The Tâo Teh King — Sacred Books of China Part I, SBE Vol. 39 (trans. James Legge, 1891)

Still the antagonism of Taoism to Confucianism is very apparent

BK. XIV. BRIEF NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BOOKS, I45

throughout. Of the illustrative paragraphs, the seventh, relating the churlish behaviour of Lao-jze to Confucius, and the way in which he subsequently argues with him and snubs him, is very amusing. The eighth paragraph, relating the interview between L4o and Shih-#/ang K4i, is very strange. The allusions in it to certain incidents and peculiarities in Lao’s domestic life make us wish that we had fuller accounts of his history; and the way in which he rates his disciple shows him as a master of the language of abuse.

The concluding paragraph about duke Hwan of K‘Ai is interesting, but I can only dimly perceive its bearing on the argument of the Book.

Book XIV. THIEN YUN.

The contrast between the movement of the heavens

(FE igi), and the resting of the earth (Hh J), requires the translation of the characters of the title by ‘The Revolution of Heaven.’ But that idea does not enter largely into the subject-matter of the Book. ‘The whole,’ says Hsiian Ying, ‘consists of eight paragraphs, the first three of which show that under the sky there is nothing which is not dominated by the T4o, with which the Tis and the Kings have only to act in accordance; while the last five set forth how the T4o is not to be found in the material forms and changes of things, but in a spiritlike energy working imperceptibly, developing and controlling all phenomena.

I have endeavoured in the notes on the former three paragraphs to make their meaning less obscure and unconnected than it is on a first perusal. The five illustrative paragraphs are, we may assume, all of them factitious, and can hardly be received as genuine productions of Kwangze. In the sixth paragraph, or at least a part of it, Lin Hsi-Zung acknowledges the hand of the forger, and not less unworthy of credence are in my opinion the rest of it and much of the other four paragraphs. If they may be

[39] Lp. 146 taken as from the hand of our author himself, he was too much devoted to his own system to hold the balance of judgment evenly between Lao and Khung.

Book XV. Kuo f.

I can think of no better translation for yi x, the two

If they may be

[39] Lp. 146 taken as from the hand of our author himself, he was too much devoted to his own system to hold the balance of judgment evenly between Lao and Khung.

Book XV. Kuo f.

I can think of no better translation for yi x, the two first characters of the Book, and which appear as its title, than our ‘ Ingrained Ideas;’ notions, that is, held as firmly as if they were cut into the substance of the mind. They do not belong to the whole Book, however, but only to the first member of the first paragraph. That paragraph describes six classes of men, only the last of which are the right followers of the Tao ;—the Sages, from the T4oistic point of view, who again are in the last sentence of the last paragraph identified with ‘the True Men’ described at length in the sixth Book. The fifth member of this first paragraph is interesting as showing how there was a class of Taoists who cultivated the system with a view to obtain longevity by their practices in the management of the breath ; yet our author does not accord to them his full approbation, while at the same time the higher Taoism appears in the last paragraph, as promoting longevity without the management of the breath. AZO Po-hsid, in his commentary on AK wang-3ze, which was published in 1210, gives Po-i and Sha-2/i as instances of the first class spoken of here ; Confucius and Mencius, of the second; f Yin and Fa Yiieh, of the third; Ado Fd and Hsii Y4, as instances of the fourth. Of the fifth class he gives no example, but that of Phang 30 mentioned in it.

That which distinguishes the genuine sage, the True Man of TAoism, is his pure simplicity in pursuing the Way, as it is seen in the operation of Heaven and Earth, and nourishing his spirit accordingly, till there ensues an ethereal amalgamation between his Way and the orderly operation of Heaven. This subject is pursued to the end of the Book. The most remarkable predicate of the spirit so trained is that in the third paragraph,—that ‘Its name is thep. 147 same as Ti or God;’ on which none of the critics has been able to throw any satisfactory light. Balfour’s version is:—‘Its name is called “One with God;”’ Giles’s, ‘Its name is then “Of God,”’ the ‘then’ being in consequence of his view that the subject is ‘man’s spiritual existence before he is born into the world of mortals. My own view of the meaning appears in my version.

Lin Hsi-fung, however, calls the genuineness of the whole Book into question, and thinks it may have proceeded from the same hand as Book XIII. They have certainly one peculiarity in common ;—many references to sayings which cannot be traced, but are introduced by the formula of quotation, ‘ Therefore, it is said.’

Book XVI. SHAN HSING.

They have certainly one peculiarity in common ;—many references to sayings which cannot be traced, but are introduced by the formula of quotation, ‘ Therefore, it is said.’

Book XVI. SHAN HSING.

‘Rectifying or Correcting the Nature’ is the meaning of the title, and expresses sufficiently well the subject-matter of the Book. It was written to expose the ‘ vulgar’ learning of the time as contrary to the principles of the true Taoism, that learning being, according to Li Shd-éih, ‘the teachings of Hui-3ze and Kung-sun Lung.’ It is to be wished that we had fuller accounts of these. But see in Book XXXIII.

Many of the critics are fond of comparing the Book with the 21st chapter of the 7th Book of Mencius, part 1,— where that philosopher sets forth ‘ Man’s own nature as the most important thing to him, and the source of his true enjoyment, which no one can read without admiration. But we have more sympathy with Mencius’s fundamental views about our human nature, than with those of AK wanggaze and his Taoism. Lin Hsi-#ung is rather inclined to doubt the genuineness of the Book. Though he admires its composition, and admits the close and compact sequence of its sentences, there is yet something about it that does not smack of Kwang-jze’s style. Rather there seems to me to underlie it the antagonism of Lao and Awang to the learning of the Confucian school. The only characteristic

L2

p. 148

of our author which I miss, is the illustrative stories of which he is generally so profuse. In this the Book agrees with the preceding.

Book XVII. Kart SHut.

Khit Shui, or ‘Autumn Waters,’ the first two characters of the first paragraph of this Book, are adopted as its title. Its subject, in that paragraph, however, is not so much the waters of autumn, as the greatness of the T4o in its spontaneity, when it has obtained complete dominion over man. No illustration of the T4o is so great a favourite with LAo-3ze as water, but he loved to set it forth in its quiet, onward movement, always seeking the lowest place, and always exercising a beneficent influence. But water is here before Kwang-3ze in its mightiest volume,—the inundated Ho and the all but boundless magnitude of the ocean ; and as he takes occasion from those phenomena to deliver his lessons, I translate the title by ‘The Floods of Autumn.’

