Zhuangzi

he who acts for the sake of the name of doing so, and loses his (proper) self is not the (right) scholar ; and he who throws away his person in a way which is not the true (way) cannot command the service of others. Such men as Hfi Pu-/£ieh, Wu Kwang, Po-1, Shu-/’/d, the count of Ki, Hsii-yu, Ki Thi, and Shan-thu Ti, all did service for other men, and sought to secure for them what they desired, not seeking their own pleasure 2. where in the Book as a characteristic of the True Man. Not a few critics contend that it was this, and not the Tao of which it is a quality, that iTwang-jze intended by the 1 Master ’ in the title. with both Lao-jze and our author. 2 The seven men mentioned here are all adduced, I must sup¬ pose, as instances of good and worthy men, but still inferior to the True Man. Of Hu Pu-^ieh all that we are told is that he was ‘ an ancient worthy.’ One account of Wft Kwang is that he was of the time of Hwang-Ti, with ears seven inches long ; another, that he THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VI.

The True men of old presented the aspect of judging others aright, but without being partisans ; of feeling their own insufficiency, but being without flattery or cringing. Their peculiarities were natural to them, but they were not obstinately attached to them ; their humility was evident, but there was nothing of unreality or display about it. Their placidity and satisfaction had the appearance of joy; their every movement seemed to be a necessity to them. Their accumulated attractiveness drew men’s looks to them ; their blandness fixed men’s attach¬ ment to their virtue. They seemed to accommodate themselves to the (manners of their age), but with a certain severity ; their haughty indifference was be¬ yond its control. Unceasing seemed their endea¬ vours to keep (their mouths) shut ; when they looked down, they had forgotten what they wished to say. They considered punishments to be the substance (of government, and they never incurred it) ; cere¬ monies to be its supporting wings (and they always observed them) ; wisdom (to indicate) the time (for action, and they always selected it) ; and virtue to be accordance (with others), and they were all-accordant. Considering punishments to be the substance (of government), yet their generosity appeared in the (manner of their) infliction of death. Considering ceremonies to be its supporting wings, they pursued was of the time of Thang, of the Shang dynasty. Po-i and Shftkh\ are known to us from the Analects ;

and also the count of Kh\, whose name, it is said, was Hsti-yti. I can find nothing about K\ Tha ; — his name in 3iao Hung’s text is fc in -it Shan-thfi Ti was of the Yin dynasty, a contemporary of Thang. He drowned himself in the Ho. Most of these are referred to in other places. PT. I. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF STWANG-3ZE. by means of them their course in the world. Con¬ sidering wisdom to indicate the time (for action), they felt it necessary to employ it in (the direction of) affairs. Considering virtue to be accordance (with others), they sought to ascend its height along with all who had feet (to climb it). (Such were they), and yet men really thought that they did what they did by earnest effort ’.

In this way they were one and the same in all their likings and dislikings. Where they liked, they were the same ; where they did not like, they were the same. In the former case where they liked, they were fellow-workers with the Heavenly (in them) ; in the latter where they disliked, they were co¬ workers with the Human in them. The one of these elements (in their nature) did not overcome the other. Such were those who are called the True men. Death and life are ordained, just as we have the constant succession of night and day ; — in both cases from Heaven. Men have no power to do anything in reference to them ; — such is the constitution of things1 2. There are those who specially regard Heaven3 as their father, and they still love It (distant as It is) 3; — how much more should they love freedom from thought or purpose in his course. 2 See note 3 on par. 1, p. 236. Heaven. There is in the text here, I think, an unconscious refer¬ ence to the earliest time, before the views of the earliest Chinese diverged to Theism and Taoism. We cannot translate the here. R 242 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. vi. That which stands out (Superior and Alone)1! Some specially regard their ruler as superior to them¬ selves, and will give their bodies to die for him ;

— how much more should they do so for That which is their true (Ruler) 1 ! When the springs are dried up, the fishes collect together on the land. Than that they should moisten one another there by the damp about them, and keep one another wet by their slime, it would be better for them to forget one another in the rivers and lakes 2. And when men praise Yao and condemn A'ieh, it would be better to forget them both, and seek the renovation of the Tao.

There is the great Mass (of nature); — I find the support of my body on it ; my life is spent in toil on it ; my old age seeks ease on it ; at death I find rest in it ; — what makes my life a good makes my death also a good3. If you hide away a boat in the ravine of a hill, and hide away the hill in a lake, you will say that (the boat) is secure ; but at midnight there shall come a strong man and carry it off on his back, while you in the dark know nothing about it. You may hide away anything, whether small or great, in the most suitable place, and yet it shall disappear from it. But if you could hide the world in the world 4, so that there was nowhere to which it could be removed, this would be the grand reality of the 1 The great and most honoured Master, — the Tao. Confucianism with the freedom given by the doctrine of the Tao. of the view given in the preceding note. ‘ ever-during thing.’ PT.I. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF A'WANG-3ZE. ever-during Thing h When the body of man comes from its special mould 1 2, there is even then occasion for joy ; but this body undergoes a myriad trans¬ formations, and does not immediately reach its per¬ fection ; — does it not thus afford occasion for joys incalculable ? Therefore the sagely man enjoys himself in that from which there is no possibility of separation, and by which all things are preserved. He considers early death or old age, his beginning and his ending, all to be good, and in this other men imitate him ; — how much more will they do so in regard to That Itself on which all things depend, and from which every transformation arises !

This is the T ao ; — there is in It emotion and sincerity, but It does nothing and has no bodily form3. It may be handed down (by the teacher), but may not be received (by his scholars). It may be apprehended (by the mind), but It cannot be seen. It has Its root and ground (of existence) in Itself. Before there were heaven and earth, from of old, there It was, securely existing. From It came the mysterious existences of spirits, from It the mysterious existence of God 4. It produced heaven ; It produced earth. It was before the Thai-/£i 5 6, and 1 See p. 242, note 4. 8 Adopting the reading of for m. supplied byHwai-nan 3ze. 3 Our author has done with ‘ the T rue Man,’ and now brings in the T ao itself as his subject. Compare the predicates of It here with 13k. II, par. 2. But there are other, and perhaps higher, things said of it here. their spirits after death, and in the existence of a Supreme Ruler or God. It was to the Tao that those concepts were owing. 6 The primal ether out of which all things were fashioned by the interaction of the Yin and Yang. This was something like the R 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VI. yet could not be considered high 1 ; It was below all space, and yet could not be considered deep1.

It was produced before heaven and earth, and yet could not be considered to have existed long1; It was older than the highest antiquity, and yet could not be considered old '. Shih-wei got It2, and by It adjusted heaven and earth. Fu-hsl got It, and by It penetrated to the mystery of the jnaternity of the primary matter. The Wei-tau3 got It, and from all antiquity has made no eccentric movement. The Sun and Moon got It, and from all antiquity have not intermitted (their bright shining). Khan-pei got It, and by It became lord of Khwan-lun4. Fang-i6 got It, and by It enjoyed himself in the Great River. Aden Wu6 got It, and by It dwelt on mount Thai. Hwang-TF got It, and by It ascended the cloudy sky. Afwan-hsu 8 current idea of protoplasm; but while protoplasm lies down in the lower parts of the earth, the Thai-^i was imagined to be in the higher regions of space. 1 The Tao is independent both of space and time. 2 A prehistoric sovereign. 3 A name for the constellation of the Great Bear. fairy-land of Taoist writers, very much in Taoism what mount Sumeru is in Buddhism. 5 The spirit presiding over the Yellow River ; — see Mayers’s Manual, pp. 54, 55. mountain ; we met with him in I, g, but simply as one of Awang- ;ze’s fictitious personages. 7 Appears before in Bk. II; the first of Sze-ma A7zien’s ‘Five Tis;’ no doubt a very early sovereign, to whom many important discoveries and inventions are ascribed ;

is placed by many at the head of Taoism itself. 8 The second of the ‘Five Tis;’ a grandson of Hwang-Ti. I do not know what to say of his ‘ Dark Palace.’ PT. I. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF ATWANG-3ZE. got It, and by It dwelt in the Dark Palace. Yu-zf/dang1 got It, and by It was set on the North Pole. Hsi Wang-mu2 got It, and by It had her seat in (the palace of) Shao-kwang. No one knows Its beginning ; no one knows Its end. Phang 3u got It, and lived on from the time of the lord of Yti to that of the Five Chiefs 3. Fu Yiieh 4 got It, and by It became chief minister to Wu-ting4, (who thus) in a trice became master of the kingdom. (After his death), Fu Yiieh mounted to the eastern portion of the Milky Way, where, riding on Sagittarius and Scorpio, he took his place among the stars.

Nan-po 3ze~khwei 5 6 asked Nii Yiic, saying, ‘You are old, Sir, while your complexion is like that of a child ; — how is it so ? ’ The reply was, ‘I have become acquainted with the Tao.’ The other said, ‘Can I learn the Tao ?’ Nii Yii said, ‘No. How can you? You, Sir, are not the man to do so. There was Pu-liang t 7 who had the abilities of a sagely man, but not the Tao, while I had the Tao, but not the abilities. I wished, however, to teach him, if, peradventure, he might bird’s body, &c. Manual, pp. 178, 1 79. 1 the Lord of Yti.’ The five Chiefs ; — see Mencius, VI, ii, 7. about the Milky Way and the stars. — This passage certainly lessens our confidence in Wwang-jze’s statements. 5 Perhaps the same as Nan-po %ze-kh\ in Bk. IV, par. 7. of him or her. 7 Only mentioned here. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. bk. vr. become the sagely man indeed. If he should not do so, it was easy (I thought) for one possessing the Tao of the sagely man to communicate it to another possessing his abilities. Accordingly, I proceeded to do so, but with deliberation1. After three days, he was able to banish from his mind all worldly (matters). This accomplished, I continued my intercourse with him in the same way; and in seven days he was able to banish from his mind all thought of men and things.

This accomplished, and my instructions continued, after nine days, he was able to count his life as foreign to himself. This accomplished, his mind was afterwards clear as the morning; and after this he was able to see his own individuality2 *. That individuality per¬ ceived, he was able to banish all thought of Past or Present. Freed from this, he was able to pene¬ trate to (the truth that there is no difference be¬ tween) life and death ; — (how) the destruction of life is not dying, and the communication of other life is not living. (The Tao) is a thing which accompanies all other things and meets them, which is present when they are overthrown and when they obtain their completion. Its name is Tran¬ quillity amid all Disturbances, meaning that such Disturbances lead to Its Perfection V ‘ And how did you, being alone (without any teacher), learn all this ? ’ ‘I learned it,’ was the reply, ‘from the son of Fu-mo4; he learned it from 1 So the is explained. " Standing by himself, as it were face to face with the T&o. s Amid all changes, in life and death, the possessor of the Tao has peace. 4 Meaning writings ; literally, ‘ the son of the assisting pigment.' PT. I. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF £TWANG-3ZE. the grandson of Lo-sung ; he learned it from Shanming ; he learned it from Nieh-hsii; he, from Hsti-yi ; he, from Wu-ao ; he, from Hsiian-ming ; he, from 3han-liao ; and he learned it from I-shih.’

3ze-sze1, 3ze-yii 1, 3ze*H k and 3ze-lai l, these four men, were talking together, when some one said, ‘Who can suppose the head to be made from nothing, the spine from life, and the rump-bone from death ? Who knows how death and birth, living on and disappearing, compose the one body ? — I would be friends with him2.’ The four men looked at one another and laughed, but no one seized with his mind the drift of the questions. All, however, were friends together. Not long after 3ze-yii fell ill, and 3ze-sze went to inquire for him. ‘ How great,’ said (the sufferer), ‘is the Creator3! That He should have made me the deformed object that I am ! ’ He was a crooked hunchback ; his five viscera were squeezed into the We are not to suppose that by this and the other names that follow individuals are intended. Wwang-jze seems to have wished to give, in his own fashion, some notion of the genesis of the idea of the T ao from the first speculations about the origin of things. 1 We need not suppose that these are the names of real men. They are brought on the stage by our author to serve his purpose. Hwai-nan makes the name of the first to have been 3ze-shui (T *)• 2 Compare the same representation in Bk. XXIII, par. 10. A'fi Teh-^ih says on it here, ‘ The head, the spine, the rump-bone mean simply the head and tail, the beginning and end.

