Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1You must be still; you must be pure; not subjecting your body to toil, not agitating your vital force ;—then you may live for long. When 1 The same ether, now in motion, now at rest, divided into the Yin and Yang. PT. Il, SECT. Iv. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 299 your eyes see nothing, your ears hear nothing, and your mind knows nothing, your spirit will keep your body, and the body will live long. Watch over what is within you, shut up the avenues that connect you with what is external ;—much knowledge is pernicious. I (will) proceed with you to the summit of the Grand Brilliance, where we come to the source of the bright and expanding (element) ; I will enter with you the gate of the Deepest Obscurity, where we come to the source of the dark and repressing (element). There heaven and earth have their controllers; there the Yin and Yang have their Repositories. Watch over and keep your body, and all things will of themselves give it vigour. I maintain the (original) unity (of these elements), and dwell in the harmony of them. In this way I have cultivated myself for one thousand and two hundred years, and my bodily form has undergone no decay }’ Hwang-Ti twice bowed low with his head to the ground, and said, ‘In Kwang A’ang-jze we have an example of what is called Heaven *.’ The other said, ‘Come, and I will tell you:—(The perfect T4o) is something inexhaustible, and yet men all think it has an end; it is something unfathomable, and yet men all think its extreme limit can be reached. He who attains to my TAo, if he be in a high position, will be one of the August ones, and in a low position, will be a king. He who fails in attaining it, in his highest attainment will see the light, but will 1 It seems very clear here that the earliest Taoism taught that the cultivation of the Tao tended to prolong and preserve the bodily life. _ ? A remarkable, but not a singular, instance of Kwang-3ze’s application of the name ‘ Heaven.’ TISe rte ais TE ST cece ace oe ee HH ee es + ete a mee 0 mete ote oe ea - ee 300 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. descend and be of the Earth. At present all things are produced from the Earth and return to the Earth. Therefore I will leave you, and enter the gate of the Unending, to enjoy myself in the fields of the Illimitable. I will blend my light with that of the sun and moon, and will endure while heaven and earth endure. If men agree with my views, I will be unconscious of it; if they keep far apart from them, I will be unconscious of it; they may all die, and I will abide alone?!’
2I will blend my light with that of the sun and moon, and will endure while heaven and earth endure. If men agree with my views, I will be unconscious of it; if they keep far apart from them, I will be unconscious of it; they may all die, and I will abide alone?!’ 5. Yiin Xiang ?, rambling to the east, having been borne along on a gentle breeze *, suddenly encountered Hung Mung ?, who was rambling about, slapping his buttocks‘ and hopping like a bird. Amazed at the sight, Yiin Kiang stood reverentially, and said to the other, ‘ Venerable Sir, who are you ? and why are you doing this?’ Hung Mung went on slapping his buttocks and hopping like a bird, but replied, ‘I am enjoying myself” Yiin Kiang said, ‘1 * A very difficult sentence, in interpreting which there are great differences among the critics. 2 I have preferred to retain Yiin Kiang and Hung Mung as if they were the surnames and names of two personages here introduced. Mr. Balfour renders them by ‘The Spirit of the Clouds,’ and ‘Mists of Chaos.’ The Spirits of heaven or the sky have still their place in the Sacrificial Canon of China, as ‘the Cloud- Master, the Rain-Master, the Baron of the Winds, and the Thunder Master.’ Hung Mung, again, is a name for ‘the Great Ether,’ or, as Dr. Medhurst calls it, ‘ the Primitive Chaos.’ 5 Literally, ‘passing by a branch of Ffi-y4o;’ but we find fayo in Book I, meaning ‘a whirlwind.’ The term ‘branch’ has made some critics explain it here as ‘the name of a tree,’ which is inadmissible. I have translated according to the view of Lf Shié-4ih. * Or ‘stomach,’—according to another reading. PT, II. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 301 wish to ask you a question. Hung Mung lifted up his head, looked at the stranger, and said, ‘ Pooh!’ Yiin Kiang, however, continued, ‘The breath of heaven is out of harmony; the breath of earth is bound up; the six elemental influences! do not act in concord; the four seasons do not observe their proper times. Now I wish to blend together the essential qualities of those six influences in order to nourish all living things ;—how shall I go about it ?’ Hung Mung slapped his buttocks, hopped about, and shook his head, saying, ‘I do not know; I do not know!’
