Sacred-Texts Taoism Index Previous Next
THE COSMIC SPIRIT. DISSERTATION I.—Pp. 1-30.
This is the lst Essay in the series. The Chinese title is Yuan Tao Hsun, (###). The Tao is discussed in a separate article. It needs here only to say that an innovation has been made in the translation of the word Tao by Cosmic Spirit. To anticipate perfectly just criticism to which the translation is open that there is a lack of consistency in the use, it is well to say that Cosmic Spirit is sometimes used, and sometimes the transliterated sound Tao is used. This is a compromise. The Cosmic Spirit really indicates and expresses comprehensively the idea of the Tao in Chinese. The Chinese word is retained because it is being adopted into English partly; and in many cases it is a simpler form for use.
1. Fu tao cho ###. The chô follows the theme indicating the matter discussed. It also implies personality, but not so here.
2. Yin and Yang. The negative and positive principles conceived of as existing in nature universally: male and female: light and darkness.
3. There are no surprising calamities, because all is natural and well-ordered. It may refer more to ill-starred signs than actual physical disturbance.
4. The rainbow is a bad sign: no one dares to point the finger at it.
5. The introduction of such persons here and elsewhere with the exaggerated description of their powers may have contributed to the Taoist degeneration of later days. If such passages were introduced by the original writer, it was done to denote the great power of the Tao, in rhetorical terms.
6. The Creator, i.e., the Tao. There may be here a personification of natural forces under the sway of the Tao.
7. Central organ. The authority of the mind under the sway of the Tao.
8. No fatigue, etc: One of the great themes of the work is that there is no diminution of powers, where the Tao is the dominant force. But a reliance on the senses leads to early exhaustion. This is a fundamental teaching.
9. Legal interference. One of the Liberal principles is that the State should interfere as little as possible by legal enactments. Things have a power of settling themselves without the meddling of opportunist policies and cleverness of the politician.
10. Quiescent. One of the great words of the ancient Taoist philosophers. It implies a perfect equilibrium in human nature, when undisturbed by the entrance of the disturbing forces of passion, desire and all the inventions of the tinkers that crowd the human stage, people who have invented many methods to aid virtue,—the te that results from tao. This refers to the Confucianist theories of jen, love, and i, justice. It should be remembered that there was a great controversy between the Taoist and the Confucianist on the origin of being and on the doctrine of human nature.
11. Do not change the tao-nature for the human, not the spiritual for the sensual.
12. Cp: Mencius Book vi. I: 8, 4.
13. Tan Ho. For Tan read chan. A famous angler.
14. For Yuan Huan read Chüan Huan.
15. For Wu Nao read Hu Hao. The story of how the branches of the mulberry tree came to be used for the most famous bow is that the crows used to rest in the branches. But when springing off, there was such reaction in the branch that the crows got frightened and refused to fly away and so cried in the tree. Another story is that when Huang Ti was flying away to be a genii from the people who loved him, that they shot at the dragon on which he was flying to bring him back, but missed the object; and so the people wailed and the bow came to be known as the "crying bow."
16. For Seng Meng Tzu read Peng Meng Tzu.
17. The original is rather difficult to render; but the idea is "Be guided by great principles and not by temporary policies."
18. T‛u Shan. There are 4 places of this name. The one in the text was in Anhui, 8 li S. E. of Huai Yuan. There was a hill, river and place of the same name. The concord is that between the great Yü and Feudal Lords.
19. Yin I. A famous Prime Minister of T‛ang who kept his emperor prisoner until he amended his ways.
20. Li Chu. A minister of Huang Ti. (2698 B.C.), noted for keenness of eyesight. Mencius mentions him in Book IV Li Lou, Pt. 1. Chap. 1.
21. Shih Kuang. Great musician. He blinded his eyes for concentration on music.
22. A small domain, lit: a terrain of 3 li.
23. Another slap at the Confucian 'sage'. Here the writer touches on a vital Taoist view. It is something akin to the modern view partly expounded by Tolstoy. When men are properly self-governing and taught by the inward monitor, there is no p. 246 need for the enactment of law or for human government. This is implied in the common saying "The law is only for bad men." The underlying idea is of a natural scheme of life contrary to the Confucian theory of life which is entirely artificial. Weight and measure. The yard and foot-rule came into existence after the loss of the natural state, through strife and cunning and ambition and greed. These standards gave an occasion for dishonesty and injustice. The doctrine of jen, i, benevolence and justice are an artificial creation which has led the world away from the fundamental truths of life and principles of action. Old Mause in "Old Mortality" gives vent to the idea when he says:—"Your leddyship and the steward has been pleased to propose that my son Cuddie suld work in the barn wi a new-fangled machine for dighting the corn frae th' chaff, thus impiously thwarting the will o' Divine Providence by raising wind for your leddyship's ain particular use by human art, instead of soliciting it by prayer."
24. These items are mentioned, in detail, to show the adaptations of nature and to emphasise its naturalness.
25. Wu wei. Lit., No action, not doing. This, of course, is not correct. Wu has not its usual meaning of not; but of invisible existence. Yu Wu comes from Wu yu; the existent comes from the non-existent. It is the invisible state from which all visible things come. Thus it is a synonym of Tao. Hence wu wei means tao action. The same idea is seen in the words of thc Psalm. "There is no voice nor sound: their language is not heard."
26. The gate of Heaven. This is explained by the next paragraph.
27. Cosmic Soul. The original is Tao. Tao has been translated by many words, such as Nature, First Cause, Primum mobile, etc.
28. Kung Kung. One of the two ancient engineers. {Kung Kung is also the mythological figure who knocked down one of the four mountains supporting the heavens, thus accounting for the apparent tilt of the sky.}
29. I, king of Kuang Tung mentioned in other essays too. He is the subject of one of the most popular plays in the country.
30. Sage here refers to Confucius himself. His systems of ethics are man-made moralities and not emanating from the Tao. Hence the contention.
31. Naturalness is sure in its ways. There may be a veiled attack on ambitious politicians and statesmen who force the course of things. Giddy height Cp. Richard III. "Who raised me to this giddy height."
32. Wu wei, Translate by no-action, for antithesis.
33. Affairs settle themselves. Time is a healer.
33a. Knows how to guard its roots. It knows when to pullulate p. 247 and when to close up flowering etc.
34. The passage is obscure; but the general meaning is there can be no wrenching of the natural.
35. Symbols of unworthiness. Princes, dukes, lords use depreciatory terms in speaking of themselves, such as orphans, the lonely one and so on.
36. The Unity. May not mean Tao here, but rather to have a commanding control, mental or physical of any situation or thing.
37. Just as one general governs the army.
38. Mainstay. The word is ### i.e. the trunk of a tree.
39. Pioneers. May there be a reference to ambitious persons?
40. Ch‛ü Pei-yü. A minister of Wei.
41. The meaning is according to the official commentator, "The Taoist discusses affairs from the tao point of view, and hence is certain in judgment. The tao is before the advent of any affair and so can control it. It also governs the end and issue.
42. A critical business. Any situation fraught with tense issues.
43. Sage. The Taoist sage.
44. Yü,—the great emperor.
45. This passage throws some light on wu wei, viz. that it does not mean laissez faire. He strove: he is prompt in every act: instantaneous to the call of duty.
