Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Sh&n To also appears among the legal writers, as author of forty-two phien. He is mentioned by Han Fei. 224 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXXII. not cover. The Great T4o embraces all things, but It does not discriminate between them.’ They knew that all things have what they can do and what they cannot do. Hence it is said, ‘If you select, you do not reach all; if you teach some things, you must omit the others; but the T4o neglects none.’ Therefore Shan Téo discarded his knowledge and also all thought of himself, acting only where he had no alternative, and pursued it as his course to be indifferent and pure in his dealings with others. He said that the best knowledge was to have no knowledge, and that if we had a little knowledge it was likely to prove a dangerous thing. Conscious of his unfitness, he undertook no charge, and laughed at those who valued ability and virtue. Remiss and evasive, he did nothing, and disallowed the greatest sages which the world had known. Now with a hammer, now with his hand, smoothing all corners, and breaking all bonds, he accommodated himself to all conditions. He disregarded right and wrong, his only concern being to avoid trouble; he learned nothing from the wise and thoughtful, and took no note of the succession of events, thinking only of carrying himself with a lofty disregard of everything. He went where he was pushed, and followed where he was led, like a whirling wind, like a feather tossed about, like the revolutions of a grindstone. What was the reason that he appeared thus complete, doing nothing wrong? that, whether in motion or at rest, he committed no error, and could be charged with no transgression? Creatures that have no knowledge are free from the troubles that arise from self-assertion and the entanglements that spring from the use of knowledge. Moving and at PT. III. SECT. XII THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 225 rest, they do not depart from their proper course, and all their life long they do not receive any praise. Hence (Shan TAo) said, ‘Let me come to be like a creature without knowledge. Of what use are the (teachings of the) sages and worthies?’ But a clod of earth never fails in the course (proper for it), and men of spirit and eminence laughed together at him, and said, ‘The way of Shan TAo does not describe the conduct of living men; that it should be predicable only of the dead is strange indeed !’
2It was just the same with Thien Phien. He learned under Phang Mang, but it was as if he were not taught at all. The master of Phang Mang said, ‘The T4oist professors of old came no farther than to say that nothing was absolutely right and nothing absolutely wrong.’ His spirit was like the breath of an opposing wind; how can it be described in words? But he was always contrary to (the views of) other men, which he would not bring together to view, and he did not escape shaving the corners and bonds (of which I have spoken). What he called the TA4o was not the true T4o, _and what he called the right was really the wrong. Phang Mang, Thien Phien, and Shan TAo did not in fact know the T4o; but nevertheless they had heard in a general way about it. 5. To take the root (from which things spring) as the essential (part), and the things as its coarse (embodiment); to see deficiency in accumulation ; and in the solitude of one’s individuality to dwell with the spirit-like and intelligent ;—such a course belonged to the T4o of antiquity, and it was appre- [4°] Q 226 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK, XXXIII. ciated by Kwan Yin! and Lao Tan*% When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them. They built their system on the assumption of an eternal non-existence, and made the ruling idea in it that of the Grand Unity. They made weakness and humility their mark of distinction, and considered that by empty vacuity no injury could be sustained, but all things be preserved in their substantiality. Kwan Yin! says, ‘To him who does not dwell in himself the forms of things show themselves as they are. His movement is like that of water; his stillness is like that of a mirror; his response is like that of the echo. His tenuity makes him seem to be disappearing altogether; he is still as a clear (lake), harmonious in his association with others, and he counts gain as loss. He does not take precedence of others, but follows them.’ L4o Tan? says, ‘ He knows his masculine power, but maintains his female weakness,—becoming the channel into which all streams flow. He knows his white purity, but keeps his disgrace,—becoming the valley of the world. Men all prefer to be first; he alone chooses to be last, saying, “I will receive the offscourings of the world.” Men all choose fulness; he alone chooses emptiness. He does not store, and therefore he has a superabundance; he looks solitary, but has a multitude around him. In his conducting 1 Kwan Yin;—see Book XIX, par. 2, and vol. xxxix, p. 35. In the Catalogue of the Han Library there is an entry of a work b Kwan Yin in nine phien; and there is still a work current in China, called Awan Yin-3ze in one fiian, but it is not generally received as genuine. * See the account of L&o-gze in vol. xxxix, pp. 34-36. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 227