To adopt the account of the Book given by La Shakih :—‘ This Book,’ he says, ‘shows how its spontaneity is the greatest characteristic of the Tao, and the chief thing inculcated in it is that we must not allow the human element to extinguish in our constitution the Heavenly.

‘ First, using the illustrations of the Ho and the Sea, our author gives us to see the Five Tis and the Kings of the Three dynasties as only exhibiting the Tao in a small degree, while its great development is not to be found in out ward form and appliances so that it cannot be described in words, and it is difficult to find its point of commencement, which indeed appears to be impracticable, while still by doing nothing the human may be united with the Heavenly, and men may bring back their True condition. By means of the conversations between the guardian spirit of the Ho and Zo (the god) of the Sea this subject is exhaustively treated.

‘Next (in paragraph 8), the khwei, the millepede, and other subjects illustrate how the mind is spirit-like in its spontaneity and doing nothing. The case of Confucius (in par. 9) shows the same spontaneity, transforming violence.

p. 149

Kung-sun Lung (in par. 10), refusing to comply with that spontaneity, and seeking victory by his sophistical reasonings, shows his wisdom to be only like the folly of the frog in the well. The remaining three paragraphs bring before us AK wang-jze by the spontaneity of his T4o, now superior to the allurements of rank; then, like the phoenix flying aloft, as enjoying himself in perfect ease; and finally, as like the fishes, in the happiness of his self-possession.’ Such is a brief outline of this interesting chapter. Many of the critics would expunge the ninth and tenth paragraphs as unworthy of Awang-jze, the former as misrepresenting Confucius, the latter as extolling himself. I think they may both be allowed to stand as from his pencil.

Book XVIII. ArH Lo.

The title of this Book, Kih Lo, or ‘ Perfect Enjoyment,’ may also be received as describing the subject-matter of it. But the author does not tell us distinctly what he means by ‘Perfect Enjoyment.’ It seems to involve two elements,— freedom from trouble and distress, and freedom from the fear of death. What men seek for as their chief good would only be to him burdens. He does not indeed altogether condemn them, but his own quest is the better and more excellent way. His own enjoyment is to be obtained by means of doing nothing; that is, by the Tao; of which passionless and purposeless action is a chief characteristic ; and is at the same time the most effective action, as is illustrated in the operation of heaven and earth.

Such is the substance of the first paragraph. The second is interesting as showing how his principle controlled Kwang-3ze on the death of his wife. Paragraph 3 shows us two professors of Td4oism delivered by it from the fear of their own death. Paragraph 4 brings our author before us talking to a skull, and then the skull’s appearance to him in a dream and telling him of the happiness of the state after death. Paragraph 5 isoccupied with Confucius and his favourite disciple Yen Hui. It stands by itself, unconnected with the rest of the Book, and its

Paragraph 5 isoccupied with Confucius and his favourite disciple Yen Hui. It stands by itself, unconnected with the rest of the Book, and its

See ace See es -e =: - a

~O--6 eeeee- em ee =p. 150 genuineness is denied by some commentators. The last paragraph, found in an enlarged form in the Books ascribed to Lieh-3ze, has as little to do as the fifth with the general theme of the Book, and is a strange anticipation in China of the transrotation or transformation system of Buddhism.

Indeed, after reading this Book, we cease to wonder that Taoism and Buddhism should in many practices come so near each other.

Book XIX. TA SHANG.

I have been inclined to translate the title of this Book by ‘ The Fuller Understanding of Life,’ with reference to what is said in the second Book on ‘The Nourishment of the Lord of Life.’ There the Life before the mind of the writer is that of the Body ; here he extends his view also to the Life of the Spirit. The one subject is not kept, however, with sufficient distinctness apart from the other, and the profusion of illustrations, taken, most of them, from the works of Lieh-jze, is perplexing.

To use the words of Li Shi-#ih:—‘ This Book shows how he who would skilfully nourish his life, must maintain his spirit complete, and become one with Heaven. These two ideas preside in it throughout. In par. 2, the words of the Warden Yin show that the spirit kept complete is beyond the reach of harm, In 3, the illustration of the hunchback shows how the will must be maintained free from all confusion. In 4, that of the ferryman shows that to the completeness of the spirit there is required the disregard of life or death. In 5 and 6, the words of Thien Khai-#ih convey a warning against injuring the life by the indulgence of sensual desires. In 7, the sight of a sprite by duke Hwan unsettles his spirit. In 8, the gamecock is trained so as to preserve the spirit unagitated. In 9, we see the man in the water of the cataract resting calmly in his appointed lot. In 10, we have the maker of the bellstand completing his work as he did in accordance with the mind of Heaven. All these instances show how the

— 9 - CS eat ects | eep. 151 spirit is nourished. The reckless charioteering of Tung Yé in par. II, not stopping when the strength of his horses was exhausted, and the false pretext of Sun Hsid, clear as at noon-day, are instances of a different kind; while in the skilful Shui, hardly needing the application of his mind, and fully enjoying himself in all things, his movements testify of his harmony with Heaven, and his spiritual completeness.’

Book XX. SHAN MO.

SHAN MO.

It requires a little effort to perceive that Shan M 4, the title of this Book, does not belong to it as a whole, but only to the first of its nine paragraphs. That speaks of a large tree which our author once saw on a mountain. The other paragraphs have nothing to do with mountain trees, large or small. As the last Book might be considered to be supplementary to ‘the Nourishment of Life,’ discussed in Book III, so this is taken as having the same relation to Book IV, which treats of ‘ Man in the World, associated with other men.’ It shows by its various narratives, some of which are full of interest, how by a strict observance of the principles and lessons of the T4o a man may preserve his life and be happy, may do the right thing and enjoy himself and obtain the approbation of others in the various circumstances in which he may be placed. The themes both of Books I and IV blend together in it. Paragraph 8 has more the character of an apologue than most of Kwang-3ze’s stories.