3Now I wish to blend together the essential qualities of those six influences in order to nourish all living things ;—how shall I go about it ?’ Hung Mung slapped his buttocks, hopped about, and shook his head, saying, ‘I do not know; I do not know!’ Yiin Xiang could not pursue his question; but three years afterwards, when (again) rambling in the east, as he was passing by the wild of Sung, he happened to meet Hung Mung. Delighted with the rencontre, he hastened to him, and said, ‘Have you forgotten me,O Heaven? Have you forgotten me, O Heaven??’ At the same time, he bowed twice with his head to the ground, wishing to receive his instructions. Hung Mung said, ‘Wandering listlessly about, I know not what I seek ; carried on by a wild impulse, I know not where I am going. I wander about in the strange manner (which you have seen), and see that nothing proceeds without method and order* ;—what more should I know?’ Yiin Kiang replied, ‘I also seem carried on by an aimless influence, and yet the people follow me wherever I go. I cannot help their doing so. But now as they thus 1 Probably, the yin, the yang, wind, rain, darkness, and light ;— see Mayers, p. 323. 2 See Introduction, pp. 17, 18. $ Compare in Book XXIII, par. 1. 302 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. imitate me, I wish to hear a word from you (in the case). The other said, ‘What disturbs the regular method of Heaven, comes into collision with the nature of things, prevents the accomplishment of the mysterious (operation of) Heaven, scatters the herds of animals, makes the birds all sing at night, is calamitous to vegetation, and disastrous to all insects ;—all this is owing, I conceive, to the error of governing men.’ ‘What then,’ said Yiin Kiang, ‘shall I do?’ ‘Ah,’ said the other, ‘you will only injure them! I will leave you in my dancing way, and return to my place.’ Yiin Xiang rejoined, ‘It has been a difficult thing to get this meeting with you, O Heaven! I should like to hear from you a word (more). Hung Mung said, ‘Ah! your mind (needs to be) nourished. Do you only take the position of doing nothing, and things will of themselves become transformed. Neglect your body; cast out from you your power of hearing and sight; forget what you have in common with things; cultivate a grand similarity with the chaos of the plastic ether; unloose your mind; set your spirit free; be still as if you had no soul. Of all the multitude of things every one returns to its root. Every one returns to its root, and does not know (that it is doing so). They all are as in the state of chaos, and during all their existence they do not leave it’. If
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1You must be still; you must be pure; not subjecting your body to toil, not agitating your vital force ;—then you may live for long. When 1 The same ether, now in motion, now at rest, divided into the Yin and Yang. PT. Il, SECT. Iv. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 299 your eyes see nothing, your ears hear nothing, and your mind knows nothing, your spirit will keep your body, and the body will live long. Watch over what is within you, shut up the avenues that connect you with what is external ;—much knowledge is pernicious. I (will) proceed with you to the summit of the Grand Brilliance, where we come to the source of the bright and expanding (element) ; I will enter with you the gate of the Deepest Obscurity, where we come to the source of the dark and repressing (element). There heaven and earth have their controllers; there the Yin and Yang have their Repositories. Watch over and keep your body, and all things will of themselves give it vigour. I maintain the (original) unity (of these elements), and dwell in the harmony of them. In this way I have cultivated myself for one thousand and two hundred years, and my bodily form has undergone no decay }’ Hwang-Ti twice bowed low with his head to the ground, and said, ‘In Kwang A’ang-jze we have an example of what is called Heaven *.’ The other said, ‘Come, and I will tell you:—(The perfect T4o) is something inexhaustible, and yet men all think it has an end; it is something unfathomable, and yet men all think its extreme limit can be reached. He who attains to my TAo, if he be in a high position, will be one of the August ones, and in a low position, will be a king. He who fails in attaining it, in his highest attainment will see the light, but will 1 It seems very clear here that the earliest Taoism taught that the cultivation of the Tao tended to prolong and preserve the bodily life. _ ? A remarkable, but not a singular, instance of Kwang-3ze’s application of the name ‘ Heaven.’ TISe rte ais TE ST cece ace oe ee HH ee es + ete a mee 0 mete ote oe ea - ee 300 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. descend and be of the Earth. At present all things are produced from the Earth and return to the Earth. Therefore I will leave you, and enter the gate of the Unending, to enjoy myself in the fields of the Illimitable. I will blend my light with that of the sun and moon, and will endure while heaven and earth endure. If men agree with my views, I will be unconscious of it; if they keep far apart from them, I will be unconscious of it; they may all die, and I will abide alone?!’
