Chuang  TzO 
 
 Mystic,    Moralist,    and  Social    Reformer 
 
 TRANSLATED    FROM    THE   CHINESE 
 
 BY 
 
 HERBERT       A.       GILES 
 
 H.  B.  M.'s  Consul  at  Tarn  sin 
 
 London 
 BERNARD   OUARITCH 
 
 1889 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction    v 
 
 Note  on  the  Philosophy  of  Chuang  Tzu,  by  Canon  Moore . . .    xviii 
 
 CHAPTER      I— Transcendental  Bliss     i 
 
 „            II — The  Identity  of  Contraries    12 
 
 ,,          III — Nourishment  of  the  Soul    33 
 
 ,,            IV — Man  among  Men 38 
 
 „             V — The  Evidence  of  Virtue  Complete    56 
 
 „           VI — The  Great  Supreme  68 
 
 I     „         VII — How  TO  Govern    91 
 
 „        VIII — Joined  Toes  99 
 
 „           IX — Horses'  Hoofs  106 
 
 „             X — Opening  Trunks    no 
 
 „           XI — On  Letting  Alone  119 
 
 „          XII — The  Universe    135 
 
 XIII— The  Tao  of  God 157 
 
 ,,         XIV — The  Circling  Sky 173 
 
 „          XV — Self-Conceit  190 
 
 ,,         XVI — Exercise  of  Faculties    195 
 
 ,,       XVII — Autumn  Floods 200 
 
 „     XVIII — Perfect  Happiness  220 
 
 ,,         XIX — The  Secret  of  Life 229 
 
iv  Cojitents 
 
 Page 
 
 CHAPTER   XX— Mountain  Trees     245 
 
 „          XXI— T'lEN  Tztj  Fang   261 
 
 XXII — Knowledge  travels  North     276 
 
 XXIII — Keng  Sang  Ch'u     294 
 
 XXIV— Hsu  Wu  KuEi      311 
 
 XXV— Tse  Yang 335 
 
 ,,        XXVI — Contingencies 352 
 
 ,,      XXVII — Language  363 
 
 „    XXVIII — On  Declining  Power 370 
 
 ,,        XXIX — Robber  Che 387 
 
 „          XXX — On  Swords  407 
 
 ,,        XXXI — The  Old  Fisherman 413 
 
 „      XXXII— LiEH  Tzu  423 
 
 ,,    XXXIII — The  Empire 437 
 
 Index  455 
 
 Errata  and  Addenda 466 
 
Introduction. 
 
 C  HUANG  TZU^  belongs  to  the  third  and  fourth 
 centuries  before  Christ.  He  lived  in  the  feudal 
 age,  when  China  was  split  up  into  a  number  of  States 
 owning  a  nominal  allegiance  to  the  royal,  and  weakly, 
 House  of  Chou. 
 
 He  is  noticed  by  the  historian  Ssii-ma  Ch'ien,  who 
 flourished  at  the  close  of  the  second  century  B.C.,  as 
 follows  : — 
 
 Chuang  Tzii  was  a  native  of  Meng.^  His  per- 
 sonal name  was  Chou.  He  held  a  petty  official 
 post  at  Ch'i-ylian  in  Meng.^  He  lived  contempo- 
 raneously with  Prince  Hui  of  the  Liang  State  and 
 Prince  Hsuan  of  the  Ch'i  State.  His  erudition  was 
 most  varied ;  but  his  chief  doctrines  are  based  upon 
 the  sayings  of  LagJTzu.*  Consequently,  his  writ- 
 ings, which  extend  to  over  100,000  words,  are  mostly 
 allegorical.^ 
 
 1  Pronounce  Chwongdza. 
 
 2  In  the  modern  province  of  An-hui. 
 
 ^  Hence  he  is  often  spoken  of  in  the  book  language  as  "  Ch'i-yiian." 
 ■*  Pronounce  Lowdza.     The  lo7C'  as  in  allotv.     See  p.  vii. 
 ^  Of  an  imaginative  character,  in  keeping  with  the  visionary  teachings 
 of  his  master. 
 
 b 
 
vi  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 He  wrote  The  Old  Fisherman,  Robber  Che,  and 
 Opeiiing  Trunks,  with  a  view  to  asperse  the  Con- 
 fucian school  and  to  glorify  the  mysteries  of  Lao 
 Tzu.^  Wei  Lei  Hsii,  Keng  Sang  Tzit,  and  the  like, 
 are  probably  unsubstantial  figments  of  his  imagina- 
 tion.^ Nevertheless,  his  literary  and  dialectic  skill 
 was  such  that  the  best  scholars  of  the  age  proved 
 unable  to  refute  his  destructive  criticism  of  the 
 Confucian  and  Mihist  schools.^ 
 
 His  teachings  were  like  an  overwhelming  flood, 
 which  spreads  at  its  own  sweet  will.  Consequently, 
 from  rulers  and  ministers  downwards,  none  could 
 apply  them  to  any  definite  use.^ 
 
 Prince  Wei  of  the  Ch'u  State,  hearing  of  Chuang 
 Tzu's  good  report,  sent  messengers  to  him,  bearing 
 costly   gifts,    and    inviting   him    to   become    Prime 
 Minister.      At    this   Chuang  Tzu  smiled    and    said 
 to  the  messengers,    "  You    offer    me   great   wealth 
 and  a  proud  position  indeed  ;  but   have  you  never 
 seen  a  sacrificial  ox  ? — When   after  being   fattened 
 up  for  several  years,  it  is  decked  with  embroidered 
 trappings  and  led  to  the  altar,  would  it  not  willingly 
 then  change  places  with   some   uncared-for  pigling  .-* 
 .     .....      Begone  !     Defile  me  not !     I  would 
 
 rather  disport  myself  to  my  own  enjoyment   in  the 
 
 1  See  chs.  xxxi,  xxix,  and  x,  respectively. 
 
 2  The  second  of  these  personages  is  doubtless  identical,  though  the 
 name  is  differently  written,  with  the  Keng  Sang  Ch'u  of  ch.  xxiii.  The 
 identity  of  the  first  name  has  not  been  satisfactorily  settled. 
 
 3  See  p.  17. 
 
 *  This  last  clause  is  based  upon  a  famous  passage  in  the  Lun  Yii : — 
 The  perfect  man  is  not  a  mere  thing ;  i.e.,  his  functions  are  not  limited. 
 The  idea  conveyed  is  that  Chuang  Tzu's  system  was  too  far-reaching  to  be 
 practical. 
 
Introduction  vii 
 
 mire  than  be  slave  to  the  ruler  of  a  State.  I  will 
 never  take  office.  Thus  I  shall  remain  free  to 
 follow  my  own  inclinations."  ^ 
 
 To  enable  the  reader  to  understand  more  fully  the 
 writings  of  Chuang  Tzu,  and  to  appreciate  his  aim  and 
 object,  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  a  few  more  hundred 
 years. 
 
 In  the  seventh  century  B.C.,  lived  a  man,  now  commonly 
 spoken  of  as  Lao  Tzii.  He  was  the  great  Prophet  of 
 his  age.  He  taught  men  to  return  good  for  evil,  and  to 
 look  forward  to  a  higher  life.  He  professed  to  have 
 found  the  clue  to  all  thinofs  human  and  divine. 
 
 He  seems  to  have  insisted  that  his  system  could  not  be 
 reduced  to  words.  At  any  rate,  he  declared  that  those 
 who  spoke  did  not  know,  while  those  who  knew  did  not 
 speak. 
 
 But  to  accommodate  himself  to  conditions  of  mortality, 
 he  called  this  clue  TAO,  or  The  Way,  explaining  that  the 
 word  was  to  be  understood  metaphorically,  and  not  in  a 
 literal  sense  as  the  way  or  road  upon  which  men  walk. 
 
 The  following  are  sentences  selected  from  the  indis- 
 putably genuine  remains  of  Lao  Tzu,  to  be  found  scattered 
 here  and  there  in  early  Chinese  literature  : — 
 
 All  the  world  knows  that  the  goodness  of  doing 
 good  is  not  real  goodness. 
 
 When  merit  has  been  achieved,  do  not  take 
 it  to  yourself.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you  do  not 
 take  it  to  yourself,  it  shall  never  be  taken  from  you. 
 
 By  many  words  wit  is  exhausted.  It  is  better 
 to  preserve  a  mean. 
 
 1  See  p.  434- 
 b  2 
 
 L^ 
 
viii  CJuuDi^r  Tzit 
 
 <b 
 
 7  Keep    behind,    and    you  shall    be   put    In    front. 
 
 Keep  out,  and  you  shall  be  kept  in. 
 
 What  the  world  reverences  may  not  be  treated 
 with  irreverence. 
 
 Good  words  shall  gain  you  honour  In  the  market- 
 place. Good  deeds  shall  gain  you  friends  among 
 men. 
 
 He  who,  conscious  of  being  strong,  Is  content 
 to  be  weak, — he  shall  be  a  cynosure  of  men. 
 
 The  Empire  is  a  divine  trust,  and  may  not  be 
 ruled.  He  who  rules,  ruins.  He  who  holds  by 
 force,  loses. 
 
 Mighty  is  he  who  conquers  himself. 
 
 He  who  Is  content,  has  enough. 
 
 To  the  good  I  would  be  good.  To  the  not-good 
 I  would  also  be  good,  in  order  to  make  them  good. 
 
 If  the  government  Is  tolerant,  the  people  will  be 
 without  guile.  If  the  government  is  meddling, 
 there  will  be  constant  infraction  of  the  law. 
 
 Recompense  injury  with  kindness. 
 
 The  wise  man's  freedom  from  grievance  is 
 because  he  will  not  regard  grievances  as  such. 
 
 Of  such  were  the  pure  and  simple  teachings  of  Lao 
 Tzu.  But  it  is  upon  the  wondrous  doctrine  of  Inaction 
 that  his  claim  to  immortality  is  founded  : — 
 
 Do  nothing,  and  all  things  will  be  done. 
 
 I  do  nothing,  and  my  people  become  good  of 
 their  own  accord. 
 
 Abandon  wisdom  and  discard  knowledge,  and 
 the  people  will  be  benefited  an  hundredfold. 
 
 The  weak  overcomes  the  strong,  the  soft  over- 
 comes the  hard.  All  the  world  knows  this  ;  yet 
 none  can  act  up  to  it. 
 
Introduction  ix 
 
 The  softest  things  in  the  world  override  the 
 hardest.  That  which  has  no  substance  enters 
 where  there  is  no  fissure.  And  so  I  know  that 
 there  is  advantage  in  Inaction. 
 
 Such  doctrines  as  these  were,  however,  not  h'kely  to 
 appeal  with  force  to  the  sympathies  of  a  practical  people. 
 In  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  before  Lao  Tzu  s  death,  another 
 Prophet  arose.  He  taught  his  countrymen  that  duty  to 
 one  s  neighbour  comprises  the  whole  duty  of  man. 
 Charitableness  of  heart,  justice,  sincerity,  and  fortitude, — 
 sum  up  the  ethics  of  Confucius.  He  knew  nothing  of  a 
 God,  of  a  soul,  of  an  unseen  world.  And  he  declared 
 that  the  unknowable  had  better  remain  untouched. 
 
 Against  these  hard  and  worldly  utterances,  Chuang  Tzii 
 raised  a  powerful  cry.  The  idealism  of  Lao  Tzu  had 
 seized  upon  his  poetic  soul,  and  he  determined  to  stem 
 the  tide  of  materialism  in  which  men  were  being  fast 
 rolled  to  perdition. 
 
 He  failed,  of  course.  It  was,  indeed,  too  great  a  task  to 
 persuade  the  calculating  Chinese  nation  that  by  doing 
 nothing,  all  things  would  be  done.  But  Chuang  Tzii 
 bequeathed  to  posterity  a  work  which,  by  reason  of  its 
 marvellous  literary  beauty,  has  always  held  a  foremost 
 place.  It  is  also  a  work  of  much  originality  of  thought. 
 The  writer,  it  is  true,  appears  chiefly  as  a  disciple  insisting 
 upon  the  principles  of  a  Master.  But  he  has  contrived  to 
 extend  the  field,  and  carry  his  own  speculations  Into  regions 
 never  dreamt  of  by  Lao  Tzii. 
 
 It  may  here  be  mentioned  that  the  historian  Ssti-ma 
 Ch'ien,  already  quoted,  states  in  his  notice  of  Lao  Tzu 
 that  the  latter  left   behind   him   a  small  volume  in  5,000 
 
X  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 and  odd  characters.  Ssu-ma  Ch'ien  does  not  say,  nor 
 does  he  give  the  reader  to  understand,  that  he  himself  had 
 ever  seen  the  book  in  question.  Nor  does  he  even  hint 
 (see  p.  V.)  that  Chuang  Tzu  drew  his  inspiration  from  a 
 book,  but  only  from  the  "  sayings  "  of  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 Confucius  never  mentions  this  book.  Neither  does 
 Mencius,  China's  *'  Second  Sage,"  who  was  born  about 
 one  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the  First. 
 
 But  all  this  is  a  trifle  compared  with  the  fact  that 
 Chuang  Tzu  himself  never  once  alludes  to  such  a  book  ; 
 although  now,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  there  are  some, 
 happily  few  in  number,  who  believe  that  we  possess  the 
 actual  work  of  Lao  Tzti's  pen.  It  is,  perhaps,  happier 
 still  that  this  small  number  cannot  be  said  to  include 
 within  it  the  name  of  a  single  native  scholar  of  eminence. 
 In  fact,  as  far  as  I  know,  the  whole  range  of  Chinese 
 literature  yields  but  the  name  of  one  such  individual 
 who  has  ever  believed  in  the  genuineness  of  the  so-called 
 Tao-Te-CIiiiig}  Even  he  would  probably  have  remained 
 unknown  to  fame,  had  he  not  been  brother  to  Su 
 Tung-p'o.^ 
 
 Chuang  Tzu,  indeed,  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Lao  Tzu 
 sayings  which  are  now  found  in  the  Tao-Ti-Ching,  mixed 
 up  with  a  great  many  other  similar  sayings  which  are 
 not  to  be  found  there.  But  he  also  puts  sayings,  which 
 now   appear   in    the    Tao-Te-Cking,    into    the    mouth  of 
 
 1  The  Canon  of  Tao^  and  of  Te,  the  exempHfication  the  reof.  See 
 p.  I5.  I  have  discussed  the  claims  of  this  work  at  some  length  in  T7ie 
 Remains  of  Lao  Tzu:  Hong  Kong,  1886. 
 
 2  The  brilliant  philosopher,  statesman,  poet,  &c.,  of  the  Sung  dynasty 
 (a.d.  1036-1101). 
 
Introduction  xi 
 
 Confucius  (p.  275)  !  And  even  into  the  mouth  of  the 
 Yellow  Emperor  (pp.  277-278),  whose  date  is  some 
 twenty  centuries  earlier  than  that  of  Lao  Tzii  himself! ! 
 
 Two  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  an  attempt  was 
 made  to  destroy,  with  some  exceptions,  the  whole  of 
 Chinese  literature,  in  order  that  history  might  begin  anew 
 from  the  reign  of  the  First  Emperor  of  united  China. 
 The  extent  of  the  actual  mischief  done  by  this  "  Burning 
 of  the  Books  "  has  been  greatly  exaggerated.  Still,  the 
 mere  attempt  at  such  a  holocaust  gave  a  fine  chance  to 
 the  scholars  of  the  later  Han  dynasty  (a.d.  25-221),  who 
 seem  to  have  enjoyed  nothing  so  much  as  forging,  if  not 
 the  whole,  at  any  rate  portions,  of  the  works  of  ancient 
 authors.  Some  one  even  produced  a  treatise  under  the 
 name  of  Lieh  Tzu,  a  philosopher  mentioned  by  Chuang 
 Tzu,  not  seeing  that  the  individual  in  question  was  a 
 creation  of  Chuang  Tzu's  brain  ! 
 
 And  the  7"^^- Zk^-OzV^^  was  undoubtedly  pieced  together 
 somewhere  about  this  period,  from  recorded  sayings  and 
 conversations  of  Lao  Tzu.^ 
 
 Chuang  Tzu's  work  has  suffered  in  like  manner.  Several 
 chapters  are  clearly  spurious,  and  many  episodes  have 
 been  interpolated  by  feeble  imitators  of  an  inimitable 
 style. 
 
 The  text,  as  it  now  stands,  consists  of  thirty-three 
 chapters.     These  are  a  reduction  from  fifty-three,  which 
 
 1  A  curious  parallelism  will  be  found  in  Supernatural  Religion,  vol.  i, 
 p.  460  ; — 
 
 "No  period  in  the  history  of  the  world  ever  produced  so  many 
 spurious  works  as  the  first  two  or  three  centuries  of  our  era.  The  name 
 of  every  Aposde,  or  Christian  teacher,  not  excepting  that  of  the  great 
 Master,  was  freely  attached  to  every  description  of  religious  forgery." 
 
xii  Chuang  TzU 
 
 appear  to  have  been  in  existence  in  the  fourth  century  a.d.' 
 The  following  is  the  account  given  in  the  Imperial  Cata- 
 logue of  the  first  known  edition  : — 
 
 Chuang  Tzii,  with  Commentary,  in  lo  books.  By 
 Kuo  Hsiang  of  the  Chin  dynasty  (a.d.  265-420). 
 
 The  Shik-shuo-ksin-yu^  states  that  Kuo  Hsiang 
 stole  his  work  from  Hsiang  Hsiu.^  Subsequently, 
 Hsiang  Hsiu's  edition  was  issued,  and  the  two  were 
 in  circulation  together.  Hsiang  Hsiu's  edition  is 
 now  lost,  while  Kuo  H slang's  remains. 
 
 Comparison  with  quotations  from  Hsiang  Hsiu's 
 work,  as  given  in  Chuang  Tzu  Explained,  by  Lu 
 Te-ming,  shows  conclusive  evidence  of  plagiarism. 
 Nevertheless,  Kuo  Hsiang  contributed  a  certain 
 amount  of  independent  revision,  making  it  impossible 
 for  us  to  regard  the  whole  as  from  the  hand  of 
 Hsiang  Hsiu.  Consequently,  it  now  passes  under 
 the  name  of  Kuo  Hsiang. 
 
 Since  Kuo  Hsiang's  time,  numberless  editions  with 
 ever-varying  interpretations  have  been  produced  to  delight 
 and  to  confuse  the  student.  Of  these,  I  have  chosen  six, 
 representative  as  nearly  as  possible  of  different  schools  of 
 thought.     Their  editors  are  : — 
 
 I. — Kuo  Hsiang  of  the  Chin  dynasty,  [a)  As  given 
 in  the  Skih  Tzii  Cltiian  Shu,  or  Complete  Works  of  the 
 Ten  Philosophers,  {b)  As  edited  by  Tan  Yiian-ch'un,  of 
 the  Ming  dynasty,  with  his  own  valuable  notes. 
 
 2. — Li)  Hui-ch'ing  of  the  Sung  dynasty. 
 
 1  On  the  authority  of  the  I-wcn-chih. 
 
 "  A  work  of  the  fifth  century  a.d. 
 
 3  Of  the  Han  dynasty.     Mayers  puts  him  a  Uttle  later,  viz.,  a.d.  275. 
 
Introdtidion  xiii 
 
 3. — Lin  Hsi-yi  of  the  Sung  dynasty. 
 
 4. — Wang  Yi)  of  the  Sung  dynasty.  Son  of  the  famous 
 Wang  An-shih. 
 
 5.   HsiNG  Tung,  a  Taoist  priest  of  the  Ming  dynasty. 
 
 6. — Lin  Hsi-chung,  of  the  Ming  and  Ch'ing  dynas- 
 ties. 
 
 Where  there  is  a  consensus  of  opinion,  I  have  followed 
 such  interpretation  without  demur.  But  where  opinions 
 differ,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  accept  that  interpretation 
 which  seemed  to  me  to  be  most  in  harmony  with  the 
 general  tenor  of  Chuang  Tzu's  philosophy.  And  where 
 all  commentators  fail  equally,  as  they  sometimes  do,  to 
 yield  anything  at  all  intelligible,  I  have  then  ventured  to 
 fall  back  upon  what  Chuang  Tzu  himself  would  have 
 called  the  "light  of  nature."  Always  keeping  steadily  in 
 view  the  grand  precept  of  Lin  Hsi-chung,  that  we  should 
 attempt  to  interpret  Chuang  Tzu  neither  according  to  Lao 
 Tzu,  nor  according  to  Confucius,  nor  according  to  Buddha, 
 but  according  to  Chuang  Tzu  himself. 
 
 Of  the  thirty-three  existing  chapters,  the  first  seven  are 
 called  "  inside  "  chapters,  the  next  fifteen  "  outside,"  and 
 the  remaining  eleven  "  miscellaneous." 
 
 The  meaning  of  "  inside  "  and  "  outside  "  is  a  matter  of 
 dispute.  Some  Chinese  critics  have  understood  these 
 terms  in  the  obvious  sense  of  esoteric  and  exoteric.  But 
 it  is  simpler  to  believe  with  others  that  the  titles  of  the 
 first  seven  chapters  are  taken  from  the  inside  or  subject- 
 matter,  while  the  outside  chapters  are  so  named  because 
 their  titles  are  derived  casually  from  words  which  happen 
 to  stand  at  the  beginning  or  outside  of  each. 
 
xiv  Chuaiig  Tzu 
 
 Compared  with  the  "  miscellaneous,"  these  latter  seem 
 to  have  been  classed  together  as  elucidating  a  single 
 principle  in  terms  more  easy  of  apprehension  ;  while  the 
 "  miscellaneous  "  chapters  embrace  several  distinct  trains 
 of  thought,  and  are  altogether  more  abstruse.  The 
 arrangement  is  unscientific,  and  it  was  probably  this  which 
 caused  Su  Tung-p'o  to  decide  that  division  into  chapters 
 belongs  to  a  later  age.  He  regards  chaps,  xxix-xxxii  as 
 spurious,  although  Ssu-ma  Ch'ien  alludes  to  two  of  these 
 as  Chuang  Tzu's  work.  It  has  indeed  been  held  that  the 
 inside  chapters  alone  (i-vii)  are  from  Chuang  Tzu's  own 
 pen.  But  most  of  the  other  chapters,  exclusive  of 
 xxix-xxxii,  contain  unmistakable  traces  of  a  master  hand. 
 Ch.  xvii,  by  virtue  of  an  exquisite  imagery,  has  earned 
 for  its  author  the  affectionate  sobriquet  of  "  Chou  of  the 
 Autumn  Floods." 
 
 Chuang  Tzu,  it  must  be  remembered,  has  been  for 
 centuries  classed  as  a  heterodox  writer.  His  work  was 
 an  effort  of  reaction  against  the  materialism  of  Confucian 
 teachings.  And  in  the  course  of  it  he  was  anything  but 
 sparing  of  terms.  Confucius  is  dealt  with  in  language 
 which  no  modern  literate  can  approve.  But  the  beauty 
 and  vigour  of  the  language  are  facts  admitted  by  all.  He 
 is  constantly  quoted  in  the  great  standard  lexicon  which 
 passes  under  the  name  of  K'ang  Hsi. 
 
 But  no  acquaintance  with  the  philosophy  of  Chuang 
 Tzu  would  assist  the  candidate  for  honours  at  the  com- 
 petitive examinations  which  are  the  portals  to  official  place 
 and  power.  Consequently,  Chuang  Tzu  is  studied  chiefly 
 by  older  men,  who  have  retired  from  office,  or  who  have 
 been  disappointed   in   their  career.     Those   too   who  are 
 
Introduction  xv 
 
 dominated  by  a  religious  craving  for  something  better 
 than  mortality,  find  in  his  pages  much  agreeable  solace 
 against  the  troubles  of  this  world,  with  an  implied  promise 
 of  another  and  a  better  world  to  come. 
 
 It  has  been  publicly  announced  that  translations  of  Lao 
 Tzu  and  Chuang  Tzu  are  to  appear  among  the  Sacred 
 Books  of  the  East} 
 
 Now  to  include  the  Tao-Ti-Chingm  such  a  series  would 
 be  already  a  doubtful  step.  Apart  from  spuriousness,  it 
 can  only  by  a  severe  stretch  of  courtesy  be  termed  a 
 "  sacred  book."  It  undoubtedly  contains  many  of  Lao 
 Tzu's  sayings,  but  it  also  undoubtedly  contains  much  that 
 Lao  Tzu  never  said  and  never  could  have  said.  It  illus- 
 trates rather  that  period  when  the  pure  Tao  of  Lao  Tzu 
 began  to  be  corrupted  by  alchemistic  research  and  gropings 
 after  the  elixir  of  life.  It  was  probably  written  up  in  self- 
 defence  against  the  encroachments  of  Buddhism,  in  those 
 early  days  of  religious  struggle  when  China  was  first 
 flooded  with  the  "sacred  books"  of  the  West.  It  is  not 
 seriously  recognised  as  the  Canon  of  ancient  Taoism. 
 Among  the  Taoists  of  to-day,  not  one  in  ten  thousand  has 
 more  than  heard  its  name.  For  modern  Taoism  is  but  a 
 hybrid  superstition, — a  mixture  of  ancient  nature-worship 
 and  Buddhistic  ceremonial,  with  Tao  as  the  style  of  the 
 firm.  Its  teachinofs  are  farther  removed  from  the  Tag 
 of  Lao  Tzu  than  Ritualism  from  the  Christianity  of 
 Christ. 
 
 As  to  Chuang  Tzu,  his  work  can  in  no  sense  be  called 
 "  sacred."        Unless    indeed    we    modify   somewhat    the 
 
 '  The  China  Review,  vol.  xvi,  p.  195. 
 
xvi  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 accepted  value  of  terms,  and  reckon  the  works  of  Aristotle 
 among  the  "  sacred  "  books  of  the  Greeks.  Chuang  Tzii 
 was  scarcely  the  founder  of  a  school.  He  was  not  a 
 Prophet,  as  Lao  Tzii  was,  nor  can  he  fairly  be  said  ever 
 to  have  been  regarded  by  genuine  Taoists  as  such. 
 
 When,  many  centuries  later,  the  light  of  Lao  Tzu's  real 
 teachings  had  long  since  been  obscured,  then  a  foolish 
 Emperor  conferred  upon  Chuang  Tzii's  work  the  title  of 
 Holy  Canon  of  Nan-hua)  But  this  was  done  solely  to 
 secure  for  the  follies  of  the  age  the  sanction  of  a  great 
 name.  Not  to  mention  that  Lieh  Tzu's  alleged  work,  and 
 many  other  similar  forgeries  have  also  been  equally 
 honoured.  So  that  if  works  like  these  are  to  be  included 
 among  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  then  China  alone  will 
 be  able  to  supply  matter  for  translation  for  the  next  few 
 centuries  to  come. 
 
 Partly  of  necessity,  and  partly  to  spare  the  general 
 reader,  I  have  relegated  to  a  supplement  all  textual  and 
 critical  notes  involving  the  use  of  Chinese  characters. 
 This  supplement  will  be  issued  as  soon  as  possible  after 
 my  return  to  China.  It  will  not  form  an  integral  part  of 
 the  present  work,  being  intended  merely  to  assist  students 
 of  the  language  in  verifying  the  renderings  I  have  here 
 seen  fit  to  adopt.  As  a  compromise  I  have  supplied  a 
 kind  of  running  commentary,  introduced,  in  accordance 
 with  the  Chinese  system,  into  the  body  of  the  text.  It  is 
 hoped  that  this  will  enable  any  one  to  understand  the 
 drift  of  Chuang  Tzu's  allusions,  and  to  follow  arguments 
 which  are  usually  subtle  and  oft-times  obscure. 
 
 '   In  A.I).  742. 
 
In  trodiiction  x  v  i  i 
 
 Only  one  previous  attempt  has  been  made  to  place 
 Chuang  Tzu  in  the  hands  of  English  readers.^  In  that 
 case,  the  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  language  possessed  by 
 the  translator  was  altogether  too  elementary  to  justify 
 such  an  attempt.^ 
 
 HERBERT  A.  GILES. 
 
 1  The  Divine  Classic  of  Nan-hiia.  By  Frederic  Henry  Balfour, 
 RR.G.S.,  Shanghai  and  London,  1881. 
 
 2  One  example  will  sufifice.  In  ch.  xxiii  (see  p.  309)  there  occurs  a 
 short  sentence  which  means,  "A  one-legged  man  discards  ornament, 
 his  exterior  not  being  open  to  commendation." 
 
 Mr.  Balfour  translated  this  as  follows  : — "  Servants  will  tear  up  a 
 portrait,  not  liking  to  be  confronted  with  its  beauties  and  its  defects." 
 
Note  on  the  Philosophy  of  Chaps,  i-vii. 
 
 By  the  Rev.  AUBREY  MOORE, 
 
 Tutor  of  Keble  and  Magdalen  Colleges,  Oxford  ;  Hon.  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  &c. 
 
 The  translator  of  Chuang  Tzu  has  asked  me  to  append  a  note  on  the 
 philosophy  of  chs.  i-vii.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  one  who  writes  not  only 
 in  ignorance  of  Chinese  modes  of  thought,  but  with  the  preconceptions  of 
 Western  philosophy,  can  really  help  much  towards  the  understanding  of 
 an  admittedly  obscure  system,  involving  terms  and  expressions  on  which 
 Chinese  scholars  are  not  yet  agreed.  But  an  attempt  to  point  out 
 parallelisms  of  thought  and  reasoning  between  East  and  West  may  be  of 
 use  in  two  ways.  It  may  stimulate  those  who  are  really  competent  to 
 understand  both  terms  in  the  comparison  to  tell  us  where  the  parallelism 
 is  real  and  where  it  is  only  apparent ;  and  it  may  help  to  accustom 
 ordinary  readers  to  look  for  and  expect  resemblances  in  systems  in  which 
 an  earHer  age  would  have  seen  nothing  but  contrasts. 
 
 There  was  a  time  when  historians  of  Greek  philosophy  used  to  point  out 
 what  were  considered  to  be  the  characteristics  of  Greek  thought,  and  then 
 to  put  down  to  "  Oriental  influence  "  anything  which  did  not  at  once  agree 
 with  these  characteristics.  How  and  through  what  channels  this  "  Oriental 
 influence "  was  exercised,  it  was  never  easy  to  determine,  nor  was  it 
 always  thought  worthy  of  much  discussion.  In  recent  times,  however, 
 a  greater  knowledge  of  Eastern  systems  has  familiarised  us  with  much 
 which,  on  the  same  principle,  ought  to  be  attributed  to  "  Greek  influence." 
 And  the  result  has  been  that  we  have  learned  to  put  aside  theories  of 
 derivation,  and  to  content  ourselves  with  tracing  the  evolution  of  reason 
 and  of  rational  problems,  and  to  expect  parallelisms  even  where  the  circum- 
 stances are  widely  different. 
 
 One  instance  may  be  worth  quoting  in  illustration.  We  used  to  be 
 told  that  the  Greek  mind,  in  its  speculation  and  its  art,  was  characterised 
 by  its  love  of  order,  harmony,  and  symmetry,  in  contrast  with  the  monstrous 
 creations  of  the  Oriental  imagination,  and  the  "  colossal  ugliness  of  the 
 Pyramids";  and  it  was  said  with  reason  that  the  Aristotelian  doctrine  ot 
 
Note  on  the  Philosophy  of  Chaps,  i-vii.      xix 
 
 "  the  mean  "  was  the  ripe  fruit  of  the  practical  inquiries  of  the  Greeks, 
 and  was  the  ethical  counterpart  of  their  artistic  development.  But  in 
 1 86 1  we  were  introduced  by  Dr.  Legge  to  a  Confucianist  work,  attributed 
 to  Tzu  Tzii,  grandson  of  Confucius  and  a  contemporary  of  Socrates, 
 and  entitled  T/ie  Doctrine  of  the  Meati}  which  is  there  represented  as 
 the  true  moral  way  in  which  the  perfect  man  walks,  while  all  else  go 
 beyond  or  fall  short  of  it.  Yet  even  those  who  discovered  the  doctrine 
 of  the  Trinity  in  the  Tao-Te-Ching  have  not,  we  believe,  suggested 
 that  Aristotle  had  private  access  to  the  Li  Chi. 
 
 We  may  then,  without  bringing  any  charge  of  piracy  or  plagiarism 
 against  either,  point  out  some  parallels  between  Chuang  Tzu  and  a  great 
 Greek  thinker. 
 
 Chuang  Tzii's  first  chapter  is  mainly  critical  and  destructive,  pointing 
 out  the  worthlessness  of  ordinary  judgments,  and  the  unreality  of  sense 
 knowledge.  The  gigantic  Rukh,  at  the  height  ot  90,000  //,  is  a  mere 
 mote  in  the  sunbeam.  For  size  is  relative.  The  cicada,  which  can  just 
 fly  from  tree  to  tree,  laughs  with  the  dove  at  the  Rukh's  high  flight.  For 
 space  also  is  relative.  Compared  with  the  mushroom  of  a  day,  P'eng  Tsu 
 is  as  old  as  Methuselah ;  but  what  is  his  age  to  that  of  the  fabled  tree, 
 whose  spring  and  autumn  make  up  16,000  years?  Time,  then,  is  relative 
 too.  And  though  men  wonder  at  him  who  could  "  ride  upon  the  wind 
 and  travel  for  many  days,"  he  is  but  a  child  to  one  who  "  roams  through 
 the  realms  of  For-Ever." 
 
 This  doctrine  of  "relativity,"  which  is  a  commonplace  in  Greek  as  it 
 is  in  modern  philosophy,  is  made  the  basis,  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
 times,  of  two  opposite  conclusions.  Either  it  is  argued  that  all  sense 
 knowledge  is  relative,  and  sense  is  the  only  organ  of  knowledge,  therefore 
 real  knowledge  is  impossible ;  or  else  the  relativity  of  sense  knowledge 
 leads  men  to  draw  a  sharp  contrast  between  sense  and  reason  and  to  turn 
 away  from  the  outward  in  order  to  listen  to  the  inward  voice.  The  one 
 alternative  is  scepticism,  the  other  ideaHsm.  In  Greek  thought  the 
 earliest  representatives  of  the  former  are  the  Sophists,  of  the  latter 
 Heracleitus. 
 
 There  is  no  doubt  to  which  side  of  the  antithesis  Chuang  Tzii  belongs. 
 His  exposure   of  false  and  superficial  thinking  looks    at  first  like   the 
 
 1  In  1885  this  treatise  was  republished  by  Dr.  Legge  in  its  place  as 
 Bk.  xxviii  of  the  Li  Ki  or  Li  Chi  (Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vols,  xxvii, 
 xxviii),  with  a  new  title  The  State  of  Equilibritim  and  Llannotiy.  But  the 
 parallelism  with  the  Aristotelian  doctrine  is  as  obvious  as  ever. 
 
XX  Chitang  Tzu 
 
 destruction  of  knowledge.  Even  Socrates  was  called  a  Sophist  because  of 
 his  destructive  criticism  and  his  restless  challenging  of  popular  views. 
 But  Chuang  Tzii  has  nothing  of  the  sceptic  in  him.  He  is  an  idealist  and 
 a  mystic,  with  all  the  idealist's  hatred  of  a  utilitarian  system,  and  the 
 mystic's  contempt  for  a  life  of  mere  external  activity.  "  The  perfect  man 
 ignores  self ;  the  divine  man  ignores  action  ;  the  true  sage  ignores  reputa- 
 tion "  (p.  5).  The  Emperor  Yao  would  have  abdicated  in  favour  of  a 
 hermit,  but  the  hermit  replies  that  "  reputation  is  but  the  shadow  of  reality," 
 and  will  not  exchange  the  real  for  the  seeming.  But  greater  than  Yao 
 and  the  hermit  is  the  divine  being  who  dwells  on  the  mysterious  mountain 
 in  a  state  of  pure,  passionless  inaction. 
 
 For  the  sage,  then,  life  means  death  to  all  that  men  think  life,  the 
 life  of  seeming  or  reputation,  of  doing  or  action,  of  being  or  individual  self- 
 hood. This  leads  on  to  the  "  budget  of  paradoxes  "  in  chap.  11.  As  in 
 the  moral  and  active  region  we  escape  from  the  world  and  self,  and  are  able 
 to  reverse  and  look  down  upon  the  world's  judgments,  so  in  the  speculative 
 region  we  get  behind  and  beyond  the  contradictions  of  ordinary  thinking, 
 and  of  speech  which  stereotypes  abstractions.  The  sage  knows  nothing 
 of  the  distinction  between  subjective  and  objective.  It  exists  only 
 ex  analogia  hominis.  "  From  the  standpoint  of  Tao  "  all  things  are  one. 
 People  "  guided  by  the  criteria  of  their  own  mind,"  see  only  the  contra- 
 diction, the  manifoldness,  the  difference ;  the  sage  sees  the  many 
 disappearing  in  the  One,  in  which  subjective  and  objective,  positive  and 
 negative,  here  and  there,  somewhere  and  nowhere,  meet  and  blend.  For 
 him,  "a  beam  and  a  pillar  are  identical.  So  are  ugliness  and  beauty, 
 greatness,  wickedness,  perverseness,  and  strangeness.  Separation  is  the  same 
 as  construction  :  construction  is  the  same  as  destruction"  (pp.  19-20). 
 The  sage  "  blends  everything  into  one  harmonious  whole,  rejecting  the 
 comparison  of  this  and  that.  Rank  and  precedence,  which  the  vulgar 
 prize,  the  sage  stolidly  ignores.  The  universe  itself  may  pass  away,  but 
 he  will  flourish  still"  (p.  29).  "Were  the  ocean  itself  scorched  up,  he 
 would  not  feel  hot.  Were  the  milky  way  frozen  hard  he  would  not  feel 
 cold.  Were  the  mountains  to  be  riven  with  thunder,  and  the  great  deep 
 to  be  thrown  up  by  storm,  he  would  not  tremble"  (pp.  27-28). 
 
 Si  fractus  illabatur  orbis, 
 Impavidum  ferient  ruinse. 
 
 He  is  "  embraced  in  the  obliterating  unity  of  God,"  and  passing  into  the 
 realm  of  the  Infinite  finds  rest  therein  (p.  31). 
 
 It  is  impossible  in  reading  this  chapter  on  "The  Identity  of  Contraries  " 
 not  to  be  reminded  of  Heracleitus.    The  disparagement  of  sense  knowledge, 
 
Note  on  the  Philosophy  of  Chaps,  i-vii.       xxi 
 
 and  the  contempt  for  common  views  is  indeed  equally  marked  in 
 Eleaticism,  and  there  is  much  in  Chuang  Tzia  which  recalls  Parmenides,^ 
 so  far  as  the  contrast  between  the  way  of  truth  and  the  way  of  error,  the 
 true  belief  in  the  One  and  the  popular  belief  in  the  Many,  is  concerned. 
 But  it  seems  to  me  that  the  "  One  "  of  Chuang  Tzu  is  not  the  dead  Unit 
 of  Eleaticism,  which  resulted  from  the  thinking  away  of  differences, 
 but  the  living  Unity  of  Heracleitus,  in  which  contraries  co-exist. 
 Heracleitus,  indeed,  seems  to  have  been  a  man  after  Chuang  Tzu's  own 
 heart,  not  only  in  his  obscurity,  which  won  for  him  the  title  of  6  ctkoteivoc, 
 but  in  his  indifference  to  worldly  position,  shown  in  the  fact  that,  like  the 
 Emperor  Yao,  he  abdicates  in  his  brother's  favour  {Diog.  Laert.  ix.  i), 
 and  in  his  supercilious  disregard  for  the  learned  like  Hesiod  and  Pytha- 
 goras and  Xenophanes  and  Hecataeus,^  no  less  than  for  the  common 
 people^  of  his  day. 
 
 "Listen,"  says  Heracleitus,  "not  to  me,  but  to  reason,  and  confess  the 
 true  wisdom  that  '  All  things  are  One.'  "^  "  All  is  One,  the  divided  and 
 the  undivided,  the  begotten  and  the  unbegotten,  the  mortal  and  the  im- 
 mortal, reason  and  eternity,  father  and  son,  God  and  justice."^  "  Cold  is 
 hot,  heat  is  cold,  that  which  is  moist  is  parched,  that  which  is  dried  up  is 
 wet."6  "  Good  and  evil  are  the  same."''  "  Gods  are  mortal,  men  im- 
 mortal :  our  Ufe  is  their  death,  our  death  their  life."^  "  Upward  and 
 downward  are  the  same."^  "The  beginning  and  the  end  are  one."^^ 
 "  Life  and  death,  sleeping  and  waking,  youth  and  age  are  identical."^! 
 
 This  is  what  reason  tells  the  philosopher.  "All  is  One."  The  world 
 IS  a  unity  of  opposing  forces  (TraXtrrpojroe  ap/jtopir)  k6(tjxov  OKUxnrep  XvpaQ 
 Kul  ToEov).'^^  "  Join  together  whole  and  not  whole,  agreeing  and  different, 
 harmonious  and  discordant.  Out  of  all  comes  one  :  out  of  one  all.''^' 
 "  God  is  day-night,  winter-summer,  war-peace,  repletion-want. "^^  The 
 very  rhythm  of  nature  is  strife.  War,  which  men  hate  and  the  poets  would 
 banish,  "  is  the  father  and  lord  of  all."!^  But  "  men  are  without  under- 
 standing, they  hear  and  hear  not,"^^  or  "  they  hear  and  understand  not."i7 
 
 1  See  the  fragments  in  Ritter  and  Preller's  H/sf.  Phil.  Grcec.  §  93  and 
 §  94  A.  B.     Seventh  edition.  "  Heracl.  Eph.  Rell.  Bywater,  xvi. 
 
 2  oxXoXoi^opog  'UpaKXeiroc.   Tmion  ap.  Diog.  Laert.  ix.  i. 
 
 *  OuK  kfxiv  dtXXa  tov  \oyov  itKovalivTaq  ojiokoyitiv  aocpoi'  iirri  ev  Travra  tJi'ai. 
 Heracl.  Eph.  Rell.  i.  5  Hippolytus  Ref.  haer.  ix.  9. 
 
 ^  Heracl.  Eph.  Rell.  xxxix.  7  Ibid.,  Ivii. 
 
 ^  Ibid..,  Ixvii.  ^  Ibid..,  Ixix.  ^'^  Ibid.,  Ixx.  ^^  Ibid.,  Ixxviii. 
 
 12  Ibid.,  xlv.  13  /^/^.^  lix.  u  jhid,^  xxxvi.        15  /^/^.^  xliv. 
 
 16  Ibid.,  iii.  17  Ibid.,  V. 
 
xxii  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 For  they  trust  to  their  senses,  which  are  "  false  witnesses."^  They  see 
 the  contradictions,  but  know  not  that  "  the  different  is  at  unity  with 
 itself. "2  They  cannot  see  the  "hidden  harmony,  which  is  greater  than 
 the  harmony  which  is  seen."^  For  they  live  in  the  external,  the  common- 
 place, the  relative,  and  never  rise  above  the  life  of  the  senses.  "  The  sow 
 loves  the  mire."*  *'  The  ass  prefers  fodder  to  gold.""  And  men  love  their 
 "  private  conceits  "  instead  of  clinging  to  the  universal  reason  which 
 orders  all  things,"  and  which  even  the  sun  obeys.^ 
 
 Of  the  fragments  which  remain  to  us  of  Heracleitus,  the  greater  number 
 belong  to  the  region  of  logic  and  metaphysics,  while  Chuang  Tzu  devotes 
 much  space  to  the  more  practical  side  of  the  question.  He  not  only 
 ridicules  those  who  trust  their  senses,  or  measure  by  utilitarian  standards, 
 or  judge  by  the  outward  appearance ; — he  teaches  them  how  to  pass  from 
 the  seeming  to  the  true.  The  wonderful  carver,  who  could  cut  where  the 
 natural  joints  are,^  is  one  who  sees  not  with  the  eye  of  sense  but  with  his 
 mind.  When  he  is  in  doubt  he  "falls  back  upon  eternal  principles"; 
 for  he  is  "  devoted  to  Tao  "  (chap.  iii).  There  is  something  of  humour, 
 as  well  as  much  of  truth,  in  the  rebuke  which  Confucius,  speaking  pro 
 hac  vice  as  a  disciple  of  Lao  Tzii,  administers  to  his  self-confident  follower 
 who  wanted  to  *'  be  of  use."  '*  C\xM\vzX%  fasting  ; — not  bodily  fasting,  but 
 the  fasting  of  the  heart."  Tag  can  only  abide  in  the  life  which  has  got 
 rid  of  self.  So  the  Duke  of  She  is  reminded  that  there  is  something 
 higher  than  duty,^  viz.,  destiny^  the  state,  that  is,  in  which  conscious  obe- 
 dience has  given  way  to  that  which  is  instinctive  and  automatic.  The 
 parable  of  the  trees  (pp.  50-53),  with  its  result  in  the  survival  of  the  good- 
 for-nothing,  is  again  a  reversal  of  popular  outside  judgments.  For  as  the 
 first  part  of  the  chapter  had  taught  the  uselessness  of  trying  to  be  useful, 
 so  the  last  part  teaches  the  usefulness  of  being  useless.  And  the  same 
 thought  is  carried  on  in  the  next  chapter,  which  deals  with  the  reversal  of 
 common  opinion  as  to  persons.  Its  motto  is  : — Judge  not  by  the  appear- 
 ance. Virtue  must  prevail  and  outward  form  be  forgotten.  The  loath- 
 some leper  Ai  T'ai  To  is  made  Prime  Minister  by  the  wise  Duke  Ai.  The 
 
 1  Heracl  Eph.  Rell.  iv.  2  /^/^.^  xlv.  3  /^/^,^  ^Ivii. 
 
 *  Ibid.,  liv.,  and  notes.  ^  Jlnd.,  li.  6  /^/^^  ^ci,  xix. 
 
 ^  Ibid.,  xxix. 
 
 ^  Cf.  Plat.  Phaedr.  265 :  KaT  apdpa  p  irecpvKet'  Kni  fitj  ein'^^EipEiv  Karayrvvai 
 fitpog  fiijdey  KaKov  fxayei'pov  rpoTro)  ^pwyLtfj'oc. 
 
 ^  C/.  Herbert  Si)encer's  well-known  paradox, — "The  sense  of  duty  or 
 moral  obligation  is  transitory,  and  will  diminish  as  fast  as  moralisation 
 increases." — Data  of  Ethics,  p.  127. 
 
Note  on  the  Philosophy  of  Chaps,  i-vii.      xxiii 
 
 mutilated  criminal  is  judged  by  Lao  Tzii  to  be  a  greater  man  than  Con- 
 fucius. For  the  criminal  is  mutilated  in  body  by  man,  while  Confucius, 
 though  men  know  it  not,  by  the  judgment  of  God  is  TrcTrrjpw^tj'oc  Trpoc 
 
 aptTi]v. 
 
 This  protest  of  Chuang  Tzu  against  externality,  and  judging  only  by 
 the  outward  appearance,  might  easily  be  translated  into  Christian  language. 
 For  Christianity  also  teaches  i?iwardness,  and,  in  common  with  all 
 idealism,  resents  the  delimitation  of  human  life  and  knowledge  to  "  the 
 things  which  are  seen."  In  its  opposition  to  a  mere  practical  system  like 
 Confucianism,  Taoism  must  have  appealed  to  those  deeper  instincts  of 
 humanity  to  which  Buddhism  appealed  some  centuries  later.  In  prac- 
 tice, Confucianism  was  limited  to  the  finite.  Action,  effort,  benevolence, 
 unselfishness, — all  these  have  a  place  in  it,  and  their  theatre  is  the  world 
 as  we  know  it.  Its  last  word  is  worldly  wisdom ;  not  selfishness,  but  an 
 enlarged  prudentialism.  To  the  Taoist  such  a  system  savours  of  "  the 
 rudiments  of  the  world."  Its  "  charity  and  duty,"  its  "  ceremonies  and 
 music,"  are  the  "Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not,"  of  an  ephemeral 
 state  of  being,  and  perish  in  the  using.  And  the  sage  seeks  for  the 
 Absolute,  the  Infinite,  the  Eternal.     He  seeks  to  attain  to  Tao. 
 
 It  is  here  that  we  reach  (in  chaps,  vi,  vii)  what  properly  constitutes  the 
 mysticism  of  Chuang  Tzii.  Heracleitus  is  not  a  mystic,  though  he  is  the 
 founder  of  a  long  line,  which  through  Plato,  and  Dionysius  the  Areopagite 
 and  John  the  Scot  in  the  ninth  century,  and  Meister  Eckhart  in  the 
 thirteenth,  and  Jacob  Bohme  in  the  sixteenth,  reaches  down  to  Hegel. 
 Heracleitus  despises  the  world  and  shuns  it ;  but  he  has  not  yet  made 
 flight  from  the  world  a  dogma.  Even  Plato,  when  in  a  well-known 
 passage  in  the  Theaetetus,'  he  counsels  flight  from  the  present  state  of 
 things,  explains  that  he  means  only  "  flee  from  evil  and  become  like  God." 
 Still  less  has  Heracleitus  got  so  far  as  to  aim  at  self-absorption  in  God. 
 In  Greek  thought  the  attempt  to  get  rid  of  consciousness,  and  to  become 
 the  unconscious  vehicle  of  a  higher  illumination,  is  unknown  till  the  time 
 of  Philo.  Yet  this  is  the  teaching  of  Chuang  Tzu.  "  The  true  sage 
 takes  his  refuge  in  God,  and  learns  that  there  is  no  distinction  between 
 subject  and  object.  This  is  the  very  axis  of  Tag"  (p.  i8).  Abstraction 
 from  self,  then,  is  the  road  which  leads  to  Tao  (chap.  vi).  The  pure 
 of  old  did  not  love  life  and  hate  death.  They  were  content  to  be  j^assive 
 vehicles  of  Tag.     They  had  reached  the  state  of  sublime  indifference, 
 
 ^  Tlieaet.  176.  A.  ^10  kiCl  ireipdcrdai  ■^pij  EyOirSe  EKelfre  (pEvysii'  o  ti 
 ra^KTra  .  ^uy//  de  oi^ioiwrriQ  Of(p  /caret  to  dufaroy .  ojuoiwcnQ  oe  CiKaioi'  kul  omor 
 ^lETCi  (Ppon'](TSUic  ytrinQai. 
 
xxiv  Chuartg  Tzu 
 
 they  had  become  "  oblivious  of  their  own  existence."  Everything  in 
 them  was  spontaneous  ;  nothing  the  result  of  effort.  "  They  made  no 
 plans  ;  therefore  failing,  they  had  no  cause  for  regret ;  succeeding,  no  cause 
 for  congratulation  "  (p.  69).  "They  cheerfully  played  their  allotted  parts, 
 waiting  patiently  for  the  end."  They  were  free,  for  they  were  in  perfect 
 harmony  with  creation  (p.  71).  For  them  One  and  not  One  are  One: 
 God  and  Man.  For  they  had  attained  to  Tao,  and  Tao  is  greater  than 
 God.  "  Before  heaven  and  earth  were,  Tao  was.  It  has  existed  without 
 change  from  all  time.  Spiritual  beings  draw  their  spirituality  therefrom  ; 
 while  the  universe  became  what  we  see  it  now.  To  Tag  the  zenith  is  not 
 high,  nor  the  nadir  low ;  no  point  of  time  is  long  ago,  nor  by  lapse  of 
 ages  has  it  grown  old"  (p.  76).  The  great  legislators  obtained  Tao,  and 
 laid  down  eternal  principles.  The  sun  and  moon,  and  the  Great  Bear 
 are  kept  in  their  courses  by  Tao. 
 
 "  Thou  dost  preserve  the  stars  from  wrong ; 
 And  the  most  ancient  heavens,  through  thee,  are  fresh  and  strong." 
 
 He  who  would  attain  to  Tao  must  get  rid  of  the  thought  of  "  charity 
 and  duty,"  of  "  music  and  ceremonies,"  of  body  and  mind.  The  flowers 
 and  the  birds  do  not  toil,  they  simply  live.  That  is  Tao.  And  for  man 
 a  state  of  indifference  and  calm,  the  dropa^m  not  of  the  sceptic  but  of 
 the  mystic,  a  passive  reflecting  of  the  Eternal,  is  the  ideal  end.  "  The 
 l)erfect  man  employs  his  mind  as  a  mirror.  It  grasps  nothing,  it  refuses 
 nothing.  It  receives  but  does  not  keep.  And  thus  he  can  triumph  over 
 matter  without  injury  to  himself"     (See  p.  98.) 
 
 It  would  of  course  be  presumption  to  attempt  to  assign  a  meaning  to  Tao, 
 and  still  more  to  discover  an  equivalent  in  Western  thought.  But  it  may 
 be  lawful  to  say  that  Heracleitus  often  speaks  of  Aoyoe  as  Chuang 
 Tzii  speaks  of  Tao.  It  is  Necessity  [avayKr]),  or  Fate  {elfiapiiirr]),  or 
 Mind  {yvujur)),  or  Justice  (Aikti).  In  nature  it  appears  as  balance  and 
 equipoise ;  in  the  State  as  Law ;  in  man  as  the  universal  Reason, 
 which  is  m  him  but  not  <?/  him.  Sometimes  it  is  identified  with  the 
 mysterious  name  of  Zeus,  which  may  not  be  uttered;^  sometimes  Hke 
 the  'AfayKr)  of  the  Greek  poets,  it  is  supreme  over  gods  and  men.  If 
 it  is  hard  to  say  what  is  the  relation  of  Tao  to  God,  it  is  not  less  hard  to 
 define  the  relation  of  Aoyoe  to  Zeus.  To  speak  of  Chuang  Tzii  and 
 Heracleitus  as  pantheists  is  only  to  say  that,  so  far  as  we  can  translate 
 
 ^  Herad.  Eph.  Rell.  Ixv. 
 
Note  on  the  Philosophy  of  Chaps,  i-vii.       xxv 
 
 their  language  into  ours,  that  name  seems  less  inappropriate  than  Theist 
 or  Deist.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  distinction  between  Pantheism 
 and  Theism  would  have  been  intelligible  to  either  philosopher,  and  certain 
 that  if  they  could  have  understood  it,  they  would  have  denied  to  it  reality. 
 Both  held  the  immanence  of  the  Eternal  Principle  in  all  that  is.  Both 
 taught  that  the  soul  is  an  emanation  from  the  Divine,  and  both,  though  in 
 very  different  degrees,  seem  to  teach  that  a  life  is  perfect  in  proportion  as  it 
 becomes  one  with  that  from  which  it  came,  and  loses  what  is  individual 
 in  it. 
 
 In  Chuang  Tzu,  as  in  all  mystics,  there  is  an  element  of  antinomianism.  That 
 "good  and  evil  are  the  same,"  may  contain  a  deep  truth  for  the  sage,  but 
 "  take  no  heed  of  time,  nor  of  right  and  wrong"  (p.  31)  is,  to  say  the  least, 
 dangerous  teaching  for  the  masses.  The  mystic's  utterances  will  not  bear 
 translation  into  the  language  of  the  world,  and  to  take  them  au  pied  de  la 
 lettre  can  hardly  fail  to  produce  disastrous  results.  This  is  why  antino- 
 mianism always  dogs  the  heels  of  mysticism.  And  this  may  perhaps 
 help  to  explain  the  debased  Taoism  of  to-day.  But  of  this  I  know 
 nothing. 
 
 It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  in  the  undisputed  utterances 
 of  Lao  Tzii  (/.  e.  putting  on  one  side  the  Tao-Te-Chifig),  Quietism  and 
 the  glorification  of  Inaction  are  as  prominent  as  they  are  in  Chuang  Tzu. 
 One  would  be  prepared  a  priori  to  find  that  they  are  not.  Lao  Tzu  was 
 born  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  century  B.C.,  and  was,  therefore,  some  fifty 
 years  older  than  Confucius,  with  whom  in  517  b  c,  he  is  said  to  have  had 
 an  interview.^  By  the  time  of  Chuang  Tzti,  who  was  possibly  contemporary 
 with  Mencius,  and  therefore  some  two  or  three  centuries  after  Lao  Tzu, 
 Confucianism  had  become  to  some  extent  the  established  religion  of  China, 
 and  Taoism,  like  Republicanism  in  the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire,  became 
 a  mere  opposition  de  salon.  Under  such  circumstances  any  elements  of 
 mysticism  latent  in  Lao  Tzii's  system  would  develop  rapidly.  And  the  an- 
 tagonism between  the  representatives  of  Lao  Tzu  and  Confucius  would  pro- 
 portionately increase.  But  philosophy  does  not  become  mystical  and  take 
 refuge  in  flight  until  it  abandons  all  hope  of  converting  the  world.  When 
 effort  is  useless,  the  mind  idealises  Inaction,  and  seeks  a  metaphysical 
 basis  for  it.  For  mysticism  and  scepticism  flourish  in  the  same  atmo- 
 sphere though  in  different  soils,  both,  though  in  different  ways,  implying 
 the  abandonment  of  the  rational  problem.  The  Sceptic,  the  Agnostic 
 or  Positivist  of  to-day,  declares  it  insoluble,  and  settles  down  content  to 
 
 Chuang  Tzu,  chap,  xiv,  p.  i82-i< 
 
xxvi  Chttang  Tzil 
 
 take  things  as  they  are  ;  the  mystic  retires  into  himself,  and  dreams  of  a 
 state  of  being  which  is  the  obverse  of  the  world  of  fact. 
 
 The  triumph  of  Confucianism  in  the  centuries  which  intervened  between 
 Lao  Tzii  and  Chuang  Tzii  would  account  for  the  antagonism  between 
 Taoism  and  Confucianism  as  we  find  it.  But  it  fails  to  account  for  the  way 
 in  which  Confucius  is  sometimes  represented  as  playing  into  the  hands  of 
 Taoism.  On  p.  85  i.  n.  the  translator  explains  it  as  a  literary  coup  de  main. 
 Dr.  Chalmers,  quoted  by  Dr.  Legge,i  says  that  both  Chuang  Tzu  and  Lieh 
 Tzii  introduced  Confucius  into  their  writings  "as  the  lords  of  the  Philis- 
 tines did  the  captive  Samson  on  their  festive  occasions,  '  to  make  sport  for 
 them.'  "  But  there  is  not  a  hint  of  this  given  in  the  text,  though 
 throughout  one  long  chapter  (chap,  iv)  we  find  Confucius  giving  a  Taoist 
 refutation  of  Confucianist  doctrines  when  defended  by  his  own  pupil 
 Yen  Hui.  It  might  seem  like  an  attempt  to  draw  a  distinction 
 between  Confucius  and  Confucianism,  though  elsewhere  Confucius  is 
 ridiculed  as  wanting  in  sense. 
 
 May  not  the  explanation  be  as  follows  ? — 
 
 (i.)  Lao  Tzii  and  Confucius  were  probably  much  nearer  to  one  another 
 philosophically  than  the  Taoism  of  Chuang  Tzu  and  the  Confucianism 
 of  Mencius.  The  passages  in  which  Confucius  talks  Taoism  would,  on 
 this  hypothesis,  represent  a  traditional  survival  of  their  real  relations  to 
 one  another.  The  episode  of  Confucius'  visit  to  Lao  Tzii  "  to  ask  about 
 the  Tao,"  would,  whether  it  records  a  fact  or  not,  tend  in  the  same 
 direction. 
 
 (ii.)  From  the  first  we  may  assume  that  the  one  took  an  ideal,  the 
 other  a  practical  and  utilitarian  view  of  Tao  "the  Way";  Confucius 
 finding  it  in  social  duties  and  the  work  of  practical  life,  Lao  Tzii  in  the 
 hidden  and  the  inward,  the  "  interior  life,"  as  Christian  mystics  would  call 
 it.  Thus  the  historian  Ssu-ma  Ch'ien^  says,  "  Lao  Tzu  cultivated  the 
 Tao  and  virtue,  his  chief  aim  in  his  studies  being  how  to  keep  himself 
 concealed  and  unknown.  Seeing  the  decay  of  the  dynasty  he  withdrew 
 himself  out  of  sight,  and  no  one  knows  where  he  died." 
 
 (iii.)  The  divergence  between  the  two  views,  the  ideal  and  the  actual, 
 the  mystical  and  the  practical,  would  increase  with  time,  each  intensifying 
 the  other  by  opposition  and  reaction,  until  the  practical  won  its  way  to 
 security,  and  the  mystical  got  left  out  in  the  cold,  perhaps  persecuted, 
 certainly  suspected,  and  treated  as  heterodox,  and  naturally  retaliating  by 
 scornful  criticism  of  the  dominant  view.     When  this  stage  is  reached, 
 
 Encycl.  Met.,  Art.  "  Lao  Tzu."  -  Quoted  by  Dr.  Legge,  he.  cif. 
 
Note  071  the  Philosophy  of  Chaps,  i-vii.      xxvii 
 
 Mencius  regards  Lao  Tzu  as  a  heresiarch,  while  Chuang  Tzii  often  treats 
 Confucius  with  contempt  and  ridicule.  For  "  the  Way  that  is  walked 
 upon  is  not  the  Way,"  and  "  the  Tao  which  shines  forth  is  not  Tao" 
 (p.  25).  But  Confucianism  being  "  established,"  the  Taoists  are  now 
 "dissenters,"  and  not  being  strong  enough  to  disestablish  Confucianism 
 become  more  and  more  mystical,  and  content  themselves  with  a  policy 
 of  protest. 
 
 If  there  is  little  direct  evidence  for  this  theory  as  to  the  relations  of 
 Taoism  and  Confucianism,  there  is  a  curious  parallel  in  Western  thought. 
 \\Tien  Plato  was  known  only  in  a  neo-Platonic  disguise,  and  Aristotle 
 judged  by  the  Organon,  it  was  possible  for  partisans  to  represent  the  two 
 philosophers  as  typical  opposites,  and  to  assume  that  "  every  one  is  born  a 
 Platonist  or  an  Aristotelian,"  forgetting  that  Aristotle  was  Plato's  pupil, 
 and  both  were  followers  of  Socrates.  Later  on,  when  Aristotelianism 
 became  "  established "  as  the  Christian  philosophy,  Platonism,  which 
 survived  in  the  more  mystical  schoolmen,  fell  under  suspicion,  and  not 
 unfrequently  justified  the  suspicion  by  developing  in  the  direction  of 
 Pantheism.  It  was  not  till  the  thirteenth  century  that  the  world  appealed 
 from  Platonists  and  Aristotelians  to  Plato  and  Aristotle,  and  discovered 
 that  the  divergent  streams  flowed  from  neighbouring  springs.  Such  an 
 appeal,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  hardly  possible  in  the  case  of  Lao  Tzii  and 
 Confucius,  especially  as  the  authenticity  of  the  Tao-Te-Chingis  still  in 
 controversy  among  Sinologues. 
 
 My  object,  however,  in  this  note,  which  has  grown  out  of  all  propor- 
 tion, was  not  to  suggest  a  theory  as  to  the  possible  relations  of  Lao  Tzii 
 and  Confucius,  but  to  point  out  what  seemed  to  be  a  remarkable 
 parallel  between  the  teaching  of  Chuang  Tzii  and  Heracleitus.  In  doing 
 this  I  have  accepted  Mr.  Giles's  translation  as  an  ultimate  fact,  for  the 
 simple  reason  that  I  do  not  know  a  single  Chinese  character.  So  far, 
 therefore,  as  the  translation  prejudices  or  prejudges  questions  of  Chinese 
 scholarship,  I  must  leave  the  defence  to  the  translator.  It  is  also  possible, 
 and  more  than  possible,  that  my  Western  preconceptions  may  have 
 biassed  my  judgment  of  Chuang  Tzu's  philosophical  teaching.  Recent 
 attempts^  to  draw  a  parallel  between  the  life  of  Gautama  and  the  life  of 
 
 1  E.g.  Mr.  Edwin  Arnold's  Light  of  Asia,  and  still  more  Professor 
 Seydel's  Das  Evangelium  von  Jesu  in  seinen  Verhiiltnissen  zu  Buddha- 
 Sage  und  Buddha-Lehre.  On  the  other  side  of  the  question,  cf.  Dr. 
 Kellogg's  The  Light  of  Asia  and  the  Light  of  the  World.  London, 
 1885.  And  an  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  for  July,  1888,  on 
 Buddhism,  by  the  Bishop  of  Colombo. 
 
xxviii  Ckuang  Tzii 
 
 Christ  have  shown  how  easy  it  is  unconsciously  to  read  between  the  lines, 
 and  find  .parallelisms  where  they  do  not  exist.  If  I  have  been  guilty 
 in  the  same  way,  then,  with  Socrates  in  the  Republic,  I  say,  "  I  can 
 but  suffer  the  penalty  of  ignorance ;  and  that  penalty  is,  to  be  taught 
 by  those  who  know." 
 
 A.  L.  M. 
 
Chuang    Tzu. 
 
 CHAPTER    I. 
 
 Transcendental  Bliss. 
 
 Argument: — Space  infinite — Time  infinite — Relativity  of  magnitudes, 
 physical  and  moral — The  magnitude  absolute — Usefulness  as  a  test 
 of  value — The  usefulness  of  the  useless. 
 
 IN  the  northern  ocean  there  is  a  fish,  called  the 
 Leviathan,  many  thousand  li  in  size.  This 
 leviathan  changes  into  a  bird,  called  the  Rukh, 
 whose  back  is  many  thousand  li  in  breadth.  With 
 a  mighty  effort  it  rises,  and  its  wings  obscure  the 
 sky  like  clouds. 
 
 At  the  equinox,  this  bird  prepares  to  start  for  the 
 southern  ocean,  the  Celestial  Lake.  And  in  the 
 Record  of  Marvels  we  read  that  when  the  rukh 
 flies  southwards,  the  water  is  smitten  for  a  space  of 
 three  thousand  li  around,  while  the  bird  itself 
 mounts  upon  a  typhoon  to  a  height  of  ninety 
 thousand  //,  for  a  flight  of  six  months'  duration. 
 
 Just  so  are  the  motes  in  a  sunbeam  blown  aloft 
 by  God.  For  whether  the  blue  of  the  sky  is  its 
 real  colour,  or  only  the  result  of  distance  without 
 
2  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 end,  the  effect  to  the  bird  looking  down  would  be 
 just  the  same  as  to  the  motes. 
 
 Distance  being  relative.  The  rukh  at  an  altitude 
 of  90,000  li  (three  li  to  a  mile)  is  no  more  than  a 
 mote  in  a  sunbeam  a  few  feet  from  the  ground. 
 
 If  there  is  not  sufficient  depth,  water  will  not 
 float  large  ships.  Upset  a  cupful  into  a  small  hole, 
 and  a  mustard-seed  will  be  your  boat.  Try  to  float 
 the  cup,  and  it  will  stick,  from  the  disproportion 
 between  water  and  vessel. 
 
 So  with  air.  If  there  is  not  a  sufficient  depth, 
 it  cannot  support  large  birds.  And  for  this  bird  a 
 depth  of  ninety  thousand  //  is  necessary  ;  and  then, 
 with  nothing  save  the  clear  sky  above,  and  no 
 obstacle  in  the  w^ay,  it  starts  upon  its  journey  to 
 the  south. 
 
 A  cicada  laughed,  and  said  to  a  young  dove, 
 "  Now,  when  I  fly  with  all  my  might,  'tis  as  much 
 as  I  can  do  to  get  from  tree  to  tree.  And  some- 
 times I  do  not  reach,  but  fall  to  the  ground  mid- 
 way. What  then  can  be  the  use  of  going  up  ninety 
 thousand  //  in  order  to  start  for  the  south  ?  " 
 
 He  who  goes  to  Mang-ts'ang, 
 
 A  short  distance  into  the  country. 
 
 taking  three  meals  with  him,  comes  back  with  his 
 stomach  as  full  as  when  he  started.  But  he  who 
 travels  a  hundred  //  must  grind  flour  enough  for 
 a  night's  halt.  And  he  who  travels  a  thousand 
 //  must  supply  himself  with  provisions  for  three 
 months.     Those  two  little  creatures, — what  should 
 
CAP.  I.]  Transcendental  Bliss  3 
 
 they  know?  Small  knowledge  has  not  the  compass 
 of  great  knowledge  any  more  than  a  short  year  has 
 the  length  of  a  long  year; 
 
 How  can  we  tell  that  this  is  so  ?  The  mush- 
 room of  a  morning  knows  not  the  alternation  of  day 
 and  night.  The  cljrysalis  knows  not  the  alter- 
 nation of  spring  and  autumn.  Theirs  are  short 
 years. 
 
 But  in  the  State  of  Ch'u  there  is  a  tortoise 
 whose  spring  and  autumn  are  each  of  five  hundred 
 years'  duration.  And  in  former  days  there  was  a 
 large  tree  which  had  a  spring  and  autumn  each  of 
 eight  thousand  years'  duration.     Yet,  P'eng  Tsu 
 
 The  Methusaleh  of  China.  His  age  has  not  been 
 agreed  upon  by  Chinese  writers,  but  the  lowest 
 computation  gives  him  a  life  of  eight  hundred  years. 
 
 is  still,  alas  !  an  object  of  envy  to  all. 
 
 It  was  on  this  very  subject  that  the  Emperor 
 T'ang 
 
 B.C.  1766. 
 
 spoke  to  Chi,  as  follows : — "  At  the  barren  north 
 there  is  a  great  sea,  the  Celestial  Lake.  In  it  there 
 is  a  fish,  several  thousand  li  in  breadth,  and  I 
 know  not  how  many  in  length.  It  is  called  the 
 Leviathan.  There  is  also  a  bird,  called  the  Rukh, 
 with  a  back  like  Mount  T'ai, 
 
 China's    most    famous    mountain,     situated    in   the 
 
 province  of  Shantung. 
 
 and  wings  like  clouds  across  the  sky.  Upon  a 
 typhoon  it  soars  up  to  a  height  of  ninety  thousand 
 
 B   2 
 
4  Chuang  Tzit 
 
 li,  beyond  the  clouds  and  atmosphere,  with  only  the 
 clear  sky  above  it.  And  then  it  directs  its  flight 
 towards  the  south  pole. 
 
 "A  quail  laughed,  and  said:  Pray,  what  may 
 that  creature  be  going  to  do  ?  I  rise  but  a  few 
 yards  in  the  air,  and  settle  again  after  flying  around 
 among  the  reeds.  That  is  the  most  I  can  manage. 
 Now,  where  ever  can  this  creature  be  going  to  ?" 
 
 The  repetition  of  this  story,  coupled  with  its  quota- 
 tion from  the  Record  of  Marvels,  is  considered  to 
 give  an  air  of  authenticity  to  Chuang  Tzu's  illus- 
 tration, which  the  reader  might  otherwise  suppose  to 
 be  of  his  own  invention. 
 
 Such,  indeed,  is  the  difference  between  small  and 
 great.  Take,  for  instance,  a  man  who  creditably 
 fills  some  small  office,  or  who  is  a  pattern  of  virtue 
 in  his  neighbourhood,  or  who  influences  his  prince 
 to  right  government  of  the  State, — his  opinion  of 
 himself  will  be  much  the  same  as  that  quail's.  The 
 philosopher  Yung  laughs  at  such  a  one.  He,  if  the 
 whole  world  flattered  him,  would  not  be  affected 
 thereby,  nor  if  the  whole  world  blamed  him  would 
 he  lose  his  faith  in  himself.  For  Yung  can  dis- 
 tinguish between  the  intrinsic  and  the  extrinsic, 
 between  honour  and  shame, — and  such  men  are 
 rare  in  their  generation.  But  even  he  has  not 
 established  himself. 
 
 Beyond  the  limits  of  an  external  world.  His 
 achievements  are  after  all  only  of  the  earth,  earthy. 
 
 There  was  Lieh  Tzu  again. 
 
 A   personage    of  whom    nothing   is   really    known. 
 
CAP.  I.]  Transcendental  Bliss  5 
 
 He  is  considered  by  the  best  authorities  to  have  been 
 of  Chuang  Tzu's  own  creation.  This,  however,  did 
 not  prevent  some  enterprising  scholar,  probably  of 
 the  Han  dynasty,  from  discovering  a  treatise  which 
 still  passes  under  Lieh  Tzii's  name. 
 
 He  could  ride  upon  the  wind,  and  travel  whither- 
 soever he  wished,  staying  away  as  long  as  fifteen 
 days.  Among  mortals  who  attain  happiness,  such 
 a  man  is  rare.  Yet  although  Lieh  Tzu  was  able 
 to  dispense  with  walking,  he  was  still  dependent 
 upon  something. 
 Sc.  the  wind. 
 
 But  had  he  been  charioted  upon  the  eternal  fitness 
 of  Heaven  and  Earth,  driving  before  him  the 
 elements  as  his  team  while  roaming  through  the 
 realms  of  For-Ever, — upon  what,  then,  would  he 
 have  had  to  depend  ? 
 
 That  is,  nourished  upon  the  doctrines  of  inaction, 
 the  continuity  of  life  and  death,  etc.,  which  will  be 
 dealt  with  in  later  chapters. 
 
 Thus  it  has  been  said,  "The  perfect  man  ignores 
 self;  the  divine  man  ignores  action ;  the  true  Sage 
 ignores  reputation^ 
 
 His — for  the  three  are  one — is  a  bliss  "beyond  all 
 that  the  minstrel  has  told."  Material  existences  melt 
 into  thin  air  ;  worldly  joys  and  sorrows  cease  for  him 
 who  passes  thus  into  the  everlasting  enjoyment  of  a 
 transcendental  peace. 
 
 The  Emperor  Yao 
 
 B.C.   2356.     His  reign,   coupled  with  that  of  Shun 
 
6  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 who  succeeded  him,  may  be  regarded  as  the  Golden 
 Age  of  China's  history.     See  p.  8. 
 
 wished  to  abdicate  in  favour  of  Hsii  Yu, 
 A  worthy  hermit. 
 
 ^  saying,  "  If,  when  the  sun  and  moon  are  shining, 
 you  persist  in  lighting  a  torch,  is  not  that  a  mis- 
 application of  fire  ?  If,  when  the  rainy  season  is  at 
 its  height,  you  still  continue  to  water  the  ground, 
 is  not  this  a  waste  of  labour?  Now,  sir,  do  you 
 assume  the  reins  of  government,  and  the  empire  will 
 be  at  peace.  I  am  but  a  dead  body,  conscious  of  my 
 own  deficiency.  I  beg  you  will  ascend  the  throne." 
 "  Ever  since  you,  sire,  have  directed  the  adminis- 
 tration," replied  Hsii  Yu,  "  the  empire  has  enjoyed 
 tranquillity.  Supposing,  therefore,  that  I  were  to 
 take  your  place  now,  should  I  gain  any  reputation 
 thereby  ?  Besides,  reputation  is  but  the  shadow  of 
 reality ;  and  should  I  trouble  myself  about  the 
 shadow?  The  tit,  building  its  nest  in  the  mighty 
 forest,  occupies  but  a  single  twig.  The  tapir  slakes 
 its  thirst  from  the  river,  but  drinks  enough  only  to 
 fill  its  belly.  To  you,  sire,  belongs  the  reputation  : 
 the  empire  has  no  need  for  me.  If  a  cook  is  un- 
 able to  dress  his  funeral  sacrifices,  the  boy  who 
 impersonates  the  corpse  may  not  step  over  the 
 wines  and  meats  and  do  it  for  him." 
 
 This  illustrates    rejection  of  reputation  by  the  true 
 Sage.     See  ch.  vii. 
 
 Chien  Wu  said  to  Lien  Shu, 
 Both  fictitious  personages. 
 
CAP.  I.]  Transcendental  Bliss  7 
 
 "  I  heard  Chieh  Yu  utter  something  unjustifiably 
 extravagant  and  without  either  rhyme  or  reason. 
 
 This  was  an  individual,  named  Lu  T'ung,  who  feigned 
 madness  in  order  to  escape  an  official  career.  For 
 his  interview  with  Confucius,  see  ch.  iv,  ad  fin. 
 
 I  was  greatly  startled  at  what  he  said,  for  it  seemed 
 to  me  boundless  as  the  Milky  Way,  though  very 
 improbable  and  removed  from  the  experiences  of 
 mortals." 
 
 "What  was  it?"  asked  Lien  Shu. 
 
 "  He  declared,"  replied  Chien  Wu,  "  that  on  the 
 Miao-ku-she  mountain 
 
 Which  is  as  fabulous  as  the  story. 
 
 there  lives  a  divine  man  whose  flesh  is  like  ice  or 
 snow,  whose  demeanour  is  that  of  a  virgin,  who 
 eats  no  fruit  of  the  earth,  but  lives  on  air  and  dew, 
 and  who,  riding  on  clouds  with  flying  dragons  for 
 his  team,  roams  beyond  the  limits  of  mortality. 
 This  being  is  absolutely  inert.  Yet  he  wards  off 
 corruption  from  all  things,  and  causes  the  crops  to 
 thrive.  Now  I  call  that  nonsense,  and  do  not 
 believe  it." 
 
 ''Well,"  answered  Lien  Shu,  "you  don't  ask  a 
 blind  man's  opinion  of  a  picture,  nor  do  you  invite 
 a  deaf  man  to  a  concert.  And  blindness  and  deaf- 
 ness are  not  physical  only.  There  is  blindness  and 
 deafness  of  the  mind,  diseases  from  which  I  fear 
 you  yourself  are  sufl"ering.  The  good  influence 
 of   that    man    fills    all   creation.      Yet    because    a 
 
8  Chiiang  Tzit 
 
 paltry  generation  cries  for  reform,  you  would  have 
 him  condescend  to  the  details  of  an  empire  1 
 
 Not  seeing  that  the  greater  contains  the  less. 
 
 **  Objective  existences  cannot  harm  him.  In  a 
 flood  which  reached  to  the  sky,  he  would  not 
 be  drowned.  In  a  drought,  though  metals  ran 
 liquid  and  mountains  were  scorched  up,  he  would 
 not  be  hot.  Out  of  his  very  dust  and  siftings 
 you  might  fashion  two  such  men  as  Yao  and 
 Shun.  And  you  would  have  him  occupy  himself 
 with  objectives !" 
 
 Illustrating  the  inaction  of  the  divine  man. 
 
 A  man  of  the  Sung  State  carried  some  sacri- 
 ficial caps  into  the  Ylieh  State,  for  sale.  But  the 
 men  of  Ylieh  used  to  cut  off  their  hair  and  paint 
 their  bodies,  so  that  they  had  no  use  for  such 
 things.  And  so,  when  the  Emperor  Yao,  the 
 ruler  of  all  under  heaven  and  pacificator  of  all 
 within  the  shores  of  ocean,  paid  a  visit  to  the 
 four  sages  of  the  Miao-ku-she  mountain,  on  re- 
 turning to  his  capital  at  Fen-yang,  the  empire 
 existed  for  him  no  more. 
 
 This  illustrates  the  rejection  of  self  by  the  perfect 
 man.  Yao  had  his  eyes  opened  to  the  hollowness 
 and  uselessness  of  all  mortal  possessions.  He  ceased, 
 therefore,  to  think  any  more  of  himself,  and  per 
 consequens  of  the  empire. 
 
 Hui  Tzu 
 
 A    celebrated    schoolman,    contemporary    with   and 
 
CAP.  1.]  Transcendental  Bliss  9 
 
 antagonistic  to  Chuang  Tzii.  For  an  account  of  his 
 theories,  see  ch.  xxxiii. 
 
 said  to  Chuang  Tzu,  "The  Prince  of  Wei  gave  me 
 a  seed  of  a  large-sized  kind  of  gourd.  I  planted  it, 
 and  it  bore  a  fruit  as  big  as  a  five-bushel  mea- 
 sure. Now  had  I  used  this  for  holding  liquids,  it 
 would  have  been  too  heavy  to  lift ;  and  had  I  cut 
 it  in  half  for  ladles,  the  ladles  would  have  been  ill 
 adapted  for  such  purpose.  It  was  uselessly  large, 
 so  I  broke  it  up." 
 
 "  Sir,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,  "  it  was  rather  you 
 who  did  not  know  how  to  use  large  things.  There 
 was  a  man  of  Sung  who  had  a  recipe  for  salve  for 
 chapped  hands,  his  family  having  been  silk-washers 
 for  generations.  Well,  a  stranger  who  had  heard 
 of  it,  came  and  offered  him  100  oz.  of  silver  for 
 this  recipe ;  whereupon  he  called  together  his 
 clansmen  and  said,  'We  have  never  made  much 
 money  by  silk- washing.  Now,  we  can  make  100  oz. 
 in  a  single  day.     Let  the  stranger  have  the  recipe.' 
 
 "  So  the  stranger  got  it,  and  went  and  informed 
 the  Prince  of  Wu  who  was  just  then  at  war  with 
 the  Yiieh  State.  Accordingly,  the  Prince  used  it 
 in  a  naval  battle  fought  at  the  beginning  of  winter 
 with  the  Yiieh  State,  the  result  being  that  the 
 latter  was  totally  defeated. 
 
 They  suffered  from  chapped  hands,  while  their 
 rivals  of  the  Wu  State  were  protected  by  their 
 patent  salve. 
 
 The  stranger  was  rewarded  with  territory  and  a 
 title.     Thus,  while  the  efficacy  of  the  salve  to  cure 
 
10  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 chapped  hands  was  in  both  cases  the  same,  its 
 application  was  different.  Here,  it  secured  a  title; 
 there,  a  capacity  for  washing  silk. 
 
 "  Now  as  to  your  five-bushel  gourd,  why  did 
 you  not  make  a  boat  of  it,  and  float  about 
 over  river  and  lake?  You  could  not  then  have 
 complained  of  its  not  holding  anything !  But  I 
 fear  you  are  rather  woolly  inside." 
 
 Like  it.  This,  of  course,  is  a  sneer.  Hui  Tzu 
 could  not  see  that  the  greatness  of  a  thing  depends 
 upon  the  greatness  of  its  application. 
 
 Hui  Tzu  said  to  Chuang  Tzu,  ''  Sir,  I  have  a 
 large  tree,  of  a  worthless  kind.  Its  trunk  is  so 
 irregular  and  knotty  that  it  cannot  be  measured 
 out  for  planks  ;  while  its  branches  are  so  twisted 
 as  to  admit  of  no  geometrical  subdivision  what- 
 ever. It  stands  by  the  roadside,  but  no  carpenter 
 will  look  at  it.  And  your  words,  sir,  are  like 
 that  tree ; — big  and  useless,  not  wanted  by  any- 
 body." 
 
 "  Sir,"  rejoined  Chuang  Tzu,  "  have  you  never 
 seen  a  wild  cat,  crouching  down  in  wait  for  its 
 prey  ?  Right  and  left  it  springs  from  bough  to 
 bough,  high  and  low  alike, —  until  perchance  it 
 gets  caught  in  a  trap  or  dies  in  a  snare.  On  the 
 other  hand,  there  is  the  yak  with  its  great  huge 
 body.  It  is  big  enough  in  all  conscience,  but  it 
 cannot  catch  mice. 
 
 The  adaptability  of  a  thing  is  oft-times  its  bane. 
 The  inability  of  the  yak  to  catch  mice  saves  it  from 
 the  snare  which  is  fatal  to  the  wild  cat. 
 
CAP.  I.]  Transcendental  Bliss  1 1 
 
 "  Now  if  you  have  a  big  tree  and  are  at  a 
 loss  what  to  do  with  it,  why  not  plant  it  in  the 
 domain  of  non-existence, 
 
 Beyond  the  limits  of  our  external  world.  Referring 
 to  the  conditions  of  mental  abstraction  in  which 
 alone  true  happiness  is  to  be  found. 
 
 whither  you  might  betake  yourself  to  inaction  by 
 its  side,  to  blissful  repose  beneath  its  shade  ? 
 
 *'  Why  does  the  horizon  hold  me  fast,  with  my  joy 
 and  grief  in  this  centre  ?  " — Emerson. 
 
 There  it  would  be  safe  from  the  axe  and  from 
 all  other  injury ;  for  being  of  no  use  to  others, 
 itself  would  be  free  from  harm." 
 
 Illustrating  the  advantage  of  being  useless.  That 
 which  is  small  and  useful  is  thus  shown  to  be  inferior 
 to  that  which  is  large  and  useless. 
 
12 
 
 CHAPTER  II. 
 
 The  Identity  of  Contraries. 
 
 Argument: — Contraries  spring  from  our  subjective  individuality — Identity 
 of  subjective  and  objective — The  centre  where  all  distinctions  are 
 merged  in  One — How  to  reach  this  point — Speech  an  obstacle — 
 The  negative  state — Light  out  of  darkness — Illustrations. 
 
 TZU  CH'I  of  Nan-kuo  sat  leaning  on  a  table. 
 Looking  up  to  heaven,  he  sighed  and  became 
 absent,  as  though  soul  and  body  had  parted. 
 
 Yen  Ch  eng  Tzu  Yu,  who  was  standing  by 
 him,  exclaimed,  "What  are  you  thinking  about 
 that  your  body  should  become  thus  like  dry 
 wood,  your  mind  like  dead  ashes  ?  Surely  the 
 man  now  leaning  on  the  table  is  not  he  who  was 
 here  just  now." 
 
 "  My  friend,"  replied  Tzu  Ch'i,  "  your  question 
 is  apposite.  To-day  I  have  buried  myself.  .  .  . 
 Do  you  understand  ?  .  .  .  Ah  !  perhaps  you  only 
 know  the  music  of  Man,  and  not  that  of  Earth. 
 Or  even  if  you  have  heard  the  music  of  Earth, 
 you  have  not  heard  the  music  of  Heaven." 
 
 "  Pray  explain,"  said  Tzii  Yu. 
 
 "  The  breath  of  the  universe,"  continued  Tzu 
 Ch'i,  "  is  called  wind.  At  times,  it  is  inactive. 
 But  when  active,  every  aperture  resounds  to  the 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  13 
 
 blast.  Have  you  never  listened  to  its  growing 
 roar  ? 
 
 "  Caves  and  dells  of  hill  and  forest,  hollows 
 in  huge  trees  of  many  a  span  in  girth  ;— ^ 
 these  are  like  nostrils,  like  mouths,  like  ears, 
 like  beam-sockets,  like  goblets,  like  mortars,  like 
 ditches,  like  bogs.  And  the  wind  goes  rushing 
 through  them,  sniffing,  snoring,  singing,  sough- 
 ing, puffing,  purling,  whistling,  whirring,  now 
 shrilly  treble,  now  deeply  bass,  now  soft,  now 
 loud ;  until,  with  a  lull,  silence  reigns  supreme. 
 Have  you  never  witnessed  among  the  trees  such 
 a  disturbance  as  this  ?  " 
 
 "■  Well,  then,"  enquired  Tzu  Yu,  ''  since  the 
 music  of  earth  consists  of  nothing  more  than 
 holes,  and  the  music  of  man  of  pipes  and  flutes, 
 —  of  what  consists  the  music  of  Heaven?" 
 
 "  The  effect  of  the  wind  upon  these  various 
 apertures,"  replied  Tzu  Ch'i,  "  is  not  uniform. 
 But  what  is  it  that  gives  to  each  the  individu- 
 ality, to  all  the  potentiality,  of  sound  ? 
 
 "  Great  knowledge  embraces  the  whole : 
 
 Sees  both  "the  upper  and  under  side  of  the  medal 
 of  Jove  "  at  once. 
 
 small  knowledge,  a  part  only.  Great  speech  is 
 universal : 
 
 Speech,  according  to  Chuang  Tzii's  ideal,  always 
 covers  the  whole  ground  in  question,  leaving  no  room 
 for  positive  and  negative  to  appear  in  antagonism. 
 
 small  speech  is  particular. 
 
14  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 "  For  whether  when  the  mind  is  locked  in 
 sleep  or  whether  when  in  waking  hours  the 
 body  is  released,  we  are  subject  to  daily  mental 
 perturbations,  —  indecision,  want  of  penetration, 
 concealment,  fretting  fear,  and  trembling  terror. 
 Now  like  a  javelin  the  mind  flies  forth,  the  arbiter 
 of  right  and  wrong. 
 
 Thus  recognising  contraries. 
 
 Now  like  a  solemn  covenanter  it  remains  firm,  the 
 guardian  of  rights  secured. 
 
 Adhering  to  an  opinion  formed. 
 
 Then,  as  under  autumn  and  winter's  blight,  comes 
 gradual  decay,  a  passing  away,  like  the  flow  of 
 water,  never  to  return.  Finally,  the  block  when 
 all  is  choked  up  like  an  old  drain,  —  the  failing 
 mind  which  shall  not  see  light  again. 
 
 "  Joy  and  anger,  sorrow  and  happiness,  caution 
 and  remorse,  come  upon  us  by  turns,  with  ever- 
 changing  mood.  They  come  like  music  from 
 hollowness,  like  mushrooms  from  damp.  Daily 
 and  nightly  they  alternate  within  us,  but  we 
 cannot  tell  whence  they  spring.  Can  we  then 
 hope  in  a  moment  to  lay  our  finger  upon  their  very 
 Cause  ? 
 
 "  But  for  these  emotions  /  should  not  be.  But 
 for  me,  they  would  have  no  scope.  So  far  we  can 
 go  ;  but  we  do  not  know  what  it  is  that  brings  them 
 into  play.  'Twould  seem  to  be  a  soitl ;  but  the  clue 
 to  its  existence  is  wanting.     That  such  a  Power 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  15 
 
 operates,  is  credible  enough,  though  we  cannot  see 
 its  form.     It  has  functions  without  form. 
 
 As  will  be  gathered  later  on,  Chuang  Tzu  conceives 
 of  the  soul  as  an  emanation  from  God,  passing 
 to  and  from  this  earth  through  the  portals  of  Life 
 and  Death. 
 
 "  Take  the  human  body  with  all  its  manifold 
 divisions.  Which  part  of  it  does  a  man  love  best  ? 
 Does  he  not  cherish  all  equally,  or  has  he  a  pre- 
 ference ?  Do  not  all  equally  serve  him  ?  And  do 
 these  servitors  then  govern  themselves,  or  are  they 
 subdivided  into  rulers  and  subjects  ?  Surely  there 
 is  some  soul  which  sways  them  all 
 
 "  But  whether  or  not  we  ascertain  what  are  the 
 functions  of  this  soul,  it  matters  but  little  to  the  soul 
 itself.  For  coming  into  existence  with  this  mortal 
 coil  of  mine,  with  the  exhaustion  of  this  mortal  coil 
 its  mandate  will  also  be  exhausted.  To  be  harassed 
 by  the  wear  and  tear  of  life,  and  to  pass  rapidly 
 through  it  without  possibility  of  arresting  one's 
 course, — is  not  this  pitiful  indeed  ?  To  labour 
 without  ceasing,  and  then,  without  living  to  enjoy 
 the  fruit,  worn  out,  to  depart,  suddenly,  one 
 knows  not  whither, — is  not  that  a  just  cause 
 for  grief? 
 
 "What  advantage  is  there  in  what  men  call  not 
 dying  ?  The  body  decomposes,  and  the  mind  goes 
 with  it.  This  is  our  real  cause  for  sorrow.  Can 
 the  world  be  so  dull  as  not  to  see  this  ?  Or  is  it  I 
 alone  who  am  dull,  and  others  not  so  ? 
 
1 6  Chuang   TzU 
 
 "  If  we  are  to  be  guided  by  the  criteria  of  our 
 own  minds,  who  shall  be  without  a  guide  ? 
 
 The  mind  should  be  a  tabula  rasa,  free  from  all 
 judgments  or  opinions  of  its  own  as  to  the  external 
 world,  and  ready  only  to  accept  things  as  they  are, 
 not  as  they  appear  to  be. 
 
 What  need  to  know  of  the  alternations  of  passion. 
 
 As  above  described. 
 
 when  the  mind  thus  affords  scope  to  itself? — verily 
 even  the  minds  of  fools  !  Whereas,  for  a  mind 
 without  criteria 
 
 As  it  should  be. 
 
 to  admit  the  idea  of  contraries,  is  like  saying,  / 
 went  to  Yileh  to-day,  and  got  there  yesterday. 
 
 One  of  Hui  Tzii's  paradoxes.     See  ch.  xxxiii. 
 
 Or,  like  placing  nowhere  somewhere, — topography 
 which  even  the  Great  Yii 
 
 The  famous  engineer  of  antiquity  (b.c.  2205),  who 
 drained  the  empire  of  a  vast  body  of  water  and 
 arranged  its  subdivision  into  nine  provinces. 
 
 would  fail  to  understand  ;  how  much  more  I  ? 
 
 "  Speech  is  not  mere  breath.  It  is  differentiated 
 by  meaning.  Take  away  that,  and  you  cannot  say 
 whether  it  is  speech  or  not.  Can  you  even  dis- 
 tinguish it  from  the  chirping  of  young  birds  ? 
 
 "  But  ho\v^  can  Tag  be  so  obscured  that  we  speak 
 of  it  as  true  and  false  '>     And  how  can  speech  be 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  17 
 
 so  obscured  that  it  admits  the  idea  of  contraries? 
 How  can  Tag  go  away  and  yet  not  remain  ? 
 
 Being  omnipresent. 
 How  can  speech  exist  and  yet  be  impossible  ? 
 See  p.  13. 
 
 "  Tag  is  obscured  by  our  want  of  grasp.  Speech 
 is  obscured  by  the  gloss  of  this  world. 
 
 I.e.  by  the  one-sided  meanings  attached  to  words 
 and  phrases. 
 
 Hence  the  affirmatives  and  negatives  of  the  Con- 
 fucian and  Mihist  schools, 
 
 Mih  Tzu  was  a  philosopher  of  the  fourth  century 
 B.C.,  who  propounded  various  theories  which  were 
 vigorously  attacked  by  the  Confucianists  under 
 Mencius.     We  shall  hear  more  of  him  by-and-by. 
 
 each  denying  what  the  other  affirmed  and  affirming 
 what  the  other  denied.  But  he  who  would  recon- 
 cile affirmative  with  negative  and  negative  with 
 affirmative, 
 
 The  "union  of  impossibilities,"  which  Emerson 
 credits  to  Plato  alone. 
 
 must  do  so  by  the  light  of  nature. 
 
 I.e.  Have  no  established  mental  criteria,  and  thus 
 see  all  things  as  ONE. 
 
 "  There  is  nothing  which  is  not  objective  :  there 
 is  nothing  which  is  not  subjective.  But  it  is  im- 
 possible to  start  from   the  objective.     Only  from 
 
 '\' 
 
1 8  Chuaiig  Tzii 
 
 subjective  knowledge  is  it  possible  to  proceed  to 
 objective  knowledge.     Hence  it  has  been  said, 
 
 By  Hui  Tzu. 
 
 '  The  objective  emanates  from  the  subjective ;  the 
 subjective  is  consequent  upon  the  objective.  This 
 is  the  Alternation  Theory!  Nevertheless,  when 
 one  is  born,  the  other  dies.  When  one  is  possible, 
 the  other  is  impossible.  When  one  is  affirmative 
 the  other  is  negative.  Which  being  the  case,  the 
 true  sage  rejects  all  distinctions  of  this  and  that. 
 He  takes  his  refuge  in  God,  and  places  himself  in 
 subjective  relation  with  all  things. 
 
 It  was  to  this  end  that  Tzu  Ch'i  "  buried  himself." 
 
 "And  inasmuch  as  the  subjective  is  also  objec- 
 tive, and  the  objective  also  subjective,  and  as  the 
 contraries  under  each  are  indistinguishably  blended, 
 does  it  not  become  impossible  for  us  to  say  whether 
 subjective  and  objective  really  exist  at  all  ? 
 
 What  is  positive  under  the  one  will  be  negative 
 under  the  other.  Yet  as  subjective  and  objective 
 are  really  one  and  the  same,  their  positives  and 
 negatives  must  also  be  one  and  the  same. 
 It  is  as  though  we  were  to  view  them  through  a 
 kind  of  mental  Pseudoscope,  by  which  means  each 
 would  appear  to  be  the  other. 
 
 "  When  subjective  and  objective  are  both  with- 
 out their  correlates,  that  is  the  very  axis  of  Tag. 
 And  when  that  axis  passes  through  the  centre  at 
 which  all  Infinities  converge,  positive  and  negative 
 alike  blend   into  an   infinite   One.     Hence   it  has 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  19 
 
 been  said  that  there  is  nothing  like  the  light  of 
 
 nature. 
 
 Probably  an  allusion  to  Lao  Tzu's  "  Use  the  light 
 that  is  within  you  to  revert  to  your  natural  clearness 
 of  sight."  We  should  then  be  able  to  view  things 
 in  their  true  light.  See  Tao-Te-Cliijtg\  ch.  Hi.,  and 
 The  Remains  of  Lao  TzU,  p.  34. 
 
 "  To  take  a  finger  in  illustration  of  a  finger  not 
 being  a  finger  is  not  so  good  as  to  take  something 
 which  is  not  a  finger.  To  take  a  horse  in  illustra- 
 tion of  a  horse  not  being  a  horse  is  not  so  good  as 
 to  take  something  which  is  not  a  horse. 
 
 "  So  with  the  universe  and  all  that  in  it  is. 
 These  things  are  but  fingers  and  horses  in  this 
 sense.  The  possible  is  possible  :  the  impossible  is 
 impossible.  Tao  operates,  and  given  results 
 follow.  Things  receive  names  and  are  what  they 
 are.  They  achieve  this  by  their  natural  affinity  for 
 what  they  are  and  their  natural  antagonism  to 
 what  they  are  not.  For  all  things  have  their  own 
 particular  constitutions  and  potentialities.  Nothing 
 can  exist  without  these. 
 
 These  last  few  sentences  are  repeated  in  ch.  xxvii. 
 ad  init. 
 
 "  We  can  never  know  anything  but  phenomena. 
 Things  are  what  they  are,  and  their  consequences 
 will  be  what  they  will  be."— 7.  S.  Mill. 
 
 "  Therefore  it  is  that,  viewed   from  the  stand- 
 point of  Tao,  a  beam  and  a  pillar  are  identical. 
 The  horizontal  with  the  vertical. 
 
 So  are  ugliness  and  beauty,  greatness,  wickedness, 
 
 c  2 
 
20  Chuaiig  Tzic 
 
 perverseness,  and  strangeness.  Separation  is  the 
 same  as  construction  :  construction  is  the  same  as 
 destruction.  Nothing  is  subject  either  to  construc- 
 tion or  to  destruction,  for  these  conditions  are 
 brought  together  into  One. 
 
 "  Only  the  truly  intelligent  understand  this  prin- 
 ciple of  the  identity  of  all  things.  They  do  not 
 view  things  as  apprehended  by  themselves,  sub- 
 jectively ;  but  transfer  themselves  into  the  position 
 of  the  things  viewed. 
 
 Avoiding  the  fallacious  channels  of  the  senses. 
 
 And  viewing  \  them  thus  they  are  able  to  compre- 
 hend them,  nay,  to  master  them  ; — and  he  who  can 
 master  them  is  near.  So  it  is  that  to  place  oneself 
 in  subjective  relation  with  externals,  without  con- 
 sciousness of  their  objectivity, — this  is  Tao.  But 
 to  wear  out  one's  intellect  in  an  obstinate  adher- 
 ence to  the  individuality  of  things,  not  recognisi'ng 
 the  fact  that  all  things  are  One, — this  is  called 
 Three  in  the  Morning T 
 
 "  What  is  Three  in  the  Morning?''  asked  Tzu  Yu. 
 
 "  A  keeper  of  monkeys,"  replied  Tzu  Ch'i,  *'  said 
 with  regard  to  their  rations  of  chestnuts  that  each 
 monkey  was  to  have  three  in  the  morning  and  four 
 at  night.  But  at  this  the  monkeys  were  very  angry, 
 so  the  keeper  said  they  might  have  four  in  the 
 morning  and  three  at  night,  with  which  arrange- 
 ment they  were  all  well  pleased.  The  actual 
 number  of  the  chestnuts  remained  the  same,  but 
 there  was  an  adaptation  to  the  likes  and  dislikes  of 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  21 
 
 those  concerned.     Such  is  the  principle  of  putting 
 oneself  into  subjective  relation  with  externals. 
 
 "  Wherefore  the  true  Sage,  while  regarding  con- 
 traries as  identical,  adapts  himself  to  the  laws  of 
 Heaven.  This  is  called  following  two  courses  at 
 once. 
 
 He  is  thus  prevented  from  trying  to  v/alk  through 
 walls,  etc.,  as  later  Taoists  have  professed  themselves 
 able  to  do,  of  course  with  a  view  to  gull  the  public 
 and  enrich  themselves.  "God,"  says  Locke,  "when 
 he  makes  the  prophet,  does  not  unmake  the  man." 
 So  Carlyle  in  his  essay  on  Novalis  : — "To  a  Trans- 
 cendentalist,  matter  has  an  existence  but  only  as  a 
 
 Phenomenon It  is  a  mere  relation,  or  rather 
 
 the  result  of  a  relation  between  our  living  souls  and 
 the  great  First  Cause." 
 
 "  The  knowledge  of  the  men  of  old  had  a  limit. 
 It  extended  back  to  a  period  when  matter  did  not 
 exist.  That  was  the  extreme  point  to  which  their 
 knowledge  reached.  ^ 
 
 "  The  second  period  was  that  of  matter,  but  of 
 matter  unconditioned. 
 
 By  time  or  space.  "  Being,  in  itself,"  says  Herbert 
 Spencer,  "  out  of  relation,  is  itself  unthinkable." 
 Principles  of  Psychology,  iii.  p.  258. 
 
 "  The  third  epoch  saw  matter  conditioned,  but 
 contraries  were  still  unknown.  When  these 
 appeared,  Tao  began  to  decline.  And  with  the 
 decline  of  Tag,  individual  bias  arose. 
 
 "  Have  then  these  states  of  falling  and  rising 
 real  existences  ?     Surely  they  are  but  as  the  falling 
 
22  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 and  risingof  Chao  W^n's  music, — the  consequences 
 of  his  playing. 
 
 Chao   Wen    played    the   guitar.      Shih    K'uang 
 wielded  the  bdton. 
 To  keep  time. 
 
 Hui  Tzu  argued.  Herein  these  three  men  excelled, 
 and  in  the  practice  of  such  arts  they  passed  their 
 lives. 
 
 "  Hui  Tzu's  particular  views  being  very  different 
 from  those  of  the  world  in  general,  he  was  corre- 
 spondingly anxious  to  enlighten  people.  But  he 
 did  not  enlighten  them  as  he  should  have  done, 
 
 By  the  cultivation  and  passive  manifestation  of  his 
 
 own  inward  light. 
 
 and    consequently  ended   in   the  obscurity  of   the 
 
 *  hard  and  white.' 
 
 Hui  Tzii  regarded  such  abstractions  as  hardness  and 
 whiteness  as  separate  existences,  of  which  the  mind 
 could  only  be  conscious  separately,  one  at  a  time. 
 
 Subsequently,  his  son  searched  his  works  for  some 
 clue,  but  never  succeeded  in  establishing  the  prin- 
 ciple. And  indeed  if  such  were  possible  to  be 
 established,  then  even  I  am  established  ;  but  if  not, 
 then  neither  I  nor  anything  in  the  universe  is 
 established  1 
 
 "  Therefore  what  the  true  Sage  aims  at  is  the 
 light  which  comes  out  of  darkness.  He  does  not 
 view  things  as  apprehended  by  himself,  subjec- 
 tively, but  transfers  himself  into  the  position  of  the 
 things  viewed.     This  is  called  using  the  light. 
 
 "  There  remains,  however,  Speech.     Is  that  to  be 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  23 
 
 enrolled  under  either  category  of  contraries,  or  not? 
 Whether  it  is  so  enrolled  or  not,  it  will  in  any  case 
 belong  to  one  or  the  other,  and  thus  be  as  though  it 
 had  an  objective  existence.  At  any  rate,  I  should 
 like  to  hear  some  speech  which  belongs  to  neither 
 category. 
 
 Contraries  being  disposed  of,  there  remains  the 
 vehicle  Speech,  i.e.  the  actual  terms  in  which  it  is 
 stated  that  contraries  have  ceased  to  be. 
 
 "  If  there  was  a  beginning,  then  there  was  a  time 
 before  that  beginning.  And  a  time  before  the  time 
 which  was  before  the  time  of  that  beginning. 
 
 "  If  there  is  existence,  there  must  have  been  non- 
 existence. And  if  there  was  a  time  when  nothing 
 existed,  then  there  must  have  been  a  time  before 
 that — when  even  nothing  did  not  exist.  Suddenly, 
 when  nothing  came  into  existence,  could  one  really 
 say  whether  it  belonged  to  the  category  of  existence 
 or  of  non-existence  ?  Even  the  very  words  I  have 
 just  now  uttered, — I  cannot  say  whether  they  have 
 really  been  uttered  or  not. 
 
 I.e.  The  words  in  the  text,  denying  the  existence  of 
 contraries. 
 
 "  There  is  nothing  under  the  canopy  of  heaven 
 greater  than  the  tip  of  an  autumn  spikelet.  A  vast 
 mountain  is  a  small  thing.  Neither  is  there  any 
 age  greater  than  that  of  a  child  cut  off  in  infancy. 
 P'^ng  Tsu  himself  died  young.  The  universe  and  ^^ 
 I  came  into  being  together  ;  and  I,  and  everything 
 therein,  are  One. 
 
 "  If  then  all  things  are  One,  what  room  is  there 
 
V 
 
 24  Chuaiig  Tzu 
 
 for  Speech  ?  On  the  other  hand,  since  I  can  utter 
 these  words,  how  can  Speech  not  exist  ? 
 
 "  If  it  does  exist,  we  have  One  and  Speech=two  ; 
 and  two  and  one=three.  From  which  point  onwards 
 even  the  best  mathematicians  will  fail  to  reach  : 
 
 Tao. 
 how  much  more  then  will  ordinary  people  fail  ? 
 
 "  Hence,  if  from  nothing  you  can  proceed  to 
 something,  and  subsequently  reach  three,  it  follows 
 that  it  would  be  still  more  easy  if  you  were  to  start 
 from  something.  To  avoid  such  progression,  you 
 must  put  yourself  into  subjective  relation  with  the 
 external. 
 
 "  Before  conditions   existed,  Tao  was.     Before 
 definitions  existed.  Speech  was.     Subjectively,  we 
 are  conscious  of  certain  delimitations  which  are, — 
 Right  and         Left 
 
 Relationship  and         Obligation 
 Division  and         Discrimination 
 
 Emulation      and         Contention 
 These  are  called  the  Eight  Predicables. 
 Not,  of  course,  in  the  strict  logical  sense. 
 
 For  the  true  Sage,  beyond  the  limits  of  an  external 
 world,  they  exist,  but  arc  not  recognised.  By  the 
 true  Sage,  within  the  limits  of  an  external  world, 
 they  are  recognised,  but  are  not  assigned.  And  so, 
 with  regard  to  the  wisdom  of  the  ancients,  as 
 embodied  in  the  canon  of  Spring  and  Autnmn, 
 
 Confucius'  history  of  his  native  State.     Now  one  of 
 the  canonical  books  of  China. 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  25 
 
 the  true  Sage  assigns,  but  does  not  justify  by  argu- 
 ment. And  thus,  classifying  he  does  not  classify  ; 
 arguing,  he  does  not  argue." 
 
 "  How  can  that  be  ?  "  asked  Tzu  Yu. 
 
 "  The  true   Sage,"  answered  Tzu   Ch'i,  *'  keeps 
 his  knowledge  within  him,  while  men  in  general  set   /- 
 forth  theirs  in  argument,  in  order  to  convince  each 
 other.    And  therefore  it  is  said  that  in  argument  he 
 does  not  manifest  himself. 
 
 Others  try  to  establish  their  own  subjective  view. 
 The  true  Sage  remains  passive,  aiming  only  at  the 
 annihilation  of  contraries. 
 
 "  Perfect  Tao  does  not  declare  itself.     Nor  does    ^ 
 perfect  argument  express  itself  in  words.     Nor  does     ,(^ 
 perfect  charity  show  itself  in  act.     Nor  is  perfect 
 honesty  absolutely  incorruptible.      Nor  is  perfect 
 courage  absolutely  unyielding. 
 
 "  For  the  Tao  which  shines  forth  is  not  Tao. 
 Speech  which  argues  falls  short  of  its  aim.  Charity 
 which  has  fixed  points  loses  its  scope.  Honesty 
 which  is  absolute  is  wanting  in  credit.  Courage 
 which  is  absolute  misses  its  object.  These  five  are, 
 as  it  were,  round,  with  a  strong  bias  towards 
 squareness.  Therefore  that  knowledge  which  stops 
 at  what  it  does  not  know,  is  the  highest  know- 
 ledge. 
 
 *'  Who  knows  the  argument  which  can  be  argued 
 without  words  ? — the  Tao  which  does  not  declare 
 itself  as  Tao  ?  He  who  knows  this  may  be  said  to 
 be  of  God.  To  be  able  to  pour  in  without  making 
 full,  and  pour  out  without  making  empty,  in  igno- 
 
26  Chumig  Tzii 
 
 ranee  of  the  power  by  which  such  results  are 
 accomplished, — this  is  accounted  Light.'' 
 
 Of  old,  the  Emperor  Yao  said  to  Shun,  "  I 
 would  smite  the  Tsungs,  and  the  Kueis,  and  the 
 Hsu-aos.  Ever  since  I  have  been  on  the  throne  I 
 have  had  this  desire.     What  do  you  think  ?  " 
 
 "  These  three  States,"  replied  Shun,  "  are  paltry 
 out-of-the-way  places.  Why  can  you  not  shake  off 
 this  desire  ?  Once  upon  a  time,  ten  suns  came  out 
 together,  and  all  things  were  illuminated  thereby. 
 How  much  more  then  should  virtue  excel  suns  ?  " 
 
 Illustrating  the  use  of  "light."  Instead  of  active 
 force,  substitute  the  passive  but  irresistible  influence 
 of  virtue  complete.  The  sun  caused  the  traveller  to 
 lay  aside  his  cloak  when  the  north  wind  succeeded 
 only  in  making  him  draw  it  tighter  around  him. 
 
 Yeh  Ch'iieh  asked  Wang  I, 
 
 A  disciple  and  tutor  of  remote  antiquity.  Said  to 
 have  been  two  of  the  four  Sages  on  the  Miao-ku-she 
 mountain  mentioned  in  ch.  i. 
 
 saying,  "  Do  you  know  for  certain  that  all  things 
 are  subjectively  the  same  ? " 
 
 "  How  can  I  know?"  answered  Wang  I.  "  Do 
 you  know  what  you  do  not  know  ?  " 
 
 "  How  can  I  know  ?  "  replied  Yeh  Ch  ueh.  "But 
 can  then  nothing  be  known  ?  " 
 
 "  How  can  I  know?"  said  Wang  I.  "Never- 
 theless, I  will  try  to  tell  you.  How  can  it  be 
 known  that  what  I  call  knowing  is  not  really  not 
 knowing,  and  that  what  I  call  not  knowing  is  not 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  27 
 
 really  knowing  ?  Now  I  would  ask  you  this.  If 
 a  man  sleeps  in  a  damp  place,  he  gets  lumbago  and 
 dies.  But  how  about  an  eel  ?  And  living  up  in  a 
 tree  is  precarious  and  trying  to  the  nerves  ; — but 
 how  about  monkeys  ?  Of  the  man,  the  eel,  and 
 the  monkey,  whose  habitat  is  the  right  one,  abso- 
 lutely? Human  beings  feed  on  flesh,  deer  on 
 grass,  centipedes  on  snakes,  owls  and  crows  on 
 mice.  Of  these  four,  whose  is  the  right  taste, 
 absolutely  ?  Monkey  mates  with  monkey,  the 
 buck  with  the  doe ;  eels  consort  with  fishes,  while 
 men  admire  Mao  Ch'iang  and  Li  Chi, 
 
 Beauties  of  the  fifth  and  seventh  centuries  B.C.,  re- 
 spectively. The  commentators  do  not  seem  to  have 
 noted  the  very  obvious  anachronism  here  involved. 
 
 at  the  sight  of  whom  fishes  plunge  deep  down  in 
 the  water,  birds  soar  high  in  the  air,  and  deer 
 hurry  away. 
 
 For  shame  at  their  own  inferiority. 
 
 Yet  who  shall  say  which  is  the  correct  standard  of 
 beauty?  In  my  opinion,  the  standard  of  human 
 virtue,  and  of  positive  and  negative,  is  so  ob- 
 scured that  it  is  impossible  to  actually  know  it 
 as  such." 
 
 "  If  you  then,"  asked  Yeh  Ch  ueh,  "  do  not  know 
 what  is  bad  for  you,  is  the  Perfect  Man  equally 
 without  this  knowledge  ?  "  1 
 
 "  The  Perfect  Man,"  answered  Wang  I,  "  is  a 
 spiritual  being.  Were  the  ocean  itself  scorched 
 up,  he  would  not  feel  hot.     Were  the  Milky  Way 
 
28  Chuang-  Tzil 
 
 <b 
 
 frozen  hard,  he  would  not  feel  cold.  Were  the 
 mountains  to  be  riven  with  thunder,  and  the  great 
 deep  to  be  thrown  up  by  storm,  he  would  not 
 tremble.  In  such  case,  he  would  mount  upon  the 
 clouds  of  heaven,  and  driving  the  sun  and  the 
 moon  before  him,  would  pass  beyond  the  limits  of 
 this  external  world,  where  death  and  life  have  no 
 more  victory  over  man  ; — how  much  less  what  is 
 bad  for  him  ?  " 
 
 Chii  Ch'iao  addressed  Chang  Wu  Tzu 
 A  disciple  and  tutor  of  antiquity. 
 
 as  follows : — "  I  heard  Confucius  say,  '  The  true 
 sage  pays  no  heed  to  mundane  affairs.  He  neither 
 seeks  gain  nor  avoids  injury.  He  asks  nothing  at 
 the  hands  of  man.  He  adheres,  without  question- 
 ing, to  Tao.  Without  speaking,  he  can  speak ; 
 and  he  can  speak  and  yet  say  nothing.  And  so 
 he  roams  beyond  the  limits  of  this  dusty  world. 
 These,'  added  Confucius,  '  are  wild  words.' 
 
