The Tâo Teh King — Sacred Books of China Part I, SBE Vol. 39 (trans. James Legge, 1891)
English·1879–1910·trans. James Legge·241 passages
The text · part 5 of 11
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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in the other it had only enabled its owners to continue their bleaching. The difference of result was owing to the different use made of the art. Now you, Sir, had calabashes large enough to hold five piculs;—why did you not think of making large bottle-gourds of them, by means of which you could have floated over rivers and lakes, instead of giving yourself the sorrow of finding that they were useless for holding anything. Your mind, my master, would seem to. have been closed against all intelligence !’ Hui-jze said to Awang-ze, ‘I have a large tree, which men call the Ailantus!. Its trunk swells out to a large size, but is not fit for a carpenter to apply his line to it; its smaller branches are knotted and crooked, so that the disk and square cannot be used on them. Though planted on the wayside, a builder would not turn his head to look at it. Now your words, Sir, are great, but of no use;—all unite in putting them away from them.’ Awang-jze replied, ‘Have you never seen a wild cat ora weasel? There it lies, crouching and low, till the wanderer approaches; east and west it leaps about, avoiding neither what is high nor what is low, till it is caught in a trap, or dies ina net. Again there is the Yak’, so large that it is like a cloud hanging in the sky. It is large indeed, but it cannot catch mice. You, Sir, have a large tree and are troubled because it is of no use ;—why do you not plant it in a tract where there is nothing else, or in a wide and barren wild?
1 The Ailantus glandulosa, common in the north of China, called ‘the fetid tree,’ from the odour of its leaves.
2? The bos grunniens of Thibet, the long tail of which is in great demand for making standards and chowries.
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There you might saunter idly by its side, or in the enjoyment of untroubled ease sleep beneath it. Neither bill nor axe would shorten its existence; there would be nothing to injure it. What is there in its uselessness to cause you distress ?’
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BOOK II.
Part I. Section II.
Khi Wt Lun, or ‘The Adjustment of
Controversies 1.’
1. Nan-kwo 3ze-£4i? was seated, leaning forward on his stool. He was looking up to heaven and breathed gently, seeming to be in a trance, and to have lost all consciousness of any companion. (His disciple), Yen Aang 3ze-yi?, who was in attendance and standing before him, said, ‘ What is this ? Can the body be made to become thus like a withered tree, and the mind to become like slaked lime? His appearance as he leans forward on the stool to-day is such as I never saw him have before in the same position.’ 3ze-4i said, ‘Yen, you do well to ask such a question, I had just now lost myself*; but how should you understand it? You
1 See pp. 128-130.
His appearance as he leans forward on the stool to-day is such as I never saw him have before in the same position.’ 3ze-4i said, ‘Yen, you do well to ask such a question, I had just now lost myself*; but how should you understand it? You
1 See pp. 128-130.
? Nan-kwo, ‘the southern suburb,’ had probably been the quarter where 3ze-k/i had resided, and is used as his surname. He is introduced several times by Awang-3ze in his writings :— Books IV, 7; XXVII, 4, and perhaps elsewhere.
5 We have the surname of this disciple, Yen (BA); his name, Yen ({BB) ; his honorary or posthumous epithet (Kang); and his ordinary appellation, 83ze-y. The use of the epithet shows that he and his master had lived before our author.
* «He had lost himself ;’ that is, he had become unconscious of all around him, and even of himself, as if he were about to enter
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may have heard the notes! of Man, but have not heard those of Earth; you may have heard the notes of Earth, but have not heard those of Heaven.’ 3ze-yti said, ‘I venture to ask from you a description of all these.’ The reply was, ‘When the breath of the Great Mass (of nature) comes strongly, it is called Wind. Sometimes it does not come so; but when it does, then from a myriad apertures there issues its excited noise ;—have you not heard it in a prolonged gale? Take the projecting bluff of a mountain forest ;—in the great trees, a hundred spans round, the apertures and cavities are like the nostrils, or the mouth, or the ears; now square, now round like a cup or a mortar; here like a wet footprint, and there like a large puddle. (The sounds issuing from them are like) those of fretted water, of the arrowy whizz, of the stern command, of the inhaling of the breath, of the shout, of the gruff note, of the deep wail, of the sad and piping note. The first notes are slight, and those that follow deeper, but in harmony with them. Gentle winds produce a small response ; violent winds a great one. When the fierce gusts have passed away, all the apertures into the state of ‘an Immortal,’ a mild form of the Buddhistic samadhi. But his attitude and appearance were intended by Kwang-jze to indicate what should be the mental condition in reference to the inquiry pursued in the Book ;—a condition, it appears to me, of agnosticism. See the account of Lao-jze in a similar trance in Book XXI, par. 4.
1 The Chinese term here (14i) denotes a reed or pipe, with three holes, by a combination of which there was formed the rudimentary or reed organ. Our author uses it for the sounds or notes heard in nature, various as the various opinions of men in their discussions about things.
[39] Np. 178 are empty (and still) ;—have you not seen this in the bending and quivering of the branches and leaves ?’
Our author uses it for the sounds or notes heard in nature, various as the various opinions of men in their discussions about things.
[39] Np. 178 are empty (and still) ;—have you not seen this in the bending and quivering of the branches and leaves ?’
3ze-yti said, ‘ The notes of Earth then are simply those which come from its myriad apertures ; and the notes of Man may just be compared to those which (are brought from the tubes of) bamboo ;— allow me to ask about the notes of Heaven!.’ 3zekhi replied, ‘When (the wind) blows, (the sounds from) the myriad apertures are different, and (its cessation) makes them stop of themselves. Both of these things arise from (the wind and the apertures) themselves :—should there be any other agency that excites them ?’