Book XXI. THIEN 3ZE-FANG.

Thien 3ze-fang is merely the name of one of the men who appear in the first paragraph. That he was a historical character is learned from the ‘ Plans of the Warring States,’ XIV, art. 6, where we find him at the court of the marquis Wan of Wei (B.C. 424-387), acting as counsellor to that ruler. Thien was his surname; 3ze-fang his designap. 152tion, and Wi-#4i his name. He has nothing to do with any of the paragraphs but the first.

It is not easy to reduce all the narratives or stories in the Book to one category. The fifth, seventh, and eighth, indeed, are generally rejected as spurious, or unworthy of our author ; and the sixth and ninth are trivial, though the ninth bears all the marks of his graphic style. Paragraphs 3 and 4 are both long and important. A common idea in them and in 1, 2, and 10 seems to be that the presence and power of the T4o cannot be communicated by words, and are independent of outward condition and circumstances,

Book XXII. AIH PEt Yo.

With this Book the Second Part of Kwang-3ze’s Essays or Treatises ends. ‘ All the Books in it, says LQ Shd-4ih, ‘show the opposition of Taoism to the pursuit of knowledge as enjoined in the Confucian and other schools; and this Book may be regarded as the deepest, most vehement, and clearest of them all.’ The concluding sentences of the last paragraph and Ldo-jze’s advice to Confucius in par. 5, to ‘sternly repress his knowledge,’ may be referred to as illustrating the correctness of Li’s remark.

5, to ‘sternly repress his knowledge,’ may be referred to as illustrating the correctness of Li’s remark.

Book seventeenth is commonly considered to be the most eloquent of Awang-jze’s Treatises, but this twenty-second Book is not inferior to it in eloquence, and it is more characteristic of his method of argument. The way in which he runs riot in the names with which he personifies the attributes of the Tao, is a remarkable instance of the subtle manner in which he often brings out his ideas; and in no other Book does he set forth more emphatically what his own idea of the Tao was, though the student often fails to be certain that he has exactly caught the meaning.

The title, let it be observed, belongs only to the first paragraph. The Xih in it must be taken in the sense of ‘knowledge, and not of ‘wisdom,’

p. 153

Book XXIII. KAnc-sanc Kat.

It is not at all certain that there ever was such a personage as Kang-sang KA, who gives its name to the Book. In his brief memoir of Kwang-3ze, Sze-ma Kien spells, as we should say, the first character of the surname differently, and for the King (J), employs Khang (Jt), adding his own opinion, that there was nothing in reality corresponding to the account given of the characters in this and some other Books. They would be therefore the inventions of Kwang-jze, devised by him to serve his purpose in setting forth the teaching of Lao-jze. It may have been so, but the value of the Book would hardly be thereby affected.

La Shi-Aih gives the following very brief account of the contents. Borrowing the language of Mencius concerning Yen Hui and two other disciples of Confucius as compared with the sage, he says, ‘ Kang-sang K/d had all the members of Lao-3ze, but in small proportions. To outward appearance he was above such as abjure sagehood and put knowledge away, but still he was unable to transform Nanyung Kd, whom therefore he sent to Lao-jze; and he announced to him the doctrine of the Tao that everything was done by doing nothing,’

The reader will see that this is a very incomplete summary of the contents of the Book. We find in it the Taoistic ideal of the ‘Perfect Man, and the discipline both of body and mind through the depths of the system by means of which it is possible for a disciple to become such.

Book XXIV. Hsitti W6-KwEI.

This Book is named from the first three characters in it, the surname and name of Hsii Wa-kwei, who plays the most important part in the first two paragraphs, and does not further appear. He comes before us as a well-known recluse of Wei, who visits the court to offer his counsels to the marquis of the state. But whether there ever was such ee Cee - em + tree eep. 154 a man, or whether he was only a creation of Kwang-3ze, we cannot, so far as I know, tell.

But whether there ever was such

ee Cee - em + tree eep. 154 a man, or whether he was only a creation of Kwang-3ze, we cannot, so far as I know, tell.

Scattered throughout the Book are the lessons so common with our author against sagehood and knowledge, and on the quality of doing nothing and thereby securing the doing of everything. The concluding chapter is one of the finest descriptions in the whole Work of the Tao and of the Taoistic idea of Heaven. ‘There are in the Book, says Ld Fang, ‘many dark and mysterious expressions. It is not to be read hastily ; but the more it is studied, the more flavour will there be found in it.’

Book XXV. 3EH-YANG.

This Book is named from the first two characters in it,— ‘3eh-yang,’ which again are the designation of a gentleman of La, called Phang Yang, who comes before us in KAA, seeking for an introduction to the king of that state, with the view, we may suppose, of giving him good counsel. Whether he ever got the introduction which he desired we do not know. The mention of him only serves to bring in three other individuals, all belonging to KZ, and the characters of two of them; but we hear no more of 3eh-yang. The second and third paragraphs are, probably, sequels to the first, but his name does not appear.

The paragraphs from 4 to 9 have more or less interest in themselves ; but it is not easy to trace in them any sequence of thought. The tenth and eleventh are more important. The former deals with ‘the Talk of the Hamlets and Villages, the common sentiments of men, which, correct and just in themselves, are not to be accepted as a sufficient expression of the Tao; the latter sets forth how the name T4o itself is only a metaphorical term, used for the purpose of description ; as if the Tao were a thing, and not capable, therefore, from its material derivation of giving adequate expression to our highest notion of what it is.

‘The Book,’ says LQ Sha-Aih, ‘illustrates how the Great To cannot be described by any name; that men ought to

- < eee + eee -eeceeps == = =p. 155 stop where they do not really know, and not try to find it in any phenomenon, or in any event or thing. They must forget both speech and silence, and then they may approximate to the idea of the Great Tao.’

Book XXVI. WAr WO.

p. 155

stop where they do not really know, and not try to find it in any phenomenon, or in any event or thing. They must forget both speech and silence, and then they may approximate to the idea of the Great Tao.’

Book XXVI. WAr WO.

