THE LIGHT C co
ober

 

 

TAO TEH KING
a Mins OV,
SL OO
) 24
1703

 

Gornell University Library
Sthaca, New York

 

CHARLES WILLIAM WASON

COLLECTION
CHINA AND THE CHINESE

THE GIFT OF
CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
CLASS OF 1876
1918
Cornell University Library

BL 1900. ‘(29 1903

a iii

 

 
\W 3372

COPYRIGHT, 1903, by
I. W. HEYSINGER

 

All rights reserved

 

Entered at Stationers’ Hall

McK
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

PREFACE.

Lao. Tsze, so named, the immortal author of the Tao Teh King, the only
writing he left to posterity, was born in the year 604 before the Christian
era, in the third year of the Emperor Ting-Wang, of the expiring Chow
dynasty, in what is now the province of Ho-nan, but which was then a part
of the great State of Kau.

He disappeared, at the age of about one hundred years, im voluntary ex-
ile into the unknown feudal and barbarian lands northwest of China, as de-
scribed in the Epilogue in this translation. The wall and the northwest, or
barrier-gate, there described, it is needless to say, were not a part of the Great
Wall of China, which was not constructed until nearly four centuries later,
but were the wall and gateway which protected the valleys leading from the
unknown regions beyond.

Lao ‘l’sze was contemporary with Confucius, but was his senior by about
fifty-four years. When Confucius was ‘about thirty-five years old he visited the
old philosopher, who was then nearly ninety years old, at his residence at the
court of Kau. In an interview Lao severely condemned the system of Con-
fucius, charging that it was based on a man-made and artificial code of ethics
and ceremonials, that it ignored the fundamental principles of life and mind,
and tended to obscure the divinity, dignity and immortality of man, and the
spirituality which constituted the energy and purpose of the entire universe,
not only in its origin, but in its eterna] progress. Confucius, in a state of
wonder, left him, saying to his disciples that he could understand the ways
of the birds, of the fish, and of the beasts; how to snare the running ones
with nooses, how to entrap the swimming ones with nets, and how to take
the flying ones with arrows. But the dragon; he knew not how this one could
bestride the winds and clouds, and ascend to heaven. ‘I have this day,” he
said, “seen the Old Philosopher; might he not be like the dragon?”

The TAo Teh has become, almost since its origin, one of the Chinese King
or Classics. It is the basis of the TAoist religion, one of the Three Religions
of China, but, as has occurred elsewhere, has been so overlaid and misinter-
preted by theology, fancy, and later commentary, that the Taoism of to-day

[3]

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

bears no apparent resemblance to the immaculate source from which it was
derived, and only the unbiased student and philosopher can perceive how this
great original has extended and penetrated and given fiber and life to the en-
tire philosophy and religion of the Chinese people. It is essentially the philos-
ophy of the common people, while Confucianism is that of the literati. While
Confucianism has framed society T&oism has filled it. Centuries after the dis-
appearance of L&o Tsze, and when the Tao Teh had permeated all China,
Buddhism was imported from India. In its degenerate form TAoism joined
forces with this newcomer, which also preached the doctrine of spirituality,
but entangled with the eternal revolution of the wheel of fate, while LAo Tsze
presented free-will and intellect as the self-conscious and _ self-responsible
agencies of life and soul; so that while, to an outsider, these two systems seem
to have merged partially into one, in fact they have flowed on as independent
streams along the same great channel, each having lost by their contiguity.

The great philosophers of China have always been the TAoists; it has not
only tinctured, but made the philosophy of China, with its doctrines of original
goodness, of spiritual contact and interpretation, of spirit-power over matter,
and of an eternity of blessed usefulness hereafter; and, above all, of the pro-
cess by evolution from spirit into, and through, and perpetually with, matter,
as contradistinguished from original creations; and also in the recognition of
involution as a co-relative agency with evolution, and the harmonizing spirit
which stands between the factors of every change and unifies and perfects the
whole advancing process.

It is needless to refer the reader to the “integrating principle of the whole,
—the Spirit, as it were, of the universe,—instinct with contrivance, which flows
with purpose” of the lamented Romanes, pupil and co-worker with Darwin, or
to “an order of things, composed of objects independent of matter, and the
whole amount of which constitutes a power, unalterable in its essence, gov-
erned in all its acts, and constantly acting upon all parts of the physical uni-
verse,” of Lamarck, but one need not go muchj further back, or he will look in
vain, until lie comes to this old philosopher and seer across the vista of two
and a haf milleniums.

The Tao Teh is so concisely written, in scarcely more than 5000 charac-
ters, that translators have been frequently at fault in rendering this important
work into Western languages. Another difficulty lay in the unconscious theo-
logical bias of some of the translators. Some might say, if there is » work of
this scope.and purity and revelation extant in China, and if it has been so for
thousands of years, and one of the great religious systems of that country has
been founded on that, why not look to the Chinese to develop along these re-
ligious lines, instead of through exotic and diverse teachings? St. Paul said

 

ee

 
 

PREFACE

 

to the Athenians that he came to make known to them the God whom they
had ignorantly worshipped. The God of the Chinese, as we see in the
Tao Teh King, is the great God, the producer, the life-giver and father of all.

When this work was written the Chinese language was far less copious
than it has since become, and the characters employed were far fewer than at
present. In the ancient classics there are, all told, only 4600 different char-
acters used; and in the Shwo-wan dictionary, completed nearly 600 years af-
ter L&o Tsze, are contained only 9353; while in the great Imperial Diction-
ary of the Emperor Kanghi, about A. D. 1700, are found 43,496. In Med-
hurst’s radical Chinese and English dictionary, of 18438, are found about 30,000
separate characters or words.

At least eight translations have been made from the original text of the
Tao Teh into Western languages, Latin, French, German and English, All
these were intended to be faithful and accurate translations, but the difficul-
ties have been such (not merely from those inherent in the work itself, how-
ever), that a comparison of these various translations will show important dis-
crepancies among them throughout the entire work, so that scarcely a single
chapter, in any translation, will be in entire accord with the corresponding
chapter in any other translation.

They all, however, embrace matter of extreme importance, but it is only
by taking them together, when possible, word for word, and phrase for phrase,
and comparing them closely with the original text, and then, also, comparing
the original with the significations and idiomatic forms and expressions em-
braced in the various standard dictionaries, and examining also the earlier
commentaries by Chinese authors on the work, that the true sense and mean-
ing can be evolved.

This is especially necessary in a work so recondite, and yet so clear and
simple, in which ancient words, when clearly rendered, bring so surprising an
accordance with the latest teachings of philosophy and science. Indeed, the
danger of giving to the characters used by Lao a sense not known to the
author, a philosophical bias, in fact, is one to be especially guarded against,
and which can only be done by tracing the words themselves to their radi-
cals and determining what sense properly belongs to the composite of radicals
included in the character. This composite compared with the dictionary sig-
nification will always bring the exact shade of meaning intended when the work
was written.

These have been the methods pursued in the present translation, so that
what at first promised to be a single winter’s work, has extended over sev-
eral years of assiduous Jabor, and involved a rewriting, as new evidence was
obtainable, of all the chapters, not once only, but many times.

 
 

 

 

 

 

It is conceded that the Tao Teh, even above all other of the Chinese
classics, must tell its own story. Here we have no conversations with dis-
ciples; no survivals of a contemporaneous school to interpret the work, and
the Tao Teh itself was forged hot and instantaneously from the brain of its
great creator, and in that same day in which he disappeared, leaving only this
imperishable monument behind him. As Samuel Johnson says, in his Relig-
iovs of China, “Lao Tsze stands alone!”

The present translation, though metrical in form, will fail in its purpose
if it is not true to the original in text, concordance and sense; the object has
been to present Lao Tsze and his work in their actuality and fullness. For
this purpose every word of all the eighty-one chapters has been traced to its
source, and whatever light the philology of the Chinese language, context or
commentary, has been able to shed on it, has been diligently sought out. The
earlier commentators are invaluable, and the great work of Kwang Tsze (re-
cently transiated in full by Dr. Legge), who wrote within two centuries after
Lao Tsze, and who quotes extensively from still earlier commentators, is price-
less. This quaint work is not only a mine of erudition and philosophy, but a
mint of amusement and entertainment. It comprises the wit and keenneas
of Rabelais with the purity and simplicity of Bunyan.

The principal source of the radical significations of the Chinese charac-
ters, for this translation, has been found in the elaborate radical Chinese and
English Dictionary of Medhurst, published at Batavia, in 1848. This embraces
about 30,000 characters, all traced back clearly to the radicals of which they
are composed. To show how the radicals dominate the characters into which
they enter, the following quotation from Medhurst, p. 1449, will suffice: “To
travel; the character is composed of stag and walking, because the disposition
of the deer is hasty, and when it has eaten, it immediately decamps.” So the
character for original knowledge is composed of two radicals signifying an
arrow in its flight and an entrance or an opening, the mouth. All Chinese
characters are so composed, except the radicals themselves, which are only two
hundred and fourteen in number, and are easily learned. Each radical covers
a class, and the dominating radical determines the class. For example, things
belonging to earth come under one radical, those belonging to women under
another, anything under shelter to a third, rising grounds to a fourth, things
relating to walking under another, everything connected with flesh under an-
other; things that are bright belong to one radical, those that are dark to
another, those pertaining to the mind to this radical. and to the soul or body
to others; minerals come under one radical, gems under another, and wood
under a third; vessels and utensils have their own radicals, and rice, grain, and
silk their own radicals; so, also, plants, speech, conveyances, entrances and

- Le]

 

 
 

 

PREFACE

 

 

exits, water in all its forms, vapors, rain and what falls from heaven, all per-
taining to cities, everything related to hearing, or to seeing, or, in fact, to
anything else, has its own radical. In forming composite characters this dom-
inating radical always takes its prescribed place in the assemblage, and de-
termines the class. Some are in their dominating place when on, top, others
at the right, others at the left, others at the bottom, and still others surround-
ing the other radicals, while a few are placed more indefinitely; so that, in
general, onc can know at a glance to what radical the character belongs, and
the various other radicals combined with it each modify the primary sense,
sometimes rather fancifully, but usually very obviously, and a character is pro-
duced having a multiform appearance, and an accuracy and fertility of sense
not found in the word characters of any other language. Indeed, a single
character, which may contain five separate radicals, and is pronounced as a
single syllable, will frequently give the whole sense of an entire phrase when
rendered into English.

Many persons declaim against the barbarous forms of the Chinese charac-
ters; but they have merely learned the sense of these, as though they were
arbitrary, and absurdly complex and grotesque hieroglyphics, from a syllabic
dictionary; that is, a mere alphabetical dictionary in which such sounds as
“che” come near the beginning, ‘ming’ near the middle, and ‘‘yang” near the
end, although these might really be neighbors. We hear about the difficulty
of the Chinese language, with its characters with five strokes, and ten strokes,
and nineteen strokes, and all that, as though these strokes were mere arbitrary
sweeps of the pencil. Nothing could be more false; these “strokes’’ are the
number of strokes required to make each of the component radicals in ad-
dition to the basic radical, which is not counted, and the composite radicals
are each kept distinct, clear, and untampered with. Each character is a piece
of jewelry in which the gold mounting is set with pearls and opals and rubies
and diamonds, until it becomes not onlv a thing of beauty, but of infinite
shades of sense and meaning. Nor is the difficulty of reading the written char-
acters, after learning the printed ones, more difficult than in the case of Eng-
lish.

There is a great misapprehension regarding the Chinese language, and it
would be of great profit, and public benefit, were cur people to turn their at-
tention to this language, so rich where ours are so poor, and so deficient where
ours are so redundant. The world of literature which it would expose would
bewilder the student, and literature of high rank and great value, humorous,
witty, grave, solid, ethereal, biography, fiction, poetry, art, and a thousand
subjects of which we only get a taste from time to time when rendered, in
bits, into our own tongue.
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

It is true that the spoken language is quite difficult; its differing dialects,
its peculiar tones, its explanatory additions, which the written characters do
not require, and the difficulty in finding an environment in which to learn the
language by mere contact, make this exceedingly difficult; but while there are
many dialects, there is only one written or printed Chinese language, which
never varies, however it may sound when read therefrom.

In addition to the use of Medhurst’s radical dictionary, free use has been
made of the Syllabic Dictionary of S. Wells Williams, the small Chinese dict-
ionary of Condit, which, by its grouped characters, often illustrates new mean-
ings, the phrase and idiomatic renderings from the Chinese of Morrison, the
Imperial Kanghi Dictionary, and the large conversational English-Chinese
Dictionary of Tam Tat Hin, published at Hong Kong in 1875. Free use, for
technical definitions and classes, has also been made of the large Chinese
Chrestomathy in the Canton dialect, supervised by Morrison, Thom and Wil-
liams, and published at Macao in 1841; and all other sources available have
been made use of, either for definition, or for comparison and usage, before
finally concluding this translation. Comparison and correction have also been
constantly made use of among the various published translations of and com-
mentaries on the Tao Teh, both by Chinese and by Western authors.

This labor, which, unfortunately, could not be delegated to another, the
translator has felt to be due to the author, to the public and to himself. The
Tao Teh itself is well worthy of it; it gains in dignity, precision, scope, power
and importance, as well as in homogeneity and sequence, with every increase
in accuracy of rendering.

It will surprise many to see how this great work of antiquity approaches,
coincides with, and overlaps and even extends beyond our most recent philoso-
phy and higher science and theology. Nothing approaching the Tao Teh can
be found in all prior literature, in the field to which it especially appertains.
Its precision, its analysis, its teachings, and its methods, are above praise, and
in purity it is spotless.

It may be asked, why is it now thrown into metrical form? In answer,
it may be said that a large portion of the original is in pure Chinese poetry of
that period, and even much which is not apparently so, is so in reality. The
following, for example, which reproduces the Chinese sounds of the first por-
tion of Chapter XXXVIII, is a case in point; it will be clearly seen that it
is not only rythmical. but is rhymed as well. Following it is the translitera-
tion, word for word, into English, and this latter will afford a means of com-
parison, by refcrence to the corresponding chapter in the body of the work,
of the accuracy and faithfulness of the present rendering. The same care has
been exercised in the rendering of every chapter of the original text.

 

Sacer eer [ 8 — SS SS eee ee

 
 

 

 

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

First Part.

Shang teh pu teh, shi-i yiu teh,
Hia teh pu shih, shi-i wu teh,
Shang teh wu wei, ’rh wu i wei,
Hia teh wei chi, ’rh yiu i wei.
Shang jan wei chi, ’rh wu i wei,
Shang i wei chi, ’rh yiu i wei.
Shang li wei chi, ’rh mo chi ying,
Tseh jang pi, ’rh jang chi.

High virtue not virtue, therefore has virtue,

Low virtue not lose virtue, therefore nothing virtue,
High virtue nothing acts, and nothing by acting,
Low virtue acts it, and has by acting.

High benevolence acts it, but nothing by acting,
High righteousness acts it, and has by acting,

High propriety acts it, and none it respond,

Then stretches arm, and enforces it.

Like nearly all the great prophetic writings of the past, the work is essen-
tially poetic; it is only the spirit of the higher life, which we call poetry, which
flashes around a word a sense and meaning as certainly and suddenly as a flash
of lightning illuminates the details of a landscape, or storm at sea, which is
capable of rendering the flashes which the soul of prophecy emits, from mind
to mind. It is the flying arrow which suddenly enters the living intellect, as
is so beautifully expressed in the compounded Chinese radicals which go to
make up the character for knowledge, the higher knowledge of the receptive
intelligence of man. The book tells its story much more powerfully, and at the
same time more emphatically and readably when so rendered, than in bald,

iS ee ee [ 9 ] 222 le 2) ee ae eS ee
 

‘THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

bare, frequently chopped up and disjointed, and ineffective prose, as it has so
often been rendered. It is, throughout, an interdependent work; the sequences
run from chapter to chapter; one answers to another, and interprets the other.
Every phase of lightness, almost gaiety, depth, warning, praise, far-sight,
views of the great cosmical movements of eternity, government, war, politics,
business, the state, the individual, the great, the little, all pass in a moving
panorama before the vision, as one follows along the chapters of this book; there
is no halt, no break in interest, from first to last, and the whole concludes with
a summary of the teachings of the whole as applied to the life, mind and work
of the individual man.

Like the great Tao itself, it is made to run in harmonious measures. There
is a majesty in this work that demands majestic treatment, and, in proper
hands, not an iota of sense or arrangement need be lost by giving it the ryth-
mical form, much the same as it has sounded in the original, when perfectly
recited, or half-chanted by Chinese peasants, or priests, or philosophers, on
mountain slopes, amid temple groves, on the broad, treeless plains, or floating
along the miraculous river net-work of that strange land.

Of course the rules and construction of Chinese poetry could not be fol-
lowed; the poetic values in China depend on elements which cannot be even
reproduced in Western language.

It has been said, in this preface, that the Chinese characters, with their
compound radicals, resemble pieces of jewelry with the gems suitably mounted;
and that thereby a word becomes a phrase or sentence, with shades of mean-
ing quite unapproachable in our own words. It is this choice of a mounting
and its co-ordinates set so varyingly, and yet so appositely, that gives to
Chinese poetry its inimitable charm, and incomparable variety. It is, to read
a Chinese poem of high value, to have flashed on one a series of illuminations
and contrasts, of unexpected changes, of colors and lights quite startling, a sort
of pyrotechnics in fact, with all the changes of a distant fireworks exhibition,
and yet all as a part of a connected whole, in which the reader is not merely
the observer, but is made a participant.

In gaining this the Chinese have lost much else, but they have gained this.

In some cases, where possible, Chinese meters and forms have been used,
in the present translation, as in Chapters XLIV, LXII, and elsewhere, but in
general, while absolute fidelity has been made the prime object, such change,
variety and adaptation have been made use of, in poetic forms, as will best
render the sense and feeling, or the subject and matter, of the different chap-
ters.

In the present edition elaborate notes, which have been prepared, as also
a bi-lingual transliteration of the Chinese text and its English equivalents, have

 

SS [ Io ]

 
 

 

PREFACE

 

 

been omitted, in order to reduce the compass of the work. The same is true
of a careful and somewhat elaborate introduction dealing historically and eth-
ically with the philosophy of the Tao Teh, and comparing the work with the
various other systems of philosophy, cosmology and ethics known before or
since that period; should a subsequent edition be required, it is intended that
these shall be incorporated therewith.

In the hope and trust that this present work will be found full, accurate
and readable, and will awaken the minds of its readers to the transcendent
value of the great original, it is submitted to the judgment of a thoughtful
public.

THE AUTHOR.

1521 Poplar Street,

Philadelphia, Pa., 1903.

 

[1]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

FROM THE COMMENTARIES OF KWANG TSZE

ON THE TAO TEH KING

She had not yet been born to life; forthwith
There came a season’s change, to form and breath ;
Another season's change, to birth and life ;

And now, another season’s change, to death.

Why dread these changes? Life's a borrowed thing,

And borrowed, too, the frame of dust we bring

For daylight’s tovling ; when the cool night comes,

Why still to these poor borrowed garments cling ?
(On the death of a good wife.)

 

[ 12]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PREFACE.
KWANG TSZE ON LIFE AND DEATH.

THE PROLOGUE.

THE TAO-TEH KING.

PART ONE.
THE TAO.
Chapter.

I. Embodying The TAo.......... cc cecccee eee cee cece (Cosmical)
II. Nourishing the Person............ccee cece cc eeeeces (Teaching)
TIT. Resting the People.......... ccc cee cc ee cee ceeaes (Government)
EV... Wathout: Soureéis s+ cg06 6c osu dee. s 05 aeeceare a sien oa deseress (Cosmical)
Vis “Using: Biiptr mens ss. gcccachcc: e%e & heave win: sntaievs! Stele cab 5es duoc tie hors (Ethical)
VI. Completing Forms...........-.. ccc ee cece see ccenees (Cosmical)
VII. Sheathing Brightness........ 00... cece cece ee eee eee (Ethical)
VIII. Harmony with Nature.......... cc ccs cece eee eeeees (Ethical)
IX. To Go About at Hasse... ccsec5 es eeeessvess vaue oes sie (Ethical)
ADI £6“ DOs, icetso.09 Sinise. a aeaieow diecmncarevavaiene eave ace Rare. eee (Ethical)
XI. Use of the Immaterial. ...... 0.0... cece cece eevee (Cosmical)
XII. Repressing Desires. ....... cece sees cere seen ceeeens (Ethical)
XIII. Rejecting Shame.......... ccc cece cece (Government; Ethical
XIV. Making Clear the Mystery.........ccceeeeceeeeeees (Cosmical)
XV. Manifesting Virtue........... ccc cece cece wees (Philosophical)
XVI. Returning to the Root.........cc cece ee cee cece eee (Cosmical)
XVII. Plain Teachings. ............ ccc cece cee ceeeeraee (Government)
XVID. A Vulgar Overgrowth. ...... 0... cece cece ee teen tenes (Ethical)
XIX. Returning to Purity. ...... cc cee cece ee eee eee ene (Ethical)
XX. Differing from the Vulgar. .........sseeseeeeceeeees (Ethical)
XXI. The Empty Center. ......... ccc cee erence cece eceees (Cosmical)

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXxU.
XXII.

XXV.
XXVL

XXVII.
XXVIII.

XXXII.
XXXITI.
XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXVI.
XXXVI.

Chapter.

XXXVIII.

XXXIX.

XL.
XLI.
XLII.
XLIII.
XLIV.
XLV.
XLVI.
XLVII.
XLVIII.

XLIX.

L.
LI.

6 Se 4]

 

Abundance through Humility..... ovshaseie is 's'slenmets aiersics. « (dubhical)
Emptiness; Nothingness. ..........eeeeeeeseeeeeveee + (Ethical)
Hindering Grace............0008- eee Hee ee RO oes (Ethical)
Imaging the Mystery................. see eeeeee se + (Cosmical)
Virtue of Gravity...... Sia ua eetaie tase broaete daikon itasyets (Ethical)
Employing Skill. ........ ee eee cee eens seaasevennnevecsnene (Ethical)
Returning to Simplicity.............. ion sate er teee pte (Ethical)
Nothing through Acting. ...... 0c. ceececccsce ree eeeee (Ethical)
Sparing of Wars.............- duinlatoiets (Military; Government)
Ceasing from Wars vea¢s eves si oven sas esse ee eaieaiees (Military)
Tntuitive Virtueé..s.. 6 .cce ees tise ds cece (Ethical; Government)
Discriminating the Virtues...........0. cece cece eens (Ethical)
True. Perfection. casa ¢ «dee ccced caw ores (Cosmical; Ethical)
The Kernel of Virtue. ...... ce ccc cece eee eee eenes (Ethical)
Hidden Enlightenment. .......0:seeseeeeceeeees (Philosophical)
To Induce Good Government........... (Cosmical; Government)
PART TWO.
THE TEH.
A Discourse on the Virtues. ......... ccs cece ee eee eces (Ethical)
‘The Root Of Yaw. wsias ¢i5 sete aa sien ve seas .... (Philosophical)
The Concealed Uses. i ccwc iss cues vesieiesee eapous segs (Cosmical)
Sameness and Difference...........cccceceeevec acces (Ethical)
Transformations of the T&0.......... eee ceeeeeeeees (Cosmical)
All-pervading Use........cccceeccncceceer see ceeees (Teaching)
Established Cautions. ......... cece cece ee cencneeceee (Ethical)
A Flood of Virtues. ........-. cece esse eens (Business; Ethical)
Sparing of Desires. .... 06... cece cece eee cece renee . (Ethical)
Surveying the Far-off.........0 cc eee eee e eee eeee (Philosophical)
Neglecting Knowledge........ccceeseeeeecereeee (Philosophical)
True Vittles cae v4 oa kvas boas fo ik OReas pases eames (Ethical)
Wor Liles 35644 eace sv adaeea sd enn ven Wey ee MRR . (Philosophical)
The Nourishing Teh..............2.006 finde Ss Ae (Cosmical)

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

 

LI. Returning Home to the First Cause.......... (Cosmical; Ethical)
LITI. Abundant Evidence. ......... ce cece cece cee cece (Government)
LIV. Cultivating Broad Views...........eeeeeeeeeeee (Philosophical)
LV. The Mysterious Talisman..........s.ccceceeeeee (Philosophical)
LVI. Profound ‘Virttie. wiv sic cease sos ewienasewn os ees (Philosophical)
LVII. Plain Lessons. ........ cece eee cece cece eee neeene (Government)

LVIT. Accord with Changes.........cseecece se eescenes (Government)

LIX. Holding Fast to the Tao.........c cee eee eee eens (Government)

LX. Occupying the Throne.......... esse cece cece rees (Government)
LKI.. “Virtue of Yielding... csccscicee es Geen sw ane ac eme s (Government)
LXII. Attending to the Tao......... de Sea Says acchevuen tarecavabauares ove (Ethical)

LXIII. Think in the Beginning...............-.0-- (Business; Ethical)
LXIV. Guarding the Small......... 0... ccc cece eee ee eee (Business)
LXV. Pure? Virtues esas ss sear scecd oo gave cee wes aes (Government)
LXVI. To Put Oneself Behind.............eceeeeeeees (Philosophical)
LXVII. Three Precious Things...........-..0005 (Philosophical; Ethical)
LXVIII. Fellowship with Heaven...........ceeceeees (Military; Ethical)
TEX LX. “Profound: Wseie isis ox tates dice ree e Gk ee gee wae nad (Military)
LXX. Difficult to Know........cccse cece ce neceee . . (Philosophical)
LXXI. Knowledge and its Sickness. ......... 00s eee ences (Philosophical)
LXXII. Loving Oneself... . 0. ccc ee cece eee tee eee nner eeeenne (Ethical)
LXXIII. Trusting in Action. ...... cee cee crete eee renee (Philosophical)
LXXIV. To Control Delusion. ......... cc cece ce eee eee eeee (Government)
LXXV. Injury from Covetousness.........sseeeee erences (Government)
LXXVI. Caution against Strength. ...... 02. ccc ee eee eees (Philosophical)
LXXVII. The Way of Heaven. ...... ce. eee eec cece cee ree ences (Ethical)
LXXVIIL. True Faith. ...... ccc ccc cece eee ne een eeee (Philosophical)
LXXIX. To Sustain Agreements. .......ceee eee e cece ree eeces (Ethical)
LXXX. Standing Alone....... ce cee eee eee e cere eee eeees (Government)
LXXXI. Making Clear the Substance........-+seeee cence (Philosophical)

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

THE EPILOGUE.
ANALYTICAL INDEX.
TABLE OF SUBJECTS.

