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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1I cannot say that I fully understand this concluding paragraph of the Yin Fi King. One thing is plain from it,—how the Yi King was pressed into the service of the TAoism that prevailed when it was written. I leave it with the judgment on it, quoted by Li Hsi-yiieh from a Lt Bhien-hsii. ‘The subject-matter of the Yin Fa: and Téo Teh is all intended to set forth the action by contraries of the despoiling powers in nature and society. As to finding in them directions for the government of states, the conduct of war, and the mastery of the kingdom, with such expressions as those about a wonderful machinery by which the heavenly bodies are produced, the eight diagrams, the cycle, spirit-like springs, and hidden ghostlinesses :—they all have a deep meaning, but men do not know it. They who go to the Yin FQ for direction in war and use LAéo-jze for guidance in government go far astray from the meaning of both.’ APPENDIX III. Yii Shad Xing, or ‘The Classic of the Pivot of Jade.’ Mr. Wylie says (Notes, p. 179) that the Pivot of Jade is much used in the ritual services of Taoism, meaning that it is frequently read in the assemblies of its monks, The object of the Treatise, according to Li Hsi-yiieh, is ‘to teach men to discipline and refine their spirit ;’ and he illustrates the name by referring to the North Star, which is called ‘the Pivot of the Sky,’ revolving in its place, and carrying round with it all the other heavenly bodies. So the body of man is carried round his spirit and by it, and when the spirit has been disciplined and refined, till it is freed from every obscuring influence, and becomes solid, soft, and strong as jade, the name, ‘ the Pivot of Jade,’ is appropriate to it. The name of the Treatise, when given at full length, is— ‘The True Classic of the Pivot of Jade, delivered by the Heaven-Honoured One, Who produces Universal Transformation by the Sound of His Thunder.’ To this personage, as Wylie observes, the T4oists attribute a fabulous antiquity, but there is little doubt that the author was a Hsiian-yang 3ze, about the time of the Yiian dynasty (A. D. 1280-1367). From the work of Wang KAi (ch. 243), we learn that this Hsiian-yang 3ze was the denomination of Au-yang Yii-yiien, a scion of the famous Au-yang family. What he says is to the following effect :— 1. The Heaven-honoured One says, ‘All you, Heaven-endowed men, who wish to be instructed \ 266 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. “APP. IIT. about the Perfect T4o, the Perfect TAo is very recondite, and by nothing else but Itself can it be described. Since ye wish to hear about it, ye cannot do so by the hearing of the ear :—that which eludes both the ears and eyes is the True T4o; what can be heard and seen perishes, and only this survives. There is (much) that you have not yet learned, and especially you have not acquired this! Till you have learned what the ears do not hear, how can the T4o be spoken about at all?’
2There is (much) that you have not yet learned, and especially you have not acquired this! Till you have learned what the ears do not hear, how can the T4o be spoken about at all?’ ‘Heaven-honoured (Thien 3un)’ is a title given by the Taoists to the highest objects of their reverence and worship. Chalmers translates it by ‘Celestial Excellency,’ and observes that it is given to ‘all the Three Pure Ones ;’ but its application is much more extensive, as its use in this Treatise sufficiently proves. No doubt it was first adopted after the example of the Buddhists, by whom Buddha is styled ‘World-honoured,’ or ‘ Ever-honoured’ (Shih 3un). The phrase Thien Zan, which I have translated here ‘ Heaven-endowed Men,’ is common to the three religions of China; but the meaning of it is very different in each. See the Confucian and the T4oist significations of it in the Khang-hst Thesaurus, under the phrase. Here it means ‘the men possessed by the T4o ;—T4Ao-Z4n of the highest class.’ In a Buddhist treatise the meaning would be ‘ Ye, devas and men.’ 2. The Heaven-honoured One says, ‘ Sincerity is the first step towards (the knowledge of) the T4o; it is by silence that that knowledge is maintained ; it is with gentleness that (the TAo) is employed. The employment of sincerity looks like stupidity; the employment of silence looks like difficulty of utterance; the employment of gentleness looks like want of ability. But having attained to this, you may APP, III, CLASSIC OF THE PIVOT OF JADE. 267 forget all bodily form ; you may forget your personality; you may forget that you are forgetting.’ ‘All this,” says Li Hsi-yiieh, ‘is the achievement of vacuity, an illustration of the freedom from purpose which is characteristic of the T4o.’ Compare par. 14 in the sixth Book of Kwang-jze. 3. ‘He who has taken the first steps towards (the knowledge of) the T4o knows where to stop; he who maintains the T4o in himself knows how to be diligently vigilant; he who employs It knows what is most subtle. ‘When one knows what is most subtle, the light of intelligence grows (around him); when he can know how to be diligently vigilant, his sage wisdom becomes complete; when he knows where to stop, he is grandly composed and restful. ‘When he is grandly composed and restful, his sage wisdom becomes complete; when his sage wisdom becomes complete, the light of intelligence grows (around him); when the light of intelligence grows around him, he is one with the T do. ‘This is the condition which is styled the True Forgetfulness ;—a forgetting which does not forget ; a forgetting of what cannot be forgotten. ‘ That which cannot be forgotten is the True T4o. The T4o is in heaven and earth, but heaven and earth are not conscious of It. Whether It seem to have feelings or to be without them, It is (always) one and the same.’
