Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1The masculine is pure and the feminine is turbid; the masculine moves and the feminine is still*. The radical (Purity) descended, and the (turbid) issue flowed abroad ; and thus all things were produced}. The pure is the source of the turbid, and motion is the foundation of rest. If man could always be pure and still, heaven and earth would both revert (to non-existence) *. 1 This paragraph is intended to set forth ‘ the production of all things ;’ but it does so in a way that is hardly intelligible. Comparing what is said here with the utterances in the former paragraph, T4o would seem to be used in two CH. I. THE CLASSIC OF PURITY. 251 senses; first as an Immaterial Power or Force, and next as the Material Substance, out of which all things come. Li Hsi-yiieh says that in the first member of par. 1 we have ‘the Unlimited (or Infinite) producing the Grand (or Primal) Finite.’ On the TAo in par. 2 he says nothing. The fact is that the subject of creation in the deepest sense of the name is too high for the human mind. ® Compare T. T. X., ch. 61. 8 I do not understand this, but I cannot translate the Text otherwise. Mr. Balfour has :—‘ If a man is able to remain pure and motionless, Heaven and Earth will both at once come and dwell in him. Lt explains thus :—JR i Wh it — FER A RR HE RR. Compare T. T. KX, ch. 16, and especially Ho-shang Kung’s title to it,—Br 4h. 3. Now the spirit of man loves Purity, but his mind! disturbs it. The mind of man loves stillness, but his desires draw it away?. If he could always send his desires away, his mind would of itself become still. Let his mind be made clean, and his Spirit will of itself become pure. As a matter of course the six desires? will not arise, and the three poisons ° will be taken away and disappear. 1 Téoism thus recognises in man the spirit, the mind, and the body. 2 «The six desires’ are those which have their inlets in the eyes, ears, nostrils, the tongue, the sense of touch, and the imagination. The two last are expressed in Chinese by shan, ‘the body,’ and i, ‘ the idea, or thought.’ 8 ‘The three poisons’ are greed, anger, and stupidity ;— see the Khang-hsi Thesaurus, under Fg. 4. The reason why men are not able to attain to this, is because their minds have not been cleansed, and their desires have not been sent away. 252 .THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. I If one is able to send the desires away, when he then looks in at his mind, it is no longer his; when he looks out at his body, it is no longer his; and when he looks farther off at external things, they are things which he has nothing to do with. When he understands these three things, there will appear to him only vacancy. This contemplation of vacancy will awaken the idea of vacuity. Without such vacuity there is no vacancy. The idea of vacuous space having vanished, that of nothingness itself also disappears; and when the idea of nothingness has disappeared, there ensues serenely the condition of constant stillness.
2Without such vacuity there is no vacancy. The idea of vacuous space having vanished, that of nothingness itself also disappears; and when the idea of nothingness has disappeared, there ensues serenely the condition of constant stillness. In this paragraph we have what Mr. Wylie calls ‘the subjection of the mental faculties ;’ and I must confess myself unable to understand what it is. It is probably another way of describing the T4oist trance which we find once and again in Kwang-jze, ‘ when the body becomes like a withered tree, and the mind like slaked lime’ (Bk. II, par. 1,etal.). But such a sublimation of the being, as the characteristic of its serene stillness and rest, is to me inconceivable. 5. In that condition of rest independently of place how can any desire arise? And when no desire any longer arises, there is the True stillness and rest. That True (stillness) becomes (a) constant quality, and responds to external things (without error) ; yea, that True and Constant quality holds possession of the nature. In such constant response and constant stillness there is the constant Purity and Rest. He who has this absolute Purity enters gradually into the (inspiration of the) True Tao. And CH. Il. THE CLASSIC OF PURITY. . 253 having entered thereinto, he is styled Possessor of the TAo. . Although he is styled Possessor of the T4o, in reality he does not think that he has become possessed of anything. It is as accomplishing the transformation of all living things, that he is styled Possessor of the T do. He who is able to understand this may transmit to others the Sacred T4o. This is the consummation of the state of Purity. In explaining the former sentence of the fifth member, Li Hsi- yiieh uses the characters of T. T. K., ch. 4, ig ri ita Fi Zz Rm A FH with some variation, — a im KA 2, A imi 1B. 2. 1. L&o the Master said, Scholars of the highest class do not strive (for anything); those of the lowest class are fond of striving’. Those who possess in the highest degree the attributes (of the To) do not show them; those who possess them in a low degree hold them fast (and display them) *. Those who ‘so hold them fast and display them are not styled (Possessors of) the T4o and Its attributes 2, 1 Compare the T. T. X., ch. 41, 1. 2 Compare the T. T. X., ch. 38, 1. 2. The reason why all men do not obtain the True T4o is because their minds are perverted. Their minds being perverted, their spirits become perturbed. Their minds being perturbed, they are attracted towards external things. Being attracted towards external things, they begin to seek for them greedily. This greedy quest leads to perplexities and annoyances; and these again result in disordered 254 _THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. I.