46. Cp: Book of History. Bk II. Chap. 2. Sect. 14.
47. Gain repose. Not ease and leisure, but the freedom from sense agitation aroused by any anti-tao state.
48. Distance. The word is Hsiu ### which usually means salary, but here length of time or distance.
49. The action of wu wei. The reference is to the Tao Te Ching Chap. 43. This is a magificent description of water and its power. It worthily shows the exhaustless and beneficial operations of tao.
50. Light bears a nearer relation to the Formless Spirit than water does, because it has no substance. Water is the grandson, because it has form and substance.
51. The passage of anything from the immaterial to the material means deterioration. Plato says "Generation leads to corruption". In Christian theology there is the question of the sinfulness of the flesh. The view is also in Buddhism.
52. The Supremacy power. The stability given by an inward repose arising from identification with tao. There are no accretions from the flesh.
53, 54. Immaterial, Formless. Great terms in Taoism. The political conditions of the time is ever hovering over the thought of the writer. He was himself in difficult positions. Indirectly p. 248 he may be referring to the emperor, his grandfather, and implying that were he living in fellowship with tao, there would be freedom from the complexities of passion and he would have at his service all the powers of the spirit and nature.
55. Unity. A commentator says unity is the foundation of the Tao.
56. It is difficult to say whether he intends to attribute personality to the Unity. It is evident he would give it a separate existence from all else. But as Martineau says, "It is certain that in ancient philosophy words expressive of mental life and action were employed where no proper idea of personality was present." "Types of Ethical Theory," Vol. I. p. 87.
57. Includes the centre and circumference of the universe.
58. No circle etc. It can't be measured nor fathomed.
59. Unity opens the entrance or is the gate of Tao. The idea is the entrance through narrow defile to empire.
60. Five tones. Kung, shang, chüeh, chi (cheng), yu.
61. Sweet, acid, saline, acrid, bitter.
62. The unity here may mean the point of transition from the immaterial into the material and vice versa. Unity covers the deep, i.e., everywhere. The point when the invisible passes into the visible, and is all pervasive.
63. Cp., Cowper's lines,
| "Like the cerulean arc we see Majestic in its own simplicity." |
64. Lao Tan referring to the everlasting, natural tao, said ### but tao is used only conventionally for the nameless. It is not easy to give a name to it. One portal. The portal of generation of matter: passing from the invisible to the visible, from spirit to matter, so entering corruption.
65. Follows law. All is law. The invisible law of the nature of things. In tune with this there can be no erratic ways.
66. Corruption of tao. Joy and anger are excesses of the equanimity of the tao.
67. Repose, purity. Great names in the system, Ching, hsü.
68. Shen Ming, Spiritual and Spirit.
69. Autocrat of the Universe. Triumphant confidence in the tao.
70. He returns within. The tao is within and without. Cp. this with the idea of Plato.
"Are we sharers in that divine Reason which informs and organises the universe? We must recognise and welcome it everywhere, and follow it out as it ramifies through the world of sense. There is nothing inconsistent in this double view, which regards the material system, now as the opaque veil to hide, and now as the transparent medium to reveal, the inner thought which is the divine essence of all: and seeks at one p. 249 time to ascend into the intellectual glory by escape from detaining appearances: at another, to descend with that glory as it streams into the remotest recesses of the phenomenal world." Martineau. "Types of Ethical Theory," Vol. I. p. 67.
71. This passage seems to imply that if the seeker knocks, he will find. The Tao will respond to human pressure: in other words, prayer is effective. Also it implies the personality of the Tao. The words used are Hsuan fu, ### the hidden secret and profundity.
72. The Tao-man finds his work expeditious, when guided by Tao.
73. Highest excellence, tê, the tao in action.
74. Possibly a reference to his own disturbed times. One reason for writing the 21 essays was the hope to assuage the anarchy of the day, by the application of the tao.
75. Nobility of life: true nobility.
76. There were famous historical palaces in Ts‛u, also famous lakes in the country. This was the prominent kingdom of the age.
77. Chiu Shao ###. Music composed by Shun, the emperor. Liu Ying ### the music composed by Chuen Shu, minister of Shun.
78. The individual under the true order of eternal law, not swayed by the senses and passions.
79. The satisfaction of life does not come from without but from within,—the reconciliation and harmony of the spirit with naturalness.
80. Spiritual joy. Wu loh, (###) Wu not to be read as negative but as implying freedom from sense and passion's contamination.
81. To the mind. That is the true self spoken of before.
82. Governor of life. In the text the 5 viscera.
83. Hsü Yu. A hermit of Ch‛i Shan. For his sanctity Yao, the emperor, desired him to take the throne which he refused. Cp., Mencius Bk IV Chap. 9. 1. Also Analects XXII Chap. 2. 2.
84. Each is an empire in himself. There is no need for organised monarchy when the tao rules each. Cp. what Mencius says, "Wan wu chieh pei yü wo ###." "I am a miniature cosmos."
85. With this compare what Mencius says, BK VII. 4. 1.
85a. That is when external impressions are eliminated.
86. Pp. 24-28 may have some spurious sentences as a later addition. It does not seem probable that the same writer wrote all.
87. This has been said before in the essay. The recipient is governed by the tao within, which no outward circumstance can change.
88. The compass and square cannot each be both round and square: kou sheng pu neng ch‛üeh chih (###). The plumb p. 250 and line cannot be crooked and straight. Eternal principles are not to be made to suit conventional life and temporal expedients.
89. He is not scorched by fire nor soaked by water. Figurative language to describe a firm spirit.
90. Fulness of spirit. Ch‛i ### is not air. It always has a special meaning in this philosophy. It is something spiritual not physical. Vitalism. Cp. Analects VII Chap. 10. 1.
91. Cp. Great Learning Chap VIII 1. 2. 3. An example. Duke Pei of Tsu was lost in constant thought how to overthrow the king and get his throne. He was leaning on his lance which pierced his jaw of which he was unconscious.
Concluding remark. It is evident from certain passages in this essay, especially in the latter parts, that the circle of writers were seeking the consolations of philosophy and religion against the anarchy and warring ambitions of the times.
REALITY. DISSERTATION II.—Pp. 31-58.
This is the 2nd essay in the Chinese text. The exordium is difficult. As a supplementary explanation and analysis is given later, it is not necessary to say more here, than that the author tries to describe the various steps in the evolution of the cosmos. As a rule, Confucianism is satisfied with describing material phenomena and so starts with Heaven. The Taoists go further back and think of Naturalness and Tao.
1. The author tries to see and to describe not only the phenomena of the cosmos but also what is beyond—the various steps in the eternities of time and space. He pushes the thought back to that which is behind all phenomena. Heaven is the ultimate of the Confucian School; but to the Taoist philosopher there is the tao and naturalism.