The first two characters of the first paragraph are again adopted as the title of the Book,—WaAai W4, ‘ External Things ;’ and the lesson supposed to be taught in it is that expressed in the first sentence, that the influence of external things on character and condition cannot be determined beforehand. It may be good, it may be evil. Mr. Balfour has translated the two characters by ‘External Advantages.’ Ha WAn-ying interprets them of ‘External Disadvantages.’ The things may in fact be either of these. What seems useless may be productive of the greatest services; and what men deem most advantageous may turn out to be most hurtful to them.

What really belongs to man is the Tao. That is his own, sufficient for his happiness, and cannot be taken from him, if he prize it and cultivate it. But if he neglect it, and yield to external influences unfavourable to it, he may become bad, and suffer all that is most hateful to him and injurious.

Readers must judge for themselves of the way in which the subject is illustrated in the various paragraphs. Some of the stories are pertinent enough; others are wide of the mark. The second, third, and fourth paragraphs are generally held to be spurious, ‘ poor in composition, and not at all to the point.’ If my note on the ‘ six faculties of perception’ in par. 9 be correct, we must admit in it a Buddhistic hand, modifying the conceptions of Awang-jze after he had passed away.

Book XXVII. YU YEN.

Yii Yen, ‘ Metaphorical Words,’ stand at the commencement of the Book, and have been adopted as its name.

p. 156

They might be employed to denote its first paragraph, but are not applicable to the Book as a whole. Nor let the reader expect to find even here any disquisition on the nature of the metaphor as a figure of speech. Translated literally, “Yii Yen’ are ‘Lodged Words,’ that is, Ideas that receive their meaning or character from their environment, the narrative or description in which they are deposited.

Kwang-3ze wished, I suppose, to give some description of the style in which he himself wrote :—now metaphorical, now abounding in quotations, and throughout moulded by his Taoistic views. This last seems to be the meaning of his Kih Yen,—literally, ‘Cup, or Goblet, Words,’ that is, words, common as the water constantly supplied in the cup, but all moulded by the TAoist principle, the element of and from Heaven blended in man’s constitution and that should direct and guide his conduct. The best help in the interpretation of the paragraph is derived from a study of the difficult second Book, as suggested in the notes.

The best help in the interpretation of the paragraph is derived from a study of the difficult second Book, as suggested in the notes.

Of the five paragraphs that follow the first, the second relates to the change of views, which, it is said, took place in Confucius ; the third, to the change of feeling in 3ang-jze in his poverty and prosperity; the fourth, to changes of character produced in his disciple by the teachings of Tungkwo 3ze-A/i; the fifth, to the changes in the appearance of the shadow produced by the ever-changing substance ; and the sixth, to the change of spirit and manner produced in Yang K4 by the stern lesson of Lao-3ze.

Various other lessons, more or less appropriate and important, are interspersed.

Some critics argue that this Book must have originally been one with the thirty-second, which was made into two by the insertion between its Parts of the four spurious intervening Books, but this is uncertain and unlikely.

Book XXVIII. ZANG WANG.

Zang Wang, explaining the characters as I have done,p. 157 fairly indicates the subject-matter of the Book. Not that we have a king in every illustration, but the personages adduced are always men of worth, who decline the throne, or gift, or distinction of whatever nature, proffered to them, and feel that they have something better to live for.

A persuasion, however, is widely spread, that this Book and the three that follow are all spurious. The first critic of note to challenge their genuineness was SQ Shih (better known as Si Tung-pho, A.D. 1036-1101); and now, some of the best editors, such as Lin Hst-fung, do not admit them into their texts, while others who are not bold enough to exclude them altogether, do not think it worth their while to discuss them seriously. Hi Wan-ying, for instance, says, ‘ Their style is poor and mean, and they are, without doubt, forgeries. I will not therefore trouble myself with comments of praise or blame upon them. The reader may accept or reject them at his pleasure.’

But something may be said for them. Sze-ma Kien seems to have been acquainted with them all. In his short biographical notice of Kwang-ze, he says, ‘He made the Old Fisherman, the Robber Xih, and the Cutting Open Satchels, to defame and calumniate the disciples of Confucius. Asien does not indeed mention our present Book along with XXX and XXXI, but it is less open to objection on the ground he mentions than they are. I think if it had stood alone, it would not have been condemned.

Book XXIX. TAo AIH.

Asien does not indeed mention our present Book along with XXX and XXXI, but it is less open to objection on the ground he mentions than they are. I think if it had stood alone, it would not have been condemned.

Book XXIX. TAo AIH.

It has been seen above that Sze-m4 X4ien expressly ascribes the Book called ‘the Robber Kih’ to Kwangyze. Khien refers also in another place to Kih, adducing the facts of his history in contrast with those about Confucius’ favourite disciple Yen Hui as inexplicable on the supposition of a just and wise Providence. We must conclude therefore that the Book existed in K4ien’s time, and that he had read it. On the other hand it has been shown that Confucius could not have been on termsp. 158 of friendship with Lid-hsia Xi, and all that is related of his brother the robber wants substantiation. That such a man ever existed appears to me very doubtful. Are we to put down the whole of the first paragraph then as a jeu desprit on the part of Awang-3ze, intended to throw ridicule on Confucius and what our author considered his pedantic ways? It certainly does so, and we are amused to hear the sage outcrowed by the robber.

In the other two paragraphs we have good instances of Kwang-jze’s ‘metaphorical expressions, his coinage of names for his personages, more or less ingeniously indicating their characters; but in such cases the element of time or chronology does not enter ; and it is the anachronism of the first paragraph which constitutes its chief difficulty.

The name of ‘ Robber Xih’ may be said to bea coinage ; and that a famous robber was popularly indicated by the name appears from its use by Mencius (III, ii, ch. 10, 3), to explain which the commentators have invented the story of a robber so-called in the time of Hwang-Ti, in the twentyseventh century B.C.! Was there really such a legend? and did A wang-3ze take advantage of it to apply the name to a notorious and disreputable brother of Lid-hsia Ki? Still there remain the anachronisms in the paragraph which have been pointed out. On the whole we must come to a conclusion rather unfavourable to the genuineness of the Book. But it must have been forged at a very early time, and we have no idea by whom.

Book XXX. YUEH KIEN.

