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《Chuangtse: Mystic and Humorist》


 Lin Yutangs Introduction to Chuangtse: Mystic and

    Jesus was followed by St. Paul, Socrates by Plato, fucius by Mencius, and Laotse by gtse. In all four cases, the first was the real teacher aher wrote no books or wrote very little, and the sed began to develop the does and wrote long and profound discourses. gtse, who died about 275 B.C., was separated from Laotses death by not quite two hundred years, and was strictly a porary of Mencius. Yet the most curious thing is that although both these writers mentiohe other philosophers of the time, her was mentioned by the other in his works.

    On the whole, gtse must be sidered the greatest prose writer of the Chou Dynasty, as Chu: Yu:an must be sidered the greatest poet. His claim to this positios both upon the brilliance of his style and the depth of his thought. That explains the fact that although he robably the greatest slanderer of fucius, and with Motse, the greatest antagonist of fu ideas, no fu scholar has not openly or secretly admired him. People who would not openly agree with his ideas would heless read him as literature.

    Nor  it be sa<kbd>９９lib.</kbd>id truly that a pure-blooded ese could ever quite disagree with gtses ideas. Taoism is not a school of thought in a, it is a deep, fual trait of ese thinking, and of the ese attitude toward life and toward society. It has depth, while fuism has only a practical sense of proportions; it enriches ese poetry and imagination in an immeasurable manner, and it gives a philosophi to whatever is in the idle, freedom-loving, poetic, vagabond ese soul. It provides the only safe, romantic release from the severe fu classic restraint, and humahe very humanists themselves; therefore when a ese succeeds, he is always a fuist, and when he fails, he is always a Taoist. As more people fail than succeed in this world, and as all who succeed know that they succeed but in a lame and halting manner when they examihemselves in the dark hours of the night, I believe Taoist ideas are more often at work than fuism. Even a fuist succeeds only when he knows he never really succeeds, that is, by following Taoist wisdom. Tseng Kuofan, the great fu general who suppressed the Taiping Rebellion, had failed in his early campaign and began to succeed only one m when he realized with true Taoist humility that he was "no good," and gave power to his assistant generals.

    gtse is therefore important as the first one who fully developed the Taoistic thesis of the rhythm of life, tained in the epigrams of Laotse. Uher ese philosophers principally occupied with practical questions of gover and personal morality, he gives the only metaphysics existing in ese literature before the ing of Buddhism. I am sure his mysticism will charm some readers and repel others. Certain traits in it, like weeding out the idea of the ego and quiet plation and "seeing the Solitary" explain <abbr></abbr>how these native ese ideas were back of the development of the  (Japanese Zen) Buddhism. Any branch of human knowledge, eveudy of the rocks of the earth and the ic rays of heaven, strikes mysticism when is reaches ah at all, and it seems ese Taoism skipped the stific study of nature to reach the same intuitive clusion by insight aloherefore it is not surprising that Albert Einstein and gtse agree, as agree they must, on the relativity of all standards. The only difference is that Eiakes on the more difficult and, to a ese, more stupid work of mathematical proof, while gtse furhe philosophic import of this theory of relativity, which must be sooner or later developed by Western philosophers in the  decades.

    A word must be added about gtses attitude toward fucius. It will be evident to any reader that he was one of the greatest romanticizers of history, and that any of the aes he tells about fucius, or Laotse or the Yellow Emperor must be accepted on a par with those aes he tells about the versation of General Clouds and Great Nebulous, or between the Spirit of the River and the Spirit of the O. It must be also plainly uood that he was a humorist with a wild and rather luxuriant fantasy, with an Ameri love for exaggeration and for the big. One should therefore read him as one would a humorist writer knowing that he is frivolous when he is profound and profound when he is frivolous.

    The exta of gtse sists of thirty<u>藏书网</u>-three chapters, all of them a mixture of philosophic disquisition and aes or parables. The chapters taining the most virulent attacks on fuism (not included here) have been sidered fery, and a few ese "textual critics" have even sidered all of them fery except the first seven chapters. This is easy to uand because it is the modern ese fashion to talk of fery. One  rest assured that these "textual critics" are uific because very little of it is philological criticism, but sists of opinions as to style and whether gtse had or had not enough culture to attack fucius only in a mild and polished manner. (See samples of this type of "criticism" in my long introdu to The Book of History.) Only one or two anas are pointed out, which could be due to later interpolations and the rest is a subjective assertion of opinion. Even the evaluations of style are faulty, and at least a distin should be made between interpolations and wholesale fery. Some of the best pieces of gtse are decidedly outside the first seven chapters, and it has not even occurred to the critics to provide an answer as to who else could have writtehere is no reason to be sure that even the most eloquent exposition of the thieves philosophy, regarded by most as fery, <code></code>was not the work of gtse, who had so little to do with the "gentlemen." Oher hand, I believe various aes have been freely added by later geions into the extremely loose structure of the chapters.

    I have chosen here eleven chapters, including all but one of the first best seven chapters. With one minor exception, these chapters are translated plete. The philosophically most important are the chapters on "Levelling All Things" and "Autumn Floods." The chapters, "Joioes," "Horses Hooves," "Opening Trunks" and "Tolerance" belong in one group with the main theme of protest against civilization. The most eloquent protest is tained in "Opening Trunks," while the most characteristically Taoistic is the chapter on "Tolerahe most mystid deeply religious piece is "The Great Supreme." The most beautifully written is "Autumn Floods." The queerest is the chapter on "Deformities" (a typically "romanticist" theme). The most delightful is probably "Horses Hooves," and the most fantastic is the first chapter, "A Happy Excursion." Some of gtses parables iher chapters will be found under "Parables of A Philosophers" elsewhere in this volume.

    I have based my translation on that of Herbert A. Giles. It soon became apparent in my work that Giles was free in his translation where exaess was easy and possible, and that he had a glib, colloquial style which might be sidered a blemish. The result is that hardly a line has bee untouched, and I have had to make my own translation,<big>99lib?</big> taking advantage of whatever is good in his English rendering. But still I owe a great debt to my predecessor, and he has notably succeeded in this difficult task in many passages. Where his rendering is good, I have not chosen to be different. In this sehe translation may be regarded as my own.

    It should be hat throughout the text, Giles translates "Heaven" as "God" where it means God. Oher hand, the term "Creator" is a rendering of chao-wu, or "he who creates things." I will not go into details of translation of other philosophic terms here.

 A Happy Excursion

    In the northerhere is a fish, called the kun, I do not know how many thousand li in size. This kun ges into a bird, called the peng. Its back is I do not know how many thousand li ih. When it is moved, it flies, its wings obsg the sky like clouds.

    When on a voyage, this bird prepares to start for the Southern O, the Celestial Lake. And in the Records of Marvels we read that when the peng flies southwards, the water is smitten for a space of three thousand li around, while the bird itself mounts upon a great wind to a height of housand li, for a flight of six months duration.

    There mounting aloft, the bird saw the moving white mists of spring, the dust-clouds, and the living things blowing their breaths among them. It wondered whether the blue of the sky was its real color, or only the result of distahout end, and saw that the things oh appeared the same to it.

    If there is not suffit depth, water will not float large ships. Upset a cupful into a hole in the yard, and a mustard-seed will be your boat. Try to float the cup, and it will be grounded, due to the disproportioween water and vessel.

    So with air. If there is not suffit a depth, it ot support large wings. And for this bird, a depth of housand li is necessary to bear it up. Then, gliding upon the wind, with nothing save the clear sky above, and no obstacles in the way, it starts upon its jouro the south.

    A cicada and a young dove laughed, saying, &quot;Now, when I fly with all my might, tis as much as I  do to get from tree to tree. And sometimes I do not reach, but fall to the ground midway. What then  be the use of going up housand li to start for the south?&quot;

    He who goes to the tryside taking three meals with him es back with his stomach as full as whearted. But he who travels a hundred li must take ground riough for an ht stay. And he who travels a thousand li must supply himself with provisions for three months. Those two little creatures, what should they know?

    Small knowledge has not the pass of great knowledge any more than a short year has the length of a long year. How  we ></a>tell that this is so? The fungus plant of a m knows not the alternation of day and night. The cicada knows not the alternation of spring and autumn. Theirs are short years. But in the south of Chu there is a mingling (tree) whose spring and autumn are each of five hundred years duration. And in former days there was a large tree which had a spring and autumn each of eight thousand years. Yet, Peng Tsu {1} is known for reag a great age and is still, alas! an object of envy to all!

    It was on this very subject that the Emperor Tang {2} spoke to Chi, as follows: &quot;At the north of gta, there is a Dark Sea, the Celestial Lake. In it there is a fish several thousand li ih, and I know not how many ih. It is called the kun. There is also a bird, called the peng, with a back like Mount Tai, and wings like clouds across the sky. It soars up upon a whirlwind to a height of housand li, far above the region of the clouds, with only the clear sky above it. And then it directs its flight towards the Southern O.

    &quot;And a lake sparrow laughed, and said: Pray, what may that creature be going to do? I rise but a few yards in the air ale down again, after flying around among the reeds. That is as much as any one would want to fly. Now, wherever  this creature be going to?&quot; Such, indeed, is the differeween small and great.

    Take, for instance, a man who creditably fills some small office, or whose influence spreads over a village, or whose character pleases a certain prince. His opinion of himself will be much the same as that lake sparrows. The philosopher Yung of Sung would laugh at such a one. If the whole world flattered him, he would not be affected thereby, nor if the whole world blamed him would he be dissuaded from what he was doing. For Yung  distinguish between essend superficialities, and uand what is true honor and shame. Such men are rare in their geion. But even he has ablished himself.

    Now Liehtse {3} could ride upon the wind. Sailing happily in the cool breeze, he would go on for fifteen days before his return. Among mortals who attain happiness, such a man is rare. Yet although Liehtse could dispeh walking, he would still have to depend upon something. {4}

    As for one who is charioted upoernal fitness of Heaven ah, driving before him the ging elements as his team to roam through the realms of the Infinite, upon what, then, would such a one have o depend? Thus it is said, &quot;The perfect man ignores self; the divine man ignores achievement; the true Sage ignores reputation.&quot;

    The Emperor Yao {5} wished to abdicate in favor of Hsu: Yu, saying, &quot;If, when the sun and moon are shining, the torch is still lighted, would it be not difficult for the latter to shine? If, when the rain has fallen, one should still tio water the fields, would this not be a waste of labor? Now if you would assume the reins of gover, the empire would be well governed, a I am filling this office. I am scious of my own deficies, and I beg to offer you the Empire.&quot;

    &quot;You are ruling the Empire, and the Empire is already well ruled,&quot; replied Hsu: Yu. &quot;Why should I take your place? Should I do this for the sake of a name? A name is but the shadow of reality, and should I trouble myself about the shadow? The tit, building its  in the mighty forest, occupies but a siwig. The beaver slakes its thirst from the river, but drinks enough only to fill its belly. I would rather go back: I have no use for the empire! If the cook is uo prepare the funeral sacrifices, the representative of the worshipped spirit and the officer of prayer may not step over the wines as and do it for him.&quot;

    Wu said to Lien Shu, &quot;I heard Chieh Yu: talk on high and fine subjects endlessly. I was greatly startled at what he said, for his words seemed interminable as the Milky Way, but they are quite detached from our on human experience.&quot;

    &quot;What was it?&quot; asked Lien Shu.

    &quot;He declared,&quot; replied  Wu, &quot;that on the Miao-ku-yi mountain there lives a divine one, whose skin is white like ice or snow, whose grad elegance are like those of a virgin, who eats no grain, but lives on air and dew, and who, riding on clouds with flying dragons for his team, roams beyond the limits of the mortal regions. When his spirit gravitates, he  ward off corruption from all things, and bring good crops. That is why I call it nonsense, and do not believe it.&quot;

    &quot;Well,&quot; answered Lien Shu, &quot;you dont ask a blind mans opinion of beautiful designs, nor do you invite a deaf man to a cert. And blindness and deafness are not physical only. There is blindness and deafness of the mind. His words are like the unspoiled virgin. The good influence of such a man with such a character fills all creatio because a paltry geion cries for reform, you would have him busy himself about the details of an empire!

    &quot;Objective existences ot harm. In a flood which reached the sky, he would not be drowned. In a drought, though metals ran liquid and mountains were scorched up, he would not be hot. Out of his very dust and siftings you might fashion two such men as Yao and Shun {6}. And you would have him occupy himself with objectives!&quot;

    A man of the Sung State carried some ceremonial caps to the Yu:eh tribes for sale. But the men of Yu:eh used to cut off their hair and paint their bodies, so that they had no use for such things.

    The Emperor Yao ruled all under heaven and goverhe affairs of the entire try. After he paid a visit to the fes of the Miao-ku-yi Mountain, he felt on his return to his capital at Fenyang that the empire existed for him no more.

    Hueitse {7} said to gtse, &quot;The Prince of Wei gave me a seed of a large-sized kind of gourd. I pla, and it bore a fruit as big as a five bushel measure. Now had I used this for holding liquids, it would have been too heavy to lift; and had I cut it in half for ladles, the ladles would have been too flat for such purpose. Certainly it was a huge thing, but I had no use for it and so broke it up藏书网.&quot;

    &quot;It was rather you did not know how to use large things,&quot; replied gtse. &quot;There was a man of Sung who had a recipe for salve for chapped hands, his family having been silk-washers feions. A stranger who had heard of it came and offered him a hundred ounces of silver for this recipe; whereupon he called together his smen and said, We have never made much money by silk-washing. Now, we  sell the recipe for a hundred ounces in a single day. Let the stranger have it.

    &quot;The stranger got the recipe, a and had an interview with the Prince of Wu. The Yu:eh State was in trouble, and the Prince of Wu sent a general to fight a naval battle with Yu:eh at the beginning of wihe latter was totally defeated, and the stranger was rewarded with a piece of the Kings territory. Thus, while the efficacy of the salve to cure chapped <dfn>..</dfn>hands was in both cases the same, its applications were different. Here, it secured a title; there, the people remained silk-washers.

    &quot;Now as to your five-bushel gourd, why did you not make a float of it, and float about over river and lake? And you plain of its being too flat for holding things! I fear your mind is stuffy inside.&quot;

    Hueitse said to gtse, &quot;I have a large tree, called the ailanthus. Its trunk is sular and knotty that it ot be measured out for planks; while its branches are so twisted that they ot be cut out into discs or squares. It stands by the roadside, but no carpenter will look at it. Your words are like that tree -- big and useless, of no  to the world.&quot;

    &quot;Have you never seen a wild cat,&quot; rejoined gtse, &quot;croug down in wait for its prey? Right a and high and low, it springs about, until it gets caught in a trap or dies in a snare. Oher hand, there is the yak with its great huge body. It is big enough in all sce, but it ot catch miow if you have a big tree and are at a loss what to do with it, why not plant it in the Village of Nowhere, in the great wilds, where you might loiter idly by its side, and lie down in blissful repose beh its shade? There it would be safe from the axe and from all other injury. For being of no use to others, what could worry its mind?&quot;

 On Levelling All Things

    Tsechi of Nankuo sat leaning on a low table. Gazing up to heaven, he sighed and looked as though he had lost his mind.

    Yeseyu, who was standing by him, exclaimed, &quot;What are you thinking about that your body should bee thus like dead wood, your mind like burnt-out ders? Surely the man now leaning oable is not he who was here just now.&quot;

    &quot;My friend,&quot; replied Tsechi, &quot;your question is apposite. Today I have lost my Self.... Do you uand? ... Perhaps you only know the musian, and not that of Earth. Or even if you have heard the music of Earth, perhaps you have not heard the music of Heaven.&quot;

    &quot;Pray explain,&quot; said Tseyu.

    &quot;The breath of the universe,&quot; tisechi, &quot;is called wind. At times, it is inactive. But when active, all crevices resound to its blast. Have you never listeo its deafening roar?

    &quot;Caves and dells of hill and forest, hollows in huge trees of many a span in girth -- some are like nostrils, and some like mouths, and others like ears, beam-sockets, goblets, mortars, or like pools and puddles. And the wind goes rushing through them, like swirling torrents or singing arrows, bellowing, sousing, trilling, wailing, r, purling, whistling in f?９９ｌｉｂ?ront and eg behind, now soft with the cool blow, now shrill with the whirlwind, until the tempest is past and silence reigns supreme. Have you never witnessed how the trees and objects shake and quake, and twist and twirl?&quot;

    &quot;Well, then,&quot; enquired Tseyu, &quot;sihe music of Earth sists of hollows and apertures, and the musian of pipes and flutes, of what sists the music of Heaven?&quot;

    &quot;The effect of the wind upon these various apertures,&quot; replied Tsechi, &quot;is not uniform, but the sounds are produced acc to their individual capacities. Who is it that agitates their breasts?