 Han  Fei  Tzu  tells  us  that  Lao  Tzu,  whose  doctrines 
 Confucius  seems  to  be  here  deriding,  said  exactly 
 the  opposite  of  this  ;  viz  :  "  The  true  Sage  is  before- 
 hand in  his  attention  to  mundane  affairs,"  i.e.  "takes 
 time  by  the  forelock."  Neither  utterance,  however, 
 appears  in  the  Tao-Tc-Ching.  See  The  Remains 
 of  Lao  TzU,  p.  44. 
 
 Now  to  me  they  are  the  skilful  embodiment  of 
 Tag.     What,  Sir,  is  your  opinion  ?  " 
 
 "  Points    upon    which    the     Yellow     Emperor 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  29 
 
 doubted,"  replied  Chang  Wu  Tzu,  ''  how  should 
 Confucius  know  ? 
 
 Lao  Tzu  and  the  Yellow  Emperor  have  always 
 been  mixed  up  in  the  heads  of  Taoist  writers,  albeit 
 separated  by  a  chasm  of  some  two  thousand  years. 
 Confucius  is  here  evidently  dealing  with  the  actual 
 doctrines  of  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 You   are   going    too    fast.      You    see    your   ^<g^,^ 
 and  expect  to   hear  it  crow.     You   look   at   your 
 cross-bow,  and  expect  to  have  broiled  duck  before 
 you.     I  will  say  a  few  words  to  you  at  random,  and 
 do  you  listen  at  random. 
 
 ''  How  does  the  Sage  seat  himself  by  the  sun 
 and  moon,  and  hold  the  universe  in  his  grasp? 
 He  blends  everything  into  one  harmonious  whole, 
 rejecting  the  confusion  of  this  and  that.  Rank 
 and  precedence,  which  the  vulgar  prize,  the  Sage 
 stolidly  ignores.  The  revolutions  of  ten  thousand 
 years  leave  his  Unity  unscathed.  The  universe 
 itself  may  pass  away,  but  he  will  flourish  still. 
 
 "  How  do  I  know  that  love  of  life  is  not  a 
 delusion  after  all  ?  How  do  I  know  but  that  he 
 who  dreads  to  die  is  not  as  a  child  who  has  lost 
 the  way  and  cannot  find  his  home  ? 
 
 ''  The  lady  Li  Chi  was  the  daughter  of  Ai  Feng. 
 
 A  border  chieftain. 
 
 When  the  Duke  of  Chin  first  got  her,  she  wept 
 until  the  bosom  of  her  dress  was  drenched  with 
 tears.  But  when  she  came  to  the  royal  residence, 
 and  lived  with  the  Duke,  and  ate  rich  food,   she 
 
 u 
 
J 
 
 30  Chtiang  Tzil 
 
 repented  of  having  wept.  How  then  do  I  know 
 but  that  the  dead  repent  of  having  previously 
 clung  to  life? 
 
 **  Those  who  dream  of  the  banquet,  wake  to 
 lamentation  and  sorrow.  Those  who  dream  of 
 lamentation  and  sorrow  wake  to  join  the  hunt. 
 While  they  dream,  they  do  not  know  that  they 
 dream.  Some  will  even  interpret  the  very  dream 
 they  are  dreaming ;  and  only  when  they  awake  do 
 they  know  it  was  a  dream.  By  and  by  comes  the 
 Great  Awakening,  and  then  we  find  out  that  this 
 life  is  really  a  great  dream.  Fools  think  they  are 
 awake  now,  and  flatter  themselves  they  know  if 
 they  are  really  princes  or  peasants.  Confucius  and 
 you  are  both  dreams ;  and  I  who  say  you  are 
 dreams, — I  am  but  a  dream  myself.  This  is  a 
 paradox.  Tomorrow  a  sage  may  arise  to  explain 
 it;  but  that  tomorrow  will  not  be  until  ten 
 thousand  generations  have  gone  by. 
 
 "  Granting  that  you  and  I  argue.  If  you  beat 
 me,  and  not  I  you,  are  you  necessarily  right  and  I 
 wrong?  Or  if  I  beat  you  and  not  you  me,  am  I 
 necessarily  right  and  you  wrong  ?  Or  are  we  both 
 partly  right  and  partly  wrong?  Or  are  we  both 
 wholly  right  and  wholly  wrong  ?  You  and  I  cannot 
 know  this,  and  consequently  the  world  will  be  in 
 ignorance  of  the  truth. 
 
 "  Who  shall  I  employ  as  arbiter  between  us  ?  If 
 I  employ  some  one  who  takes  your  view,  he  will 
 side  with  you.  How  can  such  a  one  arbitrate 
 between  us  ?     If  I  employ  some  one  who  takes  my 
 
CAP.  II.]  The  Identity  of  Contraries  31 
 
 view,  he  will  side  with  me.  How  can  such  a  one 
 arbitrate  between  us  ?  And  if  I  employ  some  one 
 who  either  differs  from,  or  agrees  with,  both  of  us, 
 he  will  be  equally  unable  to  decide  between  us. 
 Since  then  you,  and  I,  and  man,  cannot  decide,  '-^ 
 must  we  not  depend  upon  Another  ? 
 
 Upon  God,  in  whose  infinity  all  contraries  blend 
 indistinguishably  into  One. 
 Such  dependence  is  as  though  it  were  not  depend- 
 ence. We  are  embraced  in  the  obliterating  unity  of 
 God.  There  is  perfect  adaptation  to  whatever  may 
 eventuate ;  and  so  we  complete  our  allotted  span. 
 
 "  But  what  is  it  to  be  embraced  in  the  obliterat- 
 ing unity  of  God  ?  It  is  this.  With  reference  to 
 positive  and  negative,  to  that  which  is  so  and  that 
 which  is  not  so, — if  the  positive  is  really  positive, 
 it  must  necessarily  be  different  from  its  negative : 
 there  is  no  room  for  argument.  And  if  that  which 
 is  so  really  is  so,  it  must  necessarily  be  different 
 from  that  which  is  not  so :  there  is  no  room  for 
 argument. 
 
 **  Take  no  heed  of  time,  nor  of  right  and  wrong. 
 But  passing  into  the  realm  of  the  Infinite,  take 
 your  final  rest  therein." 
 
 Our  refuge  is  in  God  alone,  the  Infinite  Abso- 
 lute. Contraries  cannot  but  exist,  but  they  should  / 
 exist  independently  of  each  other  without  antagonism. 
 Such  a  condition  is  found  only  in  the  all-embracing 
 unity  of  God,  wherein  all  distinctions  of  positive  and 
 negative,  of  right  and  wrong,  of  this  and  of  that,  are 
 obliterated  and  merged  in  One. 
 Herbert   Spencer  says,   "The  antithesis  of  subject 
 
32  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 and  object,  never  to  be  transcended  while  conscious- 
 ness lasts,  renders  impossible  all  knowledge  of  the 
 Ultimate  Reality  in  which  subject  and  object  are 
 united."     Principles  of  Psychology,  i.  p.  272. 
 
 The  Penumbra  said  to  the  Umbra,  "  At  one 
 moment  you  move :  at  another  you  are  at  rest. 
 At  one  moment  you  sit  down  :  at  another  you  get 
 up.  Why  this  instability  of  purpose?"  *' I  de- 
 pend," replied  the  Umbra,  "  upon  something 
 which  causes  me  to  do  as  I  do  ;  and  that  some- 
 thing depends  in  turn  upon  something  else  which 
 causes  it  to  do  as  it  does.  My  dependence  is  like 
 that  of  a  snake's  scales  or  of  a  cicada's  wings. 
 
 Which  do  not  move  of  their  own  accord. 
 
 How  can  I  tell  why  I  do  one  thing,  or  why  I  do 
 not  do  another  ?  " 
 
 Showing  how  two  or  more  may  be  the  phenomena 
 of  one. 
 
 Once  upon  a  time,  I,  Chuang  Tzii,  dreamt  I  was 
 a  butterfly,  fluttering  hither  and  thither,  to  all 
 intents  and  purposes  a  butterfly.  I  was  conscious 
 only  of  following  my  fancies  as  a  butterfly,  and 
 was  unconscious  of  my  individuality  as  a  man. 
 Suddenly,  I  awaked,  and  there  I  lay,  myself  again. 
 Now  I  do  not  know  whether  I  was  then  a  man 
 dreaming  I  was  a  butterfly,  or  whether  I  am  now  a 
 butterfly  dreaming  I  am  a  man.  Between  a  man 
 and  a  butterfly  there  is  necessarily  a  barrier.  The 
 transition  is  called  Metempsychosis. 
 
 Showing  how  one  may  appear  to  be  either  of  two. 
 
33 
 
 CHAPTER   III. 
 
 Nourishment  of  the  Soul. 
 
 Argument :—lAie  too  short— Wisdom  unattainable— Accommodation 
 to  circumstances— Liberty  paramount— Death  a  release— The  soul 
 immortal. 
 
 1\  /r  Y  life  has  a  limit,  but  my  knowledge  is  with- 
 ^^^  out  limit.  To  drive  the  limited  in  search 
 of  the  limitless,  is  fatal ;  and  the  knowledge  of 
 those  who  do  this  is  fatally  lost. 
 
 In  striving  for  others,  avoid  fame.  In  striving 
 for  self,  avoid  disgrace.  Pursue  a  middle  course. 
 Thus  you  will  keep  a  sound  body,  and  a  sound 
 mind,  fulfil  your  duties,  and  work  out  your  al- 
 lotted span. 
 
 Prince  Hui's  cook  was  cutting  up  a  bullock. 
 Every  blow  of  his  hand,  every  heave  of  his 
 shoulders,  every  tread  of  his  foot,  every  thrust 
 of  his  knee,  every  whshh  of  rent  flesh,  every 
 chhk  of  the  chopper,  was  in  perfect  harmony, — 
 rhythmical  like  the  dance  of  the  Mulberry 
 Grove,  simultaneous  like  the  chords  of  the  Ching 
 Shou. 
 
 Commentators  are    divided    in    their  identifications 
 of  these  ancient  morcea-ux. 
 
 D 
 
34  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 "Well  done!"  cried  the  Prince.  "Yours  is 
 skill  indeed." 
 
 "  Sire,"  replied  the  cook ;  "  I  have  always   de- 
 
 /     voted  myself  to  Tao.    It  is  better  than  skill.    When 
 
 I  first  began  to  cut  up  bullocks,  I  saw  before  me 
 
 simply  luhole  bullocks.     After  three  years'  practice, 
 
 I  saw  no  more  whole  animals. 
 
 Meaning  that  he  saw  them,  so  to  speak,  in  sec- 
 tions. 
 
 And  now  I  work  with  my  mind  and  not  with  my 
 eye.  When  my  senses  bid  me  stop,  but  my  mind 
 urges  me  on,  I  fall  back  upon  eternal  principles. 
 I  follow  such  openings  or  cavities  as  there  may 
 be,  according  to  the  natural  constitution  of  the 
 animal.  I  do  not  attempt  to  cut  through  joints  : 
 still  less  through  large  bones. 
 
 For  a  curious  parallelism,  see  Plato's  Phcrdrus,  265. 
 
 "  A  good  cook  changes  his  chopper  once  a  year, 
 —  because  he  cuts.  An  ordinary  cook,  once  a 
 month, — because  he  hacks.  But  I  have  had  this 
 chopper  nineteen  years,  and  although  I  have  cut 
 up  many  thousand  bullocks,  its  edge  is  as  if  fresh 
 from  the  whetstone.  For  at  the  joints  there  are 
 always  interstices,  and  the  edge  of  a  chopper 
 being  without  thickness,  it  remains  only  to  insert 
 that  which  is  without  thickness  into  such  an 
 interstice. 
 
 These  words  help  to  elucidate  a  much-vexed  pas- 
 sage in  ch.  xliii  of  the  Tao-Te-Ching.  See  The 
 Remaiiis  of  Lao  Tzii,  p.  30. 
 
CAP.  III.]  Nourishment  of  the  Soul  35 
 
 By  these  means  the  interstice  will  be  enlarged, 
 and  the  blade  will  find  plenty  of  room.  It  is  thus 
 that  I  have  kept  my  chopper  for  nineteen  years  as 
 though  fresh  from  the  whetstone. 
 
 *'  Nevertheless,  when  I  come  upon  a  hard  part 
 where  the  blade  meets  with  a  difficulty,  I  am  all 
 caution.  I  fix  my  eye  on  it.  I  stay  my  hand,  and 
 gently  apply  my  blade,  until  with  a  hwah  the  part 
 yields  like  earth  crumbling  to  the  ground.  Then  I 
 take  out  my  chopper,  and  stand  up,  and  look 
 around,  and  pause,  until  with  an  air  of  triumph  I 
 wipe  my  chopper  and  put  it  carefully  away." 
 
 "  Bravo  !  "  cried  the  Prince.  "  From  the  words 
 of  this  cook  I  have  learnt  how  to  take  care  of  my 
 life." 
 
 Meaning  that  which  informs  life,  sc,  the  soul. 
 
 When  Hsien,  of  the  Kung-wen  family,  beheld  a 
 certain  official,  he  was  horrified,  and  said,  *'  Who  is 
 that  man  ?  How  came  he  to  lose  a  foot  ?  Is  this 
 the  work  of  God,  or  of  man  ? 
 
 "  Why,  of  course,"  continued  Hsien,  "  it  is  the 
 work  of  God,  and  not  of  man.  When  God  brought 
 this  man  into  the  world,  he  wanted  him  to  be 
 unlike  other  men.  Men  always  have  two  feet. 
 From  this  it  is  clear  that  God  and  not  man  made 
 him  as  he  is. 
 
 It  was  by  God's  will  that  he  took  office  with  a  view 
 to  personal  aggrandisement.  That  he  got  into 
 trouble  and  suffered  the  common  punishment  of  loss 
 of  feet,  cannot  therefore  be  charged  to  man. 
 
 D  2 
 
36  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 "  Now,  wild  fowl  get  a  peck  once  in  ten  steps,  a 
 drink  once  in  a  hundred.  Yet  they  do  not  want  to 
 be  fed  in  a  cage.  For  although  they  would  thus  be 
 able  to  command  food,  they  would  not  be  free." 
 
 And  had  our  friend  above  kept  out  of  the  official 
 cage  he  would  still  have  been  independent  as  the 
 fowls  of  the  air. 
 
 When  Lao  Tzu  died,  Ch'in  Shih  went  to  mourn. 
 He  uttered  three  yells  and  departed. 
 
 A  disciple  asked  him  saying,  "  Were  you  not  our 
 Master's  friend?" 
 
 "  I  was,"  replied  Ch'in  Shih. 
 
 "  And  if  so,  do  you  consider  that  a  sufficient  ex- 
 pression of  grief  at  his  loss  ?  "  added  the  disciple. 
 
 "  I  do,"  said  Ch'in  Shih.  "  I  had  believed  him 
 to  be  the  man  of  all  men,  but  now  I  know  that  he 
 was  not.  When  I  went  in  to  mourn,  I  found  old 
 persons  weeping  as  if  for  their  children,  young  ones 
 wailing  as  if  for  their  mothers.  And  for  him  to 
 have  gained  the  attachment  of  those  people  in  this 
 way,  he  too  must  have  uttered  words  which  should 
 not  have  been  spoken,  and  dropped  tears  which 
 should  not  have  been  shed,  thus  violating  eternal 
 principles,  increasing  the  sum  of  human  emotion, 
 and  forgetting  the  source  from  which  his  own  life 
 was  received.  The  ancients  called  such  emotions 
 the  trammels  of  mortality.  The  Master  came, 
 because  it  was  his  time  to  be  born  ;  he  went,  because 
 it  was  his  time  to  die.  For  those  who  accept  the 
 phenomenon    of   birth   and   death   in   this   sense, 
 
CAP.  III.]  Notirishinent  of  the  Soul  2!7 
 
 lamentation  and  sorrow  have  no  place.  The 
 ancients  spoke  of  death  as  of  God  cutting  down  a 
 man  suspended  in  the  air.  The  fuel  is  consumed, 
 but  the  fire  may  be  transmitted,  and  we  know  not 
 that  it  comes  to  an  end." 
 
 The  soul,  according  to  Chuang  Tzu,  if  duly- 
 nourished  and  not  allowed  to  wear  itself  out  with 
 the  body  in  the  pursuits  of  mortality,  may  become 
 immortal  and  return  beatified  to  the  Great  Unknown 
 whence  it  came. 
 
38 
 
 CHAPTER     IV. 
 
 Man  Among  Men. 
 
 Argument: — Man  must  fall  in  with  his  mortal  environment — His  virtue 
 should  be  passive,  not  active — He  should  be  rather  than  do — Talents 
 a  hindrance — But  of  petty  uselessness  great  usefulness  is  achieved. 
 
 A7EN  HUI  went  to  take  leave  of  Confucius. 
 
 A  disciple  of  the  Sage.     Also  known  as  Tzu  Yiian. 
 
 "  Whither  are  you  bound  ?"  asked  the  Master. 
 
 "  I  am  going  to  the  State  of  Wei,"  was  the 
 reply. 
 
 "And  what  do  you  propose  to  do  there?"  con- 
 tinued Confucius. 
 
 "  I  hear,"  answered  Yen  Hui,  "  that  the  Prince 
 of  Wei  is  of  mature  age,  but  of  an  unmanageable 
 disposition.  He  behaves  as  if  the  State  were  of  no 
 account,  and  will  not  see  his  own  faults.  Conse- 
 quently, the  people  perish  ;  and  their  corpses  lie 
 about  like  so  much  undergrowth  in  a  marsh.  They 
 are  at  extremities.  And  I  have  heard  you.  Sir, 
 say  that  if  a  State  is  well  governed  it  may  be 
 neglected  ;  but  that  if  it  is  badly  governed,  then  we 
 should  visit  it. 
 
 In  the  L7m  Vic,  Confucius  says  exactly  the  opposite 
 of  this. 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Among  Men  39 
 
 The  science  of  medicine  embraces  many  various 
 diseases.  I  would  test  my  knowledge  in  this 
 sense,  that  perchance  I  may  do  some  good  to  that 
 State." 
 
 "Alas!"  cried  Confucius,  "you  will  only 
 succeed  in  bringing  evil  upon  yourself  For  Tao 
 must  not  be  distributed.  If  it  is,  it  will  lose  its 
 unity.  If  it  loses  its  unity,  it  will  be  uncertain  ; 
 and  so  cause  mental  disturbance, — from  which 
 there  is  no  escape. 
 
 "The  sages  of  old  first  got  Tao  for  themselves, 
 and  then  got  it  for  others.  Before  you  possess  this 
 yourself,  what  leisure  have  you  to  attend  to  the 
 doings  of  wicked  men  ?  Besides,  do  you  know 
 what  Virtue  results  in  and  where  Wisdom  ends  ? 
 Virtue  results  in  a  desire  for  fame  ;  Wisdom  ends 
 in  contentions.  In  the  struggle  for  fame  men  crush 
 each  other,  while  their  wisdom  but  provokes  rivalry. 
 Both  are  baleful  instruments,  and  may  not  be 
 incautiously  used. 
 
 "  Besides,  those  who,  before  influencing  by  their 
 own  solid  virtue  and  unimpeachable  sincerity,  and 
 before  reaching  the  heart  by  the  example  of  their 
 own  disregard  for  name  and  fame,  go  and  preach 
 charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  to  wicked 
 men, — only  make  these  men  hate  them  for  their 
 very  goodness'  sake.  Such  persons  are  called  evil 
 speakers.  And  those  who  speak  evil  of  others  are 
 apt  to  be  evil  spoken  of  themselves.  That,  alas ! 
 will  be  your  end. 
 
 "  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  Prince  loves  the  good 
 
40  CImang  Tzu 
 
 and  hates  the  bad,  what  object  will  you  have  in 
 inviting  him  to  change  his  ways  ?  Before  you  have 
 opened  your  mouth  to  preach,  the  Prince  himself 
 will  have  seized  the  opportunity  to  wrest  the  victory 
 from  you.  Your  eye  will  fall,  your  expression  fade, 
 your  words  will  stick,  your  face  will  change,  and 
 your  heart  will  die  within  you.  It  will  be  as 
 though  you  took  fire  to  quell  fire,  water  to  quell 
 water,  which  is  popularly  known  as  '  pouring  oil  on 
 the  flames.'  And  if  you  begin  with  concessions, 
 there  will  be  no  end  to  them.  Neglect  this  sound 
 advice,  and  you  will  be  the  victim  of  that  violent 
 man. 
 
 "  Of  old,  Chieh  murdered  Kuan  Lung  Feng,  and 
 Chou  slew  Prince  Pi  Kan.  Their  victims  were  both 
 men  who  cultivated  virtue  themselves  in  order  to 
 secure  the  welfare  of  the  people.  But  in  doing 
 this  they  offended  their  superiors  ;  and  therefore, 
 because  of  that  very  moral  culture,  their  superiors 
 got  rid  of  them,  in  order  to  guard  their  own 
 reputations. 
 
 Chieh    and    Chou    are   the   two   typical   tyrants   of 
 Chinese  history. 
 
 ''  Of  old,  Yao  attacked  the  Ts'ung-chih  and 
 Hsii-ao  countries,  and  Yii  attacked  the  Yu-hu 
 country.  Homes  were  desolated  and  families  de- 
 stroyed by  the  slaughter  of  the  inhabitants.  Yet 
 they  fought  without  ceasing,  and  strove  for  victory 
 to  the  last.  These  are  instances  known  to  all. 
 Now  if  the  Sages  of  old  failed  in  their  efforts 
 against  this  love  of  fame,  this  desire  for  victory, — 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Amojtg  Men  41 
 
 are  you  likely  to  succeed  ?     But  of  course  you  have 
 a  scheme.     Tell  it  to  me." 
 
 ''  Gravity  of  demeanour,"  replied  Yen  Hui,  "  and 
 dispassionateness  ;  energy  and  singleness  of  pur- 
 pose,— will  this  do  ?  " 
 
 "  Alas  ! "  said  Confucius,  "  that  will  not  do.  If  you 
 make  a  show  of  being  perfect  and  obtrude  yourself, 
 the  Prince's  mood  will  be  doubtful.  Ordinarily,  he 
 is  not  opposed,  and  so  he  has  come  to  take  actual 
 pleasure  in  trampling  upon  the  feelings  of  others. 
 And  if  he  has  thus  failed  in  the  practice  of  routine 
 virtues,  do  you  expect  that  he  will  take  readily 
 to  higher  ones  ?  You  may  insist,  but  without 
 result.  Outwardly  you  will  be  right,  but  in- 
 wardly wrong.  How  then  will  you  make  him 
 mend  his  ways?" 
 
 "  Just  so,"  replied  Yen  Hui.  "  I  am  inwardly 
 straight,  and  outwardly  crooked,  completed  after 
 the  models  of  antiquity. 
 
 "  He  who  is  inwardly  straight  is  a  servant  of  God. 
 And  he  who  is  a  servant  of  God  knows  that  the  Son 
 of  Heaven 
 
 The  Emperor. 
 
 and  himself  are  equally  the  children  of  God.  Shall 
 then  such  a  one  trouble  whether  man  visits  him 
 with  evil  or  with  good  ?  Man  indeed  regards  him 
 as  a  child  ;  and  this  is  to  be  a  servant  of  God. 
 
 (i)  Children  are  everywhere  exempt. — This  is  the 
 first  limb  of  a  threefold  argument. 
 
 "  He  who  is  outwardly  crooked  is  a  servant  of 
 
42  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 man.  He  bows,  he  kneels,  he  folds  his  hands  ; — 
 such  is  the  ceremonial  of  a  minister.  What  all 
 men  do,  shall  I  dare  not  to  do  ?  What  all  men  do, 
 none  will  blame  me  for  doing.  This  is  to  be  a 
 servant  of  man. 
 
 (2)  The  individual  is  not  punished  for  the  faults  of 
 the  community. 
 
 *'  He  who  is  completed  after  the  models  of 
 antiquity  is  a  servant  of  the  Sages  of  old. 
 Although  I  utter  the  words  of  warning  and  take 
 him  to  task,  it  is  the  Sages  of  old  who  speak,  and 
 not  I.  Thus  my  uprightness  will  not  bring  me 
 into  trouble,  the  servant  of  the  Sages  of  old. — 
 Will  this  do?" 
 
 (3)  The  responsibility  rests,  not  with  the  mouth- 
 piece, but  with  the  authors  of  the  doctrines 
 enunciated. 
 
 "  Alas  !  "  replied  Confucius,  "  No.  Your  plans 
 are  too  many,  and  are  lacking  in  prudence.  How- 
 ever, your  firmness  will  secure  you  from  harm  ;  but 
 that  is  all.  You  will  not  influence  him  to  such  an 
 extent  that  he  shall  seem  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
 his  own  heart." 
 
 "Then,"  said  Yen  Hui,  "  I  am  without  resource, 
 and  venture  to  ask  for  a  method." 
 
 Confucius  said,  ''FAST Let  me  explain. 
 
 You  have  a  method,  but  it  is  difficult  to  practise. 
 Those  which  are  easy  are  not  from  God." 
 
 "  Well,"  replied  Yen  Hui,  "  my  family  is  poor, 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Ainoiig  Men  43 
 
 and  for  many  months  we  have  tasted  neither  wine 
 nor  flesh.     Is  not  that  fasting  ?  " 
 
 ''  The  fasting  of  religious  observance  it  is," 
 answered  Confucius,  *'  but  not  the  fasting  of  the 
 heart." 
 
 "  And  may  I  ask,"  said  Yen  Hui,  "  in  what  con- 
 sists the  fasting  of  the  heart  ?  " 
 
 "  Cultivate  unity,"  replied  Confucius. 
 
 Make   of  the   mind  as    it   were   an   undivided    in- 
 divisible ONE. 
 
 "  You  hear  not  with  the  ears,  but  with  the  mind ; 
 not  with  the  mind,  but  with  your  soul. 
 
 The  vital    fluid   which    informs  your  whole  being  ; 
 in  fact,   "  with  your  whole  self." 
 
 But  let  hearing  stop  with  the  ears.  Let  the  work- 
 ing of  the  mind  stop  with  itself.  Then  the  soul 
 will  be  a  negative  existence,  passively  responsive 
 to  externals.  In  such  a  negative  existence,  only' 
 Tag  can  abide.  And  that  negative  state  is  the 
 fasting  of  the  heart." 
 
 "  Then,"  said  Yen  Hui,  *'  the  reason  I  could  not 
 get  the  use  of  this  method  is  my  own  individuality. 
 If  I  could  get  the  use  of  it,  my  individuality  would 
 have  gone.  Is  this  what  you  mean  by  the  negative 
 state  ? " 
 
 "  Exactly  so,"  replied  the  Master.  "  Let  me  tell 
 you.  If  you  can  enter  this  man's  domain  without 
 offending  his  amour  propre,  cheerful  if  he  hears 
 you,  passive  if  he  does  not ;  without  science,  with- 
 
44  Clmaiig  Tzii 
 
 out  drugs,  simply  living  there  in  a  state  of  com- 
 plete indifference, — you  will  be  near  success.  It  is 
 easy  to  stop  walking :  the  trouble  is  to  walk  with- 
 out touching  the  ground.  As  an  agent  of  man,  it 
 is  easy  to  deceive ;  but  not  as  an  agent  of  God. 
 You  have  heard  of  winged  creatures  flying.  You 
 have  never  heard  of  flying  without  wings.  You 
 have  heard  of  men  being  wise  with  wisdom.  You 
 have  never  heard  of  men  wise  without  wisdom. 
 
 Wise  of  God,  without  the  wisdom  of  man. 
 
 "  Look  at  that  window.  Through  it  an  empty 
 room  becomes  bright  with  scenery  ;  but  the  land- 
 scape stops  outside.  Were  this  not  so,  we  should 
 have  an  exemplification  of  sitting  still  and  running 
 away  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
 
 An  empty  room  would  contain  something, — a  para- 
 dox like  that  in  the  text. 
 
 "  In  this  sense,  you  may  use  your  ears  and  eyes 
 to  communicate  within,  but  shut  out  all  wisdom 
 from  the  mind. 
 
 Let  the  channels  of  your  senses  be   to  your  mind 
 what  a  window  is  to  an  empty  room. 
 
 And  there  where  the  supernatural 
 
 Something  which  is  and  yet  is  not,  like  the  landscape 
 seen  in,  and  yet  not  in,  a  room. 
 
 can  find  shelter,  shall  not  man  find  shelter  too  ? 
 This  is  the  method  for  regenerating  all  creation. 
 
 By  passive,  not  by  active,  virtue. 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Among  Men  45 
 
 It  was  the  instrument  which  Yii  and  Shun  em- 
 ployed. It  was  the  secret  of  the  success  of  Fu 
 Hsi  and  Chi  Chii.  Shall  it  not  then  be  adopted  by 
 mankind  in  general  ?  " 
 
 Who  stand  much  more  in  need  of  regeneration  than 
 such  worthies  as  were  these  ancient  Emperors. 
 
 Tzu  Kao,  Duke  of  She, 
 A  district  of  the  Ch'u  State. 
 
 being  about  to  go  on  a  mission  to  the  Ch'i  State, 
 asked  Confucius,  saying,  "  The  mission  my 
 sovereign  is  sending  me  on  is  a  most  important 
 one.  Of  course,  I  shall  be  received  with  all  due 
 respect,  but  they  will  not  take  the  same  interest  in 
 the  matter  that  I  shall.  And  as  an  ordinary  person 
 cannot  be  pushed,  still  less  a  Prince,  I  am  in  a 
 state  of  great  alarm. 
 
 "  Now  you.  Sir,  have  told  me  that  in  all  under- 
 takings great  and  small,  Tao  alone  leads  to  a 
 happy  issue.  Otherwise  that,  failing  success,  there 
 is  to  be  feared  punishment  from  without,  and  with 
 success,  punishment  from  within ;  while  exemption 
 in  case  either  of  success  or  non-success  falls  only 
 to  the  share  of  those  who  possess  the  virtue 
 required. 
 
 I.e.  those  to  whom  the  issue,  as  regards  their  own 
 reward  or  punishment,  is  a  matter  of  the  completes! 
 indifference. 
 
 The  term  virtue,  here  as  elsewhere  unless  specially 
 notified,  should  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  ex- 
 emplification of  Tag. 
 
46  Chiiang  Tsu 
 
 "  Well,  I  am  not  dainty  with  my  food  ;  neither 
 am  I  always  wanting  to  cool  myself  when  hot. 
 However,  this  morning  I  received  my  orders,  and 
 this  evening  I  have  been  drinking  iced  water.  I 
 am  so  hot  inside.  Before  I  have  put  my  hand  to 
 the  business  I  am  suffering  punishment  from 
 within  ;  and  if  I  do  not  succeed  I  am  sure  to  suffer 
 punishment  from  without.  Thus  I  get  both 
 punishments,  which  is  really  more  than  I  can  bear. 
 Kindly  tell  me  what  there  is  to  be  done." 
 
 "  There  exist  two  sources  of  safety,"  Confucius 
 replied.  "  One  is  Destiny :  the  other  is  Duty.  A 
 child's  love  for  its  parents  is  destiny.  It  is  in- 
 separable from  the  child's  life.  A  subject's  allegiance 
 to  his  sovereign  is  duty.  Beneath  the  canopy  of 
 heaven  there  is  no  place  to  which  he  can  escape  from 
 it.  These  two  sources  of  safety  may  be  explained 
 as  follows.  To  serve  one's  parents  without  refer- 
 ence to  place  but  only  to  the  service,  is  the  acme  of 
 filial  piety.  To  serve  one's  prince  without  reference 
 to  the  act  but  only  to  the  service,  is  the  perfection 
 of  a  subject's  loyalty.  To  serve  one's  own  heart 
 so  as  to  permit  neither  joy  nor  sorrow  within,  but 
 to  cultivate  resignation  to  the  inevitable, — this  is 
 the  climax  of  Virtue. 
 
 "  Now  a  minister  often  finds  himself  in  circum- 
 stances over  which  he  has  no  control.  But  if 
 he  simply  confines  himself  to  his  work,  and  is 
 utterly  oblivious  of  self,  what  leisure  has  he  for 
 loving  life  or  hating  death  ?  And  so  you  may 
 safely  go. 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Ammig  Men  47 
 
 "  But  I  have  yet  more  to  tell  you.  All  inter- 
 course, if  personal,  should  be  characterised  by 
 sincerity.  If  from  a  distance,  it  should  be  carried 
 on  in  loyal  terms.  These  terms  will  have  to  be 
 transmitted  by  some  one.  Now  the  transmission 
 of  messages  of  good-  or  ill-will  is  the  hardest  thing 
 possible.  Messages  of  good-will  are  sure  to  be 
 overdone  with  fine  phrases ;  messages  of  ill-will 
 with  harsh  ones.  In  each  case  the  result  is 
 exaggeration,  and  a  consequent  failure  to  carry 
 conviction,  for  which  the  envoy  suffers.  Therefore 
 it  was  said  in  the  Fa-yen, 
 
 Name  of  an  ancient  book. 
 
 '  Confine  yourself  to  simple  statements  of  fact, 
 shorn  of  all  superfluous  expression  of  feeling,  and 
 your  risk  will  be  small.' 
 
 "  In  trials  of  skill,  at  first  all  is  friendliness  ;  but 
 at  last  it  is  all  antagonism.  Skill  is  pushed  too  far. 
 So  on  festive  occasions,  the  drinking  which  is  in 
 the  beginning  orderly  enough,  degenerates  into  riot 
 and  disorder.  Festivity  is  pushed  too  far.  It  is 
 in  fact  the  same  with  all  things  :  they  begin  with 
 good  faith  and  end  with  contempt.  From  small 
 beginnings  come  great  endings. 
 
 "  Speech  is  like  wind  to  wave.  Action  is  liable 
 to  divergence  from  its  true  goal.  By  wind,  waves 
 are  easily  excited.  Divergence  from  the  true  goal 
 is  fraught  with  danger.  Thus  angry  feelings  rise 
 up  without  a  cause.  Specious  words  and  dishonest 
 arguments  follow,  as  the  wild  random  cries  of  an 
 
48  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 animal  at  the  point  of  death.  Both  sides  give  way 
 to  passion.  For  where  one  party  drives  the  other 
 too  much  into  a  corner,  resistance  will  always  be 
 provoked  without  apparent  cause.  And  if  the 
 cause  is  not  apparent,  how  much  less  will  the 
 ultimate  effect  be  so  ? 
 
 "  Therefore  it  is  said  in  the  Fa-yen,  '  Neither 
 deviate  from  nor  travel  beyond  your  instructions. 
 
 "  Travel  beyond  your  instructions,"  is  literally, 
 "  urge  a  settlement." 
 
 To  pass  the  limit  is  to  go  to  excess.' 
 
 "To  deviate  from,  or  to  travel  beyond  instruc- 
 tions, may  imperil  the  negotiation.  A  settlement 
 to  be  successful  must  be  lasting.  It  is  too  late  to 
 change  an  evil  settlement  once  made. 
 
 "  Therefore  let  yourself  be  carried  along  without 
 fear,  taking  refuge  in  no  alternative  to  preserve 
 you  from  harm  on  either  side.  This  is  the  utmost 
 you  can  do.  What  need  for  considering  your 
 obligations  ?  Better  leave  all  to  Destiny,  difficult 
 as  this  may  be." 
 
 It   is   passing   strange   that   this   exposition  of  the 
 ,  laissez-aller  inaction  doctrine  of  Tag  should  be  placed 
 
 ^  in  the  mouth  of  Confucius,  who  is  thus  made  in  some 
 
 measure  to  discredit  his  own  teachings.  The  com- 
 mentators, however,  see  nothing  anomalous  in  the 
 position  here  assigned  to  the  Sage. 
 
 Yen  Ho 
 
 A  philosopher  from  the  Lu  State. 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Among  Men  49 
 
 was  about  to  become  tutor  to  the  eldest  son  of 
 Prince  Ling  of  the  Wei  State.  Accordingly  he 
 observed  to  Chii  Poh  Yu, 
 
 Prime  Minister  of  the  Wei  State. 
 
 "  Here  is  a  man  whose  disposition  is  naturally 
 of  a  low  order.  To  let  him  take  his  own  un- 
 principled way  is  to  endanger  the  State.  To  try  to 
 restrain  him  is  to  endanger  one's  personal  safety. 
 He  has  just  wit  enough  to  see  faults  in  others,  but 
 not  to  see  his  own.  I  am  consequently  at  a  loss 
 what  to  do." 
 
 "  A  good  question  indeed,"  replied  Chii  Poh  Yii, 
 "  You  must  be  careful,  and  begin  by  self-reforma- 
 tion. Outwardly  you  may  adapt  yourself,  but 
 inwardly  you  must  keep  up  to  your  own  standard. 
 In  this  there  are  two  points  to  be  guarded  against. 
 You  must  not  let  the  outward  adaptation  penetrate 
 within,  nor  the  inward  standard  manifest  itself 
 without.  In  the  former  case,  you  will  fall,  you 
 will  be  obliterated,  you  will  collapse,  you  will  lie 
 prostrate.  In  the  latter  case,  you  will  be  a  sound, 
 a  name,  a  bogie,  an  uncanny  thing.  If  he  would 
 play  the  child,  do  you  play  the  child  too.  If  he 
 cast  aside  all  sense  of  decorum,  do  you  do  so  too. 
 As  far  as  he  goes,  do  you  go  also.  Thus  you  will 
 reach  him  without  offending  him. 
 
 **  Don't  you  know  the  story  of  the  praying  mantis? 
 In  its  rage  it  stretched  out  its  arms  to  prevent  a 
 chariot  from  passing,  unaware  that  this  was  be- 
 yond its   strength,  so  admirable  was   its  energy ! 
 
 E 
 
50  Chtiang  Tzil 
 
 Be  cautious.  If  you  are  always  offending  others 
 by  your  superiority,  you  will  probably  come  to 
 grief. 
 
 "  Do  you  not  know  that  those  who  keep  tigers 
 do  not  venture  to  give  them  live  animals  as  food, 
 for  fear  of  exciting  their  fury  when  killing  the 
 prey?  Also,  that  whole  animals  are  not  given, 
 for  fear  of  exciting  the  tigers'  fury  when  rending 
 them  ?  The  periods  of  hunger  and  repletion  are 
 carefully  watched  in  order  to  prevent  such  out- 
 bursts. The  tiger  is  of  a  different  species  from 
 man  ;  but  the  latter  too  is  manageable  if  properly 
 managed,  unmanageable  if  excited  to  fury. 
 
 "  Those  who  are  fond  of  horses  surround  them 
 with  various  conveniences.  Sometimes  mosquitoes 
 or  flies  trouble  them  ;  and  then,  unexpectedly  to 
 the  animal,  a  groom  will  brush  them  off,  the  result 
 being  that  the  horse  breaks  his  bridle,  and  hurts 
 his  head  and  chest.  The  intention  is  good,  but 
 there  is  a  want  of  real  care  for  the  horse.  Against 
 this  you  must  be  on  your  guard." 
 
 A  certain  artisan  was  travelling  to  the  Ch'i  State. 
 On  reaching  Ch'ii-yuan,  he  saw  a  sacred  //  tree, 
 
 A  worthless  species  of  oak. 
 
 large  enough  to  hide  an  ox  behind  it,  a  hundred 
 spans  in  girth,  towering  up  ten  cubits  over  the 
 hill  top,  and  carrying  behind  it  branches,  many 
 tens  of  the  smallest  of  which  were  of  a  size 
 for  boats.  Crowds  stood  gazing  at  it,  but  our 
 artisan  took  no  notice,  and  went  on  his  way  with- 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Among  Men  51 
 
 out  even  casting  a  look  behind.  His  apprentice 
 however  gazed  his  fill,  and  when  he  caught  up 
 his  master,  said,  "  Ever  since  I  have  handled  an 
 adze  in  your  service,  I  have  never  seen  such  a 
 splendid  piece  of  timber  as  that.  How  was 
 it  that  you,  sir,  did  not  care  to  stop  and  look 
 at  it?" 
 
 "  It's  not  worth  talking  about,"  replied  his 
 master.  "  It's  good  for  nothing.  Make  a  boat  of 
 it, — 'twould  sink.  A  coffin, — 'twould  rot.  Furni- 
 ture,— 'twould  soon  break  down.  A  door, — 'twould 
 sweat.  A  pillar, — 'twould  be  worm-eaten.  It  is 
 wood  of  no  quality,  and  of  no  use.  That  is  why 
 it  has  attained  its  present  age." 
 
 When  the  artisan  reached  home,  he  dreamt  that 
 the  tree  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  and  spoke 
 as  follows  : — "  What  is  it  that  you  compare  me 
 with  ?  Is  it  with  the  more  elegant  trees  ? — The 
 cherry-apple,  the  pear,  the  orange,  the  pumelo, 
 and  other  fruit-bearers,  as  soon  as  their  fruit 
 ripens  are  stripped  and  treated  with  indignity. 
 The  great  boughs  are  snapped  off,  the  small  ones 
 scattered  abroad.  Thus  do  these  trees  by  their 
 own  value  injure  their  own  lives.  They  cannot 
 fulfil  their  allotted  span  of  years,  but  perish  pre- 
 maturely in  mid-career  from  their  entanglement 
 with  the  world  around  them.  Thus  it  is  with 
 all  things.  For  a  long  period  my  aim  was  to 
 be  useless.  Many  times  I  was  in  danger,  but 
 at  length  I  succeeded,  and  so  became  useful  as 
 I  am    to-day.      But  had   I   then    been    of  use,    I 
 
 E  2 
 
5 2  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 should  not  now  be  of  the  great  use  I  am.  More- 
 over, you  and  I  belong  both  to  the  same  category 
 of  thines.  Have  done  then  with  this  criticism  of 
 others.  Is  a  good-for-nothing  fellow  whose  dangers 
 are  not  yet  passed  a  fit  person  to  talk  of  a  good-for- 
 nothing  tree  ?  " 
 
 When  our  artisan  awaked  and  told  his  dream, 
 his  apprentice  said,  ''  If  the  tree  aimed  at  useless- 
 liess,  how  was  it  that  it  became  a  sacred  tree  ?  " 
 
 Which  of  course  may  be  said  to  be  of  use. 
 
 "  What  you  don't  understand,"  replied  his 
 master,  "  don't  talk  about.  That  was  merely  to 
 escape  from  the  attacks  of  its  enemies.  Had  it 
 not  become  sacred,  how  many  would  have  wanted  to 
 Cut  it  down  !  The  means  of  safety  adopted  were 
 different  from  ordinary  means. 
 
 In  order  to  reach  the  somewhat  extraordinary  goal 
 of  uselessness. 
 
 and  to  test  these  by  ordinary  canons  leaves  one  far 
 wide  of  the  mark." 
 
 Tzu  Ch'i  of  Nan-poh 
 
 Said  to  be  identical  with  the   individual  mentioned 
 at  the  beginning  of  ch.  ii. 
 
 was  travelling  on  the  Shang  mountain  when  he  saw 
 a  large  tree  which  astonished  him  very  much.  A 
 thousand  chariot  teams  could  have  found  shelter 
 under  its  shade. 
 
 "  What  tree  is  this  ?"  cried  Tzu  Ch'i.    "  Surely  it 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  A7no7ig  Men  53 
 
 must  have  unusually  fine  timber."  Then  looking 
 up,  he  saw  that  its  branches  were  too  crooked  for 
 rafters ;  while  as  to  the  trunk  he  saw  that  its 
 irregular  grain  made  it  valueless  for  coffins.  He 
 tasted  a  leaf,  but  it  took  the  skin  off  his  lips  ;  and 
 its  odour  was  so  strong  that  it  would  make  a  man 
 as  it  were  drunk  for  three  days  together. 
 
 "  Ah  !  "  said  Tzu  Ch'i.  "  This  tree  is  good  for 
 nothing,  and  that  is  how  it  has  attained  this  size. 
 A  wise  man  might  well  follow  its  example." 
 
 And  so  escape  danger  from  his  surroundings. 
 
 In  the  State  of  Sung  there  is  a  place  called 
 Ching-shih,  where  thrive  the  beech,  the  cedar,  and 
 the  mulberry.  Such  as  are  of  a  one-handed  span 
 or  so  in  girth  are  cut  down  for  monkey-cages. 
 Those  of  two  or  three  two-handed  spans  are  cut 
 down  for  the  beams  of  fine  houses.  Those  of  seven 
 or  eight  such  spans  are  cut  down  for  the  solid  sides 
 of  rich  men's  coffins. 
 
 To  this  day,  the  very  best  kinds  of  wood  are  still 
 reserved  for  the  "  planks  of  old  age." 
 
 Thus  they  do  not  fulfil  their  allotted  span  of  years, 
 but  perish  in  mid-career  beneath  the  axe.  Such  is 
 the  misfortune  which  overtakes  worth. 
 
 For  the  sacrifices  to  the  River  God,  neither  bulls 
 with  white  cheeks,  nor  pigs  with  large  snouts,  nqr 
 men  suffering  from  piles,  were  allowed  to  be  used. 
 This  had  been  revealed  to  the  soothsayers,  and  these 
 characteristics  were  consequently  regarded  a?;  inaus^ 
 
54  C/iULDig  Tzu 
 
 picious.  The  wise,  however,  would  regard  them  as 
 extremel}'  auspicious. 
 
 Readers  of  Do7i  yuan  will  recollect  how  the  master's 
 mate  had  reason  to  share  his  view. 
 
 There  was  a  hunchback  named  Su.  His  jaws 
 touched  his  navel.  His  shoulders  were  higher  than 
 his  head.  His  hair  knot  looked  up  to  the  sky. 
 His  viscera  were  upside  down.  His  buttocks  were 
 where  his  ribs  should  have  been.  By  tailoring,  or 
 washing,  he  was  easily  able  to  earn  his  living.  By 
 sifting  rice  he  could  make  enough  to  support  a 
 familv  of  ten. 
 
 In  all  of  which  occupations  a  man  would  necessarily 
 stoop. 
 
 When  orders  came  down  for  a  conscription,  the 
 hunchback  stood  unconcerned  among  the  crowd. 
 And  similarly,  in  matters  of  public  works,  his 
 deformity  shielded  him  from  being  emploved. 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  when  it  came  to  donations 
 of  grain,  the  hunchback  received  as  much  as  three 
 chung, 
 
 An  ancient  measure  of  uncertain  capacity. 
 
 and  oi  firewood,  ten  faggots.  And  if  physical 
 deformity  was  thus  enough  to  preser\-e  his  body 
 until  its  allotted  end,  how  much  more  would  not 
 moral  and  mental  deformity  avail ! 
 
 A  moral  and  mental  deviation  would  be  still  more 
 likely  to  condemn  a  man  to  that  neglect  from  his 
 fellows  which  is  so  conducive  to  our  real  welfare. 
 
CAP.  IV.]  Man  Among  Men  55 
 
 When  Confucius  was  in  the  Ch'u  State,  the 
 eccentric  Chieh  Yli  passed  his  door,  saying,  "  O 
 phoenix,  O  phoenix,  how  has  thy  virtue  fallen  ! — 
 
 By  thus  issuing  forth  out  of  due  season. 
 
 unable  to  wait  for  the  coming  years  or  to  go  back 
 into  the  past. 
 
 When  you  might  be,  or  might  have  been,  of  use. 
 The  idea  conveyed  is  that  Confucianism  was  un- 
 suited  to  its  age.     See  Lun-yii,  ch.  xviii. 
 
 If  Tao  prevails  on  earth,  prophets  will  fulfil  their 
 mission.  If  Tao  does  not  prevail,  they  will  but 
 preserv^e  themselves.  At  the  present  day  they  will 
 but  just  escape. 
 
 "  The  honours  of  this  world  are  light  as  feathers, 
 yet  none  estimate  them  at  their  true  value.  The 
 misfortunes  of  this  life  are  weighty  as  the  earth 
 itself,  yet  none  can  keep  out  of  their  reach.  No 
 more,  no  more,  seek  to  influence  by  virtue.  Beware, 
 beware,  move  cautiously  on !  O  ferns,  O  ferns, 
 wound  not  my  steps !  Through  my  tortuous 
 journey  wound  not  my  feet !  Hills  sufter  from  the 
 trees  they  produce.  Fat  burns  by  its  own  com- 
 bustibility. Cinnamon  trees  furnish  food  :  there- 
 fore they  are  cut  down.  The  lacquer  tree  is  felled 
 for  use.  All  men  know  the  use  of  useful  things  ; 
 but  they  do  not  know  the  use  of  useless  things," 
 
 i^ 
 
56 
 
 CHAPTER  V. 
 
 The  Evidence   of  Virtue   Complete. 
 
 Argument : — Correspondence  between  inward  virtue  and  outward  influence 
 — The  virtuous  man  disregards  externals — The  possession  of  virtue 
 causes  oblivion  of  outward  form — Neglect  of  the  human — Cultiva- 
 tion of  the  divine. 
 
 IN  the  State  of  Lu  there  was  a  man,   named 
 Wang  T'ai,  who  had  had  his  toes  cut  off.    His 
 disciples  were  as  numerous  as  those  of  Confucius. 
 Ch'ang  Chi 
 
 One  of  the  latter. 
 
 asked  Confucius,  saying,  "This  Wang  T'ai  has 
 been  mutilated,  yet  he  divides  with  you.  Sir,  the 
 teaching  of  the  Lu  State.  He  neither  preaches  nor 
 discusses  ;  yet  those  who  go  to  him  empty,  depart 
 full.  He  must  teach  the  doctrine  which  does  not 
 Jind  expression  in  words  ; 
 
 The  doctrine  of  Tao.  These  words  occur  in  chs.  il 
 and  xliii  of  the  Tao-Tc-Ching.  See  TJic  RetJiains 
 of  Lao  Tzii,  p.  7. 
 
 and  although  his  shape  is  imperfect,  his  mind  is 
 perhaps  complete.  What  manner  of  man  is 
 this  ?  " 
 
 *' He  is  a  prophet,"  replied  Confucius,  "whose 
 
CAP.  v.]      The  Evidence  of  Virtue  Complete         57 
 
 instruction  I  have  been  late  in  seeking.  I  will 
 go  and  learn  from  him.  And  if  I, — why  not 
 those  who  are  not  equal  to  me  ?  And  I  will  take 
 with  me,  not  the  State  of  Lu  only,  but  the  whole 
 world." 
 
 "  The  fellow  has  been  mutilated,"  said  Chang 
 Chi,  "  and  yet  people  call  him  Master.  He  must 
 be  very  different  from  the  ordinary  run.  But  how 
 does  he  use  his  mind  in  this  sense  ?" 
 
 "  Life  and  Death  are  all  powerful,"  answered 
 Confucius,  "  but  they  cannot  affect  //. 
 
 The  mind,  or  soul,  which  is  immortal.     See  ch.  iii. 
 
 Heaven  and  earth  may  collapse,  but  that  will 
 remain.  If  this  is  found  to  be  without  flaw,  it  will 
 not  share  the  fate  of  all  things.  It  can  cause  other 
 things  to  change,  while  preserving  its  own  consti- 
 tution intact." 
 
 '*  How  so  ?  "  asked  Chang  Chi. 
 
 "  From  the  point  of  view  of  difference,"  replied 
 Confucius,  "  we  distinguish  between  the  liver  and 
 the  gall,  between  the  Ch'u  State  and  the  Yiieh 
 State.  From  the  point  of  view  of  sameness,  all 
 things  are  one.  Such  is  the  position  of  Wang 
 T'ai.  He  does  not  trouble  about  what  reaches  him 
 through  the  senses  of  hearing  and  sight,  but  directs 
 his  whole  mind  towards  the  very  climax  of  virtue. 
 He  beholds  all  things  as  though  one,  without 
 observing  their  discrepancies.  And  thus  the  dis- 
 crepancy of  his  toes  is  to  him  as  would  be  the  loss 
 of  so  much  mud," 
 
58  CJmang  Tzii 
 
 "  He  devotes  himself  in  fact  to  himself,"  said 
 Ch'ang  Chi,  "and  uses  his  wisdom  to  perfect  his 
 mind,  until  it  becomes  perfect.  But  how  then  is  it 
 that  people  make  so  much  of  him  ?  " 
 
 His  virtue  being   wholly,    as  it  were,    of  a    selfish 
 order. 
 
 **  A  man,"  replied  Confucius,  "  does  not  seek  to 
 see  himself  in  running  water,  but  in  still  water. 
 For  only  what  is  itself  still  can  instil  stillness  into 
 others. 
 
 "The  grace  of  earth  has  reached  only  to  pines 
 and  cedars  ; — winter  and  summer  alike  they  are 
 green.  The  grace  of  God  has  reached  to  Yao  and 
 to  Shun  alone  ; — the  first  and  foremost  of  all  crea- 
 tion. Happily  they  were  able  to  regulate  their  own 
 lives  and  thus  regulate  the  lives  of  all  mankind. 
 
 "  By  nourishment  of  physical  courage,  the  sense 
 of  fear  may  be  so  eliminated  that  a  man  will,  single- 
 handed,  brave  a  whole  army.  And  if  such  a  result 
 can  be  achieved  in  search  of  fame,  how  much  more 
 by  one  who  extends  his  sway  over  heaven  and 
 earth  and  influences  all  things  ;  and  who,  lodging 
 within  the  confines  of  a  body  with  its  channels  of 
 sight  and  sound,  brings  his  knowledge  to  know 
 that  all  things  are  one,  and  that  his  soul  endures 
 for  ever  !  Besides,  he  awaits  his  appointed  hour, 
 and  men  flock  to  him  of  their  own  accord.  He 
 makes  no  effort  to  attract  them." 
 
 That  men  thus   gather  around  him  is  the  outward 
 sign  or  evidence  of  his  inward  virtue  complete. 
 
CAP.  v.]      The  Evidence  of  Virtue  Complete         59 
 
 Sh^n  T'u  Chia  had  had  his  toes  cut  off.  Sub- 
 sequently, he  studied  under  Poh  Hun  Wu  Jen  at 
 the  same  time  as  Tzu  Chan  of  the  Cheng  State. 
 The  latter  said  to  him,  "When  I  leave  first,  do 
 you  remain  awhile.  When  you  leave  first,  I  will 
 remain  behind." 
 
 Tzu  Ch'an  was  a  model  minister  of  the  sixth  century 
 B.C.  Under  his  guidance  the  people  of  the  Cheng 
 State  became  so  virtuous  that  doors  were  not  locked 
 at  night,  nor  would  any  one  pick  up  lost  articles  left 
 lying  in  the  road.  He  was  hardly  likely  to  be 
 ashamed  of  walking  out  with  a  mutilated  criminal. 
 
 Next  day,  when  they  were  again  together  in  the 
 lecture-room,  Tzu  Ch'an  said,  "  When  I  leave  first, 
 do  you  remain  awhile.  When  you  leave  first,  I 
 will  remain.  I  am  now  about  to  go.  Will  you 
 remain  or  not  ?  I  notice  you  show  no  respect  to  a 
 Minister  of  State.  Perhaps  you  think  yourself  my 
 equal  ?  " 
 
 "  Dear  me  !  "  replied  Shen  T'u  Chia,  *'  I  didn't 
 know  we  had  a  Minister  of  State  in  the  class. 
 Perhaps  you  think  that  because  you  are  one  you 
 should  take  precedence  over  the  rest.  Now  I  have 
 heard  that  if  a  mirror  is  perfectly  bright,  dust  and 
 dirt  will  not  collect  on  it.  That  if  they  do,  it  is 
 because  the  mirror  was  not  bright.  He  who 
 associates  for  long  with  the  wise  will  be  without 
 fault.  Now  you  have  been  improving  yourself  at 
 the  feet  of  our  Master,  yet  you  can  utter  words  like 
 these.     Is  not  the  fault  in  you  ?  " 
 
 "You  are  a  fine  fellow,  certainly,"  retorted  Tzu 
 
6o  Chttang  Tzii 
 
 Chan,  "  you  will  be  emulating  the  virtue  of  Yao 
 next.  To  look  at  you,  I  should  say  you  had 
 enough  to  do  to  attend  to  your  own  short- 
 comings !  " 
 
 A  sneer  at  his  want  of  toes. 
 
 "  Those  who  disguise  their  faults,"  said  Shen 
 T'u  Chia,  "  so  as  not  to  lose  their  toes,  are  many 
 in  number.  Those  who  do  not  disguise  their  faults, 
 and  so  fail  to  keep  them,  are  few.  To  recognise 
 the  inevitable  and  to  quietly  acquiesce  in  Destiny, 
 is  the  achievement  of  the  virtuous  man  alone.  He 
 who  should  put  himself  in  front  of  the  bull's-eye 
 when  Hou  I 
 
 A  Chinese  Tell. 
 
 was  shooting,  would  be  hit.  If  he  was  not  hit,  it 
 would  be  destiny.  Those  with  toes  who  laugh  at 
 me  for  having  no  toes  are  many.  This  used  to 
 make  me  angry.  But  since  I  have  studied  under 
 our  Master,  I  have  ceased  to  trouble  about  it.  It 
 may  be  that  our  Master  has  so  far  succeeded  in 
 purifying  rne.  At  any  rate  I  have  been  w^ith  him 
 nineteen  years  without  being  aware  of  the  loss  of  ' 
 my  toes,  Now  you  and  I  are  engaged  in  studying 
 the  internal,  Do  you  not  then  commit  a  fault  by 
 thus  dragging  me  back  to  the  external  ?  " 
 
 At  this  Tzii  Chan  began  to  fidget,  and  changing 
 countenance,  begged  Shcn  T'u  Chia  to  say  no 
 more. 
 
 There  was  a  man  of  the  Lu  State  who  had  been 
 
CAP.  v.]      The  Evidence  of  Virtue  Complete         6i 
 
 mutilated, — Shu  Shan  No-toes.  He  came  walking 
 on  his  heels  to  see  Confucius ;  but  Confucius  said, 
 "You  did  not  take  care,  and  so  brought  this  mis- 
 fortune upon  yourself.  What  is  the  use  of  coming 
 to  me  now  ?  " 
 
 *'  In  my  ignorance,"  replied  No-toes,  "  I  made 
 free  with  my  body  and  lost  my  toes.  But  I  come 
 with  something  more  precious  than  toes  which  I 
 now  seek  to  keep.  There  is  no  man,  but  Heaven 
 covers  him  :  there  is  no  man,  but  Earth  supports 
 him  ; — and  I  thought  that  you,  sir,  would  be  as 
 Heaven  and  Earth.  I  little  expected  to  hear  these 
 words  from  you." 
 
 "  I  must  apologise,"  said  Confucius.  "  Pray 
 walk  in  and  let  us  discuss."  But  No-toes  walked 
 out. 
 
 "There!"  said  Confucius  to  his  disciples. 
 "  There  is  a  criminal  without  toes  who  seeks  to 
 learn  in  order  to  make  atonement  for  his  previous 
 misdeeds.  And  if  he,  how  much  more  those  who 
 have  no  misdeeds  for  which  to  atone  ?  " 
 
 No-toes  went  off  to  Lao  Tzu  and  said,  "  Is 
 Confucius  a  sage,  or  is  he  not  ?  How  is  it  he  has 
 so  many  disciples  ?  He  aims  at  being  a  subtle 
 dialectician,  not  knowing  that  such  a  reputation  is 
 regarded  by  real  sages  as  the  fetters  of  a  criminal." 
 
 "  Why  do  you  not  meet  him  with  the  continuity 
 of  life  and  death,  the  identity  of  can  and  can  not!' 
 answered  Lao  Tzu,  "and  so  release  him  from  these 
 fetters  ?  " 
 
 "  He  has  been  thus  punished  by  God,"  replied 
 
62  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 No-toes.      "  It    would    be    impossible    to  release 
 him." 
 
 A  sneer  at   Confucius.     No-toes  himself  had  only 
 
 been  punished  by  man. 
 
 Duke  Ai  of  the  Lu  State  said  to  Confucius,  "  In 
 the  Wei  State  there  is  a  leper,  named  Ai  T'ai  T'o. 
 The  men  who  live  with  him  like  him  and  make  no 
 effort  to  get  rid  of  him.  Of  the  women  who  have 
 seen  him,  many  have  said  to  their  parents,  Rather 
 than  be  another  man's  wife,  I  would  be  his 
 concubine. 
 
 "  He  never  preaches  at  people,  but  puts  him- 
 self into  sympathy  with  them.  He  wields  no 
 power  by  which  he  may  protect  men's  bodies.  He 
 has  at  his  disposal  no  appointments  by  which  to 
 gratify  their  hearts.  He  is  loathsome  to  a  degree. 
 He  sympathises,  but  does  not  instruct.  His  know- 
 ledge is  limited  to  his  own  State.  Yet  males  and 
 females  alike  all  congregate  around  him. 
 
 "  So  thinking  that  he  must  be  different  from 
 ordinary  men,  I  sent  for  him,  and  saw  that  he  was 
 indeed  loathsome  to  a  degree.  Yet  we  had  not 
 been  many  months  together  ere  my  attention  was 
 fixed  upon  his  conduct.  A  year  had  not  elapsed 
 ere  I  trusted  him  thoroughly ;  and  as  my  State 
 wanted  a  Prime  Minister,  I  offered  the  post  to  him. 
 He  accepted  it  sullenly,  as  if  he  would  much  rather 
 have  declined.  Perhaps  he  didn't  think  me  good 
 enough  for  him  !  At  any  rate,  he  took  it ;  but  in 
 a  very  short  time  he  left  me  and  went  away.  I 
 grieved  for  him  as  for  a  lost  friend,  and  as  though 
 
CAP.  v.]      The  Evidence  of  Virtue  Complete         63 
 
 there  were  none  left  with  whom  I  could  rejoice. 
 What  manner  of  man  is  this  ? 
 
 "  When  I  was  on  a  mission  to  the  Ch'u  State," 
 replied  Confucius,  "  I  saw  a  litter  of  young  pigs 
 sucking  their  dead  mother.  After  a  while  they 
 looked  at  her,  and  then  they  all  left  the  body  and 
 went  off.  For  their  mother  did  not  look  at  them 
 any  more,  nor  did  she  any  more  seem  to  be  of  their 
 kind.  What  they  loved  was  their  mother  ;  not  the 
 body  which  contained  her,  but  that  which  made  the 
 body  what  it  was. 
 
 "  When  a  man  is  killed  in  battle,  his  arms  are 
 not  buried  with  him. 
 
 He  has  no  further  use  for  weapons. 
 
 A  man  whose  toes  have  been  cut  off  does  not 
 value  a  present  of  boots.  In  each  case  the  func- 
 tion of  such  things  is  gone. 
 
 "The  concubines  of  the  Son  of  Heaven  do  not 
 cut  their  nails  or  pierce  their  ears. 
 
 For  fear  of  injuring  their  persons. 
 
 He  who  has  a  marriageable  daughter  keeps  her 
 away  from  menial  work.  To  preserve  her  beauty 
 is  quite  enough  occupation  for  her.  How  much 
 more  so  for  a  man  of  perfect  virtue  ? 
 
 Who  should  trouble  himself  only  about  the  Internal. 
 
 "  Now  Ai  T'ai  To  says  nothing,  and  is  trusted. 
 He  does  nothing,  and  is  sought  after.  He  causes 
 a  man  to  offer  him  the  government  of  his  own 
 State,  and  the  only  fear  is  lest  he  should  decline. 
 
64  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 Truly  his  talents  are  perfect  and  his  virtue  without 
 outward  form  !  " 
 
 "What  do  you  mean  by  his  talents  being  per- 
 fect ?  "  asked  the  Duke. 
 
 "  Life  and  Death,"  replied  Confucius,  "  exist- 
 ence and  non-existence,  success  and  non-success, 
 poverty  and  wealth,  virtue  and  vice,  good  and  evil 
 report,  hunger  and  thirst,  warmth  and  cold, — these 
 all  revolve  upon  the  changing  wheel  of  Destiny. 
 Day  and  night  they  follow  one  upon  the  other,  and 
 no  man  can  say  where  each  one  begins.  There- 
 fore they  cannot  be  allowed  to  disturb  the  harmony 
 of  the  organism,  nor  enter  into  the  soul's  domain. 
 Swim  however  with  the  tide,  so  as  not  to  offend 
 others.  Do  this  day  by  day  without  break,  and 
 live  in  peace  with  mankind.  Thus  you  will  be 
 ready  for  all  contingencies,  and  may  be  said  to  have 
 your  talents  perfect." 
 
 *'  And  virtue  without  outward  form  ;  what  is 
 that  ?  " 
 
 "  In  a  water-level,"  said  Confucius,  "  the  water 
 is  in  a  most  perfect  state  of  repose.  Let  that  be 
 your  model.  The  water  remains  quietly  within, 
 and  does  not  overflow.  It  is  from  the  cultivation 
 of  such  harmony  that  virtue  results.  And  if  virtue 
 takes  no  outward  form,  man  \\\\\  not  be  able  to 
 keep  aloof  from  it." 
 
 Mankind  will  be  regenerated  thereby,  in  the  same 
 way  that  evenness  is  imparted  by  the  aid  of  water 
 to  surfaces,  although  the  water  is  all  the  time  closed 
 up  and  does  not  overflow. 
 
CAP.  v.]      The  Evidence  of  Virtue  Cojuplefe         65 
 Some  days  afterwards  Duke  Ai  told  Min  Tzu, 
 One  of  Confucius'  disciples. 
 
 saying,  "  When  first  I  took  the  reins  of  govern- 
 ment in  hand,  I  thought  that  in  caring  for  my 
 people's  lives  I  had  done  all  my  duty  as  a  ruler. 
 But  now  that  I  have  heard  what  a  perfect  man  is,  I 
 fear  that  I  have  not  been  succeeding,  but  foolishly 
 using  my  body  and  working  destruction  to  my 
 State.  Confucius  and  I  are  not  prince  and 
 minister,  but  merely  friends  with  a  care  for  each 
 other's  moral  welfare." 
 
 A  certain  hunchback,  named  Wu  Ch'un,  whose 
 heels  did  not  touch  the  ground,  had  the  ear  of  Duke 
 Ling  of  Wei.  The  Duke  took  a  great  fancy  to 
 him  ;  and  as  for  well-formed  men,  he  thought 
 their  necks  were  too  short. 
 
 Another  man,  with  a  goitre  as  big  as  a  large 
 jar,  had  the  ear  of  Duke  Huan  of  Ch'i.  The  Duke 
 took  a  great  fancy  to  him  ;  and  as  for  well-formed 
 men,  he  thought  their  necks  were  too  thin. 
 
 Thus  it  is  that  virtue  should  prevail  and  outward 
 form  be  forgotten.  But  mankind  forgets  not  that 
 which  is  to  be  forgotten,  forgetting  that  which  is 
 not  to  be  forgotten.  This  is  forgetfulness  indeed  ! 
 And  thus  with  the  truly  wise,  wisdom  is  a  curse, 
 sincerity  like  glue,  virtue  only  a  means  to  acquire, 
 and  skill  nothing  more  than  a  commercial  capacity. 
 For  the  truly  wise  make  no  plans,  and  therefore 
 require  no  wisdom.  They  do  not  separate,  and 
 therefore  require  no  glue.     They  want  nothing,  and 
 
66  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 therefore  need  no  virtue.  They  sell  nothing,  and 
 therefore  are  not  in  want  of  a  commercial  capacity. 
 These  four  qualifications  are  bestowed  upon  them 
 by  God  and  serve  as  heavenly  food  to  them.  And 
 those  who  thus  feed  upon  the  divine  have  little 
 need  for  the  human.  They  wear  the  forms  of  men, 
 without  human  passions.  Because  they  wear  the 
 forms  of  men,  they  associate  with  men.  Because 
 they  have  not  human  passions,  positives  and  nega- 
 tives find  in  them  no  place.  Infinitesimal  indeed 
 is  that  which  makes  them  man  :  infinitely  great  is 
 that  which  makes  them  divine  ! 
 
 Hui  Tzu  said  to  Chuang  Tzu,  "  Are  there  then 
 men  who  have  no  passions  ?  " 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  replied,  "  Certainly." 
 
 "But  if  a  man  has  no  passions,"  argued  Hui 
 Tzu,  "what  is  it  that  makes  him  a  man  ?  " 
 
 "  Tao,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,  "gives  him  his 
 expression,  and  God  gives  him  his  form.  How 
 should  he  not  be  a  man  ?  " 
 
 "  If  then  he  is  a  man,"  said  Hui  Tzu,  "  how  can 
 he  be  without  passions  ?  " 
 
 "  What  you  mean  by  passions,"  answered  Chuang 
 Tzu,  "  is  not  what  I  mean.  By  a  man  without 
 passions  I  mean  one  who  does  not  permit  good 
 and  evil  to  disturb  his  internal  economy,  but 
 rather  falls  in  with  whatever  happens,  as  a  matter 
 of  course,  and  does  not  add  to  the  sum  of  his 
 mortality." 
 
 The  play  of  passion  would  tend  to  create  conditions 
 which  otherwise  would  not  exist. 
 
CAP.  v.]      The  Evidejice  of  Virtue  Complete         67 
 
 "  But  whence  is  man  to  get  his  body,"  asked 
 Hui  Tzii,  '*  if  there  is  to  be  no  adding  to  the  sum 
 of  mortality?" 
 
 This  is  of  course  a  gibe.  Hui  Tzu  purposely 
 takes  Chuanor  Tzii's  words  a  double  entente. 
 
 "  Tao  gives  him  his  expression,"  said  Chuang 
 Tzu,  **  and  God  gives  him  his  form.  He  does  not 
 permit  good  and  evil  to  disturb  his  internal 
 economy.  But  now  you  are  devoting  your  intelli- 
 gence to  externals,  and  wearing  out  your  mental 
 powers.  You  prop  yourself  against  a  tree  and 
 mutter,  or  lean  over  a  table  with  half-closed  eyes. 
 
 God  has  made  you  a  shapely  sight, 
 
 Yet  your  only  thought  is  the  hard  and  white.'' 
 
 Chang  Tzii  puts  his  last  sentence  into  doggerel, 
 the  more  effectively  to  turn  the  tables  against  Hui 
 Tzii,  whose  paradoxical  theories  he  is  never  tired  of 
 ridiculing.     See  ch.  ii. 
 
 F  2 
 
68 
 
 CHAPTER  VI. 
 
 The   Great    Supreme. 
 
 A rgume ft f:— The  human  and  the  divine— The  pure  men  of  old— Their 
 qualifications— Their  self-abstraction— All  things  as  one— The  known 
 and  the  unknown— Life  a  boon— Death  a  transition— Life  eternal 
 open  to  all — The  way  thither — Illustrations. 
 
 HE  who  knows  what  God  is,  and  who  knows 
 what  Man  is,  has  attained.  Knowing  what 
 God  is,  he  knows  that  he  himself  proceeded  there- 
 from. Knowing  what  Man  is,  he  rests  in  the 
 knowledge  of  the  known,  waiting  for  the  know- 
 ledge of  the  unknown.  Working  out  one's  allotted 
 span,  and  not  perishing  in  mid  career, — this  is  the 
 fulness  of  knowledge. 
 
 God  is  a  principle  which  exists  by  virtue  of  its 
 own  intrinsicality,  and  operates  spontaneously, 
 without  self-manifestation. 
 
 It  is  in  the  human  that  the  divine  finds  expression. 
 Man  emanates  from  God,  and  should  therefore  be 
 on  earth,  in  this  brief  life  of  ours,  what  God  is  for 
 all  eternity  in  the  universe. 
 
 Herein,  however,  there  is  a  flaw.  Knowledge  is 
 dependent  upon  fulfilment.  And  as  this  fulfilment 
 is  uncertain,  how  can  it  be  known  that  my  divine 
 is  not  really  human,  my  human  really  divine  ? 
 
 Not  until  death  lifts   the  veil   can   we   truly  know 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  69 
 
 that  this  life  is  bounded  at  each  end  by  an  immor- 
 tality to  which  the  soul  finally  reverts. 
 
 "  Heaven  from  all  creatures  hides  the  book  of  Fate, 
 All  but  the  page  prescribed,  their  present  state." 
 
 We  must  have  pure  7ne7t,  and  then  only  can  we 
 have  pure  knowledge. 
 
 "  Pure "  must  be  understood   in  the  sense  of  tran- 
 scendent. 
 
 But  what  is  a  pure  man  ? — The  pure  men  of  old 
 acted  without  calculation,  not  seeking  to  secure 
 results.  They  laid  no  plans.  Therefore,  failing, 
 they  had  no  cause  for  regret ;  succeeding,  no  cause 
 for  congratulation.  And  thus  they  could  scale 
 heights  without  fear ;  enter  water  without  becom- 
 ing wet ;  fire,  without  feeling  hot.  So  far  had  v/ 
 their  wisdom  advanced  towards  Tao. 
 
 "  The  world-spirit  is  a  good  swimmer,  and  storms 
 and  waves  cannot  drown  him." — Emerson. 
 
 The  pure  men  of  old  slept  without  dreams,  and 
 waked  without  anxiety.  They  ate  without  dis- 
 crimination, breathing  deep  breaths.  For  pure 
 men  draw  breath  from  their  uttermost  depths  ;  the 
 vulgar  only  from  their  throats. 
 
 "  Uttermost  depths"  is  literally  "  heels,"  but  all  the 
 best  commentators  take  the  sentence  to  mean  that 
 pure  men  breathe  with  their  whole  being,  and  not  as 
 it  were  superficially,  from  the  throat  only. 
 This  passage  is  probably  responsible  for  the  trick 
 of  taking  deep  inhalations  of  morning  air,  practised 
 
70  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 (not  without  scientific  foundation)  by  the  followers  of 
 the  debased  Taoism  of  modern  times.  Other  tricks 
 for  prolonging  life,  such  as  swallowing  the  saliva 
 three  times  in  every  two  hours,  etc.,  are  more  open 
 to  adverse  criticism.     See  the  T'ai-Hsi-Ching. 
 
 Out  of  the  crooked,  words  are  retched  up  like 
 vomit.  If  men's  passions  are  deep,  their  divinity 
 is  shallow. 
 
 The  pure  men  of  old  did  not  know  what  it  was 
 to  love  life  or  to  hate  death.  They  did  not  rejoice 
 in  birth,  nor  strive  to  put  off  dissolution.  Quickly 
 come,  and  quickly  go  ; — no  more.  They  did  not 
 forget  whence  it  was  they  had  sprung,  neither  did 
 they  seek  to  hasten  their  return  thither.  Cheerfully 
 they  played  their  allotted  parts,  waiting  patiently 
 for  the  end.  This  is  what  is  called  not  to  lead  the 
 heart  astray  from  Tao, 
 
 By  admitting  play  of  passion  in  the  sense  con- 
 demned in  ch.  V.  which  would  hinder  the  mind  from 
 resting  quietly  in  the  knowledge  of  the  known. 
 
 nor  to  let  the  human  seek  to  supplement  the  divine. 
 
 But  to  wait  patiently  for  the  knowledge  of  the 
 unknown. 
 
 And  this  is  what  is  meant  by  a  pure  man. 
 
 Such  men  are  in  mind  absolutely  free ;  in  de- 
 meanour, grave  ;  in  expression,  cheerful.  If  it  is 
 freezing  cold,  it  seems  to  them  like  autumn ;  if 
 blazing  hot,  like  spring.  Their  passions  occur  like 
 the  four  seasons. 
 
 Each  at  its  appointed  time. 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  7 1 
 
 They  are  in  harmony  with  all  creation,  and  none 
 know  the  limit  thereof. 
 
 These  last  few  words  occur  in  the  Tao-Te-Ching, 
 ch.  Iviii.  See  The  Remains  of  Lao  Tzu,  p.  40. 
 Also,  with   a  variation,  in  ch.   xxii  of  this  work. 
 
 And  so  it  is  that  a  perfect  man  can  destroy  a  king- 
 dom and  yet  not  lose  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
 while  the  benefits  he  hands  down  to  ten  thousand 
 generations  do  not  proceed  from  love  of  his  fellow- 
 man. 
 
 Whatever  he  does  is  spontaneous,  and  therefore 
 natural,  and  therefore  in  accordance  with  right. 
 
 He  who  delights  in  man,  is  himself  not  a  perfect 
 man.     His  affection  is  not  true  charity. 
 
 Charity  is  the  universal  love  of  all  creation  which 
 admits  of  no  particular  manifestations. 
 
 Depending  upon    opportunity,    he    has    not    true 
 
 worth. 
 
 True  worth  is  independent  of  circumstances.  It 
 is  a  quality  which  is  always  unconsciously  operating 
 for  good,  and  needs  no  opportunity  to  call  it  into 
 existence. 
 
 He  who  is  not  conversant  with  both  good  and   ^ 
 evil  is  not  a  superior  man. 
 
 The  good,  to  practise ;  the  evil,  to  avoid. 
 
 He  who  disregards   his  reputation  is  not  what  a 
 man  should  be. 
 
 As  a  mere  social  unit. 
 
72  Chttang  Tzu 
 
 \      He  who  is  not  absolutely  oblivious   of   his   own 
 existence  can  never  be  a  ruler  of  men. 
 
 Thus  Hu  Pu  Hsieh,  Wu  Kuang,  Poh  I,  Shu 
 Ch'i,  Chi  Tzii  Hsii  Yii,  Chi  To,  and  Shen  T'u  Ti, 
 were  the  servants  of  rulers,  and  did  the  behests  of 
 others,  not  their  own. 
 
 A  list  of  ancient  worthies  whose  careers  had  been 
 more  or  less  unsuccessful.  Of  the  first  and  second 
 little  is  known,  except  that  the  ears  of  the  latter 
 were  seven  inches  lonof. 
 
 The  third  and  fourth  were  brothers  and  are  types 
 of  moral  purity.  Each  refused  the  throne  of  their 
 State,  because  each  considered  his  brother  more 
 entitled  thereto.  Finally,  they  died  of  starvation  on 
 the  mountains  rather  than  submit  to  a  change  of  the 
 Imperial  dynasty.  More  will  be  heard  of  these  two 
 later  on. 
 
 The  fifth  smeared  his  body  all  over  with  lacquer, 
 so  that  no  one  should  come  near  him.  Of  the 
 sixth,  nothing  is  recorded  ;  and  of  the  seventh,  only 
 that  he  tied  a  stone  around  his  neck  and  jumped 
 into  a  river.  See  the  Fragmenta  at  the  end  of  the 
 works  of  Shih  Tzii. 
 
 The  pure  men  of  old  did  their  duty  to  their 
 neighbours,  but  did  not  associate  with  them. 
 
 Among  them,  but  not  of  them. 
 
 They  behaved  as  though  wanting  in  themselves, 
 but  without  flattering  others.  Naturally  rectan- 
 gular, they  were  not  uncompromisingly  hard,  They 
 manifested   their   independence   without   going   to 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  73 
 
 extremes.  They  appeared  to  smile  as  if  pleased, 
 when  the  expression  was  only  a  natural  response. 
 
 As  required  by  the  exigencies  of  society. 
 
 Their  outward  semblance  derived  its  fascination 
 from  the  store  of  goodness  within.  They  seemed 
 to  be  of  the  world  around  them,  while  proudly 
 treading  beyond  its  limits.  They  seemed  to  desire 
 silence,  while  in  truth  they  had  dispensed  with 
 language. 
 
 See  ch.  v. 
 They  saw  in  penal  laws  a  trunk ; 
 
 A  natural  basis  of  government, 
 in  social  ceremonies,  wings  ; 
 
 To  aid  man's  progress  through  life. 
 
 in  wisdom,  a  useful  accessory  ;  in  morality,  a  guide. 
 For  them  penal  laws  meant  a  merciful  administra- 
 tion ;  social  ceremonies,  a  passport  through  the 
 world ;  wisdom,  an  excuse  for  doing  what  they 
 could  not  help  ;  and  morality,  walking  like  others 
 upon  the  path. 
 
 Instead  of  at  random  across  country.  At  such  an 
 early  date  was  uniformity  a  characteristic  of  the 
 Chinese  people. 
 
 And  thus  all  men  praised  them  for  the  worthy  lives 
 they  led. 
 
 For  what  they  cared  for  could  be  reduced  to  one, 
 and  what  they  did  not  care  for  to  one  also.  That 
 which  was  one  was  one,  and  that  which  was  not 
 
74  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 ONE  was  likewise  one.  In  that  which  was  one, 
 they  were  of  God  ;  in  that  w^hich  w^as  not  one,  they 
 w^ere  of  Man.  And  so  between  the  human  and  the 
 divine  no  conflict  ensued.  This  was  to  be  a  pure 
 man. 
 
 Life  and  Death  belono^  to  Destiny.  Their 
 sequence,  Hke  day  and  night,  is  of  God,  beyond 
 the  interference  of  man,  an  inevitable  law. 
 
 A  man  looks  upon  God  as  upon  his  father,  and 
 J  loves  him  in  like  measure.  Shall  he  then  not  love 
 that  which  is  greater  than  God  ? 
 
 ►S"^:.  Tao. 
 
 A  man  looks  upon  a  ruler  of  men  as  upon  some  one 
 better  than  himself,  for  whom  he  would  sacrifice  his 
 life.  Shall  he  not  then  do  so  for  the  Supreme 
 Ruler  of  Creation  ? 
 
 Sc.  Tao,  the  omnipresent,  omnipotent  Principle 
 which  invests  even  God  himself  with  the  power  and 
 attributes  of  divinity. 
 
 The  careful  student  of  pure  Taoism  will  find  how- 
 ever that  the  distinction  between  Tao  and  God  is 
 sometimes  so  subtle  as  altogether  to  elude  his 
 intelligence. 
 
 When  the  pond  dries  up,  and  the  fishes  are  left 
 upon  dry  ground,  to  moisten  them  with  the  breath 
 or  to  damp  them  with  spittle  is  not  to  be  compared 
 /  with  leaving  them  in  the  first  instance  in  their 
 native  rivers  and  lakes.  And  better  than  praising 
 Yao  and  blaming  Chieh  would  be  leaving  them  both 
 and  attending  to  the  development  of  Tao. 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  75 
 
 Tao  gives  me  this  form,  this  toil  in  manhood, 
 this  repose  in  old  age,  this  rest  in  death.  And  surely 
 that  which  is  such  a  kind  arbiter  of  my  life  is  the 
 best  arbiter  of  my  death. 
 
 A  boat  may  be  hidden  in  a  creek,  or  in  a  bog,  safe 
 enough. 
 
 The  text  has  "or  a  mountain  in  a  bog,"  which  taken 
 with  the  context  seems  to  me  to  be  nonsense.  Yet 
 all  the  commentators  labour  to  explain  away  the 
 difficulty,  instead  of  making  the  obvious  change  of 
 "mountain"  into  "boat,"  to  which  change  the  forms 
 of  the  two  Chinese  characters  readily  lend  them- 
 selves. In  over  two  thousand  years  of  literary 
 activity,  it  seems  but  rarely  to  have  occurred  to  the 
 Chinese  that  a  texius  receptus  could  contain  a 
 copyist's  slip. 
 
 But  at  midnight  a  strong  man  may  come  and  carry 
 away  the  boat  on  his  back.  The  dull  of  vision  do 
 not  perceive  that  however  you  conceal  things,  small 
 ones  in  larger  ones,  there  will  always  be  a  chance  of 
 losing  them. 
 
 The  boat  is  figurative  of  our  mortal  coil  which  cannot 
 be  hidden  from  decay. 
 
 But  if  you  conceal  the  w^hole  universe  in  the  whole 
 universe,  there  will  be  no  place  left  wherein  it  may 
 be  lost.     The  laws  of  matter  make  this  to  be  so. 
 
 To  have  attained  to  the  human  form  must  be 
 always  a  source  of  joy.  And  then,  to  undergo 
 countless  transitions,  with  only  the  infinite  to  look 
 forward    to, — what    incomparable    bliss    is     that ! 
 
76  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 Therefore  it  is  that  the  truly  wise  rejoice  in  that 
 which  can  never  be  lost,  but  endures  alway. 
 
 The  soul  which  as  Tao,  is  commensurate  only  with 
 time  and  space. 
 
 For    if    we   can   accept    early   death,    old   age,    a 
 J     beginning,  and  an  end, 
 
 As  inseparable  from  Destiny, — already  a  step  in  the 
 right  direction. 
 
 why  not  that  which  informs  all  creation  and  is  of 
 all  phenomena  the  Ultimate  Cause  ? 
 
 The  long  chain  of  proximate  causes  reaches  finality 
 in  Tag.    Here  we  have  the  complete  answer  to  such 
 queries  as   that  propounded  to  the  Umbra  by  the 
 .    Penumbra  at  the  close  of  ch.  ii. 
 
 Tao  has  its  laws,  and  its  evidences.  It  is  devoid 
 both  of  action  and  of  form.  It  may  be  transmitted, 
 but  cannot  be  received. 
 
 So  that  the  receiver  can  say  he  has  it. 
 
 It  may  be  obtained,  but  cannot  be  seen.  Before 
 heaven  and  earth  were.  Tag  was.  It  has  existed 
 without  change  from  all  time.  Spiritual  beings 
 drew  their  spirituality  therefrom,  w^hile  the  universe 
 became  what  we  can  see  it  now.  To  Tag,  the  zenith 
 is  not  high,  nor  the  nadir  low  ;  no  point  in  time  is 
 long  ago,  nor  by  lapse  of  ages  has  it  grown  old. 
 
 To  the  infinite  all  terms  and  conditions  are  relative. 
 
 Hsi  Wei  obtained  Tao,  and  so  set  the  universe 
 in  order. 
 
 A   legendary  ruler  of  remote   antiquity.     In    what 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supre^ne  77 
 
 sense  he  set  the  universe  In  order  has  not  been 
 authentically  handed  down. 
 
 Fu  Hsi  obtained  it,  and  was  able  to  establish 
 eternal  principles. 
 
 The  first  in  the  received  list  of  Chinese  sovereigns 
 (b.c.  2852).  This  monarch  is  said  to  have  invented 
 the  art  of  writing  and  to  have  taught  his  people  to 
 cook. 
 
 The  Great  Bear  obtained  it,  and  has  never  erred 
 from  its  course.  The  sun  and  moon  obtained  it, 
 and  have  never  ceased  to  revolve.  K'an  P'i  ob- 
 tained it,  and  established  the  K'un-lun  mountains. 
 
 The  divinity  of  the  sacred  mountains  here  men- 
 tioned. 
 
 P'ing  I  obtained  it,  and   rules  over  the  streams. 
 Chien  Wu  obtained  it,  and  dwells  on  Mount  T'ai. 
 See  ch.  i. 
 
 The  Yellow  Emperor  obtained  it,  and  soared  upon 
 the  clouds  to  heaven. 
 
 The  most  famous  of  China's  legendary  rulers 
 (b.c.  2697).  He  is  said  among  other  things  to 
 have  invented  wheeled  vehicles,  and  generally  to 
 have  given  a  start  to  the  civilisation  of  his  people. 
 Some  of  Lao  Tzu's  sayings  have  been  attributed  to 
 him  ;  and  by  some  he  has  been  regarded  as  the  first 
 promulgator  of  Tao. 
 
 Chuan  Hsu  obtained  it,  and  dwells  in  the  Dark 
 Palace. 
 
 A  legendary  ruler  {b.c.  2513),  of  whose  Dark  Palace 
 
 nothing  is  known. 
 
78  Chuang  Tzit 
 
 Yii  Ch'iang  obtained  it,  and  fixed  himself  at  the 
 North  Pole. 
 
 As  its  presiding  genius. 
 
 Hsi  Wang  Mu  obtained  it,  and  settled  at  Shao 
 Kuang ;  since  when,  no  one  knows  ;  until  when, 
 no  one  knows  either. 
 
 A    lady, — or  a   place,   for    accounts    vary, — around 
 whose  name  innumerable  legends  have  gathered. 
 
 P  eng  Tsu  obtained  it,  and  lived  from  the  time  of 
 Shun  until  the  time  of  the  Five  Princes. 
 
 From  2255  to  the  7th  century  B.C.     See  ch.  i. 
 
 Fu  Yiieh  obtained  it,  and  as  the  Minister  of  Wu 
 Ting 
 
 A  monarch  of  the  Yin  dynasty,  B.C.  1324. 
 
 got  the  empire  under  his  control.  And  now, 
 charioted  upon  one  constellation  and  drawn  by 
 another,  he  has  been  enrolled  among  the  stars  of 
 heaven. 
 
 Nan  Po  Tzu  K'uei 
 
 Probably  the  individual  mentioned  in  chs.  ii.  and  iv. 
 said  to  Nu  Yii, 
 
 By  one  authority  said  to  be  a  woman. 
 
 "  You  are  old.  Sir,  and  yet  your  countenance  is  like 
 
 that  of  a  child.     How  is  this?" 
 
 Nil  Yii  replied,  "  I  have  learnt  Tao." 
 
 "  Could  I  get  Tao  by  studying  it  ?  "  asked   the 
 
 other. 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  yg 
 
 "  I  fear  not,"  said  Nu  Yii.  "  You  are  not  the 
 sort  of  man.  There  was  Pu  Liang  I.  He  had  all 
 the  qualifications  of  a  sage,  but  not  Tao.  Now  I 
 had  Tao,  though  none  of  the  qualifications.  But 
 do  you  imagine  that  much  as  I  wished  it  I  was  able 
 to  teach  Tag  to  him  so  that  he  should  be  a  perfect 
 sage  ?  Had  it  been  so,  then  to  teach  Tao  to  one 
 who  has  the  qualifications  of  a  sage  would  be  an 
 easy  matter.  No,  Sir.  I  imparted  as  though  with- 
 holding ;  and  in  three  days,  for  him,  this  sublunary 
 state  had  ceased  to  exist. 
 
 With  all  its  paltry  distinctions  of  sovereign  and 
 subject,  high  and  low,  good  and  bad,  etc. 
 
 When  he  had  attained  to  this,  I  withheld  again  ; 
 and  in  seven  days  more,  for  him,  the  external  world 
 had  ceased  to  be.  And  so  again  for  another  nine 
 days,  when  he  became  unconscious  of  his  own 
 existence.  He  became  first  etherealised,  next  pos- 
 sessed of  perfect  wisdom,  then  without  past  or 
 present,  and  finally  able  to  enter  there  where  life  [^ 
 and  death  are  no  more, — where  killing  does  not 
 take  away  life,  nor  does  prolongation  of  life  add 
 to  the  duration  of  existence. 
 
 In  Tag  life  and  death  are  One. 
 
 In  that  state,  he  is  ever  in  accord  with  the  exigen- 
 cies of  his  environment ; 
 
 Literally,  there  is  no  sense  in  which  he  is  not 
 accompanying  or  meeting,  destroying  or  construct- 
 ing. That  is,  in  spite  of  his  spiritual  condition  as 
 above  described,  he  can  still  adapt  himself  naturally 
 
V 
 
 8o  Chitang  Tzii 
 
 to  life  among  his  fellow-men.  The  retirement  of  a 
 hermit  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  the  perfection 
 of  the  pure  man. 
 
 and  this  is  to  be  Battered  but  7tot  Bruised.  And 
 he  who  can  be  thus  battered  but  not  bruised  is  on 
 the  way  to  perfection." 
 
 "And  how  did  you  manage  to  get  hold  of  all 
 this  ?  "  asked  Nan  Po  Tzu  K'uei. 
 
 "  I  got  it  from  books,"  replied  Nii  Yu  ;  "  and 
 the  books  got  it  from  learning,  and  learning  from 
 investigation,  and  investigation  from  co-ordination, 
 Of  eye  and  mind. 
 
 and  co-ordination  from  application,  and  application 
 from  desire  to  know,  and  desire  to  know  from  the 
 unknown,  and  the  unknown  from  the  great  void, 
 and  the  great  void  from  infinity !  " 
 
 Four  men  were  conversing  together,  when  the 
 following  resolution  was  suggested  : — "Whosoever 
 can  make  Inaction  the  head,  Life  the  backbone,  and 
 Death  the  tail,  of  his  existence, — that  man  shall  be 
 admitted  to  friendship  with  us."  The  four  looked 
 at  each  other  and  smiled  ;  and  tacitly  accepting  the 
 conditions,  became  friends  forthwith. 
 
 By-and-by,  one  of  them,  named  Tzu  Yu,  fell  ill, 
 and  another,  Tzu  Ssu,  went  to  see  him.  "  Verily 
 God  is  great !  "  said  the  sick  man.  "  See  how  he 
 has  doubled  me  up.  My  back  is  so  hunched  that 
 my  viscera  are  at  the  top  of  my  body.  My  cheeks 
 are  level  with  my  navel.  My  shoulders  are  higher 
 than  my  neck.     My  hair  grows  up  towards  the  sky. 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Sitpreme  8i 
 
 The  whole  economy  of  my  organism  is  deranged. 
 Nevertheless,  my  mental  equilibrimn  is  not  dis- 
 turbed." So  saying,  he  dragged  himself  painfully 
 to  a  well,  where  he  could  see  himself,  and  con- 
 tinued, "Alas,  that  God  should  have  doubled  me 
 up  like  this  !  " 
 
 ''  Are  you  afraid  ?  "  asked  Tzu  Ssu. 
 
 "  I  am  not,"  replied  Tzu  Yti.  **  What  have  I  to 
 fear  ?  Ere  long  I  shall  be  decomposed.  My  left 
 shoulder  will  become  a  cock,  and  I  shall  herald  the 
 approach  of  morn.  My  right  shoulder  will  become 
 a  cross-bow,  and  I  shall  be  able  to  get  broiled  duck. 
 My  buttocks  will  become  wheels ;  and  with  my 
 soul  for  a  horse,  I  shall  be  able  to  ride  in  my  own 
 chariot.  I  obtained  life  because  it  was  my  time : 
 I  am  now  parting  with  it  in  accordance  with  the 
 same  law.  Content  with  the  natural  sequence  of 
 these  states,  joy  and  sorrow  touch  me  not.  I  am 
 simply,  as  the  ancients  expressed  it,  hanging  in  the 
 air,  unable  to  cut  myself  down,  bound  with  the 
 trammels  of  material  existence.  But  man  has  ever 
 given  way  before  God :  why,  then,  should  I  be 
 afraid  ?  " 
 
 "What  comes  from  God  to  us,  returns  from  us  to 
 God." — Plato. 
 
 By-and-by,  another  of  the  four,  named  Tzu  Lai, 
 fell  ill,  and  lay  gasping  for  breath,  w^hile  his  family 
 stood  weeping  around.  The  fourth  friend,  Tzu  Li, 
 went  to  see  him.  '*  Chut !  "  cried  he  to  the  wife 
 and  children  ;  "  begone  1  you  balk  his  decomposi- 
 tion."    Then,  leaning  against   the  door,  he   said. 
 
82  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 "  Verily,  God  is  great !  I  wonder  what  he  will 
 make  of  you  now.  I  wonder  whither  you  will  be 
 sent.  Do  you  think  he  will  make  you  into  a  rat's 
 liver 
 
 The  Chinese  believe  that  a  rat  has  no  liver. 
 
 or  into  the  shoulders  of  a  snake  ?  " 
 
 "  A  son,"  answered  Tzu  Lai,  "  must  go  whither- 
 soever his  parents  bid  him.  Nature  is  no  other 
 than  a  man's  parents. 
 
 The  term  "  Nature  "  stands  here  as  a  renderingr  of 
 Yin  and  Yang,  the  Positive  and  Negative  Principles 
 of  Chinese  cosmogony,  from  whose  interaction  the 
 visible  universe  results. 
 
 If  she  bid  me  die  quickly,  and  I  demur,  then  I  am 
 an  uniilial  son.  She  can  do  me  no  wrong.  Tao 
 gives  me  this  form,  this  toil  in  manhood,  this 
 repose  in  old  age,  this  rest  in  death.  And  surely 
 that  which  is  such  a  kind  arbiter  of  my  life  is  the 
 best  arbiter  of  my  death. 
 
 "  Suppose  that  the  boiling  metal  in  a  smelting- 
 pot  were  to  bubble  up  and  say,  '  Make  of  me  an 
 Excalibur;'  I  think  the  caster  would  reject  that 
 metal  as  uncanny.  And  if  a  sinner  like  myself 
 were  to  say  to  God,  '  Make  of  me  a  man,  make  of 
 me  a  man;'  I  think  he  too  would  reject  me  as 
 uncanny.  The  universe  is  the  smelting-pot,  and 
 God  is  the  caster.  I  shall  go  whithersoever  I  am 
 sent,  to  wake  unconscious  of  the  past,  as  a  man 
 wakes  from  a  dreamless  sleep." 
 
 Tzu  Sang  Hu,  Meng  Tzu  Fan,  and  Tzu  Ch'in 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  83 
 
 Chang,  were  conversing  together,  when  it  was 
 asked,  "  Who  can  be,  and  yet  not  be  ? 
 
 Implying  the  absence  of  all  consciousness. 
 
 Who  can  do,  and  yet  not  do  ? 
 
 By  virtue  of  inaction. 
 
 Who  can  mount  to  heaven,  and  roaming  through 
 the  clouds,  pass  beyond  the  limits  of  space,  obli- 
 vious of  existence,  for  ever  and  ever  without  end  ?  " 
 
 The  three  looked  at  each  other  and  smiled  ;  and 
 as  neither  had  any  misgivings,  they  became  friends 
 accordingly. 
 
 Shortly  afterwards  Tzu  Sang  Hu  died  ;  where- 
 upon Confucius  sent  Tzu  Kung 
 
 One  of  his  chief  disciples. 
 
 to  take  part  in  the  mourning.  But  Tzii  Kung 
 found  that  one  had  composed  a  song  which  the 
 other  was  accompanying  on  the  lute, 
 
 Strictly  speaking,  a  kind  of  zitha,  played  with  two 
 hammers. 
 
 as  follows  : — 
 
 Ah  !  Wilt  thou  come  back  to  us,  Sang  Hu  ? 
 Ah  !  Wilt  thou  come  back  to  us,  Sang  Hu  ? 
 Thou  hast  already  returned  to  thy  God, 
 While  we  still  remain  here  as  men, — alas  ! 
 
 Tzu  Kung  hurried  in  and  said,   "  How  can  you 
 sing  alongside  of  a  corpse  ?     Is  this  decorum  ?  " 
 The  two  men  looked  at  each  other  and  laughed, 
 
 G  2 
 
84  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 saying,  "  What  should  this  man  know  of  decorum 
 indeed  ?  " 
 
 Not   the    outward  decorum    of  the  body,    but    the 
 inward  decorum  of  the  heart. 
 
 Tzu  Kung  went  back  and  told  Confucius,  asking 
 him,  "  What  manner  of  men  are  these  ?  Their 
 object  is  nothingness  and  a  separation  from  their 
 corporeal  frames. 
 
 Various  commentators  give  various   renderings   of 
 this  sentence, — mostly  forced. 
 
 They  can  sit  near  a  corpse  and  yet  sing,  unmoved. 
 There  is  no  class  for  such.     What  are  they  ?" 
 
 "  These  men,"  replied  Confucius,  "  travel  beyond 
 the  rule  of  life.  I  travel  within  it.  Consequently, 
 our  paths  do  not  meet ;  and  I  was  wrong  in  send- 
 you  to  mourn.  They  consider  themselves  as  one 
 with  God,  recognising  no  distinctions  between 
 human  and  divine.  They  look  on  life  as  a  huge 
 tumour  from  which  death  sets  them  free.  All  the 
 same  they  know  not  where  they  were  before  birth, 
 nor  where  they  will  be  after  death.  Though 
 admitting  different  elements,  they  take  their  stand 
 upon  the  unity  of  all  things.  They  ignore  their 
 passions.  They  take  no  count  of  their  ears  and 
 eyes.  Backwards  and  forwards  through  all  eternity, 
 they  do  not  admit  a  beginning  or  end.  They  stroll 
 beyond  the  dust  and  dirt  of  mortality,  to  wander 
 in  the  realms  of  inaction.  How  should  such  men 
 trouble  themselves  with  the  conventionalities  of 
 this  world,  or  care  what  people  may  think  of  them  ?  " 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  85 
 
 "  But  if  such  is  the  case,"  said  Tzu  Kung, 
 "  why  should  we  stick  to  the  rule  ?  " 
 
 "  Heaven  has  condemned  me  to  this,"  replied 
 Confucius.  "  Nevertheless,  you  and  I  may  perhaps 
 escape  from  it." 
 
 "  By  what  method  ?  "  asked  Tzu  Kung. 
 
 "  Fishes,"  replied  Confucius,  "  are  born  in  water. 
 Man  is  born  in  Tag.  If  fishes  get  ponds  to  live  in, 
 they  thrive.  If  man  gets  Tag  to  live  in,  he  may 
 live  his  life  in  peace. 
 
 Without  reference  to  the  outward  ceremonial  of  this 
 world. 
 
 Hence  the  saying,  '  All  that  a  fish  wants  is  water ; 
 all  that  a  man  wants  is  Tag.'  '^ 
 
 It  is  of  course  by  a  literary  coup  de  madn  that 
 Confucius  is  here  and  elsewhere  made  to  stand 
 sponsor  to  the  Tao  of  the  rival  school. 
 
 "  May  I  ask,"  said  Tzu  Kung,  '*  about  divine 
 men  ? 
 
 "  Divine  men,"  replied  Confucius,  "  are  divine  to 
 man,  but  ordinary  to  God.  Hence  the  saying  that 
 the  meanest  being  in  heaven  would  be  the  best 
 on  earth  ;  and  the  best  on  earth,  the  meanest  in 
 heaven." 
 
 "  Man  is  a  kind  of  very  minute  heaven.  God  is  the 
 grand  man." — Swedenborg. 
 
 Yen  Hui  said  to  Confucius,  "  When  M^ng  Sun 
 
 Ts'ai's  mother  died,  he  wept,  but  without  snivelling; 
 
 Which  the  Chinese  regard  as  the  test  of  real  sorrow. 
 
86  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 he  grieved  but  his  grief  was  not  heartfelt ;  he  wore 
 mourning  but  without  howling.  Yet  although 
 wanting  in  these  three  points,  he  is  considered  the 
 best  mourner  in  the  State  of  Lu.  Surely  this  is 
 the  name  and  not  the  reality.  I  am  astonished  at 
 it." 
 
 ''  Meng  Sun,"  said  Confucius,  "  did  all  that  was 
 required.  He  has  made  an  advance  towards 
 wisdom. 
 
 Towards   Tao,   wherein  there    is    no   weeping    nor 
 
 gnashing  of  teeth. 
 
 He  could  not  do  less  ; 
 
 Than  mourn  outwardly,  for  fear  of  committing  a 
 breach  of  social  etiquette,  in  harmony  if  not  in 
 accordance  with  which  the  true  Sage  passes  his  life. 
 
 while  all  the  time  actually  doing  less. 
 
 As  seen  from  the  absence  of  those  signs  which  prove 
 inward  grief. 
 
 **  Meng  Sun  knows  not  whence  we  come  nor 
 whither  we  go.  He  knows  not  whether  the  end 
 will  come  early  or  late.  Passing  into  life  as  a  man, 
 he  quietly  awaits  his  passage  into  the  unknown. 
 What  should  the  dead  know  of  the  living,  or  the 
 living  know  of  the  dead  ?  Even  you  and  I  may  be 
 in  a  dream  from  which  we  have  not  yet  awaked. 
 
 *'  Then  again,  he  adapts  himself  physically, 
 
 To  the  ceremonial  of  the  body. 
 
 while  avoiding  injury  to  his  higher  self. 
 
 Keeping  his  soul  free  from  the  disturbance  of 
 passion. 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  87 
 
 He  regards  a  dying  man  simply  as  one  who  is 
 going  home.  He  sees  others  weep,  and  he 
 naturally  weeps  too. 
 
 "  Besides,  a  man's  personality  is  something  of 
 which  he  is  subjectively  conscious.  It  is  impos- 
 sible for  him  to  say  if  he  is  really  that  which  he  is 
 conscious  of  being.  You  dream  you  are  a  bird, 
 and  soar  to  heaven.  You  dream  you  are  a  fish, 
 and  dive  into  the  ocean's  depths.  And  you  cannot 
 tell  whether  the  man  now  speaking  is  awake  or  in 
 a  dream. 
 
 "A  pleasurable  sensation  precedes  the  smile  it 
 evokes.  The  smile  itself  is  not  dependent  upon  a 
 reminding  nudge, 
 
 And  just  so  was  Meng  Sun's  outward  expression  of 
 grief, — spontaneous,  as  being  in  harmony  with  his 
 surroundings. 
 
 Resign  yourself, 
 
 To  your  mortal  environment, 
 unconscious  of  all  changes, 
 
 Of  life  into  death,  etc. 
 
 and  you  shall  enter  into  the  pure,  the  divine,  the 
 One." 
 
 I  Erh  Tzu  went  to  see  Hsii  Yu,  ^'  The  latter 
 asked  him,  saying,  "  How  has  Yao  benefited  you?" 
 
 "  He  bade  me,"  replied  the  former,  "  practise 
 charity  and  do  my  duty,  and  distinguish  clearly 
 between  right  and  wrong." 
 
 "  Then  what  do  you  want  here  ?  "  said  Hsii  Yu. 
 
88  Chtiang  Tzii 
 
 "  If  Yao    has  already   branded   you   with  charity 
 and   duty,  and  cut  off  your  nose  with   right  and 
 wrong,  what  do  you  do   in  this  free-and-easy,  care- 
 for-nobody,  topsy-turvy  neighbourhood  ?  " 
 Of  Tao. 
 
 "  Nevertheless,"  replied  I  Erh  Tzu,  "  I  should 
 like  to  be  on  its  confines." 
 
 ''  If  a  man  has  lost  his  eyes,"  retorted  Hsii  Yu, 
 "  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  join  in  the  apprecia- 
 tion of  beauty.  A  man  with  a  film  over  his  eyes 
 cannot  tell  a  blue  sacrificial  robe  from  a  yellow 
 one. 
 
 "Wu  Chuang's  disregard  of  her  beauty,"  an- 
 swered I  Erh  Tzu,  "  Chii  Liang's  disregard  of  his 
 strength,  the  Yellow  Emperor's  abandonment  of 
 wisdom, — all  these  were  brought  about  by  a  pro- 
 cess of  filing  and  hammering.  And  how  do  you 
 know  but  that  God  would  rid  me  of  my  brands, 
 and  give  me  a  new  nose,  and  make  me  fit  to  become 
 a  disciple  of  yourself?" 
 
 "  Ah  !  "  replied  Hsii  Yu,  "  that  cannot  be  known. 
 But  I  will  just  give  you  an  outline.  The  Master  I 
 serve  succours  all  things,  and  does  not  account  it 
 duty.  He  continues  his  blessings  through  count- 
 less generations,  and  does  not  account  it  charity. 
 Dating  back  to  the  remotest  antiquity,  he  does  not 
 account  himself  old.  Covering  heaven,  supporting 
 earth,  and  fashioning  the  various  forms  of  things, 
 he  does  not  account  himself  skilled.  He  it  is 
 whom  you  should  seek." 
 And  he  is  Tag. 
 
CAP.  VI.]  The  Great  Supreme  89 
 
 "  I  am  getting  on,"  observed  Yen  Hui  to 
 Confucius. 
 
 The  most  famous  of  all  the  disciples  of  Confucius, 
 admitted  by  the  latter  to  have  been  as  near  per- 
 fection as  possible. 
 
 "  How  SO?  "  asked  the  latter. 
 
 "  I  have  got  rid  of  charity  and  duty,"  replied  the 
 former. 
 
 "  Very  good,"  replied  Confucius,  ''  but  not 
 perfect." 
 
 Another  day  Yen  Hui  met  Confucius  and  said, 
 **  I  am  getting  on." 
 
 "  How  so  ?  "  asked  Confucius. 
 
 "  I  have  got  rid  of  ceremonial  and  music," 
 answered  Yen  Hui. 
 
 "  Very  good,"  said  Confucius,  "  but  not  perfect." 
 
 On  a  third  occasion  Yen  Hui  met  Confucius  and 
 said,  "  I  am  getting  on." 
 
 "  How  so?"  asked  the  Sage. 
 
 "  I  have  got  rid  of  everything,"  replied  Yen 
 Hui. 
 
 "  Got  rid  of  everything!  "  said  Confucius  eagerly. 
 "  What  do  you  mean  by  that?  " 
 
 "  I  have  freed  myself  from  my  body,"  answered 
 Yen  Hui.  "I  have  discarded  my  reasoning  powers. 
 And  by  thus  getting  rid  of  body  and  mind,  I  have 
 become  One  with  the  Infinite.  This  is  what  I 
 mean  by  getting  rid  of  everything." 
 
 "■  If  you  have  become  One,"  cried  Confucius, 
 "  there  can  be  no  room  for  bias.  If  you  have 
 passed  into  space,  you  are  indeed  without  begin- 
 
90  Chiiang  TzU 
 
 ning  or  end.  And  if  you  have  really  attained  to  this, 
 I  trust  to  be  allowed  to  follow  in  your  steps." 
 
 Tzu  Yii  and  Tzu  Sang  were  friends.  Once  when 
 it  had  rained  for  ten  days,  Tzu  Yii  said,  "  Tzu 
 Sang  is  dangerously  ill."  So  he  packed  up  some 
 food  and  went  to  see  him. 
 
 In  accordance  with  the  exigencies  of  mortality. 
 How  Tzu  Yii  knew  that  his  friend  was  ill  is  not 
 clear.  An  attempt  has  been  made  by  one  com- 
 mentator on  the  basis  of  animal  magnetism,  in  which 
 the  Chinese  have  believed  for  centuries. 
 
 Arriving  at  the  door,  he  heard  something  between 
 singing  and  lamentation,  accompanied  with  the 
 sound  of  music,  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  O  father  !    O  mother  !    O  Heaven  !    O  Man  1" 
 These  words  seemed  to  be  uttered  with  a  great 
 effort ;  whereupon  Tzu  Yii  went  in  and  asked  what 
 it  all  meant. 
 
 "  I  was  trying  to  think  who  could  have  brought 
 me  to  this  extreme,"  replied  Tzii  Sang,  "  but  I 
 could  not  guess.  My  father  and  mother  would 
 hardly  wish  me  to  be  poor.  Heaven  covers  all 
 equally.  Earth  supports  all  equally.  How  can 
 they  make  me  in  particular  poor  ?  I  was  seeking 
 to  know  who  it  was,  but  without  success.  Surely 
 then  I  am  brought  to  this  extreme  by  Destiny T 
 
 "  The  word  Fate,  or  Destiny,  expresses  the  sense  of 
 mankind  in  all  ages — that  the  laws  of  the  world  do 
 not  always  befriend,  but  often  hurt  and  crush  us." — 
 Emerson. 
 
91 
 
 CHAPTER    VII. 
 
 How  TO  Govern. 
 
 Argument : — Princes  should  reign,  not  rule — Rulers  find  their  standards 
 of  right  in  themselves — They  thus  coerce  their  people  into  obeying 
 artificial  laws,  instead  of  leaving  them  to  obey  natural  laws — By  action 
 they  accomplish  nothing — By  inaction  there  is  nothing  which  they 
 would  not  accomplish — Individuals  think  they  know  what  the  empire 
 wants — In  reality  it  is  the  empire  itself  which  know  best — Illustrations. 
 
 YEH    CH'UEH  asked  Wang  I 
 See  ch.  ii. 
 
 four  questions,  none  of  which  he  could  answer. 
 Thereat  the  former  was  greatly  delighted, 
 
 For  now  he  discovered  that  iofnorance  is  true  know- 
 ledge  : — an  explanation  which  I  adopt  only  for  want 
 of  a  better. 
 
 and  went  off  and  told  P'u  I  Tzu. 
 
 Of  whom  nothing  definite  is  known. 
 
 *'  Have  you  only  just  found  that  out  ?  "  said  P'u 
 I  Tzu.  "  The  Emperor  Shun  was  not  equal  to  T'ai 
 Huang. 
 
 A  legendary  ruler.     For  Shun,  see  ch.  i. 
 
 Shun  was  all  for  charity  in  his  zeal  for  mankind  ; 
 but  although  he  succeeded  in  government,  he  him- 
 self never  rose  above  the  level  of  artificiality.    Now 
 
92  Chtiang  Tzil 
 
 T'ai  Huang  was  peaceful  when  asleep  and  Inactive 
 when  awake.  At  one  time  he  would  think  himself 
 a  horse  ;  at  another,  an  ox. 
 
 So  effectually  had  he  closed  all  channels  leading  to 
 consciousness  of  self 
 
 His  wisdom  was  substantial  and  above  suspicion. 
 His  virtue  was  genuine  indeed.  And  yet  he  never 
 sank  to  the  level  of  artificiality." 
 
 He  was  a  monarch  after  the  pattern  of  Tao. 
 
 Chien  Wu  meeting  the  eccentric  Chieh  Yii,  the 
 latter  enquired,  saying,  "What  did  Jih  Chung  Shih 
 teach  you  ?  " 
 
 Of  the  last  nothing  is  known.     The  first  two  have 
 been  already  mentioned  in  chs.  i.  and  vi. 
 
 "  He  taught  me,"  replied  Chien  Wu,  "  about 
 the  laws  and  regulations  which  princes  evolve,  and 
 which  he  said  none  would  venture  not  to  hear  and 
 obey." 
 
 "That  is  a  false  teaching  indeed,"  replied  Chieh 
 Yii.  "To  attempt  to  govern  mankind  thus, — as 
 well  try  to  wade  through  the  sea,  to  hew  a  passage 
 through  a  river,  or  make  a  mosquito  fly  away  with 
 a  mountain ! 
 
 "  The  government  of  the  truly  wise  man  has  no 
 concern  with  externals.  He  first  perfects  himself, 
 and  then  by  virtue  thereof  he  is  enabled  to  accom- 
 plish what  he  wants. 
 
 Passively,  without  effort  of  any  kind. 
 
 "The  bird  flies  high  to  avoid  snare  and  dart. 
 
CAP.  VII.]  How  to  Govern  93 
 
 The  mouse  burrows  down  below  the  hill  to  avoid 
 being  smoked  or  cut  out  of  its  nest.  Is  your  wit 
 below  that  of  these  two  creatures  ?  " 
 
 That  you  should  be  unable  to  devise  means  of 
 avoiding  the  artificial  restraints  of  princes.  Better 
 than  coercing  into  goodness  is  letting  men  be  good 
 of  their  own  accord. 
 