Contentment, Person or Body,

Desires, Righteousness and Benevolence,
Existence and Non-Existence, Simplicity,

Evolution and Involution, Sage, (The),

Future Life, Teaching,

Government, Unity, (The),

God, Unselfishness and Humility,
Greed, Virtues,

Heaven and Earth, War,

Heaven’s Way, Womanhood, Wifehood and
Knowledge, Motherhood.

Non-Striving,
CLASSIFIED LIST OF IMPORTANT WORDS, PHRASES, ETC.

As used in the original, with their full significations, taken from standard
Chinese dictionaries, and with reference to the compound radicals, (when
necessary), the whole arranged in the order of the chapters of the Tao Teh.

 

[ 16 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

The Prologue

Ere Socrates taught, or Plato heard and wrote,
While Buddha lived his own apocalypse,
There rose in China two: Confucius,
A steadfast sun which shone without eclipse
For nearly five and twenty centuries,
Who spake for man, and man’s relations here,
Who laid the metes and bounds of China’s life;
And one who spake with voice less full and clear,
But from the vast abyss, the infinite,
And filled the universe with life and light.

These master minds divide the world to-day,
‘As when they spoke, long centuries ago,

The questions that they asked press on us still,
The answers that they gave are all we knew,

Save that perchance, from o’er that misty sea,
A voice sometimes calls back to bid us cheer,

Save that the noblest life is best, we know,
And that the future life fulfills that here;

The world of China learned that lesson old,

And so may we sift out the virgin gold.

 

 

(17)
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

PART ONE
THE TAO

I.
Embodying the Tao

The way that can be overtrod is not the Eternal Way,
The name that can be named is not the Everlasting Name
Which Nameless brought forth Heaven and Earth, which Named,
if name we may,
The Mother of all the myriad things of time and space became.
Thereby we sound eternally the mystery divine,
But only without desire to sound, for if desire abide
The portals of the issuing host our baffled sight confine,
And deep within the eternal veil the mystery shall hide.
These two, the Nameless and the Named, they differ but in
name,
For in their vast progression from the deep they are the same,
The deep of deeps, from whose eternal gate all spirit came.

 

{ 18 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

II.
Nourishing the Person

When beauty is known as beautiful, lo! ugliness is there,
‘When good is known as good, then bad and good together go,
Being and Non-existence, linked like brothers forward press,
And difficult and easy, both in mutual currents flow.
The long and short are side by side, each by the other shown,
The high inclines to meet the low, the low to meet the high,
The after follows the before, in mutual consequence,
And tone and voice unite and blend in mutual harmony.
And so the sage, in his affairs, does not on doing dwell,
Proceeds in silence like the myriad things which come to be,
Which growing, claim no ownership, producing, no reward,
And claiming naught, assuming naught, continue ceaselessly.

 

 

[19]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

III.
Resting the People

Rewarding not the talented from fierce contention frees,
With wealth unprized, the people will not take to thievish arts,
Not seeing what awakes desire will keep the mind at ease,
And so the sage’s governing unloads the people’s hearts.
He fills the stomach, strengthens bones, and calms the daring
will,
He causes people not to know desires they should not hold,
And those who know of such he keeps, from reckless daring, still,
He acts the nothing acting, and there’s nothing uncontrolled.

 

[ 20 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

IV.
Without Source

The Tao appears as emptiness, with unreplenished hands,
And in its vast profundity ’tis like the sire of all,
It smoothes the angles in our path, unravels twisted strands,
Softens the glaring light, and fills the clouds of dust that fall.
How pure and still the Tao is! as if it would endure
Forever and forever, oh! whose offspring can it be?
I do not know whose son it is, its birth is so obscure
It seems it might have been before God, in eternity!

 

[ar]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

Vv.
Using Emptiness

The ways which heaven and earth pursue are not benevolent,
They treat the myriad things as sacrificial dogs of grass,

And so the sages, comprehending nature’s argument,
Regard the hundred families, too, as grass-dogs when they

pass.

Heaven and earth a bellows are, which emptied from its strain
Collapses not, but moved again produces more and more,

But men who talk and talk exhaust themselves, and talk in vain,
And all unlikely are to keep the middle path secure.

 

[ 22 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

VI.
Completing Forms

The “Spirit of the Valley” never dies,

The woman spirit of the great abyss,
From its everlasting gate the roots of heaven and earth arise,
Who seeks to use its power it unceasingly supplies,

Effortless, exhaustless, and in peace.

 

[ 23 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

vil.
Sheathing Brightness

Heaven is enduring and the earth continues on,

Because it is not for themselves they live,
So the sage who keeps behind, the foremost place will find,
Who puts himself aside, for himself will best provide,

And unselfishly is able to achieve.

 

[ 24 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

VIII.
Harmony with Nature

The highest goodness that we know has water for its type,
It benefits all things, yet ever flows
To the spot which men disdain, the gutter and the plain,
And so is near the Tao, its archetype.
A residence is excellent according to its place,
A heart for eddies passion never knows,
Generosity for kindness, words for faithfulness,
A government for order, business for its gain,
And movements for their timeliness and grace,
As the man of excellence does not quarrel for his place,
There are none to find fault with him for the places which remain.

 

[ 25 J

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

IX.
To Go About at Ease

Is it better to hold fast to filling, and fill when fullness is gained?
You may handle the point that is sharpened till all the sharp-
ness is gone,
You may fill your halls with gold and gems, but thieving is not
restrained,
And wealth and place, when linked with pride, will only bring
ruin on;
When the work is done, and reputation advancing, then, I say,
Is the time to withdraw and disappear, and that is Heaven’s Way.

 

[ 26]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

xX.
Ability to Do

One can keep the camp whole of the animal soul, by embracing
the One alone,
Can- bring tenderness by guarding the breath, and be as an
infant child,
One can wash and be clean, and, knowing the deep, can be
spotless and undefiled,
And, loving the people can rule the land with a rule that is
scarcely shown.
Can one not open and close his heavenly gates like a bird on
her nest?
When his intellect broadens on every side may its light not re-
main unknown?
Quickening, feeding, producing, must he still claim the fruit as
his own?
To uplift all, and yet rule not, is virtue the deepest and best.

 

[ 27 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XI.
Use of the Immaterial

Thirty spokes unite in a nave, but the nothingness in the hub
Gives to the wheel its usefulness, for thereupon it goes round;
The potter kneads the clay as he works, with many a twist and
rub,
But in the nothingness within, the vessel’s use is found;
Doors and windows cut in the walls thereby a room will make,
But in its nothingness is found the room’s utility;
So the profit of existences is only for the sake
Of non-existences, where all the use is found to be.

 

[ 28 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XII.
Repressing Desires

The flash of commingled colors will blind the eyes,
The jangle of musical sounds will deafen the ear,

By the jumbling of tastes change in the mouth will arise,
And with all of each five, sight, hearing and taste disappear.

The maddening rush of the race, the wild hunting waste,
And treasures hard to obtain, but hinder the mind;

So the sage only acts for his own inner self, and the taste
For unsatisfied seeing and longing is left behind.

 

[ 29 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XIII.
Rejecting Shame

Like fear are favor and disgrace,
On others they depend for place,
But honor and great sacrifice

To one’s own body we can trace.

Like favor and disgrace is fear,

Why should they thus akin appear?
Favor makes one stoop and cringe,
And, when obtained, ’tis held in fear

And losing it, remains disgrace,
And fear again presents its face,
And that is why, with fear ’tis said
Disgrace and favor have their place.

But honor and great sacrifice,
Why do these two appear in guise
Of body? Just because the self
Of my own body these comprise.

They make me have a body, then,
To know my honor, feel my pain,
And when I count it nothingness
What sacrifice can I sustain?

 

 

[ 30]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

‘When one, for honor’s self alone,
Imperial rule would make his own,
He can thereby be safely used

To rule the realm and hold the throne.

When one, for love, himself will share,
And all self-sacrifice will bear,

The rule of all beneath the sky

Can be entrusted to: his care.

 

[ 31]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

XIV.
Making Clear the Mystery

What we cannot see by looking is the evenness of things,
What we cannot hear by listening the rare,
What we cannot seize by grasping is the subtleness that springs
When we try to scrutinize them and compare.
Blended into Unity, above it is not bright,
Below it is not buried in obscurity,
Ceaseless in its action, nameless in its flight,
It returns again to formless immaturity;
The form of formlessness, the shape of the unseen,
Abstruse and indeterminate as shadows on a screen !
We meet it front to front and we do not see its face,
We follow it and do not see its back,
But who holds its ancient way
Is the master of to-day,
And its far-away beginning in the olden time can trace,
’Tis the thread of Tao that lies along its track.

 

[ 32]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XV.
Manifesting Virtue

The skillful masters of the olden time,
‘With penetration subtle and profound,
Pursued the mysteries of the abyss
To depths which modern knowledge cannot sound;
And as their labors were beyond our ken
I will try to picture something of these men.
Cautious they were, like one who comes to ford a wintry stream,
Irresolute, like one who enters some strange neighborhood,
Reserved, as one, a guest of some quite unknown host, would
seem,
Changing, like the melting ice before a summer’s flood,
Simple and unpretending as unseasoned blocks of wood,
Vacant, like a valley, and like turbid water dim.
But who can make the turbid water clear?
Leave it to rest, the mud will disappear;
But who can make the turbid water rest?
Leave it to move, and rest will soon be here.
They who preserve the method of the Tao
Wish not to fill themselves with their own self,
And, empty of themselves, when growing old,
Are never faid, old-fashioned, on the shelf.

 

= [33]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XVI.
Returning to the Root

Bring to its full effectiveness the state of vacancy,

Guard with unwearied watchfulness the stillness of the breast,
All things alike go through their stages of activity,

And then return again to their primordial state of rest.
Luxuriant vegetation blooms around on every hand,

But to its root returns again, where’er it may extend,.
As though its growth had traveled forth at some supreme com-

mand,

And, returning home to stillness, had thus fulfilled its end.
These returnings of command are eternal in their course,

To know of the eternal is called enlightenment,
To know not the eternal of confusion is the source,

And so awakens wickedness, and evil discontent. a
To know brings comprehension and a great capacity,

A breadth of comprehension brings a kingliness of way,
The king-like grows to heaven-like, like T&o it comes to be,

Everlasting, though the body perish and decay.

 

[ 34 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XVII.
Plain Teachings

In the highest antiquity people scarce knew
That rulers existed among them;

In the next age attachment and praise for them grew,
In the next people feared they might wrong them;

And then in the next age the people despised
The rulers whom fate set above them,

For when faith by the rulers no longer is prized,
The people no longer can love them.

Those earliest rulers! what caution they had
In weighing the words they were using;

How successful their deeds! while the people all said
“We are what we are by our choosing.”

 

{35 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XVIII.
A Vulgar Overgrowth

When the Great Téo had ceased to be observed,
Benevolence and Righteousness found place,

And when world-wisdom linked with shrewdness came,
Then Grand Hypocrisy exposed her face.

And now we have, with families all at strife,
Filial piety, parental care,

With states and clans disordered and confused,
Loyalty, and faithfulness are there.

 

 

[ 36 J
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

XIX.
Returning to Purity

If men would lay aside their holiness
And wisdom, they would gain a hundred-fold,
And, if benevolence and righteousness,
Parental care and filial love would hold;
If they would drop their cleverness and gain,
Robbers would cease to trouble, as of old.

Here are three things where decorating fails,
Let them again embrace reality,

Let them restore the purity of old,
Let them return to their simplicity,

Curb selfishness, diminish their desires,
And in the genuine find felicity.

 

 

[ 37]
 

 

” THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XX.
Differing from the Vulgar

Cease learning many things, we shall have peace;
Between the flattering “yea” and honest “yes”
The difference is small, but the effect
World-wide, when good or evil we reject;

The evil that men fear not, no one fears,

And wastefulness without restraint appears.

The multitude of men look satisfied,

They feed at feasts, they mount on towers of pride,
And I alone seem timorous and still,

No signs of promise act upon my will,

A babe not yet matured, sad and forlorn,
Without a home, to desolation born.

The multitude of men have goods to spare,
Tis only I who wander everywhere

Bereft of all, with dull and stupid gaze,
Myself a chaos and my mind a maze.

The multitude of common men are bright,

And critical and keen, and full of light,

While I alone confused appear to be,

Drifting about on some dark, lonely sea;

The multitude on doing things are bent,

While I alone appear incompetent,

A rustic rude, I differ from all others,

But oh! the food I prize and seek is Our Eternal Mother’s.

 

 

[ 38 ]
THE TAO TEH KING

 

XXI.
The Empty Center

The grandest aspects of producing force

Find Tao their energizing way and source;

In Tao things move unseen, impalpable,

Yet in it form and semblance brood and dwell;
Impalpable, invisible, yet things

Float forth within on transcendental wings;
Dark and profound, yet lo! within it there,
‘Are the pure essences which aeons bear;

It holds the truth, it keeps its ancient name,
And watches all that from the beginning came;
From the Beginning! How know IJ this is so?
By this, it is the Tao, by this I know!

 

{ 39 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXII.
Abundance Through Humility

“Who is deficient shall become complete,
He who is bent and twisted shall be straight,
He who is empty shall be filled again,
He who is worn-out shall new strength obtain,
He who has little then shall be supplied,
He who has many things shall be denied.”

Therefore the sage holds fast in his embrace
The Unity, and its example shows,
From self-display is free, and therefore shines,
From self-assertion, so distinguished grows,
From self-praise free, his merit is confessed,
From self-exalting, so will standing gain,
And since he strives not, none with him can strive;
Therefore the ancient sayings are not vain,
They shall come home, and all complete remain.
 

7

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXII.
Emptiness: Nothingness

Be sparing of your speech, and so be self-contained,
A violent wind will not outlast the morning,

A pouring rain is gone before the day is done,
And who is it that sends these notes of warning?

’Tis heaven and earth; if these, even, cannot so endure,
Much less can man, the way of heaven scorning.

So who pursues affairs with the Tao, with the Tao
Identifies himself in all his doing,

And who pursues affairs with its virtue, with its virtue
Identifies himself in his pursuing,

And who pursues affairs with its loss, with its loss
Identifies himself, to his undoing.

Who identifies himself with the Tao, the Tao’s one,
Enjoys the happiness of its attaining,
Who identifies himself with its virtue, virtue’s one,
Has enjoyment of the virtue he is gaining.
Who identifies himself with its loss, its loss’s one,
Enjoys the loss of it he is sustaining.
“Faith not sufficient will, indeed,
Faith not receive in time of need.”

 

 

{ 41 ]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXIV.
Hindering Grace

A man who stands on tiptoe can’t be still,

A man with legs astride walks not with skill,

He who is self-displaying is not bright,

He who is self-asserting sheds no light,

He that boasts himself no merit gains,

He who is self-conceited there remains.
Conditions such as these with Tao compared
Are like left-over food too long prepared,
Excrescences men loathe, like wart or spot,
And those who follow Tao dwell with them not.

 

aS eye caries [ 42 ] Bek
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXV.
Imaging the Mystery

There was a Thing, all-holding, all-complete,
Which WAS before existed Heaven and Earth,

Changeless! Formless! Solitary! Calm!
All-pervading! Unlimited! the birth

Of all the mighty universe concealed

Within the Motherhood not yet revealed.

I do not know its name; the Way; the Course;
The Tao, I call it; if constrained to make

A name, I call it furthermore The Great!
And Great, it passes onward and away,

’Tis afar, and from afar returning flows,

The ebb of that great tide which sourceless rose.

Now then the T4o is great, and Heaven is great,
And Earth is great, and greatness is of Kings;
Within the world the greatnesses are four,
And one is he who rules o’er men and things;
Man takes his law from Earth; from Heaven this;
Heaven from the Tao; the Tao from what it is.

 

[ 43 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXXVI.
Virtue of Gravity

Weight is the root of lightness, stillness the master of motion,
And the daily way of the sage departs not from his base,
Although he have brilliant prospects, he is unconcerned and
quiet,
Should the lord of ten thousand chariots be too light for his
place?
Then he will lose not supporters alone,
But, being too restless, loses his throne.

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXVII.
Employing Skill

The skillful traveler leaves no trace behind him,
The skillful speaker says nothing that falsely jars,
The skillful counter keeps no checks to reniind him,
The skillful locker requires no bolts or bars,
And the skillful binder no cords, or knots or strings,
Yet to afterwards open or loose are impossible things.

So the sage in his goodness is ever a saver of men,
No man he rejects or loses,

And alike in his goodness a saver of things, for then
He everything saves and uses,

And this is the inner enlightenment again,
Which comprehends and chooses.

So the good instructs the bad, the bad in tum
Is material for the good; and not to prize
One’s own instructor, not to love, but spurn
One’s own material, would confuse the wise.
This mutual help and love make all men kin,
And mark the spirit-life divine, within.

 

[45 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXVIII.
Returning to Simplicity

He who knows the masculine, and yet retains the feminine,
Will be the whole world’s channel, being so,

Eternal virtue will with him remain forevermore,
And infant innocency to him go.

He who knows the spotless white, yet keeps the darkness of the
night,
Will be the whole world’s model, and the sage
Will hold eternal virtue in his hands forevermore,
And go home again to greet the golden age.

He who knows how glory shines, yet degradation ne’er declines,
Will be the whole world’s valley, him alone

Will the spirit of eternal virtue fill forevermore,
And simplicity will claim him as her own.

This unwrought simplicity, when scattered comes to be
The universal vessels, and the sage

May use them as the rulers of the reakm forevermore,
And every hurt and injury assuage.

 

[ 46 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXIX.
Nothing Through Acting

If one start out to take the world in hand,
And make it, he will never gain his end,

For spirit-vessels are not made like pails,
And he who makes mars, who grasps fails.
For, in the course of things, if some one press
Ahead, some other lags behind, and will,
While one has warmth, another one is chill,
While one is strong, another weakly shrinks,
One keeps himself afloat, another sinks.
Therefore the sage abandons all excess,
And all extravagance and selfishness.

 

{47 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXX.
Sparing of Wars

He who in harmony with the Tao would aid a ruler of men

Will not with warlike armaments strengthen the realm again,

But his manner of work, if requital came, would bring good pay-
ment then.

Wherever a martial host is camped, there thorns and briars grow,

And the track of mighty armies years of ruined harvests show;

The good commander is resolute to strike the decisive blow,

Then stops, for he does not dare complete and take by mastery;

Vain and boastful and arrogant the leader must not be,

But resolute, not violent, and from necessity.

When things have reached their highest pitch they became de-
crepit and old,

But this is not in accord with the Téo which Heaven and Earth
enfold,

And what is not in accord, will pass away like a tale that is told.

 

[ 48 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXXII.
Ceasing from War

Warlike arms, however fine, are not the tools of joy,
But of hateful omen to humanity,

Which those who have the Tao will not employ with willingness,
Nor linger where they ever chance to be.

Superior men, at home, deem the honorable place
To be the left hand, but in time of strife

The men who go to war esteem the right to be the best,
For with it they handle sword, and spear, and knife.

They are tools of evil omen, not for the superior man,
Who will only keep and use them when he must,
For peace and quietude are what he prizes most,
And victory is only good when just.

To delight in victory is to delight in scenes of blood,
Where myriads to sudden death are -hurled,

And the man who thus enjoys is never fit for power or place,
And will fail to hold possession in the world.

In prosperous affairs the left is honored most,
But in matters of adversity the right,

So the second in command of the army takes the left,.
And the opposite the one of greater might.

So the order is, I say, just as at a funeral,
And justly so, for who has thousands slain,

Should weep for those who fell with the bitterness of grief,
As he passes with his melancholy train.

 

[ 49}

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXXIT.
Intuitive Virtue

The eternal Tao is nameless; though it be
Too insignificant a name to have,
In its primordial simplicity
The whole world dare not make of it a slave.

If prince or king could keep it, everything
Would homage pay to him spontaneously,

And Heaven and Earth, combined, sweet dews would bring,
And people know no rule but harmony.

But when it takes control, it has a name,

And, knowing when to stop, men rest at ease,
For to the Tao the whole world is the same

As river streams compared with mighty seas.

 

 

{ 50}
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXXITIL.
Discriminating the Virtues

He who knows others is wise,
But he who knows himself is wiser still;
He who conquers others is strong,
But to conquer self needs greater strength and skill;
He who is satisfied is rich,
He who is firm in action has a will;
He who loses not his place lives long,
But the man who dies and does not perish, he lives longer still!

 

 

{st ]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXXIV.
True Perfection

Great To is all-pervading,
At once on left and right

It may be found, and all things wait
On it for life and light.

No one is refused the gift,
And when the work is done
It does not take the name of it,
Nor claim the merit won.

All things it loves and nurses,
But does not strive to own,

Has no desires, and can be named
With the tiniest ever known.

All things return home to it,
But it does not strive to own,

And can be named with the mightiest,
For it is the Tao alone.

And thus the sage is able
To accomplish his great deeds,

To the end he claims no greatness,
And his great work thus succeeds.

 

[ 52]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXXV.
The Kernel of Virtue

Lay hold of the Great Form of Tao!
And the world will follow your train,
It will follow along, and suffer no wrong,

And in peace and content remain.

For music and dainties offered at your gate
The passing guest will tarry awhile and wait.

Though T4o in passing is tasteless,
With nothing to fill the eye,

And with nothing to hear worth filling the ear,
You can use it exhaustlessly.

 

[ 53 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XXXVI.
Hidden Enlightenment

What is about to contract itself is sure to lengthen itself,
What is about to weaken itself is sure to strengthen itself,
What is about to ruin itself assuredly first uplifts,

And what is about to despoil itself it first endows with gifts.

To hidden enlightenment it is that truths like these belong,

The tender and weak o’ercome and conquer the rigid and the
strong,

As fishes perish miserably, escaping from the deep,

The sharp tools of the State, from sight of the people keep!

 

 

[ 54 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

XXXVIL.

To Induce Good Government

The TA&o eternally non-acts, and so

It does nothing and yet there is nothing left to do;
If prince or king could keep it, all would change
Of their own accord with a transformation strange.

And so transformed, should desire to change again still come to
be,

I would quiet such desire by the Nameless One’s simplicity,
But the Nameless One’s simplicity is free from all desire,
So tranquilly, of their own accord, all things would still transpire.

END OF PART ONE.

 

[ 55 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING
PART TWO
THE TEH

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XXXVI.

A Discourse on the Virtues

The highest virtue is an-virtue, therefore it has virtue,
Inferior virtue virtue loses not, and so has none,

The highest virtue is non-action, and thereby does nothing,
Inferior virtue acts it, and exists by acting done.

The highest benevolence acts it, but thereby does nothing,
The highest righteousness acts it, and acting has thereby,

The highest propriety acts it, and then, when none respond,
It stretches forth its arm, and enforces its reply.

So, when the T4o is lost to sight, its attributes are shown,
When these are lost to sight, we find Benevolence appear,

When Benevolence is lost to sight, then Righteousness comes on,
And when Self-righteousness is lost, Propriety is here.

Now, these propriety-things are shams of loyalty and faith,
Forerunners of disorder, which soon will come to be,

Quick-wittedness is but the flimsy flower of the Tao,
And is the first beginning of man’s incapacity.

With the solid dwells the solid man, not with the empty shell,
With the mature fruit he abides, but with the flower not he,
The latter he avoids, that the former his may be.

 

 

=[ 57 J === a

 
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

XXXIX.
The Root of Law

Of old these ones attained to unity:
Heaven attained it, thereby it is pure,

Earth attained it, thereby it is steady,
Spirits attained it, thereby they have soul,
Valleys attained it, thereby they are filled,
The myriad things attained it, thereby live,
Princes and kings, and thereby they became
The standard of the world, by upright rule,
And what produced all this is Unity.

Heaven, but for some source of pureness nothing could maintain,

But for some source of steadiness Earth would be rent in twain,

Spirits, but for some source of spirit power, soon would fail,

And if the vales had not some source, then drouth would soon
prevail.