2. Great knowledge is wide and comprehensive ; small knowledge is partial and restricted. Great speech is exact and complete; small speech is (merely) so much talk% When we sleep, the soul communicates with (what is external to us); when we awake, the body is set free. Our intercourse with others then leads to various activity, and daily there is the striving of mind with mind. There are hesitancies; deep difficulties; reservations; small apprehensions causing restless distress, and great i The sounds of Earth have been described fully and graphically. Of the sounds of Man very little is said, but they form the subject of the next paragraph. Nothing is said in answer to the disciple’s inquiry about the notes of Heaven, It is intimated, however, that there is no necessity to introduce any foreign Influence or Power like Heaven in connexion with the notes of Earth. The term Heaven, indeed, is about to pass with our author into a mere synonym of T 4o, the natural ‘course’ of the phenomena of men and things.
2 Words are the ‘sounds’ of Man; and knowledge is the ‘ wind’ by which they are excited.
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apprehensions producing endless fears. Where their utterances are like arrows from a bow, we have those who feel it their charge to pronounce what is right and what is wrong ; where they are given out like the conditions of a covenant, we have those who maintain their views, determined to overcome. (The weakness of their arguments), like the decay (of things) in autumn and winter, shows the failing (of the minds of some) from day to day; or it is like their water which, once voided, cannot be gathered upagain. Then their ideas seem as if fast bound with cords, showing that the mind is become like an old and dry moat, and that it is nigh to death, and cannot be restored to vigour and brightness.
Then their ideas seem as if fast bound with cords, showing that the mind is become like an old and dry moat, and that it is nigh to death, and cannot be restored to vigour and brightness.
Joy and anger, sadness and pleasure, anticipation and regret, fickleness and fixedness, vehemence and indolence, eagerness and tardiness ;—(all these moods), like music from an empty tube, or mushrooms from the warm moisture, day and night succeed to one another and come before us, and we do not know whence theysprout. Letus stop! Let us stop! Can we expect to find out suddenly how they are produced ?
If there were not (the views of) another, I should not have mine; if there were not I (with my views), his would be uncalled for :—this is nearly a true statement of the case, but we do not know what it is that makes it be so. It might seem as if there would be a true Governor! concerned in it, but we do not find
any trace (of his presence and acting). That such an One could act so I believe; but we do not see His form. He has affections, but He has no form. Given the body, with its hundred parts, its nine openings, and its six viscera, all complete in their places, which do I love the most? Do you love them all equally ? or do you love some more than others ? Is it not the case that they all perform the part of your servants and waiting women? All of them being such, are they not incompetent to rule one another ? or do they take it in turns to be now ruler and now servants? There must be a true Ruler (among them)! whether by searching you can find out His character or not, there is neither advantage nor hurt, so far as the truth of His operation is concerned. When once we have received the bodily form complete, its parts do not fail to perform their functions till the end comes. In conflict with things or in harmony with them, they pursue their course to the end, with the speed of a galloping horse which cannot be stopped ;—is it not sad? To be constantly toiling all one’s lifetime, without seeing the fruit of one’s labour, and to be weary and worn out with his labour, without knowing where he is going to:—is it not a deplorable case? Men may say, ‘ But it is not death;’ yet of what advantage is this? When the body is decomposed, the mind will be the same along with it :—must not the case be pronounced very deplorable?? Is the life
1 The name ‘Ruler’ is different from ‘Governor’ above; but they both indicate the same concept in the author’s mind.
2 The proper reply to this would be that the mind is not dissolved with the body; and Awang-3ze’s real opinion, as we shall find, was that life and death were but phases in the phenomenal
2 The proper reply to this would be that the mind is not dissolved with the body; and Awang-3ze’s real opinion, as we shall find, was that life and death were but phases in the phenomenalp. 181 of man indeed enveloped in such darkness? Is it I alone to whom it appears so? And does it not appear to be so to other men ?
3. If we were to follow the judgments of the predetermined mind, who would be left alone and without ateacher!? Not only would it be so with those who know the sequences (of knowledge and feeling) and make their own selection among them, but it would be so as well with the stupid and unthinking. For one who has not this determined mind, to have his affirmations and negations is like the case described in the saying, ‘ He went to Yiieh to-day, and arrived at it yesterday*’ It would be making what was not a fact to be a fact. But even the spirit-like Yi * could not have known how to do this, and how should one like me be able to do it ?
But speech is not like the blowing (of the wind) ; the speaker has (a meaning in) his words. If, however, what he says, be indeterminate (as from a mind not made up), does he then really speak or not? He thinks that his words are different from the chirpings of fledgelings; but is there any distinction between them or not? But howcan the Tao be so obscured, that there should be ‘a True’ and ‘a False’ in it? How can speech be so obscured that there should be ‘the Right’ and ‘the Wrong’ about them? Where shall the T4o go to that it will not development. But the course of his argument suggests to us the question here, ‘ Is life worth living ?’
? This ‘teacher’ is ‘the TAo.’
2 Expressing the absurdity of the case. This is one of the sayings of Hui-3ze ;—see Book XXXIII, par. 7.
8 The successor and counsellor of Shun, who coped with and remedied the flood of Yao.
182 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. Il.
be found? Where shall speech be found that it will be inappropriate? Tao becomes obscured through the small comprehension (of the mind), and speech comes to be obscure through the vain-gloriousness (of the speaker). So it is that we have the contentions between the Literati! and the Mohists 2, the one side affirming what the other denies, and vice versa. If we would decide on their several affirmations and denials, no plan is like bringing the (proper) light (of the mind) * to bear on them.
So it is that we have the contentions between the Literati! and the Mohists 2, the one side affirming what the other denies, and vice versa. If we would decide on their several affirmations and denials, no plan is like bringing the (proper) light (of the mind) * to bear on them.
All subjects may be looked at from (two points of view),—from that and from this. If I look at a thing from another's point of view, I do not see it; only as I know it myself, do I knowit. Hence it is said, ‘ That view comes from this; and this view is a consequence of that: ’—which is the theory that that view and this—(the opposite views)—produce each the other +. Although it be so, there is affirmed now life and now death; now death and now life; now the admissibility of a thing and now its inadmissibility ; now its inadmissibility and now its admissibility. (The disputants) now affirm and now deny; now deny and now affirm. Therefore the sagely man does not pursue this method, but views things in the light of (his) Heaven (-ly nature), and hence forms his judgment of what is right.