All things begin from nothing and end in nothing. Their birth and their death are only the creations of our thought, the going and coming of the primary ether. When we have penetrated to the non-reality of life and death, what remains of the body of so many feet ? ’ 3 The 1 Creator ’ or ‘ Maker ’ is the Tao. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VI. upper part of his body ; his chin bent over his navel ; his shoulder was higher than his crown ; on his crown was an ulcer pointing to the sky ; his breath came and went in gasps 1 : — yet he was easy in his mind, and made no trouble of his con¬ dition. He limped to a well, looked at himself in it, and said, ‘Alas that the Creator should have made me the deformed object that I am!’ 3ze said, ‘ Do you dislike your condition ?’ He replied, ‘No, why should I dislike it? If He were to transform my left arm into a cock, I should be watching with it the time of the night; if He were to transform my right arm into a cross-bow, I should then be looking for a hsiao to (bring down and) roast; if He were to transform my rump-bone into a wheel, and my spirit into a horse, I should then be mounting it, and would not change it for another steed.

Moreover, when we have got (what we are to do), there is the time (of life) in which to do it ; when we lose that (at death), submission (is what is required). When we rest in what the time requires, and manifest that submission, neither joy nor sorrow can find entrance (to the mind)2. This would be what the ancients called loosing the cord by which (the life) is suspended. But one hung up cannot loose himself ; — he is held fast by his bonds 3. And that creatures cannot overcome the poor Shu, in IV, 8. of T&oism. 3 Compare the same phraseology in III, par. 4, near the end. In correcting Mr. Balfour’s mistranslation of the text, Mr. Giles him¬ self falls into a mistranslation through not observing that the ^ PT. I. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. Heaven (the inevitable) is a long-acknowledged fact ; — why should I hate my condition ? ’

Before long 3ze-lai fell ill, and lay gasping at the point of death, while his wife and children stood around him wailing 1. 3ze-li went to ask for him, and said to them, ‘ Hush ! Get out of the way! Do not disturb him as he is passing through his change.’ Then, leaning against the door, he said (to the dying man), ‘ Great indeed is the Creator! What will He now make you to become ? Where will He take you to ? Will He make you the liver of a rat, or the arm of an insect 2 ? ’ 3ze-lai replied, ‘ Wherever a parent tells a son to go, east, west, south, or north, he simply follows the command. The Yin and Yang are more to a man than his parents are. If they are hastening my death, and I do not quietly submit to them, I shall be obstinate and rebellious. There is the great Mass (of nature); — I find the support of my body in it; my life is spent in toil on it; my old age seeks ease on it ; at death I find rest on it : — what has made my life a good will make my death also a good. ‘ Here now is a great founder, casting his metal. If the metal were to leap up (in the pot), and say, “ I must be made into a (sword like the) Mo-yeh 3,” is passive, having the that precedes as its subject (observe the force of the after jljtj?

in the best editions), and not active, or governing the that follows. 1 Compare the account of the scene at Lao-jze’s death, in HI, par. 4. 2 Here comes in the belief in transformation. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VI, the great founder would be sure to regard it as uncanny. So, again, when a form is being fashioned in the mould of the womb, if it were to say, “ I must become a man ; I must become a man,” the Creator would be sure to regard it as uncanny. When we once understand that heaven and earth are a great melting-pot, and the Creator a great founder, where can we have to go to that shall not be right for us ? We are born as from a quiet sleep, and we die to a calm awaking.’ ii. 3ze-sang Hu1, Mang 3ze-fan and ^zG-khm Wang \ these three men, were friends together. (One of them said), ‘ Who can associate together without any (thought of) such association, or act together without any (evidence of) such co-opera¬ tion ? Who can mount up into the sky and enjoy himself amidst the mists, disporting beyond the utmost limits (of things) 2, and forgetting all others as if this were living, and would have no end ? ’ The three men looked at one another and laughed, not perceiving the drift of the questions ; and they continued to associate together as friends.

Suddenly, after a time3, 3ze-sang Hu died. Before he was buried, Confucius heard of the event, and Wu (b. c. 514-494). See the account of the forging of it in the ^ jsl ^ij H ch. 74. The mention of it would seem to indicate that 3ze-lai and the other three men were of the time of Confucius. 1 These three men were undoubtedly of the time of Confucius, and some would identify them with the 3ze-sant? Po-jze of Ana. VI, 1, Mang Auh-fan of VI, 13, and the Lao of IX, vi, 4. This is very unlikely. They were Taoists. 2 Or, 1 without end.’ 3 Or, ‘ Some time went by silently, and.’ PT. I. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF 5TWANG-SZE. sent 3ze_kung to go and see if he could render any assistance. One of the survivors had com¬ posed a ditty, and the other was playing on his lute. Then they sang together in unison, £Ah! come, Sang Hu! ah! come, Sang Hu! Your being true you’ve got again, While we, as men, still here remain Ohone 1 ! ’ 3ze-kung hastened forward to them, and said, ‘ I venture to ask whether it be according to the rules to be singing thus in the presence of the corpse ? ’ The two men looked at each other, and laughed, saying, ‘ What does this man know about the idea that underlies (our) rules ? ’ 3ze'kung returned to Confucius, and reported to him, saying, ‘ What sort of men are those ?

They had made none of the usual preparations 2, and treated the body as a thing foreign to them. They were singing in the presence of the corpse, and there was no change in their countenances. I cannot describe them ; — what sort of men are they ? ’ Confucius replied, ‘ Those men occupy and enjoy themselves in what is outside the (common) ways (of the world), while I occupy and enjoy myself in what lies within those ways. There is no common ground for those of such different ways ; and when I sent you to condole with those men, I was acting stupidly. They, moreover, make man to be the fellow of the of calling the dead back. But these were doing so in a song to the lute. 2 Or, ‘ they do not regulate their doings (in the usual way).’ THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VI. Creator, and seek their enjoyment in the formless condition of heaven and earth. They consider life to be an appendage attached, an excrescence annexed to them, and death to be a separation of the appendage and a dispersion of the contents of the excrescence. With these views, how should they know wherein death and life are to be found, or what is first and what is last ? They borrow different substances, and pretend that the common form of the body is composed of them 1. They dismiss the thought of (its inward constituents like) the liver and gall, and (its outward constituents), the ears and eyes.

Again and again they end and they begin, having no knowledge of first principles. They occupy themselves ignorantly and vaguely with what (they say) lies outside the dust and dirt (of the world), and seek their enjoyment in the business of doing nothing. How should they confusedly address themselves to the cere¬ monies practised by the common people, and exhibit themselves as doing so to the ears and eyes of the multitude ? ’ 3ze-kung said, ‘Yes, but why do you, Master, act according to the (common) ways (of the world) ? ’ The reply was, ‘ I am in this under the condemning sentence of Heaven2. Nevertheless, I will share 1 The idea that the body is composed of the elements of earth, wind or air, fire, and water. 2 A strange description of himself by the sage. Literally, ‘ I am (one of) the people killed and exposed to public view by Heaven ; ’ referring, perhaps, to the description of a living man as ‘ suspended by a string from God.’ Confucius was content to accept his life, and used it in pursuing the path of duty, according to his con¬ ception of it, without aiming at the transcendental method of the Taoists. I can attach no other or better meaning to the expression. pt. I. sect. vi. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-SZE. with you (what I have attained to).’ 3ze-k.ung re¬ joined, ‘ I venture to ask the method which you pursue and Confucius said, ‘Fishes breed and grow in the water;

man developes in the Tao. Growing in the water, the fishes cleave the pools, and their nourishment is supplied to them. Developing in the Tao, men do nothing, and the enjoyment of their life is secured. Hence it is said, “ Fishes for¬ get one another in the rivers and lakes ; men forget one another in the arts of the Tao.” ’ 3ze-kung said, ‘ I venture to ask about the man who stands aloof from others V The reply was, ‘ He stands aloof from other men, but he is in accord with Heaven! Hence it is said, “The small man of Heaven is the superior man among men ; the superior man among men is the small man of Heaven1 2!’”

Yen Hui asked Wung-ni, saying, ‘When the mother of Mang-sun 3hai 3 died, in all his wailing for her he did not shed a tear ; in the core of his heart he felt no distress ; during all the mourning rites, he exhibited no sorrow. Without these three things, he (was considered to have) discharged his mourn¬ ing well ; — is it that in the state of Lu one who has not the reality may yet get the reputation of having it ? I think the matter very strange.’ Wung-ni p]^ instead of in Matthew vii. 28. — jYwang-jze seems to make Confucius praise the system of Taoism as better than his own ! of Lu, to a branch of which Mencius belonged. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM, BK. VI. said, ‘ That Mang-sun carried out (his views) to the utmost. He was advanced in knowledge; but (in this case) it was not possible for him to appear to be negligent (in his ceremonial observances)1, but he succeeded in being really so to himself. Mang-sun does not know either what purposes life serves, or what death serves ; he does not know which should be first sought, and which last 2. If he is to be trans¬ formed into something else, he will simply await the transformation which he does not yet know. This is all he does. And moreover, when one is about to undergo his change, how does he know that it has not taken place ?

And when he is not about to un¬ dergo his change, how does he know that it has taken place 3 ? Take the case of me and you : — are we in a dream from which we have not begun to awake 4 ? ‘ Moreover, Mang-sun presented in his body the appearance of being agitated, but in his mind he was conscious of no loss. The death was to him like the issuing from one’s dwelling at dawn, and no (more terrible) reality. He was more awake than others were. When they wailed, he also wailed, having in himself the reason why he did so. And we all have our individuality which makes us what we are as compared together ; but how do we know that we sun felt he must present the appearance of observing them. This would seem to show that Taoism arose after the earlier views of the Chinese. 2 I adopt here, with many of the critics, the reading of ^ instead of the more common ,gf). 3 This is to me very obscure. 4 Are such dreams possible ? See what I have said on II, par. 9. PT. I. SF.CT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF £WANG-3ZE. determine in any case correctly that individuality ? Moreover you dream that you are a bird, and seem to be soaring to the sky ; or that you are a fish, and seem to be diving in the deep.

But you do not know whether we that are now speaking are awake or in a dream1. It is not the meeting with what is pleasurable that produces the smile ; it is not the smile suddenly produced that produces the arrange¬ ment (of the person). When one rests in what has been arranged, and puts away all thought of the transformation, he is in unity with the mysterious Heaven.’

ir 3ze2 * * * * * having gone to see Hsii Yu, the latter said to him, ‘ What benefit have you received from Yao?’ The reply was, ‘Yao says to me, You must yourself labour at benevolence and righteous¬ ness, and be able to tell clearly which is right and which wrong (in conflicting statements).’ Hsii Yu rejoined, ‘ Why then have you come to me ? Since Yao has put on you the brand of his benevolence and righteousness, and cut off your nose with his right and wrong 8, how will you be able to wander in the way of aimless enjoyment, of unregulated contemplation, and the ever-changing forms (of dis¬ pute) ?’ \-r 3ze said, ‘ That may be ; but I should the Taoistic system. 2 1 -r is said by Li I to have been ‘ a worthy scholar but 1-r is an old name for the swallow, and there is a legend of a being of this name appearing to king Mu, and then flying away as a swallow; — see the Khang-hsi Thesaurus under rfljThe per¬ sonage is entirely fabulous. s Dismembered or disfigured you. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VI. like to skirt along its hedges.’ ‘ But,’ said the other, ‘ it cannot be. Eyes without pupils can see nothing of the beauty of the eyebrows, eyes, and other features ; the blind have nothing to do with the green, yellow, and variegated colours of the sacri¬ ficial robes.’ 1-r $ze rejoined, ‘Yet, when Wu- /Evang1 lost his beauty, Wii-liang1 his strength, and Hwang-Ti his wisdom, they all (recovered them) 2 under the moulding (of your system) ;

— how do you know that the Maker will not obliterate the marks of my branding, and supply my dismember¬ ment, so that, again perfect in my form, I may follow you as my teacher ? ’ Hsu Yu said, ‘ Ah ! that can¬ not yet be known. I will tell you the rudiments. O my Master ! O my Master ! He gives to all things their blended qualities, and does not count it any righteousness ; His favours reach to all genera¬ tions, and He does not count it any benevolence ; He is more ancient than the highest antiquity, and does not count Himself old ; He overspreads heaven and supports the earth ; He carves and fashions all bodily forms, and does not consider it any act of skill ; — -this is He in whom I find my enjoyment.’