We need not suppose that anything ever occurred in Kwang-3ze’s experience such as is described here. The whole narrative is metaphorical; and that he himself is made to play the part in it which he describes, only shows how the style of writing in which he indulged was ingrained into the texture of his mind. We do not know that there ever was a ruler of K4o who indulged in the love of the

p. 159

We do not know that there ever was a ruler of K4o who indulged in the love of thep. 159 sword-fight, and kept about him a crowd of vulgar bravoes such as the story describes, We may be assured that our author never wore the bravo’s dress or girt on him the bravo’s sword. The whole is a metaphorical representation of the way in which a besotted ruler might be brought to a feeling of his degradation, and recalled to a sense of his duty and the way in which he might fulfil it. The narrative is full of interest and force. I do not feel any great difficulty in accepting it as the genuine composition of AK wang-jze. Who but himself could have composed it? Was it a goodhumoured caricature of him by an able Confucian writer to repay him for the ridicule he was fond of casting on the sage?

Book XXXI. Yu-rt.

‘The Old Fisherman’ is the fourth of the Books in the collection of the writings of A wang-3ze to which, since the time of Sd Shih, the epithet of ‘spurious’ has been attached by many. My own opinion, however, has been already intimated that the suspicions of the genuineness of those Books have been entertained on insufficient grounds; and so far as ‘the Old Fisherman’ is concerned, I am glad that it has come down to us, spurious or genuine. There may be a certain coarseness in ‘the Robber Xih,’ which makes us despise Confucius or laugh at him; but the satire in this Book is delicate, and we do not like the sage the less when he walks up the bank from the stream where he has been lectured by the fisherman. The pictures of him and his disciples in the forest, reading and singing on the Apricot Terrace, and of the old man slowly impelling his skiff to the land and then as quietly impelling it away till it is lost among the reeds, are delicious; there is nothing finer of its kind in the volume. What hand but that of Kwang-jze, so light in its touch and yet so strong, both incisive and decisive, could have delineated them ?

p. 160

Book XXXII. Liew Yt-KHAUv.

Lieh Yii-khau, the surname and name of Lieh-jze, with which the first paragraph commences, have become current as the name of the Book, though they have nothing to do with any but that one paragraph, which is found also in the second Book of the writings ascribed to Lieh-jze. There are some variations in the two Texts, but they are so slight that we cannot look on them as proofs that the two passages are narratives of independent origin.

There are some variations in the two Texts, but they are so slight that we cannot look on them as proofs that the two passages are narratives of independent origin.

Various difficulties surround the questions of the existence of Lieh-jze, and of the work which bears his name. They will be found distinctly and dispassionately stated and discussed in the 146th chapter of the Catalogue of the Khien-lung Imperial Library. The writers seem to me to make it out that there was such a man, but they do not make it clear when he lived, or how his writings assumed their present form. There is a statement of Lid Hsiang that he lived in the time of duke Ma of Kang (B.C. 627- 606); but in that case he must have been earlier than LAo-3ze himself, whom he very frequently quotes. The writers think that Lid’s ‘Ma of Kang’ should be Ma of La (B.C. 4¢9-377), which would make him not much anterior to Mencius and Awang-jze; but this is merely an ingenious conjecture. As to the composition of his chapters, they are evidently not at first hand from Lieh, but by some one of his disciples; whether they were current in Kwang-jze’s days, and he made use of various passages from them, or those passages were Kwang-jze’s originally, and taken from him by the followers of Lieh-3ze and added to what fragments they had of their master’s teaching ;—these are points which must be left undetermined.

Whether the narrative about Lieh be from Awang-jze or not, its bearing on his character is not readily apprehended ; but, as we study it, we seem to understand. that his master Wi-zin condemned him as not having fully attained to the T4o, but owing his influence with others

BK. XXXII. BRIEF NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BOOKS. I61

mainly to the manifestation of his merely human qualities. And this is the lesson which our author keeps before him, more or less distinctly, in all his paragraphs. As Li Shi-4ih says :—

XXXII. BRIEF NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BOOKS. I61 mainly to the manifestation of his merely human qualities. And this is the lesson which our author keeps before him, more or less distinctly, in all his paragraphs. As Li Shi-4ih says :—

‘This Book also sets forth Doing Nothing as the essential condition of the Tao. Lieh-jze, frightened at the respect shown to him by the soup-vendors, and yet by his human doings drawing men to him, disowns the rule of the heavenly ; Hwan of Aang, thinking himself different from other men, does not know that Heaven recompenses men according to their employment of the heavenly in them ; the resting of the sages in their proper rest shows how the ancients pursued the heavenly and not the human; the one who learned to slay the Dragon, but afterwards did not exercise his skill, begins with the human, but afterwards goes on to the heavenly; in those who do not rest in the heavenly, and perish by the inward war, we sce how the small men do not know the secret of the Great Repose; 3hdo Shang, glorying in the carriages which he had acquired, is still farther removed from the heavenly; when Yen Ho shows that the sage, in imparting his instructions, did not follow the example of Heaven in diffusing its benefits, we learn that it is only the Doing Nothing of the, True Man which is in agreement with Heaven; the difficulty of knowing the mind of man, and the various methods required to test it, show the readiness with which, when not under the rule of Heaven, it seems to go after what is right, and the greater readiness with which it again revolts from it; in Khao-fa, the Correct, we have one indifferent to the distinctions of rank, and from him we advance to the man who understands the great condition appointed for him, and is a follower of Heaven; then comes he who plays the thief under the chin of the Black Dragon, running the greatest risks on a mere peradventure of success, a resolute opponent of Heaven; and finally we have Kwang-jze despising the ornaments of the sacrificial ox, looking in the same way at the worms beneath and the kites overhead, and regarding himself as quite independent

[39] Mp. 162 of them, thus giving us an example of the embodiment of the spiritual, and of harmony with Heaven.’

So does this ingenious commentator endeavour to exhibit the one idea in the Book, and show the unity of its different paragraphs.

Book XXXIII. TuHren HsiA.

BK, XXXII.

of them, thus giving us an example of the embodiment of the spiritual, and of harmony with Heaven.’

So does this ingenious commentator endeavour to exhibit the one idea in the Book, and show the unity of its different paragraphs.