 T'ien  K^n 
 
 Of  whom  nothing  is  known. 
 
 was  travelling  on  the  south  of  the  Yin  mountain. 
 He  had  reached  the  river  Liao  when  he  met  a 
 certain  Sage  to  whom  he  said,  "  I  beg  to  ask  about 
 the  government  of  the  empire." 
 
 "Begone!"  cried  the  Sage.  "You  are  a  low 
 fellow,  and  your  question  is  ill  timed.  God  has 
 just  turned  me  out  a  man.  That  is  enough  for  me. 
 Borne  on  light  pinions  I  can  soar  beyond  the  car- 
 dinal points,  to  the  land  of  nowhere,  in  the  domain 
 of  nothingness.  And  you  come  to  worry  me  with 
 government  of  the  empire  !  " 
 
 But  T'ien  K^n  enquired  a  second  time,  and  the 
 Sage  replied,  "  Resolve  your  mental  energy  into 
 abstraction,  your  physical  energy  into  inaction. 
 Allow  yourself  to  fall  in  with  the  natural  order  of 
 phenomena,  without  admitting  the  element  of  self, 
 — and  the  empire  will  be  governed." 
 
 By  virtue  of  natural  laws  which  lead,  without  man's 
 interference,,  to  the  end  desired. 
 
 Yang  Tzu  Chii  went  to  see  Lao  Tzu,  and  said, 
 "  Suppose   a   man   were   ardent   and   courageous, 
 
94  Clmang  Tzii 
 
 acquainted  with  the  order  and  principles  of  things, 
 and  untiring  in  the  pursuit  of  Tag — would  he  be 
 accounted  a  wise  ruler  ?  " 
 
 "  From  the  point  of  view  of  a  truly  wise  man," 
 replied  Lao  Tzu,  "  such  a  one  would  be  a  mere 
 handicraftsman,  wearing  out  body  and  mind  alike. 
 The  tiger  and  the  pard  suffer  from  the  beauty  of 
 their  skins.  The  cleverness  of  the  monkey,  the 
 tractability  of  the  ox,  bring  them  both  to  the  tether. 
 It  is  not  on  such  grounds  that  a  ruler  may  be 
 accounted  wise." 
 
 "  But  in  what,  then,"  cried  Yang  Tzu  Chli,  "  does 
 the  government  of  a  wise  man  consist  ?  " 
 
 "  The  goodness  of  a  wise  ruler,"  answered  Lao 
 Tzu,  "  covers  the  whole  empire,  yet  he  himself 
 seems  to  know  it  not.  It  influences  all  creation, 
 yet  none  is  conscious  thereof.  It  appears  under 
 countless  forms,  bringing  joy  to  all  things.  It  is 
 based  upon  the  baseless,  and  travels  through  the 
 realms  of  Nowhere." 
 
 The  operation  of  true  government  is  invisible  to  the 
 eye  of  man. 
 
 In  the  State  of  Cheng  there  was  a  wonderful 
 magician,  named  Chi  Han.  He  knew  all  about 
 birth  and  death,  gain  and  loss,  misfortune  and 
 happiness,  long  life  and  short  life, — predicting 
 events  to  a  day  with  supernatural  accuracy.  The 
 people  of  Cheng  used  to  flee  at  his  approach  ;  but 
 Lieh  Tzu 
 
 See  ch.  i. 
 
CAP.  VII.]  How  to  Govern  95 
 
 went  to  see  him,  and  became  so  infatuated  that  on 
 his  return  he  said  to  Hu  Tzu, 
 
 Who  appears  to  have  been  his  tutor. 
 
 "  I  used  to  look  upon  your  Tag  as  perfect.  Now  I 
 know  something  more  perfect  still." 
 
 "  So  far,"  replied  Hu  Tzu,  "  I  have  only  taught 
 you  the  ornamentals,  not  the  essentials,  of  Tag  ; 
 and  yet  you  think  you  know  all  about  it.  Without 
 cocks  in  your  poultry-yard,  what  sort  of  eggs  do  the 
 hens  lay  ?  If  you  go  about  trying  to  force  Tag 
 down  people's  throats,  you  will  be  simply  exposing 
 yourself.  Bring  your  friend  with  you,  and  let  me 
 show  myself  to  him." 
 
 So  next  day  Lieh  Tzu  went  with  Chi  Han  to  see 
 Hu  Tzu,  and  when  they  came  out  Chi  Han  said, 
 "Alas!  your  teacher  is  doomed.  He  cannot  live. 
 I  hardly  give  him  ten  days.  I  am  astonished  at 
 him.     He  is  but  wet  ashes." 
 
 And  cannot  burn  much  longer. 
 
 Lieh  Tzu  went  in  and  wept  bitterly,  and  told 
 Hu  Tzu  ;  but  the  latter  said,  "  I  showed  myself 
 to  him  just  now  as  the  earth  shows  us  its  out- 
 ward form,  motionless  and  still,  while  production 
 is  all  the  time  going  on.  I  merely  prevented  him 
 from  seeing  my  pent-up  energy 
 Of  Tag. 
 
 within.     Bring  him  again." 
 
 Next  day  the  interview  took  place  as  before  ;  but 
 as  they  were  leaving  Chi  Han  said  to  Lieh  Tzu, 
 "  It  is  lucky  for  your  teacher  that  he  met  me.     He 
 
96  Chnang  Tzil 
 
 is  better.  He  will  recover.  I  saw  he  had  recupe- 
 rative power." 
 
 Lieh  Tzu  went  in  and  told  Hu  Tzu  ;  w^hereupon 
 the  latter  replied,  "  I  showed  myself  to  him  just 
 now  as  heaven  shows  itself  in  all  its  dispassionate 
 grandeur,  letting  a  little  energy  run  out  of  my  heels. 
 He  was  thus  able  to  detect  that  I  had  some.  Bring 
 him  here  again." 
 
 Next  day  a  third  interview  took  place,  and  as 
 they  were  leaving,  Chi  Han  said  to  Lieh  Tzu, 
 "  Your  teacher  is  never  one  day  like  another.  I  can 
 tell  nothing  from  his  physiognomy.  Get  him  to  be 
 regular,  and  I  will  then  examine  him  again." 
 
 This  being  repeated  to  Hu  Tzu  as  before,  the 
 latter  said,  "  I  showed  myself  to  him  just  now  in  a 
 state  of  harmonious  equilibrium.  Where  the  whale 
 disports  itself, — is  the  abyss.  Where  water  is  at 
 rest, — is  the  abyss.  Where  water  is  in  motion, — 
 is  the  abyss.  The  abyss  has  nine  names.  These 
 are  three  of  them." 
 
 Alluding  to  three  phases  of  Tao  as  manifested  at 
 the  three  interviews  above  described,  Tao  being  the 
 abyss. 
 
 Next  day  the  two  went  once  more  to  see  Hu 
 Tzu  ;  but  Chi  Han  was  unable  to  stand  still,  and  in 
 his  confusion  turned  and  fled. 
 
 "  Pursue  him  !  "  cried  Hu  Tzu  ;  whereupon  Lieh 
 Tzu  ran  after  him,  but  could  not  overtake  him,  so 
 he  returned  and  told  Hu  Tzu  that  the  fugitive  had 
 disappeared. 
 
 "  I  showed  myself  to  him  just  now/'  said  Hu  Tzu, 
 
CAP.  VII.]  How  to  Govern  97 
 
 "  as  Tao  appeared  before  time  was.  I  was  to  him 
 as  a  great  blank,  existing  of  itself.  He  knew  not 
 who  I  was.  His  face  fell.  He  became  confused. 
 And  so  he  fled." 
 
 Upon  this  Lieh  Tzu  stood  convinced  that  he 
 had  not  yet  acquired  any  real  knowledge,  and  at 
 once  set  to  work  in  earnest,  passing  three  years 
 without  leaving  the  house.  He  helped  his  wife  to 
 cook  the  family  dinner,  and  fed  his  pigs  just  like 
 human  beings.  He  discarded  the  artificial  and 
 reverted  to  the  natural.  He  became  merely  a  shape. 
 Amidst  confusion. 
 
 Of  this  material  world. 
 
 he  was  unconfounded.  And  so  he  continued  to  the 
 end. 
 
 By  Inaction,  fame  comes  as  the  spirits  of  the 
 dead  come  to  the  boy  who  impersonates  the  corpse. 
 
 See  ch.  i.  In  the  old  funeral  rites  of  China,  a  boy 
 was  made  to  sit  speechless  and  motionless  as  a 
 corpse,  for  the  reason  assigned  in  the  text. 
 
 By  Inaction,  one  can  become  the  centre  of  thought, 
 the  focus  of  responsibility,  the  arbiter  of  wisdom. 
 Full  allowance  must  be  made  for  others,  while 
 remaining  unmoved  oneself.  There  must  be  a 
 thorough  compliance  with  divine  principles,  with- 
 out any  manifestation  thereof.. 
 
 Non  mihi  res,  sed  me  rebus,  subjungere  conar. 
 
 All  of  which  may  be  summed  up  in  the  one  word 
 passivity.  For  the  perfect  man  employs  his  mind 
 as  a  mirror.    It  grasps  nothing  :  it  refuses  nothing. 
 
 H 
 
98  Chua7ig  Tzii 
 
 It  receives,  but  does  not  keep.  And  thus  he  can 
 triumph  over  matter,  without  injury  to  himself. 
 
 Without  the  wear  and  tear  suffered  by  those  who 
 allow  their  activities  free  play. 
 
 The  ruler  of  the  southern  sea  was  called  Shu. 
 The  ruler  of  the  northern  sea  was  called  Hu.  The 
 ruler  of  the  central  zone  was  called  Hun  Tun. 
 
 This  term  is  generally  used  to  denote  the  condition 
 of  matter  before  separation  and  subdivision  into  the 
 phenomena  of  the  visible  universe. 
 
 Shu  and  Hu  often  met  on  Hun  Tun's  territory, 
 and  being  always  well  treated  by  him,  determined 
 to  repay  his  kindness. 
 
 They  said,  "All  men  have  seven  holes, —  for 
 seeing,  hearing,  eating,  and  breathing.  Hun  Tun 
 alone  has  none.     We  will  bore  some  for  him." 
 
 So  every  day  they  bored  one  hole ;  but  on  the 
 seventh  day  Hun  Tun  died: 
 
 Illustrating  the  perils  of  action.  "The  empire," 
 says  Lao  Tzii,  "  is  a  divine  trust,  and  may  not  be 
 ruled.  He  who  rules,  ruins.  He  who  holds  by 
 force,  loses." 
 
 "  Men's  actions,"  says  Emerson,  "  are  too  strong  for 
 them." 
 
 With  this  chapter  Chuang  Tzii  completes  the  out- 
 line of  his  system.  The  remaining  chapters  are 
 either  supplementary  to  the  preceding  seven,  or 
 independent  essays  upon  cognate  subjects. 
 
99 
 
 CHAPTER  VIII. 
 
 Joined  Toes. 
 
 Argument : — Virtues  should  be  natural,  not  artificial;  passive  not  active. 
 [Chs.  viii  to  xiii  inclusive  are  illustrative  of,  or  supplementary  to, 
 ch.  vii.] 
 
 JOINED  toes  and  extra  fingers  are  an  addi- 
 tion to  nature,  though,  functionally  speaking, 
 superfluous.  Wens  and  tumours  are  an  addition 
 to  the  bodily  form,  though,  as  far  as  nature  is  con- 
 cerned, superfluous.  And  similarly,  to  include 
 charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  among  the 
 functions  of  man's  organism,  is  not  true  Tao. 
 
 The  whole  of  this  chapter  is  a  violent  tirade  against 
 the  leading  doctrines  of  Confucianism. 
 
 For  just  as  joined  toes  are  but  useless  lumps  of 
 flesh,  and  extra  fingers  but  useless  excrescences,  so 
 are  any  artificial  additions  to  our  internal  economy 
 but  harmful  adjuncts  to  real  charity  and  duty  to 
 one's  neighbour. 
 
 Which  are  the  outcome  of  Tao. 
 
 and  are  moreover  prejudicial   to  the  right  use  of 
 intelligence. 
 
 People  with  extra  keenness  of  vision  muddle 
 themselves  over  the  five  colours,  exaggerate  the 
 value   of    shades,    and    of  distinctions    of   greens 
 
 H   2 
 
100  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 and   yellows    for   sacrificial    robes.     Of   such   was 
 Li  Chu. 
 
 Who  could  see  a  pin's  point  at  a  distance  of  i,ooo  li. 
 He  is  mentioned  by  Mencius. 
 
 People  with  extra  keenness  of  hearing  muddle 
 themselves  over  the  five  notes,  exaggerate  the  tonic 
 differences  of  the  six  pitch-pipes,  and  the  various 
 timbres  of  metal,  stone,  silk,  and  bamboo,  of  the 
 Huang-chimg,  and  of  the  Ta-lil.  Of  such  was 
 Shih  K'uang. 
 
 The  blind  musician  mentioned  in  ch.  ii.  The 
 Huang -chung  and  the  Ta-lil  were  two  of  the 
 twelve  bamboo  tubes,  or  pitch  -  pipes,  on  which 
 ancient  Chinese  music  was  based.  Six  were  male 
 or  positive,  and  six  female  or  negative.  Hence 
 they  are  spoken  of  collectively  as  six. 
 
 People  who  graft  on  charity,  force  themselves  to 
 display  this  virtue  in  order  to  gain  reputation  and 
 to  enjoy  the  applause  of  the  world  for  that  which 
 is  of  no  account.     Of  such  were  Tseng  and  Shih. 
 
 Tseng  Shen,  a  famous  disciple  of  Confucius,  and  Shih 
 Yu,  both  noted  for  their  high  moral  characters. 
 
 People  who  refine  in  argument  do  but  pile  up     \ 
 tiles  or  knot  ropes  in  their  maunderings  over  the 
 hard  and  white,  the  like  and  the  unlike,  wearing 
 themselves  out  over  mere  useless  terms.     Of  such 
 were  Yang  and  Mih. 
 
 Yang  Chu,  a  philosopher  of  the  fourth  century  B.C., 
 whose  "selfish"  system  was  condemned  by  Mencius; 
 and  Mih  Tzu,  already  mentioned  in  ch.  ii. 
 
CAP.  VIII.]  Joined   Toes  loi 
 
 Therefore  every  addition  to  or  deviation  from 
 nature  belongs  not  to  the  ultimate  perfection  of  all. 
 
 Which  is  in  Tao. 
 
 He  who  would  attain  to  such  perfection  never 
 loses  sight  of  the  natural  conditions  of  his  exist- 
 ence. With  him  the  joined  is  not  united,  nor  the 
 separated  apart,  nor  the  long  in  excess,  nor  the 
 short  wanting.  For  just  as  a  duck's  legs,  though 
 short,  cannot  be  lengthened  without  pain  to  the 
 duck,  and  a  crane's  legs,  though  long,  cannot  be 
 shortened  without  misery  to  the  crane,  so  that 
 which  is  long  in  man's  moral  nature  cannot  be  cut 
 off,  nor  that  which  is  short  be  lengthened.  All 
 sorrow  is  thus  avoided. 
 
 Intentional  charity  and  intentional  duty  to  one's 
 neighbour  are  surely  not  included    in   our  moral 
 nature.     Yet    what    sorrow  these   have   involved. 
 Divide  your  joined  toes  and  you  will  howl :  bite  off 
 your  extra  finger  and  you  will  scream.    In  one  case 
 there  is  too  much,  in  the  other  too  little ;  but  the 
 sorrow  is  the  same.     And  the  charitable  of  the  age 
 go  about  sorrowing  over  the  ills  of  the  age,  while 
 the  non-charitable  cut    through    the    natural    con- 
 ditions of  things   in   their   greed    after    place  and. 
 wealth.     Surely  then  intentional  charity  and  duty 
 to  one's   neighbour  are   not  included  in  our  moral 
 nature.     Yet  from  the  time  of  the  Three  Dynasties 
 downwards  what  a  fuss  has  been  made  about  them  ! 
 Those  who  cannot  make  perfect  without  arc,  line, 
 compasses,  and  square,  injure  the  natural  constitu- 
 
102  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 tion  of  things.  Those  who  require  cords  to  bind  and 
 glue  to  stick,  interfere  with  the  natural  functions  of 
 things.  And  those  who  seek  to  satisfy  the  mind  of 
 man  by  hampering  with  ceremonies  and  music  and 
 preaching  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour, 
 thereby  destroy  the  intrinsicality  of  things. 
 
 For  such  intrinsicality  does  exist,  in  this  sense  : — 
 Things  which  are  curved  require  no  arcs  ;  things 
 which  are  straight  require  no  lines  ;  things  which 
 are  round  require  no  compasses  ;  things  which  are 
 rectangular  require  no  squares  ;  things  which  stick 
 require  no  glue  ;  things  which  hold  together  require 
 no  cords.  And  just  as  all  things  are  produced, 
 and  none  can  tell  how  they  are  produced,  so  do 
 all  things  possess  their  own  intrinsic  qualities 
 and  none  can  tell  how  they  possess  them.  From 
 time  immemorial  this  has  always  been  so,  without 
 ,  variation.  Why  then  should  charity  and  duty  to 
 J  one's  neighbour  be  as  it  were  glued  or  corded  on, 
 and  introduced  into  the  domain  of  Tag,  to  give 
 rise  to  doubt  among  mankind  ? 
 
 Lesser  doubts  change  the  rule  of  life ;   greater 
 doubts  change  man's  nature. 
 
 How  do  we  know  this  ?  By  the  fact  that  ever 
 since  the  time  when  Shun  bid  for  charity  and  duty 
 to  one's  neighbour  in  order  to  secure  the  empire, 
 men  have  devoted  their  lives  to  the  pursuit  thereof. 
 Is  it  not  then  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour 
 which  change  the  nature  of  man  ? 
 \  Therefore  I  have  tried  to  show  that  from  the 
 time  of  the  Three  Dynasties  it  has  always  been  the 
 
CAP.  VIII.]  Joined  Toes  103 
 
 external  which  has  changed  the  nature  of  man.  If 
 a  mean  man,  he  will  die  for  gain.  If  a  superior 
 man,  he  will  die  for  fame.  If  a  man  of  rank,  he 
 will  die  for  his  ancestral  honours.  If  a  Sage,  he 
 will  die  for  the  world.  The  pursuits  and  ambi- 
 tions of  these  men  differ,  but  the  injury  to  their 
 natures  involved  in  the  sacrifice  of  their  lives  is  the 
 same. 
 
 Tsang  and  Ku  were  shepherds,  both  of  whom 
 lost  their  flocks.  On  inquiry,  it  appeared  that 
 Tsang  had  been  engaged  in  reading,  while  Ku  had 
 gone  to  take  part  in  some  trials  of  strength.  Their 
 occupations  had  been  different,  but  the  result  was 
 in  each  case  loss  of  the  sheep. 
 
 Poh  I  died  for  fame  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Shou- 
 yang. 
 
 See  ch.  vi. 
 
 Robber  Ch^  died  for  gain  on  Mount  T'ai. 
 
 Robber  Che  has  a  chapter  to  himself,   from  which, 
 though  spurious,  it  may  be  gathered  that  he  was  a 
 very  remarkable  personage  in  his  day. 
 Mount  T'ai  has  been  mentioned  in  ch.  i. 
 
 Their  deaths  were  not  the  same,  but  the  injury  to 
 their  lives  and  natures  was  in  each  case  the  same. 
 How  then  can  we  applaud  the  former  and  blame 
 the  latter  ? 
 
 And  so,  if  a  man  dies  for  charity  and  duty  to  his 
 neighbour  the  world  calls  him  a  noble  fellow; 
 but  if  he  dies  for  gain,  the  world  calls  him  a 
 low   fellow.      The  dying  being  the  same,    one  is 
 
I04  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 nevertheless  called  noble  and  the  other  low.  But 
 in  point  of  injury  to  life  and  nature,  the  robber 
 Ch^  and  Poh  I  are  one.  Where  then  does  the 
 distinction  of  noble  and  low  come  in  ? 
 
 Were  a  man  to  apply  himself  to  charity  and 
 duty  towards  his  neighbour  until  he  were  the  equal 
 of  Tseng  or  Shih,  this  would  not  be  what  I  mean 
 by  perfection.  Or  to  flavours,  until  he  were  the 
 equal  of  Yii  Erh. 
 
 Probably  identical  with  I  Ya,  the  Soyer  of  China. 
 
 Or  to  sounds,  until  he  were  the  equal  of  Shih 
 K'uang.  Or  to  colours,  until  he  were  the  equal  of 
 Li  Chu.  What  I  mean  by  perfection  is  not  what 
 is  meant  by  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour. 
 It  is  found  in  the  cultivation  of  Tao.  And  those 
 whom  I  regard  as  cultivators  of  Tao  are  not  those 
 who  cultivate  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour. 
 They  are  those  who  yield  to  the  natural  conditions 
 of  things.  What  I  call  perfection  of  hearing  is 
 not  hearing  others  but  oneself.  What  I  call  per- 
 fection of  vision  is  not  seeing  others  but  oneself. 
 
 A  saying  attributed  by  Han  Fei  Tzu  to  Lao  Tzu : — 
 "  To  see  oneself  is  to  be  clear  of  sight."  See  The 
 Remains  of  Lao  Tzii,  p.  i8. 
 
 For  a  man  who  sees  not  himself  but  others,  takes 
 not  possession  of  himself  but  of  others,  thus  taking 
 what  others  should  take  and  not  what  he  himself 
 should  take. 
 
 Multi  sunt,  qui  urbes,  qui  populos  habuere  in 
 potestate,  paucissimi,  qui  se. 
 
CAP.  VIII.]  Joined  Toes  105 
 
 Instead  of  being  himself,  he  in  fact  becomes  some 
 one  else.  And  if  a  man  thus  becomes  some  one 
 else  instead  of  himself,  this  is  a  fatal  error  of  which 
 both  the  robber  Che  and  Poh  I  can  be  equally 
 guilty. 
 
 And    so,    conscious    of    my   own    deficiency   in 
 regard  to  Tao,    I   do  not  venture  at  my  best  to  \y/ 
 practise  the  principles  of  charity  and  duty  to  my 
 neighbour,  nor  at   my  worst  to  fall  into   the  fatal 
 error  above-mentioned. 
 
io6  Chtiang  Tzit 
 
 CHAPTER    IX. 
 
 Horses'  Hoofs. 
 
 Argument : — Superiority  of  the  natural  over  the  artificial — Application  of 
 this  principle  to  government. 
 
 HORSES  have  hoofs  to  carry  them  over  frost 
 and  snow ;  hair,  to  protect  them  from  wind 
 and  cold.  They  eat  grass  and  drink  water,  and 
 fling  up  their  heels  over  the  champaign.  Such  is 
 the  real  nature  of  horses.  Palatial  dwellings  are  of 
 no  use  to  them. 
 
 One  day  Poh  Loh 
 
 A  Chinese  Rarey,  of  somewhat  legendary  character. 
 
 appeared,  saying,  *'  I  understand  the  management 
 of  horses." 
 
 So  he  branded  them,  and  clipped  them,  and  pared 
 their  hoofs,  and  put  halters  on  them,  tying  them  up 
 by  the  head  and  shackling  them  by  the  feet,  and 
 disposing  them  in  stables,  with  the  result  that  two 
 or  three  in  every  ten  died.  Then  he  kept  them 
 hungry  and  thirsty,  trotting  them  and  galloping 
 them,  and  grooming,  and  trimming,  with  the  misery 
 of  the  tasselled  bridle  before  and  the  fear  of  the 
 knotted  whip  behind,  until  more  than  half  of  them 
 were  dead. 
 
CAP.  IX.]  Horses    Hoofs  107 
 
 The  potter  says,  "  I  can  do  what  I  will  with  clay. 
 If  I  want  it  round,  I  use  compasses  ;  if  rectangular, 
 a  square." 
 
 The  carpenter  says,  "  I  can  do  what  I  will  with 
 
 wood.   If  I  want  it  curved,  I  use  an  arc  ;  if  straight, 
 
 1)) 
 ine. 
 
 But  on  what  grounds  can  we  think  that  the 
 natures  of  clay  and  wood  desire  this  application  of 
 compasses  and  square,  of  arc  and  line  ?  Neverthe- 
 less, every  age  extols  Poh  Loh  for  his  skill  in 
 managing  horses,  and  potters  and  carpenters  for 
 their  skill  with  clay  and  wood.  Those  who  govern 
 the  empire  make  the  same  mistake. 
 
 Now  I  regard  government  of  the  empire  from 
 quite  a  different  point  of  view. 
 
 The  people  have  certain  natural  instincts ; — to 
 weave  and  clothe  themselves,  to  till  and  feed  them- 
 selves. These  are  common  to  all  humanity,  and 
 all  are  agreed  thereon.  Such  instincts  are  called 
 "  Heaven-sent." 
 
 And  so  in  the  days  when  natural  instincts  pre- 
 vailed, men  moved  quietly  and  gazed  steadily.  At 
 that  time,  there  were  no  roads  over  mountains,  nor 
 boats,  nor  bridges  over  w^ater.  All  things  were 
 produced,  each  for  its  own  proper  sphere.  Birds 
 and  beasts  multiplied  ;  trees  and  shrubs  grew  up. 
 The  former  might  be  led  by  the  hand  ;  you  could 
 climb  up  and  peep  into  the  raven's  nest.  For  then 
 man  dwelt  with  birds  and  beasts,  and  all  creation 
 was  one.  There  were  no  distinctions  of  good  and 
 bad  men.     Being  all  equally  without  knowledge, 
 
 iX 
 
io8  Chuang  Tzit 
 
 their  virtue  could  not  go  astray.  Being  all  equally 
 without  evil  desires,  they  were  in  a  state  of  natural 
 integrity,  the  perfection  of  human  existence. 
 
 But  when  Sages  appeared,  tripping  people  over 
 charity  and  fettering  with  duty  to  one's  neighbour, 
 doubt  found  its  way  into  the  world.  And  then  with 
 their  gushing  over  music  and  fussing  over  cere- 
 mony, the  empire  became  divided  against  itself. 
 
 Music  and  ceremonies  are  important  factors  in  the 
 Confucian  system  of  government. 
 
 Were  the  natural  integrity  of  things  left  un- 
 harmed, who  could  make  sacrificial  vessels  ?  Were 
 white  jade  left  unbroken,  who  could  make  the 
 regalia  of  courts  ?  Were  Tag  not  abandoned,  who 
 could  introduce  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neigh- 
 bour ?  Were  man's  natural  instincts  his  guide, 
 what  need  would  there  be  for  music  and  ceremonies? 
 Were  the  five  colours  not  confused,  who  would 
 practise  decoration  ?  Were  the  five  notes  not 
 confused,  who  would  adopt  the  six  pitch-pipes  ? 
 
 See  chs,  viii  and  x. 
 
 Destruction  of  the  natural  integrity  of  things,  in 
 order  to  produce  articles  of  various  kinds, — this  is 
 the  fault  of  the  artisan.  Annihilation  of  Tag  in 
 order  to  practise  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neigh- 
 bour,— this  is  the  error  of  the  Sage. 
 
 Horses  live  on  dry  land,  eat  grass  and  drink 
 
 water.       When     pleased,    they    rub    their    necks 
 
 together.     When  angry,  they  turn  round  and  kick 
 
 ip  their  heels  at  each    other.     Thus  far  only  do 
 
CAP.  IX.]  Horses   Hoofs  109 
 
 their  natural  dispositions  carry  them.  But  bridled 
 and  bitted,  with  a  plate  of  metal  on  their  foreheads, 
 they  learn  to  cast  vicious  looks,  to  turn  the  head 
 to  bite,  to  resist,  to  get  the  bit  out  of  the  mouth  or 
 the  bridle  into  it.  And  thus  their  natures  become 
 depraved, — the  fault  of  Poh  Loh. 
 
 In  the  days  of  Ho  Hsii 
 
 A  legendary  ruler  of  old. 
 
 the  people  did  nothing  in  particular  when  at  rest, 
 and  went  nowhere  in  particular  when  they  moved. 
 Having  food,  they  rejoiced  ;  having  full  bellies, 
 they  strolled  about.  Such  were  the  capacities  of 
 the  people.  But  when  the  Sages  came  to  worry 
 them  with  ceremonies  and  music  in  order  to  rectify 
 the  form  of  government,  and  dangled  charity  and 
 duty  to  one's  neighbour  before  them  in  order  to 
 satisfy  their  hearts, — then  the  people  began  to 
 develop  a  taste  for  knowledge  and  to  struggle  one 
 with  the  other  in  their  desire  for  gain.  This  was 
 the  error  of  the  Sages. 
 
 The  simplicity  of  style,  and  general  intelligibility  of 
 this  chapter  have  raised  doubts  as  to  its  genuineness. 
 But  as  Lin  Hsi  Chung  justly  observes,  its  sympa- 
 thetic tone  in  relation  to  dumb  animals,  stamps  it, 
 in  spite  of  an  undue  proportion  of  word  to  thought, 
 as  beyond  reach  of  the  forger's  art. 
 
I  lo  Chttang  Tzu 
 
 CHAPTER   X. 
 
 Opening  Trunks. 
 
 Argument : — All  restrictions  artificial,  and  therefore  deceptive — Only  by 
 shaking  off  such  fetters,  and  reverting  to  the  natural,  can  man  hope 
 to  attain. 
 
 THE  precautions  taken  against  thieves  who  open 
 trunks,  search  bags,  or  ransack  tills,  consist 
 of  securing  with  cords  and  fastening  with  bolts  and 
 locks.     This  is  what  the  world  calls  wit. 
 
 But  a  strong  thief  comes  who  carries  off  the  till 
 on  his  shoulders,  with  box  and  bag  to  boot.  And 
 his  only  fear  is  that  the  cords  and  locks  should  not 
 be  strong  enough  ! 
 
 Therefore,  what  the  world  calls  wit,  simply 
 amounts  to  assistance  given  to  the  strong  thief. 
 
 And  I  venture  to  state  that  nothing  of  that  which 
 the  world  calls  wit,  is  otherwise  than  serviceable  to 
 strong  thieves  ;  and  that  nothing  of  that  which  the 
 world  calls  wisdom  is  other  than  a  protection  to 
 strong  thieves. 
 
 How  can  this  be  shown  ? — In  the  State  of  Ch'i  a 
 man  used  to  be  able  to  see  from  one  town  to  the 
 next,  and  hear  the  barking  and  crowing  of  its  dogs 
 and  cocks. 
 
 So  near  were  they.     This  sentence  has  been  incor- 
 
CAP.  X.]  Opening  Trunks  1 1 1 
 
 porated  in  ch.  lxxx  of  the  Tao-Te-Ching.  See  The 
 Remains  of  Lao  Tzu,  p.  50. 
 
 The  area  covered  by  the  nets  of  fishermen  and 
 fowlers,  and  pricked  by  the  plough,  was  a  square  of 
 two  thousand  and  odd  //. 
 
 Of  which  three  go  to  a  mile,  roughly.  This  state- 
 ment is  intended  to  convey  an  idea  of  prosperity. 
 
 And  within  its  four  boundaries  not  a  temple  or 
 shrine   was   dedicated,    nor   a    district   or   hamlet 
 governed,   but  in  accordance  with    the  rules  laid 
 down  by  the  Sages. 
 Yet  one  morning 
 
 B.C.  481. 
 
 T'ien  Ch  eng  Tzu  slew  the  Prince  of  Ch'i,  and  stole 
 his  kingdom.  And  not  his  kingdom  only,  but  the 
 wisdom-tricks  which  he  had  got  from  the  Sages  as 
 well ;  so  that  although  T'ien  Ch  eng  Tzu  acquired 
 the  reputation  of  a  thief,  he  lived  as  comfortably  as 
 ever  did  either  Yao  or  Shun.  The  small  States 
 did  not  venture  to  blame,  nor  the  great  States  to 
 punish  him  ;  and  so  for  twelve  generations  his 
 descendants  ruled  over  Ch'i. 
 
 Commentators  have  failed  to  explain  away  this  last 
 sentence.  On  the  strength  of  an  obvious  anachron- 
 ism, some  have  written  off  the  whole  chapter  as  a 
 forgery;  but  the  general  style  of  argument  is  against 
 this  view. 
 
 Was  not  this  stealing  the  State  of  Ch'i  and  the 
 wisdom-tricks  of  the  Sages  as  well  in  order  to 
 secure  himself  from  the  consequences  of  such  theft  ? 
 
1 1 2  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 This  amounts  to  what  I  have  already  said, 
 namely  that  nothing  of  what  the  world  esteems 
 great  wit  is  otherwise  than  serviceable  to  strong 
 thieves,  and  that  nothing  of  what  the  world  calls 
 great  wisdom  is  other  than  a  protection  to  strong 
 thieves. 
 
 Let  us  take  another  example.  Of  old,  Lung 
 Feng  was  beheaded,  Pi  Kan  was  disembowelled, 
 Chang  Hung  was  sliced  to  death,  Tzu  Hsii  was 
 chopped  to  mince-meat. 
 
 The  first  two  have  been  already  mentioned  in  ch.  iv. 
 Chang  Hung  was  minister  to  Prince  Ling  of  the 
 Chou  dynasty.  Tzu  Hsli  was  a  name  of  the  famous 
 Wu  Yiian,  prime  minister  of  the  Ch'u  State,  whose 
 corpse  is  said  to  have  been  sewn  up  in  a  sack  and 
 thrown  into  the  river  near  Soochow. 
 
 All  these  four  were  Sages,  but  their  wisdom  could 
 not  preserve  them  from  death. 
 
 In  fact,  it  rather  hastened  their  ends. 
 
 An  apprentice  to  Robber  Che  asked  him  saying, 
 "  Is  there  then  Tag  in  thieving  ?  " 
 
 "  Pray  tell  me  of  something  in  which  there  is  not 
 ^  Tag,"  Che  replied.  "  There  is  the  wisdom  by 
 which  booty  is  located.  The  courage  to  go  in  first, 
 and  the  heroism  of  coming  out  last.  There  is  the 
 shrewdness  of  calculating  success,  and  justice  in 
 the  equal  division  of  the  spoil.  There  has  never 
 yet  been  a  great  robber  who  was  not  possessed  of 
 these  five." 
 
 Thus  the  doctrine  of  the  Sages  is  equally  indis- 
 
CAP.  X.]  Opening  Trunks  113 
 
 pensable  to  good  men  and  to  Chd.  But  good  men 
 are  scarce  and  bad  men  plentiful,  so  that  the  good 
 the  Sages  do  to  the  world  is  little  and  the  evil 
 great. 
 
 Therefore  it  has  been  said,  'Tf  the  lips  are 
 gone,  the  teeth  will  be  cold."  It  was  the  thinness 
 of  the  wine  of  Lu  which  caused  the  siege  of 
 Han  Tan. 
 
 The  prince  of  Ch'u  held  an  assembly,  to  which  the 
 princes  of  Lu  and  Chao  brought  presents  of  wine. 
 That  of  Lu  was  poor  stuff,  while  the  wine  of  Chao 
 was  rich  and  generous.  Because,  however,  the 
 Master  of  the  Cellar  to  the  prince  of  Ch'u  failed  to 
 get  a  bribe  of  wine  from  the  prince  of  Chao,  he 
 maliciously  changed  the  presents ;  and  the  prince 
 of  Ch'u,  displeased  at  what  he  regarded  as  an 
 insult,  shortly  after  laid  siege  to  Han  Tan,  the  chief 
 city  of  Chao. 
 
 It  was  the  appearance  of  Sages  which  caused  the 
 appearance  of  great  robbers. 
 
 Drive  out  the  Sages  and  leave  the  robbers  alone, 
 — then  only  will  the  empire  be  governed.  As  when  ^ 
 the  stream  ceases  the  gully  dries  up,  and  when  the 
 hill  is  levelled  the  chasm  is  filled ;  so  when  Sages 
 are  extinct,  there  will  be  no  more  robbers,  but  the 
 empire  will  rest  in  peace. 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  unless  Sages  disappear, 
 neither  will  great  robbers  disappear  ;  nor  if  you 
 double  the  number  of  Sages  wherewithal  to  govern 
 the  empire  will  you  do  more  than  double  the  profits 
 of  Robber  Ch^. 
 
1 1 4  Chnang  Tzii 
 
 If  pecks  and  bushels  are  used  for  measurement, 
 they  will  also  be  stolen. 
 
 There  will  simply  be  something  more  to  steal. 
 
 If  scales  and  steelyards  are  used  for  weighing,  they 
 will  also  be  stolen.  If  tallies  and  signets  are  used 
 for  good  faith,  they  will  also  be  stolen.  If  charity 
 and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  are  used  for  rectifica- 
 tion, they  will  also  be  stolen. 
 
 How  is  this  so? — One  man  steals  a  purse,  and  is 
 punished.  Another  steals  a  State,  and  becomes  a 
 Prince.  But  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour 
 are  integral  parts  of  princedom.  Does  he  not  then 
 steal  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  together 
 with  the  wisdom  of  the  Sages  ? 
 
 So  it  is  that  to  attempt  to  drive  out  great 
 robbers 
 
 Who  steal  States. 
 
 is  simply  to  help  them  to  steal  principalities,  charity, 
 duty  to  one's  neighbour,  together  with  measures, 
 scales,  tallies,  and  signets.  No  reward  of  official 
 regalia  and  uniform  will  dissuade,  nor  dread  of 
 sharp  instruments  of  punishment  will  deter  such 
 men  from  their  course.  These  do  but  double 
 the  profits  of  robbers  like  Che,  and  make  it  impos- 
 sible to  get  rid  of  them, — for  which  the  Sages  are 
 responsible. 
 
 Therefore  it  has  been  said,  "  Fishes  cannot  be 
 taken  away  from  water  :  the  instruments  of  govern- 
 ment cannot  be  delegated  to  others." 
 
 These  words  were   uttered  by   Lao   Tzii.     So    say 
 
CAP.  X.]  Opening  Trunks  115 
 
 Han  Fei  Tzu  and  Huai  Nan  Tzu.     They  have  been 
 incorporated  in  ch.  xxxvi  of  the  Tao-Te-Ching. 
 
 In  the  wisdom  of  Sages  the  instruments  of 
 government  are  found.  This  wisdom  is  not  fit 
 for  enlightening  the  world. 
 
 Away  then  with  wisdom  and  knowledge,  and 
 great  robbers  will  disappear  !  Discard  jade  and 
 destroy  pearls,  and  petty  thieves  will  cease  to  exist. 
 Burn  tallies  and  break  signets,  and  the  people  will 
 revert  to  their  natural  integrity.  Split  measures 
 and  smash  scales,  and  the  people  will  not  fight  over 
 quantities.  Utterly  abolish  all  the  restrictions  of 
 Sages,  and  the  people  will  begin  to  be  fit  for  the 
 reception  of  Tao. 
 
 Confuse  the  six  pitch-pipes,  break  up  organs  and 
 flutes,  stuff  up  the  ears  of  Shih  K'uang, — and  each 
 man  will  keep  his  own  sense  of  hearing  to  himself. 
 
 Put  an  end  to  decoration,  disperse  the  five  cate- 
 gories of  colour,  glue  up  the  eyes  of  Li  Chu, — 
 and  each  man  will  keep  his  own  sense  of  sight  to 
 himself. 
 
 Destroy  arcs  and  lines,  fling  away  square  and 
 compasses,  snap  off  the  fingers  of  Kung  Ch'ui, — 
 
 A  famous  artisan  who  could  draw  an  exact  circle 
 with  his  unaided  hand. 
 
 and  each  man  will  use  his  own  natural  skill. 
 
 Wherefore  the  saying,  "  Great  skill  is  as 
 clumsiness." 
 
 Extremes  meet.  These  words  are  attributed  to  Lao 
 Tzu  by  Huai  Nan  Tzu,  and  are  incorporated  in 
 ch.  xlv  of  the  Tao-Ti-CJiing. 
 
 I  2 
 
1 1 6  Chuaug  Tzii 
 
 Restrain  the  actions  of  Tseng  and  Shih,  stop  the 
 mouths  of  Yang  and  Mih,  get  rid  of  charity  and 
 duty  to  one's  neighbour, — and  the  virtue  of  the 
 people  will  become  one  with  God. 
 
 If  each  man  keeps  to  himself  his  own  sense  of 
 sight,  the  world  will  escape  confusion.  If  each 
 man  keeps  to  himself  his  own  sense  of  hearing, 
 the  world  will  escape  entanglements.  If  each  man 
 keeps  his  knowledge  to  himself,  the  world  will 
 escape  doubt.  If  each  man  keeps  his  own  virtue 
 to  himself,  the  world  will  avoid  deviation  from  the 
 true  path. 
 
 Tseng,  Shih,  Yang,  Mih,  Shih  K'uang,  Kung 
 Ch'ui,  and  Li  Chu,  all  set  up  their  virtue  outside 
 themselves  and  involve  the  world  in  such  angry 
 discussions  that  nothing  definite  is  accomplished. 
 
 Have  you  never  heard  of  the  Golden  Age, — 
 
 This  question  must  be  addressed  to  the  reader. 
 
 the  days  of  Yung  Ch  eng,  Ta  T'ing,  Poh  Huang, 
 Chung  Yang,  Li  Lu,  Li  Hsii,  Hsien  Yuan,  He  Hsii, 
 Tsun  Lu,  Chu  Yung,  Fu  Hsi,  and  Shen  Nung? 
 
 Ancient  rulers,  several  of  whom  have  already  been 
 mentioned. 
 
 J    Then  the  people  used  knotted  cords. 
 
 As  a  means  of  intercommunication.     The  details  of 
 the  system  have  not,  however,  come  down  to  us. 
 
 They  were  contented  with  what  food  and  raiment 
 they  could  get.  They  lived  simple  and  peaceful 
 lives.     Neighbouring  districts  were  within   sight, 
 
CAP.  X.]  Opening  Trunks  117 
 
 and  the  cocks  and  dogs  of  one  could  be  heard  in  ^^ 
 the  other,  yet  the  people  grew  old  and  died  without 
 ever  interchanging  visits. 
 
 In  those  days,  government  was  indeed  perfect. 
 But  nowadays  any  one  can  excite  the  people  by 
 saying,  **  In  such  and  such  a  place  there  is  a  Sage." 
 
 Immediately  they  put  together  a  few  provisions 
 and  hurry  off,  neglecting  their  parents  at  home  and 
 their  master's  business  abroad,  filing  in  unbroken 
 line  through  territories  of  Princes,  with  a  string  of 
 carts  and  carriages  a  thousand  //  in  length.  Such 
 is  the  evil  effect  of  an  exaggerated  desire  for  know- 
 ledge among  our  rulers.  And  if  rulers  aim  at 
 knowledge  and  neglect  Tao,  the  empire  will  be 
 overwhelmed  in  confusion. 
 
 How  can  it  be  shown  that  this  is  so  ? — Bows  and 
 cross-bows  and  hand-nets  and  harpoon-arrows, 
 involve  much  knowledge  in  their  use  ;  but  they 
 carry  confusion  among  the  birds  of  the  air.  Hooks 
 and  bait  and  nets  and  traps,  involve  much  know- 
 ledge in  their  use  ;  but  they  carry  confusion  among 
 the  fishes  of  the  deep.  Fences  and  nets  and  snares, 
 involve  much  knowledge  in  their  use ;  but  they 
 carry  confusion  among  the  beasts  of  the  field.  In 
 the  same  way  the  sophistical  fallacies  of  the  hard 
 and  white  and  the  like  and  the  unlike  of  schoolmen 
 involve  much  knowledge  of  argument ;  but  they 
 overwhelm  the  world  in  doubt. 
 
 Therefore  it  is  that  whenever  there  is  great 
 confusion,  love  of  knowledge  is  ever  at  the  bottom 
 of  it.     For  all  men  strive  to  grasp  what  they  do 
 
ii8  Chiiaiig  Tzu 
 
 not  know,  while  none  strive  to  grasp  what  they 
 already  know  ;  and  all  strive  to  discredit  what  they 
 do  not  excel  in,  while  none  strive  to  discredit  what 
 they  do  excel  in.  The  result  is  overwhelming 
 confusion. 
 
 Thus,  above,  the  splendour  of  the  heavenly 
 bodies  is  dimmed  ;  below,  the  energy  of  land  and 
 water  is  disturbed  ;  while  midway  the  influence  of 
 the  four  seasons  is  destroyed.  There  is  not  one 
 tiny  creature  which  moves  on  earth  or  flies  in 
 air  but  becomes  other  than  by  nature  it  should  be. 
 So  overwhelming  is  the  confusion  which  desire  for 
 knowledge  has  brought  upon  the  world  ever  since 
 the  time  of  the  Three  Dynasties  downwards  ! 
 The  simple  and  the  guileless  have  been  set  aside  ; 
 the  specious  and  the  false  have  been  exalted. 
 Tranquil  inaction  has  given  place  to  a  love  of 
 disputation ;  and  by  disputation  has  confusion 
 come  upon  the  world. 
 
119 
 
 CHAPTER  XL 
 
 On  Letting  Alone. 
 
 Argument: — The  natural  conditions  of  our  existence  require  no  artificial 
 aids — The  evils  of  government — Failure  of  coercion — Tao  the  refuge 
 — Inaction  the  secret — The  action  of  Inaction — Illustrations. 
 
 THERE    has    been    such    a    thing    as    letting 
 mankind  alone  ;    there  has  never  been  such 
 a  thing  as  governing  mankind. 
 
 With  success. 
 Letting  alone  springs  from  fear  lest  men's 
 natural  dispositions  be  perverted  and  their  virtue 
 laid  aside.  But  if  their  natural  dispositions  be  not 
 perverted  nor  their  virtue  laid  aside,  what  room 
 is  there  left  for  government  ? 
 
 Of  old,  when   Yao    governed    the    empire,    he 
 caused    happiness    to  prevail    to   excess   in    man's  ^ 
 nature ;    and    consequently   the    people   were    not 
 satisfied.     When  Chieh 
 
 See  p.  40. 
 governed  the  empire  he  caused  sorrow  to  prevail 
 to  excess  in  man's  nature  ;  and  consequently  the 
 people  were  not  contented.  Dissatisfaction  and 
 discontent  are  subversive  of  virtue  ;  and  without 
 virtue  there  is  no  such  thing  for  an  empire  as 
 stability. 
 
 Virtue,  here  in  its  ordinary  sense. 
 
J 
 
 1 20  Chiiang  Tsil 
 
 When  man  rejoices  greatly  he  gravitates  towards 
 the  positive  pole.  When  he  sorrows  deeply  he 
 gravitates  towards  the  negative  pole. 
 
 These  "poles"  are  the  male  and  female  principles 
 already  alluded  to  on  p.  82.  Originally  developed 
 from  the  Great  Monad,  they  became  the  progenitors 
 of  all  creation. 
 
 If  the  equilibrium  of  positive  and  negative 
 
 In  nature. 
 
 is  disturbed,  the  four  seasons  are  interrupted,  the 
 balance  of  heat  and  cold  is  destroyed,  and  man 
 himself  suffers  physically  thereby. 
 
 Because  men  are  made  to  rejoice  and  to  sorrow 
 and  to  displace  their  centre  of  gravity,  they  lose  their 
 steadiness,  and  are  unsuccessful  in  thought  and 
 action.  And  thus  it  is  that  the  idea  of  surpassing 
 others  first  came  into  the  world,  followed  by  the 
 appearance  of  such  men  as  Robber  Che,  Tseng,  and 
 Shih,  the  result  being  that  the  whole  world  could 
 not  furnish  enough  rewards  for  the  good  nor  dis- 
 tribute punishments  enough  for  the  evil  among 
 mankind.  And  as  this  great  world  is  not  equal  to 
 the  demand  for  rewards  and  punishments  ;  and  as, 
 ever  since  the  time  of  the  Three  Dynasties 
 
 The  legendary  emperors  Fu  Hsi,  Shen  Nung,  and 
 Huang  Ti,  or  the  Yellow  Emperor,  already  men- 
 tioned. 
 
 downwards,  men  have  done  nothing  but  struggle 
 over    rewards    and    punishments, — what    possible 
 
CAP.  XI.]  On  Letting  Alone  121 
 
 leisure  can  they  have  had  for  adapting  themselves 
 to  the  natural  conditions  of  their  existence  ? 
 
 Besides,  over-refinement  of  vision  leads  to 
 debauchery  in  colour;  over-refinement  of  hearing 
 leads  to  debauchery  in  sound  ;  over-refinement  of 
 charity  leads  to  confusion  in  virtue  ; 
 
 Here  again  the  manifestation  of  Tao.     See  p.  45. 
 
 over-refinement  of  duty  towards  one's  neighbour 
 leads  to  perversion  of  principle  ; 
 
 The  eternal  principles  which  are  of  Tao  and  not  of 
 man. 
 
 over-refinement  of  ceremonial  leads  to  divergence 
 from  the  true  object ;  over-refinement  of  music 
 leads  to  lewdness  of  thought ;  over-refinement  of 
 wisdom  leads  to  an  extension  of  mechanical  art ; 
 and  over-refinement  of  shrewdness  leads  to  an 
 extension  of  vice. 
 
 As  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
 
 If  people  adapt  themselves  to  the  natural  con- 
 ditions of  existence,  the  above  eight 
 
 Vision,  hearing,  charity,  duty  to    one's    neighbour, 
 ceremonial,  music,  wisdom,  and  shrewdness. 
 
 may  be  or  may  not  be ;  it  matters  not.  But  if 
 people  do  not  adapt  themselves  to  the  natural 
 conditions  of  existence,  then  these  eight  become 
 hindrances  and  spoilers,  and  throw  the  world  into 
 confusion. 
 
122  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 In  spite  of  this,  the  world  reverences  and 
 cherishes  them,  thereby  greatly  increasing  the 
 sum  of  human  error.  And  not  as  a  passing 
 fashion,  but  with  admonitions  in  words,  with 
 humility  in  prostrations,  and  with  the  stimulus 
 of  music  and  song.     What  then  is  left  for  me  ? 
 
 Therefore,  for  the  perfect  man  who  is  unavoid- 
 ably summoned  to  power  over  his  fellows,  there  is 
 naught  like  Inaction. 
 
 It  is  not  according  to  the  spirit  of  Tao  that  a  man 
 should  shirk  his  mortal  responsibilities.  On  the  con- 
 trary, Tao  teaches  him  how  to  meet  them. 
 
 By  means  of  inaction  he  will  be  able  to  adapt  him- 
 self to  the  natural  conditions  of  existence.  And 
 so  it  is  that  he  who  respects  the  State  as  his  own 
 body  is  fit  to  support  it,  and  he  who  loves  the  State 
 as  his  own  body,  is  fit  to  govern  it. 
 
 This  last  sentence  is  attributed  by  Huai  Nan  Tzu 
 to  Lao  Tzu,  and  has  been  incorporated  in  the  Tao- 
 Te-Cking,  ch.  xiii.  It  is  curious  that  Chuang  Tzii 
 should  say  nothing  about  its  authorship,  and  perhaps 
 even  more  curious  that  Kuo  Hsiang,  his  editor  and 
 commentator  of  the  fourth  century  a.d.,  should  say 
 nothing  either  about  the  claims  of  Lao  Tzu  or  the 
 Tao-  Te-  Ch  ing. 
 
 And  if  I  can  refrain  from  injuring  my  internal 
 economy,  and  from  taxing  my  powers  of  sight  and 
 hearing,  sitting  like  a  corpse  while  my  dragon- 
 power  is  manifested  around,  in  profound  silence 
 while  my  thunder-voice  resounds,  the  powers  of 
 heaven  responding  to  every  phase  of  my  will,   as 
 
^^ 
 
 CAP.  XI.]  On  Letting  Alone  123 
 
 under  the  yielding  influence  of  inaction  all  things 
 are  brought  to  maturity  and  thrive, — what  leisure 
 then  have  I  to  set  about  governing  the  world  ? 
 
 Some  of  this  passage  is  repeated  in  ch.  xiv. 
 
 Ts'ui  Chii 
 
 A  casual  personage. 
 
 asked  Lao  Tzu,  saying,  "  If  the  empire  is  not  to 
 be  governed,  how  are  men's  hearts  to  be  kept  in 
 order  ? " 
 
 "  Be  careful,"  replied  Lao  Tzu,  "  not  to  interfere 
 with  the  natural  goodness  of  the  heart  of  man. 
 Man's  heart  may  be  forced  down  or  stirred  up.  In 
 each  case  the  issue  is  fatal. 
 
 "  By  gentleness,  the  hardest  heart  may  be 
 softened.  But  try  to  cut  and  polish  it, — 'twill  glow 
 like  fire  or  freeze  like  ice.  In  the  twinkling  of  an 
 eye  it  will  pass  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Four  Seas. 
 In  repose,  profoundly  still ;  in  motion,  far  away  in 
 the  sky.  No  bolt  can  bar,  no  bond  can  bind, — 
 such  is  the  human  heart." 
 
 "  Of  old,  the  Yellow  Emperor  first  caused  charity 
 and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  to  interfere  with  the  ^ 
 natural  goodness  of  the  heart  of  man.  In  con- 
 sequence of  which,  Yao  and  Shun  wore  the  hair 
 off  their  legs  in  endeavouring  to  feed  their  people. 
 They  disturbed  their  internal  economy  in  order  to 
 find  room  for  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour. 
 They  exhausted  their  energies  in  framing  laws  and 
 statutes.     Still  they  did  not  succeed. 
 
124  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 "  Thereupon,  Yao  confined  Huan  Tou  on  Mount 
 Tsung ;  drove  the  chief  of  San-miao  and  his  people 
 into  San-wei,  and  kept  them  there  ;  and  banished 
 the  Minister  of  Works  to  Yu  Island. 
 
 These  words  are  quoted  (with  variants)  from  the 
 Shti  Ching  or  Canon  of  History.  They  refer  to 
 individuals  who  had  misconducted  themselves  in 
 carrying  out  the  new  regime. 
 
 But  they  were  not  equal  to  their  task,  and  through 
 the  times  of  the  Three  Princes 
 
 The  Great  Yii,  T'ang,  and  Wen  Wang,  founder  of 
 the  Chou  dynasty. 
 
 the  empire  was  in  a  state  of  great  unrest.  Among 
 the  bad  men  were  Chieh  and  Che  ;  among  the  good 
 were  Tseng  and  Shih.  By  and  by,  the  Confu- 
 cianists  and  the  Mihists  arose ;  and  then  came 
 exultation  and  anger  of  rivals,  fraud  between  the 
 simple  and  the  cunning,  recrimination  between  the 
 virtuous  and  the  evil,  slander  between  the  honest 
 and  the  dishonest, — until  decadence  set  in,  men  fell 
 away  from  their  original  virtue,  their  natures 
 became  corrupt,  and  there  was  a  general  rush  for 
 knowledge. 
 
 "The  next  thing  was  to  coerce  by  all  kinds  of 
 physical  torture,  thus  bringing  utter  confusion  into 
 the  empire,  the  blame  for  which  rests  upon  those 
 who  would  interfere  with  the  natural  goodness  of 
 the  heart  of  man. 
 
 "  In  consequence,  virtuous  men  sought  refuge  in 
 mountain  caves,  while  rulers  of  States  sat  trembling 
 
CAP.  XI.]  On  Letting  Alone  1 25 
 
 in  their  ancestral  halls.  Then,  when  dead  men 
 lay  about  pillowed  on  each  others'  corpses,  when 
 cangued  prisoners  and  condemned  criminals  jostled 
 each  other  in  crowds, — then  the  Confucianists  and 
 the  Mihists,  in  the  midst  of  gyves  and  fetters,  stood 
 forth  to  preach  ! 
 
 Salvation  from  the  ills  of  which  they  and  their  sys- 
 tems had  been  the  cause. 
 
 Alas,  they  know  not  shame,  nor  what  it  is  to  blush  ! 
 "  Until  I  can  say  that  the  wisdom  of  Sages  is 
 not  a  fastener  of  cangues,  and  that  charity  and 
 duty  to  one's  neighbour  are  not  bolts  for  gyves, 
 how  should  I  know  that  Tseng  and  Shih  are  not 
 the  forerunners 
 
 Lit.   "  sounding  arrows,"  used  by  bandits  as  a  signal 
 
 for  beginning  the  attack. 
 
 of  Chieh  and  Ch^  ? 
 
 The  meaning   intended    is   that  £'ood  cannot   exist 
 without  its  correlative  evi/. 
 
 "Therefore  I  said,  'Abandon  wisdom  and  dis- 
 card knowledge,  and  the  empire  will  be  at  peace.'  " 
 These  words  have  been  incorporated  in  ch.  xix  of 
 the  Tao-Te-Ching.  The  present  rendering  some- 
 what modifies  the  view  I  expressed  on  p.  16  of  The 
 Remains  of  Lao  Tzii. 
 
 The  Yellow  Emperor  sat  on  the  throne  for  nine- 
 teen years,  and  his  laws  obtained  all  over  the 
 empire. 
 
 Hearing  that  Kuang  Ch'eng  Tzu 
 
 Said  by  some  commentators  to  be  another  name  for 
 
126  Chtiang  Tzii 
 
 Lao  Tzu,  but  if  so,  then  it  must  have  been  Lao  Tzii 
 as  he  existed,  an  incarnation  of  Tao,  before  his 
 appearance  in  the  Confucian  age. 
 
 was  living  on  Mount  K'ung-t'ung,  he  went  thither 
 to  see  him,  and  said,  "  I  am  told,  Sir,  that  you  are 
 in  possession  of  perfect  Tao.  May  I  ask  in  what 
 perfect  Tao  consists  ?  I  desire  to  avail  myself  of 
 the  good  influence  of  heaven  and  earth  in  order  to 
 secure  harvests  and  feed  my  people.  I  should  also 
 like  to  control  the  Two  Powers  of  nature 
 The  Yin  and  the  Yang.     See  pp.  82,  120. 
 
 in  order  to  the  protection  of  all  living  things. 
 How  can  I  accomplish  this  ?  " 
 
 "  What  you  desire  to  avail  yourself  of,"  replied 
 Kuang  Ch  eng  Tzu,  *'  is  the  primordial  integrity  of 
 matter.  What  you  wish  to  control  are  the  disin- 
 tegrators thereof.  Ever  since  the  empire  has  been 
 governed  by  you,  the  clouds  have  rained  without 
 waiting  to  thicken,  the  foliage  of  trees  has  fallen 
 without  waiting  to  grow  yellow,  the  brightness  of 
 the  sun  and  moon  has  paled,  and  the  voice  of  the 
 flatterer  is  heard  on  every  side.  How  then  speak 
 of  perfect  Tao  ?  " 
 
 The  Yellow  Emperor  withdrew.  He  resigned 
 the  Throne.  He  built  himself  a  solitary  hut.  He 
 lay  upon  straw.  For  three  months  he  remained 
 in  seclusion,  and  then  went  again  to  see  Kuang 
 Ch  eng  Izu. 
 
 The  latter  was  lying  down  with  his  face  to  the 
 south.  The  Yellow  Emperor  approached  after  the 
 manner  of  an  inferior,  upon  his  knees.    Prostrating 
 
CAP.  XI.]  On  Letting  Alone  1 27 
 
 himself  upon  the  ground  he  said,  "  I  am  told,  Sir, 
 that  you  are  in  possession  of  perfect  Tao.  May  I 
 ask  how  my  self  may  be  preserved  so  as  to  last  ?  " 
 
 Kuang  Ch'^ng  Tzu  jumped  up  with  a  start.  "A 
 good  question  indeed  !  "  cried  he.  "  Come,  and  I 
 will  speak  to  you  of  perfect  Tao. 
 
 "  The  essence  of  perfect  Tao  is  profoundly 
 mysterious  ;  its  extent  is  lost  in  obscurity. 
 
 "  See  nothing ;  hear  nothing  ;  let  your  soul  be 
 wrapped  in  quiet ;  and  your  body  will  begin  to  take 
 proper  form.  Let  there  be  absolute  repose  and 
 absolute  purity ;  do  not  weary  your  body  nor  dis- 
 turb your  vitality, — and  you  will  live  for  ever.  For 
 if  the  eye  sees  nothing,  and  the  ear  hears  nothing, 
 and  the  mind 
 
 Lit,  the  heart. 
 
 thinks  nothing,  the  soul  will  preserve  the  body, 
 and  the  body  will  live  for  ever. 
 
 Not  in  the  grosser  worldly  sense,  but  as  a  sublimated 
 unit  in  eternity. 
 
 "  Cherish  that  which  is  within  you,  and  shut  off 
 that  which  is  without ;  for  much  knowledge  is  a 
 curse.  Then  I  will  place  you  upon  that  abode  of 
 Great  Light  which  is  the  source  of  the  positive 
 Power,  and  escort  you  through  the  gate  of  Pro- 
 found Mystery  which  is  the  source  of  the  negative 
 Power.  These  Powers  are  the  controllers  of  heaven 
 and  earth,  and  each  contains  the  other. 
 
 Knowledge  thereof  is  knowledge  of  the  great  mys- 
 tery of  human  existence. 
 
128  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 "  Cherish  and  preserve  your  own  self, 
 
 In  accordance  with  the  above. 
 
 and  all  the  rest  will  prosper  of  itself. 
 
 The  welfare  of  the  people,  the  success  of  their  har- 
 vests, etc. 
 
 I  preserve  the  original  One,  while  resting  in  har- 
 mony with  externals.  It  is  because  I  have  thus 
 cared  for  my  self  now  for  twelve  hundred  years 
 that  my  body  has  not  decayed." 
 
 The  Yellow  Emperor  prostrated  himself  and 
 said,   "  Kuang  Ch  eng  Tzu  is  surely  God " 
 
 Whereupon  the  latter  continued,  "  Come,  I  will 
 tell  you.  That  self  is  eternal ;  yet  all  men  think  it 
 mortal.  That  self  is  infinite ;  yet  all  men  think  it 
 finite.-  Those  who  possess  Tao  are  princes  in  this 
 life  and  rulers  in  the  hereafter.  Those  who  do  not 
 possess  Tao,  behold  the  light  of  day  in  this  life 
 and  become  clods  of  earth  in  the  hereafter. 
 
 "  Nowadays,  all  living  things  spring  from  the  dust 
 and  to  the  dust  return.  But  I  will  lead  you  through 
 the  portals  of  Eternity  into  the  domain  of  Infinity. 
 My  light  is  the  light  of  sun  and  moon.  My  life  is 
 the  life  of  heaven  and  earth.  I  know  not  who 
 comes  nor  who  goes.  Men  may  all  die,  but  I 
 endure  for  ever." 
 
 "A  mighty  drama,  enacted  on  the  theatre  of  Infini- 
 tude, with  suns  for  lamps,  and  Eternity  as  a  back- 
 ground ;  whose  author  is  God,  and  whose  purport 
 and  thousandfold  moral  lead  us  up  to  the  '  dark  with 
 excess  of  light'  of  the  throne  of  God." — Carlyle. 
 
 I 
 
CAP.  XI.]  On  Letting  Alone  129 
 
 The  Spirit  of  the  Clouds  when  passing  east- 
 wards through  the  expanse  of  Air 
 
 The  term  here  used  has  also  been  explained  to  mean 
 some  supernatural  kind  of  tree,  over  which  we  may 
 imagine  the  Cloud-Spirit  to  be  passing. 
 
 happened  to  fall  in  with  the  Vital  Principle.  The 
 latter  was  slapping  his  ribs  and  hopping  about ; 
 whereupon  the  Spirit  of  the  Clouds  said,  "Who 
 are  you,  old  man,  and  what  are  you  doing  here  ?  " 
 
 "  Strolling  !  "  replied  the  Vital  Principle,  without 
 stopping. 
 
 Activities  ceaseless  in  their  imperceptible  operation. 
 
 *'  I  want  to  know  something,"  continued  the 
 Spirit  of  the  Clouds. 
 
 "Ah  !  "  uttered  the  Vital  Principle,  in  a  tone  of. 
 disapprobation. 
 
 "  The  relationship  of  heaven  and  earth  is  out  of 
 harmony,"  said  the  Spirit  of  the  Clouds  ;  "  the  six 
 influences  do  not  combine, 
 
 The  positive  and  negative  principles,  wind,  rain, 
 darkness,  and  light. 
 
 and  the  four  seasons  are  no  longer  regular.  I  desire 
 to  blend  the  six  influences  so  as  to  nourish  all 
 living  beings.     What  am  I  to  do  ?  " 
 
 "I  do  not  know!"  cried  the  Vital  Principle, 
 shaking  his  head,  while  still  slapping  his  ribs  and 
 hopping  about ;  "  I  do  not  know !  " 
 
 So  the  Spirit  of  the  Clouds  did  not  press  his 
 question  ;  but  three  years  later,  when  passing  east- 
 wards through  the  Yu-sung  territory,  he  again  fell 
 
 K 
 
130  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 in  with  the  Vital  Principle.  The  former  was  over- 
 joyed, and  hurrying  up,  said,  "  Has  your  Holiness 
 forgotten  me  ?  " 
 
 He  then  prostrated  himself,  and  desired  to  be 
 allowed  to  interrogate  the  Vital  Principle ;  but  the 
 latter  said,  "  I  wander  on  without  knowing  what  I 
 want.  I  roam  about  without  knowing  where  I  am 
 going.  I  stroll  in  this  ecstatic  manner,  simply 
 awaiting  events.     What  should  I  know  ?  " 
 
 "  I  too  roam  about,"  answered  the  Spirit  of  the 
 Clouds  ;  "  but  the  people  depend  upon  my  move- 
 ments. I  am  thus  unavoidably  summoned  to 
 power ;  and  under  these  circumstances  I  would 
 gladly  receive  some  advice." 
 
 "  That  the  scheme  of  empire  is  in  confusion,"  said 
 the  Vital  Principle,  "  that  the  conditions  of  life  are 
 violated,  that  the  will  of  God  does  not  triumph, 
 that  the  beasts  of  the  field  are  disorganised,  that 
 the  birds  of  the  air  cry  at  night,  that  blight  reaches 
 the  trees  and  herbs,  that  destruction  spreads  among 
 creeping  things, — this,  alas !  is  the  fault  of 
 government.'' 
 
 "  True,"  replied  the  Spirit  of  the  Clouds,  "  but 
 what  am  I  to  do  ?  " 
 
 "  It  is  here,"  cried  the  Vital  Principle,  "  that  the 
 poison  lurks  !     Go  back  !  " 
 
 To  the  root,  to  that  natural  state  in  which  by  inaction 
 all  things  are  accomplished. 
 
 "  It  is  not  often,"  urged  the  Spirit  of  the  Clouds, 
 "  that  I  meet  with  your  Holiness.  I  would  gladly 
 receive  some  advice." 
 
CAP.  XI.]  On  Letting  Alone  131 
 
 "  Feed  then  your  people,"  said  the  Vital  Prin- 
 ciple,  "  with  your  heart. 
 
 By  the  influence  of  your  own  perfection. 
 Rest  in  inaction,  and  the  world  will  be  good  of 
 itself.  Cast  your  slough.  Spit  forth  intelligence. 
 Ignore  all  differences.  Become  one  with  the  infinite. 
 Release  your  mind.  Free  your  soul.  Be  vacuous. 
 Be  Nothing  ! 
 
 *'  Let  all  things  revert  to  their  original  consti- 
 tution. If  they  do  this,  without  knowledge,  the 
 result  will  be  a  simple  purity  which  they  will  never 
 lose  ;  but  knowledge  will  bring  with  it  a  divergence 
 therefrom.  Seek  not  the  names  nor  the  relations  of 
 things,  and  all  things  will  flourish  of  themselves." 
 
 "  Knowledge  is  the  knowing  that  we  cannot  know." 
 Emerson. 
 
 "  Your  Holiness,"  said  the  Spirit  of  the  Clouds, 
 as  he  prostrated  himself  and  took  leave,  "  has  in- 
 formed me  with  power  and  filled  me  with  mysteries. 
 What  I  had  long  sought,  I  have  now  found." 
 
 The  men  of  this  world  all  rejoice  in  others  being 
 like  themselves,  and  object  to  others  not  being  like 
 themselves. 
 
 "The  man,  and  still  more  the  woman,  who  can  be 
 accused  either  of  doing  '  what  nobody  does,'  or  of 
 not  doing  *  what  everbody  does,'  is  the  subject  of  as 
 much  depreciatory  remark  as  if  he  or  she  had  com- 
 mitted some  grave  moral  delinquency."  Mill's  Essay 
 on  Liberty y  ch.  iii. 
 
 Those  who  make  friends  with  their  likes  and  do 
 
 K    2 
 
132  Chuang  TzH 
 
 not  make  friends  with  their  unlikes,  are  influenced 
 by  a  desire  to  difl"erentiate  themselves  from  others. 
 But  those  who  are  thus  influenced  by  a  desire  to 
 differentiate  themselves  from  others, — how  will  they 
 find  it  possible  to  do  so  ? 
 
 As  all  have  similar  ambitions,  they  will  only  be  on 
 the  same  footing  as  the  rest. 
 
 To  subordinate  oneself  to  the  majority  in  order  to 
 gratify  personal  ambition,  is  not  so  good  as  to  let 
 that  majority  look  each  one  after  his  own  affairs. 
 Those  who  desire  to  govern  kingdoms,  clutch  at  the 
 advantages  of  the  Three  Princes  without  seeing  the 
 troubles  involved.  In  fact,  they  trust  to  luck.  But 
 in  thus  trusting  to  luck  not  to  destroy  the  kingdom, 
 their  chances  of  preserving  it  do  not  amount  to  one 
 in  ten  thousand,  while  their  chances  of  destroying 
 it  are  ten  thousand  to  nothing  and  even  more. 
 Such,  alas !  is  the  ignorance  of  rulers. 
 
 The  above  somewhat  unsatisfactory  paragraph  con- 
 demns those  who  strive  to  distinofuish  themselves 
 from,  and  set  themselves  up  as  governors  of,  their 
 fellow-men. 
 
 For,  given  territory,  there  is  the  great  thing — 
 Man.  Given  man,  he  must  not  be  managed  as  if 
 he  were  a  mere  thing;  though  by  not  managing  him 
 at  all  he  may  actually  be  managed  as  if  he  were  a 
 mere  thing.  And  for  those  who  understand  that 
 the  management  of  man  as  if  he  were  a  mere  thing 
 is  not  the  way  to  manage  him,  the  issue  is  not  con- 
 fined to  mere  government  of  the  empire.  Such  men 
 may  wander  at  will  between  the  six  limits  of  space  or 
 
CAP.  XI.]  On  Letting  Alone  133 
 
 travel  over  the  continent  of  earth,  unrestrained  in 
 coming  and  in  going.  This  is  to  be  distinguished 
 from  one's  fellows,  and  this  distinction  is  the 
 highest  attainable  by  man. 
 
 The  doctrine  of  the  perfect  man  is  to  him  as 
 shadow  to  form,  as  echo  to  sound.  Ask  and  it 
 responds,  fulfilling  its  mission  as  the  help-mate  of 
 humanity.  Noiseless  in  repose,  objectless  in 
 motion,  it  guides  you  to  the  goal,  free  to  come  and 
 free  to  go  for  ever  without  end.  Alone  in  its  exits 
 and  its  entrances,  it  rivals  the  eternity  of  the  sun. 
 
 As  for  his  body,  that  is  in  accordance  with  the 
 usual  standard.  Being  in  accordance  with  the  usual 
 standard  it  is  not  distinguished  in  any  way.  But  if 
 not  distinguished  in  any  way,  what  becomes  of  the 
 distinction  by  which  he  is  distinguished  ? 
 
 Those  who  see  what  is  to  be  seen, — of  such  were 
 the  perfect  men  of  old.  Those  who  see  what  is  not 
 to  be  seen,— they  are  the  chosen  of  the  universe. 
 
 Spiritual    sight    carries    them    beyond    the    horizon 
 where  natural  vision  stops  short. 
 
 Low  in  the  scale,  but  still  to  be  allowed  for, — 
 matter.     Humble,  but  still  to  be  followed, — 
 
 Rather  than  guided, 
 mankind.  Of  others,  but  still  to  be  attended  to, —  / 
 affairs.  Harsh,  but  still  necessary  to  be  set  forth, — 
 the  law.  Far  off,  but  still  claiming  our  presence, — 
 duty  to  one's  neighbour.  Near,  but  still  claiming 
 extension, — charity.  Of  sparing  use,  but  still  to  be 
 of  bounteous  store, — ceremony.  Of  middle  course, 
 but  still  to  be  of  lofty  scope, — virtue.     One,   but 
 
134  Clmang  Tzic 
 
 not  to  be  without  modification, — Tao.     Spiritual, 
 yet  not  to  be  devoid  of  action, — God. 
 
 In  inaction  there  is  action. 
 Therefore  the  true  Sage  looks  up  to  God,  but 
 does  not  offer  to  aid.  He  perfects  his  virtue,  but 
 does  not  involve  himself.  He  guides  himself  by 
 ,  Tao,  but  makes  no  plans.  He  identifies  himself 
 with  charity,  but  does  not  rely  on  it.  He  extends 
 to  duty  towards  his  neighbour,  but  does  not  store  it 
 up.   He  responds  to  ceremony,  without  tabooing  it. 
 
 Although   really  recognising  only  the  ceremony  of 
 
 the  heart  which  requires  no  outward  sign. 
 He  undertakes  affairs  without  declining  them.  He 
 metes  out  law  without  confusion.  He  relies  on  his 
 fellow-men  and  does  not  make  light  of  them.  He 
 accommodates  himself  to  matter  and  does  not 
 ignore  it. 
 
 Thus  the  action  of  the  Sage  is  after  all  inaction, 
 j         While  there  should  be  no  action,  there  should  be 
 also  no  inaction. 
 
 Of  a  positive,  premeditated  character. 
 He  who  is  not  divinely  enlightened  will  not  be  sub- 
 limely pure.  He  who  has  not  clear  apprehension  of 
 Tao  will  find  this  beyond  his  reach.  And  he  who 
 is  not  enlightened  by  Tao, — alas  indeed  for  him  ! 
 J  What  then  is  Tao  ?— There  is  the  Tao  of  God, 
 and  the  Tao  of  man.  Inaction  and  compliance 
 make  the  Tao  of  God  :  action  and  entanglement 
 the  Tao  of  man.  The  Tao  of  God  is  fundamental  : 
 the  Tao  of  man  is  accidental.  The  distance  which 
 separates  them  is  great.  Let  us  all  take  heed 
 thereto  ! 
 
135 
 
 CHAPTER    XII. 
 
 The  Universe. 
 
 Argument: — The  preeminence  ofTAO — All  things  informed  thereby — 
 The  true  Sage  illumined  thereby — His  attributes — His  perfection — 
 Man's  senses  his  bane — Illustrations. 
 
 VAST  as  is  the  universe,  its  phenomena  are 
 regular.  Countless  though  its  contents,  the 
 laws  which  govern  these  are  uniform.  Many 
 though  its  inhabitants,  that  which  dominates  them 
 is  sovereignty.  Sovereignty  begins  in  virtue  and 
 ends  in  God.     Therefore  it  is  called  divine. 
 
 The  term  here  used  has  been  elsewhere  rendered 
 "  infinite." 
 
 Of  old,  the  empire  was  under  the  sovereignty  of 
 inaction.  There  was  the  virtue  of  God, — nothing 
 more. 
 
 Meaning,  of  course,  Tag.    In  other  words,  all  things 
 existed  under  their  own  natural  conditions. 
 
 Words  being  in  accordance  with  Tao,  the 
 sovereignty  of  the  empire  was  correct.  Delimita- 
 tions being  in  accordance  with  Tao,  the  duties  of 
 prince  and  subject  were  clear.  Abilities  being  in 
 accordance  with  Tag,   the   officials  of  the  empire 
 
136  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 governed.      The   point   of    view   being   always  in 
 accordance  with  Tao,  all  things  responded  thereto. 
 
 Under  the  reign  of  inaction,  the  natural  prevailed 
 over  the  artificial.  (1)  The  sovereign  could  utter 
 no  cruel  mandate.  (2)  Sovereign  and  subject  each 
 played  his  allotted  part.  (3)  The  right  men  were 
 in  the  right  place.  (4)  All  things  were  as  they 
 were,  and  not  as  man  would  have  them. 
 
 /  Thus,  virtue  was  the  connecting  link  between 
 God  and  man,  while  Tao  spread  throughout  all 
 creation.  Men  were  controlled  by  outward  circum- 
 stances, applying  their  in-born  skill  to  the  develop- 
 ment of  civilised  life.  This  skill  was  bound  up 
 with  the  circumstances  of  life,  and  these  with  duty, 
 and  duty  with  virtue,  and  virtue  with  Tao,  and 
 
 •^  Tao  with  God. 
 
 Therefore  it  has  been  said,  "As  for  those  who 
 nourished  the  empire  of  old,  having  no  desires  for 
 themselves,  the  empire  was  not  in  want.  They  did 
 nothing,  and  all  things  proceeded  on  their  course. 
 They  preserved  a  dignified  repose,  and  the  people 
 rested  in  peace." 
 
 We  are  not  told  who  said  these  words.  They  are 
 not  in  the  Tao-Te-Ching ;  and  yet  if  Lao  Tzu  did 
 not  utter  them,  it  is  difficult  to  say  who  did. 
 
 The  Record  says,  "  By  converging  to  One,  all 
 things  may  be  accomplished.  By  the  virtue  which 
 is  without  intention,  even  the  supernatural  may  be 
 subdued."  ' 
 
 How    much    more    man?      Kuo    Hsiang   says    the 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The  Universe  1 37 
 
 Record  was  the   name  of  a   work   ascribed   to  Lao 
 Tzu. 
 
 The  Master  said,  "  Tao  covers  and  supports  all 
 things," — so  vast  is  its  extent.  Each  man  should 
 prepare  his  heart  accordingly. 
 
 This    "  Master "    has    been    identified    with    both 
 Chuang  Tzii  and  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 "  To  act  by  means  of  inaction  is  God.  To  speak  ^ 
 by  means  of  inaction  is  Virtue.  To  love  men  and 
 care  for  things  is  Charity.  To  recognise  the  unlike 
 as  the  like  is  breadth  of  view.  To  make  no  distinc- 
 tions is  liberal.  To  possess  variety  is  wealth.  And 
 so,  to  hold  fast  to  virtue  is  strength.  To  complete 
 virtue  is  establishment.  To  follow  Tao  is  to  be 
 prepared.  And  not  to  run  counter  to  the  natural 
 bias  of  things  is  to  be  perfect. 
 
 "  He  who  fully  realises  these  ten  points,  by  stor- 
 ing them  within  enlarges  his  heart,  and  with  this 
 enlargement  brings  all  creation  to  himself.  Such  a 
 man  will  bury  gold  on  the  hillside  and  cast  pearls 
 into  the  sea.  He  will  not  struggle  for  wealth,  nor 
 strive  for  fame.  He  will  not  rejoice  at  old  age,  nor 
 grieve  over  early  death.  He  will  find  no  pleasure 
 in  success,  no  chagrin  in  failure.  He  will  not 
 account  a  throne  as  his  own  private  gain,  nor  the 
 empire  of  the  world  as  glory  personal  to  himself. 
 His  glory  is  to  know  that  all  things  are  One,  and 
 that  life  and  death  are  but  phases  of  the  same 
 existence  !  " 
 
 "  Let  man  learn  that  he  is  here,  not  to  work,  but  to 
 
1^8  C/llt(Ulir    Tzu 
 
 .b 
 
 be  worked  upon  ;  and  that,  though  abyss  open 
 under  abyss,  and  opinion  displace  opinion,  all  are 
 at  last  contained  in  the  Eternal  Cause."     Efuerson. 
 
 The  Master  said,  "  How  profound  in  its  repose, 
 how  infinite  in  its  purity,  is  Tao  ! 
 
 "If  metal  and  stone  were  without  Tag,  they 
 would  not  be  capable  of  emitting  sound.  And 
 just  as  they  possess  the  property  of  sound  but  will 
 not  emit  sound  unless  struck,  so  surely  is  the  same 
 principle  applicable  to  all  creation. 
 
 Meaning  that  all  creation  is  responsive  to  proper 
 influences,  in  accordance  with  Tag,  if  we  only  knew 
 where  to  seek  them. 
 
 "  The  man  of  complete  virtue  remains  blankly 
 passive  as  regards  what  goes  on  around  him.  He 
 is  as  originally  by  nature,  and  his  knowledge 
 extends  to  the  supernatural.  Thus,  his  virtue 
 expands  his  heart,  which  goes  forth  to  all  who 
 come  to  take  refuge  therein. 
 
 His  heart  does  not  initiate  the  movement,  but 
 simply  responds  to  an  influence  brought  to  bear. 
 
 **  W^ithout  Tag,  form  cannot  be  endued  with 
 life.  W^ithout  virtue,  life  cannot  be  endued  with 
 intelligence.  To  preserve  one's  form,  live  out  one's 
 life,  establish  one's  virtue,  and  realise  Tag, — is  not 
 this  complete  virtue  ? 
 
 "  Issuing  forth  spontaneously,  moving  without 
 premeditation,  all  things  following  in  his  wake, — 
 such  is  the  man  of  complete  virtue  ! 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The   Universe  139 
 
 "  He  can  see  where  all  is  dark.  He  can  hear 
 where  all  is  still.  In  the  darkness  he  alone  can  see 
 light.  In  the  stillness  he  alone  can  detect  harmony. 
 He  can  sink  to  the  lowest  depths  of  materialism. 
 To  the  highest  heights  of  spirituality  he  can  soar. 
 This  because  he  stands  in  due  relation  to  all  things. 
 Though  a  mere  abstraction,  he  can  minister  to  their 
 wants,  and  ever  and  anon  receive  them  into  rest, — 
 the  great,  the  small,  the  long,  the  short,  for  ever 
 without  end." 
 
 He  is,   as    it   were,   a  law   of  compensation  to   all 
 things. 
 
 The  Yellow  Emperor  travelled  to  the  north 
 of  the  Red  Lake  and  ascended  the  K'un-lun 
 Mountains.  Returning  south  he  lost  his  magic 
 pearl. 
 
 His  spiritual  part,  his  soul. 
 
 He  employed  Intelligence  to  find  it,  but  without 
 success.  He  employed  Sight  to  find  it,  but  with- 
 out success.     He  employed  Speech 
 
 Also  explained  as  "  Strength." 
 
 to    find    it,    but    without     success.       Finally,    he 
 employed  Nothing,  and  Nothing  got  it. 
 
 He  did  not  employ  Nothing   to  fi7id  it.     He   only 
 employed  Nothing. 
 
 "  Strange  indeed,"  quoth  the  Emperor,  "  that 
 Nothing  should  have  been  able  to  get  it !  "  ^ 
 
 Knowledge,    sight,    and    speech,    tend    to    obscure 
 
140  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 rather  than  illuminate  the  spiritual  nature  of  man. 
 Only  in  a  state  of  negation  can  true  spirituality  be 
 found. 
 
 Yao's  tutor  was  Hsii  Yu.  The  latter's  tutor  was 
 Yeh  Chueh,  and  Yeh  Chueh's  tutor  was  Wang  I, 
 whose  tutor  was  Pei  I. 
 
 Yao  enquired  of  Hsii  Yu,  saying,  "  Would  Yeh 
 Ch'iieh  do  to  be  emperor  ?  I  am  going  to  get 
 Wang  I  to  ask  him." 
 
 "Alas!"  cried  Hsu  Yu,  "that  would  be  bad 
 indeed  for  the  empire.  Yeh  Ch'iieh  is  a  clever  and 
 capable  man.  He  is  by  nature  better  than  most 
 men,  but  he  seeks  by  means  of  the  human  to  reach 
 the  divine.  He  strives  to  do  no  wrong ;  but  he  is 
 ignorant  of  the  source  from  which  wrong  springs. 
 Emperor  forsooth  !  He  avails  himself  of  the 
 artificial  and  neglects  the  natural.  He  lacks  unity 
 in  himself.  He  worships  intelligence  and  is  always 
 in  a  state  of  ferment.  He  is  a  slave  to  circum- 
 stances and  to  things.  Wherever  he  looks,  his 
 surroundings  respond.  He  himself  responds  to 
 his  surroundings. 
 
 He  is  not  yet  an  abstraction,  informed  by  Tao. 
 
 He  is  always  undergoing  modifications  and  is 
 wanting  in  fixity.  How  should  such  a  one  be  fit 
 for  emperor  ?  Still  every  clan  has  its  elder.  He 
 may  be  leader  of  a  clan,  but  not  a  leader  of  leaders. 
 A  captain  who  has  been  successful  in  suppressing 
 rebellion,  as  minister  is  a  bane,  as  sovereign,  a 
 thief." 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The  Universe  141 
 
 Yao  went  to  visit  Hua.  The  border-warden  of 
 Hua  said  "Ha!  a  Sage.  My  best  respects  to 
 you,  Sir.      I  wish  you  a  long  life." 
 
 "  Don't !  "  replied  Yao. 
 
 "  I  wish  you  plenty  of  money,"  continued  the 
 border-warden. 
 
 "  Don't !  "  replied  Yao. 
 
 "  And  many  sons,"  added  he. 
 
 "  Don't !  "  replied  Yao. 
 
 **  Long  life,  plenty  of  money,  and  many  sons," 
 cried  the  warden,  "  these  are  what  all  men  desire. 
 How  is  it  you  alone  do  not  want  them  ?  " 
 
 "  Many  sons,"  answered  Yao,"  are  many 
 anxieties.  Plenty  of  money  means  plenty  of 
 trouble.  Long  life  involves  much  that  is  not 
 pleasant  to  put  up  with.  These  three  gifts  do  not 
 advance  virtue  ;  therefore  I  declined  them." 
 
 "  At  first  I  took  you  for  a  Sage,"  said  the 
 warden,  "  but  now  I  find  you  are  a  mere  man. 
 God,  in  sending  man  into  the  world,  gives  to  each 
 his  proper  function.  If  you  have  many  sons  and 
 give  to  each  his  proper  function,  what  cause  have 
 you  for  anxiety  ? 
 
 "  And  similarly,  if  you  have  wealth  and  allow 
 others  to  share  it,  what  troubles  will  you  have  ?  " 
 
 "  The  true  Sage  dwells  like  the  quail 
 
 At  random. 
 and  feeds  like  a  fledgeling. 
 
 Which  is  dependent  on  its  parents. 
 He  travels  like  the  bird,  leaving  no  trace  behind. 
 
142  Chua7ig  Tzii 
 
 If  there  be  Tao  in  the  empire,  he  and  all  things 
 are  in  harmony.  If  there  be  not  Tao,  he  culti- 
 vates virtue  in  retirement.  After  a  thousand  years 
 of  this  weary  world,  he  mounts  aloft,  and  riding 
 upon  the  white  clouds  passes  into  the  kingdom  of 
 God,  whither  the  three  evils  do  not  reach,  and 
 where  he  rests  secure  in  eternity.  What  is  there 
 to  put  up  with  in  that  ?  " 
 
 Thereupon  the  border-warden  went  off,  and  Yao 
 
 followed  him;   saying,  "  May  I  ask ,"  to  which 
 
 the  warden  only  replied  '*  Begone  !  " 
 
 The  style  of  the  above  episode  varies  enough  from 
 Chuang  Tzu's  standard  to  make  its  authorship 
 doubtful. 
 
 When  Yao  was  Emperor,  Poh  Ch  eng  Tzu  Kao 
 
 Lao  Tzu  under  a  previous  incarnation.  See  the 
 Kuang  Cheng  Tzu  of  p.  125. 
 
 was  one  of  his  vassals.  But  when  Yao  handed 
 over  the  empire  to  Shun,  and  Shun  to  the  Great 
 Yii,  Poh  Ch  eng  Tzu  Kao  resigned  his  fief  and 
 betook  himself  to  agriculture. 
 
 The  Great  Yu  going  to  visit  him,  found  him 
 working  in  the  fields  ;  whereupon  he  approached 
 humbly,  saying,  "  When  Yao  was  emperor,  you, 
 Sir,  were  a  vassal  ;  but  when  Yao  handed  over  the 
 empire  to  Shun,  and  Shun  to  me,  you  resigned 
 your  fief  and  betook  yourself  to  agriculture.  May 
 I  enquire  the  reason  of  this  ?  " 
 
 "  When  Yao  ruled  the  empire,"   said   Tzii   Kao, 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The   Universe  143 
 
 "  the  people  exerted  themselves  without  reward 
 and  behaved  themselves  without  punishment. 
 But  now  you  reward  and  punish  them,  and  yet 
 they  are  not  good.  From  this  point  virtue  will 
 decline,  the  reign  of  force  will  begin,  and  the 
 troubles  of  after  ages  will  date  their  rise.  Away 
 with  you  !  Do  not  interrupt  my  work."  And  he 
 quietly  went  on  ploughing  as  before. 
 
 The  above  episode  is  unmistakably  spurious. 
 
 At  the  beginning  of  the  beginning,  even  Nothing 
 did  not  exist.  Then  came  the  period  of  the 
 Nameless. 
 
 "The  Nameless,"  says  the  Tao-T^-Ching,  ch.  i, 
 "was  the  beginning  of  heaven  and  earth."  See 
 also  ch.  ii,  ante. 
 
 When  One  came  into  existence,  there  was  One, 
 but  it  was  formless.  When  things  got  that  by 
 which  they  came  into  existence,  it  was  called  their 
 virttte. 
 
 Sc.  that,  by  virtue  of  which  they  are  what  they  are. 
 See  p.  45. 
 
 That  which  was  formless,  but  divided. 
 
 I.e.  allotted, 
 though  without  interstice, 
 
 Unbroken  in  continuity. 
 
 was  called  destmy. 
 
 Then  came  the  movement  which  gave  life,  and 
 
144  CJmang  Tzii 
 
 things  produced  in  accordance  with  the  principles 
 of  life  had  what  is  called  form.  When  form 
 encloses  the  spiritual  part,  each  with  its  own 
 characteristics,  that  is  its  nature.  By  cultivating 
 this  nature,  we  are  carried  back  to  virtue ;  and  if 
 this  is  perfected,  we  become  as  all  things  were  in 
 the  beginning.  We  become  unconditioned,  and 
 the  unconditioned  is  great.  As  birds  join  their 
 beaks  in  chirping, 
 
 Unconsciously. 
 
 and  beaks  to  chirp  must  be  joined, — to  be  thus 
 joined  with  the  universe  without  being  more  con- 
 scious of  it  than  an  idiot,  this  is  divhie  virtue, 
 this  is  accordance  with  the  eternal  fitness  of 
 things. 
 
 Confucius  asked  Lao  Tzu,  saying,  "There  are 
 persons  who  cultivate  Tao  according  to  fixed  rules 
 of  possible  and  impossible,  fit  and  unfit,  just  as 
 the  schoolmen  speak  of  separating  hardness  from 
 whiteness  as  though  these  could  be  hung  up  on 
 different  pegs. 
 
 See  p.  22. 
 
 Could  such  persons  be  termed  sages  ?" 
 
 "  That,"  replied  Lao  Tzu,  "  is  but  the  skill  of 
 the  handicraftsman,  wearing  out  body  and  soul 
 alike.  The  powers  of  the  hunting-dog  involve  it 
 in  trouble ; 
 
 It  is  kept  by  man  instead  of  being  free. 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The  Universe  145 
 
 the  cleverness  of  the  monkey  brings  it  down  from 
 the  mountain. 
 
 Into  the  hands  of  man. 
 
 Ch'iu,  what  I  mean  you  cannot  understand,  neither 
 can  you  put  it  into  words. 
 
 Ch'iu  was  the  personal  name  of  Confucius.  It  is 
 never  uttered  by  the  Confucianist,  the  term  "  a 
 certain  one "  being  usually  substituted.  Neither  is 
 it  ever  written  down,  except  with  the  omission  of 
 some  stroke,  by  which  its  form  is  changed. 
 
 Those  who  have  a  head  and  feet,  but  no  mind  nor 
 ears,  are  many.  Those  who  have  a  body  without 
 a  body  or  appearance  of  one^  and  yet  there  they 
 are, —  are  none.  Movement  and  rest,  life  and 
 death,  rise  and  fall,  are  not  at  the  beck  and  call  of 
 man.  Cultivation  of  self  is  in  his  own  hands. 
 To  be  unconscious  of  objective  existences  and  of 
 God,  this  is  to  be  unconscious  of  one's  own  per- 
 sonality. And  he  who  is  unconscious  of  his  own 
 personality,  combines  in  himself  the  human  and 
 the  divine." 
 
 Chiang  Lii  Mien  went  to  see  Chi  Ch'^, 
 
 Two  obscure  personages. 
 
 and  said,  "  The  Prince  of  Lu  begged  me  to  instruct 
 him,  but  I  declined.  However,  he  would  take  no 
 refusal,  so  I  was  obliged  to  do  so.  I  don't  know  if 
 I  was  correct  in  my  doctrine  or  not.  Please  note 
 what  I  said.   I  told  him  to  be  decorous  and  thrifty ; 
 
146  Chnang  Tzil 
 
 to  advance  the  public-spirited  and  loyal,  and  to  have 
 no  partialities.  Then,  I  said,  no  one  would  venture 
 to  oppose  him." 
 
 Chi  Che  sniggered  and  said,  "  Your  remarks  on 
 the  virtues  of  Princes  may  be  compared  with  the 
 mantis  stretching  out  its  feelers  and  trying  to 
 stop  a  carriage, — not  likely  to  effect  the  object 
 proposed. 
 
 See  ch.  iv,  where  the  same  figure  is  used. 
 
 Besides,  he  would  be  placing  himself  in  the  position 
 of  a  man  who  builds  a  lofty  tower  and  makes  a  dis- 
 play of  his  valuables  where  all  his  neighbours  will 
 come  and  gaze  at  them." 
 
 Attracting  people  by  means  not  in  accordance  with 
 Tao. 
 
 ''Alas!  I  fear  I  am  but  a  fool,"  replied  Chiang 
 Lii  Mien.  "  Nevertheless,  I  should  be  glad  to  be 
 instructed  by  you  in  the  proper  course  to  pursue." 
 
 "  The  government  of  the  perfect  Sage,"  explained 
 Chi  Ch'^,  "  consists  ia  influencing  the  hearts  of  the 
 people  so  as  to  cause  them  to  complete  their 
 education,  to  reform  their  manners,  to  subdue  the 
 rebel  mind,  and  to  exert  themselves  orte  and  all  for 
 the  common  good.  This  influence  operates  in 
 accordance  with  the  natural  disposition  of  the 
 people,  who  are  thus  unconscious  of  its  operation. 
 He  who  can  so  act  has  no  need  to  humble  himself 
 before  the  teachings  of  Yao  and  Shun.  He  makes 
 the  desires  of  the  people  coincident  with  virtue, 
 and  their  hearts  rest  therein." 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The  Universe  1 47 
 
 When  Tzu  Kung 
 
 See  ch.  vi. 
 
 went  south  to  the  Ch'u  State  on  his  way  back  to 
 the  Chin  State,  he  passed  through  Han-yin.  There 
 he  saw  an  old  man  engaged  in  making  a  ditch  to 
 connect  his  vegetable  garden  with  a  well.  He  had 
 a  pitcher  in  his  hand,  with  which  he  was  bringing 
 up  water  and  pouring  it  into  the  ditch, — great 
 labour  with  very  little  result. 
 
 "If  you  had  a  machine  here,"  cried  Tzu  Kung, 
 "  in  a  day  you  could  irrigate  a  hundred  times  your 
 present  area.  The  labour  required  is  trifling  as 
 compared  with  the  work  done.  Would  you  not 
 like  to  have  one  ?  " 
 
 "  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  the  gardener. 
 
 "  It  is  a  contrivance  made  of  wood,"  replied  Tzu 
 Kung,  "  heavy  behind  and  light  in  front.  It  draws 
 up  water  as  you  do  with  your  hands,  but  in  a  con- 
 stantly overflowing  stream.  It  is  called  a  well- 
 sweep." 
 
 Still  used  all  over  China. 
 
 Thereupon  the  gardener  flushed  up  and  said,  "  I 
 have  heard  from  my  teacher  that  those  who  have 
 cunning  implements  are  cunning  in  their  dealings, 
 and  that  those  who  are  cunning  in  their  dealings 
 have  cunning  in  their  hearts,  and  that  those  who 
 have  cunning  in  their  hearts  cannot  be  pure  and 
 incorrupt,  and  that  those  who  are  not  pure  and 
 incorrupt  are  restless  in  spirit,  and  that  those  who 
 are  restless  in  spirit  are  not  fit  vehicles  for  Tao. 
 
 L  2 
 
148  Chimng  Tzii 
 
 It  is  not  that  I  do  not  know  of  these  things.  I 
 should  be  ashamed  to  use  them." 
 
 At  this  Tzu  Kung  was  much  abashed,  and  said 
 nothing.  Then  the  gardener  asked  him  who  he 
 was,  to  which  Tzu  Kung  replied  that  he  was  a 
 disciple  of  Confucius. 
 
 "  Are  you  not  one  who  extends  his  learning  with 
 a  view  to  being  a  Sage  ;  who  talks  big  in  order  to 
 put  himself  above  the  rest  of  mankind  ;  who  plays 
 in  a  key  to  which  no  one  can  sing  so  as  to  spread 
 his  reputation  abroad  ?  Rather  become  uncon- 
 scious of  self  and  shake  off  the  trammels  of  the 
 flesh, — and  you  will  be  near.  But  if  you  cannot 
 govern  your  own  self,  what  leisure  have  you  for 
 governing  the  empire  ?  Begone  !  Do  not  interrupt 
 my  work." 
 
 Tzu  Kung  changed  colour  and  slunk  away,  being 
 not  at  all  pleased  with  this  rebuff ;  and  it  was  not 
 before  he  had  travelled  some  thirty  //  that  he 
 recovered  his  usual  appearance. 
 
 **  What  did  the  man  w^e  met  do,"  asked  a  dis- 
 ciple, "  that  you  should  change  colour  and  not 
 recover  for  such  a  long  time  ?  " 
 
 "  I  used  to  think  there  was  only  one  man  in  all 
 the   world,"  replied  Tzu  Kung. 
 
 Meaning  Confucius. 
 
 "  I  did  not  know  that  there  was  also  this  man. 
 I  have  heard  the  Master  say  that  the  test  of  a 
 scheme  is  its  practicability,  and  that  success 
 must   be     certain.    The   minimum    of  effort   with 
 
CAP.  XII 
 
 ]  The  Universe  149 
 
 the  maximum  of  success, — such  is  the  way  of  the 
 Sage. 
 
 The  absurdity  of  attributing  such  doctrines  to  Con- 
 fucius will  be  apparent  to  every  student  of  the  Sage's 
 remains. 
 
 "  Not  so  this  manner  of  man.  Aiming  at  Tao, 
 he  perfects  his  virtue.  By  perfecting  his  virtue 
 he  perfects  his  body,  and  by  perfecting  his  body 
 he  perfects  his  spiritual  part.  And  the  perfection 
 of  the  spiritual  part  is  the  Tao  of  the  Sage. 
 Coming  into  life  he  is  as  one  of  the  people,  knowing 
 not  whither  he  is  bound.  How  complete  is  his 
 purity  ?  Success,  profit,  skill, — these  have  no  place 
 in  his  heart.  Such  a  man,  if  he  does  not  will  it,  he 
 does  not  stir  ;  if  he  does  not  wish  it,  he  does  not 
 act.  If  all  the  world  praises  him,  he  does  not 
 heed.  If  all  the  world  blames  him,  he  does  not 
 repine. 
 
 Reminding  us  of  the  philosopher  Yung  of  ch.  i. 
 
 The  praise  and  the  blame  of  the  world  neither 
 advantage  him  nor  otherwise.  He  may  be  called  a 
 man  of  perfect  virtue.  As  for  me,  I  am  but  a  mere 
 creature  of  impulse." 
 
 So  he  went  back  to  Lu  to  tell  Confucius.  But 
 Confucius  said,  "  That  fellow  pretends  to  a  know- 
 ledge of  the  science  of  the  ante-mundane.  He 
 knows  something,  but  not  much.  His  government 
 is  of  the  internal,  not  of  the  external.  What  is 
 there  wonderful  in  a  man  by  clearness  of  intel- 
 ligence becoming  pure,  by  inaction  reverting  to  his 
 
150  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 original  integrity,  and  with  his  nature  and  his 
 spiritual  part  wrapped  up  in  a  body,  passing 
 through  this  common  world  of  ours  ?  Besides,  to 
 you  and  to  me  the  science  of  the  ante-mundane  is 
 not  worth  knowing." 
 
 It  is  only  the  present  which  concerns  man. 
 This  last  is  an   utterance  which   might  well    have 
 fallen  from  the  lips   of  Confucius.      But  the  whole 
 episode  is  clearly  an  interpolation  of  later  times. 
 
 As  Chun  Mang  was  starting  eastwards  to  the 
 ocean,  he  fell  in  with  Yiian  Feng  on  the  shore  of 
 the  eastern  sea. 
 
 These    names    are    probably    allegorical,    but    it    is 
 difficult  to  say  in  exactly  what  sense. 
 
 "  Whither  bound  ?  "  cried  the  latter. 
 
 "  I  am  going  to  the  ocean,"  replied  Chun  Mang. 
 
 "  What  are  you  going  to  do  there  ?  "  asked  Yiian 
 Feng. 
 
 '*  The  ocean,"  said  Chun  Mang,  ''  is  a  thing  you 
 cannot  fill  by  pouring  in,  nor  empty  by  taking  out. 
 I  am  simply  on  a  trip." 
 
 You  cannot  do  anything  to  the  infinite. 
 
 "  But  surely  you  have  intentions  with  regard  to 
 the  straight-browed  people  ?  .  .  .  ,  Come,  tell  me 
 how  the  Sage  governs." 
 
 The    straight-browed,   lit.    horizontal-eyed,    people, 
 are  said  by  one  commentator  to  have  been  "  savages." 
 
 "  Oh,    the  government  of  the   Sage,"  answered 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The  Universe  151 
 
 Chun  Mang.  ''  The  officials  confine  themselves 
 to  their  functions.  Ability  is  secure  of  employ- 
 ment. The  voice  of  the  people  is  heard,  and  action 
 is  taken  accordingly.  Men's  words  and  deeds  are 
 their  own  affairs,  and  so  the  empire  is  at  peace.  A 
 beck  or  a  call,  and  the  people  flock  together  from 
 all  sides.     This  is  how  the  Sage  governs." 
 
 "Tell  me  about  the  man  of  perfect  virtue,"  said 
 Yuan  Feng. 
 
 "  The  man  of  perfect  virtue,"  replied  Chun 
 Mang,  "  in  repose  has  no  thoughts,  in  action  no 
 anxiety.  He  recognises  no  right,  nor  wrong,  nor 
 good,  nor  bad.  Within  the  Four  Seas,  when  all 
 profit — that  is  his  pleasure ;  when  all  share — that 
 is  his  repose.  Men  cling  to  him  as  children  who 
 have  lost  their  mothers  ;  they  rally  round  him  as 
 wayfarers  who  have  missed  their  road.  He  has 
 wealth  and  to  spare,  but  he  knows  not  whence  it 
 comes.  He  has  food  and  drink  more  than  suffi- 
 cient, but  knows  not  who  provides  it.  Such  is  a 
 man  of  virtue." 
 
 "And  now,"  said  Yiian  Feng,  "tell  me  about 
 the  divine  man." 
 
 "  The  divine  man,"  replied  Chun  Mang,  "  rides 
 upon  the  glory  of  the  sky  where  his  form  can  no 
 longer  be  discerned.  This  is  called  absorption  into 
 light.  He  fulfils  his  destiny.  He  acts  in  accord- 
 ance with  his  nature.  He  is  at  one  with  God  and 
 man.  For  him  all  affairs  cease  to  exist,  and  all 
 things  revert  to  their  original  state.  This  is  called 
 envelopment  in  darkness." 
 
 / 
 
152  Chit  an g  Tzil 
 
 Men  Wu  Kuei  and  Ch'ih  Chang  Man  Chi  were 
 looking  at  Wu  Wang's  troops. 
 
 The  famous  founder  of  the  Chou  dynasty,  B.C. 
 1 169-1 1 16. 
 
 "  He  is  not  equal  to  the  Great  Yii,"  said  the 
 latter;  and  consequently  "we  are  involved  in  all 
 these  troubles." 
 
 "  May  I  ask,"  replied  Men  Wu  Kuei,  "  if  the 
 empire  was  under  proper  government  when  the 
 Great  Yii  began  to  govern  it,  or  had  he  first  to 
 quell  disorder  and  then  to  proceed  to  government  ?" 
 
 "  If  the  empire  had  all  been  under  proper  govern- 
 ment," said  the  other,"  what  would  there  have  been 
 for  the  Great  Yii  to  do  ?  He  was  as  ointment  to  a 
 sore.  Only  bald  men  use  wigs  ;  only  sick  people 
 want  doctors.  And  the  Sage  blushes  when  a  filial 
 son,  with  anxious  look,  administers  medicine  to 
 cure  his  loving  father. 
 
 Because  to  need  drugs,  the  father  must  first  have 
 been  sick  ;  and  this,  from  a  Chinese  point  of  view, 
 is  clearly  the  fault  of  the  son. 
 
 "In  the  Golden  Age,  good  men  were  not  appre- 
 ciated ;  ability  was  not  conspicuous.  Rulers  were 
 mere  beacons,  while  the  people  were  free  as  the 
 wild  deer.  They  were  upright  w^ithout  being 
 conscious  of  duty  to  their  neighbours.  They  loved 
 one  another  without  being  conscious  of  charity. 
 They  were  true  without  being  conscious  of  loyalty. 
 They  were  honest  without  being  conscious  of  good 
 faith.      They   acted    freely    in    all    things  without 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The  Universe  153 
 
 recognising  obligations  to  any  one.  Thus,  their 
 deeds  left  no  trace ;  their  affairs  were  not  handed 
 down  to  posterity. 
 
 Rousseau,  in  Dit  Contrat  Social,  thus  describes 
 society  as  it  would  be  if  every  man  was  a  true 
 Christian : — "Chacun  remplirait  son  devoir;  le  peuple 
 serait  soumis  aux  lois,  les  chefs  seraient  justes  et 
 moderes,  les  magistrats  integres,  incorruptibles,  les 
 soldats  mepriseraient  la  mort,  il  n'y  aurait  ni  vanite 
 ni  luxe." 
 
 "A  filial  son  does  not  humour  his  parents.  A 
 loyal  minister  does  not  flatter  his  prince.  This  is 
 the  acme  of  filial  piety  and  loyalty.  To  assent  to 
 whatever  a  parent  or  a  prince  says,  and  to  praise 
 whatever  a  parent  or  a  prince  does,  this  is  what  the 
 world  calls  unfilial  and  disloyal  conduct,  though 
 apparently  unaware  that  the  principle  is  of  uni- 
 versal application.  For  though  a  man  assents  to 
 whatever  the  world  says,  and  praises  whatever  the 
 world  does,  he  is  not  dubbed  a  toady ;  from  which 
 one  might  infer  that  the  world  is  severer  than  a 
 father  and  more  to  be  respected  than  a  prince  ! 
 
 "  If  you  tell  a  man  he  is  a  wheedler,  he  will  not 
 like  it.  If  you  tell  him  he  is  a  flatterer,  he  will  be 
 angry.  Yet  he  is  everlastingly  both.  But  all  such 
 sham  and  pretence  is  what  the  w^orld  likes,  and 
 consequently  people  do  not  punish  each  other  for 
 doing  what  they  do  themselves.  For  a  man  to 
 arrange  his  dress,  or  make  a  display,  or  suit  his 
 expression  so  as  to  get  into  the  good  graces  of  the 
 world,  and   yet   not  to  call  himself  a  flatterer ;  to 
 
154  Chiiang  Tzil 
 
 identify  himself  in  every  way  with  the  yeas  and 
 nays  of  his  fellows,  and  yet  not  call  himself  one  of 
 them  ; — this  is  the  height  of  folly. 
 
 "  A  man  who  knows  that  he  is  a  fool  is  not  a 
 great  fool.  A  man  who  knows  his  error  is  not 
 greatly  in  error.  Great  error  can  never  be  shaken 
 off;  a  great  fool  never  becomes  clear-headed.  If 
 three  men  are  travelling  and  one  man  makes  a 
 mistake,  they  may  still  arrive  at  their  destination, 
 error  being  in  the  minority.  But  if  two  of  them 
 make  a  mistake,  then  they  will  not  succeed,  error 
 being  in  the  majority.  And  now,  as  all  the  world 
 is  in  error,  I,  though  I  know  the  true  path,  am 
 alas  !  unable  to  guide. 
 
 ''  Grand  music  does  not  appeal  to  vulgar  ears. 
 Give  them  the  ChS-yang  or  the  Huang-hua^ 
 
 The  "  Not  for  Joseph"   and  "  Sally  Come  Up  "  of 
 ancient  China. 
 
 and  they  will  roar  with  laughter.  And  likewise 
 great  truths  do  not  take  hold  of  the  hearts  of  the 
 masses.  And  great  truths  not  finding  utterance, 
 common-places  carry  the  day.  Two  earthen  in- 
 struments will  drown  the  sound  of  one  metal  one  ; 
 and  the  result  will  not  be  melodious. 
 
 "  And  now,  as  all  the  world  is  in  error,  I,  though 
 I  know  the  true  path, — how  shall  I  guide  ?  If  I 
 know  that  I  cannot  succeed  and  yet  try  to  force 
 success,  this  would  be  but  another  source  of  error. 
 Better,  then,  to  desist  and  strive  no  more.  But  if 
 I  strive  not,  who  will  ? 
 
CAP.  XII.]  The  Universe  155 
 
 "  An  ugly  man  who  has  a  son  born  to  him  in  the 
 middle  of  the  night  will  hurry  up  with  a  light,  in 
 dread  lest  the  child  should  be  like  himself. 
 
 '*  An  old  tree  is  cut  down  to  make  sacrificial 
 vessels,  which  are  then  ornamented  with  colour. 
 The  stump  remains  in  a  ditch.  The  sacrificial 
 vessels  and  the  stump  in  the  ditch  are  very  dif- 
 ferently treated  as  regards  honour  and  dishonour  ; 
 equally,  as  far  as  destruction  of  the  wood's  original 
 nature  is  concerned.  Similarly,  the  acts  of  Robber 
 Che  and  of  Tseng  and  Shih  are  very  different ;  but 
 the  loss  of  original  nature  is  in  each  case  the  same. 
 
 "The  causes  of  this  loss  are  five  in  number; 
 viz. — The  five  colours  confuse  the  eye,  and  the  eyes 
 fail  to  see  clearly.  The  five  sounds  confuse  the 
 ear,  and  the  ear  fails  to  hear  accurately.  The  five 
 scents  confuse  the  nose,  and  obstruct  the  sense  of 
 smell.  The  five  tastes  cloy  the  palate,  and  vitiate 
 the  sense  of  taste.  Finally,  likes  and  dislikes  cloud 
 the  understanding,  and  cause  dispersion  of  the 
 original  nature. 
 
 "  These  five  are  the  banes  of  life  ;  yet  Yang  and 
 Mih  regarded  them  as  the  summimi  bonimi. 
 
 As  attainment  of  Tao.     For  Yang  Chu  and  Mih 
 Tzu,  see  chs,  ii  and  viii. 
 
 They  are  not  my  sitmmum  bommi.  For  if  men 
 who  are  thus  fettered  can  be  said  to  have  attained 
 the  siumnuni  bomim,  then  pigeons  and  owls  in  a 
 cage  may  also  be  said  to  have  attained  the  siiiiimuni 
 bo  nun  I ! 
 
156  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 "  Besides,  to  stuff  one's  inside  with  likes  and 
 dislikes  and  sounds  and  colours ;  to  encompass 
 one's  outside  with  fur  caps,  feather  hats,  the  carry- 
 ing of  tablets,  or  girding  of  sashes — full  of  rubbish 
 inside  while  swathed  in  magnificence  without — 
 and  still  to  talk  of  having  attained  the  siiminuni 
 I  bonimi ; — then  the  prisoner  with  arms  tied  behind 
 him  and  fingers  in  the  squeezer,  the  tiger  or  the 
 leopard  which  has  just  been  put  in  a  cage,  may 
 justly  consider  that  they  too  have  attained  the 
 S2imnmm  bomim  !  " 
 
 "  L'homme,"  says  Rousseau  [op.  ciL),  "  est  ne  libre, 
 et  partout  il  est  dans  les  fers." 
 
 This  chapter,  as  it  stands,  is  clearly  not  from  the 
 hand  of  Chuang  Tzu.  One  critic  justly  points  out  the 
 want  of  logical  sequence  in  arrangement  of  argument 
 and  illustrations.  Another,  while  admitting  creneral 
 refinement  of  style,  calls  attention  to  a  superficiality 
 of  thought  noticeable  in  certain  portions.  "  Yet  only 
 those;"  he  adds,  "who  eat  and  sleep  with  their 
 Chuang  Tzus  would  be  able  to  detect  this." 
 
157 
 
 CHAPTER   XIII. 
 
 The  Tao  of  God. 
 
 Argument: — Tao  is  repose — Repose  the  secret  of  the  universe  — 
 Cultivation  of  essentials — Neglect  of  accidentals— The  sequence  of 
 Tag  —  Spontaneity  of  true  virtue — Tao  is  unconditioned — Tao 
 cannot  be  conveyed — Illustrations. 
 
 THE  Tao  of  God  operates  ceaselessly;  and  all 
 things  are  produced.  The  Tao  of  the  sovereign 
 operates  ceaselessly  ;  and  the  empire  rallies  around 
 him.  The  Tao  of  the  Sage  operates  ceaselessly ;  ^y 
 and  all  within  the  limit  of  surrounding  ocean  ac- 
 knowledge his  sway.  He  who  apprehends  God,  who 
 is  in  relation  with  the  Sage,  and  who  recognises  the 
 radiating  virtue  of  the  sovereign, —  his  actions  will 
 be  to  him  unconscious,  the  actions  of  repose. 
 
 With  him  all  will  be  inaction,  by  which  all  things 
 will  be  accomplished. 
 
 The  repose  of  the  Sage  is  not  what  the  world  calls 
 repose.  His  repose  is  the  result  of  his  mental  atti- 
 tude. All  creation  could  not  disturb  his  equilibrium: 
 hence  his  repose. 
 
