Zhuangzi

The methods employed in the regulation of the world ^ are many ; and (the employers of them) think each that the efficiency of his own method leaves nothing to be added to it. But where is what was called of old * the method of the Tao ^ ?' We must reply, * It is everywhere.' But then whence does the spiritual ^ in it come down ? and whence does the intelligence * in it come forth ? There is that which gives birth to the Sage, and that which gives his perfection to the King: — the origin of both is the One^ Not to be separate from his primal source constitutes what we call the Heavenly man; not to be separate from the essential nature thereof constitutes what we call the Spirit-like man; not to be separate from its real truth constitutes what we call the Perfect man^ ^ See vol. xxxix, pp. 162, 163. ^ All the methods of educational training and schemes of governmental policy, advocated by 'the hundred schools' of human wisdom in contradistinction from the method or art of the Tao. Fang Sh ft has little more meaning than our word 'nostrum.' ' Which forms the sage. * Which forms the sage king. ^ Or, one and the same. * Compare the three definitions in Book I, par. 3. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF isTWANG-SZE. 2 I 5 To regard Heaven as his primal Source, Its Attributes as the Root (of his nature), and the Tao as the Gate (by which he enters into this inheritance), (knowing also) the prognostics given in change and transformation, constitutes what we call the Sagely man\ To regard benevolence as (the source of all) kindness, righteousness as (the source of all) distinctions, propriety as (the rule of) all conduct, and music as (the idea of) all harmony, thus diffusing a fragrance of gentleness and goodness, constitutes what we call the Superior man ^.

To regard laws as assigning the different (social) conditions, their names as the outward expression (of the social duties), the comparison of subjects as supplying the grounds of evidence, investigation as conducting to certainty, so that things can be numbered as first, second, third, fourth (and so on) : — (this is the basis of government). Its hundred offices are thus arranged ; business has its regular course ; the great matters of clothes and food are provided for ; cattle are fattened and looked after ; the (government) stores are filled ; the old and weak, orphans and solitaries, receive anxious consideration : — in all these ways is provision made for the nourishment of the people. How complete was (the operation of the Tao) in the men of old ! It made them the equals of spiritual beings, and subtle and all-embracing as heaven and earth. They nourished all things, and produced ^ Here we have five definitions of the ' Man of Tao.' '^ Still within the circle of the Tao, but inferior to the five above. 2T6 the texts of TAOISM. BK. xxxill. harmony all under heaven. Their beneficent influence reached to all classes of the people. They understood all fundamental principles, and followed them out to their graduated issues ; in all the six directions went their penetration, and in the four quarters all things were open to them. Great and small, fine and coarse ;

— all felt their presence and operation. Their intelligence, as seen in all their regulations, was handed down from age to age in their old laws, and much of it was still to be found in the Historians. What of it was in the Shih, the Shta, the Li, and the Yo, might be learned from the scholars of ^u I and Lta \ and the girdled members of the various courts. The Shih describes what should be the aim of the mind ; the Shu, the course of events; the Li is intended to direct the conduct; the Yo, to set forth harmony; the Yi, to show the action of the Yin and Yang; and the K/iun K/niji, to display names and the duties belonging to them. Some of the regulations (of these men of old), scattered all under heaven, and established in our Middle states, are (also) occasionally mentioned and described in the writings of the different schools. There ensued great disorder in the world, and sages and worthies no longer shed their light on it. The Tao and its characteristics ceased to be regarded as uniform. Many in different ' places got ^ These scholars were pre-eminently Confucius and Mencius. In this brief phrase is the one recognition, by our author, of the existence and work of Mencius, who was 'the scholar of 3^^-' But one is not prepared for the comparatively favourable judgment passed on those scholars, and on what we call the Confucian classics.

The reading 3au has not been challenged, and can only be understood of Mencius. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF XWANG-3ZE. 2 I 7 one glimpse of it, and plumed themselves on possessing it as a whole. They might be compared to the ear, the eye, the nose, or the mouth. Each sense has its own faculty, but their different faculties cannot be interchanged. So it was with the many branches of the various schools. Each had its peculiar excellence, and there was the time for the use of it; but notwithstanding no one covered or extended over the whole (range of truth). The case was that of the scholar of a corner who passes his judgment on all the beautiful in heaven and earth, discriminates the principles that underlie all things, and attempts to estimate the success arrived at by the ancients. Seldom is it that such an one can embrace all the beautiful in heaven and earth, or rightly estimate the ways of the spiritual and intelligent; and thus it was that the T^o, which inwardly forms the sage and externally the king^, became obscured and lost its clearness, became repressed and lost its development. Every one in the world did whatever he wished, and was the rule to himself. Alas ! the various schools held on their several ways, and could not come back to the same point, nor agree together. The students of that later age unfortunately did not see the undivided purity of heaven and earth, and the great scheme of truth held by the ancients. The system of the Tao was about to be torn in fragments all under the sky.