    &quot;Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is tentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech tankerous.

    &quot;For whether the soul is locked in sleep or whether in waking hours the body moves, we are striving and struggling with the immediate circumstances. Some are easy-going and leisurely, some are deep and ing, and some are secretive. Now we are frightened over petty fears, now disheartened and dismayed over some great terror. Now the mind flies forth like an arrow from a cross-bow, to be the arbiter ht and wrong. Now it stays behind as if sworn to an oath, to hold on to what it has secured. Then, as under autumn and winters blight, es gradual decay, and submerged in its own occupations, it keeps on running its course, o return. Finally, worn out and imprisoned, it is choked up like an old drain, and the failing mind shall not see light again {8}.

    &quot;Joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, worries as, indecision and fears, e upon us by turns, with everging moods, like musi the hollows, or like mushrooms from damp. Day and night they alterhin us, but we ot tell whehey spring. Alas! Alas! Could we for a moment lay our finger upon their very Cause?

    &quot;But for these emotions I should not be. Yet but for me, there would be no oo feel them. So far we  go; but we do not know by whose order they e into play. It would seem there was a soul; {9} but the clue to its existence is wanting. That it funs is credible enough, though we ot see its f.?orm. Perhaps it has inner reality without outward form.

    &quot;Take the human body with all its hundred bones, ernal cavities and six internal ans, all plete. Which part of it should I love best? Do you not cherish all equally, or have you a preference? Do these ans serve as servants of someone else? Since servants ot govern themselves, do they serve as master and servants by turn? Surely there is some soul which trols them all.

    &quot;But whether or not we ascertain what is the true nature of this soul, it matters but little to the soul itself. For oning into this material shape, it runs its course until it is exhausted. To be harassed by the wear and tear of life, and to be driven along without possibility of arresting ones course, -- is not this pitiful io labor without ceasing all life, and then, without living to enjoy the fruit, worn out with labor, to depart, one knows not whither, -- is not this a just cause frief?&quot;

    &quot;Men say there is h -- to what avail? The body deposes, and the mind goes with it. Is this not a great cause for sorrow?  the world be so dull as not to see this? Or is it I alone who am dull, and others not so?&quot;

    Now if we are to be guided by our prejudices, who shall be without a guide? What o make parisons ht and wrong with others? And if one is to follow ones own judgments acc to his prejudices, even the fools have them! But to form judgments ht and wrong without first having a mind at all is like saying, &quot;I left for Yu:eh today, and got there yesterday.&quot; Or, it is like assuming something which does  to exist. The (illusions of) assuming something which does  to exist could not be fathomed even by the divine Yu:; how much less could we?

    For speech is not mere blowing of breath. It is inteo say some thing, only what it is inteo say ot yet be determined. Is there speedeed, or is there not?  we, or  we not, distinguish it from the chirping of young birds?

    How  Tao be obscured so that there should be a distin of true and false? Hoeech be so obscured that there should be a distin ht and wrong? {10} Where  you go and find Tao not to exist? Where  you go and find that words ot be proved? Tao is obscured by our ie uanding, and words are obscured by flowery expressions. Hehe affirmations and denials of the fu and Motsean {11} schools, each denying what the other affirms and affirming what the other denies. Each denying what the other affirms and affirming what the other denies brings us only into fusion.

    There is nothing which is not this; there is nothing which is not that. What ot be seen by what (the other person)  be known by myself. Hence I say, this emanates from that; that also derives from this. This is the theory of the interdependence of this and that (relativity of standards).

    heless, life arises from death, and vice versa. Possibility arises from impossibility, and vice versa. Affirmation is based upon denial, and vice versa. Which being the case, the true sage rejects all distins and takes his refuge in Heaven (Nature). For one may base it on this, yet this is also that and that is also this. This also has its right and wrong, and that also has its right and wrong. Does then the distin between this and that really exist or not? When this (subjective) and that (objective) are both without their correlates, that is the very Axis of Tao. And when that Axis passes through the ter at which all Infinities verge, affirmations and denials alike blend into the infinite One. He is said that there is nothing like using the Light.

    To take a finger in illustration of a finger not being a finger is not so good as to take something which is not a fio illustrate that a finger is not a fio take a horse in illustration of a horse not being a horse is not so good as to take something which is not a horse to illustrate that a horse is not a horse {12}. So with the universe which is but a finger, but a horse. The possible is possible: the impossible is impossible. Tao operates, and the gives follow; things receive names and are said to be what they are. Why are they so? They are said to be so! Why are they not so? They are said to be not so! Things are so by themselves and have possibilities by themselves. There is nothing which is not so and there is nothing which may not bee so.

    Therefore take, for instance, a twig and a pillar, or the ugly person and the great beauty, and all the strange and monstrous transformations. These are all levelled together by Tao. Division is the same as creation; creation is the same as destru. There is no such thing as creation or destru, for these ditions are again levelled together into One.

    Only the truly intelligent uand this principle of the levelling of all things into Ohey discard the distins and take refuge in the on and ordinary things. The on and ordinary things serve certain funs and therefore retain the wholeness of nature. From this wholeness, one prehends, and from prehension, oo the Tao. There it stops. To stop without knowing how it stops -- this is Tao.

    But to wear out ones intelle an obstinate adhereo the individuality of things, not re></a>ognizing the fact that all things are One, -- that is called &quot;Three in the M.&quot; What is &quot;Three in the M?&quot; A keeper of monkeys said with regard to their rations of nuts that each monkey was to have three in the m and four at night. At this the monkeys were very angry. Then the keeper said they might have four in the m and three at night, with which arrahey were all well pleased. The actual number of nuts remaihe same, but there was a difference owing to (subjective evaluations of) likes and dislikes. It also derives from this (principle of subjectivity). Wherefore the true Sage brings all the traries together as iural Balance of Heaven. This is called (the principle of following) two courses (at once).

    The knowledge of the men of old had a limit. When was the limit? It extended back to a period when matter did . That was the extreme point to which their knowledge reached. The sed period was that of matter, but of matter unditioned (undefined). The third epoch saw matter ditioned (defined), but judgments of true and false were still unknown. When these appeared, Tao began to dee. And with the dee of Tao, individual bias (subjectivity) arose.

    Besides, did Tao really rise and dee? {13} In the world of (apparent) rise and dee, the famous musi Chao Wen did play the string instrument; but in respect to the world without rise and dee, Chao Wen did not play the string instrument. When Chao Wen stopped playing the string instrument, Shih Kuang (the music master) laid down his drum-stick (for keeping time), and Hueitse (the sophist) stopped arguing, they all uood the approach of Tao. These people are the best in their arts, and therefore known to posterity. They each loved his art, and wao excel in his own line. And because they loved their arts, they wao make them known to others. But they were trying to teach what (in its nature) could not be known. sequently Hueitse ended in the obscure discussions of the &quot;hard&quot; and &quot;white&quot;; and Chao Wens son tried to learn to play the stringed instrument all his life and failed. If this may be called success, then I, too, have succeeded. But if her of them could be said to have succeeded, theher I nor others have succeeded. Therefore the true Sage discards the light that dazzles and takes refuge in the on and ordinary. Through this es uanding.

    Suppose here is a statement. We do not know whether it belongs to oegory or another. But if we put the different categories ihen the differences of category cease to exist. However, I must explain. If there was a beginning, then there was a time before that beginning, and a time before the time which was before the time of that beginning. If there is existehere must have been ence. And if there was a time when nothied, then there must have been a time when even nothing did . All of a sudden, nothing came ience. Could ohen really say whether it belongs to the category of existence or of ence? Even the very words I have just now uttered, -- I ot say whether they say something or not.

    There is nothing uhe opy of heaveer thaip of a birds down in autumn, while the Tai Mountain is small. her is there any longer life than that of a child cut off in infancy, while Peng Tsu himself died young. The universe and I came into being together; I and everything therein are One.

    If then all things are One, what room is there for speech? Oher hand, since I  say the word one hoeeot exist? If it does exist, we have One and speech -- two; and two and one -- three {14} from which point onwards even the best mathematis will fail to reach (the ultimate); how much more then should ordinary people fail?

    Hence, if from nothing you  proceed to something, and subsequently reach there, it follows that it would be still easier if you were to start from something. Since you ot proceed, stop here. Now Tao by its very nature ever be defined. Speech by its very nature ot express the absolute. Hence arise the distins. Such distins are: &quht&quot; and &quot;left,&quot; &quot;relationship&quot; and &quot;duty,&quot; &quot;division&quot; and &quot;discrimination, &quot;emulation and tention. These are called the Eight Predicables.

    Beyond the limits of the external world, the Sage knows that it exists, but does not talk about it. Within the limits of the external world, the Sage talks but does not make ents. With regard to the wisdom of the as, as embodied in the  of Spring and Autumn, the Sage ents, but does not expound. And thus, among distinade, there are distins that ot be made; among things expouhere are things that ot be expounded.

    How  that be? it is asked. The true Sage keeps his knowledge within him, while men in general set forth theirs in argument, in order to vince each other. And therefore it is said that one whues does so because he ot see certain points.

    Now perfect Tao ot be given a name. A perfect argument does not employ words. Perfect kindness does not  itself with (individual acts of) kindness {15}. Perfetegrity is not critical of others {16} Perfect ce does not push itself forward.

    For the Tao which is ma is not Tao. Speech which argues falls short of its aim. Kindness which has fixed objects loses its scope. Iy which is obvious is not believed in. Ce which pushes itself forward never aplishes anything. These five are, as it were, round (mellow) with a strong bias towards squareness (sharpness). Therefore that knowledge which stops at what it does not know, is the highest knowledge.

    Who knows the argument which  be argued without words, and the Tao which does not declare itself as Tao? He who knows this may be said to ehe realm of the spirit {17}. To be poured into without being full, and pour out without beiy, without knowing how this is brought about, -- this is the art of &quot;cealing the Light.&quot;

    Of old, the Emperor Yao said to Shun, &quot;藏书网I would smite the Tsungs, and the Kueis, and the Hsu:-aos. Since I have been ohrohis has ever been on my mind. What do you think?&quot;

    &quot;These three States,&quot; replied Shun, &quot;lie in wild undeveloped regions. Why  you not shake off this idea? Once upon a time, ten suns came out together, and all things were illumihereby. How much greater should be the power of virtue which excels the suns?&quot;

    Yeh Chu:eh asked Wang Yi, saying, &quot;Do you know for certain that all things are the same?&quot;

    &quot;How  I know?&quot; answered Wang Yi. &quot;Do you know what you do not know?&quot;

    &quot;How  I know!&quot; replied Yeh Chu:eh. &quot;But then does nobody know?&quot;

    &quot;How  I know?&quot; said Wang Yi. &quot;heless, I will try to tell you. How  it be known that what I call knowing is not really not knowing and that what I call not knowing is not really knowing? Now I would ask you this, If a man sleeps in a damp place, he gets lumbago and dies. But how about an eel? And living up in a tree is precarious and trying to the nerves. But how about monkeys? Of the man, the eel, and the monkey, whose habitat is the right one, absolutely? Human beings feed on flesh, deer on grass, tipedes on little snakes, owls and crows on mice. Of these four, whose is the right taste, absolutely? Monkey mates with the dog-headed female ape, the buck with the doe, eels sort with fishes, while men admire Mao g and Li Chi, at the sight of whom fishes plunge deep down ier, birds sh in the air, and deer hurry away. Yet who shall say which is the correct standard of beauty? In my opinion, the does of humanity and justid the paths ht and wrong are so fused that it is impossible to know their tentions.&quot;

    &quot;If you then,&quot; asked Yeh Chu:eh, &quot;do not know what is good and bad, is the Perfect Man equally without this knowledge?&quot;

    &quot;The Perfect Man,&quot; answered Wang Yi, &quot;is a spiritual being. Were the o itself scorched up, he would not feel hot. Were the great rivers frozen hard, he would not feel cold. Were the mountains to be cleft by thunder, and the great deep to be thrown up by storm, he would not tremble with fear. Thus, he would mount upon the clouds of heaven, and driving the sun and the moon before him, pass beyond the limits of this mundaence. Death and life have no more victory over him. How much less should he  himself with the distins of profit and loss?&quot;

    Chu: Chiao addressed g Wutse as follows: &quot;I heard fucius say, The true Sage pays o worldly affairs. He her seeks gain nor avoids injury. He asks nothing at the hands of man and does not adhere tid rules of duct. Sometimes he says something without speaking and sometimes he s藏书网peaks without saying anything. And so he roams beyond the limits of this mundane world.

    These, ented fucius, are futile fantasies. But to me they are the embodiment of the most wonderful Tao. What is your opinion?&quot;

    &quot;These are things that perplexed even the Yellow Emperor,&quot; replied g Wutse. &quot;How should fucius know? Yoing too far ahead. When you see a hens egg, you already expect to hear a cock crow. When you see a sling, you are already expected to have broiled pigeon. I will say a few words to you at random, and do you listen at random.

    &quot;How does the Sage seat himself by the sun and moon, and hold the universe in his grasp? He blends everything into one harmonious whole, rejeg the fusion of this and that. Rank and prece, which the vulgar sedulously cultivate, the Sage stolidly ignores, amalgamating the disparities of ten thousand years into one pure mold. The universe itself, too, serves and blends all in the same manner.

    &quot;How do I know that love of life is not a delusion after all? How do I know but that he who dreads death is not as a child who has lost his way and does not know his way home?

    &quot;The Lady Li Chi was the daughter of the frontier officer of Ai. When the Duke of  first got her, she wept until the bosom of her dress was drenched with tears. But when she came to the royal residence, shared with the Duke his luxurious couch, and ate rich food, she repented of havi. How then do I know but that the dead may repent of having previously g to life?

    &quot;Those who dream of the ba, wake to lamentation and sorrow. Those who dream of lamentation and sorrow wake to join the hunt. While they dream, they do not know that they are dreaming. Some will even interpret the very dream they are dreaming; and only when they awake do they know it was a dream. By and by es the great awakening, and then we find out that this life is really a great dream. Fools think they are awake now, and flatter themselves they know -- this one is a prince, and that one is a shepherd. What narrowness of mind! fucius and you are both dreams; and I who say you are dreams -- I am but a dream myself. This is a paradox. Tomorrow a Sage may arise to explain it; but that tomorrow will not be until ten thousand geions have gone by. Yet you may meet him around the er.

    &quot;Granting that you and I argue. If you get the better of me, and not I of you, are you necessarily right and I wrong? Or if I get the better of you and not you of me, am I necessarily right and y? Or are we both partly right and partly wrong? Or are we both wholly right and wholly wrong? You and I ot know this, and sequently we all live in darkness.

    &quot;Whom shall I ask as arbiter between us? If I ask someone who takes your view, he will side with you. How  such a one arbitrate between us? If I ask someone who takes my view, he will side with me. How  such a one arbitrate between us? If I ask someone who differs from both of us, he will be equally uo decide between us, since he differs from both of us. And if I ask someone who agrees with both of us, he will be equally uo decide between us, since he agrees with both of us. Sihen you and I and other men ot decide, how  we depend upon ahe words uments are all relative; if we wish to reach the absolute, we must harmohem by means of the unity of God, and follow their natural evolution, so that we may plete our allotted span of life.

    &quot;But what is it to harmohem by means of the unity of God? It is this. The right may not be really right. pears so may not be really so. Even if what is right is really right, wherein it differs fr ot be made plain by argument. Even if pears so is really so, wherein it differs from what is not so also ot be made plain by argument.

    &quot;Take no heed of time nor ht and wrong. Passing into the realm of the Infiake your final rest therein.&quot;

    The Penumbra said to the Umbra, &quot;At one moment you move: at another you are at rest. At one moment you sit down: at another you get up. Why this instability of purpose?&quot;

    &quot;Perhaps I depend,&quot; replied the Umbra, &quot;upon something which causes me to do as I do; and perhaps that something depends in turn upon something else which causes it to do as it does. Or perhaps my dependence is like (the unsovements) of a snakes scales or of a cicadas wings. How  I tell why I do ohing, or why I do not do another?&quot;

    Once upon a time, I, g Chou {18}, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all is and purposes a butterfly. I was scious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a maween a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distin. The transition is called the transformation of material things {19}.

 The Preservation of Life

    The Preservation of Life

    Human life is limited, but knowledge is limitless. To drive the limited in pursuit of the limitless is fatal; and to presume that one really knows is fatal indeed!

