wan of Wei. 2. Wan-po Hsueh-jze and the scholars of the Middle States 3. Confucius and Yen Hui ; on the incomprehensibleness to the latter of the Master's course. 4. Conversation between Confucius and L&o-^ze on the beginning of things. 5. A'wang-^zc and duke Ai of Lu ; on the dress of the scholar. 6. Pai-li Hsi. 7 The duke of Sung and his map-drawers. 8. King Wan and the old fisherman of 3 an Confucius and Yen Hui on king Wan's dream about the fisherman. 9. The aichery of Lich-^ze and Po-hwan Wu-^an 10. A'icn Wu, and Sun Shu-ao, the True man. Con- fucius's account of the True man. The king of K/ib and the ruler of Fan BOOK XXII. Par. i. Knowledge, Dumb Inaction, Head-strong Stam- merer, and Hwang-Ti on the Tao 3. Nieh A7/ueh questioning Phei-i about the T4o. 4. Shun and his minister K/iang ; that man is not his own. [40] X 3O6 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. vi. 5. Confucius and L&o Tan ; on the Perfect To. 6. Tung-kwo Qzt's question to ATwang-jze about where the Tcio was to be found, and the reply. 7. A-ho Kan, Shan Nang, Ldo-lung ATi, Yen Kang ; Grand Purity, Infinitude, Do-nothing, and No-beginning on what the Tdo is. 8. Star-light and Non-entity. 9. The Minister of War and his forger of swords. 10. 2Tan K/im and Confucius ; how it was before heaven and earth. 11. Confucius and Yen Hui No demonstration to wel- come, no movement to meet. BOOK XXIII. Par. i. Kang- sang AY/A and the people about Wei-lei hill. 2. Kang-sang AY/u and his disciples. He repudiates being likened by them to Ydo and Shun. 3. Kang-sang AY/u and the disciple Nan-yung AY/u 4-12. Lao-jze lessoning Nan-yung AV/Q on the principles of Taoism. BOOK XXIV. Pars, i, 2. Hsu Wu-kwei, Nu Shang, and the marquis Wu of Wei Hsu's discourses to the marquis. 3. Hwang-Ti, with six attending sages, in quest of the Tao, meets with a wise boy herding horses 5. Debate between Afwang-jze and Hui-jze, illustrating the sophistry of the latter 6. The artisan Shih cleans the nose of a statue with the wind of his axe ; but declines to try his ability on a living subject. 7. Advice of Kwan ATung on his death-bed to duke Hwan of Kh\ about his choice of a successor to himself. 8. The king of WO and the crafty monkey. His lesson from its death to Yen Pu-i. 9. Nan-po 3ze-/ii and his attendant Yen AT^ang-jze. BK. xxvi. LIST OF NARRATIVES OF J?WANG-8ZE. 307 The trance is the highest result of the T&o. Practical lesson to be drawn from it. 10. Confucius at the court of Kkb along with Sun Shu-do and 1-lido. 11. 3 z e-^i, and his eight sons, with the physiognomist -fang Yan. . Nieh .Oueh meets Hsu Yti fleeing from the court of BOOK XXV. Par. i. 3eh-yang seeking an introduction to the king of ATM. 1 ATieh, Wang Kwo, and the recluse Kung-yueh Hsiti. 3. The ancient sovereign Zan-hsiang ; Thang, the founder of the Shang dynasty; Confucius; and Yung- 4. King Yung of Wei and his counsellors: on his desire and schemes to be revenged on Thien Mau of Kh\. Tdi 3in-#an and his apologue about the horns of a snail. 5. Confucius and the Recluse at Ant-hill in KM. 6. The Border-warden of .Oang-wu's lessons to 3ze-lo. A\vang-jze's enforcement of them. 7. Ldo-jze and his disciple Po Ku : that the prohibitions of Law provoke to transgression. 8. The conversion to Taoism of Ku Po-yu. 9. Confucius and the historiographers ; about the honorary title of duke Ling of Wei. 10. Little Knowledge and the Correct Harmonizer. on the Talk of the Hamlets and Villages. 11. On the namelessness of the T^o; and that Tao is but a borrowed or metaphorical name. BOOK XXVI. Par. 2. Against delaying to do good when it is in one's power to do it. The apologue of ATwang-jze meeting with a goby on the road. 3. The big fish caught by the son of the duke of Zan. 4. The Resurrectionist Students. X 2 308 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. vi. 5. How L&o LSi-jze admonished Confucius. 6. The dream of the ruler Yuan of Sung about a tor- toise. 7. Hui-jze and ATwang-jze ; on the use of being useless, ii. Illustrations of the evil accruing from going to excess in action, or too suddenly taking action. BOOK XXVII. Par. 2. A'wang-jze and Hui-jze on Confucius ; did he change his views in his sixtieth year ? 3. Confucius and his other disciples : on 3ang-jze and his twice taking office with different moods of mind 4. Yen AY/ang 3ze-yti tells his Master Tung-kwo 3ze- kh\ of his gradual attainments. 5. The penumbrae and the shadows. 6. Lao-jze's lessoning of Yang 3ze-u, and its effects on him. BOOK XXVIII. Par. i. Yao's proffers of the throne to Hsu Yd and 3ze-/{u A'ih-fti. Shun's proffers of it to 3ze-/&au Alh-po, to Shan A'uan, and to the farmer of Shih-hti. Thai-wang Than-fu and the northern tribes. Prince Sau of Yueh. 2. Counsel of 3ze-hwa 3ze to the marquis ATao of Han. 3. The ruler of Lti and the Taoist Yen Ho, who hides himself from the advances of the other. 4. Lieh-jzc and his wife, on his declining a gift from the ruler of ^Tang. 5 The high-minded and resolute sheep-butcher Yueh, and king Kao of K/ih. 6. The poor Yuan Hsien and the wealthy 3ze-kung. 3ang-jze, in extreme poverty, maintaining his high and independent spirit. The satisfaction of Confucius in Yen Hui refusing, though poor, to take any official post. 7. Prince Miu of A"ung-shan, living in retirement, was not far from the Tao. 8. Confucius and the disciples Yen Hui, 3ze-lu, and 3ze-kung, during the perilous time between A7*an and 3hdi. BK. xxxn. LIST OF NARRATIVES OF WANG-,3ZE. 309 9. Shun and the northerner Wfi-ai who refuses the throne. Thang, and Pien Sui and Wti Kwang, who both refused it. 10. The case of the brothers Po-t and Shfl-^1, who refused the proffers of king Wu. BOOK XXIX. Par. T. The visit of Confucius to the robber ATih, and interview between them. 2. 3ze-ang and Man Kdu-teh (Mr. Full of Gain-reck- lessly-got) on the pursuit of wealth. 3. Mr Dissatisfied and Mr. Know-the-Mean ; on the pursuit and effect of riches. BOOK XXX. How A'wang-jze dealt with the king of K&Q and his swordsmen, curing the king of his love of the sword-fight. The three Swords. BOOK XXXI. Confucius and the Old Fisherman ; including the story of the man who tried to run away from his shadow. BOOK XXXII. Par. i. Lieh-jze and the effect of his over- manifestation of his attractive qualities. Failure of the warnings of his master. 2. The sad fate of Hwan of A'ang, a Confucianist, who resented his father's taking part with his Mohist brother. 5. Kb Phing-man and his slaughtering the dragon. 8. A"wang-jze's rebuke of 3^ao Shang for pandering to the king of Sung, and thereby getting gifts from him. 9. Description to duke Ai of Lu of Confucius by Yen Ho as unfit to be entrusted with the government. n. KMo-fft the Correct, and his humility. 12. ATwang-jze's rebuke of the man who boasted of having received chariots from the king of Sung, and com- parison of him to the boy who stole a pearl from under the chin of the Black Dragon when he was asleep. 3IO THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. VI. 13. AlVang-jze declines the offer of official dignity. The apologue of the sacrificial ox. 14. A"wang-jze, about to die, opposes the wish of his disciples to give him a grand burial. His own description of what his burial should be. BOOK XXXIII. Par. i. The method of the Tao down to the time of Confucius. 2. The method of Mo Ti and his immediate followers. 3, 4. The method of Mo's later followers. 5. The method of Kwan Yin and Ldo-jze. 6. The method of A"wang-jze. 7. The ways of Hui Shih, Kung-sun Lung, and other sophists. APPENDIX VII. I. THE STONE TABLET IN THE TEMPLE OF LAO-SZE. BY HSIEII TAO-HANG OF THE Sui DYNASTY 1 . i. After the Thai K\ (or Primal Ether) commenced its action, the earliest period of time began to be unfolded. 