 When  water  is  still,  it  is  like  a  mirror,  reflecting 
 the  beard  and  the  eyebrows.  It  gives  the  accuracy 
 of  the  water-level,  and  the  philosopher  makes  it  his 
 model.     And   if  water  thus  derives  lucidity  from 
 
i 
 
 158  Chtiang  Tzii 
 
 stillness,  how  much  more  the  faculties  of  the  mind  ? 
 The  mind  of  the  Sage  being  in  repose  becomes 
 the  mirror  of  the  universe,  the  speculum  of  all 
 creation. 
 ^  Repose,  tranquillity,  stillness,  inaction, — these 
 were  the  levels  of  the  universe,  the  ultimate  per- 
 fection of  Tao. 
 
 In  the  early  days  of  Time,  ere  matter  had  assumed 
 shape,  it  was  by  such  levels  that  the  spiritual  was 
 adjusted. 
 
 Therefore  wise  rulers  and  Sages  rest  therein. 
 Resting  therein  they  reach  the  unconditioned, 
 from  which  springs  the  conditioned  ;  and  with 
 the  conditioned  comes  order. 
 
 Meaning  those  laws  which  are  inseparable  from 
 concrete  existences. 
 
 Again,  from  the  unconditioned  comes  repose,  and 
 from  repose  comes  movement, 
 
 When  once  inner  repose  has  been  established,  outer 
 movement  results  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  without 
 injury  to  the  organism. 
 
 and  from  movement  comes  attainment.  Further, 
 from  repose  comes  inaction, and  from  inaction  comes 
 potentiality  of  action. 
 
 When  inaction  has  been  achieved,  action  results 
 spontaneously  and  unconsciously  to  the  organism. 
 
 And  inaction   is   happiness ;    and    where   there    is 
 happiness  no  cares  can  abide,  and  life  is  long. 
 ^     Repose,   tranquillity,    stillness,    inaction, — these 
 were  the  source  of  all  things.     Due  perception  of 
 
CAP.  XIII.]  The  Tao  of  God  1 59 
 
 this  was  the  secret  of  Yao's  success  as  a  ruler,  and 
 of  Shun's  success  as  his  minister.  Due  perception 
 of  this  constitutes  the  virtue  of  sovereigns  on  the 
 throne,  the  Tao  of  the  inspired  Sage  and  of  the 
 uncrowned  King  below.  Keep  to  this  in  retire- 
 ment, and  the  lettered  denizens  of  sea  and  dale  will 
 recognise  your  power.  Keep  to  this  when  coming 
 forward  to  pacify  a  troubled  world,  and  your  merit 
 shall  be  great  and  your  name  illustrious,  and  the 
 empire  united  into  one.  In  your  repose  you  will  be 
 wise  ;  in  your  movements,  powerful.  By  inaction 
 you  will  gain  honour  ;  and  by  confining  yourself  to 
 the  pure  and  simple,  you  will  hinder  the  whole 
 world  from  struggling  with  you  for  show. 
 
 To  fully  apprehend  the  scheme  of  the  universe. 
 
 Lit.  :  "  the  virtue  of  heaven  and  earth,"  meaning 
 their  inaction  by  which  all  things  are  brought  to 
 maturity. 
 
 this  is  called  the  great  secret  of  being  in  accord  with 
 God,  whereby  the  empire  is  so  administered  that 
 the  result  is  accord  with  man.  To  be  in  accord 
 with  man  is  human  happiness  ;  to  be  in  accord  with 
 God  is  the  happiness  of  God. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  said,  "  O  my  exemplar!  Thou  who 
 destroyest  all  things,  and  dost  not  account  it  cruelty; 
 thou  who  benefitest  all  time,  and  dost  not  account 
 it  charity  ;  thou  who  art  older  than  antiquity  and 
 dost  not  account  it  age ;  thou  who  supportest  the 
 universe,  shaping  the  many  forms  therein,  and 
 dost  not  account  it  skill ; — this  is  the  happiness  of 
 God  !  " 
 
 >^ 
 
i6o  Chitang  Tzii 
 
 Therefore  it  has  been  said,  "  Those  who  enjoy 
 the  happiness  of  God,  when  born  into  the  world, 
 are  but  fulfilling  their  divine  functions  ;  when  they 
 die,  they  do  but  undergo  a  physical  change.  In 
 repose,  they  exert  the  influence  of  the  Negative  ;  in 
 motion,  they  wield  the  power  of  the  Positive." 
 
 See  ante,  chs.  vi  and  xi. 
 
 Thus,  those  who  enjoy  the  happiness  of  God 
 have  no  grievance  against  God,  no  grudge  against 
 man.  Nothing  material  injures  them  ;  nothing 
 spiritual  punishes  them.  Accordingly  it  has  been 
 said,   "  Their  motion  is  that  of  heaven  ; 
 
 One  of  ceaseless  revolution,   without  beginning  or 
 end. 
 
 their  repose  is  that  of  earth.  Mental  equilibrium 
 gives  them  the  empire  of  the  world.  Evil  spirits 
 do  not  harass  them  without ;  demons  do  not  trouble 
 them  within.  Mental  equilibrium  gives  them  sove- 
 reignty over  all  creation."  Which  signifies  that  in 
 repose  to  extend  to  the  w^hole  universe  and  to  be  in 
 relation  with  all  creation, — this  is  the  happiness  of 
 God.  This  enables  the  mind  of  the  Sage  to  cherish 
 the  whole  empire. 
 
 For  the  virtue  of  the  wise  ruler  is  modelled  upon 
 the  universe,  is  guided  by  Tao,  and  is  ever  occupied 
 in  inaction.  By  inaction,  he  administers  the  em- 
 pire, and  has  energy  to  spare ;  but  by  action  he 
 finds  his  energy  inadequate  to  the  administration  of 
 the  empire.  Therefore  the  men  of  old  set  great 
 store  by  inaction. 
 
CAP.  XIII.]  TJie  Tao  of  God  i6i 
 
 But  if  rulers  practise  inaction  and  the  ruled  also 
 practise  inaction,  the  ruled  will  equal  the  rulers, 
 and  will  not  be  as  their  subjects.  On  the  other 
 hand,  if  the  ruled  practise  action  and  rulers  also 
 practise  action,  rulers  will  assimilate  themselves  to 
 the  ruled,  and  will  not  be  as  their  masters. 
 Rulers  must  practise  inaction  in  order  to  administer 
 the  empire.  The  ruled  must  practise  action  in 
 order  to  subserve  the  interests  of  the  empire.  This 
 is  an  unchangeable  law. 
 
 And  one  over  which  the  commentators  have  ex- 
 hausted not  a  little  wit.  At  the  end  of  the  chapter, 
 the  reader  will  be  able  to  draw  his  own  conclusions. 
 
 Thus,  the  men  of  old,  although  their  knowledge 
 did  not  extend  throughout  the  universe,  were  not 
 troubled  in  mind.  Although  their  intellectual 
 powers  beautified  all  creation,  they  did  not  rejoice. 
 Although  their  abilities  exhausted  all  things  within 
 the  limits  of  ocean,  they  did  not  act. 
 
 Heaven  has  no  parturitions,  yet  all  things  are 
 evolved.  Earth  knows  no  increment,  yet  all  things 
 are  nourished.  The  wise  ruler  practises  inaction, 
 and  the  empire  applauds  him.  Therefore  it  has 
 been  said,  "There  is  nothing  more  mysterious 
 
 In  its  action, 
 than  heaven,  nothing  richer  than  earth,  nothing 
 greater  than  the  wise  ruler."  Wherefore  also  it  has 
 been  said,  **  The  virtue  of  the  wise  ruler  makes  him 
 the  peer  of  heaven  and  earth."  Charioted  upon  the 
 universe,  with  all  creation  for  his  team,  he  passes 
 along  the  highway  of  mortality. 
 
 M 
 
 v^ 
 
1 62  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 The  essential  is  in  the  ruler;  the  accidental  in 
 the  ruled. 
 
 Lit.    the    "root,"    and    the    "tip"   of  the   branch, 
 respectively. 
 
 The  ultima  ratio  lies  with  the  prince ;  representa- 
 tion is  the  duty  of  the  minister. 
 
 Appeal  to  arms  is  the  lowest  form  of  virtue. 
 Rewards  and  punishments  are  the  lowest  form  of 
 education.  Ceremonies  and  laws  are  the  lowest 
 form  of  government.  Music  and  fine  clothes  are 
 the  lowest  form  of  happiness.  Weeping  and 
 mourning  are  the  lowest  form  of  grief.  These  five 
 should  follow  the  movements  of  the  mind. 
 
 The  ancients  indeed  cultivated  the  study  of  acci- 
 dentals, but  they  did  not  allow  it  to  precede  that 
 of  essentials.  The  prince  precedes,  the  minister 
 follows.  The  father  precedes,  the  son  follows.  The 
 elder  brother  precedes,  the  younger  follows.  Seniors 
 precede,  juniors  follow.  Men  precede,  women 
 follow.  Husbands  precede,  wives  follow.  Distinc- 
 tions of  rank  and  precedence  are  part  of  the  scheme 
 of  the  universe,  and  the  Sage  adopts  them  accord- 
 ingly. In  point  of  spirituality,  heaven  is  honourable, 
 earth  is  lowly,  Springand  summer  precede  autumn 
 and  winter  :  such  is  the  order  of  the  seasons.  In 
 the  constant  production  of  all  things,  there  are 
 phases  of  existence.  There  are  the  extremes  of 
 maturity  and  decay,  the  perpetual  tide  of  change. 
 And  if  heaven  and  earth,  divinest  of  all,  admit  of 
 rank  and  precedence,  how  much  more  man  ? 
 
CAP.  XIII.]  The  Tao  of  God  163 
 
 In  the  ancestral  temple,  parents  rank  before  all  ; 
 at  court,  the  most  honom-able  ;  in  the  village,  the 
 elders  ;  in  matters  to  be  accomplished,  the  most 
 trustworthy.  Such  is  the  order  which  appertains 
 to  Tao.  He  who  in  considering  Tao  disregards 
 this  order,  thereby  disregards  Tao  ;  and  he  who  in 
 considering  Tao  disregards  Tao, — whence  will  he 
 secure  Tao  ? 
 
 Therefore,  those  of  old  who  apprehended  Tao, 
 first  apprehended  God.  Tao  came  next,  and  then 
 charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  and  then  the 
 functions  of  public  life,  and  then  forms  and  names, 
 and  then  employment  according  to  capacity,  and 
 then  distinctions  of  good  and  bad,  and  then  dis- 
 crimination between  right  and  wrong,  and  then 
 rewards  and  punishments.  Thus  wise  men  and 
 fools  met  with  their  dues  ;  the  exalted  and  the 
 humble  occupied  their  proper  places.  And  the 
 virtuous  and  the  worthless  being  each  guided  by 
 their  own  natural  instincts,  it  was  necessary  to  dis- 
 tinguish capabilities,  and  to  adopt  a  corresponding 
 nomenclature,  in  order  to  serve  the  ruler,  nourish 
 the  ruled,  administer  things  generally,  and  elevate 
 self.  Where  knowledge  and  plans  are  of  no  avail, 
 one  must  fall  back  upon  the  natural.  This  is  perfect 
 peace,  the  acme  of  good  government.  Therefore  it 
 has  been  written,  "  Wherever  there  is  form,  there 
 is  also  its  name."  Forms  and  names  indeed 
 the  ancients  had,  but  did  not  give  precedence  to 
 them. 
 
 Thus,  those  of  old  who  considered  Tao,  passed 
 
 M   2 
 
164  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 through  five  phases  before  forms  and  names  were 
 reached,  and  nine  before  rewards  and  punishments 
 could  be  discussed. 
 
 As  given  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 
 
 To  rise  per  salttim  to  forms  and  names  is  to  be 
 ignorant  of  their  source  ;  to  rise  per  saltuni  to 
 rewards  and  punishments  is  to  be  ignorant  of  their 
 beginning.  Those  who  invert  the  process  of  dis- 
 cussing Tao,  arguing  in  a  directly  contrary  sense, 
 are  rather  to,  be  governed  by  others  than  able  to 
 govern  others  themselves. 
 
 To.  rise  per  saltiun  to  forms  and  names  and 
 rewards  and  punishments,,  this  is,  to  understand  the 
 instrumental  part  of  goverment,  but  not  to  under- 
 stand the  great  principle  of  government. 
 
 Which  is  Tao. 
 
 This  is  to  be  of  use  in  the  administration  of  the 
 empire,  but  not  to  be  able  to  admiuister  the  em- 
 pire. This  is  to  be  a  sciolist,  a  man  of  narrow 
 views. 
 
 Ceremonies  and  laws  were  indeed  cultivated  by 
 the  ancients;  but  they  were  employed  in  the  service 
 of  the  rulers  by  the  ruled.  Rulers  did  not  employ 
 them  as  a  means  of  nourishing  the  ruled. 
 
 From   the   beginning  of  this  chapter,  the  argument 
 has  been  eminently  unsatisfactory^ 
 
 Of  old,  Shun  asked  Yao,  saying,  "  How  does 
 your  Majesty  employ  your  faculties  ?  " 
 
CAP.  XIII.]  The  Tao  of  God  1 65 
 
 "  I  am  not  arrogant  towards  the  defenceless," 
 replied  Yao.  "  I  do  not  neglect  the  poor.  I  grieve 
 for  those  who  die.  I  pity  the  orphan.  I  sympa- 
 thise with  the  widow.     Beyond  this,  nothing." 
 
 "  Good  indeed ! "  cried  Shun,  ''  but  yet  not 
 great." 
 
 "  How  so?"  inquired  Yao. 
 
 *'  Be  passive,"  said  Shun,  "  like  the  virtue  of 
 God.  The  sun  and  moon  shine ;  the  four  seasons 
 revolve  ;  day  and  night  alternate  ;  clouds  come  and 
 rain  falls." 
 
 "  Alas  !  "  cried  Yao,  "  what  a  muddle  I  have  been 
 making.  You  are  in  accord  with  God  ;  I  am  in 
 accord  with  man." 
 
 Of  old,  heaven  and  earth  were  considered  great ; 
 and  the  Yellow  Emperor  and  Yao  and  Shun  all 
 thought  them  perfection.  Consequently,  what  did 
 those  do  who  ruled  the  empire  of  old  ?  They  did 
 what  heaven  and  earth  do ;  no  more. 
 
 When  Confucius  was  going  west  to  place  his 
 works  in  the  Imperial  library  of  the  House  of 
 Chou,  Tzu  Lu 
 
 The  most  popular  of  all  the  disciples  of  Confucius. 
 In  the  striking  words  of  Mr.  Watters,  "  He  was 
 equally  ready  to  argue,  fight,  be  silent,  pray  for  his 
 master,  and  die  with  him.  So  It  is  very  unfair  in 
 Dr.  Legge  to  call  him  a  kind  of  Peter,  meaning  of 
 course  Simon  Peter,  a  man  who  lacked  faith,  courage, 
 and  fidelity,  and  who  morever  cursed  and  swore." — 
 Guide  to  the  Tablets  in  a  Coifucian  Temple. 
 counselled    him,    saying,    "I    have    heard    that  a 
 
1 66  .  Ckuajig  Tzii 
 
 certain  librarian  of  the  Cheng  department,  by 
 name  Lao  Tan, 
 
 Or,    as    usually    named    in    this    work,    Lao    Tzu. 
 
 "  Cheng"  appears  to  have  been  merely  a  distinctive 
 
 name. 
 
 has  resigned  and  retired  into  private  life.  Now  as 
 you,  Sir,  wish  to  deposit  your  works,  it  would  be 
 advisable  to  go  and  interview  him." 
 
 "  Certainly,"  said  Confucius  ;  and  he  thereupon 
 went  to  see  Lao  Tzu.  The  latter  would  not  hear 
 of  the  proposal  ;  so  Confucius  began  to  expound 
 the  doctrines  of  his  twelve  canons,  in  order  to 
 convince  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 These  twelve  have  been  variously  enumerated  as 
 (i)  the  Book  of  Changes,  Parts  i  and  ii,  with  the 
 ten  Wings.  (2)  The  twelve  Dukes  of  the  Spring 
 and  Autumn,  etc. 
 
 "  This  is  all  nonsense,"  cried  Lao  Tzu,  interrupt- 
 ing him.     "  Tell  me  what  are  your  criteria." 
 
 "  Charity,"  replied  Confucius,  "  and  duty  towards 
 one's  neighbour." 
 
 **  Tell  me,  please,"  asked  Lao  Tzu,  ''are  these 
 part  of  man's  original  nature  ?  " 
 
 The  question  of  an  innate  moral  sense  early  occupied 
 the  attention  of  Chinese  thinkers. 
 
 "They  are,"  answered  Confucius.  "Without 
 charity,  the  superior  man  could  not  become  what 
 he  is.  Without  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  he  would 
 be  of  no  effect.  These  two  belong  to  the  original 
 nature  of  a  pure  man.  What  further  would  you 
 have  ?  " 
 
CAP.  XIII.]  The  Tao  of  God  167 
 
 "Tell  me,"  said  Lao  Tzu,  "in  what  consist 
 charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  ?  " 
 
 "They  consist,"  answered  Confucius,  "in  a 
 capacity  for  rejoicing  in  all  things  ;  in  universal 
 love,  without  the  element  of  self.  These  are  the 
 characteristics  of  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neigh- 
 bour." 
 
 "What  stuff!"  cried  Lao  Tzu.  "Does  not 
 universal  love  contradict  itself? 
 
 If  every  one  loves  every  one,  there  can  be  no  such 
 thing  as  love,  just  as  absolute  altruism  only  achieves 
 the  same  result  as  absolute  egoism. 
 
 Is  not  your  elimination  of    self  a  positive  mani- 
 festation of  self? 
 
 On  the  "  Don't  nail  his  ear  to  the  pump  "  principle. 
 
 Sir,  if  you  would  cause  the  empire  not  to  lose  its 
 source  of  nourishment, — there  is  the  universe,  its 
 regularity  is  unceasing ;  there  are  the  sun  and 
 moon,  their  brightness  is  unceasing ;  there  are  the 
 stars,  their  groupings  never  change ;  there  are 
 birds  and  beasts,  they  flock  together  without  vary- 
 ing ;  there  are  trees  and  shrubs,  they  grow  up-  y 
 wards  without  exception.  Be  like  these ;  follow 
 Tao  ;  and  you  will  be  perfect.  Why  then  these 
 vain  struggles  after  charity  and  duty  to  one's 
 neighbour,  as  though  beating  a  drum  in  search  of 
 a  fugitive.  Alas  !  Sir,  you  have  brought  much 
 confusion  into  the  mind  of  man." 
 
 The  drum  similitude  occurs  again  in  ch.  xiv. 
 
1 68  Chiiamy  Tzii 
 
 «b 
 
 Shih  Ch  eng  Ch'i 
 
 Of  whom  nothing  is  known. 
 
 visited  Lao  Tzu,  and  addressed  him,  saying, 
 "  Having  heard.  Sir,  that  you  were  a  Sage,  I  put 
 aside  all  thought  of  distance  to  come  and  visit 
 you.  Travelling  many  stages,  the  soles  of  my  feet 
 thickened,  but  I  did  not  venture  to  rest.  And  now 
 I  see  you  are  not  a  Sage.  While  rats  feasted  off 
 your  leavings,  you  turned  your  sister  out  of  doors. 
 This  is  not  charity.  Though  you  have  no  lack  of 
 food,  raw  and  cooked,  you  are  stingy  beyond  all 
 bounds." 
 
 At  this  Lao  Tzu  was  silent  and  made  no  reply ; 
 and  the  next  day  Shih  Ch  eng  Ch'i  came  again  and 
 said,  "  Before,  I  was  rude  to  you  ;  now,  I  am  sorry. 
 How  is  this  ?  " 
 
 "  I  have  no  pretension,"  replied  Lao  Tzu,  "  to  be 
 possessed  of  cunning  knowledge  nor  of  divine 
 wisdom.  Had  you  yesterday  called  me  an  ox,  I 
 should  have  considered  myself  an  ox.  Had  you 
 called  me  a  horse,  I  should  have  considered  myself 
 a  horse. 
 
 "  For  if  men  class  you  in  accordance  with  truth, 
 and  you  reject  the  classification,  you  only  double 
 the  reproach.  My  humility  is  natural  humility. 
 It  is  not  humility  for  humility's  sake." 
 
 Shih  Ch'eng  Ch'i  moved  respectfully  away. 
 
 Without  allowing  his  shadow  to  fall  on  Lao  Tzu. 
 Bringing  one  foot  up  to  the  other  only.  Not 
 venturing  to  let  it  pass  as  in  ordinary  walking. 
 
CAP.  XIII.]  The  Tao  of  God  169 
 
 Then  he  advanced  again,  also  respectfully,  and 
 said,  *'  May  I  ask  you  about  personal  cultivation  ?" 
 Lao  Tzu  said,  "Your  countenance  is  a  strange 
 one.  Your  eyes  protrude.  Your  jaws  are  heavy. 
 Your  lips  are  parted.  Your  demeanour  is  self- 
 satisfied.  You  look  like  a  man  on  a  tethered 
 horse. 
 
 His  body  there,  his  mind  elsewhere. 
 
 You  are  too  confident.  You  are  too  hasty.  You 
 think  too  much  of  your  own  powers.  Such  men  are 
 not  trusted.  Those  who  are  found  on  the  wrong 
 side  of  a  boundary  line  are  called  thieves." 
 
 Lao  Tzu  said,  "  Tao  is  not  too  small  for  the 
 greatest,  nor  too  great  for  the  smallest.  Thus  all 
 things  are  embosomed  therein  ;  wide  indeed  its 
 boundless  capacity,  unfathomable  its  depth. 
 
 **  Form,  and  virtue,  and  charity,  and  duty  to 
 one's  neighbour,  these  are  the  accidentals  of  the 
 spiritual.  Except  he  be  a  perfect  man,  who  shall 
 determine  their  place  ?  The  world  of  the  perfect 
 man,  is  not  that  vast?  And  yet  it  is  not  able  to 
 involve  him  in  trouble.  All  struggle  for  power, 
 but  he  does  not  join.  Though  discovering  nothing 
 false,  he  is  not  tempted  astray.  In  spite  of  the 
 utmost  genuineness,  he  still  confines  himself  to 
 essentials. 
 
 To  the  root,  not  to  the  branch. 
 
 "  He  thus  places  himself  outside  the  universe, 
 beyond  all  creation,  where  his  soul  is  free  from 
 
lyo  Chitang  Tsil 
 
 care.  Apprehending  Tao,  he  is  in  accord  with 
 virtue.  He  leaves  charity  and  duty  to  one's 
 neighbour  alone.  He  treats  ceremonies  and  music 
 as  adventitious.  And  so  the  mind  of  the  perfect 
 man  is  at  peace. 
 
 "Books  are  what  the  world  values  as  representing 
 Tao.  But  books  are  only  words,  and  the  valuable 
 part  of  words  is  the  thought  therein  contained. 
 That  thought  has  a  certain  bias  which  cannot  be 
 conveyed  in  words,  yet  the  world  values  words  as 
 being  the  essence  of  books.  But  though  the  world 
 values  them,  they  are  not  of  value  ;  as  that  sense 
 in  which  the  world  values  them  is  not  the  sense  in 
 which  they  are  valuable. 
 
 "  That  which  can  be  seen  with  the  eye  is  form 
 and  colour ;  that  which  can  be  heard  with  the  ear 
 is  sound  and  noise.  But  alas  !  the  people  of  this 
 generation  think  that  form,  and  colour,  and  sound, 
 and  noise,  are  means  by  which  they  can  come  to 
 understand  the  essence  of  Tao.  This  is  not  so. 
 And  as  those  who  know,  do  not  speak,  while  those 
 who  speak  do  not  know,  whence  should  the  world 
 derive  its  knowledge  ?  " 
 
 The  first  half  of  this  last  sentence  has  been  pitch- 
 forked a  pi'opos  de  bottes  into  ch.  Ivi  of  the  Tao- 
 Te-Ching.  See  The  Re  mams  of  Lao  Tzii,  pp.  7 
 and  38. 
 
 Duke  Huan. 
 
 The  famous  ruler  of  the  Ch'i  State.  Flourished 
 7th  century  B.C. 
 
 I 
 
CAP.  XIII.]  The  Tao  of  God  171 
 
 was  one  day  reading  in  his  hall,  when  a  wheel- 
 wright who  was  working  below, 
 
 Below  the  covered  dais,  termed  "  hall,"  which  has 
 an  open  frontage,  in  full  view  of  which  such  work 
 might  be  carried  on. 
 
 flung  down  his  hammer  and  chisel,  and  mounting 
 the  steps  said,  ''What  words  may  your  Highness 
 be  studying?  " 
 
 *'  I  am  studying  the  words  of  the  Sages,"  replied 
 the  Duke. 
 
 "Are  the  Sages  alive?"  asked  the  wheelwright. 
 
 "  No,"  answered  the  Duke;  "  they  are  dead." 
 
 "Then  the  words  your  Highness  is  studying," 
 rejoined  the  wheelwright,  "  are  only  the  dregs  of 
 the  ancients." 
 
 "  What  do  you  mean,  sirrah  !  "  cried  the  Duke, 
 "  by  interfering  with  what  I  read  ?  Explain  yourself, 
 or  you  shall  die." 
 
 "  Let  me  take  an  illustration,"  said  the  wheel- 
 wright, "  from  my  own  trade.  In  making  a  wheel, 
 if  you  work  too  slowly,  you  can't  make  it  firm  ;  if 
 you  work  too  fast,  the  spokes  won't  fit  in.  You 
 must  go  neither  too  slowly  nor  too  fast.  There 
 must  be  co-ordination  of  mind  and  hand.  Words 
 cannot  explain  what  it  is,  but  there  is  some  mys- 
 terious art  herein.  I  cannot  teach  it  to  my  son  ; 
 nor  can  he  learn  it  from  me.  Consequently, 
 though  seventy  years  of  age,  I  am  still  making- 
 wheels  in  my  old  age.  If  the  ancients,  together 
 with  what  they  could  not   impart,   are  dead  and 
 
172  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 gone,  then  what  your  Highness  is  studying  must 
 be  the  dregs." 
 
 This  episode  of  the  wheelwright  is  to  be  found  in 
 the  works  of  Huai  Nan  Tzu,  of  the  2nd  century  B.C. 
 He  used  it  to  illustrate  the  opening  words  of  the 
 Tao-Te-Ching ;  and  in  The  Remains  of  Lao  Tzil, 
 p.  6,  it  is  stated  that  he  stole  it  from  Chuang  Tzu 
 without  acknowledofment. 
 
 When  that  statement  was  made  I  had  not  come  to 
 the  conclusion,  now  forced  upon  me,  that  the  above 
 chapter  is  not  from  the  hand  of  Chuang  Tzu.  As 
 one  critic  remarks,  the  style  is  generally  admirable  ; 
 but  it  is  not  the  style  of  Chuang  Tzu. 
 
173 
 
 CHAPTER  XIV. 
 
 The  Circling  Sky. 
 
 Argument: — The  Ultimate  Cause — Integrity  of  Tao — Music  and  Tao — 
 Failure  of  Confucianism  —  Confucius  and  Lao  Tzii  —  Confucius 
 attains  to  Tag — Illustrations. 
 
 [This  chapter  is  supplementary  to  ch.  v.] 
 
 THE  sky  turns  round  ;  the  earth  stands  still ; 
 sun  and  moon  pursue  one  another.  Who 
 causes  this  ?  Who  directs  this  ?  Who  has  leisure 
 enough  to  see  that  such  movements  continue  ? 
 
 "  Some  think  there  is  a  mechanical  arrangement 
 which  makes  these  bodies  move  as  they  do. 
 Others  think  that  they  revolve  without  being  able 
 to  stop. 
 
 "  The  clouds  cause  rain ;  rain  causes  clouds. 
 Whose  kindly  bounty  is  this  ?  Who  has  leisure 
 enough  to  see  that  such,  result  is  achieved  ? 
 
 ''Wind  comes  from  the  north.  It  blows  now 
 east,  now  west ;  and  now  it  whirls  aloft.  Who 
 puffs  it  forth  ?  Who  has  leisure  enough  to  be 
 flapping  it  this  way  or  that  ?  I  should  like  to  know 
 the  cause  of  all  this." 
 
 We  are  not  told  the  name  of  this  questioner. 
 Wu  Han  Chao 
 
 An  ancient  worthy. 
 
174  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 said,  "Come  here,  and  I  will  tell  you.  Above 
 there  are  the  Six  Influences 
 
 The  Ym  and  Yang  principles,  wind,  rain,  darkness, 
 and  light ;  as  in  ch.  xi. 
 
 Some  commentators  read,  the  "Six  Cardinal  Points,"  i 
 viz.  :  N.,  E.,  S.,  W.,  above,  and  below.  1 
 
 and  the  Five  Virtues. 
 
 Charity,  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  order,  wisdom,  and 
 truth. 
 
 If  a  ruler  keeps  in  harmony  with  these,  his  rule  is 
 good  ;  if  not,  it  is  bad.  By  following  the  nine 
 chapters  of  the  Lo  book. 
 
 Containing  a  mystic  revelation  of  knowledge  in  the 
 form  of  a  diagram,,  supposed  to  have  been  delivered 
 to  one  of  the  legendary  rulers  of  China  more  than 
 2,000  years  before  the  Christian  era. 
 
 his  rule  will  be  a  success  and  his  virtue  complete ; 
 he  will  watch  over  the  interests  of  his  people,  and 
 all  the  empire  will  owe  him  gratitude.  This  is  to 
 be  an  eminent  ruler." 
 
 "A  very  round  answer,"  says  Lin  Hsi  Chung,  "to 
 a  very  square  question." 
 
 Tang,  a  high  official  of  Sung,  asked  Chuang  Tzu 
 about  charity.  Chuang  Tzu  said,  "  Tigers  and 
 wolves  have  it." 
 
 "  How  so?"  asked  Tang. 
 
 "  The  natural  love  between  parents  and  offspring," 
 replied  Chuang  Tzii, — "  is  not  that  charity?" 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  1 75 
 
 Tang  then  inquired  about  perfect  charity. 
 "  Perfect  charity,"  said  Chuang  Tzu,  **  does  not 
 admit  of  love  for  the  individual." 
 
 It  embraces  all  men  equally.  To  love  one  person 
 would  imply  at  least  the  possibility  of  hating  another. 
 See  also  p.  167,  where  Lao  Tzu  refutes  the  doctrine 
 of  universal  love, 
 
 "  Without  such  love,"  replied  Tang,  "  it  appears 
 to  me  there  would  be  no  such  thing  as  affection, 
 and  without  affection  no  filial  piety.  Does  perfect 
 charity  not  admit  of  filial  piety  ?" 
 
 "  Not  so,"  said  Chuang  Tzu.  "  Perfect  charity 
 is  the  more  extensive  term.  Consequently,  it  was 
 unnecessary  to  mention  filial  piety.  It  was  not 
 that  filial  piety  was  omitted.  It  was  merely  not 
 particularised. 
 
 "  A  man  who  travels  southwards  to  Ying, 
 
 Capital  of  the  Ch'u  State. 
 
 cannot  see  Mount  Ming  in  the  north.  Why  ? 
 Because  he  is  too  far  off. 
 
 "  Therefore  it  has  been  said  that  it  is  easy  to  be 
 respectfully  filial,  but  difficult  to  be  affectionately 
 filial. 
 
 The  artificial  is  easier  than  the  natural. 
 
 But  even  that  is  easier  than  to  become  unconscious 
 of  one's  natural  obligations,  which  is  in  turn  easier 
 than  to  cause  others  to  be  unconscious  of  the 
 operations  thereof. 
 
 I.e.  to  be  filial  without  letting  others  be  conscious 
 of  the  fact. 
 
\J 
 
 176  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 Similarly,  this  is  easier  than  to  become  altogether 
 unconscious  of  the  world,  which  again  is  easier 
 than  to  cause  the  world  to  be  unconscious  of  one's 
 influence  upon  it. 
 
 Such    is    perfect    charity,    which    operates    without 
 letting  its  operation  be  known, 
 
 "  True  virtue  does  nothing,  yet  it  leaves  Yao  and 
 Shun  far  behind.  Its  good  influence  extends  to 
 ten  thousand  generations,  yet  no  man  knoweth  it 
 to  exist.  What  boots  it  then  to  sigh  after  charity 
 and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  ? 
 
 "  Filial  piety,  fraternal  love,  charity,  duty  to 
 one's  neighbour,  loyalty,  truth,  chastity,  and 
 honesty, — these  are  all  studied  efforts,  designed  to 
 aid  the  development  of  virtue.  They  are  only 
 parts  of  a  whole. 
 
 "  Therefore  it  has  been  said,  *  Perfect  honour 
 includes  all  the  honour  a  country  can  give.  Perfect 
 wealth  includes  all  the  wealth  a  country  can  give. 
 Perfect  ambition  includes  all  the  reputation  one 
 can  desire.'  And  by  parity  of  reasoning,  Tao  does 
 not  admit  of  sub-division." 
 
 Pei  Men  Ch'eng;  _ 
 
 I 
 
 Of  whom  nothing  is  recorded.  I 
 
 said  to  the  Yellow  Emperor,  "  When  your  Majesty 
 played  the  Han-cJiilL 
 
 Name  of  a  piece  of  music,  the  meaning  of  which  is 
 not  known. 
 
 in  the  wilds  of  Tung-t'ing,  the  first  time  I  heard 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  177 
 
 it  I  was  afraid,  the  second  time  I  was  amazed,  and 
 the  last  time  I  was  confused,  speechless,  over- 
 whelmed." 
 
 **  You  are  not  far  from  the  truth,"  replied  the 
 Yellow  Emperor.  "  I  played  as  a  man,  drawing 
 inspiration  from  God.  The  execution  was  punc- 
 tilious, the  expression  sublime. 
 
 **  Perfect  music  first  shapes  itself  according  to  a 
 human  standard  ;  then  it  follows  the  lines  of  the 
 divine  ;  then  it  proceeds  in  harmony  with  the  five 
 virtues  ;  then  it  passes  into  spontaneity.  The  four 
 seasons  are  then  blended,  and  all  creation  is 
 brought  into  accord.  As  the  seasons  come  forth 
 in  turn,  so  are  all  things  produced.  Now  fulness, 
 now  decay,  now  soft  and  loud  in  turn,  now  clear, 
 now  muffled,  the  harmony  of  Yin  and  Yang.  Like 
 a  flash  was  the  sound  which  roused  you  as  the 
 insect  world  is  roused. 
 
 By  the  warm  breath  of  spring", 
 followed  by  a  thundering  peal,  without  end  and 
 without  beginning,    now   dying,  now   living,  now 
 sinking,  now  rising,  on  and  on  without  a  moment's 
 break.     And  so  you  were  afraid. 
 
 "  When  I  played  again,  it  was  the  harmony  of 
 the  Yin  and  Yang,  lighted  by  the  glory  of  sun  and 
 moon ;  now  broken,  now  prolonged,  now  gentle, 
 now  severe,  in  one  unbroken,  unfathomable  volume 
 of  sound.  Filling  valley  and  gorge,  stopping  the 
 ears  and  dominating  the  senses,  adapting  itself  to 
 the  capacities  of  things, — the  sound  whirled  around 
 on  all  sides,  with  shrill  note  and  clear.     The  spirits 
 
178  CJmang  Tzit 
 
 of  darkness  kept  to  their  domain.  Sun,  moon,  and 
 stars,  pursued  their  appointed  course.  When  the 
 melody  was  exhausted  I  stopped  ;  if  the  melody 
 did  not  stop,  I  went  on. 
 
 The  music  was  naturally  what  it  was,  independently 
 
 of  the  player. 
 
 You  would  have  sympathised,  but  you  could  not 
 understand.  You  would  have  looked,  but  you 
 could  not  see.  You  would  have  pursued,  but  you 
 could  not  overtake.  You  stood  dazed  in  the 
 middle  of  the  wilderness,  leaning  against  a  tree 
 and  crooning,  your  eye  conscious  of  exhausted 
 vision,  your  strength  failing  for  the  pursuit,  and  so 
 unable  to  overtake  me.  Your  frame  was  but  an 
 empty  shell.  You  were  completely  at  a  loss,  and 
 so  you  were  amazed. 
 
 "Then  I  played  in  sounds  which  produce  no 
 amazement,  the  melodious  law  of  spontaneity, 
 springing  forth  like  nature's  countless  buds,  in 
 manifold  but  formless  joy,  as  though  poured  forth 
 to  the  dregs,  in  deep  but  soundless  bass.  Begin- 
 ning nowhere,  the  melody  rested  in  void  ;  some 
 would  say  dead,  others  alive,  others  real,  others 
 ornamental,  as  it  scattered  itself  on  all  sides  in 
 never  to  be  anticipated  chords. 
 
 "  The  wondering  world  enquires  of  the  Sage. 
 He  is  in  relation  with  its  variations  and  follows  the 
 same  eternal  law. 
 
 **  When  no  machinery  is  set  in  motion,  and  yet 
 the  instrumentation  is  complete,  this  is  the  music 
 of  God.     The  mind  awakes  to  its  enjoyment  with- 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  1 79 
 
 out  waiting  to  be  called.  Accordingly,  Yu  Piao 
 praised  it,  saying,  *  Listening  you  cannot  hear  its 
 sound  ;  gazing  you  cannot  see  its  form. 
 
 Yu  Piao  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  pre-historic 
 rulers  of  China.  Readers  of  the  Tao-Te-Ching 
 (ch.  xiv)  will  here  find  another  nail  for  the  coffin 
 of  that  egregious  fraud.  See  The  Reinains  of  Lao 
 Tzii,  p.  14.     Also  ch.  xxii  of  this  work. 
 
 It  fills  heaven  and  earth.  It  embraces  the  six 
 cardinal  points.'  Now  you  desired  to  listen  to  it, 
 but  you  were  not  able  to  grasp  its  existence.  And 
 so  you  were  confused. 
 
 "  My  music  first  induced  fear  ;  and  as  a  con- 
 sequence, respect.  I  then  added  amazement,  by 
 which  you  were  isolated. 
 
 From  consciousness  of  your  surroundings. 
 
 And  lastly,  confusion  ;  for  confusion  means  absence 
 of  sense,  and  absence  of  sense  means  Tao,  and 
 Tao  means  absorption  therein." 
 
 When  Confucius  travelled  west  to  the  Wei  State, 
 Yen  Yiian 
 
 The  "John"  among  the  disciples  of  Confucius.  He 
 closed  a  pure  and  gentle  life  at  the  early  age  of  32, 
 to  the  inexpressible  grief  of  the  Sage. 
 
 asked  Shih  Chin, 
 
 Chief  musician  of  the  Lu  State. 
 
 saying,  **  What  think  you  of  my  Master?" 
 
 "Alas!"  replied  Shih  Chin,  "he  is  not  a 
 success." 
 
 N  2 
 
i8o  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 "  How  so  ?"  enquired  Yen  Yiian. 
 
 "  Before  the  straw  dog  has  been  offered  in 
 sacrifice,"  replied  Shih  Chin,  '*  it  is  kept  in  a  box, 
 wrapped  up  in  an  embroidered  cloth,  and  the  augur 
 fasts  before  using  it.  But  when  it  has  once  been 
 offered  up,  passers-by  trample  over  its  body,  and 
 fuel-gatherers  pick  it  up  for  burning.  Then,  if 
 any  one  should  take  it,  and  again  putting  it  in  a 
 box  and  wrapping  it  up  in  an  embroidered  cloth, 
 watch  and  sleep  alongside,  he  would  not  only 
 dream,  but  have  nightmare  into  the  bargain. 
 
 The  thing  being  uncanny.  From  which  it  would 
 appear  that  the  use  of  the  straw  dog  was  to  induce 
 dreams  of  future  events. 
 
 "  Now  your  Master  has  been  thus  treating  the 
 ancients,  who  are  like  the  dog  which  has  already 
 been  offered  in  sacrifice.  He  causes  his  disciples 
 to  watch  and  sleep  alongside  of  them.  Conse- 
 quently, his  tree 
 
 Beneath  which  he  used  to  teach. 
 
 has  been  cut  down  in  Sung  ;  they  will  have  none 
 of  him  in  Wei ;  in  fact,  his  chances  among  the 
 Shangs  and  the  Chous  are  exhausted.  Is  not  this 
 the  dream  ?  And  then  to  be  surrounded  by  the 
 Ch'^ns  and  the  Ts  ais,  seven  days  without  food, 
 death  staring  him  in  the  face, — is  not  this  the 
 nightmare  ? 
 
 "  For  travelling  by  water  there  is  nothing  like  a 
 boat.  For  travelling  by  land  there  is  nothing  like 
 a   cart.     This   because   a   boat   moves    readily    in 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  1 8 1 
 
 water  ;  but  were  you  to  try  to  push  it  on  land  you 
 would  never  succeed  in  making  it  go. 
 
 Be  in  harmony  with  your  surroundings. 
 
 Now  ancient  and  modern  times  may  be  likened 
 unto  water  and  land  ;  Chou  and  Lu  to  the  boat 
 and  the  cart.  To  try  to  make  the  customs  of  Chou 
 succeed  in  Lu,  is  like  pushing  a  boat  on  land  :  great 
 trouble  and  no  result,  except  certain  injury  to  one- 
 self. Your  Master  has  not  yet  learnt  the  doctrine 
 of  non-angularity,  of  self-adaptation  to  externals. 
 
 "  Have  you  never  seen  a  well-sweep  ?  You  pull 
 it,  and  down  it  comes.  You  release  it,  and  up  it 
 goes.  It  is  the  man  who  pulls  the  well-sweep,  and 
 not  the  well-sweep  which  pulls  the  man  ;  so  that 
 both  in  coming  down  and  going  up,  it  does  not 
 run  counter  to  the  wishes  of  the  man.  And  so  it 
 was  that  the  ceremonial  and  obligations  and  laws 
 of  the  Three  Emperors  and  Five  Rulers  did  not 
 aim  at  uniformity  of  application  but  at  good 
 government  of  the  empire.  Their  ceremonial, 
 obligations,  laws,  etc.,  were  like  the  cherry-apple, 
 the  pear,  the  orange,  and  the  pumelo, — all  differing 
 in  flavour  but  each  palatable.  They  changed  with 
 the  changing  season. 
 
 "  Dress  up  a  monkey  in  the  robes  of  Chou  Kung, 
 See  ch.  iv. 
 
 and  it  will  not  be  happy  until  they  are  torn  to 
 shreds.  And  the  difference  between  past  and 
 present  is  much  the  same  as  the  difference  between 
 Chou  Kung  and  a  monkey. 
 
1 82  Chuang  Tzit 
 
 "  When  Hsi  Shih 
 
 A  famous  beauty  of  old. 
 
 was  distressed  in  mind,  she  knitted  her  brows.  An 
 ugly  woman  of  the  village,  seeing  how  beautiful 
 she  looked,  went  home,  and  having  worked  herself 
 into  a  fit  frame  of  mind,  knitted  her  brows.  The 
 result  was  that  the  rich  people  of  the  place  barred 
 up  their  doors  and  would  not  come  out,  while  the 
 poor  people  took  their  wives  and  children  and 
 departed  elsewhere.  That  w^oman  saw  the  beauty 
 of  knitted  brows,  but  she  did  not  see  wherein  the 
 beauty  of  knitted  brows  lay. 
 
 In  suitability  to  the  individual. 
 Alas  !  your  Master  is  emphatically  not  a  success." 
 
 Confucius  had  lived  to  the  age  of  fifty-one  with- 
 out hearing  Tao,  when  he  went  south  to  P'ei,  to 
 see  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 Lao  Tzu  said,  "  So  you  have  come,  Sir,  have 
 you  ?  I  hear  you  are  considered  a  wise  man  up 
 north.     Have  you  got  Tag  ?" 
 
 '*  Not  yet,"  answered  Confucius. 
 
 "  In  what  direction,"  asked  Lao  Tzu,  "  have  you 
 sought  for  it?" 
 
 "  I  sought  it  for  five  years,"  replied  Confucius, 
 "  in  the  science  of  numbers,  but  did  not  succeed." 
 
 "And  then?  .  .   .  ."  continued  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 "  Then,"  said  Confucius,  **  I  spent  twelve  years 
 seeking  for  it  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Yin  and  Yang, 
 also  without  success." 
 
 I 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  183 
 
 ''  Just  so,"  rejoined  Lao  Tzu.  "  Were  Tao  some- 
 thing which  could  be  presented,  there  is  no  man 
 but  would  present  it  to  his  sovereign,  or  to  his 
 parents.  Could  it  be  imparted  or  given,  there  is  no 
 man  but  would  impart  it  to  his  brother  or  give 
 it  to  his  child.  But  this  is  impossible,  for  the 
 following  reason.  Unless  there  is  a  suitable  endow- 
 ment within,  Tao  will  not  abide.  Unless  there  is 
 outward  correctness,  Tag  will  not  operate.  The 
 external  being  unfitted  for  the  impression  of  the 
 internal,  the  true  Sage  does  not  seek  to  imprint. 
 The  internal  being  unfitted  for  the  reception  of  the 
 external,  the  true  Sage  does  not  seek  to  receive. 
 
 Attempting  neither  to  teach  nor  to  learn. 
 
 "  Reputation  is  public  property ;  you  may  not 
 appropriate  it  in  excess.  Charity  and  duty  to  one's 
 neighbour  are  as  caravanserais  established  by  wise 
 rulers  of  old  ;  you  may  stop  there  one  night,  but 
 not  for  long,  or  you  will  incur  reproach. 
 
 "  The  perfect  men  of  old  took  their  road  through 
 charity,  stopping  a  night  with  duty  to  their  neigh- 
 bour, on  their  way  to  ramble  in  transcendental 
 space.  Feeding  on  the  produce  of  non-cultivation, 
 and  establishing  themselves  in  the  domain  of  no 
 obligations,  they  enjoyed  their  transcendental  inac- 
 tion. Their  food  was  ready  to  hand  ;  and  being 
 under  no  obligations  to  others,  they  did  not  put 
 any  one  under  obligation  to  themselves.  The 
 ancients  called  this  the  outward  visible  sign  of  an 
 inward  and  spiritual  grace. 
 
184  Chitang  Tzii 
 
 ."  Those  who  make  wealth  their  all  in  all,  cannot 
 bear  loss  of  money.  Those  who  make  distinction 
 their  all  in  all,  cannot  bear  loss  of  fame.  Those  who 
 affect  power  will  not  place  authority  in  the  hands  of 
 others.  Anxious  while  holding,  distressed  if  losing, 
 yet  never  taking  warning  from  the  past  and  seeing 
 the  folly  of  their  pursuit, — such  men  are  the  accursed 
 of  God. 
 
 "  Resentment,  gratitude,  taking,  giving,  censure 
 of  self,  instruction  of  others,  power  of  life  and 
 death, — these  eight  are  the  instruments  of  right ; 
 but  only  he  who  can  adapt  himself  to  the  vicissi- 
 tudes of  fortune,  without  being  carried  away,  is  fit 
 to  use  them.  Such  a  one  is  an  upright  man  among 
 the  upright.  And  he  whose  heart  is  not  so  consti- 
 tuted,— the  door  of  divine  intelligence  is  not  yet 
 opened  for  him." 
 
 Confucius  visited  Lao  Tzu,  and  spoke  of  charity 
 and  duty  to  one's  neighbour. 
 
 Lao  Tzu  said,  "  The  chaff  from  winnowing  will 
 blind  a  man's  eyes  so  that  he  cannot  tell  the  points 
 of  the  compass.  Mosquitoes  will  keep  a  man  awake 
 all  night  with  their  biting.  And  just  in  the  same 
 way  this  talk  of  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour 
 drives  me  nearly  crazy.  Sir  I  strive  to  keep  the 
 w^orld  to  its  own  original  simplicity.  And  as  the 
 wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  so  let  Virtue  esta- 
 blish itself.  Wherefore  such  undue  energy, as  though 
 searching  for  a  fugitive  with  a  big  drum  ? 
 See  p.  167. 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  185 
 
 "  The  snow-goose  is  white  without  a  daily  bath. 
 The  raven  is  black  without  daily  colouring  itself. 
 The  original  simplicity  of  black  and  of  white  is  be- 
 yond the  reach  of  argument.  The  vista  of  fame  and 
 reputation  is  not  worthy  of  enlargement.  When  the 
 pond  dries  up  and  the  fishes  are  left  upon  dry 
 ground,  to  moisten  them  with  the  breath  or  to 
 damp  them  with  a  little  spittle  is  not  to  be  compared 
 with  leaving  them  in  the  first  instance  in  their 
 native  rivers  and  lakes." 
 
 Repeated  from  ch.  vi. 
 
 On  returning  from  this  visit  to  Lao  Tzii, 
 Confucius  did  not  speak  for  three  days.  A 
 disciple  asked  him,  saying,  "  Master,  when  you 
 saw  Lao  Tzu,  in  what  direction  did  you  admonish 
 him  ?  " 
 
 "I  saw  a  Dragon,"  replied  Confucius,  '' —  a 
 Dragon  which  by  convergence  showed  a  body,  by 
 radiation  became  colour,  and  riding  upon  the 
 clouds  of  heaven,  nourished  the  two  Principles  of 
 Creation.  My  mouth  was  agape :  I  could  not 
 shut  it.  How  then  do  you  think  I  was  going  to 
 admonish  Lao  Tzu  ?  " 
 
 Upon  this  Tzu  Kung  remarked,  "  Ha  !  then  a 
 man  can  sit  corpse-like  manifesting  his  dragon- 
 power  around,  his  thunder-voice  heard  though 
 profound  silence  reigns,  his  movements  like 
 those  of  the  universe  ?  I  too  would  go  and  see 
 him." 
 
 More  repetition,  this  time  from  ch.  xi. 
 
1 86  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 So  on  the  strength  of  his  connection  with  Confu- 
 cius, Tzu  Kung  obtained  an  interview.  Lao  Tzu 
 received  him  distantly  and  with  dignity,  saying  in  a 
 low  voice,  "  I  am  old.  Sir.  What  injunctions  may 
 you  have  to  give  me  ?  " 
 
 "The  administration  of  the  Three  Kings  and  of 
 the  Five  Rulers,"  replied  Tzu  Kung,  "  was  not 
 uniform  ;  but  their  reputation  has  been  identical. 
 How  then,  Sir,  is  it  that  you  do  not  regard  them 
 as  Sages  ?  " 
 
 *'  Come  nearer,  my  son,"  said  Lao  Tzu.  *'  What 
 mean  you  by  not  uniform  ?  " 
 
 "  Yao  handed  over  the  empire  to  Shun,"  replied 
 Tzu  Kung;  "and  Shun  to  Yii.  Yii  employed 
 labour,  and  T'ang  employed  troops.  Wen  Wang 
 followed  Chou  Hsin  and  did  not  venture  to  oppose 
 him.  Wu  Wang  opposed  him  and  would  not 
 follow.     Therefore  I  said  not  uniform^ 
 
 "  Come  nearer,  my  son,"  said  Lao  Tzu,  "and  I  will 
 tell  you  about  the  Three  Kings  and  the  Five  Rulers. 
 
 "  The  Yellow  Emperor's  administration  caused 
 the  affections  of  the  people  to  be  catholic.  Nobody 
 wept  for  the  death  of  his  parents,  and  nobody  found 
 fault. 
 
 All  loved  each  other  equally. 
 
 "  The  administration  of  Yao  diverted  the  affec- 
 tions of  the  people  into  particular  channels.  If 
 a  man  slew  the  slayer  of  his  parents,  nobody 
 blamed  him. 
 
 Filial  affection  began  to  predominate. 
 
 1 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  187 
 
 "  The  administration  of  Shun  brought  a  spirit 
 of  rivalry  among  the  people.  Children  were  born 
 after  ten  months'  gestation ;  when  five  months 
 old,  they  could  speak ;  and  ere  they  were  three 
 years  of  age, 
 
 Including  gestation. 
 
 could  already  tell  one  person  from  another.     And 
 so  early  death  came  into  the  world. 
 
 A  veritable  anti-climax,  hopelessly  unworthy  of  either 
 Lao  Tzu  or  Chuanor  Tzii. 
 
 "The  administration  of  Yu  wrought  a  change 
 in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Individuality  pre- 
 vailed, and  force  was  called  into  play.  Killing  rob- 
 bers was  not  accounted  murder  ;  and  throughout 
 the  empire  people  became  sub-divided  into  classes. 
 There  was  great  alarm  on  all  sides,  and  the  Con- 
 fucianists  and  the  Mihists  arose.  At  first  the 
 relationships  were  duly  observed  ;  but  what  about 
 the  women  of  to-day  ? 
 
 Meaning  that  in  the  olden  days  men  could  not  marry 
 before  thirty,  women  before  twenty,  whereas  now  the 
 State  is  cursed  with  early  marriages.  Or,  according 
 to  Dr.  Legge's  view  of  a  famous  passage  in  the 
 Book  of  Rites,  that  formerly  it  was  shameful  in  men 
 and  women  not  to  be  married  at  the  age  of  thirty 
 and  twenty,  respectively,  whereas  now  the  State  is 
 cursed  with  late  marriages. 
 
 "  Let  me  tell  you.  The  government  of  the 
 Three  Kings  and  Five  Rulers  was  so  only  in  name. 
 In  reality,  it  was  utter  confusion.     The  wisdom  of 
 
1 88  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 the  Three  Kings  was  opposed  to  the  brilliancy  of 
 the  sun  and  moon  above,  destructive  of  the  energy 
 of  land   and  water  below,  and  subversive  of  the 
 influence  of  the  four  seasons  between. 
 More  repetition.     See  ch.  x.  ad  fin. 
 That  wisdom  is  more  harmful  than  a  hornet's  tail, 
 preventing  the  very  animals  from   putting  them- 
 selves   into  due   relation   with   the   conditions   of 
 their  existence, — and  yet  they  call  themselves  Sages! 
 Is  not  their  shamelessness  shameful  indeed  ?  " 
 At  this  Tzu  Kung  became  ill  at  ease. 
 
 The    whole    of  the    above    episode    may    without 
 hesitation  be  written  off  as  a  feeble  forgery. 
 
 Confucius  said  to  Lao  Tzu,  "  I  arranged  the  Six 
 Canons  of  Poetry,  History,  Rites,  Music,  Changes,  j 
 and  Spring  and  Autumn.  I  spent  much  time  over 
 them,  and  I  am  well  acquainted  with  their  purport. 
 I  used  them  in  admonishing  seventy-two  rulers,  * 
 by  discourses  on  the  wisdom  of  ancient  sovereigns 
 and  illustrations  from  the  lives  of  Chou  and  Shao. 
 Yet  not  one  ruler  has  in  any  way  adopted  my  sug- 
 gestions. Alas  that  man  should  be  so  difficult  to 
 persuade,  and  wisdom  so  difficult  to  illustrate." 
 
 '*  It  is  well  for  you,  Sir,"  replied  Lao  Tzu,  "  that 
 you  did  not  come  across  any  real  ruler  of  mankind. 
 Your  Six  Canons  are  but  the  worn-out  foot-prints 
 of  ancient  Sages.  And  what  are  foot-prints  ?  Why, 
 the  words  you  now  utter  are  as  it  were  foot-prints. 
 Foot-prints  are  made  by  the  shoe  :  they  are  not  the 
 shoe  itself. 
 
CAP.  XIV.]  The  Circling  Sky  189 
 
 "  Fish-hawks  gaze  at  each  other  with  motionless 
 eyes, — and  their  young  are  produced.  The  male 
 of  a  certain  insect  chirps  with  the  wind  while  the 
 female  chirps  against  it, —  and  their  offspring  is 
 produced.  There  is  another  animal  which,  being 
 an  hermaphrodite,  produces  its  own  offspring. 
 Nature  cannot  be  changed.  Destiny  cannot  be 
 altered.  Time  cannot  stop.  Tao  cannot  be  ob- 
 structed. Once  attain  to  Tao,  and  there  is  nothing 
 which  you  cannot  accomplish.  Without  it,  there 
 is  nothing  which  you  can  accomplish." 
 
 For  three  months  after  this  Confucius  did  not 
 leave  his  house.  Then  he  again  visited  Lao  Tzu 
 and  said,  "  I  have  attained.  Birds  lay  eggs,  fish 
 spawn,  insects  undergo  metamorphosis,  and  mam- 
 mals suckle  their  young. 
 
 Lit.  "  when  a  younger  brother  comes,  the  elder 
 cries," — from  which  may  be  inferred  the  meaning 
 in  the  translation. 
 
 The  whole  sentence  signifies  that  every  development 
 
 proceeds  according  to  fixed  laws.     It  is  useless  to  try 
 
 to  do  anything.     Nature  is  always  self-similar. 
 
 For  a  long  time  I  have  not  been  enlightened.    And 
 
 he  who  is   not  enlightened  himself, — how  should 
 
 he  enlighten  others  ?  " 
 
 Lao  Tzu  said,  "  Ch'iu,  you  have  attained  ! " 
 
 "The  style  of  this  chapter,"  says  Lin  H si  Chung, 
 "gives  it  a  foremost  place  among  the  'outside' 
 essays  of  Chuang  Tzu.  But  the  insertion  of  that 
 dialogue  between  Confucius  and  Lao  Tzu  on  charity 
 and  duty  towards  one's  neighbour  is  like  eking  out  a 
 sable  robe  with  a  dog's  tail." 
 
190 
 
 CHAPTER  XV. 
 
 Self-Conceit. 
 
 Argument : — Would-be  sages — The  vanity  of  effort — Method  of  the  true 
 Sage — Passivity  the  key — The  soul  and  mortality — Re-absorption  into 
 the  immortal. 
 
 SELF-CONCEIT  and  assurance,  which  lead 
 men  to  quit  society,  and  be  different  from 
 their  fellows,  to  indulge  in  tall  talk  and  abuse 
 of  others, — these  are  nothing  more  than  personal 
 over-estimation,  the  affectation  of  recluses  and 
 those  who  have  done  with  the  world  and  have 
 closed  their  hearts  to  mundane  influences. 
 
 Preaching  of  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neigh- 
 bour, of  loyalty  and  truth,  of  respect,  of  economy, 
 and  of  humility, — this  is  but  moral  culture,  affected 
 by  would-be  pacificators  and  teachers  of  mankind, 
 and  by  scholars  at  home  or  abroad. 
 
 Preaching  of  meritorious  services,  of  fame,  of 
 ceremonial  between  sovereign  and  minister,  of  due 
 relationship  between  upper  and  low^er  classes, — 
 this  is  mere  government,  affected  by  courtiers  or 
 patriots  who  strive  to  extend  the  boundaries  of 
 their  own  State  and  to  swallow  up  the  territory  of 
 others. 
 
 Living  in  marshes  or  in  wildernesses,  and  passing 
 
CAP.  XV. J  Self-Conceit  191 
 
 one's  days  in  fishing, — this  is  mere  inaction,  affected 
 by  wanderers  who  have  turned  their  backs  upon  the 
 world  and  have  nothing  better  to  do. 
 Exhaling  and  inhaling. 
 
 The  "breathing"  theory.     See  ch.  vi.,  adinit. 
 
 getting  rid  of  the  old  and  assimilating  the  new, 
 stretching  like  a  bear  and  craning  like  a  bird, — 
 
 As  these  creatures  are  supposed  to  do  in  order  to 
 get  good  air  into  their  systems. 
 
 — this  is  but  valetudinarianism,  affected  by  pro- 
 fessors of  hygiene  and  those  who  try  to  preserve 
 the  body  to  the  age  of  P  eng  Tsu. 
 
 See  ch.  i. 
 
 But  in  self-esteem  without  self-conceit,  in  moral 
 culture  without  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neigh- 
 bour, ill  government  without  rank  and  fame,  in 
 retirement  without  solitude,  in  health  without 
 hygiene, — there  we  have  oblivion  absolute  coupled 
 with  possession  of  all  things;  an  infinite  calm 
 which  becomes  an  object  to  be  attained  by  all. 
 
 Such  is  the  Tao  of  the  universe,  such  is  the 
 virtue  of  the  Sage.  Wherefore  it  has  been  said, 
 "  In  tranquillity,  in  stillness,  in  the  unconditioned, 
 in  inaction,  we  find  the  levels  of  the  universe,  the 
 very  constitution  of  Tag." 
 
 Almost  verbatim  from  ch.  xiii,  p.  158,  where  the 
 passage  appears  as  part  of  Chuang  Tzu's  own  text, 
 and  not  as  a  quotation  from  any  other  author. 
 
 Wherefore   it   has   been   said,   ''The  Sage  is  a 
 
192  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 negative  quantity,  and  is  consequently  in  a  state 
 of  passivity.  Being  passive  he  is  in  a  state  of 
 repose.  And  where  passivity  and  repose  are,  there 
 sorrow  and  anxiety  do  not  enter,  and  foul  influ- 
 ences do  not  collect.  And  thus  his  virtue  is 
 complete  and  his  spirituality  unimpaired." 
 
 Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  *'The  birth  of  the 
 Sage  is  the  will  of  God ;  his  death  is  but  a  modifi- 
 cation of  existence.  In  repose,  he  shares  the 
 passivity  of  the  Yi)i ;  in  action,  the  energy  of  the 
 Yang.  He  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  happi- 
 ness, and  so  has  nothing  to  do  with  misfortune. 
 
 Each  of  which  proceeds  from  the  other  in  an  endless 
 chain. 
 
 He  must  be  influenced  ere  he  will  respond.  He 
 must  be  urged  ere  he  will  move.  He  must  be 
 compelled  ere  he  will  arise.  Ignoring  the  future 
 and  the  past,  he  resigns  himself  to  the  laws  of 
 God. 
 
 "  And  therefore  no  calamity  comes  upon  him,  \ 
 nothing  injures  him,  no  man  is  against  him,  no 
 spirit  punishes  him.  He  floats  through  life  to 
 rest  in  death.  He  has  no  anxieties  ;  he  makes  no 
 plans.  His  honour  does  not  make  him  illustrious. 
 His  good  faith  reflects  no  credit  upon  himself. 
 
 It  is  all  God's,  as  part  of  the  great  scheme. 
 
 His  sleep  is  dreamless,  his  awaking  without  pain. 
 His  spirituality  is  pure, 
 
 Without  desires, 
 and  his  soul  vigorous.     Thus  unconditioned  and 
 
 1 
 
CAP.  XV.]  Self-Conceit  193 
 
 in  repose,  he  is  a  partaker  of  the  virtue  of 
 God." 
 
 Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  "  Sorrow  and  happi- 
 ness are  the  heresies 
 
 Evil  influences. 
 
 of  virtue ;  joy  and  anger  lead  astray  from  Tao  ; 
 love  and  hate  cause  the  loss  of  virtue.  The  heart 
 unconscious  of  sorrow  and  happiness, — that  is 
 perfect  virtue.  One,  without  change, — that  is 
 perfect  repose.  Without  any  obstruction, — that  is 
 the  perfection  of  the  unconditioned.  Holding  no 
 relations  with  the  external  world, — that  is  perfec- 
 tion of  the  negative  state.  Without  blemish  of  any 
 kind, — that  is  the  perfection  of  purity." 
 
 Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  ''If  the  body  toils 
 without  rest,  it  dies.  If  the  mind  is  employed 
 without  ceasing,  it  becomes  wearied ;  and  being 
 wearied,  its  power  is  gone." 
 
 Pure  water  is  by  nature  clear.  If  untouched,  it 
 is  smooth.  If  dammed,  it  will  not  flow,  neither 
 will  it  be  clear.  It  is  an  emblem  of  the  virtue  of 
 God.  Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  "  Pure,  without 
 admixture ;  uniform,  without  change ;  negative, 
 without  action  ;  moved,  only  at  the  will  of  God  ; — 
 such  would  be  the  spirituality  nourished  according 
 to  Tag." 
 
 Those  who  possess  blades  from  Kan 
 The  Wu  State. 
 
 or  Yueh,  keep  them  carefully  in  their  scabbards, 
 and  do  not  venture  to  use  them.     For  they  are 
 
 o 
 
194  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 precious  in  the  extreme.  The  spirit  spreads  forth 
 on  all  sides  :  there  is  no  point  to  which  it  does 
 not  reach,  attaining  heaven  above,  embracing  earth 
 beneath.  Influencing  all  creation,  its  form  cannot 
 be  portrayed.     Its  name  is  then  Of-God. 
 
 Such  is  man's  spiritual  existence  before  he  is  born 
 into  the  world  of  mortals. 
 
 The  Tao  of  the  pure  and  simple  consists  in 
 preserving  spirituality.  He  who  preserves  his 
 spirituality  and  loses  it  not,  becomes  one  with  that 
 spirituality.  And  through  that  unity  the  spirit 
 operates  freely,  and  comes  into  due  relationship 
 with  God. 
 
 Returning  after  its  brief  career  on  earth,  to  the 
 eternity  whence  it  came. 
 
 A  vulgar  saying  has  it,  "The  masses  value 
 money ;  honest  men,  fame  ;  virtuous  men,  resolu- 
 tion ;  and  Sages,  the  soul." 
 
 Thus,  the  pure  is  that  in  which  there  is  nothing 
 mixed  ;  the  simple  is  that  which  implies  no  injury 
 to  the  spirituality.  And  he  who  can  keep  the  pure 
 and  simple  within  himself, — he  is  a  divine  man. 
 
 It  requires  but  scant  acumen  to  relegate  this  chapter 
 to  the  limbo  of  forgeries.  Lin  Hsi  Chung  thinks  it 
 is  probably  from  the  hand  of  the  unknown  artist  who 
 is  responsible  for  ch.  xiii. 
 
195 
 
 CHAPTER   XVI. 
 
 Exercise  of  Faculties. 
 
 Argument : — Tao  unattainable  by  mundane  arts — To  be  reached  through 
 repose — The  world's  infancy — The  reign  of  peace — Government  sets 
 in — Tao  declines — The  true  Sages  of  old — Their  purity  of  aim. 
 
 THOSE  who  exercise  their  faculties  in  mere 
 worldly  studies,  hoping  thereby  to  revert  to 
 their  original  condition  ;  and  those  who  sink  their 
 aspirations  in  mundane  thoughts,  hoping  thereby 
 to  reach  enlightenment ; — these  are  the  dullards  of 
 the  earth. 
 
 The  ancients,  in  cultivating  Tao,  begat  know- 
 ledge out  of  repose.  When  born,  this  knowledge 
 was  not  applied  to  any  purpose ;  and  so  it  may  be 
 said  that  out  of  knowledge  they  begat  repose. 
 Knowledge  and  repose  thus  mutually  producing 
 each  other,  harmony  and  order  were  developed. 
 Virtue  is  harmony  ;  Tao  is  order. 
 
 Virtue  all-embracing, — hence  charity.  Tao  all-  J 
 influencing, — hence  duty  to  one's  neighbour.  From 
 the  establishment  of  these  two  springs  loyalty. 
 Then  comes  music,  an  expression  of  inward  purity 
 and  truth  ;  followed  by  ceremonial,  or  sincerity  ex- 
 pressed in  ornamental  guise.  If  music  and 
 ceremonial  are  ill  regulated,  the  empire  is  plunged 
 
 O   2 
 
196  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 into  confusion.  And  to  attempt  to  correct  others 
 while  one's  own  virtue  is  clouded,  is  to  set  one's 
 own  virtue  a  task  for  which  it  is  inadequate,  the 
 result  being  that  the  natural  constitution  of  the 
 object  will  suffer. 
 
 Primeval  man  enjoyed  perfect  tranquillity 
 throughout  life.  In  his  day,  the  Positive  and 
 Negative  principles  were  peacefully  united  ;  spiri- 
 tual beings  gave  no  trouble ;  the  four  seasons 
 followed  in  due  order;  nothing  suffered  any  injury; 
 death  was  unknown ;  men  had  knowledge,  but  no 
 occasion  to  use  it.  This  may  be  called  perfection 
 of  unity. 
 
 All  things,  all  conditions,  were  One. 
 
 At  that  period,  nothing  was  ever  made  so;  but  every- 
 thing was  so. 
 
 By  and  by,  virtue  declined.     Sui  Jen 
 
 The  Prometheus  of  China, 
 and  Fu  Hsi 
 
 See  ch.  vi. 
 
 ruled  the  empire.  There  was  still  natural  adapta- 
 tion, 
 
 Of  man  to  his  surroundings. 
 
 but  the  unity  was  gone. 
 
 The  tide  of  coercion  had  set  in. 
 A  further  decline  in  virtue.     Shen  Nung 
 
 The  inventor  of  agriculture, 
 and  Huang  Ti 
 
 The  Yellow  Emperor.     See  ch.  vi. 
 
CAP.  XVI.]  Exercise  of  Faculties  197 
 
 ruled  the  empire.  There  was  peace,  but  the  natural 
 adaptation  was  gone. 
 
 Again  virtue  declined.  Yao  and  Shun  ruled  the 
 empire.  Systems  of  government  and  moral  reform 
 were  introduced.  Man's  original  integrity  was 
 scattered.     Goodness  led  him  astray  from  Tao  ; 
 
 But  for  goodness,  evil  could  not  exist. 
 
 his  actions  imperilled  his  virtue. 
 
 As  opposed  to  inaction. 
 
 Then  he  discarded  natural  instinct  and  took  up 
 with  the  intellectual.  Mind  was  pitted  against  mind, 
 but  it  was  impossible  thus  to  settle  the  empire.  So 
 art  and  learning  were  added.  But  art  obliterated 
 the  original  constitution,  and  learning  overwhelmed 
 mind  ;  upon  which  confusion  set  in,  and  man  was 
 unable  to  revert  to  his  natural  instincts,  to  the 
 condition  in  which  he  at  first  existed. 
 
 Thus  it  may  be  said  that  the  world  destroys  Tao, 
 and  that  Tao  destroys  the  world.  And  the  world 
 and  Tao  thus  mutually  destroying  each  other,  how 
 can  the  men  of  Tao  elevate  the  world,  and  how  can 
 the  world  elevate  Tao?  Tao  cannot  elevate  the 
 world  ;  neither  can  the  world  elevate  Tao.  Though 
 the  Sages  were  not  to  dwell  on  mountain  and  in 
 forest,  their  virtue  would  still  be  hidden  ; — hidden, 
 but  not  by  themselves. 
 
 Those  of  old  who  were  called  retired  scholars, 
 were  not  men  who  hid  their  bodies,  or  kept  back 
 their  words,  or  concealed  their  wisdom.  It  was 
 that  the  age  was  not  suitable  for  their  mission.     If 
 
198  Chuang  TzU 
 
 the  aofe  was  suitable  and  their  mission  a  success 
 over  the  empire,  they  simply  effaced  themselves  in 
 the  unity  which  prevailed.  If  the  age  was  unsuit- 
 able and  their  mission  a  failure,  they  fell  back  upon 
 their  own  resources  and  waited.  Such  is  the  way  to 
 preserve  oneself. 
 
 Those  of  old  who  preserved  themselves,  did  not 
 ornament  their  knowledge  with  rhetoric.  They  did 
 not  exhaust  the  empire  with  their  knowledge. 
 They  did  not  exhaust  virtue.  They  kept  quietly 
 to  their  own  spheres,  and  reverted  to  their  natural 
 instincts.     What  then  was  left  for  them  to  do  ? 
 
 Tao  does  not  deal  with  detail.  Virtue  does  not 
 take  cognizance  of  trifles.  Trifles  injure  virtue  ; 
 detail  injures  Tag.  Wherefore  it  has  been  said, 
 "  Self-reformation  is  enough."  He  whose  happi- 
 ness is  complete  has  attained  his  desire. 
 
 Of  old,  attainment  of  desire  did  not  mean  office. 
 It  meant  that  nothing  could  be  added  to  the  sum  of 
 happiness.  But  now  it  does  mean  office,  though 
 office  is  external  and  is  not  a  part  of  oneself.  That 
 which  is  adventitious,  comes.  Coming,  you  cannot 
 prevent  it ;  going,  you  cannot  arrest  it.  Therefore, 
 not  to  look  on  office  as  the  attainment  of  desire,  and 
 not  because  of  poverty  to  become  a  toady,  but  to  be 
 equally  happy  under  all  conditions, — this  is  to  be 
 without  sorrow. 
 
 But  now-a-days,  both  having  and  not  having 
 
 Office, 
 are  causes  of  unhappiness.     From  which  we  may 
 
CAP.  XVI.]  Exercise  of  Faculties  199 
 
 infer  that  even  happiness  is  not  exempt  from 
 sorrow. 
 
 A  reductio  ad  absurdum. 
 
 Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  "  Those  who  over-esti- 
 mate the  external  and  lose  their  natural  instincts 
 in  worldliness,-— these  are  the  people  of  topsy- 
 turvydom." 
 
 We  are  left  in  the  dark  as  to  the  authorship  of  the 
 numerous  quotations  in  this  and  the  preceding 
 chapter.  It  is,  however,  a  point  of  minor  impor- 
 tance, neither  chapter  having  the  slightest  claim  to 
 be  regarded  as  the  genuine  work  of  Chuang  Tzti. 
 
200 
 
 CHAPTER   XVII. 
 
 Autumn  Floods. 
 
 Argument: — Greatness  and  smallness   always  relative — Time  and  space 
 
 infinite — Abstract   dimensions    do    not    exist — Their   expression   is 
 
 concrete — Terms    are   not   absolute — Like   causes   produce   unlike 
 
 effects — In  the  unconditioned  alone  can  the  absolute  exist — The  only 
 
 •     absolute  is  Tao — Illustrations. 
 
 [This  chapter  is  supplementary  to  chapter  ii.  It  is  the  most  popular 
 of  all,  and  has  earned  for  its  author  the  sobriquet  of  "  Autumn 
 Floods."] 
 
 IT  was  the  time  of  autumn  floods.  Every  stream 
 poured  into  the  river,  which  swelled  in  its 
 turbid  course.  The  banks  receded  so  far  from  one 
 another  that  it  was  impossible  to  tell  a  cow  from  a 
 horse. 
 
 Then  the  Spirit  of  the  River  laughed  for  joy  that 
 all  the  beauty  of  the  earth  was  gathered  to  himself. 
 Down  with  the  stream  he  journeyed  east,  until  he 
 reached  the  ocean.  There,  looking  eastwards  and 
 seeing  no  limit  to  its  waves,  his  countenance 
 changed.  And  as  he  gazed  over  the  expanse,  he 
 sighed  and  said  to  the  Spirit  of  the  Ocean,  "  A 
 vulgar  proverb  says  that  he  who  has  heard  but  part 
 of  the  truth  thinks  no  one  equal  to  himself.  And 
 such  a  one  am  I. 
 
 "  When  formerly  I  heard  people  detracting  from 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  Atitumn  Floods  201 
 
 the  learning  of  Confucius  or  underrating  the  hero- 
 ism of  Poh  I, 
 
 See  ch.  vi. 
 
 I  did  not  believe.  But  now  that  I  have  looked 
 upon  your  inexhaustibility — alas  for  me  had  I  not 
 reached  your  abode,  I  should  have  been  for  ever  a 
 laughing-stock  to  those  of  comprehensive  enlighten- 
 ment !  " 
 
 The  Spirit  of  a  paltry  river  learns  that  the  ripple  of 
 his  rustic  stream  is  scarcely  the  murmur  of  the 
 world. 
 
 To  which  the  Spirit  of  the  Ocean  replied,  "  You 
 cannot  speak  of  ocean  to  a  well-frog, — the  creature 
 of  a  narrower  sphere.  You  cannot  speak  of  ice  to 
 a  summer  insect, — ^the  creature  of  a  season.  You 
 cannot  speak  of  Tao  to  a  pedagogue  :  his  scope  is 
 too  restricted.  But  now  that  you  have  emerged 
 from  your  narrow  sphere  and  have  seen  the  great 
 ocean,  you  know  your  own  insignificance,  and  I  can 
 speak  to  you  of  great  principles. 
 
 "  There  is  no  body  of  water  beneath  the  canopy 
 of  heaven  which  is  greater  than  ocean.  All  streams 
 pour  into  it  without  cease,  yet  it  does  not  overflow. 
 It  is  constantly  being  drained  off,  yet  it  is  never 
 empty.  Spring  and  autumn  bring  no  change ; 
 floods  and  droughts  are  equally  unknown.  And 
 thus  it  is  immeasurably  superior  to  mere  rivers  and 
 brooks, — though  I  would  not  venture  to  boast  on 
 this  account,  for  I  get  my  shape  from  the  universe, 
 my  vital  power  from  the   Yin  and  Yang.     In  the 
 
202  Chttang  Tzu 
 
 universe  I  am  but  as  a  small  stone  or  a  small  tree 
 on  a  vast  mountain.  And  conscious  thus  of  my 
 own  insignificance,  what  is  there  of  which  I  can 
 boast  ? 
 
 "  The  Four  Seas, — are  they  not  to  the  universe 
 but  like  puddles  in  a  marsh  ?  The  Middle  King- 
 dom,— is  it  not  to  the  surrounding  ocean  like  a  tare- 
 seed  in  a  granary?  Of  all  the  myriad  created  things, 
 man  is  but  one.  And  of  all  those  who  inhabit  the 
 land,  live  on  the  fruit  of  the  earth,  and  move  about 
 in  cart  and  boat,  an  individual  man  is  but  one.  Is 
 not  he,  as  compared  with  all  creation,  but  as  the 
 tip  of  a  hair  upon  a  horse's  skin  ? 
 
 "  The  succession  of  the  Five  Rulers,  the  conten- 
 tions of  the  Three  Kings,  the  griefs  of  the  philan- 
 thropist, the  labours  of  the  administrator,  are  but 
 this  and  nothing  more. 
 
 ►S^.  ambition. 
 
 Poh  I  refused  the  throne  for  fame's  sake.  Confucius 
 discoursed  to  get  a  reputation  for  learning.  This 
 over-estimation  of  self  on  their  part,  was  it  not  very 
 much  your  own  in  reference  to  water  ?" 
 
 "  Very  well,"  replied  the  Spirit  of  the  River,  "  am 
 I  then  to  regard  the  universe  as  great  and  the  tip  of 
 a  hair  as  small  ?  " 
 
 "  Not  at  all,"  said  the  Spirit  of  the  Ocean. 
 "  Dimensions  are  limitless  ;  time  is  endless.  Con- 
 ditions are  not  invariable ;  terms  are  not  final. 
 Thus,  the  wise  man  looks  into  space,  and  does  not 
 regard  the  small  as  too  little,  nor  the  great  as  too 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  Autumn  Floods  203 
 
 much  ;  for  he  knows  that  there  is  no  limit  to 
 dimension.  He  looks  back  into  the  past,  and  does 
 not  grieve  over  what  is  far  off,  nor  rejoice  over  what 
 is  near ;  for  he  knows  that  time  is  without  end. 
 
 Space  infinite  has  been  illustrated  by  Locke  by  a 
 centre  from  which  you  can  proceed  for  ever  in  all 
 directions.  Time  infinite,  by  a  point  in  a  line  from 
 which  you  can  proceed  backwards  and  forwards  for 
 ever. 
 
 He  investigates  fulness  and  decay,  and  does  not 
 rejoice  if  he  succeeds,  nor  lament  if  he  fails.;  for  he 
 knows  that  conditions  are  not  invariable. 
 
 Fulness  and  decay  are  the  inevitable  precursors  of 
 
 each  other. 
 He  who  clearly  apprehends  the  scheme  of  existence, 
 does  not  rejoice  over  life,  nor  repine  at  death  ;  for  he 
 knows  that  terms  are  not  final. 
 
 Life  and  death  are  but  links  in  an  endless  chain. 
 *'  What  man  knows  is  not  to  be  compared  with 
 what  he  does  not  know.  The  span  of  his  existence 
 is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  span  of  his  non- 
 existence. With  the  small  to  strive  to  exhaust  the 
 great,  necessarily  lands  him  in  confusion,  and  he 
 does  not  attain  his  object.  How  then  should  one 
 be  able  to  say  that  the  tip  of  a  hair  is  the  ne  plus 
 ultra  of  smallness,  or  that  the  universe  is  the  ne 
 plus  ultra  of  greatness  ?  " 
 
 These  predicates  are  abstract  terms,  which  are  not 
 
 names  of  real  existences  but  of  relations,  states,  or 
 
 conditions  of  existences ;  not  things,  but  conditions 
 
 of  things. 
 
204  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 "  Dialecticians  of  the  day,"  replied  the  Spirit  of 
 the  River,  "  all  say  that  the  infinitesimally  small 
 has  no  form,  and  that  the  infinitesimally  great 
 is  beyond  all  measurement.     Is  that  so?  " 
 
 "  If  we  regard  greatness  as  compared  with  that 
 which  is  small,"  said  the  Spirit  of  the  Ocean, 
 "  there  is  no  limit  to  it ;  and  if  we  regard  small- 
 ness  as  compared  with  that  which  is  great,  it  eludes 
 our  sight. 
 
 That  is,  if  we  proceed  from  the  concrete  to  the 
 abstract.  Given  a  large  or  a  small  thing,  there  is 
 no  limit  to  the  smallness  or  greatness  with  which 
 each  may  be  respectively  compared.  i 
 
 The  infinitesimal  is  a  subdivision  of  the  small ;  the 
 colossal  is  an  extension  of  the  great.  In  this  sense 
 the  two  fall  into  different  categories. 
 
 "  Both  small  and  great  things  must  equally 
 possess  form.  The  mind  cannot  picture  to  itself  a 
 thing  without  form,  nor  conceive  a  form  of  un- 
 limited dimensions.  The  greatness  of  anything 
 may  be  a  topic  of  discussion,  or  the  smallness  of 
 anything  may  be  mentally  realized.  But  that 
 which  can  be  neither  a  topic  of  discussion  nor  be 
 realized  mentally,  can  be  neither  great  nor  small. 
 
 "  Therefore,  the  truly  great  man,  although  he 
 J  does  not  injure  others,  does  not  credit  himself  with 
 charity  and  mercy. 
 
 These  are  natural  to  him. 
 
 He  seeks  not  gain,  but  does  not  despise  his  follow- 
 ers who  do.    He  struggles  not  for  wealth,  but  does 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
CAP.  XVII. J  Autumn  Floods  205 
 
 not  take  credit  for  letting  it  alone.  He  asks  help 
 from  no  man,  but  takes  no  credit  for  his  self- 
 reliance,  neither  does  he  despise  those  who  seek 
 preferment  through  friends.  He  acts  differently 
 from  the  vulgar  crowd,  but  takes  no  credit  for  his 
 exceptionality  ;  nor  because  others  act  with  the 
 majority  does  he  despise  them  as  hypocrites.  The 
 ranks  and  emoluments  of  the  world  are  to  him  no 
 cause  for  joy;  its  punishments  and  shame  no  cause 
 for  disgrace.  He  knows  that  positive  and  negative 
 cannot  be  distinguished, 
 
 What  is  positive  under  certain  conditions  will  be 
 negative  under  others.  These  terms  are  in  fact 
 identical.      See  ch.  ii. 
 
 that  great  and  small  cannot  be  defined. 
 They  are  infinite. 
 "  I  have  heard  say,  the  man  of  Tao  has  no  repu- 
 tation ;  perfect  virtue  acquires  nothing  ;    the  truly 
 great  man  ignores  self ; — this  is  the  height  of  self- 
 discipline." 
 
 Clause  2  of  the  above  quotation  appears  with  varia- 
 tions  in   ch.    xxxviii   of  the    Tao-Te-Ching.      The 
 variations   settle   the   correctness   of  the  renderino- 
 already  given  in  The  Remains  of  Lao  Tzii,  p.  26. 
 *'  But  how  then,"  asked  the  Spirit  of  the  River, 
 "  are  the  internal  and  external  extremes  of  value 
 and  worthlessness,  of  greatness  and  smallness,  to  be 
 determined  ?  " 
 
 With  no  standard  of  measurement. 
 
 "  From  the  point  of  view  of  Tag,"  replied  the 
 Spirit  of  the  Ocean,  ''  there  are  no  such  extremes 
 
2o6  Chtimig  Tzu  \ 
 
 of  value  or  worthlessness.  Men  individually  value 
 themselves  and  hold  others  cheap.  The  world 
 collectively  withholds  from  the  individual  the  right 
 of  appraising  himself. 
 
 "  If  we  say  that  a  thing  is  great  or  small  because 
 it  is  relatively  great  or  small,  then  there  is  nothing 
 in  all  creation  which  is  not  great,  nothing  which  is 
 not  small.  To  know  that  the  universe  is  but  as  a 
 tare-seed,  and  that  the  tip  of  a  hair  is  a  mountain, 
 — this  is  the  expression  of  relativity. 
 
 "  If  we  say  that  something  exists  or  does  not 
 exist,  in  deference  to  the  function  it  fulfils  or  does 
 not  fulfil,  then  there  is  nothing  which  does  not 
 exist,  nothing  which  does  exist.  To  know  that  east 
 and  west  are  convertible  and  yet  necessary  terms, — 
 this  is  the  due  adjustment  of  functions. 
 
 Any  given  point  is  of  course  east  in  relation  to  west, 
 west  in  relation  to  east.  Absolutely,  it  may  be  said 
 that  its  westness  does  not  exclude  its  easiness ;  or, 
 that  it  is  neither  east  nor  west. 
 
 "  If  we  say  that  anything  is  good  or  evil  because 
 it  is  either  good  or  evil  in  our  eyes,  then  there  is 
 nothing  which  is  not  good,  nothing  which  is  not 
 evil.  To  know  that  Yao  and  Chieh  were  both  good 
 and  both  evil  from  their  opposite  points  of  view, — 
 this  is  the  expression  of  a  standard.  M 
 
 "  Of  old  Yao  abdicated  in  favour  of  Shun,  and  the 
 latter  ruled.  Kuei  abdicated  in  favour  of  Chih, 
 and  the  latter  failed. 
 
 Kuei  was  a  prince  of  the  Yen  State,  who  was  hum- 
 bugged into  imitating  the  glorious  example  of  Yao 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  Auhmin  Floods  2.Qri 
 
 and  abdicating  in  favour  of  his  minister  Chih. 
 Three  short  years  of  power  landed  the  latter  in  all 
 the  horrors  of  a  general  revolution. 
 
 T'ang  and  Wu 
 See  ch.  xii. 
 
 got  the  empire  by  fighting.  By  fighting,  Poh  Kung 
 
 lost  it. 
 
 A  revolutionary  leader  who,  on  the  failure  of  his 
 scheme,  ended  his  life  by  strangulation.  See  the 
 Tso  C/man,  i6th  year  of  Duke  Ai. 
 
 From  which  it  may  be  seen  that  the  rationale  of  ab- 
 dicating or  fighting,  of  acting  like  Yao  or  like  Chieh, 
 must  be  determined  according  to  the  opportunity, 
 and  may  not  be  regarded  as  a  constant  quantity. 
 
 "  A  battering-ram  can  knock  down  a  wall,  but  it 
 cannot  repair  the  breach. 
 
 This  sentence  has  sorely  puzzled  all  commentators. 
 
 Different  things  are  differently  applied. 
 
 "  Ch'ih-Chi  and  Hua  Liu  could  travel  i,ooo  li  in 
 one  day,  but  for  catching  rats  they  were  not  equal 
 to  a  wild  cat. 
 
 Two  of  the  eight  famous  steeds  of  Muh  Wang,  a 
 semi-historical  ruler  of  old. 
 
 Different  animals  possess  different  aptitudes. 
 
 "  An  owl  can  catch  fleas  at  night,  and  see  the  tip 
 of  a  hair,  but  if  it  comes  out  in  the  daytime  its 
 eyes  are  so  dazzled  it  cannot  see  a  mountain. 
 Different  creatures  are  differently  constituted. 
 
 "Thus,  as  has  been  said,  those  who  would  have 
 right    without    its    correlative,    wrong ;    or   good 
 
2o8  Chuang  Tzit 
 
 government  without  its  correlative,  misrule, — they 
 do  not  apprehend  the  great  principles  of  the  uni- 
 verse nor  the  conditions  to  which  all  creation  is 
 subject.  One  might  as  well  talk  of  the  existence  of 
 heaven  without  that  of  earth,  or  of  the  negative 
 principle  without  the  positive,  which  is  clearly 
 absurd.  Such  people,  if  they  do  not  yield  to  argu- 
 ment, must  be  either  fools  or  knaves. 
 
 "  Rulers  have  abdicated  under  different  condi- 
 tions, dynasties  have  been  continued  under  different 
 conditions.  Those  who  did  not  hit  off  a  favourable 
 time  and  were  in  opposition  to  their  age, — they  were 
 called  usurpers.  Those  who  did  hit  off  the  right 
 time  and  were  in  harmony  with  their  age, — they 
 were  called  patriots.  Fair  and  softly,  my  River 
 friend  ;  what  should  you  know  of  value  and  worth- 
 lessness,  of  great  and  small  ?  " 
 
 It  is  therefore  quite  unnecessary  to  teach  you  where 
 to  fix  the  limits  of  that  of  which  you  know  nothing. 
 
 "  In  this  case,"  replied  the  Spirit  of  the  River, 
 '*  what  am  I  to  do  and  what  am  I  not  to  do  ?  How 
 am  I  to  arrange  my  declinings  and  receivings,  my 
 takings-hold  and  my  lettings-go  ?  " 
 
 "  From  the  point  of  view  of  Tao,"  said  the  Spirit 
 of  the  Ocean,  "value  and  worthlessness  are  like 
 slopes  and  plains. 
 
 A  slope  to-day  may  be  a  plain  to-morrow. 
 
 To  consider  either  as  absolutely  such  would  involve 
 great  injury  to  Tag.  Few  and  many  are  like  giving 
 and  receiving  presents.  These  must  not  be  regarded 
 
CAP.  XVII. J  Autumn  Floods  209 
 
 from  one  side,  or  there  will  be  great  confusion  to 
 Tao. 
 
 It  would  be  unfair  only  to  regard,  from  the  receiver's 
 standpoint,  the  amount  given.  The  intention  of  the 
 giver  must  also  be  taken  into  the  calculation. 
 
 Be  discriminating,  as  the  ruler  of  a  State  whose 
 administration  is  impartial.  Be  dispassionate,  as 
 the  worshipped  deity  whose  dispensation  is  impar- 
 tial. Be  expansive,  like  the  points  of  the  compass, 
 to  whose  boundlessness  no  limit  is  set.  Embrace 
 all  creation,  and  none  shall  be  more  sheltered  than 
 another.  This  is  the  unconditioned.  And  where 
 all  things  are  equal,  how  can  we  have  the  long  and 
 the  short  ? 
 
 "  Tao  is  without  beginning,  without  end.  Other 
 things  are  born  and  die.  They  are  impermanent ; 
 and  now  for  better,  now  for  worse,  they  are  cease- 
 lessly changing  form.  Past  years  cannot  be  recalled: 
 time  cannot  be  arrested.  The  succession  of  states 
 is  endless  ;  and  every  end  is  followed  by  a  new 
 beginning.  Thus  it  may  be  said  that  man's  duty  to 
 his  neighbour  is  embodied  in  the  eternal  principles 
 of  the  universe. 
 
 All  he  has  to  do  is  to  be. 
 
 "  The  life  of  man  passes  by  like  a  galloping 
 horse,  changing  at  every  turn,  at  every  hour.  What 
 should  he  do,  or  what  should  he  not  do,  other  than 
 let  his  decomposition  go  on  ?  " 
 
 "  If  this  is  the  case,"  retorted  the  Spirit  of  the 
 River,  "  pray  what  is  the  value  of  Tao  ?  " 
 
 \y 
 
 i^ 
 
2IO  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 "Those  who  understand  Tao,"  answered  the 
 Spirit  of  the  Ocean,  "  must  necessarily  apprehend 
 the  eternal  principles  above  mentioned  and  be 
 clear  as  to  their  application.  Consequently,  they 
 do  not  suffer  any  injury  from  without. 
 
 They  never  oppose,  but  let  all  things  take  their 
 course. 
 
 "The  man  of  perfect  virtue  cannot  be  burnt  by 
 fire,  nor  drowned  in  water,  nor  hurt  by  frost  or  sun, 
 nor  torn  by  wild  bird  or  beast.  Not  that  he  makes 
 light  of  these ;  but  that  he  discriminates  between 
 safety  and  danger.  Happy  under  prosperous  and 
 adverse  circumstances  alike,  cautious  as  to  what 
 he  discards  and  what  he  accepts  ; — nothing  can 
 harm  him. 
 
 Plato  taught  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  a  slave 
 of  a  wise  man,  meaning  that  the  latter  by  virtue  of 
 his  mental  endowment  would  rise  superior  to  mere 
 physical  thrall.  "A  wise  and  just  man,"  said  he, 
 •'  could  be  as  happy  in  a  state  of  slavery  as  in  a  state 
 of  freedom." 
 
 "  Therefore  it  has  been  said  that  the  natural 
 abides  within,  the  artificial  without.  Virtue  abides 
 in  the  natural.  Knowledge  of  the  action  of  the 
 natural  and  of  the  artificial  has  its  root  in  the 
 natural,  its  development  in  virtue.  And  thus, 
 whether  in  motion  or  at  rest,  whether  in  expansion 
 or  in  contraction,  there  is  always  a  reversion  to  the 
 essential  and  to  the  ultimate." 
 
 Those  eternal  principles  which  embody  all  human 
 obligations. 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  Autumn  Floods  211 
 
 "  What  do  you  mean,"  enquired  the  Spirit  of  the 
 River,  ''  by  the  natural  and  the  artificial  ?" 
 
 "  Horses  and  oxen,"  answered  the  Spirit  of  the 
 Ocean,  *'  have  four  feet.  That  is  the  natural.  Put 
 a  halter  on  a  horse's  head,  a  string  through  a 
 bullock's  nose, — that  is  the  artificial. 
 
 **  Therefore  it  has  been  said,  do  not  let  the  arti- 
 ficial obliterate  the  natural;  do  not  let  will  obliterate       . 
 destiny ;  do  not  let  virtue  be  sacrificed  to  fame. 
 Diligently  observe  these  precepts  without  fail,  and 
 thus  you  will  revert  to  the  divine." 
 
 If  man  does  not  set  himself  in  opposition  to  God,  the 
 result  will  be  Tag. 
 
 The  walrus  envies  the  centipede  ; 
 
 Its  many  legs  and  nimble  gait, 
 the  centipede  envies  the  snake  ; 
 
 Which  moves  without  legs, 
 the  snake  envies  the  wind  ; 
 
 Which  moves  far  more  quickly  even  without  body, 
 the  wind  envies  the  eye  ; 
 
 Which  travels  even  without  moving. 
 
 the  eye  envies  the  mind  ; 
 
 Which  can  comprehend  the  whole  universe,  past  and 
 present  alike. 
 
 The  walrus  said  to  the  centipede,  "  I  hop  about 
 on  one  leg,  but  not  very  successfully.  How  do  you 
 manage  all  these  legs  you  have  ?  " 
 
 "  Walrus"  is  of  course  an  analogue.     But  for  the  one 
 
 r  2 
 
212  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 leg,  the  description  given  by  a  commentator  of  the 
 creature  mentioned  in  the  text  applies  with  signifi- 
 cant exactitude. 
 
 "  I  don't  manage  them,"  replied  the  centipede. 
 "  Have  you  never  seen  saliva  ?  When  it  is  ejected, 
 the  big  drops  are  the  size  of  pearls,  the  small  ones 
 like  mist.  They  fall  promiscuously  on  the  ground 
 and  cannot  be  counted.  And  so  it  is  that  my 
 mechanism  works  naturally,  without  my  being  con- 
 scious of  the  fact." 
 
 The  centipede  said  to  the  snake,  "  With  all  my 
 legs  I  do  not  move  as  fast  as  you  with  none.  How 
 is  that  ?  " 
 
 "  One's  natural  mechanism,"  replied  the  snake, 
 "  is  not  a  thing  to  be  changed.  What  need  have  I 
 for  legs  ?  " 
 
 The  snake  said  to  the  wind,  '*  I  can  manage  to 
 wriggle  along,  but  I  have  a  form.  Now  you  come 
 blustering  down  from  the  north  sea  to  bluster  away 
 to  the  south  sea,  and  you  seem  to  be  without  form. 
 How  is  that  ?  " 
 
 "  Tis  true,"  replied  the  wind,  "  that  I  bluster  as 
 you  say  ;  but  any  one  who  can  point  at  me  or  kick 
 at  me,  excels  me. 
 
 As  I  cannot  do  as  much  to  them. 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  I  can  break  huge  trees  and 
 destroy  large  buildings.  That  is  my  strong  point. 
 Out  of  all  the  small  things  in  which  I  do  not 
 excel  I  make  one  great  one  in  which  I  do  excel. 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  Autmnii  Floods  213 
 
 And  to  excel  in  great  things  is  given  only  to  the 
 Sages." 
 
 Everything  has  its  own  natural  qualifications.    What 
 
 is  difficult  to  one  is  easy  to  another. 
 
 No  illustration  is  given  of  the  "eye"  and  "mind." 
 
 "'Tis  the  half-length  portrait,"  says  Lin  Hsi  Chung, 
 
 "of  a  beautiful   girl;" — which    is    ingenious  if    not 
 
 sound. 
 
 When  Confucius  visited  K'uang,  the  men  of 
 Sung  surrounded  him  closely. 
 
 This  is  a  mistake.  "  K'uang"  was  in  the  Wei 
 State,  and  it  was  by  the  men  of  Wei  that  Confucius 
 was  surrounded. 
 
 Yet  he  went  on  playing  and  singing  to  his  guitar 
 without  ceasing. 
 
 ''  How  is  it,  Sir,"  enquired  Tzu  Lu,  **  that  you 
 are  so  cheerful  ?  " 
 
 See  p.  165.  Tzu  Lu  would  have  been  the  first  to 
 be  cheerful  himself. 
 
 "  Come  here,"  replied  Confucius,  "  and  I  will 
 tell  you.  For  a  long  time  I  have  been  struggling 
 against  failure,  but  in  vain.  Fate  is  against  me. 
 For  a  long  time  I  have  been  seeking  success,  but  in 
 vain.     The  hour  has  not  come. 
 
 "  In  the  days  of  Yaoand  Shun,  no  man  through- 
 out the  empire  was  a  failure,  though  no  one  was 
 conscious  of  the  gain.  In  the  days  of  Chieh  and 
 Chou,  no  man  throughout  the  empire  was  a  success, 
 though  no  one  was  conscious  of  the  loss.  The  times 
 and  circumstances  were  adapted  accordingly. 
 
214  Chitaiig  Tzii 
 
 "  To  travel  by  water  and  not  avoid  sea-serpents 
 and  dragons, — this  is  the  courage  of  the  fisherman. 
 To  travel  by  land  and  not  avoid  the  rhinoceros  and 
 the  tiger, — this  is  the  courage  of  hunters.  When 
 bright  blades  cross,  to  look  on  death  as  on  life, — 
 this  is  the  courage  of  the  hero.  To  know  that 
 failure  is  fate  and  that  success  is  opportunity,  and 
 to  remain  fearless  in  great  danger, — this  is  the 
 courage  of  the  Sage.  Yu  !  rest  in  this.  My  destiny 
 is  cut  out  for  me." 
 
 Shortly  afterwards,  the  captain  of  the  troops 
 came  in  and  apologised,  saying,  ''  We  thought  you 
 were  Yang  Hu  ;  consequently  we  surrounded  you. 
 We  find  we  have  made  a  mistake."  Whereupon  he 
 again  apologised  and  retired. 
 
 Yang  Hu  was  "wanted"  by  the  people  of  Wei,  and 
 it  appears  that  Confucius  was  unfortunately  like  him 
 in  feature.  But  the  whole  episode  is  clearly  the 
 interpolation  of  a  forger. 
 
 Kung  Sun  Lung 
 
 A  philosopher  of  the  Chao  State,  whose  treatise  on 
 the  "  hard  and  white  "  etc.  is  said  to  be  still  extant. 
 See  ch.  ii. 
 
 said  to  Mou  of  Wei,  "  When  young  I  studied  the 
 Tao  of  the  ancient  Sages.  When  I  grew  up  I 
 knew  all  about  the  practice  of  charity  and  duty  to 
 one's  neighbour,  the  identification  of  like  and  unlike, 
 the  separation  of  hardness  and  whiteness,  and  about 
 making  the  not-so  so,  and  the  impossible  possible. 
 I  vanquished  the  wisdom  of  all  the  philosophies.    I 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  Atttumn  Floods  215 
 
 exhausted  all  the  arguments  that  were  brought 
 against  me.  I  thought  that  I  had  indeed  reached 
 the  goal.  But  now  that  I  have  heard  Chuang  Tzu, 
 I  am  lost  in  astonishment  at  his  grandeur.  I  know 
 not  whether  it  is  in  arguing  or  in  knowledge  that  I 
 am  not  equal  to  him.  I  can  no  longer  open  my 
 mouth.  May  I  ask  you  to  impart  to  me  the 
 secret  ?  " 
 
 Kung  Tzu  Mou  leant  over  the  table  and  sighed. 
 Then  he  looked  up  to  heaven,  and  smiling  replied, 
 saying,  "  Have  you  never  heard  of  the  frog  in  the 
 old  well  ? — The  frog  said  to  the  turtle  of  the  eastern 
 sea,  '  Happy  indeed  am  I  !  I  hop  on  to  the  rail 
 around  the  well.  I  rest  in  the  hollow  of  some  broken 
 brick.  Swimming,  I  gather  the  water  under  my 
 arms  and  shut  my  mouth.  I  plunge  into  the  mud, 
 burying  my  feet  and  toes  ;  and  not  one  of  the 
 cockles,  crabs,  or  tadpoles  I  see  around  me  are  my 
 match.  [Fancy  pitting  the  happiness  of  an  old  well 
 against  all  the  water  of  Ocean  !  ]  Why  do  you  not 
 come,  Sir,  and  pay  me  a  visit  ?  ' 
 
 "■  Now  the  turtle  of  the  eastern  sea  had  not  got 
 its  left  leg  down  ere  its  right  had  already  stuck  fast, 
 so  it  shrank  back  and  begged  to  be  excused.  It  then 
 described  the  sea,  saying,  '  A  thousand  //  would 
 not  measure  its  breadth,  nor  a  thousand  fathoms  its 
 depth.  In  the  days  of  the  Great  Yii,  there  were  nine 
 years  of  flood  out  of  ten  ;  but  this  did  not  add  to 
 its  bulk.  In  the  days  of  T'ang,  there  were  seven 
 years  out  of  eight  of  drought ;  but  this  did  not 
 narrow  its  span.     Not  to  be  affected  by  duration  of 
 
2i6  CJmang  Tzii 
 
 time,  not  to  be  affected  by  volume  of  water, — such 
 is  the  great  happiness  of  the  eastern  sea.' 
 
 To  be  impervious  to  external  influences. 
 
 "  At  this  the  well-frog  was  considerably  aston- 
 ished, and  knew  not  what  to  say  next.  And  for  one 
 whose  knowledge  does  not  reach  to  the  positive- 
 negative  domain, 
 
 Where  contraries  are  identical. 
 
 to  attempt  to  understand  Chuang  Tzu,  is  like  a 
 mosquito  trying  to  carry  a  mountain,  or  an  ant  to 
 swim  a  river, — they  cannot  succeed.  And  for  one 
 whose  knowledge  does  not  reach  to  the  abstrusest 
 of  the  abstruse,  but  is  based  only  upon  such 
 victories  as  you  have  enumerated, — is  not  he  like 
 the  frog  in  the  well  ? 
 
 "Chuang  Tzu  moves  in  the  realms  below  while 
 soaring  to  heaven  above.  For  him  north  and  south 
 do  not  exist ;  the  four  points  are  gone ;  he  is  en- 
 gulphed  in  the  unfathomable.  For  him  east  and 
 west  do  not  exist.  Beginning  with  chaos,  he  has 
 gone  back  to  Tag;  and  yet  you  think  you  are  going 
 to  examine  his  doctrines  and  meet  them  with  argu- 
 ment !  This  is  like  looking  at  the  sky  through  a 
 tube,  or  pointing  at  the  earth  with  an  awl, — a  small 
 result. 
 
 The  area   covered   by  an   awl's  point   being   infini- 
 tesimal. 
 
 "  Have  you  never  heard  how  the  youth  of  Shou- 
 ling  went  to  study  at  Han-tan?  They  did  not  learn 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  AtUimiJi  Floods  217 
 
 what  they  wanted  at  Han-tan,  and  forgot  all  they 
 knew  before  into  the  bargain,  so  that  they  returned 
 home  in  disgrace.  And  you,  if  you  do  not  go  away, 
 you  will  forget  all  you  know,  and  waste  your  time 
 into  the  bargain." 
 
 Kung  Sun  Lung's  jaw  dropped  ;  his  tongue 
 clave  to  his  palate  ;  and  he  slunk  away. 
 
 Another  spurious  episode,  as  is  evident  from  its 
 general  weakness,  not  to  mention  repetitions  of 
 figures  and  allusions  taken  from  other  chapters. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  was  fishing  in  the  P'u  when  the 
 prince  of  Ch'u  sent  two  high  officials  to  ask  him  to 
 take  charge  of  the  administration  of  the  Ch'u  State. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  went  on  fishing,  and  without  turning 
 his  head  said,  "  I  have  heard  that  in  Ch'u  there 
 is  a  sacred  tortoise  which  has  been  dead  now 
 some  three  thousand  years.  And  that  the  prince 
 keeps  this  tortoise  carefully  enclosed  in  a  chest 
 on  the  altar  of  his  ancestral  temple.  Now  would 
 this  tortoise  rather  be  dead  and  have  its  remains 
 venerated,  or  be  alive  and  wagging  its  tail  in  the 
 mud  ?  " 
 
 *'  It  would  rather  be  alive,"  replied  the  two 
 officials,  "and  wagging  its  tail  in  the  mud." 
 
 **  Begone  !  "  cried  Chuang  Tzu.  '*  I  too  will  wag 
 my  tail  in  the  mud." 
 
 Hui  Tzu  was  prime  minister  in  the  Liang  State. 
 Chuang  Tzu  went  thither  to  visit  him. 
 
 Some  one  remarked,  "  Chuang  Tzu  has  come. 
 He  wants  to  be  minister  in  your  place." 
 
2i8  Chita ng  Tzic 
 
 Thereupon  Hui  Tzu  was  afraid,  and  searched 
 all  over  the  State 
 
 With  warrants. 
 
 for  three  days  and  three  nights  to  find  him. 
 
 Then  Chuang  Tzu  went  to  see  Hui  Tzu,  and 
 said,  '*  In  the  south  there  is  a  bird.  It  is  a  kind  of 
 phoenix.  Do  you  know  it  ?  It  started  from  the 
 south  sea  to  fly  to  the  north  sea.  Except  on  the 
 wU'ftmg  tree, 
 
 Eleococca  verrucosa.     Williams. 
 
 it  would  not  alight.  It  would  eat  nothing  but  the 
 fruit  of  the  bamboo,  drink  nothing  but  the  purest 
 spring  w^ater.  An  owl  which  had  got  the  rotten 
 carcass  of  a  rat,  looked  up  as  the  phoenix  flew  by, 
 and  screeched. 
 
 To  warn  It  off. 
 
 Are  you  not  screeching  at  me  over  your  kingdom  of 
 Liang  ?  " 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  and  Hui  Tzu  had  strolled  on  to  the 
 bridge  over  the  Hao,  when  the  former  observed, 
 "  See  how  the  minnows  are  darting  about !  That  is 
 the  pleasure  of  fishes." 
 
 "  You  not  being  a  fish  yourself,"  said  Hui  Tzu, 
 "  how  can  you  possibly  know  in  what  consists  the 
 pleasure  of  fishes  ?  " 
 
 "  And  you  not  being  I,"  retorted  Chuang  Tzu, 
 "  how  can  you  know  that  I  do  not  know  ?  " 
 
 "  If  I,  not  being  you,  cannot  know  what  you 
 
CAP.  XVII.]  Auhtmn  Floods  219 
 
 know,"  urged  Hui  Tzii,  "  it  follows  that  you,  not 
 being  a  fish,  cannot  know  in  what  consists  the 
 pleasure  of  fishes." 
 
 "  Let  us  go  back,"  said  Chuang  Tzu,  "to  your 
 original  question.  You  asked  me  how  I  knew  in 
 what  consists  the  pleasure  of  fishes.  Your  very 
 question  shows  that  you  knew  I  knew. 
 
 For  you  asked  me  how  I  knew. 
 I  knew  it  from  my  own  feelings  on  this  bridge." 
 
 From  my  own  feelings  above  the  bridge  I  infer  those 
 of  the  fishes  below. 
 
220 
 
 CHAPTER    XVIII. 
 Perfect  Happiness. 
 
 Argument: — The  uncertainty  of  human  happiness — -What  the  world  aims 
 at  is  physical  well-being — This  is  not  profitable  even  to  the  body — 
 In  inaction  alone  is  true  happiness  to  be  found — Inaction  the  rule  of 
 the  material  universe — Acquiescence  in  whatever  our  destiny  may 
 bring  forth — Illustrations. 
 
 [This  chapter  is  supplementary  to  chapter  vi.] 
 
 IS  perfect  happiness  to  be  found  on  earth,  or  not  ? 
 Are  there  those  who  can  enjoy  life,  or  not?  If 
 so,  what  do  they  do,  what  do  they  affect,  what  do 
 they  avoid,  what  do  they  rest  in,  accept,  reject,  like, 
 and  dislike? 
 
 What  the  world  esteems  comprises  wealth,  rank, 
 old  age,  and  goodness  of  heart.  What  it  enjoys 
 comprises  comfort,  rich  food,  fine  clothes, beauty, and 
 music.  What  it  does  not  esteem  comprises  poverty, 
 want  of  position,  early  death,  and  evil  behaviour. 
 What  it  does  not  enjoy  comprises  lack  of  comfort 
 for  the  body,  lack  of  rich  food  for  the  palate,  lack  of 
 fine  clothes  for  the  back,  lack  of  beauty  for  the  eye, 
 and  lack  of  music  for  the  ear.  If  men  do  not  get 
 these,  they  are  greatly  miserable.  Yet  from  the 
 point  of  view  of  our  physical  frame,  this  is  folly,     h 
 
 Physically  we  can,   and   most  of  us  do,   get  along 
 very  well  without  these  extras. 
 
CAP.  XVIII.]  Perfect  Happiness  221 
 
 Wealthy  people  who  toil  and  moil,  putting  to- 
 gether more  money  than  they  can  possibly  use, — 
 from  the  point  of  view  of  our  physical  frame,  is  not 
 this  going  beyond  the  mark  ? 
 
 Officials  of  rank  who  turn  nio^ht  into  dav  in  their 
 endeavours  to  compass  the  best  ends  ; — from  the 
 point  of  view  of  our  physical  frame,  is  not  this  a 
 divergence  ? 
 
 Man  is  born  to  sorrow,  and  what  misery  is  theirs 
 whose  old  age  with  dulled  faculties  only  means 
 prolonged  sorrow  !  From  the  point  of  view  of  our 
 physical  frame,  this  is  going  far  astray. 
 
 Patriots  are  in  the  world's  opinion  admittedly 
 good.  Yet  their  goodness  does  not  enable  them  to 
 enjoy  life  ; 
 
 Patriotism  has  been  illustrated  In  China  by  countless 
 heroic  deeds,  associated  always  with  the  death  of  the 
 hero  concerned. 
 
 and  so  I  know  not  whether  theirs  is  veritable  good- 
 ness or  not.  If  the  former,  it  does  not  enable  them 
 to  enjoy  life  ;  if  the  latter,  it  at  any  rate  enables 
 them  to  cause  others  to  enjoy  theirs. 
 
 It  has  been  said,  "  If  your  loyal  counsels  are 
 not  attended  to,  depart  quietly  without  resistance." 
 Thus,  when  Tzu  Hsii 
 
 The  famous  Wu  Ylian,  6th  century  B.C.,  whose 
 opposition  to  his  sovereign  led  to  his  own  disgrace 
 and  death. 
 
 resisted,  his  physical  frame  perished  ;  yet  had  he 
 not  resisted,  he  would  not  have  made  his  name.  Is 
 there  then  really  such  a  thing  as  this  goodness,  or  not? 
 
222  Chttang  Tzu 
 
 K's>  to  what  the  world  does  and  the  way  in  which 
 people  are  happy  now,  I  know  not  whether  such 
 happiness  be  real  happiness  or  not.  The  happiness 
 of  ordinary  persons  seems  to  me  to  consist  in  slav- 
 ishly following  the  majority,  as  if  they  could  not 
 help  it.     Yet  they  all  say  they  are  happy. 
 
 "  The  general  average  of  mankind  are  not  only 
 moderate  in  intellect,  but  also  in  inclinations  :  they 
 have  no  tastes  or  wishes  strong  enough  to  incline 
 them  to  do  anything  unusual."  Mill's  Essay  on 
 Liberty. 
 
 But  I  cannot  say  that  this  is  happiness  or  that  it  is 
 not  happiness.  Is  there  then,  after  all,  such  a  thing 
 as  happiness  ? 
 
 I  make  true  pleasure  to  consist  in  inaction, 
 which  the  world  regards  as  great  pain.  Thus  it 
 has  been  said,  "  Perfect  happiness  is  the  absence  of 
 happiness  ; 
 
 The  non-existence  of  any  state  or  condition  neces- 
 sarily includes  the  non-existence  of  its  correlate. 
 If  we  do  not  have  happiness,  we  are  at  once  exempt 
 from  misery ;  and  such  a  negative  state  is  a  state  of 
 "  perfect  happiness." 
 
 perfect  renown  is  the  absence  of  renown." 
 
 Now  in  this  sublunary  world  of  ours  it  is  impos- 
 sible to  assign  positive  and  negative  absolutely. 
 Nevertheless,  in  inaction  they  can  be  so  assigned. 
 Perfect  happiness  and  preservation  of  life  are  to  be 
 sought  for  only  in  inaction. 
 
 Let  us  consider.  Heaven  does  nothing ;  yet  it 
 is  clear.     Earth  does  nothing  ;  yet  it  enjoys  repose. 
 