3* See the account of L&o-gze in vol. xxxix, pp. 34-36. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 227 of himself he is easy and leisurely and wastes nothing. He does nothing, and laughs at the clever and ingenious. Men all seek for happiness, but he feels complete in his imperfect condition, and says, “ Let me only escape blame.” He regards what is deepest as his root, and what is most restrictive as his rule; and says, “The strong is broken; the sharp and pointed is blunted.” He is always generous and forbearing with others, and does not encroach on any man ;—this may be pronounced the height (of perfection).’ O Kwan Yin, and L4o Tan, ye were among the greatest men of antiquity; True men indeed! 6. That the shadowy and still is without bodily form; that change and transformation are ever proceeding, but incapable of being determined. What is death ? Whatis life ? What is meant by the union of Heaven and Earth? Does the spiritual intelligence go away? Shadowy, where does it go? Subtle, whither does it proceed? All things being arranged as they are, there is no one place which can be fitly ascribed to it. Such were the questions belonging to the scheme of T4o in antiquity, and they. were appreciated by Kwang Kéu. When he heard of such subjects, he was delighted with them. (He discussed them), using strange and mystical expressions, wild and extravagant words, and phrases to which no definite meaning could be assigned. -He constantly indulged his own wayward ideas, but did not make himself a partisan, nor look at them tas peculiar to himself. Considering that men were 1 From the ‘Lao Tan says’ down to this, may be said to be all quotation, with more or less exactness, from the Tao Teh Xing. See chaps. 28, 22, et al. Q2 228 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXXIII.
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.
1Sh&n To also appears among the legal writers, as author of forty-two phien. He is mentioned by Han Fei. 224 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXXII. not cover. The Great T4o embraces all things, but It does not discriminate between them.’ They knew that all things have what they can do and what they cannot do. Hence it is said, ‘If you select, you do not reach all; if you teach some things, you must omit the others; but the T4o neglects none.’ Therefore Shan Téo discarded his knowledge and also all thought of himself, acting only where he had no alternative, and pursued it as his course to be indifferent and pure in his dealings with others. He said that the best knowledge was to have no knowledge, and that if we had a little knowledge it was likely to prove a dangerous thing. Conscious of his unfitness, he undertook no charge, and laughed at those who valued ability and virtue. Remiss and evasive, he did nothing, and disallowed the greatest sages which the world had known. Now with a hammer, now with his hand, smoothing all corners, and breaking all bonds, he accommodated himself to all conditions. He disregarded right and wrong, his only concern being to avoid trouble; he learned nothing from the wise and thoughtful, and took no note of the succession of events, thinking only of carrying himself with a lofty disregard of everything. He went where he was pushed, and followed where he was led, like a whirling wind, like a feather tossed about, like the revolutions of a grindstone. What was the reason that he appeared thus complete, doing nothing wrong? that, whether in motion or at rest, he committed no error, and could be charged with no transgression? Creatures that have no knowledge are free from the troubles that arise from self-assertion and the entanglements that spring from the use of knowledge. Moving and at PT. III. SECT. XII THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 225 rest, they do not depart from their proper course, and all their life long they do not receive any praise. Hence (Shan TAo) said, ‘Let me come to be like a creature without knowledge. Of what use are the (teachings of the) sages and worthies?’ But a clod of earth never fails in the course (proper for it), and men of spirit and eminence laughed together at him, and said, ‘The way of Shan TAo does not describe the conduct of living men; that it should be predicable only of the dead is strange indeed !’