Yen Hui said, ‘ I am making progress.’ Wungni replied, ‘ What do you mean ? ’ ‘I have ceased to think of benevolence and righteousness,’ was the reply. ‘ Very well ; but that is not enough.’ Another day, Hui again saw Wung-ni, and said, ‘ I am making progress.’ ‘ What do you mean ? ’ 1 Names of parties, of whom we know nothing. It is implied, we must suppose, that they had suffered as is said by their own inadvertence. 2 We must suppose that they had done so. PT. I. SECT. VI. THE WRITINGS OF ITWANG-SZE. ‘ I have lost all thought of ceremonies and music.’ ‘Very well, but that is not enough.’ A third day, Hui again saw (the Master), and said, ‘ I am making progress.’ ‘What do you mean ?’ ‘ I sit and forget everything V Wung-nt changed countenance, and said, ‘ What do you mean by say¬ ing that you sit and forget (everything) ? ’ Yen Hui replied, ‘ My connexion with the body and its parts is dissolved ; my perceptive organs are discarded. Thus leaving my material form, and bidding fare¬ well to my knowledge, I am become one with the Great Pervader1 2. This I call sitting and forgetting all things.’ Wung-ni said, ‘ One (with that Pervader), you are free from all likings ; so transformed, you are become impermanent. You have, indeed, be¬ come superior to me ! I must ask leave to follow in your steps3.’

3ze-yu 4 and 3ze-sang 4 were friends. (Once), when it had rained continuously for ten days, 3ze-yu said, ‘ I fear that 3ze-sang may be in distress.’ So he wrapped up some rice, and went to give it to him to eat. When he came to 3ze-sang’s door, there issued from it sounds between singing and wailing ; 1 ‘I sit and forget;’ — generally thus supplemented (fiffi jpjy Tj* ). Hui proceeds to set forth the meaning he himself attached to the phrase. is also explained as meaning, ‘ the great void in which there is no obstruction (^ M £ M ?#)•’ 3 Here is another testimony, adduced by our author, of Confu¬ cius’s appreciation of Taoism ; to which the sage would, no doubt, have taken exception. 4 Two of the men in pars. 9, 10. s THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VI. a lute was struck, and there came the words, ‘ O Father! O Mother! O Heaven! O Men!’ The voice could not sustain itself, and the line was hur¬ riedly pronounced. 3ze~yh entered and said, ‘ Why are you singing, Sir, this line of poetry in such a way?’ The other replied, ‘ I was thinking, and think¬ ing in vain, how it was that I was brought to such extremity. Would my parents have wished me to be so poor ? Heaven overspreads all without any par¬ tial feeling, and so does Earth sustain all ; — would Heaven and Earth make me so poor with any un¬ kindly feeling ? I was trying to find out who had done it, and I could not do so. But here I am in this extremity ! — it is what was appointed for me1!’ 1 Here is the highest issue of Taoism ; — unquestioning sub¬ mission to what is beyond our knowledge and control. pt. i. sect. vil. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE.

Nieh K/me h2 put four questions to Wang 1 2, not one of which did he know (how to answer). On this Nieh K/meh leaped up, and in great delight walked away and informed Phu-iqze 3 of it, who said to him, ‘ Do you (only) now know it ?’ He of the line of Yil 4 was not equal to him of the line of Thii 5. He of Yil still kept in himself (the idea of) bene¬ volence by which to constrain (the submission of) men ; and he did win men, but he had not begun to proceed by what did not belong to him as a man. He of the line of Thai would sleep tranquilly, and awake in contented simplicity. He would consider himself now (merely) as a horse, and now (merely) as an ox 6. H is knowledge was real and untroubled 1 See pp. 136-138. 2 See p. 190, note g. 3 An ancient Tdoist, of the time of Shun. So, Hwang-fft Mi, who adds that Shun served him as his master when he was eight years old. I suppose the name indicates that his clothes were made of rushes. 4 Shun. See p. 243, note 3. nothing is known of him. lower creatures. Shun in governing employed his acquired know¬ ledge ; Thai had not begun to do so. 26o THE TEXTS OF TAOISM, BK. VII by doubts ; and his virtue was very true : — he had not begun to proceed by what belonged to him as a man.

Aden Wu 1 went to see the mad (recluse), A'/heh-yu 2, who said to him, ‘ What did Zah-^ung Shih3 tell you ?’ The reply was, ‘ He told me that when rulers gave forth their regulations according to their own views and enacted righteous measures, no one would venture not to obey them, and all would be transformed.’ AVdeh-yti said, ‘ That is but the hypocrisy of virtue. For the right ordering of the world it would be like trying to wade through the sea and dig through the Ho, or employing a musquito to carry a mountain on its back. And when a sage is governing, does he govern men’s out¬ ward actions? He is (himself) correct, and so (his government) goes on ; — this is the simple and certain way by which he secures the success of his affairs. Think of the bird which flies high, to avoid being hurt by the dart on the string of the archer, and the little mouse which makes its hole deep under Shankh\i\ 4 to avoid the danger of being smoked or dug out ;• — are (rulers) less knowing than these two little creatures ?’

Thien Kan5, rambling on the south of (mount) Yin6, came to the neighbourhood of the Liao-water. 1 See p. 170, note 2. 2 See p. 170, note 3. :1 A name ; — ‘ a worthy,’ it is said. 4 Name of some hill, or height. 5 A name (‘ Root of the sky’), but probably mythical. There is a star so called. Yin is not given in the dictionary. pt. i. sect. vii. THE WRITINGS OF XWANG-3ZE. Happening there to meet with the man whose name is not known1, he put a question to him, saying, ‘ I beg to ask what should be done 2 3 in order to (carry on) the government of the world.’ The nameless man said, ‘ Go away; you are a rude borderer. Why do you put to me a question for which you are unprepared :! ? I would simply play the part of the Maker of (all) things4. When wearied, I would mount on the bird of the light and empty air, proceed beyond the six cardinal points, and wander in the region of non¬ entity, to dwell in the wilderness of desert space. What method have you, moreover, for the govern¬ ment of the world that you (thus) agitate my mind ?’ (Thien Kan), however, again asked the question, and the nameless man said, ‘ Let your mind find its enjoyment in pure simplicity; blend yourself with (the primary) ether in idle indifference ; allow all things to take their natural course ; and admit no personal or selfish consideration : — do this and the world will be governed.’

Yang 3ze'^h5 6, having an interview with Lao Tan, said to him, ‘ Here is a man, alert and vigorous 1 Or, ‘ a nameless man.’ We cannot tell whether TTwang-jze had any particular Being, so named, in view or not. 2 The objectionable point in the question is the supposition that ‘doing ’ was necessary in the case. 3 Or, ‘ I am unprepared.’ But as Thien Kan repeats the question, it seems better to supply the second pronoun. He had thought on the subject. merely our author’s way of describing the non-action of the Tao. 6 The Yang Ku, whom Mencius attacked so fiercely. He was, perhaps, a contemporary and disciple of Lao-jze. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VII. in responding to all matters 1, clearsighted and widely intelligent, and an unwearied student of the Tcto ; — can he be compared to one of the intelligent kings ? ’ The reply was, ‘ Such a man is to one of the intelligent kings but as the bustling underling of a court who toils his body and distresses his mind with his various contrivances2. And moreover, it is the beauty of the skins of the tiger and leopard which makes men hunt them ; the agility of the monkey, or (the sagacity of) the dog that catches the yak, which make men lead them in strings ; but can one similarly endowed be compared to the intelligent kings ?

’ Yang 3ze_^k looked discomposed and said, ‘ I venture to ask you what the government of the intelligent kings is.’ Lao Tan replied, ‘ In the governing of the intelligent kings, their services overspread all under the sky, but they did not seem to consider it as proceeding from themselves ; their transforming influence reached to all things, but the people did not refer it to them with hope. No one could tell the name of their agency, but they made men and things be joyful in themselves. Where they took their stand could not be fathomed, and they found their enjoyment in (the realm of) nonentity.’

In Wang there was a mysterious wizard3 called 1 The may be taken as = [ft] , in which case we must understand a jtt as its object; or as = ‘an echo,’ indicating the quickness of the man’s response to things. 2 Compare the language of Lao Tan, in Bk. XII, par. 8, near the beginning. 3 35 is generally feminine, meaning 1 a witch.’ We must take PT. I. SECT. VII. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 263 Wi-hsien. He knew all about the deaths and births of men, their preservation and ruin, their misery and happiness, and whether their lives would be long or short, foretelling the year, the month, the decade and the day like a spirit. When the people of Wang saw him, they all ran out of his way. Lieh-jze went to see him, and was fascinated1 by him. Returning, he told Hu-jze of his interview, and said, ‘ I con¬ sidered your doctrine, my master, to be perfect, but I have found another which is superior to it.’ Hh-jzereplied, ‘ I have communicated to you but the out¬ ward letter of my doctrine, and have not communi¬ cated its reality and spirit; and do you think that you are in possession of it ? However many hens there be, if there be not the cock among them, how should they lay (real) eggs 3 ? When you con¬ front the world with your doctrine, you are sure to show in your countenance (all that is in your mind) 4, and so enable (this) man to succeed in inter¬ preting your physiognomy.

Try and come to me with him, that I may show myself to him.’ On the morrow, accordingly, Lieh-jze came with the man and saw Hft-jze, When they went out, the it here as masculine (=3^), The general meaning of the cha¬ racter is ‘ magical,’ the antics of such performers to bring down the spirits. 1 Literally, ‘intoxicated.’ the name Lin (yjvft). See the remarks on the whole paragraph in the Introductory Notice of the Book. 3 ‘ The hens ’ signify the letter of the doctrine ; ‘ the cock,’ its spirit ; ‘ the eggs,’ a real knowledge of it. 4 'fg is here in the first tone, and read as meaning ‘ to stretch,’ ‘ to set forth.’ THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VII. wizard said, ‘Alas! your master is a dead man. He will not live ; — not for ten days more ! I saw some¬ thing strange about him ; — I saw the ashes (of his life) all slaked with water ! ’ When Lieh-jze re¬ entered, he wept till the front of his jacket was wet with his tears, and told Hu-^ze what the man had said. Hu-gze said, ‘ I showed myself to him with the forms of (vegetation beneath) the earth. There were the sprouts indeed, but without (any appearance of) growth or regularity: — he seemed to see me with the springs of my (vital) power closed up.

Try and come to me with him again.’ Next day, accordingly, Lieh-^ze brought the man again and saw Hu-jze. When they went out, the man said, ‘ It is a fortunate thing for your master that he met with me. He will get better ; he has all the signs of living ! I saw the balance (of the springs of life) that had been stopped (inclining in his favour).’ Lieh-jze went in, and reported these words to his master, who said, ‘ I showed myself to him after the pattern of the earth (beneath the) sky. Neither semblance nor reality entered (into my ex¬ hibition), but the springs (of life) were issuing from beneath my feet ; — he seemed to see me with the springs of vigorous action in full play. Try and come with him again.’ Next day Lieh-jze came with the man again, and again saw Hh-gze with him. When they went out, the wizard said, ‘Your master is never the same. I cannot understand his physiognomy. Let him try to steady himself, and I will again view him.’ Lieh-jze went in and reported this to Hu-jze, who said, ‘ This time I showed myself to him after the pattern of the grand harmony (of the two elemental PT. I. SECT. vn. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-SZE. forces), with the superiority inclining to neither. He seemed to see me with the springs of (vital) power in equal balance.

Where the water wheels about from (the movements of) a dugong there is an abyss ; where it does so from the arresting (of its course), there is an abyss ; where it does so, and the water keeps flowing on, there is an abyss. There are nine abysses with their several names, and I have only exhibited three of them. Try and come with him again.’ Next day they came, and they again saw Huqze. But before he had settled himself in his position, the wizard lost himself and ran away. ‘ Pursue him,’ said Huqze, and Liehqze did so, but could not come up with him. He returned, and told Huqze, saying, ‘ There is an end of him ; he is lost; I could not find him.’ Hu-jze rejoined, ‘ I was showing him myself after the pattern of what was before I began to come from my author. I con¬ fronted him with pure vacancy, and an easy in¬ difference. He did not know what I meant to represent. Now he thought it was the idea of ex¬ hausted strength, and now that of an onward flow, and therefore he ran away.’ After this, Lieh-jze considered that he had not yet begun to learn (his master’s doctrine). He returned to his house, and for three years did not go out. He did the cooking for his wife. He fed the pigs as if he were feeding men.

Pie took no part A#, ‘the Man-Fish,’ from a fancied resemblance of its head and face to a human being ; — the origin perhaps of the idea of the mermaid. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VII. or interest in occurring affairs. He put away the carving and sculpture about him, and returned to pure simplicity. Like a clod of earth he stood there in his bodily presence. Amid all distractions he was (silent) and shut up in himself. And in this way he continued to the end of his life.