Book XXXIII. TuHren HsiA.

The Thien Hsia with which this Book commences is in regimen, and cannot be translated, so as to give an adequate idea of the scope of the Book, or even of the first paragraph to which it belongs. The phrase itself means literally ‘under heaven or the sky,’ and is used as a denomination of ‘the kingdom, and, even more widely, of ‘the world’ or ‘all men.’ ‘Historical Phases of Taoist Teaching’ would be nearly descriptive of the subject-matter of the Book; but may be objected to on two grounds :—first, that a chronological method is not observed, and next, that the concluding paragraph can hardly be said to relate to Taoism at all, but to the sophistical teachers, which abounded in the age of Kwang-jze.

Par. 1 sketches with a light hand the nature of Taoism and the forms which it assumed from the earliest times to the era of Confucius, as imperfectly represented by him and his school,

Par. 2 introduces us to the system of Mo Ti and his school as an erroneous form of Taoism, and departing, as it continued, farther and farther from the old model.

Par. 3 deals with a modification of Mohism, advocated by scholars who are hardly heard of elsewhere.

Par. 4 treats of a further modification of this modified Mohism, held by scholars ‘whose TAo was not the true Tao, and whose “ right ” was really “wrong.”’

Par. 5 goes back to the era of Ldo-3ze, and mentions him and Kwan Yin, as the men who gave to the system of Tao a grand development.

Par. 6 sets forth Awang-3ze as following in their steps and going beyond them, the brightest luminary of the system,

p. 163

Par. 7 leaves Taoism, and brings up Hui Shih and other sophists,

Whether the Book should be received as from A wang-jze himself or from some early editor of his writings is ‘a vexed question.’ If it did come from his pencil, he certainly had a good opinion of himself. It is hard for a foreign student at this distant time to be called on for an opinion on the one side or the other.

THE

WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE.

BOOK I.

Part I. Section I.

Hsido-yAo Ya, or ‘Enjoyment in Untroubled
Ease}

1. In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, the name of which is Khwan?,—I do not know how many li in size. It changes into a bird with the name of Phang, the back of which is (also)—I do not know how many li in extent. When this bird rouses itself and flies, its wings are like clouds all round the sky. When the sea is moved (so as to bear it along), it prepares to remove to the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the Pool of Heaven.

1 See notice on pp. 127, 128, on the Title and Subject-matter of the Book.

When this bird rouses itself
and flies, its wings are like clouds all round the sky.
When the sea is moved (so as to bear it along), it
prepares to remove to the Southern Ocean. The
Southern Ocean is the Pool of Heaven.

1 See notice on pp. 127, 128, on the Title and Subject-matter of the Book.

2 The khw4n and the phang are both fabulous creatures, far transcending in size the dimensions ascribed by the wildest fancy of the West to the kraken and the roc. Awang-3ze represents them as so huge by way of contrast to the small creatures which he is intending to introduce ;—to show that size has nothing to do with the Tao, and the perfect enjoyment which the possession of it affords. The passage is a good specimen of the Yii Yen (7B =), metaphorical or parabolical narratives or stories, which are the chief characteristic of our author’s writings; but the reader must keep in mind that the idea or lesson in its ‘ lodging’ is generally of a Téoistic nature.

p. 165

There is the (book called) Ki Hsieh !,—a record of marvels. We have in it these words :—‘ When the phang is removing to the Southern Ocean it flaps (its wings) on the water for 3000 li. Then it ascends on a whirlwind 90,000 li, and it rests only at the end of six months.’ (But similar to this is the movement of the breezes which we call) the horses of the fields, of the dust (which quivers in the sunbeams), and of living things as they are blown against one another by the air% Is its azure the proper colour of the sky? Or is it occasioned by its distance and illimitable extent? If one were looking down (from above), the very same appearance would just meet his view.

2. And moreover, (to speak of) the accumulation of water ;—if it be not great, it will not have strength to support a large boat. Upset a cup of water in a cavity, and a straw will float on it as if it were a boat. Place a cup in it, and it will stick fast ;—the water is shallow and the boat is large. (So it is with) the accumulation of wind; if it be not great, it will not have strength to support great wings. Therefore (the phang ascended to) the height of 90,000 |i, and there was such a mass of wind beneath it; thenceforth the accumulation of wind was sufficient. As it seemed to bear the blue sky on its back, and there was nothing to obstruct or arrest its course, it could pursue its way to the South.

1 There may have been a book with this title, to which Kwang-3ze appeals, as if feeling that what he had said needed to be substantiated.

2 This seems to be interjected as an afterthought, suggesting to the reader that the phang, soaring along at such a height, was only an exaggerated form of the common phenomena with which he was familiar.

p. 166

2 This seems to be interjected as an afterthought, suggesting to the reader that the phang, soaring along at such a height, was only an exaggerated form of the common phenomena with which he was familiar.

p. 166

A cicada and a little dove laughed at it, saying, ‘We make an effort and fly towards an elm or sapanwood tree ; and sometimes before we reach it, we can do no more but drop to the ground. Of what use is it for this (creature) to rise 90,000 If, and make for the South?’ He who goes to the grassy suburbs’, returning to the third meal (of the day), will have ‘his belly as full as when he set out; he who goes to a distance of 100 li will have to pound his grain where he stops for the night; he who goes a thousand lf, will have to carry with him provisions for three months. What should these two small creatures know about the matter? ‘The knowledge of that which is small does not reach to that which is great ; (the experience of) a few years does not reach to that of many. How do we know that it is so? The mushroom of a morning does not know (what takes place between) the beginning and end of a month ; the short-lived cicada does not know (what takes place between) the spring and autumn. These are instances of a short term of life. In the south of Ki? there is the (tree) called Ming-ling’, whose spring is 500 years, and its autumn the same; in high antiquity there was that called T4-2/un4,

1 In Chinese, Mang 3hang; but this is not the name of any particular place. The phrase denotes the grassy suburbs (from their green colour), not far from any city or town.

* The great state of the South, having its capital Ying in the present Hf-pei, and afterwards the chief competitor with AAin for the sovereignty of the kingdom.