2It was just the same with Thien Phien. He learned under Phang Mang, but it was as if he were not taught at all. The master of Phang Mang said, ‘The T4oist professors of old came no farther than to say that nothing was absolutely right and nothing absolutely wrong.’ His spirit was like the breath of an opposing wind; how can it be described in words? But he was always contrary to (the views of) other men, which he would not bring together to view, and he did not escape shaving the corners and bonds (of which I have spoken). What he called the TA4o was not the true T4o, _and what he called the right was really the wrong. Phang Mang, Thien Phien, and Shan TAo did not in fact know the T4o; but nevertheless they had heard in a general way about it. 5. To take the root (from which things spring) as the essential (part), and the things as its coarse (embodiment); to see deficiency in accumulation ; and in the solitude of one’s individuality to dwell with the spirit-like and intelligent ;—such a course belonged to the T4o of antiquity, and it was appre- [4°] Q 226 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK, XXXIII. ciated by Kwan Yin! and Lao Tan*% When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them. They built their system on the assumption of an eternal non-existence, and made the ruling idea in it that of the Grand Unity. They made weakness and humility their mark of distinction, and considered that by empty vacuity no injury could be sustained, but all things be preserved in their substantiality. Kwan Yin! says, ‘To him who does not dwell in himself the forms of things show themselves as they are. His movement is like that of water; his stillness is like that of a mirror; his response is like that of the echo. His tenuity makes him seem to be disappearing altogether; he is still as a clear (lake), harmonious in his association with others, and he counts gain as loss. He does not take precedence of others, but follows them.’ L4o Tan? says, ‘ He knows his masculine power, but maintains his female weakness,—becoming the channel into which all streams flow. He knows his white purity, but keeps his disgrace,—becoming the valley of the world. Men all prefer to be first; he alone chooses to be last, saying, “I will receive the offscourings of the world.” Men all choose fulness; he alone chooses emptiness. He does not store, and therefore he has a superabundance; he looks solitary, but has a multitude around him. In his conducting 1 Kwan Yin;—see Book XIX, par. 2, and vol. xxxix, p. 35. In the Catalogue of the Han Library there is an entry of a work b Kwan Yin in nine phien; and there is still a work current in China, called Awan Yin-3ze in one fiian, but it is not generally received as genuine. * See the account of L&o-gze in vol. xxxix, pp. 34-36. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 227
3* See the account of L&o-gze in vol. xxxix, pp. 34-36. PT. III. SECT. XI. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 227 of himself he is easy and leisurely and wastes nothing. He does nothing, and laughs at the clever and ingenious. Men all seek for happiness, but he feels complete in his imperfect condition, and says, “ Let me only escape blame.” He regards what is deepest as his root, and what is most restrictive as his rule; and says, “The strong is broken; the sharp and pointed is blunted.” He is always generous and forbearing with others, and does not encroach on any man ;—this may be pronounced the height (of perfection).’ O Kwan Yin, and L4o Tan, ye were among the greatest men of antiquity; True men indeed! 6. That the shadowy and still is without bodily form; that change and transformation are ever proceeding, but incapable of being determined. What is death ? Whatis life ? What is meant by the union of Heaven and Earth? Does the spiritual intelligence go away? Shadowy, where does it go? Subtle, whither does it proceed? All things being arranged as they are, there is no one place which can be fitly ascribed to it. Such were the questions belonging to the scheme of T4o in antiquity, and they. were appreciated by Kwang Kéu. When he heard of such subjects, he was delighted with them. (He discussed them), using strange and mystical expressions, wild and extravagant words, and phrases to which no definite meaning could be assigned. -He constantly indulged his own wayward ideas, but did not make himself a partisan, nor look at them tas peculiar to himself. Considering that men were 1 From the ‘Lao Tan says’ down to this, may be said to be all quotation, with more or less exactness, from the Tao Teh Xing. See chaps. 28, 22, et al. Q2 228 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. XXXIII.
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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