Non-action (makes its exemplifier) the lord of all fame ; non-action (serves him as) the treasury of all plans ; non-action (fits him for) the burden of all offices ; non-action (makes him) the lord of all wisdom \ The range of his action is inexhaustible, but there is nowhere any trace of his presence. He fulfils all that he has received from Heaven2, but he does not see that he was the recipient of anything. A pure vacancy (of all purpose) is what characterises him. When the perfect man employs his mind, it is a mirror. It conducts nothing and anticipates no¬ thing ; it responds to (what is before it), but does not retain it. Thus he is able to deal successfully with all things, and injures none.

The Ruler3 of the Southern Ocean was Shu4, the small trouble. They are constructed on the same lines, and seem to me to be indicative and not imperative. Lin Hsi-^ung observes that all the explanations that had been offered of them were inap¬ propriate. My own version is substantially in accordance with his interpretations. The chief difficulty is with the first member, which seems anti-Taoistic ; but our author is not speaking of the purpose of any actor, but of the result of his non-action. Jr* is to be taken in the sense of tjjf, ‘lord/ ‘exercising lordship.’ The Tfc in the third sentence indicates a person or persons in the author’s mind in what precedes. 2 = the Heavenly or self-determining nature. 3 Perhaps 1 god ’ would be a better translation. 4 Meaning ‘ Heedless.’ pt. i. SECT. VII. THE WRITINGS OF isTWANG-SZE. Ruler of the Northern Ocean was Hu1 2, and the Ruler of the Centre was Chaos. Shu and Hu were continu¬ ally meeting in the land of Chaos, who treated them very well. They consulted together how they might repay his kindness, and said, ‘ Men all have seven orifices for the purpose of seeing, hearing, eating, and breathing, while this (poor) Ruler alone has not one. Let us try and make them for him.’ Accord¬ ingly they dug one orifice in him every day ; and at the end of seven days Chaos died z.

1 Meaning ‘ Sudden.’ 2 The little allegory is ingenious and amusing. ‘ It indicates,’ says Lin, ‘ how action (the opposite of non-inaction) injures the first condition of things.’ More especially it is in harmony with the Taoistic opposition to the use of knowledge in government. One critic says that an 1 alas ! ’ might well follow the concluding ‘ died.’ But surely it was better that Chaos should give place to another state. 1 Heedless ’ and ‘ Sudden ’ did not do a bad work. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VIII.

A ligament uniting the big toe with the other toes and an extra finger may be natural 2 growths, but they are more than is good for use. Excres¬ cences on the person and hanging tumours are growths from the body, but they are unnatural additions to it. There are many arts of benevolence and righteousness, and the exercise of them is dis¬ tributed among the five viscera 3 ; but this is not the correct method according to the characteristics of the Tao. Thus it is that the addition to the foot is but the attachment to it of so much useless flesh, and the addition to the hand is but the planting on it of a useless finger. (So it is that) the connecting (the virtues) with the five viscera, renders, by excess or restraint, the action of^Benevolence and righteous¬ ness bad, and leads to many arts as in the employ¬ ment of (great) powers of hearing or of vision.

Therefore an extraordinary power of vision 1 See pp. 138, 139. 2 ‘ Come out from the nature,’ but ‘ nature ’ must be taken here as in the translation. The character is not Tao. s The five viscera are the heart, the liver, the stomach, the lungs, and the kidneys. To the liver are assigned the element ‘ wood,’ and the virtue of benevolence ; to the lungs, the element ‘ metal,’ and the virtue of righteousness. PT. II. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-SZE. leads to the confusion of the five colours 1 and an excessive use of ornament. (Its possessor), in the resplendence of his green and yellow, white and black, black and green, will not stop till he has be¬ come a Li K\X 2. An extraordinary power of hear¬ ing leads to a confusion of the five notes 3, and an excessive use of the six musical accords4. (Its possessor), in bringing out the tones from the instru¬ ments of metal, stone, silk, and bamboo, aided by the Hwang-iung4 and Ta-lii4 (tubes), will not stop till he has become a Shih Khwang 5. (So), excessive benevolence eagerly brings out virtues and restrains its (proper) nature, that (its possessor) may acquire a famous reputation, and cause all the organs and drums in the world to celebrate an un¬ attainable condition ; and he will not stop till he has become a 3^ng (Shan)6 or a Shih (3hiu)7.

An ex1 Black, red, azure (green, blue, or black), white, and yellow. 2 The same as the Li Lau of Mencius (IV, i, 1),- — of the time of Hwang-Ti. It is not easy to construe the text here, and in the analogous sentences below. Hsiian Ying, having read on to the i)^I as the uninterrupted predicate of the sharp seer, says, ‘ Is not this a proof of the extraordinary gift ? ’ What follows would be, ‘ But it was exemplified in Li Kh.’ The meaning that is given in the version was the first that occurred to myself. 3 The five notes of the Chinese musical scale. twelve regulating tubes; six, represented here by Hwang-^ung, the name of the first tube, giving the sharp notes ; and six, repre¬ sented by T a-1 ti, giving the flat notes. •’ See in II, par. g. disciples. 7 An officer of Wei in the sixth century ij. c. He belonged to a family of historiographers, and hence the surname Shih Confucius mentions him in the most honourable terms in the THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VIII. traordinary faculty in debating leads to the piling up of arguments like a builder with his bricks, or a netmaker with his string. (Its possessor) cunningly contrives his sentences and enjoys himself in dis¬ cussing what hardness is and what whiteness is, where views agree and where they differ, and pressing on, though weary, with short steps, with (a multitude of) useless words to make good his opinion ;

nor will he stop till he has become aYang^u)1 or Mo (Ti)1. But in all these cases the parties, with their re¬ dundant and divergent methods, do not proceed by that which is the correct path for all under the sky. That which is the perfectly correct path is not to lose the real character of the nature with which we are endowed. Hence the union (of parts) should not be considered redundance, nor their divergence superfluity ; what is long should not be considered too long, nor what is short too short. A duck’s legs, for instance, are short, but if we try to lengthen them, it occasions pain ; and a crane’s legs are long, but if we try to cut off a portion of them, it produces grief. Where a part is by nature long, we are not to amputate, or where it is by nature short, we are not to lengthen it. There is no occasion to try to remove any trouble that it may cause.

The presumption is that benevolence and right¬ eousness are not constituents of humanity ; for to how much anxiety does the exercise of them give rise ! Moreover when another toe is united to the Analect XV, vi, by the name Shih Yii. ‘Righteousness’ was his great attribute. have appeared in previous Books. PT. ii. sect. I. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. great toe, to divide the membrane makes you weep ; and when there is an extra finger, to gnaw it off makes you cry out. In the one case there is a member too many, and in the other a member too few ; but the anxiety and pain which they cause is the same. The benevolent men of the present age look at the evils of the world, as with eyes full of dust, and are filled with sorrow by them, while those who are not benevolent, having violently altered the character of their proper nature, greedily pursue after riches and honours. The presumption there¬ fore is that benevolence and righteousness are con¬ trary to the nature of man : — how full of trouble and contention has the world been ever since the three dynasties 1 began ! And moreover, in employing the hook and line, the compass and square, to give things their correct form you must cut away portions of what naturally belongs to them ; in employing strings and fastenings, glue and varnish to make things firm, you must violently interfere with their qualities.

The bendings and stoppings in ceremonies and music, and the fac¬ titious expression in the countenance of benevolence and righteousness, in order to comfort the minds of men : — these all show a failure in observing the regular principles (of the human constitution). All men are furnished with such regular principles ; and according to them what is bent is not made so by the hook, nor what is straight by the line, nor what is round by the compass, nor what is square by the carpenter’s square. Nor is adhesion effected by 1 Those of HsiS, Shang, and ^Tau; — from the twenty-third century b. c. to our author’s own time. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. VIII. the use of glue and varnish, nor are things bound together by means of strings and bands. Thus it is that all in the world are produced what they are by a certain guidance, while they do not know how they are produced so ; and they equally attain their several ends while they do not know how it is that they do so. Anciently it was so, and it is so now ; and this constitution of things should not be made of none effect. Why then should benevolence and righteousness be employed as connecting (links), or as glue and varnish, strings and bands, and the enjoyment arising from the Tao and its character¬ istics be attributed to them ?

— it is a deception prac¬ tised upon the world. Where the deception is small, there will be a change in the direction (of the objects pursued) ; where it is great, there will be a change of the nature itself. How do I know that it is so ? Since he of the line of Yii called in his benevolence and righteousness to distort and vex the world, the world has not ceased to hurry about to execute their commands ; — has not this been by means of benevolence and righteousness to change (men’s views) of their nature ?

I will therefore try and discuss this matter. From the commencement of the three dynasties downwards, nowhere has there been a man who has not under (the influence of external) things altered (the course of) his nature. Small men for the sake of gain have sacrificed their persons ; scholars for the sake of fame have done so ; great officers, for the sake of their families; and sagely men, for the sake of the kingdom. These several classes, with different occupations, and different repupt. II. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF EWANG-3ZE. tations, have agreed in doing injury to their nature and sacrificing their persons. Take the case of a male and female slave 1 ; — they have to feed the sheep together, but they both lose their sheep. Ask the one what he was doing, and you will find that he was holding his bamboo tablets and reading. Ask the other, and you will find that she was amusing herself with some game 2. They were differently occupied, but they equally lose their sheep. (So), Po-i 3 died at the foot of Shau-yang4 to maintain his fame, and the robber Kib.5 died on the top of Tungling 6 in his eagerness for gain. Their deaths were occasioned by different causes, but they equally shortened their lives and did violence to their nature ; — why must we approve of Po-i, and condemn the robber K'xh. ? In cases of such sacrifice all over the world, when one makes it for the sake of bene¬ volence and righteousness, the common people style him ‘ a superior man,’ but when another does it for the sake of goods and riches, they style him ‘ a small man.’ The action of sacrificing is the same, and yet we have ‘ the superior man ’ and ‘ the small man !

’ In the matter of destroying his life, and doing injury to his nature, the robber Kih simply did the same as Po-i ; — why must we make the distinction of 1 superior man ’ and ‘ small man ’ between them ? 2 Playing at some game with dice. 3 See VI, par. 3. 4 A mountain in the present Shan-hsi, probably in the depart¬ ment of Phu-Mu. s A strange character, but not historical, represented as a brother of Liu-hsia Hui. See Bk. XXIX. 6 ‘The Eastern Height,’ = the Thai mountain in the present Shan-tung. T 274 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. bk. viii,

Moreover, those who devote their nature to (the pursuit) of benevolence and righteousness, though they should attain to be like 3hng (Shan) and Shih (3hiu), I do not pronounce to be good ; those who devote it to (the study of) the five flavours, though they attain to be like Slni-r ‘, I do not pronounce to be good ; those who devote it to the (discrimination of the) five notes, though they attain to be like Shih Khwang, I do not pronounce to be quick of hearing ; those who devote it to the (appreciation of the) five colours, though they attain to be like Li Ku, I do not pronounce to be clear of vision. When I pronounce men to be good, I am not speaking of their benevolence and right¬ eousness ; — the goodness is simply (their possession of) the qualities (of the Tao). When I pronounce them to be good, I am not speaking of what are called benevolence and righteousness ; but simply of their allowing the nature with which they are endowed to have its free course. When I pronounce men to be quick of hearing, I do not mean that they hearken to anything else, but that they hearken to themselves ; when I pronounce them to be clear of vision, I do not mean that they look to anything else, but that they look to themselves. Now those who do not see themselves but see other things, who do not get possession of themselves but get possession of other things, get possession of what belongs to others, and not of what is their own ;

and they reach forth to what attracts others, and not to that in themselves which should attract them. But 1 Different from Yih-ya, the famous cook of duke Hwan of KM. This is said to have been of the time of Hwang-Ti. But there are different readings of the name. PT. II. SECT. I. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-SZE. thus reaching forth to what attracts others and not to what should attract them in themselves, be they like the robber Ahh or like P0-1, they equally err in the way of excess or of perversity. What I am ashamed of is erring in the characteristics of the T do, and therefore, in the higher sphere, I do not dare to insist on the practice of benevolence and righteousness, and, in the lower, I do not dare to allow myself either in the exercise of excess or perversity. T 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IX.