To leave no example of extravagance to future generations ; to show no wastefulness in the use of ^ Compare * the spiritual ' and ' the intelligence ' near the commencement, and the notes 3 and 4. 2l8 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxxill. anything ; to make no display in the degree of their (ceremonial) observances ; to keep themselves (in their expenditure) under the restraint of strict and exact rule, so as to be prepared for occurring emergencies ; — such regulations formed part of the system of the Tio in antiquity, and were appreciated by Mo Ti, and (his disciple) Kftva Hwa-li ^ When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them ; but they enjoined them in excess, and followed them themselves too strictly. (Mo) made the treatise 'Against Music,' and enjoined the subject of another, called * Economy in Expenditure,' on his followers. He would have no singing in life, and no wearing of mourning on occasions of death. He inculcated Universal Love, and a Common Participation in all advantages, and condemned Fighting. His doctrine did not admit of Anger. He was fond also of Learning, and with it all strove not to appear different from others. Yet he did not agree with the former kings, but attacked the ceremonies and music of the ancients. Hwang-Tt had his Hsien-y^/^ih ; Yao, his Ta ^ang; Shun, his Ta Sh^o; Yii, his Ta Hsia;

Thang, his Ti Hu; king Wan, his music of the Phi-yung2; and king Wu and the duke of A'au made the WCl. ^ Thus Mohism appears as an imperfect Taoism. Mo (or Meh) Ti was a great officer of the state of Sung, of the period between Confucius and Mencius. He left many treatises behind him, of which only a few, but the most important, survive. KKva. Hwa-li seems to have been his chief disciple. He says, in one place, ^KK\x\. Hwa-li and my other disciples, — 300 men.' ' The name of the great hall built by king Wan, and still applied to the examination hall of the Han-lin graduates in Peking. PT. in. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF ^-WANG-SZE. 219 In the mourning rites of the ancients, the noble and mean had their several observances, the high and low their different degrees. The coffin of the Son of Heaven was sevenfold ; of a feudal lord, fivefold ; of a great officer, threefold ; of other officers, twofold. But now Mo-^ze alone, would have no singing during life, and no wearing of mourning after death. As the rule for all, he would have a coffin of elaeococca wood, three inches thick, and without any enclosing shell. The teaching of such lessons cannot be regarded as affording a proof of his love for men ; his practising them in his own case would certainly show that he did not love himself;

but this has not been sufficient to overthrow the views of Mo-jze. Notwithstanding, men will sing, and he condemns singing ; men will wail, and he condemns wailing ; men will express their joy, and he condemns such expression: — is this truly in accordance with man's nature ? Through life toil, and at death niggardliness : — his way is one of great unkindliness. Causing men sorrow and melancholy, and difficult to be carried into practice, I fear it cannot be regarded as the way of a sage. Contrary to the minds of men everywhere, men will not endure it. Though Mo-^ze himself might be able to endure it, how can the aversion of the world to it be overcome ? The world averse to it, it must be far from the way of the (ancient) kings. Mo-jze, in praise of his views, said, * Anciently, when YiA was draining off the waters of the flood, he set free the channels of the Ki3.ng and the Ho, and opened communications with them from the What the special music made for it by Wan was called, I do not know. 220 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXXIII. regions of the four I and the nine provinces. The famous hills with which he dealt were 300, the branch streams were 3000, and the smaller ones innumerable. With his own hands he carried the sack and wielded the spade, till he had united all the streams of the country (conducting them to the sea).

There was no hair left on his legs from the knee to the ankle. He bathed his hair in the violent wind, and combed it in the pelting rain, thus marking out the myriad states. Yli was a great sage, and thus he toiled in the service of the world.' The effect of this is that in this later time most of the Mohists wear skins and dolychos cloth, with shoes of wood or twisted hemp, not stopping day or night, but considering such toiling on their part as their highest achievement. They say that he who cannot do this is acting contrary to the way of Yii, and not fit to be a Mohist. The disciples of KJl\x\ of Hsiang-lt ^ the followers of the various feudal lords ^ ; and Mohists of the south, such as Khu Hu ^ K\ K/iih. ^, and Tang Ling-jze ^, all repeated the texts of Mo, but they differed in the objections which they offered to them, and in their deceitful glosses they called one another Mohists of different schools. They had their disputations, turning on ' what was hard,' and * what was white,' what constituted ' sameness ' and what * difference,' and their expressions about the difference between 'the odd' and 'the even,' with which they answered one another. They regarded ' Some say this Khm. was the preceptor of Mo Ti. ^ Easily translated ; but the statement has not been historically illustrated.

' Known only by the mention of them here. their most distinguished member as a sage, and wished to make him their chief, hoping that he would be handed down as such to future ages. To the present day these controversies are not determined. The idea of Mo Ti and KKxn Hwa-li was good, but their practice was wrong. They would have made the Mohists of future ages feel it necessary to toil themselves, till there was not a hair on their legs, and still be urging one another on ; (thus producing a condition) superior indeed to disorder, but inferior to the result of good government. Nevertheless, Mo-jze was indeed one of the best men in the world, which you may search without finding his equal. Decayed and worn (his person) might be, but he is not to be rejected, — a scholar of ability indeed !