3Their minds being perturbed, they are attracted towards external things. Being attracted towards external things, they begin to seek for them greedily. This greedy quest leads to perplexities and annoyances; and these again result in disordered 254 _THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. I. thoughts, which cause anxiety and trouble to both body and mind. The parties then meet with foul disgraces, flow wildly on through the phases of life and death, are liable constantly to sink in the sea of bitterness, and for ever lose the True T Ao. 3. The True and Abiding Tao! They who understand it naturally obtain it. And they who come to understand the T4o abide in Purity and Stillness. Our brief Classic thus concludes, and our commentator Li thus sums up his remarks on it :—‘ The men who understand the T4o do so simply by means of the Absolute Purity, and the acquiring this Absolute Purity depends entirely on the Putting away of Desire, which is the urgent practical lesson of the Treatise.’ I quoted in my introductory remarks Li’s account of the origin of the Classic by its reputed author Ko Hsiian. I will now conclude with the words which he subjoins from ‘a True Man, 30 Hsiian : ’—‘ Students of the T4o, who keep this Classic in their hands and croon over its contents, will get good Spirits from the ten heavens to watch over and protect their bodies, after which their spirits will be preserved by the seal of jade, and their bodies refined by the elixir of gold. Both body and spirit will become exquisitely ethereal, and be in true union with the T4o!’ Of this ‘True Man, 30 Hsiian,’ I have not been able to ascertain anything: The Divine Ruler of the eastern Hwa, referred to on p. 248, is mentioned in the work of Wang K/Ai (ch. 241, p. 21>), but with no definite information about him. The author says his surname was Wang, but he knows neither his name nor when he lived. APPENDIX II. Yin Fd Xing, or ‘Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and the Unseen.’ In the KAien-lung Catalogue of the Imperial Library, ch. 146, Part iii, this Book occupies the first place among all Taoist works, with three notices, which all precede the account of Ho-shang Kung’s Commentary on the T4o Teh King. From the work of Lao-3ze we are conducted along the course of T4oist literature to the year 1626, when the catalogue of what is called ‘the Taoist Canon!’ appeared. Ch. 147 then returns to the Yin FQ King, and treats of nine other works upon it, the last being the Commentary of Lt Kwang-li, one of the principal ministers and great scholars in the time of X/ien-lung’s grandfather, known as Khang-hs? from the name of his reign.
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.
1The masculine is pure and the feminine is turbid; the masculine moves and the feminine is still*. The radical (Purity) descended, and the (turbid) issue flowed abroad ; and thus all things were produced}. The pure is the source of the turbid, and motion is the foundation of rest. If man could always be pure and still, heaven and earth would both revert (to non-existence) *. 1 This paragraph is intended to set forth ‘ the production of all things ;’ but it does so in a way that is hardly intelligible. Comparing what is said here with the utterances in the former paragraph, T4o would seem to be used in two CH. I. THE CLASSIC OF PURITY. 251 senses; first as an Immaterial Power or Force, and next as the Material Substance, out of which all things come. Li Hsi-yiieh says that in the first member of par. 1 we have ‘the Unlimited (or Infinite) producing the Grand (or Primal) Finite.’ On the TAo in par. 2 he says nothing. The fact is that the subject of creation in the deepest sense of the name is too high for the human mind. ® Compare T. T. X., ch. 61. 8 I do not understand this, but I cannot translate the Text otherwise. Mr. Balfour has :—‘ If a man is able to remain pure and motionless, Heaven and Earth will both at once come and dwell in him. Lt explains thus :—JR i Wh it — FER A RR HE RR. Compare T. T. KX, ch. 16, and especially Ho-shang Kung’s title to it,—Br 4h. 3. Now the spirit of man loves Purity, but his mind! disturbs it. The mind of man loves stillness, but his desires draw it away?. If he could always send his desires away, his mind would of itself become still. Let his mind be made clean, and his Spirit will of itself become pure. As a matter of course the six desires? will not arise, and the three poisons ° will be taken away and disappear. 1 Téoism thus recognises in man the spirit, the mind, and the body. 2 «The six desires’ are those which have their inlets in the eyes, ears, nostrils, the tongue, the sense of touch, and the imagination. The two last are expressed in Chinese by shan, ‘the body,’ and i, ‘ the idea, or thought.’ 8 ‘The three poisons’ are greed, anger, and stupidity ;— see the Khang-hsi Thesaurus, under Fg. 4. The reason why men are not able to attain to this, is because their minds have not been cleansed, and their desires have not been sent away. 252 .THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. I If one is able to send the desires away, when he then looks in at his mind, it is no longer his; when he looks out at his body, it is no longer his; and when he looks farther off at external things, they are things which he has nothing to do with. When he understands these three things, there will appear to him only vacancy. This contemplation of vacancy will awaken the idea of vacuity. Without such vacuity there is no vacancy. The idea of vacuous space having vanished, that of nothingness itself also disappears; and when the idea of nothingness has disappeared, there ensues serenely the condition of constant stillness.