1 Ilsith Tao-hang J, called also Hsuan-/fc//ing \\as one of the most famous scholais and able ministers of the Sui dynasty (581 -618), and also an eloquent writer His biography is given at considerable length m the fifty-seventh chapter of the Books of Sui Por about 200 yeais after the end of the 3 m dynasty, the empire had been in a vuy divided and distracted state The period is known as the epoch of * The Southern and Northern Dynasties,' no fewer than nine or ten of which co-existed, none of them able to assert a universal sway till the rise of Sui The most powerful of them towaids the end of the time was ' The Northern Aau,' m connexion with the Wfl-//ang (jjf* Jwj icign of which (558-561) the name of our Hsich first appears In the Wft-phmg ("Sr ^FM reign of 'The Northern Khl (570-576),' we find him member of a committee for ic vising the rules of ' The * ive Classes of Ceremonial Observances/ and gaming distinction as a poet When the emperoi Wan (^C *rjl*) by name Yang Alen (^j J^)* a scion of the ruling House of Sui, a small principality in the present Hu-pci, and founder of the dynasty so called, had succeeded m putting down the various conflicting dynasties, and claimed the sovereignty of the empue in 581, Hsieh freely yielded his allegiance to him, and was employed in the conduct of various affairs The important paper, of the translation of the greater part of which a translation is here attempted, was the outcome of one of them Wan Ti rcgulaily observed the Confucian worship of God, but also kept up the ceremonies of Buddhism and Taoism. Having repaired the dilapidated temple of Lao-$ze at his birth-place, he required from Hsieh an inscription for the commemorative tablet in it, the composition of which is referred to the year 586, * the sixth year of Stu's rule over all beneath the sky ' Haieh appears to have been a favourite with the emperor W T an, but when Wan was succeeded in 605 by his son, known as Yang Ti (j/$jg *rjl7 h i s relations with 312 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. vil. The curtain of the sky was displayed, and the sun and moon were suspended in it; the four-cornered earth was established, and the mountains and streams found their places in it. Then the subtle influences (of the Ether) operated like the heaving of the breath, now subsiding and again expanding ; the work of production went on in its seasons above and below ; all things were formed as from materials, and were matured and maintained. There were the (multitudes of the) people ; there were their rulers and superiors. 2. As to the august sovereigns of the highest antiquity, living as in nests on trees in summer, and in caves in winter, silently and spirit-like they exercised their wisdom. Dwelling like quails, and drinking (the ram and dew) like newly-hatched birds, they had their great ceremonies like the great terms of heaven and earth, not requiring to be regulated by the dishes and stands ; and (also) their great music corresponding to the common harmonics of heaven and earth, not needing the guidance of bells and drums. 3 By and by there came the loss of the Tao, when its Characteristics took its place. They in their turn were lost, and then came Benevolence. Under the Sovereigns and Kings that followed, now more slowly and anon more rapidly, the manneis of the people, from being good and simple, became bad and mean. Thereupon came the Literati and the Mohists with their confused contentions; names and the throne became less happy Offended by a memorial which Hsieh presented, and the ground of ofictice in which we entirely fail to perceive, the emptror ordeied him to put an end to himself Hsieh was surprised by the sentence, and hesitated to comply with it, on which an executioner was sent to strangle him Thus ended the hie of Ilsieh Tao-hang in his seventieth year His death was regretted and resented, we are told, by the people gencrnlly A collection of his wntmgs was made in seventy chapters, and was widely read. I do not know to what extent these have been preserved , if many of them have been lost, and the paper, here in part submitted to the readei, were a fair specimen of the others, the loss must be pronounced to be great Of this paper I have had two copies before me in translating it One of them is in Qiao Hung's 1 Wings to Lao-$ze,' the other is in 'The Complete Works of the Ten Philosophers ' Errors of the Text occur now in the one copy, now in the other l*i om the two combined a Text, which must be exactly correct or nearly so, is made out. APP. VII. THE STONE TABLET TO LAo-3ZE. 313 rules were everywhere diffused. The 300 rules l of cere- mony could not control men's natures ; the 3000 rules 1 of punishment were not sufficient to put a stop to their treach- erous villames. But he who knows how to cleanse the current of a stream begins by clearing out its source, and he who would straighten the end of a process must com- mence with making its beginning correct. Is not the Great To the Grand Source and the Grand Origin of all things ? 4. The Master L&o was conceived under the influence of a star. Whence he received the breath (of life) we cannot fathom, but he pointed to the (plum-) tree (under which he was born), and adopted it as his surname 2 ; we do not understand 2 whence came the musical sounds (that were heard), but he kept his marvellous powers concealed in the womb for more than seventy years When he was born, the hair on his head was already white, and he took the desig- nation of ' The Old Boy ' (or Lo-jze). In his person, three gateways and two (bony) pillars formed the dis- tinctive marks of his ears and eyes ; two of the symbols for five, and ten brilliant marks were left by the wonderful tread of his feet and the grasp of his hands. From the time of Fu-hsi down to that of the A"au dynasty, in uninterrupted succession, dynasty after dynasty, his person appeared, but with changed names. In the times of kings Wan and Wu he discharged the duties, (first), of Curator of the Royal Library \ and (next), of the Recorder under the Pillar 3 . Later on in that dynasty he filled different offices, but did 1 Compaic vol \x\ui, p 323, par 38 2 Li (35) > a plum-tiee Por this and many of the other prodigies men- tioned by Hsieh, see what Julien calls ' The Fabulous Legend of Lao-gze/ and has tiansl.ited in the Introduction to his \eision of the 7'ao Teh A'ing Others of them are found in the Ilistoiical, or rather Legendary, Inti eduction in the 'Collection of Taoist Treatises,' edited by LCi Yu m 1877 3 The meaning of the former of these offices may be considered as settled , see the note m Wang A'an-y&aYs edition of the ' Historical Records (1870),' under the Biography of Lao-gze The natuie of the second office is not so clearly ascertained It was, I apprehend, more of a literary character than the curatorship 314 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. VII. not change his appearance. As soon as Hsuan Ni 1 saw him, he sighed over him as 'the Dragon,' whose powers are difficult to be known 2 . Yin (Hsi), keeper of the (frontier) gate, keeping his eyes directed to every quarter, recognised * the True Man* as he was hastening into re- tirement. (By Yin Hsi he was prevailed on) to put forth his extraordinary ability, and write his Book in two Parts 3 , to lead the nature (of man) back to the Tdo, and celebrating the usefulness of ' doing nothing.' The style of it is very condensed, and its reasoning deep and far-reaching. The hexagram which is made up of the 'dragons on the wing 4 ' is not to be compared with it in exquisite subtlety. (The 3o A"wan) which ends with the capture of the Lin, does not match it in its brightness and obscurity. If employed to regulate the person, the spirit becomes clear and the will is still. If employed to govern the state, the people return to simplicity, and become sincere and good. When one goes on to refine his body in accordance with it, the traces of material things are rolled away from it , in rambow-hued robes and mounted on a stork he goes forwards and backwards to the purple palace; on its juice of gold and wine of jade 5 he feasts m the beautiful and pure capital. He is lustrous as the sun and moon ; his ending and beginning aie those of heaven and earth. He who crosses its stream, drives away the dust and noise of the world; he who finds its gate, mounts prancing up on the misty clouds. It is not for the ephemeral fly to know the fading and luxuriance of the Ta-Mun r> , or for a Fang-i 7 to fathom the depth of an Arm of the sea. Vast indeed (is the Tao)! words are not sufficient to describe its excellence and powers ! 5. AVang ATau tells us, that, 'when Lao Tan died, 1 Confucius, who was styled after the beginning of our era for several centuries, * Duke Ni, the Illustrious ' ' See vol xxxix, pp 34, 35 J See vol xxxix, p 35 4 The A'^ien or first of all the hexagiams of the Yi A'mg, but the sentence is to be understood of all the hexagrams, of'the Yi as a whole 5 Compare Pope's line, ' The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew ' 6 Vol xxxix, p 1 66. 