Without some source of life all living creatures soon would die,

Princes and kings, by self-esteem alone, would helpless lie,

—And here one sees that noble things are rooted in the base,

That loftiness, but for the lowly, soon would lose its place;

So prince and king describe themselves as orphans, lonely men,

As carriages which have no wheels on which to run again,

—Is not this an acknowledgment that they are rooted in

The fabric of inferior things, and with the lowly kin?

Enumerate the different parts which go to make a cart,

Take it to pieces, and not one will play a useful part,

Hence men do not desire, like gems, to dwell in single state,

Nor be let drop, like pebble-stones, in masses congregate.

= [ 58]

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XL.
The Concealed Use

The movement of the TAo is a returning,
And weakness marks its course, to our discerning,

But heaven and earth and everything from its existence came,
And existence, from the non-existent spurning.

 

[59]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XLI.
Sameness and Difference

Scholars of the highest type, who hear about the Tao,
Practise it with diligence unceasing;
Scholars of the middle sort, when they have heard of it,
May keep it, or may find its hold releasing;
But scholars of the lowest class, who hear about the T4o,
Laugh with laughter constantly increasing;
Were they not to laugh at it—the lowest class of men—
Its fitness as the Taéo would soon be ceasing.
And so the sentence-makers have spoken of it so,
“The Tao when at its brightest, only darkness seems to show,
The most advanced who follow it, appear to backward go.
The even path they travel is a rugged sort of trail,
The highest virtue that they find is like a sunken vale,
The purity they boast about, disgraceful is and stale.
The broadest virtue is a thing they somehow seem to lose,
The firmest virtue that they hold is like a poor refuse,
And changeable and fickle is the rectitude they use.
Their greatest square is grown so great no corners can it show,
Their vessels are so huge they never have the time to grow,
Their voices are so very loud they cannot make a sound,
And the forms that they produce so vast that shape is never
found.”

’Tis true the Tao is hidden; that it is nameless here;
But for giving and imparting, and for making all things clear,
And for making them complete, it is the Tao without a peer.

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XLII.
Transformations of the Tao

The Tao produced One; One produced Two;
Two produced Three; Three produced All.
All the myriad things bear the yin with darkened pall,
They embrace the yang which lights the coming view,
And between the yin that was, and the yang that is to be,
The immaterial breath makes harmony.

Things that men dislike are to be orphans, lonely men,
Unworthy, incomplete, and yet these very things
Are taken for their titles by princes and by kings;

So it is sometimes that losing gains again,

And sometimes that gaining loses in its turn.
I am teaching what, by others taught, I learn;

The violent and aggressive a good death do not die,

And the father of this teaching—it is I.

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XLII.
All-pervading Use

The softest thing, (like water), in the world, will gallop o’er,
And overcome the hardest, as we know,

And what has non-existence will enter everywhere
Though there be no crevices through which to go.

By this I know the benefit of non-assertiveness,
The profit when from acting we refrain,

Silent teaching! passive doing! alas, there are but few
Under heaven this advantage to obtain!

 

[ 62 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XLIV.
Established Cautions

Which is nearer you,
Your name or yourself?
Which is more to you,
Your person or your pelf?
And is your loss or gain
The more malicious elf?
Extreme love’s price
Must be paid with sacrifice.

Hoarding to excess
Brings ruin its its place,

Who knows he has enough
Never knows disgrace,

Who knows when to stop
Danger will efface,

And long can endure,

Evermore secure.

 

[ 63 ]

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XLV.
A Flood of Virtues

Who can behold his great work incomplete
Will keep his usefulness without decay,
He who regards his fullness as a void
In usefulness can exercise each day.

His greatest straightness seems like crookedness,
His greatest skill seems like stupidity,

His greatest eloquence of voice and tongue
The stammering seems of imbecility.

By constant motion cold is overcome,

But heat by being still is conquered best,
In purity and clearness is the type

Of all beneath the sky made manifest.

 

 

{ 64]

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

XLVI.
Sparing of Desires

With the world in step with Tfio horses work upon the farms,
When the Tao is disregarded they respond to war’s alarms,
And are bred in border waste and wilderness;
There is no greater sin than to sanction fell desire,
Than a discontented life no calamity more dire,
None greater than the grasping to possess;
And he who knows contentment has the all-sufficient cure,
And satisfied, will evermore endure.

 

[ 65]
D4
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

XLVII.
Surveying the Far-off

Without going beyond his doorway
One may know all beneath the sky,
Without peeping out from his window
See the Téo of Heaven go by;
And the farther he goes from home he finds
That knowledge becomes less nigh.

So the sages did not travel
To acquire a knowledge of things,
They named them aright without wasting
Their life in vain journeyings;
And, striving not, accomplished ends
By the power which quietude brings.

 

[ 66 ] =
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

XLVI.
Neglecting Knowledge

Striving for learning one gains a daily addition,

Using the Tao there follows a daily remission,

And as the work lessens and lessens there comes a condition
Of nothing doing, when nothing is left to do.

He who would take as his own all the realm under heaven,

Accomplishes it when no trouble is taken or given,

If trouble he use, by trouble itself he is driven,
And unfitted thereby to take what he seeks to pursue.

 

 

{ 67 ] a
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

XLIX.

True Virtue
The sage’s heart is not unchangeable,
He makes his own the people’s heart and will,
To those who are good I, too, will be good,
To those who are not-good I will be good still,
Virtue is ever good;
Those who are faithful I will meet with faith,
The unfaithful also shall have my good will,
Virtue is our faithhood.
The sage dwells in the world, with thoughtfulness,
But his heart flows in sympathy with all,
The people turn their eyes and ears to him,
And are to him his children, great or small.

 

[ 68 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

L.
Your Life

The going forth is life: the coming home is death:
The followers of life, in every ten,
Are three!
In every ten, death’s followers, again,
Are three!
In every ten the people who from life
Are moving to the place where death is rife,
Are three!
What reason can there be?
They live their lives in life’s intensity.

But there is one, as I have heard it said,
So good in managing his living trust,
That he may travel far and never dread
Rhinoceros or tiger fang or thrust,
Or warlike host with garb and weapons red;
There is no spot in which to thrust the horn,
No place the tiger finds to fix his claws,
The soldier’s weapon from its aim doth turn,
‘Now, why is this? Because
In him death finds no place of mortal flaws.

 

[ 69 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LI.
The Nourishing Teh

‘All living things are from the TAo,
And nourished by the Teh’s advance,
Take shape as things in each combine,
And grow by force and circumstance;
Hence all things honor Tao that grow,
‘And all exalt its vast outflow.

This exaltation of the Tao,
This honor where it operates,
Is not obedience to command
From that which fashions or creates,
But comes from all, whate’er they be,
‘A tribute cast spontaneously.

The Tao produces everything,
The Teh, it nurses, raises, feeds,
Completes, matures, prolongs, and spreads
O’er all protection for their needs;
Hence all things honor To that grow,
‘And all exalt its vast outflow.

Producing life for all, it holds
‘No ownership; it makes all things,
But needs them not; it carries through
Their birth and growth; to life it brings
Long lasting, yet takes no control,
This mystic virtue of the whole.

 

 

[ 70 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

Lil.
Returning Home to the First Cause

When all under heaven had beginning, thereby
The Mother of the World came to be,
‘When one knows the mother, he will next know the child,
Who keeps to the mother, and remains unbeguiled,
Though his body die, from danger will be free.

Who keeps close his mouth and the gates of the sense,
When his body ends, from trouble will be free,

Who keeps his mouth open, and meddles with affairs,
When his body ends, has no immunity.

To see what is small, this is called enlightenment,
To keep what is tender, this is strength,

Make use of the Light, returning home to its source,

You will lose not your body in calamity’s course,
‘And will train with the Eternal at length.

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LIII.
Abundant Evidence

If, in some unexpected manner, I
As one endowed with knowledge should appear,
To walk according to the mighty Tao,
Tis only bold display that I should fear;
For plain and simple ways Great Tao suggest,
But people love cross-paths and by-ways best.

The halls and courts are splendid, but the fields
Uncultivated are, the granaries
Empty; to put on ornamented robes,
And keen-edged swords, to gorge with gluttonies,
To pile up wealth; this, robbers’ pride I call,
But, of a surety, not Great Tao at all.

 

 

[ 72 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LIV.
Cultivating Broad Views

The good planter never uproots,
The good keeper holds to his prize,

And sons and grandsons shall bring their fruits
In a ceaseless sacrifice.

Who practises T4o in his life,
His virtues will ever be sound,

Who practises it with his children and wife,
His virtues will greatly abound.

Who practises it in his town,
His virtues will last and extend,

And if in the state or the realm, then down
His virtues will flow without end.

Test others by oneself alone,
Test families by one family,

And in one town, and state, and realm will be shown
The test of what others will be.

How know I that this single source
Throughout the whole world will act so?

By this, that it is, in its ceaseless course,
Forever the self-same flow.

 

 

[ 73 ]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LV.
The Mysterious Talisman

Who has abundantly the attributes
(Of T&o) an infant child is like,
Poisonous insects will not sting, wild beasts
Not seize, and birds of prey not strike.

His bones are tender and the sinews weak,
Yet firmly grasp, the sexual

Unconscious sleeps, and yet it still is there,
A perfect spirit physical,

With throat unharmed he cries the whole day long,
ach perfect part is linked with all.

To know this harmony is called eternal;
To know the eternal, this is called
Brightness supernal.

Increase of life is blessedness, they say,

They call the heart-directed spirit strength,

But these things reach their fullest growth, at length,
And plunge to swift decay;

We call all this contrary to the Tao,

Whatever is contrary to the Tao
Soon will pass away.

 

 

[ 74]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LVI.
Profound Virtue

They who know speak not,

And they who speak know not;
To close the mouth and shut the gates,
To blunt the point which lacerates,
To simplify what complicates;

To temper brightness in its glare,
The shadows of the dust to share,
The Deep’s identity declare.

A man like that cannot be got
‘And loved, and then discarded be,
Cannot be got by profit’s bribe,
Cannot be got for injury,
Cannot be got by honor’s gift,
Nor got for cheap humility,
And so becomes, throughout the world,
The type of high nobility.

 

{ 75 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LVII.
Plain Lessons

Let the upright rule the state,
And the craftful the army lead,

But the realm can only be made one’s own
When from active scheming freed.

How do I know this is so?
By facts that are open to all,
As you multiply prohibitive laws
The people to poverty fall.

You increase disorder as well,
When you increase the weapons of war,
And the more and more artful and cunning men grow,
The more and more crafty contrivance they show,
And the more laws and more thieves there are.

Said the sage, I do nothing, and men
‘Of themselves transformed will be,
I love to keep still, they have uprightness,
I do no scheming, and wealth they possess,
I have no ambition, and plain-mindedness
Will come spontaneously.

 

I 76 J

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LVIII.
Accord with Changes

With a government of liberality
The people all enjoy prosperity,
‘When government has keen and prying eyes,
Then poverty and misery arise.

For happiness, alas! but only hides
The place behind where misery abides,
And misery ever leans on happiness;
Who knows its end? or is it limitless?

When uprightness in turn appears as strange,

Then goodness, too, to strangeness soon will change,
Confusion of mankind! its day of wrong!

Assuredly it has continued long.

Therefore, the sage is square, but injures none,
Is angular, but hurt has never done,

Is strict, yet no restriction undertakes,

And dazzles not while he illuminates.

 

{77 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LIX,
Holding Fast to the Tao

In governing men or dealing with Heaven there is nothing like
moderation,

And moderation is what is called an early habituation,

Which, when acquired, heaps virtues up in vast accumulation.

And then, with virtues thus heaped up in vast accumulation,
To the overcoming of everything there is no limitation,
And when one knows no limits, he may even have the nation.

Possessing the Mother of the State, he is thereby long-enduring,

As we say of a tree, its roots are deep, and its staunch stem reas-
suring,

In ckearest sight to keep the Tao is lasting life securing.

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LX.
Occupying the Throne

Rule a great state in the way one would fry little fish,
Without gutting or scraping, consider the good of the whole,
Let the empire be ruled in accord with the rule of the Tao
And the spirits of those who are gone will not seek to control.

Not only not seek, but spirits will harm not the people,
‘Not only not harm, but, because of the rule of the sage,
Who harms not, these twain, not seeking to injure each other,
Will therefore in virtue together unite and engage.
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

a ss Sees ff 80 ]

LXI.
Virtue of Yielding

A great state is like a great river,
Downflowing with movement and life,
Of all under heaven the union,
Of all under heaven the wife.

Consider the female, the woman
Overcomes by her quietude wholly,

Some make themselves lowly to conquer,
Some conquer because they are lowly.

And so a great state condescending
Will win smaller states to unite,

And small states, themselves by abasement
Will conquer far more than by fight.

If the great state desire but to nourish,
And the small to preserve and extend,
Then each thas secured what it sought for,

But to do this the great one must bend.

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LX.
Attending to the Tao

T&o is the hidden refuge of all things,

To the good man his richest treasure brings,
And to the bad in guardianship it clings.

Its beautiful words buy honor by their use,
Its noble deeds lift people from abuse,

And even the bad, are they from it cut loose?
So when the emperor, chosen to his throne,
Appoints three great ones, by high titles known,
If one of these should come to him, alone,
Holding the jade-screen, with four horses fleet,
He would be less than one on lowly seat

Who could the lessons of the Tao repeat.
Why did the ancients prize this Tao so much?
Was it not because it answered every touch,
And that the sin-bound, even, escaped thereby?
So it is most prized of all beneath the sky.

 

SS [81 9

 
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXIII.
Think in the Beginning

Act the non-acting, let dealing go on without dealings,

In the tasteless find taste, let the great in the little be known, -
Find in the few that therein are embodied the many,

And recompense hatred with deeds of goodness alone.

Consider what may become difficult, while it is easy,
Manage the great, by taking it while it is small,

From the easy arise all the difficult things under heaven,
And affairs that are great their source in the little recall.

So the sage, not acting the great, the great will accomplish,
Who promises lightly lacks truth, and they who believe.

Many things to be easy will find many hard, while the sage
With the difficult, even, finds nothing too hard to achieve.

 

 

[ 82 ] x
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LXIV.
Guarding the Small

That which is at rest is easy to be kept hold of,

And what has made no sign, and is yet concealed from all,
Is easy to be taken care of then by proper measures,

Break it while it is feeble, scatter it while it is small.

Act before it exists, regulate before disorder,
The mighty tree that fills the arms has grown from a tiny
sprout,
From a little mound of earth was raised the tower of nine stories,
And the journey of a thousand miles began with the first step
out.

He that makes mars, he that grasps loses;
The sage will neither make, nor mar, nor grasp, and cannot
lose,
But people fail in business, on the verge of its succeeding,
By losing at the end the care they first began to use.

And so the sage does not desire the things desired by others,
He does not prize the treasures that are difficult to obtain,
He learns what others do not learn, he turns back to their leav-

ings,
And helps spontaneous nature, but dares not to constrain.

 

[ 83]

 
THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXV.
Pure Virttie

In centuries of old the men who used the light
Of the T&o to its goodness were not blinded,

They used to practise it not to make the people bright,
But, better still, to make them simple-minded.

In the governing of men the very hardest thing
To encounter is their sapience redundant,

To govern by this sapience a robber rule will bring,
And, to rule without it, blessing most abundant.

Who knows of these two things has the key of government,
There is benefit profound in their rehearsal,
Far-reaching in extent, from all else different,
It will swiftly bring agreement universal.

 

= [ 84 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LXVI.
To Put Oneself Behind

Rivers and seas!

Homage and tribute from all the valley streams
Pour into these;

They lower themselves, and for this reason alone
Become royalties.

So the wise man,

If ever he wish to be above other men,
In his words will plan

To remain below, and if he desire to lead,
Will keep from the van.

And in this way

Though he dwell above, men will not feel his weight,
He leads the array,

But they feel that he is not an impediment,
Nor in their way.

And so his compeers
Unwearyingly exalt and honor him
With joy and cheers,
And since he does not strive, no strife with him

Ever appears.

 

[ 85 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXVII.
Three Precious Things

All the world agrees
That while my To is great,
Myself unseemly seems to be,
Like one of low estate.
But because of his unseemliness
Now only is he great,
For long has mediocrity
Had seemliness for mate.

Three precious things I hold,
And guard with diligence,
Compassionateness, economy,
And avoiding precedence.
With the first I can be brave,
With the second generous be,
And, while I shrink from precedence,
Hold honor’s high degree.

But if they discard compassion,
And are all for bravery,

Economy, and still are all
For generosity,

If they give up the rearmost place,
And in front they strive to be,

Tis death! For compassionateness will. give
In battle victory,

And Heaven for sure defense will spread
Compassion’s canopy.

 

[ 86 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LXVIII.
Fellowship with Heaven

The great commander is not a warlike man,
The hardest fighter is nof a man of wrath,

The greatest conqueror shares not in the strife,
The great employer treads the workmen’s path.

This is the virtue known as “striving not,”
The wondrous power of utilizing men,

And this is called the fellowship with Heaven,
The fellowship the ancients followed then.

 

[ 87 ]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXIxX.
Profound Use

An experienced soldier said, “I dare not be
The host in war, I’d rather be the guest;
I dare not, at the first, advance an inch,
But rather would retire a foot if pressed.”
It is to march when there’s nowhere to march,
To threat with arms when there are arms nowhere,
To charge without an enemy in sight,
To take by sword and spear when none are there.
Misfortune never greater can there be
Than to make light of enemies in war,
Thereby we lose our all, for then when meet
Embattled hosts, the weak is conqueror.

 

[ 88 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LxXX.
Difficult to Know

My words are most easily known,
Most easy to practise, too,

But none in the world my words can know,
And their practice can pursue.

There’s an Ancestry in my words,
There’s a Head for the things I preach,
But, because they are all misunderstood,
They know not what I teach.

The ones who know me are few,
Bat the few who know me prize,

Though the sage may wear a hair-cloth garb,
The gem in his bosom lies.

 

 

[ 89 ]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXXI.
Knowledge and Its Sickness

To know the not-known, this is something high,
And not to know the known is sick to be,

To be sick of sickness sickness will dispel,

To be sick of ignorance will make us well,
Thereby, the sage from ignorance is free.

 

[ 90 ]

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LXXII.
Loving Oneself

When people to the dreadful give no heed,

On them will come what is their greatest dread;
Then narrow not the dwelling place they need,
Do not depreciate the life they lead,

For from dislike of things dislike is bred.

Therefore the one who knows himself, the sage,
Of what he is himself makes no display,
He loves himself, indeed, from youth to age,
But self-esteem does: not his mind engage,
He chooses that and this he puts away.

 

 

{ 91 J
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXXIIL.
Trusting In Action

Whose courage makes him dare is slain,
He lives whom courage makes refrain,
And harm or profit each will gain;

But Heaven’s hate, what could compel
That it on this or that one fell,

’Tis even hard for sage to tell.

‘Not to strive is Heaven’s way,

And yet it conquers; naught to say,

Yet answers; will uncalled obey;

Its perfect plans in slowness, hide,

The net of Heaven has meshes wide,
But through its meshes none can glide.

 

 

[ 92 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LXXIV.
To Control Delusion

When people fear not death, then why
Affright them with its fear?

If kept in awe of it could I.

Seize one for some wild deed to die,
And slay him? Who would dare?

To slay the slayer stands always
The executioner,

Now, if some one his work essays;

And seeks to slay the one who slays,
That man is sure to err.

Great carpenter, we call him, who
To slay the slayer stands,

And hewing is his work to do,

Who takes the hewer’s place, to hew,
Is sure to cut his hands.

 

{93 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXXV.
Injury from Covetousness

The taxes eaten by the ruling class
Left nothing to be eaten by the mass,
And that is why through famine they must pass.

The ruling class made such a great ado
In ruling men, that these made trouble, too,
And that is why their difficulties grew.

People make light of death in their turmoil,
And, seeking life’s excess, thereby beguile
Themselves till death, made light of, claims his spoil.

On life to set less store is therefore best,
It thus becomes a far more worthy quest
Than when ’tis made one’s ruling interest.

 

ee

 

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LXXVI.
Caution Against Strength

Man in his life is tender and weak,
He dies, and is rigid and strong,
Trees and grass in their life are supple and weak,
They die, and are stiff as a prong;
‘What accompany life are the tender and weak,
And death are the stiff and the strong.
The conqueror fails who relies on his strength,
The tree in its strength the woodman will chop,
The strong and the great will stay under, at length,,
And the tender and weak on the top.

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXXVILI.
The Way of Heaven

May not the Way of Heaven be compared
To the bending of a bow,

Bringing down the part which formerly was high,
And raising up the low?

It takes from men their superabundant things,
Which to the poorer go.

But while it is the Way of Heaven to curb
All superfluity,

‘And supplement, for those who lacking are,
Their own deficiency,

‘Men’s way is different quite, they rob the poor,
That richer they may be.

Who are the men who, with great store of wealth,
Their fellow-men can bless

By serving them? ‘Tis only who, themselves,
The Tao of Heaven possess.

Therefore the sage will act, but never claim
Himself the benefits,

Accomplish deeds of merit, then retire
Unseen from where he sits;

‘And does he ever seek to make display
Of worth he ne’er admits?

 

 

 

[ 95 ]
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

 

 

LXXVIII.
True Faith

There is nothing weaker than water,
Or easier to efface,

But for attacking the hard and the strong
Nothing can take its place.

That the tender conquers the rigid,
That the weak overcomes the strong,

The whole world knows, but in practice who
Can carry the work along?

“Who bears the sins of his country,”
‘We know from the sage’s word,

“Shall be called the master of sacrifice,
And hailed as its altar’s lord.’’

“Who carries his country’s woes,
The curse of the land wh» bears,

Shall be called the king of the world”; ’tis true,
Though a paradox it appears.

 

[ 97 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXXIX.
To Sustain Agreements

When parties long in animosity

Are reconciled, a grudge there still will be,
Some hatred yet remains from that old grudge,
And what will best suffice to make it budge?

The sage will then of his agreement hold

His own, part, leaving others uncontrolled,
Who virtue has, the whole agreement names,
While he who has not, only cites his claims.

The Tao of Heaven no favoritism knows,
But for the good will ever interpose.

 

SSS S| OS SS SSS
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

LXXX.
Standing Alone

Suppose I had a country small,
With people few, and I had there
Some officers of ten,
Or of a hundred men,
I'd not employ those men at all;
Though death were feared, unfrightened then,
My people would not emigrate elsewhere.

They might have carriages and boats,
But not in them to ride away,

They might have warlike arms,

But never war’s alarms
Would call them with their hateful notes;
They’d even forget how writing charms,
And knotted cords again they would display.

Then would they relish homely food,

Their plain clothes would seem elegant,
Though dwellings might be poor,
Content would guard the door,

And simple habits, plain and good,

Far better than they knew before,

A sense of fresh enjoyment would implant.

A neighboring state might be in sight,
The voice of fowls and dogs be heard,
But life like that would make
My people such joy take
In their own state, that till the night
Of age should their enjoyment slake,
And they should die, they’d not exchange a word.

 

[ 99 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LXXXI.
Making Clear the Substance

Sincere words are not fine,
Fine words are not sincere,

[The Faithful friend will stick to the end,
But the flatterer tickles the ear.]

The skillful do not debate,
Debaters lack in skill,

[For truth is found by looking around,
And words are weapons of ill.]

The knowing are not most learned,
The most learned do not know,

[For knowledge is grown from thought alone,
While learning from others must grow. ]

The sage lays up no treasure,
‘No hoard of goods or gold,

[For they who keep a store-house deep,
A constant watch must hold.]

The more he works for others
The more he works for his own,
[For it grows by use, is lost by abuse,
And he gathers by what he has sown.]

oo

 

[ 100 J

 
 

 

THE TAO TEH KING

The more he gives away,
The more does he have himself,

[For thought’s a thing that from thought will spring,
Which is quite the reverse of pelf.]

The Way of Heaven is sharp,
But it never will cut nor wound,

[For they who swim with the flowing stream
Will ever be safe and sound.]

Tis the way of the sage to act,
He acts but never strives,

[For striving breaks whatever it makes,
And only a wreck survives. ]

END OF THE TAO TEH KING

 

[ ror }
 

 

THE EPILOGUE

 

 
 

 

THE EPILOGUE

 

 

So wrote the ancient sage they call Lao Tsze,
The day he passed out from the sight of men.

The tale’s a strange one: full a hundred years
Had passed like benedictions o’er his head
And left him rich in thought and filled with truth.

Curator of the Royal Library,

The stores of China’s learning all were his,
Review, and introspection, and outlook,

The broadening views from long experience,
And fellowship with those who gathered round;
And to this all-enripened intellect

Came down the efflux from the infinite.

The dynasty was tottering, selfishness
Grew master, and all else subordinate,

The times were out of joint, the end was nigh,
—There was the wilderness, he took his staff
And wended forth, self-exiled from his home.

The Téo was known of men: God never shuts
The windows of his heaven to those who look,
And this old sage had taught for all these years
The secret of its path, its simpleness,

Its harmony, its wondrous saving grace.