2. Ultimate depths. These are in the beginnings and shrouded in profound mystery.
3. In death. Chuang Tzu says: Life is the time of movement, death of rest.
4. All things change, but nothing is lost.
5. The illustration of a man moving a mountain in the night is a common proverb implying something sudden and miraculous. The use of it here is to show the inadequacy of a man-made doctrine divorced from the tao. So Confucianism and Meiism may disappear and lose their sway, because they are not p. 251 founded on tao. What comes from tao cannot disappear, because it is coextensive with the cosmos.
6. Kung Yu-ai. A mythical case.
7. The world is a mystery and all events a riddle beyond human solution. For man himself is a part of created things. The Taoist insists that there is a purpose in the cosmos, but only known to the Unknown One.
8. The Taoists hold that the tao-man has no kuei (ghost) after death. He may have a shen, spirit.
9. The Taoists preserve their bodies and spirits well, so end their lives naturally; and the personality of the spirit enters and is lost in the Cosmic Spirit. They leave no ghost. But those who die prematurely and unnaturally leave a ghost.
10. As the Taoists let the tao rule the heart, so no worldly desires clamour within. Hence, they have no cares or worry: their thoughts are tranquil and serene in simplicity. So in sleep the mind rests and there are no dreams.
11. The Chinese have an account of the Utopian State which is much admired, but more for its style of writing rather than for the nature of the state.
12. The Confucian moralities, benevolence, justice, jen, i, etc., are artificial because not connected with the real source of all things (tao). They were false standards and confuse human nature.
13. Cp. Mencius Bk. VII Pt. 1. Chap. 7. Also 1 Cor. 3, 22. The whole passage beginning with "As the fish forgets, etc.," deals with the freedom of life. The fishes forget the existence of others. No mutual interference. See separate elucidation.
14. Jasper ring. The jasper is a rare jade ### produced in a distant land and difficult to get, implying that the tao is rare and hard to get.
15. Abandon eye and ear etc. Perfect altruism.
16. Spiritual frontiers. The formless, wu hsing.
17. Jade Coach. Imperial coach.
18. T‛ai hang etc., Precipitous heights: mountains.
19. A hair of the leg. Strong: will not entertain the idea.
20. Action of dragon & snake. Transformation of the dragon is invisible. The snake changes its skin naturally.
21. One fountain. The Unity.
22. Earth has nine continents, and heaven has nine corresponding realms.
23. Six avenues. The six directions of space.
24. One father and mother. The positive and negative.
25. San Wei. Aborigines.
26. Mei or Mu Ti the founder of the doctrine of universal altruism. 4th-5th century B.C. Yang. Died 338 B.C. He made many agrarian reforms and reformed the civil and military administrations. Ennobled as the Prince of Shang. Shen. A contemporary of Yang. He advocated the authority of law as against the arbitrary authority of individuals.
27. Nine-Tripod Vessel. The casting was of rough mould. Who had the tripod must be the monarch. The schools that did not issue from the tao were artificial. They did not issue from the unity, the stock, as the myriad branches do from the trunk.
28. Peng Meng. An expert with the bow. Tsao Fu-an expert driver of horses. Pei Lo. A fine judge of horses.
29. The idea contained in this difficult passage is that the Confucianist and other schools have corrupted the tao by their own philosophies. In so doing, they have interrupted its free play. The transformations of cloud and moisture. Moisture implies change and generation. Generation enters into corruption.
30. Cp. Mencius Bk I. Pt. I. Chap 7. Sec 10.
31. The original is ### Like a potter he can shape as he likes.
32. May this mean, "A heart free from human accretions: i.e., the impressions of the senses and the accretions that come from mere human knowledge, and so on? He lives in the spiritual realm, with its pristine purity.
33. Voiceless regions. The realm of meditation and prayer (?) He is blind to the world of sense, but alight with the spiritual illuminations.
34. He can use it because he does not use it, etc.: He does not lean on the work of the senses as the main thing. He does not use directly and foremost the mental functions, but he has something higher which gives an inward direction and so with this inward direction he can use to more and better effect all the functions of the mind. Similarly non-knowledge leads to knowledge. By not depending on the knowledge gained through the senses, he comes, by first depending on the illumination of the tao, to a truer and better knowledge. More correct and more judicial because untainted by mental prejudice and the errors of bias. A paradoxical statement. The whole idea is the principle of wu wei. This is the chief instruction of these passages. Knowledge is artificial: non-knowledge is real.
35. No form. Before the body is constituted, there can be no standard for judging right and wrong. Morality can't exist p. 253 without body (?)
36. True knowledge. Man without falsity gives true knowledge. The word is ### chen, same as the specific true man.
37. These two passages describe Confucian morality and politics. The Confucian jen and i, benevolence and justice, is a travesty of the real, because they do not issue from the true source. The following paragraphs describe the real tê virtue which is a quality of the tao. The Confucian virtue is a mongrel.
38. {There is no 38 in the text. See note 37 (?).}
39. The 'senator of the forest' (Keats).
40. One of the words is crooked, chüch. Crooked lines made into artistic design.
41. The sage-man, i.e., the Taoist sage.
42. Three fountains. The very depths of the earth.
43. Chen jen. The true man. There are three grades.
44. Fei lien. A kind of animal in antiquity with long hair and large wings.
45. Kua Fu. One of the genii.
46. Mi Fei. Daughter of Fu Hsi. She drowned herself in the river Lo because of the genii of the river.
47. Extravagantly imaginative.
48. An attack on Confucianism for wrong methods of reform. Diseased Society. Let well alone.
49. Pristine nature. The commentary explains this as "The Eastern wilds: the Orient, whence the sun comes forth, natural movement."
50. I. A mythical person of great powers.
51. Fu Hsi. Supposed the first emperor of China or the first man to civilize the world. His behaviour harmonised with the creation. So he is likened to the sun and moon. He taught men to fish and cook. He taught men to use domestic animals. He invented the eight diagrams ### for divination. He had a name Pao Hsing ###: Pao means, "cooking."
52. Shen Nung. 838 B.C. {sic, Shen Nung should be much earlier} A legendary ruler.
53. Huang Ti. One of the 6 Rulers. 2698 B.C. Some writers attribute the teaching of the Tao Tê Ching to him and others.
54. Yang Chu. 4th century B.C. The founder of the school of Egoism and selfishness: the direct antithesis of Meiism-altruism. Each advanced his theory for the organisation of the state. Mei Tzu promised a golden age, if his principles were adopted. Mencius opposed his teaching. Yang founded his school in opposition to Mei's. Of Yang Mencius says, he would not part with a hair of his leg to save the world, but Mei Tzu would have sacrificed his all.
55. The sage. Confucius.
56. Losing the soul. It must not be concluded that the author was hostile to education, nor that he advocated the Arcadian simplicity of prehistoric times. So to understand his attitude we must recall the political conditions of the times. His narrative is a veiled attack on the rulers of the age. He wrote soon after the death of Ch‛in Shih Huang who had stirred the time most impressively. But in many respects his rule was destructive. It had been disturbing and inquisitive. The era was such. So he veiled his attack in honeyed words descriptive of a state of society the very opposite of that of the time-arrogant authority.