1 The followers of Confucius.
* The disciples of Mih-3ze, or Mih Ti, the heresiarch, whom Mencius attacked so fiercely ;—see Mencius, V, 1, 5,et al. Hisera must be assigned between Confucius and Mencius,
$ That is, the perfect mind, the principle of the Tao.
* As taught by Hui-jze ;—see XXXIII, 7; but it is doubtful if the quotation from Hui’s teaching be complete.
5 Equivalent to the Tao. See on the use in Lao-3ze and Kwang-3ze of the term ‘ Heaven,’ in the Introduction, pp. 16-18.
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This view is the same as that, and that view is the same as this. But that view involves both a right and a wrong; and this view involves also a right and a wrong :—are there indeed, or are there not the two views, that and this? They have not found their point of correspondency which is called the pivot of the T4o. As soon as one finds this pivot, he stands in the centre of the ring (of thought), where he can respond without end to the changing views ;—without end to those affirming, and without end to those denying. Therefore I said, ‘ There is nothing like the proper light (of the mind).’
4. By means of a finger (of my own) to illustrate that the finger (of another) is not a finger is not so good a plan as to illustrate that it is not so by means of what is (acknowledged to be) not a finger; and by means of (what I call) a horse to illustrate that (what another calls) a horse is not so, is not so good a plan as to illustrate that it is not a horse, by means of what is (acknowledged to be) not a horse}. (All things in) heaven and earth may be (dealt with as) a finger; (each of) their myriads may be (dealt with as) a horse. Doesa thing seem so to me ? (I say that) it is so. Does it seem not soto me? (I say that) it is not so. A path is formed by (constant)
(All things in) heaven and earth may be (dealt with as) a finger; (each of) their myriads may be (dealt with as) a horse. Doesa thing seem so to me ? (I say that) it is so. Does it seem not soto me? (I say that) it is not so. A path is formed by (constant)
1 The language of our author here is understood to have reference to the views of Kung-sun Lung, a contemporary of Hui-3ze, and a sophist like him. One of his treatises or arguments had the title of ‘The White Horse,’ and another that of ‘Pointing to Things.’ If these had been preserved, we might have seen more clearly the appropriateness of the text here. But the illustration of the monkeys and their actions shows us the scope of the whole paragraph to be that controversialists, whose views are substantially the same, may yet differ, and that with heat, in words.
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treading on the ground. A thing is called by its name through the (constant) application of the name to it. How is it so? It is so because it is so. How is it not so? It is not so, because it is not so. Everything has its inherent character and its proper capability. There is nothing which has not these. Therefore, this being so, if we take a stalk of grain? and a (large) pillar, a loathsome (leper) and (a beauty like) Hsi Shih ?, things large and things insecure, things crafty and things strange ;—they may in the light of the T4o all be reduced to the same category (of opinion about them).
It was separation that led to completion; from completion ensued dissolution. But all things, without regard to their completion and dissolution, may again be comprehended in their unity ;—it is only the far reaching in thought who know how to comprehend them in this unity. This being so, let us give up our devotion to our own views, and occupy ourselves with the ordinary views. These ordinary views are grounded on the use of things. (The study of that) use leads to the comprehensive judgment, and that judgment secures the success (of the inquiry). That success gained, we are near (to the object of our search), and there we stop. When we stop, and yet we do not know how it is so, we have what is called the Tao.
When we toil our spirits and intelligence, obstin-
1 The character in the text means both ‘a stalk of grain’ and ‘a horizontal beam.’ Each meaning has its advocates here.
? A famous beauty, a courtezan presented by the king of Yiieh to his enemy, the king of WA, and who hastened on his progress to ruin and death, she herself perishing at the same time.
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? A famous beauty, a courtezan presented by the king of Yiieh to his enemy, the king of WA, and who hastened on his progress to ruin and death, she herself perishing at the same time.
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ately determined (to establish our own view), and do not know the agreement (which underlies it and the views of others), we have what is called ‘In the morning three.’ What is meant by that ‘In the morning three?’ A keeper of monkeys, in giving them out their acorns, (once) said, ‘In the morning I will give you three (measures) and in the evening four. This made them all angry, and he said, ‘Very well. In the morning I will give you four and in the evening three.’ His two proposals were substantially the same, but the result of the one was to make the creatures angry, and of the other to make them pleased :—an illustration of the point I am insisting on. Therefore the sagely man brings together a dispute in its affirmations and denials, and rests in the equal fashioning of Heaven’. Both sides of the question are admissible.
5. Among the men of old their knowledge reached the extreme point. What was that extreme point? Some held that at first there was not anything. This is the extreme point, the utmost point to which nothing can be added*% A second class held that there was something, but without any responsive recognition ? of it (on the part of men).
A third class held that there was such recognition, but there had not begun to be any expression of different opinions about it.
? Literally, ‘the Heaven-Mould or Moulder,’—another name for the Tao, by which all things are fashioned. ? See the same passage in Book XXIII, par. 10:
8 The ordinary reading here is fang (Ff), ‘a boundary’ or ‘distinctive limit.’ Lin Hsi-fung adopts the reading wt, ‘ a response,’ and I have followed him.
186 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BR. It.
It was through the definite expression of different opinions about it that there ensued injury to (the doctrine of) the Tao. It was this injury to the (doctrine of the) Tao which led to the formation of (partial) preferences. Was it indeed after such preferences were formed that the injury came ? or did the injury precede the rise of such preferences? If the injury arose after their formation, KAo’s method of playing on the lute was natural. If the injury arose before their formation, there would have been no such playing on the lute as K4o’s}.
or did the injury precede the rise of such preferences? If the injury arose after their formation, KAo’s method of playing on the lute was natural. If the injury arose before their formation, there would have been no such playing on the lute as K4o’s}.