Horses can with their hoofs tread on the hoar¬ frost and snow, and with their hair withstand the wind and cold ; they feed on the grass and drink water ; they prance with their legs and leap : — this is the true nature of horses. Though there were made for them grand towers 2 and large dormitories, they would prefer not to use them. But when Polao 3 (arose and) said, ‘ I know well how to manage horses,’ (men proceeded) 4 to singe and mark them, to clip their hair, to pare their hoofs, to halter their heads, to bridle them and hobble them, and to con¬ fine them in stables and corrals. (When subjected to this treatment), two or three in every ten of them died. (Men proceeded further) to subject them to hunger and thirst, to gallop them and race them, 1 See pp. 140, 141. 2 Literally, ‘righteous towers;’ but ||| is very variously applied, and there are other readings. Compare the name of ling thai, given by the people to the tower built by king Wan ; Shih, III, i, 8. given to a star, where he is supposed to have his seat as superin¬ tendent of the horses of heaven. It became a designation of Sun Yang, a famous charioteer of the later period of the Aau dynasty, but it could not be he whom A'wang-jze had in view. 4 Po-lao set the example of dealing with horses as now de¬ scribed;

but the supplement which I have introduced seems to bring out better our author’s meaning. pt. II. sect. ii. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. 277 and to make them go together in regular order. In front were the evils of the bit and ornamented breastbands, and behind were the terrors of the whip and switch. (When so treated), more than half of them died. The (first) potter said, ‘ I know well how to deal with clay ; ’ and (men proceeded) to mould it into circles as exact as if made by the compass, and into squares as exact as if formed by the measuring square. The (first) carpenter said, ‘ I know well how to deal with wood ; ’ and (men proceeded) to make it bent as if by the application of the hook, and straight as if by the application of the plumb-line. But is it the nature of clay and wood to require the application of the compass and square, of the hook and line ? And yet age after age men have praised Po-lao, saying, ‘ He knew well how to manage horses,’ and also the (first) potter and carpenter, saying, ‘ They knew well how to deal with clay and wrood.’ This is just the error committed by the governors of the world.

According to my idea, those who know well to govern mankind would not act so. The people had their regular and constant nature 1 : — they wove and made themselves clothes ; they tilled the ground and got food 2. This was their common faculty. They were all one in this, and did not form themselves into separate classes ; so were they constituted and left to their natural tendencies 3. Therefore in the 1 Compare the same language in the previous Book, par. 3. 2 But the weaver’s or agriculturist’s art has no more title to be called primitive than the potter’s or carpenter’s. 3 A difficult expression ; but the translation, probably, gives its THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IX. age of perfect virtue men walked along with slow and grave step, and with their looks steadily directed forwards. At that time, on the hills there were no foot-paths, nor excavated passages ; on the lakes there were no boats nor dams ; all creatures lived in companies ; and the places of their settlement were made close to one another. Birds and beasts multi¬ plied to flocks and herds ; the grass and trees grew luxuriant and long. In this condition the birds and beasts might be led about without feeling the con¬ straint ; the nest of the magpie might be climbed to, and peeped into. Yes, in the age of perfect virtue, men lived in common with birds and beasts, and were on terms of equality with all creatures, as forming one family ;

— how could they know among themselves the distinctions of superior men and small men ? Equally without knowledge, they did not leave (the path of) their natural virtue ; equally free from desires, they were in the state of pure simplicity. In that state of pure simplicity, the nature of the people was what it ought to be. But when the sagely men appeared, limping and wheeling about in (the exercise of) benevolence, pressing along and standing on tiptoe in the doing of right¬ eousness, then men universally began to be per¬ plexed. (Those sages also) went to excess in their performances of music, and in their gesticulations in the practice of ceremonies, and then men began to be separated from one another. If the raw materials true significance. ‘ Heaven’ here is synonymous with ‘the Tao but its use shows how readily the minds, even of Lao and A’wang, had recourse to the earliest term by which the Chinese fathers had expressed their recognition of a Supreme and Controlling Power and Government. PT. II. SECT. II. THE WRITINGS OF EWANG-3ZE. 279 had not been cut and hacked, who could have made a sacrificial vase from them ? If the natural jade had not been broken and injured, who could have made the handles for the libation-cups from it ? If the attributes of the Tao had not been disallowed, how should they have preferred benevolence and righteousness ?

If the instincts of the nature had not been departed from, how should ceremonies and music have come into use ? If the five colours had not been confused, how should the ornamental figures have been formed ? If the five notes had not been confused, how should they have supplemented them by the musical accords ? The cutting and hacking of the raw materials to form vessels was the crime of the skilful workman ; the injury done to the characteristics of the Tao in order to the practice of benevolence and righteousness was the error of the sagely men.

Horses, when living in the open country, eat the grass, and drink water ; when pleased, they intertwine their necks and rub one another ; when enraged, they turn back to back and kick one another ; — this is all that they know to do. But if we put the yoke on their necks, with the moon¬ like frontlet displayed on all their foreheads, then they know to look slily askance, to curve their necks, to rush viciously, trying to get the bit out of their mouths, and to filch the reins (from their driver) ; — this knowledge of the horse and its ability thus to act the part of a thief is the crime of Po-lao. In the time of (the Ti) Ho-hsii \ the people occupied about him. Most of the critics identify him with Shan-nang, the 28o THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IX. their dwellings without knowing what they were doing, and walked out without knowing where they were going. They filled their mouths with food and were glad ; they slapped their stomachs to ex¬ press their satisfaction. This was all the ability which they possessed. But when the sagely men appeared, with their bendings and stoppings in cere¬ monies and music to adjust the persons of all, and hanging up their benevolence and righteousness to excite the endeavours of all to reach them, in order to comfort their minds, then the people began to stump and limp about in their love of knowledge, and strove with one another in their pursuit of gain, so that there was no stopping them :

— this was the error of those sagely men. Father of Husbandry, who occupies the place in chronological tables after Fu-hsf, between him and Hwang-Ti. In the Tables of the Dynastic Histories, published in 1817, he is placed seventh in the list of fifteen reigns, which are ■ placed without any specifica¬ tion of their length between Ffi-hst and Shan-nang. The name is written as and pt. ii. SECT. in. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-SZE.

In taking precautions against thieves who cut open satchels, search bags, and break open boxes, people are sure to cord and fasten them well, and to employ strong bonds and clasps; and in this they are ordinarily said to show their wisdom. When a great thief comes, however, he shoulders the box, lifts up the satchel, carries off the bag, and runs away with them, afraid only that the cords, bonds, and clasps may not be secure ; and in this case what was called the wisdom (of the owners) proves to be nothing but a collecting of the things for the great thief. Let me try and set this matter forth. Do not those who are vulgarly called wise prove to be collectors for the great thieves ? And do not those who are called sages prove to be but guardians in the interest of the great thieves ? How do I know that the case is so ? Formerly, in the state of K/ii, the neighbouring towns could see one another ; their cocks and dogs never ceased to answer the crowing and barking of other cocks and dogs (between them). The nets were set (in the water and on the land); and the ploughs and hoes were employed over more than a space of two thou¬ sand li square. All within its four boundaries, the 1 See pp. 141, 142. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. X. establishment of the ancestral temples and of the altars of the land and grain, and the ordering of the hamlets and houses, and of every corner in the districts, large, medium, and small, were in all parti¬ culars according to the rules of the sages1.

So it was ; but yet one morning, Thien AYang-^ze 2 killed the ruler of Kki, and stole his state. And was it only the state that he stole ? Along with it he stole also the regulations of the sages and wise men (observed in it). And so, though he got the name of being a thief and a robber, yet he himself con¬ tinued to live as securely as Yao and Shun had done. Small states did not dare to find fault with him ; great states did not dare to take him off ; for twelve generations (his descendants) have possessed the state of Khi 3. Thus do we not have a case in which not only did (the party) steal the state of Khi, 1 The meaning is plain ; but to introduce the various geograph¬ ical terms would make the translation cumbrous. The concluding |J{] is perplexing. perpetrator of the murder is called Kfrkn AfMng-jze, and KKkn Hang. Hang was his name, and KKkng the honorary title given to him after his death. The family to which he belonged had origin¬ ally taken refuge in Kh\ from the state of Kh&n in b. c. 672. Why and when its chiefs adopted the surname Thien instead of K/ia n is not well known. The murder took place in 482. Hang did not immediately usurp the marquisate ; but he and his successors dis¬ posed of it at their pleasure among the representatives of the old House till 386, when Thien Ho was recognised by the king of Afau as the marquis ;

and his next successor but one took the title of king. 3 The kingdom of Kh\ came to an end in b. c. 221, the first year of the dynasty of KKm, after it had lasted through five reigns. How A’wang-jze made out his ‘ twelve generations ’ we cannot tell. There may be an interpolation in his text made in the time of KKva, or subsequently. PT. II. SF.CT. III. THE WRITINGS OF XWANG-3ZE. but at the same time the regulations of its sages and wise men, which thereby served to guard the person of him, thief and robber as he was ?

Let me try to set forth this subject (still fur¬ ther). Have not there been among those vulgarly styled the wisest, such as have collected (their wealth) for the great chief? and among those styled the most sage such as have guarded it for him ? How do I know that it has been so ? Formerly, Lung-fang 1 was beheaded ; Pi-kan 2 had his heart torn out ; KJtds\g Hung3 was ripped open ; and $zehsii 4 was reduced to pulp (in the Wiang). Worthy as those four men were, they did not escape such dreadful deaths. The followers of the robber Wih5 asked him, saying, ‘ Has the robber also any method or principle (in his proceedings)?’ He replied, ‘ What profession is there which has not its principles ? That the robber in his recklessness comes to the conclusion that there are valuable de¬ posits in an apartment shows his sageness ; that he is the first to enter it shows his bravery ; that he is the last to quit it shows his righteousness ; that he knows whether (the robbery) may be attempted or not shows his wisdom ; and that he makes an equal 1 See on Book IV, par. 1. 2 See on Book IV, par. 1. have studied music. He was weakly and unjustly put to death, as here described by king Kang, in b. c. 492. 4 Wfi 3ze-hsii, the hero of revenge, who fled from Khh to Wu, which he long served.

He was driven at last to commit suicide, and his body was then put into a leathern wine-sack, and thrown into the Alang near the present Su-^au ; — about b. c. 4755 See on Book VIII, par. 4. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. X. division of the plunder shows his benevolence. With¬ out all these five qualities no one in the world has ever attained to become a great robber.’ Looking at the subject in this way, we see that good men do not arise without having the principles of the sages, and that Wih could not have pursued his course without the same principles. But the good men in the world are few, and those who are not good are many ; — it follows that the sages benefit the world in a few instances and injure it in many. Hence it is that we have the sayings, ‘ When the lips are gone the teeth are cold1 ;’ ‘The poor wine of Lu gave occa¬ sion to the siege of Han-tan2 3;’ ‘ When sages are born great robbers arise V When the stream is dried, the valley is empty; when the mound is levelled, the deep pool (beside it) is filled up. When the sages have died, the great robbers will not arise ; the world would be at peace, and there would be no more troubles. While the sagely men have not died, great robbers will not cease to appear.

The more right that is attached to (the views of) the sagely men for the government of the world, the more advantage will accrue to (such men as) the robber Wih. If we make for men pecks and bushels 1 This is an instance of cause and effect naturally happening. AAu (b. 0. 369-340), the ruler of Lu brought very poor wine for the king, which was presented to him as wine of R ao, in conse¬ quence of a grudge against that kingdom by his officer of wines. In consequence of this king Hsiian ordered siege to be laid to Hantan, the capital of Aao. This is an instance of cause and effect occurring irregularly. 3 There seems to be no connexion of cause and effect here ; but ATwang-jze goes on in his own way to make out that there is such a connexion. PT. II. SECT. ill. THE WRITINGS OF XWANG-3ZE. 285 to measure (their wares), even by means of those pecks and bushels should we be teaching them to steal 1 ; if we make for them weights and steelyards to weigh (their wares), even by means of those weights and steelyards shall we be teaching them to steal. If we make for them tallies and seals to secure their good faith, even by means of those tallies and seals shall we be teaching them to steal. If we make for them benevolence and righteousness to make their doings correct, even by means of bene¬ volence and righteousness shall we be teaching them to steal.

How do I know that it is so? Here is one who steals a hook (for his girdle) ; — he is put to death for it : here is another who steals a state ; — he becomes its prince. But it is at the gates of the princes that we find benevolence and righteousness (most strongly) professed ; — is not this stealing bene¬ volence and righteousness, sageness and wisdom ? Thus they hasten to become great robbers, carry off princedoms, and steal benevolence and righteous¬ ness, with all the gains springing from the use of pecks and bushels, weights and steelyards, tallies and seals : — even the rewards of carriages and coronets have no power to influence (to a different course), and the terrors of the axe have no power to restrain in such cases. The giving of so great gain to robbers (like) K ih, and making it impossible to restrain them ; — this is the error committed by the sages.