7 Vol. xxxix, p 244 APP. vil. THE STONE TABLET TO LAO-3ZE. 315 Khm Shih went to condole (with his son), but after crying out three times, immediately left the house 1 .' This was what is called the punishment for his neglecting his Heaven (-implanted nature), and although it appears as one of the metaphorical illustrations of the supercilious officer, yet there is some little indication in the passage of the reap- pearance of the snake after casting its exuviae 2 . [At this point the author leaves the subject of the Tdo and its prophet, and enters on a long panegyric of the founder of the Stii dynasty and his achievements. This sovereign was the emperor Wan (^JT *j^), the founder of Sui (Pff ^ 10.)' origfoaMy Yang ATien, a scion of the House of Sui, a principality whose name remains in Sui-Mu, of the department Teh-an in Hu Pei. He was certainly the ablest man in the China of his day, and deserves a portion of the praise with which Mr. Hsieh celebrates him after his extravagant fashion. He claimed the throne from the year 581. While doing honour to Confucianism, he did not neglect the other two religions in the empire, Taoism and Buddhism ; and having caused the old temple of Lao- jze to be repaired in grand style in 586, he commissioned Hsieh Tao-hang to superintend the setting up in it a com- memorative Tablet of stone. I pass over all this, which is related at great length, and proceed to give the inscription. It occupies no fewer than 353 characters in 88 lines, each consisting of four characters. The lines are arranged in what we may call eleven stanzas of equal length, the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth lines of each rhyming together. There is a good deal of art in the metrical composition. In the first six stanzas the rhyming finals are in the even tone and one of the deflected tones alternately. In the last five stanzas this arrangement is reversed. The rhymes in 7, 9, and IT are deflected, and in 8 and 10 even. The measure of four characters is the most common in the Shih King or Ancient Book of Poetry. 1 Vol xxxix, p 201. 1 Referring, I suppose, to the illustration of the fire and the faggots. 316 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. vn. It continued to be a favourite down to the Thang dynasty, after which it fell very much into disuse. Through the many assonances of the Chinese characters, and the attention paid to the tones, we have in Chinese composition much of the art of rhyming, but comparatively little of the genius of poetry.] II. THE INSCRIPTION. St i. Back in the depths of ancient time; Remote, before the Tis began ; Four equal sides defined the earth, And pillars eight the heaven sustained. All living things in classes came, The valleys wide, and mighty streams The Perfect Tao, with movement wise, Unseen, Its work did naturally. St, 2. Its power the elements 1 all felt ; The incipient germs of things* appeared. Shepherd and Lord established were, And in their hands the ivory bonds- 1 . The Tis must blush before the Hwangs 4 , The Wangs must blush before the Tis 4 . More distant grew Tao's highest gifts, And simple ways more rare became St. 3. The still placidity was gone, And all the old harmonious ways. Men talents prized, and varnished wit; The laws displayed proved but a net. 1 * The five essences , ' meaning, I think, the subtle power and operation of the five elements 2 So Williams, under Wei (iS6) See also the Khang-hs! Thesaurus under |A?A/ the phrase ^g{. 3 'Bonds' with written characters on them superseded the 'knotted colds' of the pnmitive age. That the material of the bonds should be, as here represented, slips of ivory, would seem to anticipate the progress of society 4 The Hwangs (]t|) preceded the Tis in the Taoistic genesis of history; and as being more simple were Taoistically supeiior to them ; so it was with the Tis and the Wangs or Kings. APP. vii. THE STONE TABLET TO LAO-3ZE. 317 Wine-cups and stands the board adorned, And shields and spears the country filled. The close-meshed nets the fishes scared: And numerous bows the birds alarmed. St. 4. Then did the True Man 1 get his birth, As 'neath the Bear the star shone down 2 . All dragon gifts his person graced ; Like the stork's plumage was his hair. The complicated he resolved 3 , the sharp made blunt 8 , The mean rejected, and the generous chose ; In brightness like the sun and moon, And lasting as the heaven and earth 3 . St. 5. Small to him seemed the mountains five 4 , And narrow seemed the regions nine 4 ; About he went with lofty tread, And in short time he rambled far. In carriage by black oxen drawn 5 , Around the purple air was bright. Grottoes then oped to him their sombre gates, And thence, unseen, his spirit power flowed forth. St 6. The village near the stream of Ko G Traces of him will still retain 6 ; But now, as in the days of old, With changed times the world is changed. 1 This of course was Lao-gze 2 See above, p 313, par 4 "* In the Tao Teh A'mg, p 50, pai 2, and p 52, par i The reading of line 7 i* different in my two authorities in the one FJ f5 El TJJ jy> ** jj *~* s + S -9 ,/Tj 1 in the other jh "w|T H -w. I suppose the correct reading should be RUT fj /' an( * nave S lven waat * think is the meaning * Two well-known numerical categories See Mayers's Manual, pp 330, 321, and p 340 3 So it was, according to the story, that I do-jze drew near to the barrier gate, when he wished to Itave China 6 The Ko is a river flowing from Ho-nan into An-hui, and falling n.to the Hwai, not far from the district city of H \\ai-yuan It enters the one province fiom the other in the small department of Po (*b /TJ/J m which, according to a Chinese map m my possession, Lio-jze was born. The Khang-hst Thesaurus also gives a passage to the effect that the temple of his mother was hereabouts, at a bend in the Ko. 3l8 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. VII. His stately temple fell to ruin ; His altar empty was and still ; By the nine wells dryandras grew 1 , And the twin tablets were but heaps of stone. St. 7. But when our emperor was called to rule, All spirit-like and sage was he. Earth's bells reverberated loud, And light fell on the heavenly mirror down. The universe in brightness shone, And portents all were swept away; (All souls), or bright or dark 2 , revered, And spirits came to take from him their law. St. 8. From desert sands 3 and where the great trees grow 3 , From phoenix caves, and from the dragon woods, All different creatures came sincere ; Men of all regions gave their hearts to him. Their largest vessels brought their gifts, And kings their rarest things described ; Black clouds a thousand notes sent forth; And in the fragrant winds were citherns heard 4 . St. 9. Through his transforming power, the tripods were made sure ; And families became polite and courteous. 1 The nine wells, or bubbling springs, near the village where Lao was born, are mentioned by various writers , but I fail to see how the growth of the trees about them indicated the rum of his temple. 2 I have introduced the ' all souls ' in this line, because of the J^ in the second character Williams defines the first character, yao (JS), as 'the effulgence of the sun, 1 and of 'heavenly bodies geneially;' the second ($j|) is well known as meaning ' the animal soul/ and ' the dark disk of the moon.' The Thesaurus, however, explains the two characters together as a name for the pole star (;[[> jj^; see Analects I, i); and perhaps I had better have followed this meaning. s The ' desert sands ' were, no doubt, what we call ' the desert of Gobi ' The trees referred to were 'in the extreme Last.' The combination phan-mti is not described more particularly * This and the three preceding lines are not a little dark. APP. VII. THE STONE TABLET TO LAo-SZE. 319 Ever kept he in mind (the sage) beneath the Pillar *, Still emulous of the sovereigns most ancient 2 . So has he built this pure temple, And planned its stately structure ; Pleasant, with hills and meadows around, And lofty pavilion with its distant prospect. St. 10. Its beams are of plum-tree, its ridge-pole of cassia; A balustrade winds round it ; many are its pillars ; About them spreads and rolls the fragrant smoke 3 ; Cool and pure are the breezes and mists The Immortal officers come to their places 4 ; The Plumaged guests are found in its court 4 , Numerous and at their ease, They send down blessing, bright and efficacious. St. u. Most spirit-like, unfathomable, (Tao's) principles abide, with their symbolism at- tached 5 . Loud is Its note, but never sound emits 6 , Yet always it awakes the highest echoes. From far and near men praise It ; In the shades, and in the realms of light, they look up for Its aid ; Reverently have we graven and gilt this stone And made our lasting proclamation thereby to heaven and earth. 