CAP.  XVIII.]  Perfect  Happiness  223 
 
 From  the  inaction  of  these  two  proceed  all  the 
 modifications  of  things.  How  vast,  how  infinite  is 
 inaction,  yet  without  source  !  How  infinite,  how 
 vast,  yet  without  form  ! 
 
 The  endless  varieties  of  things  around  us  all 
 spring  from  inaction.  Therefore  it  has  been  said, 
 "  Heaven  and  earth  do  nothing,  yet  there  is  nothing 
 which  they  do  not  accomplish."  But  among  men, 
 who  can  attain  to  inaction  ? 
 
 Lin  Hsi  Chung  condemns  the  whole  of  the  above 
 exordium  as  too  closely  reasoned  forChuang  Tzu, 
 with  his  rugged,  elliptical  style. 
 
 When  Chuang  Tzu's  wife  died,  Hui  Tzu  went  to 
 condole.  He  found  the  widower  sitting  on  the 
 ground,  singing,  with  his  legs  spread  out  at  a  right 
 angle,  and  beating  time  on  a  bowl. 
 
 "To  live  with  your  wife,"  exclaimed  Hui  Tzu, 
 *'  and  see  your  eldest  son  grow  up  to  be  a  man,  and 
 then  not  to  shed  a  tear  over  her  corpse, — this  would 
 be  bad  enough.  But  to  drum  on  a  bowl,  and  sing  ; 
 surely  this  is  going  too  far." 
 
 "  Not  at  all,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu.  "  When  she 
 died,  I  could  not  help  being  affected  by  her  death. 
 Soon,  however,  I  remembered  that  she  had  already 
 existed  in  a  previous  state  before  birth,  without 
 form,  or  even  substance  ;  that  while  in  that  uncon- 
 ditioned condition,  substance  was  added  to  spirit ; 
 that  this  substance  then  assumed  form ;  and  that 
 the  next  stage  was  birth.  And  now,  by  virtue  of  a 
 further  change,  she  is  dead,  passing  from  one  phase 
 
 L^- 
 
224  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 to  another  like  the  sequence  of  spring,  summer, 
 autumn,  and  winter.  And  while  she  is  thus  lying 
 asleep  in  Eternity,  for  me  to  go  about  weeping  and 
 wailing  would  be  to  proclaim  myself  ignorant  of 
 these  natural  laws.     Therefore  I  refrain." 
 
 A  hunchback  and  a  one-legged  man  were  looking 
 at  the  tombs  of  departed  heroes,  on  the  K'un-lun 
 Mountains,  where  the  Yellow  Emperor  rests.  Sud- 
 denly, ulcers  broke  out  upon  their  left  elbows,  of  a 
 very  loathsome  description. 
 
 "  Do  you  loathe  this?"  asked  the  hunchback. 
 
 "  Not  I,"  replied  the  other,  "  why  should  I  ? 
 Life  is  a  loan  with  which  the  borrower  does  but  add 
 more  dust  and  dirt  to  the  sum  total  of  existence. 
 Life  and  death  are  as  day  and  night ;  and  w^hile 
 y  you  and  I  stand  gazing  at  the  evidences  of  mortality 
 around  us,  if  the  same  mortality  overtakes  me, 
 why  should  I  loathe  it  ?  " 
 
 ^  Chuang  Tzu  one  day  saw  an  empty  skull, 
 bleached,  but  still  preserving  its  shape.  Striking  it 
 with  his  riding  whip,  he  said,  "Wert  thou  once 
 some  ambitious  citizen  whose  inordinate  yearnings 
 brought  him  to  this  pass? — some  statesman  who 
 plunged  his  country  in  ruin  and  perished  in  the 
 fray? — some  wretch  who  left  behind  him  a  legacy 
 of  shame  ? — some  beggar  who  died  in  the  pangs  of 
 hunger  and  cold  ?  Or  didst  thou  reach  this  state 
 by  the  natural  course  of  old  age  ?  " 
 
 When    he  had    finished    speaking,   he  took  the 
 
CAP.  XVIII.]  Perfect  Happiness  225 
 
 skull,  and  placing  it  under  his  head  as  a  pillow, 
 went  to  sleep.  In  the  night,  he  dreamt  that  the 
 skull  appeared  to  him  and  said,  "  You  speak  well, 
 Sir;  but  all  you  say  has  reference  to  the  life  of 
 mortals,  and  to  mortal  troubles.  In  death  there 
 are  none  of  these.  Would  you  like  to  hear  about 
 death  ?  " 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  having  replied  in  the  affirmative,  the 
 skull  began : — "  In  death,  there  is  no  sovereign 
 above,  and  no  subject  below.  The  workings  of  the 
 four  seasons  are  unknown.  Our  existences  are 
 bounded  only  by  eternity.  The  happiness  of  a  king 
 among  men  cannot  exceed  that  which  we  enjoy." 
 
 Chuang  Tzu,  however, was  not  convinced,  and  said, 
 "  Were  I  to  prevail  upon  God  to  allow  your  body 
 to  be  born  again,  and  your  bones  and  flesh  to  be 
 renewed,  so  that  you  could  return  to  your  parents, 
 to  your  wife,  and  to  the  friends  of  your  youth, — 
 would  you  be  willing?" 
 
 At  this,  the  skull  opened  its  eyes  wide  and  knitted 
 its  brows  and  said,  "  How  should  I  cast  aside 
 happiness  greater  than  that  of  a  king,  and  mingle 
 once  again  in  the  toils  and  troubles  of  mortality  ?  " 
 
 Reminding  us  strangely  of  Hamlet. 
 
 When  Yen  Yiian 
 
 See  p.  179. 
 
 went  eastwards  to  the  Ch'i  State,  Confucius  was  sad. 
 Tzu  Kung  arose  and  said,  *Ts  it,  Sir,  because  Hui 
 
 Yen  Yuan's  personal  name. 
 
 has  gone  east  to  Ch'i  that  you  are  sad  ? " 
 
 Q 
 
226  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 "A  good  question,"  replied  Confucius.  "  There 
 is  a  saying  by  Kuan  Chung 
 
 Prime  Minister  to  Duke  Huan  of  the  Ch'i  State, 
 7th  century  B.C. 
 
 of  old  which  I  highly  esteem : '  Small  bags  won't  hold 
 big  things  ;  short  ropes  won't  reach  down  deep 
 wells.'  Thus,  destiny  is  a  pre-arrangement,  just  as 
 form  has  its  limitations.  From  neither,  to  neither, 
 can  you  either  take  away  or  add.  And  I  fear  lest 
 Hui,  on  his  visit  to  the  prince  of  Ch'i,  should 
 preach  the  Tao  of  Yao  and  Shun,  and  dwell  on  the 
 words  of  Sui  Jen  and  Shen  Nung.  The  prince  will 
 then  search  within  himself,  but  will  not  find.  And 
 not  finding,  he  will  doubt.  And  when  a  man  doubts, 
 he  will  kill. 
 
 Lit.  "he  will  die."  But  the  verb  "  to  die"  is  often 
 used  in  the  sense  of  "to  make  to  die;"  and  this  seems 
 to  be  the  only  available  sense  here. 
 
 "  Besides,  have  you  not  heard  that  of  old  when  a 
 sea-bird  alighted  outside  the  capital  of  Lu,  the 
 prince  went  out  to  receive  it,  and  gave  it  wine  in  the 
 temple,  and  had  the  Chiu  Shao 
 
 Music  composed  by  the  legendary  Emperor  Shun. 
 
 played  to  amuse  it,  and  a  bullock  slaughtered  to 
 feed  it  ?  But  the  bird  was  dazed  and  too  timid  to 
 eat  or  drink  anything  ;  and  in  three  days  it  was 
 dead.  This  was  treating  the  bird  like  oneself,  and 
 not  as  a  bird  would  treat  a  bird.  Had  he  treated  it 
 as  a  bird  would  have  treated  a  bird,  he  would  have 
 
CAP.  xviii.]  Perfect  Happiness  227 
 
 put  it  to  roost  in  a  deep  forest,  to  wander  over  a 
 plain,  to  swim  in  a  river  or  lake,  to  feed  upon  fish, 
 to  fly  in  order,  and  to  settle  leisurely.  When  the  bird 
 was  already  terrified  at  human  voices,  fancy  adding 
 music  !     Play  the  Hsien  ChHh 
 
 Music  of  the  Yellow  Emperor. 
 
 or  the  Chitt  Shao  in  the  wilds  of  Tung-t'ing,  and 
 birds  will  fly  away,  beasts  will  take  themselves  off, 
 and  fishes  will  dive  down  below.  But  men  will 
 collect  to  hear. 
 
 See  p.  244. 
 
 "  Water,  which  is  life  to  fishes,  is  death  to  man. 
 Being  differently  constituted,  their  likes  and  dis- 
 likes are  different.  Therefore  the  Sages  of  the 
 past  favoured  not  uniformity  of  skill  or  of  occupa- 
 tion. Reputation  was  commensurate  with  reality ; 
 means  were  adapted  to  the  end.  This  was  called  a 
 due  relationship  with  others  coupled  with  advantage 
 to  oneself." 
 
 Several  sentences  of  the  above  are  clearly  in  imita- 
 tion of  parts  of  ch.  ii.  The  whole  episode  is  beyond 
 doubt  a  forgery. 
 
 Lieh  Tzu,  being  on  a  journey,  was  eating  by  the 
 roadside,  when  he  saw  an  old  skull.  Plucking  a 
 blade  of  grass,  he  pointed  at  it  and  said,  "  Only  you 
 and  I  know  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  life  and 
 no  such  thing  as  death. 
 
 Lit.   "  that  you  have  never  died  nor  lived." 
 
 Q  2 
 
228  Chuaitp-  Tzii 
 
 <^ 
 
 Are  you  really  at  peace  ?     Or  am  I  really  happy  ? 
 
 Who  can  say  whether  what  we  call  death  may  not 
 after  all  be  life,  and  life  death  ? 
 
 "  Certain  germs,  falling  upon  water,  become 
 duckweed.  When  they  reach  the  junction  of  the 
 land  and  the  water,  they  become  lichen.  Spreading 
 up  the  bank,  they  become  the  dog-tooth  violet. 
 Reaching  rich  soil,  they  become  wu-tsu,  the  root  of 
 which  becomes  grubs,  while  the  leaves  comes  from 
 butterflies,  or  hsil.  These  are  changed  into  insects, 
 born  in  the  chimney  corner,  which  look  like  skele- 
 tons. Their  name  is  cliil-to.  After  a  thousand 
 days,  the  cJtil-to  becomes  a  bird,  called  Kan-yil-kit, 
 the  spittle  of  which  becomes  the  ssii-mi.  The 
 ssu-mi  becomes  a  wine  fly,  and  that  comes  from 
 an  i-lit.  The  hiiang-k' uang  produces  the  chm-yu 
 and  the  moit-jid  produces  the  glow-worm.  The 
 yang-clii  grafted  to  an  old  bamboo  which  has  for  a 
 long  time  put  forth  no  shoots,  produces  the  c/img- 
 ning,  which  produces  the  leopard,  which  produces 
 the  horse,  which  produces  man. 
 
 "Then  man  goes  back  into  the  great  Scheme, 
 from  which  all  things  come  and  to  which  all  things 
 return." 
 
 Such  is  the  eternal  round,  marked  by  the  stages 
 which  we  call  life  and  death. 
 
 Many  of  the  names  in  the  above  paragraph  have 
 not  been  identified  even  by  Chinese  commentators. 
 On  all  counts  then  they  may  safely  be  left  where 
 they  are. 
 
229 
 
 CHAPTER   XIX. 
 
 The  Secret  of  Life. 
 
 Argument :— The  soul  is  from  God — Man's  body  its  vehicle — The  soul 
 quickening  the  body  is  life — Care  of  the  internal  and  of  the  external 
 must  be  simultaneous — In  due  nourishment  of  both  is  Tag. 
 
 [This  chapter  is  supplementary  to  chapter  iii.] 
 
 THOSE  who  understand  the  conditions  of  life 
 devote  no  attention  to  things  which  life 
 cannot  accomplish.  Those  who  understand  the 
 conditions  of  destiny  devote  no  attention  to  things 
 over  which  knowledge  has  no  control. 
 
 For  the  due  nourishment  of  our  physical  frames, 
 certain  things  are  needful.  Yet  where  such  things 
 abound,  the  physical  frame  is  not  always  nourished. 
 For  the  preservation  of  life  it  is  necessary  that  there 
 should  be  no  abandonment  of  the  physical  frame. 
 Yet  where  the  physical  frame  is  not  abandoned,  life 
 does  not  always  remain. 
 
 Life  comes,  and  cannot  be  declined.  It  goes,  and 
 cannot  be  stopped.  But  alas !  the  world  thinks 
 that  to  nourish  the  frame  is  enough  to  keep  life. 
 And  if  indeed  it  is  not  enough,  what  then  is  the 
 world  to  do  ? 
 
 Although  not  enough,  it  must  still  be  done.  It 
 cannot  be  neglected.  For  if  one  is  to  neglect  the 
 physical  frame,  better  far  to  retire  at  once  from  the 
 
230  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 world.     By  renouncing  the  world,  one  gets  rid  of 
 the  cares  of    the  world.     The  result  is  a  natural 
 level,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  re-birth.  And  he  who 
 is  re-born  is  near. 
 To  Tao. 
 
 But  what  inducement  is  there  to  renounce  the 
 affairs  of  men,  to  become  indifferent  to  life  ? — In 
 the  first  case,  the  physical  body  suffers  no  wear 
 and  tear ;  in  the  second,  the  vitality  is  left  un- 
 harmed. And  he  whose  physical  frame  is  perfect 
 and  whose  vitality  is  in  its  original  purity, — he  is 
 one  with  God. 
 
 Mens  Sana  in  corpore  sano. 
 
 Heaven  and  earth  are  the  father  and  mother  of 
 all  things.  When  they  unite,  the  result  is  shape. 
 When  they  disperse,  the  original  condition  is  re- 
 newed. 
 
 As  in  the  case  of  ordinary  mortals . 
 
 But  if  body  and  vitality  are  both  perfect,  this  state 
 is  zd^^tdifit  for  translation. 
 
 In  the  Biblical  sense,  as  applied  to  Enoch. 
 
 Such  perfection  of  vitality  goes  back  to  the  minister 
 of  God. 
 
 "  Vitality "  is  the  subtle  essence,  the  immaterial 
 informing  principle  which,  united  with  matter,  ex- 
 hibits the  phenomenon  of  life.  The  term  has 
 already  occurred  in  ch.  xi. 
 
 Lieh  Tzu  asked  Kuan  Yin, 
 
 A  sage  who  by  some  is  said  to  have  flourished  five 
 
CAP.  XIX.]  The  Secret  of  Life  231 
 
 or  six  hundred  years  before  Lieh  Tzu ;  by  others, 
 to  have  been  an  immediate  disciple  of  Lao  Tzii,  and 
 to  have  been  entrusted  by  him  with  the  publication 
 of  the  Tao-Te-Chi7ig. 
 
 saying,  "  The  perfect  man  can  walk  through  solid 
 bodies  without  obstruction.  He  can  pass  through 
 fire  without  being  burnt.  He  can  scale  the  highest 
 heights  without  fear.  How  does  he  bring  himself 
 to  this  ?  " 
 
 "  It  is  because  he  is  in  a  condition  of  absolute 
 purity,"  replied  Kuan  Yin.  "  It  is  not  cunning 
 which  enables  him  to  dare  such  feats.  Be  seated, 
 and  I  will  tell  you. 
 
 "  All  that  has  form,  sound,  and  colour,  may  be 
 classed  under  the  head  thing.  Man  differs  so  much 
 from  the  rest,  and  stands  at  the  head  of  all  things, 
 simply  because  the  latter  are  but  what  they  appear 
 and  nothing  more.  But  man  can  attain  to  formless- 
 ness and  vanquish  death.  And  with  that  which  is 
 in  possession  of  the  eternal,  how  can  mere  things 
 compare  ? 
 
 "  Man  may  rest  in  the  eternal  fitness  ;  he  may 
 abide  in  the  everlasting ;  and  roam  from  the 
 beginning  to  the  end  of  all  creation.  He  may  bring 
 his  nature  to  a  condition  of  one  ;  he  may  nourish 
 his  strength  ;  he  may  harmonize  his  virtue,  and  so 
 put  himself  into  partnership  with  God.  Then,  when 
 his  divinity  is  thus  assured,  and  his  spirit  closed 
 in  on  all  sides,  how  can  anything  find  a  passage 
 within  ? 
 
 He  is  beyond  the  reach  of  objective  existences. 
 
232  Chiiang  Tzzi 
 
 "  A  drunken  man  who  falls  out  of  a  cart,  though 
 he  may  suffer,  does  not  die.  His  bones  are  the 
 same  as  other  people's  ;  but  he  meets  his  accident 
 in  a  different  way.  His  spirit  is  in  a  condition  of 
 security.  He  is  not  conscious  of  riding  in  the  cart ; 
 neither  is  he  conscious  of  falling  out  of  it.  Ideas 
 of  life,  death,  fear,  etc.,  cannot  penetrate  his  breast  ; 
 and  so  he  does  not  suffer  from  contact  with  objective 
 existences.  And  if  such  security  is  to  be  got  from 
 wine,  how  much  more  is  it  to  be  got  from  God.  It 
 is  in  God  that  the  Sage  seeks  his  refuge,  and  so  he 
 is  free  from  harm. 
 
 "  An  avenger  does  not  snap  in  twain  the  mur- 
 derous weapon  ;  neither  does  the  most  spiteful  man 
 carry  his  resentment  to  a  tile  which  may  have  hit 
 him  on  the  head.  And  by  the  extension  of  this 
 principle,  the  empire  would  be  at  peace ;  no  more 
 confusion  of  war,  no  more  punishment  of  death. 
 
 *'  Do  not  develop  your  artificial  intelligence,  but 
 develop  that  intelligence  which  is  from  God.  From 
 the  latter,  results  virtue ;  from  the  former,  cunning. 
 And  those  who  do  not  shrink  from  the  natural,  nor 
 wallow  in  the  artificial, — they  are  near  to  per- 
 fection." 
 
 When  Confucius  was  on  his  way  to  the  Ch'u 
 State,  he  came  to  a  forest  where  he  saw  a  hunch- 
 back catching  cicadas  as  though  with  his  hand. 
 
 It  is  still  the  delight  of  the  Chinese  gamin  to  capture 
 the  noisy  "  scissor-grinder "  with  the  aid  of  a  long 
 bamboo  tipped  with  bird-lime. 
 
CAP.  XIX.]  The  Secret  of  Life  233 
 
 **  How  clever  you  are  !  "  cried  Confucius.  "  Have 
 you  any  way  of  doing  this  ?  " 
 
 "  Way,"  i.e.  road,  is  the  primary  meaning  of  Tao. 
 
 "  I  have  a  way,"  replied  the  hunchback.  "  In  the 
 fifth  and  sixth  moons  I  practise  balancing  two  balls 
 one  on  top  of  the  other. 
 
 At  the  top  of  his  pole. 
 
 If  they  do  not  fall,  I  do  not  miss  many  cicadas.  When 
 I  can  balance  three  balls,  I  only  miss  one  in  ten  ; 
 and  when  five,  then  it  is  as  though  I  caught  the 
 cicadas  with  my  hand.  My  body  is  as  motionless 
 as  the  stump  of  a  tree;  my  arms  like  dead  branches. 
 Heaven  and  earth  and  all  creation  may  be  around 
 me,  but  I  am  conscious  only  of  my  cicada's  wings. 
 How  should  I  not  succeed  ?  " 
 
 Confucius  looked  round  at  his  disciples  and  said, 
 "  Singleness  of  purpose  induces  concentration  of 
 the  faculties.  Of  such  is  the  success  of  this  hunch- 
 back." 
 
 Yen  Yiian  said  to  Confucius,  "  When  I  crossed 
 over  the  Shang-sh^n  rapid,  the  boatman  managed 
 his  craft  with  marvellous  skill.  I  asked  him  if  hand- 
 ling a  boat  could  be  learnt.  *  It  can,'  replied  he. 
 'The  way  of  those  who  know  how  to  keep  you  afloat 
 is  more  like  sinking  you.  They  row  as  if  the  boat 
 wasn't  there.' 
 
 "  I  enquired  what  this  meant,  but  he  would  not 
 tell  me.     May  I  ask  its  signification." 
 
 "  It  means,"  answered  Confucius,  **  that  such  a 
 
234  Chiiajig  Tzit 
 
 man  is  oblivious  of  the  water  around  him.  He 
 regards  the  rapid  as  though  dry  land.  He  looks 
 upon  an  upset  as  an  ordinary  cart  accident.  And  if 
 a  man  can  but  be  impervious  to  capsizings  and 
 accidents  in  general,  whither  should  he  not  be  able 
 comfortably  to  go  ? 
 
 "  A  man  who  plays  for  counters  will  play  well. 
 If  he  stakes  his  girdle, 
 
 In  which  he  keeps  his  loose  cash. 
 
 he  will  be  nervous  ;  if  yellow  gold,  he  will  lose  his 
 wits.  His  skill  is  the  same  in  each  case,  but  he  is 
 distracted  by  the  value  of  his  stake.  And  every  one 
 who  attaches  importance  to  the  external,  becomes 
 internally  without  resource." 
 
 T'ien  K'ai  Chih  had  an  audience  of  Duke  Wei  of 
 Chou.  The  Duke  asked  him,  saying,  "  I  have 
 heard  that  Chu  Hsien  is  studying  the  art  of  life. 
 As  you  are  a  companion  of  his,  pray  tell  me  any- 
 thing you  know  about  it." 
 
 "I  do  but  ply  the  broom  at  his  outer  gate," 
 replied  T'ien  K'ai  Chih  ;  "  what  should  I  know 
 about  my  Master's  researches  ?  " 
 
 "  Don't  be  so  modest,"  said  the  Duke.  "  I  am 
 very  anxious  to  hear  about  it." 
 
 "  Well,"  replied  T'ien,  "  I  have  heard  my  master 
 say  that  keeping  life  is  like  keeping  a  flock  of 
 sheep.  You  look  out  for  the  laggards,  and  whip 
 them  up." 
 
 "  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  asked  the  Duke. 
 
CAP.  XIX.]  The  Secret  of  Life  235 
 
 "  In  the  State  of  Lu,"  said  T'ien,  "  there  was  a 
 man  named  Shan  Pao.  He  lived  on  the  mountains 
 and  drank  water.  All  worldly  interests  he  had  put 
 aside.  And  at  the  age  of  seventy,  his  complexion 
 was  like  that  of  a  child.  Unluckily,  he  one  day  fell 
 in  with  a  hungry  tiger  who  killed  and  ate  him. 
 
 "There  was  also  a  man  named  Chang  I,  who 
 frequented  the  houses  of  rich  and  poor  alike.  At 
 the  age  of  forty  he  was  attacked  by  some  internal 
 disease  and  died. 
 
 "  Shan  Pao  took  care  of  his  inner  self,  and  a  tiger 
 ate  his  external  man.  Chang  I  took  care  of  himself 
 externally,  but  disease  attacked  him  internally. 
 These  two  individuals  both  omitted  to  whip  up  the 
 laggards." 
 
 There  is  no  particular  record  of  the  worthies  men- 
 tioned above. 
 
 Confucius  said,  "  Neither  affecting  obscurity,  nor 
 courting  prominence,  but  unconsciously  occupying 
 the  happy  mean, — he  who  can  attain  to  these  three 
 will  enjoy  a  surpassing  fame. 
 
 **  In  dangerous  parts,  where  one  wayfarer  out  of 
 ten  meets  his  death,  fathers  and  sons  and  brothers 
 will  counsel  each  other  not  to  travel  without  a  suffi- 
 cient escort.  Is  not  this  wisdom  ?  And  there 
 where  men  are  also  greatly  in  danger,  in  the  lists  of 
 passion,  in  the  banquet  hour,  not  to  warn  them  is 
 error  indeed." 
 
 Physical  precautions  are  not  alone  sufficient.  Man's 
 moral  nature  equally  requires  constant  watchfulness 
 and  care. 
 
236  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 The  Grand  Augur,  in  his  ceremonial  robes, 
 approached  the  shambles  and  thus  addressed  the 
 pigs  :— 
 
 *'  How  can  you  object  to  die  ?  I  shall  fatten  you 
 for  three  months.  I  shall  discipline  myself  for  ten 
 days  and  fast  for  three.  I  shall  strew  fine  grass,  and 
 place  you  bodily  upon  a  carved  sacrificial  dish. 
 Does  not  this  satisfy  you  ?  " 
 
 Then  speaking  from  the  pigs'  point  of  view,  he 
 continued,  "  It  is  better  perhaps  after  all  to  live  on 
 bran  and  escape  the  shambles " 
 
 "  But  then,"  added  he,  speaking  from  his  own 
 point  of  view,  *'  to  enjoy  honour  when  alive  one 
 would  readily  die  on  a  war-shield  or  in  the  heads- 
 man's basket." 
 
 So  he  rejected  the  pigs'  point  of  view  and  adopted 
 his  own  point  of  view.  In  what  sense  then  was  he 
 different  from  the  pigs  ? 
 
 Even  as  a  pig  thinks  of  nothing  but  eating,  so  was 
 the  Grand  Augur  ready  to  sacrifice  everything,  life 
 itself,  for  paltry  fame. 
 
 When  Duke  Huan  was  out  hunting,  with  Kuan 
 Chung  as  his  charioteer,  he  saw  a  bogy.  Catching 
 hold  of  Kuan  Chung's  hand,  he  asked  him,  saying, 
 ''What  do  you  see?" 
 
 "  I  see  nothing,"  replied  Kuan  Chung.  But 
 when  the  Duke  got  home  he  became  delirious,  and 
 for  many  days  was  unable  to  go  out. 
 
 There  came  a  certain  Huang  Tzu  Kao  Ngao  of  j 
 the  Ch'i  State 
 
 "  A  sage  of  the  Ch'i  State," — as  the  commentators 
 
CAP.  XIX.]  The  Secret  of  Life  237 
 
 usually  say  when  in  reality  they  know  nothing  about 
 the  individual. 
 and  said,  "Your  Highness  is  self-injured.  How 
 could  a  bogy  injure  you  ?  When  the  vital  strength 
 is  dissipated  in  anger,  and  is  not  renewed,  there  is 
 a  deficiency.  When  its  tendency  is  in  one  direction 
 upwards,  the  result  is  to  incline  men  to  wrath. 
 When  its  tendency  is  in  one  direction  downwards, 
 the  result  is  loss  of  memory.  When  it  remains 
 stagnant,  in  the  middle  of  the  body,  the  result  is 
 disease." 
 
 "Very  well,"  said  the  Duke,  "  but  are  there  such 
 things  as  bogies?" 
 
 "  There  are,"  replied  Huang.  "  There  is  the  mud 
 spirit  Li ;  the  fire  spirit  Kao  ;  Lei  T'ing,  the  spirit 
 of  the  dust-bin ;  P'ei  O  and  Wa  Lung,  sprites  of 
 the  north-east ;  Yi  Yang  of  the  north-west ;  Wang 
 Hsiang  of  the  water  ;  the  Hsin  of  the  hills  ;  the 
 K'uei  of  the  mountain  ;  the  Pang  Huang  of  the 
 moor ;  the  Wei  I  of  the  marsh." 
 
 The  garb  and  bearing  of  the  above  beings  are  very 
 fully  described  by  commentators. 
 
 "  And  what  may  the  Wei  I  be  like?"  asked  the 
 Duke. 
 
 "The  Wei  I,"  replied  Huang,  "  is  as  broad  as  a 
 cart-wheel  and  as  long  as  the  shaft.  It  wears  purple 
 clothes  and  a  red  cap.  It  is  a  sentient  being,  and 
 whenever  it  hears  the  rumble  of  thunder,  it  stands 
 up  in  a  respectful  attitude.  Those  who  see  this 
 bogy  are  like  to  be  chieftains  among  men." 
 
 The  Duke  laughed  exultingly  and   said,  "  The 
 
238  Chitaiig  Tzii 
 
 very  one  I  saw  I  "  Thereupon  he  dressed  himself 
 and  sat  up  ;  and  ere  the  day  had  closed,  without 
 knowing  it,  his  sickness  had  left  him. 
 
 The  above  episode  teaches  that  the  evils  which 
 appear  to  come  upon  us  from  without,  in  reality 
 have  their  origin  within. 
 
 Chi  Hsing  Tzu  was  training  fighting  cocks  for 
 the  prince.  , 
 
 Of  Ch'i,  says  a  commentator,  i 
 
 At  the  end  of  ten  days  the  latter  asked  if  they  were 
 ready.  "  Not  yet,"  replied  Chi ;  "  they  are  in  the 
 stage  of  seeking  fiercely  for  a  foe." 
 
 Again  ten  days  elapsed,  and  the  prince  made  a 
 further  enquiry.  "  Not  yet,"  replied  Chi  ;  "  they 
 are  still  excited  by  the  sounds  and  shadows  of  other 
 cocks." 
 
 Ten  days  more,  and  the  prince  asked  again. 
 "  Not  yet,"  answered  Chi  ;  "  the  sight  of  an 
 enemy  is  still  enough  to  excite  them  to  rage."  | 
 
 But  after  another  ten  days,  when  the  prince  again 
 enquired,  Chi  said,  "They  will  do.  Other  cocks 
 may-crow,  but  they  will  take  no  notice.  To  look 
 at  them  one  might  say  they  were  of  wood.  Their 
 virtue  is  complete.  Strange  cocks  will  not  dare  meet 
 them,  but  will  run." 
 
 Illustratinof  the  value  of  internal  concentration. 
 
 Confucius  was   looking   at  the  cataract  at   Lii- 
 liang.     It  fell  from  a  height  of  thirty/^;/, 
 
 I  jen  =  7  Chinese  feet.     What  the  ancient  Chinese 
 
 J 
 
CAP.  XIX.]  The  Secret  of  Life  i^f) 
 
 foot  measured,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  For  the 
 height  of  the  cataract  it  will  be  near  enough  to  say 
 200  English  feet. 
 
 and  its  foam  reached  forty  //  away.   No  scaly,  finny 
 creature  could  enter  therein. 
 Meaning  the  rapids  below. 
 
 Yet  Confucius  saw  an  old  man  go  in,  and  thinking 
 that  he  was  suffering  from  some  trouble  and  de- 
 sirous of  ending  his  life,  bade  a  disciple  run  along 
 the  side  to  try  and  save  him.  The  old  man  emerged 
 about  a  hundred  paces  off,  and  with  flowing  hair 
 went  carolling  along  the  bank.  Confucius  followed 
 him  and  said,  **  I  had  thought,  Sir,  you  were  a 
 spirit,  but  now  I  see  you  are  a  man.  Kindly  tell 
 me,  is  there  any  way  to  deal  thus  with  water  ?  " 
 
 "  No,"  replied  the  old  man  ;  "  I  have  no  way. 
 There  was  my  original  condition  to  begin  with  ; 
 then  habit  growing  into  nature  ;  and  lastly  acqui- 
 escence in  destiny.  Plunging  in  with  the  whirl,  I 
 come  out  with  the  swirl.  I  accommodate  myself 
 to  the  water,  not  the  water  to  me.  And  so  I  am 
 able  to  deal  with  it  after  this  fashion." 
 
 "  What  do  you  mean,"  enquired  Confucius,  "  by 
 your  original  condition  to  begin  with,  habit  growing 
 into  nature,  and  acquiescence  in  destiny  ?  " 
 
 "  I  was  born,"  replied  the  old  man,  *'  upon  dry 
 land,  and  accommodated  myself  to  dry  land.  That 
 was  my  original  condition.  Growing  up  on  the 
 water,  I  accommodated  myself  to  the  water.  That 
 was  what  I  meant  by  nature. 
 Habit  is  second  nature. 
 
 t/' 
 
240  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 And  doing  as  I  did  without  being  conscious  of  any 
 effort  so  to  do,  that  was  what  I  meant  by  destiny." 
 
 Objective  existences  cannot    injure    him  who    puts 
 his  trust  in  God. 
 
 [This  episode  occurs  twice,  with  textual  differences, 
 in  the  works  of  Lieh  Tzu,  chs.  ii.  and  viii.] 
 
 Ch'ing,  the  chief  carpenter, 
 Of  the  Lu  State. 
 
 was  carving  wood  into  a  stand  for  hanging  musical 
 instruments.  When  finished,  the  work  appeared 
 to  those  who  saw  it  as  though  of  supernatural 
 execution.  And  the  prince  of  Lu  asked  him,  saying, 
 "  What  mystery  is  there  in  your  art  ?  " 
 
 "  No  mystery,  your  Highness,"  replied  Ch'ing  ; 
 "  and  yet  there  is  something. 
 
 ''When  I  am  about  to  make  such  a  stand,  I 
 guard  against  any  diminution  of  my  vital  power.  I 
 first  reduce  my  mind  to  absolute  quiescence.  Three 
 days  in  this  condition,  and  I  become  oblivious  of 
 any  reward  to  be  gained.  Five  days,  and  I  become 
 oblivious  of  any  fame  to  be  acquired.  Seven  days, 
 and  I  become  unconscious  of  my  four  limbs  and 
 my  physical  frame.  Then,  with  no  thought  of  the 
 Court  present  to  my  mind,  my  skill  becomes  con- 
 centrated, and  all  disturbing  elements  from  without 
 are  gone.  I  enter  some  mountain  forest.  I  search 
 for  a  suitable  tree.  It  contains  the  form  required, 
 which  is  afterwards  elaborated.  I  see  the  stand  in 
 my  mind's  eye,  and  then  set  to  work.     Otherwise, 
 
CAP.  XIX.]  The  Secret  of  Life  241 
 
 there  is  nothing.  I  bring  my  own  natural  capacity 
 into  relation  with  that  of  the  wood.  What  was 
 suspected  to  be  of  supernatural  execution  in  my 
 work  was  due  solely  to  this." 
 
 To  obliteration  of  self  in  the  infinite  causality  of 
 God. 
 
 Tung  Yeh  Chi  exhibited  his  charioteering  skill 
 before  Duke  Chuang. 
 
 "Of  Lu,"  says  one  commentator.  But  another 
 points  out  that  Yen  Ho  {infra)  is  mentioned  in 
 chapter  iv.  as  tutor  to  the  son  of  Duke  Ling  of 
 Wei,  which  would  involve  an  anachronism. 
 
 Backwards  and  forwards  he  drove  in  lines  which 
 might  have  been  ruled,  sweeping  round  at  each  end 
 in  curves  which  might  have  been  described  by 
 compasses. 
 
 The  Duke,  however,  said  that  this  was  nothing 
 more  than  weaving  ;  and  bidding  him  drive  round 
 and  round  a  hundred  times,  returned  home. 
 
 Yen  Ho  came  upon  him,  and  then  went  in  and 
 said  to  the  Duke,  "  Chi's  horses  are  on  the  point  of 
 breaking  down." 
 
 The  Duke  remained  silent,  making  no  reply ; 
 and  in  a  short  time  it  was  announced  that  the 
 horses  had  actually  broken  down,  and  that  Chi  had 
 gone  away. 
 
 "  How  could  you  tell  this  ?  "  said  the  Duke  to 
 Yen  Ho. 
 
 "  Because,"  replied  the  latter,  "  Chi  was  trying 
 to  make  his  horses  perform  a  task  to  which  they 
 
242  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 were  unequal.  Therefore  I  said  they  would  break 
 down." 
 
 Illustrating  the    strain   which  mortality   daily    puts 
 upon  the  bodies  and  minds  of  all  men. 
 
 Ch'ui  the  artisan  could  draw  circles  with  his  hand 
 better  than  with  compasses.  His  fingers  seemed  to 
 accommodate  themselves  so  naturally  to  the  thing 
 he  was  working  at,  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  fix 
 his  attention.  His  mental  faculties  thus  remained 
 ONE,  and  suffered  no  hindrance. 
 
 To  be  unconscious  of  one's  feet  implies  that  the 
 shoes  are  easy.  To  be  unconscious  of  a  waist  im- 
 plies that  the  girdle  is  easy.  The  intelligence  being 
 unconscious  of  positive  and  negative  implies  that 
 the  heart  is  at  ease.  No  modifications  within,  no 
 yielding  to  influences  without, 
 
 But  always  following  a  natural  course. 
 
 — this  is  ease  under  all  conditions.  And  he  who 
 beginning  with  ease,  is  never  not  at  ease,  is  uncon- 
 scious of  the  ease  of  ease. 
 
 Such   is   the   condition  of  oblivion  necessary  to  the 
 due  development  of  our  natural  spontaneity.  ^ 
 
 A  certain  Sun  Hsiu  went  to  the  house  of  Pien 
 Ch'ing  Tzu 
 
 Both  unknown  to  fame. 
 
 and  complained,  saying,  "  In  peace  I  am  not  con-j 
 sidered  wanting  in  propriety.     In  times  of  troubh 
 
CAP.  XIX.]  The  Secret  of  Life  243 
 
 I  am  not  considered  wanting  in  courage.  Yet  my 
 crops  fail ;  and  officially  I  am  not  a  success.  From 
 my  village  an  outcast,  I  am  an  outlaw  from  my 
 State.  How  have  I  offended  against  God  that  he 
 should  visit  me  with  such  a  fate  ?  " 
 
 "  Have  you  not  heard,"  replied  Pien  Tzu,  *'  how 
 the  perfect  man  conducts  himself?  He  is  oblivious 
 of  his  physical  organisation.  He  is  beyond  the 
 reach  of  sight  and  hearing.  He  moves  outside  the 
 limits  of  this  dusty  world,  rambling  transcen- 
 dentally  in  the  domain  of  no-affairs.  This  is  called 
 acting  but  not  from  self-confidence,  influencing  but 
 not  from  authority. 
 
 That  is,  acting  not  in  consequeuce  of  self-confidence, 
 but  without  reference  to  it  ;  sc.  naturally.  In- 
 fluencing, not  because  of  authority,  but  gaining 
 authority  because  of  natural  influence. 
 
 This  quotation  appears,  though  Chuang  Tzu  or 
 whoever  may  be  responsible  for  this  episode  does 
 not  say  so,  in  chs.  x.  and  li.  of  the  Tao-Te-Ching. 
 
 "  But  you,  you  make  a  show  of  your  knowledge 
 in  order  to  startle  fools.  You  cultivate  yourself  in 
 contrast  to  the  degradation  of  others.  And  you 
 blaze  along  as  though  the  sun  and  moon  were  under 
 your  arms. 
 
 These  last  three  sentences  will  be  found  verbatim 
 in  ch.  XX. 
 
 Whereas,  that  you  have  a  whole  body  in  a  whole 
 skin,  and  have  not  perished  in  mid  career,  dumb, 
 blind,  or  halt,  but  actually  hold  a  place  among  men, 
 
 R  2 
 
244  Chuang  Tzit 
 
 — this  ought  to  be  enough  for  you.  Why  rail  at 
 God  ?     Begone  !  " 
 
 Sun  Hsiu  went  away,  and  Pien  Tzu  went  in  and 
 sat  down.  Shortly  afterwards,  he  looked  up  to 
 heaven  and  sighed  ;  whereupon  a  disciple  asked  him 
 what  was  the  matter. 
 
 "  When  Hsiu  was  here  just  now,"  answered  Pien 
 Tzii,  "  I  spoke  to  him  of  the  virtue  of  the  perfect 
 man.  I  fear  lest  he  be  startled  and  so  driven  on 
 to  doubt." 
 
 "  No,  Sir,"  answered  the  disciple.  *'  If  he  was 
 right  and  you  were  wrong,  wrong  will  never  drive 
 right  into  doubt.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was 
 wrong  and  you  were  right,  he  brought  his  doubt 
 with  him,  and  you  are  not  responsible." 
 
 "  Not  so,"  said  Pien  Tzu.  *'  Of  old,  when  a  bird 
 alighted  outside  the  capital  of  Lu,  the  prince  was 
 delighted,  and  killed  an  ox  to  feed  it  and  had  the 
 Chiu  Shao  played  to  entertain  it.  The  bird,  how- 
 ever, was  timid  and  dazed  and  dared  not  to  eat  or 
 drink.  This  was  treating  the  bird  like  oneself. 
 But  to  treat  a  bird  as  a  bird  would  treat  a  bird,  you 
 must  put  it  to  roost  in  a  deep  forest,  let  it  swim  in 
 river  or  lake,  and  feed  at  its  ease  on  the  plain. 
 Now  Sun  Hsiu  is  a  man  of  small  understanding  ; 
 and  for  me  to  speak  to  him  of  the  perfect  man  is 
 like  setting  a  mouse  to  ride  in  a  coach  or  a  band  of 
 music  to  play  to  a  quail.  How  should  he  not  be 
 startled  ?  " 
 
 The  above  episode  has  already  appeared  in  ch.  xviii., 
 ad  Jin. 
 
245 
 
 CHAPTER   XX. 
 
 Mountain  Trees. 
 
 Argument: — The  alternatives  of  usefulness  and  uselessness — Tao  a 
 tertium  quid — The  human  a  hindrance  to  the  divine — Altruism — 
 Adaptation — Destiny — Illustrations. 
 
 [This  chapter  is  supplementary  to  chapter  iv.] 
 
 C  HUANG  TZU  was  travelling  over  a  mountain 
 when  he  saw  a  huge  tree  well  covered  with 
 foliage.  A  woodsman  had  stopped  near  by,  not 
 caring  to  take  it ;  and  on  Chuang  Tzu  enquiring 
 the  reason,  he  was  told  that  it  was  of  no  use. 
 
 "  This  tree,"  cried  Chuang  Tzu,  "  by  virtue  of 
 being  good  for  nothing  succeeds  in  completing  its 
 allotted  span." 
 
 When  Chuang  Tzu  left  the  mountain,  he  put  up 
 at  the  house  of  an  old  friend.  The  latter  was 
 delighted,  and  ordered  a  servant  to  kill  a  goose  and 
 cook  it. 
 
 "Which  shall  I  kill?"  enquired  the  servant; 
 "  the  one  that  cackles  or  the  one  that  doesn't  ?  " 
 
 His  master  told  him  to  kill  the  one  which  did  not 
 cackle.  And  accordingly,  the  next  day,  a  disciple 
 asked  Chuang  Tzu,  saying,  "  Yesterday,  that  tree  on 
 the  mountain,  because  good  for  nothing,  was  to 
 succeed  in  completing  its  allotted  span.     But  now. 
 
246  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 our  host's  goose,  which  is  good  for  nothing,  has  to 
 die.  Upon  which  horn  of  the  dilemma  will  you 
 rest  ?  " 
 
 "  I  rest,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu  with  a  smile, 
 "  halfway  between  the  two.  In  that  position, 
 appearing  to  be  what  I  am  not,  it  is  impossible  to 
 avoid  the  troubles  of  mortality  ; 
 
 The  text  is  here  doubtful,  and  commentators  explain 
 according  to  the  fancy  of  each.  When  a  Chinese 
 commentator  does  not  understand  his  text,  he 
 usually  slurs  it  over.  He  never  says  "  I  do  not 
 understand."  Chu  Fu  Tzu  alone  could  rise  to  this 
 height. 
 
 though,  if  charioted  upon  Tao  and  floating  far 
 above  mortality,  this  would  not  be  so.  No  praise, 
 no  blame  ;  both  great  and  small  ;  changing  with 
 the  change  of  time,  but  ever  without  special  effort ; 
 both  above  and  below  ;  making  for  harmony  with 
 surroundings ;  reaching  creation's  First  Cause ; 
 swaying  all  things  and  swayed  by  none  ; — how 
 then  shall  such  troubles  come?  This  was  the 
 method  of  Shen  Nung  and  Huang  Ti. 
 
 "  If  another  guest  had  happened  to  arrive,"  says 
 Lin  Hsi  Chung,  "  I  fancy  the  chance  even  of  the 
 cackling  goose  would  have  been  small." 
 
 "  But  amidst  the  mundane  passions  and  relation- 
 ships of  man,  such  would  not  be  the  case.  For 
 where  there  is  union,  there  is  also  separation  ; 
 where  there  is  completion,  there  is  also  destruction  ; 
 where  there  is  purity,   there   is   also  oppression  ; 
 
 I 
 
CAP.  XX.]  Mountain  Trees  247 
 
 where  there  is  honour,  there  is  also  disparagement : 
 where  there  is  doing,  there  is  also  undoing ;  where 
 there  is  openness,  there  is  also  underhandedness  : 
 and  where  there  is  no  semblance,  there  is  also 
 deceit.  How  then  can  there  be  any  fixed  point  ? 
 Alas  indeed  !  Take  note,  my  disciples,  that  such  is 
 to  be  found  only  in  the  domain  of  Tao." 
 
 I  Liao 
 
 A  sage  of  the  Ch'u  State. 
 
 of  Shih-nan  paid  a  visit  to  the  prince  of  Lu.  The 
 latter  wore  a  melancholy  look  ;  whereupon  the 
 philosopher  of  Shih-nan  enquired  what  was  the 
 cause. 
 
 "  I  study  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  Sages," 
 replied  the  prince.  **  I  carry  on  the  work  of  my 
 predecessors.  I  respect  religion.  I  honour  the 
 good.  Never  for  a  moment  do  I  relax  in  these 
 points  ;  yet  I  cannot  avoid  misfortune,  and  conse- 
 quently I  am  sad." 
 
 "  Your  Highness'  method  of  avoiding  misfor- 
 tune," said  the  philosopher  of  Shih-nan,  **  is  but  a 
 shallow  one.  A  handsome  fox  or  a  striped  leopard 
 will  live  in  a  mountain  forest,  hiding  beneath  some 
 precipitous  cliff.  This  is  their  repose.  They  come 
 out  at  night  and  keep  in  by  day.  This  is  their 
 caution.  Though  under  the  stress  of  hunger  and 
 thirst,  they  lie  hidden,  hardly  venturing  to  slink 
 secretly  to  the  river  bank  in  search  of  food.  This 
 is  their  resoluteness.     Nevertheless,   they  do   not 
 
"248  Chuaug  Tzic 
 
 escape  the  misfortune  of  the  net  and  the  trap.  But 
 what  crime  have  they  committed  ?  'Tis  their  skin 
 which  is  the  cause  of  their  trouble ;  and  is  not  the 
 State  of  Lu  your  Highness'  skin?  1  would  have 
 your  Highness  put  away  body  and  skin  alike,  and 
 cleansing  your  heart  and  purging  it  of  passion, 
 betake  yourself  to  the  land  where  mortality  is  not. 
 
 Tao. 
 "  In  Nan-yiieh  there  is  a  district,  called  Estab- 
 lished-Virtue. Its  people  are  simple  and  honest, 
 unselfish,  and  without  passions.  They  can  make, 
 but  cannot  keep.  They  give,  but  look  for  no 
 return.  They  are  not  conscious  of  fulfilling  obli- 
 gations. They  are  not  conscious  of  subservience  to 
 etiquette. 
 
 Theirs    is    the    natural   etiquette   of  well-regulated 
 
 minds. 
 
 Their  actions  are  altogether  uncontrolled,  yet  they 
 tread  in  the  way  of  the  wise.  Life  is  for  enjoy- 
 ment ;  death,  for  burial.  And  thither  I  would  have 
 your  Highness  proceed,  power  discarded  and  the 
 world  left  behind,  only  putting  trust  in  Tao." 
 
 "  The  road  is  long  and  dangerous,"  said  the 
 prince.  "  Rivers  and  hills  to  be  crossed,  and  I 
 without  boat  or  chariot ; — what  then  ?  " 
 
 "  Unhindered  by  body  and  unfettered  in  mind," 
 replied  the  philosopher,  "  your  Highness  will  be  a 
 chariot  to  yourself." 
 
 "  But  the  road  is  long  and  dreary,"  argued  the 
 prince,  "  and  uninhabited. 
 
 This  is  a  play  on  "where  mortality  is  not,"  above. 
 
CAP.  XX.]  Mountain  Trees  249 
 
 I  shall  have  no  one  to  turn  to  for  help  ;  and  how, 
 without  food,  shall  I  ever  be  able  to  get  there  ?  " 
 
 "  Decrease  expenditure  ^ 
 
 Of  energy. 
 
 and  lessen  desires,"  answered  the  philosopher, 
 *'  and  even  though  without  provisions,  there  will  be 
 enough.  And  then  through  river  and  over  sea 
 your  Highness  will  travel  into  shoreless  illimitable 
 space.  From  the  border-land,  those  who  act  as 
 escort  will  return  ;  but  thence  onwards  your  High- 
 ness will  travel  afar. 
 
 "  It  is  the  human  in  ourselves  which  is  our 
 hindrance  ;  and  the  human  in  others  which  causes 
 our  sorrow.  The  great  Yao  had  not  this  human 
 element  himself,  nor  did  he  perceive  it  in  others. 
 And  I  would  have  your  Highness  put  off  this 
 hindrance  and  rid  yourself  of  this  sorrow,  and  roam 
 with  Tao  alone  through  the  realms  of  Infinite 
 Nought. 
 
 "  Suppose  a  boat  is  crossing  a  river,  and  another 
 empty  boat  is  about  to  collide  with  it.  Even  an  -^ 
 irritable  man  would  not  lose  his  temper.  But 
 supposing  there  was  some  one  in  the  second  boat. 
 Then  the  occupant  of  the  first  would  shout  to  him 
 to  keep  clear.  And  if  the  other  did  not  hear  the 
 first  time,  nor  even  when  called  to  three  times,  bad 
 language  would  inevitably  follow.  In  the  first  case 
 there  was  no  anger,  in  the  second  there  was ; 
 because  in  the  first  case  the  boat  was  empty,  and  in 
 the  second  it  was  occupied.   And  so  it  is  with  man. 
 
250  Chuang  Tzit 
 
 If  he  could  only  roam    empty  through   life,    who 
 would  be  able  to  injure  him  ?  " 
 
 Widi  his  mind  in  a  negative  state,  closed  to  all 
 impressions  conveyed  within  by  the  senses  from 
 without. 
 
 Pei  Kung  She,  minister  to  Duke  Ling  of  Wei, 
 levied  contributions  for  making  bells.  An  altar 
 was  built  outside  the  city  gate  ; 
 
 For  purposes  of  sacrifice. 
 
 and  in  three  months  the  bells,  upper  and  lower, 
 were  all  hung. 
 
 The  bell-chime  consisted  of  a  frame  with  bells  swun^ 
 on  an  upper  and  lower  bar. 
 
 When  Wang  Tzu  Ch'ing  Chi 
 
 Minister  to  the  rulinof  House  of  Chou. 
 
 saw  them,  he  asked,  saying,  "  How,  Sir,  did  you 
 manage  this  ?  " 
 
 "In  the  domain  of  one,"  replied  She,  "there 
 may  not  be  managing.  I  have  heard  say  that  which 
 is  carved  and  polished  reverts  nevertheless  to  its 
 natural  condition.  And  so  I  made  allowances  for 
 ignorance  and  for  suspicion.  I  betrayed  no  feeling 
 when  welcomed  or  dismissed.  I  forbade  not  those 
 who  came,  nor  detained  those  who  went  away.  I 
 showed  no  resentment  towards  the  unwilling,  nor 
 gratitude  towards  those  who  gave.  Every  one  sub- 
 scribed what  he  liked ;  and  thus  in  my  daily 
 collection  of  subscriptions,  no  injury  was  done. — 
 
CAP.  XX.]  Mountain  Trees  251 
 
 How  much  more  then  those  who  have  the  great 
 
 WAY  ? " 
 
 If  my  success  was  due  to  the  simple  principle 
 above  enunciated,  what  a  success  would  result  from 
 Tag,  which  is  the  infinite  extension  of  such  principles 
 into  every  phase  of  existence  ! 
 
 The  Chinese  word  here  used  for  "  way,"  as  a 
 synonym  of  Tao,  settles  the  original  meaning  of  the 
 latter  in  the  sense  of  "  road."  Thus  Lao  Tzu  is  said 
 to  have  explained  that  the  Way  he  taught  was  not 
 the  way  which  could  be  walked  upon. 
 
 When  Confucius  was  hemmed  in  between  Ch'^n 
 and  Ts'ai,  he  passed  seven  days  without  food. 
 
 The  minister  Jen  went  to  condole  with  him,  and 
 said,  "  You  were  near,  Sir,  to  death." 
 
 "  I  was  indeed,"  replied  Confucius. 
 
 "  Do  you  fear  death.  Sir  ?  "  enquired  Jen. 
 
 *'  I  do,"  said  Confucius. 
 
 "  Then  I  will  try  to  teach  you,"  said  Jen,  ''  the 
 way  not  to  die. 
 
 "In  the  eastern  sea  there  are  certain  birds,  called 
 the  i-erh.  They  behave  themselves  in  a  modest 
 and  unassuming  manner,  as  though  unpossessed  of 
 ability.  They  fly  simultaneously  :  they  roost  in  a 
 body.  In  advancing,  none  strives  to  be  first;  in 
 retreating,  none  ventures  to  be  last.  In  eating, 
 none  will  be  the  first  to  begin  ;  it  is  considered 
 proper  to  take  the  leavings  of  others.  Therefore,  in 
 their  own  ranks  they  are  at  peace,  and  the  outside 
 world  is  unable  to  harm  them.  And  thus  they 
 escape  trouble. 
 
252  Chtiang  Tzii 
 
 "  Straight  trees  are  the  first  felled.  Sweet  wells 
 are  soonest  exhausted.  And  you,  you  make  a  show 
 of  your  knowledge  in  order  to  startle  fools.  You 
 cultivate  yourself  in  contrast  to  the  degradation  of 
 others.  And  you  blaze  along  as  though  the  sun  and 
 moon  were  under  your  arms ;  consequently,  you 
 cannot  avoid  trouble. 
 See  p.  243. 
 
 ''  Formerly,  I  heard  a  very  wise  man  say,  Self- 
 praise  is  no  recommendation.  In  merit  achieved 
 there  is  deterioration.  In  fame  achieved  there  is 
 loss.  Who  can  discard  both  merit  and  fame  and 
 become  one  with  the  rest  ?  Tao  pervades  all  things 
 but  is  not  seen.     T£: 
 
 This  is  "virtue,"  the  expression  of  Tag. 
 moves  through  all  things  but  its  place  is  not  known. 
 In  its  purity  and  constancy,  it  may  be  compared 
 with  the  purposeless.  Remaining  concealed, 
 rejecting  power,  it  works  not  for  merit  nor  for 
 fame.  Thus,  not  censuring  others,  it  is  not  cen- 
 sured by  others. 
 
 **  And  if  the  perfect  man  cares  not  for  fame,  why, 
 Sir,  should  you  take  pleasure  in  it  ?  " 
 
 "  Good  indeed  !  "  replied  Confucius ;  and  forth- 
 with he  took  leave  of  his  friends  and  dismissed  his 
 disciples  and  retired  to  the  wilds,  where  he  dressed 
 himself  in  skins  and  serge  and  fed  on  acorns  and 
 chestnuts.  He  passed  among  the  beasts  and  birds 
 and  they  took  no  heed  of  him.  And  if  so,  how  much 
 more  among  men  ? 
 
 An  unquestionably  spurious  episode. 
 
CAP.  XX.]  Mountain  Trees  253 
 
 Confucius  asked  Tzu  Sang  Hu, 
 See  ch.  vl. 
 
 saying,  "  I  have  been  twice  expelled  from  Lu.  My 
 tree  was  cut  down  in  Sung.  I  have  been  tabooed 
 in  Wei.  I  am  a  failure  in  Shang  and  Chou.  I 
 was  surrounded  between  Chen  and  Ts'ai.  And  in 
 addition  to  all  these  troubles,  my  friends  have 
 separated  from  me  and  my  disciples  are  gone.  How 
 is  this?" 
 
 See  p.  180. 
 
 "  Have  you  not  heard,"  replied  Sang  Hu,  "  how 
 when  the  men  of  Kuo  fled,  one  of  them,  named  Lin 
 Hui,  cast  aside  most  valuable  regalia  and  carried 
 away  his  child  upon  his  back  ?  Some  one  suggested 
 that  he  was  influenced  by  the  value  of  the  child  ; — 
 but  the  child's  value  was  small.  Or  by  the  incon- 
 venience of  the  regalia ; — but  the  inconvenience  of 
 the  child  would  be  much  greater.  Why  then  did 
 he  leave  behind  the  regalia  and  carry  off  the 
 child  ? 
 
 **  Lin  Hui  himself  said,  *  The  regalia  involved 
 a  mere  question  of  money.  The  child  was  from 
 God.' 
 
 "And  so  it  is  that  in  trouble  and  calamity  mere 
 money  questions  are  neglected,  while  we  ever  cling 
 nearer  to  that  which  is  from  God.  And  between 
 neglecting  and  clinging  to,  the  difference  is  great. 
 
 "The  friendship  of  the  superior  man  is  negative 
 like  water.  The  friendship  of  the  mean  man  is 
 full-flavoured  like  wine.     That  of  the  superior  man 
 
254  Chnang  Tzii 
 
 passes  from  the  negative  to  the  affectionate.  That 
 of  the  mean  man  passes  from  the  full-flavoured  to 
 nothing.  The  friendship  of  the  mean  man  begins 
 without  due  cause,  and  in  like  manner  comes  to  an 
 end. 
 
 "  I  hear  and  obey,"  replied  Confucius ;  and 
 forthwith  he  went  quietly  home,  put  an  end  to  his 
 studies  and  cast  aside  his  books.  His  disciples  no 
 longer  saluted  him  as  teacher;  but  his  love  for  them 
 deepened  every  day. 
 
 On  another  occasion.  Sang  Hu  said  to  him  again, 
 "  When  Shun  was  about  to  die,  he  commanded  the 
 Great  Yu  as  follows  : — Be  careful.  Act  in  accord- 
 ance with  your  physical  body.  Speak  in  accordance 
 with  your  feelings.  You  will  thus  not  get  into 
 difficulty  with  the  former  nor  suffer  annoyance  in 
 the  latter.  And  as  under  these  conditions  you  will 
 not  stand  in  need  of  outward  embellishment  of  any 
 kind,  it  follows  that  you  therefore  will  not  stand  in 
 need  of  anything." 
 
 Also  an  episode  of  doubtful  audiorship.  The  com- 
 mentators, however,  have  nothing  to  say  against  its 
 genuineness. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  put  on  cotton  clothes  with  patches 
 in  them,  and  arranging  his  girdle  and  tieing  on  his 
 shoes, 
 
 To  keep  them  from  falling  off. 
 
 went  to  see  the  prince  of  Wei. 
 
 "How  miserable  you  look.  Sir  !  "  cried  the  prince. 
 "  It  is  poverty,  not  misery,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu. 
 
CAP.  XX.]  Mountain  Trees  255 
 
 "  A    man   who    has    Tao   cannot    be    miserable.  / 
 Ragged  clothes  and  old  boots  make  poverty,  not 
 misery.     Mine  is  what  is  called  being  out  of  har- 
 mony with  one's  age. 
 
 "  Has  your  Highness  never  seen  a  climbing  ape  ? 
 Give  it  some  large  tree,  and  it  will  twist  and  twirl 
 among  the  branches  as  though  monarch  of  all  it 
 surveys.     Yi  and  Feng  Meng 
 
 An  ancient  archer  and  his  apprentice. 
 
 can  never  catch  a  glimpse  of  it. 
 
 "  But  put  it  in  a  bramble  bush,  and  it  will  move 
 cautiously  with  sidelong  glances,  trembling  all  over 
 with  fear.  Not  that  its  muscles  relax  in  the  face  of 
 difficulty,  but  because  it  is  at  a  disadvantage  as 
 regards  position,  and  is  unable  to  make  use  of  its 
 skill.  And  how  should  any  one,  living  under 
 foolish  sovereigns  and  wicked  ministers,  help  being 
 miserable,  even  though  he  might  wish  not  to  be  so  ? 
 
 "  It  was  under  such  circumstances  that  Pi  Kan 
 was  disembowelled." 
 
 See  ch.  iv.  The  above  episode  is  too  much  even 
 for  Chinese  critics,  and  has  been  condemned 
 accordingly. 
 
 When  Confucius  was  hemmed  in  between  Ch'^n 
 and  Ts'ai  and  had  gone  seven  days  without  food, 
 then,  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  piece  of  dry  wood 
 and  in  his  right  hand  a  dry  stick,  he  sang  a  ballad 
 of  Piao  Shih. 
 
 An  ancient  ruler. 
 
256  CJmang  Tzii 
 
 He  had  an  instrument,  but  the  gamut  was  wanting-. 
 There  was  sound,  but  no  tune.  The  sound  of  the 
 wood  accompanied  by  the  voice  of  the  man  yielded 
 a  harsh  result,  but  it  was  in  keeping  with  the 
 feelings  of  his  audience. 
 
 Yen  Hui,  who  was  standing  by  in  a  respectful 
 attitude,  thereupon  began  to  turn  his  eyes  about 
 him  ;  and  Confucius,  fearing  lest  he  should  be 
 driven  by  exaltation  into  bragging,  or  by  a  desire 
 for  safety  into  sorrow, 
 
 As  a  result  of  hearing  the  song. 
 
 spoke  to  him  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  Hui  !  it  is  easy  to  escape  injury  from  God  ;  it 
 is  difficult  to  avoid  the  benefits  of  man.  There  is 
 no  beginning  and  there  is  no  end.  Man  and  God 
 are  one.     Who  then  was  singing  just  now  ?" 
 
 "  Pray,  Sir,  what  do  you  mean,"  asked  Yen  Hui, 
 "  by  saying  that  it  is  easy  to  escape  injury  from 
 God  ?  " 
 
 "  Hunger,  thirst,  cold,  and  heat,"  replied  Con- 
 fucius, "  are  but  as  fetters  in  the  path  of  life.  They 
 belong  to  the  natural  laws  which  govern  the  uni- 
 verse ;  and  in  obedience  thereto  I  pass  on  my 
 allotted  course.  The  subject  dares  not  disregard 
 the  mandates  of  his  prince.  And  if  this  is  man's 
 duty  to  man,  how  much  more  shall  it  be  his  duty  to 
 God?" 
 
 "  What  is  the  meaning  of  difficult  to  avoid  the 
 benefits  of  man  ?  "  asked  Yen  Hui. 
 
 "  If  one  begins,"  replied  Confucius,   "  byadapta- 
 
CAP,  XX.]  Mountain  Trees  257 
 
 tion  to  surroundings,  rank  and  power  follow  without 
 cease.  Such  advantages  are  external  ;  they  are  not 
 derived  from  oneself.  And  my  life  is  more  or  less 
 dependent  upon  the  external.  The  superior  man 
 does  not  steal  these ;  nor  does  the  good  man  pilfer 
 them.  What  then  do  I  but  take  them  as  they 
 come  ? 
 
 "  Therefore  it  has  been  said  that  no  bird  is  so 
 wise  as  the  swallow.  If  it  sees  a  place  unfit  to 
 dwell  in,  it  will  not  bestow  a  glance  thereon  ;  and 
 even  though  it  should  drop  food  there,  it  will  leave 
 the  food  and  fly  away.  Now  swallows  fear  man. 
 Yet  they  dwell  among  men.  Because  there  they  find 
 their  natural  abode." 
 
 In  the  same  way,  man  should  adapt  himself  to  the 
 conditions  which  surround  him. 
 
 "  And  what  is  the  meaning,"  enquired  Yen  Hui, 
 "  of  no  beginning  and  no  end  ?  " 
 
 **  The  work  goes  on,"  replied  Confucius,  "  and 
 no  man  knoweth  the  cause.  How  then  shall  he 
 know  the  end,  or  the  beginning  ?  There  is  nothing 
 left  to  us  but  to  wait." 
 
 "  And  that  man  and  God  are  One,"  said  Yen 
 Hui.     "  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  ^ 
 
 "  That  man  is,"  replied  Confucius,  "  is  from  God. 
 That  God  is,  is  also  from  God.  That  man  is  not 
 God,  is  his  nature. 
 
 Sc.  that  which  makes  him  man. 
 
 The  Sage  quietly  waits  for  death  as  the  end.  * 
 Which  shall  unite  him  once  aorain  with  God. 
 
 o 
 
258  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 When  Chuang  Tzu  was  wandering  in  the  park 
 at  Tiao-ling,  he  saw  a  strange  bird  which  came  from 
 the  south.  Its  wings  were  seven  feet  across.  Its 
 eyes  were  an  inch  in  circumference.  And  it  flew 
 close  past  Chuang  Tzu's  head  to  alight  in  a  chestnut 
 grove. 
 
 "What  manner  of  bird  is  this?"  cried  Chuang 
 Tzu.  "  With  strong  wings  it  does  not  fly  away. 
 With  large  eyes  it  does  not  see." 
 
 Or  it  would  not  have  flown  so  near. 
 
 So  he  picked  up  his  skirts  and  strode  towards  it 
 with  his  cross-bow,  anxious  to  get  a  shot.  Just 
 then  he  saw  a  cicada  enjoying  itself  in  the  shade, 
 forgetful  of  all  else.  And  he  saw  a  mantis  spring 
 and  seize  it,  forgetting  in  the  act  its  own  body, 
 which  the  strange  bird  immediately  pounced  upon 
 and  made  its  prey.  And  this  it  was  which  had 
 caused  the  bird,  to  forget  its  own  nature. 
 
 And  approach  so  close  to  man. 
 
 This  episode  has  been  widely  popularised  in  Chinese 
 every-day  life.  Its  details  have  been  expressed 
 pictorialjy  in  a  roughly-executed  woodcut,  with  the 
 addition  of  a  tiger  about  to  spring  upon  the  man, 
 and  a  well  into  which  both  will  eventually  tumble. 
 A  legend  at  the  side  reads, — "All  is  Destiny  !" 
 
 "  Alas  !  "  cried  Chuang  Tzu  with  a  sigh,  "  how 
 creatures  injure  one  another.  Loss  follows  the 
 pursuit  of  gain." 
 
CAP.  XX.]  Mountain  Trees  259 
 
 Those  who  would  prey  on  others  are  preyed  upon 
 in  turn  themselves. 
 
 So  he  laid  aside  his  bow  and  went  home,  driven 
 away  by  the  park-keeper  who  wanted  to  know  what 
 business  he  had  there. 
 
 For  three  months  after  this,  Chuang  Tzu  did  not 
 leave  the  house ;  and  at  length  Lin  Chii 
 
 A  disciple. 
 
 asked  him,  saying,  ''  Master,  how  is  it  that  you 
 have  not  been  out  for  so  long  ?  " 
 
 ''While  keeping  my  physical  frame,"  replied 
 Chuang  Tzu,  "  I  lost  sight  of  my  real  self.  Gazing 
 at  muddy  water,  I  lost  sight  of  the  clear  abyss. 
 Besides,  I  have  learnt  from  the  Master  as  follows : 
 — "  When  you  go  into  the  world,  follow  its 
 customs." 
 
 This  saying  is  attributed,  in  uncanonical  works,  to 
 Confucius.  But  if  any  one  was  "Master"  to  Chuang 
 Tzu,  it  would  of  course  be  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 Now  when  I  strolled  into  the  park  at  Tiao-ling,  I 
 forgot  my  real  self.  That  strange  bird  which  flew 
 close  past  me  to  the  chestnut  grove,  forgot  its 
 nature.  The  keeper  of  the  chestnut  grove  took 
 me  for  a  thief.  Consequently  I  have  not  been 
 out." 
 
 When  Yang  Tzii 
 
 Yang  Chu.     See  ch.  viii. 
 
 s  2 
 
26o  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 went  to  the  Sung  State,  he  passed  a  night  at  an 
 inn. 
 
 The  innkeeper  had  two  concubines,  one  beautiful, 
 the  other  ugly.  The  latter  he  loved  ;  the  former, 
 he  hated. 
 
 Yang  Tzii  asked  how  this  was ;  whereupon  one 
 of  the  inn  servants  said,  "  The  beautiful  one  is  so 
 conscious  of  her  beauty  that  one  does  not  think 
 her  beautiful.  The  ugly  one  is  so  conscious  of 
 her  ugliness  that  one  does  not  think  her  ugly." 
 
 "  Note  this,  my  disciples !  "  cried  Yang  Tzu. 
 "  Be  virtuous,  but  without  being  consciously  so ; 
 and  wherever  you  go,  you  will  be  beloved." 
 
26 1 
 
 CHAPTER   XXL 
 
 T'lEN  Tzu  Fang. 
 
 Argument: — Tao  cannot  be  imparted  in  words — It  is  not  at  man's 
 disposal — It  does  not  consist  in  formal  morality — It  is  an  inalienable 
 element  of  existence — Without  it  the  soul  dies — With  it  man  is  happy 
 and  his  immortality  secure — Illustrations. 
 
 [This  chapter  is  supplementary  to  chapter  vi.] 
 
 T 
 
 'I EN    Tzu    Fang  was    in    attendance    upon 
 Prince  Wen  of  Wei. 
 
 Whose  tutor  he  was. 
 
 He  kept  on  praising  Ch'i  Kung,  until  at  length 
 Prince  Wen  said,  *'  Is  Ch'i  Kung  your  tutor  ?  " 
 
 "  No,"  replied  Tzu  Fang ;  "  he  is  merely  a 
 neighbour.  He  discourses  admirably  upon  Tao. 
 That  is  why  I  praise  him." 
 
 '  Have  you  then  no  tutor?"  enquired  the  Prince. 
 
 "  I  have,"  replied  Tzu  Fang. 
 
 "  And  who  may  he  be  ?  "  said  Prince  Wen. 
 
 "  Tung  Kuo  Shun  Tzu,"  answered  Tzu  Fang. 
 
 "  Then  how  is  it  you  do  not  praise  him  ?"  asked 
 the  Prince. 
 
 "  He  is  perfect,"  replied  Tzu  Fang.  "  In  ap- 
 pearance, a  man  ;  in  reality,  God.  Unconditioned 
 himself,  he  falls   in  with   the  conditioned,  to   his 
 
262  Chtiang  Tzit 
 
 own  greater  glory.  Pure  himself,  he  can  still 
 tolerate  others.  If  men  are  without  Tao,  by  a 
 mere  look  he  calls  them  to  a  sense  of  error,  and 
 causes  their  intentions  to  melt  away.  How  could 
 I  praise  him  ?" 
 
 Thereupon  Tzu  Fang  took  his  leave,  and  the 
 Prince  remained  for  the  rest  of  the  day  absorbed 
 in  silence.  At  length  he  called  an  officer  in  waiting 
 and  said,  "  How  far  beyond  us  is  the  man  of  perfect 
 virtue  !  Hitherto  I  have  regarded  the  discussion 
 ,  y  of  holiness  and  wisdom,  and  the  practice  of  charity 
 and  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  as  the  utmost  point 
 attainable.  But  now  that  I  have  heard  of  Tzu 
 Fang's  tutor,  my  body  is  relaxed  and  desires  not 
 movement,  my  mouth  is  closed  and  desires  not 
 speech.  All  I  have  learnt,  verily  it  is  mere 
 undergrowth.  And  the  kingdom  of  Wei  is  my 
 bane. 
 
 Tag  is  not  to  be  reached  by  the  superficial 
 worker,  or  by  such  as  value  the  distinctions  of  this 
 world. 
 
 When  Wen  Po  Hsiieh  Tzu 
 
 "  A  sage  from  the  south,"  as  the  commentators  say, 
 anticipating  the  "  Middle  Kingdom  "  below. 
 
 w^as  on  his  way  to  Ch'i,  he  broke  his  journey  in  Lu. 
 A  certain  man  of  Lu  begged  for  an  interview,  but 
 Wen  Po  Hsiieh  Tzu  said,  *'  No.  I  have  heard  that 
 the  gentlemen  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  are  experts 
 in    ceremonies    and    obligations,    but   wanting    in 
 
CAP.  XXI.]  T'ie7i   Tzii  Fang  263 
 
 knowledge  of  the  human  heart.  I  do  not  wish  to 
 see  him." 
 
 So  he  went  on  to  Ch'i  ;  but  once  more  at  Lu, 
 on  his  way  home,  the  same  man  again  begged  to 
 have  an  interview. 
 
 "When  I  was  last  here,"  cried  Wen  Po  Hsueh 
 Tzu,  "  he  asked  to  see  me,  and  now  again  he  asks 
 to  see  me.  Surely  he  must  have  something  to 
 communicate." 
 
 Whereupon  he  went  and  received  the  stranger, 
 and  on  returning  gave  vent  to  sighs.  Next  day 
 he  received  him  again,  and  again  after  the  inter- 
 view gave  vent  to  sighs.  Then  his  servant  asked 
 him,  saying,  **  How  is  it  that  whenever  you  receive 
 this  stranger,  you  always  sigh  afterwards  ?" 
 
 "  I  have  already  told  you,"  replied  Wen  Po  Hsiieh 
 Tzu,  "  that  the  people  of  the  Middle  Kingdom 
 are  experts  in  ceremonies  and  obligations  but 
 w^anting  in  knowledge  of  the  human  heart.  The 
 man  who  visited  me  came  in  and  went  out  as  per 
 compasses  and  square.  His  demeanour  was  now 
 that  of  the  dragon,  now  that  of  the  tiger.  He 
 criticised  me  as  though  he  had  been  my  son.  He 
 admonished  me  as  though  he  had  been  my  father. 
 Therefore  I  gave  vent  to  sighs. 
 
 When  Confucius  saw  Wen  Po  Hsiieh  Tzu,  the 
 former  did  not  utter  a  word.  Whereupon  Tzu  Lu 
 said,  "  Master,  you  have  long  wished  to  see  Wen 
 Po  Hsueh  Tzu.  How  is  it  that  when  you  do  see 
 him  you  do  not  speak  ?  " 
 
 "  With  such  men  as  these,"   replied  Confucius, 
 
264  Chiiang  Tzic 
 
 v^     you  have  only  to  look,  and  Tao  abides.     There  is 
 no  room  for  speech." 
 
 See  ch.  v,  ad  init.,  on  "  the    Doctrine  which  is  not 
 expressed  in  words." 
 
 Yen  Yiian 
 
 See  p.  179. 
 
 asked  Confucius,  saying,  "  Master,  when  you  go  at 
 a  walk,  I  go  at  a  walk.  When  you  trot,  I  trot. 
 When  you  gallop,  I  gallop.  But  when  you  dash 
 beyond  the  bounds  of  mortality,  I  can  only  stand 
 staring  behind.     How  is  this  ?  " 
 
 "  Explain  yourself,"  said  Confucius. 
 
 "  I  mean,"  continued  Yen  Yiian,  "  that  as  you 
 speak,  I  speak.  As  you  argue,  I  argue.  As  you 
 preach  Tao,  so  I  preach  Tao.  And  by  '  when  you 
 dash  beyond  the  bounds  of  mortality  I  can  only 
 stand  staring  behind,'  I  mean  that  without  speaking 
 you  make  people  believe  you,  without  striving  you 
 make  people  love  you,  without  factitious  attrac- 
 tions you  gather  people  around  you.  I  cannot 
 understand  how  this  is  so." 
 
 "  What  is  there  to  prevent  you  from  finding 
 out  ?  "  replied  Confucius.  "  There  is  no  sorrow  to 
 be  compared  with  the  death  of  the  mind.  The 
 death  of  the  body  is  of  but  secondary  importance. 
 
 Cf.   ch.    ii,  "  The  body  decomposes,   and  the   mind 
 goes  with  it.      This  is  our  real  cause  for  sorrow." 
 
 "  The  sun  rises  in  the  east  and  sets  in  the  west. 
 
CAP.  XXI.]  T'ien   Tzii  Fang  265 
 
 There  is  no  place  which  he  does  not  illuminate  ; 
 and  those  who  have  eyes  and  feet  depend  upon  him 
 to  use  them  with  success.  When  he  comes  forth, 
 that  is  existence  ;  when  he  disappears,  that  is  non- 
 existence. 
 
 "  And  every  human  being  has  that  upon  which 
 he  depends  for  death  or  for  life. 
 
 Mind,  which  rises  with  life  and  sets  at  death. 
 
 But  if  I,  receiving  this  mind-informed  body,  pass 
 without  due  modification  to  the  end, 
 
 So  that  the  mind  perishes  with  the  body. 
 
 day  and  night  subject  to  ceaseless  wear  and  tear 
 like  a  mere  thing,  unknowing  what  the  end  will  be, 
 and  in  spite  of  this  mind-informed  body 
 
 Which  should  teach  a  higher  lesson. 
 
 conscious  only  that  fate  cannot  save  me  from  the 
 inevitable  grave-yard, — then  I  am  consuming  life 
 until  at  death  it  is  as  though  you  and  I  had  but 
 once  linked  arms  to  be  finally  parted  for  ever  !  Is 
 not  that  indeed  a  cause  for  sorrow  ? 
 
 The  motive  of  this  involved  paragraph  is  identical 
 with  that  of  Mr.  Mallock's  famous  essay  Is  Life 
 Worth  Living  f 
 
 ''  Now  you  fix  your  attention  upon  something  in 
 me  which,  while  you  look,  has  already  passed  away. 
 Yet  you  seek  for  it  as  though  it  must  be  still  there, 
 — like  one  who  seeks  for  a  horse  in  a  market-place. 
 
 In  the  interim  the  animal  has  been  sold. 
 
266  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 What  I  admire  in  you  is  transitory.  Nevertheless, 
 why  should  you  grieve?  Although  my  old  self 
 is  constantly  passing  away,  there  remains  that 
 which  does  not  pass  away." 
 
 The  mind,  which  feeds  and  thrives  upon  change. 
 
 Confucius  went  to  see  Lao  Tzu.  The  latter  had 
 just  washed  his  head,  and  his  hair  was  hanging 
 down  his  back  to  dry.  He  looked  like  a  lifeless 
 body ;  so  Confucius  waited  awhile,  but  at  length 
 approached  and  said,  "  Do  my  eyes  deceive  me,  or 
 is  this  really  so  ?  Your  frame.  Sir,  seems  like  dry 
 wood,  as  if  it  had  been  left  without  that  which 
 informs  it  with  the  life  of  man." 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  (  .-*)  is  here  repeating  himself 
 
 "  I  was  wandering,"  replied  Lao  Tzu,  "  in  the 
 unborn." 
 
 Reflecting  upon  the  state  of  man  before  his  birth 
 into  the  world. 
 
 "  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  asked  Confucius. 
 
 "  My  mind  is  trammelled,"  replied  Lao  Tzu, 
 "  and  I  cannot  know.  My  mouth  is  closed  and  I 
 cannot  speak.  But  I  will  try  to  tell  you  what  is 
 probably  the  truth. 
 
 "  The  perfect  Negative  principle  is  majestically 
 passive.  The  perfect  Positive  principle  is  power- 
 fully active.  Passivity  emanates  from  heaven 
 above  ;  activity  proceeds  from  earth  beneath.  The 
 interaction  of  the  two  results  in  that  harmony  by 
 
CAP.  XXI.]  THen  Tzii  Fang  267 
 
 which  all  things  are  produced.  There  may  be  a 
 First  Cause,  but  we  never  see  his  form.  His  report 
 fills  space.  There  is  darkness  and  light.  Days 
 come  and  months  go.  Work  is  being  constantly 
 performed,  yet  we  never  w^itness  the  performance. 
 Life  must  bring  us  from  somewhere,  and  death 
 must  carry  us  back.  Beginning  and  end  follow 
 ceaselessly  one  upon  the  other,  and  we  cannot  say 
 when  the  series  will  be  exhausted.  If  this  is  not 
 the  work  of  a  First  Cause,  what  is  it  ? " 
 
 "  Kindly  explain,"  said  Confucius,  *'  what  is  to 
 jbe  got  by  wandering  as  you  said." 
 
 "  The  result,"  answered  Lao  Tzu,  "  is  perfect 
 goodness  and  perfect  happiness.  And  he  who  has 
 these  is  a  perfect  man." 
 
 "  And  by  what  means,"  enquired  Confucius, 
 "  can  this  be  attained  ?  " 
 
 "Animals,"  said  Lao  Tzii,   ''that  eat  grass  do 
 
 ynot  mind  a  change  of  pasture.     Creatures  that  live 
 
 in  water  do  not  mind  a  change  of  pond.     A  slight 
 
 :hange  may  be  effected  so  long  as  the  essential  is 
 
 untouched. 
 
 *'  Joy,  anger,  sorrow,  happiness,   find    no   place 
 
 !n  that  man's  breast ;    for  to   him  all  creation   is 
 
 )ne.     And  all  things  being  thus  united  in  One, 
 
 is  body  and  limbs  are  but  as  dust  of  the  earth, 
 
 ^nd  life  and  death,  beginning  and  end,  are  but  as 
 
 hight  and  day,  and  cannot  destroy  his  peace.     How 
 
 jinuch  less  such  trifles  as  gain  or  loss,  misfortune 
 
 or  good  fortune  ? 
 
 "  He    rejects    rank  as    so    much  mud.     For  he 
 
268  Chttang  Tzii 
 
 knows  that  if  a  man  is  of  honourable  rank,  the 
 honour  is  in  himself,  and  cannot  be  lost  by  change 
 of  condition,  nor  exhausted  by  countless  modifica- 
 tions of  existence.  Who  then  can  grieve  his  heart  ? 
 Those  who  practise  Tao  understand  the  secret  of 
 this." 
 
 "  Master,"  said  Confucius,  "  your  virtue  equals 
 that  of  Heaven  and  Earth  ;  yet  you  still  employ 
 perfect  precepts  in  the  cultivation  of  your  heart. 
 Who  among  the  sages  of  old  could  have  uttered 
 such  words  ?  " 
 
 "Not  so,"  answered  Lao  Tzu.  "The  fluidity 
 of  water  is  not  the  result  of  any  effort  on  the  part 
 of  the  water,  but  is  its  natural  property.  And  the 
 virtue  of  the  perfect  man  is  such  that  even  without 
 cultivation  there  is  nothing  which  can  withdraw 
 from  his  sway.  Heaven  is  naturally  high,  the  earth 
 is  naturally  solid,  the  sun  and  moon  are  naturally 
 bright.     Do  they  cultivate  these  attributes  ?  " 
 
 Confucius  went  forth  and  said  to  Yen  Hui, 
 "  In  point  of  Tao,  I  am  but  as  an  animalcule  in 
 vinegar.     Had  not  the  Master  opened  my  eyes,  I 
 should    not   have   perceived   the   vastness   of    the 
 universe." 
 
 He  who  would  concentrate  himself  upon  life  after 
 death  must  first  familiarise  himself  with  life  before 
 birth. 
 
 When  Chuang  Tzu  was  at  an  interview  with 
 Duke  Ai  of  Lu, 
 
 Who  had  then  been  dead  1 20  years. 
 
CAP.  XXI.]  T'ien  Tzu  Fang  269 
 
 the  latter  said,  "  We  have  many  scholars,  Sir,  in 
 Lu,  but  few  of  your  school." 
 
 "  In  Lu,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,  "  there  are  but 
 few  scholars." 
 
 "  Look  at  the  number  who  wear  scholars'  robes," 
 said  the  Duke.    "  How  can  you  say  they  are  few?" 
 
 "  Scholars  who  wear  round  hats,"  answered 
 Chuang  Tzu,  "  know  the  seasons  of  Heaven. 
 Scholars  who  wear  square  shoes  know  the  shape 
 of  Earth. 
 
 According  to  ancient  Chinese  cosmogony,  "  Heaven 
 is  round  :   Earth  is  square." 
 
 And  scholars  who  loosely  gird  themselves  are 
 ready  to  decide  whatever  questions  may  arise.  But 
 scholars  who  have  Tao  do  not  necessarily  wear 
 robes  ;  neither  does  the  wearing  of  robes  necessarily 
 mean  that  a  scholar  has  Tao.  If  your  Highness 
 does  not  think  so,  why  not  issue  an  order  through 
 the  Middle  Kingdom,  making  death  the  punish- 
 ment for  all  who  wear  the  robes  without  having 
 the  Tag  ?  " 
 
 Thereupon  Duke  Ai  circulated  this  mandate  for 
 five  days,  the  result  being  that  not  a  single  man  in 
 Lu  dared  to  don  scholars'  robes, — with  the  excep- 
 tion of  one  old  man  who,  thus  arrayed,  took  his 
 stand  at  the  Duke's  gate. 
 
 My  Ming  editor  (a  priest)  says  this  was  Confucius 
 himself ! 
 
 The  Duke  summoned  him  to  the  presence,  and 
 asked  him  many  questions  on  politics,  trying  to 
 entangle  him,  but  in  vain.     Then  Chuang  Tzu  said, 
 
270  Chtimig  Tzii 
 
 "  If  there  is  only  one  scholar  in  Lu,  surely  that  is 
 not  many." 
 
 It  is  unnecessary,  says  Lin  Hsi  Chung,  to  descend 
 to  anachronisms  in  reference  to  the  eenuineness  of 
 this  episode. 
 
 Rank  and  power  had  no  charms  for  Po  Li  Ch'i. 
 7th    century    B.C.       This    story    is    alluded    to    by 
 Mencius. 
 
 So  he  took  to  feeding  cattle.  His  cattle  were 
 always  fat,  which  caused  Duke  Mu  of  Ch'in  to 
 ignore  his  low  condition  and  entrust  him  with  the 
 administration. 
 
 Shun  cared  nothing  for  life  or  death.  He  was 
 therefore  able  to  influence  men's  hearts. 
 
 His  parents  even  went  so  far  as  to  try  to  kill  him. 
 
 Prince  Yiian  of  Sung  desiring  to  draw  a  map, 
 the  officials  of  that  department  presented  them- 
 selves, and  after  making  obeisance  stood  waiting 
 for  the  order,  more  than  half  of  them  already  lick- 
 ing their  brushes  and  mixing  their  ink. 
 
 One  of  them  arrived  late.  He  sauntered  in 
 without  hurrying  himself;  and  when  he  had  made 
 obeisance,  did  not  wait  but  went  off"  home. 
 
 The  Prince  sent  a  man  to  see  what  he  did.  He 
 took  off  his  clothes  and  squatted  down  bare-backed. 
 
 "  He  will  do,"  cried  the  Prince.  "  He  is  a  true 
 artist."  ^ 
 
 The  commentators  do  not  get  much  out  of  this 
 episode.     Lin  Hsi  Chung  damns  it  as  a  forgery. 
 
CAP.  XXI.]  Tien  Tzu  Fang  271 
 
 When  Wen  Wang  was  on  a  tour  of  inspection 
 in  Tsang,  he  saw  an  old  man  fishing.  But  his 
 fishing  was  not  real  fishing,  for  he  did  not  fish  to 
 catch  fish,  but  to  amuse  himself. 
 
 Wherefore,  from    the    standpoint    of  Tao,  he    was 
 the  more  likely  to  succeed. 
 
 So  Wen  Wang  wished  to  employ  him  in  the 
 administration  of  government,  but  feared  lest  his 
 own  ministers,  uncles,  and  brothers,  might  object. 
 On  the  other  hand,  if  he  let  the  old  man  go,  he 
 could  not  bear  to  think  of  the  people  being  deprived 
 of  such  an  influence. 
 
 Accordingly,  that  very  morning  he  informed  his 
 ministers,  saying,  "  I  once  dreamt  that  a  Sage  of 
 a  black  colour  and  with  a  large  beard,  riding  upon 
 a  parti-coloured  horse  with  red  stockings  on  one 
 side,  appeared  and  instructed  me  to  place  the  ad- 
 ministration in  the  hands  of  the  old  gentleman  of 
 Tsang,  promising  that  the  people  would  benefit 
 greatly  thereby." 
 
 The  ministers  at  once  said,  "  It  is  a  command 
 from  your  Highness'  father." 
 
 "  I  think  so,"  answered  Wen  Wang.  "  But  let 
 us  try  by  divination." 
 
 "  It  is  a  command  from  your  Highness'  late 
 father,"  said  the  ministers,  "  and  may  not  be  dis- 
 obeyed.    What  need  for  divination  ?  " 
 
 So  the  old  man  of  Tsang  was  received  and 
 entrusted  with  the  administration.  He  altered 
 none  of  the  existing  statutes.  He  issued  no  unjust 
 regulations.      And  when,   after  three  years,  Wen 
 
272  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 Wang  made  another  inspection,  he  found  all 
 dangerous  organisations  broken  up,  the  officials 
 doing  their  duty  as  a  matter  of  course,  while  the 
 use  of  measures  of  grain  was  unknown  within  the 
 four  boundaries  of  the  State.  There  was  thus 
 unanimity  in  the  public  voice,  singleness  of  official 
 purpose,  and  identity  of  interests  to  all. 
 
 So  W^n  Wang  appointed  the  old    man  Grand 
 
 Tutor  ;  and  then,  standing  with  his  face  to  the  north, 
 
 An  attitude  of  respect.     Facing  the  south  was  the 
 
 conventional  position  of  a  ruler. 
 
 asked    him,    saying,    "  Can    such   government    be 
 
 extended  over  the  empire  ?  " 
 
 The  old  man  of  Tsang  was  silent  and  made  no 
 reply.  He  then  abruptly  took  leave,  and  by  the 
 evening  of  that  same  day  had  disappeared,  never 
 to  be  heard  of  again. 
 
 Yen  Ylian  said  to  Confucius,  "If  Wen  Wang 
 was  unable  to  do  this  of  himself,  how  was  he  able 
 to  do  it  by  a  dream  ?  " 
 
 "  Silence  !  "  cried  Confucius :  "  It  is  not  for  you 
 to  criticise  Wen  Wang  who  succeeded  in  fulfilling 
 his  mission.  The  dream  was  merely  to  satisfy  the 
 vulgar  mind." 
 
 The  whole  episode  is  of  course  spurious. 
 
 Lieh  Yii  K'ou 
 
 Or  Lieh  Tzii.     See  ch.  i. 
 instructed  Po  Hun  Wu  Jen 
 
 See  ch.  v. 
 in  archery.     Drawing  the  bow  to  its  full,  he  placed 
 
CAP.  XXI.]  T'ien  Tzil  Fang  273 
 
 a  cup  of  water  on  his  elbow  and  began  to  let  fly. 
 Hardly  was  one  arrow  out  of  sight  ere  another  was 
 on  the  string,  the  archer  standing  all  the  time  like 
 a  statue. 
 
 ''But  this  is  shooting  under  ordinary  conditions," 
 cried  Po  Hun  Wu  Jen  ;  "  it  is  not  shooting  under 
 extraordinary  conditions.  Now  I  will  ascend  a 
 high  mountain  with  you,  and  stand  on  the  edge  of 
 a  precipice  a  thousand  feet  in  height,  and  see  how 
 you  can  shoot  then." 
 
 Thereupon  Wu  Jen  went  with  Lieh  Tzu  up  a 
 high  mountain,  and  stood  on  the  edge  of  a  preci- 
 pice a  thousand  feet  in  height,  approaching  it  back- 
 wards until  one-fifth  of  his  feet  overhung  the 
 chasm,  when  he  beckoned  to  Lieh  Tzu  to  come  on. 
 But  the  latter  had  fallen  prostrate  on  the  ground, 
 with  the  sweat  pouring  down  to  his  heels. 
 
 "  The  perfect  man,"  said  Wu  Jen,  "  soars  up  to 
 the  blue  sky,  or  dives  down  to  the  yellow  springs, 
 The  infernal  regions. 
 
 or  flies  to  some   extreme  point  of  the  compass, 
 without    change   of    countenance.      But  you   are 
 terrified,  and  your  eyes  are  dazed.     Your  internal 
 economy  is  defective." 
 You  have  not  Tag. 
 
 Chien  Wu 
 See  ch.  i. 
 said  to  Sun  Shu  Ao, 
 
 A  famous  minister  of  the  Ch'u  State. 
 
 T 
 
274  Chttmig  Tzii 
 
 "  Sir,  you  have  been  three  times  called  to  office 
 without  showing  any  elation,  and  you  have  been 
 three  times  dismissed  without  displaying  any 
 chagrin.  At  first,  I  doubted  you  ;  but  now  I  notice 
 that  your  breathing  is  perfectly  regular.  How  do 
 you  manage  thus  to  control  your  emotions  ?  " 
 
 "  I  am  no  better  than  other  people,"  replied 
 Sun  Shu  Ao.  "  I  regard  office  when  it  comes  as 
 something  which  may  not  be  declined  ;  when  it 
 goes,  as  something  which  cannot  be  kept.  To 
 me  both  the  getting  and  losing  are  outside  my 
 own  self;  and  therefore  I  feel  no  chagrin.  How 
 am  I  better  than  other  people  ? 
 
 "  Besides,  I  am  not  conscious  of  office  being 
 either  in  the  hands  of  others  or  in  my  own.  If 
 it  is  in  the  hands  of  others,  my  own  personality 
 disappears  ;  if  in  mine,  theirs.  And  amidst  the 
 cares  of  deliberation  and  investigation,  what 
 leisure  has  one  for  troubling  about  rank  ?  " 
 
 When  Confucius  heard  this,  he  said,  "  The  per- 
 fect Sages  of  old  ! — cunning  men  could  not  defeat 
 them ;  beautiful  women  could  not  seduce  them ; 
 robbers  could  not  steal  from  them  ; 
 
 They  were  unmoved  in  the  face  of  danger. 
 
 Fu  Hsi  and  the  Yellow  Emperor  could  not  make 
 friends  of  them.  Life  and  death  are  great ;  yet 
 these  gave  them  no  pang. 
 
 That  would  cause  them  to  sacrifice  truth. 
 
 How  much  less  then  rank  and  power  ! 
 
 "The  souls  of  such  men  pierced  through  huge 
 
 I 
 
CAP.  XXI.]  THen  Tzii  Fang  ori^ 
 
 mountains  as  though  they  had  been  nothing; 
 descended  into  the  abyss  without  getting  wet ; 
 occupied  lowly  stations  without  chagrin.  They 
 filled  the  whole  universe  ;  and  the  more  they  gave 
 to  others,  the  more  they  had  themselves." 
 
 These  last  words  occur  in  chapter  Ixxxi.  of  the 
 Tao-Te-Ching.  It  is,  to  say  the  least,  strange  to 
 find  them  here  in  the  mouth  of  Confucius  without 
 a  hint  as  to  their  alleged  Taoistic  source. 
 The  explanation  is  that  when  this  episode  was 
 penned,  that  patchwork  treatise  which  passes  under 
 the  name  of  the  Tao-Ti-Ching  \i2iA  not  been  pieced 
 together. 
 
 The  Prince  of  Ch'u  was  sitting  with  the  Prince 
 of  Fan.  By  and  by,  one  of  the  officials  of  Ch'u 
 said,  "  There  were  three  indications  of  the  destruc- 
 tion of  the  Fan  State." 
 
 "The  destruction  of  the  Fan  State,"  cried  the 
 Prince  of  Fan,  "  did  not  suffice  to  injure  my 
 existence. 
 
 Which  was  already,   by  virtue  of  Tao,  beyond  the 
 
 reach  of  mundane  influences. 
 And  while  the  destruction  of  the  Fan  State  did 
 not  suffice  to  injure  my  existence,  the  preservation 
 of  the  Ch'u  State  will  not  be  enough  to  preserve 
 yours. 
 
 You  being  without  Tag. 
 From  this  point  of  view  it  will  be  seen  that  while 
 we    Fans  have    not  begun    to  be    destroyed,    you 
 Ch'us  have  not  begun  to  exist." 
 
 A  good  specimen  of  the  Fallacia  A7npJiibolice. 
 
 T  2 
 
276 
 
 CHAPTER   XXII. 
 
 Knowledge  travels  North. 
 
 Argument : — Inaction  and  Tao — The  universe  our  model — Spontaneity 
 our  watchword — Omnipresence  and  indivisibility  of  Tao — External 
 activity,  internal  passivity — Man's  knowledge  finite — Illustrations. 
 
 [This  chapter  is  supplementary  to  chapter  vi.] 
 
 WHEN  Knowledge  travelled  north,  across  the 
 Black  Water,  and  over  the  Dark-Steep 
 Mountain,  he  met  Do-nothing  Say-nothing  and 
 asked  of  him  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  Kindly  tell  me  by  what  thoughts,  by  what 
 cogitations,  may  Tao  be  known  ?  By  resting  in 
 what,  by  according  in  what,  may  Tao  be  ap- 
 proached ?  By  following  what,  by  pursuing  what, 
 may  Tao  be  attained  ?" 
 
 To  these  three  questions.  Do-nothing  Say- 
 nothing  returned  no  answer.  Not  that  he  would 
 not  answer,  but  that  he  could  not.  So  when 
 Knowledge  got  no  reply,  he  turned  round  and  went 
 off  to  the  south  of  the  White  Water  and  up  the  | 
 Ku-chiieh  Mountain,  where  he  saw  All-in-extremes, 
 and  to  him  he  put  the  same  questions. 
 
 "  Ha!"  cried  All-in-extremes,  "  I  know.  I  will 
 tell  you "  ..  1 
 
 But  just  as   he  was  about  to  speak   he   forgot , 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  travels  North  277 
 
 what  he  wanted  to  say.  So  when  Knowledge  got 
 no  reply,  he  went  back  to  the  palace  and  asked 
 the  Yellow  Emperor.  The  latter  said,  "  By  no 
 thoughts,  by  no  cogitations,  Tag  may  be  known. 
 By  resting  in  nothing,  by  according  in  nothing, 
 Tag  may  be  approached.  By  following  nothing, 
 by  pursuing  nothing,  Tag  may  be  attained." 
 
 Then  Knowledge  said  to  the  Yellow  Emperor, 
 "  Now  you  and  I  know  this,  but  those  two  know 
 it  not.     Who  is  right?" 
 
 "  Of  those  two,"  replied  the  Yellow  Emperor, 
 "  Do-nothing  Say-nothing  is  genuinely  right,  and 
 All-in-extremes  is  near.  You  and  I  are  wholly 
 wrong.  Those  who  understand  it  do  not  speak 
 about  it,  those  who  speak  about  it  do  not  under- 
 stand it. 
 
 These  words   occur   in   the   Tao-Te-Chingy  ch.  vi. 
 See  also  ante,  p.  1 70. 
 
 Therefore  the  Sage  teaches  a  doctrine  which  does 
 not  find  expression  in  words. 
 
 See  ante,  ch.  v.    Also  The  Remains  of  Lao  Tzit,  p.  7. 
 
 Tag  cannot  be  made  to  come.  Virtue  cannot  be 
 reached. 
 
 Virtue  (Tl:),  here  the  exemplification  of  Tag. 
 
 Charity  can  be  evoked.  Duty  to  one's  neighbour  can 
 be  wrongly  directed.  Ceremonies  are  mere  shams. 
 "  Therefore  it  has  been  said,  '  If  Tag  perishes, 
 then  T£  will  perish.  IfT£:  perishes,  then  charity 
 will  perish.  If  charity  perishes,  then  duty  to  one's 
 neighbour  will  perish.     If  duty  to  one's  neighbour 
 
278  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 perishes,  then  ceremonies  will  perish.  Ceremonies 
 are  but  a  showy  ornament  of  Tag,  while  oft-times 
 the  source  of  trouble.' 
 
 The  above  is  from  the  Tao-Te-Ching,  ch.  xxxviii. 
 
 It  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  Yellow  Emperor 
 
 annihilates  time  by  quoting  a  work  not  written  until 
 
 many  centuries  after  his  date. 
 
 "Therefore  it  has  been  said,  '  Those  who  prac- 
 tise Tao  suffer  daily  loss.     If  that  loss  proceeds 
 until  inaction  ensues,   then  by  that  very  inaction 
 there  is  nothing  which  cannot  be  done.' 
 Also  in  the  Tao-Te-Chiiig,  ch.  xlviii. 
 
 "  Now,  we  are  already  beings.  And  if  we  desire 
 to  revert  to  our  original  condition,  how  difficult 
 that  is  !  'Tis  a  change  to  which  only  the  greatest 
 among  us  are  equal. 
 
 "  Life  follows  upon  death.  Death  is  the  begin- 
 ning of  life.  Who  knows  when  the  end  is  reached? 
 The  life  of  man  results  from  convergence  of  the 
 vital  fluid.  Its  convergence  is  life  ;  its  dispersion, 
 death.  If  then  life  and  death  are  but  consecutive 
 states,  what  need  have  I  to  complain  ? 
 
 "  Therefore  all  things  are  One.  What  we  love 
 is  animation.  What  we  hate  is  corruption.  But 
 corruption  in  its  turn  becomes  animation,  and 
 animation  once  more  becomes  corruption. 
 
 "  Therefore  it  has  been  said.  The  world  is  per- 
 meated by  a  single  vital  fluid,  and  Sages  accordingly 
 venerate  One." 
 
 "  Tota  formatio  procedens  ex  nomine  uno."     Liber 
 jfezirah,-"^.  Bi.     (Parisiis :  G.  Postello,  1552.) 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  travels  North  279 
 
 Then  Knowledge  said  to  the  Yellow  Emperor, 
 "  I  asked  Do-nothing  Say-nothing,  but  he  did  not 
 answer  me.  Not  that  he  would  not ;  he  could 
 not.  So  I  asked  All-in-extremes.  He  was  just 
 going  to  tell  me,  but  he  did  not  tell  me.  Not 
 that  he  would  not ;  but  just  as  he  was  going  to 
 do  so,  he  forgot  what  he  wanted  to  say.  Now  I 
 ask  you,  and  you  tell  me.  How  then  are  you 
 wholly  wrong  ?  " 
 
 "  Of  those  two,"  replied  the  Yellow  Emperor, 
 "  the  former  was  genuinely  right,  inasmuch  as  he 
 did  not  know.  The  latter  was  near,  inasmuch  as 
 ht  forgot.  You  and  I  are  wholly  wrong,  inasmuch 
 as  we  know.'' 
 
 Tao  is  attained,  not  by  knowledge,  but  by  absence 
 of  knowledge. 
 
 When  All-in-extremes  heard  of  this,  he  con- 
 sidered that  the  Yellow  Emperor  had  spoken 
 well. 
 
 "  Spoken    knowingly "    gives    the   only    chance    of 
 bringing  out  what  is  here  a  forced  play  upon  words. 
 
 The  universe  is  very  beautiful,  yet  it  says 
 nothing.  The  four  seasons  abide  by  a  fixed 
 law,  yet  they  are  not  heard.  All  creation  is 
 based  upon  absolute  principles,  yet  nothing 
 speaks. 
 
 And  the  true  Sage,  taking  his  stand  upon  the 
 beauty  of  the  universe,  pierces  the  principles  of 
 created  things.     Hence  the   saying  that   the    per- 
 
28o  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 feet  man  does  nothing,  the  true  Sage  performs 
 nothing,  beyond  gazing  at  the  universe. 
 
 In  the  hope  of  attaining,  by  contemplation,  a  like 
 spontaneity. 
 
 For  man's  intellect,  however  keen,  face  to  face 
 with  the  countless  evolutions  of  things,  their  death 
 and  birth,  their  squareness  and  roundness, — can 
 never  reach  the  root.  There  creation  is,  and  there 
 it  has  ever  been. 
 
 But  the  secret  of  life  is  withheld. 
 
 The  six  cardinal  points,  reaching  into  infinity, 
 are  ever  included  in  Tag.  An  autumn  spikelet, 
 in  all  its  minuteness,  must  carry  Tao  within 
 itself.  There  is  nothing  on  earth  which  does  not 
 rise  and  fall,  but  it  never  perishes  altogether. 
 
 Nihilo  nil  posse  reverti. 
 
 The  Yin  and  the  Yang,  and  the  four  seasons,  keep 
 to  their  proper  order.  Apparently  destroyed,  yet 
 really  existing ;  the  material  gone,  the  immaterial 
 left ; — such  is  the  law  of  creation,  which  passeth 
 all  understanding.  This  is  called  the  root,  whence 
 a  glimpse  may  be  obtained  of  God. 
 
 From  this  point,  upon  which  the  finger  of  man  can 
 never  be  laid,  his  mind  may  perhaps  faintly  discern 
 the  transcendent  workings  of  that  Power  by  which 
 all  creation  is  swayed; — "uncover  those  secret 
 recesses  where  Nature  is  sitting  at  the  fires  in  the 
 depths  of  her  laboratory."     Swedenborg. 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  travels  North  281 
 
 Yeh  Ch'iieh  enquired  of  P'i  I  about  Tag. 
 
 For  the  former  see  ch.  ii.     Of  the  latter  there  is  no 
 record. 
 
 The  latter  said,  "  Keep  your  body  under  proper 
 control,  your  gaze  concentrated  upon  One, — and  the 
 peace  of  God  will  descend  upon  you.  Keep  back 
 your  knowledge,  and  concentrate  your  thoughts 
 upon  One, — and  the  holy  spirit  shall  abide  within 
 you.  Virtue  shall  beautify  you,  Tao  shall  establish 
 you,  aimless  as  a  new-born  calf  which  recks  not  how 
 it  came  into  the  world." 
 
 While  P'i  I  was  still  speaking,  Yeh  Ch'iieh  had 
 gone  off  to  sleep ;  at  which  the  former  rejoiced 
 greatly,  and  departed  singing, 
 
 "  Body  like  dry  bone, 
 Mind  like  dead  ashes  ; 
 This  is  true  knowledge. 
 Not  to  strive  after  knowing  the  whence. 
 In  darkness,  in  obscurity. 
 The  mindless  cannot  plan  ; — 
 What  manner  of  man  is  that  ?  " 
 
 His  mortal  trammels  had  fallen  off  by  his  absorp- 
 tion into  Tag. 
 
 Shun  asked  Ch'^ng, 
 His  tutor. 
 
 saying,  "Can  one  get  Tag  so  as  to  have  it  for 
 one's  own?" 
 
 "  Your  very  body,"  replied  Ch'eng,  "  is  not  your 
 own.     How  should  Tag  be?" 
 
282  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 "  If  my  body,"  said  Shun,  "  is  not  my  own,  pray 
 whose  is  it  ?" 
 
 "  It  is  the  delegated  image  of  God,"  replied 
 Ch  eng.  "  Your  life  is  not  your  own.  It  is  the 
 delegated  harmony  of  God. 
 
 The  affinity  of  the  Ym  and  Yang  causes  them,  when 
 in  due  proportions,  to  combine  and  produce  life. 
 
 Your  individuality  is  not  your  own.  It  is  the 
 delegated  adaptability  of  God. 
 
 Providing    the   endless  variety  of  shapes   with    an 
 endless  variety  of  complexion. 
 
 Your  posterity  is  not  your  own.  It  is  the  dele- 
 gated exuviae  of  God. 
 
 As  God  sends   us  into  the  world,  so  He  wishes  us 
 to  "  increase  and  multiply." 
 
 You  move,  but  know  not  how.  You  are  at  rest, 
 but  know  not  why.  You  taste,  but  know  not  the 
 cause.  These  are  the  operation  of  God's  laws. 
 How  then  should  you  get  Tag  so  as  to  have 
 it  for  your  own  ?" 
 
 Cf.  "  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of 
 the  Holy  Ghost,"  etc.      I,  Corinthians  vi.  19. 
 
 Confucius  said  to  Lao  Tzu,  "  To-day  you  are 
 at  leisure.     Pray  tell  me  about  perfect  Tao." 
 
 "  Purge  your  heart  by  fasting  and  discipline," 
 answered  Lao  Tzu.  "  Wash  your  soul  as  white  as 
 snow.  Discard  your  knowledge.  Tag  is  abstruse 
 and  difficult  of  discussion.  I  will  try,  however,  to 
 speak  to  you  of  its  outline. 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  travels  North  283 
 
 "  Light  is  bom   of  darkness.     Classification  is 
 born  of  formlessness.     The  soul  is  born  of  Tao. 
 The  body  is  born  of  the  vital  essence. 
 Existence  springs  from  non-existence. 
 
 "Thus  all  things  produce  after  their  kind. 
 Creatures  with  nine  channels  of  communication 
 are  born  from  the  womb.  Creatures  with  eight 
 are  born  from  the  ^^g. 
 
 Nature  is  always  self-similar. 
 
 Of  their  coming  there  is   no  trace.     In  their  de-- 
 parture  there    is    no  goal.     No  entrance  gate,  no 
 dwelling  house,   they  pass  this  way  and  that,  as 
 though  at  the  meeting  of  cross-roads. 
 
 ''Those  who  enter  herein  become  strong  of  limb, 
 subtle  of  thought,  and  clear  of  sight  and  hearing. 
 They  suffer  no  mental  fatigue,  nor  meet  with  phy- 
 sical resistance. 
 
 ''  Heaven  cannot  but  be  high.  Earth  cannot 
 but  be  broad.  The  sun  and  moon  cannot  but  re- 
 volve. All  creation  cannot  but  flourish.  To  do 
 so  is  their  Tao. 
 
 "  But  it  is  not  from  extensive  study  that  this 
 may  be  known,  nor  by  dialectic  skill  that  this  may 
 be  made  clear.  The  true  Sage  will  have  none  of 
 these.  It  is  in  addition  without  gain,  in  diminution 
 without  loss,  that  the  true  Sage  finds  salvation. 
 
 "  Unfathomable  as  the  sea,  wondrously  ending 
 only  to  begin  again,  informing  all  creation  with- 
 out being  exhausted,  the  Tao  of  the  perfect  man 
 is  spontaneous  in  its  operation.     That  all  creation 
 
284  Clmang  Tzii 
 
 can  be  infornicd  by  it  without  exhaustion,  is  its 
 Tau. 
 
 The  'X i\()  of  '\\\(). 
 
 "In  tlie  Middle  Kini^doni  tliere  are  men  who 
 rccot;nise  neither  positive  nor  nej^^'itive.  They 
 al)ide  l)etween  heaven  and  earth.  They  act  their 
 part  as  mortals,  and  then  return  to  the  Cause. 
 
 "  From  that  stand] )oint, 
 
 Of  the  Cause,  sc.  God,  which  is  commensurate  with 
 infinity. 
 
 life  is  but  a  concentration  of  the  vital  fluid,  whose 
 longest  and  shortest  terms  of  existence  vary  by  an 
 inai)preeiable  space, — hardly  enoui;"h  for  the  classi- 
 hcation  of  Yao  and  Chieh. 
 
 As  good  and  had.     See  ch.  iv. 
 
 "  Tree-fruits  and  plant-fruits  exhibit  order  in 
 their  varieties;  and  the  relationshii)s  of  man,  though 
 more  difficult  to  be  dealt  with,  may  still  be  reduced 
 to  order. 
 
 These  havi!  hcenclassified  as  follows  : — 
 
 1.  S(wereion        and    Suhject. 
 
 2.  Husband  „     Wife. 
 
 3.  r\aher  ,,     Son. 
 
 4.  Elder  Brother   ,,     Younger  Brother. 
 
 5.  Friend  ,,     Friend. 
 
 The  true  Sai^e  who  meets  with  these,  docs  not 
 violate  them.  Neither  does  he  continue  to  hold 
 fast  by  them. 
 
 lie  adapts  himself  to  the  exigencies  of  his  ciivlron- 
 
 nicnl. 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  tyaveh  Norfh  285 
 
 Adai)tation  by  arrangement  is  Tft.     Spontaneous  . 
 adaptation  is  Tao,  by  whieh   sovereigns   flourish 
 and  princes  succeed. 
 
 "  Man  passes  through  this  subkuiary  life  as  a 
 white  horse  passes  a  crack.  Here  one  moment, 
 gone  the  next.  Neither  are  there  any  not  equally 
 subject  to  the  ingress  and  egress  of  mortality. 
 One  modification  brings  life;  then  another,  and 
 it  is  death.  Living  creatures  cry  out ;  human 
 beings  sorrow.  The  bow-sheath  is  slipped  off; 
 the  clothes-bag  is  dro[)ped  ;  and  in  the  confusion 
 the  soul  wings  its  llight,  and  the  body  follows, 
 on  the  great  journey  home  I 
 
 "  The  reality  of  the  formless,  the  unreality  of 
 that  which  has  form, — this  is  known  to  all. 
 Those  who  are  on  the  road  to  attainment  care 
 not  for  these  things,  but  the  people  at  large 
 discuss  them.  Attainment  implies  non-discus- 
 sion :  discussion  implies  non-attainment.  Mani- 
 fested, Tag  has  no  objective  value  ;  hence  silence 
 is  better  than  argument.  It  cannot  be  translated 
 into  speech;  better  then  say  nothing  at  all.  This 
 is  called  the  great  attainment." 
 
 Tung  Kuo  Tzii  asked  Chuang  Tzii,  saying, 
 "What  you  call  Tag, — where   is   it?" 
 
 "  There  is  nowhere,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,  "  where 
 it  is  not." 
 
 "  Tell  me  one  place  at  any  rate  where  it  is,"  said 
 Tung  Kuo  Tzii. 
 
 "  It  is  in  the  ant,"  replied  Chuang  TzCi. 
 
286  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 "Why  go  so  low  down?"  asked  Tung  Kuo 
 Tzu. 
 
 "  It  is  in  a  tare,"  said  Chuang  Tzu. 
 
 "Still  lower,"  objected  Tung  Kuo  Tzu. 
 
 "  It  is  in  a  potsherd,"  said  Chuang  Tzu. 
 
 "  Worse  still  !  "  cried  Tung  Kuo  Tzu. 
 
 "  It  is  in  ordure,"  said  Chuang  Tzu.  And  Tung 
 Kuo  Tzu  made  no  reply. 
 
 "Sir,"  continued  Chuang  Tzu,  "your  question 
 does  not  touch  the  essential.  When  Huo,  inspector 
 of  markets,  asked  the  managing  director  about  the 
 fatness  of  pigs,  the  test  was  always  made  in  parts 
 least  likely  to  be  fat.  Do  not  therefore  insist  in  any 
 particular  direction  ;  for  there  is  nothing  which 
 escapes.  Such  is  perfect  Tao  ;  and  such  also  is  ideal 
 speech.  IVJiole,  entire,  all,  are  three  words  which 
 sound  differently  but  mean  the  same.  Their  purport 
 is  One. 
 
 "  Try  to  reach  with  me  the  palace  of  Nowhere, 
 and  there,  amidst  the  identity  of  all  things,  carry 
 your  discussions  into  the  infinite.  Try  to  practise 
 with  me  inaction,  wherein  you  may  rest  motionless, 
 without  care,  and  be  happy.  For  thus  my  mind 
 becomes  an  abstraction.  It  wanders  not,  and  yet  is 
 not  conscious  of  being  at  rest.  It  goes  and  comes 
 and  is  not  conscious  of  stoppages.  Backwards  and 
 forwards  without  being  conscious  of  any  goal.  Up 
 and  down  the  realms  of  Infinity,  wherein  even  the 
 greatest  intellect  would  fail  to  find  an  end. 
 
