,,lao-,,tz1                             
,a ,,study                              
,,in ,,chinese ,,philosophy             
by                             ,t4      
,,watters1 ,m4,a41        ,mem4         
,n4,c4,b4 of the ,asiatic ,society of   
,london1 ,hon4 ,mem4 ,asiatic           
,society of ,paris1 and a ,junior       
,assistant in ,h4,m4's                  
,consular ,service in ,china4           
,,hongkong3                             
,,printed ,,at ,,the 8,,china ,,mail0   
,,office4                               
#ahgj                                   
,,london3                               
,,williams  ,,norgate4                  
,,preface4    ,a considerable portion of
 the following pages has already        
appeared in  8,the ,chinese ,recorder   
and ,missionary ,journal10 and its      
reappearance in  its present form       
requires an apology4 ,the subject of the
 work is one  in which very few take any
 interest1 and the author is very       
sensible  of his numerous imperfections 

in attempting to deal with matters so   
difficult and abstruse as are treated of
 in the ,tao-t ,ching4 ,having  thus    
made confession2 it only remains for him
 to thank ,mr4 ,baldwin and  his other  
friends for their kindness in assisting 
to get the book  through the press4     
,t4 ,w4    ,foochow1 ,october #ai1      
#ahfi4                                  
,,chapter ,i4                           
,,introductory4      ,one of the most   
remarkable men in the history of ,china1
 as also in the  history of philosophy1 
is ,lao-tz1 the author of the           
,tao-t-ching  774 ,this book deserves1  
and has obtained with those who know it1
  a high place among philosophical      
works1 and the posthumous fortunes of   
its author have very rarely been        
surpassed4 ,that his own followers--or  
at least those who professed to be and  
probably believed that they  were his   
followers--should magnify his name was  
only what we would have  expected4 ,they
 have raised him from the rank of       

ordinary mortals1 and  represented him  
as an incarnation of deity1 showing     
himself on this  earth at sundry times  
and in various manners4 ,his conception 
and  birth1 his personal appearance1 and
 everything about him have been         
represented by them as supernatural2 and
 the philosophic little  treatise which 
he composed is regarded as a sacred     
book4 ,much of this  has arisen from a  
spirit of rivalry with ,buddhism4 ,the  
,taoists did not  wish to be behind the 
,buddhists in the amount of glory and   
mystery  attaching to the reputed       
originator of their religion2 and they  
accordingly tried to make the fortunes  
of ,lao-tz like those of  ,shkyamuni1   
the ,buddha of the ,present4    ,both   
,confucianists and ,buddhists1 however1 
also regard the  ,tao-t-ching as a book 
of deep mysteries1 and admit the        
supernatural1 or at least marvellous1   
character of its author1 though1  as    
will be seen1 many censure him for      
teaching doctrines either in  themselves

 mischievous or leading to evil results 
when fully  developed4 ,at several      
periods of ,chinese history ,lao-tz has 
enjoyed  the patronage of government1   
and almost supplanted ,confucius4       
,indeed1  during several of the         
dynasties which reigned within the first
 few  centuries of our era1 there seems 
to have been a constant struggle for    
ascendancy between the followers of     
these two philosophic chiefs4  ,emperors
 have done honour to ,lao-tz in his     
temple1 and the sovereigns  of the great
 ,tang dynasty were proud to deem him   
their lineal  ancestor4 ,one emperor has
 even written an excellent commentary on
 his  book2 and one of the best editions
 of the ,tao-t-ching as regards  textual
 excellence is that by a ,confucian     
mandarin under the present  dynasty4    
,buddhist monks also have edited the    
book with annotations1  and many of them
 regard it and its author with a        
reverence second only  to that with     
which the ,taoists regard them4    ,it  

is not only1 however1 his own countrymen
 who have given honour to  this prophet4
 ,by ,western writers also great and    
mysterious things have  been attributed 
to him4 ,some have found in his book an 
enunciation of  the doctrine of the     
,trinity4 ,the illustrious ,rmusat      
discovered in it  the sacred name       
,jehovah1 and many curious analogies    
with the best  philosophic writings of  
ancient times1 and more especially with 
those  of ,greece4 ,pauthier1 who has   
read and written largely about ,lao-tz1 
finds in his teachings the triple       
,brahma of the ancient ,hindoos1 the    
,adibuddha of the ,northern ,buddhists1 
and an anticipated ,christianity4  ,the 
,tao 77 of which ,lao-tz speaks so much 
has been likened to ,god1  to the ,logos
 of ,plato and the ,neoplatonists1 to   
8the nonentity of some  ,german         
philosophers10 and to many other things4
 ,pauthier says3--8,le  dieu invoque et 
decrit par ,lao-tseu est la ,grande     
,voie du monde1  la ,raison suprme      

universelle 77 materiellement identique 
avec le  mot qui sert  designer ,dieu   
dans les langues grecque 77 latine      
7,deus7 et leurs derives modernes2 mais 
les attributs qu'il lui donne  ne sont  
point ceux qu'ont donnes  l',etre suprme
 toutes les  doctrines spiritualistes de
 l',orient1 transmises  l',occident par 
une  voie juive et grecque2 par les     
therapeutes et les essniens1 dont       
,jesus1 le fils de l'homme1 fut le      
revelateur et le representant   l'tat   
philosophique40#a ,our missionaries have
 used this word ,tao  to represent  in  
their translation of the ,new           
,testament1 and  the first five verses  
of ,st4 ,john's ,gospel are nearly as   
much ,taoist  as ,christian in the      
,chinese text4    ,some writers on the  
other hand1 such as ,gutzlaff1 have     
represented  ,lao-tz as writing         
nonsense1 and they seem to insinuate    
that he did  not even know the meaning  
of what he was writing4 ,others1 as     
,voltaire1  have charged on him all the 

follies and superstitions practised by  
the  ,taoists1 and have consequently    
decried him and his teachings4 ,this is 
just about as wise and just a proceeding
 as to reproach the ,apostle  ,paul on  
account of the sayings and doings of    
sects like ,muckers1 and  ,mormons1 and 
,muggletonians4 ,many also regard       
,lao-tz as a mere  speculative recluse1 
shutting himself up from the turmoils   
and  miseries of social life1 and       
publishing theories in politics and     
morals of no practical tendency         
whatever4 ,in these respects he is      
constantly contrasted with ,confucius1  
who is looked upon as an  eminently     
practical man1 teaching to the people   
only things which they  could easily    
understand1 and ever refusing to wander 
into the regions  of uncertainty and    
mystery4    ,there are1 so far as ,i    
know1 very few translations of the      
,tao-t-ching in western languages4      
,according to ,sir ,j4 ,f4 ,davis1 a    
manuscript copy of a ,latin translation 

is preserved in the ,library of  the    
,royal ,society of ,england4 ,pauthier  
has translated part of the book  into   
,french1 and has announced his          
determination1 to complete the  work4   
,julien1 however1 perhaps the best and  
soberest of ,lao-tz's  expounders1 has  
translated into ,french the entire book1
 along with  many ,chinese notes and    
fragments illustrating the life and     
teachings  of its author4 ,hegel says   
there is at ,vienna a translation of the
  ,tao-t-ching1 or as he calls it       
,tao-king1 which he himself had  seen4#b
 ,he does not1 however1 mention the name
 of the translator or  the language of  
the translation1 but ,i think we are    
justified in  inferring that it is      
,german4 ,in ,english we have the recent
 work of the  ,rev4 ,mr4 ,chalmers1 a   
missionary and scholar of no ordinary   
attainments4 ,he has some excellent     
remarks in his ,introduction1 but  the  
translation itself1 being almost        
unaccompanied with note or  comment1 and

 being apparently made from a bad text1 
is rather  disappointing4 ,ritter1      
,cousin1 ,hardwicke1 ,edkins1 and many  
others  have given short accounts of    
,taoism2 but few of these have clearly  
separated ,lao-tz and his doctrines from
 the later ,taoists and their           
doctrines4 ,the 8extravagant vagaries0  
of the latter may have arisen  often    
from misinterpreted or misapplied       
statements of ,lao-tz1 but  they are not
 to be imputed to him4#c ,we must       
ascribe to ,lao-tz only  the things     
which are his--the merits and defects of
 his own direct  teachings4      #a     
,chine1 p4 #aad4      #b ,geschichte der
 ,philosophie1 ,b4 #a4 p4 #adb4      #c 
,compare ,rmusat1 ,mmoire sur la vie et 
les opinions de ,lao-tseu1    c41 p4    
#bj4                                    
,,chapter ,,ii4                         
,,the ,,life ,,of ,,lao-,,tz4      ,the 
life of ,lao-tz1 like the book which he 
wrote1 is enveloped in  mystery2 and one
 might almost be excused for doubting   

whether such a  person ever actually    
existed4 ,one author1 indeed1 has even  
gone the  length of saying that ,lao-tz 
was made out of space or vacuity 7hung  
74#a ,the most reliable account of him  
which has come down to us is  that by   
,sz ,ma-chien1 or ,sze-ma-thsien 771 in 
the ,shi-chi  771 and this is very brief
 and unsatisfactory4 ,we have also      
occasional notices of him in other old  
books1 but the stories told  about him  
in the ,records of ,spirits and ,fairies
 and works of a like  nature are1 as    
,julien observes1 only a tissue of      
falsehoods which all  sensible men      
reject4    ,sz ,ma-chien says#b ,lao-tz 
was a native of the hamlet ,ch-jen 77   
of the parish ,lai or ,li 77 in the     
district ,ku 771 a town of the  state   
,chu 773 his surname was ,li 771 his    
name rh 771 his style  ,po-yang 77 and  
his posthumous designation ,tan 774#c   
,he was in  office at the court of ,chou
  as ,shou-tsang-sh-ch-sh 771  which    
,julien translates 8gardien des         

archives40    ,i have been unable to    
obtain from ,chinese sources any        
reliable  statement as to the date of   
,lao-tz's birth2 though ,pauthier#d     
asserts positively that he was born on  
the #adth day of the #ith moon1  in the 
year ,b4,c4 #fjd4 ,in this he is        
followed by ,julien1 who1 however1  says
 candidly--8cette date 7the #crd year of
 king ,ting  of the ,chou  dynasty1     
corresponding to ,b4,c4 #fjd7 que nous  
inserons ici1 est  conforme a la        
tradition historique la mieux tablie    
mais elle ne se  trouve point dans la   
notice du ,sze-ma-thsien dont nous      
donnons la  traduction40#e ,there is    
nothing improbable in this date1 as we  
know  from other sources that ,lao-tz   
was a contemporary of ,confucius1       
though very much his senior2 and as     
,confucius was born about ,b4,c4 #eej1  
,lao-tz must apparently have been born  
about the beginning of the  sixth       
century ,b4,c4 ,the latter sage indeed1 
is usually represented as  having       