    In doing good, avoid fame. In doing bad, avoid disgrace. Pursue a middle course as your principle. Thus you will guard your body from harm, preserve your life, fulfil your duties by your parents, and live your allotted span of life.

    Prince Hueis cook was cutting up a bullock. Every blow of his hand, every heave of his shoulders, every tread of his foot, every thrust of his knee, every whshh of rent flesh, every chhk of the chopper, was in perfect rhythm, --like the dance of the Mulberry Grove, like the harmonious chords of g Shou.

    &quot;Well done!&quot; cried the Prince. &quot;Yours is skill indeed!&quot;

    &quot;Sire,&quot; replied the cook laying down his chopper, &quot;I have always devoted myself to Tao, which is higher than mere skill. When I first began to cut up bullocks, I saw before me whole bullocks. After three years practice, I saw no more whole animals. And now I work with my mind and not with my eye. My mind works along without the trol of the senses. Falling back upoernal principles, I glide through such great joints or cavities as there may be, acc to the natural stitution of the animal. I do not even touch the volutions of muscle and tendon, still less attempt to cut through large bones.

    &quot;A good cook ges his chopper once a year, -- because he cuts. An ordinary cook, one a month, -- because he hacks. But I have had this chopper een years, and although I have cut up many thousand bullocks, its edge is as if fresh from the whetstone. For at the joints there are always iices, and the edge of a chopper being without thiess, it remains only to ihat which is without thiess into su iice. Ihere is plenty of room for the blade to move about. It is thus that I have kept my chopper for een years as though fresh from the whetstone.

    &quot;heless, when I e upon a knotty part which is difficult to tackle, I am all caution. Fixing my eye on it, I stay my hand, aly apply my blade, until with a hwah the part yields like earth crumbling to the ground. Then I take out my chopper and stand up, and look around, and pause with an air of triumph. Then wiping my chopper, I put it carefully away.&quot;

    &quot;Bravo!&quot; cried the Prince. &quot;From the words of this cook I have learned how to take care of my life.&quot;

    .. Hsien, of the Kungwen family, beheld a certain official, he was horrified, and said, &quot;Who is that man? How came he to lose a leg? Is this the work of God, or of man?&quot;

    &quot;Why, of course, it is the work of God, and not of man,&quot; was the reply. &quot;God made this man one-legged. The appearanen is always balanced. From this it is clear that God and not man made him what he is.&quot;

    A pheasant of the marshes may have to go teo get a peck, a huo get a drink. Yet pheasants do not want to be fed in a cage. For although they might have less worries, they would not like it. When Laotse died,  Yi went to the funeral. He uttered three yells aed. A disciple asked him saying, &quot;Were you not our Masters friend?&quot;

    &quot;I was,&quot; replied  Yi.

    &quot;And if so, do you sider that a suffit expression of grief at his death?&quot; added the disciple.

    &quot;I do,&quot; said  Yi. &quot;I had thought he was a (mortal) man, but now I know that he was not. When I went in to mourn, I found old persons weeping as if for their children, young ones wailing as if for their mothers. When these people meet, they must have said words on the occasion and shed tears without any iion. (To cry thus at ones death) is to evade the natural principles (of life ah) and increase human attats, fetting the source from which we receive this life. The as called this evading the retribution of Heaven. The Master came, because it was his time to be born; He went, because it was his time to go away. Those t the natural course and sequence of things and live in obedieo it are beyond joy and sorrow. The as spoke of this as the emancipation from bohe fingers may not be able to supply all the fuel, but the fire is transmitted, and we know not when it will e to an end.&quot;

    This Human World Yen huei {20} went to take leave of fucius. &quot;Whither are you bound?&quot; asked the Master.

    &quot;I am going to the State of Wei,&quot; was the reply.

    &quot;And what do you propose to do there?&quot; tinued fucius.

    &quot;I hear,&quot; answered Yen Huei, &quot;that the Prince of Wei is of mature age, but of an unmanageable disposition. He behaves as if the people were of no at, and will not see hisbbr>..</abbr> own faults. He disregards human lives and the people perish; and their corpses lie about like so muder growth in a marsh. The people do not know where to turn for help. And I have heard you say that if a state be well governed, it may be passed over; but that if it be badly goverhen we should visit it. At the door of physis there are many sick people. I would test my knowledge in this sehat perce I may do some good at that state.&quot;

    &quot;Alas!&quot; cried fucius, &quot;you will be only going to your doom. For Tao must not bustle about. If it does it will have divergent aims. From divergent aims e restlessness; from restlessness es worry, and from worry one reaches the stage of being beyond hope. The Sages of old first strengtheheir own character before they tried tthen that of others. Before you have strengthened your own character, what leisure have you to attend to the doings of wicked men? Besides, do you know into what virtue evaporates by motion and where knowledge ends? Virtue evaporates by motion into desire for fame and knowledge ends in tentions. Iruggle for fame men crush each other, while their wisdom but provokes rivalry. Both are instruments of evil, and are not proper principles of living.

    &quot;Besides, if before ones own solid character and iy bee an influence among men and before ones own disregard for fame reaches the hearts of men, one should go and force the preag of charity and duty and the rules of du wicked men, he would only make these men hate him for his very goodness. Such a person may be called a messenger of evil. A messenger of evil will be the victim of evil from others. That, alas! will be your end.

    &quot;Oher hand, if the Prince loves the good and hates evil, what object will you have in inviting him to ge his ways? Before you have opened your mouth, the Prince himself will have seized the opportunity to wrest the victory from you. Your eyes will be dazzled, your expression fade, your words will hedge about, your face will show fusion, and your heart will yield within you. It will be as though you took fire to quell fire, water to quell water, which is known as aggravation. And if you begin with cessions, there will be o them. If you his sound advid talk too much, you will die at the hands of that violent man.

    &quot;Of old, Chieh murdered Kuanlung Pang, and Chou slew Prince Pikan. Their victims were both men who cultivated themselves and cared for the good of the people, and thus offeheir superiors. Therefore, their superiot rid of them, because of their goodness. This was the result of their love for fame.

    &quot;Of old, Yao attacked the Tsung-chih and Hsu:-ao tries, and Ya attacked the Yu-hus. The tries were laid waste, their inhabitants slaughtered, their rulers killed. Yet they fought without ceasing, and strove for material objects to the last. These are instances of striving for fame or for material objects. Have you not heard that even Sages ot overe this love of fame and this desire for material objects (in rulers)? Are you then likely to succeed? But of course you have a plan. Tell it to me.&quot;

    &quot;Gravity of demeanor and humility; persistend singleness of purpose, -- will this do?&quot; replied Yen Huei. &quot;Alas, no,&quot; said fucius, &quot;how  it? The Prince is a haughty person, filled with pride, and his moods are fickle. No one opposes him, and so he has e to take actual pleasure in trampling upon the feelings of others. And if he has thus failed in the practice of routine virtues, do you expect that he will take readily to higher ones? He will persist in his ways, and though outwardly he may agree with you, inwardly he will not repent. How then will you make him mend his ways?&quot;

    &quot;Why, then,&quot; (replied Yen Huei) &quot;I  be inwardly straight, and outwardly yielding, and I shall substantiate what I say by appeals to antiquity. He who is inwardly straight is a servant of God. And he who is a servant of God knows that the Son of Heaven and himself are equally the children of God {21}. Shall then such a orouble whether his words are approved or disapproved by man? Such a person is only regarded as an (i) child. This is to be a servant of God. He who is outwardly yielding is a servant of man. He bows, he kneels, he folds his hands -- such is the ceremonial of a minister. What all men do, shall I not do also? What all men do, none will blame me for doing. This is to be a servant of man. He who substantiates his words by appeals to antiquity is a servant of the Sages of old. Although I utter the words of warning and take him to task, it is the Sages of old who speak, and not I. Thus I shall not receive the blame for my uprightness. This is to be the servant of the Sages of old. Will this do?&quot;

    &quot;No! How  it?&quot; replied fucius. &quot;Your plans are too many. You are firm, but lag in prudence. However, you are only narrow minded, but you will not get into trouble; but that is all. You will still be far from influeng him because your own opinions are still tid.&quot;

    &quot;Then,&quot; said Yen Huei, &quot;I  go no further. I veo ask for a method.&quot;

    fucius said, &quot;Keep fast, and I shall tell you. Will it be easy for you when you still have a narrow mind? He who treats things as easy will not be approved by the bright heaven.&quot;

    &quot;My family is poor,&quot; replied Yen Huei, &quot;and for many months we have tasted her wine nor flesh. Is that not fasting?&quot;

    &quot;That is a fast acc to the religious observances,&quot; answered fucius, &quot;but not the fasting of the heart.&quot;

    &quot;And may I ask,&quot; said Yen Huei, &quot;in what sists the fasting of the heart?&quot;

    &quot;trate your will. Hear not with your ears, but with your mind; not with your mind, but with your spirit. Let your hearing stop with the ears, a your mind stop with9９lｉｂ.s images. Let your spirit, however, be like a blank, passively respoo externals. In such opeivity only  Tao abide. And that opeivity is the fasting of the heart.&quot;

    &quot;Then,&quot; said Yen Huei, &quot;the reason I could not use this method was because of sciousness of a self. If I could apply this method, the assumption of a self would have gone. Is this what you mean by the receptive state?&quot;

    &quot;Exactly so,&quot; replied the Master. &quot;Let me tell you. Ehis mans service, but without idea of w for fame. Talk when he is in a mood to listen, and stop when he is not. Do without any sort of labels or self- advertisements. Keep to the One ahings take their natural course. Then you may have some ce of success. It is easy to stop walking: the trouble is to walk without toug the ground. As a of man, it is easy to use artificial devices; but not as a of God. You have heard of winged creatures flying. You have never heard of flying without wings. You have heard of men being wise with knowledge. You have never heard of men wise without knowledge &quot;Look at that emptiness. There is brightness in ay room. Good luck dwells in repose. If there is not (inner) repose, your mind will be galloping about though you are sitting still. Let your ears and eyes unicate within but shut out all knowledge from the mind. Then the spirits will e to dwell therein, not to mention man. This is the method for the transformation (influeng) of all Creation. It was the key to the influence of Yu and Shun, and the secret of the success of Fu Hsi and Chi Chu. How much more should the an follow the same rule?&quot;

    [Two ses are omitted here. ~ Editor]

    A certain carpenter Shih was travelling to the Chi State. On reag Shady Circle, he saw a sacred li tree iemple to the God of Earth. It was se that its shade could cover a herd of several thousand cattle. It was a hundred spans in girth, t up eighty feet over the hilltop, before it branched out. A dozen boats could be cut out of it. Crowds stood gazing at it, but the carpeook no notice, a on his way without even casting a look behind. His apprentice however took a good look at it, and when he caught up with his master, said, &quot;Ever since I have handled an adze in your service, I have never seen such a splendid piece of timber. How was it that you, Master, did not care to stop and look at it?&quot;

    &quot;Fet about it. Its not worth talking about,&quot; replied his master. &quot;Its good for nothing. Made into a boat, it would sink; into a coffin, it would rot; into furniture, it would break easily; into a door, it would sweat; into a pillar, it would be worm-eaten. It is wood of no quality, and of no use. That is why it has attais present age.&quot;

    When the carpenter reached home, he dreamt that the spirit of the tree appeared to him in his sleep and spoke to him as follows: &quot;What is it you io pare me with? Is it with fine-grained wood? Look at the cherry-apple, the pear, the e, the pumelo, and other fruit bearers? As soon as their fruit ripens they are stripped and treated with indignity. The great boughs are snapped off, the small ones scattered abroad. Thus do these trees by their own value iheir own lives. They ot fulfil their allotted span of years, but perish prematurely because they destroy themselves for the (admiration of) the world. Thus it is with all things. Moreover, I tried for a long period to be useless. Many times I was in danger of being cut down, but at length I have succeeded, and so have bee exceedingly useful to myself. Had I indeed been of use, I should not be able to grow to this height. Moreover, you and I are both created things. Have dohen with this criticism of each other. Is a good-for-nothing fellow in immi danger of death a fit person to talk of a good-for-nothing tree?&quot; When the carpenter Shih awaked and told his dream, his apprentice said, &quot;If the tree aimed at uselessness, how was it that it became a sacred tree?&quot;

    &quot;Hush!&quot; replied his master. &quot;Keep quiet. It merely te iemple to escape from the abuse of those who do not appreciate it. Had it not bee sacred, how many would have wao cut it down! Moreover, the means it adopts for safety is different from that of others, and to criticize it by ordinary standards would be far wide of the mark.&quot;

    Tsechi of Nan-po was travelling on the hill of Shang when he saw a large tree wh<dfn>藏书网</dfn>ich astonished him very much. A thousand chariot teams of four horses could find shelter us shade. &quot;What tree is this?&quot; cried Tsechi. &quot;Surely it must be unusually fiimber.&quot; Then looking up, he saw that its branches were too crooked for rafters; and looking down he saw that the trunks twisting loose grain made it valueless for coffins. He tasted a leaf, but it took the skin off his lips; and its odor was s that it would make a man intoxicated for three days together. &quot;Ah!&quot; said Tsechi, &quot;this tree is really good for nothing, and that is how it has attaihis size. A spiritual man might well follow its example of uselessness.&quot;

    Iate of Sung there is a land belonging to the gs, where thrive the catalpa, the cedar, and the mulberry. Such as are of one span or so in girth are cut down for monkey cages. Those of two or three spans are cut down for the beams of fine houses. Those of seven ht spans are cut down for the solid (unjointed) sides of rich mens coffins. Thus they do not fulfil their allotted span of years, but perish youh the axe. Such is the misfortune which overtakes worth. For the sacrifices to the River God, her bulls with white foreheads, ns with high snouts, nor men suffering from piles,  be used. This is known to all the soothsayers, for these are regarded as inauspicious. The wise, however, would regard them as extremely auspicious (to themselves).

    There was a hunchbaamed Su. His jaws touched his navel. His shoulders were higher than his head. His neck bouck out toward the sky. His viscera were turned upside down. His buttocks were where his ribs should have been. By tail, or washing, he was easily able to earn his living. By sifting rice he could make enough to support a family of ten. When orders came down for a scription, the hunchback walked about uned among the crowd. And similarly, in gover scription for public works, his deformity saved him from being called. Oher hand, when it came to gover donations of grain for the disabled, the hunchback received as much as three g and of firewood, ten faggots. And if physical deformity was thus enough to preserve his body until the end of his days, how much more should moral aal deformity avail!

    When fucius was in the Chu State, the etric Chieh Yu passed his door, saying, &quot;O phoenix! O phoenix! How has thy virtue fallen! Wait not for the ing years, nor hanker back to the past. When the right principles prevail oh, prophets will fulfil their mission. When the right principles prevail not, they will but preserve themselves. At the present day, they are but trying to keep out of jail! The good fortunes of this world are light as feathers, yet imates them at their true value. The misfortunes of this life are weighty as the earth, yet none knows how to keep out of their reao more, no more, show off your virtue. Beware, beware, move cautiously on! O brambles, O brambles, wound not my steps! I pick my way about, hurt not my feet!&quot; {22}

    The mountain trees iheir own cutting down; lamp oil is own burning up. amon bark  be eaten; therefore the tree is cut down. Lacquer  be used, therefore the tree is scraped. All men know the utility of useful things; but they do not know the utility of futility.

 Deformities, or Evidence of a Full Character

    Iate of Lu there was a man, named Wang Tai, who had had one of his legs cut off. His disciples were as numerous as those of fucius. g Chi asked fucius, saying, &quot;This Wang Tai has been mutilated, yet he has as many followers in the Lu State as you. He her stands up to preaor sits down to give discourse; yet those who go to him empty, depart full. Is he the kind of person who  teach without words and influence peoples minds without material means? What manner of man is this?&quot;

    &quot;He is a sage,&quot; replied fucius, &quot;I wao go to him, but am merely behind the others. Even I will go and make him my teacher, -- why not those who are lesser than I? And I will lead, not only the State of Lu, but the whole world to follow him.&quot;

    &quot;The man has been mutilated,&quot; said g Chi, &quot;a people call him Master. He must be very different from the ordinary men. If so, ho<big></big>w does he train his mind?&quot;

    &quot;Life ah are indeed ges of great moment,&quot; answered fucius, &quot;but they ot affect his mind. Heaven ah may collapse, but his mind will remain. Being indeed without flaw, it will not share the fate of all things. It  trol the transformation of things, while preserving its sourtact.&quot;

    &quot;How so?&quot; asked g Chi. &quot;From the point of view of differentiation of things,&quot; replied fucius, &quot;we distinguish between the liver and the gall, between the Chu State and the Yueh State. From the point of view of their sameness, all things are One. He whards things in this light does not even trouble about what reaches him through the senses of hearing and sight, but lets his mind wander in the moral harmony of things. He beholds the unity in things, and does not notice the loss of particular objects. And thus the loss of his leg is to him as would be the loss of so much dirt.&quot;

    &quot;But he cultivates only himself,&quot; said g Chi. &quot;He uses his knowledge to perfect his mind, and develops his mind into the Absolute Mind. But how is it that people flock around him?&quot;

    &quot;A man,&quot; replied fucius, &quot;does not seek to see himself in running water, but in still water. For only what is itself still  instill stillness into others. The grace of earth has reached only the pines and cedars; winter and summer alike, they are green. The grace of God has reached to Yao and to Shun, who aloained rectitude. Happily he was able to rectify himself and thus bee the means through which all were rectified. For the possession of ones inal (nature) is evidenced in true ce.