3‘ That which cannot be forgotten is the True T4o. The T4o is in heaven and earth, but heaven and earth are not conscious of It. Whether It seem to have feelings or to be without them, It is (always) one and the same.’ 4. The Heaven-honoured One says, ‘While I am in this world, what shall I do to benefit life? I occupy myself with this subtle and precious Treatise for the good of you, Heaven-endowed men. Those 268 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP, 11, who understand it will be allowed to ascend to the happy seats of the Immortals. ‘Students of the Tao believe that there are (the influences of) the ether and of destiny. But the (conditions of) climate being different, the constitutions received by men are naturally different, and hence they are ascribed to the ether. And the (conditions of ) wisdom and stupidity being different, their constitutions as fine and coarse are naturally different, and hence they are ascribed to the destiny. The destiny depends on fate; the ether depends on Heaven. ‘The restraints arising from the ether and destiny are the manacles decreed by Heaven. But if one acquire the True TAo, though stupid, he may become wise; though coarse, he may become fine ;—if there only be the decree of fate. ‘ Stupidity the darkest, and coarseness the densest, are consequences of climate; but the suffering of them and the changing of them may take place, when Heaven and Earth quicken the motive spring. When this is done without the knowledge of men, it is said to take place spontaneously. If it be done. with a consciousness of that want of knowledge, it is still said to take place spontaneously. The mystery of spontaneity is greater than that of knowledge; but how it comes to be what it is remains a thing unknown. But as to the T4o, It has not begun to come under the influence of what makes stupid and coarse. Hear this all ye Heaven (-endowed) men; and let all the multitude in all quarters rejoice.’ It may be considered as a proof of the difficulty of the Text that to this long paragraph Li Hsi-yiieh does not subjoin a single explanatory remark. APPENDIX IV. Zah Yung King, or ‘Classic of the Directory for a Day.’
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.
1I cannot say that I fully understand this concluding paragraph of the Yin Fi King. One thing is plain from it,—how the Yi King was pressed into the service of the TAoism that prevailed when it was written. I leave it with the judgment on it, quoted by Li Hsi-yiieh from a Lt Bhien-hsii. ‘The subject-matter of the Yin Fa: and Téo Teh is all intended to set forth the action by contraries of the despoiling powers in nature and society. As to finding in them directions for the government of states, the conduct of war, and the mastery of the kingdom, with such expressions as those about a wonderful machinery by which the heavenly bodies are produced, the eight diagrams, the cycle, spirit-like springs, and hidden ghostlinesses :—they all have a deep meaning, but men do not know it. They who go to the Yin FQ for direction in war and use LAéo-jze for guidance in government go far astray from the meaning of both.’ APPENDIX III. Yii Shad Xing, or ‘The Classic of the Pivot of Jade.’ Mr. Wylie says (Notes, p. 179) that the Pivot of Jade is much used in the ritual services of Taoism, meaning that it is frequently read in the assemblies of its monks, The object of the Treatise, according to Li Hsi-yiieh, is ‘to teach men to discipline and refine their spirit ;’ and he illustrates the name by referring to the North Star, which is called ‘the Pivot of the Sky,’ revolving in its place, and carrying round with it all the other heavenly bodies. So the body of man is carried round his spirit and by it, and when the spirit has been disciplined and refined, till it is freed from every obscuring influence, and becomes solid, soft, and strong as jade, the name, ‘ the Pivot of Jade,’ is appropriate to it. The name of the Treatise, when given at full length, is— ‘The True Classic of the Pivot of Jade, delivered by the Heaven-Honoured One, Who produces Universal Transformation by the Sound of His Thunder.’ To this personage, as Wylie observes, the T4oists attribute a fabulous antiquity, but there is little doubt that the author was a Hsiian-yang 3ze, about the time of the Yiian dynasty (A. D. 1280-1367). From the work of Wang KAi (ch. 243), we learn that this Hsiian-yang 3ze was the denomination of Au-yang Yii-yiien, a scion of the famous Au-yang family. What he says is to the following effect :— 1. The Heaven-honoured One says, ‘All you, Heaven-endowed men, who wish to be instructed \ 266 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. “APP. IIT. about the Perfect T4o, the Perfect TAo is very recondite, and by nothing else but Itself can it be described. Since ye wish to hear about it, ye cannot do so by the hearing of the ear :—that which eludes both the ears and eyes is the True T4o; what can be heard and seen perishes, and only this survives. There is (much) that you have not yet learned, and especially you have not acquired this! Till you have learned what the ears do not hear, how can the T4o be spoken about at all?’