 "  That  which  makes  things  the  things  they  are, 
 is  not  limited  to  such  things.    The  limits  of  things 
 
CAP.  xxn.j         Knowledge  travels  North  287 
 
 are  their  own  limits  in  so  far  as  they  are  things. 
 The  limits  of  the  limitless,  the  limitlessness  of  the 
 limited, — these  are  called  fulness  and  emptiness, 
 renovation  and  decay.  Tao  causes  fulness  and 
 emptiness,  but  it  is  not  either.  It  causes  renovation 
 and  decay,  but  it  is  not  either.  It  causes  beginning 
 and  end,  but  it  is  not  either.  It  causes  accumulation 
 and  dispersion,  but  it  is  not  either." 
 
 O  Ho  Kan  was  studying  with  Shen  Nung  under 
 Lao  Lung  Chi. 
 
 No  record  of  the  first  and  last.  Shen  Nune  was  a 
 legendary  emperor  who  invented  agriculture.  See 
 p.  196. 
 
 Shen  Nung  used  to  remain  shut  up,  with  his 
 head  on  the  table,  absorbed  in  day-dreams.  On  one 
 occasion,  O  Ho  Kan  knocked  at  the  door,  and 
 entering  said,  "  Lao  Lung  is  dead  !  " 
 
 Thereupon  Shen  Nung,  leaning  on  his  staff, 
 arose  ;  and  flinging  down  his  staff  with  a  bang, 
 smiled  and  said,  "  O  my  Master,  thou  knewest  me 
 to  be  worthless  and  self-sufficient,  and  thou  didst 
 leave  me  and  die.  Now  I,  having  no  scope  for  my 
 vain  talk,  I  too  will  die." 
 
 When  Yen  Kang  Tiao 
 
 "A  man  of  Tag."   Co7nm. 
 
 heard  this,  he  said,  "  Those  who  exemplify  Tao  are 
 sought  after  by  all  the  best  men  in  the  empire. 
 Now  if  one  who  has  not  attained  to  more  Tao  than 
 the  ten-thousandth  part  of  the  tip  of  an  autumn 
 
288  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 spikelet,  is  still  wise  enough  to  withhold  vain  talk 
 and  die, — how  much  more  those  who  exemplify Tao? 
 To  the  eye  it  is  formless,  and  to  the  ear  it  is  noise- 
 less. Those  who  discuss  it,  speak  of  it  as  '  the 
 obscure.'  But  the  mere  fact  of  discussing  Tao 
 makes  it  not  Tao." 
 
 At  this  the  Empyrean  asked  Without-end,  saying, 
 "  Do  you  know  Tao  ?  " 
 
 "  I  do  not,"  replied  Without-end;  whereupon  the 
 Empyrean  proceeded  to  ask  Inaction. 
 
 "  I  do  know  Tao,"  said  Inaction. 
 
 "  Is  there  any  method,"  asked  the  Empyrean, 
 "  by  which  you  know  Tao  ?  " 
 
 "  There  is,"  replied  Inaction. 
 
 "  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  the  Empyrean.  j 
 
 "I  know,"  answered  Inaction,  "that  Tao  may 
 honour  and  dishonour,  bind  and  loose.  That  is  the 
 method  by  which  I  know  Tao." 
 
 The  Empyrean  repeated  these  words  to  No-begin- 
 ning, and  asked  him  which  was  right,  the  ignorance 
 of  Without-end  or  the  knowledge  of  Inaction. 
 
 "  Not  to  know,"  replied  No-beginning,  "  is  pro- 
 found. To  know  is  shallow.  Not  to  know  is 
 internal.     To  know  is  external." 
 
 Here  the  Empyrean  broke  in  with  a  sigh,  "  Then 
 ignorance  is  knowledge,  and  knowledge  ignorance ! 
 But  pray  whose  knowledge  is  the  knowledge  of  not 
 knowing  ?" 
 
 "  Tao,"  said  No-beginning,  "  cannot  be  heard. 
 Heard,  it  is  not  Tao.     It  cannot  be  seen.     Seen,  it 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  travels  North  289 
 
 is  not  Tao.  It  cannot  be  spoken.  Spoken,  it  is 
 not  Tao.  That  which  imparts  form  to  forms  is 
 itself  formless ;  therefore  Tag  cannot  have  a 
 name." 
 
 Form  precedes  name. 
 
 No-beginning  continued,  "He  who  replies  to  one 
 asking  about  Tag,  does  not  know  Tag.  Although 
 one  may  hear  about  Tag,  he  does  not  really  hear 
 about  Tag.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  asking  about 
 Tag.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  answering  such 
 questions.  To  ask  a  question  which  cannot  be 
 asked  is  vain.  To  answer  a  question  which  cannot 
 be  answered  is  unreal.  And  one  who  thus  meets 
 the  vain  with  the  unreal  is  one  who  has  no  physical 
 perception  of  the  universe,  and  no  mental  perception 
 of  the  origin  of  existence, — unfit  alike  to  roam 
 over  the  K'un-lun  peak  or  to  soar  into  the  Supreme 
 Void." 
 
 Light  asked  Nothing,  saying,  "  Do  you,  Sir, 
 exist,  or  do  you  not  exist  ?  " 
 
 But  getting  no  answer  to  his  question.  Light  set 
 to  work  to  watch  for  the  appearance  of  Nothing. 
 
 Hidden,  vacuous, — all  day  long  he  looked  but 
 could  not  see  it,  listened  but  could  not  hear  it, 
 grasped  at  but  could  not  seize  it. 
 
 See  The  Remains  of  Lao  Tzu,  p.  31. 
 
 "  Bravo!  "  cried  Light.  "  Who  can  equal  this  ?  I 
 can  get  to  be  nothing. 
 
 Darkness. 
 
 u 
 
290  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 but  I  cannot  get  as  far  as  the  absence  of  nothing. 
 Assuming  that  Nothing  has  an  objective  ex- 
 istence, how  can  it  reach  this  next  stage  ?  " 
 
 The  man  who  forged  swords  for  the  Minister  of 
 War  was  eighty  years  of  age.  Yet  he  never  made 
 the  slightest  slip  in  his  work. 
 
 The  Minister  of  War  said  to  him,  "  Is  it  your 
 skill,  Sir,  or  have  you  any  method  ?  " 
 
 Any  Tao  ? — in    its   earlier  sense  of  way  of  doing 
 things. 
 
 "  It  is  concentration,"  replied  the  man.  "  When 
 twenty  years  old,  I  took  to  forging  swords.  I  cared 
 for  nothing  else.  If  a  thing  was  not  a  sword,  I 
 did  not  notice  it.  I  availed  myself  of  whatever 
 energy  I  did  not  use  in  other  directions  in 
 order  to  secure  greater  efficiency  in  the  direction 
 required.  Still  more  of  that  which  is  never  with- 
 out use  ; — 
 
 Tao. 
 So  that  there  was  nothing  which  did  not  lend  its  aid. 
 
 Jen  Ch'iu  asked  Confucius,  saying,  "  Can  wc 
 know  about  the  time  before  the  universe  existed  ? " 
 
 "We  can,"  replied  Confucius.  "  Time  was  of  old 
 precisely  what  it  is  now." 
 
 At  this  rebuff,  Jen  Ch'iu  withdrew.  Next  day 
 he  again  visited  Confucius  and  said,  "Yesterday 
 when  I  asked  you  that  question  and  you  answered 
 me,  I  was  quite  clear  about  it.  To-day  I  am  con- 
 fused.    How  is  this  ?  " 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  travels  North  291 
 
 "  Your  clearness  of  yesterday,"  answered  Con- 
 fucius, "  was  because  my  answer  appealed  direct  to 
 your  natural  intelligence.  Your  confusion  of  to-day 
 results  from  the  intrusion  of  something  other  than 
 the  natural  intelligence. 
 
 You  have  passed  from   "  simple  apprehension "  to 
 
 "judgment." 
 There  is  no  past,  no  present,  no  beginning,  no  end. 
 
 To-day  will  be  the  yesterday  of  to-morrow. 
 To  have  posterity  before  one  has  posterity, — is  that 
 possible  ?  " 
 
 Jen  Ch'iu  made  no  answer,  and  Confucius  con- 
 tinued, "  That  will  do.  Do  not  reply.  If  life  did 
 not  give  birth  to  death,  and  if  death  did  not  put  an 
 end  to  life,  surely  life  and  death  would  be  no  longer 
 correlates,  but  would  each  exist  independently. 
 What  there  was  before  the  universe,  was  Tao.  Tag 
 makes  things  what  they  are,  but  is  not  itself  a 
 thing.  Nothing  can  produce  Tao  ;  yet  everything 
 has  Tag  within  it,  and  continues  to  produce  it  with- 
 out end. 
 
 In  its  offspring. 
 
 And  the  endless  love  of  the  Sage  for  his  fellow-man 
 is  based  upon  the  same  principle." 
 
 Yen  Yiian  asked  Confucius,  saying,  "  Master,  I 
 have  heard  you  declare  that  there  may  be  no  eager- 
 ness to  conform,  no  effort  to  adapt.  If  so,  pray  how 
 are  we  to  get  along  ?  " 
 
 Reach   that   condition   which   is    only    attained    by 
 adaptation  to  environment. 
 
 u  2 
 
292  Chuang  Tzu  J 
 
 "  The  men  of  old,"  replied  Confucius,  "  practised 
 physical,  but  not  moral,  modification.         '  ^ 
 
 They  adapted    themselves    to  the   requirements  of 
 matter,  while  their  hearts  remained  the  same. 
 
 The  men  of  to-day  practise   moral,   not  physical 
 modification. 
 
 They  allow  their  hearts  to  be  influenced  while 
 resisting  the  exigencies  of  the  external. 
 
 Let  your  modification  extend  to  the  external  only. 
 Internally,  be  constant  without  modification. 
 
 "  How  shall  you  modify,  and  how  shall  you  not 
 modify  ?  How  reconcile  the  divergence  ? — By  not 
 admitting  division. 
 
 I.e.  **  by  being  constant  without  modification,"  says 
 Lin  Hsi  Chung. 
 
 "  There  was  the  garden  of  Hsi  Wei,  the  park  of 
 the  Yellow  Emperor,  the  palace  of  Shun,  the  halls 
 of  T'ang  and  Wu. 
 
 The  allusion  appears  to  be  to  schools  of 
 learning,  like  the  Grove  of  Academus.  See 
 chs.  vi,  xii. 
 
 These  were  perfect  men  ;  but  had  they  been  taught 
 by  Confucianists  and  Mihists,  they  would  have 
 hammered  one  another  to  pieces  over  scholastic 
 quibbles.  How  much  more  then  the  men  of  to-day  ? 
 "The  perfect  Sage,  in  his  relations  with  the 
 external  world,  injures  nothing.  Neither  does  any- 
 thing injure  him.  And  only  he  who  is  thus  exempt 
 can  be  trusted  to  conform  and  to  adapt. 
 
CAP.  XXII.]         Knowledge  travels  North  293 
 
 "  Mountain  forests  and  loamy  fields  swell  my 
 heart  with  joy.  But  ere  the  joy  be  passed,  sorrow 
 is  upon  me  again. 
 
 Familiarity  destroys  the  charm, 
 
 Joy  and  sorrow  come  and  go,  and  over  them  I  have 
 no  control. 
 
 "  Alas  !  the  life  of  man  is  but  as  a  stoppage  at 
 an  inn.  He  knows  that  which  comes  within  the 
 range  of  his  experience.  Otherwise,  he  knows  not. 
 He  knows  that  he  can  do  what  he  can  do,  and  that 
 he  cannot  do  what  he  cannot  do.  But  there  is 
 always  that  which  he  does  not  know  and  that  which 
 he  cannot  do ;  and  to  struggle  that  it  shall  not 
 be  so, — is  not  this  a  cause  for  grief? 
 
 "  The  best  language  is  that  which  is  not  spoken, 
 the  best  form  of  action  is  that  which  is  without 
 deeds. 
 
 Then  conformity  and  adaptation  are  not  required. 
 
 Spread  out  your  knowledge  and  it  will  be  found  to 
 be  shallow." 
 
 It  will  by  no  means  cover  the  area  of  the  knowable. 
 "  Read    this    chapter,"    says    one   critic,    "  and    the 
 Tripitaka  and  the  Mahdydna  will   open  out  before 
 you  as  beneath  a  sharp-edged  blade." 
 
294 
 
 CHAPTER     XXIII. 
 
 Keng  Sang  Ch'u. 
 
 Argument : — The  operation  of  Tao  is  not  seen — Spheres  of  action  vary — 
 Tag  remains  the  same — Spontaneity  essential — Tao  can  be  divided 
 but  remains  entire — It  is  infinite  as  Time  and  Space — It  is  uncon- 
 ditioned— The  external  and  the  internal — Illustrations. 
 
 AMONG  the  disciples  of  Lao  Tzu  was  one 
 named  K^ng  Sang  Ch'u.  He  alone  had 
 attained  to  the  Tao  of  his  Master.  He  lived  up 
 north,  on  the  Wei-lei  Mountains.  Of  his  attendants, 
 he  dismissed  those  who  were  systematically  clever 
 or  conventionally  charitable.  The  useless  remained 
 with  him  ;  the  incompetent  served  him.  And  in 
 three  years  the  district  of  Wei-lei  was  greatly 
 benefited. 
 
 One  of  the  inhabitants  said  in  conversation, 
 "  When  Mr.  Keng  Sang  first  came  among  us,  we 
 did  not  know  what  to  make  of  him.  Now,  we  could 
 not  say  enough  about  him  in  a  day,  and  even  a 
 year  would  leave  something  unsaid.  Surely  he  must 
 be  a  true  Sage.  Why  not  pray  to  him  as  to  the 
 spirits,  and  honour  him  as  a  tutelary  god  of  the 
 land  ?  " 
 
 On  hearing  of  this,  Keng  Sang  Ch'u  turned  his 
 face  to  the  south 
 
 Towards  the  abode  of  Lao  Tzii. 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  Kdng  Sang  CJiu  ■  295 
 
 in  shame,  at  which  his  disciples  were  astonished. 
 But  Keng  Sang  said,  "  What  cause  have  you  for 
 astonishment?  The  influence  of  spring  quickens  the 
 life  of  plants,  and  autumn  brings  them  to  maturity. 
 In  the  absence  of  any  agent,  how  is  this  so  ?  It  is 
 the  operation  of  Tao. 
 
 "  I  have  heard  that  the  perfect  man  may  be  pent 
 up  like  a  corpse  in  a  tomb,  yet  the  people  will  be- 
 come unartificial  and  without  care. 
 
 So  powerful  will  be  his  influence. 
 
 But  now  these  poor  people  of  Wei-lei  wish  to  exalt 
 me  among  their  wise  and  good.  Surely  then  I  am 
 but  a  shallow  vessel  ;  and  therefore  I  was  shamed 
 for  the  doctrine  of  Lao  Tzu." 
 
 The  disciples  said,  "  Not  so.  In  a  sixteen-foot 
 ditch  a  big  fish  has  not  room  to  turn  round  ;  but 
 'tis  the  very  place  for  an  eel.  On  a  six  or  seven-foot 
 hillock  a  large  beast  finds  no  shelter,  while  the  un- 
 canny fox  gladly  makes  its  lair  therein.  Besides, 
 ever  since  the  days  of  Yao  and  Shun  it  has  always 
 been  customary  to  honour  the  virtuous,  advance 
 the  able,  give  precedence  to  the  good  and  useful. 
 Why  not  then  among  the  people  ol  Wei-lei  ?  Let 
 them  do  it,  Sir." 
 
 "Come  here,  my  children,"  said  Keng  Sang 
 Ch'u.  "  A  beast  big  enough  to  swallow  a  cart,  if  it 
 wanders  alone  from  the  hills,  will  not  escape  the 
 sorrow  of  the  snare.  A  fish  big  enough  to  gulp 
 down  a  boat,  if  stranded  on  the  dry  shore  will  become 
 a  prey  to  ants.  Therefore  it  is  that  birds  and  beasts 
 
296  Chitang  Tzii 
 
 love  height,  and  fishes  and  turtles  love  depth.  And 
 the  man  who  cares  for  himself  hides  his  body.  He 
 loves  the  occult. 
 
 There  is  a  play  here  upon  words. 
 
 "  As  to  Yao  and  Shun,  what  claim  have  they  to 
 praise  ?  Their  fine  distinctions  simply  amounted  to 
 knocking  a  hole  in  a  wall  in  order  to  stop  it  up  with 
 brambles ; 
 
 They  had  better  have  left  the  wall  alone. 
 
 to  combing  each  individual  hair  ;  to  counting  the 
 grains  for  a  rice  pudding !  How  in  the  name  of 
 goodness  did  they  profit  their  generation  ? 
 
 "  If  the  virtuous  are  honoured,  emulation  will 
 ensue.  If  knowledge  be  fostered,  the  result  will 
 be  theft. 
 
 People  will  employ   their   knowledge  against  each 
 other. 
 
 These  things  are  of  no  use  to  make  people  good. 
 The  struggle  for  wealth  is  so  severe.  Sons  murder 
 their  fathers ;  ministers  their  princes  ;  men  rob  in 
 broad  daylight,  and  bore  through  walls  at  high 
 noon.  I  tell  you  that  the  root  of  this  great  evil  is 
 from  Yao  and  Shun,  and  that  its  branches  will 
 extend  into  a  thousand  ages  to  come.  A  thousand 
 ages  hence,  man  will  be  feeding  upon  man  ! " 
 Nan  Yung  Ch'u 
 
 A  disciple. 
 
 sadly  straightened  his  seat  and  said,  "  But  what  is 
 one  of  my  age  to  do  that  he  may  attain  to  this  ? " 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  Kdng  Sang  Ch'ti  297 
 
 "  Preserve  your  form  complete,"  said  KengSang, 
 "your  vitality  secure.  Let  no  anxious  thoughts 
 intrude.  And  then  in  three  years'  space  you  may 
 attain  to  this." 
 
 "  I  do  not  know,"  said  Nan  Yung,  "  that  there  is 
 any  difference  in  the  form  of  eyes  ;  yet  blind  men 
 cannot  see.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any 
 difference  in  the  form  of  ears  ;  yet  deaf  men  cannot 
 hear.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  difference  in 
 the  form  of  hearts  ; 
 
 The  seat  of  the  intellect. 
 
 yet  fools  cannot  use  theirs  to  any  purpose.  The 
 forms  are  alike ;  yet  there  is  something  which 
 differentiates  them.  One  will  succeed,  and  another 
 will  not.  Yet  you  tell  me  to  preserve  my  form 
 complete,  my  vitality  secure,  and  let  no  anxious 
 thoughts  intrude.  But  so  far  I  only  hear  Tag  with 
 my  ears." 
 
 "Well  said!"  cried  Keng  Sang;  and  then  he 
 added,  "  Small  wasps  cannot  transform  huge 
 caterpillars. 
 
 According  to  Chinese  notions,  the  wasp  has  no 
 young.  It  transforms  a  small  caterpillar  into  the 
 required  offspring. 
 
 Bantams  cannot  hatch  the  eggs  of  geese.  The  fowls 
 of  Lu  can.  Not  that  there  is  any  difference  in  the 
 hatching  power  of  chickens.  One  can  and  another 
 cannot,  because  one  is  naturally  fitted  for  working 
 on  a  large,  the  other  on  a  small  scale.     My  talents 
 
298  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 are  of  the  latter  order.  I  cannot  transform  you. 
 Why  not  go  south  and  see  Lao  Tzu  ?  " 
 
 So  Nan  Yung  took  some  provisions,  and  after  a 
 seven  days'  journey  arrived  at  the  abode  of  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 "  Have  you  come  from  Keng  Sang  Ch'u?"  said 
 the  latter. 
 
 *'  I  have,"  replied  Nan  Yung. 
 
 "  But  why,"  said  Lao  Tzu,  "bring  all  these  people 
 with  you  ?  " 
 
 Meaning  the  questions  he  was  going  to  ask. 
 
 Nan  Yung  looked  back  in  alarm,  and  Lao  Tzu 
 continued,   "  Do  you  not  understand  what  I  say?" 
 
 Nan  Yung  bent  his  head  abashed,  and  then 
 looking  up,  said  with  a  sigh,  *T  have  now  forgotten 
 how  to  answer,  in  consequence  of  missing  what  I 
 came  to  ask." 
 
 He  was  so  confused  by  Lao  Tzu's  question  coming 
 before  he  had  had  time  to  state  his  mission. 
 
 "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 "  If  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Nan  Yung,  "  men 
 call  me  a  fool.  If  I  do  know,  I  injure  myself.  If  I 
 am  not  charitable,  I  injure  others.  If  I  am,  I  injure 
 myself.  If  I  do  not  do  my  duty  to  my  neighbour, 
 I  injure  others.  If  I  do  it,  I  injure  myself.  My 
 trouble  lies  in  not  seeing  how  to  escape  from  these 
 three  dilemmas.  On  the  strength  of  my  connection 
 with  Kcng  Sang,  I  would  venture  to  ask  advice." 
 
 "When  I  saw  you,"  said  Lao  Tzu,  "  I  knew  in 
 the  twinkling  of  an  eye  what  was  the  matter  with 
 you.     And  now  what  you  say  confirms  my  view. 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  King  Sang  Cliti  299 
 
 You  are  confused,  as  a  child  that  has  lost  its 
 parents.  You  would  fathom  the  sea  with  a  pole. 
 You  are  astray.  You  are  struggling  to  get  back  to 
 your  natural  self,  but  cannot  find  the  way.  Alas  ! 
 alas !  " 
 
 Nan  Yung  begged  to  be  allowed  to  remain,  and 
 set  to  work  to  cultivate  the  good  and  eliminate  the 
 evil  within  him.  At  the  expiration  of  ten  days, 
 with  sorrow  in  his  heart,  he  again  sought  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 "  Have  you  thoroughly  cleansed  yourself?  "  said 
 
 Lao  Tzu.     "  But  this  grieved  look There  is 
 
 some  evil  obstruction  yet. 
 
 "  If  the  disturbances  are  external, 
 
 Sc.  sensual. 
 
 do  not  be  always  combating  them,  but  close  the 
 channels  to  the  mind.  If  the  disturbances  are 
 internal,  do  not  strive  to  oppose  them,  but  close  all 
 entrance  from  without. 
 
 And  the  mind  will  recover  itself. 
 
 If  the  disturbances  are  both  internal  and  external, 
 then  you  will  not  even  be  able  to  hold  fast  to  Tao, 
 still  less  practise  it." 
 
 "  If  a  rustic  is  sick,"  said  Nan  Yung,  "  and 
 another  rustic  goes  to  see  him;  and  if  the  sick  man 
 can  say  what  is  the  matter  with  him, — then  he  is 
 not  seriously  ill.  Yet  my  search  after  Tao  is  like 
 swallowing  drugs  which  only  increase  the  malady. 
 
 Although  really  not  so  very  far  from  Tao  [sc.  health) 
 as    evidenced  by   my  being    able    to   describe    my 
 
300  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 complaint,  which  a  man  sick  of  some   serious  dis- 
 ease is  scarcely"  able  to  do. 
 
 I  beg  therefore  merely  to  ask  the  art  of  preser\-ing 
 life." 
 
 "The  art  of  pre5er\nng  life,"  replied  Lao  Tzu, 
 "  consists  in  being  able  to  keep  all  in  One, 
 
 Sc.  Body  and  soul.     See  the  Tao-Te-Ching,  ch.  x, 
 where  this  idea  has  been  reproduced. 
 
 to  lose  nothing,  to  estimate  good  and  evil  without 
 dixination, 
 
 To  know  that  each  is  bound  up  in  the  other. 
 
 to  know  when  to  stop,  and  how  much  is  enough,  to 
 leave  others  alone  and  attend  to  oneself,  to  be  with- 
 out cares  and  without  knowledge, — to  be  in  fact  as 
 a  child.  A  child  will  cry  all  day  and  not  become 
 hoarse,  because  of  the  perfection  of  its  constitutional 
 harmony. 
 
 Also  reproduced  in  the  Tao-Te-Chiyig,  ch-  Iv. 
 
 It  will  keep  its  fist  tightly  closed  all  day  and  not 
 open  it,  because  of  the  concentration  of  its  virtue. 
 It  \\'ill  gaze  all  day  without  taking  off  its  eyes, 
 because  its  sight  is  not  attracted  by  externals.  Ir. 
 motion,  it  knows  not  whither  it  is  bound  ;  at  rest, 
 it  is  not  conscious  of  doing  amthing ;  but  uncon- 
 sciously adapts  itself  to  the  exigencies  of  its  en\-iron- 
 ment.     This  is  the  art  of  preser\-ing  life." 
 
 ''  Is  this  then  the  virtue  of  the  perfect  man  ? 
 cried  Xan  Yung. 
 
 •  Not  so,"  said  Lao  Tzu.    '*  I  am,  as  it  were,  bu. 
 breaking  the  ice. 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  K6ng  Sang  Cliu  301 
 
 "  The  perfect  man  shares  the  food  of  this  earth, 
 but  the  happiness  of  God.  He  does  not  incur 
 trouble  either  from  men  or  things.  He  does  not 
 join  in  censuring,  in  plotting,  in  toadying.  Free 
 from  care  he  comes,  and  unconscious  he  goes  ; — 
 this  is  the  art  of  preserving  life." 
 
 **  This  then  is  perfection  ? "  inquired  Nan 
 Yung. 
 
 "  Not  yet,"  said  Lao  Tzu.  "  I  specially  asked 
 if  you  could  be  as  a  child.  A  child  acts  without 
 knowing  what  it  does  ;  moves  without  knowing 
 whither.  Its  body  is  like  a  dry  branch  ;  its  heart 
 like  dead  ashes.  Thus,  good  and  evil  fortune  find 
 no  lodgment  therein ;  and  there  where  good  and 
 evil  fortune  are  not,  how  can  the  troubles  of  mor- 
 tality be  ? 
 
 "  Those  whose  hearts  are  in  a  state  of  repose 
 give  forth  a  divine  radiance,  by  the  light  of  which 
 they  see  themselves  as  they  are.  And  only  by 
 cultivating  such  repose  can  man  attain  to  the 
 constant. 
 
 "  Those  who  are  constant  are  sought  after  by 
 men  and  assisted  by  God.  Those  who  are  sought 
 after  by  men  are  the  people  of  God  ;  those  who  are 
 assisted  by  God  are  his  chosen  children. 
 
 The  stuff  of  which  rulers  are  made. 
 
 "  To  study  this  is  to  study  what  cannot  be 
 learnt.  To  practise  this  is  to  practise  what  cannot 
 be  accomplished.  To  discuss  this  is  to  discuss 
 what  can  never  be  proved.     Let  knowledge  stop 
 
302  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 at  the  unknowable.  That  is  perfection.  And  for 
 those  who  do  not  follow  this,  God  will  destroy 
 them  1 
 
 "  Knowledge,"  says  Emerson  in  his  Montaigne,  or 
 the  Sceptic,  "  is  the  knowing  that  we  cannot  know." 
 
 "  With  such  defences  for  the  body,  ever  prepared 
 for  the  unexpected,  deferential  to  the  rights  of 
 others, — if  then  calamities  overtake  you,  these  are 
 from  God,  not  from  man.  Let  them  not  disturb 
 what  you  have  already  achieved.  Let  them  not 
 penetrate  into  the  soul's  abode.  For  there  resides 
 the  Will.  And  if  the  will  knows  not  what  to  will, 
 it  will  not  be  able  to  will. 
 
 Inability  to  exercise  the  functions  of  will  is  Tao. 
 
 "  Whatsoever  is  not  said  in  all  sincerity,  is 
 wrongly  said.  And  not  to  be  able  to  rid  oneself 
 of  this  vice  is  only  to  sink  deeper  towards  per- 
 dition. 
 
 ''Those  who  do  evil  in  the  open  light  of  day, — 
 men  will  punish  them.  Those  who  do  evil  in 
 secret, — God  will  punish  them.  Who  fears  both 
 man  and  God,  he  is  fit  to  walk  alone. 
 
 The  term  here  used  for  "  God  "  means  strictly  those 
 *'  spirits  "  which  are  the  avenging  emissaries  of  the 
 Deity. 
 
 Those  who  are  devoted  to  the  internal, 
 
 To  self-culture. 
 
 in  practice  acquire  no  reputation.     Those  who  are 
 devoted  to  the   external,   strive   for   pre-eminence 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  King  Sang  Ch'u  303 
 
 among  their  fellows.  Practice  without  reputation 
 throws  a  halo  around  the  meanest.  But  he  who 
 strives  for  pre-eminence  among  his  fellows,  he  is  as 
 a  huckster  whose  weariness  all  perceive  though  he 
 himself  puts  on  an  air  of  gaiety. 
 
 '*  He  who  is  naturally  in  sympathy  with  man,  to 
 him  all  men  come.  But  he  who  forcedly  adapts, 
 has  no  room  even  for  himself,  still  less  for  others. 
 And  he  who  has  no  room  for  others,  has  no  ties. 
 It  is  all  over  with  him. 
 
 **  There  is  no  weapon  so  deadly  as  man's  will. 
 Excalibur  is  second  to  it.  There  is  no  bandit  so 
 powerful  as  Nature. 
 
 The  interaction  of  the  Positive  and  Negative  prin- 
 ciples, which  produces  the  visible  universe. 
 
 In  the  whole  universe  there  is  no  escape  from  it. 
 Yet  it  is  not  Nature  which  does  the  injury.  It  is 
 man's  own  heart. 
 
 "  Tao  informs  its  own  subdivisions,  their  suc- 
 cesses and  their  failures.  What  is  feared  in  sub- 
 division is  separation. 
 
 From  the  parent  stock  of  Tao. 
 
 What  is  feared  in  separation,  is  further  separation. 
 
 So  that  all  connection  is  severed. 
 
 Thus,  to  issue  forth  without  return,  this  is  deve- 
 lopment of  the  supernatural.  To  issue  forth  and 
 attain  the  goal,  this  is  called  death.  To  be  anni- 
 hilated and  yet  to  exist,  this  is  convergence  of  the 
 supernatural  into  One.     To  make  things  which 
 
304  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 have  form  appear  to  all  intents  and  purposes  form- 
 less,— this  is  the  sum  of  all  things. 
 
 Man's  final  triumph  over  matter. 
 
 "  Birth  is  not  a  beginning ;  death  is  not  an  end. 
 There  is  existence  without  limitation ;  there  is 
 continuity  without  a  starting-point.  Existence 
 without  limitation  is  Space.  Continuity  without 
 a  starting-point  is  Time.  There  is  birth,  there  is 
 death,  there  is  issuing  forth,  there  is  entering  in. 
 That  through  which  one  passes  in  and  out  without 
 seeing  its  form,  that  is  the  Portal  of  God. 
 
 "  The  Portal  of  God  is  Non-Existence.  All 
 things  sprang  from  Non-Existence.  Existence 
 could  not  make  existence  existence.  It  must  have 
 proceeded  from  Non-Existence, 
 
 The  idea  of  existence,  independent  of  its  correlate, 
 cannot  be  apprehended  by  the  human  intellect. 
 
 And  Non-Existence  and  Nothing  are  One. 
 
 If  all  things  sprang  from  non-existence,  it  might  be 
 urged  that  non-existence  had  an  objective  existence. 
 But  non-existence  is  nothing,  and  nothing  excludes 
 the  idea  of  something,  making  subjective  and  ob- 
 jective nothings  One. 
 
 Herein  is  the  abiding-place  of  the  Sage.  \ 
 
 There  where  the  matter  of  mortality  shares  the 
 tenuity  of  the  formless. 
 
 "  The  knowledge  of  the  ancients  reached  the 
 highest  point, — the  time  before  anything  existed. 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  King  Sang  C/tu  305 
 
 This  is  the  highest  point.  It  is  exhaustive.  There 
 is  no  adding  to  it. 
 
 "  The  second  best  was  that  of  those  who  started 
 from  existence.  Life  was  to  them  a  misfortune. 
 Death  was  a  return  home.  There  was  already 
 separation. 
 
 '*  The  next  in  the  scale  said  that  at  the  beginning 
 there  was  nothing.  Then  life  came,  to  be  quickly 
 followed  by  death.  They  made  Nothing  the  head, 
 Life  the  trunk,  and  Death  the  tail  of  existence, 
 claiming  as  friends  whoever  knew  that  existence 
 and  non-existence,  and  life  and  death  were  all  One. 
 
 "  These  three  classes,  though  different,  were  of 
 the  same  clan  ;  as  were  Chao  Ching  who  inherited 
 fame,  and  Chia  who  inherited  territory. 
 
 The  fact  of  Inheritance  was  the  same,  but  not  the 
 thing  inherited, — by  these  men  of  Ch'u. 
 There  are   various   interpretations  of  this  passage. 
 No  two  commentators  agree. 
 
 "  Man's  life  is  as  the  soot  on  a  kettle. 
 
 Meaning,  concentrated  smoke.  ■ 
 
 Yet  men  speak  of  the  subjective  point  of  view.  But 
 this  subjective  point  of  view  will  not  bear  the  test. 
 It  is  a  point  of  knowledge  we  cannot  reach. 
 
 Individual  standards  are  fallacious.     What  Is  subjec- 
 tive from  one  point  of  view  Is  objective  from  another. 
 
 "  At  the  winter  sacrifice,  the  tripe  may  be  sepa- 
 rated from  the  great  toe ;  yet  these  cannot  be 
 separated » 
 
 Each  carries  away  the  characteristics  of  the  whole. 
 
 X 
 
3o6  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 He  who  looks  at  a  house,  visits  the  ancestral  hall, 
 and  even  the  latrines.  Thus  every  point  is  the 
 subjective  point  of  view. 
 
 Or  else  he  has  not  seen  the  house  but  only  a  part. 
 Where  then  is  the  subjective  point  of  view  of  the 
 house,  and  by  analogy,  of  the  man  ? 
 
 "  Let  us  try  to  formulate  this  subjective  point  of 
 view.  It  originates  with  life,  and,  with  knowledge 
 as  its  tutor,  drifts  into  the  admission  of  right  and 
 wrong. 
 
 In  the  abstract. 
 
 But  one's  own  standard  of  right  is  the  standard, 
 and  others  have  to  adapt  themselves  to  it.  Men 
 will  die  for  this.  Such  people  look  upon  the  useful 
 as  appertaining  to  wisdom,  the  useless  as  apper- 
 taining to  folly;  upon  success  in  life  as  honourable, 
 upon  failure  as  dishonourable. 
 
 Not  knowing  the  value  of  the  useless,  or  perceiving 
 that  what  is  so  at  one  time  is  not  so  at  another. 
 
 The  subjective  pqint  of  view  is  that  of  the  present 
 generation,  who  like  the  cicada  and  the  young  dove 
 see  things  only  from  their  own  standpoint. 
 See  ch.  i. 
 
 "  If  a  man  treads  upon  a  stranger's  toe  in  the 
 market-place,  he  apologises  on  the  score  of  hurry. 
 If  an  elder  brother  does  this,  he  is  quit  with  an 
 exclamation  of  sympathy.  And  if  a  parent  does  so, 
 nothing  whatever  is  done. 
 
 The  child  being  part  of  himself. 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  King  Sang  Ch'u  307 
 
 "Therefore  it  has  been  said,  '  Perfect  politeness 
 is  not  artificial  ; 
 
 Kuo  Hsiang  says  this  means  treating  others  as 
 oneself.  Lin  HsI  Chung  takes  the  "  natural  "  or 
 "  spontaneous  "  view  which  is  here  adopted. 
 
 perfect  duty  to  one's  neighbour  is  not  a  matter  of 
 calculation ;  perfect  wisdom  takes  no  thought ; 
 perfect  charity  recognises  no  ties ;  perfect  trust 
 requires  no  pledges.' 
 
 "  Discard  the  stimuli  of  purpose.  Free  the  mind 
 from  disturbances.  Get  rid  of  entanglements  to 
 virtue.     Pierce  the  obstructions  to  Tao. 
 
 "  Honours,  wealth,  distinction,  power,  fame,  gain, 
 — these  six  stimulate  purpose. 
 
 "  Mien,  carriage,  beauty,  arguments,  influence, 
 opinions, — these  six  disturb  the  mind. 
 
 Referring,  of  course,  to  the  mien,  carnage,  etc.  of 
 others. 
 
 "  Hate,  ambition,  joy,  anger,  sorrow,  pleasure, — 
 these  six  are  entanglements  to  virtue. 
 
 "  Rejecting,  adopting,  receiving,  giving,  know- 
 ledge, ability, — these  six  are  obstructions  to  Tao. 
 
 The  key  to  which  is  inaction. 
 
 "  If  these  twenty-four  be  not  allowed  to  run  riot, 
 then  the  mind  will  be  duly  ordered.  And  being 
 l|duly  ordered,  it  will  be  in  repose.  And  being  in 
 repose,  it  will  be  clear  of  perception.  And  being 
 clear  of  perception,  it  will  be  unconditioned.  And 
 Ibeing   unconditioned,   it  will    be  in   that  state   of 
 
 X  2 
 
3o8  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 inaction  by  which  there  is  nothing  which  cannot 
 be  accomplished. 
 
 "  Tao  is  the  sovereign  lord  of  Te. 
 
 Te  is  the  "  virtue  "  of  spontaneity. 
 Life  is  the  glorifier  of  Te. 
 
 By  means  of  which  it  can  be  manifested. 
 Nature  is  the  substance  of  life. 
 
 The  code  of  which  life  is  the  embodiment. 
 
 The  operation  of  that  nature  is  action.     The  per- 
 version of  that  action  is  error. 
 
 "  People  who  know  put  forth  physical  power. 
 People  who  know  employ  mental  effort.  But  what 
 people  who  know  do  not  know  is  to  be  as  the  eye. 
 
 Which  sees  without  looking. 
 
 **  Emotion  which  is  spontaneous  is  called  virtue 
 passive.  Emotion  which  is  not  evoked  by  the 
 external  is  called  virtue  active.  The  names  of  these 
 are  antagonistic  ;  but  essentially  they  are  in  accord. 
 
 All   "virtue"   should   proceed    from    the   real    self, 
 sc.  from  God. 
 
 "  Yi  was  skilled  in  hitting  the  bull's-eye  ;  but 
 stupid  at  preventing  people  from  praising  him  for 
 so  doing. 
 
 See  ch.  v. 
 
 The  Sage  devotes  himself  to  the  natural  and  neg- 
 lects the  artificial.     For  only  the  Perfect  Man  can 
 
CAP.  XXIII.]  King  Sang  CJiu  309 
 
 devote  himself  profitably  to  the  natural  and  arti- 
 ficial alike.     Insects  influence  insects  ; 
 
 So  as  to  make  others  like  themselves 
 
 because  insects  are  natural.  When  the  Perfect 
 Man  hates  the  natural,  it  is  the  artificially  natural 
 which  he  hates.  How  much  more  man's  alternate 
 naturalness  and  artificiality? 
 
 '*  If  a  bird  falls  in  with  Yi,  Yi  will  get  it.  Such 
 is  his  skill.  And  if  the  world  were  made  into  a 
 cage,  birds  would  have  no  place  of  escape.  So  it 
 was  that  by  cookery  T'ang  got  hold  of  I  Yin,  and 
 by  five  rams'  skins  Duke  Mu  of  Ch'in  got  Po  Li 
 Ch'i.  But  had  these  princes  not  been  themselves 
 successful  at  getting,  they  never  would  have  got 
 these  men. 
 
 Apocryphal  stories  both.  I  Yin  was  the  successful 
 and  famous  minister  of  the  founder  of  the  Shangf 
 dynasty.      For  Poh  Li  Ch'i,  see  p.  270. 
 
 "A  one-legged  man  discards  ornament,  his 
 exterior  not  being  open  to  commendation.  Con- 
 demned criminals  will  go  up  to  great  heights 
 without  fear,  for  they  no  longer  regard  life  and 
 death  from  their  former  point  of  view.  And  those 
 who  pay  no  attention  to  their  moral  clothing 
 
 Artificial  virtues. 
 
 and  condition  become  oblivious  of  their  own  per- 
 sonality; and  by  thus  becoming  oblivious  of  their 
 personality,  they  proceed  to  be  the  people  of  God. 
 "Wherefore,  if  men    revere   them,   they  rejoice 
 
3IO  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 not.  If  men  insult  them,  they  are  not  angered. 
 But  only  those  who  have  passed  into  the  eternal 
 harmony  of  God  are  capable  of  this. 
 
 "  If  your  anger  is  external,  not  internal,  it  will  be 
 anger  proceeding  from  not-anger.  If  your  actions 
 are  external,  not  internal,  they  will  be  actions 
 proceeding  from  inaction, 
 
 "  If  you  would  attain  peace,  level  down  your 
 emotional  nature.  If  you  desire  spirituality, 
 cultivate  adaptation  of  the  intelligence.  If  you 
 would  have  your  actions  in  accordance  with  what  is 
 right,  allow  yourself  to  fall  in  with  the  dictates  of 
 necessity.     For  necessity  is  the  Tao  of  the  Sage." 
 
 Do  nothing  save  what  you  cannot  help  doing. 
 The   authorship  of  this   chapter   has  been  disputed. 
 Lin  Hsi  Chung  regards  the  question  as  by  no  means 
 settled. 
 
311 
 
 CHAPTER     XXIV. 
 
 Hsij  Wu  KuEi. 
 
 Argionent : — Tao  is  passionless — Immorality  of  the  moral — Obstructions 
 to  natural  virtue — The  evils  of  action — Too  much  zeal — The 
 outward  and  visible — The  inward  and  spiritual — Illustrations. 
 
 H 
 
 SU  wu  KUEI,  introduced  by  Nu  Shang, 
 
 went  to  see  Wu  Hou  of  Wei. 
 A  hermit,  a  minister,  and  a  prince,  respectively. 
 
 The  Prince  greeted  him  sympathisingly,  and  said, 
 "You  are  suffering.  Sir.  You  must  have  endured 
 great  hardships  in  your  mountain  life  that  you 
 should  be  willing  to  leave  it  and  visit  me." 
 
 "  It  is  I  who  should  sympathise  with  your 
 Highness,  not  your  Highness  with  me,"  answered 
 Hsii  Wu  Kuei.  "  If  your  Highness  gives  free 
 play  to  passion  and  yields  to  loves  and  hates,  then 
 the  natural  conditions  of  your  existence  will  suffer. 
 
 Internally. 
 
 And  if  your  Highness  puts  aside  passion  and 
 abjures  loves  and  hates,  then  your  senses  of  sight 
 and  hearing  will  suffer. 
 
 Externally. 
 
 It  is  I  who  should  sympathise  with  your  Highness, 
 not  your  Highness  with  me." 
 
312  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 The  Prince  was  too  astonished  to  reply ;  and 
 after  a  while  Hsii  Wu  Kuei  continued,  "  I  will  try 
 to  explain  to  your  Highness  how  I  judge  of  dogs. 
 The  lowest  in  the  scale  will  eat  their  fill  and  then 
 stop,  like  a  cat.  Those  of  the  middle  class  are  as 
 though  staring  at  the  sun.  The  highest  class  are 
 as  though  they  had  parted  with  their  own  indi- 
 viduality. 
 
 *'  But  I  do  not  judge  of  dogs  as  well  as  I  judge 
 of  horses.  I  judge  of  horses  as  follows.  Their 
 straightness 
 
 In  running. 
 
 must  be  that  of  a  line.  Their  curve  must  be  that  of 
 an  arc.  Their  squareness,  that  of  the  square.  Their 
 roundness,  that  of  the  compasses. 
 
 One  commentator  applies  all  this  to  the  shape  of 
 the  animals. 
 
 These  are  the  horses  of  the  State.  They  are  not 
 equal  to  the  horses  of  the  Empire.  The  horses  of 
 the  Empire  are  splendid.  They  move  as  though 
 anxious  to  get  along,  as  though  they  had  lost  the 
 way,  as  though  they  had  parted  with  their  own 
 individuality.  Thus,  they  outstrip  all  competitors, 
 over  the  unstirred  dust,  out  of  sight !  " 
 
 The  Prince  was  greatly  pleased  and  smiled.  But 
 when  Hsii  Wu  Kuei  went  out,  Nii  Shang  asked 
 him,  saying,  "  What  can  you  have  been  saying  to 
 his  Highness?  Whenever  I  address  him,  it  is  either 
 in  a  pacific  sense,  based  upon  the  Canons  of  Poetry ^ 
 History,    Rites,    and  Music;    or  in  a  belligerent 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  IVu  Kuei  313 
 
 sense,  based  upon  the  Golden  Roster  or  the  Six 
 Plans  of  Battle. 
 
 Ancient  military  treatises. 
 
 I  have  transacted  with  great  success  innumerable 
 matters  entrusted  |o  me,  yet  his  Highness  has 
 never  vouchsafed  a  smile.  What  can  you  have  been 
 saying  to  make  him  so  pleased  as  all  this  ?  " 
 
 "  I  merely  told  him,"  replied  Hsii  Wu  Kuei, 
 "  how  I  judged  of  dogs  and  horses." 
 
 "  Was  that  all  ?  "  enquired  Nu  Shang,  incredu- 
 lously. 
 
 "  Have  you  not  heard,"  said  Hsii  Wu  Kuei,  "  of 
 the  outlaw  of  Yiieh  ?  After  several  days'  absence 
 from  his  State,  he  was  glad  to  meet  any  one  he  had 
 known  there.  After  a  month,  he  was  glad  to  meet 
 any  one  he  had  even  seen  there.  And  after  a  year, 
 he  was  glad  to  meet  any  one  who  was  in  any  way 
 like  to  his  fellow-countrymen.  Is  not  this  a  case  of 
 absence  from  one's  kind  increasing  the  desire  to  be 
 with  them  ? 
 
 ''  Thus  a  man  who  had  fled  into  the  wilderness, 
 where  bishop-wort  chokes  the  path  of  the  weasel 
 and  stoat,  now  advancing,  now  stopping, — how  he 
 would  rejoice  if  the  footfall  of  a  fellow-creature 
 broke  upon  his  ear.  And  how  much  more  were  he 
 to  hear  the  sound  of  a  brother's,  of  a  relative's  voice 
 at  his  side.  Long  it  is,  I  ween,  since  his  Highness 
 has  heard  the  voice  of  a  pure  man  at  his  side !  " 
 
 Hsii  Wu  Kuei   went  to  visit  the  Prince.    The 
 
314  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 latter  said,  "  Living,  Sir,  up  in  the  hills,  and  feeding 
 upon  berries  or  satisfying  yourself  with  leeks,  you 
 have  long  neglected  me.  Are  you  now  growing 
 old  ?  Or  do  you  hanker  after  flesh-pots  and  wine  ? 
 Or  is  it  that  mine  is  such  a  well-governed  State  ?  " 
 
 ''  I  am  of  lowly  birth,"  replied  Hsii  Wu  Kuei. 
 ''  I  could  not  venture  to  eat  and  drink  your  High- 
 ness' meat  and  wine.  I  came  to  sympathise  with 
 your  Highness." 
 
 "  What  do  you  mean  ? "  cried  the  Prince  ? 
 "  What  is  there  to  sympathise  about  ?  " 
 
 "  About  your  Highness'  soul  and  body,"  replied 
 Hsii  Wu  Kuei. 
 
 "  Pray  explain,"  said  the  Prince. 
 
 "  Nourishment  is  nourishment,"  said  Hsii  Wu 
 Kuei. 
 
 To  a  peasant  as  to  a  prince. 
 
 "  Being  high  up  does  not  make  one  high,  nor  does 
 being  low  make  one  low.  Your  Highness  is  the 
 ruler  of  a  large  State,  and  you  oppress  the  whole 
 population  thereof  in  order  to  satisfy  your  sensuali- 
 ties. But  your  soul  is  not  a  party  to  this.  The  soul 
 loves  harmony  and  hates  disorder.  For  disorder  is 
 a  disease.  Therefore  I  came  to  sympathise.  How 
 is  it  that  your  Highness  alone  is  suffering  ?  " 
 
 "  I  have  long  desired  to  see  you,"  answered  the 
 Prince.  "  I  wish  to  love  my  people,  and  by  cultiva- 
 tion of  duty  towards  one's  neighbour  to  put  an  end 
 to  war.     Can  this  be  done  ?  " 
 
 "  It  cannot,"  replied  Hsii  Wu  Kuei.  "  Love 
 for  the  people  is  the  root  of  all  evil  to  the  people. 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  IVti  Ktiei  315 
 
 Cultivation  of  duty  towards  one's  neighbour  in 
 order  to  put  an  end  to  war  is  the  origin  of  all  fight- 
 ing. If  your  Highness  starts  from  this  basis,  the 
 result  can  only  be  disastrous. 
 
 Why  try  to  "do"  anything  ? 
 
 "  Everything  that  is  made  good,  turns  out  bad. 
 
 The  artificial  is  impermanent. 
 
 And  although  your  Highness  should  make  charity 
 and  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  I  fear  they  would  be 
 spurious  articles.  For  the  inward  intention  would 
 appear  in  the  outward  manifestation.  The  adoption 
 of  a  fixed  standard 
 
 I.e.   of  the   personal  standard   of  individuals.     See 
 
 PP-  305.  306. 
 would    lead   to   complications.      And    revolutions 
 within    lead    to    fighting   without.       Surely   your 
 Highness  would  not  make  a  bower  into  a  battle- 
 field, nor  a  shrine  of  prayer  into  a  scene  of  warfare  ! 
 
 This,  of  course,  refers  to  the  mind. 
 
 "  Have  nothing  within  which  is  obstructive  of 
 virtue.  Seek  not  to  vanquish  others  in  cunning,  in 
 plotting,  in  war.  If  I  slay  a  whole  nation  and  annex 
 the  territory  in  order  to  find  nourishment  for  my 
 passions  and  for  my  soul, — irrespective  of  military 
 skill,  wherein  does  the  victory  lie  ? 
 
 ''What  shall  it  profit  a  man,    if  he  shall  gain  the 
 whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?" 
 
 **  If  your  Highness  will  only  abstain,  that  will  be 
 
3i6  Chnang  Tzu 
 
 enough.  Cultivate  the  sincerity  that  is  within  your 
 breast,  so  as  to  be  responsive  to  the  conditions  of 
 your  environment,  and  be  not  aggressive.  The 
 people  will  thus  escape  death  ; 
 
 From  oppression, 
 and  what  need  then  to  put  an  end  to  war  ?  " 
 
 When  the  Yellow  Emperor  went  to  see  Tao  upon 
 the  Chu-tz'u  Mountain,  Fang  Ming  was  his 
 charioteer,  Chang  Yii  sat  on  his  right,  Chang  Jo 
 and  Hsi  Peng  were  his  outriders,  and  K'un  Hun 
 and  Hua  Chi  brought  up  the  rear. 
 
 Commentators  tear  this  passage  to  tatters. 
 
 On  reaching  the  wilds  of  Hsiang-cheng, 
 
 The  limit  of  the  known. 
 
 these  seven  Sages  lost  their  way  and  there  was  no 
 one  of  whom  to  ask  the  road.  By  and  by,  they  fell 
 in  with  a  boy  who  was  grazing  horses,  and  asked 
 him,  saying,  "  Do  you  know  the  Chii-tz  u  Moun- 
 tain ?  " 
 
 "  I  do,"  replied  the  boy. 
 
 "And  can  you  tell  us,"  continued  the  Sages, 
 "  where  Tao  abides  ? " 
 
 "  I  can,"  replied  the  boy. 
 
 "  This  is  a  strange  lad,"  cried  the  Yellow  Em- 
 peror. "  Not  only  does  he  know  where  the  Chii- 
 tz'u  Mountain  is,  but  also  where  Tag  abides ! 
 Come  tell  me,  pray,  how  would  you  govern  the 
 empire  ?  " 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  Wu  Kiiei  3 1 7 
 
 "  I  should  govern  the  empire,"  said  the  boy, 
 "just  the  same  as  I  look  after  my  horses.  What 
 else  should  I  do  ? 
 
 ''  When  I  was  a  little  boy  and  used  to  live  within 
 the  points  of  the  compass, 
 
 In  Vanity  Fair. 
 
 my  eyes  got  dim  of  sight.  An  old  man  advised  me 
 to  mount  the  chariot  of  the  sun 
 
 I.e.  of  Intelligence. 
 
 and  visit  the  wilds  of  Hsiang-ch'^ng.  My  sight  is 
 now  much  better,  and  I  continue  to  dwell  without 
 the  points  of  the  compass.  I  should  govern  the 
 empire  in  just  the  same  way.  What  else  should 
 I  do?" 
 
 *'  Of  course,"  said  the  Yellow  Emperor,  '*  govern- 
 ment is  not  your  trade.  Still  I  should  be  glad  to 
 hear  what  you  would  do." 
 
 The  boy  declined  to  answer,  but  on  being  again 
 urged,  cried  out,  "What  difference  is  there  between 
 governing  the  empire  and  looking  after  horses  ? 
 See  that  no  harm  comes  to  the  horses,  that  is  all !  " 
 
 Thereupon  the  Emperor  prostrated  himself  before 
 the  boy ;  and  addressing  him  as  Divine  Teacher, 
 took  his  leave. 
 
 Divine  Teacher  means  "  inspired  by  God."  The 
 term  used  is  that  employed  in  modern  times  for  the 
 head  or  Pope  of  debased  Taoism,  often  wrongly 
 rendered  as  the  "  Master  of  Heaven." 
 
 If  schemers  have  nothing  to  give  them  anxiety, 
 
3i8  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 they  are  not  happy.  If  dialecticians  have  not  their 
 premisses  and  conclusion,  they  are  not  happy.  If 
 critics  have  none  on  whom  to  vent  their  spleen,  they 
 are  not  happy.  Such  men  are  the  slaves  of  objec- 
 tive existences. 
 
 Those  who  attract  the  sympathies  of  the  world, 
 start  new  dynasties.  Those  who  win  the  people's 
 hearts,  take  high  official  rank.  Those  who  are  strong 
 undertake  difficulties.  Those  who  are  brave  en- 
 counter dangers.  Men  of  arms  delight  in  war. 
 Men  of  peace  think  of  nothing  but  reputation.  Men 
 of  law  strive  to  improve  the  administration.  Pro- 
 fessors of  ceremony  and  music  cultivate  deportment. 
 Moralists  devote  themselves  to  the  obligations 
 between  man  and  man. 
 
 Take  away  agriculture  from  the  husbandman, 
 and  his  classification  is  gone.  Take  away  trade 
 from  the  merchant,  and  his  classification  is  gone. 
 Daily  work  is  the  stimulus  of  the  labourer.  The 
 skill  of  the  artisan  is  his  pride.  If  money  cannot 
 be  made,  the  avaricious  man  is  sad.  If  his  power 
 meets  with  a  check,  the  boaster  will  repine.  Am- 
 bitious men  love  change. 
 
 Thus,  men  are  always  doing  something  ;  inaction 
 is  to  them  impossible.  They  observe  in  this  the 
 same  regularity  as  the  seasons,  ever  without  change. 
 They  hurry  to  destruction,  dissipating  in  all  direc- 
 tions their  vital  forces,  alas  !  never  to  return. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  said,  "  If  archers  who  aimed  at 
 nothing  and  hit  something  were  accounted  good 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  Wu  Kuei  319 
 
 shots,  everybody  in  the  world  would  be  another 
 Yi. 
 
 See  p.  308. 
 
 Could  this  be  so  ?  " 
 
 "  It  could,"  replied  Hui  Tzu. 
 
 "If  there  was  no  general  standard  of  right  in 
 the  world,"  continued  ChuangTzu,  "  but  each  man 
 had  his  own,  then  everybody  would  be  a  Yao. 
 Could  this  be  so  ?  " 
 
 "  It  could,"  replied  Hui  Tzu. 
 
 "  Very  well,"  said  Chuang  Tzu.  "  Now  there 
 are  the  Confucianists,  the  Mihists,  the  schools  of 
 Yang 
 
 Yang  Chu.     See  ch.  viii. 
 
 and  Ping, 
 
 Kung  Sun  Lung.     See  ch.  xvii. 
 
 making  with  your  own  five  in  all.  Pray  which  of 
 these  is  right  ? 
 
 "  Possibly  it  is  a  similar  case  to  that  of  Lu  Chu  ? 
 
 Of  whom  there  is  no  record. 
 
 — A  disciple  said  to  him,  '  Master,  I  have  attained 
 to  your  Tao.  I  can  do  without  fire  in  winter:  I  can 
 make  ice  in  summer.' 
 
 "  *  You  merely  avail  yourself  of  latent  heat  and 
 latent  cold,'  replied  Lu  Chu.  '  That  is  not  what  I 
 call  Tao.  I  will  demonstrate  to  you  what  my 
 Tag  is.' 
 
 "Thereupon  he  tuned  two  lutes,  and  placed  one 
 in  the  hall  and  the  other  in  the  adjoining  room. 
 
320  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 And  when  he  struck  the  Knng  note  on  one,  the 
 Ktmg  note  on  the  other  sounded  ;  when  he  struck 
 the  chio  note  on  one,  the  chio  note  on  the  other 
 sounded.  This  because  they  were  both  tuned  to 
 the  same  pitch. 
 
 "  But  if  he  changed  the  interval  of  one  string,  so 
 that  it  no  longer  kept  its  place  in  the  octave,  and 
 then  struck  it,  the  result  was  that  all  the  twenty- 
 five  strings  jangled  together.  There  was  sound  as 
 before,  but  the  influence  of  the  key-note  was  gone.  Is 
 this  your  case  ?  " 
 
 "  The  Confucianists,  the  Mihists,  and  the  follow- 
 ers of  Yang  and  Ping,"  replied  Hui  Tzu,  "are  just 
 now  engaged  in  discussing  this  matter  with  me. 
 They  try  to  overwhelm  me  with  argument  or  howl 
 me  down  with  noise.  Yet  they  have  not  proved  me 
 wrong.     Why  then  should  you  ?  " 
 
 "  A  man  of  the  Ch'i  State,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,    j 
 "  sent  away  his  son  into  the  Sung  State,  to  be  a 
 door-keeper,  with  maimed  body,  i 
 
 Doorkeepers   in    ancient    tim^   were,    for   obvious 
 reasons,  deprived  of  their  feet. 
 
 But  a  vase,  which  he  valued  highly,  he  kept  care- 
 fully wrapped  up. 
 
 Thus  Hui  Tzu  sacrifices  the  greater  to  the  less. 
 
 "  He  who  would  seek  for  a  stray  child,  but  will 
 not  leave  his  home,  is  like  to  lose  him. 
 
 Thus  restricted  to  his  four  antagonistic  schools  is 
 Hui  Tzu  s  search  for  Tao. 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  JVit  Ktiei  321 
 
 "  If  a  man  of  Ch'u,  who  was  sent  away  to  be  a 
 door-keeper,  began,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  when 
 no  one  was  about,  to  fight  with  the  boatman,  I 
 should  say  that  before  his  boat  left  the  shore  he 
 would  already  have  got  himself  into  considerable 
 trouble." 
 
 A  maimed   man   (Hui  Tzu)   should   avoid  quarrels. 
 His  own  share  of  Tao  is  insufficient  even  for  himself. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  was  once  attending  a  funeral,  when 
 he  passed  by  the  grave  of  Hui  Tzu.     Turning  to 
 his  attendants,  he  said,  "  A  man  of  Ying 
 Capital  of  the  Ch'u  state. 
 
 who  had  his  nose  covered  with  a  hard  scab,  no 
 thicker  than  a  fly's  wing,  sent  for  a  stone-mason  to 
 chip  it  off.  The  stone-mason  plied  his  adze  with 
 great  dexterity  while  the  patient  sat  still  and  let 
 him  chip.  When  the  scab  was  all  off,  the  nose  was 
 found  to  be  uninjured,  the  man  of  Ying  never 
 having  moved  a  muscle. 
 
 "  When  Yiian,  prince  of  Sung,  heard  of  this,  he 
 summoned  the  stone-mason  and  said,  *  Try  to  do 
 the  same  for  me.' 
 
 "  *  I  used  to  be  able  to  do  it  Sire,'  replied  the 
 stone-mason,  '  but  my  material  has  long  since 
 perished.' 
 
 j  "  And  I  too,  ever  since  he  perished,  have  been 
 Without  my  material,  having  no  one  with  whom  I 
 |can  speak." 
 
 A  generous  compliment  to  an  old  adversary. 
 
 •'  There  was   no  one,"  says  Lin  Hsi  Chung,  "  in  all 
 
322  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 Chuang  Tzu's  generation  who  could  understand 
 him  ;  neither  is  there  any  one  now,  at  this  late 
 date,  any  more  than  there  was  then." 
 
 Kuan  Chung  being  at  the  point  of  death,  Duke 
 Huan  went  to  see  him. 
 
 See  p.  226. 
 
 "  You  are  ill,  venerable  Sir,"  said  the  Duke, 
 "  really  ill.  You  had  better  say  to  whom,  in  the 
 event  of  your  getting  worse,  I  am  to  entrust  the 
 administration  of  the  State/' 
 
 "  Whom  does  your  Highness  wish  to  choose  ?  " 
 enquired  Kuan  Chung. 
 
 "  Will  Pao  Yu  do  ?"  asked  the  Duke. 
 
 Kuan  Chung  and  Pao  Yu  are  the  "  Damon  and 
 Pythias"  of  China. 
 
 "  He  will  not,"  said  Kuan  Chung.  "  He  is  pure, 
 incorruptible,  and  good.  With  those  who  are  not 
 like  himself,  he  will  not  associate.  And  if  he  has 
 once  heard  of  a  man's  wrong-doing,  he  never 
 forgets  it.  If  you  employ  him  in  the  administration 
 of  the  empire,  he  will  get  to  loggerheads  with  his 
 prince  and  to  sixes  and  sevens  with  the  people.  It 
 would  not  be  long  before  he  and  your  Highness  fell 
 out." 
 
 "  Whom  then  can  we  have  ?"  asked  the  Duke. 
 
 "  There  is  no  alternative,"  replied  Kuan  Chung ; 
 "  it  must  be  Hsi  P  eng.  He  is  a  man  who  forgets 
 the  authority  of  those  above  him,  and  makes  those 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  IVu  Kuei  323 
 
 below  him  forget  his.     Ashamed  that  he  is  not  the 
 peer  of  the  Yellow  Emperor, 
 
 In  virtue. 
 
 he  grieves  over  those  who  are  not  the  peers  of 
 himself. 
 
 "  To  share  one's  virtue  with  others  is  called  true 
 wisdom.  To  share  one's  wealth  with  others  is 
 reckoned  meritorious.  To  exhibit  superior  merit 
 is  not  the  way  to  win  men's  hearts.  To  exhibit 
 inferior  merit  is  the  way.  There  are  things  in  the 
 State  he  does  not  hear ;  there  are  things  in  the 
 family  he  does  not  see. 
 
 Purposely  ignoring  petty  faults. 
 
 There  is  no  alternative;  it  must  be  Hsi  P'eng." 
 
 Of  whom  commentators  give  no  further  notice. 
 
 The  prince  of  Wu  took  a  boat  and  went  to  the 
 Monkey  Mountain,  which  he  ascended.  When  the 
 monkeys  saw  him,  they  fled  in  terror  and  hid  them- 
 selves in  the  thicket.  One  of  them,  however,  dis- 
 ported himself  carelessly,  as  though  showing  off  its 
 skill  before  the  prince.  The  prince  took  a  shot  at  it ; 
 but  the  monkey,  with  great  rapidity,  seized  the 
 flying  arrow  with  its  hand.  Then  the  prince  bade 
 his  guards  try,  the  result  being  that  the  monkey 
 was  killed. 
 
 The  skill  of  the  poor  monkey  availed  nothing  against 
 the  cloud  of  arrows  discharged  by  the  guards.     On 
 
 Y  2 
 
324  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 petit  etre  plus  fin  qtiun  autre,  mais  on  ne  pent  pas 
 itre  plus  fin  que  tous  les  autres. 
 
 Thereupon  the  prince  turned  to  his  friend  Yen 
 Pu  I,  and  said,  "  That  monkey  flaunted  its  skill 
 and  its  dexterity  in  my  face.  Therefore  it  has  come 
 to  this  pass.  Beware !  Do  not  flaunt  your  su- 
 periority in  the  faces  of  others." 
 
 Yen  Pu  I  went  home,  and  put  himself  under  the 
 tuition  of  Tung  Wu,. 
 
 A  professor  of  Tao. 
 
 with  a  view  to  get  rid  of  such  superiority.  He  put 
 aside  all  that  gave  him  pleasure  and  avoided  gain- 
 ing reputation.  And  in  three  years  his  praise  was 
 in  everybody's  mouth. 
 
 Tzu  Chi  of  Nan-poh 
 
 See  ch.  iv. 
 
 was  sitting  leaning  on  a  table.  He  looked  up  to 
 heaven  and  sighed,  at  which  juncture  Yen  Ch  eng 
 Tzu  entered  and  said,  "  How,  Sir,  can  such  an 
 important  person  as  yourself  be  in  body  like  dry 
 w^ood,  in  mind  like  dead  ashes  ?" 
 
 Instead  of  exerting  yourself  for  the  benefit  of 
 mankind.  The  speaker,  says  one  commentator, 
 was  "a  disciple." 
 
 "  I  used  to  live  in  a  cave  on  the  hills,"  replied 
 Tzu  Chi.     ''  At  that  time,  T'ien  Ho, 
 
 The  famous  founder  of  the  later  House  of  Ch'i. 
 
 because  he  once  saw  me,  was  thrice  congratulated 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  Wii  Ktiei  325 
 
 by  the  people  of  Ch'i.  Now  I  must  have  given 
 some  indication  by  which  he  recognised  me. 
 
 As  a  Sage. 
 
 I  must  have  sold  for  him  to  buy.     For  had  I  not 
 manifested  myself,  how  would  he  have  recognised 
 me  ?     Had  I  not  sold,  how  could  he  have  bought  ? 
 "Alas  !  I  grieve  over  man's  self-destruction. 
 
 As  reputation  comes,  reality  goes. 
 
 And  then  I  grieve  over  one  who  grieves  for  another. 
 And  then  I  grieve  over  him  who  grieves  over  one 
 who  grieves  for  another  !  And  so  I  get  daily  farther 
 and  farther  away." 
 
 And  become  like  dry  wood,  my  soul  absorbed  into 
 Tao. 
 
 When  Confucius  went  to  Ch'u,  the  prince  enter- 
 tained him  at  a  banquet.  Sun  Shu  Ao  stood  up 
 with  a  goblet  of  wine  in  his  hand,  and  I  Liao  of 
 Shih-nan  poured  a  libation,  saying,  *'  On  such 
 occasions  as  this,  the  men  of  old  were  wont  to 
 make  some  utterance." 
 
 "  Mine,"  replied  Confucius,  "  is  the  doctrine  of 
 wordless  utterances.  Shall  I  who  make  no  utter- 
 ances, make  utterance  now  ? 
 
 "  I  Liao  of  Shih-nan  played  with  his  ball,  and 
 the  trouble  of  two  houses  was  arranged. 
 
 A  man  of  great  strength  who  refused  to  aid  in 
 settling  a  State  quarrel.  He  was  a  great  ball 
 player, — whatever  that  may  have  been. 
 
326  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 Sun  Shu  Ao  remained  quietly  in  repose,  and  the 
 men  of  Ying  threw  down  their  arms. 
 
 No  one  dared  attack    them,   so  powerful    was  the 
 prestige  of  their  minister. 
 
 I  should  want  a  three-foot  tongue  indeed  ! 
 
 To  achieve  more  by  talk  than  these  two  achieved  by 
 inaction. 
 
 "  Theirs  was  the  Tao  of  inaction.  His  was  the 
 argument  of  silence.     Wherefore,  for  Te 
 
 The  manifestation  of  Tao. 
 to  rest  in  undivided  Tao, 
 
 By  which  all  things  are  One. 
 and  for  speech  to  stop  at  the  unknowable,- — this  is 
 perfection, 
 
 "  With  undivided  Tao,  Te  cannot  be  coincident.    \ 
 The  latter  is  multiform. 
 No   argument   can  demonstrate   the   unknowable,    j 
 Subdivision  into  Confucianists  and  Mihists  only 
 makes  confusion  worse  confounded. 
 
 "  The  sea  does  not  reject  the  streams  which  flow 
 eastward  into  it.  Therefore  it  is  immeasurably 
 great.  The  true  Sage  folds  the  universe  in  his 
 bosom.  His  good  influence  benefits  all  throughout 
 the  empire,  without  respect  to  persons.  Born 
 without  rank,  he  dies  without  titles.  He  does  not 
 take  credit  for  realities. 
 
 But  attributes  it  all  to  circumstances. 
 He  does  not  establish  a  name. 
 
 For  what  he  has  done. 
 This  is  to  be  a  great  man. 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsii  Wu  Kuei  327 
 
 "A  dog  is  not  considered  a  good  dog  because  he 
 is  a  good  barker. 
 
 He  must  also  bite. 
 
 A  man  is  not  considered  a  good  man  because  he 
 is  a  good  talker.  How  much  less  in  the  case  of 
 greatness  }  And  if  doing  great  things  is  not  enough 
 to  secure  greatness,  how  much  less  shall  it  secure 
 virtue  ? 
 
 "  In  point  of  greatness,  there  is  nothing  to  be 
 compared  with  the  universe.  Yet  what  does  the 
 universe  seek  in  order  to  be  great  .-* 
 
 "  He  who  understands  greatness  in  this  sense, 
 seeks  nothing,  loses  nothing,  rejects  nothing,  never 
 suffers  injury  from  without.  He  takes  refuge  in 
 his  own  inexhaustibility.  He  finds  safety  in 
 according  with  his  nature.  This  is  the  essence  of 
 true  greatness." 
 
 Tzu  Chi  had  eight  sons.  He  ranged  them  before 
 him,  and  summoning  Chiu  Fang  Yin,  said  to  him, 
 "  Examine  my  sons  physiognomically,  and  tell 
 me  which  will  be  the  fortunate  one." 
 
 "  K'un,"  replied  Chiu  Fang  Yin,  "  will  be  the 
 fortunate  one." 
 
 **  In  what  sense  ?  "  asked  the  father,  beaming  with 
 delight. 
 
 "K'un,"  said  Chiu  Fang  Yin,  "will  eat  at  the 
 table  of  a  prince,  and  so  end  his  days." 
 
 Thereupon  Tzu  Chi  burst  into  tears  and  said, 
 "  What  has  my  son  done  that  this  should  be  his 
 fate  ?  " 
 
328  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 "  Eating  at  the  table  of  a  prince,"  replied  Chiu 
 Fang  Yin,  "  will  benefit  the  family  for  three  gene- 
 rations. How  much  more  his  father  and  mother ! 
 But  for  you,  Sir,  to  go  and  weep  is  enough  to  turn 
 back  the  luck  from  you.  The  son's  fortune  is  good, 
 but  the  father's  bad." 
 
 "  Yin,"  said  Tzu  Chi,  "  I  should  like  to  know 
 what  you  mean  by  calling  K'un  fortunate.  Wine 
 and  meat  gratify  the  palate,  but  you  do  not  say 
 how  these  are  to  come. 
 
 "  Supposing  that  to  me,  not  being  a  shepherd,  a 
 lamb  were  born  in  the  south-west  corner  of  my 
 hall  ;  or  that  to  me,  not  being  a  sportsman,  quails 
 were  hatched  in  the  north-east  corner.  If  you  did 
 not  call  that  uncanny,  what  would  you  call  it  ? 
 
 "  My  sons  and  I  do  but  roam  through  the  uni- 
 verse. With  them  I  seek  the  joys  of  heaven  ;  with 
 them  I  seek  the  fruits  of  earth.  With  them  I 
 engage  in  no  business ;  with  them  I  concoct  no 
 plots ;  with  them  I  attempt  nothing  out-of-the- 
 way.  With  them  I  mount  upon  the  truth  of  the 
 universe,  and  do  not  offer  opposition  to  the  exi- 
 gencies of  our  environment.  With  them  I  accom- 
 modate myself  naturally  ;  but  with  them  I  do  not 
 become  a  slave  to  circumstances.  Yet  now  the 
 world  is  rewarding  me ! 
 
 "  Every  uncanny  effect  must  be  preceded  by 
 some  uncanny  cause.  Alas  !  my  sons  and  I  have 
 done  nothing.  It  must  be  the  will  of  God.  There- 
 fore I  weep." 
 
 Shortly  afterwards,  when  K'un  was  on  his  way 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsii  IVu  Kuei  329 
 
 to  the  Yen  State,  he  was  captured  by  brigands.  To 
 sell  him  as  he  was,  would  be  no  easy  matter.  To 
 sell  him  without  his  feet  would  be  easy  enough. 
 So  they  cut  off  his  feet  and  sold  him  into  the  Ch'i 
 State,  where  he  became  door-keeper  to  Duke  Chii 
 and  had  meat  to  his  dinner  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 
 
 Commentators  make  terrible  havoc  here. 
 
 Yeh  Ch'iieh  meeting  Hsii  Yu,  said  to  him, 
 "  Where  are  you  going  ?  " 
 
 "  Away  from  Yao  !  "  replied  the  latter. 
 
 "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  Yeh  Ch'iieh. 
 
 "  Yao,"  said  Hsii  Yu,  **  thinks  of  nothing  but 
 charity.  I  fear  he  will  become  a  laughing-stock  to 
 the  world,  and  that  in  future  ages  men  will  eat  one 
 another. 
 
 See  p.  296. 
 
 "  There  is  no  difficulty  in  winning  the  people. 
 Love  them  and  they  will  draw  near.  Profit  them 
 and  they  will  come  up.  Praise  them  and  they  will 
 vie  with  one  another.  But  introduce  something 
 they  dislike,  and  they  will  be  gone. 
 
 "  Love  and  profit  are  born  of  charity  and  duty 
 to  one's  neighbour.  Those  who  ignore  charity  and 
 duty  to  one's  neighbour  are  few ;  those  who  make 
 capital  out  of  them  are  many. 
 
 **  For  the  operation  of  these  virtues  is  not  dis- 
 interested.    It  is  like  lending  gear  to  a  sportsman. 
 
 With  a  view  to  share  the  game. 
 Wherefore,  for  one  man  to  dogmatise  for  the  good 
 
330  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 of  the  whole  empire,  is  like  splitting  a  thing  at  a 
 single  blow. 
 
 Without  reference  to  method  or  the  requirements  of 
 the  case  in  point. 
 
 "  Yao  knows  that  good  men  benefit  the  empire. 
 But  he  does  not  know  that  they  injure  it  Only 
 those  on  a  higher  level  than  good  men  know  this. 
 
 "  There  are  nincompoops ;  there  are  parasites  ; 
 there  are  enthusiasts. 
 
 "  A  man  who  learns  from  a  single  teacher,  and 
 then  goes  off  exultant,  satisfied  with  his  acquire- 
 ments though  ignorant  that  there  was  a  time  when 
 nothing  existed, — such  a  one  is  a  nincompoop. 
 
 "  Parasites  are  like  the  lice  on  a  pig's  back.  They 
 choose  bald  patches,  which  are  to  them  palaces  and 
 parks.  The  parts  between  the  toes,  the  joints,  the 
 dugs,  and  the  buttocks,  are  to  them  so  many  com- 
 fortable and  convenient  resting-places.  They  know 
 not  that  one  day  the  butcher  will  tuck  up  his 
 sleeves  and  spread  straw  and  apply  fire,  and  that 
 they  will  perish  in  the  singeing  of  the  pig.  As  they 
 sow,  so  do  they  reap.     This  is  to  be  a  parasite. 
 
 "  Of  enthusiasts.  Shun  is  an  example.  Mutton 
 does  not  care  for  ants  ;  it  is  the  ants  which  care  for 
 the  mutton.  Mutton  has  a  frowsy  smell  ;  and 
 there  is  a  frowsiness  about  Shun  which  attracts 
 the  people.  Therefore  it  was  that  after  three 
 changes  of  residence,  when  he  came  to  the  Teng 
 district,  he  had  some  hundred  thousand  families 
 with  him. 
 
 \ 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  JVu  Kuei  331 
 
 "  Then  Yao,  hearing  of  his  goodness,  appointed 
 him  to  a  barren  region,  trusting,  as  he  said,  that 
 Shun's  arrival  would  enrich  it.  When  Shun  took 
 up  this  appointment,  he  was  already  old,  and  his 
 intellect  was  failing ;  yet  he  would  not  cease  work 
 and  retire  from  office.  He  was,  in  fact,  an  enthu- 
 siast. 
 
 "  So  it  is  that  the  spiritual  man  dislikes  a  crowd. 
 For  where  there  is  a  crowd  there  is  diversity,  and 
 where  there  is  diversity  advantage  does  not  accrue. 
 He  is  therefore  neither  very  intimate,  nor  very 
 distant.  He  clings  to  virtue  and  nourishes  a  spirit 
 of  harmony,  in  order  to  be  in  accord  with  his 
 fellow-men.     This  is  to  be  a  divine  man. 
 
 "  Leave  wisdom  to  ants.  Strive  for  what  fishes 
 desire. 
 
 To  be  left  alone  in  the  water. 
 
 Leave  attractiveness  to  mutton.  Use  your  eyes  to 
 contemplate,  your  ears  to  listen  to,  your  mind  to 
 consider,  their  own  internal  workings.  For  him 
 who  can  do  these  things,  his  level  will  be  that  of  a 
 line,  his  modifications  in  due  and  proper  season. 
 
 "  Therefore,  the  divine  man  trusts  to  the  natural 
 development  of  events.  He  does  not  strive  to 
 introduce  the  artificial  into  the  domain  of  the 
 natural.  Accordingly,  life  is  a  gain  and  death  a 
 loss,  or  death  is  a  gain  and  life  a  loss. 
 
 According  to  circumstances. 
 
 "  For  instance,  drugs.  They  are  characteristically 
 poisonous.     Such  are  Chieh-Keng,  Chi-Yung,  and 
 
332  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 SIiiJi-Ling.  Circumstances,  however,  make  of  each 
 a  sovereign  remedy.    The  list  is  inexhaustible. 
 
 Chieh-Keng  is  the  Platycodon  grandiflorzwi.  It  is 
 used  by  Chinese  doctors  as  a  tonic,  astringent,  and 
 vermifuge. 
 
 "When  Kou  Chien  encamped  with  three  thou- 
 sand armed  warriors  at  Kuei-ch'i, 
 
 Leading  the  men  of  Wu  to  attack  the  Yiieh  State. 
 
 only  Chung 
 
 Wen  Chung,  minister  of  Yiieh. 
 
 saw  that  defeat  would  be  followed  by  a  rally.  Yet 
 he  could  not  foresee  the  evil  that  was  to  come  upon 
 himself.  Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  *  An  owl's 
 eyes  are  adapted  to  their  use.  A  crane's  leg  is  of 
 the  length  required.  'Twould  be  disastrous  to 
 shorten  it.' 
 
 This  illustration  has  been  used  in  ch.  viii,  p.  loi. 
 
 "Thus  it  has  been  said,  'The  wind  blows  and 
 the  river  suffers.  The  sun  shines  and  the  river 
 suffers.'  But  though  wind  and  sun  be  both  brought 
 into  relation  with  the  river,  it  does  not  really  suffer 
 therefrom.  Fed  from  its  source,  it  still  continues 
 to  flow  on. 
 
 The  Saee  too  has  a  source  from  which  the  nourish- 
 ment  of  his  soul  is  supplied. 
 
 "  The  relation  between  water  and  earth  is  deter- 
 minate. The  relation  between  a  man  and  his 
 shadow  is  determinate.  The  relation  between  thing 
 and  thing  is  determinate. 
 
CAP.  XXIV.]  Hsil  Wu  Kuei  333 
 
 "The  relation  between  eye  and  vision  is  baneful. 
 
 Because  indeterminate. 
 
 The  relation  between  ear  and  hearing  is  baneful. 
 The  relation  between  mind  and  object  is  baneful. 
 The  relation  between  all  kinds  of  capacity  and  man's 
 inner  self  is  baneful.  If  such  banefulness  be  not 
 corrected,  disasters  will  spring  up  on  all  sides. 
 Retrogression  is  hard  to  achieve,  and  success  long 
 in  coming.  Yet  alas  !  men  regard  such  capacities 
 as  valuable  possessions. 
 
 "  The  destruction  of  States  and  the  ceaseless 
 slaughter  of  human  beings  result  from  an  inability 
 to  examine  into  this. 
 
 ''  The  foot  treads  the  ground  in  walking;  never- 
 theless it  is  the  ground  not  trodden  on  which  makes 
 up  the  good  walk.  A  man's  knowledge  is  limited  ; 
 but  it  is  upon  what  he  does  not  know  that  he 
 depends  to  extend  his  knowledge  to  the  apprehen- 
 sion of  God. 
 
 "  Knowledge  of  the  great  One,  of  the  great 
 Negative,  of  the  great  Nomenclature,  of  the  great 
 Uniformity,  of  the  great  Space,  of  the  great  Truth, 
 of  the  great  Law, — this  is  perfection. 
 
 "The  great  One  is  omnipresent.  The  great 
 Negative  is  omnipotent.  The  great  Nomenclature 
 is  all-inclusive.  The  great  Uniformity  is  all- 
 assimilative.  The  great  Space  is  all-receptive.  The 
 great  Truth  is  all-exacting.  The  great  Law  is  all- 
 binding. 
 
 "The  ultimate  end  is  God.     He  is  manifested  in 
 
334  Chtiang  Tzil 
 
 the  laws  of  nature.  He  is  the  hidden  spring.  At 
 the  beginning,  he  was. 
 
 Had  an  objective  existence. 
 
 This,  however,  is  inexplicable.  It  is  unknowable. 
 But  from  the  unknowable  we  reach  the  known. 
 
 "  Investigation  must  not  be  limited,  nor  must  it 
 be  unlimited. 
 
 It  must  be  undertaken  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
 unconditioned. 
 
 In  this  vague  undefinedness  there  is  an  actuality. 
 Time  does  not  change  it.  It  cannot  suffer  diminu- 
 tion.    May  we  not  then  call  it  our  great  Guide  ? 
 
 "  Why  not  bring  our  doubting  hearts  to  investi- 
 gation thereof?  And  then,  using  certainty  to  dispel 
 doubt,  revert  to  a  state  without  doubt,  in  which 
 doubt  is  doubly  dead  ?  " 
 
 Doubt  dispelled  leaves  conviction  firmer  still. 
 Lin  Hsi  Chung  says  that  this  essay  begins  with  the 
 subtle  to  end  in   the  abstruse.     "  The  force  of  lan- 
 guage," adds  he,  "  can  no  farther  go  ! " 
 
335 
 
 CHAPTER    XXV. 
 
 Tsl:  Yang. 
 
 Argument : — Influence  of  virtue  concealed — The  true  Sage  a  negative 
 quantity — The  great,  the  small,  the  infinite — Crime  and  Capital — 
 Rulers  and  their  vices — What  is  Society?  Predestination  or  Chance? 
 Illustrations. 
 
 WHEN  Ts^  Yang  visited  the  Ch  u  State,  I 
 Chieh 
 
 An  official  of  Ch'u. 
 
 spoke  of  him  to  the  prince ;  but  the  latter  refused 
 an  audience. 
 
 Upon  I  Chieh's  return,  Tse  Yang  went  to  see 
 Wang  Kuo, 
 
 A  local  Sage. 
 
 and  asked  him  to  obtain  an  interview  with  the 
 prince. 
 
 "  I  am  not  so  fitted  for  that,"  replied  Wang  Kuo, 
 *'  as  Kung  Yiieh  Hsiu." 
 
 A  hermit. 
 
 ''What  sort  of  a  man  is  he?"  enquired.  Ts^ 
 Yang. 
 
 "In  winter,"  said  Wang  Kuo,  "he  catches  turtles 
 on  the  river.  In  summer,  he  reposes  in  some 
 mountain  copse.     If  any  passers-by  ask  of  him,  he 
 
336  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 tells  them,  ''This  is  my  home."  Where  I  Chieh 
 could  not  succeed,  still  less  should  I.  I  am  not 
 equal  even  to  him. 
 
 "  He  is  a  man  without  virtue,  but  possessed  of  | 
 knowledge.  Were  it  not  for  an  air  of  arrogance,  he 
 would  be  very  popular  with  his  superiors.  But  help 
 without  virtue  is  a  hindrance.  Shivering  people 
 borrowing  clothes  in  the  coming  spring !  Hot 
 people  thinking  of  last  winter's  icy  blast ! 
 
 "  The  prince  of  Ch'u  is  dignified  and  severe.  In 
 punishing,  he  is  merciless  as  a  tiger.  Only  a  very 
 practised  or  a  very  perfect  man  could  influence  him. 
 
 "The  true  Sage,  when  in  obscurity,  causes  those 
 around  him  to  forget  their  poverty.  When  in  I 
 power,  he  causes  princes  to  forget  ranks  and  emolu-  ' 
 ments,  and  to  become  as  though  of  low  estate.  He 
 rejoices  exceedingly  in  all  creation.  He  exults  to 
 ^  see  Tao  diffused  among  his  fellow-men,  while 
 suffering  no  loss  himself. 
 
 Tao  is  a  constant  quantity.      It  can  be  shared,  but 
 cannot  be  divided. 
 
 "Thus,  although  silent,  he  can  instil  peace  ;  and 
 by  his  mere  presence  cause  men  to  be  to  each  other  \ 
 as  father  and  son.  From  his  very  return  to  pas- 
 sivity comes  this  active  influence  for  good.  So 
 widely  does  he  differ  in  heart  from  ordinary  men. 
 Wherefore  I  said,  '  Wait  for  Kung  Yiieh  Hsiu.' 
 
 "The  true  Sage  is  free  from  all  embarrassments. 
 All  things  are  to  him  as  One.  Yet  he  knows  not 
 that  this  is  so.     It  is  simply  nature,     In  the  midst 
 
CAP.  XXV.]  Tse  Yang  337 
 
 of  action  he  remains  the  same.     He  makes  God  his  y^ 
 guide,  and  men  make  him  theirs.     He  grieves  that 
 wisdom  carries  one  but  a  short  distance,  and  at 
 times  comes  altogether  to  a  deadlock. 
 
 "  To  a  beauty,  mankind  is  the  mirror  in  which  she 
 sees  herself.  If  no  one  tells  her  she  is  beautiful, 
 she  does  not  know  that  she  is  so.  But  whether  she 
 knows  it  or  whether  she  does  not  know  it,  whether 
 she  hears  it  or  whether  she  does  not  hear  it,  her  joy 
 will  never  cease,  neither  will  mankind  ever  cease  to 
 take  pleasure  therein.     It  is  nature. 
 
 "  The  love  of  a  Sage  for  his  fellows  likewise  finds 
 expression  among  mankind.  Were  he  not  told  so, 
 he  would  not  know  that  he  loved  his  fellows.  But  / 
 whether  he  knows  it  or  whether  he  does  not  know 
 it,  whether  he  hears  it  or  whether  he  does  not  hear 
 it,  his  love  for  his  fellows  is  without  end,  and  man- 
 kind cease  not  to  repose  therein. 
 
 "The  old  country,  the  old  home,  gladden  a  wan- 
 derer's eyes.  Nay,  though  nine-tenths  of  it  be  a 
 howling  wilderness,  still  his  eye  will  be  glad.  How 
 much  more  to  see  sight  and  hear  hearing,  from  a 
 lofty  dais  suspended  in  their  very  midst !  " 
 
 The  joy  of  the  wanderer  is  as  that  of  the  mind 
 returning  to  a  consciousness  only  of  itself 
 
 Jen  HsiangShih  reached  the  centre  and  attained. 
 
 The  centre  at  which  all  Infinities  converge.  See 
 p.  18.  This  individual  was  a  legendary  ruler  of 
 old. 
 
 He  recognised  no  beginning,  no  end,  no  quantity, 
 no  time.   Daily  modified  together  with  his  environ- 
 
338  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 ment,  as  part  of  One  he  knew  no  modification. 
 Why  not  rest  in  this  ? 
 
 To  strive  to  follow  God  and  not  to  succeed  is  to 
 display  an  activity  fatal  to  itself.  How  can  success 
 ever  be  thus  achieved  ? 
 
 The  true  Sage  ignores  God.  He  ignores  man.  He 
 ignores  a  beginning.  He  ignores  matter.  He  moves 
 in  harmony  with  his  generation  and  suffers  not. 
 He  takes  things  as  they  come  and  is  not  over- 
 whelmed.    How  are  we  to  become  like  him  ? 
 
 T'ang  appointed  his  Equerry,  Men  Yin  Teng 
 H^ng,  to  be  his  tutor,  listening  to  his  counsels  but 
 not  being  restricted  by  them.  He  got  Tag  for  him- 
 self and  a  reputation  for  his  tutor.  But  the  reputa- 
 tion was  a  violation  of  principle,  and  landed  him  in 
 the  domain  of  alternatives. 
 
 Instead  of  One.     No  ingenuity  of  commentator  has 
 here  succeeded  in  making  sense. 
 
 As  a  tutor,  Confucius  pushed  care  and  anxiety 
 to  an  extreme  limit. 
 Yung  Cheng  Shih 
 
 Lao  Tzu's  tutor. 
 
 said,  **  Take  away  days,  and  there  would  be  no 
 years.     No  inside,  no  outside." 
 
 Prince  Hui  of  Wei  had  made  a  treaty  with 
 prince  Wei  of  Ch'i,  which  the  latter  broke. 
 
 Thereupon  prince  Hui  was  wroth,  and  was  about 
 to  send  a  man  to  assassinate  him.  But  the  Captain- 
 General   heard  of  this,   and   cried    out    in   shame, 
 
CAP.  xx^.]  •      Tsi  Yang  339 
 
 "  Sire,  you  are  ruler  over  a  mighty  State,  yet  you 
 would  seek  the  vengeance  of  a  common  man. 
 Give  me  two  hundred  thousand  warriors,  and  I 
 will  do  the  work  for  you.  I  will  take  his  people 
 prisoners,  and  carry  off  their  oxen  and  horses.  I 
 will  make  the  heat  of  the  prince's  mind  break  out 
 on  his  back.  Then  I  will  seize  his  country,  and 
 he  will  flee.  Then  you  can  wring  his  neck  as  you 
 please." 
 
 When  Chi  Tzu  heard  this,  he  cried  out  in  shame 
 and  said,  **  If  you  are  building  a  ten-perch  wall, 
 and  when  the  wall  is  near  completion,  destroy  it, 
 you  inflict  great  hardship  on  the  workmen. 
 
 Alluding  to  the  corvie  system  of  public  works.     The 
 speaker  was  an  official  of  Wei. 
 
 Now   for   seven   years  the  troops   have  not  been 
 called   out.     That   is,  as  it  were,   your  Highness' 
 foundation   work.       Listen    not    to    the    Captain- 
 General.     He  is  a  mischievous  fellow." 
 When  Hua  Tzu 
 
 Also  an  official  of  Wei. 
 
 heard  this,  he  was  very  indignant  and  said,  "  He 
 who  argued  in  favour  of  punishing  the  Ch'i  State 
 was  a  mischievous  fellow.  And  he  who  argued 
 against  punishing  the  Ch'i  State  was  a  mischievous 
 fellow.  And  he  who  says  that  either  of  the  above 
 is  a  mischievous  fellow,  is  a  mischievous  fellow 
 himself." 
 
 "  Where  then  shall  I  find  what  to  do?  "  enquired 
 the  prince. 
 
 z  2 
 
340  Chuang  Tsil 
 
 "  In  Tao  alone,"  said  Hua  Tzu. 
 When  Hui  Tzu  heard  this,  he  introduced   Tai 
 Chin  Jen  to  the  prince. 
 
 A  Sage  of  the  Liang  State.    For  Hui  Tzu,  see  p.  8. 
 
 "  There  is  a  creature  called  a  snail,"  said  Tai 
 Chin  Jen.  "  Does  your  Highness  know  what  I 
 mean  ?  " 
 
 "  I  do,"  replied  the  prince. 
 
 "  There  is  a  kingdom  on  its  left  horn,"  continued 
 Tai  Chin  Jen,  "ruled  over  by  Aggression,  and 
 another  on  its  right  horn,  ruled  over  by  Violence. 
 These  two  rulers  are  constantly  fighting  for  terri- 
 tory. In  such  cases,  corpses  lie  about  by  thousands, 
 and  one  party  will  pursue  the  other  for  fifteen  days 
 before  returning." 
 
 "Whew!  "  cried  the  prince.  "  Surely  you  are 
 joking." 
 
 "Sire,"  replied  Tai  Chin  Jen,  "I  beg  you  to 
 regard  it  as  fact.  Does  your  Highness  recognise 
 any  limit  to  space  ?  " 
 
 "  None,"  said  the  prince,  "  It  is  boundless." 
 
 "  When,  therefore,"  continued  Tai  Chin  Jen, 
 "  the  mind  descends  from  the  contemplation  of 
 boundless  space  to  the  contemplation  of  a  king- 
 dom with  fixed  boundaries,  that  kingdom  must 
 seem  to  be  of  dimensions  infinitesimally  small  ?" 
 
 "  Of  course,"  replied  the  prince. 
 
 "  Well  then,"  said  Tai  Chin  Jen,  "  in  a  kingdom 
 with  fixed  boundaries 
 
 Meaning  the  then  empire  of  the  Chous. 
 
CAP.  XXV.]  Tse   Yang  341 
 
 there  is  the  Wei  State.  In  the  Wei  State  there  is 
 the  city  of  Liang.  In  the  city  of  Liang  there  is  a 
 prince.  In  what  does  that  prince  differ  from 
 Violence  ?  " 
 
 In  his  pettiness. 
 
 "  There  is  no  difference,"  said  the  prince. 
 
 Thereupon  Tai  Chin  Jen  took  his  leave,  and  the 
 prince  remained  in  a  state  of  mental  perturbation, 
 as  though  he  had  lost  something. 
 
 When  Tai  Chin  Jen  had  gone,  Hui  Tzu  pre- 
 sented himself,  and  the  prince  said,  "  Our  friend  is 
 truly  a  great  man.     Sages  are  not  his  equal." 
 
 "  If  you  blow  through  a  tube,"  replied  Hui  Tzu, 
 "  the  result  will  be  a  note.  If  you  blow  through 
 the  hole  in  a  sword-hilt,  the  result  will  be  simply 
 whssh.  Yao  and  Shun  have  been  belauded  by 
 mankind  ;  yet  compared  with  Tai  Chin  Jen  they 
 are  but  whssh y 
 
 When  Confucius  went  to  Ch'u,  he  stopped  at  a 
 restaurant  on  Mount  I.  The  servant  to  a  man  and 
 his  wife  who  lived  next  door,  got  up  on  top  of  the 
 house. 
 
 "Whatever  is  he  doing  up  there?"  asked  Tzu 
 Lu. 
 
 "  He  is  a  Sage,"  replied  Confucius,  "  under  the 
 garb  of  a  menial.  He  buries  himself  among  the 
 people. 
 
 So  as  to  get  into  closer  relation  v/ith  them. 
 
 He  effaces  himself  at  the  wayside.     Fame,  he  has 
 
342  Chttang  Tzii 
 
 none ;  but  his  perseverance  is  inexhaustible. 
 Though  his  mouth  speaks,  his  heart  speaks  not. 
 He  has  turned  his  back  upon  mankind,  not  caring 
 to  abide  amongst  them.  He  has  drowned  himself 
 on  dry  land.     I  think  'tis  I  Liao  of  Shih-nan." 
 
 See  p.  325. 
 
 Tzu  Lu  asked  to  be  allowed  to  go  and  call  him  ; 
 but  Confucius  stopped  him,  saying,  "  No.  He 
 knows  that  I  know  what  he  is.  He  knows  that  I 
 have  come  to  Ch'u  to  recommend  him  to  the 
 prince.  And  he  looks  on  me  as  a  toady.  Under 
 the  circumstances,  as  he  would  scorn  to  hear  the 
 words  of  a  toady,  how  much  more  would  he  scorn 
 to  see  him  in  the  flesh  !  How  could  you  keep 
 him  ?  " 
 
 Tzu  Lu  went  to  see,  but  the  house  was  empty. 
 
 The  border-warden  of  Ch'ang-wu  said  to  Tzu 
 Lao, 
 
 Ch'in  Lao,  or  Ch'in  Chang,  a  disciple  of  Confucius. 
 
 "  A  prince  in  his  administrative  details  must  not 
 lack  thoroughness ;  in  his  executive  details  he 
 must  not  be  inefficient.  Formerly,  in  my  plough- 
 ing I  lacked  thoroughness,  and  the  results  also 
 lacked  thoroughness.  In  my  weeding  I  was  ineffi- 
 cient, and  the  results  were  also  inefficient.  By  and 
 by,  I  changed  my  system.  I  ploughed  deep,  and 
 weeded  carefully,  the  result  being  an  excellent 
 harvest,  more  than  I  could  get  through  in  a  year." 
 
 Chuang  Tzii,  upon  hearing  this,  observed,  "The 
 
CAP.  XXV.]  Tse  Yang  343 
 
 men  of  to-day  in  their  self-regulation  and  their 
 self-organisation  are  mostly  as  the  Border-warden 
 has  described.  They  put  their  Godhead  out  of 
 sight.  They  abandon  their  natural  dispositions. 
 They  get  rid  of  all  feeling.  They  part  with  their 
 souls,  carried  away  by  the  fashion  of  the  hour. 
 
 "  Those  who  lack  thoroughness  in  regard  to 
 their  natural  dispositions  suffer  an  evil  tribe  to 
 take  the  place  thereof. 
 
 The  physical  senses. 
 
 These  grow  up  rank  as  reeds  and  rushes,  at  first 
 of  apparent  value  to  the  body,  but  afterwards  to 
 destroy  the  natural  disposition.  Then  they  break 
 out,  at  random,  like  sores  and  ulcers  carrying  off 
 pent-up  humours." 
 
 Poh  Chii  was  studying  under  Lao  Tzu.  "  Let  us 
 go,"  said  he,  "  and  wander  over  the  world." 
 
 One  commentator  says  Poh  Chii  was  a  "  criminal," 
 probably  from  his  sympathetic  remarks  in  the  con- 
 text. 
 
 "  No,"  replied  Lao  Tzu,  "  the  world  is  just  as 
 you  see  it  here." 
 
 But  as  he  again  urged  it,  Lao  Tzii  said,  "Where 
 would  you  go  to  begin  with  ?  " 
 
 "  I  would  begin,"  answered  Poh  Chii,  "  by  going 
 to  the  Ch'i  State.  There  I  would  view  the  dead 
 bodies  of  their  malefactors.  I  would  push  them  to 
 make  them  rise.  I  would  take  off  my  robes  and 
 cover  them.     I  would  cry  to  God  and  bemoan  their 
 
344  Cliiiang  Tzii 
 
 lot,  as  follows  : — '  O  sirs,  O  sirs,  there  was  trouble 
 upon  earth,  and  you  were  the  first  to  fall  into  it ! ' 
 
 "  I  would  say,  '  Perhaps  you  were  robbers,  or 
 perhaps  murderers?'  ....  Honour  and  disgrace 
 were  set  up,  and  evil  followed.  Wealth  was  accu- 
 mulated, and  contentions  began.  Now  the  evil 
 which  has  been  set  up  and  the  contentions  which 
 have  accumulated,  endlessly  weary  man's  body  and 
 give  him  no  rest.    What  escape  is  there  from  this  ? 
 
 This  might  almost  have  come  from  The  Curse  of 
 Capital  (Aveling)  or  from  one  of  Mr.  Hyndman's 
 discourses. 
 
 "  The  rulers  of  old  set  off  all  success  to  the 
 credit  of  their  people,  attributing  all  failure  to 
 themselves.  All  that  was  right  went  to  the  credit 
 of  their  people,  all  that  was  wrong  they  attributed 
 to  themselves.  Therefore,  if  any  matter  fell  short 
 of  achievement,  they  turned  and  blamed  them- 
 selves. 
 
 "  Not  so  the  rulers  of  to-day.  They  conceal  a 
 thing  and  blame  those  who  cannot  see  it.  They 
 impose  dangerous  tasks  and  punish  those  who 
 dare  not  undertake  them.  They  inflict  heavy  bur- 
 dens and  chastise  those  who  cannot  bear  them. 
 They  ordain  long  marches  and  slay  those  who 
 cannot  make  them. 
 
 "  And  the  people,  feeling  that  their  powers  are 
 inadequate,  have  recourse  to  fraud.  For  when 
 there  is  so  much  fraud  about, 
 
 In  the  rulers. 
 
CAP.  XXV.]  Tse   Yang  345 
 
 how  can  the  people  be  otherwise  than  fraudulent  ? 
 If  their  strength  is  insufficient,  they  will  have  re- 
 course to  fraud.  If  their  knowledge  is  insufficient, 
 they  will  have  recourse  to  deceit.  If  their  means 
 are  insufficient,  they  will  steal.  And  for  such 
 robbery  and  theft,  who  is  really  responsible  ?  " 
 
 When  Chu  Poh  Yii 
 
 See  p.  49. 
 
 reached  his  sixtieth  year,  he  changed  his  opinions. 
 What  he  had  previously  regarded  as  right,  he  now 
 came  to  regard  as  wrong.  But  who  shall  say 
 whether  the  right  of  to-day  may  not  be  as  wrong 
 as  the  wrong  of  the  previous  fifty-nine  years  ? 
 
 See  p.  365. 
 
 Things  are  produced  around  us,  but  no  one 
 knows  the  whence.  They  issue  forth,  but  no  one 
 sees  the  portal.  Men  one  and  all  value  that  part 
 of  knowledge  which  is  known.  They  do  not  know 
 how  to  avail  themselves  of  the  unknown  in  order 
 to  reach  knowledge.     Is  not  this  misguided  ? 
 
 Men  value  the  phenomena  of  which  the  senses  make 
 them  conscious,  but  not  the  phenomena  of  the  senses 
 themselves. 
 
 Alas  !  alas !  the  impossibility  of  escaping  from 
 this  state  results  in  what  is  known  as  elective 
 affinity. 
 
 Adaptation  to  the  suitable  ;  being  as  one  is  because 
 more  adapted  to  that   than   to  something  to  which 
 
34^  Chuang  T::i( 
 
 one  is  not  adapted.     See  ch.  ii,  where  this  idea  is 
 first  broached. 
 
 Confucius  asked  the  historiographers  Ta  T'ao, 
 Poh  Chang  Ch'ien,  and  Hsi  Wei,  saying,  "  Duke 
 Ling  was  fond  of  wine  and  given  up  to  pleasure, 
 and  neglected  the  administration  of  his  State.  He 
 spent  his  time  in  hunting,  and  did  not  cultivate  the 
 goodwill  of  the  other  feudal  princes.  How  was  it 
 he  came  to  be  called  LtJig  ?  " 
 
 The  name  Lmg  means  "knowing,"  which  may  be 
 taken  in  two  senses. 
 
 "  For  those  very  reasons,"  replied  Ta  T'ao. 
 
 "  The  Duke,"  said  Poh  Chang  Ch'ien,  "  had 
 three  wives.  He  was  having  a  bath  together  with 
 them  when  Shih  Ch'iu,  summoned  by  his  High- 
 ness, entered  the  apartment.  Thereupon  the  Duke 
 covered  himself  and  the  ladies.  So  outrageously 
 did  he  behave  on  the  one  hand,  and  yet  so  respect- 
 ful was  he  towards  a  virtuous  man.  Hence  he  was 
 called  Liiigy 
 
 "When  the  Duke  died,"  said  Hsi  Wei,  "  divina- 
 tion showed  that  it  would  be  inauspicious  to  bury 
 him  in  the  old  family  burying-ground,  but  auspi- 
 cious to  bury  him  at  Sha-ch'iu.  And  upon  digging 
 a  grave  there,  several  fathoms  deep,  a  stone  coffin 
 was  found,  which,  being  cleaned,  yielded  the  fol- 
 lowing inscription  : — Posterity  cannot  be  trusted. 
 Ditkc  Ling  wit  I  seise  this  for  /lis  tomb. 
 
 "  As  a   matter   of   fact,    Duke    Ling   had    been 
 
CAP.  XXV.]  Tsi  Yang  347 
 
 named  Ling  long  before.     What  should  these  two 
 persons  know  about  it  ?  " 
 
 As  evidenced  by  the  inscription,  the  Duke  had  been 
 so  named  long  before,  in  the  Book  of  Fate. 
 
 Shao  Chih  asked  T'ai  Kung  Tiao,  saying, 
 "  What  is  meant  by  society  ?  " 
 
 The  first  name  signifies  Small  Knowledge,     Of  the 
 second  personage  there  is  no  record. 
 
 "  Society,"  replied  T'ai  Kung  Tiao,  ''  is  an  agree- 
 ment of  a  certain  number  of  families  and  indivi- 
 duals to  abide  by  certain  customs.  Discordant 
 elements  unite  to  form  a  harmonious  whole.  Take 
 away  this  unity  and  each  has  a  separate  indivi- 
 duality. 
 
 ''  Point  at  any  one  of  the  many  parts  of  a  horse, 
 and  that  is  not  a  horse,  although  there  is  the  horse 
 before  you.  It  is  the  combination  of  all  which 
 makes  the  horse. 
 
 ''  Similarly,  a  mountain  is  high  because  of  its 
 individual  particles.  A  river  is  large  because  of 
 its  individual  drops.  And  he  is  a  just  man  who 
 regards  all  parts  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
 whole. 
 
 "Thus,  in  regard  to  the  views  of  others,  he  holds 
 his  own  opinion,  but  not  obstinately.  In  regard  to 
 his  own  views,  while  conscious  of  their  truth,  he 
 does  not  despise  the  opinions  of  others. 
 
 "  The  four  seasons  have  different  characteristics. 
 
348  CJniang  Tzil 
 
 but  God  shows  no  preference  for  either,  and  there- 
 fore we  have  the  year  complete. 
 
 With  results  which  could  not  be  otherwise  achieved. 
 
 The  functions  of  the  various  classes  of  officials 
 differ  ;  but  the  sovereign  shows  no  partiality,  and 
 therefore  the  empire  is  governed.  There  arc  the 
 civil  and  the  military ;  but  the  truly  great  man 
 shows  no  preference  for  either,  and  therefore  their 
 efficacy  is  complete.  All  things  are  under  the 
 operation  of  varying  laws ;  but  Tao  shows  no 
 partiality  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  identified. 
 
 As  the  given  part  of  anything. 
 
 Not  being  able  to  be  identified,  it  consequently 
 does  nothing.  And  by  doing  nothing  all  things 
 can  be  done. 
 
 "  Seasons  have  their  beginnings  and  their  ends. 
 Generations  change  and  change.  Good  and  evil 
 fortune  alternate,  bringing  sorrow  here,  happiness 
 there. 
 
 Nunc  mihi,  nunc  alio,  benigna. 
 
 He  who  obstinately  views  things  from  his  own 
 standpoint  only,  may  be  right  in  one  case  and 
 wrong  in  another.  Just  as  in  a  great  jungle  all  kinds 
 of  shrubs  are  found  together  ;  or  as  on  a  mountain 
 you  see  trees  and  stones  indiscriminately  mixed, — 
 so  is  what  we  call  society." 
 
 "  Would  it  not  do  then,"  asked  Shao  Chih,  "  if 
 we  were  to  call  this  Tao  ?  " 
 
 "  It  would  not,"  replied  T'ai  Kung  Tiao.     "  All 
 
CAP.  XXV.]  Tsi  Yang  349 
 
 creation  is  made  up  of  more  than  ten  thousand 
 things.  We  speak  of  creation  as  the  Ten  Thousand 
 Things  merely  because  it  is  a  convenient  term  by 
 which  to  express  a  large  number.  In  point  of  out- 
 ward shape  the  universe  is  vast.  In  point  of  influ- 
 ence the  Positive  and  Negative  principles  are 
 mighty.  Yet  Tao  folds  them  all  in  its  embrace. 
 For  convenience'  sake  the  bond  of  society  is  called 
 great.    But  how  can  that  which  is  thus  conditioned 
 
 By  having  a  name. 
 
 be  compared  with  Tao  ?  There  is  as  wide  a 
 difference  between  them  as  there  is  between  a  horse 
 and  a  dog." 
 
 "  Whence  then,"  enquired  Shao  Chih,  ''  comes 
 the  vitality  of  all  things  between  the  four  points  of 
 the  compass,  between  heaven  above  and  earth 
 beneath  ?  " 
 
 "The  Positive  and  Negative  principles,"  answered 
 T'ai  Kung  Tiao,  "  influence,  act  upon,  and  regulate 
 each  other.  The  four  seasons  alternate  with,  give 
 birth  to,  and  destroy  one  another.  Hence,  loves  and 
 hates,  and  courses  rejected  and  courses  adopted. 
 Hence  too,  the  intercourse  of  the  sexes. 
 
 "  States  of  peril  and  safety  alternate.  Good  and 
 evil  fortune  give  birth  to  one  another.  Slowness 
 and  speed  are  mutually  exclusive.  Collection  and 
 dispersion  are  correlates.  The  actuality  of  these 
 may  be  noted. 
 
 There  is  the  name  and  the  embodiment. 
 The  essence  of  each   can   be   verified.     There   is 
 
350  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 regular  movement  forward,  modified  by  deflection 
 into  a  curve.  Exhaustion  leads  to  renewal.  The 
 end  introduces  a  new  beginning.  This  is  the  law 
 of  material  existences.  The  force  of  language,  the 
 reach  of  knowledge,  cannot  pass  beyond  the  bounds 
 of  such  material  existences.  The  disciple  of  Tao 
 refrains  from  prying  into  the  states  after  or  before. 
 Human  speculation  stops  short  of  this," 
 
 "Chi  Ch^n,"  said  Shao  Chih,  "  taught  Chance ; 
 Chieh  Tzu  taught  Predestination. 
 
 "  Two  Sages."  Cotmn. 
 
 In  the  speculations  of  these  two  schools,  on  which 
 side  did  right  lie  ?  " 
 
 "  The  cock  crows,"  replied  T'ai  Kung  Tiao, 
 "  and  the  dog  barks.  So  much  we  know.  But  the 
 wisest  of  us  could  not  say  why  one  crows  and  the 
 other  barks,  nor  guess  why  they  crow  or  bark 
 at  all. 
 
 "  Let  me  explain.  The  infinitely  small  is  inap- 
 preciable ;  the  infinitely  great  is  immeasurable. 
 Chance  and  Predestination  must  refer  to  the  con- 
 ditioned.    Consequently,  both  are  wrong. 
 
 "  Predestination  involves  a  real  existence. 
 
 Of  a  God. 
 
 Chance  implies  an  absolute  absence  of  any  principle. 
 To  have  a  name  and  the  embodiment  thereof, — 
 this  is  to  have  a  material  existence.  To  have  no 
 name  and  no  embodiment, — of  this  one  can  speak 
 and  think  ;  but  the  more  one  speaks  the  farther  off 
 one  gets. 
 
CAP.  XXV.]  Tse   Yang  35 1 
 
 "  The  unborn  creature  cannot  be  kept  from  life. 
 So  powerful  is  its  "  will  to  live." 
 
 The  dead  cannot  be  tracked.  From  birth  to  death 
 is  but  a  span  ;  yet  the  secret  cannot  be  known. 
 Chance  and  Predestination  are  but  a  priori 
 solutions. 
 
 "  When  I  seek  for  a  beginning,  I  find  only  time 
 infinite.  When  I  look  forward  to  an  end,  I  see 
 only  time  infinite.  Infinity  of  time  past  and  to 
 come  implies  no  beginning  and  is  in  accordance 
 with  the  laws  of  material  existences.  Predestination 
 and  Chance  give  us  a  beginning,  but  one  which  is 
 compatible  only  with  the  existence  of  matter. 
 
 And  not  with  the  time  before  matter  was. 
 
 "Tao  cannot  be  existent.  If  it  were  existent,  it 
 could  not  be  non-existent.  The  very  name  of 
 Tao  is  only  adopted  for  convenience'  sake.  Pre- 
 destination and  Chance  are  limited  to  material 
 existences.     How  can  they  bear  upon  the  infinite  ? 
 
 "  Were  language  adequate,  it  would  take  but  a 
 day  to  fully  set  forth  Tao.  Not  being  adequate, 
 it  takes  that  time  to  explain  material  existences. 
 Tao  is  something  beyond  material  existences.  It 
 cannot  be  conveyed  either  by  words  or  by  silence. 
 In  that  state  which  is  neither  speech  nor  silence,  its 
 transcendental  nature  maybe  apprehended." 
 
 "With  this  essay  in  China,"  says  Lin  Hsi  Chung, 
 "  what  need  to  fetch  Buddhist  books  from  the 
 West?" 
 
 y 
 
352 
 
 CHAPTER   XXVI. 
 
 Contingencies. 
 
 Argument : — The  external  uncertain — The  internal  alone  without  harm — 
 Life  and  death  are  external — The  soul  only  is  under  man's  control — 
 Folly  of  worldliness — Illustrations. 
 
 CONTINGENCIES  are  uncertain.  Hence  the 
 decapitation  of  Lung  Feng,  the  disembowel- 
 ment  of  Pi  Kan,  the  enthusiasm  of  Chi  Tzu,  the 
 death  of  Wu  Lai,  the  flights  of  Chieh  and  Chou. 
 
 See  pp.  40,  72.  Wu  Lai  was  an  intriguing 
 official  who  held  office  under  the  tyrant  Chou  Hsin. 
 
 No  sovereign  but  would  have  loyal  ministers  ; 
 yet  loyalty  does  not  necessarily  inspire  confidence. 
 Hence  Wu  Yiian  found  a  grave  in  the  river ; 
 
 See  p.  221. 
 
 and  Chang  Hung  perished  in  Shu,  his  blood, 
 after  being  preserved  three  years,  turning  into 
 green  jade. 
 