He reached the North-west gate, the barrier-gate,
(Which opened on the vast world-wilderness,

And paused in loneliness. Picture the scene;
Behind him China’s ancient palaces,

Her cultured hills and plains, her roads, her streams,
The people he had loved and taught, the friends

And neighbors of his honored hundred years;

And there wild feudal tribes in warlike waves,
Melting afar in endless desert plains

Where savages, enwrithed with wild beasts, fought;

 

 

ar nero [ 103 ] aie
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

And here the gateway of this mighty wall
Now closing on his living sepulchre.
The warden of the gate bowed low and said,
“Master, about to pass from sight of men,
I pray you here and now, before you go,
Write me the book that all the world require.”
He sat and wrote, on that dividing line
Between the known and the unknown beyond,
The book, the TAO-TEH, and there revealed
The Tao, its attributes, its lessons full
Of all that makes for life and happiness,
Of all that leads to truth and usefulness,
The richest legacy man ever left,
Though dowered with the wealth of gods, to man.
’Twas five and twenty centuries ago,
And from that day to this the magic work,
Magic alone in its simplicity,
Its noble virtue, its unselfishness,
Its truth in full perspective and detail,
For those who were, and are, and are to be,
Stands loftiest, and oldest of its kind.
And yet, to some it seemed a stumbling block
In China, and to strangers foolishness,
But in our modern sun-burst lo! it stands
In full but silent harmony with God,
And he with it, as when he stood alone
Beneath the barrier-gate, the tomb which closed,
When he passed on to immortality.
Go to the boasted science of to-day,
Around which darkness crowds on every side,
Which occupies an island, phantom-lit,
Which seeing little, comprehending less,

 

See Ge as SAE: To4 = See
THE EPILOGUE

 

 

Would chart the universe from a grain of sand.
Go to the great philosophers, who can,

Pythagoras, Heraklitus, and those

Who came before great Plato, after him

The might of Aristotle, ruling men

For ages, then the systems verging on

Through medieval darkness to the birth

Of that Cartesian surge which, like the flow

And ebb of some great tide, still laps our shores.
Go to the dim traditions of the past,

Read the Book of the Dead, the papyri,

And Egypt’s rock-encarved philosophy;

Grope through the shards of Babylonian plains,

City on city built, ruin on ruin,

Still o’er and o’er, till back the flood of years

Sweeps us beyond the priest-marked dawn of man,

And mocks at superstition’s little inch;

Trace up the sacred Hebrew stream which ran,

A rill of light, athwart the ancient world,

And flashed into everlasting flame in ours;

Gather the huge Vedanta in your grasp,

Thread the vast maze of Buddhist literature,

Sift out the Saracen philosophy,

Burrow in Aztec mounds or Mayan graves,

Trace where you will the legends, half effaced,

Which mark the march of mind along life’s way.
Then turn to this poor old philosopher

Who wrote in water; but the mighty thought

Grew crystal-solid, and the message grew

Till twice ten-thousand millions paused and heard,

And heeded, and the mighty truth was born

Which time, nor war, nor famine ever stilled,

 

[ 105 (_ SSS

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

Nor shall, while suffering men on earth remain.

Was he inspired? Aye, doubly, trebly so;
The very soul of nature spoke in him,

And that which antedated Nature’s soul,
The Nameless, in its everlasting flow.
From the abyss this solitary voice,

Amid the crash of dynasties, he heard,
And simple, fearless, of its mysteries

This prophet of the past and future spake.

Not like great Moses, when with soul aflame
He faced the host of Pharaoh in his might,
Not like Elijah, when with wrathful mien
He braved alone the phrenzied priests of Baal;
Nox like the martyr burning at the stake,

Or mighty heroes sweeping legions on;
Nor like the hermit prince of India’s plains,
Or great Mahomet with his sword of faith.

Yet most like him in that he lived among
His fellows in their own simplicity,

And, when the time had come, his message gave,
Sublime, eternal, all-embracing, full,

Then disappeared, as one caught up from earth,
Not in their sight who stood, and raptured gazed,
But disappeared like mist in that great blue,
Unknown, unmarked, unheralded, unseen.

Where is he now? We know, where’er he is,
He still is part of that eternal Tao,

Still walks its perfect way, still lives its life,
And teaches its eternal truth to men.

Let us not measure him by our finesse,

Our modern word-entanglements and twists,
Like goggled sentence-makers passing by;

 

[ 106]
 

 

THE EPILOGUE

 

 

Wouldst measure mountain peaks with ropes of sand,
Or sound the great deep with feathers on a string?
The thin archaic language of that day
Grew splendid in its power beneath his hand.
Plain-spoken, as behooves plain-speaking men,
Straightforward, as the path which duty treads,
Pure, as the ether which envelops all
And interpenetrates, with living fire;
Homely, as honest men who love their homes,
Wise in statecraft, in peace, in change, in war,
And simple-minded, as the great ones are.
“The Old Philosopher,” Confucius called him,
Grimly admiring what he taught, and was,
But understood him not, saying “if we
Do good to them that do us harm, then what
Shall be their recompense who do us good?”
Aye, what indeed? For this great teacher cried
“Recompense good with good, and evil, too,
With good;” he comprehended that great law
Which makes the blessed rain alike to fall
On just and unjust; that if we would share
One part of that great whole, we must share all;
That man’s high-water mark, the golden rule,
Is but the law of God as God is law.
What was the message of this holy man,
Who hated Holiness? benevolent,
Who all our cheap Benevolence despised?
This philanthropic man, who saw the snare
Of our Philanthropy, and turned aside?
Who reaching all great goals, yet hated goals?
And who, all seeking, all self-seeking scorned?
Go to some tidal shore, and watch the flow,

 

 

{ 107 ]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

Go to some forest vast, and trace the growth,
Go to yon river, sweeping silently,
Note the wee people of the bank and turf,
Then lift your eyes to the stars; what see you there?
Whence the great thoughts which come unheralded?
—Take this white page; draft on it nature’s plan;
Tis done; and white the paper yet remains.
A planet swerves, ’tis dragged from harmony;
A forest falls, it was the tempest’s blast;
A river bursts its swollen banks, and sweeps
Its besom over devastated plains;
The ants and bees on battle-fields engage;
We force the thought—lo! it is commonplace,
We strive, and break our fingers and our teeth.
He mars who makes, he breaks who strives to grasp;
Await the word; be still that you may hear;
Watch! wait! follow! harm not! help!
Gather the fruit of life; thank God and live!
Yet not the doing was it he condemned,
For laziness is twin with selfishness,
But the sharp shove which thrusts a fellow-man
Into the torrent from a crowded bridge,
The aim which sends the deadly bullet forth
To tear a prize from nature’s heart, and leaves
The man successful by the peaceful pool
Where a wounded dove lies gasping, bleeding, dying.

Now read your Bible, sluggard,—read again,
Gather new meanings from its warp and woof;
Learn the God-gospel of unselfish man,
—And if you cannot, close its poisoned page,
It is not food for you, nor you for gods.

 

 

SS [108 }
 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

ANALYTICAL INDEX OF SUBJECTS

CONTENTMENT.

Chapter XXXIJII. He who is satisfied is rich.

Chapter XLIV. Who knows he has enough, never knows disgrace.

Chapter XLVI. He who knows contentment has the all-sufficient cure,
and, satisfied, will endure evermore.

Chapter LXVII. I hold three precious things: Compassionateness, Econ-
omy, and Avoiding precedence.

Chapter LXXV. On life to set less store is therefore best.

Chapter LXXIX. What will best suffice to make a hatred budge?

The incessant teaching of the Tao Teh is patience and contentment, with-
out strife or quarreling. Only justice can justify contention, and striv-
ing disturbs the equanimity on which all true advancement and happi-
ness depend. The absence of disturbing desires, the seeking for direct
knowledge from the heart of nature itself, by observation and experi-
ence, are constantly insisted on. The great object in life is to be in
accord with the great integrating principle of the universe, and to assist
this harmony, instead of to oppose and disturb it.

Chapter LXXXI. ’Tis the way of the sage to act; he acts, but uever
strives.

The more he works for others, the more he works.for his own.
The more he gives away, the more does he have himself.
DESIRES.

Chapter I. The desire strongly felt prevents accomplishment.

Chapter III. Repression of desires keeps the mind at ease.

Chapter XXXVII. Here we have a curious paradox. After the trans-
formation, by sinking all, in the harmony of Tdo and its operations, if
the old leaven of unrest should again assert itself, by a desire for
change, he would meet it by citing the TAo’s ineffable simplicity, to
which all would consent. But if this simplicity were itself mixed with
desire, it would no longer be simplicity, but complexity; so, by adher-
ing to the simple, everything would continue on as before. There is,
apparently, a latent humor in this part of the chapter.

 

 

[ 109 ]—
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

Chapter XLVI. There is no greater sin than to sanction fell desires.

Chapter LV. They call the heart directed spirit strength. This is spoken
ironically.

Chapter LXIV. The sage does not desire the things desired by others.

Chapter LXVII. To discard compassion, and economy, and strive for pre-
cedence, is death.

Chapter LXXV. Result of pursuing life’s intensity; death takes us una-
wares.

Chapter LXXVI. The conqueror fails who relies on his strength.

EXISTENCE AND NON-EXISTENCE.

Chapter I. Existence and non-existence are here contrasted, and shown
as joined in one grand progression, in which spirit, the producer, now
manifests itself.

Chapter II. In this remarkable series of eontrasts, each member demand-
ing its complement, existence and non-existence are described as broth-
ers, not opponents of each other. This is beautifully elaborated in the
commentaries of Kwang Tsze, on this chapter.

Chapter IV. The development of existence, from stage to stage, is de-
scribed, and it is traced back to that state of God and of the T&o in
which intellect and will are presented, somewhat as pictured in von
Hartmann’s philosophy of the Unconscious, or, in Swedenborg’s Flux
and Influx, under the forms of love and wisdom.

Chapter VI. The “Spirit of the Valley” is shown as producing forms.
This is the aneient name of the Spirit of the Universe. ,

Chapter XI. The usefulness of materia] things is only for the sake) of the
non-material or spiritual.

Chapter XL. Existence arises from the non-existent. The processes are
spontaneous and evolutional.

Chapter XLII. The process of existence is pictured from its beginning,
first in the Tao, then through the One, the Two, the Three, and the
All.

Chapter XLIII. The non-existent entera everywhere, irrespective of phy-
sical obstructions.

Chapter L. The opening sentences of this chapter deal with the problem
of life and death and of existence. It will thus be clearly seen that is
death is the home, and death the returning home, while life is the
going forth. The “home” is the permanent dwelling place, from whieh
we go forth like temporary travelers; but our treasures, our sources of
supply, our families, and all that makes life worth living, are in our
home, which is our permanent place, our rest, our reward. The word

[ 110]

 

 
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

‘woo is used for non-existence, It literally signifies: not, without,
destitute of, wanting, the state between emptiness and nothingness.
The character is compounded of the radicals ef fire and of blood, with
the horizontal stroke of unity crossing the latter.

It is this non-existence from which, as stated in Chapter XL, ex-
istence was brought forth, and all things came into being. The com-
pound radicals making up the character woo suggest curious specula-
tions as to actual nothingness. Substances are only known as sub-
stances by their sensible properties. Without these properties such
substances might be conceived as omniprésent, filling all space, and yet
being actually nothingness. Outside this, conceptions of nothingness
are simple mental abstractions of no value whatever.

Kwang Tsze, in his commentaries on the Tao Teh King, who wrote
shortly after Lao Tsze’s time, discussed these questions in a manner
which no philosophical casuistry has ever surpassed.

“Some held that at first there was not anything. A second class
held that there was something, but without any responsive recognition
of it.” This is the point referred to above, regarding sensible quali-
ties. “A third class held that there was such recognition, but there
had not begun to be any expression of different opinions about it.”
Again, he says, “There was existence; there had been no existence.
There was no existence before the beginning of that no existence.
There was no existence previous to the no existence before there was
the beginning of no existence. If suddenly there was non-existence,
we do not know whether it was really anything existing, or really not
existing.” What is the value, he says, of such speculations?

The keynote of all such questions must be in the existence of energy,
which is all we know of either force or matter, and only then when
mutually interacting. Outside this, there is nothing but mental ab-
stractions, of no force or value. So of the questions of time and eter-
nity, and of space and infinity. Kant, in his antinomies, clearly
brought out these mental abstractions, showing that either alternative
is equally untenable; which proves that these difficulties are not in
the things themselves, or in their absence, but in our limitations, aa
only affected by phenomena sensible to ourselves, who are, ourselves,
limited in grasp, and grossly imperfect in our senses. Matter may e3-
ist, enormous in potential and actual stress, which to us is absolutely
nothingness, because its powers do not affect our five senses of touch,
taste, sight, hearing, or smell, or appear in terms interpretable into
these senses. Were it not that light and electrical oscillations are in

 

[111]

 
 

synchronal rhythm with the luminiferous ether, and with the eye, the
luminiferous ether itself, for us, would have absolutely no existence,
and yet it would exist just the same; for this synchronism of rhythm
is merely accidental, except on the teleological basis, which material-
ism rejects, or strives to reject.

A recent writer, on the other hand, in favor of the idealistic view,
that matter is non-existent, and only mind exists, nas attributed our
ideas of matter, as contradistinguished from mind, as due to our own
ignorance, holding that it is merely ‘‘a mortal belief.” But suppose
that it were not a mortal belief, but a ‘‘divine belief,” that is to say,
a distinction made by the Tao or the Ti, as a fundamental basis of
existence, then all our mortal ideas would fail to dislodge the belief,
or make it false; it would be as eternally true as any other eternal
truth; and would be founded on the primal constitution of things.

EVOLUTION AND INVOLUTION.

There is no original ‘“‘creation’”’ to be found in all the chapters of
this work; all is development or evolution, interchanging, at times,
with involution. The terms used are “brought forth,’ (Chapter I);
“motherhood,” (Chapters I, VI.); “produced,” etc

Chapter XVI. The causes of evolution, and of alternating involution, are
here followed out through a complete cycle.

Chapter XXI. Here again we find described the processes of development
of all the universe, but in another aspect. Some translators have com-
plained of repetitions in some of the chapters of the Tao Teh, but when
carefully studied and rendered, every one will be round individual in
itself, and different from all the others.

Chapter XXV. Here we have a picture of the great primordial processes.
The “‘returning,’’ on which so much stress is laid, is that great process
of involution, the key of which will be found in Chapter XLII.

Chapter XXXIV. This is another of those great chapters on evolution,
in which the interpretation, which is missing in all modern theories
of evolution, excepting that of Lamarck, is here clearly presented, and
insisted on, from start to finish.

The pervading principle is present in all changes, but the individ-
ual existences are not cognizant of its controlling presence. It takes
no control.

Chapter XL. “A returning.” The production of all things, and the pro-
duction of existence from what is apparently nothingness, by an evo-
lution, and not a creation.

 

 
 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

Chapter XLII. The grand process of evolution is here directly stated, and
the interstitial spirit-harmonizer is described, which accompanies and
carries on every change from the Yin nature to the Yang nature.

Chapter LI. The evolution of life is here depicted with the “great inte-
grating principle of the universe’ as the mover and sustainer. The
T4o acta, and in its activity manifests itself as the Teh, or its oper-
ating attributes or virtues. In the third portion uf the chapter this
difference in unity is clearly brought out.

FUTURE LIFE.

L&o Tsze’s teachings on this subject are very clear and explicit;
far more so than those of any other writer of any age at all approach-
ing his in antiquity. This was due to his teachings regarding spirits
of the dead, which he believed to manifest themscives as tangible
realities, at times, and, in fact, to the whole spiritual basis of his philos-
ophy. In Chapter XLII there is a spirituality acting between every
two changes of either matter or mind, which leads the less developed
into the more developed. Spirit, or spirituality, in its broadest sense,
ia the fundamental chord of all the harmonies of the Tao-Teh.

Chapter XXXIII. The man who dies and does not perish, lives Jonger
still; a Chinese expression for immortality.

Chapter XLIV. Long endure, evermore secure. A man like this is fitted
to continue on serenely and securely forever.

Chapter XLVI. The contented will evermore endure.

Chapter L. This greatly admired chapter opens with the sublime text,
“The going forth is life; the coming home is death.” Death is the
gateway of return to the real life, the involution physically into a new
and grander evolution. Man goes out as a traveler and returns home
enriched with the lessons of life and mind, and experience.

Some translaters have imagined that the “three in ten” are ghostly
pursuers of the living. Nothing is more absurd. Suppose we should
say that among ten college graduates there were three followers of the
law, three pursuers of medicine, three who followed a soldier’s life, and
one who pursued philosophy. Who would imagine that the ghosts of
these various callings were pursuing them as phantoms, in a mytho
logical sense, to drag them down?

Some commentators have objected to the concluding portion of
the chapter as unwarrantedly promising immunity from death. But

‘this is not true; the exemption is from death through preventable
causes only. This especial one takes such care, and is so capable of
managing his life, that the dangers into which fools rush, and are lost

[113]

 

 
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

thereby, he simply prepares himself for, and passing on with equanim-
ity and courage, he finds them recede as he advances. ‘This is surely the
experience of mankind in all ages. In this sense there is immunity,
but he does not even promise this as a fact; its form, as a parable or
saying which he endorses, is shown, by its opening clause, ‘““As I have
heard it said.” Such a man does not escape death, which is natura]
and inevitable, but he escapes the ‘‘bad death” referred to in Chapter
XLII. “The violent and aggressive a good death do not die.”

“The coming home is death.” ‘This is the returning, of Chapter
XL. It is involution, but the returning is when completed and per-
fected; something has been gained and will be retained from the ex-
perience of existence. In Chapter XXII we read, “They will be truly
perfected, and will return home.” In Chapter XVI, “These return-
ings of command are called eternal; to know the eternal is compre
hension; breadth of comprehension is royal; the royal is heavenly;
heavenly means the Tao; the Tao is everlasting; and the death of the
body results in no loss.” This is the uniform teaching of the Tao Teh.

Chapter LII. This chapter eoncludes with what appears to be, in effect,
the theme of the well-known hymn, “Lead, Kindly Light.” Employ
the Light (of the Tao), and return home to its source in brightness,
and your body will not be subject to calamity, and you will train or
exercise, (literally flap your wings), with the Eternal.”

The concluding lines of each portion of this chapter deal with the
promised future life by a periphrasis idiomatic with the Chinese.

Chapter LXII. This beautiful chapter is full of the promise of future life,
“And that the sin-bound even escape thereby.”

Chapter LXXVI. The strong and the great will finally stay under, and
the tender and weak on the top. It should be observed, of this future
life, that its character is determined by our conduct and character
here; and that we have free-will in its fullest sense. In Chapter LI,
the sense of honor and gratitude among creatures is not by command,
by foreordination, but is altogether spontaneous; in Chapter XXXIV,
no one is refused the gift, and the great producer does not claim merit
or ownership; in Chapter XXVII, there is an important spiritual
bond among all men, which induces the good to instruct the bad, and
the bad to be material for the good, with mutual love and esteem.
So, in Chapter XXVIII, the character of the sage self-determines its
relationship to the future life. The teaching is that beings are de-
tached from, but remain co-ordinated with, the primal.

 

= {114]

 
 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

GOVERNMENT.

Chapter XVII. This chapter points out the different stages of the rale
of men, from the earliest, which was spontaneous almost, and imper-
ceptible, down to the faithless tyranny of later ages. Success in govern-
ment is dependent on the pressure being unperceived. It conforms to
Jefferson’s well-known saying, “That government is the best whieh
governs least,” that is, which interferes least with personal ..verty.

In Chapter III, the desires of the people to work up schemes of
government among themselves (which are really for the government
of others by themselves, or political intrigue) are described as deleteri-
ous to their welfare. The sage’s government revises all this, and leaves
the course natural.

Chapter XXV. In the latter part of this chapter the sequence of divine
order is presented. One of the greatnesses of the universe is that of
kings, which, of course, includes, as stated in Chapter XXVIII, the
rulers of the realm under whatever titles they may administer the goyv-
ernment.

Chapter XXXVI. The concluding two lines are perhaps the ofteneat
quoted of all the proverbs of China. They are of universal application,
not only in China but elsewhere.

Chapter XLV. Who sees his preat work as incomplete can work on, by
his knowledge and reserve power, without decay. A man should be
his own most unsparing critic.

Chapter XLVIII. Who would obtain the realm to govern it, must do so
without intrigue or scheming; if he use intrigue, by intrigue he will
be defeated, and rendered unfit for the government he would estab-
lish.

Chapter LIII. This chapter is concerned with the difficulties of govern-
ment, on account of the perversity of popular notions and habits. The
people appear to prefer cross-paths or by-ways to the plain and simple
ones of the Great Tao. The condition of the country under such per-
verted rule is described; there are splendid palaces, and uncultivated
fields and empty granaries; there is robber rule, which is the reverse
of the TAo; it is these powerful drawbacks which would deter him
from assuming government off-hand. Confucius attempted a similar

task in several] instances, but lost his place every time by endeavoring

to suddenly institute reforms. Compare this chapter with Chapter
XXIX; who undertakes to ‘“‘make the realm” over is predestined to
failure.

 

 

(115)
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

Chapter LVII. The rule of the empire can only be obtained, open and
above-board; intriguing will not avail.

The succeeding parts of the chapter show that, as prohibitive laws
are multiplied, poverty increases; as the people become familiar with
warlike appliances, disorder increases; as artifice and cunning are fos-
tered, craftiness increases among the people, and “the more laws the
more thieves there are.”

Contrasted with this is the typical rule of the sage; whereby the
people become transformed, they love uprightness, they possess wealth,
and plain-mindedness and simplicity of life come spontaneously.

These chapters on government are the very embodiment of sucecssful
administration. It is said that the Chinese have no word which exactly
expresses “liberty.” Certainly “to be of their own chousing” (Chapter
XVII), “to act spontaneously,” “to be in harmony,” to undertake no
restriction, Chapter LVIII, “to be in great agreement,” etc., etc., are
capital substitutes, and are often more definite and full of meaning and
liberty, even, than the overworked word “liberty,” itself, which has
often been kept as a phantom and a snare, long after its substance has
vanished.

Chapter LVIII. .This is another of those prophetic chapters on the art
and. science of government, in which the terse sentences fall like the
‘blows of sledge-hammers. When the government is one of liberality,
the people are prosperous; when it has keen and prying eyes, the peo-
ple fall to poverty and misery. When uprightness itself is perverted
to appear as a strange thing, and joins with wealth and class to oppress
the people, then goodness itself in turn becomes a strange thing, a
monstrosity. The bewilderment of men, its day of wrong has assuredly
long continued, cries the seer.

The typical rule of the sage is then contrasted with the perversion
of right, and rule of wrong. He is square, angular, positive, but harms
none, undertakes no restriction, and illuminates without dazzling.

Chapter LIX. In this chapter are set forth the virtues of moderation, and
its tremendous power in accomplishing the greatest results, and in
making them long enduring, after they have been once achieved. The
habit of moderation is the self-executing law of success.

Chapter LX. Here we have the great plan of successful government get
forth. Rule a great state in the way one would fry little fish. That
is, do not pick out individuals, but treat all alike. As Thomas Jeffer-
son has put it, “Equal rights for all, special privileges to none.”

 

[iG | ae aa

 
 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

It is this principle which is emphasized in Chapter III, the title of
which is “Resting the People.” The attempt to pick out and reward
individuals embitters and induces strife and contention; places should
be filled as common consent makes fitness manifest, and as special
faculties become generally evident. Chapter XIII, on Favor and
Disgrace, illustrates the same principle, wherein dependence on favor
is contrasted with personal honor, worth, independence and the ability
to do one’s duty and bear the consequences.

Chapter LXI. A great state is one that flows downward, not one that
exalts itself; it is compared, to a great valley river, to which all adja-
cent streams are tributaries, and become finally united with it, like a
wife. This chapter is a lesson in the principles of national expansion.
It is self-explanatory and self-convincing. It is fellowship, as contrasted
with conquest.

Ohapter LXV. In government the very hardest thing is the overweening
sapience of the people. Frederick the Great once said that if he
wanted to lose a state he would put a philosopher at the head of it.
These philosophers, however, were the theorizers, the over-sapient, the
closet-statesmen, men who would stake an empire’s existence on the
test of an untried theory; these are the men against whom Lé&o directs
his Chapter XXIX; “spiritual vessels are not made.’ China, in his
day, was full of these speculative idealists and enthusiasts, as the whole
world is to-day. There are certain true, well-established principles of
government, which must be studied in the light of experience; changes
must be gradual and well-studied; the principal evils in government
are the results of overcomplexity, and lack of farsightedness, and these
are largely due to the lack of what Tennyson prayed for,

“One still strong man in a blatant land.”

Chapter LXXII. Do not render the people dissatisfied with their condition;
do not depreciate the life they lead; dislike in great things is bred of
dislike in small. Do not make discouraging self-displays; keep per-
sonal worth and self-esteem as private matters. Let the government
‘be simple and liberal. In the language of Chapter XXXVI, “Keep the
sharp tools of the state from sight of the people.”

Chapter LXXIV. By constant fear of death, the people cease to fear it;
by making its infliction a matter of mere impulse or caprice on the
part of a ruler, a general recklessness of life is produced. The only
security is to adhere to prescribed forms, and justly and impartially
execute the laws; without this the people will be rendered uncon-
trollable, and the ruler finally will only injure himself. The condition

 

 

 

[107 ] ==
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

of China, at the time these words were written, (B. C. 500), was a
vast living exemplar of their truth, and history has frequently repeated
iteelf since then.