To keep from being entangled by prevailing customs ; to shun all ornamental attractions in one's self; not to be reckless in his conduct to others ; not to set himself stubbornly against a multitude ; to desire the peace and repose of the world in order to preserve the lives of the people ; and to cease his action when enough had been obtained for the nourishment of others and himself, showing that this was the aim of his mind ; — such a scheme belonged to the system of the Tio in antiquity \ and it was appreciated by Sung Hsing^ and Yin Wan 2, ^ It is difficult to understand the phases of the Tao here referred to. "^ Both these men are said to have been of the time of king Hsiian of Kh\. In the Catalogue of the Imperial Library of Han, Yin Wan appears, but not among the Taoist writers, as the author 222 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxxill. When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them. They made the Hwa-shan cap, and wore it as their distinguishing badge \ In their intercourse with others, whatever their differences might be, they began by being indulgent to them. Their name for ' the Forbearance of the Mind ' was * the Action of the Mind.' By the warmth of affection they sought the harmony of joy, and to blend together all within the four seas ;

and their wish was to plant this everywhere as the chief thing to be pursued. They endured insult without feeling it a disgrace ; they sought to save the people from fighting ; they forbade aggression and sought to hush the weapons of strife, to save their age from war. In this way they went everywhere, counselling the high and instructing the low. Though the world might not receive them, they only insisted on their object the more strongly, and would not abandon it. Hence it is said, ' The high and the low might be weary of them, but they were strong to show themselves.' Notwithstanding all this, they acted too much out of regard to others, and too little for themselves. It was as if they said, * What we request and wish is simply that there may be set down for us five pints of rice ; — that will be enough.' But I fear the Master would not get his fill from this ; and the disciples, though famishing, would still have to be mindful of the world, and, never stopping day or night, have to say, 'Is it necessary I should preserve of ' one Treatise.' He is said also to have been the preceptor of Kung-sun Lung. ^ I cannot fashion the shape of this cap or of the Hwa mountain in my own mind, — ' flat both above and below.' PT. III.

SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF ^WANG-3ZE. 2 23 my life ? Shall I scheme how to exalt myself above the master, the saviour of the age ? ' It was moreover as if they said, 'The superior man does not censoriously scrutinize (the faults of others) ; he does not borrow from others to supersede his own endeavours ; when any think that he is of no use to the world, he knows that their intelligence is inferior to his own ; he considers the prohibition of aggression and causing the disuse of arms to be an external achievement, and the making his own desires to be few and slight to be the internal triumph.' Such was their discrimination between the great and the small, the subtle and the coarse ; and with the attainment of this they stopped.

Public-spirited, and with nothing of the partizan ; easy and compliant, without any selfish partialities ; capable of being led, without any positive tendencies ; following in the wake of others, without any double mind ; not looking round because of anxious thoughts ; not scheming in the exercise of their wisdom ; not choosing between parties, but going along with all ; — all such courses belonged to the Taoists of antiquity, and they were appreciated by Phang Mang\ Thien Phien^ and Shan Tao\ When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them. They considered that the first thing for them to do was to adjust the controversies about different things. They said, ' Heaven can cover, but it cannot sustain ; Earth can contain, but it can- ^ Thien Phien is mentioned in the Han Catalogue, among the Taoist writers, as a native of Kh\, and an author of twenty-five phien. Shan Tao also appears among the legal writers, as author of fortytwo phien. He is mentioned by Han Fei. 224 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. bk. xxxiil. not cover. The Great Tao embraces all things, but It does not discriminate between them.' They knew that all things have what they can do and what they cannot do. Hence it Is said, * If you select, you do not reach all ; if you teach some things, you must omit the others ; but the Tao neglects none.' Therefore Shan Tao discarded his knowledge and also all thought of himself, acting only where he had no alternative, and pursued it as his course to be indifferent and pure in his dealings with others.

He said that the best knowledge was to have no knowledge, and that if we had a little knowledge it was likely to prove a dangerous thing. Conscious of his unfitness, he undertook no charge, and laughed at those who valued ability and virtue. Remiss and evasive, he did nothing, and disallowed the greatest sages which the world had known. Now with a hammer, now with his hand, smoothing all corners, and breaking all bonds, he accommodated himself to all conditions. He disregarded right and wrong, his only concern being to avoid trouble ; he learned nothing from the wise and thoughtful, and took no note of the succession of events, thinking only of carrying himself with a lofty disregard of everything. He went where he was pushed, and followed where he was led, like a whirling wind, like a feather tossed about, like the revolutions of a grindstone. What was the reason that he appeared thus complete, doing nothing wrong ? that, whether in motion or at rest, he committed no error, and could be charged with no transgression ? Creatures that have no knowledge are free from the troubles that arise from self-assertion and the entanglements that spring from the use of knowledge. Moving and at rest, they do not depart from their proper course, and all their life long they do not receive any praise. Hence (Shan Tao) said, ' Let me come to be like a creature without knowledge.

Of what use are the (teachings of the) sages and worthies ? ' But a clod of earth never fails in the course (proper for it), and men of spirit and eminence laughed together at him, and said, ' The way of Shan Tao does not describe the conduct of living men ; that it should be predicable only of the dead is strange indeed ! ' It was just the same with Thien Phien. He learned under Phang Mang, but it was as if he were not taught at all. The master of Phang Mang said, * The Taoist professors of old came no farther than to say that nothing was absolutely right and nothing absolutely wrong.' His spirit was like the breath of an opposing wind ; how can it be described in words ? But he was always contrary to (the views of) other men, which he would not bring together to view, and he did not escape shaving the corners and bonds (of which I have spoken). What he called the Tao was not the true Tao, and what he called the right was really the wrong. Phang Mang, Thien Phien, and Shan Tio did not in fact know the Tao; but nevertheless they had heard in a general way about it.