57. Soul. Hsing ming, life
58. Non-desire. Hsing ### is naturally good but ch‛ing ### passions hurts it. So desire must be abolished.
59. Schoolmen. Ta jen chih hsueh (###). Learned School.
60. This is the misuse of eye and ear. Laborious effort of fighting against human nature when not properly cultivated.
61. Being and non-being. The view of being (###) which means gains and non-being (###) loss of the minor philosophies is a false one. A true standard is essential and should be thoroughly appreciated.
62. Since the heart and mind are occupied with the tao, passion and desire will find no place. So there can be no pain and cares, therefore, blessings come to rest there.
63. A soul that is pure shows that the spirit is keeping a keen watch over the intruding appetites so there is no chance left for any disturbing force.
64. Not extravagant in frills and embroideries. Just enough to keep the body warm.
65. The foundation is tao and its practice is te ###, behaviour. One of its branches is jen and i, love and justice. To take these as the foundation is a Confucian error and far from reality.
66. Hsu Yu. A contemporary of Yao. A man of wu wei, that is action by the tao.
67. While the tao is embraced all other things become of no importance. The world cannot move the heart.
68. This is Heaven; the transformer is te virtue from the tao.
69. The spirit, shen? Shen, the spirit: ching, crosses. Li not Lu.
70. Nine rivers. Four seas and nine rivers, i.e., the empire.
71. Yen Shui. Yang Ah Yen Shui, Name of ancient dances.
72. Juggle with words. The original are words used for a puzzle.
73. To pass through life. Attend to the duties of life.
74. That is, without a proper environment.
75. Golden age. Cp. with this the golden age of Hesiod and the p. 255 Stoic. v. Hastings, "Dictionary of Ethics," under Ages of the World.
76. Nine tripods. Symbol of the nine virtues. The tripods increased or decreased in weight according to the quality of government.
77. Red book. A book about tao written by Huang Ti. Mythology says it was delivered from Heaven by a red bird.
78. Green plan. Attributed to Huang Ti who got it from the river, The writing was green.
79. The three worthies. Fang Hui is straightforward (### fang) and humble (### hui). Shan chuan. Concentrated the mind (###) on reading. Péi I. The meaning of his name is "To throw the cloak over the shoulder without taking the trouble to button it." That is to pay no attention to worldly things. These 3 men were the contemporaries of Yao, the emperor, whose names were unknown so their characters became names for them.
80-84. {These notes are not printed in the book.}
LIFE AND SOUL. DISSERTATION III.—Pp. 58-78.
Essay 7 in the Chinese text. The theme may be translated also by Spirit and Consciousness. The word Spirit comes from 3 values, Ching ### Ch‛i ### and Shen ###. Ching and shen may be termed Ling. Spirit. Ch‛i ### has more of a physical meaning and may denote the body.
1. Repose ###. The state of being undisturbed by passions. It gains the unity by purity. This and the following word tranquillity are leading words in the system.
2. Tranquillity ###. Earth gains stability by tranquillity. Unity gives life and the absence of it is death.
3. Unconditioned. That is unlimited by the material.
4. The true factors of life are inward not outward so not to be obtained from the physical and outward but from the inward operation of the spirit. The Cosmic Spirit is omnipresent and simply a derivative in the mind. Root is the life principle within: the branches are the life without activity. Thought and act are intimately connected.
5. One interpretation is that One is the tao: two is reason or spirit: three is the spiritual harmony. Another is, One is the original ch‛i or spirit, breath: this gives birth to two, i.e. heaven and earth. Two begets three, creation. Yin and yang flow through all and creation is at birth. Still another p. 256 explanation. One is the tao: two is the spirit (shen ming ###): three is the harmony. And again, One is the primal aura and begets two, heaven and earth, and two begets three heaven and creation. When heaven and earth are established yin and yang circulate and all things come to birth.
6. The Five Viscera.
| The heart | corresponding | to | fire | ### |
| lungs | " | " | metal | ### |
| kidneys | " | " | water | ### |
| stomach | " | " | earth | ### |
| liver | " | " | wood | ### |
The opening and closing, expansion and contraction etc.: the function of inhaling and exhaling etc.
7. Gall, tan, has correspondence in vapour. Metal and stone come under water so the correspondence.
8. Sinister powers of nature.
9. Five planets are ###, ###, ###, ###, ###.
They are now called Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn.
10. Great and boundless. A Chinese idiom: most expansive by its vastness. It implies a power to expand according to need.
11. Variegated lights is the literal translation. Its brilliant powers. When there is no waste the chest will be normal and its energies at the full.
12. The idea is the centrality of thought in the spirit within gives the greatest knowledge and power: wandering desires weaken the powers.
13. Excess of lust and passion prevent spiritual culture.
14. Past known . . . future seen. Cp: Chung Yung Chap 24. Sincerity is able to foreknow.
15. Cp: Math. 10. 39.
16. The first unity is tao and the 2nd is unity of wu, things. The relative worth of life's parts can only be truly valued by the tao. The tao is head and source of all and ignorance of it implies that one knows nothing.
17. The cultured man should not dislike death since it means only a return to original nature by dissolution. Here there is another insight into the trend of thought under stress of danger and anarchy.
18. Seat of Hsia Hou. A precious jade, of half a circle, of the Hsia dynasty. Half circle implies winter: in winter earth is in lethargy: so heaven only active.
19. This is different from the nil admirari state of mind. For there is an admiration of the tao which is seen from the next sentence "he cherishes virtue and warms himself," etc.
20. Happiness is not the aim of his life.
21. True Man ###. Such was Fu Hsi ###. B.C. 2953-2838. The 1st of the Five Emperors of the legendary period. Taught the people to hunt, fish and keep flocks. Huang Ti ### 2698 B.C. Said to be inventer of wheeled vehicles, armour, ships, pottery. Phoenix and Chilin appeared in his reign. Lao Tan ### b. 604 B.C.
They are the reputed founders of Taoism and some maintain that the Tao Te Ching originated with the first two and not with Lao Tan. But for this there is no sufficient evidence.
22. Like and dislike. The inner life is under perfect control. Love and hate do not move him.
23. Cp: Analects. Bk. 8 C. 19. 1.
24. To use a modern phrase now much in vogue, 'there is guidance' and his emptiness is filled. The following sentences describe a person whose mind is completely under the spirit and not concerned with worldliness.
25. He gives the impression of possessing the divine power.
26. The true Taoist does not indulge in these physical gymnastics. He is concerned with the body only as the medium of the spirit.
27. The spirit is the true source of all power.
28. In the original the suggestion is that Shun should offer the sacrifices
29. The 'perfect man' ###. There are 3 kinds of men named according to their attainments in the tao. They are ###, The sage: ###, The true man: ###, The Perfect man.
30. There are no closed avenues to the spiritual man.
31. No death. There are two deaths. One of the body one of the soul. No death of the body is used to lead men on to think of the eternal life of the soul. When a man has the two his spirit preserves the unity after death and is not dispersed into 7 parts as is commonly said. No death, refers to this. Unity is preserved.
32. Yen Tzu: a minister of the State of Ch‛i.
33. Ts‛ui Chu. It was he who slew Duke Chuang.
34. Cp: Mencius Bk. VI. Pt. 2. VI. 5.
35. These men just mentioned are great men—but they are men of the school of artificial virtue created by sages and not men of the wu wei standard of life.