Chapter LXXV. This is another of those powerful chapters on govern-
ment, and which are as applicable to our own time and country. as to
encient China, The ruling class, or those above, acted with selfishness
and injustice.

“The starvation of the people comes from those above consuming
too much in taxes; therefore the people starve.”

“The difficulty in the governing of the people comes from those
above making too much ado; therefore the people are difficult to
govern.”

Chapter LXXVIII. This remarkable chapter has been a source of wonder
to all the translators; they have endeavored to trace back the exam-
ples to some old rulers of antiquity, but itis unnecessary; it is pre-
cisely the result of the principle enunciated in the concluding part of
Chapter XIII, and is in accordance with all of Lao’s philosophy.

“Shall be called the King of the World.” This has sometimes been
translated as the Emperor of China; this is totally unwarranted; the
title of the Emperor is correctly given in Chapter LXII, as Tien Tsz’,
the Son of Heaven. In the present chapter the term is King of all
under heaven. It is purposely made general, as it has been in the
grand old hymn Coronation, (where it is similarly applied),

“And crown Him Lord of all.”
It is not a mere literal statement of an incident; it is the great out-
working of the Way of Heaven, and is prophetic and of universal ap-
plication, for all times and all peoples.

Chapter LXXX. This almost concluding chapter of the book will remind
the reader irresistably of Beranger’s “King of Yvetot,” the “Cotton
night-cap King.”

It is a half-philosophical, half-humorous description of a sort of
Utopia, and is used to illustrate, as a sort of allegory, some of the
teachings of the previous chapters. It is capital in its way, and in the
original is full of quaint humor and good sense. It is the picture of
a little community which minds its own business, in the midst of great
surrounding states, and, once in a while, in history, one comes across
such an isolated community, and we feel the exhilaration, as it were,
of a fresh breeze. It pictures the survival of a pure and patriarchal
age, and must be understood as a picture, like that of Chapter LIII,
eketched with a free hand for striking effect.

 

 

( 118 ]=ss-es
 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

gop.

QOhapter IV. The Ancestor of All. It is impossible to determine whether
the TAo was antecedent to God, or God antecedent to the Taio. The
word Ti (God) is only used once in this work, which is in this chapter;
these two are, in fact, indeterminate aspects of the same entity, the
one as will or action, the other as consciousness or spirit.

Chapter XLII. “The Tao produced One.”

Chapter LII. The first part of this chapter is a warning against poly-
theism. ‘The Mother of the World came to be, as the embodiment of
the Nameless, which, in Chapter I, is declared to be one and the same
with the Named, its manifestation, which is the Motherhood. This
Motherhood produces all things, which are thus, comprehensively, her
offspring. If one knows things as mere productions of the mother, and
is not beguiled from the mother by devotion to her creatures, then
when his body dies, (that is, when his physical life ends), he will still
be safe, which is a Chinese form of saying, he will be safe in the
after-life, or in eternal life.

Chapter LXII. Under the guise of the Tao, in this chapter, will be found
a most perfect picture of the highest type of religion. T&o is the
hidden refuge; its beautiful words buy great things; the sin-bovnd
escape.

GREED.

Chapter IX. Overfilling, wealth and place when linked with pride, brings
on ruin.

Chapter XLIV. Hoarding to excess brings ruin. Who knows he has enough,
never knows disgrace.

Chapter XLVI. No calamity greater than grasping to possess.

Chapter L. The greed of life; this leads to death by the very striving for
life and its fulness.

Chapter LILI. The results, in a nation, of universal greed are depicted
vividly in this chapter. -

Chapter LXVII. To discard compassion, and economy, and strive to be
in front, is death.

Chapter LXXV. The Greed of Life causes men to make light of death.

Chapter LXXIX. He without virtue only cites the claims of hia own side;
the virtuous man recites the whole agreement.

HEAVEN AND EARTH.

Chapter IJ. The ineffable brought forth Heaven and Earth. These terms
are not used in a theological, but in a cosmical sense. Heaven and
Earth (the nameable or definable) became, through the Tao, the

[119] aoe

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

Mother of all things. The Nameless and the Named are in reality dif-
ferent phases of the same entity.

Chapter V. Their ways are not “benevolent;” they are equitable and just,
but without favoritism or preference. (See Chapter LXXIX.)

Chapter VII. They continue on ceaselessly because they do not live for
themselves.

Chapter XXXII. “Heaven and earth sweet dews would bring,” if rulers
would only conform to the T&o, and the people would know no rule
but harmony.

In Chapter V heaven and earth are compared to a bellows, which,
when apparently inactive, collapses not, but is exhaustless, and ever
ready to act when occasion requires. Babblers, on the contrary, ex-
haust themselves to no purpose. In this they do not conform to the
principles of heaven and earth, and so have no safety. So, in Chapter
XXIII, the lesson is repeated, that heaven and earth, even, are not
able to continue in stress and storm, and much less can man do go.

HEAVEN’S WAY.

This is used in the sense of manner of doing, not in the sense of way or
road. These are very powerful chapters, which describe “the Way of
Heaven.”

Chapter [X. When work is done and reputation is advancing, to then
retire is Heaven’s Way.

Chapter XVI. The Tao, when followed by men, results in the heaven-like,
and eternal.

Chapter XLV. In purity and clearness is the type of all under heaven
made manifest.

Chapter LV. In the last part of this chapter the opposite of Heaven’s
Way is depicted, and the result. So also is the third part of Chapter
LXXV.

Chaptcr LXVIII. ‘“Vhis is called the fellowship with Heaven, the perfect
fellowship the ancients followed.” It is here applied to great leaders
of men.

Chapter LN XIII. This is the old, old question, discussed from the birth
of man, of moral responsibility, of right and wrong, and of retribution;
“?Tis hard even for a sage to tell.”

But, in the second portion of the chapter the answer is given on a
broad and philosophical basis. Taking Heaven’s Way as a study, we
find that there is no striving, and yet it conquers; it is silent, and yet
it answers; uncalled for, it obeys; it is slow, yet its devices are per:

ee ee ee ee ee ee [. 120 J SS
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

fecb. The character rendered “slowness” has the sense of slowness,

patience, deliberateness.

The chapter concludes with the lines which recall the classical
couplet,
4 “The mills of the gods grind slowly,

But they grind exceeding small.”

Chapter LXXVII. This beautiful chapter on the Way of Heaven, as con-
trasted with the eelfishess of man, is almost unrivalled. This is par-
ticularly so in the third portion, wherein it is asserted that even the
wealthy are unfit to dispense their wealth in charity, unless they them-
selves possess the Tao, the Way of Heaven. Comparing this part with
the preceding portions of the chapter, and with the previous chapters
on Benevolence, etc., the reason will be at once seen; those who have
spent the greater part of their lives in taking from the people in order
to secure wealth for themselves, are unfit to redistribute that wealth,
or even a small part of it, under the guise of benevolence, or love for
their fellow-men, which is often put # pretense 1ur self-display and self-
ishness. It is, says LAo Tsze, worse than the generosity of the highway-
man, like Claude Duval, or John Murrell, who robbed the rich, to scatter
their wealth among the poor. Such benevolence, in these cases, pre-
supposes a long prior career of injustice, selfishness, and robbery, in
order to acquire the superabundance now to be doled out in small
portions, as conscience money, at the will of the holder, who has been
trained only in this bad school, and after the keen gratification of gain
has palled on the appetite. In Chapter XLIV, it is asked, “Is your loss
or gain the more grievous?” Who knows? In the New Testament
another has said, “Ye cannot serve both God and Mammon;” as Lao
puts it, “Ye cannot serve both your fellow-men and Mammon.”

The chapter concludes with the contrast of the Sage’s way, (which
is Heaven’s Way), with the way of eelfishness, which is men’s way.

(See Chapters II, IX, and XXIII.)

Chapter LXXIX. The Tao of Heaven knows no favoritism, but always
interposes for the good; that is, for those who do not assert merely
their own claims, but adhere to the whole bond and agreement, both
between man and man, and man and God.

ENOWLEDGE. :

There is an opinion prevalent that L&o Tseze was opposed to knowledge,
and also that he was opposed to doing or working. Nothing could be
more erroneous, and such errors were entirely due to the earlier and
defective translations, often made under bias.

eee as T21t I Sa Ga Sea

 
THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

 

Chapter XXXII. This will recall the teaching of Socrates, who lived more
than a century later, “Know thyself.”

Chapter XLVII. Without going beyond his doorway, or peeping out of
his window, one may know all under heaven; the farther one goes from
home, the more distant becomes sxuowledge. The great factors of
knowledge are quietude, humility and receptivity. (See Chapter XVI.)

Chapter XLVIII. The acquisition of “learning,” and the knowledge de
rived from following the Tfo are here contrasted.

Chapter LII. This deals with the higher knowledge, which leads to the
eternal. The beautiful idea, which is true, that to “keep what is ten-
der is strength,”’ recalls the lines of Bayard Taylor—

“The bravest are the tenderest,
The loving are the daring.”

Chapter LXIII. This is a chapter on forethought in business. It is full of
shrewdness and knowledge; of caution and foresight; of acting with
decision, but of making no mistakes by underrating the task. It con-
tains one of the statements of the Golden Rule, “And recompense hatred
with deeds of goodness.” This “goodness” is not mere sentimentality,
but active goodness, as in Chapter XLIX; virtue, (that is, the virtue of
the sage, which is the virtue of the T&o, which in turn is the operation
and manifestation of the Tao), is “goodness.”” The statement of the
rule is here applied to business in its broadest sense. It would doubt-
less seem amusing to have it quoted in a modern “business assemblage”
as a part of their ordinary rules of practice, where the motto is, “Do
others, lest they also do you.” But the correct rule is nowhere of suck
commanding importance as just here, in practical, give-and-take business.
Professor Giles, in his recent History of Chinese Literature, translates
a story of the “Country of Gentlemen,” where the results of such a law
prevailing universally in business is most amusingly depicted. A caréful
reading of this chapter alone will convince anyone that the notion that
L&o Tsze taught idleness and ignorance is totally unwarranted; as
indeed the whole Tao Teh conclusively proves.

Chapter LXIV. “The sage learns what others do not learn, he turns back
to their leavings.’” Says R. W. Emerson, in one of his profound and
delightful poems,

“Knowledge this man prizes best
Seems fantastic to the rest;
Sure some god his eye enchants,
What he knows nobody wants.”

Chapter LXXI. “To know the not-known is high; not to know the known
ie sickness.” It is not, as some translators have made it, to know the

 

a 2 = [122] =

 
ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

not-knowable but that which may be known but, by neglect, is not.
By being sick of this sickness of ignorance one dispels the sickness, by
acquiring genuine knowledge, which is mental and spiritual health. The
Tao is the true source of this knowledge. (See Chapter XLVIUI.)
LA&o believed most fully in inspiration.

Chapter LXXXI. This is a rough summing up of the philosophical prin-
ive of the Tao Teh as applied to men, in their dealings with each
other.

“The knowing are not most learned,
The most learned do not know.”

NON-STRIVING.

Chapter II. The sage follows the order of nature.

Chapter III. By quiet work the greatest results are achieved.

Qhapter VIII. Water is used as a type of what conquers by non-striving;
its lesson is applied to men.

Chapter XXIX. The fate of selfish ambition is here portrayed; there need
be no lack of examples, when one reads this chapter. It is not only a
lesson for those who seek to change a people’s condition and destiny
by force, but for those reformers who believe that they too can take the
world in hand and make it over again at once. Not so the sage, as the
concluding lines show; he endeavors to work in silence, and teach by
example.

Ohapter XXXVI. The curious contrasts in the first portion of this chapter
are exactly in accord with fact, but how many have observed it? The
tender and weak overcoming the strong is an essential element of L&o’s
teaching. It frequently recurs in succeeding chapters.

Chapter XLIII. A comparison with water. The advantages of non-acting,
and of silent teaching are described.

Chapter LIT. The doctrines of purity and quietude are here emphasized;
to keep the mouth closed is safety, to keep it open and ignorantly
meddle with affairs is danger, not only here, but for the future life.

Chapter LV. In the-last portion: is to be found the striving, which is con-
trary to the T&o, the “fulness of life,” which, as being out of harmony
‘with the order of the universe, will come to a rapid and unhealthy
maturity, and then suddenly plunge down to decay. The saying of the
New Testament will be recalled, “They who take up the sword shall
perish by the sword.” The lesson is repeated more fully in the third
portion of Chapter LXXV.

Chapter LXIIJ. Perhaps no chapter of the whole eighty-one will give a
better idea of what Lao Tsze actually taught regarding work and
knowledge, than this. His lessons are moderation, foresight, working

 

 

 

[ 123 ]
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

without display, consideration of things from their beginning, avoidance
of precipitancy, and leaving out the baser personal elements, such as
recompensing evil with evil; then, with patience and humility, more
can be accomplished than can be accomplished without it by the utmost
possible “striving.”

Chapter LXVI. “And since he does not strive, no strife with him ever
appears.” This chapter applies to the individual the lesson of Chapter
LXI, in which it is applied to the state.

Chapter LXVIJI. “The virtue known as striving-not.” It is here illus-
trated, in its power of accomplishment, by military, civil and industrial
examples.

Chapter LXXIII. “Not to strive is Heaven’s Way, and yet it conquers;
silent, it} answers; uncalled, it obeys; its perfect plans hide in slowness,

“The net of Heaven has meshes wide,
But through its meshes none can glide.”

Ohapter LXXV. They seek life’s fulness, and make light of death. Thereby
they die suddenly.

Chapter LXXVI.

“The conqueror fails who relies on his strength.”

Chapter LXXVIII. Nothing, for attacking the hard and the strong, ean
take the place of water. But who can carry this principle out in
practice?

Chapter LXXXI. Striving breaks whatever it makes.

“Tis the way of the sage to act,
He acts, but never strives.”
PERSON OR BODY.

Chapter XIII. In this beautiful chapter the distinction between honor and
great sacrifice (which are practically correct renderings of the original,
in sense and contrast), as pertaining to one’s own body, and favor and
disgrace, ag dependent on others, is made the basis, in the concluding
portion, of examples in which these qualities are applied to the highest
purposes. (See below.)

Chapter XLIV. Which is nearer you, your name or your body? Your
person or your pelf? Sacrifice, that is, loss, waste, expenditure, must
pay for excessive love. This connection of love with sacrifice is found
practically applied in the last portions of the preceding chapter, above
referred to, and beautifully explains its meaning. Some translators
have imagined the concluding four lines of Chapter XIII to be a mere
repetition of the preceding four, and have hence omitted them, thereby
losing the whole force of the transcendently powerful lesson, which is
precisely that of the concluding portion of Chapter LXXVIII; “Who

 

=a ee [124] =

 
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

carries his country’s woes, who bears the curse of the land, shall be
called the King of the World.” In Chapter XIII the one who, holding
honor as his own person, takes control of the empire, may be safely
employed to rule it; but the one who holds love as his own person, with
its consequent self-sacrifice, may be entrusted with the empire abso
lutely. The words “honor” and “being used” are contrasted with
“love” and “being entrusted.”
Ohapter LIT. ‘Though his body die, has immunity.”
Ohapter LXXVIII.
“Who bears the sins of his country.”
“Who carries his country’s woes,
The curse of the land who bears,
He shall be called the King of the World.”

The Chinese carefully kept the distinction between one’s own per-
sonality, his individuality, his character, or self, or body, and those
accidents of good or bad fortune which come from without. This haa
always been a determining factor with the whole race and has been a
basic element of their stability, business and personal honesty, and res-
ignation to the inevitable. They cannot command good fortune, but
they can deserve it.

The references to body or person, as tnus distinguished from acci-
dent or environment, are too numerous to cite, but they will be found
running through more than half of the chapters, and nearly all of those
marked “ethical,” in the Table of Contents.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND BENEVOLENCE.

Chapter XVIII. These so-called ‘‘virtues,”” which Lao condemned as arti-
ficial and selfish, were not the “virtues of the Tao,” but their men-made
substitutes, and were affectations and pretenses. In the latter part of
this chapter he shows, by a aarcastic illustration, how impossible it
must be for true benevolence and righteousness to appear as logical
sequences of selfishness and corruption. As Mark Twain once «aid of
certain vices, in the Pacific Islands, after the introduction of the
missionaries, “They only existed in reality and not in appearance.”
In the next chapter, XIX, Lao points out the return track over which
mankind must pass, to again get into touch with the genuine, and give
scope to the true virtues which are the inherent operations and mani-
festations of the TAo itself. In Chapter XX is a magnificent picture
of a people plunged into recklessness and wastefulness of the true, but
at the height of its materia! prosperity; the la: t line reversing the point
of view of the whole picture and presenting tne truth in contrast with

 

[125] —s

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

the sham, and the overwhelming importance of following the divine
leadership.

SIMPLICITY.
This the the “simplicity” of St. Paul, who apeake of ‘‘the simplicity
that is in Christ;” and of Tennyson, who writes,
“And, as the greatest only are,
In his simplicity sublime.”

Chapter XXVIII. This splendid chapter opens with the glory of the
“eternal womanhood,” of Goethe; then turns to its example of majestie
humility and self-abnegation, and concludes with the methods by which
the T&o operates in producing the “vessels of the universe,” which,
among the Chinese, are typical of those who are called to illuminate
and control the destinies of men. The chapter is literally rendered.

Chapter LXIII. The simplicity of a true business life is here depicted,
and the means by which success can be obtained, and a warning is
given against the dangers to be avoided from carelessness and neglect.

Chapter LXX. The teachings of Lao are easily known and easy to praa-
tise, but few know them and few practise them. It reminds one of
Hegel’s saying, when on his death-bed, “I shall leave behind me in all
Europe but one man who understands my philosophy, and he doesn’t.”

We are gradually coming, however, to understand the philosophy
of the Tao Teh.

THE SAGE.
Chapter V. The Chinese characters rendered as Sage, are Shing jin (shang
jan). Jan signifies a man.

Shang is defined by Medhurst as intelligent, possessing intuitive
knowledge, and thorough perspicacity. Shing jin; a sage, a perfeot
man, one great in himself and capable of renovating others; super-
eminently wise and good; one who on hearing a mere sound knows in-
stantly the merits of the whole case. It is compounded of three radi-
cals, the ear, the mouth, or an entrance, and great, eloquent scholar;
one who instantly hears and understands what enters from beyond, and
speaks, as a great scholar, its lessons. In Chapter XV these ancient
sages are depicted as they were, in their studies and investigations.

Chapter XII. He is unselfish; is not misled by desires; avoids the snares
of the mind.

Chapter XXVI. The conduct of the sage in his daily life is here por-
trayed; he is not carried away with enthusiasm, but considers all with
serenity and caution. (See Chapter XLIX).

[126]

 

 
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

Chapter XXVII. The conduct of the sage is here compared with that of
skilled workmen, who make no waste, and in quiet, accomplish the
greatest results.

By a splendid application he now turns to the interdependence of
all mankind, and shows that the more skilled, in goodness, are the
natural instructors of the not good, (which, pu shan, means the bad),
in goodness, and that, when pursuing this course, it would be an extra-
ordinary and incomprehensible thing if those who are being led upward
insensibly should not love their instructors, and the instructors, them-
selves, should not prize the material on which they work. The source
of this mutual help and love is to be found in the miao, the “divine”
of Chapter I, and this is the universal spirit which, when not driven
away or perverted by selfishness and strife, naturally fills all men, and
so makes the spirit manifestation in these modes natural and inevitable.
It is the inworking of the universal TAo, in its passage from the Name-
less to the Named.

Chapter XXIX. The sage takes no part in attempts to violently revolu-
tionize a people by external force; he depends on moderation and ex-
ample.

Chapter XXXIV. The sage acts in a manner imperceptible to, and with-
out the knowledge of, those acted on, like the Tao.

Chapter XLIII. Silent teaching; passive doing; their advantages, com-
parison with water, and with immaterial or spiritual agencies.

Chapter XLIX. In this chapter is broadly stated the substance of the
“Golden Rule,” for the first time. “To those who are good I will be
good; to those who are bad, (pu shan), I will be good also. Virtue
goodness. Those who are faithful I will meet with faith; those who
are faithless, (pu sin), I will also meet with faith. Virtue is faithful-
ness.”

“Virtue” here is the Téo-virtue, and the sage’s conduct is in ae-
cordance with the great basic principle of virtue, and not with that
of the “lex talionis.” So, in Chapter LXXIX, the sage holds only to
the obligations which bind him, in his agreements, leaving the others

uncontrolled; and in Chapter LXIII, the rule is again directly stated,
“Recompense hatred with deeds of goodness.” It was the announce-
ment of this dominating principle of life, by Lao Tsze, to Confucius,
which astonished the latter, who said to his disciples, “If you recom-
pense evil with good, with what then will you recompense good? Re
compense good with good, and evil with justice.”

 

[127]

 
THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

This will clearly show the fundamental and vital difference, or op-
position, between the teachings of Lao and those of Confucius, Con-
fucius dealt with temporary and earthly things, and Lao with the great
truths of eternity.

The people turn their eyes and ears to the sage, and are to him hie
children, irrespective of age or condition, says Lao, in closing this
chapter.

Chapter LXIII. ‘‘So the sage, not acting the great, the great will accom-
plish.”

Chapter LXX. The sage himself, Lao Tsze, speaks here in his own per-
son. He has few followers, few who understand his high doctrines of
purity, goodness and simplicity, but

“Though the sage may wear a haircloth garb,
The gem in his bosom lies.”

Chapter LXXIJ. The sage makes no self display; he loves his own body,
but puts aside self-esteem. In this way he sets an example which, when
followed by others, will ameliorate the people’s condition, prevent dis-
turbing comparisons and depreciation of their lives, and discontent
with their personal conditions.

SPIRIT.

Chapter I. Spirit, in its general expression, in this chapter, is miao, the
apiritual entity, or spirituality, in its comprehensive and pervading
sense; it is the divine, which exists in all, and in which all exist.

Chapter X. Here the animal soul is contrasted with the spiritual soul,
as has been constantly done in all times and ages. The simile of the
animal, or natural, soul to a camp of undisciplined soldiers is familiar
to all. Here, by embracing the unity, the Tao, the great source and
controller of order, disintegration is prevented, harmony is secured,
and universal equity restored.

Chapter XLII. Here we have the inter-acting spirit between the shifting
elements of all change and development, throughout the whole universe.
This is called the immaterial breath, or spirit.

Chapter LV. ‘“‘They call the heart-directed spirit strength.” This is the
limited animal soul, the soul inherited from animal progenitors, which
has its seat, with the passions, in the heart, and not that derived from
the universal TAo; the former leads to excess and ruin, the latter to
moderation and permanent success.

Chapter LX. Here we have directly stated the influence of the spirits of
the dead in the affairs of men. These are the kwei; contrasted with
these are the shan, which are spirit-individualities generally, acting to

resents: [128 ] 2 ee ee

 
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

modify and control. In Chapter XLII the inter-acting spirit between
the yang and the yin is neither kwei, nor shan, but chung chi, or im-
material breath, or empty, harmonious spirit. It is the unconscious, or
sub-conscious, in-worker. In Chapter XX XIX the spirits which of old
attained to the unity, are shan; in Chapter I the great spirit-power or
spirituality is miao. In Chapter X the animal soul is poh, but “the
breath” in ‘“‘guarding the breath” is chi, as in Chapter XLII, but with-
out the qualifying adjective chung. It is used in the same sense as
the “breath of Aleim moved (or brooded) on the face of the waters,”
in the opening chapters of Genesis. These characters may be used
either as nouns or verbs, according to their position. In Chapter LX,
the kwei will not shan; not only the kwei not shan, but the shan not
injure the people. Under the broad and benign rule of the sage, which
injures none, the spirits will act in harmony with him, and unite in
the good deeds of Tao.

Chapter XXXVII. If this chapter be carefully looked into, for its mean-
ing is by no means clear from a cursory reading, it will attract pro-
found attention. The earlier portions of the chapter deal with the
skill acquired by those proficient in certain arts in dealing with phys-
ical problems of a different character; from this the author turns to
the work of the sage, and describes him as, similarly, a conservator of
men and of things, thus being, in goodness a “saver of men,’ and in
business “‘a saver of things.’ This, he declares, is due to his inner
enlightenment. From this, by a bold flight of generalization, he turns
to all mankind, and sees that they fall into great classes of good and
not-good. The good tend to act upon, and instruct and elevate the
not-good, or the bad, while the not-good are the material to be made
good or saved by the good. He finds that, when done by example and
fellowship, and not by arrogance, and dogmatism, the not-good are
grateful for this, and honor and prize their instructors, while, in turn,
the good acquire a love for the material on which they work. This
result is so universal that to find a single exception would confuse the
wise man even, to whom it would seem illogical and absurd. Then
seeking to show what the reason is for this universal reciprocity and
affection, and love and honor, he finds that it is in the presence of
the “miao” or universal spirit, which thus exists, as an inner enlight-
ernment in all men. In: other words, that the marked or important
characteristic is the presence in all men of this common spirit, of mutual
help and brotherhood, and that this is the spirit bond which unites
all mankind in a common kinship. This also is the “inner light,”

 

[129]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

which only needs contact with another, to cause it to flash into reeog-
nition. It is, in fact, a clear statement of the fatherhood of God, and
the brotherhood of man.