To take the root (from which things spring) as the essential (part), and the things as its coarse (embodiment) ; to see deficiency in accumulation ; and in the solitude of one's individuality to dwell with the spirit-like and intelligent; — such a course belonged to the Tao of antiquity, and it was appre- Q 226 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxxiil. dated by Kwan Yin ^ and Lao Tan ^. When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them. They built their system on the assumption of an eternal non-existence, and made the ruling idea in it that of the Grand Unity. They made weakness and humility their mark of distinction, and considered that by empty vacuity no injury could be sustained, but all things be preserved in their substantiality. Kwan Yin ^ says, * To him who does not dwell in himself the forms of things show themselves as they are. His movement is like that of water; his stillness is like that of a mirror ; his response is like that of the echo. His tenuity makes him seem to be disappearing altogether; he is still as a clear (lake), harmonious in his association with others, and he counts gain as loss. He does not take precedence of others, but follows them.' Lao Tan^ says, * He knows his masculine power, but maintains his female weakness, — becoming the channel into which all streams flow.

He knows his white purity, but keeps his disgrace, — becoming the valley of the world. Men all prefer to be first ; he alone chooses to be last, saying, ** I will receive the offscourings of the world." Men all choose fulness ; he alone chooses emptiness. He does not store, and therefore he has a superabundance; he looks solitary, but has a multitude around him. In his conducting ^ Kwan Yin; — see Book XIX, par. 2, and vol. xxxix, p. 35. In the Catalogue of the Han Library there is an entry of a work by Kwan Yin in nine phien; and there is still a work current in China, called ^wan Yin-jze in one /^iian, but it is not generally received as genuine. ' See the account of Lao-jze in vol. xxxix, pp. 34-36. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF ZWANG-3ZE. 22 7 of himself he is easy and leisurely and wastes nothing. He does nothing, and laughs at the clever and ingenious. Men all seek for happiness, but he feels complete in his imperfect condition, and says, " Let me only escape blame." He regards what is deepest as his root, and what is most restrictive as his rule ; and says, " The strong is broken ; the sharp and pointed is blunted ^" He is always generous and forbearing with others, and does not encroach on any man ; — this may be pronounced the height (of perfection).' O Kwan Yin, and Ldo Tan, ye were among the greatest men of antiquity ; True men indeed !

That the shadowy and still is without bodily form ; that change and transformation are ever proceeding, but incapable of being determined. What is death ? What is life ? What is meant by the union of Heaven and Earth ? Does the spiritual intelligence go away ? Shadowy, where does it go ? Subtle, whither does it proceed ? All things being arranged as they are, there is no one place which can be fitly ascribed to it. Such were the questions belonging to the scheme of Tao in antiquity, and they were appreciated by TTwang Kku. When he heard of such subjects, he was delighted with them. (He discussed them), using strange and mystical expressions, wild and extravagant words, and phrases to which no definite meaning could be assigned. He constantly indulged his own wayward ideas, but did not make himself a partisan, nor look at them as peculiar to himself. Considering that men were ^ From the ' Lao Tan says ' down to this, may be said to be all quotation, with more or less exactness, from the Tao Teh J^ing. See chaps. 28, 22, et al. Q 2 2 28 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxxill. sunk in stupidity and could not be talked to in dignified style, he employed the words of the cup of endless application, with important quotations to substantiate the truth, and an abundance of corroborative illustrations. He chiefly cared to occupy himself with the spirit-like operation of heaven and earth, and did not try to rise above the myriads of things.

He did not condemn the agreements and differences of others, so that he might live in peace with the prevalent views. Though his writings may seem to be sparkling trifles, there is no harm in amusing one's self with them ; though his phraseology be ever-varying, its turns and changes are worth being looked at ; — the fulness and completeness of his ideas cannot be exhausted. Above he seeks delight in the Maker ; below, he has a friendly regard to those who consider life and death as having neither beginning nor end. As regards his dealing with the Root (origin of all things), he is comprehensive and great, opening up new views, deep, vast, and free. As regards the Author and Master (the Great Tao Itself), he may be pronounced exact and correct, carrying our thoughts to range and play on high. Nevertheless on the subject of transformation, and the emancipation of that from (the thraldom of) things, his principles are inexhaustible, and are not derived from his predecessors. They are subtle and obscure, and cannot be fully explained ^ ^ The question of the genuineness of this paragraph has been touched on in vol. xxxix, p. 163. Whether from himself or from some disciple, it celebrates ^STwang-jze as the chief and most interesting of all ancient Taoist writers. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF ^WANG-SZE. 229

Hui Shih ^ had many ingenious notions. His writings would fill five carriages ; but his doctrines were erroneous and contradictory, and his words were wide of their mark. Taking up one thing after another, he would say : — ' That which is so great that there is nothing outside it may be called the Great One ; and that which is so small that there is nothing inside it may be called the Small One.' 'What has no thickness and will not admit of being repeated is looo li in size^.' * Heaven may be as low as the earth.' * A mountain may be as level as a marsh.' ' The sun in the meridian may be the sun declining.' * A creature may be born to life and may die at the same time.' '(When it is said that) things greatly alike are different from things a little alike, this is what is called making little of agreements and differences ; (when it is said that) all things are entirely alike or entirely different, this is what is called making much of agreements and differences.' ' The south is unlimited and yet has a limit' ' I proceed to Yueh to-day and came to it yesterday.' ' Things which are joined together can be separated.' * I know the centre of the world ; — it is north of Yen or south of Yueh.' 'If all things be regarded with love, heaven and earth are of one body (with me).' Hui Shih by such sayings as these made himself ^ Introduced to us in the first Book of our author, and often mentioned in the intervening Books.