1 'The (sage) beneath the Pillar' must be Lao-gze See above in the Intioductory notice, p 313 2 See the note on the meaning of the epithet Hj p t vol xxxix, p 40. 3 ' The smoke/ I suppose, ' of the incense, and from the offerings.* 4 Taoist monks are called ' Plumaged or Feathered Scholais (^JjJ -p*)/ from the idea that by their discipline and pills, they can emancipate themselves fiom the trammels of the material body, and ascend (fly up) to heaven. Arrived there, as Immortals 01 Hsien (fjlj), it fuither appears they were constituted into a hierarchy or souety, of which some of them were * officers/ higher in lank than others 8 An allusion to the text of the hexagrams of the Y! A"mg, where the explanations of them by king Wan, his th wan, are followed by the symbolism of their different lines by the duke of A'au, his hsiang. fl See the T&o Teh Alng, ch xli, par. 2. APPENDIX VIII. RECORD FOR THE SACRIFICIAL HALL OF BY SO SniH 1 . i. ATwang-jze was a native (of the territory) of Mang and an officer in (the city of) AV/i-yuan. He had been dead for more than a thousand years, and no one had up to this time sacrificed to him in Mang. It was Wang ATing, the assistant Secretary of the Prefect, who super- intended the erection of a Sacrificial Hall (to Afwang-jze), and (when the building was finished) he applied to me for 1 The elder of two brothers, both famous as scholais, poets, and adminis- trators in the history of their country, and sons of a father hardly less distinguished The father (A r> 1009-1066) was named Su Ilsun (jg Yfll)> / M*-t J \ ffiVI * ' T' with the designation of Ming-yun (BH jfj, and the two names of locality, Lao-//wan (^j ^) and Mei-shan (jjj| [Jj) Of the U\o bi others the elder (1036-1101), author of the notice here adduced, was the more celebrated. His name was Shih (ffl^) and his designation 3ze-Hn (-?- ffllf) but he is more frequently styled Tung-pho (jf J^)' from lJlc Slluatlon of a house which he occupied at one time His life was marked by several vicissitudes of the imperial favour which was shown to him and of the disgrace to which he was repeatedly subjected He was versed in all Chinese literature, but the sincerity of his Confucianism ha: not been called in question His brother (1039-1112), by name Aeh (^jj[) by designation Qzc-y^i \"J EEf) an ^ ^ locality Ying-pm (5a {&)> ^ as ^ us a commentary on the Tao Teh A r mg, nearly the whole of which is given by S 1 ^ Hung, under the several chapters. It seems to have been Aeh's object to find a substantial unity under the diffcient forms of Confucian, Buddhistic, and Taoist thought The short essay, for it is more an essay than 'a record/ \\hich is here translated is appended by 3^o Hung to his 'Wings to Awang-jze' It is hardly worthy of Shih's reputation. APP.VIII. THE SACRIFICIAL HALL OF 1TWANG-3ZE. 321 a composition which might serve as a record of the event ; (which I made as follows) : 2. According to the Historical Records (of Sze-mA -Oien), ATwang-jze lived in the time of the kings Hui of Liang (B. c. 370-333 [P]) 1 and Hsuan of Kh\ (B.C. 332-314). There was no subject of study to which he did not direct his attention, but his preference was for the views of Lio-jze ; and thus it was that of the books which he wrote, con- taining in all more than ten myriad characters, the greater part are metaphorical illustrations of those views. He made 'The Old Fisherman/ 'The Robber ATih,' and 'The Cutting Open Satchels/ to deride the followers of Con- fucius, and to set forth the principles of Lo-jze. (So writes Sze-mA A7/ien, but) his view is that of one who had only a superficial knowledge of ATwang-jze. My idea is that -ffwang wished to support the principles of Khung-jze, though we must riot imitate him in the method which he took to do so. (I will illustrate my meaning by a case of a different kind) A prince of Kh\^ was once hurrying away from the city in disguise 2 , when the gate-keeper refused to let him pass through. On this his servant threatened the prince with a switch, and reviled him, saying, ' Slave, you have no strength 1 J On seeing this, the gate-keeper allowed them to go out. The thing certainly took place in an irregular way, and the prince escaped by an inversion of what was right ; he seemed openly to put himself in oppo- sition, while he was secretly maintaining and supporting. If we think that his servant did not love the prince, our judgment will be wrong ; if we think that his action was a model for imitation in serving a prince, in that also we shall be wrong. In the same way the words of A'wang-jze are thrown out in a contradictory manner, with which the tenor of his writing does not agree. The correct interpre- 1 Compaie vol xxxix, pp 36, 37, 39. Sze-ma A'^ien enters king Hui's death in this year The ' Bamboo Books ' place it sixteen years later, see The General Mirror of History/ under the thirty-fifth year of king Hsien of AHu. a I suppose this incident is an invention of Sfi Shih's own. I have not met with it anywhere else In Siao's text for the ' in disguise * of the transla- tion, however, theie is an error He gives jggr jffi instead of ', [ 4 o] y 322 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. VIII. tation of them shows them to be far from any wish to defame Khung-jze. 3. And there is that in the style which slightly indicates his real meaning. (In his last Book for instance), when discussing the historical phases of Taoism, he exhibits them from Mo Ti, Khm Hw^-lf, Phang Mang, Shan Tdo, Thien Pien, Kwan Yin, and Ldo Tan, down even to him- self, and brings them all together as constituting one school, but Confucius is not among them a . So great and peculiar is the honour which he does to him ! 4. I have had my doubts, however, about * The Robber Kfo (Bk. XXIX)/ and ' The Old Fisherman (Bk. XXXI),' for they do seem to be really defamatory of Confucius. And as to 'The Kings who have wished to Resign the Throne (Bk. XXVIII)' and 'The Delight in the Sword-fight (Bk. XXX);' they are written in a low and vulgar style, and have nothing to do with the doctrine of the To. Looking at the thing and reflecting on it, there occurred to me the paragraph at the end of Book XXVII (' Metaphorical Language'). It tells us that 'when Yang 3ze-u had gone as far as A^in, he met with Ldo-jze, who said to him, " Your eyes are lofty, and you stare ; who would live with you ? The purest carries himself as if he were defiled, and the most virtuous seems to feel himself defective." Yang 3 ze "^ u looked abashed and changed countenance. When he first went to his lodging-house, the people in it met him and went before him. The master of it carried his mat for him, and the mistress brought to him the towel and comb. The lodgers left their mats and the cook his fire-place, as he went past them. When he went away, the others in the house would have striven with him about (the places for) their mats.' After reading this paragraph, I passed over the four intermediate Books, the Zang Wang, the Yueh /ifien, the Yu Fu, and the Tdo A'ih, and joined it on to the first paragraph of the Lieh Yu-khdu (Book XXXII). I then read how Lieh-jze had started to go to Kh\ but came back 1 See Book XXXIII, pars. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. APP.VIII. THE SACRIFICIAL HALL OF JTWANG-SZE. 323 when he had got half-way to it. (When asked why he had done so), he replied, c I was frightened, I went into ten soup-shops to get a meal, and in five of them the soup was set before me before I had paid for it.' Comparing this with the paragraph about Yang 3 z e-u, the light flashed on me. I laughed and said, ' They certainly belong to one chapter ! ' The words of ATwang-jze were not ended; and some other stupid person copied in (these other four Books) of his own among them. We should have our wits about us, and mark the difference between them. The division of paragraphs and the titles of the Books did not proceed from A"wang-jze himself, but were introduced by custom in the course of time l . Recorded on the I9th day of the nth month of the first year of the period Yuan Fang (1078-1085). 