Kao Wan’s playing on the lute, Shih Kwang’s indicating time with his staff, and Hui-jze’s (giving his views), while leaning against a dryandra tree (were all extraordinary). The knowledge of the three men (in their several arts) was nearly perfect, and therefore they practised them to the end of their lives. They loved them because they were different from those of others. They loved them and wished to make them known to others. But as they could not be made clear, though they tried to make them so, they ended with the obscure (discussions) about ‘the hard’ and ‘the white.’ And their sons ?, moreover, with all the threads of their fathers’ compositions, yet to the end of their lives accomplished nothing. If they, proceeding in this way, could be said to have succeeded, then am I also successful ;
1 Kao Wan and Shih Kwang were both musicians of the state of in. Shih, which appears as Kwang’s surname, was his denomination as ‘ music-master.’ It is difficult to understand the reason why Awang-3ze introduces these men and their ways, or how it helps his argument.
2 Perhaps we should read here ‘son,’ with special reference to the son of Hui-jze.
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if they cannot be pronounced successful, neither I nor any other can succeed.
Therefore the scintillations of light from the midst of confusion and perplexity are indeed valued by the sagely man; but not to use one’s own views and to take his position on the ordinary views is what is called using the (proper) light.
6. But here now are some other sayings? :—I do not know whether they are of the same character as those which I have already given, or of a different character. Whether they be of the same character or not when looked at along with them, they have a character of their own, which cannot be distinguished from the others. But though this be the case, let me try to explain myself.
There was a beginning. There was a beginning before that beginning’. There was a beginning previous to that beginning before there was the beginning.
There was existence; there had been no existence. There was no existence before the beginning of that no existence, There was no existence previous to the no existence before there was the beginning of the no existence. If suddenly there was nonexistence, we do not know whether it was really anything existing, or really not existing. Now I have said what I have said, but I do not know whether what I have said be really anything to the point or not. -
1 Referring, I think, to those below commencing ‘ There was a beginning.’
2 That is, looking at things from the standpoint of an original non-existence, and discarding all considerations of space and time.
ome He.
re
-
1 Referring, I think, to those below commencing ‘ There was a beginning.’
2 That is, looking at things from the standpoint of an original non-existence, and discarding all considerations of space and time.
ome He.
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Under heaven there is nothing greater than the tip of an autumn down, and the ThAi mountain is small. There is no one more long-lived than a child which dies prematurely, and Phang 30 did not live out his time. Heaven, Earth, and I were produced together, and all things and I are one. Since they are one, can there be speech about them? But since they are spoken of as one, must there not be room for speech? One and Speech are two; two and one are three. Going on from this (in our enumeration), the most skilful reckoner cannot reach (the end of the necessary numbers), and how much less can ordinary people do so! Therefore from non-existence we proceed to existence till we arrive at three; proceeding from existence to existence, to how many should we reach? Let us abjure such procedure, and simply rest here.
7. The T4o at first met with no responsive recognition. Speech at first had no constant forms of expression. Because of this there came the demarcations (of different views). Let me describe those demarcations :—they are the Left and the Right?; the Relations and their Obligations?; Classifications
? On this concluding clause, 2i40 Hung says :—‘ Avoiding such procedure, there will be no affirmations and denials (no contraries). The phrase Al dE CU, occurs in the Book several times, and interpreters have missed its meaning from not observing that ia a serve merely as a final particle, and often have the A added to them, without affecting its meaning. See also Wang Yin on the usages of [RJ in the A i K fH, ch. 1208, art. 6. 2 That is, direct opposites.
5 Literally, ‘ righteousnesses ;’ the proper way of dealing with the relations. * Literally, ‘separations.’
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and their Distinctions ; Emulations and Contentions. These are what are called ‘the Eight Qualities.’ Outside the limits of the world of men’, the sage occupies his thoughts, but does not discuss about anything; inside those limits he occupies his thoughts, but does not pass any judgments. In the Khun Khit?, which embraces the history of the former kings, the sage indicates his judgments, but does not argue (in vindication of them). Thus it is that he separates his characters from one another without appearing to do so, and argues without the form of argument. Howdoes hedo so? The sage cherishes his views in his own breast, while men generally state theirs argumentatively, to show them to others. Hence we have the saying, ‘ Disputation is a proof of not seeing clearly.’
Howdoes hedo so? The sage cherishes his views in his own breast, while men generally state theirs argumentatively, to show them to others. Hence we have the saying, ‘ Disputation is a proof of not seeing clearly.’
The Great Tao * does not admit of being praised. The Great Argument does not require words. Great Benevolence is not (officiously) benevolent. Great Disinterestedness does not vaunt its humility. Great Courage is not seen in stubborn bravery.
The T Ao that is displayed is not the Tao. Words that are argumentative do not reach the point. Benevolence that is constantly exercised does not accomplish its object. Disinterestedness that vaunts its purity is not genuine. Courage that is most stub-
1 Literally, ‘the six conjunctions,’ meaning the four cardinal points of space, with the zenith and nadir; sometimes a name for the universe of space. Here we must restrict the meaning as I have done.
2 «The Spring and Autumn ;’—Confucius’s Annals of LA, here complimented by Awang-3ze. See in Mencius, IV, ii, 21.
8 Compare the Tao Teh Xing, ch. 25, et al.
—
++ ee eee
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born is ineffectual. These five seem to be round (and complete), but they tend to become square (and immovable). Therefore the knowledge that stops at what it does not know is the greatest. Who knows the argument that needs no words, and the Way that is not to be trodden ??
He who is able to know this has what is called ‘The Heavenly Treasure-house*.” He may pour into it without its being filled; he may pour from it without its being exhausted; and all the while he does not know whence (the supply) comes. This is what is called ‘ The Store of Light 3’
Therefore of old Yao asked Shun, saying, ‘I wish to smite (the rulers of) 3ung, Kwei, and Hsii-do +. Even when standing in my court, I cannot get them out of my mind. How is it so?’ Shun replied, ‘Those three rulers live (in their little states) as if they were among the mugwort and other brushwood; —how is it that you cannot get them out of your mind? Formerly, ten suns came out together, and all things were illuminated by them;—how much should (your) virtue exceed (all) suns!’
8. Nieh Khiieh® asked Wang 15, saying, ‘Do you know, Sir, what all creatures agree in approving and
? Compare the use of FF in the Shi Xing, I, iii, 11.
? The classic of Lao, in chaps. 1, 2.