He was not a Taoist, but we are glad to have the account of him here given, as enabHng us to understand better the intellectual life of China in ^wang-jze's time. ^ It is of little use trying to find the answers to these sayings of Hui Shih and others. They are only riddles or paradoxes. 230 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxxiil. very conspicuous throughout the kingdom, and was considered an able debater. All other debaters vied with one another and delighted in similar exhibitions. (They would say), ' There are feathers in an egg.' * A fowl has three feet.' ' The kingdom belongs to Ying.' ' A dog might have been (called) a sheep.' * A tadpole has a tail.' ' Fire is not hot.' * A mountain gives forth a voice.' ' A wheel does not tread on the ground.' ' The eye does not see.' * The finger indicates, but needs not touch, (the object).' ' Where you come to may not be the end.' ' The tortoise is longer than the snake.' * The carpenter's square is not square.' ' A compass should not itself be round.' ' A chisel does not surround its handle.' ' The shadow of a flying bird does not (itself) move.' ' Swift as the arrowhead is, there is a time when it is neither flying nor at rest.' ' A dog is not a hound.' ' A bay horse and a black ox are three.' ' A white dog is black.' ' A motherless colt never had a mother.' ' If from a stick a foot long you every day take the half of it, in a myriad ages it will not be exhausted.' — It was in this way that the debaters responded to Hui Shih, all their lifetime, without coming to an end.

Hwan Twan^ and Kung-sun Lung^ were true members of this class. By their specious representations they threw a glamour over men's* minds and altered their ideas. They vanquished men in argument, but could not subdue their minds, only keeping them in the enclosure of their sophistry. Hui Shih daily used his own knowledge and the arguments of others to propose strange theses to all debaters ; — ^ Elsewhere unknown. ^ See Book XVII, par. lo. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF ^-WANG-SZE. 23 1 such was his practice. At the same time he would talk freely of himself, thinking himself the ablest among them, and saying, ' In heaven or earth who is my match?' Shih maintained indeed his masculine energy, but he had not the art (of controversy). In the south there was a man of extraordinary views, named Hwang Liao ^, who asked him how it was that the sky did not fall nor the earth sink, and what was the cause of wind, rain, and the thunder's roll and crash. Shih made no attempt to evade the questions, and answered him without any exercise of thought, talking about all things, without pause, on and on without end ; yet still thinking that his words were few, and adding to them the strangest observations. He thought that to contradict others was a real triumph, and wished to make himself famous by overcoming them ; and on this account he was not liked by the multitude of debaters.

He was weak in real attainment, though he might seem strong in comparison with others, and his way was narrow and dark. If we look at Hui Shih's ability from the standpoint of Heaven and Earth, it was only like the restless activity of a mosquito or gadfly ; of what service was it to anything ? To give its full development to any one capacity is a good thing, and he who does so is in the way to a higher estimation of the Tao; but Hui Shih could find no rest for himself in doing this. He diffused himself over the world of things without satiety, till in the end he had only the reputation of being a skilful debater. Alas ! Hui Shih, with ^ Elsewhere unknown. 232 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. xxxiii. all his talents, vast as they were, made nothing out ; he pursued all subjects and never came back (with success). It was like silencing an echo by his shouting, or running a race with his shadow. Alas! THE THAI-SHANG TRACTATE OF ACTIONS AND THEIR RETRIBUTIONS. THE THAI-SHANG TRACTATE OF ACTIONS AND THEIR RETRIBUTIONS!. 1. The Thal-Shang (Tractate) says, ' There are no special doors for calamity and happiness (in men's ^, _, . lot) ; they come as men themselves call The Thesis. them. Their recompenses follow good and evil as the shadow follows the substance^. 2. ' Accordingly, in heaven and earth ^ there are ,, , .

spirits that take account of men's transMachinery ^ ^ to secure gressions, and, according to the lightness or gravity of their offences, take away from their term of life*. When that term is curtailed, men become poor and reduced, and meet with many sorrows and afflictions. All (other) men hate them; punishments and calamities attend them; good luck and occasions for felicitation shun them ; ^ See vol. xxxix, pp. 38-40. ^ This paragraph, after the first three characters, is found in the 3o ^^wan, under the tenth and eleventh notices in the twenty-third year of duke Hsiang (b. c. 549), — part of an address to a young nobleman by the officer Min 3ze-ma. The only difference in the two texts is in one character which does not affect the meaning. Thus the text of this Taoist treatise is taken from a source which cannot be regarded as Taoistic. ^ This seems equivalent to ' all through space.' * The swan in the text here seems to mean * the whole of the allotted term of life.' Further on, the same character has the special meaning of ' a period of a hundred days.' 236 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. evil stars send down misfortunes on them^ When their term of Hfe is exhausted they die. ' There also are the Spirit-rulers in the three pairs of the Thai stars of the Northern Bushel ^ over mens heads, which record their acts of guilt and wickedness, and take away (from their term of life) periods of twelve years or of a hundred days.