36. Wu Kuang. T‛ang, the emperor, ceded the throne to him and he refused it. He finally hung a stone round his neck and jumped into a river.
37. AO granary. In Yung yang a city of Honan. Famous in history.
38. Plato said that the generation of matter implies entering a p. 258 state of corruption. The wall mentioned in the section refers to the body. Its life is short and temporal it would be better if it had remained in the spiritual stage and not have been born.
39. "Man when perfected is the best of animals: but when isolated he is the worst of all: for injustice is more dangerous when armed: and man is equipped at birth with intelligence and with qualities of character which he may use for the vilest ends. Wherefore if he have not virtue, he is the most unholy and savage of all animals, full of gluttony and lust." Aristotle.
40. {This note is not printed in the book.}
41. A fresh attack on Confucianism and its ideals of life.
42. Chou Yu. An ancient kingdom outside Shansi.
43. His 5 sons in the struggle for power after the death of their father neglected to coffin him and to attend to the funeral arrangements.
44-46. {These notes are not printed in the book.}
NATURAL LAW. DISSERTATION IV.—Pp. 79-101.
1. This is the 8th essay in the text. T‛ai Ch‛ing: Lit., Most pure. It also means the beginning of wu wei, not doing, by human intelligence which is corrupt. Here possibly used historically referring to the happy period before the Three Emperors, The Utopian age. T‛ai Chi is the beginning of creation and born of the tao.
2. Eight Signs, the pa kua. The diagram of divination. A most mysterious code. It originated from Fu Hsi who attempted to reveal the tao and its significance in creation, by 8 signs. Later, Wen Wang altered the combination into 64 signs and arranged it for finding the destiny and the cyclic changes of the universe and human beings. The system is the I Ching, but, since Confucius, the key to it is lost. The use made of it by fortune tellers is only to deceive the people.
3. The appearance of the T‛u ti shen—the spirit of the soil, was a warning of national decay. The verbal description in the original is noteworthy.
4. Therefore the land etc.: Building operations are entirely tabooed at the time. The reason may be gathered from the sentences following. The cosmology of the Chinese is extensive.
5 Lit.: flesh and blood: eroticism: sexual feelings.
6. Gave rise to ceremonies. Here directly connected with sex passion which is to be controlled by ceremonies.
7. In the text we have the mind reverting to the beginning, that is to the time before the rise of desire and lust.
8. Tao te is the root, and Jen i the branch. Jen i, benevolence and p. 259 duty are greater than li yoh, ceremony and music.
9. {This note is not printed in the book.}
10. Art is from wu wei, or as we should say, the inspired genius.
11. Cp: Analects VIII, 19. 1.
12. Because they were the work of Tao and wu wei.
13. Yung Cheng. An officer in the service of Huang Ti who founded the calendar and the reckoning of time.
14. Made him emperor, son of Heaven.
15. Conservancy work of ancient time. See article by M. Von Heiderstam, N.C.B.R.A.S. Journal. Vol. 53. p. 21.
16. Chou and Chieh, the two most notorious and evil emperors in the whole history of China.
17. The silence prepares for the logical consequence which follows in next sentence. These men had the inspiration of the Tao, different from the tao of those who only theorise. "Professing to profess," as Wordsworth says. Another explanation of the passage is: When a man knows of a danger he will be careful: but there are invisible dangers much more insidious. The unseen dangers are many.
18. Here we have the 3 types of the superior men, as thought of by Taoists. (1). The Emperor is their sheng jen or sage, who acts on the principle of wu wei, spiritual action. (2). The King carries on government on principles of right and law, and (3) the Autocrat who governs by might and military.
19. Compels them to collect clouds and rain.
20. This refers to the harmony existing amongst men, and the correspondence of the six laws (###). (The six laws of music are Hwang chung ###, Tai chu ###, Ku Hsi ###, Sen pin ###, I Tsê ###, Wang she ###), and the Four Seasons. Here we may see a clew to much of Chinese thought. The great man deals in great principles. The smaller man deals with careful exactness and details. This principle has been a ruling principle in the past history of China.
21. Cp: Analects Bk. {?} Chap I. 6.
22. The Five Extravagances. Wu Tun (###). The word tun seems to imply a person immersed in and intoxicated with a subject, like a gambler or a man giving his mind to luxury. The meaning here is the garish world of things which seduces men and betrays their best nature.
23. Perfect body or realm may mean the realm of the spiritual abode—'walking in the spirit.' When the body is not imprisoned by the senses, it becomes the abode of the spirit.
24. Perfect body and perfect man. Perfect has the same words in the original.
25. The description of the five extravagances are superb in p. 260 Chinese. The 5 elements are symbolic of an idea which may be expressed by worldliness.
26. This is the name in Giles' Dictionary. The Chinese, however, say it is of the goose kind.
27. The native commentary says, 'make it difficult of attack and easy of defence.'
28. Ming T‛ang. One of the great names. The fane of empire where God was worshipped and ancestors honoured and where Feudal Lords had audience of the emperor.
29. Like the blinkers of a horse.
30. "All Souls." Lit.: kuei shen ###.
31. Viz.: Water, fire, wood, metal, earth.
Water is under Yin ###: Fire under Yang ###: Wood under heat, Metal under cold, Earth under wind. These 5 aura are in constant operation and hence called wu hsing ###.
31a. A favourite topic with the ancients Cp: Isaiah 11. 6-10.
32. The staff is made of (###) bamboo which dies naturally. So it was carried to show that the deceased died a natural death. Wang's comment is that the staff is used to drive away the ghosts along the way of the funeral cortege.
33. The people had the tao and spent a full life and died in peace.
34. There were few inns, and travellers carried their own food.
35. These latter passages may have been prompted by the distressing circumstances of the times.
RESPONSE OF MATTER. DISSERTATION V.—Pp. 102-141
Essay 12, in Chinese text. These impressive historical instances are given to illustrate and confirm the truth of some of Lao Tzû's recondite sayings. The instances may be crude, but they help to elucidate the theme.
Please note that paragraphs in this Dissertation have no cut-in-heads, and the omission is balalaced by headings in italics. These are not in the original.
References to chapters from Lao Tzû are from the Tao Tê Ching. The order in the different editions are not always the same, so there may be a discrepancy.
1. Great Purity is the essence of the primal fluid. Exhaustless is the Formless and may refer to the tao. There are other personifications in this essay of abstract names.
2. Wu wei. See special article on this term. Knowledge has shape and form. It is the phenomena as opposed to noumena, p. 261 body as the opposite of soul. Therefore, as it has form, it knows. Knowledge is of form, and therefore has entered the sphere of corruption. An appreciation of this view will help the understanding of these passages and many others similar, in these essays. Plato also held that all movement from the spiritual into the physical was an entrance into corruption.
3. Without-beginning. The aura existing before the beginning of created matter.
4. The quotations are from the Tao Tê Ching. The meaning of the classic term is The classic of the Cosmic Spirit (Tao) and its works of (te). This te is different from the ordinary te of Confucianism, which is virtue and work of an artificial kind, since it is man-made and therefore smells of corruption.