5 Names for the Tao.
* Three small states. Is Y4o’s wish to smite an instance of the ‘ quality’ of ‘emulation’ or jealousy?
® Both Taoistic worthies of the time of Y4o, supposed to have been two of the Perfect Ones whom Y4o visited on the distant hill of Ké-shih (I, par. 6). According to Hwang Mi, Wang i was the teacher of Nieh K/iieh, and he again of Hsii Ya.
PT. I. SECT.11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE, IQ!
® Both Taoistic worthies of the time of Y4o, supposed to have been two of the Perfect Ones whom Y4o visited on the distant hill of Ké-shih (I, par. 6). According to Hwang Mi, Wang i was the teacher of Nieh K/iieh, and he again of Hsii Ya.
PT. I. SECT.11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE, IQ!
affirming?’ ‘How should I know it ?’ was the reply. ‘Do you know what it is that you do not know?’ asked the other again, and he got the same reply. He asked a third time,—‘ Then are all creatures thus without knowledge ?’ and Wang f answered as before, (adding however), ‘ Notwithstanding, I will try and explain my meaning. How do you know that when I say “I know it,” I really (am showing that) I do not know it, and that when I say “I do not know it,” I really am showing that I do know it'’ And let me ask you some questions :—‘ If a man sleep in a damp place, he will have a pain in his loins, and half his body will be as if it were dead; but will it be so with an eel? If he be living in a tree, he will be frightened and all in a tremble; but will it be so with a monkey? And does any one of the three know his right place? Men eat animals that have been fed on grain and grass; deer feed on the thickset grass; centipedes enjoy small snakes; owls and crows delight in mice; but does any one of the four know the right taste? The dog-headed monkey finds its mate in the female gibbon; the elk and the axis deer cohabit; and the eel enjoys itself with other fishes. M4o 3hiang? and Li Ai? were accounted by men to be most beautiful, but when fishes saw them, they dived deep in the water from them; when birds, they flew from them aloft; and
* Compare par. 1 of Book XXII.
* Two famous beauties ;—the former, a contemporary of Hst Shih (par. 4, note 2), and like her also, of the state of Yiieh ; the latter, the daughter of a barbarian chief among the Western Jung. She was captured by duke Hsien of Qin, in B.c. 672. He subsequently made her his wife,—to the great injury of his family and state,p. 192 when deer saw them, they separated and fled away !. But did any of these four know which in the world is the right female attraction? As I look at the matter, the first principles of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of approval and disapproval are inextricably mixed and confused together :—how is it possible that I should know how to discriminate among them ?’
As I look at the matter, the first principles of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of approval and disapproval are inextricably mixed and confused together :—how is it possible that I should know how to discriminate among them ?’
Nieh A’h/iieh said (further), ‘Since you, Sir, do not know what is advantageous and what is hurtful, is the Perfect man also in the same way without the knowledge of them?’ Wang { replied, ‘The Perfect man is spirit-like. Great lakes might be boiling about him, and he would not feel their heat; the Ho and the Han might be frozen up, and he would not feel the cold; the hurrying thunderbolts might split the mountains, and the wind shake the ocean, without being able to make him afraid. Being such, he mounts on the clouds of the air, rides on the sun and moon, and rambles at ease beyond the four seas. Neither death nor life makes any change in him, and how much less should the considerations of advantage and injury do so?!’
9. Khii 3hido-3ze® asked Khang-wi 3ze 3, saying,
* Not thinking them beautiful, as men did, but frightened and repelled by them.
? Compare Book I, pars. 3 and 5.
’ We know nothing of the former of these men, but what is mentioned here ; the other appears also in Book XXV, 6,q.v. If ‘the master’ that immediately follows be Confucius they must have been contemporary with him. The A/iii in Khang-wi’s reply would seem to make it certain ‘the master’ was Confucius, but the oldest critics, and some modern ones as well, think that K/angw’s name was also K/if. But this view is attended with more
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‘I heard the Master (speaking of such language as the following) :—“ The sagely man does not occupy himself with worldly affairs. He does not put himself in the way of what is profitable, nor try to avoid what is hurtful; he has no pleasure in seeking (for anything from any one); he does not care to be found in (any established) Way; he speaks without speaking; he does not speak when he speaks ; thus finding his enjoyment outside the dust and dirt (of the world).” The Master considered all this to be a shoreless flow of mere words, and I consider it to describe the course of the Mysterious Way.—What do you, Sir, think of it?’ ang-wi 3ze replied, ‘The hearing of such words would have perplexed even Hwang-Ti, and how should A4Zid be competent to understand them? And you, moreover, are too hasty in forming your estimate (of their meaning). You see the egg, and (immediately) look out for the cock (that is to be hatched from it); you see the bow, and (immediately) look out for the dove (that is to be brought down by it) being roasted. I will try to explain the thing to you in a rough way; do you in the same way listen to me.
You see the egg, and (immediately) look out for the cock (that is to be hatched from it); you see the bow, and (immediately) look out for the dove (that is to be brought down by it) being roasted. I will try to explain the thing to you in a rough way; do you in the same way listen to me.
‘How could any one stand by the side of the sun and moon, and hold under his arm all space and all time? (Such language only means that the sagely man) keeps his mouth shut, and puts aside questions that are uncertain and dark; making his inferior capacities unite with him in honouring (the One Lord). Men in general bustle about and toil ; the difficulties than the other. By the clause interjected in the translation after the first ‘Master,’ I have avoided the incongruity of ascribing the long description of Taoism to Confucius.
(39] Op. 194 sagely man seems stupid and to know nothing. He blends ten thousand years together in the one (conception of time); the myriad things all pursue their spontaneous course, and they are all before him as doing so.
‘How do I know that the love of life is not a delusion ? and that the dislike of death is not like a young person’s losing his way, and not knowing that he is (really) going home? Li Ai? was a daughter of the border Warden of Ai. When (the ruler of) the state of 3in first got possession of her, she wept till the tears wetted all the front of her dress. But when she came to the place of the king’, shared with him his luxurious couch, and ate his grain-andgrass-fed meat, then she regretted that she had wept. How do I know that the dead do not repent of their former craving for life ?