' There also are the three Spirits of the recumbent body which reside within a man's person ^. As each kang-shan * day comes round, they forthwith ascend to the court of Heaven, and report men's deeds of guilt and transgression. On the last day of the moon, the spirit of the Hearth does the same ^. * In the case of every man's transgressions, when they are great, twelve years are taken from his term of life ; when they are small, a hundred days. ' Transgressions, great and small, are seen in several hundred things. He who wishes to seek for long life ^ must first avoid these. ^ This and other passages show how Taoism pressed astrology into its service. ^ The Northern Peck or Bushel is the Chinese name of our constellation of the Great Bear, 'the Chariot of the Supreme Ruler.' The three pairs of stars, i, k; \ fi; u, i, are called the upper, middle, and lower Thai, or 'their three Eminences:' — see Reeves's Names of Stars and Constellations, appended to Morrison's Dictionary, part ii, vol. i. ^ The Khang-hsi Dictionary simply explains san shih as ' the name of a spirit ; ' but the phrase is evidently plural. The names and places of the three spirits are given, and given differently. Why should we look for anything definite and satisfactory in a notion which is merely an absurd superstition ?

* Kang-shan is the name of the fifty-seventh term of the cycle, indicating every fifty-seventh day, or year. Here it indicates the day. ^ The name of this spirit of the fire-place is given by commentators with many absurd details which need not be touched on. ® Long life is still the great quest of the Taoist. 3. * Is his way right, he should go forward in it; is it wrong, he should withdraw from it. * He will not tread in devious by-ways ; he will not impose on himself in any secret apartment. He will amass virtue and accumulate deeds of agood^man. "^^rit. He will feel kindly towards (all) creatures ^ He will be loyal, filial, loving to his younger brothers, and submissive to his elder. He will make himself correct and (so) transform others. He will pity orphans, and compassionate widows ; he will respect the old and cherish the young. Even the insect tribes, grass, and trees he should not hurt. * He ought to pity the malignant tendencies of others ; to rejoice over their excellences ; to help them in their straits ; to rescue them from their perils ; to regard their gains as if they were his own, and their losses in the same way; not to publish their shortcomings ; not to vaunt his own superiorities ; to put a stop to what is evil, and exalt and display what is good ;

to yield much, and take little for himself; to receive insult without resenting it, and honour with an appearance of apprehension ; to bestow favours without seeking for a return, and give to others without any subsequent regret : — this is what is called a good man. All other men respect him ; Heaven in its course protects him ; happiness and emolument follow him ; all evil things keep far from him ; the spiritual Intelligences defend him ; what he does is sure to succeed ^; ^ In its widest meaning : — Men, creatures, and all living things. ^ Here are the happy issues of doing good in addition to long life •/ — compare the Tao Teh A'ing, ch. 50, et al. 238 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. he may hope to become Immaterial and Immortal^. He who would seek to become an ImHappy issues j^Qj-tal of Heaven ^ ou2:ht to s^ive the of his course. t> o proof of 1 300 good deeds ; and he who would seek to become an Immortal of Earth ^ should give the proof of three hundred. 4. * But if the movements (of a man's heart) are contrary to righteousness, and the (actions of his) conduct are in opposition to reason ; if he regard his wickedness as a proof of his ability, and The way of ^^^^ bear to do what is cruel and injurious ; a bad man.

^ -' ' if he secretly harms the honest and good ; if he treats with clandestine slight his ruler or parents ; if he is disrespectful to his elders and teachers ^ ; if he disregards the authority of those whom he should serve ; if he deceives the simple ; if he calumniates his fellow-learners ; if he vent baseless slanders, practise deception and hypocrisy, ^ Here there appears the influence of Buddhism on the doctrine of the Tao. The 7??'shis of Buddhism are denoted in Chinese by Hsien Za.n (j|l| Aj, which, for want of a better term, we translate by 'Immortals.' The famous Nagar^una, the fourteenth Buddhist patriarch, counts ten classes of these i?/shis, and ascribes to them only a temporary exemption for a million years from transmigration, but Chinese Buddhists and Taoists view them as absolutely immortal, and distinguish five classes : — first, Deva wRzshis, or Heavenly Hsien, residing on the seven concentric rocks round Meru; second, Purusha, or Spirit-like Hsien, roaming through the air; third, Nara, or Human Hsien, dwelling among men; fourth, Bhfimi, or Earth Hsien, residing on earth in caves; and fifth, Preta, or Demon Hsien, roving demons. See Eitel's Handbook to Chinese Buddhism, second edition, p. 130. In this place three out of the five classes are specified, each having its own price in good deeds. ^ Literally, * those born before himself,' but generally used as a designation of teachers.