 No  parent  but  would  have  filial  sons  ;  yet  filial 
 piety  does  not  necessarily  inspire  love.  Hence 
 Hsiao  Chi  sorrrowed,  and  Tseng  Shen  grieved. 
 
 The  first,  prince  of  the  House  of  Yin,  was  turned 
 out  of  doors  by  his  stepmother.  The  second,  one  of 
 the  disciples  of  Confucius  and  a  rare  pattern  of  filial 
 
CAP.  XXVI.]  Contingencies  353 
 
 piety,  grieved  because  his  mother  was  too  old  to  hit 
 him  hard  enough.     See  p.  100. 
 
 Wood  rubbed  with  wood  produces  fire.  Metal 
 exposed  to  fire  will  liquefy.  If  the  Positive  and 
 Negative  principles  operate  inharmoniously,  heaven 
 and  earth  are  greatly  disturbed.  Thunder  crashes, 
 and  with  rain  comes  lightning,  scorching  up  the 
 tall  locust-trees.  One  fears  lest  sky  and  land  should 
 collapse  and  leave  no  escape.  Unable  to  \\^  perdtt, 
 the  heart  feels  as  though  suspended  between  heaven 
 and  earth. 
 
 So  in  the  struggle  between  peace  and  unrest,  the 
 friction  between  good  and  evil,  much  fire  is  evolved 
 which  consumes  the  inner  harmony  of  man.  But 
 the  mind  is  unable  to  resist  fire.  It  is  destroyed, 
 and  with  it  Tao  comes  to  an  end. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu's  family  being  poor,  he  went  to 
 borrow  some  corn  from  the  prince  of  Chien-ho. 
 
 "Yes,"  said  the  prince.  "I  am  just  about 
 collecting  the  revenue  of  my  fief,  and  will  then 
 lend  you  three  hundred  ounces  of  silver.  Will 
 that  do?" 
 
 At  this  Chuang  Tzu  flushed  with  anger  and 
 said,  "  Yesterday,  as  I  was  coming  along,  I  heard 
 a  voice  calling  me.  I  looked  round,  and  in  the  cart- 
 rut  I  saw  a  stickleback. 
 
 "  'And  what  do  you  want,  stickleback?'   said  I. 
 
 "  *  I  am  a  denizen  of  the  eastern  ocean,'  replied 
 the  stickleback.  '  Pray,  Sir,  a  pint  of  water  to  save 
 my  life.' 
 
 2  A 
 
354  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 "  '  Yes,'  said  I.  *  I  am  just  going  south  to  visit 
 the  princes  of  Wu  and  Yiieh.  I  will  bring  you  some 
 from  the  west  river.     Will  that  do  ?  ' 
 
 "  At  this  the  stickleback  flushed  with  anger  and 
 said,  *  I  am  out  of  my  element.  I  have  nowhere  to 
 go.  A  pint  of  water  would  save  me.  But  to  talk 
 to  me  like  this, — you  might  as  well  put  me  in  a 
 dried-fish  shop  at  once.'  " 
 
 The  above  episode  is  condemned  by  Lin  Hsi  Chung 
 on  the  score  of  style. 
 
 J^n  Kung  Tzu 
 
 A  young  noble  of  the  Jen  State.   Coinm, 
 
 got  a  huge  hook  on  a  big  line,  which  he  baited  with 
 fifty  oxen.  He  squatted  down  at  Kuei-chi,  and  cast 
 into  the  eastern  ocean.  Every  day  he  fished,  but  for 
 a  whole  year  he  caught  nothing.  Then  came  a  great 
 fish  which  swallowed  the  bait,  and  dragging  the 
 huge  hook  dived  down  below.  This  way  and  that 
 way  it  plunged  about,  erecting  the  dorsal  fin.  The 
 white  waves  rolled  mountain  high.  The  great  deep 
 was  shaken  up.  The  noise  was  like  that  of  so 
 many  devils,  terrifying  people  for  many  miles 
 around. 
 
 But  when  Jen  Kung  Tzu  had  secured  his  fish,  he 
 cut  it  up  and  salted  it.  And  from  Chih-ho  east- 
 wards, and  from  Ts'ang-wu  northwards,  there  was 
 none  but  ate  his  fill  of  that  fish.  Even  among 
 succeeding  generations,  gobemoiiches  of  the  day 
 recounted  the  marvellous  tale. 
 
CAP.  XXVI.]  Contingencies  355 
 
 To  take  a  rod  and  line,  and  go  to  a  pool,  and 
 catch  small  fry  is  a  very  different  thing  from  catch- 
 ing big  fish.  And  by  means  of  a  little  show  of 
 ability  to  secure  some  small  billet  is  a  very  different 
 thing  from  really  pushing  one's  way  to  the  front. 
 So  that  those  who  do  not  imitate  the  example  of 
 J^n  Kung  Tzu  will  be  very  far  from  becoming 
 leaders  in  their  generation. 
 Also  spurious. 
 
 When  some  Confucianists  were  opening  a  grave 
 in  accordance  with  their  Canons  of  Poetry  and 
 Rites,  the  master  shouted  out,  "  Day  is  breaking. 
 How  are  you  getting  on  with  the  work  ?  " 
 
 '*  Not  got  off  the  burial-clothes  yet,"  answered 
 an  apprentice.     "  There  is  a  pearl  in  the  mouth." 
 Now  the  Canon  of  Poetry  says — 
 The  greenest  corn 
 Grows  over  graves. 
 In  life,  no  charity  ; 
 In  death,  no  pearl. 
 
 So  seizing  the  corpse's  brow  with  one  hand,  and 
 forcing  down  its  chin  with  the  other,  these  Confu- 
 cianists proceed  to  tap  its  cheeks  with  a  metal 
 hammer,  in  order  to  make  the  jaws  open  gently  and 
 not  injure  the  pearl ! 
 
 The  above,  pronounced  by  Lin  Hsi  Chung  to  be 
 spurious,  is  aimed  at  the  Confucianists,  who  are 
 ready  to  commit  any  outrage  on  natural  feeling  so 
 long  as  there  is  no  violation  of  the  details  of  their 
 own  artificial  system. 
 
 2  A  2 
 
35^  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 A  disciple  of  Lao  Lai  Tzu 
 A  sage  of  the  Ch'u  State, 
 while  out  gathering  fuel,  chanced  to  meet  Confucius. 
 On  his  return,  he  said,  "There  is  a  man  over  there 
 with  a  long  body  and  short  legs,  round  shoulders 
 and  drooping  ears.  He  looks  as  though  he  were 
 sorrowing  over  mankind.  I  know  not  who  he 
 can  be." 
 
 "  It  is  Confucius  !  "  cried  Lao  Lai  Tzu.  "  Bid 
 him  come  hither." 
 
 When  Confucius  arrived,  Lao  Lai  Tzu  addressed 
 him  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  Ch'iu  !  Get  rid  of  your  dogmatism  and  your 
 specious  knowledge,  and  you  will  be  really  a  supe- 
 rior man." 
 
 Confucius  bowed  and  was  about  to  retire,  when 
 suddenly  his  countenance  changed  and  he  enquired, 
 "  Shall  I  then  be  able  to  enter  upon  Tao  ?  " 
 
 "  The  wounds  of  one  generation  being  too  much," 
 answered  Lao  Lai  Tzu,  "you  would  take  to  your- 
 self the  sorrows  of  all  time.  Are  you  not  weary  ? 
 Is  your  strength  equal  to  the  task? 
 
 "  To  employ  goodness  as  a  passport  to  influence 
 through  the  gratification  of  others,  is  an  everlasting 
 shame.  Yet  this  is  the  common  way  of  all,  to  lure 
 people  by  fame,  to  bind  them  by  ties  of  grati- 
 fication. 
 
 "  Better  than  extolling  Yao  and  cursing  Chieh  is 
 oblivion  of  both,  keeping  one's  praises  to  oneself. 
 These  things  react  injuriously  on  self ;  the  agitation 
 of  movement  results  in  deflection. 
 
CAP.  xxvi.j  Contingencies  2>S1 
 
 "  The  true  Sage  is  a  passive  agent.  If  he  suc- 
 ceeds, he  simply  feels  that  he  was  provided  by  no 
 effort  of  his  own  with  the  energy  necessary  to 
 success." 
 
 Prince  Ylian  of  Sung  dreamed  one  night  that  a 
 man  with  dishevelled  hair  peeped  through  a  side 
 door  and  said,  "  I  have  come  from  the  waters  of 
 Tsai-lu.  I  am  a  marine  messenger  attached  to  the 
 staff  of  the  River  God.  A  fisherman,  named  Yii 
 Ch'ieh,  has  caught  me." 
 
 When  the  prince  awaked,  he  referred  his  dream 
 to  the  soothsayers,  who  said,  "This  is  a  divine 
 tortoise." 
 
 "  Is  there  any  fisherman,"  asked  the  prince, 
 '*  whose  name  is  Yu  Ch'ieh  ?  " 
 
 Being  told  there  was,  the  prince  gave  orders  for 
 his  appearance  at  court ;  and  the  next  day  Yii 
 Ch'ieh  had  an  audience. 
 
 "Fisherman,"  said  the  prince,  "what  have  you 
 caught  ? " 
 
 "  I  have  netted  a  white  tortoise,"  replied  the 
 fisherman,  "  five  feet  in  semi-circumference." 
 
 "  Bring  your  tortoise,"  said  the  prince.  But 
 when  it  came,  the  prince  could  not  make  up  his 
 mind  whether  to  kill  it  or  keep  it  alive.  Thus  in 
 doubt,  he  had  recourse  to  divination,  and  received 
 the  following  response  : — 
 
 Slay  the  tortoise  for  purposes  of  divination  and 
 good  fortune  will  result. 
 
 So  the  tortoise  was  despatched.     After  w^hich, 
 
358  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 out  of  seventy-two  omens  taken,  not  a  single  one 
 proved  false. 
 
 "  A  divine  tortoise,"  said  Confucius,  "  can  appear 
 to  prince  Yuan  in  a  dream,  yet  it  cannot  escape 
 the  net  of  Yii  Ch'ieh.  Its  wisdom  can  yield 
 seventy-two  faultless  omens,  yet  it  cannot  escape 
 the  misery  of  being  cut  to  pieces.  Truly  wisdom 
 has  its  limits ;  spirituality,  that  which  it  cannot 
 reach. 
 
 "In  spite  of  the  highest  wisdom,  there  are  count- 
 less snares  to  be  avoided.  If  a  fish  has  not  to  fear 
 nets,  there  are  always  pelicans.  Get  rid  of  small 
 wisdom,  and  great  wisdom  will  shine  upon  you. 
 Put  away  goodness  and  you  will  be  naturally  good. 
 A  child  does  not  learn  to  speak  because  taught  by 
 professors  of  the  art,  but  because  it  lives  among 
 people  who  can  themselves  speak." 
 
 Hui  Tzu  said  to  Chuang  Tzu,  "  Your  theme, 
 Sir,  is  the  useless." 
 
 "  You  must  understand  the  useless,"  replied 
 Chuang  Tzu,   "  before  you  can  discuss  the  useful. 
 
 "  For  instance,  the  earth  is  of  huge  proportions, 
 yet  man  uses  of  it  only  as  much  as  is  covered  by 
 the  sole  of  his  foot.  By  and  by,  he  turns  up  his 
 toes  and  goes  beneath  it  to  the  Yellow  Spring. 
 Has  he  any  further  use  for  it  ?  " 
 
 "  He  has  none,"  replied  Hui  Tzu. 
 
 "  And  in  like  manner,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu, 
 "  may  be  demonstrated  the  use  of  the  useless. 
 
 "  Could   a   man    transcend    the    limits    of    the 
 
CAP.  XXVI.]  Contingencies  359 
 
 human,"  said  Chuang  Tzu,  ''  would  he  not  do  so  ? 
 Unable  to  do  so,  how  should  he  succeed  ? 
 
 "  The  determination  to  retire,  to  renounce  the 
 world, — such  alas  !  is  not  the  fruit  of  perfect  wis- 
 dom or  immaculate  virtue.  From  cataclysms 
 ahead,  these  do  not  turn  back ;  nor  do  they  heed 
 the  approach  of  devouring  flame.  Although  there 
 are  class  distinctions  of  high  and  low,  these  are  but 
 for  a  time,  and  under  the  changed  conditions  of  a 
 new  sphere  are  unknown. 
 
 In  the  transcendental  state. 
 
 "  Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  '  The  perfect  man 
 leaves  no  trace  behind.' 
 
 "  For  instance,  to  glorify  the  past  and  to  con- 
 demn the  present  has  always  been  the  way  of 
 the  scholar. 
 
 Laudator  temporis  acti. 
 
 Yet  if  Hsi  Wei  Shih  and  individuals  of  that  class 
 
 Sc.  patriarchs. 
 
 were  caused  to  re-appear  in  the  present  day,  which 
 of  them  but  would  accommodate  himself  to  the 
 age? 
 
 "  Only  the  perfect  man  can  transcend  the  limits 
 of  the  human  and  yet  not  withdraw  from  the 
 world,  live  in  accord  with  mankind  and  yet  suffer 
 no  injury  himself.  Of  the  world's  teachings  he 
 learns  nothing.  He  has  that  within  which  makes 
 him  independent  of  others. 
 
 "  If  the  eye  is  unobstructed,  the  result  is  sight. 
 If  the  ear  is  unobstructed  the  result  is  hearing.     If 
 
360  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 the  nose  is  unobstructed,  the  result  is  sense  of 
 smell.  If  the  mouth  is  unobstructed,  the  result  is 
 sense  of  taste.  If  the  mind  is  unobstructed,  the 
 result  is  wisdom.  If  wisdom  is  unobstructed,  the 
 result  is  Te. 
 
 "  Tao  may  not  be  obstructed.  To  obstruct  is 
 to  strangle.  This  affects  the  base,  and  all  evils 
 spring  into  life. 
 
 "All  sentient  beings  depend  upon  breath.  If 
 this  does  not  reach  them  in  sufficient  quantity,  it 
 is  not  the  fault  of  God.  God  supplies  it  day  and 
 night  without  cease,  but  man  stops  the  passage. 
 
 "  Man  has  for  himself  a  spacious  domain.  His 
 mind  may  roam  to  heaven.  If  there  is  no  room  in 
 the  house,  the  wife  and  her  mother-in-law  run 
 against  one  another.  If  the  mind  cannot  roam  to 
 heaven,  the  faculties  will  be  in  a  state  of  anta- 
 gonism. Those  who  would  benefit  mankind  from 
 deep  forests  or  lofty  mountains  are  simply  unequal 
 to  the  strain  upon  their  higher  natures. 
 
 It  is  for  that  reason  they  become  hermits. 
 
 "  Ill-regulated  virtue  ends  in  reputation.  Ill- 
 regulated  reputation  ends  in  notoriety.  Scheming 
 leads  to  confusion.  Knowledge  begets  contentions. 
 Obstinacy  produces  stupidity.  Organised  govern- 
 ment is  for  the  general  good  of  all. 
 
 "  Spring  rains  come  in  due  season,  and  plants 
 and  shrubs  burst  up  from  the  earth.  Weeding  and 
 tending  do  not  begin  until  such  plants  and  shrubs 
 have  reached  more  than  half  their  growth,  and 
 without  being  conscious  of  the  fact. 
 
CAP.  XXVI.]  Contingencies  361 
 
 "  Repose  gives  health  to  the  sick.  Rubbing  the 
 eyelids  removes  the  wrinkles  of  old  age.  Quiet 
 will  dispel  anxieties.  These  remedies  however  are 
 the  resource  only  of  those  who  need  them.  Others 
 who  are  free  from  such  ills  pay  no  attention 
 thereto. 
 
 "  That  which  the  true  Sage  marvels  at  in  the 
 empire,  claims  not  the  attention  of  the  Divine  man. 
 That  which  the  truly  virtuous  man  marvels  at  in 
 his  own  sphere,  claims  not  the  attention  of  the  true 
 Sage.  That  which  the  superior  man  marvels  at 
 in  his  State,  claims  not  the  attention  of  the  truly 
 virtuous  man.  How  the  mean  man  adapts  himself 
 to  his  age,  claims  not  the  attention  of  the  superior 
 man. 
 
 "  The  keeper  of  the  Yen  gate. 
 
 Of  the  capital  of  the  Sung  State. 
 
 having  maltreated  himself  severely  in  consequence 
 of  the  death  of  his  parents,  received  a  high  official 
 post. 
 
 In  reward  for  his  filial  piety. 
 
 His  relatives  thereupon  maltreated  themselves,  and 
 some  half  of  them  died. 
 
 In  the  vain  endeavour  to  secure  like  rewards. 
 
 "  Yao  offered  the  empire  to  Hsii  Yu,  but  Hsii 
 Yu  fled.  T'ang  offered  it  to  Wu  Kuang,  but  Wu 
 Kuang  declined  with  anger. 
 
 See  pp.  6,   72. 
 
 "  When  Chi  T'o  heard  of   Hsii  Yu's  flight,  he 
 
362  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 took  all  his  disciples  with  him  and  jumped  into  the 
 river  K'uan  ; 
 
 As  a  tribute  to  his  eminent  virtue. 
 
 upon  which  the  various  feudal  princes  mourned  for 
 three  years, 
 
 They  did  not  resign  their  fiefs  at  his  example. 
 
 and  Shen  T'u  Ti  had  the  river  filled  up. 
 
 Fearing  similar    ill-advised    acts.      For   names,   see 
 pp.  6,  72. 
 
 "  The  raison  dStre  of  a  fish-trap  is  the  fish. 
 When  the  fish  is  caught,  the  trap  may  be  ignored. 
 The  raiso7t  detre  of  a  rabbit-snare  is  the  rabbit. 
 When  the  rabbit  is  caught  the  snare  may  be 
 ignored.  The  raison  detre  of  language  is  an  idea 
 to  be  expressed.  When  the  idea  is  expressed,  the 
 language  may  be  ignored.  But  where  shall  I  find 
 a  man  to  ignore  language,  with  whom  I  may  be 
 able  to  converse  ?  " 
 
363 
 
 CHAPTER    XXVII. 
 
 Language. 
 
 Argument : — Speech,  natural  and  artificial — Natural  speech  in  harmony 
 with  the  divine — Destiny — The  ultimate  cause — Purification  of  the 
 soul — Illustrations, 
 
 OF  language  put  into  other  people's  mouths,  nine 
 tenths  will  succeed.  Of  language  based  upon 
 weighty  authority,  seven  tenths.  But  language 
 which  flows  constantly  over,  as  from  a  full  goblet, 
 is  in  accord  with  God. 
 
 The  natural  overflowings  of  the  heart. 
 
 When  language  is  put  into  other  people's  mouths, 
 outside  support  is  sought.  Just  as  a  father  does 
 not  negotiate  his  son's  marriage ;  for  any  praise  he 
 could  bestow  would  not  have  the  same  value  as 
 praise  by  an  outsider.  Thus,  the  fault  is  not  mine, 
 but  that  of  others. 
 
 Who  will  not  believe  the  original  speaker. 
 
 To  that  which  agrees  with  our  own  opinions  we 
 assent ;  from  that  which  does  not  we  dissent.  We 
 regard  that  which  agrees  with  our  own  opinion  as 
 right.  We  regard  that  which  differs  from  our 
 opinion  as  wrong.  Language  based  on  weighty 
 authority  is  used  to  bar  further  argument.     The 
 
364  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 authorities  are  our  superiors,  our  elders  in  years. 
 But  if  they  lack  the  requisite  knowledge  and  ex- 
 perience, being  our  superiors  only  in  the  sense  of 
 age,  then  they  are  not  our  superiors.  And  if  men 
 are  not  the  superiors  of  their  fellows,  no  one  troubles 
 about  them.  And  those  about  whom  no  one  troubles 
 are  merely  stale. 
 
 Language  which  flows  constantly  over,  as  from 
 a  full  goblet,  is  in  accord  with  God. 
 
 Embracing  both  positive  and  negative  in  One. 
 
 Because  it  spreads  out  on  all  sides,  it  endures  for 
 all  time.  Without  language,  contraries  are  iden- 
 tical. The  identity  is  not  identical  with  its  ex- 
 pression :  the  expression  is  not  identical  with  its 
 identity.  Therefore  it  has  been  said.  Language 
 not  expressed  in  language  is  not  language.  Con- 
 stantly spoken,  it  is  as  though  not  spoken.  Con- 
 stantly unspoken,  it  is  not  as  though  not  spoken. 
 
 From  the  subjective  point  of  view,  there  are 
 possibilities  and  impossibilities,  there  are  suit- 
 abilities and  unsuitabilities.  This  results  from  the 
 natural  affinity  of  things  for  what  they  are  and 
 their  natural  antagonism  to  what  they  are  not. 
 For  all  things  have  their  own  particular  constitu- 
 tions and  potentialities.  Nothing  can  exist  without 
 these. 
 
 See  p.  19. 
 
 But  for  language  that  constantly  flows  over,  as 
 from  a  full  goblet,  and  is  in  accord  with  God,  how 
 should  the  permanent  be  attained  ? 
 
CAP.  XXVII.]  Language  365 
 
 All  things  spring  from  germs.  Under  many 
 diverse  forms  these  things  are  ever  being  repro- 
 duced. Round  and  round,  like  a  wheel,  no  part  of 
 which  is  more  the  starting-point  than  any  other. 
 This  is  called  the  equilibrium  of  God.  And  he 
 who  holds  the  scales  is  God. 
 
 Alluding  to  the  Identity-philosophy,  which  means, 
 in  the  words  of  Emerson,  "that  nature  iterates  her 
 means  perpetually  on  successive  planes  ....  The 
 whole  art  of  the  plant  is  still  to  repeat  leaf  on  leaf 
 without  end." 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  said  to  Hui  Tzu,  "When  Confucius 
 reached  his  sixtieth  year  he  changed  his  opinions. 
 What  he  had  previously  regarded  as  right,  he  ulti- 
 mately came  to  regard  as  wrong.  But  who  shall 
 say  whether  the  right  of  to-day  may  not  be  as 
 wrong  as  the  wrong  of  the  previous  fifty-nine 
 years  ?  " 
 
 See  p.  345. 
 
 "  He  was  a  persevering  worker,"  replied  Hui 
 Tzu,  "and  his  wisdom  increased  day  by  day." 
 
 His  conversion  was  no  spasmodic  act. 
 
 "  Confucius,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,  "  discarded 
 both  perseverance  and  wisdom,  but  did  not  attempt 
 to  formulate  the  doctrine  in  words.  He  said,  *  Man 
 has  received  his  talents  from  God,  together  with  a 
 soul  to  give  them  life.  He  should  speak  in  accord- 
 ance with  established  laws.  His  words  should  be 
 in  harmony  with  fixed  order.     Personal  advantage 
 
366  CJiuang  Tzit 
 
 and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  lie  open  before  us. 
 Likes  and  dislikes,  rights  and  wrongs,  are  but  as 
 men  choose  to  call  them.  But  to  bring  submission 
 into  men's  hearts,  so  that  they  shall  not  be  stiff- 
 necked,  and  thus  fix  firmly  the  foundations  of  the 
 empire, — to  that,  alas  !   I  have  not  attained.'  " 
 
 "  From  the  above,"  says  Lin  Hsi  Chung,  "  we  may 
 see  that  Hui  Tzii,  though  skilled  in  winning  debates 
 was  unskilled  in  winning  hearts." 
 
 Tseng  Tzu  held  office  twice.  His  emotions  varied 
 in  each  case. 
 
 See  pp.  100,  352. 
 
 "As  long  as  my  parents  were  alive,"  said  he,  "  I 
 was  happy  on  a  small  salary.  When  I  had  a  large 
 salary,  but  my  parents  were  no  more,  I  was  sad." 
 
 A  disciple  said  to  Confucius,  "  Can  we  call  Ts^ng 
 Tzu  a  man  without  cares  to  trouble  him  ?" 
 
 Money  being  no  object  to  him. 
 
 "  He  had  cares  to  trouble  him,"  replied  Confucius. 
 "  Can  a  man  who  has  no  cares  to  trouble  him  feel 
 grief?  His  small  salary  and  his  large  salary  were 
 to  him  like  a  heron  or  a  mosquito  flying  past." 
 
 Yen  Ch'eng  Tzu  Yu  said  to  Tung  Kuo  Tzu  Chi, 
 
 See  p.  324. 
 
 "  One  year  after  receiving  your  instructions  I  be- 
 came naturally  simple.  After  two  years,  I  could 
 adapt  myself  as  required.     After  three  years,  I  un- 
 
CAP.  XXVII.]  Language  367 
 
 derstood.  After  four  years,  my  intelligence  deve- 
 loped. After  five  years,  it  was  complete.  After  six 
 years,  the  spirit  entered  into  me.  After  seven,  I 
 knew  God.  After  eight,  life  and  death  existed  for 
 me  no  more.     After  nine,  perfection. 
 
 "  Life  has  its  distinctions  ;  but  in  death  we  are 
 all  made  equal.  That  death  should  have  an  origin, 
 but  that  life  should  have  no  origin, — can  this  be 
 so  ?  What  determines  its  presence  in  one  place, 
 its  absence  in  another  ? 
 
 "  Heaven  has  its  fixed  order. 
 Visible  to  all. 
 Earth   has  yielded   up   its  secrets  to  man.       But 
 where  to  seek  whence  am  I  ? 
 
 "  Not  knowing  the  hereafter,  how  can  we  deny 
 the  operation  of  Destiny  ?  Not  knowing  what  pre- 
 ceded birth,  how  can  we  assert  the  operation  of 
 Destiny  ?  When  things  turn  out  as  they  ought, 
 who  shall  say  that  the  agency  is  not  supernatural  ? 
 When  things  turn  out  otherwise,  who  shall  say  that 
 it  is?" 
 
 The  various  Penumbrae  said  to  the  Umbra, 
 "  Before  you  were  looking  down,  now  you  are  look- 
 ing up.  Before  you  had  your  hair  tied  up,  now 
 it  is  all  loosed.  Before  you  were  sitting,  now  you 
 have  got  up.  Before  you  were  moving,  now  you 
 are  stopping  still.      How  is  this  ?  " 
 
 "  Gentlemen,"  replied  the  Umbra,  "  the  question 
 is  hardly  worth  asking. 
 
 Ultimate  causes  being  unknowable. 
 
368  C/ntang  Tzii 
 
 I  do  these  things,  but  I  do  not  know  why.  I  am 
 like  the  scaly  back  of  the  cicada,  the  shell  of  the 
 locust, — apparently  independent,  but  not  really  so. 
 By  firelight  or  in  daylight  I  am  seen  :  in  darkness 
 or  by  night  I  am  gone.  And  if  I  am  dependent  on 
 these,  how  much  more  are  they  dependent  on  some- 
 thing else  ?  When  they  come,  I  come  with  them. 
 When  they  go,  I  go  with  them.  When  they  live, 
 I  live  with  them.  But  who  it  is  that  gives  the  life, 
 how  shall  we  seek  to  know?" 
 
 Repeated,  with  variations,  from  ch.  ii. 
 
 Yang  Tzu  Chii 
 
 See  p.  100. 
 
 went  southwards  to  P'ei,  and  when  Lao  Tzu  was 
 travelling  westwards  to  Ch'in,  hastened  to  receive 
 him  outside  the  city.  Arriving  at  the  bridge,  he 
 met  Lao  Tzu ;  and  the  latter  standing  in  the 
 middle  of  the  road,  looked  up  to  heaven  and  said 
 with  a  sigh,  "  At  first,  I  thought  you  could  be 
 taught.     I  think  so  no  more." 
 
 Yang  Tzu  Chii  made  no  reply,  but  when  they 
 reached  the  inn,  handed  Lao  Tzu  water  for  washing 
 and  rinsing,  and  a  towel  and  comb.  He  then  re- 
 moved his  own  boots  outside  the  door,  and  crawling 
 on  his  knees  into  the  Master's  presence,  said,  "  I 
 have  been  wishing  to  ask  for  instruction,  Sir,  but 
 as  you  were  travelling  and  not  at  leisure,  I  did  not 
 venture.  You  are  now,  Sir,  at  leisure.  May  I 
 enquire  the  reason  of  what  you  said  ?  " 
 
CAP.  XXVII.]  Lmigiiage  369 
 
 *'  You  have  an  overbearing  look,"  said  Lao  Tzu. 
 "Who  would  live  with  such  a  man?  He  who  is 
 truly  pure  behaves  as  though  he  were  sullied.  He 
 who  has  virtue  in  abundance  behaves  as  thouQ^h  it 
 were  not  enough." 
 
 These  last  two  sentences  occur  in  the  Tao-Te-Cki'ng, 
 ch.  xH,  and  also  in  the  works  of  Lieh  Tzii  as  part  of 
 that  author's  own  text.  See  The  Reniains  of  Lao 
 Tzii,  p.  29. 
 
 Yang  Tzii  Chii  changed  countenance  at  this,  and 
 replied,  "  I  hear  and  obey." 
 
 Now  when  Yang  Tzii  Chii  first  went  to  the  inn, 
 the  visitors  there  had  come  out  to  receive  him. 
 Mine  host  had  arranged  his  mat,  while  the  land- 
 lady held  towel  and  comb.  The  visitors  had  given 
 him  up  the  best  seats,  and  those  who  were  cooking 
 had  left  the  stove  free  for  him.  But  when  he  went 
 back, 
 
 After  his  Interview  with  Lao  Tzu. 
 
 the  other  visitors  struggled  to  get  the  best  seats  for 
 themselves. 
 
 So  changed  was  he  in  spirit. 
 
 Lin  Hsi  Chung  considers  that  this  chapter  should 
 immediately  precede  what  is  now  ch.  xxxii,  from 
 which  it  has  been  separated  by  the  interpolation  of 
 the  four  following  chapters,  all  admittedly  spurious. 
 
 2  B 
 
370 
 
 CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
 
 On  Declining  Power. 
 
 [Spurious.] 
 
 YAO  offered  to  resign  the  empire  to  Hsii  Yu, 
 but  the  latter  declined. 
 
 He  then  offered  it  to  Tzii  Chou  Chih  Fu,  who 
 said,  "  There  is  no  objection  to  making  me  em- 
 peror. But  just  now  I  am  suffering  from  a  trouble- 
 some disease,  and  am  engaged  in  trying  to  cure  it. 
 I  have  no  leisure  to  look  after  the  empire." 
 
 Now  the  empire  is  of  paramount  importance. 
 Yet  here  was  a  man  who  w^ould  not  allow  it  to 
 injure  his  chance  of  life.  How  much  less  then 
 would  he  let  other  things  do  so  ?  Yet  it  is  only  he 
 who  would  do  nothing  in  the  way  of  government 
 who  is  fit  to  be  trusted  with  the  empire. 
 
 Those  personages  who    have    not  been   previously 
 mentioned  may  be  taken  to  be  allegorical.  g 
 
 Shun  offered  to  resign  the  empire  to  Tzu  Chou 
 Chih  Poh.  The  latter  said,  "  Just  now  I  am 
 suffering  from  a  troublesome  disease,  and  am 
 engaged  in  trying  to  cure  it.  I  have  no  leisure  to 
 look  after  the  empire." 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  DecliniJig  Poiuev  371 
 
 Now  the  empire  is  a  great  trust ;  but  not  to 
 sacrifice  one's  life  for  it  is  precisely  where  the  man 
 of  Tao  differs  from  the  man  of  the  world. 
 
 Shun  offered  to  resign  the  empire  to  Shan 
 Chiian.  Shan  Chiian  said,  "  I  am  a  unit  in  the 
 sum  of  the  universe.  In  winter  I  wear  fur  clothes. 
 In  summer  I  wear  grass-cloth.  In  spring  I  plough 
 and  sow,  toiling  with  my  body.  In  autumn  I  gather 
 in  the  harvest,  and  devote  myself  to  rest  and  enjoy- 
 ment. At  dawn  I  go  to  work  ;  at  sunset  I  leave 
 off.  Contented  with  my  lot  I  pass  through  life  with 
 a  light  heart.  Why  then  should  I  trouble  myself 
 with  the  empire?     Ah,  Sir,  you  do  not  know  me." 
 
 So  he  declined,  and  subsequently  hid  himself 
 among  the  mountains,  nobody  knew  where. 
 
 Shun  offered  the  empire  to  a  friend,  a  labourer 
 of  Shih  Hu. 
 
 **  Sire,"  said  the  latter,  "  you  exert  yourself  too 
 much.  The  chief  thing  is  to  husband  one's  strength ; " 
 — meaning  that  in  point  of  real  virtue  Shun  had  not 
 attained. 
 
 Then,  husband  and  wife,  bearing  away  their 
 household  gods  and  taking  their  children  with 
 them,  went  off  to  the  sea  and  never  came  back. 
 
 When  T'ai  Wang  Shan  Fu  was  occupying  Pin, 
 he  was  attacked  by  savages.  He  offered  them  skins 
 and  silk,  but  they  declined  these.  He  offered  them 
 dogs   and  horses,    but   they  declined    these   also. 
 
 2  B  2 
 
372  Chuaug  Tzu 
 
 He  then  offered  them  pearls  and  jade,  but  these 
 too  they  declined.  What  they  wanted  was  the 
 territory. 
 
 "  To  live  with  a  man's  elder  brother,"  said  T  ai 
 Wang  Shan  Fu, 
 
 Addressing  his  own  people. 
 
 "and  slay  his  younger  brother;  to  live  with  a  man's 
 father  and  slay  his  son, — this  I  could  not  bear  to 
 do.  Make  shift  to  remain  here.  To  be  my  sub- 
 jects or  the  subjects  of  these  savages,  where  is 
 the  difference  ?  Besides  I  have  heard  say  that  we 
 ought  not  to  let  that  which  is  intended  to  nourish 
 life  become  injurious  to  life." 
 
 Alluding  to  the  "territory." 
 
 Thereupon  he  took  his  staff  and  went  off.  His 
 people  all  followed  him,  and  they  founded  a  new 
 State  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Ch'i. 
 
 Now  T'ai  Wang  Shan  Fu  undoubtedly  had  a 
 proper  respect  for  life.  And  those  who  have  a 
 proper  respect  for  life,  if  rich  and  powerful,  do  not 
 let  that  which  should  nourish  injure  the  body.  If 
 poor  and  lowly,  they  do  not  allow  gain  to  involve 
 them  in  physical  wear  and  tear. 
 
 But  the  men  of  the  present  generation  who 
 occupy  positions  of  power  and  influence,  are  all 
 afraid  of  losing  what  they  have  got.  Directly  they 
 see  a  chance  of  gain,  away  goes  all  care  for  their 
 bodies.     Is  not  that  a  cause  for  confusion  ? 
 
 In  three  successive  cases  the  people  of  Yiieh  had 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  Declining  Power  373 
 
 put  their  prince  to  death.  Accordingly,  Shou,  the 
 son  of  the  last  prince,  was  much  alarmed,  and  fled 
 to  Tan  Hsiieh,  leaving  the  State  of  Yiieh  without  a 
 ruler. 
 
 Shou  was  at  first  nowhere  to  be  found,  but  at 
 length  he  was  traced  to  Tan  Hsiieh.  He  was,  how- 
 ever, unwilling  to  come  forth,  so  they  smoked  him 
 out  with  moxa.  They  had  a  royal  carriage  ready 
 for  him  ;  and  as  Shou  seized  the  cord  to  mount  the 
 chariot,  he  looked  up  to  heaven  and  cried,  ''  Oh  ! 
 ruling,  ruling,  could  I  not  have  been  spared  this?" 
 
 It  was  not  that  Shou  objected  to  be  a  prince. 
 He  objected  to  the  dangers  associated  with  such 
 positions.  Such  a  one  was  incapable  of  sacri- 
 ficing life  to  the  State,  and  for  that  very  reason  the 
 people  of  Yiieh  wanted  to  get  him. 
 
 The  States  of  Han  and  Wei  were  struggling  to 
 annex  each  other's  territory  when  Tzii  Hua  Tzu 
 went  to  see  prince  Chao  Hsi.  Finding  the  latter 
 very  downcast,  Tzii  Hua  Tzii  said,  *'  Now  suppose 
 the  representatives  of  the  various  States  were  to 
 sign  an  agreement  before  your  Highness,  to  the 
 effect  that  although  cutting  off  the  left  hand  would 
 involve  loss  of  the  right,  while  cutting  off  the  right 
 would  involve  loss  of  the  left,  nevertheless  that  who- 
 soever would  cut  off  either  should  be  emperor  over 
 all, — w^ould  your  Highness  cut?  " 
 
 "  I  would  not,"  replied  the  prince. 
 
 "  Very  good,"  said  Tzii  Hua  Tzii.  ''  It  is  clear 
 therefore  that  one's  two  arms  are  worth  more  than 
 
374  Chtiang  Tzft 
 
 the  empire.  And  one's  body  is  worth  more  than 
 one's  arms,  while  the  State  of  Han  is  infinitely  less 
 important  than  the  empire.  Further,  what  you  are 
 struggling  over  is  of  infinitely  less  importance  than 
 the  State  of  Han.  Yet  your  Highness  is  wearing 
 out  body  and  soul  alike  in  fear  and  anxiety  lest  you 
 should  not  get  it." 
 
 ''  Good  indeed  !  "  cried  the  prince.  ''  Many  have 
 counselled  me,  but  I  have  never  heard  the  like  of 
 this." 
 
 From  which  we  may  infer  that  Tzii  Hua  Tzii 
 knew  the  difference  between  what  was  of  importance 
 and  what  was  not. 
 
 The  prince  of  Lu,  hearing  that  Yen  Ho  had 
 attained  to  Tag,  despatched  messengers  with 
 presents  to  open  communications. 
 
 Yen  Ho  lived  in  a  hovel.  He  wore  clothes  of 
 coarse  grass,  and  occupied  himself  in  tending  oxen. 
 
 When  the  messengers  arrived.  Yen  Ho  went  out 
 to  meet  them  ;  whereupon  they  enquired,  ''Is  this 
 where  Yen  Ho  lives  ?  " 
 
 "  This  is  Yen  Ho's  house,"  replied  the  latter. 
 
 The  messengers  then  produced  the  presents  ; 
 but  Yen  Ho  said,  "  I  fear  you  have  made  a  mis- 
 take. And  as  you  might  get  into  trouble,  it  would 
 be  as  well  to  go  back  and  make  sure." 
 
 This  the  messengers  accordingly  did.  When 
 however  they  returned,  there  was  no  trace  to  be 
 found  of  Yen  Ho.  Thus  it  is  that  men  like  Yen 
 Ho  hate  wealth  and  power, 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  Declining  Power  375 
 
 Wherefore  it  has  been  said  that  the  best  part  of 
 Tao  is  for  self-culture,  the  surplus  for  governing 
 a  State,  and  the  dregs  for  governing  the  empire. 
 From  which  we  may  infer  that  the  great  deeds  of 
 kings  and  princes  are  but  the  leavings  of  the  Sage. 
 For  preserving  the  body  and  nourishing  vitality, 
 they  are  of  no  avail.  Yet  the  superior  men  of  to- 
 day endanger  their  bodies  and  throw  away  their 
 lives  in  their  greed  for  the  things  of  this  world.  Is 
 not  this  pitiable  ? 
 
 The  true  Sage  in  all  his  actions  considers  the 
 why  and  the  wherefore.  But  there  are  those  now-a- 
 days  who  use  the  pearl  of  the  prince  of  Sui  to  shoot 
 a  bird  a  thousand  yards  off. 
 
 A    wonderfully   brilliant   gem,  of  a   "  ten    chariot " 
 illuminating  power. 
 
 And  the  world  of  course  laughs  at  them.  Why  ? 
 Because  they  sacrifice  the  greater  to  get  the  less. 
 But  surely  life  is  of  more  importance  even  than  the 
 prince's  pearl ! 
 
 Lieh  Tzii  was  poor.  His  face  wore  a  hungry 
 look. 
 
 A  visitor  one  day  mentioned  this  to  Tzu  Yang 
 
 Prime  Minister. 
 
 of  Cheng,  saying,  "  Lieh  Tzu  is  a  scholar  who  has 
 attained  to  Tao.     He  lives  in  your   Excellency's 
 State,  and  yet  he  is  poor.    Can  it  be  said  that  your 
 Excellency  does  not  love  scholars  ?  " 
 Thereupon  Tzu   Yang    gave   orders  that    Lieh 
 
37^  Chuaiig  Tzii 
 
 Tzu  should  be  supplied  with  food.  But  when 
 Lieh  Tzu  saw  the  messengers,  he  bowed  twice  and 
 declined. 
 
 When  the  messengers  had  gone,  and  Lieh  Tzu 
 went  within,  his  wife  gazed  at  him,  and  beating  her 
 breast  said,  "  I  have  heard  that  the  wife  and  chil- 
 dren of  a  man  of  Tao  are  happy  and  joyful.  But 
 see  how  hungry  I  am.  His  Excellency  sent  you 
 food,  and  you  would  not  take  it.  Is  not  this  flying 
 in  the  face  of  Providence  ?  " 
 
 "  His  Excellency  did  not  know  me  personally," 
 answered  Lieh  Tzu  with  a  smile.  "  It  was  because  of 
 what  others  said  about  me  that  he  sent  me  the  food. 
 If  then  men  were  to  speak  ill  of  me,  he  would  also 
 act  upon  it.     For  that  reason  I  refused  the  food." 
 
 Subsequently,  there  was  trouble  among  the  people 
 of  Cheng,  and  Tzu  Yang  was  slain. 
 
 When  Prince  Chao  of  the  Ch'u  State  lost  his 
 kingdom,  he  was  followed  into  exile  by  his  butcher, 
 named  Yiieh. 
 
 On  his  restoration,  as  he  was  distributing  rewards 
 to  those  who  had  remained  faithful  to  him,  he  came 
 to  the  name  of  Yiieh. 
 
 Yueh,  however,  said,  "  When  the  prince  lost  his 
 kingdom,  I  lost  my  butchery.  Now  that  the  prince 
 has  got  back  his  kingdom,  I  have  got  back  my 
 butchery.  I  have  recovered  my  office  and  salary. 
 What  need  for  further  reward  ?  " 
 
 On  hearing  this,  the  prince  gave  orders  that  he 
 should  be  made  to  take  his  reward. 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  Declining  Power  377 
 
 "  It  was  not  through  my  fault,"  argued  Yiieh, 
 "  that  the  prince  lost  his  kingdom,  and  I  should 
 not  have  taken  the  punishment.  Neither  was  it 
 through  me  that  he  got  it  back,  and  I  cannot  there- 
 fore accept  the  reward." 
 
 When  the  prince  heard  this  answer,  he  com- 
 manded Yiieh  to  be  brought  before  him.  But  Yiieh 
 said,  "  The  laws  of  the  Ch'u  State  require  that  a 
 subject  shall  have  deserved  exceptionally  well  of  his 
 prince  before  being  admitted  to  an  audience.  Now 
 my  wisdom  was  insuflicient  to  preserve  this  king- 
 dom, and  my  courage  insufficient  to  destroy  the 
 invaders.  When  the  Wu  soldiers  entered  Ying,  I 
 feared  for  my  life  and  fled.  That  was  why  I 
 followed  the  prince.  And  if  now  the  prince  wishes 
 to  set  law  and  custom  aside  and  summon  me  to  an 
 audience,  this  is  not  my  idea  of  proper  behaviour 
 on  the  part  of  the  prince." 
 
 ''  Yiieh,"  said  the  prince  to  Tzii  Chi,  his  master 
 of  the  horse,  "  occupies  a  lowly  position  ;  yet  his 
 principles  are  of  the  most  lofty.  Go,  make  him  a 
 San  Ching." 
 
 ''  I  am  aware,"  replied  Yiieh  to  the  master  of  the 
 horse,  "  that  the  post  of  San  Ching  is  more  honour- 
 able than  that  of  butcher.  And  I  am  aware  that 
 the  emolument  is  larger  than  what  I  now  receive. 
 Still,  because  I  want  preferment  and  salary,  I 
 cannot  let  my  prince  earn  the  reputation  of  being 
 injudicious  in  his  patronage.  I  must  beg  to  decline. 
 Let  me  go  back  to  my  butchery." 
 
 And  he  adhered  to  his  refusal. 
 
37^  CJmang  Tzu 
 
 Yiian  Hsien  dwelt  in  Lu, — in  a  mud  hut,  with  a 
 grass-grown  roof,  an  apology  for  a  door,  and  two 
 mulberry-trees  for  door-posts.  The  windows  which 
 lio^hted  his  two  rooms  were  no  bieeer  than  the 
 mouth  of  a  jar,  and  were  closed  by  a  w^ad  of  old 
 clothes.  The  hut  leaked  from  above  and  was  damp 
 under  foot ;  yet  Yiian  Hsien  sat  gravely  there 
 playing  on  the  guitar. 
 
 Tzu  Kung  came  driving  up  in  a  fine  chariot,  in  a 
 white  robe  lined  with  purple  ;  but  the  hood  of  the 
 chariot  was  too  big  for  the  street. 
 
 When  he  went  to  see  Yiian  Hsien,  the  latter 
 came  to  the  door  in  a  flowery  cap,  with  his  shoes 
 down  at  heel,  and  leaning  on  a  stalk. 
 
 "  Good  gracious  !  "  cried  Tzii  Kung,  "  whatever 
 is  the  matter  with  you  ?  " 
 
 *' I  have  heard,"  replied  Yiian  Hsien,  "that  he 
 who  is  without  wealth  is  called  poor,  and  that  he 
 who  learns  without  being  able  to  practise  is  said  to 
 have  something  the  matter  with  him.  Now  I  am 
 merely  poor  ;  I  have  nothing  the  matter  with  me." 
 
 Tzu  Kung  was  much  abashed  at  this  reply  ;  upon 
 which  Yiian  Hsien  smiling  continued,  "  To  try  to 
 thrust  myself  forward  among  men  ;  to  seek  friend- 
 ship in  mutual  flattery  ;  to  learn  for  the  sake  of 
 others  ;  to  teach  for  my  own  sake  ;  to  use  benevo- 
 lence and  duty  to  one's  neighbour  for  evil  ends  ;  to 
 make  a  great  show  with  horses  and  carriages, — 
 these  things  I  cannot  do." 
 
 Tseng  TzCi  lived  in  the  Wei  State.    His  wadded 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  Declining  Power  379 
 
 coat  had  no  outside  cloth.  His  face  was  bloated 
 and  rough.  His  hands  and  feet  were  horny  hard. 
 For  three  days  he  had  had  no  fire  ;  no  new  clothes 
 for  ten  years.  If  he  set  his  cap  straight  the  tassel 
 would  come  off.  If  he  drew  up  his  sleeve  his  elbow 
 would  poke  through.  If  he  pulled  up  his  shoe, 
 the  heel  would  come  off.  Yet  slipshod  he  sang  the 
 Sacrificial  Odes  of  Shang,  his  voice  filling  the 
 whole  sky,  as  though  it  had  been  some  instrument 
 of  metal  or  stone. 
 
 The  Son  of  Heaven  could  not  secure  him  as  a 
 minister.  The  feudal  princes  could  not  secure  him 
 as  a  friend.  For  he  who  nourishes  his  purpose 
 becomes  oblivious  of  his  body.  He  who  nourishes 
 his  body  becomes  oblivious  of  gain.  And  he  w^ho 
 has  attained  Tao  becomes  oblivious  of  his  mind. 
 
 "  Come  hither,"  said  Confucius  to  Yen  Hui. 
 ''Your  family  is  poor,  and  your  position  lowly. 
 Why  not  go  into  official  life  ?  " 
 
 "  I  do  not  wish  to,"  replied  Yen  Hui.  "  I  have 
 fifty  acres  of  land  beyond  the  city  walls,  which  are 
 enough  to  supply  me  with  food.  Ten  more  within 
 the  walls  provide  me  with  clothes.  My  lute  gives 
 me  all  the  amusement  I  want ;  and  the  study  of 
 your  doctrines  keeps  me  happy  enough.  I  do  not 
 desire  to  go  into  official  life." 
 
 "  Bravo!  well  said!"  cried  Confucius  with  beam- 
 ing countenance.  "  I  have  heard  say  that  those 
 who  are  contented  do  not  entangle  themselves  in 
 the  pursuit  of  gain.     That  those  who  have  really 
 
380  CJmang  Tzu 
 
 obtained  do  not  fear  the  contingency  of  loss.  That 
 those  who  devote  themselves  to  cultivation  of  the 
 inner  man,  though  occupying  no  position,  feel  no 
 shame.  Thus  indeed  I  have  long  preached.  Only 
 now,  that  I  have  seen  Yen  Hui,  am  I  conscious  of 
 the  realisation  of  these  words." 
 
 Prince  Mou  of  Chung-shan  said  to  Chan  Tzii, 
 "  My  body  is  in  the  country,  but  my  heart  is  in 
 town.     What  am  I  to  do  ?  " 
 
 "  Make  life  of  paramount  importance,"  answered 
 Chan  Tzii,  ''and  worldly  advantage  will  cease  to 
 have  weight." 
 
 "  That  I  know,"  replied  the  Prince  ;  "  but  I  am 
 not  equal  to  the  task." 
 
 ''  If  you  are  not  equal  to  this,"  said  Chan  Tzii, 
 "  then  it  were  well  for  you  to  pursue  your  natural 
 bent.  Not  to  be  equal  to  a  task,  and  yet  to  force 
 oneself  to  stick  to  it, — this  is  called  adding  one 
 injury  to  another.  And  those  who  suffer  such 
 two-fold  injury  do  not  belong  to  the  class  of  the 
 long-lived." 
 
 Prince  Mou  of  Wei  was  heir  to  the  throne  of  a 
 large  State.  For  him  to  become  a  hermit  among 
 the  hills  was  more  difficult  than  for  an  ordinary 
 cotton-clothed  scholar.  And  although  he  had  not 
 attained  to  Tao,  he  may  be  said  to  have  been  on  the 
 way  thither. 
 
 When  Confucius  was  caught  between  the  Ch  ens 
 and  the  Ts'ais,  he  went  seven  days  without  proper 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  Declining  Power  381 
 
 food.  He  ate  soup  of  herbs,  having  no  rice.  He 
 looked  very  much  exhausted,  yet  he  sat  within 
 playing  his  guitar  and  singing  to  it. 
 
 Yen  Hui  was  picking  over  the  herbs,  while  Tzu 
 Lu  and  Tzii  Kung  were  talking  together.  One  of 
 them  said,  "  Our  Master  has  twice  been  driven  out 
 of  Lu.  They  will  have  none  of  him  in  Wei.  His 
 tree  was  cut  down  in  Sung.  He  got  into  trouble 
 in  Shang  and  Chou.  And  now  he  is  surrounded 
 by  the  Ch'ens  and  the  Ts'ais.  Whoever  kills  him 
 is  to  be  held  guiltless.  Whoever  takes  him  prisoner 
 is  not  to  be  interfered  with.  Yet  all  the  time  he 
 goes  on  playing  and  singing  without  cease.  Is  this 
 the  right  thing,  for  a  superior  man  to  do  ?  " 
 
 Yen  Hui  said  nothing,  but  went  inside  and  told 
 Confucius,  who  laid  aside  his  guitar  and  said  with 
 a  loud  sigh,  "  Yu  and  Tz'ii  are  ignorant  fellows. 
 
 These  were  their  personal  names. 
 
 Bid  them  come,  and  I  will  speak  to  them." 
 
 When  they  entered  Tzii  Lu  said,  **  We  seem  to 
 have  made  a  thorough  failure." 
 
 "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  cried  Confucius.  ''  The 
 superior  man  who  succeeds  in  Tao,  has  success.  If 
 he  fails  in  Tao,  he  makes  a  failure.  Now  I,  holding 
 fast  to  the  Tao  of  charity  and  duty  towards  one's 
 neighbour,  have  fallen  among  the  troubles  of  a  dis- 
 ordered age.    What  failure  is  there  in  that  ? 
 
 **  Therefore  it  is  that  by  cultivation  of  the  inner 
 man  there  is  no  failure  in  Tao,  and  when  danger 
 comes  there  is  no  loss  of  virtue.     It  is  the  chill 
 
382  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 winter  weather,  it  is  frost,  it  is  snow,  which  bring 
 out  the  luxuriance  of  the  pine  and  the  fir. 
 
 See  Lim  Yii,  ix,  27. 
 
 I  regard  it  as  a  positive  blessing  to  be  thus  situated 
 as  I  am." 
 
 Thereupon  he  turned  abruptly  round  and  went 
 on  playing  and  singing. 
 
 At  this  Tzii  Lu  hastily  seized  a  shield  and  began 
 dancing  to  the  music,  while  Tzii  Kung  said,  "  I  had 
 no  idea  of  the  height  of  heaven  and  of  the  depth  of 
 earth." 
 
 The  ancients  who  attained  Tao  were  equally 
 happy  under  success  and  failure.  Their  happiness 
 had  nothing  to  do  with  their  failure  or  their  success. 
 Tag  once  attained,  failure  and  success  became  mere 
 links  in  a  chain,  like  cold,  heat,  wind,  and  rain. 
 Thus  Hsii  Yu  enjoyed  himself  at  Ying-yang,  and 
 Kung  Poh  found  happiness  on  the  hill-top. 
 
 Whither  he  retired  after  a  reign  of  14  years. 
 
 Shun  offered  to  resign  the  empire  to  his  friend 
 Pei  Jen  Wu  Tse. 
 
 "  What  a  strange  manner  of  man  you  are  !  "  cried 
 the  latter.  "  Living  in  the  furrowed  fields,  you 
 exchanged  such  a  life  for  the  throne  of  Yao.  And 
 as  if  that  was  not  enough,  you  now  try  to  heap  in- 
 dignity upon  me.     I  am  ashamed  of  you." 
 
 Thereupon  he  drowned  himself  in  the  waters  of 
 Ch'ing-ling. 
 
 "  But  how  about  preservation  of  life  ?  "  asks  Lin  HsI 
 Chung  with  a  sneer. 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  Declining  Power  383 
 
 When  T'ang  was  about  to  attack  Chieh,  he  went 
 to  consult  with  Pien  Sui. 
 
 ''  It  is  not  a  matter  in  which  I  can  help  you,"  said 
 the  latter. 
 
 "  Who  can  ?  "  asked  T'ang. 
 
 "  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Pien  Sui. 
 
 T'ang  then  went  to  consult  with  Wu  Kuang. 
 
 "  It  is  not  a  matter  in  which  I  can  help  you,"  said 
 the  latter. 
 
 "  Who  can  ?  "  asked  T'ang, 
 
 "  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Wu  Kuang. 
 
 "  What  do  you  think  of  I  Yin  ?"  asked  T'ang. 
 
 "  He  forces  himself,"  said  Wu  Kuang,  "  to  put  up 
 with  obloquy.    Beyond  this  I  know  nothing  of  him." 
 
 So  T'ang  took  I  Yin  into  his  counsels.  They 
 attacked  Chieh,  and  vanquished  him. 
 
 Then  T'ang  offered  to  resign  the  empire  in  favour 
 of  Pien  Sui.  But  Pien  Sui  declined,  saying,  "When 
 your  Majesty  consulted  with  me  about  attacking 
 Chieh,  you  evidently  looked  on  me  as  a  robber. 
 
 Who  would  steal  territory.     But  men  of  Tao  wage 
 no  wars. 
 
 Now  that  you  have  vanquished  him,  and  you  offer 
 to  resign  in  my  favour,  you  evidently  regard  me  as 
 covetous.  I  was  born  indeed  in  a  disordered  a^-e. 
 But  for  a  man  without  Tag  to  thus  insult  me  twice, 
 is  more  than  I  can  endure." 
 
 So  he  drowned  himself  in  the  river  Chou. 
 
 Then  T'ang  offered  to  resign  in  favour  of  Wu 
 Kuang,  saying,  ''  The  wise  plan,  the  brave  execute, 
 the  good  rest  therein, — such  was  the  Tag  of  the 
 
384  Chuaug  Tzii 
 
 ancients.  Why,  Sir,  should  not  you  occupy  the 
 throne  ?  " 
 
 But  Wu  Kuang  declined,  saying,  ''  To  depose  a 
 ruler  is  not  to  do  one's  duty  to  one's  neighbour. 
 To  slay  the  people  is  not  charity.  For  others  to 
 suffer  these  wrongs,  while  I  enjoy  the  profits,  is 
 not  honest.  I  have  heard  say  that  one  should  not 
 accept  a  wage  unless  earned  in  accordance  with 
 right ;  and  that  if  the  world  is  without  Tao,  one 
 should  not  put  foot  upon  its  soil,  still  less  rule  over 
 it !    I  can  bear  this  no  longer." 
 
 Thereupon  he  took  a  stone  on  his  back  and 
 jumped  into  the  river  Lu. 
 
 At  the  rise  of  the  Chou  dynasty  there  were  two 
 scholars,  named  Po  I  and  Shu  Ch'i,  who  lived  in 
 Ku-tu. 
 
 One  of  these  said  to  the  other,  "  I  have  heard 
 that  in  the  west  there  are  men  who  are  apparently 
 in  possession  of  Tao.     Let  us  go  and  see  them." 
 
 Meaning  the  men  of  Chou. 
 
 When  they  arrived  at  Ch'i-yang,  Wu  Wang 
 
 The  writer  meant  Wen  Wang,  father  of  Wu  Wang. 
 
 heard  of  their  arrival  and  sent  Shu  Tan 
 
 Chou  Kung. 
 
 to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  them.  They  were  to 
 receive  emoluments  of  the  second  degree  and  rank 
 of  the  first  degree.  The  treaty  was  to  be  sealed 
 with  blood  and  buried. 
 
CAP.  XXVIII.]  On  Declining  Power  385 
 
 At  this  the  two  looked  at  each  other  and  smiled. 
 "Ah  !  "  said  one  of  them,  "  this  is  strange  indeed. 
 It  is  not  what  we  call  Tao. 
 
 "  When  Shen  Nung  ruled  the  empire,  he  wor- 
 shipped God  without  asking  for  any  reward.  Some- 
 times it  was  the  law  he  put  in  force ;  sometimes  it 
 was  his  personal  influence  he  brought  to  bear.  He 
 was  loyal  and  faithful  to  his  people  without  seeking 
 any  return.  He  did  not  build  his  success  upon 
 another's  ruin,  nor  mount  high  by  means  of 
 another's  fall,  nor  seize  opportunities  to  secure  his 
 own  advantage. 
 
 "  But  now  that  the  Chous,  beholding  the  ini- 
 quities of  the  Yins,  have  taken  upon  themselves  to 
 govern,  we  have  intrigues  above  and  bribes  below. 
 Troops  are  mobilised  to  protect  prestige.  Victims 
 are  slaughtered  to  give  good  faith  to  a  treaty.  A 
 show  of  virtue  is  made  to  amuse  the  masses. 
 Fighting  and  slaughter  are  made  the  means  of 
 gain.  Confusion  has  simply  been  exchanged  for 
 disorder. 
 
 *'  I  have  heard  tell  that  the  men  of  old,  living  in 
 quiet  times,  never  shirked  their  duties  ;  but  lighting 
 upon  troublous  times,  nothing  could  make  them 
 stay.  The  empire  is  now  in  darkness.  The  virtue 
 of  the  Chous  has  faded.  For  the  empire  to  be 
 united  under  the  Chous  would  be  a  disgrace  to  us. 
 Better  flee  away  and  keep  our  actions  pure." 
 
 Accordingly,  these  two  philosophers  went  north 
 to  Mount  Shou-yang,  where  they  subsequently 
 starved  themselves  to  death. 
 
 2  c 
 
386  Chuang  Tzil 
 
 Men  like  Poh  I  and  Shu  Ch'i,  if  wealth  and 
 honour  came  to  them  so  that  they  could  properly 
 accept,  would  assuredly  not  have  recourse  to  such 
 heroic  measures,  nor  would  they  be  content  to 
 follow  their  own  bent,  without  giving  their  services 
 to  their  generation.  Such  was  the  purity  of  these 
 two  scholars. 
 
387 
 
 CHAPTER    XXIX. 
 
 Robber  Che. 
 [Spurious.] 
 
 CONFUCIUS  was  on  terms  of  friendship  with 
 Liu  Hsia  Chi,  whose  younger  brother  was 
 known  as  "  Robber  Ch^." 
 
 This  is  an  anachronism.  Liu  Hsia  Chi  {or  Hui) 
 was  a  virtuous  official  of  the  Lu  State.  He  flourished 
 some  80  and  more  years  before  the  time  of  Con- 
 fucius. 
 
 Robber  Ch^  had  a  band  of  followers  nine  thou- 
 sand strong.  He  ravaged  the  whole  empire, 
 plundering  the  various  nobles  and  breaking  into 
 people's  houses.  He  drove  off  oxen  and  horses. 
 He  stole  men's  wives  and  daughters.  Family  ties 
 put  no  limit  to  his  greed.  He  had  no  respect  for 
 parents  nor  for  brothers.  He  neglected  the  worship 
 of  his  ancestors.  Wherever  he  passed,  the  greater 
 States  flew  to  arms,  the  smaller  ones  to  places  of 
 safety.     All  the  people  were  sore  distressed. 
 
 '*A  father,"  said  Confucius  to  Liu  Hsia  Chi, 
 "  should  surely  be  able  to  admonish  his  son  ;  an 
 elder  brother  to  teach  his  younger  brother.  If  this 
 be  not  so,  there  is  an  end  of  the  value  attached  to 
 these  relationships. 
 
 2  c  2 
 
388  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 "  Now  you,  Sir,  are  one  of  the  scholars  of  the 
 age,  while  your  younger  brother  is  the  Robber  Ch^, 
 the  scourge  of  the  empire.  You  are  unable  to  teach 
 him,  and  I  blush  for  you.  Let  me  go  and  have  a 
 talk  with  him  on  your  behalf." 
 
 "  As  to  what  you  say,  Sir,  about  fathers  and  elder 
 brothers,"  answered  Liu  Hsia  Chi,  "  if  the  son  will 
 not  listen  to  his  father,  nor  the  younger  brother  to 
 his  elder  brother,  what  becomes  of  your  arguments 
 then? 
 
 "  Besides,  Ch^'s  passions  are  like  a  bubbling 
 spring.  His  thoughts  are  like  a  whirlwind.  He  is 
 strong  enough  to  defy  all  foes.  He  can  argue  until 
 wrong  becomes  right.  If  you  follow  his  inclina- 
 tions, he  is  pleased.  If  you  oppose  them  he  is  angry. 
 He  is  free  with  the  language  of  abuse.  Do  not  go 
 near  him." 
 
 Confucius  paid  no  attention  to  this  advice  ;  but 
 with  Yen  Hui  as  charioteer  and  Tzu  Kung  on  his 
 right,  went  off  to  see  Robber  Che. 
 
 The  latter  had  just  encamped  to  the  south  of 
 T'ai-shan,  and  was  engaged  in  devouring  a  dish  of 
 minced  human  liver.  Confucius  alighted  from  his 
 chariot,  and  advancing  addressed  the  doorkeeper  as 
 follows  : — 
 
 **  I  am  Confucius  of  the  Lu  State.  I  have  heard 
 of  the  high  character  of  your  captain." 
 
 He  then  twice  respectfully  saluted  the  door- 
 keeper, who  went  in  to  announce  his  arrival. 
 
 When  Robber  Che  heard  who  it  was,  he  was 
 furious.  His  eyes  glared  like  stars.  His  hair  raised 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  CkS  389 
 
 his  cap  from  his  head  as  he  cried  out,  "  What !  that 
 crafty  scoundrel  Confucius  of  Lu  ?  Go,  tell  him 
 from  me  that  he  is  a  mere  word-mongerer.  That  he 
 talks  nonsense  about  Wen  Wang  and  Wu  Wang. 
 That  he  wears  an  extravagant  cap,  with  a  thong 
 from  the  side  of  a  dead  ox.  That  what  he  says  is 
 mostly  rhodomontade.  That  he  consumes  where  he 
 does  not  sow,  and  wears  clothes  he  does  not  weave. 
 That  his  lips  patter  and  his  tongue  wags.  That  his 
 rights  and  wrongs  are  of  his  own  coining,  whereby 
 he  throws  dust  in  the  eyes  of  rulers  and  prevents 
 the  scholars  of  the  empire  from  reverting  to  the 
 original  source  of  all  things. 
 
 Sc.  Tao. 
 
 That  he  makes  a  great  stir  about  filial  piety  and 
 brotherly  love,  glad  enough  himself  to  secure  some 
 fat  fief  or  post  of  power.  Tell  him  that  he  deserves 
 the  worst,  and  that  if  he  does  not  take  himself  off 
 his  liver  shall  be  in  my  morning  stew." 
 
 But  Confucius  sent  in  again,  saying,  "  I  am  a 
 friend  of  Liu  Hsia  Chi.  I  am  anxious  to  set  eyes 
 upon  your  captain's  shoe-strings." 
 
 Anodier  interpretation  is  "  upon  your  captain's  feet 
 visible  from  beneath  the  screen." 
 
 When  the  doorkeeper  gave  this  second  message. 
 Robber  Che  said,  **  Bring  him  before  me  !  "  There- 
 upon Confucius  hurried  in,  and  avoiding  the  place 
 of  honour  stepped  back  and  made  two  obeisances. 
 
 Robber  Che,  flaming  with  anger,  straddled  out 
 his  two  legs,  and  laying  his  hand  upon  his  sword 
 
390  Chuang  Tzii. 
 
 glared  at  Confucius  and  roaring  like  a  tigress  with 
 young,  said,  "  Ch'iu  !  come  here.  If  what  you 
 say  suits  my  ideas,  you  will  live.  Otherwise  you 
 will  die." 
 
 "  I  have  heard,"  replied  Confucius,  *'  that  the 
 world  contains  three  classes  of  virtue.  To  grow  up 
 tall,  of  a  beauty  without  compare,  and  thus  to  be 
 the  idol  of  young  and  old,  of  noble  and  lowly  alike, 
 — this  is  the  highest  class.  To  be  possessed  of 
 wisdom  which  embraces  the  universe  and  can  ex- 
 plain all  things, — this  is  the  middle  class.  To  be 
 possessed  of  courage  which  will  stand  test  and 
 gather  followers  around, — this  is  the  lowest  class. 
 
 "  Now  any  man  whose  virtue  belongs  to  either  of 
 these  classes  is  fit  to  occupy  the  place  and  title  of 
 ruler.  But  you.  Captain,  unite  all  three  in  yourself. 
 You  are  eight  feet  two  in  height.  Your  expression 
 is  very  bright.  Your  lips  are  like  vermilion.  Your 
 teeth  like  a  row  of  shells.  Your  voice  is  like  a 
 beautiful  bell  ;^yet  you  are  known  as  Robber  Che. 
 Captain,  I  blush  for  you. 
 
 "  Captain,  if  you  will  hearken  to  me  I  will  go 
 south  for  you  to  Wu  and  Yiieh,  north  to  Ch'i 
 and  Lu,  east  to  Sung  and  Wei,  and  west  to  Chin 
 and  Ch'u.  I  will  have  a  great  wall  built  for 
 you  of  many  //  in  extent,  enclosing  hamlets  of 
 many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  inhabitants,  over 
 which  State  you  shall  be  ruler.  Your  relations 
 with  the  empire  will  enter  upon  a  new  phase.  You 
 will  disband  your  men.  You  will  gather  your 
 brothers  around  you.    You   will  join  in    worship 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  Che  39 1 
 
 of  your  ancestors.  Such  is  the  behaviour  of  the 
 true  Sage  and  the  man  of  parts,  and  such  is  what 
 the  world  desires." 
 
 "  Ch'iu!  come  here,"  cried  Robber  Ch^  in  a  great 
 rage.  "Those  who  are  squared  by  offers  and  cor- 
 rected by  words  are  the  stupid  vulgar  masses.  The 
 height  and  the  beauty  which  you  praise  in  me  are 
 legacies  from  my  parents.  Even  though  you  did 
 not  praise  them,  do  you  think  I  should  be  ignorant 
 of  their  existence?  Besides,  those  who  flatter  to 
 the  face  speak  evil  behind  the  back.  Now  all  you 
 have  been  saying  about  the  great  State  and  its 
 numerous  population  simply  means  squaring  me 
 by  offers  as  though  one  of  the  common  herd.  And 
 of  course  it  would  not  last. 
 
 *'  There  is  no  State  bigger  than  the  empire.  Yao 
 and  Shun  both  got  this,  yet  their  descendants  have 
 not  territory  enough  to  insert  an  awl's  point.  Tang 
 and  Wu  Wang  both  sat  upon  the  Imperial  throne, 
 yet  their  posterity  has  been  obliterated  from  the  face 
 of  the  earth. 
 
 Hardly  in  Chuang  Tzu's  time. 
 
 Was  not  this  because  of  the  very  magnitude  of  the 
 prize  ? 
 
 ''  I  have  also  heard  that  in  olden  times  the  birds 
 and  animals  outnumbered  man,  and  that  the  latter 
 was  obliged  to  seek  his  safety  by  building  his  domi- 
 cile in  trees.  By  day  he  picked  up  acorns  and 
 chestnuts.  At  night  he  slept  upon  a  branch.  Hence 
 the  name  Nest-builders. 
 
392  Chuang    Tzu 
 
 "  Of  old,  the  people  did  not  know  how  to  make 
 clothes.  In  summer  they  collected  quantities  of  fuel, 
 and  in  winter  warmed  themselves  by  fire.  Hence 
 the  name  Provident. 
 
 "In  the  days  of  Shen  Nung,  they  lay  down 
 without  caring  where  they  were  and  got  up  without 
 caring  whither  they  might  go.  A  man  knew  his 
 mother  but  not  his  father.  He  lived  among  the 
 wild  deer.  He  tilled  the  ground  for  food.  He  wove 
 cloth  to  cover  his  body.  He  harboured  no  thought 
 of  injury  to  others.  These  were  the  glorious  results 
 of  an  age  of  perfect  virtue. 
 
 **  The  Yellow  Emperor,  however,  could  not  attain 
 to  this  virtue.  He  fought  with  Ch'ih  Yu  at  Cho-lu, 
 and  blood  flowed  for  a  hundred  //.  Then  came 
 Yao  and  Shun  with  their  crowd  of  ministers.  Then 
 T'ang  who  deposed  his  sovereign,  and  Wu  Wang 
 who  slew  Chou.  After  which  time  the  strong  took 
 to  oppressing  the  weak,  the  many  to  coercing  the 
 few,  In  fact,  ever  since  T'ang  and  Wu  Wang  we 
 have  had  none  other  than  disturbers  of  the  peace. 
 
 "And  now  you  come  forward  preaching  the  old 
 dogmas  of  Wen  Wang  and  palming  off  sophistries 
 without  end,  in  order  to  teach  future  generations. 
 You  wear  patched  clothes  and  a  narrow  girdle,  you 
 talk  big  and  act  falsely,  in  order  to  deceive  the 
 rulers  of  the  land,  while  all  the  time  you  yourself 
 are  aiming  at  wealth  and  power !  You  are  the 
 biggest  thief  I  know  of ;  and  if  the  world  calls  me 
 Robber  Che,  it  most  certainly  ought  to  call  you 
 Robber  Ch'iu. 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  CM  393 
 
 "  By  fair  words  you  enticed  Tzu  Lu  to  follow 
 you.     You  made  him  doff  his  martial  cap, 
 
 Shaped  like  a  cock's  comb. 
 
 and  ungird  his  long  sword,  and  sit  a  disciple  at 
 your  feet.  And  all  the  world  cried  out  that  Con- 
 fucius could  stop  violence  and  prevent  wrong-doing. 
 By  and  by,  when  Tzu  Lu  wished  to  slay  the  prince 
 of  Wei,  but  failed,  and  was  himself  hacked  to  pieces 
 and  exposed  over  the  eastern  gate  of  Wei, — that 
 was  because  you  had  not  properly  instructed  him. 
 
 See  the  account  in  the  Tso  Chuan. 
 
 "  You  call  yourself  a  man  of  talent  and  a  Sage 
 forsooth  !  Twice  you  have  been  driven  out  of  Lu. 
 You  were  tabooed  in  Wei.  You  were  a  failure  in 
 Ch'i.  You  were  surrounded  by  the  Ch  ens  and  the 
 Ts'ais.  In  fact,  the  empire  won't  have  you  any- 
 where. It  was  your  teaching  which  brought  Tzu 
 Lu  to  his  tragical  end.  You  cannot  take  care,  in 
 the  first  place,  of  yourself,  nor,  in  the  second  place, 
 of  others.     Of  what  value  can  your  doctrine  be  ? 
 
 '*  There  is  none  to  whom  mankind  has  accorded 
 a  higher  place  than  to  the  Yellow  Emperor.  Yet 
 his  virtue  was  not  complete.  He  fought  at  Cho- 
 lu,  and  blood  ran  for  a  hundred  //.  Yao  was  not 
 paternal. 
 
 He  killed  his  eldest  son. 
 
 Shun  was  not  filial. 
 
 He  banished  his  mother's  younger  brother. 
 
394  Chttang  Tzil 
 
 The  great  Yii  was  deficient  in  one  respect. 
 
 He  was  wanting  in  natural  feeling.  When  engaged 
 in  his  great  engineering  work  of  draining  the  empire, 
 he  even  passed  his  own  door  without  going  in  to  see 
 his  family. 
 
 T'ang  deposed  his  sovereign.  Wu  Wang  van- 
 quished Chou.  Wen  Wang  was  imprisoned  at 
 Yin  Li. 
 
 "  Now  these  six  worthies  enjoy  a  high  reputation 
 among  men.  Yet  a  fuller  investigation  shows  that 
 in  each  case  a  desire  for  advantage  disturbed  their 
 original  purity  and  forced  it  into  a  contrary  direc- 
 tion.    Hence  the  shamelessness  of  their  deeds. 
 
 "  Among  those  whom  the  world  calls  virtuous 
 were  Poh  I  and  Shu  Ch'i.  They  declined  the 
 sovereignty  of  Ku-chu  and  died  of  starvation  on 
 Mount  Shou-yang,  their  corpses  deprived  of 
 burial. 
 
 "  Pao  Chiao  made  a  great  show  of  virtue  and 
 abused  the  world  in  general.  He  grasped  a  tree 
 and  died. 
 
 Tzu  Kung,  one  of  Confucius'  disciples,  is  said  to 
 have  scolded  Pao  Chiao  so  vigorously  that  the  latter 
 withered  up  into  dead  wood. 
 
 '*  Shen  T'u  Ti,  when  no  heed  was  paid  to  his 
 counsels,  jumped  into  the  river  with  a  stone  on  his 
 back  and  became  food  for  fishes. 
 See  p.  72. 
 
 "  Chieh  Tzu  T'ui  was  truly  loyal.  He  cut  a  slice 
 from  his  thigh  to  feed  Wen  Wang.  Afterwards, 
 when  Wen  Wang  turned   his  back  upon  him,  he 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  Che  395 
 
 retired  in  anger,  and  grasping  a  tree,  was  burnt  to 
 
 death. 
 
 He  took  refuge  in  a  forest,  from  which  Wen  Wang, 
 anxious  to  recover  his  friend,  tried  to  smoke  him 
 out! 
 
 "  Wei  Sheng  made  an  assignation  with  a  girl 
 beneath  a  bridge.  The  girl  did  not  come,  and  the 
 water  rose.  But  Wei  Sheng  would  not  leave.  He 
 grasped  a  buttress  and  died. 
 
 *'  These  four  differed  in  no  way  from  dogs  and 
 pigs  going  about  begging  to  be  slaughtered.  They 
 all  exaggerated  reputation  and  disregarded  death. 
 They  did  not  reflect  upon  their  original  nature  and 
 seek  to  preserve  life  into  the  old  age  allotted. 
 
 **  Among  ministers  whom  the  world  calls  loyal, 
 none  can  compare  with  Wang  Tzii,  Pi  Kan,  and 
 Wu  Tzu  Hsii.  The  last-mentioned  drowned  him- 
 self. Pi  Kan  was  disembowelled.  These  two 
 worthies  are  what  men  call  loyal  ministers  ;  yet,  as 
 a  matter  of  fact,  all  the  world  laughs  at  them  ! 
 
 "  Thus,  from  the  most  ancient  times  down  to 
 Tzu  Hsii  and  Pi  Kan,  there  have  been  none  de- 
 serving of  honour.  And  as  to  the  sermon  you, 
 Ch'iu,  propose  to  preach  to  me, — if  it  is  on  ghostly 
 subjects,  I  shan't  understand  them,  and  if  it  is  on 
 human  affairs,  why  there  is  nothing  more  to  be 
 said.     I  know  it  all  already. 
 
 "  I  will  now  tell  you  a  few  things.  The  lust  of 
 the  eye  is  for  beauty.  The  lust  of  the  ear  is  for 
 music.  The  lust  of  the  palate  is  for  flavour.  The 
 lust  of  ambition  is  for  gratification.    Man's  greatest 
 
39^  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 age  is  one  hundred  years.  A  medium  old  age  is 
 eighty  years.  The  lowest  estimate  is  sixty  years. 
 Take  away  from  this  the  hours  of  sickness,  disease, 
 death,  mourning,  sorrow,  and  trouble,  and  there 
 will  not  remain  more  than  four  or  five  days  a 
 month  upon  which  a  man  may  open  his  mouth  to 
 laugh.  Heaven  and  Earth  are  everlasting.  Sooner 
 or  later  every  man  has  to  die.  That  which  thus 
 has  a  limit,  as  compared  with  that  which  is  ever- 
 lasting, is  a  mere  flash,  like  the  passage  of  some 
 swift  steed  seen  through  a  crack.  And  those  who 
 cannot  gratify  their  ambition  and  live  through 
 their  allotted  span,  are  men  who  have  not  attained 
 to  Tao. 
 
 '*  Ch'iu  !  all  your  teachings  are  nothing  to  me. 
 Begone  !  Go  home  !  Say  no  more  !  Your  doctrine 
 is  a  random  jargon,  full  of  falsity  and  deceit.  It  can 
 never  preserve  the  original  purity  of  man.  Why 
 discuss  it  further?  " 
 
 Confucius  made  two  obeisances  and  hurriedly 
 took  his  leave.  On  mounting  his  chariot,  he  three 
 times  missed  hold  of  the  reins.  His  eyes  were  so 
 dazed  that  he  could  see  nothing.  His  face  was 
 ashy  pale.  With  down-cast  head  he  grasped  the 
 bar  of  his  chariot,  unable  to  find  vent  for  his 
 feelings. 
 
 Arriving  outside  the  eastern  gate  of  Lu,  he  met 
 Liu  Hsia  Chi,  who  said,  "  I  have  not  seen  you  for 
 some  days.  From  the  look  of  your  equipage  I 
 should  say  you  had  been  travelling.  I  guess  now 
 you  have  been  to  see  Che." 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  CM  397 
 
 Confucius  looked  up  to  heaven,  and  replied  with 
 a  sigh,  "  I  have." 
 
 "And  did  he  not  rebuff  you,"  asked  Liu  Hsia 
 Chi,  "  as  I  said  he  would  ?  " 
 
 *'  He  did,"  said  Confucius.  "  I  am  a  man  who 
 has  cauterized  himself  without  being  ill.  I  hurried 
 away  to  smooth  the  tiger's  head  and  comb  out  his 
 beard.  And  I  very  nearly  got  into  the  tiger's 
 mouth." 
 
 Tzu  Chang  asked  Man  Kou  Te, 
 Which  means  "Full  of  the  Ill-gotten." 
 
 saying,  *'  Why  do  you  not  practise  virtue  ?  Other- 
 wise, it  is  impossible  to  inspire  confidence.  And 
 without  confidence,  no  place.  And  without  place, 
 no  wealth.  Thus,  with  a  view  to  reputation  or  to 
 wealth,  duty  towards  one's  neighbour  is  the  true 
 key. 
 
 As  leading  to  reputation,  which  was  what  Tzu  Chang 
 
 wanted. 
 
 If  you  were  to  discard  all  thoughts  of  reputation 
 and  wealth  and  attend  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
 heart,  surely  you  would  not  pass  one  day  without 
 practising  the  higher  virtues." 
 
 "  Those  who  have  no  shame,"  replied  Man  Kou 
 
 Meaning  himself. 
 
 *'  grow  rich.  Those  who  inspire  confidence  make 
 themselves  conspicuous. 
 
 Meaning  Tzii  Chang. 
 
398  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 Reputation  and  wealth  are  mostly  to  be  got  out  of 
 shamelessness  and  confidence  inspired.  Thus,  with 
 a  view  to  reputation  or  to  wealth,  the  confidence  of 
 others  is  the  true  key. 
 
 As  leading  to  wealth,  which  was  what  Man  Kou  Te 
 wanted. 
 
 If  you  were  to  discard  all  thoughts  of  reputation 
 and  wealth,  surely  the  virtuous  man  would  then 
 have  no  scope  beyond  himself." 
 Beyond  his  own  nature. 
 
 "  Of  old,"  said  Tzu  Chang,  "  Chieh  and  Chou 
 sat  upon  the  Imperial  throne,  and  the  whole  empire 
 was  theirs.  Yet  if  you  were  now  to  tell  any  com- 
 mon thief  that  his  moral  qualities  resembled  theirs, 
 he  would  resent  it  as  an  insult.  By  such  miserable 
 creatures  are  they  despised." 
 
 ''  Confucius  and  Mih  Tzu,  on  the  other  hand, 
 were  poor  and  simple  enough.  Yet  if  you  were  to 
 tell  any  Prime  Minister  of  to-day  that  his  moral 
 qualities  resembled  theirs,  he  would  flush  with 
 pride  and  declare  you  were  paying  him  too  high  a 
 compliment.  So  truly  honourable  is  the  man  of 
 learning. 
 
 "  Thus,  the  power  of  a  monarch  does  not  neces- 
 sarily make  him  worthy ;  nor  do  poverty  and  a  low 
 station  necessarily  make  a  man  unworthy.  The 
 worthy  and  the  unworthy  are  differentiated  by  the 
 worthiness  and  unworthiness  of  their  acts." 
 
 "  A  petty  thief,"  replied  Man  Kou  Te,  "  is  put  in 
 gaol.     A  great  brigand  becomes  ruler  of  a  State. 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  CM  399 
 
 And  among  the  retainers  of  the  latter,  men  of  virtue 
 will  be  found. 
 
 "  Of  old,  Duke  Huan,  named  Hsiao  Poh,  slew 
 his  elder  brother  and  took  his  sister-in-law  to  wife. 
 Yet  Kuan  Chung  became  his  minister. 
 
 "  T'ien  Cheng  Tzu  killed  his  prince  and  seized 
 the  kingdom.     Yet  Confucius  accepted  his  pay. 
 See  p.  III. 
 
 "To  condemn  a  man  in  words,  yet  actually  to 
 take  service  under  him, — does  not  this  show  us 
 practice  and  precept  directly  opposed  to  one 
 another  ? 
 
 "  Therefore  it  was  written,  '  Who  is  bad  ?  Who 
 is  good  ?  He  who  succeeds  is  the  head.  He  who 
 does  not  succeed  is  the  tail.'  " 
 
 "  But  if  you  do  not  practise  virtue,"  said  Tzu 
 Chang,  "  and  make  no  distinction  between  kith 
 and  kin,  assign  no  duties  to  the  worthy  and  to  the 
 unworthy,  no  precedence  to  young  and  old,  how 
 then  are  the  Five  Bonds  and  the  Six  Ranks  to  be 
 distinguished  ?  " 
 
 Commentators  are  divided  as  to  these  Bonds  and 
 Ranks.  One  makes  the  former  calendaric.  Another 
 considers  that  the  five  cardinal  virtues  and  six  ranks 
 of  nobility  are  meant.  Of  the  latter  there  are  only- 
 five,  but  "  sovereign  "  is  added  to  patch  the  defici- 
 ency. 
 
 "  Yao  slew  his  eldest  son,"  answered  Man  Kou 
 T^.  "  Shun  banished  his  mother's  brother.  Was 
 there  kith  and  kin  in  that  ? 
 
 "T'ang  deposed  Chieh.     Wu  Wang  slew  Chou. 
 
400  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 Was  that  the  duty  of  the  worthy  towards  the  un- 
 worthy ? 
 
 "  Wang  Chi  was  the  legitimate  heir,  but  Chow 
 Kung  slew  his  elder  brother.  W^as  that  precedence 
 of  young  and  old  ? 
 
 "  The  false  principles  of  the  Confucianists,  the 
 universal  love  of  the  Mihists, — do  these  help  to 
 distinguish  the  Five  Bonds  and  the  Six  Ranks  ? 
 
 "  You,  Sir,  are  all  for  reputation.  I  am  all  for 
 wealth.  As  to  which  pursuit  is  not  in  accordance 
 with  principle  nor  in  harmony  with  right,  let  us 
 refer  to  the  arbitration  of  Wu  Yoh." 
 
 "  The  mean  man,"  said  Wu  Yoh,  "  devotes  him- 
 self to  wealth.  The  superior  man  devotes  himself 
 to  reputation.  The  moral  results  are  different  in 
 each  case.  But  if  both  would  set  aside  their  acti- 
 vities and  devote  themselves  to  doing  nothing,  the 
 results  would  be  the  same. 
 
 "  Wherefore  it  has  been  said,  *  Be  not  a  mean 
 man.  Revert  to  your  natural  self.  Be  not  a  su- 
 perior man.     Abide  by  the  laws  of  heaven.' 
 
 "As  to  the  straight  and  the  crooked,  view  them 
 from  the  standpoint  of  the  infinite. 
 
 All  distinctions  are  thus  merged. 
 
 Gaze  around  you  on  all  sides,  until  time  withdraws 
 you  from  the  scene. 
 
 "As  to  the  right  and  the  wrong,  hold  fast  to 
 your  magic  circle, 
 
 At   the  centre  of  which  all  positives   and   negatives 
 converge.     See  ch.  ii,  p.  i8. 
 
CAP.  XXIX,]  Robber  Chi  401 
 
 and  with  independent  mind  walk  ever  in  the  way 
 of  Tao. 
 
 "  Do  not  swerve  from  the  path  of  virtue  ;  do  not 
 bring  about  your  own  good  deeds, — lest  your 
 labour  be  lost.  Do  not  make  for  wealth  ;  do  not 
 aim  at  success, — lest  you  cast  away  that  which  links 
 you  to  God. 
 
 "  Pi  Kan  was  disembowelled.  Tzu  Hsii  had  his 
 eyes  gouged  out. 
 
 Better  known  as  Wu  Yuan.  Seep.  112.  He  ex- 
 pressed a  wish  to  be  buried  on  the  road  to  the  YUeh 
 State  that  he  might  witness  the  defeat  of  the  Wu 
 State.  Whereupon  the  prince  of  the  latter  State  at 
 once  had  him  deprived  of  sight. 
 
 Such  was  the  fate  of  loyalty, 
 
 '*  Chih  Kung  bore  witness  against  his  father. 
 Wei  Sheng  was  drowned.  Such  are  the  misfortunes 
 of  the  faithful. 
 
 "  Pao  Chiao  dried  up  where  he  stood.  Shen 
 Tzu  would  not  justify  himself. 
 
 He  would  not  defend  himself  against  a  charge  of 
 putting  poison  in  his  father's  food. 
 
 Such  are  the  evils  of  honesty. 
 
 "  Confucius  did  not  visit  his  mother. 
 
 There  is  no  authority  for  this  statement. 
 
 K'uang  Tzu  did  not  visit  his  father. 
 
 By  whom  he  had  been  turned  out  of  doors. 
 
 Such  are  the  trials  which  come  upon  the  upright. 
 
 "  The  above  instances  have  been  handed  down 
 to  us  from  antiquity  and  are  discussed  in  modern 
 
 2   D 
 
402  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 times.  They  show  that  men  of  learning  em- 
 phasized their  precepts  by  carrying  them  out  in 
 practice ;  and  that  consequently  they  paid  the 
 penalty  and  fell  into  these  calamities." 
 
 Discontent  asked  Complacency,  saying,  "  There 
 is  really  no  one  who  does  not  either  aim  at  repu- 
 tation or  make  for  wealth.  If  a  man  is  rich,  others 
 flock  around  him.  These  necessarily  take  a  sub- 
 ordinate position,  and  consequently  pay  him  court. 
 And  it  would  seem  that  such  subordination  and 
 respect  constitute  a  royal  road  to  long  life,  comfort, 
 and  general  happiness.  How  is  it  then  that  you. 
 Sir,  have  no  mind  for  these  things  ?  Is  it  that  you 
 are  wanting  in  wit  ?  Or  is  it  that  you  are  physi- 
 cally unable  to  compete,  and  therefore  go  in  for 
 being  virtuous,  though  all  the  time  unable  to 
 forget  ?  " 
 
 "  You  and  your  friends,"  replied  Complacency, 
 "  regard  all  men  as  alike  because  they  happen  to  be 
 born  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  place  as 
 yourselves.  You  look  on  us  as  scholars  who  have 
 separated  from  humanity  and  cast  off  the  world, 
 and  who  have  no  guiding  principle  beyond  poring 
 over  the  records  of  the  past  and  present,  or  in- 
 dulging in  the  logomachy  of  this  and  that. 
 
 "Were  we  to  lead  the  mundane  lives  you  do, 
 it  would  be  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  very  conditions 
 of  existence.  And  surely  thus  we  should  be  wan- 
 dering far  from  the  royal  road  to  long  life,  comfort, 
 and  general  happiness.     The  discomfort  of  wretch- 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  Chi  403 
 
 edness,  the  comfort  of  well-being,  you  do  not  refer 
 to  the  body.. 
 
 But    to    some   external   cause  of  which    the   body 
 becomes  subjectively  conscious. 
 
 The  abjectness  of  terror,  the  elation  of  joy,  you  do 
 not  refer  to  the  mind  itself.  You  know  that  such 
 things  are  so,  but  you  do  not  know  how  they  are 
 so.  Wherefore,  though  equalling  the  Son  of 
 Heaven  in  power,  and  with  all  the  empire  as  your 
 personal  property,  you  would  not  be  free  from 
 care." 
 
 "  Wealth,"  replied  Discontent,  "  is  of  the  greatest 
 service  to  a  man.  It  enables  him  to  do  good,  and 
 to  exert  power,  to  an  extent  which  the  perfect  man 
 or  the  true  Sage  could  never  reach.  He  can  borrow 
 the  courage  and  strength  of  others  to  make  himself 
 formidable.  He  can  employ  the  wisdom  and  coun- 
 sels of  others  to  add  clearness  to  his  own  delibera- 
 tions. He  can  avail  himself  of  the  virtue  of  others 
 and  cause  it  to  appear  as  his  own.  Without  being 
 in  possession  of  a  throne,  he  can  wield  the  authority 
 of  a  prince. 
 
 ''  Besides,  the  pleasures  of  music,  beauty,  rich 
 food,  and  power,  do  not  require  to  be  studied  before 
 they  can  be  appreciated  by  the  mind  ;  nor  does  the 
 body  need  the  example  of  others  before  it  can  enjoy 
 them.  We  need  no  teacher  to  tell  us  what  to  like 
 or  dislike,  to  follow  or  to  avoid.  Such  knowledge 
 is  instinctive  in  man.  The  world  may  condemn 
 this  view,  but  which  of  us  is  free  from  the  taint  ?  " 
 
 2  D  2 
 
404  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 "The  wise  man,"  answered  Complacency,  "acts 
 for  the  common  weal,  in  pursuit  of  which  he  does 
 not  overstep  due  limits.  Wherefore,  if  there  is  a 
 sufficiency,  he  does  not  strive  for  more.  He  has  no 
 use  for  more,  and  accordingly  does  not  seek  it.  But 
 if  there  is  not  a  sufficiency,  then  he  seeks  for  more. 
 He  strives  in  all  directions,  yet  does  not  account  it 
 greed.  If  there  is  a  surplus,  he  declines  it.  Even 
 though  he  refused  the  whole  empire,  he  would  not 
 account  it  honesty.  To  him,  honesty  and  greed  are 
 not  conditions  into  which  we  are  forced  by  outward 
 circumstances,  but  characteristics  innate  in  the  indi- 
 vidual. He  may  wield  the  power  of  the  Son  of 
 Heaven,  but  will  not  employ  it  for  the  degradation 
 of  others.  He  may  own  the  whole  empire,  yet  will 
 not  use  his  wealth  to  take  advantage  of  his  fellows. 
 But  a  calculation  of  the  troubles  and  the  anxieties 
 inseparable  therefrom,  cause  him  to  reject  these  as 
 injurious  to  his  nature,  not  from  a  desire  for 
 reputation. 
 
 "  When  Yao  and  Shun  occupied  the  throne,  there 
 was  peace.  They  did  not  try  to  be  beneficent  rulers. 
 They  did  not  inflict  injury  by  doing  good. 
 
 They  were   simply    natural,  and   good    results   fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 "  Shan  Chiian  and  Hsii  Yu  both  declined  the 
 proffered  throne.  Theirs  was  no  empty  refusal. 
 They  would  not  cause  injury  to  themselves. 
 
 "  In  all  these  cases,  each  individual  adopted  the 
 profitable   course   in    preference   to    the   injurious 
 
CAP.  XXIX.]  Robber  Chi  405 
 
 course.  And  the  world  calls  them  virtuous, 
 whereby  they  acquire  a  reputation  at  which  they 
 never  aimed." 
 
 **  It  is  necessary,"  argued  Discontent,  "  to  cling 
 to  reputation.  If  all  pleasures  are  to  be  denied  to 
 the  body  and  one's  energies  to  be  concentrated  upon 
 health  with  a  view  to  the  prolongation  of  life,  such 
 life  would  be  itself  nothing  more  than  the  prolonged 
 illness  of  a  confirmed  invalid." 
 
 "  Happiness,"  said  Complacency,  "is to  be  found 
 in  contentment.  Too  much  is  always  a  curse,  most 
 of  all  in  wealth. 
 
 "  The  ears  of  the  wealthy  man  ring  with  sounds 
 of  sweet  music.  His  palate  is  cloyed  with  rich 
 meats  and  wine.  In  the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  busi- 
 ness is  forgotten.     This  is  confusion. 
 
 "  He  eats  and  drinks  to  excess,  until  his  breath 
 ing  is  that  of  one  carrying  a  heavy  load  up  a  hill. 
 This  is  misery. 
 
 "  He  covets  money  to  surround  himself  with 
 comforts.  He  covets  power  to  vanquish  rivals.  But 
 his  quiet  hours  are  darkened  by  diabetes  and  dropsy. 
 This  is  disease. 
 
 "  Even  when,  in  his  desire  for  wealth,  he  has 
 piled  up  an  enormous  fortune,  he  still  goes  on  and 
 cannot  desist.     This  is  shame. 
 
 "  Having  no  use  for  the  money  he  has  collected, 
 he  still  hugs  it  to  him  and  cannot  bear  to  part  with 
 it.  His  heart  is  inflamed,  and  he  ever  seeks  to  add 
 more  to  the  pile.     This  is  unhappiness. 
 
 "  At  home,  he  dreads  the  pest  of  the  pilfering 
 
4o6  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 thief.  Abroad,  the  danger  of  bandit  and  highway- 
 man. So  he  keeps  strict  guard  within,  while  never 
 venturing  alone  without.     This  is  fear. 
 
 "  These  six  are  the  greatest  of  the  world's  curses. 
 Yet  such  a  man  never  bestows  a  thought  upon 
 them,  until  the  hour  of  misfortune  is  at  hand. 
 Then,  with  his  ambitions  gratified,  his  natural 
 powers  exhausted,  and  nothing  but  wealth  remain- 
 ing, he  would  gladly  obtain  one  day's  peace,  but 
 cannot  do  so. 
 
 "Wherefore,  if  reputation  is  not  to  be  enjoyed 
 and  wealth  is  not  to  be  secured,  how  pitiable  it  is 
 that  men  should  harass  their  minds  and  wear  out 
 their  bodies  in  such  pursuits  !  " 
 
407 
 
 CHAPTER   XXX. 
 On  Swords. 
 
 [Spurious.] 
 
 OF  old,  Wen  Wang  of  Chao  loved  sword-play. 
 Swordsmen  thronged  his  halls,  to  the  number 
 of  three  thousand  and  more.  Day  and  night  they 
 had  bouts  before  the  prince.  In  the  course  of  a 
 year,  a  hundred  or  so  would  be  killed  or  wounded. 
 Yet  the  prince  was  never  satisfied. 
 
 Within  three  years,  the  State  had  begun  to  go  to 
 rack  and  ruin,  and  other  princes  to  form  designs 
 upon  it.  Thereupon  the  Heir  Apparent,  Li,  became 
 troubled  in  mind  ;  and  said  to  the  officers  of  his 
 household,  '' Whosover  shall  persuade  the  prince  to 
 do  away  with  these  swordsmen,  to  him  I  will  give 
 a  thousand  ounces  of  silver." 
 
 To  this  his  officers  replied,  "  Chuang  Tzu  is  the 
 man." 
 
 Thereupon  the  Heir  Apparent  sent  messengers  to 
 Chuang  Tzu  with  a  thousand  ounces  of  silver,  which 
 he  would  not  accept,  but  accompanied  the  messen- 
 gers back  to  their  master. 
 
 "  What   does   your    Highness   require   of  me," 
 
4o8  Chuang  Tzic 
 
 asked  Chuang  Tzu,  "  that  you  should  bestow  upon 
 me  a  thousand  ounces  ? " 
 
 "  I  had  heard,"  replied  the  young  prince,  "  that 
 you  were  a  famous  Sage,  and  I  ventured  to  send 
 this  money  as  a  present  to  your  servants. 
 
 Merely  a  ceremonious  phrase. 
 
 But  as  you  would  not  receive  it,  what  more  can  I 
 say? 
 
 "  I  understand,"  answered  Chuang  Tzu,  "  that 
 your  Highness  would  have  me  cure  the  prince  of 
 his  peculiar  weakness.  Now  suppose  that  I  do  not 
 succeed  with  the  prince,  and  consequently  with 
 your  Highness,  the  punishment  of  death  is  what  I 
 have  to  expect.  What  good  would  the  thousand 
 ounces  be  to  me  then  ?  " 
 
 **  On  the  other  hand,  if  I  succeed  with  the  prince, 
 and  consequently  with  your  Highness,  the  whole 
 State  of  Chao  contains  nothing  I  could  not  have  for 
 the  asking." 
 
 "  You  must  know,  however,"  said  the  young 
 prince,  "  that  my  father  will  only  receive  swords- 
 men." 
 
 "  Well,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,  "  I  am  a  good 
 swordsman  myself." 
 
 "  Besides  which,"  added  the  Heir  Apparent,  "  the 
 swordsmen  he  is  accustomed  to  see  have  all  dis- 
 hevelled hair  hanging  over  their  temples.  They 
 wear  slouching  caps  with  coarse  tangled  tassels, 
 and  short-tailed  coats.  They  glare  with  their  eyes 
 and  talk  in  a  fierce  tone.     This  is  what  my  father 
 
CAP.  XXX.]  On  Swords  409 
 
 likes.  But  if  you  go  to  him  dressed  in  your 
 ordinary  scholar's  dress,  the  result  is  sure  to  be 
 disastrous." 
 
 "  I  will  accustom  myself  to  the  dress,"  replied 
 Chuang  Tzu  ;  and  after  practising  for  three  days, 
 he  went  again  to  see  the  young  prince,  who  accom- 
 panied him  into  his  father's  presence. 
 
 The  latter  drew  a  sharp  sword  and  awaited 
 Chuang  Tzu's  approach.  But  Chuang  Tzu,  when 
 he  entered  the  door  of  the  audience  chamber,  did 
 not  hurry  forward,  neither  did  he  prostrate  himself 
 before  the  prince. 
 
 "What  have  you  to  say  to  me,"  cried  the  prince, 
 '*  that  you  have  obtained  your  introduction  through 
 the  Heir  Apparent  ?  " 
 
 "  I  have  heard,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu,  "  that  your 
 Highness  loves  sword-play.  Therefore  I  have  come 
 to  exhibit  my  skill." 
 
 "  What  can  you  do  in  that  line  ? "  asked  the 
 prince. 
 
 "  Were  I  to  meet  an  opponent,"  said  Chuang 
 Tzu,  "  at  every  ten  paces,  I  could  go  on  for  a  thou- 
 sand //without  being  stopped." 
 
 "  Bravo  !  "  cried  the  prince.  "  There  is  not  your 
 match  in  the  empire." 
 
 "  When  I  fight,"  continued  Chuang  Tzu,  "  I 
 make  a  show  of  being  weak  but  push  a  vigorous 
 attack.  The  last  to  start,  I  am  the  first  to  arrive. 
 I  should  like  your  Highness  to  make  trial   of  me." 
 
 "  Rest  awhile,"  replied  the  prince.  "  Stay  here 
 and  await  orders.     I  will  arrange  a  day  for  you." 
 
410  Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 Thereupon  the  prince  spent  seven  days  in  trying 
 his  swordsmen.  Some  sixty  of  them  were  either 
 killed  or  wounded,  but  at  length  he  selected  five  or 
 six  and  bade  them  attend  in  the  audience-chamber 
 with  their  swords.  He  then  summoned  Chuang 
 Tzu  and  said,  *'  Now  I  will  see  what  your  swords- 
 manship is  worth." 
 
 "  I  have  been  longing  for  this,"  replied  Chuang 
 Izu. 
 
 "  Does  it  matter  to  you,"  asked  the  prince,  '*  of 
 what  length  your  weapon  may  be  ?  "   . 
 
 "  Not  at  all,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu.  "  I  have 
 three  swords,  of  which  I  will  ask  your  Highness  to 
 choose  one.     We  will  then  proceed  to  the  trial." 
 
 "  Which  are  your  three  swords  ?  "  enquired  the 
 prince. 
 
 "  There  is  the  sword  of  the  Son  of  Heaven,"  said 
 Chuang  Tzu,  "  the  sword  of  the  Princes,  and  the 
 sword  of  the  People." 
 
 "What  is  the  sword  of  the  Son  of  Heaven?" 
 asked  the  prince. 
 
 "  The  stone  wall  of  Yen-ch'i  is  its  point,"  replied 
 Chuang  Tzu. 
 
 Some  take  "  stone  wall"  as  the  name  of  a  place. 
 
 The  mountains  of  Ch'i  are  its  edge.  Chin  and  Wei 
 are  its  back.  Chou  and  Sung  are  its  hilt.  Han  and 
 Wei  are  its  sheath.  It  is  enclosed  in  the  four 
 hordes  of  barbarians,  wrapped  in  the  four  seasons, 
 surrounded  by  the  great  ocean.  It  is  made  of  the 
 five  elements.     It  is  the  arbiter  of  punishment  and 
 
CAP.  XXX.]  On  Swords  4 1 1 
 
 reward.  It  operates  under  the  influence  of  the  Yin 
 and  the  Yang.  In  spring  and  summer  it  is  at  rest. 
 In  autumn  and  winter  it  moves  abroad.  Push  it, 
 it  does  not  advance.  Raise  it,  it  does  not  go  up. 
 Lower  it,  it  does  not  go  down.  Whirl  it  around, 
 it  does  not  change  position.  Above,  it  cleaves  the 
 floating  clouds  ;  below,  it  cuts  through  the  density 
 of  earth.  One  flash  of  this  blade,  and  the  princes 
 of  the  empire  submit.  Such  is  the  sword  of  the  Son 
 of  Heaven." 
 
 At  this  the  prince  seemed  absorbed  in  his  reflec- 
 tions. Then  he  enquired,  saying,  "And  what  is 
 the  sword  of  the  Princes  ?  " 
 
 "The  wise  and  brave,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu, 
 "  are  its  point.  The  incorruptible  are  its  edge. 
 The  virtuous  are  its  back.  The  loyal  are  its  hilt. 
 The  heroic  are  its  sheath.  You  may  push  this 
 sword  too,  it  will  not  advance.  Raise  it,  it  will  not 
 go  up.  Lower  it,  it  will  not  go  down.  Whirl  it 
 around,  it  will  not  change  position.  Above,  it 
 models  itself  upon  the  round  heaven,  in  order  to 
 keep  in  harmony  with  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars. 
 Below,  it  models  itself  upon  the  square  earth,  in 
 order  to  keep  in  harmony  with  the  four  seasons. 
 It  adapts  itself  to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  in 
 order  to  diffuse  peace  on  all  sides.  One  flash 
 of  this  blade  is  like  a  roaring  clap  of  thunder. 
 Between  the  boundaries  of  the  State  there  is 
 not  left  one  but  who  yields  and  obeys  the 
 command  of  his  prince.  Such  is  the  sword  of  the 
 Princes." 
 
412  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 "  And  the  sword  of  the  People  ?  "  enquired  the 
 prince. 
 
 "  The  sword  of  the  People,"  replied  Chuang  Tzu, 
 "  has  dishevelled  hair  hanging  over  its  temples.  It 
 wears  a  slouching  cap  with  coarse  tangled  tassel, 
 and  a  short-tailed  coat.  It  glares  with  its  eyes  and 
 talks  in  a  fierce  tone.  When  it  engages  in  conflict, 
 above,  it  cuts  off  head  and  neck;  below,  it  smites 
 liver  and  lungs.  Such  is  the  sword  of  the  People. 
 It  is  like  a  game-cock.  One  day,  its  life  is  cut 
 short,  and  it  is  of  no  more  use  to  the  State. 
 
 "  Now  you,  great  prince,  wield  sovereign  power, 
 and  yet  you  devote  yourself  to  this  sword  of  the 
 People.     I  am  truly  ashamed  of  it." 
 
 Thereupon  the  prince  drew  Chuang  Tzu  up  on  to 
 the  dais,  and  the  attendants  served  food,  the  king 
 three  times  assisting  with  his  own  hand. 
 
 The  prince  each  time  received  the  dish  from  the 
 attendants,  handed  it  to  Chuang  Tzii,  and  then 
 walked  round  to  his  own  seat  again. 
 
 "  Be  seated,  great  prince,"  said  Chuang  Tzu, 
 **  and  compose  your  mind.  I  have  said  all  I  have 
 to  say  on  swords." 
 
 After  this  the  prince  did  not  quit  his  palace  for 
 three  months,  while  the  swordsmen,  submitting  to 
 the  new  order  of  things,  died  in  their  own  homes. 
 
 One  commentator  says  "  killed  themselves  in  their 
 own  dwellings."  But  if  so,  Chuang  Tzii's  influence 
 was  of  small  practical  value  as  far  as  the  swordsmen 
 were  concerned.  They  might  as  well  have  con- 
 tinued their  profession  of  arms. 
 
413 
 
 CHAPTER   XXXI. 
 
 The  Old  Fisherman. 
 
 [Spurious.] 
 
 CONFUCIUS,  travelling  in  the  Black  Forest, 
 rested  awhile  at  Apricot  Altar.  His  disci- 
 ples sat  down  to  their  books,  and  he  himself  played 
 upon  the  lute  and  sang. 
 
 Half  way  through  the  song,  an  old  fisherman 
 stepped  out  of  a  boat  and  advanced  towards  them. 
 His  beard  and  eyebrows  were  snowy  white.  His 
 hair  hung  loose,  and  he  flapped  his  long  sleeves  as 
 he  walked  over  the  foreshore.  Reaching  firm 
 ground,  he  stood  still,  and  with  left  hand  on  his 
 knee  and  right  hand  to  his  ear,  listened. 
 
 When  the  song  was  finished,  he  beckoned  to  Tzu 
 Kung  and  Tzu  Lu,  both  of  whom  went  to  him. 
 Then  pointing  with  his  finger,  he  enquired,  saying, 
 "  What  is  that  man  doing  here  ?  " 
 
 '*  He  is  the  Sage  of  Lu,"  replied  Tzu  Lu. 
 
 "  Of  what  clan  ?  "  asked  the  old  man. 
 
 "Of  the  K'ung  family,"  replied  Tzu  Lu. 
 
 "  And  what  is  his  occupation  ? "  said  the  old 
 man. 
 
 "  He   devotes    himself,"    replied    Tzu    Lu,    "  to 
 
414  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 loyalty  and  truth.  He  practises  charity  and  duty' 
 towards  his  neighbour.  He  regulates  ceremonies  and 
 music.  He  distinguishes  the  relationships  of  man. 
 He  is  loyal  to  his  prince  above,  a  reformer  of  the 
 masses  below.  Thus  he  will  be  of  great  service  to 
 the  whole  empire.     Such  is  his  occupation." 
 
 "  Is  he  a  ruler  of  a  State  ?  "  asked  the  old  man. 
 
 "  He  is  not,"  said  Tzu  Kung. 
 
 "  A  minister  ?  "  said  the  old  man. 
 
 "  No,"  said  Tzu  Kung. 
 
 Then  the  old  man  laughed  and  walked  away, 
 saying,  "  Charity  is  charity,  yet  I  fear  he  will  not 
 escape  the  wear  of  mind  and  tear  of  body  which 
 imperil  the  original  purity  of  man.  How  far, 
 alas,  has  he  wandered  from  the  true  path  !  " 
 
 From  Tao. 
 
 Tzu  Kung  went  back  and  told  Confucius,  who, 
 laying  aside  his  lute,  arose  and  said,  "  This  man  is 
 a  Sage ! "  I 
 
 Thereupon  he  followed  the  old  man  down  the 
 shore,  catching  him  up  just  as  he  was  drawing  in 
 his  boat  with  his  staff.  Perceiving  Confucius,  the 
 old  man  turned  round  to  receive  him,  at  which  Con- 
 fucius stepped  back  and  prostrated  himself  twice 
 before  advancing. 
 
 "What  do  you  want,  Sir?"  asked  the  fisher- 
 man. 
 
 "  Just  now,  venerable  Sir,"  replied  Confucius, 
 "you  left  without  finishing  your  remarks.  In  my 
 stupidity    I    cannot    make   out   what    you    mean. 
 
CAP.  XXXI.]  The  Old  Fishennan  4 1 5 
 
 Therefore  I  have  come  in  the  humble  hope  of 
 hearing  any  words  with  which  you  may  deign  to 
 help  me." 
 
 "Well,"  said  the  old  man,  ''you  are  certainly 
 anxious  to  learn." 
 
 At  this  Confucius  prostrated  himself  twice,  and 
 when  he  got  up  said,  "  Yes,  I  have  been  a  student 
 from  my  youth  upwards  until  now,  the  sixty-ninth 
 year  of  my  age.  Yet  I  have  never  heard  the  true 
 doctrine,  which  I  am  now  ready  to  receive  without 
 bias." 
 
 "  Like  species  follow  like,"  answered  the  old  man. 
 "  Like  sounds  respond  to  like. 
 
 See  p.    283,   and  the  experiment  of  the   two  lutes, 
 
 p.  319- 
 This  is  a  law  of  nature.    I  will  now  with  your  leave 
 apply  what  I  know  to  what  you  occupy  yourself 
 with, — the  affairs  of  men. 
 
 "  The  Son  of  Heaven,  the  princes,  the  ministers, 
 and  the  people, — if  these  four  fulfil  their  proper 
 functions,  the  result  is  good  government.  If  they 
 quit  their  proper  places,  the  result  is  unutterable 
 confusion.  When  the  officials  mind  their  duties 
 and  the  people  their  business,  neither  is  injured  by 
 the  other. 
 
 "  Barren  land,  leaky  roofs,  want  of  food  and 
 clothing,  inability  to  meet  taxation,  quarrels  of 
 wives  and  concubines,  no  precedence  between  young 
 and  old, — such  are  the  sorrows  of  the  people. 
 
 "  Capacity  unequal  to  one's  duties,  and  inability 
 to  carry  on  routine  work,  absence  of  clean-handed- 
 
41 6  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 ness,  and  carelessness  among  subordinates,  lack  of 
 distinction  and  want  of  preferment, — such  are  the 
 sorrows  of  ministers. 
 
 "The  Court  without  loyal  ministers  and  the 
 State  in  rebellion,  the  artisan  unskilful  and  the 
 tribute  unsatisfactory,  the  periodical  levees  unat- 
 tended and  the  Son  of  Heaven  displeased, — such 
 are  the  sorrows  of  the  princes. 
 
 **  The  two  great  principles  of  nature  working 
 inharmoniously,  heat  and  cold  coming  at  irregular 
 seasons  so  that  men  and  things  suffer,  the  princes 
 rebellious  and  fighting  among  themselves  so  that 
 the  people  perish,  music  and  ceremonies  ill  regu- 
 lated, wealth  dissipated,  the  relationships  of  man 
 disregarded,  the  masses  sunk  in  immorality, — such 
 are  the  sorrows  which  fall  to  the  share  of  the  Son 
 of  Heaven. 
 
 "  But  now  you.  Sir,  occupying  neither  the  more 
 exalted  position  of  ruler  nor  performing  the  subor- 
 dinate functions  of  minister,  nevertheless  take  upon 
 yourself  to  regulate  music  and  ceremonies  and  to 
 distinguish  the  relationships  of  man,  in  order  to 
 reform  the  masses.  Are  you  not  travelling  out  of 
 your  own  sphere  ? 
 
 "  Further,  men  have  eight  blemishes,  and  there 
 ^  are  four  things  which  obstruct  business.  These 
 should  be  investigated. 
 
 "  Meddling  with  matters  which  do  not  matter  to 
 /    you,  is  prying. 
 
 **  To  push  one's  way  in,  regardless  of  neglect,  is 
 2  to  be  forward. 
 
CAP.  XXXI.]  The  Old  Fisherman  417 
 
 "  To    adapt    one's    thoughts  and  arrange  one's   i 
 words,  is  sycophancy. 
 
 "  To    applaud    a    person,    right   or    wrong,    is  ^ 
 flattery. 
 
 "  To  love  speaking  evil  of  others,  is  slander.  r 
 
 "  To  sever  friendships  and  break  ties,   is  mis-  ^ 
 chievousness. 
 
 "  To  praise  people  falsely  with  a  view  to  injure   7 
 them,  is  malice. 
 
 "  To  give  ready  assent  with  a  view  to  worm  out 
 the  wishes  of  others,  good  and  bad  alike,  is  to  be  a  t 
 hypocrite. 
 
 "  These  eight  blemishes  cause  a  man  to  throw 
 others  into  confusion  and  bring  injury  upon  him- 
 self. The  superior  man  will  not  have  him  for  a 
 friend  ;  the  enlightened  prince  will  not  employ  him 
 as  his  minister. 
 