1 Few of my readers, I apprehend, will appreciate this article, which is to me more ajeu d 'esprit than ' a record.' It is strange that so slight and fantastic a piece should have had the effect attributed to it of making the four Books which they call in question be generally held by scholars of the present dynasty to be apocryphal, but still Sti Shih avows m it his belief m Book XXXIII. Compare the quotation from Lin Hsf-ung on pp. 296, 297 Y 2 INDEX TO VOLUMES XXXIX (i), XL (li). A-ho Kan (ancient Taoist), Part n, A page 67. Ai (duke of Lfi), i, 229, 231, 232; n, 49, 207. Ailantus, the, i, 174 Ai-thai Tho (the ugly man), i, 229. Balfour, F. H , i, pp xiv, xv, xvm, xx, 14, 17, 19,20, 24, 128, 135,138, '42,155, 237,248, 300, 310; n, 240, 247, 251, 257, 262. Chalmers, Dr. J , i, pp xm, xiv, 64, 91,93, i4, io7, 123, 124. Davis, Sir J. F., 11, 5. Edkms, Dr. J., i, 58. Eitel, Dr. E, J., i, 44 . Faber, Mr. E., i, 137; li, 247. Fan (a state), n, 55, 56. Fan (the river), i, 172. Fan Li (minister of Yueh), n, 255. Fang-hwang (name of desert-sprite), n, 19. F5ng-i (spirit-lord of the Ho), i, 244. Fang Ming (charioteer of Hwang- Ti), n, 96. Fei-yo (a chapter of Mo Ti), n, 216. Ffi-hsi (the ancient sovereign), i, 210,244, 370; 11,55. Ffi-mo (= writings), i, 246. Ffi-yao (a whirlwind), i, 1 65, 1 67, 300. Fti Yueh (the minister of Wfi-tmg), i> 245. Gabelentz, Prof. G., i, p. xix, 57, 307, 310. Giles, H. A., i, pp. xiv, xviii, xx, 4, 15,17, 18, 19, 248, 249, et al. Han (state), n, 152, 153, 189. Han (river). In phrase Ho Han (= Milky Way), i, 170. Han Fei (the author), i, 5, 6, 69, 81, 97, 98, 102, 103, 104, 107, 109, 113- Han-tan (capital of ATao), i, 284, 390. Han Ying (the writer), i, 89, 90, 92. Hao (river), i, 391, 392. Hardwick, Archdeacon, i, 1 3, 40, 41. Ho (river), i, 389 ; n, 132, 173, 211. Ho Han, see Han. tfiang Ho, see H o-hsu (prehistoric sovereign), 1,279. Ho-kwan 3 z e (the author), i, 12. Ho-po (the spirit-ruler of the Ho), i, 374, 377, 378, 379, 382, 383. Ho-shang Kung (the author), i, 7, 8, 12,46,75,77,81,83,87,97,98, 99, 101, in, 117, 119, 123. Hsi ATiang (the Western Ung), li, 133- Hsi Phang (a minister of &M),n, 102. Hsi-phang (an attendant of Hwang- Ti), n, 96. Hsi Shih (the Beauty), i, 354. Hsi Wang-mQ (queen of the Genii), i, 245; 11,248,249. Hsiang Hsifi (the commentator), i, i o. Hsiang-Mng (name of a desert), ii, 96, 97. Hsiang-li Khm (a Mohist), ii, 220. Hsiang-wang (= Mr. Purposeless), i, 312. Hsiao-Ji (son of Kao Sung of Yin), n, 132- Hsiao-po (name of duke Hwan of Kb\),\\, 177- Hsieh THo-hSng (minister and scholar of Sui dynasty), ii, 311, 312. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. Hsien-^ih (Hwang-Ti's music), i, 348; ii, 8, 218. Hsien-ytian Shih (Hwang-Tl), i, 287. Hsm (the mound-sprite), 11, 19. Hsmg-than (apricot altar), ii, 192. Hsio-Afi (a kind of dove), i, 166. Hsu-ao (state), i, 190, 206. Hsu Wfi-kwei (a recluse), n, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94- Hsu-yi (a mystical name), i, 247. Hsu YG (a contemporary and teacher of Yao), i, 169, 255, 256, 312; n, 108, 161, 183, 210. Hsu-yu (name of count of K\), i, 239. Hsuan-mmg (name of Profundity), i, 247. Hsuan Shui (the dark river, meta- phorical), n, 57. Hsuan-yang 3ze (an author), n, 265 Hsuan Ymg (editor), i, p.xx, 197,269. Hti (state), i, 206. Hti (god of Northern sea), i, 267. Hti Pfi-^ieh (ancient worthy), i, 239. Hti-gze (teacher of Lieh-jze), i, 263, 264, 265. Hti Wan-ymg (editor and commen- tator), i, p. xx, 325; 11, 63,71. Hui (favourite disciple of Confucius), i, 209. See Yen Yuan. Hui-$ze, or Hui Shih (philosopher, and friend of wang-$ze), i, 172, 174, 186, 234, 235, 391, 392; 11,4, 137, 144, 229. Hwa (a place), i, 313. HwS, Eastern, the (idivme ruler of), ji, 248, 254. Hwa-^ieh Shu (a man with one ^foot), 11, 5. Hwa-liu (one of king Mfi's famous horses), i, 381. Hwa-shan (a hill), n, 222. Hwan (Confuciamst ot A3ng), n, 204, 205. Hwan (duke of JCM), i, 233, 343; n, 18, 20, 101, 177. Hwan Tau (minister of Ya*o), i, 295. Hwan Tw an (aTaoist sophist), 11, 2 30 Hwang-fti Mi (the writer), i, 8. Hwang-kwang (some strange pro- duction), ii, 9. Hwang-Jung (the first of the upper musical Accords), i, 269. Hwang Liao (a sophist), n, 231. Hwang-Ti (the ancient sovereign), '> 193, 244, 256, 295, 297, 298, 299, 3", 338, 348, 37o; ii, 7, 28, 55, 58, 60, 73, 96, 97, 171, 172, 218, 255. e Kao-ao (an officer of ii, 19. Hwun-tun (chaos), i, 267, 322. t (name of a place) ; may be read Ai, i, 194. I (the ancient archer), i, 227 ; n, 36, 99. 1 (wild tribes so named), u, 220. I-i (a bird), n, 32. I Aieh (a parasite of the court of . JM),ii f ii 4 . I-liao (a scion of the house of ATM), n, 28, 104, 121. L-lo (some strange growth), n, 9. t-r JJze (a fabulous personage), i, . 255, 256. 1-shih (name for speculation about the ongm of things), i, 247. I Yin (Thang's adviser and minister), i, 6; n, 162. Jesuit translation of the Tao Teh ing, i, pp. xii, xin, 95, 115. Juhen, Stanislas (the Sinologue), i, pp. xin, xv, xvi, xvn, 12, 13, 34, 35, 72, 73, 104, 109, 123, 124; , 239, 243, 245. Kan Ymg Phien (the Treatise), i, p. xi, 38, 40, 43 ; ii, 235-246. Kan-yueh (a place in Wti, famous for its swords), i, 367. Kao Yti (the glossanst), i, 86. Kau-^ien (king of Yueh), n, in. Ko (name of the stream, near whose bank Lao-jze was born), , 3i7. Ko Yuan or Hsuan (a Taoist writer), n, 248. Kfi (name for female slave), i, 273. Kti-^ti (ancient state), n, 163, 173. Kti Kh\ (an attendant of Hwang-Ti), n, 96. Kti-^ueh (metaphorical name for a height), n, 58. Kumara^iva (Indian Buddhist), i, 76, 90. Kung-kung (YaVs minister of works), i, 295. Kung Po (earl of Kung), n, 161. Kung Shan (mount Kung), n, 161. Kung-sun Lung (noble, and sophist INDEX. of no), i, 387, 389; ", 230. See Ping. Kung-jze Mau (a prince of Wei), i, 387. Rung-wan Hsien (a man of Wei), i, 200. Kung-yueh Hsifi (a recluse of Khfi), 11, 114, 115. Kwai-M (hill in Yueh), ii, in, 133. Kwan Lung-fang (minister of Hsia), i, 205,283; 11, 131. Kwan-ize (minister of duke Hwan of m), 11, 7 ; called Kwan Aung, n, 18, 19, 101, 177 ; and JTung-fG, u, 19, roi. Kwan Yin (the 'warden Yin Hsi), i 5, 355 , 12, 13, 226, 227. KwangAMng-jze (teacher of Hwan g- Ti), i, 297, 298, 299; n, 255, 256, 257. Kwang-yao (=starhght), ii, 70. Kwei (an ancient state), i, 190. Kwei Kfi 3ze (the famous Recluse), ", 255. Khang-jhang (? = KSng-sang u, 82. Khan-pei (spirit presiding over Khwan-lun), i, 244. Khao-fu (ancestor ot Confucius), 11, 209. Khau jOMen-&h (usurping patriarch of Taoism), n, 256. Kho (a nver), n, 14. KhQ Hwo (a Mohist of the South), 11, 220. Khung-jze (Confucius), called also Khung Kh\My Kbiu, Khung-shih, and ^ung-n?, i, 34, 35, 203, 204, 208, 221, 223, 224, 228, 229, 230, 233, 250, 251, 253, 256, 257, 320, 322, 338, 339, 35i, 354, 355, 357, 358, 360, 361, 362, 375, 376, 385, 386; ii, 7, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 53, 55, 63, 71, 72, 104, 105, 117, 120, 121, 166, 167, 168, 169, 172, 177, 180, 192, 193, 194, 197, 198, 199, 207, 208, 209. Khung-thung (a mountain), i, 297. Khwan (a river), 11, 141. See Kho. Khwan (the great fish), i, 164, 167. Khwan (a son of Sze-JM), n, 106, 107. Khw&n Hwun (an attendant of Hwang-Ti), ii, 96. KhwSn-lun (the mountain), i, 244, 3" J ", 5- Khwang (music-master of Sin), i, 186, 269, 274, 286. Khwang (a district), i, 385. Khwang-jze (an old worthy), ii, 180. Khwei (prince of Aao), ii, 186. Khwei (a hill-sprite), ii, 19. Khwei (name of one-footed dragon), i, 384- Aan-gze (a worthy of Wei), ii, 159. Aan ZSn (the True Man, highest master of the Tao), ii, 1 10 See especially m Book VI. Aang (the state), i, 226, 262, 263 ; n, 204. Aang Hang (a poet), i, 89. Aang Aan (editor of Lieh-jze), i, 117. ang Liang (famous Taoist), ii, 255. Aang Tao-lmg (first Toist master), 1,42. a"ng Shang (the Aau library), i, 339- ang Zo (an attendant of Hwang- Ti), n, 96. ao (the state), n, 186, 187. ao and ao Wan (a lutist of 3m), i, 186. Kao-hsi (marquis of Han), ii, 152, 153- ao Wang (king of JM), ii, 155. ATau (the dynasty), l i, 338, 339, 353 (in i, 352, and n, 34, 189, au must be=Wei); n, 163, 164. Kau (the tyrant of Yin), i, 205, 359, 386; n, 131, 171, 173, 177, 178. Ii3u Kung (the famous duke of au), i, 314; n, 178, 218; but in n, 1 6, another duke. /(Tau-shui (a river), ii, 162. ATeh Ho (the JTeh .ATiang), ii, 134. i (a wise man in time of Thang), i, 167. K\, meaning king At, ii, 178 ; mean- ing LiG-hsia Hui, h, 168. Ai Hsien (wizard of ATSng), i, 263. Ai Hsmg-jze (a rearer of game- cocks), n, 20. Ai Aan (a Taoist master), ii, 129. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. JH Kbeh (officer of Lfi), i, 318. Id Kbih (a Mohist of the South), ii, 220. Ki-kbk (prehistoric sovereign), i, 210. K\ Thl (ancient worthy), i, 239 ; 11, 141. A^-gze (an officer of Wei), ii, 118. K\ 3ze (the count of Wei), i, 239 ; 11, 131. ATia Yu (Narratives of the School), 1,91. Jfih (the robber so-called), i, 273, 275, 283, 284, 285, 292, 295, 328; u, 166, 167, 168, 170, 172, 175- Kih (knowledge personified), i, 311 ; 11, 57, 58, 60. ATih-hwo (as a name, Mr. Kno\v-the- Mean), u, 180, 181, 182, 183. ATih-kung (as a name), u, 180. Afih-khwai (marquis of Yen), i, 380. ATih-li Yi (a name), n, 206. Afiang (the nver), u, 29, 102, 126, 131, 136 (the Clear ATiang), 174, 219. Afiang-Ju Mien (officer of Lfi), i, 318, 319. ATieh (the tyiant of Hsia), i, 205, 242, 291,295,380,386; 11,131, 162, 177, 178. Afieh (name of an old book), i, 220. jfieh-jze (a Taoist master), 11, 129. ATieh-jze Thui (officer of duke Wan of3m), u, 173. Afieh-yung (name of a book of Mo Ti), n, 218. ATien Ho-hau (a certain marquis in Wei), u, 132. Afien Wfi (a fabulous Taoistic per- sonage), i, I7 o, 244, 260; 11,54. Ain (music-master of Lfi), i, 351. ATmg (the emperor, of Han), i, 8. ATifi-fang Yan (a physiognomist), n, 106, 107. ATiQ-shao (Shun's music), ii, 8. ATo-lfi (Hwang-Ti's battle-field), u, 171, 173- Affi Hsi (the philosopher), i, 23, 54, 56, 89, 167; ii, 263, 272. ATfi Hsm (a Taoist master), u, 16. Afi-ko Liang (the famous), u, 255. ATfi-liang (duke of Sheh in AM), 1,210. Affi-lu (a certain hunchback), u, 14. ATfi Phmg-man (a TSoist), u, 206. ATfi 3ung-san (officer of prayer in temple), n, 18. ATfi-yung (prehistonc sovereign), i, 287. Ku Liang (a strong man), i, 256. Ku Po-yu (a minister of Wei), i, 215; ii, 124. ATu-ghze (a hill), n, 96. ATun Mang (name for primal ether), i, 322, 323. ATung (a minister of Yueh), ii, in. ATung Kwo (the Middle States), ii, 43, 216. ATung-shan (a dependency of Wei), n, 159. Afwan-hsu (the ancient sovereign), i, 244. ATwang-jze and ATwang Khau (our author), i, pp. xi, xvm, xix, xx, xxi, 3, 4, 5, 10, ii, i9, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 172, 173, 174, 197, 234, 235, 332, 346, 347, 387, 3 8 9> 390, 391, 392; 11, 4, 5, 6, 27,36, 39,4 ,49,50,66,98, 99, 132, 133, 137, 138, 144, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 205, 207, 211, 212, 227. ATwang Kung (duke of Lfi), n, 23. (or 3hai, the state), i, 352 ; n, 32, 34. (the state), i, 352 ; n, 32, 34, 160, 161, 172, 197. (a minister of Shun), n-, 62. Hung (a historiographer and musician of Afau), i, 283 ; n, 131. AT^ang A^ (a disciple of Confucius), i, 223, 224, 225. Aj&ang-slian (the name of a gulf), n, 15. Atamg-wfi (a district), i, 192; n, 121. Afang-yu (an attendant of H \vang- Ti), n, 96. Kb\ (the state),i, 210, 211, 217, 233, 281,282; u, 7, 19,43,100, 118, 119, 169, 172, 189, 205 ATi Hsieh (an old book), i, 165. Kb\ Kung (a worthy of Wei), 11, A 4* A - ATi-shan (early seat of the house of ATau), n, 151, 163. AT&eh Aj&au (= vehement debater), i, 312. AT&eh-yu (the madman of A7;fi), i, 170, 221, 260. INDEX. Aien-lung,the catalogue of, li, 255, 256. 6ih-*ang Man-Atf (a man of king Wfi's time), i, 324. Kbh-ki (one of king Mfi's steeds), i, j8r; ii, 175. KMh Shu (title of minister of war), , us- ATuh Shui (the Red-water, meta- phorical), i, 311. A&h-wei (a prehistoric sovereign), i, 2 44J n, 73, 138; (also, an as- sistant historiographer), n, 124, A&h-yfi (rebel against Hwang-T?), n, 171- Kbm (the state and dynasty), n, 147 (but this is doubtful), 207. Kt>m Hwa-li (a contemporary and disciple of Mo Ti), n, 218, 221. A*mShih (a Taoist), 1,201. ng (worker in rottlera wood), 11, 22. ng Aang Alng (name of Taoist r . Treatise), n, 247-254. A^mg-lang (name of an abyss), n, 162. KM (the name of Confucius), i, 193, J 95, 251, 252, 317, 3 6o, 362; n, 7, 104, 168, 170, 172, 174, S?"?A ( ? am of 5 place) > " 2 4 - A#O bnin ( = Mr. Provocation), n. 119. AM (the state), ,, 221, 224, 230, 3i9,39o, n, 6, 14,55, 56, 98, 100, 104, 120, 155, 156, 169. A^u-kung (a man of ATM), 11, 108. Kbu 3hiao-jze (a Taoist), i, 192. Au-yuan (a place in Kb\), i, 217. Kbui (ancient artificer), i, 286. Kbun KM (the classic), i, 189, 360; n, 216. Kbung Shan (a hill), i, 295. Lan 3u (disciple of Awang-$ze), ii, 40. Lao-jze, Lao Tan, Lao and Tan alone(ourLao-jze),i,pp.xi,xn, xni, xiv, xv, xvi, xvn, xvni, i, 2, 3,4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10,13, *4, '5, 16,24,25, 28, 29,30,31,32,33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 4'i 44, 201, 228, 229, 261, 262, 294, 317, 339, 340, 341, 355, 357, 358, 359i 360, 361, 362 ; n, 46, 47, 49, 63, 74, 75, 78, 79, 81, 122, A 147, 148, 226, 227. Lao Ami (a designation of LSo-jze), T a '' 4C li "' 249j 25 253 - Uo s golden principle, i, 31, 106. Laos views on war, i, 72,73, "o, III, 112. Lib's temple and tablet, ii, 311-320. Lao Lai-gze (a TSoist of JM), n, Lao-lung Ki (ancient master of the Tao), 11, 68. Lei-thing (sprite of the dust-heap), 11, 19. ' U (classic so called), i, 67, 360; ii, 75. 216. U (sprite of mountain tarns), ii, 19. Li Hsi-yueh (the commentator), i, p. xvn; n, 248, 251, 253, 256, T* 257 2 58,264, 265, 269, 271. LI Kwang-ti (a modern scholar), ii, *-i Ai^uie oeauty;, i, 191, 194. Li Ku (the man of wonderful vision), 1,^269, 274, 286, 287, 311. LT-^u and Li-lfi (prehistoric so- vereigns), i, 287. Li ATAwan (supposed author of the Li Lung (the black dragon), 11, 211. Li R (surname and name of Lao- _ $ ze ), i, 34, 35- Liang (the state or city), i, 391 ; ii, 120; (also, a place on the bor- A dersofPhei), n, 147. Liao Shui (a river), i, 260. Lieh-jze and Lieh Yu-khau (the philosopher), i, 5, 85, 116, 168, 263, 264, 265; n, 9 , 53, 154 (-^ Lieh-gze), 202, 203. Lien ShO (a Taoist in time of Gon- fucms), i, 170, 171. Lin Hsi-ung (editor of JTwang- gze), i, p xx, 232, 233, 375; 11, 18, 100,117,273-297. Lin Hui (of the Yin dynasty), ii, 34, 35- Ling (duke of Wei), i, 215, 233 ; ii, 124, 125, 126. Ling Thai (=the Intelligence), ii, 24. Liti An, i. q. Hwii-nan 3ze (the writer), i, 5, 6, 7, 51, 86, 101, 102, 106, 107, 113. Liti-hsia Al (brother of the robber Am), ii, 166, 167, 175. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. Lifi Hsiang (Han officer and writer), i, 97, 100,107; ii, 132. Liu Hsm (Han librarian, son of Hsiang), i, 6. Lo-sung (name for reading), i, 247. Lfi (the state), i, 223, 224, 228, 229, 284, 353; ii, 8, 17, 22, 26, 29, 34, 43, 49, 50, 153, 157, 160, 167, 168, 169, 172, 175, 193, 197, 216. Lfi Ku (a philosopher), ii, 99. Lfi Nang-shih (commentator), i, 76. LA Shih (work of Lo Pi), i, 351. Lfi Shfi-^ih (the editor), i, p. xix, 143, 148, 150,153,154, 161; , 146, 179. Lfi Teh-mmg (the author), i, p. xix, 103 ; n, 37. Lfi 3hien-hsu (a writer), n, 264. Lu Liang (the gorge ot Lu), n, 20. Lu Shui (a river), 11, 163. Lu 3fi (famous Taoist), i. q. Lu Tung-pin, LU ^un-yang), i, pp. xvi, XVH. Lung-fang, 11, 1 31. See K\van Lung- ftng. Lung Li-MSn (a minister of Wei), n, 43. Man Kau-teh (unprincipled de- bater), n, 176, 177, 178. Man-shih ( = Mr. Stupidity), n, 119, 1 20. M5n Wfi-kwei (man in time of king WQ), i, 324, 325. Man-ym Tang-hang (officer of Thang), n, 117 Mang-sun 3hai or Shih (member of Mang-sun family), i, 253, 254. Mng 3ze-fan (Taoist, time of Con- fucius), i, 250. Mao Shiang (the beauty), i, 191. Mau (prince of Wei), n, 159 Mayers's Manual, i. 40, 41, 167, 301, 374; n, 317, etal. Mencius, i, 65, in, 131, 134, 372, 380; n, 54, 116, 216. Miao-ku-shih (a mysterious hill), i, 170, 172. Mm-jze (disciple of Confucius), i, 232. Ming (a hill in the north), i, 347. Ming-ling (a great tree), i, 166. Mo, Mo-jze, and Mo T! (the he- resiarch; his followers), i, 182, 270, 287 p 296, 360; n, 73, 99, 100,177,178,204,205,219,220, 221. Mfi (duke of m), n, 50, 89. Nan-kwo $ze-M\ (a great Taoist), i, 176. Nan-po 3ze-^i (same as the above), i, 219; n, 103. See $ze-&bi. Nan-yfieh (Yueh in the south), n, 30. Nestonan monument, the, i, 94. Nieh-hsu (name for hearing or re- port), i, 247. Nieh Aifrueh (ancient Taoist), i, 190, 192, 259, 312; n, 61,62, 108. Nu Sfiang (favourite of marquis of Wei), n, 91, 92, 93. Nu Yu (great Taoist), i, 245. Numerical categories: Three precious things, i, no; precious ones, or refuges, i, 43, in; pure ones, 1,43; three meals, i, 166 ; dynasties, i, 271 ; Mao, and three Wei, i, 295; dynasties, kings of the, i, 295, 381; hosts, i, 334; Hwang and five Ti, i, 353 ; five Ti and three Wang, i, 376; branches of kindred, n, 204 ; most distinguished officers, 11, 156 ; swords, 11, i#9; luminaries, n, 190; pairsof Thai stars, n, 236 ; spirits of the recumbent body, 11, 236 ; regions, n, 249 ; poisons, n, 251 ; despoilers, n, 260. Four seas, the, i, 171, 295; phi- losophers or perfect ones, 1,172; boundaries (= a neighbour- hood), i, 230; seasons, i, 239, et saepe ; quarters ot the earth, i, 330; wild tribes on the four quarters, n, 189, 