It may be well to more exactly define the characters Kwei, Shan,
and Miao, as used by Lao Tsze. Medhurst, in his Chinese-English
Dictionary, taking his definitions from the Imperial Dictionary of
Kanghi, interprets Kwei, as a ghost, a spirit, a demon, that to which
man reverts at death; Shan, as the celestial gods, who draw forth or
develop all things; and Miao, as mysterious, divine, subtle; wonderful;
etc. Under the title Shan he speaks of the “divine” as follows: ‘““The
word divine refers to the extreme mystery of transformation; it may
be said to exist in all things, but its form cannot be scrutinized. In
short “divine” means holy and inscrutable. Divine is that which is
mysterious and confined to no single place. That in which it is im-
possible to trace the male and female principle of nature is called “‘di-
vine.”

Miao, thus, is the divine spirituality in general, in its subtleness,
sublimity and mystery; Shan, the spirit, as producer and in-worker;
and Kwei, as the spirits of the dead. Lao Tsze so uses these terme,
except that he does not impute the powers of Shan to celestial gods,
since, in Chapter I he distinctly asserts the essential identity of the
Nameless and the Named; in Chapter VI, the ‘‘Valley Spirit” is made
the eternal source alone; in Chapter XXXIV it is the TAo that,
through the. Téh, produces and nourishes and gives life to all; in Chap-
ter XX XIX, the shan are in union with the Great Unity, the T&o, and
derive all their powers therefrom; and in Chapter LII the TAo itself
became the great motherhood, when the Named came into existence,
and a distinct warning is given against setting up any of the offspring
against the claims of the supreme mother.

There is no more of polytheism in the Tao Teh, than there is of
pantheism, or materialism, or of anthropomorphic theology. It is the
great living, primal agency, “in whom we live, and move, and have our
being,” the great originating, sustaining, co-ordinating, spiritual, intel-
ligent, and eternal principle of the universe. It is the highest eon-
ception of God.

The word “miao,” or “meaou,” as indicated in the commentaries
of Kwang Tsze and elsewhere, bears evidence of having somewhat
changed in signification since the time of the Chinese classical writ-
ings. In a translation of Chapter I of the Tao Teh quoted from Maxi-
mus Tyrius, (Diss.), by Samuel Johnson in his Religions of China, it

 

 

SSS = [130]
 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

is rendered as “‘the spirit,” and ‘all spiritual life,” and it has been
elsewhere translated as ‘“‘spirituality.” Johnson gives the sense of the
corresponding portion of Chapter I as, ‘“‘Whoso is without craving de-
sires shall behold this spirit, in substance, not in form alone.” The
conversational English-Chinese dictionary of Tam Tat Hin, published
at Hong Kong in 1875, does not define the word “miao” as mysterious,
but as the basis of the philosophy of mysticism, which, of course, is
universal spirit. The radicals composing the character “‘miao”’ are
those of an unmarried daughter, one who ia ready to produce or bring
forth, but has not yet done so, and of a little, a little while, shortly;
in other words, all charged and ready to bring forth, as soon as the
spark has been applied.

In Chapter XXXIX twice occurs the character “ling,’’ which is
very inadequately rendered as “soul,” and “‘spirit-power.”’ The redi-
cals which go to make up this composite character are five in number.
First is the radical of “rain, or heaven’s gate opened, and the drops of
water descending from thence;’ second, a shelter or protection; third,
the character for mouth or entrance, thrice repeated; fourth, the radi-
eal for bamboo, which is used as a symbol for harmonious sounds, a6
in the pan-pipes; and fifth, the radical for good work, or ingenuity
brought to perfection.

The sense of the word is given by Medhurst as anything that is
in confusion without falling to ruins; anyone who becomes famous with-
out diligent exertion; anyone who is able to secure his object after his
death, and to any one who displays divine power after his death; in
which senses it appears to mean extraordinary or supernatural; it ap-
plies also to one who is thoroughly acquainted with invisible beings.
The sense in which LAo Tsze used it is obvious; spirit attained te
unity, thereby “ling;” were it not for “ling” they would soon fail.
This “ling” is the spirit-power rained down from heaven, and received
and put to high use by the spirits, in harmony and protection, for all
subject to the rule of heaven,

“For His sheltering arms are o’er me.”

We are now able to definitely determine the spiritual scheme of
Lao Tsze in its entirety.

In the first chapter we have the primordial Namelessness, which
exists to-day, just as it ever has done, and, as stated in Chapter XL,
was produced, (Shang, a radical; to advance, to arise, to spring up; be
cause to grow; to bear, to produce, to bring forth, to generate; to come
forth; to nourish; life, to live, to be alive; raw, new;) and is ever being

 

 

 

C331}
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

produced from non-existence, (Wu; not, without, destitute of, wanting;
the state between emptiness and nothingness).

The Nameless merged into the Named, both being the same but
under different aspects of development, and the pervading mystery was
the “miao,” or spirituality in general. This was so elusive that all
efforts to fathom it are vain, but it can be felt and understood, by the
mind in sympathy with nature, spontaneously. This ‘“‘miao” still per-
sists and is present as a basic factor in the souls or lives of men, and in
all things, and unites all nature in a co-ordinated, a harmonious and
inter-acting whole; the spirit of the universe.

The principle of operation from the primordial to the end is gradual
evolution of the more advanced from the less advanced. Between these
factors, whenever they exist, there is always an energizing and harmon-
izing spirit-entity which is the factor, controller, and determiner of
growth; and this, like the “miao,” is intelligent and self-conscious,
though to us it appears unconscious.

As nature advances, the “shan,” the individual spirits, are found,
having direct contact with human concerns, and manifesting themselves
as what may be called efficient and active spirit-presences. Man is
endowed with an animal soul, by inheritance, at his birth, or before.
There grows in him, by modification of this and by agencies from with-
out, the spiritual soul, which survives after his death. This soul is able
to be in contact with the great principle of the “miao” which is a part
of the “Unity,” if not the Unity itself; by quietude, vacancy from dis-
turbing factors, and humility, inspiration and knowledge come to this
goul from without.

The spirits of the dead live on as the “Kwei,”’ but are in ultimate
connection with the “shan” and the “miao,” and finally may live on
with (or flap wings with). the Eternal in Heaven, which is not a local
Heaven but a universal Heaven. The “shan” derive their powers, de-
scribed as “ling,” from the primal Unity, with which they are eternally
eonnected. This Unity is that of Chapter XLII, “The Tao produced
the Unity,” and is also that of Chapter IV, wherein there is a doubt
expressed as to whether the TAo, the process or function, or the Unity,
the structure, or ancestor, the Ti, or conscious God, has precedence.
Correlated with all this is the great opposite principle of involution,
or returning. Says Kwang Tsze, in his commentaries on the Tao Teh,
“Tt was separation that led to completion; from completion ensued
dissolution. But all things, without regard to their completion and
dissolution, may again be comprehended in their unity;—it is only the

 

[x32] sshtoes

 
 

 

Sa =

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

far-reaching in thought who know how to comprehend them in this
unity.”

Of the community of man, spirit, and the Tao, the same ancient
commentator says, “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.”

THE TAO.

In spite of the warning contained in the lines of Chapter I, and re
affirmed in Chapter XXV, and, in fact, throughout the book, Chalmers
and some other translators have given the Tao a name of their own,
and identified it with some aspect of Reason, Logos, or the like; the
result predicted in lines 6 and 7 of Chapter I has occurred, and the
whole translation has been vitiated and corrupted throughout. The Tao
in no wise corresponds with Divine Reason, or anything analogous to
our reason; it represents the orderly course of what we now see as
Nature, far back behind the veil, but that this all-embracing evolution,
alternating with involution, is at all comparable to any “reason” there
is no reason to believe. In its operation it appears at times quite con-
trary to any of the operations of what we know as reason. That it
manifests “wisdom,” goes without saying, and in the form of applied
wisdom, because in its capacity of all-producer and all-produced, there
is essentially harmony throughout, for this is merely self-harmony.
But it is more than wisdom; it is wisdom at work—it is not “force” or
“matter,” but energy, which is the only concept of such phenomena
possible to the concrete Chinese mind, and, indeed, when analyzed, the
only concept possible to any mind; for outside energy, (which exhibits
matter with properties, that is, with force applied), these terms are
mere meaningless metaphysical abstractions.

In rendering the Tao Teh the best, highest and clearest results are
always secured by the most rigid and literal adherence to the text, and,
in this way, also, the true sense of the work is brought out and made
clear and simple.

The old Christian father, Basil, clearly expressed the idea, “That
God is, I know; but what His essence is, I hold to be above reason.”
So, Thomas Aquinas, ‘““‘We cannot so name God that the name which

 

 

=

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

denotes Him shall express the Divine Essence as it is.” So, also,
Augustine, ‘‘God is ineffable; we more easily say what He is not than
what He is.” This is said of God, how much more does it apply to the
Tao, which is means, method, process, way, or course?

Not only in this opening chapter does the great old philosopher
refuse to name it with a name of comparison, but he refuses to do so
throughout the whole work. In Chapter XXV he calls it “a Thing,”
and when constrained to go further, he can only call it the Tao, the
Way or Course, and The Great. Its true characteristics oan indeed
only be discovered by taking all the cosmical or world-process chaptera
together, and it will then be clearly seen that no specific word in any
language can cover it; this is necessarily so, for names deal only with
comparisons, and this is altogether without any basis or standard of
comparison.

Onapter II. This chapter brings out the gradation between qualities; there
are no sharp lines of division, and hence no valid grounds for absolute
or dogmatic teaching. As nature is in a continual flux, which man’s
efforts are futile to oppose, his proper and only successful course is to
follow along with this great flux, working in harmony with it, and
seeking to regulate and aid, as he can, instead of obstruct and interfere
with it. He does not sit idle, with folded hands, in a state of hopeless
or hopeful resignation, but works as the boundless workshop of nature
around him works. In this way the results produced are, beyond all
conception, greater and more permanent than could be produced by his
own unaided efforts; he uses the leverage of the eternal universe, and
works in harmony with it.

For anyone to have undertaken to teach idleness to a people like the
Chinese would have seemed like an extravagant jest; there is no country
on the globe where, from the earliest history, industry was so uni-
versally recognized as the highest function of man, and his universal
attendant from the cradle to the grave. L&o’s teaching was, in effect,
to induce men to abandon everything which would interfere with regular
and productive industry, and so enable them ‘“‘to work to advantage.”

Ohapter I. It cannot be named; it is the ineffable Way.

Chapter IV. Appears as emptiness, but it is exhaustless; its functions.
It seems that it might have been antecedent to God.

Omapter VI. The “Spirit of the Valley” never dies. The To is the source
of all things, and exhaustlessly and without effort supplies all those who
seek to use it.

Chapter XIV. Ite “Way” described; the “thread” of Tao.

 

[134]

 
ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

Ohapter XVI. Receptive vacancy the condition of mind for comprehending
the operations of the TAo, which opens comprehension by inspiration.

Chapter XXI. This is one of the most profound chapters on evolution in
the book, or, in fact, in all literature. It reveals “The Great Integrating
Principle of Nature,” of Lamarck and Romanes, and: of all the most
recent modern science. Indeed the cosmical chapters of the Tao Teh,
taken together, constitute a complete anticipation in scope and detail of
the most recent presentments of cosmical and evolutionary science and
philosophy, but with a depth, comprehensiveness, and grandeur not
elsewhere to be found, even to-day. There is no hesitancy; the great
author goes directly to the point.

Chapter XXIII. In this curious chapter the exact construction of the
original] is preserved. Who identifies himself with the Tao becomes
“the T4o’s one,” and so with him who cannot reach the Tao directly,
but identifies himself with its “virtues,” or active operations. It re-
minds one of Leigh Hunt’s Abou ben Adhem, who, when his name was
not found among those whom love of God had blessed, asked, ‘“Write
me as one that loves his fellow-men,”’ and whose name, when the angel
reappeared, with the book, “led all the rest.”

The concluding part illustrates the self-ruin brought on by the one
who had, to use a western colloquialism, ‘“‘electioneered for a licking.”
The proverb at the end is a quotation from the ancients.

Chapter XXIV. This contrasts moral deformities, from non-observance of
the T4o, with bodily deformities, and loathsome things; the follower of
the Tao will dwell with none of these.

Chapter XXV. This is another of those great cosmical and ontological
shalenes It explains itself. ‘Which WAS before existed Heaven and

rth.”

Chapter XXX. What is not in accord with the TAo will soon cease. Com-
pare with Chapter LV.

Chapter XXXII. ‘The eternal Téo is nameless.” When thus primordially
nameless, it may appear to be an insignificant thing; but it is the im-
perceptible flow of a vast and resistless current, which we simply fail
to perceive, because we are in it. If we were fully conformed with the
Tao, everything would be in harmony. But when Named, then it deals
with the changes of tangible things, and works in them, and when men
know when to stop, they are secure.

Chapter XXXIV. The TAo, in this chapter, is shown as the ever-present
energizer of all the individualities and entities of the universe, but all
unknown to them. It is like tha rule of the earliest rulers, of Chapter

 

[ 135 ] = SS

 
 

 

SS ae age Sf 136 ] Sei yee

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

XVII, where the people said, ‘““‘We are as we are by our own choosing,”
that is, spontaneously.

Chapter XXXV. “Lay hold of the Great Form of Tao!” This is the
“Great Image” of ancient Chinese philosophy. It is what our North
American Indians picture as the ‘Great Spirit,” and which, contrarily,
many theologians conceive of, (or think they do), as an overgrown man.
But here Lao means, by “laying jhold,” to identify one’s self with, and
travel along with, the Tao, as in Chapter XXIII. Then, indeed, the
world, doing likewise, will follow, and in peace and security, for, willy-
nilly, we must follow this great Tao, this “great integrating and con-
trolling principle of nature,” spiritual, intelligent, self-conscious, uni-
versal, and altogether irresistible; but we can do it as a criminal dragged
along by an officer, or as a man walking erect with the glory of the
eternal on his brow. (See Chapter LII.) “You will train with the
Eternal.” :

Chapter XXXVII. “The Tao eternally non-acts;” that is, it acta without
show or performance; it is the movement, for example, of a great
river, like the Mississippi, whose mighty power is not manifest to those
who are carried along with and in its current.

Chapter XL. There is again re-stated the operation of “‘returning” as a
mode of the T&o; it is efflux and influx, not a movement in circles or
along spirals, but an outputting and an incoming. Its apparent weak-
ness is due to the whole great unity of movement, of which we are a
part, but its illimitable power is manifest in the production of every-
thing; and even existence from non-existence.

Chapter XLI. This keen satire, by its very excess of the language, convicts
those who used such statements, of insincerity and ignorance. The
“‘sentenece-makers” are of that type of ancient critics who have their
analogies in every age, the literalists, the men who are ready to use any
means to establish a preconceived opinion.

Chapter XLII. This profound chapter deals directly with the origin of
things, and is one of the most important in the whole book. Its im-
portance lies not in the sequence of events, but in the concluding lines
of the firat part. In thts philosophy there is constant change, in evo-
lution, from the less developed to the more developed. This corre-
sponds closely te the “becoming” in the philosophy of Schelling, and
of Hegel, and of some of the older philosophers. But here we have the
key and the motive power of the becoming, which all the prior philos-
ophies have overlooked. One will think of the opening of Genesis,
“The spirit of God (the gods), brooded on the face of the waters.”

 
 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

But here there is an intelligent, self-acting, practical, interstitial prin-
ciple, in the substantiality of spirit, which acts directly between the
factors of every process, to harmonize, to lead them on, to elevate, and
to determine them. It is the ‘great co-ordinating principle of the uni-
verse,” divided, scattered, as in Chapter XXVIII, and manifesting,
in the tiniest,.as well as in the greatest things, spiritual function and
control between the infinitely multifarious changes of all space and time.
(See Chapter LI).

Chapter LI. This is a hymn of thanksgiving to the Great Tao, the pro-
ducer and sustainer. It teaches the important lesson of free-will. There
is no servile obedience to primordial command; all act spontaneously,
and independently within the limits of the great spiritual forces of the
universe. For if this is true of the exaltation and honoring of the Tao
by all creatures that grow, it is true in a broader sense; it should be
noted also that this is primarily applied to those which have life; sec-
ondarily, it is applied to all things, and in the last part, again, is ap-
plied to the living.

Chapter LIX. Lasting life is secured by keeping the Tao in constant sight;
it is said of Enoch, “He walked. with God.”

Chapter LXII. This is one of the most beautiful chapters in the book. The
TAo, as saving the sin-bound, as clinging to the bad, as asking, “are
even the bad from it cut loose?” presents quite a contrast with the
theologies of the past, and even some of those of the present. Con-
trast this chapter with Chapter XXVII, “‘No man he rejects or loses;
he everything saves and uses,’”’ these practices being manifestations of
inner enlightenment from the Great Enlightener.

Chapter LXXIX. The Tao of Heaven knows no favoritism, but always
interposes fer the good.

There is probably no other philosophy or theology in which are so
clearly brought out the contest of good and evil, the actual identifica-
tion of evil with mere interference with the universal harmony, the
futility of sueh interference, the temporary character of its effects, and
the promise of the disappearance of such interference, as the universal
operations of the “world-process” are better understood; or in which
the questions of free-will from independent and uncontrolled, but in-
dividually divided, spirit, are so clearly put and so fully worked out,
as in the Tao Teh.

TEACHING.
Chapter II. Proceeds in silence, like nature, and teaches by example.

 

 

(39 ) == SE

 
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

Chapter III. Provides for physical wants, and so prevents disorder, by
eliminating desires.

Chapter XLII. The teaching of L&o Tsze concerning those who are violent
and aggressive.

Chapter XLIII. Silent teaching; its advantages; how seldom practised.

Chapter LXII. ‘He would be less than one on lowly seat, who could the
lessons of the TAo repeat.” Literally, “is not equalled by one sitting
down and presenting this Tao.”

Chapter LXIII. This, and the next chapter, would make capital texts to
hang up conspicuously in every shop, factory and business institution
in the land. No more concise rules for carrying on a successful busi-
ness were ever presented, not excluding the immortal maxims of “Poor
Richard.”

Chapter LXX. Here L&o presents himself directly as the teacher. It re
minds one of the saying of Jesus, “How often would I have gathered
ye . . . but ye would not.” There’s an ‘‘Ancestry in my words, @
Head for the things I preach.”

THE UNITY.

The One, or the Unity, is the great TAo in its primal character;
there is algo an indefinite blending with this of the Ti of Chapter XXI.
In Chapter XLII, “The Tao produced One,” etc., indicates that these
great principles are go closely allied that it is impossible to differentiate
one from the other in order of precedence, but only in function. We
appear to have here something like the co-ordinate union of Will and
Intellect, in von Hartmann’s Philosophy of the Unconscious, and the
co-ordinated Love and Wisdom of Swedenborg, or substantially the
Purpose and Intelligence of Lamarck. The formal proposition, that
Function precedes Structure, which is the accepted basis of biological
evolution, from the non-materialistic standpoint, accords with the or-
der that the T&o, the function, precedes the co-ordinated harmony,
conscious and intelligent, which is called the Ti. It is true that both
are, together, a composite unity, and, as such, are the source of all
spirit as well as all material forms. The first product is the duality of
Heaven and Earth (see Chapter I), which thus becomes the universal
motherhood.

These evolutions must not be considered as having merely occurred
at some distant period of time; they may be, nay are, going on now, in
all their stages, everywhere, as they ever have been, and ever will be,
in the co-ordinated processes of evolution, involution, disappearance in
apparent nothingness, and reappearance again, in new evolutions. Nor

[138]

 

 

 
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

is all this a mere blind, automatic cycle; over all, and in all, the great
conscious organizer and sustainer works continually, quite unknown
to, but fully manifest in,,all its works. Nothing is more constantly in-
sisted on from the beginning to the end of the Tao Teh.

Chapter XXXIX. This remarkable chapter treats of those which “attained
to the Unity,” and are an integral part of the great primal and eternal
principle of the universe described as the Unity, the One.

At first sight the remarkable character of Chapter XXXIX will be,
most likely, overlooked. There is a list given of those agencies known
to man which are primary, that is a constituent of, and undivided from,
the Great Primary. These agencies are, first, the forces which con-
trol the pureness, (the word is defined as pure, clear, limpid, uncor-
rupted; ita radicals are water, that which finds its level; moons or
months; and good and clear), of interstellar space; second, those which
control the steadiness of the earth; third, those by which spirit-forces
are replenished from the great spirit source; fourth, the forces which
deal with matters at a lower level supplied by those at a higher level,
that ia, gravitative energy, for the word “valley” has a much broader
meaning (see Chapter VI) than in its rendering here; fifth, the vital
principle which enters into and vivifies and maintains all living things,
and sixth, the delegated authority of law and order represented by the
just rulers of mankind. If, among these primal forces, electricity or that
of which it is a manifestation be one of the forces or energies of inter-
stellar apace, of the ether, as it undoubtedly is, then it would be im-
possible to make a single addition to this list, as constituting the
primary forces to-day, in science, or take one therefrom. The cata-
logue is complete, although in that day there was no “science,” not
anything approaching it, and some of those named would seem far
more trivial in themselves than many which have been omitted.

Chapter LV. This chapter deals with the eternal harmony, as manifested
directly by the T&o, and concludes with a warning against the iney-
itable and destructive results of a departure from this harmony.

Chapter XLII. This is a most important chapter detailing the series of
sequences from the TAo itself, down to the last differentiation and in-
tegration of existing things. The controlling principle, among indi-
viduals, is the energizing and harmonizing spirit entity which exists,
between all—but not as constituting all, or as creating all. There is
neither pantheism nor an anthropomorphic creator in all this philogo-
phy. God is the producer, not the creator.

 

 

a (139]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

The series is: first the T&o, the universal way, course, will, or
function; second, the One, Unity, which, as co-ordinated intellect, wis-
dom, divinity, and universality, corresponds to the Ti, or God, of Chap-
ter IV, and is possibly coeval with, and indistinguishable from, the
Tao; third, the duality of Heaven and Earth, which are not here
used in a cosmical, but a spiritual sense (see Chapter I), thus becom-
ing the great world-motherhood or producer; fourth, the Three, con-
sisting of the yin, the less developed, the’ yang, that into which it is
about to merge, and the immaterial breath or spirit (now individual-
ized for each), which effects and harmonizes the changes of the yin
and yang; and, lastly, all the succeeding products which we call nature.
Over all is the great Unity of Chapters I, XXXIV, etc., etc.

UNSELFISHNESS AND HUMILITY.

Chapter VII. To put one’s self behind results in actual and permanent
precedence; who abandons selfishness will succeed in his undertakings

Chapter VIII. Water is here taken as the type of lowliness or humility,
and which conquers all things without striving (or contending).

Chapter X. “To uplift all and yet rule not, is virtue the highest and
best.”

Chapter XIII. Personal honor and capacity for great sacrifice are the
highest qualities in a ruler.

Chapter XV. ‘‘Empty of themselves, they do not become old-fashioned.”

Chapter XXII. This chapter remimds one in many respects of the beati-
tudes recited in the Sermon on the Mount, of the New Testament. The
key is to be found in the concluding line of the chapter, “return home;”
this refers to the return in a state of completeness from the TAo, as
it is brought out in Chapter XVI, and the “coming home” of Chapter
L; it is the higher involution to compensate for and correct perverted
evolution in this life.

Chapter XLV. Who is devoid of self-conceit and is unsatisfied with his
work, but aims for better things, will go on from day to day without
decay. It is the inspiration of high aims. Says Emerson, Hitch your
wagon to a star. Heat, which is super-activity, or excitement, is best
conquered by stillness,

Chapter LVI. This depicts the man of highest nobility, who is the one
identified with “the Deep,” that is, with the Tao. It is a noble chap-
ter of universal application, and will secure instant recognition.

Chapter LXI. By lowliness one conquers, so the woman conquers by
quietude and modesty, or lowliness. The same is true of nations. This
is a brilliant chapter in state-craft.

 

=—[140 ]

 
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

Chapter LXII. The highest noble is not equalled by one who sits down and
is able to explain the Tao.

Chapter LXIII. ‘“‘Recompense hatred with deeds of goodness.” This chap-
ter and Chapter LXIV, together, are the very embodiment of modesty,
thoroughness, and high principle as applied to business undertakings.
They are as applicable to-day as when they were first written, twenty-
five hundred years ago. They show the marvelous common-sense of the
old philosopher, and his thorough observation and knowledge of life
and business around him. He was no ascetic—he was a skilled hand
in all that concerns life and mind, and what may seem theories are
really the working out of deeper and entirely practical principles, which
the future will yet agree to be the only secure basis of success, both
here and hereafter.

Chapter LXVI. This is a beautiful chapter on self-abnegation, and a picture
of the success which will follow from this alone, if it can ever follow at
all. The homage and tribute of the whole world will come to those
who keep themselves “low down.” This is the same thought, applied
here to the individual, as in Chapter LXI to the state.

Chapter LXVII. “Avoiding precedence;” to strive for the opposite is
death.

Chapter LXXVI. “What accompany life are the tender and weak,

And death are the stiff and the strong.”

Chapter LXXVIII. There is nothing weaker than water; but in prac
tice who can apply the lesson?