5 Taken by some as the name of a tortoise.

‘ This and the Ming-ling tree, as well as the mushroom mentioned above, together with the khwan and phiang, are all mentioned in the fifth Book of the writings of Lieh-3ze, referred to in the next paragraph.

p. 167

whose spring was 8000 years, and its autumn the same, And Phang 34! is the one man renowned to the present day for his length of life :—if all men were (to wish) to match him, would they not be miserable ?

p. 167

whose spring was 8000 years, and its autumn the same, And Phang 34! is the one man renowned to the present day for his length of life :—if all men were (to wish) to match him, would they not be miserable ?

3. In the questions put by Thang? to Ai we have similar statements :—‘In the bare and barren north there is the dark and vast ocean,—the Pool of Heaven. In it there is a fish, several thousand li in breadth, while no one knows its length. Its name is the khwan. There is (also) a bird named the phang; its back is like the Thai mountain, while its wings are like clouds all round the sky. Ona whirlwind it mounts upwards as on the whorls of a goat’s horn for 90,000 1i, till, far removed from the cloudy vapours, it bears on its back the blue sky, and then it shapes its course for the South, and proceeds to the ocean there.’ A quail by the side of a marsh laughed at it, and said, ‘Where is it going to? I spring up with a bound, and come down again when I have reached but a few fathoms, and then fly about among the brushwood and bushes; and

1 Or ‘the patriarch Phang.’ Confucius compared himself to | him (Analects, VII, 1) ;—‘ our old Phang;’ and Ka Hs? thinks he was a worthy officer of the Shang dynasty. Whoever he was, the legends about him are a mass of T4oistic fables. At the end of the Shang dynasty (B.c. 1123) he was more than 767 years old, and still in unabated vigour. We read of his losing 49 wives and 54 sons; and that he still left two sons, WQ and f, who died in Ff-Aien, and gave their names to the W4-!, or Bf-f hills, from which we get our Bohea tea! See Mayers’ ‘Chinese Reader’s Manual,’ p. 175.

® The founder of the Shang dynasty (B.c. 1766-1754). In Lieh-3ze his interlocutor is called Hsia Ko, and 3ze-Ai.

p. 168

_ this is the perfection of flying. Where is that creature going to?’ This shows the difference between the small and the great.

Thus it is that men, whose wisdom is sufficient for the duties of some one office, or whose conduct will secure harmony in some one district, or whose virtue is befitting a ruler so that they could efficiently govern some one state, are sure to look on themselves in this manner (like the quail), and yet Yung- 3ze' of Sung! would have smiled and laughed at them. (This Yung-3ze), though the whole world should have praised him, would not for that have stimulated himself to greater endeavour, and though the whole world should have condemned him, would not have exercised any more repression of his course; so fixed was he in the difference between the internal (judgment of himself) and the external (judgment of others), so distinctly had he marked out the bounding limit of glory and disgrace. Here, however, he stopped. His place in the world indeed had become indifferent to him, but still he had not planted himself firmly (in the right position).

Here, however, he stopped. His place in the world indeed had become indifferent to him, but still he had not planted himself firmly (in the right position).

There was Lieh-3ze 2, who rode on the wind and pursued his way, with an admirable indifference (to

* We can hardly tell who this Yung-3ze was. Sung was a duchy, comprehending portions of the present provinces of Honan, An-hui, and Kiang-sf.

® See note on the title of Book XXXII. Whether there ever was a personage called Lieh-3ze or Lieh Yii-khdu, and what is the real character of the writings that go under his name, are questions that cannot be more than thus alluded to in a note. He is often introduced by Awang-3ze, and many narratives are common to their books. Here he comes before us, not as a thinker and writer, but as a semi-supernatural being, who has only not yet attained to the highest consummations of the T4o.

p. 169

all external things), returning, however, after fifteen day§, (to his place). In regard to the things that (are supposed to) contribute to happiness, he was free from all endeavours to obtain them; but though he had not to walk, there was still something for which he had to wait. But suppose one who mounts on (the ether of) heaven and earth in its normal operation, and drives along the six elemental energies of the changing (seasons), thus enjoying himself in the illimitable-—what has he to wait for!? Therefore it is said, ‘The Perfect man has no (thought of) self; the Spirit-like man, none of merit; the Sagelyminded man, none of fame}.

4. Y4o?, proposing to resign the throne to Hsii Yd 3, said, ‘When the sun and moon have come forth, if the torches have not been put out, would it not be difficult for them to give light? When the seasonal rains are coming down, if we still keep watering the ground, will not our toil be labour lost for all the good it will do? Do you, Master, stand forth (as sovereign), and the kingdom will (at once) be well governed. If I still (continue to) preside over it, I must look on myself as vainly occupying the place ;—I beg to resign the throne to you.’ Hsii

* The description of a master of the Tdo, exalted by it, unless the predicates about him be nothing but the ravings of a wild extravagance, above mere mortal man. In the conclusion, however, he is presented under three different phrases, which the reader will do well to keep in mind.

* The great sovereign with whom the documents of the Sha King commence :—.. c. 2357-2257.

$ A counsellor of Yao, who is once mentioned by Sze-ma Kien in his-account of Po-!,—in the first Book of his Biographies (Fj 43). Hsii Y@ is here the instance of ‘the Sagely man,’

with whom the desire of a name or fame has no influence.

p. 170

c. 2357-2257.

$ A counsellor of Yao, who is once mentioned by Sze-ma Kien in his-account of Po-!,—in the first Book of his Biographies (Fj 43). Hsii Y@ is here the instance of ‘the Sagely man,’

with whom the desire of a name or fame has no influence.

p. 170

Ya said, ‘You, Sir, govern the kingdom, and the kingdom is well governed. If I in these circumstances take your place, shall I not be doing so for the sake of the name? But the name is but the guest of the reality;—shall I be playing the part of the guest? The tailor-bird makes its nest in the deep forest, but only uses a single branch; the mole? drinks from the Ho, but only takes what fills its belly. Return and rest in being ruler,—I will have nothing to do with the throne. Though the cook were not attending to his kitchen, the representative of the dead and the officer of prayer would not leave their cups and stands to take his place.’