5. Duke Pei. Son of Tai Tzu-ch‛ien and grandson of king P‛ing of Ts‛u. Ping had slain his son, Tai, and the son of the latter now sought to avenge his father's death by slaying his grandfather. He wanted to know whether he could make dark hints on his meditated deed.
6 The language of the heart is best understood and needs no words.
7. Perfect language of the heart.
8. My words. Pei Lo-tien, the Tang poet, wrote a skit on the words of Lao Tzû, reminding us of Carlyle who wrote of the doctrine of silence in 40 volumes. His words are:—
| "Who speaks much little knowledge has indeed: The wise is silent, thus is Lao Tzû's creed. If Lao Chun ranks among the men who know, Why does he make one thousand words to flow? |
9. Dr. N. D. Hillis says:—"Some of our schools are open to criticism because the teachers emphasise facts to be known rather than the vision that sees the fact. The teacher should teach how to see."
10. The owl loves its young: but, when grown up, the young eats the mother.
11. A small country can be carried by the Cosmic Spirit equally well with a large one.
12. Li Ke. Prime Minister of Wu Hou.
13. This is the classic story for children in China.
14. Cp: Odes Pt. 2 Bk. 8 Ode 6. 1.
15. This implies that the king has and can sustain great responsibility.
16. Tan Fu. The progenitor of the House of Chou, 14th century B.C.
17. T‛ai Wang. Translate by great ancestor.
18. Legge's translation is not the same. See The Texts of Taoism Pt. 1. p. 99. See also Medhurst's Tao Tê Ching, Chap. 55.
19. i.e., the Throne.
20. An appeal to all to be endued with the Cosmic spirit, and so have the bloom of life.
21. A truly humane view and a democratic principle.
22. Ch‛eng hsing chih t‛u. The meaning is that the calamity has already taken form in persons.
23. There is an intimate relation between the Royal House and the starry heavens.
24. Ch‛ang, the personal name? Chou, the name of country and Pei, the rank. The posthumous name is Wen Wang, the founder of the Chou dynasty.
25. The persecuted had to clasp this iron man when hot.
26. Cp: Analects Bk. I Chap. 16. The people had to give from 1 to 3 years service to government, according to the good and bad years.
27. In the interval between Fu Hsi and Shen Nung, Kung Kung, a Feudal Lord, got power and became the autocrat of empire.
28. Hui is used to avoid the use of I. Chung Ni, the personal name of Confucius. Yen Hui was his favourite disciple. Etiquette, music, benevolence, justice, knowledge or wisdom, all these are acquired, and so artificial and consequently are inferior in quality. Wisdom = cleverness of seeing and hearing. Physical body = the Corpse of life. Sentiency = feelings.
29. Chicanery. Lit.: disease.
30. Lu Ao. A Peking man commanded by the Emperor Ch‛in Shih Huang to find out the Fang kingdom of the East and to seek the Shen Hsia arhat. Description of the head implies great intellectual powers.
31. A name of some mythical deity unknown. A fine piece of imaginative writing. Cp., the opening of Essay 2.
32. "The world is only on the threshold of knowledge" (H. G. Wells.)
33. Fu Sang (###). There is a wood of this name in the Orient, and this name became the name of Japan.
34. Brilliancy (###).
35. This deals with the problem of existence. Form is begotten of the formless. How can matter be begotten? is the question. "He hangeth the world on nothing."
36. Alternate translation. "I can know that of which the form or idea, but not the substance (wu ###), exists: but I cannot know that of which the idea, even, does not exist." Also it may mean, "But how did this nothing come to be the state of nothing?"
37. The people of Cheng were the enemies of Pei Kung-sheng.
38. Ch‛in Shih Huang. B.C. 259-210. For detail of his life see Giles' Biographical Dictionary No. 1712. He ascended the p. 263 throne of Ch‛in when 13 years old. He fought the States still loyal to the House of Chou. In B.C. 221 he was master of the whole of China, from Chihli to Chinkiang and from Hunan to the Eastern Sea. He made a clean slate of China's past history and began as First Emperor with the understanding that his successors would be Second, Third and so on. Everything was to begin from his reign, literature and everything: so he burnt the books. He built the the famous mansion which could seat 10,000 people. He made coinage. He died in Chihli and had a famous grave: the workmen who have made the passages were buried within, so that no one would know the internal labyrinth. In spite of such precaution and power, his dynasty only lasted about 45 years. This is one of the great proofs used that militarism is not the true system of government. This paragraph helps to fix the date of this dissertation.
39. Most easily, Lit.: as easily as turning the spinning wheel.
40. Ch‛i Tzu died in Korea 12th century B.C. One of the foremost nobles under Chou Hsin, the last Emperor of the Yin dynasty. For protesting against the evil life of his master, he was thrown into prison and released thence by Wu Wang, in 1122. He would not serve under Wu, since he looked on him as an usurper and has remained as a great example of loyalty.
41. The Ivory tablet. The symbol of peace and harmony.
42. Alternate reading:—Striving for the state of emptiness (i.e. uncontaminated by passion and desire) to the utmost: and guarding with unwearying vigour the quiesence of spirit (i.e. not disturbed by the motions of the flesh), the myriad movements of creation will then be seen in their true nature. (When the senses govern there is an arificiality in viewing the nature of things and even the names given partake of this.)
43. Imperialism. The word used is ### or ###.
44. See and compare Essay 8.
45. Hsu Hsiang. A clairvoyant.
46. Yu chih ### A vessel fixed on the right side in the temple of the Sages, to teach humility.
47. Education an evil. Cp: Anal. XIV Chap., 18. 2. People should follow a path without understanding its import. The view expressed all through is the view of T‛ai Kung, the Prime Minister.
INFLUENCE, ETC. DISSERTATION VI.—Pp. 142-180.
Essay 13 in the Chinese text. Certain remarks may be made on the attitude of the writers towards progress. Usually it is concluded p. 264 that the Chinese have been a most conservative race; and, in a sense, that is generally true. But we must also remember that they have had a broad outlook on things. For example, in this Essay, there are very illuminating passages showing that the writer was most liberal in his thought and not obstinately conservative in his attitude towards government and Society. It is shown that change was welcomed and often necessary. There are the fundamental principles of right and morality on which no change can be permitted: but, in other respects, change is a healthy and welcome symptom. Alteration in practices may be incumbent, for the sake of the times, and so on:
1. Ancient Kings. Kings before and including the Three Emperors. Amongst them were supposed to be the true founders of the taoist system. There were no symbols of pomp and power and royalty. Their kingliness was seen in good and perfect government.
To govern the empire: 'to king' the world. 'To king' always implied government by right and not by might. Stress was laid on the character of the individual ruler.
2. Cp. Isaiah Chap. II.
3. Hsia Family. Dynasty founded by the great Yü, a man great ability. His father was executed by Emperor Yao, for his failure to stem the flood. Yü took up the work thus arrested and put his whole soul in it. He spent 8 laborious years at it, refusing even to drop in at his own home, when near by, for fear of delaying his exacting work. The task completed won him renown, and Emperor Shun appointed Yü his successor. The Hsia family held the sovereignty for 422 years, B.C. 2205-1786.