2Without such vacuity there is no vacancy. The idea of vacuous space having vanished, that of nothingness itself also disappears; and when the idea of nothingness has disappeared, there ensues serenely the condition of constant stillness. In this paragraph we have what Mr. Wylie calls ‘the subjection of the mental faculties ;’ and I must confess myself unable to understand what it is. It is probably another way of describing the T4oist trance which we find once and again in Kwang-jze, ‘ when the body becomes like a withered tree, and the mind like slaked lime’ (Bk. II, par. 1,etal.). But such a sublimation of the being, as the characteristic of its serene stillness and rest, is to me inconceivable. 5. In that condition of rest independently of place how can any desire arise? And when no desire any longer arises, there is the True stillness and rest. That True (stillness) becomes (a) constant quality, and responds to external things (without error) ; yea, that True and Constant quality holds possession of the nature. In such constant response and constant stillness there is the constant Purity and Rest. He who has this absolute Purity enters gradually into the (inspiration of the) True Tao. And CH. Il. THE CLASSIC OF PURITY. . 253 having entered thereinto, he is styled Possessor of the TAo. . Although he is styled Possessor of the T4o, in reality he does not think that he has become possessed of anything. It is as accomplishing the transformation of all living things, that he is styled Possessor of the T do. He who is able to understand this may transmit to others the Sacred T4o. This is the consummation of the state of Purity. In explaining the former sentence of the fifth member, Li Hsi- yiieh uses the characters of T. T. K., ch. 4, ig ri ita Fi Zz Rm A FH with some variation, — a im KA 2, A imi 1B. 2. 1. L&o the Master said, Scholars of the highest class do not strive (for anything); those of the lowest class are fond of striving’. Those who possess in the highest degree the attributes (of the To) do not show them; those who possess them in a low degree hold them fast (and display them) *. Those who ‘so hold them fast and display them are not styled (Possessors of) the T4o and Its attributes 2, 1 Compare the T. T. X., ch. 41, 1. 2 Compare the T. T. X., ch. 38, 1. 2. The reason why all men do not obtain the True T4o is because their minds are perverted. Their minds being perverted, their spirits become perturbed. Their minds being perturbed, they are attracted towards external things. Being attracted towards external things, they begin to seek for them greedily. This greedy quest leads to perplexities and annoyances; and these again result in disordered 254 _THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. I.
3Their minds being perturbed, they are attracted towards external things. Being attracted towards external things, they begin to seek for them greedily. This greedy quest leads to perplexities and annoyances; and these again result in disordered 254 _THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP. I. thoughts, which cause anxiety and trouble to both body and mind. The parties then meet with foul disgraces, flow wildly on through the phases of life and death, are liable constantly to sink in the sea of bitterness, and for ever lose the True T Ao. 3. The True and Abiding Tao! They who understand it naturally obtain it. And they who come to understand the T4o abide in Purity and Stillness. Our brief Classic thus concludes, and our commentator Li thus sums up his remarks on it :—‘ The men who understand the T4o do so simply by means of the Absolute Purity, and the acquiring this Absolute Purity depends entirely on the Putting away of Desire, which is the urgent practical lesson of the Treatise.’ I quoted in my introductory remarks Li’s account of the origin of the Classic by its reputed author Ko Hsiian. I will now conclude with the words which he subjoins from ‘a True Man, 30 Hsiian : ’—‘ Students of the T4o, who keep this Classic in their hands and croon over its contents, will get good Spirits from the ten heavens to watch over and protect their bodies, after which their spirits will be preserved by the seal of jade, and their bodies refined by the elixir of gold. Both body and spirit will become exquisitely ethereal, and be in true union with the T4o!’ Of this ‘True Man, 30 Hsiian,’ I have not been able to ascertain anything: The Divine Ruler of the eastern Hwa, referred to on p. 248, is mentioned in the work of Wang K/Ai (ch. 241, p. 21>), but with no definite information about him. The author says his surname was Wang, but he knows neither his name nor when he lived. APPENDIX II. Yin Fd Xing, or ‘Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and the Unseen.’ In the KAien-lung Catalogue of the Imperial Library, ch. 146, Part iii, this Book occupies the first place among all Taoist works, with three notices, which all precede the account of Ho-shang Kung’s Commentary on the T4o Teh King. From the work of Lao-3ze we are conducted along the course of T4oist literature to the year 1626, when the catalogue of what is called ‘the Taoist Canon!’ appeared. Ch. 147 then returns to the Yin FQ King, and treats of nine other works upon it, the last being the Commentary of Lt Kwang-li, one of the principal ministers and great scholars in the time of X/ien-lung’s grandfather, known as Khang-hs? from the name of his reign.
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.
No commentary for this page.