    A man will, single-handed, brave a whole army. And if such a result  be achieved by one in search of fame through self trol, how much greater ce?  be shown by one who extends his sway over heaven ah and gives shelter to all things, who, lodging temporarily within the fines of a body with pt for the superficialities of sight and sound, brings his knowledge to level all knowledge and whose mind never dies! Besides, he (Wang Tai) is only awaiting his appointed hour to go up to Heaven. Men indeed flo of their own accord. How  he take seriously the affairs of this world?&quot;

    Shentu Chia had only one leg. He studied under Pohun Wujen (Muddle-Head No-Such-Person&quot;) together with Tse {24} of the g State. The latter said to him, &quot;When I leave first, do you remain behind. When you leave first, I will remain behind.&quot;  day, when they were again together sitting on the same mat in the lecture-room, Tse said, &quot;When I leave first, do you remain behind. Or if you leave first, I will remain behind. I am now about to go. Will you remain or not? I notice you show no respect to a high personage. Perhaps you think yourself my equal?&quot;

    &quot;In the house of the Master,&quot; replied Shentu Chia, &quot;there is already a high persohe Master). Perhaps you think that you are the high personage and therefore should take prece over the rest. Now I have heard that if a mirror is perfectly bright, dust will not colle it, and that if it does, the mirror is no longer bright. He who associates for long with the wise should be without fault. Now you have been seeking the greater things at the feet of our Master, yet you  utter words like these. Dont you think you are making a mistake?&quot;

    &quot;You are already mutilated like this.&quot; retorted Tse, &quot;yet you are still seeking to pete in virtue with Yao. To look at you, I should say you had enough to do to refle your past misdeeds!&quot;

    &quot;Those who cover up their sins,&quot; said Shentu Chia, &quot;so as not to lose their legs, are many in hose whet to cover up their misdemeanors and so lose their legs (through punishment)<var>..</var> are few. But only the virtuous man  reize the iable and remain unmoved. People who walked in front of the bulls-eye when Hou Yi (the famous archer) was shooting, would be hit. Some who were not hit were just lucky. There are many people with sound legs who laugh at me for not having them. This used to make me angry. But since I came to study under our Master, I have stopped w about it. Perhaps our Master has so far succeeded in washing (purifying) me with his goodness. At any rate, I have been with him een years without being aware of my deformity. Now you and I are roaming in the realm of the spiritual, and you are judging me in the realm of the physical. {25} Are you not itting a mistake?&quot; At this Tse began to fidget and his tenance ged, and he bade Shentu Chia to speak no more.

    There was a man of the Lu State who had been mutilated, by the name of Shushan No-toes. He came walking on his heels to see fucius; but fucius said, &quot;You were careless, and sht this misfortune upon yourself. What is the use of ing to me now?&quot; &quot;It was because I was inexperienced and careless with my body that I hurt my feet,&quot; replied No-toes. &quot;Now I have e with something more precious tha, and it is that which I am seeking to preserve. There is no man, but Heaveers him; and there is no man, but the Earth supports him. I thought that you, Master, would be like Heaven ah. I little expected to hear these words from you.&quot;

    &quot;Pardon my stupidity,&quot; said fucius. &quot;Why not e in? I shall discuss with you what I have learned.&quot; But No-toes left. When No-toes had left, fucius said to his disciples, &quot;Take a good lesson. No-toes is one-legged, yet he is seeking to learn in order to make ato for his previous misdeeds. How much more should those who have no misdeeds for which to atone?&quot;

    No-toes went off to see Lao Tan (Laotse) and said, &quot;Is fucius a Perfee or is he not quite? How is it that he is so anxious to learn from you? He is seeking to earn a reputation by his abstruse and strange learning, which is regarded by the Perfee as mere fetters.&quot;

    &quot;Why do you not make him regard life ah, and possibility and impossibility as alternations of one and the same principle,&quot; answered Lao Tan, &quot;and so release him from these fetters?&quot;

    &quot;It is God who has thus punished him,&quot; replied No-toes. &quot;How could he be released?&quot;

    Duke Ai of the Lu State said to fucius, &quot;In the Wei State there is an ugly person, named Aitai (Ugly) To. The men who have lived with him ot stop thinking about him. Women who have seen him, would say to their parents, Rather than be another mans wife, I would be this mans e. There are scores of suen. He ries to lead others, but only follows them. He wields no power of a ruler by which he may protect mens lives. He has no hoarded wealth by which to gratify their bellies, and is besides frightfully loathsome. He follows but does not lead, and his name is not known outside his own State. Yet men and women alike all seek his pany. So there must be some thing in him that is different from other people. I sent for him, and saw that he was indeed frightfully ugly. Yet we had not been many months together before I began to see there was something in this man. A year had not passed before I began to trust him. As my State wanted a Prime Minister, I offered him the post. He looked sullenly before he replied and appeared as if he would much rather have deed. Perhaps he did not think me good enough for him! At any rate, I gave the post to him; but in a very short time he left me a away. I grieved for him as for a lost friend, as though there were no with whom I could enjoy having my kingdom. What manner of man is this?&quot;

    &quot;When I was on a mission to the Chu State,&quot; replied fucius, &quot;I saw a litter of young pigs sug their dead mother. After a while they looked at her, and then all left the body a off. For their mother did not look at them any more, nor did she seem any more to have been of their kind. What they loved was their mother; not the body which tained her, but that which made the body what it was. Wh<s>９９lｉb?</s>en a man is killed in battle, his coffin is not covered with a square opy. A man whose leg has been cut off does not value a present of shoes. In each case, the inal purpose of such things is gohe es of the Son of Heaven do not cut their nails or pierce their ears. Those (servants) who are married have to live outside (the palace) and ot be employed again. Such is the importaached to preserving the body whole. How much more valued is one who has preserved his virtue whole? &quot;Now Ugly To has said nothing and is already trusted. He has achieved nothing and is sought after, and is offered the gover of a try with the only fear that he might dee. Indeed he must be the one whose talents are perfed whose virtue is without outward form!&quot;

    What do you mean by his talents being perfect?&quot; asked the Duke. Life ah,  replied fucius, &quot;possession and loss, success and failure, poverty ah, virtue and vice, good and evil report hunger and thirst, heat and cold -- these are ges of things iural course of events. Day and night they follow upon one another, and no man  say where they spring from. Therefore they must not be allowed to disturb the natural harmony, er into the souls domain. One should live so that one is at ease and in harmony with the world, without loss of happiness, and by day and by night, share the (peace of) spring with the created things. Thus tinuously one creates the seasons in ones ow. Such a person may be said to have perfect talents.&quot;

    &quot;And what is virtue without outward form?&quot;

    &quot;When standing still,&quot; said fucius, &quot;the water is in the most perfect state of repose. Let that be your model. It remains quietly within, and is not agitated without. It is from the cultivation of such harmony that virtue results. And if virtue takes no outward form, man will not be able to keep aloof from it.&quot;

    Some days afterwards Duke Ai told Mintse saying, &quot;When first I took over the reins of gover, I thought that in guiding the people and g for their lives, I had done all my duty as a ruler. But now that I have heard the words of a perfect man, I fear that I have not achieved it, but am foolishly squandering my bodily energy and bringing ruin to my try. fucius and <var>..</var>I are not prind minister, but friends in spirit.

    Hunchback-Deformed-No-Lips spoke with Duke Ling of Wei and the Duke took a fan. As for the well- formed mehought their necks were toy. Big-Jar-Goiter spoke with Duke Huan of Chi, and the Duke took a fan. As for the well-formed mehought their necks were toy. Thus it is that when virtue excels, the outward form is fotten. But mankind fets not that which is to be fotten, fetting that which is not to be fotten. This is fetfulness indeed!

    And thus the Sage sets his spirit free, while knowledge is regarded as extraneous growths - agreements are for tiionships, goods are only for social dealings, and the handicrafts are only for serving erce. For the Sage does not trive, and therefore has no use for knowledge; he does not cut up the world, and therefore requires ing of relationships; he has no loss, and therefore has o acquire; he sells nothing, and therefore has no use for erce. These four qualifications are bestowed upon him by God, that is to say, he is fed by God. And he who is thus fed by God has little o be fed by man.

    He wears the human form without human passions. Because he wears the human form he associates with men. Because he has not human passions the questions ht and wrong do not touch him. Infinitesimal indeed is that which belongs to the human; infinitely great is that which is pleted in God.

    Hueitse said to gtse, &quot;Do men indeed inally have no passions?&quot;

    &quot;Certainly,&quot; replied gtse.

    &quot;But if a man has no passions,&quot; argued Hueitse, &quot;what is it that makes him a man?&quot;

    &quot;Tao,&quot; replied gtse, &quot;gives him his expressions, and God gives him his form. How should he not be a man?&quot;

    &quot;If then he is a man,&quot; said Hueitse, &quot;how  he be without passions?&quot;

    &quht and wrong (approval and disapproval),&quot; answered gtse, &quot;are what I mean by passions. By a man without passions I mean one who does not permit likes and dislikes to disturb his internal ey, but rather falls in lih nature and does not try to improve upon (the materials of) living.&quot;

    &quot;But how is a man to live this bodily life,&quot; asked Hueitse.

    &quot;He does not try to improve upon (the materials of) his living?&quot;

    &quot;Tao gives him his expression,&quot; said gtse, &quot;and God gives him his form. He should not permit likes and dislikes to disturb his internal ey. But now you are devoting your intelligeo externals, and wearing out your vital spirit. Lean against a tree and sing; or sit against a table and sleep! God has made you a shapely sight, yet your only thought is the hard and white.&quot; {26}

 The Great Supreme

    He who knows what is of God and who knows what is of Man has reached ihe height (of wisdom). One who knows what is of God patterns his living after God. One who knows what is of Man may still use his knowledge of the known to develop his knowledge of the unknown, living till the end of his days and not perishing young. This is the fullness of knowledge. Herein, however, there is a flaw. Correowledge is depe on objects, but the objects of knowledge are relative and uain (ging). How  one know that the natural is not really of man, and what is of man is not really natural? We must, moreover, have true men before we  have true knowledge.

    But what is a true man? The true men of old did not override the weak, did not attain their ends by brute strength, and did not gather around them sellors. Thus, failing they had no cause fret; succeeding, no cause for self-satisfa. And thus they could scale heights without tremblier water without bei, and gh fire without feeling hot. That is the kind of knowledge which reaches to the depths of Tao.

    The true men of old slept without dreams and waked up without worries. They ate with indiffereo flavour, and drew deep breaths. For true men draw breath from their heels, the vulgar only from their throats. Out of the crooked, words are retched up like vomit. When mans attats are deep, their divine endowments are shallow.

    The true men of old did not know what it was to love life or to hate death. They did not rejoi birth, nor strive to put off dissolution. Uned they came and uned they went. That was all. They did not fet whe was they had sprung, her did they seek to inquire their return thither. Cheerfully they accepted life, waiting patiently for their restoration (the end). This is what is called not to lead the heart astray from Tao, and not to supplement the natural by human means. Such a one may be called a true man. Such men are free in mind and calm in demeanor, with high fore heads. Sometimes dissolate like autumn, and sometimes warm like spring, their joys and sorrows are in direct touch with the four seasons in harmony with all creation, and none know the limit thereof. And so it is that when the Sage wages war, he  destroy a kingdom a not lose the affe of the people; he spreads blessing upon all things, but it is not due to his (scious) love of fellow men. Therefore he who delights in uanding the material world is not a Sage. He who has personal attats is not humane. He who calculates the time of his as is not wise. He who does not know the iion of be and harm is not a superior man. He who pursues fame at the risk of losing his self is not a scholar. He who loses his life and is not true to himself ever be a master of man. Thus Hu Puhsieh, Wu Kuang, Po Yi, Shu Chi, Chi Tse, Hsu Yu, Chi To, and Shentu Ti, were the servants of rulers, and did the behests of others, not their own. {27}

    The true men of old appeared of t stature a could not topple down. They behaved as though wanting in themselves, but without looking up to others. Naturally indepe of mind, they were not severe. Living in unstrained freedom, yet they did not try to show off. They appeared to smile as if pleased, and to move only in natural respoo surroundings. Their serenity flowed from the store of goodness within. In social relationships, they kept to their inner character. Broad-mihey appeared great; t, they seemed beyond trol. tinuously abiding, they seemed like doors kept shut; absent-mihey seemed tet speech. They saw in penal laws an outward form; in social ceremonies, certain means; in knowledge, tools of expediency; in morality, a guide. It was for this reason that for them penal laws meant a merciful administration; social ceremonies, a means to get along with the world; knowledge a help for doing what they could not avoid; and morality, a guide that they might walk along with others to reach a hill. &lt;&lt;28&gt;&gt; And all men really thought that they were at pains to make their lives correct.

    For what they cared for was ONE, and what they did not care for was ONE also. That which they regarded as ONE was ONE, and that which they did nard as ONE was ONE likewise. In that which was Ohey were of God; in that which was not Ohey were of man. And so between the human and the divine no flisued. This was to be a true man.

    Life ah are a part of Destiny. Their sequence, like day and night, is of God, beyond the interferenan. These all lie in the iable nature of things. He simply looks upon God as his father; if he loves him with what is born of the body, shall he not love him also with that which is greater than the body? A man looks upon a ruler of men as one superior to himself; if he is willing to sacrifice his body (for his ruler), shall he not then offer his pure (spirit) also?

    When the pond dries up and the fishes are left upon the dry ground, rather than leave them to moisten each other with their damp and spittle it would be far better to let them fet themselves in their native rivers - and lakes. And it would be better than praising Yao and blaming Chieh tet both (the good and bad) and lose oneself in Tao.

    The Great (universe) gives me this form, this toil in manhood, this repose in old age, this rest ih. And surely that which is such a kind arbiter of my life is the best arbiter of my death.

    A boat may be hidden in a creek, or cealed in a bog, which is generally sidered safe. But at midnight a strong man may e and carry it away on his back. Those dull of uanding do not perceive that however you ceal small things in larger ohere will always be a ce of losing them. But if you entrust that which belongs to the universe to the whole universe, from it there will be no escape. For this is the great law of things.

    To have been cast in this human form is to us already a source of joy. How much greater joy beyond our ception to know that that which is now in human form may undergo tless transitions, with only the infio look forward to? Therefore it is that the Sage rejoices in that which ever be lost, but endures always. For if we emulate those who  accept graciously long age or short life and the vicissitudes of events, how much more that whiforms all creation on which all ging phenomena depend?

    For Tao has its inner reality and its evidences. It is devoid of a and of form. It may be transmitted, but ot be received; It may be obtained, but ot be seen. It is based in itself, rooted in itself. Before heaven ah were, Tao existed by itself from all time. It gave the spirits and rulers their spiritual powers, and gave Heaven ah their birth. To Tao, the zenith is not high, nor the nadir low; no point in time is long ago, nor by the lapse of ages has it grown old.

    Hsi Wei obtaiao, and so set the universe in order. Fu Hsi {29} obtai, and was able to steal the secrets of eternal principles. The Great Bear obtai, and has never erred from its course. The sun and moon obtai, and have never ceased to revolve. Kan Pi {30} obtai, and made his abode in the Kunlun mountains. Ping I {31} obtai, and rules over the streams.  Wu {32} obtai, and dwells on Mount Tai. The Yellow Emperor {33} obtai, and soared upon the clouds to heaven.  Hsu {34} obtai, and dwells in the Dark Palace. Yu g {35} obtai, aablished himself at the North Pole. The Western (Fairy) Queen Mother obtai, aled at Shao Kuang, since when and until when, no one knows. Peng Tsu obtai, and lived from the time of Shun until the time of the Five Princes. Fu Yueh obtai, and as the Minister of Wu Ting {36} extended his rule to the whole empire. And now, charioted upoungwei (one stellation) and drawn by the Chiwei (another stellation), he has taken his station among the stars of heaven.