attained to a very great age1 and as    
having been alive much  more than fifty 
years before the birth of ,confucius4   
,chao1 a well  known author1 quoted by  
,ma ,tuan-lin1 says that it was in the  
forty-second year of the reign of king  
,ping 77 that ,lao-tz gave  his book to 
the keeper of the ,pass4#f ,this-would  
carry him up to the  eighth century     
,b4,c41 king ,ping having commenced to  
reign about the  year ,b4,c4 #ggj4      
,others#g mention two teachers of ,tao  
77 as having  lived during the ,chou    
dynasty1 one ,lao-tan 77 and another    
named  ,lao-lai-tz 774 ,it is by the    
name ,lao-tan that ,confucius usually   
refers to ,lao-tz1 while later authors  
often use his surname ,li or his  name  
rh4 ,it must be remembered also that the
 ,lao-tan mentioned by  ,confucius is   
regarded by a few commentators as a     
different person from  the author of the
 ,tao-t-ching4    ,nearly all           
authorities seem to agree with ,sz      
,ma-chien as to the place  of ,lao-tz's 

birth in the feudal dependency ,chu 774 
,under this word  ,biot has the         
following remarks--8,nom d'un ancien    
royaume de la ,chine  centrale1 a       
l'poque du ,tchun-thsieou4 ,le centre   
etait dans  l'arrondissement de         
,tchi-kiang2 la limite nord etait entre 
le ,kiang et  le ,hoang-ho2 la limite   
sud tait au midi du ,kiang1 mais non    
bien  determine40#h ,the district city  
,ku is also said to have belonged to    
the principality of ,chn1 ,it stood near
 the present ,kwei-t-foo1  the most     
easterly of the cities of ,honan2 and   
the present ,ku-yang  77 preserves the  
house of ,lao-tz and a temple dedicated 
to his  memory4#i ,another account1     
however1 represents him as having been  
born in the district city ,po 77 in the 
province of ,honan4#aj ,the  chief of   
,chu1 like the chiefs of many other     
states1 was at the time  of ,lao-tz and 
,confucius only nominally a feudal      
dependent of the  king4 ,he was         
originally a ,tz 77 or ,viscount1 but   

the title ,wang 77  or king was now     
usurped in the degenerate days of the   
,chou rulers who  were unable to        
maintain a strong government4    ,of the
 parents of ,lao-tz and of his early    
years ,i have not found any  record in  
,chinese books2 but ,pauthier says that 
according to historic  data his father  
was a poor peasant who had remained a   
bachelor up to  his seventieth year1    
when he married a peasant woman of the  
unromantic  age of forty years4#aa      
,whatever were his circumstances1       
however1 ,i  think we may conclude that 
,lao-tz was in early life a diligent    
student of the past history and the     
institutions of the country1 and  his   
obtaining office at the court of ,chou  
was probably a consequence  of his      
learning and abilities4    ,as to the   
nature of this office ,i cannot agree   
with ,pauthier and  ,julien in calling  
it that of historiographer1 or keeper of
 the ,state  ,archives4 ,the word tsang 
77 means a granary or storehouse1 and in

 a  note to a passage in the ,li-chi1 or
 ,record of ,ceremonies1 it is          
explained as the ,imperial or ,national 
,museum4#ab ,the ,shou-tsang-sh  77     
would accordingly be the officer in     
charge of the ,museum1 and  we must     
remember that when ,confucius went to   
the ,capital of ,chou to  ,lao-tz1 he   
saw in the palace the portraits of the  
early kings1 along  with many other     
relics of antiquity1 which possessed him
 strongly  with an idea of the          
magnificence of the first princes of the
  dynasty4#ac ,dr4 ,legge also1 ,i find1
 translates the expression by           
8,treasury-keeper40#ad ,the legend in   
the ,records of ,spirits and  ,fairies  
states that ,lao-tz was in the time of  
king ,wn a  ,shou-tsang-shi and under   
king ,wu a ,chu-hsia-shi 771#ae this    
latter term meaning assistant           
historiographer2 and it is not          
improbable that he may have actually    
held both these offices in  succession  
under king ,ting 77 or king ,chien 771  

who reigned in the  #fth century ,b4,c4 
,during the time of ,lao-tz's residence 
at the court of ,chou1 he was  visited  
by two young gentlemen who had come in a
 carriage and pair  from the distant    
state of ,lu 774 ,their names were      
,ching-shu 77  and ,kung chiu 77 or     
,confucius1 and they had come to learn  
from the  venerable sage the rites and  
manners of the olden times4 ,the latter 
of  the two1 namely1 ,confucius1 had    
already been a pupil of ,lao-tz1 and    
still remembered his former master with 
affection and respect4  ,according to   
,chwang-tzu1#af however1 it was not     
until he was  fifty-one years old that  
,confucius went to see ,lao-tz4 ,he     
himself  when little more than a youth  
had set out on a converting tour1       
thinking to induce rulers and people    
throughout the kingdom to cease  from   
their evil ways and turn to the good old
 paths of primitive  virtue4 ,he did not
 succeed1 however1 and he now told his  
master the  sorrowful tale of his       

disappointment4 ,lao-tz said to him1    
8,if it be  known that he who talks errs
 by excess in arguing1 and that he who  
hears is confused by too much talk1 the 
way 7,tao 7#ag can never be  forgot40   
,according to ,sz ,ma-chien1 the ,master
 on another occasion  lectured his      
ambitious disciple as follows3 8,the men
 of whom you  speak1 ,sir1 have with    
their bones already all mouldered into  
dust1 and  only their sayings abide4    
,moreover if the superior man  gets his 
time1 he mounts his car and takes       
office3 if he does not get his  time1 he
 goes through life like a wisp of straw 
rolling over sand4 ,i  have heard that a
 good merchant with his treasure house  
deeply stored  seems devoid of          
resources1 and that the superior man of 
perfect  excellence has an outward      
semblance of stupidity4 ,do you1 ,sir1  
put  away your haughty airs and many    
desires1 your flashy manner and         
extravagant will2 these are all         
unprofitable to you1 ,sir2 and this is  

all ,i have to say to you40#bj ,in the  
,family ,sayings we read that  when     
,confucius was about to leave ,chou1    
,lao-tz gave him as his  parting gift a 
warning against going too far in the    
public reproval of  those who were in   
authority4#ba ,from this and the other  
references  made to the intercourse     
between ,confucius and ,lao-tz in the   
,family  ,sayings and the ,record of    
,rites 771 it will be seen that they    
were  on terms of intimate friendship2  
and though ,confucius may have  deserved
 the reproof which1 according to ,sz    
,ma-chien1 ,lao-tz  administered to him1
 yet this speech has in it so little of 
the spirit  in which allusion is made to
 ,lao-tz by ,confucius or his disciples 
that ,i am almost tempted to doubt the  
story4    ,i have been unable to find in
 the ,chinese works on this subject a   
statement of the length of time during  
which ,lao-tz served the king  of ,chou1
 of the manner in which he performed his
 duties1 or of the  immediate reason of 

his retirement from office4 ,sz         
,ma-chien simply  says1#bb 8,he         
cultivated ,tao and virtue 771 learned  
to live in  seclusion and oblivion as   
the important thing1 resided for a long 
time  in ,chou2 when he saw the fortunes
 of the dynasty going to ruin1 he  left 
the country and came to the ,pass 774   
,the keeper of the ,pass1 by  name      
,yin-hsi 771 said to him1 #8,since you  
are about to go into  seclusion1 ,sir1  
you must make me a book4' ,hereupon     
,lao-tz produced  his book in two       
sections containing more than #e1jjj    
characters and  declaring the meaning of
 ,tao and ,t 774 ,he then went away1 and
 no  one knows his end40    ,in order to
 understand the conduct of ,lao-tz1 in  
retiring from office  in ,chou and going
 into seclusion when he saw its fortunes
 broken1 we  must know something of the 
state of the country at the time4 ,now  
the  reader of the historical and other 
works relating to this dynasty will     
remember what a miserable picture of the

 kingdom is given in most of  them4 ,the
 hard won territories of king ,wu  were 
now subject to his  degenerate          
descendants only in name4 ,the whole    
country was torn up  into petty states1 
which were always warring with each     
other4 ,year by  year1 army after army1 
with flaunting banners and gay pennons1 
passed  and repassed through the fields 
of the people1 and left desolation and  
misery in their track4 ,fathers and     
husbands1 sons and brothers1 were  taken
 away from their homes and their work1  
and kept in long military  service far  
away from their families4 ,laxity of    
morals accompanied  this state of civil 
confusion4 ,chiefs forgot their         
allegiance to their  princes1 and wives 
their duties to their husbands--usurpers
 were in the  state1 and usurpers were  
in the family4 ,every little chief was  
striving with his neighbour for the     
mastery1 and the weak and wicked        
princes of ,chou were unable to overcome
 them and reduce them to peace  and     

obedience4 ,men of shining abilities and
 inordinate ambition rose  to power in  
each state1 and1 wishing to satisfy     
their ambition1  increased the anarchy  
of the kingdom4 ,the decree of ,heaven  
was slowly  changing1 and already1 in   
the time of ,lao-tz1 8,ichabod0 was     
written  up for the princes of ,chou4   
,we can now easily see why the          
philosopher  taught that men should not 
strive1 but ever give way2 that they    
should  be humble and satisfied with a  
low condition2 that men of virtue and   
integrity should retire from the dangers
 and vices of a wicked  government2 and 
that no honour should be attached to    
specious  abilities or rare             
acquisitions4 ,true to his principles1  
he himself1  when the prestige of ,chou 
was lost1 and the evil days and evil    
tongues  were becoming more and more    
evil1 withdrew from the court and       
retired  into unenvied obscurity4#bc    
,for this course of action1             
,confucianists  and others have severely

 censured ,lao-tz4 ,we must remember1   
however1  that ,confucius himself taught
 7what he had probably learnt from      
,lao-tz7 that when good principles      
prevail in a country1 the superior  man 
takes office2 and that he retires when  
bad government takes their  place4      
,there seem to have been at the time    
only two courses which an  upright and  
faithful public servant could elect to  
pursue4 ,he might  either take his life 
in his hands1 and try by strong measures
 to  recall his rulers to the path of   
virtue2 or he might establish his own   
good character1 and then withdraw from  
temptation and corruption4  ,confucius  
chose the former course1 and ended in   
disappointment2  ,lao-tz and many       
others1 as we know from the ,lun-y 771  
chose the  latter course4    ,the ,pass 
to which ,sz ,ma-chien represents       
,lao-tz as going1 and  where he met with
 ,yin-hsi 1 is said in a note to this   
passage to  be probably ,han-ku-kwan 1  
the present ,ling-pao  in the  extreme  

west of ,honan1 and on the south bank of
 the ,yellow ,river4 ,the  ,pass and its
 keeper have since become famous in the 
legendary and  poetic literature of     
,china4 ,this is the last historical    
notice that we  have of ,lao-tz4 ,he    
left the ,pass1 having enriched the     
keeper with the  #ha chapters he had    
composed on ,tao and ,virtue1 and went  
away4 8,no  one knows his end40 ,we may 
hope1 however1 that he died a peaceful1 
happy death1 in a good old age1 having  
attained a clear insight into  the      
nature of ,tao  and ,t 4    ,according  
to the ,lao-tz ,lie ,chuan  of ,sz      
,ma-chien1#bd  ,lao-tz left a son named 
,tsung 1 who became a high military     
officer  under the chief of ,wei 1 and  
was appointed to the feudal dependency  
,tuan-kan 4 ,his descendants were living
 in the time of the ,han   dynasty in   
the #b;d century ,b4,c4    ,such is the 
sum of the probably true information    
which ,i have  succeeded in obtaining   
about this remarkable man4 ,many things 