In accordance with this it is said, ‘Fish should 1 The verb ‘ to steal ’ is here used transitively, and with a hiphil force. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. X. not be taken from (the protection of) the deep waters ; the agencies for the profit of a state should not be shown to men V But those sages (and their teachings) are the agencies for the profit of the world, and should not be exhibited to it. Therefore if an end were put to sageness and wisdom put away, the great robbers would cease to arise. If jade were put away and pearls broken to bits, the small thieves would not appear. If tallies were burned and seals broken in pieces, the people would become simple and unsophisticated. If pecks were destroyed and steelyards snapped in two, the people would have no wrangling. If the rules of the sages were entirely set aside in the world, a beginning might be made of reasoning with the people. If the six musical accords were reduced to a state of utter confusion, organs and lutes all burned, and the ears of the (musicians like the) blind Khwang1 2 stopped up, all men would begin to possess and employ their (natural) power of hearing. If elegant ornaments were abolished, the five embellishing colours disused, and the eyes of (men like) Li Ku 3 glued up, all men would begin to possess and employ their (natural) power of vision.

If the hook and line were destroyed, the compass and square thrown away, and the fingers of men (like) the artful K/mi 4 smashed, all men would begin to possess and employ their (natural) skill ; — as it is said, ‘ The greatest art is 1 See the T&o Teh Amg, ch. 36. Our author’s use of it throws light on its meaning. 2 Note 1, p. 186. 3 Note 2, p. 269. 4 A skilful maker of arrows of the time of Yao, — the Kungkung of the Shh, II, i, 21 ; V, xxii, 19. PT. II. sect. ill. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-3ZE. like stupidity1.’ If conduct such as that of 3ang (Shan)2 and Shih (AVdh) 3 were discarded, the mouths of Yang (Afu) 4 and Mo (Ti) gagged, and bene¬ volence and righteousness seized and thrown aside, the virtue of all men would begin to display its mysterious excellence. When men possessed and employed their (natural) power of vision, there would be no distortion in the world. When they possessed and employed their (natural) power of hearing, there would be no distractions in the world. When they possessed and employed their (natural) faculty of knowledge, there would be no delusions in the world. When they possessed and employed their (natural) virtue, there would be no depravity in the world. Men like 3ang (Shan), Shih (Af/du), Yang (AY), Mo (Ti), Shih Khwang (the musician), the artist Kh\x\ , and Li Yu, all display their qualities outwardly, and set the world in a blaze (of admiration) and confound it a method which is of no use !

Are you, Sir, unacquainted with the age of perfect virtue? Anciently there were Yung-Mang, Ta-thing, Po-hwang, Afang-yang, Li-lu, Li-Mu, Hsien-yiian, Ho-hsii, 3un~lu, Afu-yung, Fu-hsi, and Shan-nangs. In their times the people made 1 The TSo Teh iTing, ch. 45. 2 Note 6, p. 269. s Note 7, p. 269. 4 Note 5, p. 261. familiar with those of Fu-hsi and Shan-nang, the first and second of the Ti in chronology. Hsien-yiian is another name for HwangTi, the third of them. Au-yung was, perhaps, a minister of HwangTi. Ho-hsii has occurred before in Book IV. Of the other seven, five occur among the fifteen sovereigns placed in the ‘ Compendium THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. X. knots on cords in carrying on their affairs. They thought their (simple) food pleasant, and their (plain) clothing beautiful. They were happy in their (simple) manners, and felt at rest in their (poor) dwellings. (The people of) neighbouring states might be able to descry one another ; the voices of their cocks and dogs might be heard (all the way) from one to the other ; they might not die till they were old ; and yet all their life they would have no communication together1. In those times perfect good order prevailed. Now-a-days, however, such is the state of things that you shall see the people stretching out their necks, and standing on tiptoe, while they say, ‘ In such and such a place there is a wise and able man.’ Then they carry with them whatever dry provisions they may have left, and hurry towards it, abandoning their parents in their homes, and neglecting the service of their rulers abroad.

Their footsteps may be traced in lines from one state to another, and the ruts of their chariot-wheels also for more than a thousand 1 i. This is owing to the error of their superiors in their (inordinate) fondness for knowledge. When those superiors do really love knowledge, but do not follow the (proper) course, the whole world is thrown into great confusion. How do I know that the case is so ? The know¬ ledge shown in the (making of) bows, cross-bows, hand-nets, stringed arrows, and contrivances with springs is great, but the birds are troubled by them of History ’ between Fu-hsi and Shan-nang. The remaining two may be found, I suppose, in the Lfi Shih of Lo Pi. 1 See the eightieth chapter of the Tao Teh -Sfing. above ; the knowledge shown in the hooks, baits, various kinds of nets, and bamboo traps is great, but the fishes are disturbed by them in the waters ; the knowledge shown in the arrangements for setting nets, and the nets and snares themselves, is great, but the animals are disturbed by them in the marshy grounds. (So), the versatility shown in artful deceptions becoming more and more pernicious, in ingenious discussions as to what is hard and what is white, and in attempts to disperse the dust and reconcile different views, is great, but the common people are perplexed by all the sophistry. Hence there is great disorder continually in the world, and the guilt of it is due to that fondness for knowledge.

Thus it is that all men know to seek for the knowledge that they have not attained to ; and do not know to seek for that which they already have (in themselves); and that they know to condemn what they do not approve (in others), and do not know to condemn what they have allowed in themselves ; — it is this which occasions the great confusion and disorder. It is just as if, above, the brightness of the sun and moon were darkened ; as if, beneath, the productive vigour of the hills and streams were dried up ; and as if, between, the operation of the four seasons were brought to an end : — in which case there would not be a single weak and wriggling insect, nor any plant that grows up, which would not lose its proper nature. Great indeed is the disorder produced in the world by the love of knowledge. From the time of the three dynasties downwards it has been so. The plain and honest-minded people are neglected, and the plausible representations of restless spirits u THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. x. received with pleasure ; the quiet and unexciting method of non-action is put away, and pleasure taken in ideas garrulously expressed. It is this garrulity of speech which puts the world in dis¬ order. PT. II. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF A'WANG-SZE.

I have heard of letting the world be, and exercising forbearance ; I have not heard of govern¬ ing the world. Letting be is from the fear that men, (when interfered with), will carry their nature beyond its normal condition ; exercising forbearance is from the fear that men, (when not so dealt with), will alter the characteristics of their nature. When all men do not carry their nature beyond its normal condition, nor alter its characteristics, the good government of the world is secured. Formerly, Yao’s government of the world made men look joyful ; but when they have this joy in their nature, there is a want of its (proper) placidity. The government of the world by Adeh, (on the contrary), made men look distressed ; but when their nature shows the symptoms of distress, there is a want of its (proper) contentment. The want of placidity and the want of contentment are contrary to the character (of the nature) ; and where this obtains, it is impossible that any man or state should anywhere abide long. Are men exceedingly joyful ? — the Y ang or element of expansion in them is too much developed. Are they exceedingly 1 See pp. 142, 143. U 2 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. irritated? — the Yin or opposite element is too much developed. When those elements thus pre¬ dominate in men, (it is as if1) the four seasons were not to come (at their proper times), and the harmony of cold and heat were not to be main¬ tained ;

— would there not result injury to the bodies of men ? Men’s joy and dissatisfaction are made to arise where they ought not to do so ; their move¬ ments are all uncertain ; they lose the mastery of their thoughts ; they stop short midway, and do not finish what they have begun. In this state of things the world begins to have lofty aims, and jealous dislikes, ambitious courses, and fierce ani¬ mosities, and then we have actions like those of the robber Will, or of 3ang (Shan) and Shih (3hiu)2. If now the whole world were taken to reward the good it would not suffice, nor would it be possible with it to punish the bad. Thus the world, great as it is, not sufficing for rewards and punishments, from the time of the three dynasties downwards, there has been nothing but bustle and excitement. Always occupied with rewards and punishments, what leisure have men had to rest in the instincts of the nature with which they are endowed ?

Moreover, delight in the power of vision leads 1 I supply the 1 it is as if,’ after the example of the critic Lu ShuX’ih, who here introduces a in his commentary (10 m ~7^*). What the text seems to state as a fact is only an illustration. Compare the concluding paragraphs in all the Sections and Parts of the fourth Book of the Li K\. in the same category such sovereigns as Yao and Aieh, and such men as the brigand A"ih and Bang and Shih. pt. II. SECT. iv. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-SZE. to excess in the pursuit of (ornamental) colours ; delight in the power of hearing, to excess in seeking (the pleasures of) sound ; delight in benevolence tends to disorder that virtue (as proper to the nature) ; delight in righteousness sets the man in opposition to what is right in reason ; delight in (the practice of) ceremonies is helpful to artful forms ; delight in music leads to voluptuous airs ; delight in sageness is helpful to ingenious contrivances ; delight in knowledge contributes to fault-finding. If all men were to rest in the instincts of their nature, to keep or to extinguish these eight delights might be a matter of indifference ; but if they will not rest in those instincts, then those eight delights begin to be imperfectly and unevenly developed or violently suppressed, and the world is thrown into disorder.

But when men begin to honour them, and to long for them, how great is the deception practised on the world ! And not only, when (a performance of them) is once over, do they not have done with them, but they prepare themselves (as) with fasting to describe them, they seem to kneel reverentially when they bring them forward, and they go through them with the excitements of music and singing; and then what can be done (to remedy the evil of them) ? Therefore the superior man, who feels himself constrained to en¬ gage in the administration of the world will find it his best way to do nothing1. In (that policy of) doing nothing, he can rest in the instincts of the nature with which he is endowed. Hence he who will administer (the government of) the world 1 Here is the Taoistic meaning of the title of this Book. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. honouring it as he honours his own person, may have that government committed to him, and he who will administer it loving it as he loves his own person, may have it entrusted to him Therefore, if the superior man will keep (the faculties lodged in) his five viscera unemployed, and not display his powers of seeing and hearing, while he is motionless as a representative of the dead, his dragon-like presence will be seen ; while he is profoundly silent, the thunder (of his words) will resound ; while his movements are (unseen) like those of a spirit, all heavenly influences will follow them ; while he is (thus) unconcerned and does nothing, his genial influence will attract and gather all things round him : — what leisure has he to do anything more for the government of the world ?

3hui Kku1 2 asked Lao Tan, saying, ‘ If you do not govern the world, how can you make men’s minds good ? ’ The reply was, ‘ Take care how you meddle with and disturb men’s minds. The mind, if pushed about, gets depressed ; if helped forward, it gets exalted. Now exalted, now depressed, here it appears as a prisoner, and there as a wrathful fury. (At one time) it becomes pliable and soft, yielding to what is hard and strong ; (at another), it is sharp as the sharpest corner, fit to carve or chisel (stone or jade). Now it is hot as a scorching fire, and anon it is cold as ice. It is so swift that while one is bending down and lifting up his head, it shall twice 1 A quotation, but without any indication that it is so, from the Tao Teh ATing, ch. 13. 2 Probably an imaginary personage. PT. II. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF K WANG-3ZE. have put forth a soothing hand beyond the four seas. Resting, it is still as a deep abyss ; moving, it is like one of the bodies in the sky ; in its resolute haughti¬ ness, it refuses to be bound ; — such is the mind of man 1 !’ Anciently, Hwang-Ti was the first to meddle with and disturb the mind of man with his benevolence and righteousness 2. After him, Yao and Shun wore their thighs bare and the hair off the calves of their legs, in their labours to nourish the bodies of the people.

They toiled painfully with all the powers in their five viscera at the practice of their benevo¬ lence and righteousness ; they tasked their blood and breath to make out a code of laws ; — and after all they were unsuccessful. On this Yao sent away Hwan Tau to Kknng hill, and (the Chiefs of) the Three Miao to San-wei, and banished the Minister of Works to the Dark Capital ; so unequal had they been to cope with the world 3. Then we are carried on to the kings of the Three (dynasties), when the world was in a state of great distraction. Of the lowest type of character there were /Cieh and K\Y\ ; of a higher type there were 3&ng (Shan) and Shih (3hiu). At the same time there arose the classes of what follows is from Wwang-gze himself, down to the end of the paragraph. We cannot have Lao-jze referring to men later than himself, and quoting from his own Book. of the rule of the Tao by their benevolence and righteousness. Here that innovation is carried further back to Hwang-Ti. 3 See these parties, and the way they were dealt with, in the Shu King, Part II, Book I, 3. The punishment of them is there ascribed to Shun ; but Yao was still alive, and Shun was acting as his viceroy. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. the Literati and the Mohists. Hereupon, compla¬ cency in, and hatred of, one another produced mutual suspicions;

the stupid and the wise imposed on one another ; the good and the bad condemned one another; the boastful and the sincere interchanged their recriminations ; — and the world fell into decay. Views as to what was greatly virtuous did not agree, and the nature with its endowments became as if shrivelled by fire or carried away by a flood. All were eager for knowledge, and the people were exhausted with their searchings (after what was good). On this the axe and the saw were brought into play ; guilt was determined as by the plumb-line and death inflicted ; the hammer and gouge did their work. The world fell into great disorder, and presented the appearance of a jagged mountain ridge. The crime to which all was due was the meddling with and disturbing men’s minds. The effect was that men of ability and worth lay concealed at the foot of the crags of mount Thii, and princes of ten thousand chariots were anxious and terrified in their ancestral temples. In the present age those who have been put to death in various ways lie thick as if pillowed on each other ; those who are wearing the cangue press on each other (on the roads) ; those who are suffer¬ ing the bastinado can see each other (all over the land). And now the Literati and the Mohists begin to stand, on tiptoe and with bare arms, among the fettered and manacled crowd !