2There is (much) that you have not yet learned, and especially you have not acquired this! Till you have learned what the ears do not hear, how can the T4o be spoken about at all?’ ‘Heaven-honoured (Thien 3un)’ is a title given by the Taoists to the highest objects of their reverence and worship. Chalmers translates it by ‘Celestial Excellency,’ and observes that it is given to ‘all the Three Pure Ones ;’ but its application is much more extensive, as its use in this Treatise sufficiently proves. No doubt it was first adopted after the example of the Buddhists, by whom Buddha is styled ‘World-honoured,’ or ‘ Ever-honoured’ (Shih 3un). The phrase Thien Zan, which I have translated here ‘ Heaven-endowed Men,’ is common to the three religions of China; but the meaning of it is very different in each. See the Confucian and the T4oist significations of it in the Khang-hst Thesaurus, under the phrase. Here it means ‘the men possessed by the T4o ;—T4Ao-Z4n of the highest class.’ In a Buddhist treatise the meaning would be ‘ Ye, devas and men.’ 2. The Heaven-honoured One says, ‘ Sincerity is the first step towards (the knowledge of) the T4o; it is by silence that that knowledge is maintained ; it is with gentleness that (the TAo) is employed. The employment of sincerity looks like stupidity; the employment of silence looks like difficulty of utterance; the employment of gentleness looks like want of ability. But having attained to this, you may APP, III, CLASSIC OF THE PIVOT OF JADE. 267 forget all bodily form ; you may forget your personality; you may forget that you are forgetting.’ ‘All this,” says Li Hsi-yiieh, ‘is the achievement of vacuity, an illustration of the freedom from purpose which is characteristic of the T4o.’ Compare par. 14 in the sixth Book of Kwang-jze. 3. ‘He who has taken the first steps towards (the knowledge of) the T4o knows where to stop; he who maintains the T4o in himself knows how to be diligently vigilant; he who employs It knows what is most subtle. ‘When one knows what is most subtle, the light of intelligence grows (around him); when he can know how to be diligently vigilant, his sage wisdom becomes complete; when he knows where to stop, he is grandly composed and restful. ‘When he is grandly composed and restful, his sage wisdom becomes complete; when his sage wisdom becomes complete, the light of intelligence grows (around him); when the light of intelligence grows around him, he is one with the T do. ‘This is the condition which is styled the True Forgetfulness ;—a forgetting which does not forget ; a forgetting of what cannot be forgotten. ‘ That which cannot be forgotten is the True T4o. The T4o is in heaven and earth, but heaven and earth are not conscious of It. Whether It seem to have feelings or to be without them, It is (always) one and the same.’
3‘ That which cannot be forgotten is the True T4o. The T4o is in heaven and earth, but heaven and earth are not conscious of It. Whether It seem to have feelings or to be without them, It is (always) one and the same.’ 4. The Heaven-honoured One says, ‘While I am in this world, what shall I do to benefit life? I occupy myself with this subtle and precious Treatise for the good of you, Heaven-endowed men. Those 268 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. APP, 11, who understand it will be allowed to ascend to the happy seats of the Immortals. ‘Students of the Tao believe that there are (the influences of) the ether and of destiny. But the (conditions of) climate being different, the constitutions received by men are naturally different, and hence they are ascribed to the ether. And the (conditions of ) wisdom and stupidity being different, their constitutions as fine and coarse are naturally different, and hence they are ascribed to the destiny. The destiny depends on fate; the ether depends on Heaven. ‘The restraints arising from the ether and destiny are the manacles decreed by Heaven. But if one acquire the True TAo, though stupid, he may become wise; though coarse, he may become fine ;—if there only be the decree of fate. ‘ Stupidity the darkest, and coarseness the densest, are consequences of climate; but the suffering of them and the changing of them may take place, when Heaven and Earth quicken the motive spring. When this is done without the knowledge of men, it is said to take place spontaneously. If it be done. with a consciousness of that want of knowledge, it is still said to take place spontaneously. The mystery of spontaneity is greater than that of knowledge; but how it comes to be what it is remains a thing unknown. But as to the T4o, It has not begun to come under the influence of what makes stupid and coarse. Hear this all ye Heaven (-endowed) men; and let all the multitude in all quarters rejoice.’ It may be considered as a proof of the difficulty of the Text that to this long paragraph Li Hsi-yiieh does not subjoin a single explanatory remark. APPENDIX IV. Zah Yung King, or ‘Classic of the Directory for a Day.’
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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