that we  would have liked to know about 
him are wanting1 and part of what we    
have seems uncertain4 ,in his birth and 
in his death he was mysterious1  and    
through all his life he seems to have   
courted obscurity4 ,he tells  us himself
 that he appeared to mankind stupid and 
helpless1 but that  he had within       
himself precious treasures of which the 
world did not  know4#be ,to me he seems 
to have been a kind and gentle old      
philosopher1 who thought more of what   
was beyond this world than about  what  
was in it4 ,i cannot find in him those  
traits of moroseness and  cynicism which
 others have found1 nor any trace of the
 jealousy and  spite with which he is   
said to have regarded ,confucius4#bf    
,chu-hsi  77 or ,chu fu tz1 represents  
him as a man standing aloof from the    
ordinary ways of men1 loving neither    
their sounds nor their sights1  and not 
living an official life4#bg ,confucius  
himself refers to  ,lao-tz with         
affectionate respect1 and quotes his    

opinions as  sufficient answers to the  
questions of his own disciples4 ,he     
speaks of  him as extensively read in   
antiquity and acquainted with the       
present1  as having penetrated to the   
sources of ,rites and ,music1 and as    
understanding what belonged to ,tao and 
,t 774#bh ,the old man  who thought that
 in troubled times1 like those in which 
they were  living1 men of wisdom and    
virtue ought not to make a display of   
those  qualities1 but rather to appear  
to the world destitute of them1 when  he
 found his former pupil parading the    
kingdom with a crowd of  disciples 7one 
of whom acted as his car driver71 going 
from court to  court admonishing and    
scolding the chiefs1 thought it his duty
 to give  the youthful reformer a sharp 
reproof and an earnest warning4 ,his    
advice was excellent1 and ,confucius    
found out at last that the  restoration 
of peace and good government to a       
country was not to be  effected so      
easily as he had thought1 even though   

the preacher of  reform dressed         
unimpeachably1 ate and drank only the   
best he could  get1 had an excellent ear
 for music1 and knew the decrees of     
,heaven4    ,i shall now proceed to give
 a short sketch of the legendary account
 of  ,lao-tz1 as related in the ,records
 of ,spirits and ,fairies and other     
books4    ,according1 to some writers   
,lao-tz was a spiritual being1 eternal  
and  self-existing1 manifesting himself 
as a human being on the earth at        
various times and under various names4  
,one author1 indeed1 puts words  like   
these into the mouth of the sage        
himself4#bi ,the most celebrated  of his
 incarnations was that which occurred   
during the early part of  the ,chou     
dynasty4 ,on this memorable occasion his
 mother1 who had  conceived by the      
influence of a shooting star1 brought   
him forth under  a ,li 77 or plum tree1 
a circumstance from which he derived his
  surname4 ,for seventy-two long years  
7or1 according to a more cruel  author1 

for eighty-one years7 had he remained in
 the wretched woman's  womb1 and at last
 he delivered himself by bursting a     
passage under his  mother's left arm4   
,from his having at his birth gray hairs
 and the  general appearance of an old  
man1 he was called the ,old ,boy        
7,lao-tz  7#cj2 though some have        
conjectured that this was the nature of 
his  mother's family1 which was given to
 the child because his mother  obtained 
him in an improper manner4 ,one writer  
says that ,lao-tz could  speak          
immediately on being born1 and that he  
himself intimated at the  time that the 
plum tree under which he emerged into   
the world would  furnish his name4      
,another says that so soon as he was    
born he mounted  nine paces in the      
air--his step producing a lotus         
flower--and while  poised there1 he     
pointed with his left hand to heaven and
 with his  right hand to earth1 saying3 
8,in ,heaven above and on earth beneath 
it  is only ,tao which is worthy of     

honour40 ,the same author remarks that  
,shkyamuni on his birth rose seven paces
 in the air1 and pointing in a  similar 
manner to heaven and earth pronounced   
himself alone worthy of  honour4 ,he    
observes very properly that there ought 
not to be such a  coincidence4    ,when 
his mother got an opportunity of        
examining her wonderful child1  she     
found him a veritable prodigy4 ,not only
 had he gray hairs1 but he  had also    
very large ears4 ,hence came his name rh
 771 that is1 ,ears1  or as others give 
it ,chung-rh 771 ,heavy ears4#ca ,each  
ear  terminated in a point and had three
 passages4 ,besides these  peculiarities
 the infant had handsome eyebrows--large
 eyes--a  double-ridged nose--square    
mouth with thick lips4 ,his hands had   
ornamental inscriptions on them1 and the
 soles of his feet presented  the       
mysterious numbers1 two and five1 of    
which the former represents  heaven and 
the latter earth4 ,he had also many     
other larger and smaller  bodily virtues

 and beauties4#cb    ,lao-tz left       
heavenly purity and honour for earthly  
pollution and  office4 ,it was under the
 ,heaven-blessed kings ,wn 77 and ,wu 77
  that he first took service in the     
state as ,treasury keeper and then as   
,assistant historiographer4 ,this       
account1 however1 would make him        
survive for the more than patriarchal   
period of five hundred years4 ,he  is   
represented as having several interviews
 with ,confucius who1 as ,sz  ,ma-chien 
also relates1 compared him to a dragon  
which in a mysterious  and inexplicable 
manner mounts a cloud and soars into    
heaven4 ,this1 as  ,rmusat has observed1
 was intended as a compliment1 the      
dragon being  with the ,chinese a symbol
 of what is exalted and not unattended  
by a  mysterious power4#cc    ,on       
retiring from office ,lao-tz proceeded  
westward intending to pass  through the 
,han-ku-kwan 77 to the ,kunlun mountains
 and other distant  places4 ,yin-hsi 771
 however1 the keeper of the pass1 who   

had known  from the state of the weather
 that a sage was to come his way1       
recognised ,lao-tz for such and detained
 him until he had himself  learned ,tao4
 ,the time came1 however1 when the two  
worthies had to  part4 ,lao-tz informed 
,yin-hsi that he would have to leave him
 and go  away on a long wandering       
through the boundless realms of space4  
,yin-hsi begged earnestly that he might 
be allowed to go with  him--saying that 
he was prepared to follow the ,great    
,genius through  fire and water above   
the heavens and beneath the earth4      
,lao-tz  declined the offer1 but        
presented his old friend with five      
thousand  words on ,tao and ,t4    ,the 
pathetic state of affairs was now rudely
 interrupted4 ,just as  ,lao-tz was     
about to take his departure it was found
 that his old  servant ,hs-chia 771 who 
had attended him for more than two      
hundred  years without pay1 seeing      
,lao-tz about to set out on an          
apparently  unlimited pilgrimage1       

demanded payment4 ,the arrears of wages 
due to  him amounted to #g1bjj1jjj cash1
 and he applied to a friend who got     
,yin-hsi to speak to the sage4 ,this    
friend gave his handsome daughter  in   
marriage to ,hs-chia1 who was quite     
delighted with the arrangement4  ,just  
at this time1 however1 the master       
appeared and told ,chia that he  ought  
to remember from what a poor condition  
he had been raised1 and  that he would  
have been dead long ago had it not been 
for the charm of  long life which had   
been given to him4 ,he also informed    
,chia that1 as  he had previously       
promised1 he had intended to pay the    
debt in gold on  reaching ,an-hsi 771 a 
country which ,biot identifies with that
 of  the ,parthians4 ,yielding to the   
last vestige of earthly infirmity       
,lao-tz became angry and ordered ,chia  
to fall on his face to the  ground and  
open his mouth4 ,the latter could not   
but obey1 he fell to  the ground1 the   
charm came forth fresh as when it was   

swallowed1 and  ,chia lay like a        
shrivelled mummy4 ,through the kindness 
of ,yin-hsi1 who  recognised the        
miraculous power of ,lao-tz1 and knocked
 his head on  the ground to him1 the    
ungrateful creditor was restored to life
 by the  same wondrous charm4 ,yin-hsi  
also paid him on behalf of ,lao-tz the  
generous sum of #b1jjj1jjj cash1 and    
sent him away4    ,lao-tz having now    
settled all his mundane affairs1 bade   
farewell to  the keeper of the ,pass1   
telling him that he would return to     
earth  after the lapse of a thousand    
days and that he would be recognised by 
the sign of a ,ching ,yang 771          
literally1 an azure sheep4 ,he then     
mounted a cloud and soared out of sight 
of the weeping ,yin-hsi in a  dazzling  
glare of light away into the etherial   
regions1 to his home in  the heavens4#cd
      #a ,tai-ping-kwang-ch 77 ch4 #a2  
and the ,shen-hsien-chuan1    vol4 #a4  
#b ,shi-chi--      #c ,an author named  
,chen 77 quoted by ,ma ,tuan-lin1 says  

that1 as    ,tan means flat-eared1 it is
 not probable that it would be given as 
a posthumous title4 ,perhaps it is      
better to regard it as a name or        
nickname given to him during life4      
#d ,wn-hsen-tung-kao 771 ,ch4 #baa4     
#e ,chine1 p4 #aaa4      #f ,tao-t-king1
 ,introduction1 ,note #a on page xix4   
#g ,see the 1 the extract from ,sz      
,ma-chien4      #h ,dict4 ,villes et    
,arrond41 p4 #bdd4      #i ,julien1     
,tao-t-king1 ,introduction1 ,note #b on 
page xix4      #aj ,tung-chien-kang-mu1 
,ch4 #da4      #aa ,chine1 p4 #aab4     
#ab ,li-chi1 ,ch4 #c1 ,sect4 #gd1 ,note4
      #ac ,see the ,chia-y 771 ,vol4 #a1
 ,ch4 #c4      #ad ,ch4 ,classics1 ,vol4
 #a1 ,proleg41 p4 #fe4      #ae         
,kang-hsi's ,dictionary4 ,character ,chu
 774      #af ,see his works1 ,ch #e1 p4
 #bg1 the ,tien ,yun 77 section4        
#ag ,chia-y1 ,vol4 #a1 ,ch4 #c4      #ah
 ,sh chi1 ,lao-tz4      #ai ,see        
,chia-y1 ,vol4 #a1 ,ch4 #c4      #bj ,sh
 chi1 ,lao-tz4      #ba ,see ,chia-y1   