    Nanpo Tsekuei said to Nu: Yu (or Female Yu), &quot;You are of a high age, a you have a childs plexion. How is this?&quot; Nu: Yu replied, &quot;I have learao.&quot;

    &quot;Could I get Tao by studying it?&quot; asked the other. &quot;No! How  you?&quot; said Nu: Yu. &quot;You are not the type of person. There uliang I. He had all the mental talents of a sage, but not Tao of the sage. Now I had Tao, though not those talents. But do you think I was able to teach him to bee indeed a sage? Had it been so, then to teach Tao to one who has a sages talents would be an easy matter. It was not so, for I had to atiently to reveal it to him. In three days, he could trahis mundane world. Again I waited for seven days more, then he could transd all material existence. After he could transd all material existence, I waited for another nine days, after which he could transd all life. After he could transd all life, then he had the clear vision of the m, and after that, was able to see the Solitary (One). After seeing the Solitary, he could abolish the distins of past and present. After abolishing the past and present, he was able to ehere where life ah are no more, where killing does not take away life, nor does giving birth add to it. He was ever in accord with the exigencies of his enviro, accepting all and weling all, regarding everything as destroyed, and everything as in pletion. This is to be secure amidst fusion, reag security through chaos.&quot;

    &quot;Where did you learn this from?&quot; asked Nanpo Tsekuei. &quot;I lear from the Son of Ink,&quot; replied Nu Yu, &quot;and the Son of Ink lear from the Grandson of Learning, the Grandson of Learning from Uanding, and Uanding from Insight, Insight lear from Practice, Practice from Folk Song, and Folk Song from Silence, Silence from the Void, and the Void lear from the Seeming Beginning.&quot;

    Four men: Tsesze, Tseyu, Tseli, and Tselai, were versing together, saying, &quot;Whoever  make Not-being the head, Life the bae, ah the tail, and whoever realizes that death and life and being and non-being are of one body, that man shall be admitted to friendship with us.&quot; The four looked at each other and smiled, and pletely uanding one another, became friends accly. By-and-by, Tseyu fell ill, and Tsesze went to see him. &quot;Verily the Creator is great!&quot; said the sick man. &quot;See how He has doubled me up.&quot; His back was so huhat his viscera were at the top of his body. His cheeks were level with his navel, and his shoulders were higher than his neck. His neck bone pointed up towards the sky. The whole ey of his anism was deranged, but his mind was calm as ever. He dragged himself to a well, and said, &quot;Alas, that God should have doubled me up like this!&quot;

    &quot;Do you dislike it?&quot; asked Tsesze. &quot; No, why should l?&quot; replied Tseyu. &quot;If my left arm should bee a cock, I should be able to herald the dawn with it. If my right arm should bee a sling, I should be able to shoot down a bird to broil with it. If my buttocks should bee wheels, and my spirit bee a horse, I should be able to ride in it -- what need would I have of a chariot? I obtained life because it was my time, and I am now parting with it in accordah Tao. tent with the ing of things iime and living in accord with Tao, joy and sorrow touch me not. This is, acc to the as, to be freed from bohose who ot be freed from bondage are so because they are bound by the trammels of material existence. But man has ever given way befod; why, then, should I dislike it?&quot;

    By-and-by, Tselai fell ill, and lay gasping for breath, while his family stood weeping around. Tseli went to see him, and cried to the wife and children: &quot;Go away! You are impeding his dissolution.&quot; Then, leaning against the door, he said, &quot;Verily, God is great! I wonder what He will make of you now, and whither He will send you. Do you think he will make you into a rats liver or into an i leg?&quot;

    &quot;A son,&quot; answered Tselai, &quot;must go whithersoever his parents bid him, East, West, North, or South. Yin and Yang are no other than a mans parents. If Yin and Yang bid me die quickly, and I demur, then the fault is mine, not theirs. The Great (universe) gives me this form, this toil in manhood, this repose in old age, this rest ih. Surely that which is such a kind arbiter of my life is the best arbiter of my death.

    &quot;Suppose that the boilial in a smelting-pot were to bubble up and say, Make of me a Moyeh! {37} think the master caster would reject that metal as uny. And if simply because I am cast into a human form, I were to say, Only a man! only a man! I think the Creator too would reject me as uny. If I regard the universe as the smelting pot, and the Creator as the Master Caster, how should I worry wherever I am sent?&quot; Then he sank into a peaceful sleep and waked up very much alive.

    Tsesang Hu, Mengtse Fan, and Tse g, were versing together, saying, &quot;Who  live together as if they did not live together? Who  help each other as if they did not help each other? Who  mount to heaven, and roaming through the clouds, leap about to the Ultimate Infinite, oblivious of existence, for ever and ever withou<tt>99lｉｂ?t>t end?&quot; The three looked at each other and smiled with a perfederstanding and became friends accly. Shortly afterwards, Tsesang Hu died, whereupon fucius sent Tsekung to attend the m. But Tsekung found that one of his friends was arranging the co sheets and the other laying stringed instruments and (both were) singing together as follows:

    &quot;Oh! e back to us, Sang Hu,

    Oh! e back to us, Sang Hu,

    Thou hast already returo thy true state,

    While we still remain here as men! Oh!&quot;

    Tsekung hurried in and said, &quot;How  you sing in the presence of a corpse? Is this good manners?&quot;

    The two men looked at each other and laughed, saying, &quot;What should this man know about the meaning of good manners indeed?&quot;

    Tseku bad told fucius, asking him, &quot;What manner of mehese? Their object is to cultivate nothingness and that which lies beyond their corporeal frames. They  sit near a corpse and sing, uhere is no name for such persons. What manner of mehey?&quot;

    &quot;These men, replied fucius, &quot;play about beyond the material things; I play about within them. sequently, our paths do not meet, and I was stupid to have sent you to mourn. They sider themselves as panions of the Creator, and play about within the One Spirit of the universe. They look upon life as a huge goiter or excresce, and upoh as the breaking of a tumor. How could such people be ed about the ing of life ah or their sequehey borrow their forms from the different elements, and take temporary abode in the on forms, unscious of their internal ans and oblivious of their senses of hearing and vision. They gh life backwards and forwards as in a circle without beginning or end, strolling fetfully beyond the dust and dirt of mortality, and playing about with the affairs of ina. How should such men bustle about the ventionalities of this world, for the people to look at?&quot;

    &quot;But if such is the case,&quot; said Tsekung, &quot;which world (the corporeal or the spiritual) would you follow?&quot;

    &quot;I am one ned by God,&quot; replied fucius. &quot;heless, I will share with you (what I know).&quot;

    &quot;May I ask what is your method?&quot; asked Tsekung &quot;Fishes live their full life in water. Men live their full life in Tao,&quot; replied fucius. &quot;Those that live their full life in water thrive in ponds. Those that live their full life in Tao achieve realization of their nature in ina. Hehe saying Fish lose themselves (are happy) in water; man loses himself (is happy) in Tao. &quot; &quot;May I ask,&quot; said Tsekung, &quot;about (those) strange people?&quot;

    &quot;(Those) strange people,&quot; replied fucius, &quot;are strange in the eyes of man, but normal in the eyes of God. Hehe saying that the meahing in heaven would be the best oh; and the best oh, the mea in heaven.

    Yen Huei said to gni &lt;&lt;38&gt;&gt; (fucius), &quot;When Mengsun Tsais mother died, he wept, but without snivelling; his .. was not grieved; he wore m but without sorrow. Yet although wanting ihree points, he is sidered the best mourner iate of Lu.  there be really people with a hollow reputation? I am astonished.&quot;

    &quot;Mr. Mengsun,&quot; said gni, &quot;has really mastered (the Tao). He has gone beyond the wise ohere are still certain things he ot quite give up, but he has already given up some things. Mr. Mengsun knows not whence we e in life nor whither we go ih. He knows not which to put first and which to put last. He is ready to be transformed into other things without g into what he may be transformed -- that is all. How could that which is ging say that it will not ge, and how could that which regards itself as perma realize that it is ging already? Even you and I are perhaps dreamers who have not yet awakened. Moreover, he knows his form is subject to ge, but his mind remains the same. He believes not in real death, but regards it as moving into a new house. He weeps only when he sees others weep, as it es to him naturally.

    &quot;Besides, we all talk of me. How do you know what is this me that we speak of? You dream you are a bird, and soar to heaven, or dream you are a fish, and dive into the os depths. And you ot tell whether the man now speaking is awake or in a dream. &quot;A man feels a pleasurable sensation before he smiles, and smiles before he thinks how he ought to smile. Resign yourself to the sequence of things, fetting the ges of life, and you shall enter into the pure, the divihe One.&quot;

    Yi-erh-tse went to see Hsu Yu. The latter asked him, saying, &quot;What have you learned from Yao?&quot;

    &quot;He bade me,&quot; replied the former, &quot;practice charity and do my duty, and distinguish clearly between right and wrong.&quot;

    &quot;Then what do you want here?&quot; said Hsu Yu. &quot;If Yao has already branded you with charity of heart and duty, and cut off your h right and wrong, what are you doing here in this free-and-easy, uered, take-what- es neighborhood?&quot;

    &quot;heless,&quot; replied Yi-erh-tse. &quot;I should like to loiter on its fines.&quot;

    &quot;If a man has lost his eyes,&quot; retorted Hsu Yu, &quot;it is impossible for him to join in the appreciation of beauty of fad plexion or to tell a blue sacrificial robe from a yellow one.&quot;

    &quot;Wu gs (No-Des) disregard of her beauty,&quot; answered Yi-erh-tse, &quot;Chu Liangs disregard of his strength, the Yellow Emperors abando of his wisdom, --all these came from a process of purging and purification. And how do you know but that the Creator would rid me of my brandings, and give me a new nose, and make me fit to bee a disciple of yourself?&quot;

    &quot;Ah!&quot; replied Hsu Yu, &quot;that ot be known. But I will give you an outline. Ah! my Master, my Master! He trims down all created things, and does<q>..</q> not at it justice. He causes all created things to thrive and does not at it kindness. Dating back further than the remotest antiquity, He does not at himself old. C heaven, supp earth, and fashioning the various forms of things, He does not at himself skilled. It is Him you should seek.&quot;

    Yen Huei spoke to gni (fucius), bbr></abbr>&quot;I am getting on.&quot;

    &quot;How so?&quot; asked the latter.

    &quot;I have got rid of charity and duty,&quot; replied the former.

    &quot;Very good,&quot; replied gni, &quot;but not quite perfect.&quot;

    Another day, Yen Huei met gni and said, &quot;I am getting on.

    &quot;How so?&quot;

    &quot;I have got rid of ceremonies and music,&quot; answered Yen Huei.

    &quot;Very good,&quot; said gni, &quot;but not quite perfect.&quot;

    Another day, Yen Huei agai gni and said, &quot;I am getting on.

    &quot;How so?&quot;

    &quot;I  fet myself while sitting,&quot; replied Yen Huei.

    &quot;What do you mean by that?&quot; said gni, ging his tenance.

    &quot;I have freed myself from my body,&quot; answered Yen Huei. I have discarded my reasoning powers. And by thus getting rid of my body and mind, I have bee Oh the Infihis is what I mean by fetting myself while sitting.&quot;

    &quot;If you have bee One,&quot; said gni, &quot;there  be no room for bias. If you have lost yourself, there  be no more hindrance. Perhaps you are really a wise one. I trust to be allowed to follow in your steps.

    Tseyu and Tsesang were friends. Once when it had rained for ten days, Tseyu said, &quot;Tsesang is probably ill.&quot; So he packed up some food ao see him. Arriving at the door, he heard somethiween singing and weeping, apanied with the sound of a stringed instrument, as follows: &quot;O Father! O mother! Is this due to God? Is this due to man?&quot; It was as if his voice was broken and his words faltered Whereupon Tseyu went in and asked, &quot;Why are you singing in such manner?&quot;

    &quot;I was trying to think who could have brought me to this extreme,&quot; replied Tsesang, &quot;but I could not guess it. My father and mother would hardly wish me to be poor. Heaven covers all equally Earth supports all equally. How  they make me in particular so poor? I was seeking to find out who was responsible for this, but without success. Surely then I am brought to this extreme by Destiny.&quot;

 Joined Toes

    Joioes ara fingers seem to e from nature, yet, funally speaking they are superfluous. Goiters and tumors seem to e from the body, yet in their nature, they are superfluous. And (similarly), to have maraneous does of charity and duty and regard them in practice as parts of a mans natural ses is not the true way of Tao. For just as joioes are but useless lumps of flesh, ara fingers but useless growths, so are the many artificial developments of the natural ses of men and the extravagances of charitable and dutiful duct but so many superfluous uses of intelligence. People with superfluous keenness of vision put into fusion the five colors, lose themselves in the forms and designs, and in the distins of greens and yellows for sacrificial robcs. Is this not so? Of such was Li Chu (the clear-sighted). People with superfluous keenness of hearing put into fusion the five notes, exaggerate the tonic differences of the six pitch-pipes, and the various timbres of metal, stone, silk, and bamboo of the Huang-g, and the Ta-lu. {39} Is this not so? Of such was Shih Kuang (the music master). People who abnormally develop charity exalt virtue and suppress nature in order to gain a reputation, make the world noisy with their discussions and cause it to follow impractical does. Is this not so? Of such were Tseng and Shih. {40} People who it excess in arguments, like piling up bricks and making knots, analyzing and inquiring into the distins of hard and white, identities and differences, wear themselves out over mere vain, useless terms. Is this not so? Of such were Yang and Mo {41}. All these are superfluous and devious growths of knowledge and are not the correct guide for the world. He who would be the ultimate guide never loses sight of the inner nature of life. Therefore with him, the united is not like joioes, the separated is not like extra fingers, what is long is not sidered as excess, and what is short is narded as wanting. For ducks legs, though short, ot be lengthened without dismay to the duck, and a es legs, though long, ot be shortened without misery to the e. That which is long in nature must not be cut off, and that which is short in nature must not be lengthehus will all sorrow be avoided. I suppose charity and duty are surely not i<bdo>?９9lｉｂ?</bdo>ncluded in human nature. You see how many worries and dismays the charitable man has! Besides, divide your joioes and you will howl: bite off your extra finger and you will scream. In the one case, there is too much, and iher too little; but the worries and dismays are the same. Now the charitable men of the present age go about with a look of  sorrowing over the ills of the age, while the non-charitable let loose the desire of their nature in their greed after position ah. Therefore I Suppose charity and duty are not included in human nature. Yet from the time of the Three Dynasties downwards what a otion has been raised about them! Moreover, those who rely upon the arc, the line, passes, and the square to make corres ihe natural stitution of things Those who use cords to bind and glue to piece together interfere with the natural character of things. Those who seek to satisfy the mind of man by hampering it with ceremonies and musid affeg charity aion have lost their inal nature. There is an inal nature in things. Things in their inal nature are curved without the help of arcs, straight without lines,<cite></cite> round without passes, aangular without squares; they are joiogether without glue. and hold together without cords. In this manner all things live and grow from an inner urge and none  tell how they e to do so. They all have a pla the scheme of things and none  tell how they e to have their proper place. From time immemorial this has always been so, and it may not be tampered with. Why then should the does of charity and duty tio remain like so much glue or cords, in the domain of Tao and virtue, to give rise to fusion and doubt among mankind? Now the lesser doubts ge mans purpose, and the greater doubts ge mans nature. How do we know this? Ever sihe time when Shun made a bid for charity and duty and threw the world into fusion, men have run about and exhausted themselves in the pursuit thereof. Is it not then charity and duty which have ged the nature of man? Therefore I have tried to show {42} that from the time of the Three Dynasties onwards, there is not one who has not ged his nature through certaiernal things. If a an, he will die fain. If a scholar, he will die for fame. If a ruler of a townshi>.</a>p, he will die for his aral honors. If a Sage, he will die for the world. The pursuits and ambitions of these men differ, but the injury to their nature resulting in the sacrifice of their lives is the same. Tsang and Ku were shepherds, and both lost their sheep. On inquiry it appeared that Tsang had been engaged in reading with a shepherds stider his arm, while Ku had goo take part in some trials of strength. Their pursuits were different, but the result in each case was the loss of the sheep. Po Yi died for fame at the foot of Mount Shouyang. {43} Robber Cheh died fain on the Mount Tungling. They died for different reasons, but the injury to their lives and nature was in each case the same. Why then must laud the former and blame the latter? All men die for something, a if a man dies for charity and duty the world calls him a gentleman; but if he dies fain, the world calls him a low fellow. The dying being the same, one is heless called a gentleman and the other called a low character. But in point of injury to their lives and nature, Robber Cheh was just another Po Yi. Of what use then is the distin of gentleman and low fellow between them? Besides<cite></cite>, were a man to apply himself to charity and duty until he were the equal of Tseng or Shih, I would not call it good. Or to savors, until he were the equal of Shu Erh (famous cook), I would not call it good. Or to sound, until he were the equal of Shih Kuang, I would not call it good. Or to colors, until he were the equal of Li Chu, I would not call it good. What I call good is not what is meant by charity and duty, but taking good care of virtue. And what I call good is not the so-called charity and duty, but following the nature of life. What I call good at hearing is not hearing others but hearing oneself. What I call good at vision is not seeing others but seeing oneself. For a man who sees not himself but others, or takes possession not of himself but of others, possessing only what others possess and possessing not his own self, does leases others instead of pleasing his own nature. Now one who pleases others, instead of pleasing ones own nature, whether he be Robber Cheh or Po Yi, is just another one goray. scious of my own deficies in regard to Tao, I do not veo practise the principles of charity and duty on the one hand, nor to lead the life of extravagan the other.