4. Five Emperors. They are: Yao ### of T‛ang ### dynasty 2357 B.C., Shun ### of Yu ### 2255 B.C., Great Yü ### of Hsia ### 2205 B.C., Ch‛eng T‛ang ### of Shang ### 1766 B.C., Wu Wong ### of Chou ### 1122 B.C.
5. In ancient times it was the custom for the host duke to pour out the wine into the cups of his guests and the hostess to hold the wine jug.
6. See Tao Tê Ching, Chap. I.
7. Kuan and Ts‛ai. They were ambitious for first places of power and accused their brother of aiming at the throne, and, on this ground, started a rebellion. See The author's "A New Mind And Other Essays." Duke of Chou.
8. The king always faces South.
9. He took full responsibility. V. "A New Mind And Other Essays," p. 68, for a full life of the Duke.
9a. {This note is not printed in the book.}
10. Shen Nung ### B.C. 2838. Said to be the 2nd emperor of p. 265 China formally recorded in history. He introduced agriculture and taught the people to grow cereals. Removed his capital from Honan to Shantung. Tested all plants for medicine.
11. A carriage with swords stuck to the sides, for mowing down the enemy.
12. Principles of Wen ### and Wu ### were anti-egoism and the advancement of the people. They abolished the goal system: substituted a kind of parole, leaving it to the man's honour not to go beyond the bounds allotted. They started coöperation in work. They established a formal marriage, instead of the old free love. To love the old and train the young, not only of your own house but of one's neighbours, also became the new social system: mutual love, service, and sacrifice.
13. So that people could give and get judgments.
14. Heard the affairs: by the help of the 5 musical tones.
The drum harmonizes all tones in music, as the tao regulates dualism of yin and yang. So the sound of drum indicates that some one is going to discuss tao with the emperor. Likewise the sound of the bell is a sign of warning to keep to right and justice: the clapper is the shape of the mouth with a tongue insides indicating discussion of affairs: the sonorous stone has a tone of urgency betokening sad and critical affairs: the flat drum, rattle etc: indicate things to be argued before the Court.
15. The Duke of Chou was noted for his promptness in responding to any call. He left his food unfinished and his hair undressed, to hasten to public affairs. He was a devoted servant of the State.
16. Ch‛in ###, the successor to the Chou ### dynasty. The 1st emperor was called Shih Huang Ti. Made a drastic reformation by sweeping away all duchies and the nobility and controlling all with an iron hand—the great dictator. Famous for his tyranny, building the Great Wall, burning the books and burying alive the obstructive scholars.
17. Great Coach and the symbolic crown. The emperor went in the great jade coach to great functions of State. One of the most solemn was the sacrifice in the South Suburb. He started before dawn: lamps lit the way. A full account may be found in Ma Tuan Lin's "T‛ung Wen K‛ao."
18. Yao had not a 100 families when he began.
19. The kingly way. Wang Tao ###. The Principles of this is right as opposed to might. It is a pure civil form. The opposite of this was the pa tao (###) or (###) the military way which holds that might is right.
21. Ming t‛iao (###). A popular wilderness in ancient Shansi. Here it was that T‛ang defeated Ch‛ieh, the last of the Hsia family, and captured him. (B.C. 1784) Chia Tzu ###. The date when Wu Wang defeated emperor, Tsou, the last of Shang dynasty. (B.C. 1133).
The translation should be amended and read, "the wilderness of Ming T‛iao and the date of Chia Tzu."
22. {Note 22 in the book should be 22a. The actual note 22 is not printed.}
22a. Ode. Yin ### was on the East and Chou ### on the West. {This note is printed as note 22 in the book.}
23. T‛ang, a prisoner of Chieh.
24. Killed Wen Wang. Note the noble humanity and grand ideals of the whole passage.
25. The king's name is always taboo.
26. Ape. A different type of ape from the African etc. It was common in the N. & S. of China. When caught, people made it work and taught it to talk. Tradition states that this ape-man knew the names of all people, after meeting them once.
It is good luck to have the magpie cheep to one in the early morning. It implies good news. The bird takes no thought of the destruction of its nest in the past: it seems to forget it and tries to make a new one in the same place.
27. Kuan Chung. Considered to be the most intelligent and learned man of antiquity and one of the greatest generals of all time, as well as a great administrator. He assisted Huan ###, the duke of Chi ###, to win the hegemony of the duchies.
28. Five autocracies. Five leaders of the dukes, viz: Huan ### of Chi ### Hsiang ### of Sung ### Wen ### of Tsin ### Mu ### of Tsin ### and Chuang ### of Ts‛u ###.
29. Fox cuirass. ### may be a misprint. It should be ###, the nail of the claw, meaning a small bit of a thing. The son of Chu Yang could estimate the quality of a sword by a mere glance of a small bit (chua chia) of it.
30. Hsiao Yang ###. The owl, the sprite of the mountain, is described as "It is the essence of the mountain: it has a man's body, long and big, a black face covered with hair: the feet have the heels turned back. It laughs, on seeing men.
Yin Hsiang. The sprite of the water. Dragon-like in appearance. Pi Fang. The sprite of the wood. A hamadry. It has a bird-like appearance: red claws: does not eat grain.
Fen Yang. The sprite of the soil. Rain naiad.
31. The title for Shen Nung ### Emperor. The Chinese Characters are ### not the Yen Ti mentioned in the beginning of the essay.
32. Hou Chi ### Disliked at birth by his mother who threw him away, hence the name of (ch‛i ###), thrown away. Under emperor Yao he was instructor in agriculture and Minister of p. 267 Agriculture under emperor Shun. Hou Ch‛i the title of the Ministry was given to the holder for his merits and he was known by that name ever after.
33. T‛ai Miao. The family temple where Emperors worship ancestors. Ming Tang,—Grand hall built in a palace where grand ceremonies were to be held,—offerings to Heaven, worshipping of ancestors, interviewing dukes, honoring worthy persons and aged people, etc.
GENERALSHIP. DISSERTATION VII.—Pp. 181-218.
The law of naturalness should be followed. An efficient army is not the chief factor in winning victory. The chief factor is a spiritual one. Essay 75.
1. All these examples are famous episodes in ancient history.
2. Duke Hunan ### of Ch‛i ### d. B.C. 643, the most celebrated of the 5 chieftains in the 7th century B.C.
3. May the Tao mean the movements of the mind in this essay? The definition immediately following gives a clue.
4. That is, the principles underlying all. Round and square imply wholeness and measureless.
5. Whole creation. Perhaps limitless.
6. Enlightenment. Shen ming. ### means Tao, God. It has other meanings. Shen ### the spirit of a man, the soul: ming ### enlightened. The soul that has been in contact with the tao is, therefore, enlightened.
7. The war drum played an important part in the army. Used for carrying out commands, direct a charge, etc. It was not used except in war and to sound victory.
8. Imbued with the Tao. This implies that the country walk in the way of the Tao, in righteousness and justice.
9. Temple. In ancient times Heaven represented the unseen God. The emperor represented Heaven, so son of Heaven. The temple and Ming Tang were most sacred and solemn places for dealing with great events, political, military and educational, etc., and showed that the emperor did all in the sight of Heaven.