,vol4 #a1 ,ch4 #c4      #bb ,sh chi1 #a1
 c4      #bc ,for the distracted state  
of ,china about this period1 one may    
read    the ,shi-ching1 the ,tung-chien1
 ,chun-chiu1 the ,lun-y1 and other      
books4      #bd ,see 1 ,introduction4   
#be ,tao-t ,ching1 ,chs4 #bj and #fg4   
#bf ,see1 for instance1 a very unfair   
article on ,confucius in the            
,fortnightly ,review for ,may1 #ahfh1 by
 ,sir ,j4 ,bowring4      #bg 1 ,ch4 #eh4
      #bh ,chia-y 771 ,ch4 #c4      #bi 
,see the ,yuan-chien-lei-han 771 ,ch1   
#cah4      #cj ,chalmers translates this
 8old philosopher40      #ca ,see the   
,records of ,spirits and ,fairies4 ,art4
 4 ,julien    has translated this       
,chapter in the ,introduction to his    
,tao-t    ,ching4      #cb ,see  in the 
4 ,also compare the similar legends     
about    the ,buddha in ,hardy's ,manual
 of ,buddhism1 pages #cfg-h-i4      #cc 
,see his ,mmoire sur la vie c41 de      
,lao-tseu1 ps4 #e  #f4      #cd ,one    
author1 however1 represents him as      

travelling far away to    the ,west and 
becoming again incarnate as ,gotama     
,buddha--see    ,yuan-chien c41 ch4     
#cag4                                   
,,chapter ,,iii4                        
,,the ,,tao-,t ,,ching 4      ,lao-tz is
 said to have died at the age of        
eighty-one years in ,b4,c4  #ebc1a      
though1 as has been seen1 nothing is    
known positively about  the time or     
manner of his decease4 ,he had1         
according to historical  tradition1 on  
leaving the ,hanku ,pass1 consigned his 
writings on ,tao  and ,t to ,yin-hsi1   
the guardian of the ,pass4 ,this latter 
seems to have  transmitted his doctrines
 to others1 more especially to ,wn-tz   
771  who probably published the first   
edition of this work known to the       
public4 ,some indeed suppose that       
,lao-tz did not himself commit  anything
 to writing1 and that ,yin-hsi merely   
related orally to ,wn-tz  and others    
what he had been taught orally by the   
sage4 ,this opinion  will not seem      

unlikely1 if we consider that the use of
 paper was at  this time unknown and    
that there were very few facilities of  
any kind  for publishing a book4 ,others
 suppose that ,wen-tz was an immediate  
disciple of ,lao-tz and that he         
published an account of his master's    
doctrines after the decease of the      
latter4#b    ,in any case1 however1 it  
appears certain that for a considerable 
time  after the death of its author the 
work which is now known as the  ,tao-t  
ching remained in at least partial      
obscurity4 ,mencius does not  allude by 
name to ,lao-tz or his teachings1 though
 he refers on  several occasions1 and   
rather unfavourably1 to ,yang-chu 771   
who is  supposed to have been a disciple
 of the sage4 ,the philosophers ,chwang 
77 and ,lie 771 however1 contemporaries 
of ,mencius1 seem to have been  aware of
 the existence and contents of the      
,tao-t ching4 ,the latter  expressly    
quotes its words1 and both make mention 
of ,lao-tan4    ,it has not been        

ascertained when or by whom its present 
title was  imposed on this book4 ,we    
find early writers quoting its teachings
 as  those of ,hwang-,lao 771 that is1  
of the ,emperor ,hwang and ,lao-tz4     
,the former lived1 or is supposed to    
have lived1 about ,b4,c4 #bfjj1 and     
some parts of the ,tao-t ching are      
expressly ascribed to him1 for  example1
 ,chapter ,,vi is quoted as his4#c      
,another title under which  this book is
 referred to by old authors is          
,lao-tz-shu 771 that  is1 the writings  
of ,lao-tz1#d and it is not until the   
time of  ,emperor ,wn 77 of the ,han    
dynasty1 or about ,b4,c4 #afj1 that we  
find  the term ,tao-t used4 ,we must    
remember also that the use of these two 
words does not indicate that the book   
treats only of what is meant by  them1#e
 nor are we to imagine that the former  
part of the work refers  exclusively to 
,t4 ,the first word of the former part  
of the book is  ,tao1 and the first     
important word of the latter portion is 

,t1 and  these two were simply combined 
in order to form a designation for the  
whole1 according to the usual ,chinese  
custom4#f ,hian-tsung 771 an  ,emperor  
of the ,tang dynasty1 who reigned in the
 early part of the #hth  century of our 
era1 besides several other innovations1 
gave a separate  name to each part of   
this book1 calling the former part the  
,tao-ching  and the latter the          
,t-ching4#g ,these appellations1        
however1 are  seldom1 if ever1 used1 and
 the work is now universally known as   
the  ,tao-t ching4 ,from the words of   
,confucius it might even with some      
degree of probability be inferred that  
already in his time the name  ,tao-t was
 used1 the term ,ching or classic1      
being1 of course1 a much  later addition
 and given by way of respect4    ,from  
the naming of the book ,i now proceed to
 the considerations of the  way in which
 it has been divided4 ,sz ,ma-chien     
simply says that  ,lao-tz made a book in
 two parts1 containing more than five   

thousand  characters1 and setting forth 
the signification of ,tao and ,t4 ,chao1
  however1 says that the work contained 
#e1gdh words in eighty-one  chapters4   
,the original division was probably only
 one into two parts2  afterwards1       
however1 these were subdivided into     
chapters4 ,the number  of these latter  
composing the entire book varies        
considerably4#h ,some  editors make     
fifty-five chapters2 some make          
sixty-four2 some1 and  notably ,wu-chng1
 make sixty-eight2 and some seventy-two4
 ,the most  usual number1 however1 is   
eighty-one1 and this is said to be      
sanctioned by the old and venerable     
authority of ,ho-shang-kung 77  of the  
,han dynasty4 ,the ,taoists are very    
fond of the number three and  its       
multiples1 and this particular multiple1
 eighty-one1 is associated  in tradition
 with ,lao-tz's birth and the years of  
his life1 and there  is perhaps no      
greater reason for preferring this to   
any other division4    ,to              

,ho-shang-kung is ascribed also the     
addition of a title to each of  the     
eighty-one chapters4 ,these titles      
consist of two characters each1  giving 
an epitome of the contents of the       
chapter1 and they resemble  the headings
 of chapters and sections in our own    
books4 ,many editors1  however1 reject  
these inventions of ,ho-shang-kung1 and 
use the  ordinary ,chinese method of    
distinguishing each chapter by its first
  two characters4 ,this is considered   
the more decorous method1 as the  other 
seems to be supplementing the author4   
,i come now to the text of the ,tao-t   
ching1 and here the most  bewildering   
uncertainty and confusion are found4    
,some editors1 wishing  to have the     
number of characters as little as       
possible beyond five  thousand1 have cut
 them off apparently at pleasure1 and   
without much  regard for the sense of   
the author4 ,others have pursued a      
contrary  course1 and retained or added 
characters in order apparently to make  

out what they deemed to be the true     
meaning of any particular passage4      
,this conduct has occasioned great      
variations in the text1 and             
consequently great uncertainty as to    
what ,lao-tz actually wrote or  taught4 
,sometimes one editor1 by the           
suppression of1 a negative  particle or 
a word of interrogation1 gives to a     
passage a meaning  unlike or even       
opposed to that which another editor by 
the insertion  of this character gives  
to the same passage4 ,but not only do   
different  editions of this book vary as
 to insertion and rejection of words3   
they also differ as to the mode of      
writing many of those actually          
employed4 ,words written in similar     
manners1 or of similar sound1 but  with 
widely different significations1        
frequently replace one another2  and not
 unfrequently characters totally        
different in sound1  appearance1 and    
meaning are found substituted one for   
another in the  same passage4 ,hence the

 number of various readings is          
exceedingly  great1 and the meaning of  
many passages at least very doubtful4   
,one  edition gives in the introduction 
an account of some of the variations  in
 the text1 which occupies a considerable
 number of pages2 while  another edition
 gives only a text accompanied by       
various readings4    ,the next point to 
be considered1 is the style of our      
author4 ,this is  perhaps the most terse
 and concise ever employed4 ,there is   
little1 if  any1 grace or elegance about
 it3 and most of the chapters seem to be
  merely notes or texts for             
philosophical discourses4 ,they are     
composed  of short and often enigmatical
 or paradoxical sentences--not in verse1
  as has been asserted#i--;and with a   
connexion either very slight or not  at 
all perceptible4 ,much of the present   
obscurity may be due to the  antiquity  
of the language and the uncertainty     
about the proper  reading2 but much is  
also due to the brief enigmatical manner

 in which  the author has expressed     
himself4 ,many ,chinese regard the style
 as  profound and suggestive1 and so1 no
 doubt1 it is2 but we can never get  at 
the bottom of the meaning1 nor imagine  
all that is suggested4    ,connected    
with the obscurity of the style1 and    
indeed contributing  largely towards it1
 is the nature of the topics discussed4 
,the origin  of the universe1 and man's 
place and destiny in it as an           
individual1 a  member of society1 and a 
conscious part of nature1 are subjects  
which  in all ages and in all countries 
have puzzled the minds of thoughtful    
men1 and it is of these and similar     
matters that ,lao-tz principally        
treats4 ,such subjects1 even when       
discussed in a clear and plain style    
and with a rich language1 are found to  
be difficult of elucidation2  and how   
much more so must they be when discussed
 in short enigmatical  sentences8       
,lao-tz1 like all other philosophers who
 live and write in  the infancy of a    

literary language1 had only a very      
imperfect medium  through which to      
communicate his doctrines4 ,the language
 of his time  was rude and imperfect1   
utterly unfit to express the deep       
thoughts of  a meditative mind1 and     
hence it could at best but 8half reveal 
and  half conceal the soul within40     
,the genuineness and sources of this    
book are also difficult of              
investigation1 and it is perhaps        
impossible to ascertain the truth  about
 them with any accuracy4 ,as has been   
seen1 a portion is ascribed  to the     
semi-fabulous ,emperor ,hwang1 and      
,lao-tz is sometimes  represented as    
merely transmitting this emperor's      
doctrines4 ,chapter  ,,xxxi has been    
declared spurious1 and a portion of     
,chapter ,,xxvii is  found first in     
,ho-shang-kung's edition4#aj ,the       
beginning of the now  famous ,chapter   
,,xiv is very similar to the words      
ascribed to the  predecessor of the     
,emperor ,hwang1 namely the ,emperor    

,yen 771 by the  philosopher ,chwang4   
,rmusat and ,pauthier consider the main 
doctrines  of the ,tao-t ching to be    
derived from ,western sources4 ,the     
former  asks--,did ,lao-tz learn them   
from the ,jews or from some oriental    
sect  unknown to us8#aa ,but the        
illustrious savant was unable to give a 
satisfactory answer4 ,the learned       
,pauthier thinks that ,lao-tz borrowed  
his doctrines either from the writings  
of some of the ancient ,chinese  sages  
or from some ,indian philosophers4#ab   
,in ,ma-tuan-lin's great  work a short  
account is given of an ancient worthy   
named ,y-hsuing  771 who served the     
celebrated ,wn-wang1 and who must       
accordingly  have flourished about      
,b4,c4 #aaej4ac ,this man seems to have 
anticipated ,lao-tz in certain          
doctrines1 but we have very little      
information about him1 and what we have 
can scarcely be called  reliable4       
,lao-tz never alludes to a previous     
author2 but there cannot  be much doubt1