‘Those who dream of (the pleasures of) drinking may in the morning wail and weep; those who dream of wailing and weeping may in the morning be going out to hunt. When they were dreaming they did not know it was a dream; in their dream they may even have tried to interpret it*; but when they awoke they knew that it was a dream. And
* Compare Lao-jze’s account of himself in his Work, ch. 20.
2 See note 2 on page 191. The lady is there said to have been the daughter of a barbarian chief; here she appears as the child of the border Warden of Ai. But her maiden surname of 6) (Hz) shows her father must have been a scion of the royal family of Kau. Had he forsaken his wardenship, and joined one of the Ti tribes, which had adopted him as its chief?
8 Zin was only a marquisate. How does A wang-3ze speak of its tuler as ‘a king?’
* This could not be; a man does not come to himself in his dream, and in that state try to interpret it.
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8 Zin was only a marquisate. How does A wang-3ze speak of its tuler as ‘a king?’
* This could not be; a man does not come to himself in his dream, and in that state try to interpret it.
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there is the great awaking, after which we shall know that this life was a great dream?. All the while, the stupid think they are awake, and with nice discrimination insist on their knowledge; now playing the part of rulers, and now of grooms. Bigoted was that K/id! He and you are both dreaming. I who say that you are dreaming am dreaming myself. These words seem very strange; but if after ten thousand ages we once meet with a great sage who knows how to explain them, it will be as if we met him (unexpectedly) some morning or evening.
10. ‘Since you made me enter into this discussion with you, if you have got the better of me and not I of you, are you indeed right, and I indeed wrong ? If I have got the better of you and not you of me, am I indeed right and you indeed wrong? Is the one of us right and the other wrong? are we both right or both wrong? Since we cannot come to a mutual and common understanding, men will certainly continue in darkness on the subject.
‘Whom shall I employ to adjudicate in the matter ? If I employ one who agrees with you, how can he, agreeing with you, do so correctly? And the same may be said, if I employ one who agrees with me. It will be the same if I employ one who differs from us both or one who agrees with us both. In this way I and you and those others would all not be able to come to a mutual understanding; and shall we then wait for that (great sage)? (We need not do so.) To wait on others to learn how conflicting opinions are changed is simply like not so
1 Compare XVIII, par. 4. 02
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waiting at all. The harmonising of them is to be found in the invisible operation of Heaven, and by following this on into the unlimited past. It is by this method that we can complete our years (without our minds being disturbed) ?.
‘What is meant by harmonising (conflicting opinions) in the invisible operation of Heaven? There is the affirmation and the denial of it; and there is the assertion of an opinion and the rejection of it. If the affirmation be according to the reality of the fact, it is certainly different from the denial of it :— there can be no dispute about that. If the assertion of an opinion be correct, it is certainly different from its rejection:—neither can there be any dispute about that. Let us forget the lapse of time; let us forget the conflict of opinions. Let us make our appeal to the Infinite, and take up our position there 2,’
If the assertion of an opinion be correct, it is certainly different from its rejection:—neither can there be any dispute about that. Let us forget the lapse of time; let us forget the conflict of opinions. Let us make our appeal to the Infinite, and take up our position there 2,’
11. The Penumbra asked the Shadow, saying, ‘Formerly you were walking on, and now you have stopped; formerly you were sitting, and now you have risen up :—how is it that you are so without stability?’ The Shadow replied, ‘I wait for the movements of something else to do what I do, and that something else on which I wait waits further
1 See this passage again in Book XXVII, par. 1, where the phrase which I have called here ‘the invisible operation of Heaven,’ is said to be the same as ‘the Heavenly Mould or Moulder,’ that is, the Heavenly Fashioner, one of the T4oistic names for the T4o.
3 That is, all things being traced up to the unity of the To, we have found the pivot to which all conflicting opinions, all affirmations, all denials, all positions and negatives converge, and bring to bear on them the proper light of the mind. Compare paragraph 3.
3 A story to the same effect as this here, with some textual variations, occurs in Book XXVII, immediately after par. 1 referred to above.
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on another to do as it does. My waiting,—is it for the scales of a snake, or the wings of a cicada?? How should I know why I do one thing, or do not do another ??
‘Formerly, I, Awang K4Au, dreamt that I was a butterfly, a butterfly flying about, feeling that it was enjoying itself. I did not know that it was KAu. Suddenly I awoke, and was myself again, the veritable Kau. I did not know whether it had formerly been A4u dreaming that he was a butterfly, or it was now a butterfly dreaming that it was Kau. But between Au and a butterfly there must be a difference*, This is a case of what is called the Transformation of Things*,’
1 The mind cannot rest in second causes, and the first cause, if there be one, is inscrutable.
2 Even these must wait for the will of the creature; but the case of the shadow is still more remarkable.
5 ] have put this interrogatively, as being more graphic, and because of the particle BU, which is generally, though not necessarily, interrogative.
2 Even these must wait for the will of the creature; but the case of the shadow is still more remarkable.
5 ] have put this interrogatively, as being more graphic, and because of the particle BU, which is generally, though not necessarily, interrogative.
* Hsiian Ying, in his remarks on these two sentences, brings out the force of the story very successfully :—‘ Looking at them in their ordinary appearance, there was necessarily a difference between them, but in the delusion of the dream each of them appeared the other, and they could not distinguish themselves! au could be a butterfly, and the butterfly could be Kau ;—we may see that in the world all traces of that and this may pass away, as they come under the influence of transformations. For the phrase, ‘ the transformation of things,’ see in Book XI, par. 5, et al. But the TAoism here can hardly be distinguished from the Buddhism that holds that all human experience is merely so much m4ya or illusion.
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BOOK III.
Part I, Section III. Yang Shang £4, or ‘Nourishing the Lord of Life'.’
1. There is a limit to our life, but to knowledge there is no limit. With what is limited to pursue after what is unlimited is a perilous thing; and when, knowing this, we still seek the increase of our knowledge, the peril cannot be averted? There should not be the practice of what is good with any thought of the fame (which it will bring), nor of what is evil with any approximation to the punishment (which it will incur)*:—an accordance with the Central Element (of our nature) ¢ is the regular way to preserve the body, to maintain the life, to nourish our parents, and to complete our term of years.