220; evils, the, n, 196, 197 ; misrepresentations, the, n, 197. Five grains, the, i, 171 ; chiefs, i, 245; viscera, i, 220, 247, 268, 294; colours, i, 328; notes of music, i, 328; weapons, i, 334 ; punishments, i, 335; elements, i, 346; n, 189, 258; virtues, i, 349 ; regulators of the five notes, i, 351; fivefold arrangement of the virtues, n, 178, 179; feudal lordships, 11, 220 ; moun- tains, n, 317. Six elemental energies, i, 169, 301 ; conjunctions (=the uni- INDEX. verse of space), i, 1 89 ; members of the body, i, 326; extreme points (= all space), i, 346, 351; musical Accords, i, 269; comprehensions ( = universe of space), i, 330; classics, i, 360; Bow-cases (name of a book), 11, 92 ; faculties of perception, ii, 139; parties in the social organisation, ii, 179 ; desires, 11, 251. Seven precious organs of the body, 11, 272. Eight qualities in discussions, i, 189 ; subjects of delight, i, 293 ; apertures oronfices of the body, 11, 63 ; defects of conduct, 11, 196, 197; eight diagrams, the, 11, 264. Nine hosts, i, 225 ; divisions of the Lo writing, i, 346 ; provinces, J , 376 ; ii, 317 ; apertures of the body, 11, 25, 63, 259, 260; Shao (a full performance ot the music of Shun), n, 26. Twelve /Ting or classics, i, 339; hours (of a day), n, 270. O-lai (a minister of Yin, killed by king Wfi), 11, 131. Pai Kung (duke or chief of Pai in Kbu), i, 380. Pai-li Hsi (the famous), n, 50. Pao Shfi-ya (minister of A#i),n, 101. Pao 3>ao, and Pao-$ze (ancient worthy), n, 173, 180. Paradisiacal and primeval state, i, 26-28, 277-279, 287, 288, 325. Pei-kung She (officer of Wei), ii, 31. Pei-^i (the North Pole), i, 245. Pel-man AT/6ang(dttendant on Hwang- Ti), i, 348. Pei-san Wfi-/*ai (a friend of Shun), 11, 161. Pi-kan (the famous prince of Yan), 1,205,283; 11,37,131,174,180. Piao-shih (prehistoric sovereign), n, Pien Sui (worthy at court of Thang), n, 162. Pien-gze (a Taoist master), n, 25, a6. Pin (early settlement of House of au), ii, 150. Ping (name of Kung-sun Lung), ii, 99, 100. Po-hai (district along gulf of ih-K), n, 189. Po-hwan Wfi-san (T^oist teacher), 1,226; 11,53,202,203, Po-i (elder of the brothers of Kfi- *fi), i, 239, 273, 375, 376; ii, 163, 173- Po Ku (disciple of LSo-jjze), ii, 122. Po Kbang-kbien (historiographer of Wei), n, 124, 125. Po-^Mng 3ze-kdO (Taoist, time of Yao), i, 315. Po-lao (first subduer of horses), i, 276, 277, 279- Po SMh (the Bright Water, meta- phorical), n, 57, 58. PQ-liang 1 (ancient Taoist), i, 245. Pu (or Wfi) 3fi (=Mr. Dissatisfied), ii, 180, 181, 183. Phang (the great bird), i, 164, 165, 167. Phang Mang (a famous archer), ii, 36. Phang Mang (a Taoist master), ii, 223, 225. Phang 3Q (the patriarch), i, 167, 188, 245, 364. Phang Yang (the same as 3eh-yang), n, 114. Phao-ting (a cook), i, 198, 199, 200. Phei (place where Lao-$ze lived), i, 354J ", 147- Phei-i (ancient Taoist), i, 312; n, 61,62. Phien (a wheelwright), i, 343. Phi-yung (king Wan's music), n, 218. Phfi (a river of #an), i, 390. Phfi-i-jze (ancient TSoist), i, 259. R&nusat (the Sinologue), i, pp. xm, xxi, 12, 57 Rtshis (of Buddhism), ii, 238. Sacrificial hall of JTwang-gze, ii, 320. San Miao (the tribes so called), i, 295. San-wei (the place so called), i, 295. Sau (a prince of Yueh), n, 151, 152. Sha-^iQ (a hill in Wei), n, 125. Shan uan (worthy, in favour of whom Shun wished to resign), n, 183. (name of a height), i, 260. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. Shan Ming (name, for perspicacity), i, 247. Shan N&ng (the ancient sovereign), i, 37o; 11,7,28,67,68,164,171. Shan Pao (a recluse), n, 17. Shan Tao (an earnest Taoist), n, 223, 224, 225. Shan-thfi ia (a mutilated Taoist), i, 226. Shan-thfi Ti (a worthy of Yin, a suicide), i, 239; n, 141, 173, perhaps the same as Shan-jze, or Shang-jze. Sh3n-$ze (a prince of 3m), u, 180. Shang (the dynasty), i, 346, 352 ; li, 34 (meaning duchy of Sung). Shang Sung (sacrificial odes of ^ Shang), 11, 158. Shao (a ducal appanage), i, 361. Shao-kwang (name of a palace), i, * 2 45. Shao Kih (an inquirer about the Tao), n, 126, 127, 128. Shau-lmg (a city), i, 390. Shau-yang (a hill), i, 273 ; n, 165, 173. Sheh (district ot JG&fi), i, 210. Shih (name of Hui-jze), n, 2 3 1 . See Hui-flze. Shih (the classic so called), i, 360 ; n, 216, 271. Shih (name of a mechanic), i, 217, 218 ; n, 101. Shih (officer of Wei, Shih Yu and Shih 3hifi), i, 269, 274, 287, 292, 295, 328. Shih-hd (a place), 11, 150. Shih-^y&ang (a barrier uall), n, 189. Shih-^ng Kh\ (a Taoist, hardly believing in Lao-^ze), 1,340,341. Shih-nan (\vhere 1-liao lived), u, 28, 104,121. Shfi (the deformed worthy), i, 220. Shfi (the classic so called), i, 360; n, 216. Shfi (god of the Northern sea), i, 266, 267. Shfi (region in the West), ii, 131. Shfi-^i (brother of Po-i), i, 239; ", 163, 173. Shfi-r (ancient cook), i, 274. Shfi-tan (the duke of au, q. v.), ii, 163. Shui (i. q. Kbm, q. v.). Shun (the sovereign, called also Yfi Yu), i. 171, 190, 210, 225, 282, 295, 315, 33', 338, 347, 359, 380; , 7, 35, 62,73,109,120, 150, 161, 170, 171, 173, 178, 183, 218. Strauss, Victor von (translator and philosopher), i, p. xm, 58, 123, 124. Sfi Shih (called also 3ze-an, and Tung-pho), n, 320, with his father and brother. Sfi Shm (the adventurer), n, 256. Sui (a small state), n, 154. Sui (the dynasty), i, 7, 8; n, 311. Sui-zan (prehistoric sovereign, in- ventor of fire), i, 370 ; n, 7. Sun Shfi-ao (minister of Kbti), n, 54, 104, 105. Sung (the state), i, 168, 172, 219, 301, 352, 386; 11, 34, 50, 101, 136, 169, 189, 197, 207, 211. Sung Hsmg (a Taoist master), n, 221. Sze-ma Kwang (statesman and his- torian), i, 86. Sze-ma ATnen (the historian), i, 4, 5, 6, 7, 33, 35, 3*, 37, 38, 67, 101, 123 ; n, 321, et al. Ta Hsia (name of Yu's music), n, 218. Ta Hfi (Thang's music), n, 218. Ta-kung 7an (an officer of Kbz\ or 3hai), n, 32 (or Thai Rung). Ta-kwei (name tor the Tao)J n, 96. Ta ^Tang (Yao's music), n, 218. Ta-^un (a great tree), i, 166. Ta Lu (first of the lo\\er musical Accords), i, 269. Ta Mo (Great Vacuity, the Tao), n, 31. Ta Shao (name of Shun's music), n, 218. Ta Thao (historiographer of Wei), 11, 124,125 Ta-ymg (Taoist of Kh\, with a goitre),i, 233. Tai (the mount, i. q. Thai), ii, 189. Tan Hsueh (a certain ca>e), n, 151, 152. Tang (a high minister of Shang), i, 346. Tang (a place or region), ii, no. Tang Ling-jze (a Mohist), n, 220. Tao (the '1 ao), passim ; meaning of the name, i, 1 2, 1 5. The Great T3o, i, 6 1, 68,76, 96; n, 249. TSo ih (the robber Kih). See Jfih. INDEX. Tito *iG (Confucius!), ii, 172. Taoist canon, the, 11, 255. Temple of Lao-jze, the, n, 319. TI (God), 1,202, 243,? 3 14, 367; ,i, 58 (probably meaning Hwang- Ti). In ii, 1 1 i,l. 7, the character =to rule, to be sovereign m. Ti (the rude tribes of the North), n, 150. " Ti (name of the heresiarch Mo, and sometimes used for Mohists). See Mo. ' \ (a park), ii, fictitious beings, introduced by him as expositors of the Tao, i, 299, et al. Thien Ho (a ruler of JBW), ii, 103 ; ? same as Thien Mu, ii, 1 1 8. Thien Kan (a mystical name), i, 260, 261. Thien Aj&ang-jze, and Thien tffcang (who usurped the rulership of KM), i, 282; n, 177. Thien Phien (Taoist teacher), ii, 223, 225. Thien Shih (name applied by Hwang- Tung-kwo 3ze (an inquirer after the Tao), n, 66. Tung-kwo 3ze-AW (i.q. Nan-kwo 3ze-^?j, q v.), ii, 145. Tung A"ung-shu (the Han scholar), i, 109, no. Tung WG (Taoist teacher), n, 103. Tung-ye Ki (a great charioteer), n, 23. Thai (the mountain), i, 188, 244, 296, 11,167. Thai (certain stars), 11, 236. Thai-hsia (name of Yu's music), n, 218. Thai-hG (name of Thang's music). 11,218. Thai Rung (old minister and writer), n, 255. Thai-kung Thiao (a Taoist master), 11, 126, 127, 128. Thai-kung Zan (a Taoist who tried ^to instruct Confucius), 11, 32. Thai-tf (the primal ether), i, 243. Thai^mg (Grand Purity), 11,68, 69. Thai Shang (name of Tractate), i, 40; 11,235. Thai Shih (prehistoric sovereign), i, 259- Thai-wang Than-fG (ancestor of au), n, 150, 151. Thang (the Successful, founder of Shang), 1,6, 167, 359, 380, 388; >73, M', 162, 170, 171, 173, 178. Thang (meaning Yao), i, 370 ; ii, 210. Thang Wan (a book of Lieh-jze), i, 167. Thien (heavenly, in the Taoistic sense), i, 309, et al.; see p. 16. Applied by ATuang-jze to the Taoist master, i, 42. Thien 3un (a Taoist deifying title), n, 265, 266. Thien 3ze (highest name of the sovereign), n, 195, etal. Thien 3ze-fang (preceptor of mar- quis of Wei), n, 42, 43. Thung-thmg (the lake), i, 348 ; ii, 8. Thung-thu (a certain region), 11, 1 10. 