 ,i think1 that he was well acquainted  
with the history  and traditions of his 
country4    ,we may probably now        
understand the nature of the            
difficulties  attending the reading and 
interpreting of the ,tao-t ,ching1 of   
which  western writers have complained4 
,julien speaks of it as 8cet ouvrage    
mmorable qu'on regarde avec raison comme
 le plus profond1 le plus  abstrait et  
le plus difficile de toute la littrature
 ,chinoise40#ad  ,rmusat and ,pauthier  
have written in a similar manner1 and   
the study  of a few pages of the work   
will show how real are the difficulties 
of  which they complain4 ,but it is not 
to foreign students alone that  these   
difficulties are perplexing2 they are so
 to the native student  also4 ,some of  
its editors are accused not only of not 
appreciating its  spirit1 but even of   
not understanding its language4    ,the 
number of those who have edited and     
commented on this work is very  great1  
embracing ,buddhists1 ,taoists1 and     

,confucianists4 ,the curious  reader    
will find a list of many of these in the
 ,observations ,dtaches  prefixed to    
,julien's translation4 ,to this list    
many more names might  be added1 but it 
includes nearly all the useful and well 
known  editions4 ,it is only necessary  
here to enumerate a few of the more     
important and celebrated editions1 and  
those which are apparently not          
mentioned by ,julien and which have come
 under my notice4    #a4 ,the           
,tao-t-ching-chu 77 by ,ho-shang-kung1  
or as ,ma-tuan-lin  names the book1     
,ho-,shang-,kung-,chu-,lao-tz1 may be   
regarded as the  earliest edition of    
which we have now any exact information4
 ,this  ,ho-shang-kung lived in the     
second century ,b4,c41 during the reign 
of  ,king ,wen 77 of the ,han dynasty4  
,he derived his name from his living  as
 a studious hermit on the bank of a     
river in a grass-made hut1 and  neither 
his original name nor anything else     
scarcely is known of him1  though       

,julien calls him 8,lo-chin-kong40 ,to  
him1 as has been seen1 is  ascribed     
division of ,lao-tz's book into         
eighty-one chapters1 as also  the       
addition of the two-word heading of each
 chapter4 ,the original work  is said to
 have been long since lost1 and         
professed reprints are now  generally   
regarded as spurious4 ,many modern      
editions1 however1 present  what they   
designate ,ho-shang-kung's text1 and    
,julien seems to regard  himself as     
possessing the genuine commentary4 ,the 
edition of the  ,tao-t ,ching1 which    
forms the first volume in the           
,sh-tz-chuan-shu  77 published during   
the reign of ,chia-,ching of the present
  dynasty1 professes to give            
,ho-shang-kung's text1 revised by two   
scholars of the ,ming dynasty4 ,later   
editors are divided in their  opinions  
of the merits of the recluse's          
commentary and arrangement of  the text4
 ,some regard the commentary as a fair  
exponent of ,lao-tz's  teachings1 while 

others--and these ,i think the          
majority--regard it as  very bad and    
evincing an ignorance of the author's   
meaning4 ,the text  which is ascribed to
 him seems to be freer from obscurities 
than that  of some later editions1 but  
he is accused of having taken great     
liberties with the words of the         
original4    #b4 ,the edition of        
,wang-,pi 774 ,this man was the author  
of the  ,lao-tzu-liao-lun 771 according 
to ,chao4 ,he was a native of           
,shan-yang 77 in the time of the ,chin  
dynasty1 which reigned over  ,china in  
the third and fourth centuries of our   
era4#ae ,his style was  ,szu-fu 771 and 
he was an early and devoted student of  
,lao-tz4  ,besides this1 and that he    
wrote a commentary on the ,tao-t chin1  
and  one on the ,yi-ching1 and died at  
the early age of twenty-four1 much      
regretted by his sovereign1 we know     
little about ,wang-,pi4 ,the text  which
 he gives in his edition is very good1  
and his notes are very  brief4 ,they    

are1 however1 in some cases almost as   
difficult to  comprehend as the passages
 they are intended to explain2 though   
their  author is regarded by many as a  
better student of ,lao-tz than          
,ho-shang-kung1 and ,mr4 ,wylie says    
that his commentary is 8generally       
esteemed for its depth of thought and   
chasteness of diction40#af ,he  also    
divided the work into eighty-one        
chapters4 ,in the #djth year of         
,chien-lung1 or in #agge1 a revised     
edition of this work was printed in  the
 palace1 under the care of three        
mandarins1 who have written a neat      
little preface to the book4 ,this       
edition is valuable as giving the       
variations of ,wang-,pi's notes which   
appeared in the great ,encyclopedia     
known as ,yung-lo-ta-tien 774    #c4    
,the ,tao-t-ching-shi-yi 774 ,this was  
the work of ,l-yen  771 better known as 
,l-,tung-pin or ,l-tsu1 a famous ,taoist
 of the  ,tang dynasty4 ,his commentary 
is very diffuse1 and does not tend very 

much to give a clear conception of      
,lao-tz's views4 ,many ,chinese         
scholars1 however1 believe that the     
genuine work is not extant1 and  that   
all the editions purporting to be from  
his pen are spurious4  ,l-yen was also  
the editor of a ,taoist book written by 
a celebrated  individual of the ,han    
dynasty1 and he was the author of a     
number of  original pieces4 ,he was     
promoted to the rank of a ,genius1 and  
he is  enrolled as one of the ,pa-hsien 
77 or ,eight ,genii1 under the style    
,shun-yang-chn-jen 772 and in the #bith 
year of ,kang-hsi1  ,mou-,mu-yuen 77    
published an edition of the ,tao-t      
,ching purporting  to be a revised      
edition of this man's work4 ,it is a    
very useful book1  giving in addition to
 the commentary a list of various       
readings1 the  sounds of the rare or    
doubtful characters1 and other valuable 
information4 ,this is the edition1      
apparently1 to which ,julien refers  as 
a work 8publie en #afij par             

,chun-yang-tchin-jin qui renferme toutes
  les rveries des ,tao-sse modernes40#ag
 ,i cannot understand1 however1  how a  
sinologue of ,m4 ,julien's erudition    
could mistake the date of the  famous   
,l-,tung-pin or forget that he was      
identical with  ,shun-yang-chn-jen1 ,a  
new edition of ,mou-,mu-yuen's book was 
published  in the #adth year of         
,chia-ching 7#ahji7 by ,tsou-,hs-kun 774
    #d4 ,the edition with notes by      
,su-,che 771 a relation of the famous   
poet and author of the ,sung dynasty1   
named ,su also4 ,che1 or as he is  also 
called ,ts-yu1 seems to have been an    
eclectic philosopher1 and he  has       
incurred severe censure from rigid      
,confucianists for daring to  presume   
that the doctrines of ,shkyamuni and    
,lao-tz could resemble  those of their  
,master4 ,his commentary is written in a
 liberal and  generous spirit1 and      
shews1 besides1 a considerable amount of
 reading1  much in advance of ordinary  
,chinese authors4    #e4 ,another       

edition of the ,tao-t ,ching1 published 
during the ,sung  dynasty1 was that of  
,l-,tung-lai 77 or ,tsu-chien 771 also  
known as ,pei-kung 774 ,he was a very   
learned ,confucianist1 and  wrote1 along
 with other works1 an excellent         
commentary on the  ,chun-chiu 77 of     
,confucius4    #f4 ,the                 
,tao-t-chn-ching-chu 77 by ,wu-,chng 774
 ,this man  was a native of             
,lin-chiean-hsien 77 in ,kiangsi1 and   
lived under  the ,yuan or ,mongol       
dynasty4 ,he divided the ,tao-t ,ching  
into  sixty-eight chapters by putting1  
in several instances1 two or more of    
the ordinary chapters into one4 ,his    
commentary is one of the best and  of   
the most popular among the ,chinese     
literati4 ,this is partly owing  to the 
fact that ,wu-,chng was also a          
well-known ,confucianist and a          
commentator on the classics4 ,his style 
was ,yu-ching 771 and it is  under the  
name ,oi-yeou-thsing that ,julien makes 
mention of him4 ,in  ,chinese books he  

is also frequently quoted as ,tsao-lu   
774 ,a new  edition of ,wu-,chng's      
excellent work appeared in the eighth   
year of  ,chia-ching 7#ahjc17 with a    
preface by ,chang-,wn-ping1 and another 
edition with a short supplement appeared
 in the reign of the late  emperor4     
#g4 ,under the ,ming dynasty there were 
several good1 editions of this  work    
published1 but ,i have been able to     
obtain only two of them4 ,the           
,tao-t-hsing-ming-chien-chi 77 was      
published during the  reign of ,yung-lo 
in the first quarter of the #aeth       
century4 ,the editor  does not reveal   
his name but uses a nom de guerre1 and  
,i have not  succeeded in ascertaining  
anything about his history4 ,the        
commentary  which he has written is very
 useful1 and evinces a careful study of 
his author and a familiar acquaintance  
with ,chinese literature4 ,the  text and
 the headings of the ,chapters are said 
to be after  ,ho-shang-kung1 and the    
number of the chapters is eighty-one4   

#h4 ,the ,tao-t-hsing-ming-hou-chi 77   
appeared in the reign of  ,chia-ching 77
 of the same dynasty1 and nearly a      
century after the  above edition4 ,the  
author of this commentary was           
,chu-,chen-hung  771 a relative of the  
royal family1 and a military viceroy    
with  full powers for some time4 ,his   
notes are short and not of great        
utility1 but he occasionally introduces 
quotations from early writers           
illustrative of passages in ,lao-tz's   
teachings1 and he seems to have  been a 
man of no mean literary attainments4    
#i4 ,the ,tao-t ,ching1 with            
,prolegomena and ,commentary by         
,hsu-,ta-chun  771 was published in     
#agfj4 ,ta-chun's style was ,ling-tai   
771  and he was born in ,wu-chiang-hsien
 77 in the department of ,soochow1  in  
the reign of ,yung-chng4 ,he was        
well-known during his life as an        
accomplished scholar1 and a writer on   
medicine and other subjects4 ,his       
commentary on the ,tao-t ,ching is to be

 reckoned among the most useful  of all 
the commentaries that have hitherto     
appeared4 ,he speaks very  slightingly  
of previous editors1 more especially of 
,ho-shang-kung1  and he advertises his  
readers that he has not stolen anything 
from his  predecessors1 but has studied 
his author4 ,mr4 ,wylie says that       
,ta-chun  in this commentary1 8in a     
concise and lucid style1 develops his   
ideas  on the work of ,lau-tze1         
extolling it above the ,confucian       
,classics40#ah    #aj4 ,the             
,tao-t-ching-kao-yi 77 by ,pi-,yuan 771 
a high  officer under ,chien-lung4 ,he  
published this work in the forty-sixth  
year of this reign 7#agha7 in two       
volumes1 and with the chapters  divided 
in the usual manner4 ,the text which he 
gives is that settled  by ,fu-yi 771 an 
imperial annalist during the ,tang      
dynasty1 and his  notes consist almost  
exclusively of an enumeration of the    
variations  presented by previous       
editions4 ,mr4 ,wylie speaks of it as 8a