 Horses Hooves

    Horses have hooves to carry them over frost and snow, and hair to protect them from wind and cold. They eat grass and drink water, and fling up their tails and gallop. Such is the real nature of horses. Ceremonial halls and big dwellings are of no use to them. One day Polo (famous horse-trainer), {44} appeared, saying, &quot;I am good at managing horses.&quot; So he burheir hair and clipped them, and pared their hooves and brahem. He put halters around their necks and shackles around their legs and numbered them acc to their stables. The result was that two or three iehen he kept them hungry and thirsty, trotting them and galloping them, and taught them to run in formations, with the misery of the tasselled bridle in front and the fe<s></s>ar of the knotted whip behind, until more than half of them died. The potter says, &quot;I am good at managing clay. If I want it round, I use passes; if regular, a square.&quot; The carpenter says, &quot;I am good at managing wood. If I want it curved, I use an arc; if straight, a line.&quot; But on what grounds  we think that the nature of clay and wood desires this application of passes and square, and ard line? heless, every age extols Polo for his skill in training horses, and potters and carpenters for their skill with clay and wood. Those who manage (govern) the affairs of the empire make the same mistake. I think one who knows how to govern the empire should not do so. For the people have certain natural instincts -- to weave a<dfn>9９lｉｂ?</dfn>nd clothe themselves, to till the fields ahemselves. This is their on character, in which all share. Sustincts may be called &quot;Heaven born.&quot; So in the days of perfeature, men were quiet in their movements and serene in their looks. At that time, there were no paths over mountains, no boats es over waters. All things were produced ea its natural district. Birds as multiplied; trees and shrubs thrived. Thus it was that birds as could be led by the hand, and one could climb up and peep into the magpies . For in the days of perfeature, man lived together with birds as, and there was no distin of their kind. Who could know of the distins betweelemen and on people? Being all equally without knowledge, their virtue could not go astray. Being all equally without desires, they were in a state of natural iy. In this state of natural iy, the people did not lose their (inal) nature. And then when Sages appeared, crawling for charity and limping with duty, doubt and fusioered mens minds. They said they must make merry by means of musid enforce distins by means of ceremony, and the empire became divided against itself. Were the uncarved wood not cut up, who could make sacrificial vessels? Were white jade left uncut, who could make the regalia of courts? Were Tao and virtue not destroyed, what use would there be for charity and duty? Were mens natural instinot lost, what need would there be for musi<s>.</s>d ceremonies? Were the five colors not fused, who would need decorations? Were the five notes not fused, who would adopt the six pitch-pipes? Destru of the natural iy of things for the produ of articles of various kinds -- this is the fault of the artisaru of Tao and virtue in order to introduce charity and duty -- this is the error of the Sages. Horses live on dry la grass and drink water. When pleased, they rub their necks together. When angry, they turn round and kick up their heels at each other. Thus far only do their natural instincts carry them. But bridled and bitted, with a moon-shaped metal plate on their foreheads, they learn to cast vicious looks, to turn their heads to bite, to  the yoke, to cheat the bit out of t<u></u>heir mouths or steal the bridle off their heads. Thus their minds aures bee like those of thieves. This is the fault of Polo. In the days of Ho Hsu: {45} the people did nothing in particular at their homes a nowhere in particular in their walks. Having food, they rejoiced; tapping their bellies, they wandered about. Thus far the natural capacities of the people carried them.

    The Sages came then to make them bow and bend with ceremonies and musi order tulate the external forms of intercourse, and dangled charity and duty before them, in order to keep their minds in submission. Then the people began to labor and develop a taste for knowledge, and tle with one another in their desire fain, to which there is no end. This is the error of the Sages.

 Opening Trunks, or A Protest against Civilization

    The precautions taken against thieves who open trunks, search bags, or ransack tills, sist in seg with cords and fastening with bolts and locks. This is what the world calls wit. But a strong thief es and carries off the till on his shoulders, with box and bag, and runs away with them. His only fear is that the cords and locks should not be strong enough! Therefore, does not what the world used to call wit simply amount to saving up for the strong thief? And I veo state that nothing of that which the world calls wit is otherwise than saving up for strong thieves; and nothing of that which the world calls sage wisdom is other than h up for strong thieves. How  this be shown? Iate of Chi, the neighb towns overlooked one>.</a> another and one could hear the barking of dogs and crowing of cocks in the neighb town. Fishermen cast their s and ploughmen ploughed the land in a territory of over two thousand li. Within its four boundaries, was there a temple or shrine dedicated, a god worshipped, or a hamlet, ty or a district governed, but in accordah the rules laid down by the Sages?

    Yet one m {46} Tiese slew the ruler of Chi, and stole his kingdom. And not his kingdom only, but the wisdom-tricks which he had got from the Sages as well, so that although Tiese acquired the reputation of a thief, he lived as securely and fortably as ever did either Yao or Shun. The small States did not veo blame, nor the great States to punish him, and for twelve geions his desdants ruled over Chi. {47}

    Was this not a stealing the State of Chi and its wisdom-tricks of the Sages in order to preserve their thieves lives? I veo ask, was there ever anything of what the world esteems as great wit otherwise than saving up for strong thieves, and was there ever anything of what the world calls sage wisdom other than h up for strong thieves?

    How  this be shown? Of old, Lungfeng was beheaded, Pikan was disemboweled, ghung was sliced to death, Tsehsu: was thrown to the waves. All these four were learned ones, but they could not preserve themselves from death by punishment.

    An appreo Robber Cheh asked him saying, &quot;Is there then Tao (moral principles) among thieves?&quot;

    &quot;Tell me if there is anything in which there is not Tao,&quot; Cheh replied.

    &quot;There is the sage character of thieves by which booty is located, the ce to go in first, and the chivalry of ing out last. There is the wisdom of calculating success, and kindness in the equal division of the spoil. There has never yet been a great robber who was not possessed of these five qualities.&quot; It is seen therefore that without the teags of the Sages, good men could not keep their position, and<df</dfn> without the teags of the Sages, Robber Cheh could not aplish his ends. Sinen are scard bad mehe majority, the good the Sages do to the world is little and the evil great. Therefore it has been said &quot;If the lips are turned up, the teeth will be cold. It was the thinness of the wines of Lu which caused the siege of Hantan. {48}

    When the Sages arose, gangsters appeared. Overthrow the Sages ahe gangsters free, and then will the empire be in order. Wheream ceases, the gully dries up, and when the hill is levelled the chasm is filled. When the Sages are dead, gangsters will not show up, but the empire will rest in peace. Oher hand, if the Sages do not pop off her will the gangsters drop off. Nor if you double the number of Sages wherewith to govern the empire will you do more than double the profits of Robber Cheh.

    If pecks and bushels are used for measurement, the pecks and bushels themselves will also be stolen, along with the rice. If scales and steel yards are used for weighing, the scales and steel yards themselves will also be stolen along with the goods. If tallies and sigs are used food faith, the tallies and sigs will also be stolen. If charity and duty are used for moral principles, charity and duty will also be stolen. How is this so? Steal a hook and you hang as a crook; steal a kingdom and you are made a duke. (The teags of) charity and duty remain in the dukes domain. Is it not true, then, that they are>９9ｌib?</a> thieves of charity and duty and of the wisdom of the Sages?

    So it is that those who follow the way andage are promoted into princes and dukes. Those who are bent on stealing charity and duty together with the measures, scales, tallies, and sigs  be dissuaded by no rewards of official regalia and uniform, nor deterred by fear of sharp instruments of punishment. This doubling the profits of robbers like Cheh, making it impossible to get rid of them, is the fault of the Sages.

    Therefore it has been said, &quot;Fishes must be left ier; the sharp ons of a state must be left where none  see them.&quot; {49} These Sages are the sharp ons of the world; <bdi></bdi>they must not be shown to the world.

    Banish wisdom, discard knowledge, {50} and gangsters will stop! Fling away jade aroy pearls, ay thieves will cease. Burn tallies and break sigs, and the people will revert to their uncouth iy. Split measures and smash scales, and the people will not fight over quantities. Trample down all the institutions of Sages, and the people will begin to be fit for discussing (Tao). fuse the six pitch-pipes, fies and stringed instruments to the flames, stuff up the ears of Blind Shih Kuang, and each man will keep his own sense of hearing. Put ao decorations, fuse the five clue up the eyes of Li Chu, and each man will keep his own sense of sight. Destroy ard lines, fling away squares and passes, snap off the fingers of Chui the Artisan, and each man will use his own natural skill. Wherefore the saying, &quot;Great skill appears like clumsiness.&quot; {5l} Cut dowivities of Tseng and Shih {52} pinch the mouths of Yang Chu and Motse, discard charity and duty, and the virtue of the people will arrive at Mystiity. {53}

    If each man keeps his own sense of sight, the world will escape being burned up. If each man keeps his own sense of hearing, the world will escape entas. If each man keeps his intelligehe world will escape fusion. If each man keeps his own virtue, the world will avoid deviation from the true path. Tseng, Shih, Yang, Mo, Shih Kuang, Chui, and Li Chu were all persons who developed their external character and involved the world in the present fusion so that the laws and statutes are of no avail. Have you never heard of the Age of Perfeature?

    In the days of Yungg, Tating, Pohuang, gyang, Lilu, Lihsu:, Hsienyu:an, Hohsu:, Tsunlu, Chuyung, Fuhsi, and Shennung, {54} the people tied knots for reing. They eheir food, beautifi<bdo>?</bdo>ed their clothing, were satisfied with their homes, and delighted in their s. Neighb settlements overlooked one another, so that they could hear the barking of dogs and crowing of cocks of their neighbors, and the people till the end of their days had never been outside their own try. {55} In those days there was indeed perfect peace.

    But nowadays any one  make the people strain their necks and stand on tiptoes by saying, &quot;In sud such a place there is a Sage.&quot; Immediately they put together a few provisions and hurry off, ing their parents at home and their masters business abroad, going on foot through the territories of the Princes, and riding to hundreds of miles away. Such is the evil effect of the rulers desire for knowledge When the rulers desire knowledge and ao, the empire is overwhelmed with fusion.

    How  this be shown? When the knowledge of bows and cross-bows and has and tailed arrows increases, then they carry fusion among the birds of the air. When the knowledge of hooks and bait as and traps increases, then they carry fusion among the fishes of the deep. When the knowledge of fences as and snares increases, then they carry fusion among the beasts of the field. When ing a and flippand the sophistries of the &quot;hard&quot; and white and identities and differences increase in number and variety, then they overwhelm the world with logic.

    Therefore it is that there is often chaos in the world, and the love of knowledge is ever at the bottom of it. For all men strive to grasp what they do not know, while rive to grasp what they already know; and all strive to discredit what they do not excel in, while rive to discredit what they do excel in. That is why there is chaos. Thus, above, the splendor of the heavenly bodies is dimmed; below, the power of land and water is burned up, while iween the influence of the four seasons is upset. There is not oiny worm that moves oh or ihat flies in the air but has lost its inal nature. Sudeed is the world chaos caused by the desire for knowledge! Ever sihe time of the Three Dynasties downwards, it has been like this. The simple and the guileless have bee aside; the specious and the ing have beeed. Tranquil ina has given place to love of disputation; and disputation alone is enough t chaos upon the world.

 On Tolerance

    There has been such a thing as letting mankind alone and tolerahere has never been such a thing as g mankind. Letting alone Springs from the fear lest mens natural dispositions be perverted and tolerance springs from the fear lest their character be corrupted. But if their natural dispositio perverted, nor their character corrupted, what need is there left fover?

    Of old, when Yao goverhe empire, he made the people live happily; sequently the people struggled to be happy and became restless. When Chieh goverhe empire he made the people live miserably; sequently the people regarded life as a burden and were distented. Restlessness and distent are subversive of virtue; and without virtue there has never been such a thing as stability.

    When man rejoices greatly, he gravitates towards yang (the positive pole). When he is i anger, he gravitates towards yin (the ive pole). If the equilibrium of positive aive is disturbed, the four seasons are upset, and the balance of heat and cold is destroyed, man himself suffers physically thereby. It causes men to rejoid sorrow inordinately, to live disorderly lives, to be vexed ihoughts, and to lose their baland form of duct. When that happens, then the whole world seethes with revolt and distent, and we have such men as Robber Cheh, Tseng, and Shih. Offer the entire world as rewards for the good or threaten the wicked with the dire punishments of the entire world, and it is still insuffit (to reform them). sequently, with the entire world, one ot furnish suffit is or deterrents to a. From the Three Dynasties downwards, the world has lived in a helter-skelter of promotions and punishments. What ce have the people left for li<bdi>9９ｌｉｂ.</bdi>ving the even tenor of their lives?

    Besides, love (over-refi) of vision leads to debauchery in color; love of hearing leads to debauchery in sound; love of charity leads to fusion in virtue; love of duty leads to perversion of principles; love of ceremonies (li) leads to a on fashion for teical skill; love of music leads to on lewdness of thought; love of wisdom leads to a fashion for the arts; and love of knowledge leads to a fashion for criticism If the people are allowed to live out the even tenor of their lives, the above eight may or may not be; it matters not. But if the people are not allowed to live out the even tenor of their lives, then these eight cause distent and tention and strife, and throw the world into chaos.

    Yet the world worships and cherishes them. Indeed deep-seated is the mental chaos of the world. Is it merely a passing mistake that  be simply removed? Yet they observe fasts before their discussion, bend down on their ko practise them, and sing ahe drum and dao celebrate them. What  I do about it?

    Therefore, when a gentleman is unavoidably pelled to take charge of the gover of the empire, there is nothier than ina (letting alone). By means of ina only  he allow the people to live out the even tenor of their lives. Therefore he who values the world as his own self may therusted with the gover of the world and he who loves the world as his own self may therusted with the care of the world. {56} Therefore if the gentleman  refrain from disturbing the internal ey of man, and from glorifying the powers of sight and hearing, he  sit still like a corpse or spring into a like a dragon, be silent as the deep or talk with the voice of thuhe movements of his spirit calling forth the natural meism of Heaven. He  remain calm and leisurely doing nothing, while all things are brought to maturity and thrive. What hen would have I to set about g the world?

    Tsui Chu: asked Lao Tan {57} , saying, &quot;If the empire is not to be governed, how are mes to be kept good?&quot;

    &quot;Be careful,&quot; replied Lao Tan, &quot;not to interfere with the natural goodness of the heart of man. Ma may be forced down or stirred up. In each case the issue is fatal. By gentleness, the hardest heart may be softened. But try to cut and polish it, and it will glow like fire or freeze like ice. Iwinkling of a will pass beyond the limits of the Four Seas. In repose, it is profoundly still; in motion, it flies up to the sky. Like an unruly horse, it ot be held in check. Such is the huma.&quot;

    Of old, the Yellow Emperor first interfered with the natural goodness of the heart of man, by means of charity and duty. In sequence, Yao and Shun wore the hair off their legs and the flesh off their arms in endeav to feed their peoples bodies. They tortured the peoples internal ey in order to  to charity and duty. They exhausted the peopl<mark></mark>es energies to live in accordah the laws and statutes. Evehey did not succeed. Thereupon, Yao (had to) fine Huantou on Mount Tsung, exile the chiefs of the Three Miaos and their people into the Three Weis, and banish the Minister of Works to Yutu, which shows he had not succeeded. When it came to the times of the Three Kings, {58} the empire was in a state of foment. Among the bad men were Chieh and Cheh; among the good were Tseng and Shih. By and by, the fuists and the Motseanists arose; and then came fusioween joy and anger, fraud between the simple and the ing, recriminatioween the virtuous and the evil-minded, slander between the ho and the liars, and the world order collapsed. Then the great virtue lost its unity, mens lives were frustrated. When there was a general rush for knowledge, the peoples desires ever went beyond their possessions. The hing was then to i axes and saws, to kill by laws and statutes, to disfigure by chisels and awls. The empire seethed with distent, the blame for which rests upon those who would interfere with the natural goodness of the heart of man.