and attack and expose his kindred by consanguinity and affinity ; if he is hard, violent, and without humanity ; if he is ruthlessly cruel in taking his own way ; if his judgments of right and wrong are incorrect ; and his likings and aversions are in despite of what* is proper ; if he oppresses inferiors, and claims merit (for doing so) ; courts superiors by gratifying their (evil) desires ; receives favours without feeling grateful for them ; broods over resentments without ceasing ; if he slights and makes no account of Heaven's people^; if he trouble and throw into disorder the government of the state ; bestows rewards on the unrighteous and inflicts punishments on the guiltless ; kills men in order to get their wealth, and overthrows men to get their offices ; slays those who have surrendered, and massacres those who have made their submission ; throws censure on the upright, and overthrows the worthy ; maltreats the orphan and oppresses the widow ; if he casts the laws aside and receives bribes ; holds the right to be wrong and the wrong to be right ; enters light offences as heavy ; and the sight of an execution makes him more enraged (with the criminal) ; if he knows his faults and does not change them, or knows what is good and does not do it ; throws the guilt of his crimes on others ;

if he tries to hinder the exercise of an art (for a living) ; reviles and slanders the sage and worthy ; and assails and oppresses (the principles of) reason and virtue ^ ; ^ A Confucian phrase. See the Li K\, III, v, 13. ^ One is sorry not to see his way to translate here — 'Assails and oppresses those who pursue the Tao and its characteristics.' Julien gives for it — ' Insulter et traiter avec cruautd ceux qui se livrent a I'^tude de la Raison et de la Vertu.' Watters 240 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. if he shoots birds and hunts beasts, unearths the burrowing insects and frightens roosting birds, blocks up the dens of animals and overturns nests, hurts the pregnant womb and breaks eggs ; if he wishes others to have misfortunes and losses ; and defames the merit achieved by others ; if he imperils others to secure his own safety ; diminishes the property of others to increase his own ; exchanges bad things for good ^ ; and sacrifices the public weal to his private advantage ; if he takes credit to himself for the ability of others ; conceals the excellences of others; publishes the things discreditable to others ; and searches out the private affairs of others ; leads others to waste their property and wealth ; and causes the separation of near relatives ^; encroaches on what others love ;

and assists others in doing wrong ; gives the reins to his will and puts on airs of majesty ; puts others to shame in seeking victory for himself ; injures or destroys the growing crops of others ; and breaks up projected marriages ; if becoming rich by improper means makes him proud ; and by a peradventure escaping the consequences of his misconduct, he yet feels no shame ; if he owns to favours (which he did not confer), and puts off his errors (on others) ; marries away (his own) calamity to another, and sells (for gain) his own wickedness ; purchases for himself empty praise ; and keeps hidden dangerous purposes in his heart ; detracts from the excelhas — ' Insults and oppresses (those who have attained to the practice of) Truth and Virtue.' ^ It is a serious mistranslation of this which Mr. Balfour gives : — ' returns evil for good,' as if it were the golden rule in its highest expression. ^ Literally, ' separates men's bones and flesh.' ACTIONS AND THEIR RETRIBUTIONS. 24 1 lences of others, and screens his own shortcomings ; if he takes advantage of his dignity to practise intimidation, and indulges his cruelty to kill and wound ; if without cause he (wastes cloth) in clipping and shaping it ; cooks animals for food, when no rites require it ; scatters and throws away the five grains ;

and burdens and vexes all living creatures ; if he ruins the families of others, and gets possession of their money and valuables ; admits the water or raises fire in order to injure their dwellings ; if he throws into confusion the established rules in order to defeat the services of others ; and injures the implements of others to deprive them of the things they require to use ; if, seeing others in glory and honour, he wishes them to be banished or degraded ; or seeing them wealthy and prosperous, he wishes them to be broken and scattered ; if he sees a beautiful woman and forms the thought of illicit intercourse with her; is indebted to men for goods or money, and wishes them to die ; if, when his requests and applications are not complied with, his anger vents itself in imprecations ; if he sees others meeting with misfortune, and begins to speak of their misdeeds ; or seeing them with bodily imperfections he laughs at them ; or when their abilities are worthy of praise, he endeavours to keep them back ; if he buries the image of another to obtain an injurious power over him ^ ; or employs poison to kill trees ; if he is indignant and angry with his instructors ; or opposes and thwarts his ^ The crimes indicated here are said to have become rife under the Han dynasty, when the arts of sorcery and witchcraft were largely employed to the injury of men.

R 242 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. father and elder brother; if he takes things byviolence or vehemently demands them ; if he loves secretly to pilfer, and openly to snatch ; makes himself rich by plunder and rapine ; or by artifice and deceit seeks for promotion ; if he rewards and punishes unfairly ; if he indulges in idleness and pleasure to excess ; is exacting and oppressive to his inferiors ; and tries to frighten other men ; if he murmurs against Heaven and finds fault with men ; reproaches the wind and reviles the rain ; if he fights and joins in quarrels ; strives and raises litigations ; recklessly hurries to join associate fraternities ; is led by the words of his wife or concubine to disobey the instructions of his parents ; if, on getting what is new, he forgets the old ; and agrees with his mouth, while he dissents in his heart ; if he is covetous and greedy after wealth, and deceives and befools his superiors (to get it) ; if he invents wicked speeches to calumniate and overthrow the innocent ; defames others and calls it being straightforward ; reviles the Spirits and styles himself correct ; if he casts aside what is according to right, and imitates what is against it ; turns his back on his near relatives, and his face to those who are distant ; if he appeals to Heaven and Earth to witness to the mean thoughts of his mind ;