2. His cook® was cutting up an ox for the ruler Wan-hui®, Whenever he applied his hand, leaned forward with his shoulder, planted his foot, and em-
1 See pp. 130, 131.
* Under what is said about knowledge here there lies the objection of Taoists to the Confucian pursuit of knowledge as the means for the right conduct of life, instead of the quiet simplicity and self-suppression of their own system.
’ This is the key to the three paragraphs that follow. But the text of it is not easily construed. The ‘doing good’ and the ‘doing evil’ are to be lightly understood.
* A name for the Tao.
5 «The ruler Wan-hui’ is understood to be ‘king Hui of Liang (or Wei), with the account of an interview between whom and Mencius the works of that philosopher commence.
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* A name for the Tao.
5 «The ruler Wan-hui’ is understood to be ‘king Hui of Liang (or Wei), with the account of an interview between whom and Mencius the works of that philosopher commence.
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ployed the pressure of his knee, in the audible ripping off of the skin, and slicing operation of the knife, the sounds were all in regular cadence. Movements and sounds proceeded as in the dance of ‘the Mulberry Forest?’ and the blended notes of ‘the King Shau?’ The ruler said, ‘Ah! Admirable! That your art should have become so perfect!’ (Having finished his operation), the cook laid down his knife, and replied to the remark, ‘What your servant loves is the method of the T4o, something in advance of any art. When I first began to cut up an ox, I saw nothing but the (entire) carcase. After three years I ceased to see it as a whole. Now I deal with it in a spirit-like manner, and do not look at it with my eyes. The use of my senses is discarded, and my spirit acts as it wills. Observing the natural lines, (my knife) slips through the great crevices and slides through the great cavities, taking advantage of the facilities thus presented. My art avoids the membranous ligatures, and much more the great bones.
‘A good cook changes his knife every year ;—(it may have been injured) in cutting; an ordinary cook changes his every month ;—(it may have been) broken. Now my knife has been in use for nineteen years; it has cut up several thousand oxen, and yet its edge is as sharp as if it had newly come from the whetstone. There are the interstices of the joints, and the edge of the knife has no (appreciable) thickness ; when that which is so thin enters where the interstice is, how easily it moves along! The
1 Two pieces of music, ascribed to KAang Thang and Hwang- Ti.
i Nl
Ces 3 190 ec ee eee => an <aenquenensinne aesp. 200 blade has more than room enough. Nevertheless, whenever I come to a complicated joint, and see that there will be some difficulty, I proceed anxiously and with caution, not allowing my eyes to wander from the place, and moving my hand slowly. Then by a very slight movement of the knife, the part is quickly separated, and drops like (a clod of) earth to the ground. Then standing up with the knife in my hand, I look all round, and in a leisurely manner, with an air of satisfaction, wipe it clean, and put it in its sheath. The ruler Wan-hui said, ‘Excellent! I have heard the words of my cook, and learned from them the nourishment of (our) life.’
Then standing up with the knife in my hand, I look all round, and in a leisurely manner, with an air of satisfaction, wipe it clean, and put it in its sheath. The ruler Wan-hui said, ‘Excellent! I have heard the words of my cook, and learned from them the nourishment of (our) life.’
3. When Kung-wan Hsien! saw the Master of the Left, he was startled, and said, ‘What sort of man is this? How is it he has but one foot? Is it from Heaven? or from Man?’ Then he added?, ‘It must be from Heaven, and not from Man. Heaven's making of this man caused him to have but one foot. In the person of man, each foot has its marrow. By this I know that his peculiarity is from Heaven, and not from Man. A pheasant of the marshes has to take ten steps to pick up a mouthful of food, and thirty steps to get a drink, but it does not seek to be nourished ina coop. Though its spirit would (there) enjoy a royal abundance, it does not think (such confinement) good.’
1 There was a family in Wei with the double surname Kung-wan. This would be a scion of it.
? This is Hsien still speaking. We have to understand his reasoning ad sensum and not ad verbum. The master of the Left had done ‘evil,’ so as to incur the punishment from which he suffered; and had shown himself less wise than a pheasant.
PT.1.SECT. Il. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. . 201
4. When L&o Tan died 1, Kin Shih 2 went to condole (with his son), but after crying out three times, he came out. The disciples® said to him, ‘Were you not a friend of the Master?’ ‘I was,’ he replied, and they said, ‘Is it proper then to offer your condolences merely as you have done?’ He said, ‘It is. At first I thought he was the man of men, and now I do not think so. When I entered a little ago and expressed my condolences, there were the old men wailing as if they had lost a son, and the young men wailing as if they had lost their mother. In his attracting and uniting them to himself in such a way there must have been that which made them involuntarily express their words (of condolence), and involuntarily wail, as they were doing. And this was a hiding from himself of his Heaven (-nature), and an excessive indulgence of his (human) feelings ;—a forgetting of what he had received (in being born); what the ancients called the punishment due to neglecting the Heaven (-nature) *. When the Master came®, it was at the proper time ; when he went away, it was the simple sequence (of his coming). Quiet acquiescence in what happens at its proper time, and quietly submitting (to its ceasing) afford no occasion for grief or for joy ®. The ancients described (death) as the loosening of the
1 Then the account that Lao-3ze went westwards, and that nothing is known as to where he died, must be without foundation.
? Nothing more is known of this person.
8 Probably the disciples of Lao-3ze,
* Lao had gone to an excess in his ‘ doing good,’ as if he were seeking reputation.
5 Into the world.
? Nothing more is known of this person.
8 Probably the disciples of Lao-3ze,
* Lao had gone to an excess in his ‘ doing good,’ as if he were seeking reputation.
5 Into the world.
® See Kwang-jze’s remarks and demeanour on the death of his wife, in Book XVIII.
i eep. 202 cord on which God suspended (the life)!. What we can point to are the faggots that have been consumed ; but the fire is transmitted (elsewhere), and we know not that it is over and ended *,
1 This short sentence is remarkable by the use of the character Tt (i), ‘God,’ in it, a usage here ascribed to the ancients.