10. Officers of works.
11. The son of the great Ch‛in Shih Huang.
12. Ah Fang. Most famous palace of antiquity, built by Ch‛in p. 268 Shih Huang, but burnt down by the revolutionists, a few years later.
13. Hu Hai. Second son of Ch‛in Shih Huang. 209-206 B.C.
14. Chou ###. The notoriously wicked emperor, the last of the Shang dynasty. 1154 B.C.
15. Geomantic references: right land lucky days: may have moral references.
16. The army must be trained in moral efficiency.
17. Ancestral temple. Sacred spot of empire for cultivation of high principles, and the spot for thinking out things.
18. High morale. The army that is touched with the tao is just and righteous. It cannot be tricked and deceived. Men are strong when they have the tao.
19. Sustain T‛aishan. The great power against evil. The mountain is in Shantung.
20. The mind the invisible. The word is wu ###; not, i.e., it is not material.
21. Underground, ###, yellow grave, the upper layer of hell, deepest layer of earth.
22. Ch‛iu is simply hill here and not the Ch‛iu hill.
22a. Star of destiny. ### divination. Calculate the future. Fate uncertain.
23. The text is taoli not tao. Tao li may mean right principles or read as two words.
24. Deer refers to, and are similar to, an army without art and method; fish and lobster symbolise the army scattered; swan and heron show the army is on high ground, without cover.
25. No source. wu yuen, i.e., before pullulating into visibility.
26. Geomancy. To harmonise the plan with nature.
27. Ming Tang. The Ming should be omitted. Tang a grand hall, always open, and so the light of sun and moon always to be seen there.
{The following four notes are not referenced in the text.}
28. A general of king Wu.
29. Possibly means that the general, commander and king are one and the same.
30. Muddled by deep plans.
31. The great hammer. Shows the army unbeaten, and, in being.
32. Absolute power is given to the Commander.
33. Pare the nails. Done only for the dead. Conquer or die is the idea.
34. The door through which the dead are carried out.
35. Calico, the sign of mourning. The implication is not defeat but that injustice may have happened in the war. But some imply the passage means defeat.
36. {This note is not printed in the book.}
ENDEAVOUR AND DUTY. DISSERTATION VIII.—Pp. 219-242
This is Essay 19 in the Chinese text. You, will note the great liberality of thought that is here revealed. There is no die-hard rigidity in sticking to tradition. They looked with open minds on the world and were prepared to accommodate institutions to the times.
1. These five are Shen Nung ### 2838. B.C. Yao of T‛ang ### 2357 B.C. Shun of Yü ### 2255 B.C. Great Yu of Hsia ### 2205 B.C. T‛ang of Shang ### 1766 B.C.
{2a.} In the 4th paragraph there is (a) People of the black teeth, they of Formosa, Japan, Annam (b) Cloven footed: so called because of the local pronounciation, the foot and name of place being similar in sound. They are the Annamese.
2. Chi Kun. Read, Transported (chi). Chi is not a part of name. Kun father of Yü who was executed by Yao at Yu m't.
3. See article in Journal R.A.S. by Rev. G. G. Warren. Vol. 46. P. 77.
4. Yi-Yin was a prominent minister of Emperor T‛ang, of Shang dynasty who administered all national affairs on the principles of the Tao.
5. Lü Wang. His first name Chiang (###) who utilised the principles of the tao, in carrying out his military and political plans, to unite the empire for the emperor Wu Wang. It is said that he was 83 years of age when power was delegated to him to act. His work, Six Principles (###) are looked upon as classical up to this day, though they are hard to be understood.
6. Pei Li-hsi, a man of great ability: almost a sage. He had been most unlucky before he fell into the hands of Duke Ch‛in (###), who bought him for 5 pieces of goat skin, while he was a slave in the duchy of Ts‛u (###). The ascendency of Emperor Shih Huang Ti owed much of its success to the administrative work of this minister. N. B. Mencius should be consulted on these illustrations. Bk. V: Pt. 1. C. 8, IX, 2.
7. Kuan Chung. He was criticised for not dying with his prince and defended his action that he was worth more alive than dead to his country.
8. Referring to Great Yü who dealt with the flood and Hou Chi who devised a system of agriculture, and herbs for medicine.
9a. {This note is not printed in the book. See note 2(?).}
12. So education would be useless.
13. Famous founder of the Chou dynasty, Hero of Confucius.
14. Kan chiang and Mo Yeh (hsieh). Two famous swords.
14a. Lit. the zenith of the 9th heaven, and, the bottom of the yellow spring—the nether world. The two extremities.
15. The ancient yüeh ### people: covers chiefly Chekiang, also Fukien; Annam, Canton, etc., were barbarous then.
16. Kao Yao. The Gaol warden of Emperor Shun. 2204 B.C.
17. Shih Huang or Chieh Hang named Ch‛ang Chieh ### the initiator of Chinese handwriting. Suggested by the footprints of birds on mud. Some say discovered from the marks on the back of tortoise.
18. {This note is not printed in the book.}
19. Yung Ch‛eng ###. Ancient astronomer who had charge of the Calendar under Huang Ti (Yellow emperor). 2698 B.C.
20. Hu Ts‛ao ###. Court officer of Huang Ti. Invented the mode of clothes.
21. I Ti ###. A man of the time of Great Yü. Yü's daughter told him to make wine. After tasting it, Yü discharged the maker by way of punishment, saying, it would be the cause of distress to the world.
22. Hsi Chung ###, Officer of Great Yü, the inventor of carpentry.
23. Li Chu ###. Of the time of Huang Ti. Had the keenest sight.
24. Nan Yung Chou ###. Double surname. A zealous Taoist of Shantung.
25. Ta Hsin ###. A brave young general of Ch‛u ###, by name Te Ch‛en ###.
26. Shen Pao Hsü ###. A loyal minister of Ch‛u.
27. Wen Tzû-fa. The Wellington of China.
28. Odes Pt. 2 Bk. 1 Ode 3.
29. Plausible speaker. Better perhaps, Faithful followers of Tao.
30. Chant them, without understanding their import.
31. {This note is not printed in the book.}
32. Luh Pan ###. A skilful carpenter in Shantung. Hence name Luh.
33. Chung Tzu-chi ###. A chopper of wood by profession, but became the sage in music. He could divine the author's mind from hearing his music. His friend Pei ya, another expert in music. These men attached to Tao through their gifts in music.
34. {This note is not printed in the book.}
35. Chuang Tzû ### named Chou ###. 3rd & 4th cent. B.C. A native of Meng, Anhui. He devoted his life to the glorification of Lao Tzû. A most distinguished Taoist and a great scholar. He refused to accept post of Prime Minister of the Ch‛u State, on the ground that he had no wish to be the fattened ox for sacrifice. He wished to be buried under the open sky and not under ground. To be eaten by kites was better than by ants etc:
36-38. The text contains all that is known of them.
39. Li Ch‛i ### a prominent musician in ancient Peking.
40. Hung Fan ### Written by Chi Tzû containing the principles or laws of Heaven for the world and presented to Wu Wang. V. Book of History. Shang Sung ###. Songs of praise used in the worship of past emperors.