or calls in the spiritual Intelligences to mark the filthy affairs of his life ; if he gives and afterwards repents that he has done so ; or borrows and does not return ; if he plans and seeks for what is beyond his lot ; or lays tasks (on people) beyond their strength ; if he indulges his lustful desires without measure ; if there be poison in his heart and mildness in his face ; if he gives others filthy food to eat ; or by corrupt doctrines deludes the multitude ; if he uses a short cubit, a narrow measure, light weights, and a small pint ; mixes spurious articles with the genuine ; and (thus) amasses illicit gain ; if he degrades (children or others of) decent condition to mean positions ; or deceives and ensnares simple people ; if he is insatiably covetous and greedy ; tries by oaths and imprecations to prove himself correct ; and in his liking for drink is rude and disorderly; if he quarrels angrily with his nearest relatives ; and as a man he is not loyal and honourable ; if a woman is not gentle and obedient ; if (the husband) is not harmonious with his wife ; if the wife does not reverence her husband ; if he is always fond of boasting and bragging ; if she is constantly jealous and envious ; if he is guilty of improper conduct to his wife or sons ;

if she fails to behave properly to her parents-in-law ; if he treats with slight and disrespect the spirits of his ancestors ; if he opposes and rebels against the charge of his sovereign ; if he occupies himself in doing what is of no use ; and cherishes and keeps concealed a purpose other than what appears ; if he utter imprecations against himself and against others (in the assertion of his innocence) ^ ; or is partial in his likes and dislikes ; if he strides over the well or the hearth ; leaps over the food, or over a man ^ ; kills newly-born children or brings about abortions ^ ; if he does many actions of secret depravity ; if he sings and dances on the ^ The one illustrative story given by Julien under this clause shows clearly that I have rightly supplemented it. He translates it: — 'Faire des imprecations contre soi-m6me et contra les autres.* * Trifling acts and villainous crimes are here mixed together. R 2 244 'THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. last day of the moon or of the year ; bawls out or gets angry on the first day of the moon or in the early dawn ; weeps, spits, or urinates, when fronting the north ; sighs, sings, or wails, when fronting the fire-place ; and moreover, if he takes fire from the hearth to burn incense ; or uses dirty firewood to cook with ;

if he rises at night and shows his person naked ; if at the eight terms of the year ^ he inflicts punishments ; if he spits at a shooting star ; points at a rainbow; suddenly points to the three luminaries ; looks long at the sun and moon ; in the months of spring burns the thickets in hunting ; with his face to the north angrily reviles others ; and without reason kills tortoises and smites snakes ^ : — ' In the case of crimes such as these, (the Spirits) presiding over the Life, according to their lightness or gravity, take away the culprit's periods of twelve years or of one hundred days. When his term of life is exhausted, death ensues. If at death there remains guilt unpunished, judgment extends to his posterity \ ^ The commencements of the four seasons, the equinoxes and solstices. ^ Many of the deeds condemned in this long paragraph have a ground of reason for their condemnation; others are merely offences against prevailing superstitions. ^ The principle enunciated here is very ancient in the history of the ethical teaching of China. It appears in one of the Appendixes to the Yi ^ing (Sacred Books of the East, vol. xvi, p. 419), ' The family that accumulates goodness is sure to have superabundant happiness ; the family that accumulates evil is sure to have superabundant misery.' We know also that the same view prevailed in the time of Confucius, though the sage himself does not expressly sanction it.

This Tractate does not go for the issues of Retribution beyond the present life. 5. ' Moreover, when parties by wrong and violence take the money of others, an account is taken, and set „ , . ^ ag-ainst its amount, of their wives and Conclusion of ^. the whole children, and all the members of their families, when these gradually die. If they do not die, there are the disasters from water, fire, thieves, and robbers, from losses of property, illnesses, and (evil) tongues to balance the value of their wicked appropriations ^ Further, those who wrongfully kill men are (only) putting their weapons into the hands of others who will in their turn kill them ^. * To take to one's self unrighteous wealth is like satisfying one's hunger with putrid food^, or one's thirst with poisoned wine. It gives a temporary relief, indeed, but death also follows it. ' Now when the thought of doing good has arisen in a man's mind, though the good be not yet done, the good Spirits are in attendance on him. Or, if the thought of doing evil has arisen, though the evil be not yet done, the bad Spirits are in attendance on him. * If one have, indeed, done deeds of wickedness, but afterwards alters his way and repents, resolved not to do anything wicked, but to practise reverently ^ These sentences are rather weak. Nothing is said of any recompense to the parties who have been robbed.

The thief is punished by the death of others, or the loss of property. "^ A somewhat perplexing sentence, Julien gives for it: — 'Ceux qui font p^rir des hommes innocens ressemblent a des ennemis qui ^changent leurs armes et se tuent les uns les autres;' and Watters: — 'Those who put others to death wrongly are like men who exchange arms and slay each other.' ^ Literally, 'soaked food that has been spoiled by dripping water.' 246 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. all that Is good, he is sure in the long-run to obtain good fortune : — this is called changing calamity into blessing. Therefore the good man speaks what is good, contemplates what is good, and does what is good ; every day he has these three virtues : — at the end of three years Heaven is sure to send down blessing on him ^ The bad man speaks what is wicked, contemplates what is wicked, and does what is wicked ; every day he has these three vices : — at the end of three years. Heaven is sure to send down misery on him \ — How is it that men will not exert themselves to do what is good ? ' ^ The effect of repentance and reformation is well set forth; but the specification of three years, as the period within which the recompense or retribution will occur, is again an indication of the weakness in this concluding paragraph.