 very  excellent examination of the     
purity of the text10#ai but it is       
scarcely so much as a statement of the  
various readings1 with an  occasional   
attempt at explanation or               
reconciliation4    #aa4 ,the            
,lao-tz-tsan-chu 774 ,of this ,mr4      
,wylie writes3--8,a  critical exposition
 of the work 7that is1 of the ,tao-t    
,ching7  was written by  ,e ,yun-tn in  
#ahaf1 entitled the                     
,lau-tsz-tsan-cho40#bj    ,appended to  
several editions of the ,tao-t ,ching is
 a small tract  bearing the name ,yin-fu
 ,ching 771 that is1 as explained by one
  author1 the ,classic of the ,secret   
,tally4 ,it contains only a few         
sentences1 generally obscure and        
enigmatical1 bearing on subjects        
similar to those treated of by ,lao-tz4 
,the author of the work is  unknown1 and
 some refer it to the ancient ,hwang-,ti
 7about ,b4,c4 #bfcj71  while others    
bring it down so late as ,li-,chuan 77  
of the ,tang  dynasty4#ba ,it seems more

 probable1 however1 that it was written 
by  ,tai-kung 771 who is also known as  
,l-wang 77 and ,ching-shang  774 ,he was
 feudal chief of the principality of    
,chi 771 and lived  under kings ,wn and 
,wu of the ,chou dynasty 7about ,b4,c4  
#aaej to #aabj74  ,sz-ma-chien#bb       
mentions the book under the title       
,chou-shu-yin-fu  771 as having been    
studied by ,su-,chin 771 a famous       
general  about the time of ,mencius1 who
 attained to the high position of chief 
minister for six of the seven states    
then contending2 hence he is  frequently
 spoken of as ,liu-kuo-hsiang 774 ,the  
,yin-fu-,ching forms  part of the       
curious book called the ,magnetic       
,needle 771 where the  text is          
accompanied with very interesting notes4
      #a ,le ,livre des ,rcompenses et  
des ,peines c41 par ,s4 ,julien         
,avertissement1 p4 #f4      #b ,wn-hsien
 c41 ch41 #baa4      #c ,see ,lie-tz's  
,chung-hs-chen-ching 77 ,tien-sui 77 ch4
    where it forms part of a quotation  

from ,hwang-,ti's writings4      #d ,see
 ,julien's ,tao-t-king1 p4 xxxiii4      
#e ,hs ,ta-chun's ,preface to his       
edition of the ,tao-t ching4      #f    
,see ,wu-,chng's 77 ,tao-t ching1 ch4   
#a4      #g ,hs ,ta-chn's edition1      
,prolegomena #b4 ,this statement1       
however1    cannot be verified4      #h 
,see ,hs ,ta-chn as above4      #i      
,pauthier1 ,chine1 p4 iii4      #aj     
,wn-hsien c41 ch4 #baa4      #aa ,mmoire
 c41 p4 #di4      #ab ,chine ,moderne1  
p4f #cej1 and ,chine1 p4 #ie c4      #ac
 ,ch41 #baa4      #ad ,tao-t ching1 p4  
ii      #ae ,see the ,shang-yu-lu 771   
,ch4 #i1 art4 4      #af ,notes on      
,chinese ,literature1 p4 #agi4      #ag 
,tao te1 c4 ,observations ,dtaches1 p4  
xxxix4      #ah ,notes on ,chinese      
,literature1 p4 #agc4 ,i have failed1   
however1 to    verify the concluding    
part of the sentence4      #ai ,notes1  
c41 p4 #agc4      #bj ,notes1 c41 p4    
#agd4      #ba ,notes1 c41 p4 #agc4     
#bb ,shi-chi1 ,ch4 #h4                  

,,chapter ,,iv4                         
,,general ,,view ,,of ,,lao-,,tz's      
,,teachings4      ,before proceeding to 
examine in detail the doctrines of the  
,tao-t  ,ching1 ,i shall briefly        
indicate their general nature2 and by   
way of  preface to my own remarks1 ,i   
now present to the reader the statements
  of two critics of different countries1
 and of rather widely separated  dates4 
,one of these1 ,chu-hsi 1 a ,chinese    
philosopher who lived in  the #abth     
century1 says3--8,lao-tz's scheme of    
philosophy consists in  modesty1        
self-emptiness1 the saving of one's     
powers1 and the refusal  in all         
circumstances to agitate the bodily     
humours and spirits4  ,lao-tz's learning
 consists1 generally speaking1 in being 
void of  desires1 quiet1 and free from  
exertion--in being self-empty1 retiring1
  and self-controlling 7lit41           
self-keeping7 in actual life4           
,accordingly1  what his words are ever  
inculcating is to have in outward       

deportment a  gentle tenderness and     
modesty1 and to be at the core void of  
all  selfishness1 and unhurtful to all  
things in the world40#a ,the other      
critic1 a ,french philosopher still     
living1 says3--8,la conception de       
,lao-tseu est un ,rationalisme          
panthistique absolu dans lequel le      
monde sensible est consider comme la    
cause de toutes les  imperfections et de
 toutes les misres1 et la personalit    
humaine  comme un mode infrieur et      
passager du grand tre1 de la grande ,uit
  qui est l'origine et la fin de tous   
les tres4 ,elle a1 comme nous  l'avons  
dj dit ailleurs une grande analogie avec
 le systme de  l',identit absolue de    
,schelling4 ,il y a cette difference1   
cependant1  que la conception du premier
 n'est en quelque sorte qu' l'tat       
rudimentaire1 comme la civilization de  
son poque1 tandis que le  systme du     
dernier embrasse tous les progrs que la 
pense  philosophique a fait pendant plus
 de deux mille ans d'incessants et      

souvent d'infructueus labeurs40#b ,i am 
unable to coincide perfectly  with the  
opinions of the above critics1          
especially with those of the  latter2   
and ,i shall probably refer to them     
again4 ,there is at least  one respect  
in which the writings of ,lao-tz        
resemble those of  ,schelling--that is1 
in being frequently quite unintelligible
 to all  ordinary mortals4    ,pauthier1
 however1 seems to have observed what   
the ,chinese critic  apparently failed  
to notice--namely1 that all ,lao-tz's   
teachings are  the elucidation and      
development of his idea of the relations
 between  something which he names ,tao 
and the ,universe4 ,in taking a general 
view of ,lao-tz's philosophy1 this is   
the first observation ,i have to        
make3--,it is a system which refers all 
things to ,tao1 as the ultimate  ideal  
unity of the universe4 ,the sum of the  
,tao-t ,ching may be said  to be that   
,tao originated all things1 is the      
everlasting model of rule  for all      

things1 and that into it all things are 
finally absorbed4 ,it  behoves us then1 
at the outset1 to endeavour to ascertain
 what that is  which ,lao-tz designates 
by this name1 and to find some sort of  
an  equivalent for it in our own        
language1 if possible4    ,now the      
character ,tao  is used in several very 
different senses in  the ,tao-t ,ching4 
7#a7 ,it is used in the sense of the way
 or means  of doing a thing4#c 7#b7 ,in 
some passages it means to speak of or   
describe4#d 7#c7 ,it is used in the     
sense of the course--literal and        
metaphorical--characteristic of and     
pursued by ,heaven1 ,earth1 the  perfect
 man1 c4#e ,this usage of the word is   
common to ,lao-tz with  the             
,confucianists and all other ,chinese   
writers4 ,in some places also  it seems 
to be used in the sense of good         
principles--truth--as in  ,confucianist 
writings4 7,see ,ch4 #df474 7#d7 ,there 
is the  transcendental use of the word1 
perhaps originated by ,lao-tz1#f but  at

 least chiefly transmitted through him4 
,it is with ,tao used in  this last     
sense alone that we have to deal at     
present1 and ,i shall  accordingly now  
give a sketch of ,lao-tz's own account  
of the ,tao  which has given a name to  
his philosophy4    ,tao1 then1 is       
something which existed before heaven   
and earth were1  before ,deity was1 and 
which is1 indeed1 eternal4#g ,it has not
 any  name really1#h and it never had a 
name2 but ,lao-tz feels himself  obliged
 to devise an epithet for it1 and he    
adopts the word ,tao4  ,this word1      
however1 is not to be taken in any of   
its ordinary  significations1#i but is  
used in a peculiar sense1 to denote that
  which would otherwise be nameless4    
,this ,tao cannot be apprehended by  any
 of the bodily senses4#aj ,it is        
profound1 mysterious1 and  extremely    
subtle4#aa ,represented as existing     
eternally1 it is in its  nature calm1   
void1 solitary1 and unchanging2#ab but  
represented as in  operation1 it        

revolves through the universe of being1 
acting  everywhere1 but acting          
8mysteriously1 spontaneously1 and       
without  effort40#ac ,it contains       
matter1 and an inherent power of        
production2  and though itself formless1
 it yet comprehends all possible        
forms4#ad  ,it is the ultimate cause of 
the universe1 and it is the model or    
rule  for all creatures1 but chiefly for
 man4#ae ,it represents also that  ideal
 state of perfection in which all things
 acted harmoniously and  spontaneously1 
and when good and evil were unknown2 and
 the return to  which constitutes the   
summum bonum of existence4#af ,lao-tz   
speaks  of the ,tao under various       
metaphors--it is the spirit of the      
void#ag  7lit41 spirit of the valley7--a
 hollow utensil#ah--;a river or         
ocean#ai--;a parent#bj--;a ruler4#ba ,we
 will have more to say of this  ,tao    
shortly2 but the above will perhaps     
suffice for the present to  give an idea
 of what meaning ,lao-tz attached to the

 word1 or rather1  it should be said1   
the meanings2 for he does not seem to   
have had in  his mind a very clear      
conception of what ,tao actually was4   
,the next thing we have to do is to     
endeavour to find a word which will     
translate ,tao in this1 its             
transcendental use--a matter of no easy 
accomplishment4 ,pauthier1 as has been  
seen1 renders it by 8,grande  voie du   
monde10 by 8,raison suprme universelle30
 he also sometimes  speaks of it simply 
as 8,raison0#bb or 8,logos40 ,rmusat#bc 
also  renders it by 8,logos0 or         
8,raison20 and it is by the term        
8,raison0 or  8,logos0 that ,english    
writers translate the character ,tao    
when it  refers to the peculiar         
doctrines of ,lao-tz and his real or    
pretended  followers4 ,julien1 however1 
dissents from this interpretation1 and  
rightly ,i think4 ,after giving an      
account of ,tao as taught by the        
,taoists themselves1 he says 8,il parait
 donc impossible de le 7i4e41  ,tao7    

prendre pour la raison primordiale1 pour
 l'intelligence  sublime qui a cr et qui
 rgit le monde40#bd ,it is with great   
hesitation and reluctance1 however1 that
 ,i find myself unable to adopt         
,julien's own translation--8,voie10 or  
,way4 ,i quite agree with him as to  the
 reason for not adopting the term       
,reason--namely1 that ,tao as           
represented by ,lao-tz is devoid of     
thought1 judgment1 and  intelligence 7as
 to action1 ,lao-tz is apparently not   
quite consistent  with himself47 ,thus  
it is quite impossible to make it       
identical with  the ,logos of ,plato1   
and almost absurd to identify it with   
the divine  ,logos of the ,neoplatonists
 of ,alexandria4 ,but ,i do not think   
that  the word way is the best we can   
use to translate ,tao1 and this for     
several reasons4 ,a way implies a       
way-maker apart from and antecedent  to 
it1 but ,tao was before all other       
existences4 ,again1 when ,lao-tz  speaks
 of it as indeterminate1 as profound1   