Chapter LXXIX. The sage only holds to his own obligations, in an agree
ment, leaving the other party uncontrolled as to his obligations; the
virtuous man recites the whole agreement, he who has no virtue only
cites his claims. But the Tao will always interpose for the gocd man.

VIRTUE.

Dr. Legge says of Teh, (whieh is usually translated Virtue), and
which is the title of the second part of the book, the Tao Teh, ‘“The
‘virtue’ is the activity or operation of the Tao. It is not easy to ren-
der Teh here by any other English term than ‘Virtue,’ and yet there
would be danger of its thus misleading us in the interpretation of the
chapter.” Han Fei defines it thus, “Teh is the meritorious work of the
Tao.” Occasionally, throughout the work, teh is used in the ordinary
sense of “Virtue;” but this word “Virtue” itself has so many mean-
ings that only by holding closely to the Tao Teh as “The Tao and its
Virtues” will we be able to understand the sense of the original. The

 

 

{141 ]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

original signification of “Virtue” is related to manliness; so here, to
coin a word, it might be called ‘‘Tao-liness.”

Chapters XVIII and XIX. These chapters refer to the man-made substi-
tutes for the original virtues, which are the primary manifestations of
the Tao.

Chapter XXXVIII. This chapter, which opens the second part, the Teh,
in its first portion gives a rapid resume of the general degradation of
the original virtues down to the pugnacious final sham of formal]
propriety. In the original there is a continual play on a few words,
which have compelled translators to go outside the primary meanings
of some of the terms, in order to convey the sense. But this is wan-
necessary, as the rendering here given shows.

Chapter XLIX. “Virtue,” the great T&o-virtue, as exemplified in the
“golden rule.” (See article, Sage, in this index.)

Chapter LIV. The outflow of the virtues of the TAo, which outflow spon-
taneously arises from its practice, is the subject of this whole chap-
ter. Every trial of these virtues becomes a test and example for others,
and the results will be so obvious and conspicuous that, were they gen-
erally practised, the final result would be manifest throughout the
whole world.

Chapter LV. The ‘attributes’ are the Teh, the virtues of the Tao. The
first part recalls the saying of Jesus, “Except ye become as one of
these,”’ etc. Here it is said, ‘“Who abundantly has the Teh, is like an
infant child.”

Chapter LVI. These are examples of the virtues of the T&o, of which those
who know, and practise them, are silent, while those who do not know,
and do not practise them, are ready to speak. To practise moderation
im speech, to relieve distress in others, to aid them in their difficulties,
to temper the glare of brightness, to share in the minuteness of the
dust; one who has these virtues is identified with the great Deep, the
Tao. In the second part such a man’s inaccessibility to deception,
bribery and baseness, and the impossibility of using him for dishonor-
able schemes is asserted, and he “becomes the noble one of the world.”

Chapter LXII. ‘Why did the ancients prize this Tio so much?” This is
a most splendid chapter.

Chapter LXIII. We have here the substance of the “Golden Rule” stated,
as applied in business, as we had it, in Chapter XLIX, as applied im
ethics. The virtues of this and the next following chapter are concrete,
work-day virtues, and are, however little believed in to-day, the prae-
tical foundations of true success in life,

 

[ 142]

 
 

 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

Chapter LXXVIII. This reads like a chapter from Isaiah, the Hebrew

prophet, ‘“‘Who bears the sins of his country, who carries its woes, who
bears its curse.”

Chapter LXXIX. Who has virtue names the whole agreement; who has

not virtue only cites his own claims.

Chapter LXXXI. This chapter is a summary of{some of the teachings of

WAR.

the T&o Teh, as applied to men’s dealings with each other. In the
original there are, as rendered here, eight couplets.

In this rendering there has been added an explanatory couplet to
each, and these are taken from the different chapters of the book. For
example, for the first added couplet refer to Chapter XXXVIII; for
the second; to Chapter V; for the third to Chapter XLVIII; for the
fourth to Chapter IX; for the fifth to Chapter VII; for the sixth to
Chapter XVI; for the seventh to Chapter XXIII; for the eighth to
Chapter LXIV. Of course the same teachings are found in many other
chapters; indeed, in all of those which relate to the subjects referred to.

Kwang Tsze, in his commentaries, Book XVI, clearly shows the de-
teriorization of the primal virtues, among men, by leaving the Tao and
substituting the good, and then pursuing hap-hazard virtue; then add-
ing elegant forms; these extinguished simplicity; and the mind became
drowned by their multiplicity, and irremediable disorder and confusion
followed.

The chapters of the Tao Teh on War,make almost a complete theory and

practice of the art and science, even according to the modern principles
of war. They are full of instruction and warning.

Chapter XXX. This chapter deals with the excesses to be avoided in

internecine troubles; the defeated should not be pushed to the last
extremity, but room left for the subsequent peace and fraternity, which
must finally come, and without which nothing good can ever result. In
the third line we have a statement of the principle that, in such wars,
we should so conduct ourselves as, were the cases reversed, would meet
with our approval. In other words, it is again the “Golden Rule,” which
is more directly stated, however, in Chapters XLIX and LXIII; as
fully, in fact, as it ever has been stated anywhere.

Chapter XXXI. Here the successful conqueror, at the head of his army, is

compared with the chief mourner at a funeral, where he should bitterly
weep for the thousands who have fallen before him. The purpose is the
utter condemnation of war except as a last necessity. No permanency
or success attaches to the rule of a bloody conqueror. History verifies
this.

 

 

[ 143 ] oe

 
 

 

Chapter XLVI. When the T4o is disregarded, War results.

Chapter LXVUII. ‘The great commander is not a warlike man; the hardest
fighter is not a man of wrath; the greatest conqueror shares not in the
strife; the great employer treads the workmen’s path.’’ Thereadermay
probably think of examples like Grant or Lee, of Stonewall Jackson,
of Bismarck, and of Edison; but, indeed, they are world-wide, when one
looks over the field of history. This power of “utilizing men;” that is
the keynote of success in all the higher undertakings. It has been said,
‘When God needs a man to do a certain work, he prepares him for it,
and brings the man.” L&o says, in this chapter, (which is true), that
all this is fellowship or discipleship with Heaven.

Chapter LXIX. This is another almost axiomatic chapter on War. Those
who recall the old war-cry, “On to Richmond,” will see its application.
It is a popular lesson on a very little understood subject, in which, in a
crisis, popular passion takes the place of skillful preparation.

Chapter LXXVI. “The conqueror fails who relies on his strength.”

WOMANHOOD, WIFEHOOD, MOTHERHOOD.

Nothing is more frequently insisted on in this work than the high claims
of womanhood, wifehood and motherhood. These are made the type
of all cosmical and evolutional energy; of spirit; of humility, modesty,
and of power.

Chapter I. “The mother of the ten-thousand things;” that is, the mother
of all things and creatures.

Chapter IV. “I do not know whose son it is.”

Chapter VI. “The woman spirit of the abyss.”

Chapter X. ‘Tenderness, as an infant child.” ‘Can one not act like a
mother-bird?”

Chapter XX. “I prize seeking food from The Mother.”

Chapter XXV. ‘‘Can thereby become the mother of all under heaven.”

Chapter XXVIII. “Who knows his masculine qualities and keeps his fem-
inine qualities is made the channel of the whole world.”

Chapter XXXVI. “The tender and ,weak overcome the rigid and strong.”

Chapter XLIV. “Extreme love surely demands great sacrifice.”

Chapter XLV. “Purity and clearness are the standard of all under
heaven.”

Ohapter LI. “The Teh nurses them, raises them, feeds them, completes
them, matures them, prolongs them, protects them;” is, in fact, the
universal mother of all things.”

Chapter LII. “When all under heaven took on beginning, thereby came
into existence the mother of all under heaven.”

“Who keeps to his mother, when his body dies, is not in danger.”

[44 oe

 
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

sacar han “Who embodies abundantly the virtues is like to an infant

child.”

Chapter LVI. “Cannot be got and loved, and not be got and discarded.”

Chapter LIX. ‘Who possesses the Mother of the State can thereby be
long enduring.”

Chapter LXI. “A great state is of all under heaven the union and the
wife. The female by quietude always conquers the male. By quietude
ehe assumes lowliness, and so, like her, will a great state also overcome,
by its lowliness.’’ This is the secret of all true and enduring power and
rule. )

THE END OF THE ANALYTICAL INDEX.

 

[145 }

 
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

LIST OF WORDS OF SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE, AND THEIR DEFL
NITIONS, IN THE ORDER OF THE SEPARATE CHAPTERS IN
WHICH ,THEY ARE USED; DEFINED ACCORDING TO
THE MEDHURST, MORRISON, WILLIAMS, TAM
TAT HIN, AND IMPERIAL KANGHI

DICTIONARIES. ‘

(Note. The Chinese equivalents being only introduced for refer
ence, the tones and accents are omitted.)
CHAPTER I. :

WAY. Taou (Tao); A road, a thoroughfare, a way, a course, an orbit,
Tao li; principles, right reason, that in which all things unite, and from
whence they proceed. As a verb, to follow out, to lead, to come from.
(The Chinese word for reason, right principles, is not TAo, but Li, and
is from a quite different radical). Taou contains the two radicals, one
to go swiftly along the road, and the other, with the sense of spon-
taneous or self-induced.

NAME. Ming; A name, a title, a designation.

Nameless. Woo Ming, (wu ming), without name.

Eternal. Chang; common, constant, usual, long continued, a rule, a law.
Chang Shang; eternal life. Shang signifies life.

HEAVEN. Tvheen, (t’ien); Heaven, Providence, Nature, the.powers above,
the sky. :

EARTH. T’he, (ti); The earth, the terraqueous globe, the ground, the
bottom. ‘Tien ti; heaven and earth. They are not here used in the
sense of the physical heaven and earth, but as the opposite polar prin-
ciples first produced from the nameless, of which the physical are the
types or results.

NOT. Fei; This is an intensitive negative in the sense of absolute denial
and opposition, turning the back on, not, not right, wrong. It con-
tains the sense of blame or scolding. The ordinary negative is “pa.”
The Chinese is very rich in negatives of all shades of meaning. Here

{146 ]--

 

 

 
 

 

VOCABULARY

 

the sense is, not in any sense the eternal way or the eternal name; ut-
terly opposed to, not merely privative of. They differ not only in de-
gree, but absolutely in kind.

BEGINNING. Che, (shi); the beginning, the commencement.

MOTHER. Moo, (mu); A mother, one who brings up,children, and who
is looked up to by her family. The great fatherhood and motherhood
are the duality of Heaven and Earth. There are other characters in
Chinese for mother; but only one with these shades of meaning.

THINGS, BEINGS. Wuh; iA substance, a thing, anything material or
different from oneself; everything produced between heaven and earth.
Wan Wub; all things, literally the myriad, or ten-thousand things.

THEREBY. E, (i); by, with, in order to; by the nameless and the named,
and the motherhood, we can sound.

MYSTERY DIVINE. ALL SPIRIT. Meaou, (miao); Mysterious, divine,
subtle, wonderful. See Analytical Index, under title, Spirit.

WITHOUT. Woo, (wu); Without, not, destitute of, wanting.

DESIRE. Yuh, (yu); To desire, to covet, to desire insatiably; desire, lust.

DEEP, MYSTERY. Heuen, (huen); A black color with a tinge of yellow.
Huen li, abstruse principles. Hwai huen, to conceive mysteries. Huen
Kung, the deep recesses. Shang huen, Heaven. Used in the sense of
deep, profound, mysterious, mystery.

THE SAME. T’hung, (t’ung); To unite, together with, the same.

DIFFER. E, (i); ;To divide, to distinguish, to differ, different, dissimilar.

PROGRESSION. Ch’ huh, (ch’ uh); To go out, to go forth, to spring forth,
to beget, to put out.

GATE. Mun, (man); A gate-way, a place of ingress and egress.

CHAPTER II.

KNOW. KNOWN. Che, (chi); A word containing an idea as swift as an
arrow; to know, to perceive, to comprehend, to understand. It is not.
merely to have a thing pass before the eye; it is actual knowledge. The
character is compounded of the radicals, an arrow in its flight, and aa
entrance.

GOOD. BAD. Shen, (shan); Good, fair, excellent, kind, wise, virtuous,
skilled in any art, dextrous; happy, great, much; an expression of ap-
probation, good! :

Pu Shan, not good; hence, bad, in the sense of privation of good-
ness. It is a difference in degree, as all these contrasts are shown to
be, between which there is no absolute dividing line, so that the sage
does not spend his time in splitting hairs about these varying degrees,
but simply tries to improve them by his examp’e, and by attending to
his own affairs properly.

 

 

 

a [ 147 ]=
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

AFFAIRS. Sze, (shi); Business, affair, occupation, employment, service.

DOING. Wei; To do, to make, to act, to cause, to induce; to help, that
by which anything is done.

PROCEEDS. Hing; te proceed, to go, to walk; a step; a manner of
action.

DWELL. Ch’ hoo, (ch’ u); to dwell, to stay in a place; a place.

CONTINUE CEASELESSLY. Literally, does not, (in an intensitive
sense), leave or depart from it; that is, continues indefinitely.

CHAPTER, III. i

REWARDING. Shang; To put on, to add, to adorn, to honor, to esteem.

TALENTED. Heen, (hien); Talented, good, wise, worthy.

FIERCE CONTENTION. Tsang, (chang); To strive, to contend. This
‘character is compounded of the three radicals, claws or nails, or to
scratch, to claw, a pig’s head, and a barb thrust through the open jaws.
The sense is, that the sage uses the talented or worthy, (see last por-
tion of Chapter XXVIII), but shows no favoritism, (see last part of
Chapter LXXIX). By avoiding the singling out of those deemed es-
pecially worthy, the charge of favoritism is avoided, and contention on
the part of those who feel themselves slighted is prevented.

STOMACH. BONES. There is a play on words here. Fuh, (fu), signi-
nies the middle of the body, the entire belly; also thick, rich. “The
earth is called Fuh because it embraces all things.” Fuh also has the
sense of the spiritual soul, which the Chinese believed to be mostly
centred in that part of the body, the passions belonging principally to
the heart.

So also, Kuh, (ku); Bones, implying firmness. The peculiar sense
is that the Sage fills the spiritual nature, and strengthens the powers
of resistance.

CHAPTER IV.

UNREPLENISHED. Puh ying, (pu ying); Not full, not replenished.

SIRE. Tsung; Honorable, an ancestor; to take for a master.

GOD. Te, (ti); The Supreme, sovereign, ruler, emperor. Shang ti, the
Supreme Ruler. Tien ti, Ruler of Heaven. The word only occurs in
this chapter, and is the only proper name used in the entire Tao Teh.

DOGS OF GRASS. These were figures of grass made to resemble dogs,
and were employed in certain sacrifices, doubtless a survival from an
earlier age, when real dogs were used. As representing, temporarily,
a spiritual element, they were held in honor; but when the occasion
had passed they were cast aside as mere grass figures. Heaven and

 

[148]

 
 

VOCABULARY

 

 

Earth regard things in genera! in the same way, they are only good for
what they are good for.

The apparently abrupt change in the second part really continues
the subject. Babblers are ever in danger themselves, and are of no
account to others. They fail to imitate Heaven and Earth, which are
like a bellows, and are still until the time has come to manifest their
power and purpose.

CHAPTER VI. ,

SPIRIT OF THE VALLEY. This is the ancient title of the great all-
producer. Says Dr. Legge, “The valley is used metaphorically as a
symbol of emptiness or vacancy; and the Spirit of the Valley is tha
something invisible, yet almost personal, belonging to the Tao, which
constitutes the Teh.” (See also Valley, in Chapter XX XIX).

EFFORTLESS. K’ hin, (ch’ in); Laborious, diligent, sedulous; with priva-
tive puh, (pu), not.

CHAPTER VIII.

“DDY. Yuen; An eddy, a whirlpool, a deep hole, a gulf, an abyss, deep,
a pool, a tank.

It is water which flows backward, or circulates quietly and against
its natural turbulence, and hence is compared to that which makes a
heart good, and free from passion.

CHAPTER X.

CAMP. Ying; A camp; a place where troops lodge. This is the definition
in the Tam Tat Hin dictionary. Medhurst’s definition is, to dwell in
a market place, to measure, to make, to pass around and round. Ying
tsae; A camp, an intrenchment. It was originally a camp, and its force
as a verb comes from the regulating necessary to make and keep it a
camp.

BIRD. This is really a female bird, or hen. While the young brood chat-
ters the mother-bird pays no heed to the trifles she hears, but uses her
eyes and ears and mouth, (the heavenly gates), judiciously, to note and
rectify what really requires attention, and to supply the wants of her
flock. The sage, entrusted with authority, will do the same. (See
Chapter XLIX), all are his children. :

CHAPTER XI. )

NOTHINGNESS. Woo, (wu); Not, without, destitute of, the state be-
tween emptiness and nothingness. It is used in the sense of non-
existence.

CHAPTER XIII.

SACRIFICE. Hwan; To be grieved, to be sorry, miserable, painful, wretch-

ed, evil. Ho hwan; calamity. It is something attaching to the per-

 

[6]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

gon, and contrasted with disgrace, which comes from others. It is
correctly rendered as sacrifice, a calamity endured by the inherent
personality.

BODY. Shin, (shan); the human body, one’s own person, one’s self. I
myself, any kind of body.

SAFELY USED. ENTRUSTED. Ke, (chi); To entrust to, to confide in,
to commit to one’s charge, to deliver, to hand over. Used in the sense
of sending a letter by, giving one’s mind to, keeping an inn.

T’ ho, (t’ oh); to confide, to entrust to one’s care, to give in charge,
to place confidence in. The radical has the sense of confide. Used for
entrusting with some great affair, entrusting with money. Absolute
trust.

LOVE. Gae, (ngai); to love, to love tenderly, to be kind to, to pity, to
commiserate, to spare, etc.

CHAPTER XIV.

LOOKING. She, (shi); To see clearly, to look for, to contemplate, to look
well at, to compare. It has also a supersensual signification.

SCRUTINIZE AND COMPARE. K’ hee, (ch’ ih); To cause to be inquired
into; to be interrogated.

BLENDED INTO UNITY. Hwan, (hwun); Mixed torrents, confused
streams, muddy, confused, indistinct. Wei; to make. Yih; A unity
or oneness. ,

BRIGHT. OBSCURE. Keaou, (chiao); The whiteness of gems and
pearls; clear, bright as the stars.

Mei; The obscurity of twilight, dark, sombre, dull.

CEASELESS. BOUNDLESS. Shing, shing, (shang, shang); read as Min;
Boundless, revolving without intermission.

CHAPTER XV. !

TURBID WATER. Ch’ huh, (choh); Muddy water, foul, miry. Choh

tsing; muddy and clear.
CHAPTER XVI.

RETURN AGAIN. Fuh, (fu); To return, to come again.

RETURNINGS OF COMMAND. Fuh ming, (fu ming). Ming; To order,
to direct, to instruct; a command, a decree, a precept, an announce-
ment; life, fate, lot, destiny; the immoveable laws of Providence.

Fuh ming; To give in an account of what is done.

CONFUSION. WICKEDNESS. Wang; Confused, disorderly, irregularly,
abandoned. It is compounded of radicals signifying “daughter of death
or destruction.”

Heung, (hiung); Wicked, malignant, unlucky, unfortunate.

 

 

[ 150 J==Sss==

 
 

VOCABULARY

 

 

PERISH AND DECAY. Muh; To sink, to die, to be annihilated. Thae,
(tai); Dangerous, hazardous. The sense is that there will be no danger,
at the death of the body, of annihilation, but, like the TAo, it will be
everlasting.

CHAPTER XVII.
FAITH. Sin; Faith, truth; to believe, to trust; sincere, true.
CHAPTER XVIII.
BENEVOLENCE, ETC. Jin, (jan); Benevolence.
E, (i); Righteousness.
Che, (chi); Knowledge of what is suitable and convenient, wisdom.
Hwuy, (hwui); The mind opened out ‘and unfolded. Ling hwuy;
Quick perception.

HYPOCRISY. Wei; False, hypocritical, counterfeit. The character is
compounded of the radicals for a man, and acting or making, or made.
The word thus signifies precisely what Lao Tsze attributed to it, man-
made, and man-acted.

CHAPTER XIX.

DECORATING. Wan; Ornamentation, literary composition, accomplish-
ment.

Wan fa; Style.

Wan is a radical itself, and primarily signifies variegated strokes:
hence an assemblage of various colors in order to form embroidery. The
sense is that it is useless to try to decorate or ornament these sham
virtues; the only correct thing to dol is to abandon them.

CHAPTER XX.
CEASE LEARNING. Tseue, (tsueh); To cut short a thread, to extermi-
nate, to cut off anything.

Heo, (hioh); Learning, instruction, doctrines, tenets, imitation, fol-
lowing examples, schooling.

It is taken for all manner of artificialities and perversions which go
under the head of learning things, taken in low sense.

WASTEFULNESS WITHOUT RESTRAINT. Hwang; Overgrown with
weeds. In connection with other words, running to waste. Also, Bar-
ren, a wilderness, to set aside, to nullify; profligate, empty, waste,
hasty, confusedly. ‘

CHAOS. MAZE. Yu; Stupid, dull, rude, ignorant, confused.

Sin; Heart, mind.

T’ hun, (tun); Chaos, without clue, not opened out.

 

[ T51 ) SSS SS

 
THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

DOING THINGS. E£, (i); In order to, with. Yew e, (yiu i); To have that
which is necessary in order to be that which precedes; that is, “the
wherewithal.”

CHAPTER XXI.

ESSENCES. ‘Ising; Select, chosen, ripe, fine; tsing ling, fine, ethereal,
subtle; yang tsing, essence of male principle in nature; yin tsing, es-
sence of female principle. That is, yang essence, and yin essence.

CHAPTER XXII.

COME HOME. ALL COMPLETE. Kwei; To go home, to return, to re-
store anything, to send back, to revert to.

Tseuen, (ch’ uen); The whole, complete, entire.

CHAPTER XXV.

WHICH WAS. ALL HOLDING. ALL COMPLETE. Sang, (shang);
To advance, to arise, to spring up, to cause to grow, to bear, to bring
forth, to generate, to come forth, to nourish; life; to live, to be alive.

Hwan, (hwun); Mixed torrents, confused streams. “Things were
confusedly mixed, before heaven and earth were produced.” Ching;
(ch’ ang); To complete, to approach, to effect, to perfect; the com-
pletion of anything.

TAKE HIS LAW. Fa; A law, a constant rule, that which constrains and
limits; a regulation; to follow # rule.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

INNER ENLIGHTENMENT. This is precisely like the “Inner light” of
the Christian denomination of Friends, or Quakers.

Shih; A double garment, clothes with lining; an appendage to a
fur dress; united, drawn together. Ming; clear, bright, enlightened;
to see to a distance. The adjective refers to an enlightenment or light,
like the inner lining of a garment, the garment representing the body
or person.

MARK OF SPIRIT LIFE WITHIN. This is a manifestation of the Inner
light, the source of which is here explained.

Yaou, (yao); to agree to, to seek for, importunate with; to want,
to wish, to desire; important. Yao tao, important principles.

Meaou, (miao); This is the “miao’” of Chapter I. (See Analytical
Index, under title, Spirit). It is the underlying spirit which spirit-
ualizes all men, and makes them of one fatherhood and one brother-
hood. An exception becomes a confusing thing to behold.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

MASCULINE. FEMININE. Heung, (hiung); The male among birds;
anything masculine or courageous. Tsze, (ts’z); The female among
birds; heung tsze; masculine and feminine.

is SS

 

 
 

 

VOCABULARY

 

 

CHANNEL. VALLEY. K’ he, (k’ i); A rivulet, a stream that flows inte
a larger river, a running stream.
Kuh, (ku); A valley with a stream running through it.
It will be seen that the latter may have many streams uniting in
it, while the former is a water-course, or stream.
WHITENESS. BLACKNESS. Pih, (pai); White, clear, to explain.
Hih, (hei); Black, the color of soot; also dusk, the color of twilight.
GO HOME. GOLDEN AGE. Kwei; To go home, to return.
Fuh, (fu); to call back the spirit of the departed; to return, to
come again.
K’ heih, (chi); Superlative; the extreme limit, the first origin of the male
and female principle of nature, that for which no name can be given.
GLORY. DEGRADATION. SIMPLICITY. Yung; Glory.
Juh, (ju); Disgrace. In connection with other words, to be defiled
with mud, to be put to shame.
P’ ho, (p’ u); Plain, unadorned, great.
SCATTERED. VESSELS. San; To scatter as by the wind; to disperse;
to let go, to spread abroad.
K’ he, (ch’i); A vessel, an implement; ability, capacity.
RULERS FOREVERMORE. Kwan; An officer of government; a magia-
trate.
Ch’ hang, (ch’ ang); Long, to excel; superiors; long-holding; ch’ ang lo,
eternal joy. Also, the first, elders, superiors, high in station; superior
over all the officers.

CHAPTER XXX.

GOOD REPAYMENT. Sze, (shi); Business.
Haou, (hao); Good, opposite of bad.
Hwan; Return, as returning a visit.

CHAPTER XXXII.

HARMONY. Keun, (chun); Even, level, plain, just, equal, flat; to ad-
just, to equalize; a musical instrument.

TAKES CONTROL. Che, (chi); To regulate, to rule, to adjust, to form,
to cut.