3ai-lG (name of an abyss), ii, 136. Sang (a place), 11,51, ( a name for a male slave), i, 273. Sang (the disciple Sang Shan), i, 269, 274, 287, 292,295,328; 11,132, !45i 158. 3au (birthplace of Mencius), ii, 216. 3eh-yang (designation ot Phang Yang), n, 114. 3iao Hung (commentator and editor), i, pp. xv, xix, 76, 84, 90, H9> 123, et al. 3iao-hao (the orthotomus or tailor- bird), i, 170. 3m (the state), i, 194, 319; ii 169 189. 3o wan (the book so called), i, 106; n, 210, 235, etal. Sung (a state), i, 190. Sze-hsu (the famous WG 3ze-hsu or WG Yuan), 1,2 83; 11,2,174,180. Sze-hwa Sze (Taoist of Wei), n, n 152, 153- 3ze-kung (the disciple), i, 92, 251, 252,253,319,320,321,358,360; 11,7, 157,1 60, 161,167 ,193,194. 3ze-*ang (disciple of Confucius), ii, 176, 177- 3ze-ao (designation of duke of Sheh), i, 210. po (men to whom Yao and Shun THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. wished to resign the throne), ii, 149. (a minister of 3ng), i, 226, 227, 228. (minister of war of Kb$) 9 ii, 156. i, ii, 1 06. See Nan-kwo ATang (a Taoist), i, 250. 3ze-lai (a Taoist), i, 247, 249. 3ze-lao (disciple of Confucius), n, 121. 3ze-lt (a Taoist), i, 247, 249. 3ze Lieh-gze, n, 154 See Lieh-gze. 3ze-lQ (the disciple), i, 92, 338, 386 ; n, 44, 121, 160, 161, 172, 193, 200. 3ze-sang Hfi (a Taoist), i, 250, 251. 3ze-sze (a Taoist), i, 247. 3ze-wei k\h 1m (a certain forest), n, 192. 3ze-vang (minister of ang), ii, 154. Sze-yfi. See Yen &&ang. 3ze-yu (a Taoist), i, 247. 3hai (the state), i, 352; n, 32, 34, 160, 161, 172, 197. 3han-hao (name for vague uncer- tainty), i, 247 3hang-wfi (where Shun was buried), * "' I34 ' 3hao Shang (a man of Sung), n, 207. 3hui Kbu (a contemporary of Lao- gze), i, 294. 3hung-ih (a state), i, 206 ; perhaps i. q 3ung. 3hze (name of 3ze-kung, q.v.), n, 1 60. [3h and Kb are sometimes inter- changed in spelling names.] Wan (the king), i, 359; n, 51, 52, 53, 168,172, 173. (The famous duke of 3m), n, 173. (A mar- quis of Wei), 11, 42, 43. (A king of tfao), n, 186, 190, 191. (The emperor of Sui), n, 311, 315- Wfri-hui (? king Hui of Liang), i, 198, 200. WSn-po Hsueh-gze (a Tioist of the South), n, 43, 44. Wang I (ancient Taoist), i, 190, 191, 192, 259, 312. Wang Kh\ (commentator of Ma Twan-lm), i, 40 ; n, 265. Wang Pi (or Ffi-sze, early com- mentator), i, p. xv, 8, 55, 74, 75, 83, 93> 94, 101, et al. Wang Thai (Taoist cripple and teacher), i, 223, 224. Wang-jze, Khm%-k\ (a prince so named), n, 31. War, against, i, 100, no, 112. Water, as an emblem ot the Tio, i, 52,58,75, 120. Wei (the state |Jj|), i, 172, 387 ; ii, 36,42,91, 118, 152, 189. Wei (the state ^), i, 203, 229, 351, 352; 11,31, 34,i58, 169, 172,197. Wei Kung (duke Wei of au),n, 16. Wei Shang (a foolish ancient), ii, 174, 180. Wei-tau (Ursa Major), i, 244. Williams, Dr., i, 319, 353, 370; ii, 192, 257. WO (the state), i, 173 5 ii, 102, 133 ; (the dynasty), n, 248, 249. Wfi (the king), i, 359, 380, n, 73, 163, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173, 178, 218. (His music), n, 2 1 8. Wfi-ao (name for songs), i, 247. WG-hsien Thiao (a Taoist of uncer- tain date), ij, 346. Wfi Kwang (a worthy, in favour of whom Thang wished to resign), i, 239, n, MI, 162, i6j. Wfi-^ai (name of Thien 3ze-fang), n, 42. Of another, n, 161. Wfi-M (the toeless), i, 228. Wfi-wang (distinguished for beau- ty), i, 256. Wfi .Af^ang (the commentator), i, p.xvii, 9, 67, 72,81, 88,97,108, 109, et al. Wfi iung ( = Infinity), n, 69. Wfi Shih ( = Mr. No-beginning), ii, 69. Wfi-shun (the Lipless), i, 233. Wfi-tmg (a king of Shang), i, 245. Wfi-gfi (=Mr. Discontent), n, 180, 183. Wfi-wei (=Mr. Do-nothing), ii, 68, 69. WA-wei Wei (Dumb- Inaction), ii, 57, 58, 60. Wfi-yo (=Mr. No-agreement), ii, 179- Wfi-yfi (=Mr.Non-existence),ii,7o. Wfi Ytln (i.q. Wfi Sze-hsu), 11, 131, 174- INDEX. Wyhe, Mr. A., i, 9, 39 ; n, 257, 265, et al. Yak(thebosgrunniensofThibet), i, 174, 317. Yang (the emperor of the Sui dynasty), n, 311. Yang (the heresiarch Yang Kb), i, 270, 287; n, 99, 100. Yang Hfi (a bad officer), i, 387. Yang Sze-y&u (a contemporary of Lao-jjze; perhaps the same as the above; but the surname Yang is a different character), 1,261; 11,99, ioo. Yangtze, n, 41, 147, 148. This is Yang-fi in Lieh-^ze; but the Yang is that of Yang 3ze-/*u. Yo (the ancient sovereign), i, 1 69, 172, 190, 206, 225, 242, 282, 291, 295, 312, 313, 314, 315, 338> 347, 359, 386; n, 31, 108, no, 120, 136, 141, 149, 162, 170, 171, 173, 178, 183. Yen (the state so called), n, 107, 229. Yen (name of the above), i, 176. Yen (name of minister of War in Wei), 11, 1 1 8. Yen Ho (a worthy of Lfi in Wei, as teacher of its ruler's son), i, 2 1 5. (The same, or another of the same name in Lfi), n, 23, 153, 207. Yen Kang (attendant at an old Taoist establishment), 11, 68. Yen ang Sze-yii (attendant of Nan-kwo 3ze-*M), i, 176; 11, 103 (Yen JTMng-^ze), 145 Yen Kin (a place in Yen), n, 189. Yen Man (gate of capital of Sung), n, 140. Yen Pfi-i (friend of a king of Wu), 11, 102, 103. Yen Shfi (a mole), i, 170. Yen Yuan, Yen Hui, and Hui alone (Confucms's favourite disciple), i, 203, 206, 207, 208, 209, 253, 256,257, 351; 11,7, 15,44,49, 53, 72, 158, 159, 160, 167, 200. Yi (the classic so called), i, 360; ii, 216. Yin (the dynasty), ii, 164. (Also a mountain), i, 260. Ym-fan (an imperceptibly sloping hill, metaphorical), n, 57. Yin W5n (Tioist master), n, 221. Yin and Yang (the constituents of the primal ether, and its opera- tion),!, 249, 291, 292, 297, 299, 349, 3 6 5, 369;", 61, 64, 84, 99, 132. See also ii, 146, 147,195, 208, 216. Ymg (the capital of JK>fi), i, 347 ; n, 101, 230. Ymg (a river), n, 161. Yo (the classic so called), n, 216, 218. Yo 1 (a leading man in the king- dom in third cent. B. c.), i, 7. Yo ^an (a descendant of Yo t and pupil of Ho-shang Kung), J 7- Yfi (name of 3ze-lfi), i, 339 ; ii, 160, 2OI. Yfi mo Shih (the Nest-er sove- reign), n, 171. Yfi-li (where king Wan was con- fined), n, 173. YQ Piao Shih (ancient sovereign), i, 35i. Yfi Shih (the master of the Right, who had lost a foot), i, 200. Yfi lu (the dark capital, in the north), i, 295. Yfi 3u *ih shan (a hill in Wfi), n, 102. Yu (the Great), 1,181,206, 210, 315, 359, 388; n, 35, 173, 218,220. Yu Hwang-Ti, or Yu Hwang Shang Ti (great 1 aoist deity), i, 43, 44. Yti-^iang (the spirit of the northern regions), i, 245. Yu Shih, Yfi-yu, and Yu alone (names for Shun), i, 245, 259, 272, 370; n, 50. Yu Shfi AJng (the Treatise so called), n, 265-268. Yu 3u (a fisherman), 11, 136, 137. Yuan Hsien (disciple of Confucius), n, 157. Yuan Kun (a ruler of Sung), ii, 50, 101, 136, 137. Yueh (the state), i, 172, 173, 181, 224; n, 93, 133, 151, i 52) j69, 229. Yueh (a sheep-butcher of JKfi), ii, 155, 156. Yung (a king of Wei), ii, r 18. Yung-4ang Shih (a minister of Hwang-Ti), n, 118. Zah-^ung Shih (a teacher of Con- fucius's time), i, 260. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. Z&h ATung Alng (the Treatise so called), ii, 269-272. Zn (name of a region in the South ; probably a district of M), ii, 133, 134. In ii, 32, the Zan in Thai-^ung ZSn may indi- cate a different quarter, or the ZSn there may be simply a name. Zan-hsiang (a prehistoric sovereign), ii, 117. Zan KM (disciple of Confucius), n, 71, 72. Zo (Spirit-lord of the Northern sea), i, 374, 375, 377, 378, 379, 382, 383, 384- Zfi and Zu-k (Literati, = Confucian- ists),i, 182, 296,360; 11,73,100- TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL ALPHABETS. 337 i ^-.. ^ ' ' to s ** . . . j" *"*!!! o n nn^np rssr^iC < ^ K CO LH ! D S * U iO*L) ^-uj W E ") N) ! 3 - L)oJ-U t) u-oj ^ ti h ^ t7\ 9 C) ftk ( ,3 ( *\ ftl * ,3 w Q U ^^-> ^ W H d *JJ J5 <! fc S ^^3 c^o^y ^ f 2/ ^ *^) ^ Q it t- S Ifl^trP IfelU' BrMslPlfti'lr H 8 g I 3 o S n '1 So < s <s f \ > | d < < JJ <rn M h WJ on ,1 'ten w 1 ^pd^pfl^, c^^^j S tc tf H - a . fa O - ';'."' . 55 gj QJ X~ S t 8 . . : :1||| II : : . : : TRANSLITERAT Z < 1 1 ji 1 ^-f^SSg s ^ 5 S S- SaogiaSw r* ? B -3 1 i !i N u u i| I || 2 a 5 J3 5 g ft 2 ca | * a| 1 1 : * * '. |^ * . . Sail* geSS"' [40] 338 TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL ALPHABETS 0> N q r r '..a D - *> D-O i > 3 o - i ic y 5 > init. 5? 1 - "b . d ! fl ^ 1-2 BO 3 8 8 S asper lenis 19 Spir per as leni 22 fH 04 n n 5 S i! : *aa FOR THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST. 339 . . . d fc * N . />i jj . r- . . . . . 1 % " " . D ..... . . > ; ; J ^ . * *! " * T ^ . . * . i . . 8* . . ^ . . O ! :n . "*! ' . ^:T ** *' ^ s> , . . . . a-: a "1 ' *^ I Cr :- . i : MloMh,*" |y ff ir * .' IT ! i .' BT'p ^ I! V. g < s-s 340 TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL ALPHABETS, 35229