and finally as producing1  nourishing1  
and absorbing the universe1 these terms 
can scarcely be  applied to a way1      
however metaphorically used4 ,julien    
says3--8,le sens  de ,voie1 que je donne
 au mot ,tao 1 rsulte clairement des    
passages suivants de ,lao-tseu3 #8,si   
j'tais dou de quelque prudence1  je     
marcherais dans le grand ,tao' 7dans la 
grande ,voie74--,le grand  ,tao est     
tres-uni 7la grande ,voie est           
tres-unie71 mais le peuple  aime les    
sentiers 7ch4 ,,liii740 8,le ,tao peut  
tre regard comme la  mere de l'univers4 
,je ne connais pas son nom2 pour le     
qualifier1 je  l'appelle le ,tao ou la  
,voie 7ch4 ,,xxv740#be ,now in the      
former of the  two cases here cited the 
expression ta tao  means1 ,i think1 the 
great course of duty which all men ought
 to pursue1 but especially  those who   
are in authority--the way of the        
magistrate or ruler2 an  interpretation 
which seems to be supported by the rest 
of the chapter1  though some of the     

commentators seem to be of the same     
opinion with  ,julien4#bf ,it is to be  
observed that this scholar translates   
the  words 8ta tao0 by 8la grande       
,voie10 but in the same chapter renders 
the words 8fei tao tsai0  simply by 8ce 
n'est point pratiquer le  ,tao40 ,the   
chapter from which the latter of the    
above two passages is  cited by ,julien 
also seems to require another word than 
way to  translate ,tao1 and the same    
remark applies to the occurrence of the 
word in several other places throughout 
the ,tao-t ,ching4#bg ,we may  say of   
the ,tao1 as 8,voie0 or ,way1 that it   
revolves everywhere2 but  we can        
scarcely speak of it as being parent of 
the ,universe--the first  and highest   
existence4 ,way or road is1 no doubt1   
one of the  earliest meanings of the    
character ,tao1 and that which underlies
  many of its other uses4 ,nor is it    
very difficult to trace its progress    
from the perfectly concrete course or   
channel1 and the abstract  line or      

guide1 to the ideal path or course which
 universal  nature eternally and        
unchangingly pursues4 ,what ,lao-tz     
does1 as it  seems to me1 is to identify
 ,nature and her ideal course2 and as he
  could find no more general word       
whereby to express this ultimate ideal  
unity1 he uses the word ,tao to         
designate it1 just as a mathematician   
uses x to express an unknown quantity4  
,in order to appreciate ,lao-tz's system
 properly1 we must substitute  for ,tao 
a word corresponding as closely as      
possible to it in width  of meaning and 
vagueness of association4 ,it bears a   
somewhat close  analogy to the ,apeiron 
of the old ,ionic philosopher           
,anaximander2 but  the ,indeterminate or
 the ,indefinite is rather an awkward   
word to be  frequently using1 and we do 
not know enough of ,anaximander's system
 to  warrant us in substituting the     
,apeiron for ,tao4 ,in modern times1    
again1 the ,substance in ,spinoza's     
philosophy1 and the ,absolute in        

,schelling's1 resemble it in many       
points2 but neither could serve as a    
proper translation4 ,i have accordingly 
determined to express ,tao by  our word 
,nature1 using it in its widest and most
 abstract  sense--8great creating       
,nature40 ,but ,i do not wish to be     
understood as  implying that this word  
corresponds exactly to ,tao--far from   
it4 ,i  use it simply as in my opinion  
the nearest approach we can get4#bh     
,so1 then1 we may say of ,lao-tz's      
system that it refers all matter and    
spirit in the universe to one original  
,nature1 from which they both           
originated1 by which they are           
maintained1 and into which they are to  
be finally absorbed4 ,this is the first 
general observation ,i have to  make on 
his philosophy4    ,again1 ,lao-tz's    
philosophy is eminently an ethical or   
rather a  politico-ethical system4 ,all 
his teachings aim at making man a better
  individual1 and a better member of    
society4 ,whatever the subject be on    

which he discourses1 there is generally 
a moral allusion or a moral  lesson     
taught in allegory2 and the high value  
which he assigns to  moral excellence   
above all showy accomplishments deserves
 our greatest  commendation1 even though
 we dissent from his disparaging view of
  intellectual acquirements4 ,he appeals
 more to the heart than to the          
mind--more to the ,hebraistic side of   
our nature than to the ,hellenistic  7to
 use ,mr4 ,matthew ,arnold's language72 
and the ,tao-t ching is more  a book of 
skeleton sermons than a book of         
8reasoned truth40 ,the  intellect1      
indeed1 is not only depressed2 but is   
even sometimes spoken  of unfavourably1 
as opposed to the beneficial operation  
of ,nature  7,tao7 on men's hearts4     
,further1 the system of ,lao-tz is one  
purely speculative1 and a  priori 7in   
the ,kantian sense74 ,there is in it no 
gathering of  facts--no questioning of  
nature--no rising from particular facts 
or  truths of greater and greater       

generality4 ,there is1 in short1 little 
or nothing of the spirit of the         
inductive philosophy of modern times  to
 be found in the ,tao-t ching4 ,it      
8nobly takes the a priori  road10       
beginning with the universal cause1 and 
coming down to  particular facts2 frames
 hypotheses about nature and morals1 and
 tries  to make existing circumstances  
conform to them4 ,this is the character1
  however1 which it has in common with  
nearly all early systems of  philosophy1
 and even with some of very modern      
times4 ,an utterly wrong  method we     
believe it to be2 but we can easily     
forgive it in ,lao-tz1  when we take    
into consideration the circumstances    
amid which he lived1  and the nature and
 amount of the materials at his hand4   
,the last characteristic of ,lao-tz's   
teachings to which ,i shall allude  at  
present is that they are all imbued with
 a genial and sympathetic  spirit1      
regarding man not merely as an          
individual1 and not merely as a  member 

of human society1 but also a citizen of 
the universe1 if ,i may  use the        
expression4 ,modesty1 gentleness1       
forbearance1 and self-denial  are his   
constant watchwords4 ,he ever inculcates
 on man1 especially in  his highest     
development1 a sympathy not only with   
his fellow men1 but  also with all the  
creatures of the earth1 and even with   
inanimate  nature4 ,this doctrine       
results1 no doubt1 from the leading idea
 that  all owe their origin to the one  
all-producing1 all-nourishing nature2   
and it is a doctrine of which ,lao-tz   
seems to have been very fond4 ,he       
frequently alludes to it as the duty and
 advantage of man to be  humble1 gentle1
 and never striving2 and he utterly     
abhors the idea of  violence1 and the   
ostentation of superiority4 ,he goes to 
excess1  however1 ,i think1 in his      
notions about a peaceful1               
non-interfering  mode of life2 and      
carries his doctrine of the imitation of
 ,nature  7,tao7 to unwarranted lengths4

    ,having thus described generally the
 nature of the teachings of the  ,tao-t 
ching1 ,i shall now proceed to examine  
them more in detail4 ,in  doing so it   
will be convenient to consider them     
under the three  leading divisions of   
,speculative ,physics1 ,politics and    
,ethics4 ,i must1  however1 beg pardon  
of the pale shade of their author for   
doing so1 as  ,i am certain that he     
would not sanction this division2 and at
 the same  time ,i must forewarn the    
reader that he is not to think that     
subjects  in his opinion appertaining to
 these three departments are kept       
rigorously distinct4 ,lao-tz1 like      
,plato and some other philosophers1     
makes ,physics and ,politics subordinate
 parts of ,ethics--the grand1 all       
embracing study4 ,so when reading in the
 ,tao-t ching about matters  which we   
regard as belonging peculiarly to one or
 other of these  divisions1 we must     
endeavour to regard them from ,lao-tz's 
point of  view--viz41 as part of one    

universal1 all containing nature4 ,if we
  leave out the important word which ,i 
enclose in brackets1 and  substitute    
some such word as yet or still1 we find 
in the writings  of a great ,english    
poet of the #ahth century sentiments    
very similar to  those of the ,chinese  
sage who lived more than two thousand   
years  before him3--      8,all are but 
parts of one stupendous whole1    ,whose
 body nature is1 and ,god the soul2     
,that1 changed through all1 and yet in  
all the same2    ,great in the earth1 as
 in the ethereal frame2    ,warms in the
 sun1 refreshes in the breeze1    ,glows
 in the stars1 and blossoms in the      
trees1    ,lives through all life1      
extends through all extent1    ,spreads 
undivided1 operates unspent3            
,breathes in our soul1 informs our      
mortal part1    ,as full1 as perfect1 in
 a hair as heart3    ,as full1 as       
perfect1 in vile man that mourns1    ,as
 the rapt seraph that adores and burns3 
,to it no high1 no low1 no great1 no    

small2    ,it fills1 it bounds1         
connects1 and equals all40      #a      
,collected ,writings1 ch4 #eh4      #b  
,chine ,moderne1 p4 #cea4      #c ,ch4  
#ei4      #d ,ch4 #a4 ,this passage is1 
however1 also rendered according to the 
metaphor of a road4 ,see ,wu-chng's     
note4      #e ,chs4 #dg1 #di1 #gc1 #gg4 
#f ,see ,ch4 #be4      #g ,chs4 #be1    
#bf4      #h ,ch4 #da4      #i ,ch4 #a4 
,the word chang 771 however1 may mean   
lasting1 eternal4      #aj ,chs4 #ad1   
#ce4      #aa ,ch4 #a1 c4      #ab ,ch4 
#be4      #ac ,chs4 #be1 #cg4      #ad  
,chs4 #ad1 #ba4      #ae ,chs4 #a1 #ea4 
#af ,see chs4 #ah1 #ch4      #ag ,ch4   
#f4 ,the character  is1 however1 also   
rendered otherwise in    this page4 ,see
 ,yi-yuan's edition and that in the 4   
#ah ,ch4 #d4      #ai ,ch4 #cb4      #bj
 ,chs4 #bd1 #eb4      #ba ,ch4 #ea4 ,the
 ,tao is also1 however1 said not to rule
 over the         world4 ,see ch4 #cd4  
#bb ,chine ,moderne1 p4 #cea4      #bc  
,melanges ,posthumes1 p4 #afg1 and in   

the ,melanges ,asiatiques4 ,see    also 
,julien's ,introduction1 p4 xii4        
#bd ,introduction1 p4 xiii4      #be    
,introduction1 p4 xiii4      #bf ,see   
,wu-chng's note to the passage4      #bg
 ,e4,g41 chs4 #af1 #ad1 c4      #bh     
,there are several passages in the      
,tao-t ching where ,nature    could not 
be used to translate ,tao2 but this may 
in some cases arise    from the fact    
that ,lao-tz's conception of ,nature was
 very different    from ours4           
,,chapter ,v4                           
,,speculative ,,physics4      ,what was 
,lao-tz's conception of the ,cosmos8 ,to
 this question we are  unfortunately    
unable to give a clear and satisfactory 
answer4 ,it is  only occasionally1 and  
then usually by way of illustration1    
that he  alludes to the material world  
or to the physical and mental           
constitution of man4 ,all that we can   
do1 accordingly1 is to examine  the     
miscellaneous passages in which he      
refers to these subjects1 and  collect  