CHAPTER XXXITI.

DIES. DOES NOT PERISH. LIVES LONGER. Ske, (’sr); To die; the
dispersion, of life.
Wang; Lost, destroyed, dead, exterminated; with Wuh, (wu), not.
Show, (sheu); Longevity; is long-lived.

 

a 153 J a

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

CHAPTER XXXIV.
TO OWN. Choo, (chu); A lord, a master; the principal, the chief; to
tule, to govern and direct; pu wei chu, does not make lordship over.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Le che, (li ch’ i); sharp tools. A Chinese phrase.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

DOES NOTHING. NOTHING LEFT TO DO. Woo wei, woo pub wei;
literally, Nothing does, nothing not done.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

VIRTUE. VIRTUES. THE TEH. Tih, (teh); Virtue, goodness, excel-
lence, favor, benefit, good instruction; grateful; influence, vigor, energy,
power; to ascend; happiness.

The character is compounded of several radicals; step by step; the
ae mind, will, origin; a net; and the radical of completeness or per-
ection.

Of\ this character, Teh, Dr. Legge says, “The ‘virtue’ is the activity
or operation of the TA&o, which is supposed to have come out of its ab-
soluteness. Even Han Fei so defines it here,—‘Teh is the meritorious
work of the Tfo.’”

This ig the original Teh, as a part and manifestation of the TAo.
By union with the Tao all this follows naturally; but when separated
from the Tao, and pursuing those artificial imitations which come from
the animal soul and its strivings, degeneration inevitably follows, and
as a part of; this degeneration we find the names of the Teh applied to
their mere imitations. The result is confusion and further degenera-
tion, until vanity, in the name of Propriety, is even ready to resort to
violence to maintain its claims to genuineness.

Kwang Tsze, in his commentaries, says, “Virtue is liable to be dis-
sipated, and wisdom proceeds to display itself. Wirtue is dissipated in
the name for it, and wisdom seeks to display itself in the striving with
others. In the pursuit of the name men overthrow one another; wis-
dom becomes a weapon of contention.”

RIGHTEOUSNESS. E, (i); Righteousness. It is applied also to anything
from without, as e kee, a false head of hair, e ming, a false collar. L&o
Tsze attributes it, as practised in his day, to something obtained from
without, an imitation, and applied as a covering, instead of inherent
in the union of man with the T4o.

PROPRIETY. Le, (li); ceremonies, rites. Lao Tsze here attacks the
ceremonial observances so rigidly insisted on by Confucius, which he

 

 

——— [154]

 
 

 

VOCABULARY

regarded as perversions of the true, spontaneous virtues of the TAo,
which constitute the Teh.

SKELETON. Po; Plants and trees scattered in a wood; a little; care-
lessly; anyhow; light, vain; to feel suspicious of. In combination with
other words, to treat shabbily; to view lightly; a bad fortune; barren
ground. It has the sense of sham or show, of weak imitation; skeleton
will serve to indicate the sense, as one would look through the scattered
trees and plants which appear in the guise of woods or forests.

SOLID MAN. Ta chang foo; A great man, in a technical sense, as the
phrase is given in Medhurst. Ta, great; chang, an elderly person; foo,
a full-grown person; as a whole, a solid, mature, capable man.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

SPIRIT. SPIRITS. Shin, (shan); The celestial gods who draw forth or
develop all things; the soul of the male principle in nature. Tien shan,
gods of heaven; jan shan, spirits of men. The character has two radi-
cals; she, the spirit supposed to animate the earth, and teen, to spread
out. (See Analytical Index under title, Spirit).

SOUL. SPIRIT POWER. Ling; This word is inadequately translated by
soul, or spirit power, but there seems to be no better. The character,
ling, has no single defining word, even in the Chinese. It is com-
pounded of the radicals of pouring out like rain from above, a shelter,
an entrance, and the bamboo radical for harmonious musical pipes; also
the interposed radical of work. (See Analytical Index, Spirit).

CHAPTER XL.
MOVEMENT. RETURNING. WEAKNESS. T’ hung, (tung); To move,

to act, to burst forth, to shake, to agitate.
Fan; Back again; to return.
Jo, (joh); Weak, feeble both in body and mind.

CHAPTER XLI.
YIN. YANG. IMMATERIAL BREATH. Yin; Dark, shadowy, deep,
obscure, impenetrable, opaque, indiscernible; that which is inferior.
Yang; That which aided in the construction of the heavens, and
illumines all things; that which is high and bright; the male principle
in nature. Yang yin, the male and female principles of nature.
K’ he, (ch’i); Spirit, breath, origin of life, primary matter, dual
principle of nature, exhalation, subtle principle of life.
Ch’ hung, (ch’ ung); Empty, harmonious, deep.

 

[155]

 
 

 

THH LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

CHAPTER XLIII.
NON-EXISTENT. NO CREVICES. Woo, (wu); Nothing.
Yew, (yiu); Existent.
Juh, (ju); Enters.
Woo, (wu); Without, (with the nothingness of).
Keen, (chien); An interstice, an interval.
CHAPTER XLIV.

MALICIOUS ELF. Ping; An acute disease, a severe sickness, sorrow, dis-
tress, misery. Elves and sprites are common material in Chinese hit-
erature; see Kwang Tsze and other early commentators.

CHAPTER XLVI.

SIN. ‘Tsuy, (tsui); Sin, fault, transgression. It is compounded of the radi-
cals; to oppose, to turn back on, not right, wrong; and a net. It isa
felicitous idea, caught in a net by wrong.

CONTENT. Tsuh, (tsu); Full, sufficient, satisfied.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

ACTIVE SCHEMING. Sze, (shi); Business, affair, occupation, employ-
ment, service, trouble; ching sze, politics. It is compounded of the rad-
icals,' an entrance; a pig’s head; and a barb thrust through.

CHAPTER XLIX.

UNCHANGEABLE HEART. Woo, (wu); Nothing, not, absence of.

Ch’ hang, (chang); Constant, as in woo ch’ hang, the five constant
virtues.
Sin; Heart, mind, affections, will.

GOOD. FAITHFUL. Literally, Good ones I myself good to them; not
good ones I myself also good to them. Virtue, goodness.

Faithful ones I myself faithful to them; not faithful ones I my-
self also faithful to them. Virtue, faithfulness.
CHAPTER L.

GOING FORTH LIFE. COMING HOME DEATH. Ch’ huh, (ch’w);

To go out, to spring forth, to beget, to put out.

Sang, (shang); Life, to live, to be alive, to advance, to arise.

Juh, (ju); To enter, to go in. Ch’ huh juh, abroad and at home.

Sze, (sz); The melting away of animal life, the dispersion of the
vital ‘energies, to die (a natural death).

Says Kwang Tsze, “Life is a borrowed thing. The living frame thus
borrowed is but so much dust. Life and death are like day and night.”

FOLLOWERS. T’ hoo, (tu); To go on foot, to walk; a foot soldier, a dis-
ciple, a follower.

The followers of death, or of life, are like the followers of any other
pursuit, ad law, or medicine, or science, or art.

oe [156]

 

 
 

 

VOCABULARY

 

 

CHAPTER LI.

TAO. TEH. LIVING THINGS. Taou, (t&o); A road, a way, the Tao.

Shang; gives life.

Tih, (teh); Virtue, goodness, excellence. See Teh, Chapter
XXXVIII. Here it is the operation of the T4&o, its beneficent energies
of development and sustenance.

GROW BY FORCE AND CIRCUMSTANCE. She, (shi); Strength,
power, influence, figure, appearance, the vital energy.

Ching, (ch’ ing); To complete, to effect; the completion of any-
thing; termination; perfect, good, excellent; certain, heavy, important,
full, abundant. Ching jin che mei, to help people in carrying through
their good purposes.

Che, (chi); These, them; sign of genitive case.

SPONTANEOUS. Tsaze, (tsz); From. Jen, (jan); To assent to, to reply,
to promise, to boil, to burn. Tsze jen, a Chinese idiomatic expression
signifying spontaneously, without constraint, (Medhurst).

NEEDS THEM NOT. TAKES NO CONTROL. She, (shi); to depend
on for support and nourishment, to rely on. Used with the negative
puh, (pu).

Tsae, (tsai); To rule, to regulate. Used with the negative puh,
(pu).

The sense is that jthe Tao produces all, but does not require them
for its own support, endows all, but does not personally control or
regulate them.

MYSTIC VIRTUE. This is a rather weak rendering, but is literal. The
sense is, This is called huen teh, huen being deep, dark, mysterious,
heaven-conceived, and teh the operations, in universal nature, of the
T&o.

CHAPTER LIT.

THE CHILD. K’ he, (ch’i); He, she, it; his, her, its; the, that.

Tsze, (tsz); A son, an heir, issue, posterity. As Kung Tsze, the
children of nobles.

EMPLOY ‘THE TAO’S LIGHT. Yung; to employ, to use, to put to use;
to cause; common; by, with. Also apply, as in yung sin, apply the mind.

K’ he, (ch’ i); Its (the Tao’s).

Kwang; Light, illustrious, bright.

RETURNING HOME TO ITS SOURCE. Kwei; To go home, to return to.

K’ he; (ch’ i); Its.

Ming; Enlightenment, clearness, splendor, illumination, what is
clearly perceived.

 

[157]

 
THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

 

 

CALAMITY. LOSE NOT BODY. Yang; a fault, a calamity, punishment;
pib yang, series of calamities.

E, (i); Lost, abandoned, given up, forsaken. Used with negative,
woo; in no wise.

Shin, (shan); Person, body, self.

TRAIN WITH THE ETERNAL. Seih, (sih); To flap the wings repeat-
edly as in flying, to flutter, to accustom oneself to, to be practised in,
to render familiar by constant repetition.

Ch’ hang, (Chang); The Eternal, as in Ch’hang sang, (Chang
shang); Eternal Life.

CHAPTER LIII.

UNEXPECTED MANNER. The characters used are Keae, (chie), and
Jen, (jan). The ‘former has the apparently contrary meanings of, to
assist, to act, to attend upon; an attendant; great, firm. The essen-
tial element is that of one who assists when called upon.

The latter character represents a fire breaking out; to assent to
anything. Suh jen, suddenly. The opening word of the sentence is
she, (shi), to order, to send, or to be sent, or directed as a messenger.
Literally the reading is, “I being sent as a servant, suddenly, having
knowledge to walk according to the Great Tao, only bold display is
what I fear.”

She, (shi); A flag, a waving banner; to swagger, to spread out.
This, on the part of the people, is what he fears.

ROBBERS’ PRIDE. T’ haou, (tao); A thief; to steal.

K’ hwa, (Kw’ a); To boast, to talk pompously, to exalt one’s self;
self-conceited. Also, great.

CHAPTER LVII.

UPRIGHT. GRATEFUL. Ching, (chang); Right, square, even, regular;
fully prepared; sufficient, principal, superior; constant; to regulate,
to adjust.

A straight, square, upright man.

K’ he, (ch’i); Strange, wonderful, extraordinary, odd, rare, mon-
estrous, mysterious, unusual.

A man of mystery, and of strange devices. The terms are used
in contrast to each other.

PROHIBITIVE LAWS. Ke, (chi); To hate, to dislike, to envy, to avoid,
to dread, to caution.

Hwuy, (hwui); To shun, to avoid, to conceal, to dread. The idie-
matic Chinese phrase, (Medhurst), Ke hwuy; prohibitions, requiring peo-
p.e to avoid certain words or actions.

 

 

= =[ 158] %

 
 

 

VOCABULARY

 

 

MORE LAWS. MORE THIEVES. Fa; A law.
Ling; Order, cause, law, rule.
‘Tsze, (tsz); To grow, to increase, numerous.
T’ haou, (tao); A thief; to steal.
Tsin; A robber, a thief, a highwayman.
To; More; to exceed.
CHAPTER LVIII.

LIBERALITY. PROSPERITY. Mun, (man); Medhurst gives the sense
of this as to be grieved; it is compounded of the radicals mun, a gate-
way; and sin, the heart or mind, and has the sense of open-hearted,
or open-minded. Chalmers renders it “blindly liberal.”

Shun, (ch’ un); Substantial, thick, kind, generous, unadulterated.
When the government is sympathetic and open, the people are sub-
stantial.

KEEN. PRYING. Ch’ha, (ch’a); To inspect narrowly, to examine, to
inquire into.

LIMITLESS. K’ heih, (chi); The utmost verge, the utmost to which any-
thing can be carried; the extreme limit. Who knows the limits of
misery?

DPRIGHTNESS. STRANGE. Ching, (chang); Right, the first, principal,
fair and square, to adjust. i‘!

K’ he, (ch’ i); Strange, extraordinary, monstrous.

GOODNESS. STRANGE. Shin, (shan); Goodness.

Yaou, (yao); Strange, monstrous, unnatural.

SQUARE. ANGULAR. These words are used metaphorically. Fang;
Square, correct, constant.

Leen, (lien); In a corner, sparing, moderate, uncorrupted.

STRIC1. NO RESTRICTION. Ch’ hih, (chih); Straightforward, straight,
blunt, honest, correct.

Sze, (sz); With the negative puh, (pu), not to strain to the ut-
most, not to pass the limit, not to be abrupt, not to be in haste.

DAZZLES NOT. ILLUMINATES. Kwang; Light, bright, illustrious,
sp:endid. Used in sense of daylight.

Yaou, (yao); Shining, glorious, bright. Used with the negative
pub, (pu).
Is bright, but not shining, or dazzling.
CHAPTER LIX.

MODERATION. Sih, (seh); Sparing, frugal.

EMPIRH BE RULED. Literally, ‘In accord with the T&o approach the
management of the Empire.”

 

[159]

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

SPIRITS OF THOSE WHO ARE GONE. Kwei; A Chinese radical, sig-
nifying a ghost, a spirit, a demon; that to which man reverts at death.
The spirit, leaving the body, constitutes the Kwei, or ghost. (See
Analytical Index, under title, Spirit).

CHAPTER, LXI.

UNION. WIFE. Keaou, (chiao); Blending.

Pin, (p’ in); The female, as mow pin, male and female, It indi-
cates femininity.

QUIETUDE. CONQUER. Tsing; Rest, silence, the opposite of motion.

Ts’ heu, (ts’ u); To take, to take over, to assume, to receive; as,
to take a wife. It is not used in a military sense.

CHAPTER LXII.

TAO,—_THE HIDDEN REFUGE. Chay, (che); This word follows TAo,
in opening this chapter. Its usual signification is, he, who, those who,
or that which. For such use it is commonly put at the end of a clause
or sentence. But it has a special idiomatic use in Chinese when it
follows immediately after the important object to be described; and
emphasizes or calls especial attention to it. It is then used as a rest
or emphatic particle, as, for example, jin chay gae yay, benevolence,—
consists in love. (See Medhurst.) Here the sense is, The Tac—it is the
hidden, etc.

Gaou, (ngao); This is primarily the southwestern or most retired
corner of the house. Hence, deep, retired, one of the five sacrifices.
It is applied to spiritual objects, as Shin gaou, abstruse; gaou meaon,
recondite. It is a deep, retired room, a hidden refuge, both in a ma-
terial and a spiritual sense.

IN GUARDIANSHIP IT CLINGS. Paou, (pao); Secures, preserves. That
is to say, “that which secures and preserves the not-good.”

BUY HONOR. LIFT PEOPLE. She, (shi); To buy, to bid, to offer a
price, to encourage by a good offer.

Kea, (chia); To increase, to add to, to confer on; as Kea Kwan,
to be promoted in rank. The sense is, “its noble deeds can thereby
add to, confer on, promote security of, the people.”

SIN-BOUND. ESCAPED. Tsuy, (tsui); A bamboo net to catch fish, a
fault, a transgression. Fan tsuy, to sin; tsuy jin, a sinner. Jin is a
man. Yew, (yiu), signifies possessed, so that the sense of the phrase
is ‘‘the sin-possessed man.”

Meen, (mien); To avoid, to escape.

E, (i); Thereby.

 

[ 160 ]
 

 

ANALYTICAL INDEX

 

 

CHAPTER LXTII.

RECOMPENSE HATRED. DEEDS OF GOODNESS. Paou, (pao); Re-
compense, reward; to reply to, to answer, to make a return, to re-
Mmunerate, to reward.

Yuen; Hatred, enmity; vexed, angry, inimical. As, paou yuen, to
take revenge.
Tih, (teh); Benefits, favors; goodness, virtue, excellence, good in-
struction; grateful. The sense is active goodness.
CHAPTER LXIV.

MADE NO SIGN. Chaou, (chao); A prognostic, an omen. “That which
has not yet made a sign, or prognostic.”

MAKES. MARS. Wei; To do, to act, to make. Pae, (pai); To destroy,
to break, to overturn, to ruin, to defeat. “The one that makes breaks
it.”

DESIRED BY OTHERS. LEAVINGS. Literally, desires the not-desired,
learns the not-learned, turns back to what all the people passed over.

Ko, (Kwo); To pass over.

DARES NOT CONSTRAIN. Kan; To dare. Wei; To regulate, to at-

tend to, to cause to act, to make, to venture.
Puh, (pu); Not.
CHAPTER LXV.
SAPIENCE REDUNDANT. Che, (chi); This word is here used in an
unfavorable sense. (See Medhurst.) It means knowledge, wisdon, etc.
To; More, numerous, many, excessive.
To sze, (literally too much business), officious, meddlesome. Here,
excessively knowing.

ROBBER RULE. Kwo che tsih, robbery of the country. Tsih; A thief;
to rob the people. :

KEY OF GOVERNMENT. Literally, a pattern rule.

SWIFTLY BRING. Che, (chi); The swift darting of a bird down on the
ground; to come, to arrive at, to proceed from hence to yonder place.

AGREEMENT UNIVERSAL. Ta; Great, large, exceeding, surpassing.

Shun; Agreeable, reasonable, to follow, to obey. Hé shun, har-
‘monious, agreeable, not opposing.
CHAPTER LXVI.

STRIVE. STRIFE. Tsang, (chang); Te strive, te contend; to strive for

the mastery; to wrangle, to litigate, to debate.

[161]

 

 
 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

CHAPTER LXVII.

UNSEEMLY. Puh seaou, (pu siao); Not resembling, dwindling into de-
cay, to be lost and scattered, small; bones and flesh which seem like
each other; degenerate.

MEDIOCRITY. Se, (si); Small, petty. “If one were seemly, his pettiness
would long continue.”

COMPASSIONATENESS. ECONOMY. Teze, (ts’ z); Compassionateness,
kindness, goodness, benevolence; to love tenderly as parents do their
children.

Keen, (chien); Frugality, economy; sparing.

AVOIDING PRECEDENCE. Puh Kan teen hia seen; Not daring to be
made first in the world.

SURE DEFENCE. Koo, (ku); Shut up on all sides, firm, stable, durable,
well-fortified. Literally, “By it they will preserve firmness (will be
well fortified). Heaven, when about to defend them, with compassion-
ateness will protect them.” Said Luther, “A mighty fortress is our
God.”

CHAPTER LXVIII.

TREADS THE WORKMEN’S PATH. Literally, “The good employer of
the people makes himself, (or becomes), lowly, (or below, that is, with
them). This is called the power of employing, or making use of men.”
Leih, (li); Strength, force, power, effort, vigor, endeavor.

FELLOWSHIP WITH HEAVEN. P’hei, (p’ ei); A mate, a fellow with,
a companion, an equal, an associate. T’heen, (t’ ien); Heaven.

PERFECT. K’ heih, (chi); The utmost verge; to reach the extremity;
superlatively; the extreme limit, the first origin of the male and fe-
male principles of nature; that for which no name can be given. This
is the perfect fellowship which the ancients had with Heaven, and their
power of using men to the highest degree, but imperceptibly; (see Chap-
ter VII.)

CHAPTER LXIX.
HOST. GUEST. Khih; A guest, a lodger, a stranger.
Choo Khih, Host and guest.

MISFORTUNE. Ho, (hwo); Misfortune, calamity, misery, unhappiness
sent down from the gods, to destroy, to injure.

MAKE LIGHT OF. K’ hing, (ch’ ing); Light, a light carriage; K’ hing
che, to treat lightly, to disesteem. Also, quick, hasty.

EMBATTLED HOSTS. K’ hang, (K’ ang); To oppose, to obstruct, to in-
troduce.

Ping; Troops, an army, a soldier, a weapon of war.

{ 162]

 

 
 

 

VOCABULARY

 

 

CHAPTER LXXI.
KNOWLEDGE. SICKNESS. Che, (shi); A word conveying an idea, as
awift as an arrow; to know, to perceive, to comprehend, to understand.

This is not learning, but knowledge. It is the intuitive mental
power of intellectual grasp and receptivity. The character is com-
pounded of two radicals, an arrow in flight, and an entrance, like the
mouth.

Curiously enough, this character is also applied to physical, as well
as mental, health, in the sense of healed, or well. This analogy is used
by Lao Taze, in showing that those without knowledge are actually
sick. Hence he applies to them the term ping, an acute disease, a se-
vere sickness, sorrow, distress, misery, and points out the remedy,
which is to become sick of the sickness of ignorance.

There is probably no other language which gives to knowledge the
sense of healed, or well; and it is a high tribute to the Chinese char-
acter that such an analogy should have been made in this way, for,
while apparently far-fetched, it is really absolutely true, though only
apparent to those to whom real knowledge is a thing of high import-
ance to the well-being, the mental health, of the people.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

PERFECT PLANS.. SLOWNESS. Shen, (shan); Good, fair, excellent,
kind, wise, virtuous, skilled in any art, dextrous, happy, great, much;
an expression of approbation, Good! Yuh shen ke sze, Wishing to per-
fect our work.

Mow, (meu); To plan, ta deliberate, to consider, to set the mind
upon; to consult; a plan. ;

Ch’ hen, (ch’ en); Primarily a loose girdle; anything loose. Read
as tan, slow. The sense is that the devices do not go on by a direct
impulse, but develop slowly and deliberately, but are excellent, or per-
fect, when they come to the surface; so much so that none can escape
their all powerful and beneficent movements.

NET OF HEAVEN. MESHES WIDE. Wang; A net; t’ heen, (t’ ien);
Heaven.

os Soo, (shu); Holes through anything; distant, wide apart.

CHAPTER LXXV. 2

TAXES EATEN. Shwuy, (shui); Taxes received; imposts. To; Much,

excessively. Shih, (chih); To eat, to consume, to devour.
CHAPTER LXXVI.

TREE IN ITS STRENGTH. Muh, (mu); A tree.

K’ heang, (ch’ iang); Powerful, firm, able-bodied, strong; strength

[ 163 ]

 

 
 

 

THE LIGHT OF CHINA

 

Tsih, (tseh); A rule, a pattern, to imitate, to conform to; then,
after that, next.

Kung; The same, with, all, alike, together.

This latter word refers to what was just stated regarding the man
who relies on his strength; he will fail to sustain himself; the author
now says of a tree which is firm and strong, that it will be in the same
condition, that is, overcome by the weak and tender; it will be cut
down, which is the fate of good’ timber, by the very fact that it is good
timber, and makes display of the fact.

CHAPTER LXXVII.

BLESS BY SERVING. Literally, “Who can, possessing great store, there-
by give, as received from a superior, to the world, (the people)?”

Fung; Received from a superior, with both hands; to give, to pre-
sent up. Fung heen, To offer up; she fung, To wait upon; fung sze, To
serve.

CHAPTER LXXVIII.

SINS OF HIS COUNTRY. Kow, (keu); Scurf, dandruff, dirt, filth. Here
it is the moral filth. Kwo ke kow; Sins of his country.

MASTER OF SACRIFICE. ALTAR’S LORD. Shay, (she); The spirit
presiding over any given spot; the lares. Ta shay; The national lares.
Shay jih; Times of spring and autumn sacrifices.

Shay tseih; The gods of the land and grain.

Choo, (chu); Lord, master.

WOES. CURSE. Puh Tseang, (pu siang); Not happy, not good; without
happiness, without goodness, without felicity. It is the malevolence
ef the divine powers bringing woes upon the land, with the absence of
every blessing and happiness; a curse resting over the land.

Show, (sheu); To keep, to hold fast, to guard, to preserve, to main-
tain; that which is guarded, a charge.

Who holds fast to, keeps, supports, is charged with his country’s,
(Kwo che), unhappiness, and the malevolence of Heaven upon it, shall
be called—

THE KING OF THE WORLD. Th’ heen hea wang; Of all under heaven
the king.

TRUE. PARADOX. Ching, (chang), yen; Right words; words that hit
the center of the target. Joh; To seem like. Fan; To return, on the
contrary, contrary to. Chalmers renders the sentence, “This is the
language of strict truth, though it seems paradoxical.”

CHAPTER LXXXI.

ACT. STRIVE. These characters are both from the same radical, ehaou,

the hands spread out, in the sense of putting the hands to anything.

[ 164 }

 

 
 

 

VOCABULARY

 

 

Wei; This is compounded of the radicals of the hands apread out, and
of a horse; To make, to do, to act.

Teang, (chang); This is compounded of the radicals of the hands
spread out, to act, with nails and claws to scratch, of a pig’s head with
epen jaws, and of a barb, or hooked spear, thrust through them from
above downward; To strive, to contend; to reprove, to litigate, to de-
bate, to wrangle.

The eage does the former, but refrains from doing the latter.

 

THE END