    In sequence, virtuous men sought refuge in mountain caves, while rulers of great states sat trembling in their aral halls. Then, when dead men lay about pillowed on each others corpses, when gued prisoners jostled each other in crowds and ned criminals were seen everywhere, then the fuists and the Motseanists bustled about and rolled up their sleeves in the midst of gyves aers! Alas, they know not shame, nor what it is to blush!

    Until I  say that the wisdom of Sages is not a fastener of gues, and that charity of heart and duty to ones neighbor are not bolts fyves, how should I know that Tseng and Shih were not the singing arrows {59} (forerunners) of (the gangsters) Chieh and Cheh? Therefore it is said, &quot;Abandon wisdom and discard knowledge, and the empire will be at peace.&quot;

    The Yellow Emperor sat ohrone for een years, and his laws obtained all over the empire. Hearing that Kuase was living on Mount Kungtung, he went there to see him, and said, &quot;I am told that you are in possession of perfect Tao. May I ask what is the essence of this perfect Tao? I desire to obtain the essence of the universe to secure good harvests and feed my people. I should like also to trol the yin and yang principles to fulfil the life of all living things.&quot;

    &quot;What you are asking about,&quot; replied Kuase, &quot;is merely the dregs of things. What you wish to trol are the disied factors thereof. Ever sihe empire was governed by you, the clouds have rained before thiing, the foliage of trees has fallen before turning yellow, and the brightness of the sun and moon has increasingly paled. You have the shallowness of mind of a glib talker. How then are you fit to speak of perfect Tao?&quot;

    The Yellow Emperor withdrew. He resighe Throne. He built himself a solitary hut, and sat upon white straw. For three months he remained in seclusion, and the again to see Kuase.

    The latter was lying with his head towards the south. The Yellow Emperor approached from below upon his knees. Kowtowing twice upon the ground, he said, &quot;I am told that you are in possession of perfect Tao. May I ask how to order ones life so that one may have long life?&quot;

    Kuase jumped up with a start. &quot;A good question indeed!&quot; cried he. &quot;e, and I will speak to you of perfect Tao. The essence of perfect Tao is profoundly mysterious; its extent is lost in obscurity. &quot;See nothing; hear nothing; guard your spirit in quietude and your body will ght of its own accord.

    &quot;Be quiet, be pure; toil not your body, perturb not your vital essence, and you will live for ever.

    &quot;For if the eye sees nothing, and the ear hears nothing, and the mind think<u></u>s nothing, your spirit will stay in your body, and the body will thereby live for ever.

    &quot;Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without for muowledge is a curse.

    &quot;Then I will take you to that abode of Great Light to reach the Plateau of Absolute Yang. I will lead you through the Door of the Dark Unknown to the Plateau of the Absolute Yin.

    &quot;The Heaven ah have their separate funs. The yin and yang have their hidden root. Guard carefully your body, and material things will prosper by themselves.

    &quot;I guard the inal One, a in harmony with externals. Therefore I have been able to live for twelve hundred years and my body has not grown old.&quot;

    The Yellow Emperor kowtowed twid said, &quot;Kuase is surely God.

    &quot;e,&quot; said Kuase, &quot;I will tell you. That thing is eternal; yet all men think it mortal. That thing is infinite; yet all men think it fihose who possess my Tao are princes in this life and rulers in the hereafter. Those who do not possess my Tao behold the light of day in this life and bee clods of earth in the hereafter.

    &quot;Nowadays, all living things spring from the dust and to the dust return. But I will lead you through the portals of Eternity to wander in the great wilds of Infinity. My light is the light of sun and moon. My life is the life of Heaven ah. Before me all is nebulous; behind me all is dark, unknown. Men may all die, but I endure for ever.&quot;

    When General Clouds was goiwards, he passed through the branches of Fuyao (a magic tree) and happeo meet Great Nebulous. The latter was slapping his thighs and hopping about. When General Clouds saw him, he stopped like one lost and stood still, saying, &quot;Who are you, old man, and what are you doing here?&quot;

    &quot;Strolling!&quot; replied Great Nebulous, still slapping his thighs and hopping about.

    &quot;I want to ask about something,&quot; said General Clouds.

    &quot;Ough!&quot; uttered Great Nebulous.

    &quot;The spirits of Heave of harmony,&quot; said General Clouds; &quot;the spirits of the Earth are smothered; the six influences {61} of the weather do not work together, and the four seasons are no lular. I desire to blend the essence of the six influences and nourish all living beings. What am I to do?&quot;

    &quot;I do not know! I do not know!&quot; cried Great Nebulous, shaking his head, while still slapping his thighs and hopping about.

    So General Clouds did not press his question. Three years later, when passiwards through the plains of the Sungs, he again fell in with Great Nebulous. The former was overjoyed, and hurrying up, said, &quot;Has your Holiness {62} fotten me? Has your Holiness fotten me?&quot; He then kowtowed twid desired to be allowed to interrogate Great Nebulous; but the latter said, &quot;I wander on without knowing what I want. I rush about without knowing whither I am going. I simply stroll about, watg ued events. What should I know?&quot;

    &quot;I tard myself as rushing about,&quot; answered General Clouds; &quot;but the people follow my movements. I ot escape the people and what I do they follow. I would gladly receive some advice.&quot;

    &quot;That the scheme of empire is in fusion,&quot; said Great Nebulous, &quot;that the ditions of life are violated, that the will of the Dark Heaven is not aplished, that the beasts of the field are scattered, that the birds of the air cry at night, that blight strikes the trees and herbs, that destru spreads among the creeping things, -- this, alas! is the fault of those who would rule others.&quot;

    &quot;True,&quot; replied General Clouds, &quot;but what am I to do?&quot;

    &quot;Ah!&quot; cried Great Nebulous, &quot;keep quiet and go home in peace!&quot;

    &quot;It is not often,&quot; urged General Clouds, &quot;that I meet with your Holiness. I would gladly receive some advice.&quot;

    &quot;Ah,&quot; said Great Nebulous, &quot;nourish your heart. Rest in ina, and the world will be reformed of itself. Fet your body and spit forth intelligence. Ignore all differences and bee oh the Infinite. Release your mind, and free your spirit. Be vacuous, be devoid of soul. Thus will things grorosper aurn to t藏书网heir Root. Returning to their Root without their knowing it, the result will be a formless whole which will never be cut up. To know it is to cut it up. Ask not about its name, inquire not into its nature, and all things will flourish of themselves.&quot;

    &quot;Your Holiness,&quot; said General Clouds, &quot;has informed me with power and taught me silence. What I had long sought, I have now found.&quot; Thereupon he kowtowed twid took leave.

    The people of this world all rejoi others being like themselves, and object to others being different from themselves. Those who make friends with their likes and do not make friends with their unlikes, are influenced by a desire to be above the others. But how  those who desire to be above the others ever be above the others? Rather than base ones Judgment on the opinions of the many, let each look after his own affairs. But those who desire to govern kingdoms clutch at the advantages of (the systems of) the Three Kings {63} without seeing the troubles involved. In fact, they are trusting the fortunes of a try to luck, but what try will be lucky enough to escape destru? Their ces of preserving it do not amount to one ihousand, while their ces of destroying it are ten thousand to nothing and even more. Such, alas! is the ignorance of rulers.

    For to have a territory is to have something great. He who has some thing great must nard the material things as material things. Only by narding material things as material things  ohe lord of things. The principle of looking at material things as not real things is not fiover of the empire. Such a one may wa will between the six limits of space or travel over the Nine tis unhampered and free. This is to be the Unique Ohe Unique One is the highest among men.

    The doe of the great man is (fluid) as shadow to form, as echo to sound. Ask and it responds, fulfilling its abilities as the help-mate of humanity. Noiseless in repo<mark>?</mark>se, objectless in motion, he brings you out of the fusion of your ing and going to wander in the Infinite. Formless in his movements, he is eternal with the sun. In respect of his bodily existence, he s to the universal standards. Through ao the universal standards, he fets his own individuality. But if he fets his individuality, how  he regard his possessions as possessions? Those who see possessions in possessiohe wise men of old. Those whard not possessions as possessions are the friends of Heaven ah.

    That which is low, but must be let alone, is matter. That which is humble, but still must be followed, is the people. That which is always there but still has to be atteo, is affairs. That which is ie, but still has to be set forth, is the law. That which is remote from Tao, but still claims our attention, is duty. That which is biassed, but must be broadened, is charity. Trivial, but requiring to be strengthened from within, that is ceremony. tained within, but requiring to be uplifted, that is virtue. One, but not to be without modification, that is Tao. Spiritual, yet not to be devoid of a, that is God. Therefore the Sage looks up to God, but does not offer to aid. He perfects his virtue, but does not involve himself. He guides himself by Tao, but makes no plans. He identifies himself with charity, but does not rely on it. He performs his duties towards his neighbors, but does not set store by them. He responds to ceremony, without avoiding it. He uakes affairs without deing them, aes out law without fusion. He relies on the people and does not make light of them. He aodates himself to matter and does not ig. Things are not worth attending to, yet they have to be atteo. He who does not uand God will not be pure in character. He who has not clear apprehension of Tao will not know where to begin. And he who is not enlightened by Tao, --alas indeed for him! What then is Tao? There is the Tao of God, and there is the Tao of man. Honour through ina es from the Tao of God: enta through a es from the Tao of man. The Tao of God is fual: the Tao of man is actal. The distance which separates them is great. Let us all take heed thereto!

 Autumn Floods

    Iime of autumn floods, a hureams poured into the river. It swelled in its turbid course, so that it was impossible to tell a cow from a horse on the opposite banks or on the islets. Then the Spirit of the River laughed for joy that all the beauty of the earth was gathered to himself. Dowream he journeyed east, until he reached the North Sea. There, lookiwards and seeing no limit to its wide expanse, his tenance began to ge. And as he gazed over the o, he sighed and said to North-Sea Jo, &quot;A vulgar proverb says that he who has heard a great many truths thinks no one equal to himself. And such a one am I. Formerly when I heard people detrag from the learning of fucius or uing the heroism of Po Yi, I did not believe it. But now that I have looked upon your inexhaustibility -- alas for me ! had I not reached your abode, I should have been for ever a laughing stock to those of great enlighte!&quot;

    To this North-Sea Jo (the Spirit of the O) replied, &quot;You ot speak of o to a well-frog, which is limited by his abode. You ot speak of ice to a summer i, which is limited by his short life. You ot speak of Tao to a pedagogue, who is limited in his knowledge. But now that you have emerged from your narrow sphere and have seen the great o, you know your own insignifice, and I  speak to you of great principles.

    &quot;There is no body of water beh the opy of heaven which is greater than the o. All streams pour into it without cease, yet it does not overflow. It is being tinually drained off at the Tail-Gate {65} yet it is never empty. Spring and autumn bring no ge; floods and droughts are equally unknown. And thus it is immeasurably superior to mere rivers and streams. Yet I have never veo boast on this at. For I t myself, among the things that take shape from the universe and receive life from the yin and yang, but as a pebble or a small tree on a vast mountain. Only too scious of my own insignifice, how  I presume to boast of my greatness?

    &quot;Are not the Four Seas to the universe but like ant-holes in a marsh? Is not the Middle Kingdom to the surrounding o like a tare-seed in a granary? Of all the myriad created things, man is but one. And of all those who inhabit the Nine tis, live on the fruit of the earth, and move about in cart and boat, an individual man is but one. Is not he, as pared with all creation, but as the tip of a hair upon a horses body?

    &quot;The succession of the Five Rulers {66}, the tentions of the Three Kings, the s of the kied, the labors of the administrators, are but this and nothing more. Po Yi refused the throne for fame. gni (fucius) discoursed to get a reputation for learning. This over-estimation of self on their part -- was it not very much like your own previous self-estimation in refereo water?&quot;

    &quot;Very well,&quot; replied the Spirit of the River, &quot;am I then tard the universe as great and the tip of a hair as small?&quot;

    &quot;Not at all,&quot; said the Spirit of the O. &quot;Dimensions are limitless; time is endless. ditions are not stant; terms are not final. Thus, the wise man looks into space, and does nard the small as too little, nor the great as too much; for he knows that there is no limit to dimensions. He looks bato the past, and does not grieve over what is far off, nor rejoice over what is near; for he knows that time is without end. He iigates fullness and decay, and therefore does not rejoice if he succeeds, nor lament if he fails; for he knows that ditions are not stant. He who clearly apprehends the scheme of existence does not rejoice over life, nor repi death; for he knows that terms are not final.

    &quot;What man knows is not to be pared with what he does not know. The span of his existence is not to be pared with the span of his eo strive to exhaust the infinite by means of the infinitesimal necessarily lands him in fusion and unhappiness. How then should one be able to say that the tip of a hair is the ne plus ultra of smallness, or that the universe is the ne plus ultra of greatness?&quot;

    &quot;Dialectis of the day,&quot; replied the Spirit of the River, &quot;all say that the infinitesimal has no form, and that the infinite is <samp></samp>beyond all measurement. Is that true?&quot;

    &quot;If we look at the great from the standpoint of the small,&quot; said the Spirit of the O, &quot;we ot reach its limit; and if we look at the small from the standpoint of the great, it eludes ht. The infinitesimal is a subdivision of the small; the colossal is aension of the great. In this sehe two fall into different categories. This lies iure of circumstances. Now smallness and greatness presuppose form. That which is without form ot be divided by numbers, and that which is above measurement ot be measured. The greatness of anything may be a topic of discussion, and the smallness of anything may be mentally imagined. But that which  be her a topic of discussion nor imagined mentally ot be said to have greatness or smallness.

    &quot;Therefore, the truly great man does not ihers and does not credit himself with charity and mercy. He seeks not gain, but does not despise the servants who do. He struggles not for wealth, but does not lay great value on his modesty. He asks for help from no man, but is not proud of his self-relianeither does he despise the greedy. He acts differently from the vulgar crowd, but does not place high value on being different or etrior because he acts with the majority does he despise those that flatter a few. The ranks and emoluments of the world are to him no cause for joy; its punishments and shame no cause for disgrace. He knows that right and wrong ot be distinguished, that great and small ot be defined.

    &quot;I have heard say, The man of Tao has no (c<big>藏书网</big>eration; the truly virtuous has no ( for) possessions; the truly great man ignores self. This is the height of self-discipline.&quot;

    &quot;But how then,&quot; asked the Spirit of the River, &quot;arise the distins of high and low, of great and small ierial and immaterial aspects of things?&quot;

    &quot;From the point of view of Tao,&quot; replied the Spirit of the O, &quot;there are no such distins of high and low. From the point of view of individuals, each holds himself high and holds others low. From the vulgar point of view, high and low (honors and dishonor) are some thing ferred by others. &quot;In regard to distins, if we say that a thing is great or small by its own standard of great or small, then there is nothing in all creation which is not great, nothing which is not small. To know that the universe is but as a tare-seed, and the tip of a hair is (as big as) a mountain, -- this is the expression of relativity {67}

    &quot;In regard to fun, if we say that somethis or does , by its own standard of existence or noehen there is nothing which does , nothing which does not perish from existence. If we know that east a are vertible a necessary terms iion to each other, then such (relative) funay be determined.

    &quot;In regard to mans desires or is, if we say that anything is good or bad because it is either good or bad acc to our individual (subjective) standards, then there is nothing which is not good, nothing -- which is not bad. If we know that Yao and Chieh each regarded himself as good and the other as bad, then the (dire of) their is bees apparent.

    &quot;Of old Yao and Shun abdicated (in favor of worthy successors) and the rule was maintained, while Kuei (Prince of Yen) abdicated (in favor of Tsechih) and the latter failed. Tang and Wu got the empire by fighting, while by fighting, Po Kung lost it. From this it may be seen that the value of abdig hting, of ag like Yao or like Chieh, varies acc to time, and may not be regarded as a stant principle. &quot;A battering-ram  knock down a wall, but it ot repair a breach. Different things are differently applied. Chichi and Hualiu (famous horses) could travel 1,000 li in one day, but for catg rats they were not equal to a wild cat. Different animals possess different aptitudes. An owl  catch fleas at night, ahe tip of a hair, but if it es out in the daytime it  open wide its eyes a fail to see a mountain. Different creatures are differently stituted.