5. Kien Wt? asked Lien Sh, saying, ‘I heard Kihieh-yii ® talking words which were great, but had nothing corresponding to them (in reality) ;—once gone, they could not be brought back. I was frightened by them ;—they were like the Milky Way‘ which cannot be traced to its beginning or end. They had no connexion with one another, and were not akin to the experiences of men.’ ‘What were his words ?’ asked Lien Sh, and the other replied, (He said) that ‘Far away on the hill of Kd-shih® there dwelt a Spirit-like man whose flesh and skin

? Some say the tapir.

? Known to us only through Awang-3ze.

8 «The madman of KAfi’ of the Analects, XVIII, 5, who eschews intercourse with Confucius. See Hwang-fi Mi’s account of him, under the surname and name of Lf Thung, in his Notices of Eminent T4oists, I, 25.

* Literally, ‘the Ho and the Han;’ but the name of those rivers combined was used to denote ‘the Milky Way.’

5 See the Khang-hsit Thesaurus under the character Hy . All which is.said about the hill is that it was ‘in the North Sea.’

PT. I.SECT.I1, THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE, I7!I

* Literally, ‘the Ho and the Han;’ but the name of those rivers combined was used to denote ‘the Milky Way.’

5 See the Khang-hsit Thesaurus under the character Hy . All which is.said about the hill is that it was ‘in the North Sea.’

PT. I.SECT.I1, THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE, I7!I

were (smooth) as ice and (white) as snow; that his manner was elegant and delicate as that of a virgin; that he did not eat any of the five grains, but inhaled the wind and drank the dew; that he mounted on the clouds, drove along the flying dragons, rambling and enjoying himself beyond the four seas; that by the concentration of his spirit-like powers he could save men from disease and pestilence, and secure every year a plentiful harvest.’ These words appeared to me wild and incoherent and I did not believe them. ‘So it is,’ said Lien Shi. ‘The blind have no perception of the beauty of elegant figures, nor the deaf of the sound of bells and drums. But is it only the bodily senses of which deafness and blindness can be predicated? There is also a similar defect in the intelligence ; and of this your words supply an illustration in yourself. That man, with those attributes, though all things were one mass of confusion, and he heard in that condition the whole world crying out to him to be rectified, would not have to address himself laboriously to the task, as if it were his business to rectify the world. Nothing could hurt that man; the greatest floods, reaching to the sky, could not drown him, nor would he feel the fervour of the greatest heats melting metals and stones till they flowed, and scorching all the ground and hills. From the dust and chaff of himself, he could still mould and fashion YAaos and Shuns!;— how should he be willing to occupy himself with things ??’

1 Shun was the successor of Y4o in the ancient kingdom.

2 All this description is to give us an idea of the ‘Spirit-like man.’ We have in it the results of the Tao in its fullest embodiment.

p. 172

6. A man of Sung, who dealt in the ceremonial caps (of Yin)!, went with them to Yiieh?, the people of which cut off their hair and tattooed their bodies, so that they had no use for them. Y4o ruled the people of the kingdom, and maintained a perfect government within the four seas. Having gone to see the four (Perfect) Ones? on the distant hill of K‘i-shih, when (he returned to his capital) on the south of the Fan water‘*, his throne appeared no more to his deep-sunk oblivious eyes *.

7. Hui-jze* told Awang-3ze, saying, ‘The king of Wei’ sent me some seeds of a large calabash, which I sowed. The fruit, when fully grown, could contain five piculs (of anything). I used it to contain water,

See the Lt Ai, IX, iii, 3.

? A state, part of the present province of Xieh-Aiang.

5 Said to have been Hsii YG mentioned above, with Nieh
Khiieh, Wang i, and Phi-t, who will by and by come before us.

“ A river in Shan-hst, on which was the capital of Yao ;—a tributary of the Ho.

? A state, part of the present province of Xieh-Aiang.

5 Said to have been Hsii YG mentioned above, with Nieh
Khiieh, Wang i, and Phi-t, who will by and by come before us.

“ A river in Shan-hst, on which was the capital of Yao ;—a tributary of the Ho.

5 This paragraph is intended to give us an idea of ‘the Perfect man,’ who has no thought of himself. The description, however, is brief and tame, compared with the accounts of Hsii Y@ and of ‘the Spirit-like man.’

® Or Hui Shih, the chief minister of ‘king Hui of Liang (or Wei), (B.c. 370-333), with an interview between whom and Mencius the works of that philosopher commence. He was a friend of Kwang-jze, and an eccentric thinker; and in Book XXXIII there is a long account of several of his views. I do not think that the conversations about ‘the great calabash’ and ‘the great tree’ really took place; Awang-3ze probably invented them, to illustrate his point that size had nothing to do with the Tao, and that things which seemed useless were not really so when rightly used.

7 Called also Liang from the name of its capital. Wei was one of the three states (subsequently kingdoms), into which the great fief of 3in was divided about B.c. 400.

p. 173

but it was so heavy that I could not lift it by myself. I cut it in two to make the parts into drinking vessels; but the dried shells were too wide and unstable and would not hold (the liquor); nothing but large useless things! Because of their uselessness I knocked them to pieces.’ A wang-3ze replied, ‘You were indeed stupid, my master, in the use of what was large. There was a man of Sung who was skilful at making a salve which kept the hands from getting chapped; and (his family) for generations had made the bleaching of cocoon-silk their business. A stranger heard of it, and proposed to buy the art of the preparation for a hundred ounces of silver. The kindred all came together, and considered the proposal. “We have,” said they, “ been bleaching cocoon-silk for generations, and have only gained a little money. Now in one morning we can sell to this man our art for a hundred ounces ;—let him have it.” The stranger accordingly got it and went away with it to give counsel to the king of Wa!, who was then engaged in hostilities with Yiieh. The king gave him the command of his fleet, and in the winter he had an engagement with that of Yiieh, on which he inflicted a great defeat ?, and was invested with a portion of territory taken from Yiieh. The keeping the hands from getting chapped was the same in both cases; but in the one case it led to the investiture (of the possessor of the salve), and

1 A great and ancient state on the sea-board, north of Yiieh.
The name remains in the district of W-Aiang in the prefecture of
Sa-24u.

? The salve gave the troops of Wii a great advantage in a war on the Aiang, especially in winter.

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