Ah ! extreme is their shamelessness, and their failure to see the disgrace ! Strange that we should be slow to recognise their sageness and wisdom in the bars of the cangue, and their benevolence and righteousness in the rivets of the fetters and handcuffs ! How do we know that PT. ii. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-3ZE. 3ang and Shih are not the whizzing arrows of K\eh and K\ h 1 ? Therefore it is said, ‘ Abolish sageness and cast away knowledge, and the world will be brought to a state of great order V

Hwang-Ti had been on the throne for nineteen years1 2 3, and his ordinances were in operation all through the kingdom, when he heard that Kwang WMng-jze 4 * was living on the summit of Khungthung 6, and went to see him. ‘ I have heard,’ he said, ‘that you, Sir, are well acquainted with the perfect T ao. I venture to ask you what is the essential thing in it. I wish to take the subtlest influences of heaven and earth, and assist with them the (growth of the) five cereals for the (better) nourishment of the people. I also wish to direct the (operation of the) Yin and Yang, so as to secure the comfort of all living beings. How shall I proceed to accomplish those objects ? ’ Kwang AYangqze replied, ‘ What you wish to ask about is the original substance of all things G ; what you that given by Mencius in III, ii, ch. 9 et al. But the conclusions arrived at as to the causes and cure of their evils by him and our author are very different. Afing, ch. 19, with some variation of the text. 3 ? in b. c. 2678. 4 Another imaginary personage ; apparently, a personification of the Tao. Some say he was Laoqze, — in one of his early states of existence; others that he was ‘a True Man,’ the teacher of Hwang-Ti. See Ko Hung’s ‘ Immortals,’ I, i.

B Equally imaginary is the mountain Khung-thung. Some critics find a place for it in the province of Ho-nan ; the majority say it is the highest point in the constellation of the Great Bear. formed. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. wish to have the direction of is that substance as it was shattered and divided k According to your government of the world, the vapours of the clouds, before they were collected, would descend in rain ; the herbs and trees would shed their leaves before they became yellow ; and the light of the sun and moon would hasten to extinction. Your mind is that of a flatterer with his plausible words — it is not fit that I should tell you the perfect T ao.’ Hwang-Ti withdrew, gave up (his government of) the kingdom, built himself a solitary apartment, spread in it a mat of the white mao grass, dwelt in it unoccupied for three months, and then went again to seek an interview with (the recluse). Kwang Kha.ngjze was then lying down with his head to the south. Hwang-Ti, with an air of deferential submission, went forward on his knees, twice bowed low with his face to the ground, and asked him, saying, ‘ I have heard that you, Sir, are well acquainted with the perfect T ao ; — I venture to ask how I should rule my body, in order that it may continue for a long time.’ Kwang AVzangqze hastily rose, and said, ‘ A i good question !

Come and I will tell you the per- : feet Tao. Its essence is (surrounded with) the deepest obscurity ; its highest reach is in darkness and silence. There is nothing to be seen ; nothing : to be heard. When it holds the spirit in its arms j in stillness, then the bodily form of itself will become I correct. You must be still; you must be pure; \ not subjecting your body to toil, not agitating your (vital force ;— then you may live for long. When Yin and Yang. pt. II. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF 25TWANG-3ZE. your eyes see nothing, your ears hear nothing, and your mind knows nothing, your spirit will keep your body, and the body will live long. Watch over what is within you, shut up the avenues that connect you with what is external ; — much knowledge is perni¬ cious. I (will) proceed with you to the summit of the Grand Brilliance, where we come to the source of the bright and expanding (element) ; I will enter with you the gate of the Deepest Obscurity, where we come to the source of the dark and repressing (element). There heaven and earth have their con¬ trollers ; there the Yin and Y ang have their Reposi¬ tories. Watch over and keep your body, and all things will of themselves give it vigour. I maintain the (original) unity (of these elements), and dwell in the harmony of them.

In this way I have cultivated myself for one thousand and two hundred years, and my bodily form has undergone no decay V Hwang-Ti twice bowed low with his head to the ground, and said, ‘ In Kwang WMng-jze we have an example of what is called Heaven V The other said, ‘ Come, and I will tell you : — (The perfect Tao) is something inexhaustible, and yet men all think it has an end ; it is something unfathomable, and yet men all think its extreme limit can be reached. He who attains to my T ao, if he be in a high position, will be one of the August ones, and in a low posi¬ tion, will be a king. He who fails in attaining it, in his highest attainment will see the light, but will the cultivation of the Tao tended to prolong and preserve the bodily life. 2 A remarkable, but not a singular, instance of Aiwang-jze’s appli¬ cation of the name ‘ Heaven.’ THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XT. descend and be of the Earth. At present all things are produced from the Earth and return to the Earth. Therefore I will leave you, and enter the gate of the Unending, to enjoy myself in the fields of the Illi¬ mitable. I will blend my light with that of the sun and moon, and will endure while heaven and earth endure. If men agree with my views, I will be unconscious of it ; if they keep far apart from them, I will be unconscious of it ; they may all die, and I will abide alone 1 ! ’

Yiin Arang 2, rambling to the east, having been borne along on a gentle breeze 3, suddenly encoun¬ tered Hung Mung 2, who was rambling about, slap¬ ping his buttocks 4 and hopping like a bird. Amazed at the sight, Yun Afiang stood reverentially, and said to the other, ‘ Venerable Sir, who are you ? and why are you doing this?’ Hung Mung went on slapping his buttocks and hopping like a bird, but replied, ‘ I am enjoying myself.’ Yun Afiang said, ‘I 1 A very difficult sentence, in interpreting which there are great differences among the critics. they were the surnames and names of two personages here intro¬ duced. Mr. Balfour renders them by ‘ The Spirit of the Clouds,’ and ‘ Mists of Chaos.’ The Spirits of heaven or the sky have still their place in the Sacrificial Canon of China, as ‘ the CloudMaster, the Rain-Master, the Baron of the Winds, and the Thunder Master.’ Hung Mung, again, is a name for 1 the Great Ether,’ or, as Dr. Medhurst calls it, ‘ the Primitive Chaos.’ 3 Literally, ‘passing by a branch of Fft-yfio; ’ but we find ftayao in Book I, meaning ‘a whirlwind.’ The term ‘branch’ has made some critics explain it here as ‘ the name of a tree,’ which is inadmissible. I have translated according to the view of Lfi Shfi-^ih. 4 Or ‘ stomach,’ — according to another reading. PT.

II. SECT. iv. THE WRITINGS OF iTWANG-SZE. wish to ask you a question.’ Hung Mung lifted up his head, looked at the stranger, and said, ‘ Pooh ! ’ Yiin K\nng, however, continued, ‘The breath of heaven is out of harmony; the breath of earth is bound up ; the six elemental influences 1 do not act in concord ; the four seasons do not observe their proper times. Now I wish to blend together the essential qualities of those six influences in order to nourish all living things ; — how shall I go about it ? ’ Hung Mung slapped his buttocks, hopped about, and shook his head, saying, ‘ I do not know ; I do not know !’ Y tin iYiang could not pursue his question ; but three years afterwards, when (again) rambling in the east, as he was passing by the wild of Sung, he happened to meet Hung Mung. Delighted with the ren¬ contre, he hastened to him, and said, ‘ Have you forgotten me, O Heaven ? Have you forgotten me, O Heaven2?’ At the same time, he bowed twice with his head to the ground, wishing to receive his instructions. Hung Mung said, ‘ Wandering listlessly about, I know not what I seek ; carried on by a wild impulse, I know not where I am going. I wander about in the strange manner (which you have seen), and see that nothing proceeds without method and order 3 ;

— what more should I know ? ’ Yiin Wiang replied, ‘ I also seem carried on by an aimless influ¬ ence, and yet the people follow me wherever 1 go. I cannot help their doing so. But now as they thus 1 Probably, the yin, the yang, wind, rain, darkness, and light; — see Mayers, p. 323. 2 See Introduction, pp. 17, 18. 3 Compare in Book XXIII, par. 1. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. imitate me, I wish to hear a word from you (in the case).’ The other said, ‘ What disturbs the regular method of Heaven, comes into collision with the nature of things, prevents the accomplishment of the mysterious (operation of) Heaven, scatters the herds of animals, makes the birds all sing at night, is calamitous to vegetation, and disastrous to all insects ; — all this is owing, I conceive, to the error of governing men.’ ‘What then,’ said Ytin ATiang, ‘shall I do?’ ‘Ah,’ said the other, ‘you will only injure them ! I will leave you in my dancing way, and return to my place.’ Ytin Wiang rejoined, ‘It has been a difficult thing to get this meeting with you, O Heaven ! I should like to hear from you a word (more).’ Hung Mung said, ‘ Ah ! your mind (needs to be) nourished. Do you only take the position of doing nothing, and things will of them¬ selves become transformed.

Neglect your body; cast out from you your power of hearing and sight ; j forget what you have in common with things ; cul¬ tivate a grand similarity with the chaos of the plastic ether ; unloose your mind ; set your spirit free ; be still as if you had no soul. Of all the multitude of things every one returns to its root. Every one re- ' turns to its root, and does not know (that it is doing so). They all are as in the state of chaos, and during all their existence they do not leave it h If 1 They never show any will of their own. — On the names Ytin Aiang and Hung Mung, Lu Shu-X'ih makes the following re¬ marks : — ‘ These were not men, and yet they are introduced here as questioning and answering each other; showing us that our author frames and employs his surnames and names to serve his own purpose. Those names and the speeches made by the parties are all from him. We must believe that he introduces Confucius, Yao, and Shun just in the same way.’ PT. II. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF JsTWANG-SZE. they knew (that they were returning to their root), they would be (consciously) leaving it. They do not ask its name ; they do not seek to spy out their nature ; and thus it is that things come to life of themselves.’ Yiin ATiang said, ‘ Heaven, you have conferred on me (the knowledge of) your operation, and revealed to me the mystery of it. All my life I had been seeking for it, and now I have obtained it/ He then bowed twice, with his head to the ground, arose, took his leave, and walked away.

The ordinary men of the world 1 all rejoice in men’s agreeing with themselves, and dislike men’s being different from themselves. This rejoicing and this dislike arise from their being bent on making themselves distinguished above all others. But have they who have this object at heart so risen out above all others ? They depend on them to rest quietly (in the position which they desire), and their knowledge is not equal to the multitude of the arts of all those others 2 ! When they wish again to ad¬ minister a state for its ruler, they proceed to employ all the methods which the kings of the three dynasties considered profitable without seeing the evils of such a course. This is to make the state depend on the peradventure of their luck. But how seldom it is that that peradventure does not issue in the ruin of the state ! Not once in ten thousand instances will such men preserve a state. Not once will they suc¬ ceed, and in more than ten thousand cases will they sun Lung, and others. 2 The construing and connexion of this sentence are puzzling. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. ruin it. Alas that the possessors of territory, — (the rulers of states), — should not know the danger (of employing such men)! Now the possessors of terri¬ tory possess the greatest of (all) things. Possessing the greatest of all things, — (possessing, that is, men), — they should not try to deal with them as (simply) things.