    &quot;Thus, those who say that they would have right without its correlate, wrong; ood gover without its correlate, misrule, do not apprehend the great principles of the universe, nor the nature of all creation. One might as well talk of the existence of Heaven without that of Earth, or of the ive principle without the positive, which is clearly impossible. Yet people keep on discussing it without stop; such people must be either fools or knaves.

    &quot;Rulers abdicated under different ditions, and the Three Dynasties succeeded each other under different ditions. Those who came at the wrong time a against the tide are called usurpers. Those who came at the right time and fitted in with their age are called defenders ht. Hold your peace, Uncle River. How  you know the distins of high and low and of the houses of the great and small?

    &quot;In this case,&quot; replied the Spirit of the River, &quot;what am I to do about deing and accepting, following and abandoning (courses of a)?&quot;

    &quot;From the point of view of Tao,&quot; said the Spirit of the O.

    &quot;How  we call this high and that low? For there is (the process of) reverse evolution (uniting opposites). To follow one absolute course would involve great departure from Tao. What is much? What is little? Be thankful for the gift. To follow a one-sided opinion is to diverge from Tao. Be exalted, as the ruler of a State whose administration is impartial. Be at ease, as the Deity of the Earth, whose dispensation is impartial. Be expansive, like the points of the pass, boundless without a limit. Embrace all creation, and none shall be more sheltered or helped than ahis is to be without bias. And all things being equal, how  one say which is long and which is short? Tao is without beginning, without end. The material things are born and die, and no credit is taken for their developmeiness and fullness alternate, and their relations are not fixed. Past years ot be recalled; time ot be arrested. The succession of growth and decay, of increase and diminution, goes in a cycle, ead being a new beginning. In this sense only may we discuss the ways of truth and the principles of the universe. The life of things passes by like a rushing, galloping horse, ging at every turn, at every hour. What should one do, or what should o do? Let the (cycle of) ges go on by themselves!&quot;

    &quot;If this is the case,&quot; said the Spirit of the River, &quot;what is the value of Tao?&quot;

    &quot;Those who uand Tao,&quot; answered the Spirit of the O ..{68} &quot;must necessarily apprehend the eternal principles and those rehend the eternal principles must uand their application. Those who uand their application do not suffer material things to ihem. &quot;The man of perfect virtue ot be burnt by fire, nor drowned by water, nor hurt by the cold of winter or the heat of summer, nor torn by bird or beast. Not that he makes light of these; but that he discriminates between safety and danger, is happy under prosperous and adverse circumstances alike, and cautious in his choice of a, so that none  harm him.

    &quot;Therefore it has been said that Heaven (the natural) abides within man (the artificial) without. Virtue abides iural. Knowledge of the a of the natural and of the artificial has its basis iural its destination in virtue. Thus, whether moving forward or backwards whether yielding or asserting, there is always a reversion to the essential and to the ultimate.&quot;

    &quot;What do you mean,&quot; enquired the Spirit of the River, &quot;by the natural and the artificial?&quot;

    &quot;Horses and oxen,&quot; answered the Spirit of the O, &quot;have four feet. That is the natural. Put a halter on a horses head, a string through a bulloose. That is the artificial.

    &quot;Therefore it has been said, do not let the artificial obliterate the natural; do not let will obliterate destiny; do not let virtue be sacrificed to fame. Diligently observe these precepts without fail, and thus you will revert to the True.&quot;

    The walrus {69} ehe tipede; the tipede ehe she snake ehe wind; the wind ehe eye; and the eye ehe mind. The walrus said to the tipede, &quot;I hop about on one leg but not very successfully. How do you manage all those legs you have?&quot;

    &quot;I dont mahem,&quot; replied the tipede. &quot;Have you never seen saliva? When it is ejected, the big drops are the size of pearls, the small ones like mist. At random they fall, in tless numbers. So, too, does my natural meism move, without my knowing how I do it.&quot;

    The tipede said to the snake, &quot;With all my legs I do not move as fast as you with none. How is that?&quot;

    &quot;Ones natural meism,&quot; replied the snake, &quot;is not a thing to be ged. What need have I fs?&quot;

    The snake said to the wind, &quot;I wriggle about by moving my spine, as if I had legs. Now you seem to be without form, a you e blustering down from the North Sea to bluster away to the South Sea How do you do it?&quot;

    &quot;Tis true,&quot; replied the wind, &quot;that I bluster as you say. But anyone who sticks his finger or his foot into me, excels me. Oher hand, I  tear away huge trees aroy large buildings. This power is given only to me. Out of many minor defeats I win the big victory {70}. And to win a big victory is given only to the Sages.&quot;

    When fucius visited Kuang, the men of Sung surrounded him by several cordons. Yet he went on singing to his guitar without stop. &quot;How is it, Master,&quot; enquired Tselu, &quot;that you are so cheerful?&quot;

    &quot;e here,&quot; replied fucius, &quot;and I will tell you. For a long time I have not been willing to admit failure, but in vain. Fate is against me. For a long time I have been seeking success, but in vain. The hour has not e. In the days of Yao and Shun, no man throughout the empire was a failure, though this was not due to their cleverness. In the days of Chieh and Chou, no man throughout the empire was a success, though this was not due to their stupidity. The circumstances happehat way.

    &quot;To travel by water without fear of sea-serpents and dragons, -- this is the ce of the fisherman. To travel by land without fear of the wild buffaloes and tigers, -- this is the ce of hunters. When bright blades cross, to look oh as on life, -- this is the ce of the warrior. To know that failure is fate and that success is opportunity, and to remain fearless in times of great danger, -- this is the ce of the Sage. Stop bustling, Yu! My destiny is trolled (by someone).

    Shortly afterwards, the captain of the troops came in and apologized, saying, &quot;We thought you were Yang Hu; that e surrounded you. We find we have made a mistake.&quot; Whereupon he apologized aired.

    Kungsun Lung {71} said to Mou of Wei, &quot;When young I studied the teags of the elders. When I grew up, I uood the morals of charity and duty. I learo level together similarities and differeo found arguments on &quot;hardness&quot; and &quot;whiteness&quot;, to affirm what others deny, and justify what others dispute. I vanquished the wisdom of all the philosophers, and overcame the arguments of all people. I thought that I had indeed uood everything. But now that I have heard gtse, I am lost in astonishment. I know not whether it is in arguing or in knowledge that I am not equal to him. I o longer open my mouth. May I ask you to impart to me the secret?&quot;

    Prince Mou leaned over the table and sighed. Then he looked up to heaven and laughed, saying, &quot;Have you never heard of the frog in the shallow well? The frog said to the turtle of the Eastern Sea, What a great time I am having! I hop to the rail around the well, aire to rest in the hollow of some broken bricks. Swimming, I float on my armpits, resting my jaws just above the water. Plunging into the mud, I bury my feet up to the foot-arch, and not one of the cockles, crabs or tadpoles I see around me are my match. Besides, to occupy such a pool all alone and possess a shallow well is to be as happy as anyone  be. Why do you not e and pay me a visit?

    &quot;Now before the turtle of the Eastern Sea had got its left leg down its right knee had already stuck fast, and it shrank bad begged to be excused. It then told the frog about the sea, saying, A thousand li would not measure its breadth, nor a thousand fathoms its depth. In the days of the Great Yu:, there were nine years of flood out of ten; but this did not add to its bulk. In the days of Tang, there were seven years ht out of eight; but this did not make its shores recede. Not to be affected by the passing of time, and not to be affected by increase or decrease of water, -- such is the great happiness of the Eastern Sea. At this the frog of the shallow well was siderably astonished a very small, like one lost.

    &quot;For one whose knowledge does not yet appreciate the ies of true and false to attempt to uand gtse, is like a mosquit to carry a mountain, or an irying to swim a river. Of course he will fail. Moreover, one whose knowledge does not reach to the subtlest teags, yet is satisfied with temporary success, -- is not he like the frog in the well?

    &quot;gtse is now climbing up from the realms below to reach high heaven. For him no north or south; lightly the four points are gone, engulfed in the unfathomable. For him  or west - starting from the Mystiknowurns to the Great Unity. A you think yoing to find his truth by dogged inquiries and arguments! This is like looking at the sky through a tube, or pointing at the earth with an awl. Is not this beiy?

    &quot;Have you never heard how a youth of Shoulio study the walking gait at Hantan? {72} Before he could learn the Hantan gait, he had fotten his own way of walking, and crawled bae on all fours. If you do not go away now, you will fet what you have and lose your own professional knowledge.&quot; Kungsun Lungs jaw hung op<q>..</q>en, his tongue clave to his palate, and he slunk away.

    gtse was fishing on the Pu River when the Prince of Chu sent two high officials to see him and said, &quot;Our Prince desires to burden you with the administration of the Chu State.&quot; gtse went on fishing without turning his head and said, &quot;I have heard that in Chu there is a sacred tortoise which died when it was three thousand (years) old. The prince keeps this tortoise carefully enclosed in a chest in his aral temple. Now would this tortoise rather be dead and have its remains veed, or would it rather be alive and wagging its tail in the mud?&quot;

    &quot;It would rather be alive,&quot; replied the two officials, and wagging its tail in the mud.&quot;

    &quot;Begone!&quot; cried gtse. &quot;I too will wag my tail in the mud.

    Hueitse rime Minister in the Liang State, and gtse was on his way to see him. Someone remarked, &quot;gtse has e. He wants to be minister in your place.&quot; Thereupose was afraid, and searched all over the try for three days and three nights to find him.

    Then gtse went to see him, and said, &quot;In the south there is a bird. It is a kind of phoenix. Do you know it? When it starts from the South Sea to fly to the North Sea, it would not alight except on the wu-tung tree. It eats nothing but the fruit of the bamboo, drinks nothing but the purest spring water. An owl which had got the rotten carcass of a rat, looked up as the phoenix flew by, and screeched. Are you not screeg at me over your kingdom of Liang?&quot;

    gtse and Hueitse had strolled on to the bridge over the Hao, when the former observed, &quot;See how the small fish are darting about! That is the happiness of the fish.&quot;

    &quot;You not being a fish yourself,&quot; said Hueitse, &quot;how  you know the happiness of the fish?&quot;

    &quot;And you not being I,&quot; retorted gtse, &quot;how  you know that I do not know?&quot;

    &quot;If I, not being you, ot know what you know,&quot; urged Hueitse, &quot;it follows that you, not being a fish, ot know the happiness of the fish.&quot;

    &quot;Let us go back to your inal question,&quot; said gtse. &quot;You asked me how I khe happiness of the fish. Your very question shows that you khat I knew. I k (from my own feelings) on this bridge.&quot;

 Translators Notes

    {1} He is reputed to have lived 800 years.

    {2} 1783 B.C.

    {3} Philosopher about whose life nothing is known. The book Liehtse is sidered a later pilatiohe se &quot;Parables of A Philosophers.&quot;

    {4} The wind.

    {5} 2357 B.C.

    {6} Sage emperors/

    {7} A sophist and friend of gtse who often carried oes with him.

    {8} Agitations of the soul (music of Heaven) pared to the agitations of the forest (music of Earth).

    {9} Lit. &quot;true lord.&quot;

    {10} Shih and fei mean general moral judgments aal distins; &quht&quot; and &qu,&quot; &quot;true&quot; and &quot;false,&quot; &quot;is&quot; and &quot;is not,&quot; &quot;affirmative&quot; and &quot;ive,&quot; also &quot;to justify&quot; and &quot;n,&quot; &quot;to affirm&quot; and &quot;deny.&quot;

    {11} The followers of Motse were powerful rivals of the fuists in gtses days. See the seles from Motse.

    {12} The meaning of these two sentences is made clear by a line below. &<bdi></bdi>quot;But if we put the different categories ihen the differences of category cease to exist.&quot;

    {13} g and kuei, lit. &quot;whole&quot; and &quot;defit.&quot;

    &quot;Wholeness&quot; refers to unspoiled unity of Tao. In the followiences, g is used in the sense of &quot;success &quot; It is explained by entators that the &quot;wholeness&quot; of music exists only in silence, and that as soon as oe is struck, other notes are necessarily held in abeyahe same thing is true uments: when we argue, we necessarily cut up truth by emphasiziain aspects of it.

    {14} See Laotse, Ch. 42.

    {15} See Laotse, Ch. 5.

    {16} See Laotse, Ch. 58.

    {17} Lit. in the &quot;Palace of Heaven.&quot;

    {18} Personal name of gtse. &quot;tse&quot; being the equivalent of &quot;Master.&quot;

    {19} An important idea that recurs frequently in gtse, all things are in stant flow and ge, but are different aspects of the One.

    {20} Best disciple of fucius.

    {21} Lit. &quarded as sons (ie. fathered) by Heaven.&quot;

    {22} The first part of this song is found in the As.

    {23} This chapter deals entirely with deformitiesa literary deviphasizing the trast of the inner and the outer man.

    {24} A well-known historical person, a model minister referred to in the As.

    {25} Lit. &quot;The outside of frame and bones.&quot;

    {26} Hueitse often discusses the nature of attributes, like the &quot;hardness&quot; and &quot;whiteness&quot; of objects.

    {27} All of these historical and semi-historical persons were good men who lost their lives, by drowning o<dfn>..</dfn>r starving themselves, or pretending insanity, in protest against a wicked world, or just to avoid being called into office.

    {28} General attitude of fluidity towards life.

    {29} Mythical emperor (2852 B.C.) said to have discovered the principles of mutations of Yin and Yang.

    {30} With a mans head but a beasts body.

    {31} A river spirit.

    {32} A mountain god.

    {33} A semi-mythical ruler, who ruled in 2698-2597 B.C.

    {34} A semi-mythical ruler, who ruled in 25I4-2417 B.C., shortly before Emperor Yao.

    {35} A water god with a human fad a birds body.

    {36} A monarch of the Shang Dyn<samp>.9９ｌiｂ.</samp>asty, 1324-l266 B.C.100

    {37} A famous sword.

    {38} Personal name of fucius.

    {39} Huang-g and ta-lu: were the standard pitchpipes.

    {40} Tseng Tsan and Shih <tt>９９lib.t>Yu:, disciples of fucius.

    {41} I Yang chu and Motse (Mo Ti).

    {42} Beginning with this phrase there is a marked ge in style and vocabulary in this part.

    {43} Because he refused to serve the new dynasty.

    {44} Sun Yang, 658-619 B.C.

    {45} A mythical ruler.

    {46} 481 B.C.

    {47} There is an ana here for gtse lived to see only the ninth geion of Tiens, At least the number &quot;twelve&quot; must have beenbbr>.</abbr> slipped in by a later scribe. This evidence is not suffit to vitiate the whole chapter, as some &quot;textual critics&quot; claim.

    {48} Refereo a story. The states Lu and Chao both presented wio the King of Chu. By the trickery of a servant, the flasks were exged, and Chao was blamed for presenting bad wine, and its city Hantan was beseiged.

    {49} See Laotse, Ch. 36.

    {50} See Laotse, Ch. 19.

    {51} See Laotse, Ch. 45.

    {52} See Note 40.

    {53} See Laotse, Ch. 1.

    {54} All legendary a rulers.

    {55} Cf. Laotse, Ch. 80.

    {56} See Laotse, Ch. 13.

    {57} Laotse, Tan being one of the personal names of Laotse (Li Tan, or Li Erh). &quot;Lao&quot; means &quot;old,&quot; while &quot;Li&quot; is the family name.

    {58} The founders of the three dynasties, Hsia, Shang and Chou (2205-222 B.C.)

    {59} Signal for attack.

    {60} Lit. &quot;Heaven.&quot;

    {61} Yin, yang, wind, rain, light and darkness.

    {62} Great Nebulous is here addressed as &quot;Heaven.&quot; See Note 60.

    {63} See Note 58.

    {64} This chapter further develops the ideas in Chapter &quot;On Levelling All Things&quot; and tains the important philosophical cept of relativity.

    {65} Wei-Lu:, a mythical hole itom or end of the o.

    {66} Mythical rulers before the Three Kings.

    {67} Lit. &quot;levelling of ranks or distins.&quot;

    {68} From here on to the end of this paragraph, most of the passages are rhymed.

    {69} Kuei, a mythical, one-legged animal.

    {70} Now a slogan used in a in the war against Japan.

    {71} A Neo-Motseanist (of the Sophist school) who lived after gtse. This seust have been added by the latters disciples, as is easy to see from the three stories about gtse which follow.

    {72} Capital of Chao.天涯在线书库《www.tianyabook.com》