 "  To  love  the  conduct  of  great  affairs,  and  to  in-      / 
 troduce  change  into  established  order  with  a  view 
 to  gain  reputation, — this  is  ambition. 
 
 "  To  strive  to  get  all  into  one's  own  hands,  and  to 
 usurp  what  should  be  at  the  disposal  of  others, —     -^ 
 this  is  greed. 
 
 "  To  know  one's  faults  but  not  to  correct  them,  to 
 receive  admonition  but  only  to  plunge  deeper, — this   o' 
 is  obstinacy. 
 
 "  To  suffer  those  who  are  like  oneself,  but  as  for 
 those  unlike  not  to  credit  them  with  the  virtues    ^ 
 they  really  possess, — this  is  bigotry. 
 
 "  Such  are  the  four  things  which  obstruct  busi- 
 ness.    And  only  he  w^ho  can  put  aside  the  above 
 
 2   E 
 
4i8  CImang  Tzti, 
 
 eight  and  abstain  from  the  above  four  is  fit  for 
 instruction." 
 
 At  this  Confucius  heaved  a  sigh  of  distress. 
 Then  having  twice  prostrated  himself,  he  arose  and 
 said,  "  Twice  was  I  driven  from  Lu.  I  was  tabooed 
 in  Wei.  My  tree  was  cut  down  in  Sung.  I  was 
 surrounded  by  the  Ch  ens  and  the  Ts'ais.  I  know 
 not  what  my  fault  is  that  I  should  have  suffered 
 these  four  persecutions." 
 
 "  Dear  me  !  "  said  the  old  man  in  a  vexed  tone, 
 "  How  slow  of  perception  you  are. 
 
 "  There  was  once  a  man  who  was  so  afraid  of  his 
 shadow  and  so  disliked  his  own  footsteps  that  he 
 determined  to  run  away  from  them.  But  the  oftener 
 he  raised  his  feet  the  more  footsteps  he  made,  and 
 though  he  ran  very  hard  his  shadow  never  left 
 him.  From  this  he  inferred  that  he  went  too 
 slowly,  and  ran  as  hard  as  he  could  without  rest- 
 ing, the  consequence  being  that  his  strength  broke 
 down  and  he  died.  He  was  not  aware  that  by 
 >  going  into  the  shade  he  would  have  got  rid  of  his 
 !  shadow,  and  that  by  keeping  still  he  would  have 
 put  an  end  to  his  footsteps.    Fool  that  he  was ! 
 
 ''  Now  you  occupy  yourself  with  charity  and 
 duty  to  one's  neighbour.  You  examine  into  the  dis- 
 tinction of  like  and  unlike,  the  changes  of  motion 
 and  rest,  the  canons  of  giving  and  receiving,  the 
 emotions  of  love  and  hate,  and  the  restraint  of  joy 
 and  anger.  Yet  you  cannot  avoid  the  calamities 
 you  speak  of. 
 
 "  Reverently  care  for  your  body.     Carefully  pre- 
 
CAP.  XXXI.]  The  Old  Fisher  man  419 
 
 serve  your  natural  purity.  Leave  externals  to 
 others.  Then  you  will  not  be  involved.  But  as  it 
 is,  instead  of  improving  yourself  you  are  trying  to 
 improve  other  people.  Surely  this  is  dealing  with 
 the  external." 
 
 "Then  may  I  enquire,"  said  Confucius  in  a  tone 
 of  distress,  "what  is  the  original  purity?" 
 
 "  Our  original  purity,"  replied  the  fisherman,  "  is 
 the  perfection  of  truth  unalloyed.  Without  this, 
 we  cannot  influence  others.  Hence,  those  who 
 weep  to  order,  though  they  mourn,  do  not  grieve. 
 Those  who  assume  anger,  though  violent,  do  not 
 inspire  awe.  Those  who  affect  friendship,  though 
 they  smile,  are  not  in  unison." 
 
 "  Real  mourning  grieves  in  silence.  Real  anger 
 awes  without  expression.  Real  friendship  is  unison 
 without  the  aid  of  smiles.  Our  emotions  are 
 dependent  upon  the  original  purity  within ;  and 
 accordingly  we  hold  the  latter  in  esteem. 
 
 "  If  applied  to  human  affairs,  then  in  serving  our 
 parents  we  are  filial,  in  serving  our  prince  we  are 
 loyal,  in  the  banquet  hour  we  are  merry,  in  the 
 hour  of  mourning  we  are  sad. 
 
 "  The  object  of  loyalty  is  successful  service ;  of 
 a  banquet,  mirth;  of  mourning,  grief;  of  serving 
 parents,  gratifying  their  wishes.  If  the  service  is 
 accomplished,  it  matters  not  that  no  trace  remain. 
 
 In  the  way  of  kudos  to  the  accornplisher. 
 
 If  parents  be  gratified,  it  matters  not  how.     If  a 
 banquet  results  in  mirth,  the  accessories  are  of  no 
 
 2  E  2 
 
420  Chttang  Tzu 
 
 importance.  If  there  be  real  grief  in  mourning,  it 
 matters  not  what  ceremonies  may  be  employed. 
 
 "  Ceremonial  is  the  invention  of  man.  Our 
 original  purity  is  given  to  us  from  God.  It  is  as 
 it  is,  and  cannot  be  changed.  Wherefore  the  true 
 Sage  models  himself  upon  God,  and  holds  his 
 original  purity  in  esteem.  He  is  independent  of 
 human  exigencies.  Fools,  however,  reverse  this. 
 They  cannot  model  themselves  upon  God,  and  have 
 to  fall  back  on  man.  They  do  not  hold  original 
 purity  in  esteem.  Consequently  they  are  ever 
 suffering  the  vicissitudes  of  mortality,  and  never 
 reaching  the  goal.  Alas !  you.  Sir,  were  early 
 steeped  in  deceit,  and  are  late  in  hearing  the  great 
 doctrine." 
 
 Confucius,  having  again  prostrated  himself  twice, 
 arose  and  said, 
 
 "  It  has  been  a  godsend  to  meet  you.  Sir,  to-day. 
 Pray  allow  me  to  follow  you  as  your  servant,  that 
 I  may  benefit  by  your  teaching.  I  venture  to  ask 
 where  you  live  that  I  may  enter  upon  my  duties 
 and  learn  the  great  doctrine." 
 
 "  I  have  heard,"  replied  the  old  man,  "  that  if  a 
 man  is  a  fit  companion,  one  may  travel  with  him 
 into  the  uttermost  depths  of  Tag.  But  that  if  he 
 is  not  a  fit  companion,  and  does  not  know  Tag, 
 one  must  avoid  his  company,  that  no  harm  may 
 befall.  Excuse  me,  I  must  leave  you."  Thereupon 
 he  pushed  off  his  boat,  and  disappeared  among  the 
 reeds. 
 
 "  Yen  Yuan  then  brought  up  the  chariot,  and 
 
CAP.  XXXI.]  The  Old  Fisherman  42 1 
 
 Tzu  Lu  offered  the  hand-cord  to  Confucius.  But 
 the  latter  paid  no  attention.  He  waited  until  the 
 ripples  on  the  water  had  smoothed  down  and  the 
 sound  of  the  punt-pole  had  died  away,  before  he 
 ventured  to  get  up. 
 
 Tzu  Lu,  who  was  at  the  side  of  the  chariot,  en- 
 quired saying,  "  Master,  I  have  been  in  your  service 
 now  for  a  long  time,  yet  never  did  I  see  you  treat 
 any  man  like  this.  In  the  presence  of  a  ruler  of 
 ten  thousand  or  a  thousand  chariots,  I  have  never 
 seen  you  treated  other  than  with  great  respect, 
 while  you  yourself  would  wear  a  haughty  air.  Yet 
 before  this  old  fisherman,  leaning  on  his  punt-pole, 
 you  cringe  and  bow  and  prostrate  yourself  twice 
 before  answering.  Is  not  this  too  much?  The 
 disciples  do  not  know  what  to  make  of  it.  Why 
 this  behaviour  to  an  old  fisherman  ?  " 
 
 "  Yu  !  "  cried  Confucius,  resting  on  the  bar  of 
 the  chariot ;  "  it  is  difficult  to  make  anything  of 
 you.  You  have  long  studied  ceremonies  and  duty 
 to  your  neighbour,  yet  you  have  not  succeeded  in 
 getting  rid  of  the  old  evil  nature.  Come  here,  and 
 I  will  tell  you. 
 
 "  To  meet  an  elder  without  respect  is  want  of 
 ceremony.  To  see  a  Sage  and  not  to  honour  him, 
 is  not  to  be  in  charity  with  man.  Unless  you  are 
 in  charity  with  man,  you  cannot  humble  yourself 
 before  a  fellow-creature.  And  unless  you  can 
 honestly  do  this,  you  can  never  attain  to  that  state 
 of  original  purity ;  but  the  body  will  constantly 
 suffer.     Alas !  there  is  no  greater  evil  than  not  to 
 
422  Chuang  Tzic 
 
 be  in  charity   with  man.      Yet  in  such  a   plight, 
 O  Yu,  are  you. 
 
 *'  Further.  Tao  is  the  source  of  all  creation. 
 Men  have  it,  and  live.  They  lose  it,  and  die. 
 Affairs  in  antagonism  thereto,  fail ;  in  accordance 
 therewith,  succeed.  Therefore,  wherever  Tao 
 abides,  there  is  the  reverence  of  the  true  Sage. 
 And  as  this  old  fisherman  may  be  said  to  possess 
 Tao,  could  I  venture  not  to  respect  him  }  " 
 
423 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXII. 
 
 LlEH   Tzu. 
 
 Argument: — Outward  manifestation  of  inward  grace — Its  dangers — 
 Self-esteem — Its  errors — Inscrutability  of  Tao — Artificiality  of  Con- 
 fucius— Tests  of  virtue — Chuang  Tzii  declines  office — His  death. 
 
 W 
 
 HEN  Lieh  Tzu 
 
 Lith  Yli  K'ou,  a  name  well  known  in  connection 
 with  Tao.  But  it  is  extremely  doubtful  if  such  a 
 man  ever  lived.  His  record  is  not  given  by  the 
 historian  Ssu-ma  Ch'ien,  and  he  may  well  have 
 been  no  more  than  an  allegorical  personage  created 
 by  Chuang  Tzii  for  purposes  of  illustration.  It  was 
 however  thought  necessary  under  the  Han  dynasty 
 to  supply  his  "  Works  "  ;  and  the  treatise  thus  pro- 
 vided still  passes  under  his  name,  though  generally 
 regarded  as  a  forgery.     See  pp.  4,  5. 
 
 went  to  Ch'i,  half  way  there  he  turned  round 
 and  came  back.  Falling  in  with  Poh  Hun  Wu 
 Jen,  the  latter  said,  "  How  is  it  you  are  so  soon 
 back  again?" 
 
 "  I  was  afraid,"  replied  Lieh  Tzu. 
 
 "  Afraid  of  what  ?  "  asked  Poh  Hun  Wu  Jen. 
 
 "  Out  of  ten  restaurants  at  which  I  ate,"  said 
 Lieh  Tzu,  "  five  would  take  no  payment," 
 
424  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 "  And  what  is  there  to  be  afraid  of  in  that  ? " 
 enquired  Poh  Hun  Wu  Jen. 
 
 "  The  truth  within  not  being  duly  assimilated," 
 replied  Lieh  Tzu,  "a  certain  brightness  is  visible 
 externally.  And  to  conquer  men's  hearts  by  force 
 of  the  external  is  to  induce  in  oneself  a  disregard 
 for  authority  and  age  which  is  the  precursor  of 
 trouble. 
 
 "  A  restaurant  keeper  is  one  who  lives  by  retail- 
 ing soup.  When  his  returns  are  counted  up,  his 
 profit  is  but  small,  and  his  influence  is  next  to 
 nothing.  But  if  such  a  man  could  act  thus,  how 
 much  more  the  ruler  of  a  large  State  ?  His  bodily 
 powers  worn  out  in  the  duties  of  his  position,  his 
 mental  powers  exhausted  by  details  of  administra- 
 tion, he  would  entrust  me  with  the  government 
 and  stimulate  me  by  reward.  That  is  what  I  was 
 afraid  of." 
 
 **  Your  inner  lights  are  good,"  replied  Poh  Hun 
 Wu  Jen  ;  "  but  if  you  remain  stationary  at  this 
 point,  the  world  will  still  gather  around  you." 
 
 Contrary  to  Tag. 
 
 Shortly  afterwards  Poh  Hun  Wu  Jen  went  to 
 visit  Lieh  Tzu,  and  lo !  his  court-yard  was  filled 
 with  boots. 
 
 Of  the  visitors  come  to  hear  him.  These  were  left 
 outside  the  door,  in  accordance  with  an  ancient 
 custom  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Rites.    See  p.  -^(iZ. 
 
 Poh  Hun  Wu  Jen  stood  there  awhile,  facing  the 
 
CAP.  XXXII.]  Lieh  Tzu  425 
 
 north,  his  cheek  all  wrinkled  by  resting  it  on  his 
 staff.     Then,  without  a  word,  he  departed. 
 Upon  this  being  announced  to  Lieh  Tzu, 
 
 By  the  servant  whose  duty  it  was  to  receive  guests. 
 
 he  seized  his  shoes  and  ran  out  barefoot. 
 In  his  hurry. 
 
 When  he  reached  the  outer  gate,  he  called  aloud, 
 "  Master  !  now  that  you  have  come,  will  you  not 
 give  me  medicine?" 
 
 "  It  is  all  over  !  "  cried  Poh  Hun  Wu  Jen.  *'  I 
 told  you  that  the  world  would  gather  around  you. 
 It  is  not  that  you  can  make  people  gather  around 
 you.  You  cannot  prevent  them  from  doing  so. 
 Of  what  use  would  my  instruction  be  ?  Exerting 
 influence  thus  unduly  over  others,  you  are  by  them 
 influenced  in  turn.  You  disturb  your  natural  con- 
 stitution, and  are  of  no  further  account. 
 
 None  of  your  companions 
 Warn  you  of  this. 
 Their  paltry  talk 
 Is  but  poison  to  a  man. 
 They  are  not  awake,  not  alive  to  the  situation. 
 How  should  one  of  these  help  you  ? 
 In  the  original,  these  lines  rhyme. 
 
 "  The  shrewd  grow  weary,  the  wise  grieve. 
 Those  who  are  without  abilities  have  no  ambitions. 
 With  full  bellies  they  roam  happily  about,  like 
 drifting  boats,  not  caring  whither  they  are  bound." 
 
 There  was  a  man  of  the  Cheng  State,  named 
 
426  Chuang  Tzii  \ 
 
 Huan.  He  pursued  his  studies  at  a  place  called 
 Ch'iu-shih.  After  three  years  only,  he  had  gra- 
 duated as  a  Confucianist ;  and  like  a  river  which 
 fertilises  its  banks  to  a  distance  of  nine  li,  so  did 
 his  good  influence  reach  into  three  families. 
 
 His  father's,  his  mother's,  and  his  wife's. 
 
 He  caused  his  younger  brother  to  graduate  as  a 
 Mihist.  But  inasmuch  as  in  the  question  of  Con- 
 fucianism versus  Mihism, 
 
 The  philosophy  of  Mih  Tzu,  who  taught  the  doctrine 
 of  universal  love,  etc.     See  pp.  1 7,  440. 
 
 the  father  took  the  side  of  the  Mihist,  at  the  end  of 
 ten  years  Huan  committed  suicide. 
 
 Then  the  father  dreamed  that  Huan  appeared  to 
 him  and  said,  "  It  was  I  who  caused  your  son  to 
 become  a  Mihist.  Why  give  all  the  credit  to  him 
 who  is  but  as  the  fruit  of  an  autumn  pine  ?  " 
 
 Various  interpretations  of  this  simile  are  given  : 
 none  satisfactory.  E.g.  (i)  Like  a  dry  cone.  (2) 
 Which  another  has  planted  and  reared. 
 
 Verily  God  does  not  reward  man  for  what  he 
 does,  but  for  what  he  is. 
 
 I.e.  for  the  natural,  not  for  the  artificial. 
 
 And  it  was  in  this  sense  that  the  younger  brother 
 was  caused  to  become  a  Mihist. 
 
 He  was  naturally  so  inclined. 
 
 Whereas  a  man  who  should  regard  his  distinctive 
 abilities  as  of  his  own  making,  without  reference  to 
 
;ap.  XXXII.]  Lieh  Tzii  427 
 
 pis  parents,  would  be  like  the  man  of  Ch'i  who 
 [dug  a  well  and  then  wanted  to  keep  others  away 
 [from  it. 
 
 Forgetting  that  God  put  the  spring  there  in  the  first 
 instance. 
 
 Hence  the  saying  that  the  men  of  to-day  are  all 
 Huans. 
 
 Wherefore  it  follows  that  men  of  true  virtue  are 
 unconscious  of  its  possession.  How  much  more 
 then  the  man  of  Tag  ?  This  is  what  the  ancients 
 called  escaping  the  vengeance  of  God. 
 
 Which  would  be  incurred  by  aping  his  goodness. 
 
 The  true  Sage  rests  in  that  which  gives  rest,  and 
 not  in  that  which  does  not  give  rest.  The  world 
 rests  in  that  which  does  not  give  rest,  and  not  in 
 that  which  does  give  rest. 
 
 The  natural  and  the  artificial. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  said,  "  To  know  Tag  is  easy.  The 
 difficulty  lies  in  the  elimination  of  speech.  To  know 
 Tag  without  speech  appertains  to  the  natural.  To 
 know  Tag  with  speech  appertains  to  the  artificial. 
 The  men  of  old  were  natural,  not  artificial. 
 
 "  Chu  P'ing  Man  spent  a  large  patrimony  in 
 learning  under  Chih  Li  I  how  to  kill  dragons. 
 
 To  acquire  Tag.     There  is  no  record  of  the  persons 
 mentioned. 
 
 By  the  end  of  three  years  he  was  perfect,  but  there 
 was  no  direction  in  which  he  could  show  his  skill. 
 Tag  cannot  be  put  into  practice. 
 
428  Chuang  Tzu  ' 
 
 "The  true  Sage  regards  certainties  as  uncer- 
 tainties ;  therefore  he  is  never  up  in  arms. 
 
 In  a  state  of  mental  disturbance. 
 
 Men  in  general  regard  uncertainties  as  u,.  '  mties ; 
 therefore   they   are   constantly   up   in  To 
 
 accustom  oneself  to  arms  causes  one  t(  >  arms 
 
 1  ' "*  11  ?ltP  7\ s 
 
 on  every  provocation  ;  and  to  trust  to  aiv..  "^.o 
 perish. 
 
 "  The  intelligence  of  the  mean  man  does  not  rise 
 beyond  bribes  and  letters  of  recommendation.  His 
 mind  is  be-clouded  with  trivialities.  Yet  he  would 
 penetrate  the  mystery  of  Tao  and  of  creation,  and 
 rise  to  participation  in  the  One.  The  result  is 
 that  he  is  confounded  by  time  and  space ;  and  that 
 trammelled  by  objective  existences,  he  fails  to  reach 
 apprehension  of  that  age  before  anything  was. 
 
 "  But  the  perfect  man, — he  carries  his  mind  back 
 to  the  period  before  the  beginning.  Content  to 
 rest  in  the  oblivion  of  nowhere,  passing  away  like 
 flowing  water,  he  is  merged  in  the  clear  depths  of 
 the  infinite. 
 
 "  Alas  !  man's  knowledge  reaches  to  the  hair  on 
 a  hair,  but  not  to  eternal  peace." 
 
 I 
 
 A  man  of  the  Sung  State,  named  Ts'ao  Shang, 
 acted  as  political  agent  for  the  prince  of  Sung  at 
 the  court  of  the  Ch'in  State.  When  he  went 
 thither,  he  had  a  few  carriages ;  but  the  prince  of 
 Ch'in  was  so  pleased  with  him  that  he  added  one 
 hundred  more. 
 
CAP.  XXXII.]  Lieh  Tzii  429 
 
 On  his  return  to  Sung,  he  visited  Chuang  Tzu 
 and  said,  "  As  for  living  in  poverty  in  a  dirty- 
 hovel,  earning  a  scanty  subsistence  by  making 
 sandals,  with  shrivelled  face  and  yellow  ears, — this 
 I  could  not  do.  Interviewing  a  powerful  ruler, 
 with  a  retinue  of  a  hundred  carriages, — that  is  my 
 forte." 
 
 "  When  the  prince  of  Ch'in  is  sick,"  replied 
 Chuang  Tzu,  "and  he  summons  his  physician  to 
 open  a  boil  or  cleanse  an  ulcer,  the  latter  gets  one 
 carriage.  The  man  who  licks  his  piles  gets  five. 
 The  more  degrading  the  work,  the  greater  the 
 number  of  carriages  given.  You,  Sir,  must  have 
 been  attending  to  his  piles  to  get  so  many  car- 
 riages.    Begone  with  you  I  " 
 
 "Not,"   says    Lin    Hsi  Chung,    "from    the   pen   of 
 Chuang  Tzu." 
 
 Duke  Ai  of  Lu  asked  Yen  Ho,  saying,  "  Were  I 
 to  make  Confucius  a  pillar  of  my  realm,  would  the 
 State  be  profited  thereby  ? " 
 
 "  It  would  be  most  perilous  ! "  replied  Yen  Ho. 
 "  Confucius  is  a  man  of  outward  show  and  of 
 specious  words.  He  mistakes  the  branch  for  the 
 root. 
 
 Accessories  for  fundamentals. 
 
 He  seeks  to  impress  the  people  by  an  overbearing 
 demeanour,  the  hollowness  of  which  he  does  not 
 perceive.     If  he  suits  you,  and  you   entrust  him 
 
430  Chit  an g  Tzit 
 
 with  the  welfare  of  the  State,  it  will  only  be  by 
 mistake  that  he  will  succeed. 
 
 This  passage  is  variously  interpreted. 
 
 "  To  cause  the  people  to  leave  the  true  and  study' 
 the  false  does  not  so  much  affect  the  people  of 
 to-day  as  those  of  coming  generations.  Wherefore  i 
 it  is  better  not  to  have  Confucius.  | 
 
 "  The  difficulty  of  governing  lies  in  the  inability 
 to  practise  self-effacement.  Man  does  not  govern 
 as  God  does. 
 
 Regardless  of  self. 
 
 "  Merchants  and  traders  are  altogether  out  of 
 the  pale. 
 
 Of  Tao. 
 
 Or  if  chance  ever  brings  them  within  it,  their  rights 
 are  never  freely  admitted. 
 
 "  External  punishments  are  inflicted  by  metal 
 and  wood.  Internal  punishments  are  inflicted  by 
 anxiety  and  remorse.  Fools  who  incur  external 
 punishment  are  treated  with  metal  or  wood. 
 Those  who  incur  internal  punishment  are  devoured 
 by  the  conflict  of  emotions.  It  is  only  the  pure 
 and  perfect  man  who  can  succeed  in  avoiding 
 both." 
 
 Confucius  said,  "  The  heart  of  man  is  more  dan- 
 gerous than  mountains  and  rivers,  more  difficult  to 
 understand  than  Heaven  itself.  Heaven  has  its 
 periods  of  spring,  summer,  autumn,  winter,  day- 
 
CAP.  XXXII. J  Lieh  Tzu  431 
 
 time  and  night.  Man  has  an  impenetrable  exterior, 
 and  his  motives  are  inscrutable.  Thus  some  men 
 appear  to  be  retiring  when  they  are  really  forward. 
 Others  have  abilities,  yet  appear  to  be  worthless. 
 Others  are  compliant,  yet  gain  their  ends.  Others 
 take  a  firm  stand,  yet  yield  the  point.  Others  go 
 slow,  yet  advance  quickly. 
 
 "  Those  who  fly  to  duty  towards  their  neighbour 
 as  though  thirsting  after  it,  drop  it  as  though 
 something  hot.  Thus  the  loyalty  of  the  superior 
 man  is  tested  by  employing  him  at  a  distance,  his 
 respectfulness  by  employing  him  near  at  hand. 
 His  ability,  by  troublesome  missions.  His  know- 
 ledge, by  unexpected  questions.  His  trustworthi- 
 ness, by  specification  of  time  limits.  His  integrity 
 by  entrusting  him  with  money.  His  fidelity,  by 
 dangerous  tasks.  His  decorum,  by  filling  him 
 with  wine.  His  morality,  by  placing  him  in  dis- 
 reputable surroundings.  Under  the  application  of 
 these  nine  tests,  the  inferior  man  stands  revealed. 
 
 "  Cheng  K'ao  Fu,  on  receiving  his  first  appoint- 
 ment, bowed  his  head.  On  receiving  his  second 
 appointment,  he  hunched  his  back.  On  receiving 
 his  third  appointment,  he  fell  upon  his  face,  walk- 
 ing away  at  the  side  of  the  path. 
 
 Instead  of  in  the  middle  as  any  blustering  braggart 
 would  have  done. 
 
 Who  would  not  try  to  be  like  him  ? 
 
 "  Yet  ordinary  men,  on  their  first  appointment, 
 become  self-important.     On  their  second,  they  give 
 
432  CJiuang  Tzii 
 
 themselves  airs  in  their  chariots.  On  their  third, 
 they  call  their  own  fathers  by  their  personal  names. 
 
 As   we    should   say,    "  by   their  Christian    names." 
 The  term  "  fathers  "  includes  uncles. 
 
 Which  of  them  can  be  compared  with  Ilsii  Yu  of 
 old? 
 
 "  There  is  nothing  more  fatal  than  intentional 
 virtue,  when  the  mind  looks  outwards. 
 
 Spontaneity  is  the  essence  of  real  virtue. 
 
 For  by  thus  looking  outwards,  the  power  of  intro- 
 spection is  destroyed. 
 
 "  There  are  five  sources  of  injury  to  virtue. 
 
 Eyes,  nose,  mouth,  ears,  and  thought. 
 
 Of  these,  that  which  aims  at  virtue  is  the  chief 
 What  is  it  to  aim  at  virtue  ?  Why  a  man  who 
 aims  at  virtue  practises  what  he  approves  and 
 condemns  what  he  does  not  practise. 
 
 Compounds  for  sins  he  feels  inclined  to 
 By  damning  those  he  has  no  mind  to. 
 
 "  There  are  eight  causes  of  failure,  three  certain 
 elements  of  success.  There  are  six  sources  of 
 strength  and  weakness. 
 
 "  Beauty,  a  long  beard,  size,  height,  robustness, 
 grace,  courage,  daring, — these  eight,  in  which  men 
 surpass  their  fellows,  are  therefore  passports  to 
 failure. 
 
 "  Modesty,  compliance,  humility, —  these  three 
 are  sure  roads  to  success. 
 
CAP.  xxxii.]  Lieli   Tzii  433 
 
 "  Wisdom  manifests  itself  in  the  external. 
 Whereby  the  internal  suffers. 
 
 Courage  makes  itself  many  enemies.  Charity  and 
 duty  towards  one's  neighbour  incur  many  re- 
 proaches. 
 
 Three  sources  of  weakness. 
 
 "  To  him  who  can  penetrate  the  mystery  of  life, 
 all  things  are  revealed.  He  who  can  estimate 
 wisdom  at  its  true  value, 
 
 Sc.  at  nothingr. 
 
 is  wise.  He  who  comprehends  the  Greater  Destiny, 
 becomes  himself  part  of  it. 
 
 Of  the   great    scheme    of  the    universe,    seen    and 
 unseen. 
 
 He  who  comprehends  the  Lesser  Destiny,  resigns 
 himself  to  the  inevitable." 
 
 Referring  to  life  as  ordinarily  regarded  by  mortals. 
 Three  sources  of  strength. 
 
 A  man  who  had  been  to  see  the  prince  of  Sung 
 and  had  been  presented  with  ten  chariots,  was 
 putting  on  airs  in  the  presence  of  Chuang  Tzu. 
 
 "  At  Ho-Shang,"  said  the  latter,  "  there  was  a 
 poor  man  who  supported  his  family  by  plaiting 
 rushes.  One  day  his  son  dived  into  the  river  and 
 got  a  pearl  worth  a  thousand  ounces  of  silver. 
 The  father  bade  him  fetch  a  stone  and  smash  it  to 
 pieces,  explaining  that  he  could  only  have  got  such 
 a  pearl  very  deep  down  from  under  the  nose  of  the 
 dragon,  which    must  have   been   asleep.     And  he 
 
 2  F 
 
434  Chuang  Tzit  | 
 
 said  he  was  afraid  that  when  the  dragon  waked, 
 the  boy  would  have  a  poor  chance. 
 
 If  found  with  it  in  his  possession, 
 
 "  Now  the  State  of  Sung  is  deeper  than  a  deep 
 river,  and  the  prince  of  Sung  is  fiercer  than  a 
 dragon.  To  get  these  chariots,  you  must  have 
 caught  him  asleep.  And  when  he  wakes,  you  will 
 be  ground  to  powder." 
 
 Some  prince  having  invited  Chuang  Tzu  to  enter 
 his  service,  Chuang  Tzu  said  in  reply  to  the  envoy, 
 "  Sir,  have  you  ever  noticed  a  sacrificial  ox?  It  is 
 bedecked  with  ribbons  and  fares  sumptuously.  But 
 when  it  comes  to  be  slaughtered  for  the  temple, 
 would  it  not  gladly  exchange  places  with  some 
 neglected  calf?" 
 
 Quoted,  with  variants,  by  the  historian  Ssu-ma 
 Ch'ien,  in  his  biographical  notice  of  Chuang  Tzu. 
 See  Introduction. 
 
 When  Chuang  Tzu  was  about  to  die,  his  dis- 
 ciples expressed  a  wish  to  give  him  a  splendid 
 funeral.  But  Chuang  Tzu  said,  *'  With  Heaven 
 and  Earth  for  my  coffin  and  shell ;  with  the  sun, 
 moon,  and  stars  as  my  burial  regalia ;  and  with  all 
 creation  to  escort  me  to  the  grave, — are  not  my 
 funeral  paraphernalia  ready  to  hand  ?  " 
 
 And  had  he  not  hio^h  honour  } — 
 The  hillside  for  his  pall  ; 
 To  lie  in  state  while  angels  wait 
 With  stars  for  tapers  tall  ; 
 
CAP.  XXXII.]  Lieh  Tzu  435 
 
 And  the  dark  rock  pines  like  nodding  plumes 
 
 Above  his  bier  to  wave, 
 And  God's  own  hand  in  that  lonely  land 
 
 To  lay  him  in  the  grave. 
 
 The  Burial  of  Moses  (Mrs.  Alexander). 
 
 "  We  fear,"  argued  the  disciples,  "  lest  the  car- 
 rion kite  should  eat  the  body  of  our  Master";  to 
 which  Chuang  Tzu  replied,  '*  Above  ground  I 
 shall  be  food  for  kites  ;  below  I  shall  be  food  for 
 mole-crickets  and  ants.  Why  rob  one  to  feed 
 the  other? 
 
 With  this  may  be  compared  the  reply  of  Diogenes 
 
 on   a  similar  occasion.     When   the  old  cynic  asked 
 
 to  be  left  unburied,  his  friends  objected  that  he  would 
 
 be  eaten  by  dogs  and  birds. 
 
 "  Place  my  staff  near  me,"  said  Diogenes,   "  that  I 
 
 may  drive  them  away." 
 
 "  How  will  you  manage  that  .'*"  enquired  the  friends. 
 
 "  You  will  not  be  conscious." 
 
 "  What  then   will  it  matter  to   me   to    be    torn    by 
 
 beasts,"    cried    Diogenes,    "if  I    am    not   conscious 
 
 of  it .? " 
 
 "  If  you  adopt,  as  absolute,  a  standard  of  even- 
 ness which  is  so  only  relatively,  your  results  will 
 not  be  absolutely  even.  If  you  adopt,  as  absolute, 
 a  criterion  of  right  which  is  so  only  relatively,  your 
 results  will  not  be  absolutely  right.  Those  who 
 trust  to  their  senses  become  slaves  to  objective 
 existences.  Those  alone  who  are  guided  by  their 
 intuitions  find  the  true  standard.  So  far  are  the 
 senses  less  reliable  than  the  intuitions.     Yet  fools 
 
 2  F  2 
 
436  CJmang  Tzil 
 
 trust  to  their  senses  to  know  what  is  good  for 
 mankind,  with  alas  !  but  external  results." 
 
 As  the  genuine  text  of  the  Spring  and  Autumn  ends 
 with  the  appearance  of  the  citi  lin  (or  kilin)  and  the 
 death  of  Confucius,  so  have  disciples  of  Chuang  Tzii 
 agreed  that  the  genuine  text  of  Chuang  Tzu  comes 
 to  a  fitting  close  at  the  death-bed  of  their  great 
 Master. 
 
 The  final  chapter  is  but  a  summary  of  the  whole, 
 compiled  by  the  early  editors  of  the  work. 
 
437 
 
 CHAPTER    XXXIII. 
 
 The  Empire. 
 
 [Summary  by  early  editors.] 
 
 SYSTEMS  of  government  are  many.  Each 
 man  thinks  his  own  perfect.  Where  then 
 does  what  the  ancients  called  the  system  of  Tag 
 come  in  ?  There  is  nowhere  where  it  does  not 
 come  in. 
 
 It  may  be  asked  whence  our  spirituality,  whence 
 our  intellectuality.  The  true  Sage  is  born ;  the 
 prince  is  made.  Yet  all  proceed  from  an  original 
 One. 
 
 He  who  does  not  separate  from  the  Source  is 
 one  with  God.  He  who  does  not  separate  from 
 the  essence  is  a  spiritual  man.  He  who  does  not 
 separate  from  the  reality  is  a  perfect  man.  He  who 
 makes  God  the  source,  and  Te  the  root,  and  Tag 
 the  portal,  passively  falling  in  with  the  modifica- 
 tions of  his  environment, — he  is  the  true  Sage. 
 
 These  are  but  four  different   denominations  of  the 
 ideal  man. 
 
 He  who  practises  charity  as  a  kindness,  duty  to 
 one's  neighbour  as  a  principle,  ceremony  as  a  con- 
 venience, music  as  a  pacificator,  and  thus  becomes 
 
} 
 
 438  CJmang  Tzu 
 
 compassionate  and   charitable, —  he  is  a  superior 
 man. 
 
 We  sink  here  to  a  lower  level,  though  still  a  higfh 
 one.  The  "  superior  man  "  is  the  ideal  man  of 
 Confucian  ethics.      In  him  divinity  finds  no  place. 
 
 He  who  regulates  his  conduct  by  law,  who  re- 
 gards fame  as  an  external  adjunct,  who  verifies  his 
 hypotheses,  who  bases  his  judgment  upon  proof, — 
 such  men  rank  one,  two,  three,  four,  etc.  It  is  thus 
 that  officials  rank.  In  a  strict  sense  of  duty,  in 
 making  food  and  raiment  of  paramount  importance, 
 in  caring  for  and  nourishing  the  old,  the  weak,  the 
 orphan,  and  the  widow,  they  all  exemplify  the 
 principle  of  true  government. 
 
 Partly,  if  not  wholly.  This  the  dead  level  of  ordi- 
 nary mortality,  still  within  the  operation  of  Tao. 
 
 Thus  far-reaching  was  the  extension  of  Tao 
 among  the  ancients. 
 
 The  companion  of  the  gods,  the  purifier  of  the 
 universe,  it  nourishes  all  creation,  it  unites  the 
 empire,  it  benefits  the  masses.  Illuminating  the 
 fundamental,  it  is  bound  up  with  the  accessory, 
 reaching  to  all  points  of  the  compass  and  to  the 
 opposite  extremes  of  magnitude.  There  is  indeed 
 nowhere  where  it  is  not ! 
 
 How  it  enlightened  the  polity  of  past  ages  is 
 evidenced  in  the  records  which  historians  have 
 preserved  to  us.  Its  presence  in  the  Canons  of 
 Poetry,  History,  Rites,  and  Music,  has  been  made 
 clear  by  many  scholars  of  Chou  and  Lu.     It  in- 
 
CAP.  XXXIII.]  The  Empire  439 
 
 forms  the  Canon  of  Poetry  with  its  vigour,  the 
 Canon  of  History  with  its  usefulness,  the  Canon 
 of  Rites  with  its  adaptability,  the  Canon  of  Music 
 with  its  harmonising  influence,  the  Canon  of 
 Changes  with  its  mysterious  Principles,  and  the 
 Spring  and  Autumn  with  its  discriminations. 
 Spread  over  the  whole  world,  it  is  focussed  in  the 
 Middle  Kingdom,  and  the  learning  of  all  schools 
 renders  constant  homage  to  its  power. 
 
 But  when  the  world  is  disorganised,  true  Sages 
 do  not  manifest  themselves,  Tao  ceases  to  exist  as 
 One,  and  the  world  becomes  cognisant  of  the  idio-  ^ 
 syncrasies  of  the  individual.  These  are  like  the 
 senses  of  hearing,  sight,  smell,  and  taste, — not 
 common  to  each  organ.  Or  like  the  skill  of  various 
 artisans, — each  excellent  of  its  kind  and  each  useful 
 in  its  turn,  but  not  equally  at  the  command  of  all. 
 
 Consequently,  when  a  mere  specialist  comes  for- 
 ward and  dogmatises  on  the  beauty  of  the  universe 
 the  principles  which  underlie  all  creation,  the  posi- 
 tion occupied  by  the  ancients  in  reference  to  the 
 beauty  of  the  universe,  and  the  limits  of  the  super- 
 natural,— it  follows  that  the  Tao  of  inner  wisdom 
 and  of  outer  strength  is  obscured  and  prevented 
 from  asserting  itself  Every  one  alas  !  regards  the 
 course  he  prefers  as  the  infallible  course.  The 
 various  schools  diverge  never  to  meet  again ;  and 
 posterity  is  debarred  from  viewing  the  original 
 purity  of  the  universe  and  the  grandeur  of  the 
 ancients.  For  the  system  of  Tao  is  scattered  in 
 fragments  over  the  face  of  the  earth. 
 
440  Chuang  Tzu 
 
 Not  to  covet  posthumous  fame,  nor  to  aim  at 
 dazzling  the  world,  nor  to  pose  as  a  benefactor  of 
 mankind,  but  to  be  a  strict  self-disciplinarian  while 
 lenient  to  the  faults  of  others, — herein  lay  the  Tao 
 of  the  ancients. 
 
 Mih  Tzu  and  Ch'in  Hua  Li 
 
 A  disciple  of  Mih  Tzu. 
 
 became  enthusiastic  followers  of  Tao,  but  they 
 pushed  the  system  too  far,  carrying  their  practice 
 to  excess.  The  former  wrote  an  essay  Against 
 Music,  and  another  which  he  entitled  Economy. 
 
 To  be  found  in  the  collection  which  passes  under  the 
 name  of  Mih  Tzu. 
 
 There  was  to  be  no  singing  in  life,  no  mourning 
 after  death.  He  taught  universal  love  and  benefi- 
 cence towards  one's  fellow  men,  without  contentions, 
 without  censure  of  others.  He  loved  learning,  but 
 not  in  order  to  become  different  from  others.  Yet 
 his  views  were  not  those  of  the  ancient  Sages, 
 whose  music  and  rites  he  set  aside. 
 
 The  Yellow  Emperor  gave  us  the  Hsien-cliih. 
 Yao  gave  us  the  Ta-chang.  Shun,  the  Ta-shao. 
 Yii,  the  Ta-hsia.  T'ang,  the  Ta-hu.  Wen  Wang, 
 the  Fi-yu7ig.  Wu  Wang  and  Chou  Kung  added 
 the  Wu. 
 
 Famous  musical  compositions. 
 
 The  mourning  ceremonial  of  old  was  according 
 to  the  estate  of  each,  and  determined  in  proportion 
 to  rank.     Thus,  the  body  of  the  Son  of  Heaven 
 
 J 
 
CAP.  XXXIII.]  The  Empire  441 
 
 was  enclosed  in  a  seven-fold  coffin.  That  of  a 
 feudal  prince,  in  a  five-fold  coffin.  That  of  a 
 minister,  in  a  three-fold  coffin.  That  of  a  private 
 individual,  in  a  two-fold  coffin.  But  now  Mih  Tzu 
 would  have  no  singing  in  life,  no  mourning  after 
 death,  and  a  single  coffin  of  only  three  inches  in 
 thickness  as  the  rule  for  all  alike ! 
 
 Such  doctrines  do  not  illustrate  his  theory  of 
 universal  love; 
 
 They  betray  a  want  of  sympathy  with  human  weak- 
 nesses. 
 
 neither  does  his  practice  of  them  establish  the  fact 
 of  his  own  personal  self-respect.  They  may  not 
 suffice  to  destroy  his  system  altogether ;  though  it 
 is  unreasonable  to  prohibit  singing,  and  weeping, 
 and  rejoicing  in  due  season. 
 
 He  would  have  men  toil  through  life  and  hold 
 death  in  contempt.  But  this  teaching  is  altogether 
 too  unattractive.  It  would  land  mankind  in  sorrow 
 and  lamentation.  It  would  be  next  to  impossible 
 as  a  practical  system,  and  cannot,  I  fear,  be  re- 
 garded as  the  Tao  of  the  true  Sage.  It  would  be 
 diametrically  opposed  to  human  passions,  and  as 
 such  would  not  be  tolerated  by  the  world.  Mih 
 Tzu  himself  might  be  able  to  carry  it  out ;  but  not 
 the  rest  of  the  world.  And  when  one  separates 
 from  the  rest  of  the  world,  his  chances  of  develop- 
 ing an  ideal  State  become  small  indeed. 
 
 Mih  Tzu  argued  in  favour  of  his  system  as 
 follows : —  Of  old,   the   great  Yu   drained  off  the 
 
442  Chiiang  Tzil 
 
 flood  of  waters,  and  caused  rivers  and  streams  to 
 flow  through  the  nine  divisions  of  the  empire  and 
 the  parts  adjacent  thereto, — three  hundred  great 
 rivers,  three  thousand  branches,  and  streams  with- 
 out number.  With  his  own  hands  he  plied  the 
 bucket  and  dredger,  in  order  to  reduce  confusion 
 to  uniformity. 
 
 Make  all  streams  flow  to  the  sea. 
 
 until  his  calves  and  shins  had  no  hair  left  upon 
 them.  The  wind  bathed  him,  the  rain  combed 
 him ;  but  he  marked  out  the  nations  of  the  world, 
 and  was  in  very  truth  a  Sage.  And  because  he 
 thus  sacrificed  himself  to  the  commonwealth,  ages 
 of  Mihists  to  come  would  also  wear  short  serge 
 jackets  and  straw  sandals,  and  toil  day  and  night 
 without  stopping,  making  self-mortification  their 
 end  and  aim,  and  say  to  themselves,  "  If  we  cannot 
 do  this,  we  do  not  follow  the  Tao  of  Yii,  and  are 
 unworthy  to  be  called  Mihists." 
 
 The  disciples  of  Hsiang  Li  Ch'in, 
 
 A  professor  of  Mihism. 
 
 the  followers  of  the  five  princes,  Mihists  of  the 
 south,  such  as  K'u  Huo,  Chi  Ch'ih,  and  Teng 
 Ling, —  all  these  studied  the  canon  of  Mih  Tzu, 
 but  their  disagreements  and  agreements  were  not 
 identical.  They  called  each  other  schismatics,  and 
 quarrelled  over  the  "  hard  and  white,"  the  ''  like 
 and  unlike,"  and  argued  over  questions  of  "  odd 
 and  even."  Chii  Tzu  was  their  Sage,  and  they 
 wanted  to  canonise  him  as  a  saint,  that  they  might 
 
CAP.  XXXIII.]  The  Empire  443 
 
 carry  on  his  doctrines  into  after  ages.     Even  now 
 these  differences  are  not  settled. 
 
 Thus  we  see  that  Mih  Tzu  and  Ch'in  Hua  Li, 
 while  right  in  theory,  were  wrong  in  practice. 
 They  would  merely  have  taught  mankind  to  vie 
 with  each  other  in  working  the  hair  off  their  calves 
 and  shins.  The  evil  of  that  system  would  have 
 predominated  over  the  good.  Nevertheless,  Mih 
 Tzu  was  undoubtedly  a  well-meaning  man.  In 
 spite  of  failure,  with  all  its  w^ithering  influences,  he 
 stuck  to  his  text.  He  may  be  called  a  man  of 
 genius. 
 
 But  not  a  true  Sage. 
 
 Not  to  be  involved  in  the  mundane,  not  to 
 indulge  in  the  specious,  not  to  be  overreaching 
 with  the  individual,  nor  antagonistic  to  the  public  ;  . 
 but  to  desire  the  tranquillity  of  the  world  in  general 
 with  a  view  to  the  prolongation  of  life,  to  seek  no 
 more  than  sufficient  for  the  requirements  of  oneself 
 and  others,  and  by  such  a  course  to  purify  the 
 heart, —  herein  lay  the  Tao  of  the  ancients. 
 
 Sung  Hsing  and  Yin  W^n  became  enthusiastic 
 followers  of  Tag.  They  adopted  a  cap,  shaped  like 
 the  Hua  Mountain,  as  a  badge.  They  bore  them- 
 selves with  kindly  discrimination  towards  all 
 things.  They  spoke  of  the  passive  qualities  of  the 
 heart  as  though  they  had  been  active  ;  and  declared 
 that  whosoever  could  bring  joy  among  mankind 
 and  peace  within  the  girdle  of  ocean  should  be 
 made  ruler  over  them. 
 
 They   suffered    obloquy    without    noticing    the 
 
444  Chiiang  Tzii 
 
 insult.  They  preserved  the  people  from  strife. 
 They  prohibited  aggression  and  caused  arms  to  lie 
 unused.  They  saved  their  generation  from  wars, 
 and  carried  their  system  over  the  whole  empire,  to 
 the  delight  of  the  high  and  to  the  improvement  of 
 the  lowly.  Though  the  world  would  have  none  of 
 them,  yet  they  struggled  on  and  would  not  give 
 way.  Hence  it  was  said  that  when  high  and  low 
 became  tired  of  seeing  them,  they  intruded  them- 
 selves by  force.  In  spite  of  all  this,  they  did  too 
 much  for  others,  and  too  little  for  themselves. 
 
 "  Give  us,"  said  they,  "  but  five  pints  of  rice,  and 
 it  will  be  enough."  The  master  could  not  thus  eat 
 his  fill ;  but  the  disciples,  although  starving,  did 
 not  forget  the  world's  claims. 
 
 This  is  not  satisfactorily  explained  by  any  com- 
 mentator. Kuo  Hsiang  says  that  these  two  men 
 regarded  the  world  as  their  "  master." 
 
 Day  and  night  they  toiled  on,  saying,  "  Must  we 
 necessarily  live  ?  Shall  we  ape  the  so-called 
 saviours  of  mankind  ?  " 
 
 "  The  superior  man,"  they  say,  "  is  not  a  fault- 
 finder. He  does  not  appropriate  the  credit  of 
 others.  He  looks  on  one  who  does  no  good  to  the 
 world  as  a  worthless  fellow.  He  regards  prohibi- 
 tion of  aggressive  actions  and  causing  arms  to  lie 
 unused,  as  external ;  the  diminution  and  restraint 
 of  our  passions,  as  internal.  In  all  matters,  great 
 or  small,  subtle  or  gross,  such  is  the  point  to 
 which  he  attains." 
 
 To  be  public-spirited  and  belong  to  no  party,  in 
 
CAP.  XXXIII.]  The  Einpire  445 
 
 one's  dealings  not  to  be  all  for  self,  to  move  with- 
 out being  bound  to  a  given  course,  to  take  things 
 as  they  come,  to  have  no  remorse  for  the  past,  no 
 anxiety  for  the  future,  to  have  no  partialities,  but 
 to  be  on  good  terms  with  all, — herein  lay  the  Tao 
 of  the  ancients. 
 
 P  eng  Meng,  T'ien  P'ien,  and  Sh^n  Tao,  became 
 enthusiastic  followers  of  Tao.  Their  criterion  was 
 the  identity  of  all  things.  ,  "  The  sky,"  said  they, 
 "  can  cover  but  cannot  support  us.  The  earth  can 
 support  but  cannot  cover  us.  Tao  can  embrace  all 
 things  but  cannot  deal  with  particulars." 
 
 They  knew  that  in  creation  all  things  had  their 
 possibilities  and  their  impossibilities.  Therefore 
 they  said,  "  Selection  excludes  universality.  Train- 
 ing will  not  reach  in  all  directions.  But  Tag  is 
 comprehensive." 
 
 Consequently,  Sh^n  Tao  discarded  all  knowledge 
 and  self-interest  and  became  a  fatalist. 
 
 It  is  about  as  difficult  to  apprehend  Tag  apart  from 
 fatalism  as  the  omniscience  of  God  apart  from  pre- 
 destination. 
 Passivity  was  his  guiding  principle.     "  For,"  said 
 he,  "  we  can  only  know  that  we  know  nothing,  and 
 a  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing. 
 
 "  Take  any  worthless  fellow  who  laughs  at  man- 
 kind for  holding  virtue  in  esteem,  any  unprincipled 
 vagabond  who  reviles  the  great  Sages  of  the  world, 
 and  subject  him  to  torture.  In  his  agony  he  will 
 sacrifice  positive  and  negative  alike.  If  he  can  but 
 get  free,  he  will  trouble  no  more  about  knowledge 
 
 y 
 
 i/ 
 
44^  C/majig  Tzii 
 
 and  forethought.     Past  and    future   will   cease  to 
 exist  for  him,  in  his  then  neutral  condition. 
 
 **  Move  when  pushed,  come  when  dragged.  Be 
 like  a  whirling  gale,  like  a  feather  in  the  wind,  like 
 a  mill-stone  going  round.  The  mill-stone  as  an 
 existence  is  perfectly  harmless.  In  motion  or  at 
 rest  it  does  no  more  than  is  required,  and  cannot 
 therefore  incur  blame. 
 
 "Why?  Because  it  is  simply  an  inanimate 
 thing.  It  has  no  anxieties  about  itself.  It  is  never 
 entangled  in  the  trammels  of  knowledge.  In  motion 
 or  at  rest  it  is  always  governed  by  fixed  laws,  and 
 therefore  it  never  becomes  open  to  praise.  Hence 
 it  has  been  said,  '  Be  as  though  an  inanimate 
 thing,  and  there  will  be  no  use  for  Sages.' 
 
 "  For  a  clod  cannot  be  without  Tao," — at  which 
 some  full-blooded  young  buck  covered  the  argu- 
 ment with  ridicule  by  crying  out,  "  Shen  Tao's 
 Tao  is  not  for  the  living,  but  for  the  dead  ! " 
 
 It  was  the  same  with  T'ien  P'ien.     He  studied 
 sj      under  P  eng  Meng ;  with  the  result  that  he  learnt 
 nothing. 
 
 Tao  cannot  be  learnt. 
 
 P  eng  Meng's  tutor  said,  "  Those  of  old  who 
 knew  Tao,  reached  the  point  where  positive  and 
 negative  ceased  to  exist.     That  was  all." 
 
 Now  the  bent  of  these  men  is  one  of  opposition, 
 which  it  is  difficult  to  discuss.  They  act  in  every 
 way  differently  from  other  people,  but  cannot  escape 
 the  imputation  of  purpose. 
 
 Which  takes  the  place  of  spontaneity. 
 
CAP.  XXXIII.]  The  Empire  447 
 
 What  they  call  Tao  is  not  Tao  ;  and  what  they 
 predicate  affirmatively  cannot  escape  being  negative. 
 The  fact  is  that  P'^ng  M^ng,  T'ien  P'ien,  and  Shen  -^ 
 Tao,  did  not  know  Tao.     Nevertheless  they  all  had 
 a  certain  acquaintance  with  it. 
 
 To  make  the  root  the  essential,  to  regard  objective 
 existences  as  accidental,  to  look  upon  accumulation      . 
 as  deficiency,  and  to   meekly  accept  the  disposi- 
 tions of  Providence, —  herein    lay  the  Tao  of  the 
 ancients. 
 
 Kuan   Yin   and    Lao  Tzu   became  enthusiastic 
 followers  of  Tao. 
 
 For  Kuan  Yin,  see  p.  230. 
 
 They  based  their  system  upon  nothingness,  with 
 One  as  their  criterion.     Their  outward  expression    ^ 
 was  gentleness  and  humility.     Their  inward  belief 
 was   in   unreality  and  avoidance  of  injury  to  all 
 things. 
 
 Kuan  Yin  said,   "Adopt  no  absolute  position. 
 Let  externals  take  care  of  themselves.     In  motion,  ^ 
 be  like  water.     At  rest,  like  a  mirror. 
 
 Receptive,  but  not  permanently  so. 
 
 Respond,  like  the  echo. 
 
 Only  when  called  upon. 
 
 Be  subtle,  as  though  non-existent.  Be  still,  as 
 though  pure.  Regard  uniformity  as  peace.  Look 
 on  gain  as  loss.  Do  not  precede  others.  Follow 
 them." 
 
 Lao   Tzii    said,    "  He   who  conscious   of  being 
 
44^  Chnang  Tzu 
 
 strong,    is    content    to    be    weak, —  he    shall    be 
 a  cynosure  of  men. 
 
 This  is  quoted  by  Huai  Nan  Tzii  as  a  saying  by  Lao 
 Tzu,  and  appears  in  ch.  xxviii  of  the  Tao-Te-Ching. 
 See  The  Remains  of  Lao  Tzii,  p.  21. 
 
 "  He  who  conscious  of  purity,  puts  up  with  dis- 
 grace,—  he  shall  be  the  cynosure  of  mankind. 
 
 "  He  who  when  others  strive  to  be  first,  contents 
 himself  with  the  lowest  place,  is  said  to  accept  the 
 contumely  of  the  world. 
 
 "  He  who  when  others  strive  for  the  substantial, 
 contents  himself  with  the  unsubstantial,  stores  up 
 nothing  and  therefore  has  abundance.  There  he 
 is  in  the  midst  of  his  abundance  which  comes  to 
 him  without  effort  on  his  part.  He  does  nothing, 
 and  laughs  at  the  artifices  of  others. 
 
 "  He  who  when  others  strive  for  happiness  is 
 content  with  security,  is  said  to  aim  at  avoiding  evil. 
 
 Compare  the  Tao-T^-Ching,  ch.  xxii. 
 
 "  He  who  makes  depth  of  fundamental  impor- 
 tance and  moderation  his  rule  of  life,  is  said  to 
 crush  that  which  is  hard  within  him  and  temper 
 that  which  is  sharp. 
 
 "  To  be  in  liberal  sympathy  with  all  creation, 
 and  not  to  be  aggressive  towards  one's  fellow-men, 
 — this  may  be  called  perfection." 
 
 O  Kuan  Yin  !  O  Lao  Tzu  !  verily  ye  were  the 
 true  Sages  of  old. 
 
 Silence,  formlessness, change,  impermanence,  now 
 life,  now  death,  heaven  and  earth  blended  in  one, 
 
CAP.  xxxiii.]  The  Empire  449 
 
 the  soul  departing,  gone  no  one  knows  where : 
 suddenly,  no  one  knows  whither,  as  all  things  go 
 in  turn,  never  to  come  back  again  ; — herein  lay  the 
 Tag  of  the  ancients. 
 
 Chuang  Tzu  became  an  enthusiastic  follower  of 
 Tag.  In  strange  terms,  in  bold  words,  in  far- 
 reaching  language,  he  gave  free  play  to  his 
 thoughts,  without  following  any  particular  school 
 or  committing  himself  to  any  particular  line. 
 
 He  looked  on  the  world  as  so  sunk  in  corruption 
 that  it  was  impossible  to  speak  gravely.  There- 
 fore he  employed  "goblet  words"  which  apply  in 
 various  directions ;  he  based  his  statements  upon 
 weighty  authority  in  order  to  inspire  confidence ; 
 and  he  put  words  in  other  people's  mouths  in  order 
 to  secure  breadth. 
 
 See  ch.  xxvii  ad  init. 
 In  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  universe,  he  was  at 
 peace  with  all  creation.  He  judged  not  the  rights 
 and  wrongs  of  mankind,  and  thus  lived  quietly  in 
 his  generation.  Although  his  book  is  an  extra- 
 ordinary production,  it  is  plausible  and  harmless 
 enough.  Although  the  style  is  most  irregular,  it 
 is  at  the  same  time  ingenious  and  attractive. 
 
 As  a  thinker,  he  is  endlessly  suggestive.  Above, 
 he  roams  with  God.  Below,  he  consorts  with  those 
 who  are  beyond  the  pale  of  life  and  death,  who  deny 
 a  beginning  and  an  end.     In  relation  to  the  root, 
 
 The  origin  of  all  things, 
 he  speaks  on  a  grand  and  extensive  scale.     In  rela- 
 tion to  Tag,  he  establishes  a  harmony  between  man 
 
 2  G 
 
 ^' 
 
450  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 and  the  higher  powers.  Nevertheless,  he  yields  to 
 the  modifications  of  existence  and  responds  to  the 
 exigencies  of  environment.  His  arguments  are 
 inexhaustible,  and  never  illogical.  He  is  far- 
 reaching,  mysterious,  and  not  to  be  fully  explored.    \ 
 
 It  is  impossible  for  a  European  critic  to  believe  that 
 Chuang  Tzu  penned  the  above  paragraphs.  See 
 post,  p.  454. 
 
 Hui  Tzu  was  a  man  of  many  ideas.  His  works 
 would  fill  five  carts.  But  his  doctrines  are  para- 
 doxical, and  his  terms  are  used  ambiguously. 
 
 He  calls  infinite  greatness,  beyond  which  there 
 is  nothing,  the  Greater  One.  He  calls  infinite 
 smallness,  within  which  there  is  nothing,  the 
 Lesser  One. 
 
 Recognising  two  absolute  extremes. 
 He  says  that  that  which  is  without  dimensions 
 measures  a  thousand  //. 
 
 On  the  principle  that  mathematical  points,  though 
 themselves  without  dimensions,  collectively  fill  up 
 space. 
 
 That  heaven  and  earth  are  equally  low.  That 
 mountain  and  marsh  are  equally  level. 
 
 It  depends  upon  the  point  of  view. 
 That  the  sun  at  noon  is  the  sun  setting. 
 
 To  people  living  farther  east. 
 
 That  when  an  animal  is  born,  it  dies. 
 
 As  regards  its  previous  state  it  dies  when  leaving  it 
 for  a  new  state. 
 
 That  the  likeness  of  things  partly  unlike  is  called 
 
CAP.  XXXIII.]  The  Empire  451 
 
 the  lesser  likeness  of  unlikes.  That  the  likeness  of 
 things  altogether  unlike  is  called  the  greater  like- 
 ness of  unlikes.  That  southwards  there  is  no 
 limit,  and  yet  there  is  a  limit.  That  one  can  reach 
 Ytieh  to-day  and  yet  be  there  before.  That  joined 
 rings  can  be  separated.  That  the  middle  of  the 
 world  is  north  of  Yen  and  south  of  Yiieh. 
 
 It  Is  wherever  the  speaker  is.     The  space  between 
 Yen  and  Yiieh  is  as  zero  compared  with  the  infinite. 
 
 That  he  loves  all  creation  equally,  just  as  heaven 
 and  earth  are  impartial  to  all. 
 
 In  covering  and  supporting  all. 
 Accordingly,  Hui  Tzu  was  regarded  as  a  great 
 philosopher   and    a   very  subtle  dialectician ;   and 
 became  a  favourite  with  the  other  dialecticians  of 
 the  day. 
 
 He  said  that  there  were  feathers  in  an  tgg. 
 
 Because  on  a  chicken. 
 That  a  fowl  had  three  feet. 
 
 The  third  being  volition. 
 That  Ying  was  the  world. 
 
 As  you  cannot  say  it  is  not  the  world. 
 That  a  dog  could  be  a  sheep.     That  a  mare  could 
 lay  eggs.     That  a  nail  has  a  tail. 
 
 Names  being  arbitrary  in  all  cases. 
 That  fire  is  not  hot. 
 
 It  is  the  man  who  feels  It  hot. 
 That  mountains  have  mouths. 
 
 As  evidenced  by  echoes. 
 
 2    G    2 
 
452  Chtiang  Tzu 
 
 That  wheels  do  not  press  down  the  ground. 
 
 Touching  only  at  a  point. 
 That  the  eye  does  not  see. 
 
 It  is  the  man. 
 
 That  the  finger  does  not  touch.  That  the  utter- 
 most extreme  is  not  the  end.  That  a  tortoise  is 
 longer  than  a  snake. 
 
 Because  longer  lived  ! 
 That  a  carpenter's  square  is  not  square. 
 
 Like  Horace's  whetstone  which  makes  other  things 
 sharp,  "  exsors  ipsa  secandi." 
 
 That  compasses  will  not  make  a  circle. 
 
 It  is  the  draughtsman. 
 
 That  a  round  hole  will  not  surround  a  square 
 handle.  That  the  shadow  of  a  flying  bird  does  not 
 move.  That  there  is  a  moment  when  a  swiftly- 
 flying  arrow  is  neither  moving  nor  at  rest.  That 
 a  dog  is  not  a  hound. 
 
 Two  things   cannot  be  identical  unless  even   their 
 names  are  the  same. 
 
 That  a  bay  horse  and  a  dun  cow  are  three. 
 
 Taken  separately  they  are  two.    Taken  together  they 
 are  one.     One  and  two  make  three. 
 
 That  a  white  dog  is  black. 
 
 If  his  eyes  are  black.     Part  standing  for  the  whole. 
 That  a  motherless  colt  never  had  a  mother. 
 
 When  it  had  a  mother,  it  was  not  an  orphan. 
 
CAP.  XXXIII.]  The  Empire  453 
 
 That  if  you  take  a  stick  a  foot  long  and  every  day 
 cut  it  in  half,  you  will  never  come  to  the  end  of  it. 
 
 Compare    "  Achilles    and    the    Tortoise,"    and    the 
 sophisms  of  the  Greek  philosophers. 
 
 And  such  was  the  stuff  which  dialecticians  used  to 
 argue  about  with  Hui  Tzu,  also  without  ever 
 getting  to  the  end  of  it. 
 
 Huan  T'uan  and  Kung  Sun  Lung  were  of  this 
 class.  By  specious  premisses  they  imposed  on 
 people's  minds  and  drove  them  into  false  con- 
 clusions. But  though  they  won  the  battle  in 
 words,  they  did  not  carry  conviction  into  their 
 adversaries'  hearts.  Theirs  were  but  the  snares  of 
 the  sophist. 
 
 Hui  Tzu  daily  devoted  his  intelligence  to  such 
 pursuits,  purposely  advancing  some  preposterous 
 thesis  upon  which  to  dispute.  That  was  his  charac- 
 teristic. He  had  besides  a  great  opinion  of  his 
 own  wisdom,  and  used  to  say,  "The  universe  does 
 not  hold  my  peer." 
 
 Hui  Tzu  makes  a  parade  of  his  strength,  but  is 
 devoid  of  any  sound  system.  An  eccentric  fellow 
 in  the  south,  named  Huang  Liao,  asked  why  the 
 sky  did  not  fall  and  the  earth  sink  ;  also,  whence 
 came  wind,  rain,  and  thunder. 
 
 Hui  Tzu  was  not  backward  in  replying  to  these 
 questions,  which  he  answered  unhesitatingly.  He 
 went  into  a  long  discussion  on  all  creation,  and 
 talked  away  without  end,  though  to  himself  he 
 seemed  to  be  saying  very  little.     He  supplemented 
 
454  Chuang  Tzii 
 
 this  with  most  extraordinary  statements,  making 
 it  his  chief  object  to  contradict  others,  and  being 
 desirous  of  gaining  fame  by  defeating  all  comers. 
 Thus,  he  was  never  popular.  Morally,  he  was 
 weak  ;  physically,  he  was  violent.  His  was  a  dark 
 and  narrow  way. 
 
 Looked  at  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Tao  of 
 the  universe,  the  value  of  Hui  Tzu  may  be  com- 
 pared with  the  efforts  of  a  mosquito  or  a  gadfly. 
 Of  what  use  was  he  to  the  world  ?  As  a  specialist, 
 he  might  have  succeeded.  But  to  let  him  put 
 himself  forward  as  an  exponent  of  Tao,  would 
 have  been  dangerous  indeed. 
 
 He  would  not  however  be  content  to  be  a 
 specialist.  He  must  needs  roam  insatiably  over  all 
 creation,  though  he  only  succeeded  in  securing  the 
 reputation  of  a  sophist. 
 
 Alas  for  the  talents  of  Hui  Tzu !  He  is  ex- 
 travagantly energetic,  and  yet  has  no  success.  He 
 investigates  all  creation,  but  does  not  conclude  in 
 Tag.  He  makes  a  noise  to  drown  an  echo.  He 
 is  like  a  man  running  a  race  with  his  own  shadow. 
 Alas! 
 
 As  to  the  genuineness  of  this  concluding  chapter, 
 every  one  may  form  his  own  opinion.  The  question 
 has  been  hotly  fought,  and  great  names  could  be 
 mentioned  on  each  side.  Wang  An  Shih  and  Su 
 Tung  P'o  both  thought  that  it  might  well  have  come 
 from  the  hand  of  Chuang  Tzii.  Lin  Hsi  Chung 
 thought  not,  and  on  his  side  the  majority  of  Western 
 students  will  in  all  probability  be  ranged. 
 
455 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Accidentals,  162 
 
 Achilles  and  the  Tortoise,  453 
 
 Action,  5,  266,  293 
 
 Affirmative  and  Negative,  1 7 
 
 Aggression,  340 
 
 Ai,  Duke,  62,  268,  429 
 
 Ai  Feng,  29 
 
 Ai  T'ai  T'o,  62 
 
 All-in-extremes,  276 
 
 Alternation  theory,  18 
 
 Anger,  310 
 
 Ants  and  Mutton,  330 
 
 Apricot  Altar,  413 
 
 Archery,    60,   255,   272,    308,    309, 
 
 318 
 Argument,  Futility  of,  30 
 Arms,  Appeal  to,  162 
 Arms,  Men  of,  318 
 Artificial,  The,  147,  175,  210,  232, 
 
 309 
 Augur  and  the  pigs,  The  Grand,  236 
 
 Balancing  balls,  233 
 
 Bantams,  297 
 
 Battered  but  not  Bruised,  80 
 
 Battering-ram,  207 
 
 Battle,  The  Six  Plans  of,  313 
 
 Beauty,  182,  260,  337 
 
 Bells,  Chime  of,  250 
 
 Bird,  The  strange,  258 
 
 Bishop-wort,  313 
 
 Black  Forest,  The,  413 
 
 Black  Water,  The,  276 
 
 Blades  from  Kan,  193 
 
 Boats,  75,  249,  295 
 
 Body,    The    human,    15  ;    (without 
 
 body)  145 
 Body  and  soul  parted,  12,  324 
 
 Bogy,  A,  236 
 Books,  170 
 
 Boots,  (for  the   toeless)  63 ;   (out- 
 side door)  368,  424 
 Border- warden.  The,  141 
 Breathing  from  the  heels,  69 
 Business,  133 
 Butcher,  The  faithful,  376 
 Butterfly,  Chuang  Tzu  a,  32 
 
 Canon  of  Confucianism,   166,  188, 
 
 312,  438,  439 
 Cataract,  A,  238 
 Caterpillars,  297 
 Cats,  312  ;  (wild)  10 
 Centipede,  The,  211 
 Ceremonial,  89,  108,  121,  133,  162, 
 
 195)  277,  318,  440 
 Chance,  350 
 Chan  Tzu,  380 
 Ch'ang  Chi,  56 
 Chang  Hung,  112 
 Ch'ang  Hung,  352 
 Chang  I,  235 
 Chang  Jo,  316 
 Chang  Wu  Tzii,  28 
 Ch'ang  Yii,  316 
 Chao  Hsi,  373 
 Chao  Wen,  22 
 Chapped  hands.  Salve  for,  9 
 Charioteering,  241 
 Charity,  88,  100,  loi,  108,  114,  122, 
 
 133.  277>  307 
 Che,  Robber,   103,   112,   120,   155, 
 
 387 
 Ch'ens  and  Ts'ais,   180,  251,  253, 
 
 255,  380 
 Che-yang,  The,  154 
 
456 
 
 ChitciJig  Tzii 
 
 Ch'eng,  281 
 
 Cheng  K'ao  Fu,  431 
 
 Cheng  State,  The,  59,  94 
 
 Ch'i,  Mt,  372 
 
 Ch'i  Kung,  261 
 
 Ch'i  State,  The,  50,  65,  no 
 
 Ch'i-yang,  384 
 
 Chi  Ch'e,  145,  146 
 
 Chi-yung,  331 
 
 Chi  T'o,  72,  361 
 
 ChiTzu  (i)  72,  352;  (2)  339 
 
 Chi  Chen,  350 
 
 Chi  Ch'ih,  442 
 
 Chi  Chii,  45 
 
 Chi  Hsing  Tzii,  238 
 
 Chi  Han,  Magician,  94 
 
 Chiang  LU  Mien,  145,  146 
 
 Chieh,  40,  119,  383 
 
 Chieh-keng,  331 
 
 Chieh  Tzu,  350 
 
 Chieh  Yii,  7,  55,  92 
 
 Chien  Ho,  353 
 
 Chien  Wu,  6,  77,  92,  273 
 
 Chih,  206 
 
 Ch'ih  Chang  Man  Chi,  152 
 
 Ch'ih  Chi,  207 
 
 Chih-ho,  354 
 
 Chih  Kung,  401 
 
 Ch'ih  Yu,  392 
 
 Children,  299,  300,  301,  358 
 
 Chin,  Duke  of,  29 
 
 Chin  State,  The,  147 
 
 Ch'in  Hua  Li,  440 
 
 Ch'in  Lao,  342 
 
 Chin-shao,  The,  226,  244 
 
 Ch'in  Shih,  36 
 
 Ch'in  State,  The,  368 
 
 Ch'ing,  Carpenter,  240 
 
 Ch'ing-ning,  The,  228 
 
 Ching-shih,  53 
 
 Ching  Shou,  The,  33 
 
 Ch'iu  (Confucius),  145,  189 
 
 Chiu  Fang  Yin,  327 
 
 Ch'iu-shih,  426 
 
 Chiu-yu,  The,  228 
 
 Cho-lu,  392 
 
 Chou,  40 
 
 Chou,  River,  383 
 
 Chou  Kung,  181,  384 
 
 Chrysalis,  3 
 
 Chu  Hsien,  234 
 
 Chu  Yung,  116 
 
 Ch'u  State,  The,  3  et  alt.  pass. 
 
 Chuan  Hsii,  77 
 
 Chuang,  Duke,  241 
 
 Chuang  Tzii,  9,  (and  the  butterfly) 
 32;  66,  137,  159,  215,  216, 
 (asked  to  take  office)  217,  434, 
 (and  the  fishes)  218,  (death  of 
 wife)  223,  (and  the  skull)  224, 
 (and  the  geese)  245  ;  254,  258, 
 268,  (and  Tao)  285,  318,  (at 
 Hui  Tzii's  grave)  321,  (and  the 
 stickleback)  353,  (and  the  use- 
 less) 358,  (on  Confucius)  365  ; 
 407,  427,  (death  of)  434,  (his 
 genius)  449 
 
 Chui,  115,  242 
 
 Chun  Mang,  150 
 
 Chung,  332 
 
 Chung  Yang,  116 
 
 Chii  Ch'iao,  28 
 
 Chii  Liang,  88 
 
 Chii  Poh  Yii,  49,  345 
 
 Ch'ii-to,  228 
 
 Chii  Tzu,  442 
 
 Ch'ii  Tzu,  Mt.,  316 
 
 Chii  Yiian,  50 
 
 Cicadas,  2,  258,  306,  (catching) 
 232 
 
 Class  distinctions,  187 
 
 Classification,  168 
 
 Clouds  and  rain,   165,  173 
 
 Cocks  and  dogs,  117,  350 
 
 Cock-fighting,  238 
 
 Coffins,  53,  441 
 
 Cold,  Latent,  319 
 
 Colossal,  The,  204 
 
 Colour  Sense,  The,  99,  108,  115, 
 121,  155 
 
 Common-places,  154 
 
 Complacency,  402 
 
 Concentration,  34,  240,  300 
 
 Conditioned,  The,  158 
 
 Confucius,  28,  38,  45,  55,  56,  (and 
 the  leper)  62,  83,  (and  Lao  Tzii) 
 144,  166,  182,  184,  188,  266, 
 282  ;  149,  179,  182,  201,  (in  dan- 
 ger) 213,  251  ;  225,  (on  concen- 
 tration) 232,  235,  (at  the  cataract) 
 
Index 
 
 457 
 
 238;  253,  255,  263,  272,  274, 
 282,  290,  291,  325,  338,  341, 
 
 346,  (and   Lao  Lai    Tzu)    356  ; 
 
 (changed  his  opinions)  365;  366, 
 
 (and  Robber  Che)  387  ;  429 
 Conscription,  54 
 Cooks,  6,  33,  104 
 Correlatives,  207,  208 
 Corpse,  (boy  who  impersonates)  6, 
 
 97  ;  (singing  near  a)  83 
 Cunning,  315 
 Crane's  legs.  A,  loi,  332 
 Criteria    (of    our   minds),    16,    (of 
 
 Confucius),  166 
 
 Dark,  Seeing  in  the,  139 
 Dark  Palace,  The,  77 
 Dark-Steep  Mt.,  The,  276 
 Death.     See  Life  and  Death. 
 Death  of  Chuang  Tzii's  wife,  223 
 Destiny,   46,   64,  74,  90,  143,  189, 
 
 Determinate  relations,  332 
 
 Dialecticians,  318 
 
 Dimensions,  202 
 
 Discontent,  402 
 
 Discord  and  accord,  320 
 
 Distance  relative,  2 
 
 Diversity,  331 
 
 Divination,  357 
 
 Divine  Man,  7,  85,   151,   193,  331, 
 
 361 
 Divine  Teacher,  The,  317 
 Do-nothing  Say-nothing,  276 
 Doctrine  of  Silence,  56 
 Dogs,  (straw)  180,  (how  to  judge  of) 
 
 312,  327,  (why  they  bark)  350 
 Dog-tooth  violet,  228 
 Doorkeepers,  320,  329 
 Doubts,  102,  117,  244,  334 
 Dove,  young,  2,  306 
 Dragon,  Lao  Tzu  a,  185 
 Dragons,  214,  263 
 Dragon-power,  122,  185 
 Dream,  Life  a,  30,  86 
 Dreamless  sleep,  82,  192 
 Dregs  of  knowledge,  172 
 Drugs,  299,  331 
 Drunken  man.  A,  232 
 Duck's  legs.  A,  TO  I 
 
 Duckweed,  228 
 Dust-bin,  Spirit  of  the,  237 
 Duty,  46,   88,   loi,   108,  114,  121, 
 122,    133,    166,    277,   298,    307, 
 
 367,  433 
 Dying,  No  advantage  in  not,  15 
 
 Ear,  The,  333 
 
 Earth,  161,  173,  223  ;  (music  of)  12 
 
 Eel's  habitat,  The,  27,  295 
 
 Ego,  Whence  the,  14 
 
 Emotions,  308 
 
 Empyrean,  The,  288 
 
 Energy,  Hu  Tzu  shows  his  internal, 
 
 96 
 Enthusiasts,  330 
 Essentials,  162 
 Evil  speakers,  39 
 Excalibur,  82,  303 
 Exhaling  and  inhaling,  191 
 Existence   and  non-existence,  206, 
 
 304 
 External,  The,  49,  82,  103, 156,  235, 
 
 299.  302,  310,  315 
 Extremes  meet,  115 
 Eye,  The,  211,  333 
 
 Fa  Yen,  The,  47 
 
 Failure,  Causes  of,  432 
 
 Fallacia  amphibolise,  275 
 
 Fame  or  Reputation,  5,  103 
 
 Fan,  Prince  of,  275 
 
 Fang  Ming,  316 
 
 Fasting,  42,  43,  282 
 
 Father  praising  son,  363 
 
 Fen-yang,  8 
 
 Feng  Meng,  255 
 
 Fighting,  207,  315 
 
 Fighting-cocks,  238 
 
 Filial  piety,  153,  175,  186,  361 
 
 Finger,  19 
 
 Fire  eternal,  37 
 
 Fire  Spirit,  The,  237 
 
 Fire,  Production  of,  353 
 
 First  Cause,  246,  267 
 
 Fisherman,  357 
 
 Fishes,    114,    174,    185,    295,    296, 
 
 ll'^^  354;  happiness  of,  218 
 Fish-hawks,  189 
 Five  Bonds,  The,  399 
 
458 
 
 Chuang  Tzu 
 
 Five  Princes,  78 
 
 Five  Rulers,  The,  186,  202 
 
 Flattery,  153 
 
 Fools,  154 
 
 Foot,  The,  333 
 
 Footprints,  188 
 
 Footsteps,  Afraid  of  his,  418 
 
 Forgetfulness,  65 
 
 Form,  144,  297 
 
 Forms  and  Name,  163 
 
 Four  Seas,  The,  123,  151,  202 
 
 Foxes,  247,  295 
 
 Friendship,  253 
 
 Frog  of  the  Well,  201,  215 
 
 Fu  Hsi,  45,  77,  116,  T96,  274 
 
 Fu  Yixeh,  78 
 
 Fulness  and  decay,  203,  287 
 
 Gain,  103 
 
 Gambling,  234 
 
 Geese,  297 
 
 Gentleness,  123 
 
 Glow-worm,  228 
 
 Glue,  Sticking  without,  102 
 
 God,  I,  15,    31,  68,  82,  163,   257, 
 
 282,  301,  2,?)2, 
 Goitre,  A  large,  65 
 Golden  Age,  116,  152 
 Golden  Roster,  313 
 Goose,  The  cackling,  245 
 Gourd,  Five-bushel,  9 
 Government,  (a curse)  92;  107,  114, 
 
 T19.  123,    130,    132,   146;    (by 
 
 the  true  Sage)    151 ;  163,    164, 
 
 186,  187,317 
 Grand  Augur,  The,  236 
 Grand  Tutor,  272 
 Grave,  Opening  a,  355 
 Great  Bear,  The,  77 
 Great  truths,  154 
 Great  Yii,  The,   16,  142,  152,  215, 
 
 254 
 Grief,  Real,  85 
 
 Han-ch'ih,  The,  176 
 
 Han-tan,  216,  217  ;  (siege  of)  113 
 
 Han-yin,  147 
 
 Happiness,  (in  inaction)  158,  159, 
 (elements  of)  220,  405,  (of  fishes) 
 218,  (and  sorrow)  199,  221 
 
 Hard  and  White,  The,  22,  67,  100, 
 
 117 
 He  Hsii,  116 
 Hearing,  Sense   of,    99,    104,    115, 
 
 121,  3ii»  333.  359 
 Heart,   Natural   goodness   of,   123, 
 
 (the  seat  of  intellect)  297 
 Heat,  Latent,  319 
 Heaven,  161,  173,  223 
 Hermaphrodites,  189 
 Heron,  366 
 Ho  Hsii,  109 
 Ho-shang,  434 
 Horses,  19,  106,  209,  228,  285,  312, 
 
 316,  347 
 Hou  I  or  Yi,  60,  255,  308,    309, 
 
 319 
 House,  A,  306 
 Hsi  P'eng,  316,  322 
 Hsi  Shih  knits  her  brows,  182 
 Hsi  Wang  Mu,  78 
 Hsi  Wei,  76,  292,  346 
 Hsi  Wei  Shih,  359 
 Hsiang-ch'eng,  316 
 Hsiang  Li  Ch'in,  442 
 Hsiao  Chi,  352 
 Hsiao  Poh  (Duke  Huan),  399 
 Hsien  of  the  Kung-wens,  35 
 Hsien-ch'ih,  The,  227 
 Hsien  Yiian,  116 
 Hsin,  The,  237 
 Hsii  (butterflies),  228 
 Hsii-aos,  The,  26,  40 
 Hsii  Wu  Kuei,  311 
 Hsii  Yu,  6,  87,  140,  329,  361,  382, 
 
 404,  432 
 Hsii  Yii  Chi  T'o,  73,  361 
 Hu,  98 
 
 Hu  Pu  Hsieh,  72 
 Hu  Tzii,  94 
 Hua,  141 ;  (Mt.)  443 
 Hua  Chi,  316 
 Hua  Lin,  207 
 Hua  Tzii,  339 
 Huan  (Confucianist),  426 
 Huan  of  Ch'i,  Duke,  65,  170,  236. 
 
 322,  399 
 Huan  Tou,  124 
 Huan  T'uan,  453 
 Huang-chung,  100 
 
Index 
 
 459 
 
 Huang-hua,  The,  154 
 Huang-k'uang,  The,  22S 
 Huang  Liao,  453 
 Huang  Ti.     See  Yellow  Emperor 
 Huang  Tzu  Kao  Ngao,  236 
 Hui,  Prince,  33,  (of  AVei)  338 
 Hui  Tzii,  8,  66,  217,  218,  223,  318, 
 
 321,  341,  358>  361,  365.  450 
 Hunchbacks,  55,  65,  224,  232 
 Hun  Tun,  98 
 
 I,  Mt.,  341 
 
 I  Chieh,  335 
 
 I-erh,  The,  251 
 
 I  Erh  Tzu,  87 
 
 I  Liao,  247,  325,  342 
 
 I-lu,  228 
 
 I  Yin,  309,  383 
 
 Immunity  of  Drunkards,  232 
 
 Inaction,    80,    97,    122,    131,    134, 
 
 136,    137,    158,    159.   160,    165, 
 
 222,  288,  308,  318 
 Infinite,  One  with  the,  89 
 Infinitesimal,  The,  204 
 Influences,  The  Six,  119,  174 
 Instincts,  107 
 Intelligence,  139 
 Internal,  The,  49,  122,    156,   235, 
 
 299^302,  310,  315 
 Intrinsicality,  102 
 Irrigation,  147 
 
 Jen,  251 
 
 Jen  Ch'iu,  290 
 
 Jen  Hsiang  Shih,  337 
 
 Jen  Kung  Tzu,  354 
 
 Jih  Chung  Shih,  92 
 
 Joy  and  sorrow,  293 
 
 Kan,  Blades  from,  193 
 
 Kan-yii-ku,  228 
 
 Kao,  237 
 
 Keng  Sang  Ch'u,  294 
 
 Kings,  The  Three,  186 
 
 Knotted  Cords,  116 
 
 Knowledge,  (Great)  13 ;  (of  the 
 ancients)  21,  161,  304;  (limit  to) 
 302  ;  (perfection  of)  333 ;  (a 
 curse)  115,  118,   125,   129,  298; 
 
 (from  repose)  195  ;  (shallowness 
 of)  293;  (personified)  276;  (of 
 the  wherefore)  368 
 
 Kou  Chien,  332 
 
 Ku,  Shepherd,  103 
 
 K'u  Huo,  442 
 
 Ku-tu,  384 
 
 Ku-chiieh,  Mt.,  276 
 
 Kuan  Chung,  226,  236,  322,  399 
 
 Kuan  Lung  Feng,  40,  112,  352 
 
 Kuan  Yin,  230,  447 
 
 K'uang,  213 
 
 Kuang  Ch'eng  Tzu,  125 
 
 K'uang  Tzu,  401 
 
 Kuei,  206 
 
 K'uei,  The,  237 
 
 Kueis,  The,  26 
 
 Kuei-ch'i,  332 
 
 Kuei  Chi,  354 
 
 K'un,  327 
 
 K'un  Hun,  316 
 
 K'un-lun  Mountains,  139,  224,  289 
 
 Kung  Ch'ui  the  artisan,  115,  242 
 
 Kung  Poh,  382 
 
 K'ung-t'ung,  126 
 
 Kung  Sun  Lung,  214,  319,  453 
 
 Kung  Tzu  Mou,  215 
 
 Kung  Yiieh  Hsiu,  335 
 
 Kuo,  men  of,  253 
 
 Laggards,  Whipping  up  the,  234 
 
 Language,  The  best,  293 
 
 Lao  Lai  Tzij,  356 
 
 Lao  Lung  Chi,  287 
 
 Lao  Tzu  (and  No-toes),  61 ;  93, 
 123,  137,  142  ;  (and  Confucius) 
 144,  166;  168,  169,  182,  184, 
 266,  282  ;  (and  Keng  Sang  Ch'u) 
 294  ;  (and  Nan  Yung),  298  ;  (and 
 Poh  Chii)  343  ;  (and  Yang  Tzu 
 Chu)  368  ;  (death  of)  36 
 
 Law,  The,  133,  162  ;  (men  of),  318 
 
 Laws  of  Nature,  135 
 
 Lei  T'ing,  237 
 
 Leopard,  The,  228,  247 
 
 Leper,  A,  62 
 
 Leviathan,  The,  i,  3 
 
 Li,  237 
 
 Li  to  a  mile,  Three,  2 
 
460 
 
 Chuang  Tzu 
 
 Li  Chi,  27,  29 
 
 Li  Chu,  104,  115 
 
 Li  Hsii,  116 
 
 Li  Lu,  116 
 
 Li  tree,  Sacred,  50 
 
 Liang,  City  of,  341 
 
 Liang  State,  The,  218 
 
 Liao,  River,  93 
 
 Liberty,  36,  37 
 
 Lichen,  228 
 
 Lieh  Tzu  (his  supernatural  power) 
 4,  (and  the  magician)  94,  (and 
 the  skull)  227,  (and  the  perfect 
 man)  230,  (and  archery)  272, 
 (declines  food)  375  ;  423 
 
 Lien  Shu,  6 
 
 Life  (art  of)  234;  (and  death)  203, 
 229,  291,  305  ;  (a  tumour)  84  ; 
 (transitory)  209,  285 
 
 Light  (personified)   289,  (of  Nature) 
 
 Likes  and  dislikes,  155,  156,  366 
 
 Like  and  the  Unlike,  The,  100,  117 
 
 Lin  Chii,  259 
 
 Lin  Hsia  Chi,  387 
 
 Lin  Hui,  253 
 
 Ling  of  Chou,  Prince,  112 
 
 Ling  of  Wei,  Prince,  49,  65,  250, 
 
 346 
 Lo  Book,  The,  174 
 Long  life,  141 
 
 Love  for  the  people,  314,  329 
 Lu  Chii,  319 
 Lu  State,  The,  56,  113,  145,  et  ait. 
 
 pass. 
 Lu  T'ung,  7 
 Lun  Yii,  The,  382 
 Lung  Feng,  40,  112,  352 
 Lutes,  The  two,  319 
 Lii-liang,  Cataract  at,  238 
 
 Magic  Circle,  The,  400 
 
 Man  (not  a  free  agent)  145,  (origin 
 
 of)  228,  (pre-eminent)  231 
 Mang-ts'ang,  2 
 Mankind,  133 
 Man  Kou  Te,  397 
 Mantis,  The  praying,  49,  258 
 Mao  Ch'iang,  27 
 Map-making,  270 
 
 Matter,  133 
 
 Measures,  114,  115 
 
 Mechanical,  The,  147 
 
 Men  Wu  Kuei,  152 
 
 Men  Yin  Teng  Heng,  338 
 
 Meng  Sun  Ts'ai,  85 
 
 Meng  Tzii  Fan,  83 
 
 Mental  criteria,  16 
 
 Mental  equilibrium,  160 
 
 Metempsychosis,  32 
 
 Methusaleh,  A  Chinese,  3 
 
 Miao-ku-she  Mountain,  7,  8 
 
 Middle  Kingdom,   The,  202,  262, 
 
 269,  284 
 Mih  Tzu,   17,  100,   116,   155,  292; 
 
 (his  works  and  doctrines)  440 
 Min  Tzu,  65 
 Mind,  The,  (without  body)  145,  211, 
 
 264,  333  ;  (function  of)  97,  360 
 Minister  of  War,  290 
 Mirror,  The  mind  a,  97,  (mankind 
 
 a)  337 
 Modification,  Physical  and  moral, 
 
 292 
 Monkeys,  20,  27,145,  181,  255,  323 
 Monkey  Mountain,  The,  323 
 Moon,  The,  29,  165,  173 
 Moses,  Burial  of,  435 
 Mosquitoes,  184,  366 
 Motes  in  sunbeam,  i 
 Mother-in-law  and  wife,  360 
 Mou  of  Chung-shan,  Prince,  380 
 Mou  of  Wei,  214 
 Mou-jui,  The,  228 
 Mourning,  162,  186 
 Mu  of  Ch'in,  Duke,  309 
 Mud  spirit.  The,  237 
 Muh  Wang,  207 
 Mulberry  Grove,  The,  33 
 Murder,  Origin  of,  296 
 Music   and   Ceremonial,    89,    100, 
 
 108,  115,  155,  162,  177,  195,318, 
 
 440 
 Music  of  Heaven,  12,  13,  178 
 Mutilation,    35,    56,    59,    61,   320, 
 
 329 
 Mutton  and  Ants,  330 
 
 Names,  163 
 Nameless,  The,  143 
 
Index 
 
 461 
 
 Nan  Po  Tzu  K'uei,  78 
 
 Nan-yiieh,  248 
 
 Nan  Yung  Ch'u,  296 
 
 Nature,   189,   303  ;   (habit  second) 
 
 239 
 Natural,  The,   102,  131,   144,  175, 
 
 210,  232,  309 
 Necessity,  310 
 Negative,   Positive  and,   120,    127, 
 
 266,  349 
 Negative  quantity,  The  Sage  a,  192 
 Neglect  better  than  care,  74 
 Nest-builders,  The,  391 
 Nincompoops,  330 
 Nightmare,  180 
 No-beginning,  288 
 No-Toes,  61 
 
 Non-existence,  Domain  of,  1 1 
 Nose,  Scab  on  the,  321 
 Nothing,  (as  an  existence)  23 ;  (its 
 
 success)  139,  143,  289 
 Nil  Shang,  311 
 Nil  Yii,  78 
 
 O  Ho  Kan,  287 
 
 Objective,  The,  17,  18,  145 
 
 Obstinacy,  360 
 
 Office,  Value  of,  198,  434 
 
 Officials,  221 
 
 ONE,  All  things,  23,  73,  89,  128, 
 136,  143'  250,  278,  281,  303,  333, 
 336  ;    (the   Greater  and  Lesser) 
 
 450 
 One-legged  men,  224,  309 
 Owl's  sight.  An,  207,  332 
 
 P'ang  Huan,  237 
 
 Pao  Chiao,  394,  401 
 
 Pao  Yii,  322 
 
 Parasites,  330 
 
 Passions,  66,  311 
 
 Passivity,  97,  138,  165,  192,  266 
 
 Patriots,  208,  221 
 
 Peace,  Men  of,  318 
 
 Pearl  in  corpse's  mouth,  355 
 
 Pecks  and  bushels,  114 
 
 P'ei,  368 
 
 Pei  I,  140 
 
 Pei  Jen  Wu  Tse,  382 
 
 Pei  Kung  She,  250 
 
 Pei  Men  Ch'eng,  176 
 P'ei  O,  237 
 P'eng  Meng,  445 
 P'eng  Tsu,  3,  78 
 Penumbra  and  Umbra,  32,  367 
 Perfect  ambition,  honour,  &c.,  176 
 Perfect  Man,  The,  27,  97,  146, 151, 
 169,    183,    210,   231,    295,    301, 
 
 359 
 Perfect  music,  177 
 Personality,  Man's,  87 
 Physical  life,  230 
 P'il,  281 
 
 Pi  Kan,  40,  112,  352,  395 
 Piao  Shih,  255 
 Pien  Ch'ing  Tzii,  242 
 Pien  Sui,  383 
 Pigs,  236,  286,  330 
 Pin,  371 
 Ping,  319 
 P'ing  I,  77 
 
 Plains,  Slopes  and,  208 
 Ploughing,  342 
 Po  Li  Ch'i,  270,  309 
 Poh  Ch'ang  Ch'ien,  346 
 Poh  Ch'eng  Tzii  Kao,  142 
 Poh  Chii,  343 
 Poh  Huang,  116 
 Poh  Hun  Wu  Jen,  59,  272,  423 
 Poh  I,  72,  103,  201,  384,  394 
 Poh  Kung,  207 
 Poh  Loh,  106 
 Politeness,  Perfect,  307 
 Portal  of  God,  304 
 Positive   and   Negative,   120,    127 
 
 205,  266,  349 
 Precedence,  162 
 Predestination,  350 
 Predicables,  Eight,  24 
 Prometheus,  A  Chinese,  196 
 Provident,  The,  392 
 P'u  I  Tzii,  91 
 Pu  Liang  I,  79 
 Punishments,  124,  162 
 Pure  Man,  The,  69,  72,  (a)  313 
 Purity,  Absolute,  127 
 Purpose,  Discard,  307 
 
 Quail,  4 
 
462 
 
 Chiiang  Tzu 
 
 Rain,  165,  173 
 
 Rarey,  A  Chinese,  106 
 
 Rat's  liver,  82 
 
 Raven,  Blackness  of,  185 
 
 Record  of  Marvels,  The,  i,  4 
 
 Red  Lake,  The,  139 
 
 Relations  determinate,  &c.,  332 
 
 Relativity,    (of     Distance)    2,    (of 
 
 Time)  3 
 Repose,  127,  157,  158,  195 
 Reputation,  5,  360 
 Retired  scholars,  197 
 Rewards  and  Punishments,  162 
 Rhinoceros,  214 
 Rice-pudding,  Grains  in  a,  296 
 Riches,  141 
 Right  and  Wrong,  244,  306,  345, 
 
 366 
 Rings,  Joined,  45 1 
 River  God,  53,  200,  357 
 Rivers  perennial,  332 
 Robber  Che,    103,    112,    120,   155, 
 
 387 
 Robbers  v.  Sages,  113 
 Robbery,  Origin  of,  296 
 Round  Squareness,  25 
 Rukh,  The,  i,  3 
 Rule  of  life,  84 
 Ruler,  The  Wise,  161 
 Rulers  (of  old)  344,  (the  Five)  186 
 Rustic,  The  sick,  299 
 
 Sacrifices,  6,  53,  305 
 
 Sacrificial  caps,  8 
 
 Sage,  The  True,  146,  192,  326,  336 
 
 Sages  a  curse,  108,  1T3,  117,  125 
 
 Salve  for  chapped  hands,  9 
 
 San  Ching,  377 
 
 San-miao,  124 
 
 San-wei,  124 
 
 Sang  Hu,  83,  253,  254 
 
 Scales  and  Steelyards,  114 
 
 Schemes,  317,  360 
 
 Scholars'  robes,  269 
 
 Sciolist,  The,  164 
 
 Sea-bird,  Arrival  of  a,  226,  244 
 
 Sea-serpents,  214 
 
 Seasons,  The,  162,  165,  348 
 
 Secret  of  existence,  280 
 
 Self,  5,  145 
 
 Senses,  The,  20,  99,  100,  155,  311, 
 
 343  . 
 Sha-ch'iu,  346 
 Shadow,  Afraid  of  his,  418 
 Shadow,  Man  and  his,  332 
 San  Chiian,  371,  404 
 Shan  Pao,  235 
 Shang  Mountain,  52 
 Shang-shen  Rapid,  The,  233 
 Shao  Chih,  347 
 Shao  Kuang,  78 
 She,  Duke  of,  45 
 Shen    Nung,    116,    196,  226,  246, 
 
 287,  385 
 Shen  T'u  Chia,  59 
 Shen  T'u  Ti,  72,  394 
 Shen  Yao,  443 
 Shih  Ch'eng  Chi,  168 
 Shih  Chin,  179 
 Shih  Ch'iu,  346 
 Shih-hu,  371 
 
 Shih  K'uang,  22,  100,  104,  115 
 Shih-ling,  331 
 Shih-nan,  247,  325,  342 
 Shih  Yii,  100,  116,  120,  155 
 Shou  (Prince  of  Yiieh),  373 
 Shou-ling,  The  youth  of,  216 
 Shou-yang,  Mt,  103,  385 
 Shu,  98,  352 
 Shu  Ch'i,  72,  384,  394 
 Shu  Shan  No-toes,  61 
 Shu  Tan  (Chou  Kung),  384 
 Shun,  The  Emperor,  5  et  alt.  pass. 
 Sight,  Sense  of,  (its  failure)  139  ; 
 
 311,359 
 Silence,  Doctrine  of,  56,  293,  325 
 Sincerity,  Cultivation  of,  316 
 Singing  alongside  a  corpse,  83 
 Six  Influences,  The,  129,  174 
 Six  Ranks,  The,  399 
 Skull  (Chuang  Tzii  and  the)  224; 
 
 (Lieh  Tzu  and  the)  227 
 Sky,  The,  173 
 Slopes  and  plains,  208 
 Smell,  Sense  of,  155,  360 
 Snake,  The  (moves    without  legs' 
 
 211 ;  (its  shoulders)  82 
 Snail,  The,  340 
 Snow-goose,  Whiteness  of,  185 
 Society,  347 
 
Index 
 
 463 
 
 Sons,  141 
 
 Soot,  Life  as  mere,  305 
 
 Sophistry,  117;  (of  Hui  Tzu)  45 1 
 
 Sorrow,  199,  221,  293 
 
 Soul,  The,  14,  37,  57 
 
 Soyer,  A  Chinese,  104 
 
 Space,  202,  304,  340 
 
 Speech,    (Great)    13 ;    (not    mere 
 
 breath)  16,   17,   22;   (a  surplus) 
 
 23 ;  (like    wind    to  wave)    47 ; 
 
 (failure  of)   139;   (no  room  for) 
 
 264 
 Spirit  of  the  Clouds,  129 
 
 „         ,,      Ocean,  200 
 
 „         „      River,  200 
 "Spring  and  Autumn,"  24 
 Square  and  Compasses,  loi,  263 
 Ssu-mi,  The,  228 
 Standard  of  right,  306 
 Standards  must  be  absolute,  436 
 Stars,  The,  167 
 
 Stealing  purses,  114;  (States)  114 
 Stickleback,  Chuang  Tzu  and  the, 
 
 353 
 Stoat,  The,  313 
 Stone-mason's  skill,  A,  321 
 Straight-browed  people.  The,  150 
 Straw  dog,  The,  179 
 Strength  of  no  avail,  139 
 Stupidity,  360 
 Su,  Hunchback,  55 
 Subjective,  The,   17,   18,  305,  306, 
 
 364 
 Success,  Causes  of,  432 
 Sui  Jen,  196,  226 
 Summum  bonum.  The,  155 
 Sun  and  Moon,  29,  165,  167,  173, 
 
 243 
 Sun  Hsiu,  242 
 Sun  Hsiu  Ao,  273,  325 
 Sung  Hsing,  443 
 Sung  State,  The,  8,  9,  53 
 Supreme  Void,  The,  289 
 Swallow,  Wisdom  of  the,  257 
 Swords,  Forging,  290;  (the  Three), 
 
 410 
 
 Ta-lii,  100 
 Ta  T'ao,  346 
 Ta  T'ing,  116 
 
 T'ai,  Mt.,  3,  77,  103 
 
 Tai  Chin  Jen,  340 
 
 T'ai  Huang,  91 
 
 T'ai  Kung  Tiao,  347 
 
 T'ai  Wang  Shan  Fu,  371 
 
 Talkers,  327 
 
 Tan-hsiieh,  373 
 
 T'ang,  The  Emperor,  3,  207,  215, 
 
 292,  309.  361,  383 
 
 Tag,  16;  (axis  of )  18,  24;  (perfect) 
 25;  (gives  form)  75,  76,  79; 
 (man  born  in)  85  ;  (in  everything) 
 112;  (in  abstraction)  127;  (of 
 God  and  man)  134,  135,  137, 
 138,  157,  163,  167;  (capacity  of) 
 169,  182,  197 ;  (eternal)  209  ; 
 (how  to  reach)  277,  281  ;  (is 
 everywhere)  285,  288,  303,  316 
 (and  Te)  326  ;  (functions  of) 
 438  ;  (and  fatalism)  446 
 
 T'ai  Hsi  Ching,  The,  70 
 
 Tao-Te-Ching,  The,  19,  34,  56,  71, 
 III,  115,  i22,'i25,  136,  143,  170, 
 172,  179,  205,  231,  243,  275,  277, 
 
 278)  30O)  369>  448 
 Tapir,  The,  6 
 Taste,  Sense  of,  155 
 Te  (see  Virtue),  45 
 Teeth  cold,  113 
 Tell,  A  Chinese,  60,  255 
 Teng  Ling,  442 
 Thieves,  no,  169 
 Thieving,  Art  of,  112 
 Things,  231 
 Thoroughness,  342 
 Thought,  170 
 Three  in  the  Morning,  20 
 Three  Dynasties,  loi,  118,  120 
 Three  Princes,  124,  132,  186,  202 
 Tiao-ling,  258 
 T'ien   Ch'eng   Tzu,   or   T'ien  Ho 
 
 III,  324 
 T'ien  K'ai  Chih,  234 
 T'ien  Ken,  93 
 T'ien  P'ien,  443 
 Tigers,  174,  214,  263 
 Time,  189,  202,  291,  304 
 Tit,  The,  6 
 Toes,  305,  306 
 Tongue,  A  three-foot,  326 
 
464 
 
 CJmang  Tzii 
 
 Topsy-turvydom,  199 
 
 Tortoise,  3,  357  ;  (ChuangTzu  and 
 
 the)  217 
 Translation  (as  of  Enoch),  230 
 Travelling,  180 
 
 Trees  Useless,  10,  51,  52,  245 
 Tripe,  305 
 
 Tsang,  Old  man  of,  271 
 Tsang,  Shepherd,  103 
 Ts'ang-wu,  354 
 Ts'ao  Shang,  428 
 Tse  Yang,  335 
 Tseng   Shen,    100,    116,   120,   155, 
 
 352,  366 
 Tseng  Tzu,  378 
 Ts'ui  Chii,  123 
 Tsun  Lu,  116 
 Tsung,  Mt.,  124 
 Tsungs,  The,  26 
 Ts'ung-chih,  40 
 Tung  Kuo  Shun  Tzu,  261 
 Tung  Kuo  Tzu,  285 
 Tung  Kuo  Tzu  Chi,  366 
 Tung-t'ing,  176,  227 
 Tung  Yeh  Chi,  241 
 Turtle  of  eastern  sea,  215,296,  335 
 Tzu  Ch'an,  59 
 Tzu  Chang,  397 
 Tzii  Ch'i,  12,  52,  324,  327 
 Tzu  Ch'in  Chang,  83 
 Tzu  Chou  Chih  Fu,  370 
 Tzu  Chou  Chih  Poh,  370 
 Tzii  Hsii  or  Wu  Yiian,   112,   221, 
 
 352,  401 
 Tzu  Hua  Tzii,  373 
 Tzu  Kao,  45 
 Tzu  Kung,  83,  147,  185,  225,  378, 
 
 381,  388,  413 
 Tzti  Lai,  81 
 Tzu  Lao,  342 
 Tzu  Li,  81 
 Tzii  Lu,   165,  231,  263,  342,  381 ; 
 
 (death  of)  393  ;  413 
 Tzu  Sang,  90 
 
 Tzu  Sang  Hu,  83,  253,  254 
 Tzii  Ssu,  80 
 
 Tzii  Yang  of  Cheng,  375 
 Tzu  Yii,  80,  90 
 
 Ugliness,  260 
 
 Umbra  and  Penumbra,  32,  367 
 Uncanny  events,  328 
 Unconditioned,  The,  158,  209,  307 
 Uniformity  (of  results),    186,   132, 
 
 227,  331 
 Universe,    The,    19,  29,   161,   167, 
 
 279,  290 
 Universal  Love,  167 
 Untrodden  ground,  333 
 Useful  and  Useless,  The,  11,  306, 
 
 358 
 Usurpers,  208 
 
 Valetudinarianism,  191 
 Vengeance   not    extended    against 
 
 things,  232 
 Violence,  340 
 Virtue  (Te),  45,  133,  143,  151,  176, 
 
 185,  252,  277,  308,  326,  360 
 Virtue,  Man  of  Perfect,  210 
 Vision  (Eye  and)  ^t^t^  ;  (perfection 
 
 of)  104,  139 
 Vital  Principle,  The,  129 
 
 Wa  Lung,  237 
 
 Walrus,  The,  211 
 
 Wang  Hsiang,  237 
 
 Wang  I,  26,  91,  140 
 
 Wang  Kuo,  335 
 
 Wang  T'ai,  56 
 
 Wang  Tzu,  395 
 
 Wang  Tzu  Ch'ing  Chi,  250 
 
 ^'ar,  315,  318 
 
 Wasps,  297 
 
 Water,  (Fluidity  of)  268;  (to  men 
 
 and  fishes)  227 
 Water-level,  The,  64,  157 
 Wealth,  221  ;  (value  of)  403  ;  (evil 
 
 of)  405 
 Weasel,  The,  313 
 Weeding  plants,  360 
 Weeping,  162  ;  (without  snivelling) 
 
 85 
 Wei,  Prince  of,  9,  38,  254,  338 
 Wei,  Prince  Wu  of,  311 
 Wei,  The  State  of,  38,  49 
 Wei  of  Ch'i,  Prince,  338 
 Wei  of  Chou,  Duke,  234 
 Wei  I,  The,  237 
 Wei-lei  Mountains,  294 
 
Index 
 
 465 
 
 Wei  Sheng,  395,  401 
 
 Weights  and  measures  a  curse,  114 
 
 Well-sweep,  A,  147,  181 
 
 Wen  of  Wei,  Prince,  261 
 
 Wen  Chung,  332 
 
 Wen  Po  Hsiieh  Tzii,  262 
 
 Wen  Wang,  273 
 
 Wen  Wang  of  Chao,  407 
 
 Wheel  of  Existence,  The,  228 
 
 Wheelwright,  The,  1 7  i 
 
 Whole  made  up  of  parts,  347 
 
 Wife,  Mother-in-law  and,  360 
 
 Wigs,  152 
 
 Wind,  173,  211,  332 
 
 Wine,  Thin,  113 
 
 Winnowing,  Chaff  from,  184 
 
 Wisdom    a   curse,    115,    121,    125, 
 
 188 
 Wisdom-tricks,  1 1 1 
 Without-end,  288 
 Wolves,  174 
 Words,  170,  171 
 Wu,  Prince  of,  9,  323 
 Wu  Chuang,  88 
 Wu  Ch'un,  Hunchback,  65 
 Wu  Han  Chao,  173 
 Wu  Kuang,  72,  361,  383 
 Wu  Lai,  352 
 W^u  Ting,  78 
 Wu-tsu,  228 
 Wu  Tzu  Hsii,  395 
 Wu  Wang,  152,  207,  292,  384 
 Wu  Yoh,  400 
 Wu  Yiian,  112,  221,  352,  401 
 
 Yak,  The,  10 
 
 Yang-ch'i,  The,  228 
 
 Yang  Chu,  100,  116,  155,  259,  318 
 
 Yang  Hu,  214 
 
 Yang  Tzu  Chii,  93,  368,  369 
 
 Yao,  The  Emperor,  5,  et  alt.  pass. 
 
 Yeh  Ch'iieh,  26,  91,  140,  281,  329 
 Yellow  Emperor,  The,  28,  77,  123, 
 
 125,  139,  176,  196,  224,  246,  27^, 
 
 277»  292,  316 
 Yellow  Spring,  The,  358 
 Yen  Gate,  The,  361 
 Yen  State,  The,  329 
 Yen  Ch'eng  Tzu  Yu,  12,  324,  366, 
 
 441 
 Yench'i,  410 
 
 Yen  Ho,  48,  241,  374,  429 
 Yen  Hui  or  Yen  Yiian,  38,  85,  179, 
 
 225,    233,  256,    264,    272,   291, 
 
 379.  381,  388 
 Yen  Kang  Tiao,  287 
 Yen  Pu  I,  324 
 Yi,  60,  255,  308,  309,  319 
 Yi  Yang,  237 
 Yin,  Mountain,  93 
 Yin  and  Yang,  The,  82,  120,  126, 
 
 177,  192,  201,  280 
 Yin-li,  394 
 Yin  Wen,  443 
 Ying,  451 
 
 Ying,  A  man  of,  321 
 Ying-yang,  382 
 Yii,  The  Great,  16,   142,  152,  215, 
 
 254 
 Yu  Ch'iang,  78 
 Yii  Ch'ieh,  357 
 Yii  Erh,  104 
 Yu-hu,  40 
 Yu  island,  124 
 Yu  Piao,  179 
 
 Yiian  of  Sung,  Prince,  270,  321 
 Yiian  Feng,  150 
 Yiian  Hsien,  378 
 
 Yiieh  State,  The,  8,  9,  16,  313,  451 
 Yung  Ch'eng,  116 
 Yung  Ch'eng  Shih,  338 
 Yung,  The  philosopher,  4 
 
 2  H 
 
466 
 
 ERRA  TA  AND  ADDENDA 
 
 Page      I,  line  3  (from  bottom),  insert  comma  after  "  sunbeam." 
 „       49,  line  2,  Prince  Ling  is  the  same  individual  as  the  Duke  Ling 
 of  pp.  65,  250,  346. 
 [All  such  terms  are,  of  course,  arbitrary,  being  used 
 merely  as  convenient  equivalents  of  the  Chinese 
 titles  in  the  text.] 
 60,    „  13,  For  "  Hou  I  "  read  "  Hou  Yi."     [This  for  the  sake 
 of  uniformity.     &<?  pp.  255,  308,  &c.] 
 „        65,    ,,  16,  For  "too  short"  read  "too  scraggy." 
 ,,       65,     „  20,  For  "too  thin"  read  "too  scraggy." 
 
 72,    „    4,  For  "  Chi  Tzii  Hsii  Yii  "  read  "  Chi  Tzu,  Hsii  Yii.' 
 ,,      170,    ,,    3  (from  bottom),  After  "Duke Huan."  omit  the  full  stop. 
 „      228,    ,,14,  For  "glow-worm  "  read  "  fire-fly." 
 ,,      230,    ,,  22,  For  "  to  the  minister"  read  "to  be  the  minister," 
 „      262,    „  22,  For  "Wen  Po"  read  "Wen  Poh." 
 „      270,    „    6,  For  "  Po  Li  Ch'i  "  read  "  Poh  Li  Ch'i." 
 ,,      272,    ,,    3  (from  bottom),  For  "  Po  Hun  "  read  "  Poh  Hun." 
 „     309,    „  12  For  "Duke  Mu "  read  "Duke  Muh." 
 „      309,    „  12  For  "  Po  Li  Ch'i  "  read  "  Poh  Li  Ch'i." 
 ,,      314,  last  line,  "  Love  for  the  people,"  &c.    Compare  p.  329,  lines 
 17  and  18,  "  There  is  no  difficulty,"  <S:c.     The  con- 
 flict between  the  meanings  of  these  two  passages 
 has  not  been  pointed   out.     The   first   passage  is 
 rendered  by  some  commentators,  "  Not  to  be  able 
 to  love  the  people  is  the,"  &:c.     Neither  rendering 
 is    quite    satisfactory ;    for   reasons   which    would 
 require  quotations  from  the  Chinese  text. 
 
Errata  and  Addenda  467 
 
 Page  324,  lines  15  and  26,  For  "Tzu  Chi"  read  "Tzu  Ch'i." 
 „     327,    „      18  and  28,  For  "Tzu  Chi"  read  "Tzu  Ch'i." 
 „     328,  line      7,  For  "Tzu  Chi  "  read  "  Tzii  Ch'i." 
 „     346,    „         5,  After  "Duke  Ling,"  add  "of  Wei." 
 „     371,    „       17,  For  "Shih  Hu"read  "Shih-hu." 
 ,»     373>    n        3,  For  "Tan  Hsueh"read  "Tan-hsiieh." 
 „     394,    „        8,  For  "YinLi"read  "Yin-li." 
 
 [These  last  three  corrections  mean  that  I  have 
 written  names  of  places  with  a  hyphen  between 
 the  transliteration  of  the  component  Chinese 
 characters,  the  names  of  meti  with  a  capital  letter 
 to  the  transliteration  of  each  of  the  Chinese  cha- 
 racters which  go  to  make  up  the  surname  and 
 personal  name.] 
 
 THE    END. 
 
 WVMAN    AND   SONS,    PRINTERS     GREAT   QUEEN     STREET,    LONDON,    W.C. 
 
in'    THE    SAME    AUTHOR. 
 
 Chinese    Sketches.       Pcath  of  an  Emperor — l^liiiuctte — ^Cambling- 
 Feng-shui — Opium —  Pawnbrokers — Slang — Inquests,  &c.  &c. 
 
 Strange  Stories  from  a  Chinese  Studio.       Translation  of  the 
 
 Liao  Choi.     2  vols.     Svo. 
 
 Historic  China,  and  other  Sketches. 
 
 Gems    of   Chinese    Literature.       Containing    Extracts    from    various 
 Authors,  tVom  n.c.  500  to  A.n.  1600. 
 
 A  Short  History  of  Koolangsu. 
 
 On    Some    Translations    and    Mistranslations    in    Williams' 
 Syllabic  Dictionary. 
 
 Dictionary    of   Colloquial  Idioms    in  the    Mandarin    Dialect. 
 
 Chinese  without  a  Teacher:  Being  a  Collection  of  Easy  and 
 Useful  Sentences  in  the  Mandarin  Dialect.  With  a  ^'ocabulary. 
 2nd  Edition. 
 
 Synoptical  Studies  in  Chinese  Character. 
 
 Handbook  of  the  Swatow  Dialect. 
 
 Record  of  the  Buddhistic  Kingdoms.     Translated  from  the  Chinese. 
 With  copious  Notes. 
 
 Two  Chinese   Poems :  The  San  Tzii   Ching,  or  the   Trimctrisal 
 
 Classic ;    and    the    Ch'ien    TZU   Wen,    or     Thousand    Character 
 Essay.     Metrically  translated. 
 
 From  Swatow   to   Canton  :   An  Overland  Journey. 
 
 A  Glossary  of  Reference,  on  Subjects  connected  with  the  Far  East. 
 2nd  Edition. 
 
 The  Remains  of  Lao  Tzii.     lions:  Kong:  1SS6. 
 
BL1900.C5G46 
 
 Chuang  Tzu,  mystic,  moralist,  and  socral 
 
 Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 
 
 1    1012  00009  8840