2I will blend my light with that of the sun and moon, and will endure while heaven and earth endure. If men agree with my views, I will be unconscious of it; if they keep far apart from them, I will be unconscious of it; they may all die, and I will abide alone?!’ 5. Yiin Xiang ?, rambling to the east, having been borne along on a gentle breeze *, suddenly encountered Hung Mung ?, who was rambling about, slapping his buttocks‘ and hopping like a bird. Amazed at the sight, Yiin Kiang stood reverentially, and said to the other, ‘ Venerable Sir, who are you ? and why are you doing this?’ Hung Mung went on slapping his buttocks and hopping like a bird, but replied, ‘I am enjoying myself” Yiin Kiang said, ‘1 * A very difficult sentence, in interpreting which there are great differences among the critics. 2 I have preferred to retain Yiin Kiang and Hung Mung as if they were the surnames and names of two personages here introduced. Mr. Balfour renders them by ‘The Spirit of the Clouds,’ and ‘Mists of Chaos.’ The Spirits of heaven or the sky have still their place in the Sacrificial Canon of China, as ‘the Cloud- Master, the Rain-Master, the Baron of the Winds, and the Thunder Master.’ Hung Mung, again, is a name for ‘the Great Ether,’ or, as Dr. Medhurst calls it, ‘ the Primitive Chaos.’ 5 Literally, ‘passing by a branch of Ffi-y4o;’ but we find fayo in Book I, meaning ‘a whirlwind.’ The term ‘branch’ has made some critics explain it here as ‘the name of a tree,’ which is inadmissible. I have translated according to the view of Lf Shié-4ih. * Or ‘stomach,’—according to another reading. PT, II. SECT. IV. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 301 wish to ask you a question. Hung Mung lifted up his head, looked at the stranger, and said, ‘ Pooh!’ Yiin Kiang, however, continued, ‘The breath of heaven is out of harmony; the breath of earth is bound up; the six elemental influences! do not act in concord; the four seasons do not observe their proper times. Now I wish to blend together the essential qualities of those six influences in order to nourish all living things ;—how shall I go about it ?’ Hung Mung slapped his buttocks, hopped about, and shook his head, saying, ‘I do not know; I do not know!’
3Now I wish to blend together the essential qualities of those six influences in order to nourish all living things ;—how shall I go about it ?’ Hung Mung slapped his buttocks, hopped about, and shook his head, saying, ‘I do not know; I do not know!’ Yiin Xiang could not pursue his question; but three years afterwards, when (again) rambling in the east, as he was passing by the wild of Sung, he happened to meet Hung Mung. Delighted with the rencontre, he hastened to him, and said, ‘Have you forgotten me,O Heaven? Have you forgotten me, O Heaven??’ At the same time, he bowed twice with his head to the ground, wishing to receive his instructions. Hung Mung said, ‘Wandering listlessly about, I know not what I seek ; carried on by a wild impulse, I know not where I am going. I wander about in the strange manner (which you have seen), and see that nothing proceeds without method and order* ;—what more should I know?’ Yiin Kiang replied, ‘I also seem carried on by an aimless influence, and yet the people follow me wherever I go. I cannot help their doing so. But now as they thus 1 Probably, the yin, the yang, wind, rain, darkness, and light ;— see Mayers, p. 323. 2 See Introduction, pp. 17, 18. $ Compare in Book XXIII, par. 1. 302 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XI. imitate me, I wish to hear a word from you (in the case). The other said, ‘What disturbs the regular method of Heaven, comes into collision with the nature of things, prevents the accomplishment of the mysterious (operation of) Heaven, scatters the herds of animals, makes the birds all sing at night, is calamitous to vegetation, and disastrous to all insects ;—all this is owing, I conceive, to the error of governing men.’ ‘What then,’ said Yiin Kiang, ‘shall I do?’ ‘Ah,’ said the other, ‘you will only injure them! I will leave you in my dancing way, and return to my place.’ Yiin Xiang rejoined, ‘It has been a difficult thing to get this meeting with you, O Heaven! I should like to hear from you a word (more). Hung Mung said, ‘Ah! your mind (needs to be) nourished. Do you only take the position of doing nothing, and things will of themselves become transformed. Neglect your body; cast out from you your power of hearing and sight; forget what you have in common with things; cultivate a grand similarity with the chaos of the plastic ether; unloose your mind; set your spirit free; be still as if you had no soul. Of all the multitude of things every one returns to its root. Every one returns to its root, and does not know (that it is doing so). They all are as in the state of chaos, and during all their existence they do not leave it’. If
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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