And it is he who is not a thing (himself) that is therefore able to deal with (all) things as they severally require. When (a ruler) clearly under¬ stands that he who should so deal with all things is not a thing himself, will he only rule the kingdom ? He will go out and in throughout the universe (at his pleasure) ; he will roam over the nine regions \ alone in going, alone in coming. Him we call the sole possessor (of this ability) ; and the sole possessor (of this ability) is what is called the noblest of all. The teaching of (this) great man goes forth as the shadow from the substance, as the echo responds to the sound. When questioned, he responds, ex¬ hausting (from his own stores) all that is in the (enquirer’s) mind, as if front to front with all under heaven. His resting-place gives forth no sound ; his sphere of activity has no restriction of place. He conducts every one to his proper goal, proceed¬ ing to it and bringing him back to it as by his own movement. His movements have no trace; his going forth and his re-enterings have no deviation ; his course is like that of the sun without beginning (or ending). 1 ‘ The nine regions ’ generally means the nine provinces into which the Great Yii divided the kingdom. As our author is here describing the grand Taoist ruler after his fashion in his relation to the universe, we must give the phrase a wider meaning ;

but I have not met with any attempt to define it. PT. II. sect. iv. THE WRITINGS OF i:WANG-8ZE. If you would praise or discourse about his per¬ sonality, he is united with the great community of existences. He belongs to that great community, and has no individual self. Having no individual self, how should he have anything that can be called his ? If you look at those who have what they call their own, they are the superior men of former times ; if you look at him who has nothing of the kind, he is the friend of heaven and earth.

Mean, and yet demanding to be allowed their free course ; — such are Things. Low, and yet re¬ quiring to be relied on ; — such are the People. Hidden (as to their issues), and yet requiring to be done ; — such are Affairs. Coarse, and yet necessary to be set forth ; — such are Laws. Remote, and yet necessary to have dwelling (in one’s self) ; — such is Righteousness. Near, and yet necessary to be widely extended ; — such is Benevolence. Restrictive, and yet necessary to be multiplied ; — such are Cere¬ monies. Lodged in the centre, and yet requiring to be exalted ; — such is Virtue. Always One, and yet requiring to be modified ; — such is the Tao. Spirit¬ like, and yet requiring to be exercised ; — such is Heaven 1. Therefore the sages contemplated Heaven, but did not assist It. They tried to perfect their virtue, but did not allow it to embarrass them. They pro¬ ceeded according to the Tao, but did not lay any plans. They associated benevolence (with all their doings), but did not rely on it. They pursued rightnon-action of the Master of the Tao there are still things he must do. 3°6 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. eousness extensively, but did not try to accumulate it. They responded to ceremonies, but did not con¬ ceal (their opinion as to the troublesomeness of them).

They engaged in affairs as they occurred, and did not decline them. They strove to render their laws uniform, but (feared that confusion) might arise from them. They relied upon the people, and did not set light by them. They depended on things as their instruments, and did not discard them h They did not think things equal to what they em¬ ployed them for, but yet they did not see that they could do without employing them. Those who do not understand Heaven are not pure in their virtue. Those who do not comprehend the Tao have no course which they can pursue successfully. Alas for them who do not clearly understand the Tao ! What is it that we call the Tao1 2 ? There is the Tao, or Way of Heaven; and there is the Tao, or Way of Man. Doing nothing and yet attracting all honour is the Way of Heaven; Doing and being embarrassed thereby is the Way of Man. It is the Way of Heaven that plays the part of the Lord ; it is the Way of Man that plays the part of the Servant. The Way of Heaven and the Way of Man are far apart. They should be clearly dis¬ tinguished from each other. such a Master does does not interfere with his non-action. 2 This question and what follows shows clearly enough that, even with Wwang-^ze, the character Tao (^) retained its proper meaning of the Way or Course. PT. II. SECT. v. THE WRITINGS OF *TWANG-3ZE.

Notwithstanding the greatness of heaven and earth, their transforming power proceeds from one lathe ; notwithstanding the number of the myriad things, the government of them is one and the same ; notwithstanding the multitude of mankind, the lord of them is their (one) ruler 2. The ruler’s (course) should proceed from the qualities (of the Tao) and be perfected by Heaven3, when it is so, it is called ‘ Mysterious and Sublime.’ The ancients ruled the world by doing nothing ; — simply by this attribute of Heaven4. If we look at their words 5 in the light of the Tao, (we see that) the appellation for the ruler of the 1 See pp. 143, 144. 2 Implying that that ruler, ‘ the Son of Heaven,’ is only one. 3 ‘ Heaven ’ is here defined as meaning 1 Non-action, what is of itself (&£ jrj p)Cj ; ’ the teh (|jb) is the virtue, or qualities of the TSo ; — see the first paragraph of the next Book. 4 This sentence gives the thesis, or subject-matter of the whole Book, which the author never loses sight of. 5 Perhaps we should translate here, ‘They looked at their words,’ referring to ‘ the ancient rulers.’ So Gabelentz construes : — ‘ Dem Tao gemass betrachteten sie die reden.’ The meaning that I have given is substantially the same. The term ‘ words ’ occasions a difficulty. I understand it here, with most of the critics, as ;|jj| f ‘ the words of appellation.’ 308 the texts of taoism.

bk.xh. world 1 was correctly assigned ; if we look in the same light at the distinctions which they instituted, (we see that) the separation of ruler and ministers was right ; if we look at the abilities which they called forth in the same light, (we see that the duties of) all the offices were -well performed ; and if we look generally in the same way at all things, (we see that) their response (to this rule) was com¬ plete2. Therefore that which pervades (the action of) Heaven and Earth is (this one) attribute ; that which operates in all things is (this one) course ; that by which their superiors govern the people is the business (of the various departments) ; and that by which aptitude is given to ability is skill. The skill was manifested in all the (departments of) business ; those departments were all administered in righteousness ; the righteousness was (the outflow of) the natural virtue ; the virtue was manifested according to the Tao; and the Tao was according to (the pattern of) Heaven. Hence it is said3, ‘The ancients who had the nourishment of the world wished for nothing and the world had enough ; they did nothing and all things were transformed ; their stillness was abysmal, and the people were all composed.’ The Record says4, ‘ When the one (Tao) pervades it, all business 1 Meaning, probably, his appellation as Thien Qze, ‘ the Son of Heaven.’ 2 That is, ‘they responded to the Tao,’ without any constraint but the example of their rulers. been able to trace to its source. 4 This ‘ Record ’ is attributed to Lao-jze ; but we know nothing of it. In illustration of the sentiment in the sentence, the critics pt. ii. sect. v. THE WRITINGS OF ATWANG-3ZE. is completed. When the mind gets to be free from all aim, even the Spirits submit.’

The Master said 1 , ‘ It is the T ao that over¬ spreads and sustains all things. How great It is in Its overflowing influence ! The Superior man ought by all means to remove from his mind (all that is con¬ trary to It). Acting without action is what is called Heaven(-like). Speech coming forth of itself is what is called (a mark of) the (true) Virtue. Loving men and benefiting things is what is called Benevo¬ lence. Seeing wherein things that are different yet agree is what is called being Great. Conduct free from the ambition of being distinguished above others is what is called being Generous. The pos¬ session in himself of a myriad points of difference is what is called being Rich. Therefore to hold fast the natural attributes is what is called the Guiding Line (of government) 2 ; the perfecting of those attributes is what is called its Establishment ; accordance with the Tao is what is called being Complete ; and not allowing anything external to affect the will is what is called being Perfect. When the Superior man understands these ten things, he keeps all matters as it were sheathed in himself, showing the greatness of his mind; and through the outflow of his doings, all things move (and come to him). Being such, he lets the gold lie hid in the hill, and the pearls in the deep ; he considers not refer to par.

34 in the fourth Appendix to the Yi King; but it is not to the point. 1 Who is ‘ the Master ’ here ? Confucius ? or Lao-jze ? I think the latter, though sometimes even our author thus denominates Confucius ; — see par. 9. 2 ? the Tao. THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XII. property or money to be any gain ; he keeps aloof from riches and honours ; he rejoices not in long life, and grieves not for early death ; he does not account prosperity a glory, nor is ashamed of indigence ; he would not grasp at the gain of the whole world to be held as his own private portion ; he would not desire to rule over the whole world as his own private distinction. His distinction is in under¬ standing that all things belong to the one treasury, and that death and life should be viewed in the same way V

The Master said, 1 How still and deep is the place where the Tao resides! How limpid is its purity! Metal and stone without It would give forth no sound. They have indeed the (power of) sound (in them), but if they be not struck, they do not emit it. Who can determine (the qualities that are in) all things ? ‘ The man of kingly qualities holds on his way unoccupied, and is ashamed to busy himself with (the conduct of) affairs. He establishes himself in (what is) the root and source (of his capacity), and his wisdom grows to be spirit-like. In this way his attributes become more and more great, and when his mind goes forth, whatever things come in his way, it lays hold of them (and deals with them). Thus, if there were not the T ao, the bodily form would not have life, and its life, without the attri¬ butes (of the Tao), would not be manifested. Is not he who preserves the body and gives the fullest development to the life, who establishes the attri1 Balfour : — ‘ The difference between life and death exists no more ; ’ Gabelentz : — ‘ Sterben und Leben haben gleiche Erscheinung.’ PT. II. SECT. v. THE WRITINGS OF ATWANG-3ZE. 3 I I butes of the Tao and dearly displays It, possessed of kingly qualities ? How majestic is he in his sudden issuings forth, and in his unexpected move¬ ments, when all things follow him !

— This we call the man whose qualities fit him to rule. ‘ He sees where there is the deepest obscurity ; he hears where there is no sound. In the midst of the deepest obscurity, he alone sees and can distinguish (various objects) ; in the midst of a soundless (abyss), he alone can hear a harmony (of notes). Therefore where one deep is succeeded by a greater, he can people all with things ; where one mysterious range is followed by another that is more so, he can lay hold of the subtlest character of each. In this way in his intercourse with all things, w'hile he is farthest from having anything, he can yet give to them what they seek; while he is always hurrying forth, he yet returns to his resting-place ; now large, now small ; now long, now short ; now distant, now near V

Hwang-Tl, enjoying himself on the north of the Red-water, ascended to the height of the Khwan-lun (mountain), and having looked towards the south, was returning home, when he lost his dark-coloured pearl1 2. He employed Wisdom to search for it, but he could not find it. He employed (the clear-sighted) Li Kn to search for it, but he 1 I can hardly follow the reasoning of .Xwang-jze here. The whole of the paragraph is obscure. I have translated the two concluding characters jjj| , as if they were jjjy after the example of Lin Hsi-yi, whose edition of iTwang-jze was first published in 1261. wisdom, or perspicacity, or man’s reasoning. It is instinctive to man, as the Heavenly gift or Truth (^ jIl). THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XII. could not find it. He employed (the vehement debater) AVzieh Z/au1 to search for it, but he could not find it. He then employed Purposeless who found it ; on which Hwang-Ti said, ‘ How strange that it was Purposeless who was able to find it ! ’

The teacher of Yao was Hsii Yu2; of Hsu Yu, Nieh AYtieh 2 ; of Nieh AYtieh, Wang l2; of Wang !, Phei-12. Yio asked Hsii Yu, saying, ‘Is Nieh AVzueh fit to be the correlate of Heaven3? (If you think he is), I will avail myself of the services of Wang ! to constrain him (to take my place).’ Hsii Yu replied, ‘Such a measure would be hazardous, and full of peril to the kingdom ! The character of Nieh A7iueh is this; — he is acute, perspicacious, shrewd and knowing, ready in reply, sharp in retort, and hasty ; his natural (endowments) surpass those of other men, but by his human qualities he seeks to obtain the Heavenly gift ; he exercises his discrimination in suppressing his errors, but he does not know what is the source from which his errors arise. Make him the corre¬ late of Heaven! He would employ the human qualities, so that no regard would be paid to the Heavenly gift. Moreover, he would assign different functions to the different parts of the one person4. by this name ; and so with Hsiang Wang, — ‘ a Semblance,’ and ‘ Nonentity ; ’=‘ Mindless,’ ‘ Purposeless.’ heads Hwang-fu Mi’s list of eminent Taoists. We shall meet with him again. He is to be distinguished from Phu-i. 3 ‘ Match Heaven ; ’ that is, be sovereign below, as Heaven above ruled all. 111 7^, in Bk.

V, par. 1. Moreover, honour would be given to knowledge, and he would have his plans take effect with the speed of fire. Moreover, he would be the slave of everything he initiated. Moreover, he would be embarrassed by things. Moreover, he would be looking all round for the response of things (to his measures). Moreover, he would be responding to the opinion of the multitude as to what was right. Moreover, he would be changing as things changed, and would not begin to have any principle of con¬ stancy. How can such a man be fit to be the correlate of Heaven ? Nevertheless, as there are the smaller branches of a family and the common ancestor of all its branches, he might be the father of a branch, but not the father of the fathers of all the branches b Such government (as he would conduct) would lead to disorder. It would be calamity in one in the position of a minister, and ruin if he were in the position of the sovereign.’