? The concluding sentence might stand as a short paragraph by itself. The ‘faggots’ are understood to represent the body, and the ‘fire’ the animating spirit. The body perishes at death as the faggots are consumed by the fire. But the fire may be transmitted to other faggots, and so the spirit may migrate, and be existing elsewhere.
-_- ee ome (ee SO et Se
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BOOK IV. Part I. Section IV.
Zan Kien Shih, or ‘Man in the World, Associated with other Men 1,’
1. Yen Hui? went to see AKung-ni’, and asked leave to take his departure. ‘Where are you going to?’ asked the Master. ‘I will go to Wei*’ was the reply. ‘And with what object?’ ‘I have heard that the ruler of Wei® is in the vigour of his years, and consults none but himself as to his course. He deals with his state as if it were a light matter, and has no perception of his errors. He thinks lightly of his people’s dying; the dead are lying all over the country as if no smaller space could contain them; on the plains® and about the marshes, they are as thick as heaps of fuel. The people know not where to turn to. I have heard you, Master, say, “Leave the state that is wellp. 204 governed ; go to the state where disorder prevails }.” At the door of a physician there are many who are ill. I wish through what I have heard (from you) to think out some methods (of dealing with Wei), if peradventure the evils of the state may be cured.’
1 See pp. 131, 132.
2 The favourite disciple of Confucius, styled also 3ze-ytian.
8 Of course, Confucius ;—his designation or married name.
* A feudal state, embracing portions of the present provinces of Ho-nan, Xih-lf, and Shan-tung. There was another state, which we must also call Wei in English, though the Chinese characters of them are different ;—one of the fragments of the great state of Zin, more to the west.
5 At this time the marquis Yiian, known to us by his posthumous title of duke Ling ;—see Book XXV, 9.
* Adopting Lin’s reading of - instead of the common of.
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governed ; go to the state where disorder prevails }.” At the door of a physician there are many who are ill. I wish through what I have heard (from you) to think out some methods (of dealing with Wei), if peradventure the evils of the state may be cured.’
Kung-ni said, ‘Alas! The risk is that you will go only to suffer in the punishment (of yourself) ! The right method (in such a case) will not admit of any admixture. With such admixture, the one method will become many methods. Their multiplication will embarrass you. That embarrassment will make you anxious. However anxious you may be, you will not save (yourself), The perfect men of old first had (what they wanted to do) in themselves, and afterwards they found (the response to it) in others. If what they wanted in themselves was not fixed, what leisure had they to go and interfere with the proceedings of any tyrannous man ?
‘Moreover, do you know how virtue is liable to be dissipated, and how wisdom proceeds to display itself? Virtue is dissipated in (the pursuit of) the name for it, and wisdom seeks to display itself in the striving with others. In the pursuit of the name men overthrow one another; wisdom becomes a weapon of contention. Both these things are instruments of evil, and should not be allowed to have free course in one’s conduct. Supposing one’s virtue to be great and his sincerity firm, if he do not comprehend the spirit of those (whom he wishes to influence); and supposing he is free from the
1 Compare in the Analects, VIII, xiii, 2, where a different lesson is given; but Confucius may at another time have spoken as Hui says.
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disposition to strive for reputation, if he do not comprehend their minds ;—when in such a case he forcibly insists on benevolence and righteousness, setting them forth in the strongest and most direct language, before the tyrant, then he, hating (his reprover’s) possession of those excellences, will put him down as doing him injury. He who injures others is sure to be injured by them in return. You indeed will hardly escape being injured by the man (to whom you go)!
He who injures others is sure to be injured by them in return. You indeed will hardly escape being injured by the man (to whom you go)!
‘Further, if perchance he takes pleasure in men of worth and hates those of an opposite character, what is the use of your seeking to make yourself out to be different (from such men about him) ? Before you have begun to announce (your views), he, as king and ruler, will take advantage of you, and immediately contend with you for victory. Your eyes will be dazed and full of perplexity ; you will try to look pleased with him; you will frame your words with care; your demeanour will be conformed to his; you will confirm him in his views. In this way you will be adding fire to fire, and water to water, increasing, as we may express it, the evils (which you deplore). To these signs of deferring to him at the first there will be no end. You will be in danger, seeing he does not believe you, of making your words more strong, and you are sure to die at the hands of such a tyrant.
‘And formerly Kieh? killed Kwan Lung-fang ?, and Aéu® killed the prince Pi-kan*. Both of
1 The tyrant with whom the dynasty of Hsia ended.
2 A worthy ministér of Kieh.
8 The tyrant with whom the dynasty of Shang or Yin ended. ‘ A half-brother of Au, the tyrant of the Yin dynasty.
|p. 206 these cultivated their persons, bending down in sympathy with the lower people to comfort them suffering (as they did) from their oppressors, and on their account opposing their superiors. On this account, because they so ordered their conduct, their rulers compassed their destruction :—such regard had they for their own fame. (Again), Y4o anciently attacked (the states of) 3hung-4ih! and Hsii-Ao!, and Yii attacked the ruler of Hi}. Those states were left empty, and with no one to continue their population, the people being exterminated. They had engaged in war without ceasing; their craving for whatever they could get was insatiable. And this (ruler of Wei) is, like them, one who craves after fame and greater substance ;—have you not heard it? Those sages were not able to overcome the thirst for fame and substance ;—how much less will you be able to do so! Nevertheless you must have some ground (for the course which you wish to take); pray try and tell it to me.’
Yen Hui said, ‘May I go, doing so in uprightness and humility, using also every endeavour to be uniform (in my plans of operation) ?’ ‘No, indeed !’ was the reply. ‘How can you do so? This man makes a display? of being filled to overflowing (with virtue), and has great self-conceit. His feelings are not to be determined from his countenance. Ordinary men do not (venture to) oppose him, and he proceeds from the way in which he affects them
1 See in par. 7, Book II, where Hsii-4o is mentioned, though not 3hung-fih. See the Shf, III, ii.
2 T take iB here as = Ff j—a meaning given in the Khang-hst dictionary.