from them what information we can as to 
the notions which  ,lao-tz entertained  
about the origin and nature of the      
universe2 and  we must be prepared to   
find under the head of speculative      
physics many  more matters than ought   
properly1 according to our ideas1 to be 
so  included4    ,the first point to be 
noticed is that1 as has been already    
seen1  ,lao-tz refers all existing      
creatures to an eternal1 all-producing1 
all-sustaining unity1 which he calls    
,nature 7,tao74 ,he does not            
distinguish between mind and matter1 nor
 would he1 in my opinion1 have          
recognised any fundamental or generic   
difference between them4  ,whether1     
however1 spirit and matter were         
identical or diametrically  opposite1   
they had a common origin in ,tao4 ,but  
though usually he thus  refers all      
things to nature 7,tao7 as their first  
cause1 yet he  sometimes seems to speak 
of the universe as coming from          
nothing4#a  ,nor is there any           

contradiction here1 since ,lao-tz       
regarded  non-existence 7,wu 7 as in    
circumstances identical with existence  
7,yu  72 the latter being merely the    
former contemplated from a different    
point of view4 ,this opinion1 if not    
explicitly stated by himself1 is  at    
least implied in his writings1 and is   
explicitly stated by one of  his        
disciples4#b ,it must be mentioned1     
however1 that ,chu-hsi 77  ascribes the 
very opposite doctrine to ,lao-tz1 who1 
he says1 regarded  existence and        
non-existence as two1 whereas ,chou-tz  
77 regarded  them as one4#c ,in the     
,tao-t ,ching the originator of the     
universe is  referred to under the names
 ,non-,existence1 ,existence1 ,nature   
7,tao7 and  various other               
designations--all which1 however1       
represent one idea in  various          
manifestations4 ,it is in all cases     
,nature 7,tao7 which is  meant1 and we  
are now prepared to examine the part    
which ,lao-tz  assigns to this ,tao in  

the production and regulation of the    
physical  world4    ,tao1 as spoken of  
by ,lao-tz1 may be considered as a      
potential or as  an actual existence1   
and under this latter head it may be    
contemplated  in itself and as an       
operating agent in the universe4        
,regarded as a  potential existence it  
may1 when compared with actual          
existence1 be  pronounced non-existence4
 ,it is from this point of view         
imperceptible  to man1 and can be spoken
 of only negatively2 and so such terms  
as  non-existence 771 the unlimited or  
infinite 771 the non-exerting  771 the  
matterless 771 are the expressions used 
with reference  to ,tao thus            
considered4#d ,accordingly ,lao-tz1 when
 speaking of it as  a potential         
existence1 as the logical antecedent of 
all perceptible  existence--seems to    
regard it as equivalent to the primeval 
,nothing or  ,chaos4 ,so too the        
,yuan-miao-nei-pien 77 says that the    
great  ,tao which arose in non-exertion 

is the ancestor of all things4#e ,from  
this state1 however1 it passes into the 
condition of actual existence1  a       
transition which is expressed under the 
metaphor of generation4#f  ,to this     
doctrine1 that existence is generated   
from non-existence1  ,chu-hsi objects2  
but his objection arises chiefly1 ,i    
think1 from  supposing that ,lao-tz     
regarded them as two distinct things1   
whereas  his doctrine on this subject is
 exactly like that of ,chou-tz1 with    
which ,chu-hsi seems to agree4#g ,we are
 not to suppose that ,nature is  ever   
simply and entirely potential to the    
utter exclusion of  actuality1 or vice  
versa3 on the contrary1 these two       
existences or  conditions are           
represented as alternately generating   
each the  other4#h ,thus the potential  
7or nominal non-existence7 may be       
supposed to be in time later than the   
actual1 though the latter must  always  
be logically regarded as consequent on  
the former4 ,in itself1  again1 ,tao1   

regarded as an actual existence is1 as  
has been seen1  calm1 void1 eternal1    
unchanging and bare of all qualities4   
,regarded as  an agent operating        
throughout the universe1 on the other   
hand1 ,tao  may be spoken of as great1  
changing1 far-extending1 and finally    
returning 7to the state of              
potentiality74#i ,a late author gives a 
curious illustration of the above       
notions of ,lao-tz1 taken from the      
well-known habits of the ,ateuchus with 
reference to the propagation of  its    
species1 but this author proceeds on the
 supposition that  non-existence and    
existence are different4 ,we have now to
 combine  these two conceptions of ,tao1
 as a potential and as an actual        
existence4 ,though void1 shapeless1 and 
immaterial1 it yet contains the         
potentiality of all substance and shape1
 and from itself it produces  the       
universe1#aj diffusing itself over or   
permeating all space4 ,it is  said to   
have generated the world1#aa and is     

frequently spoken of as  the mother of  
this latter#ab--8the dark primeval      
mother1 teeming with  dreamy beings40   
,all things that exist submit to ,tao as
 their chief1  but it displays no       
lordship over them4#ac ,in the spring   
time it  quickens the dead world1       
clothes it as with a garment1 and       
nourishes  it1 yet the world knows not  
its foster-mother4 ,a distinction1      
however1  is made--the nameless is said 
to be the origin of heaven and earth1   
while the named is the mother of the    
myriad objects which inhabit the  earth4
 ,though there is nothing done in the   
universe which is not done  by ,nature1 
though all things depend on it for their
 existence1 yet in  no case is ,nature  
seen acting4#ad ,it is in its own deep  
self a  unit--the smallest possible     
quantity--yet it prevails over the wide 
expanse of the universe1 operating      
unspent but unseen4#ae    ,we now come  
to the generations of the heavens and   
the earth1 and their  history is thus   

given by ,lao-tz4#af ,tao generated     
,one1 ,one generated  ,two1 ,two        
generated ,three1 and ,three generated  
the material world4 ,that  is1 according
 to the explanation given by some1      
,nature 7,tao7 generated  the ,yin-chi  
771 the passive and inferior element in 
the  composition of things2 this in its 
turn produced the ,yang-chi 771  the    
active and superior element2 which again
 produced ,ho 771 that is1  that        
harmonious agreement of the passive and 
active elements which  brought about the
 production of all things4#ag ,another  
explanation is  that ,tao considered as 
,non-existence produced the ,great      
,extreme  7,tai-chi 71 which produced   
the passive and active elements2 then   
,harmony united these two and generated 
the universe4#ah ,of this  section of   
the ,tao-t ,ching ,rmusat observes--8,en
 effet1 ,lao-tseu  explique1 d'une      
manire qui est entirement conforme  la  
doctrine  ,platonicienne1 comment les   
deux principes1 celui du ciel et celui  

de  la terre1 ou l'air grossier et      
l'ether1 sont lis entre eux par un      
,souffle qui les unit et qui produit    
l'harmonie4 ,il est impossible          
d'exprimer plus clairemeut les ides de  
,time de ,locres1 dont les  termes      
semblent la traduction du passage       
,chinois40#ai ,the doctrines1  however1 
on the formation of the world put into  
the mouth of ,timus1  and the ideas of  
,lao-tz on this subject1 seem to me to  
have very  little in common4 ,the ,greek
 philosopher makes a personal deity the 
artificer of the universe1 fashioning   
the world out of the bright and  solid  
elements1 fire and earth1 which he      
unites by means of air and  water1 thus 
forming a friendship and harmony        
indissoluble by any  except the author4 
,the harmony of ,lao-tz1 on the other   
hand is1 if  we understand him aright1  
only the unconflicting alternation of   
the  two cosmical elements1 and there is
 no divine ,demiurg in his system4      
,there is1 however1 a statement in the  

,timus which resembles ,lao-tz's        
statement on this subject1 and to which 
we will refer hereafter4    ,first in   
order after ,tao is ,tien 771 or the    
material heaven above  us4 ,this is     
represented as pure and clear in        
consequence of having  obtained the     
,one--that is1 in consequence of having 
participated in the  great 8over-soul0  
or ,universal ,nature4#bj ,were heaven  
to lose its  purity and clearness it    
would be in danger of destruction4 ,of  
the  heavenly bodies and their          
revolutions1 ,lao-tz does not make      
mention1  nor have we any means of      
ascertaining what were his ideas        
respecting  them4 ,nearly all that he   
says about ,tien or heaven is           
metaphorical1  with apparent reference  
to an agent endowed with consciousness  
7according to our ways of thinking74    
,thus he speaks of it as enduring  for a
 long period because it does not exist  
for itself2 as being free  from         
partiality towards any of the creatures 

in the world2 as being  next in dignity 
above a king and below ,tao1 and as     
taking this last  for its rule of       
conduct4#ba    ,the space between heaven
 and earth is represented as like a     
bottomless  bag or tube1#bb though this 
is perhaps merely a metaphorical        
expression4 ,the earth itself is at     
rest1#bc this being the specific  nature
 which it has as the result of its      
participation in ,tao4 ,the  heavens are
 always revolving over the earth1       
producing the varieties  of the seasons1
 vivifying1 nourishing1 and killing all 
things2 but it  remains stationary in   
calm repose4 ,were it to lose the       
informing  nature which makes it so1 the
 earth would probably be set in motion4 
,its place is next in order after heaven
 which it takes as its model4  ,it is   
impartial1 spontaneous1 unostentatious1 
and exists long because  it does not    
exist for itself4 ,neither in heaven nor
 on earth can  anything violent endure  
for a lengthened period4 ,the whirlwind 

and  heavy rains may come1 but they do  
not last even for a day4#bd    ,next to 
heaven and earth are the 8myriad things0
 that is1 the animate  and inanimate    
objects which surround us2 and here     
again it must be  borne in mind that    
,lao-tz's allusions to these matters are
 only  incidental and by way of         
illustration generally4 ,as has been    
seen1 all  things spring from and       
participate in ,nature1 which is1 as it 
were1  their mother4 ,this ,nature      
7,tao7 is1 as we have seen1             
imperceptible in  itself1 and when      
considered merely as a potentiality2 but
 it bodies  itself forth and takes a    
local habitation and a name in all the  
objects which exist in the universe1 and
 thus it becomes palpable to  human     
observation--not in its essence but only
 in its workings4 ,now  this            
manifestation of ,nature constitutes for
 each object or class of  objects in the
 world its ,t 77--that is1 what it has  
received or  obtained from ,tao1        

according to some commentators4 ,t is   
usually  translated by virtue1 but this 
word very inadequately represents the   
meaning of the word in this connection4 
,sometimes it seems to be  almost       
synonymous with ,tao1 and has functions 
assigned to it which at  other times are
 represented as pertaining to this      
latter4 ,if1 however1  we regard ,tao as
 the great or universal ,nature1 we may 
consider ,t as  the particular ,nature  
with which creatures are endowed out of 
the  former4 ,it is also the conscious  
excellence which man and all other      
creatures obtain when spontaneity is    
lost4 ,thus ,lao-tz regards all  things 
as equally with man under the care of   
,nature1 which produces  and nourishes  
all alike4 ,heaven and earth1 he says1  
have no  partialities--they regard the  
8myriad things0 as the straw-made dogs  
which were formed for the sacrifices and
 prayers for rain1 and cast  aside when 
the rites were finished4#be ,in another 
passage of the  ,tao-t ,ching it is said

 that ,tao generates all things1 ,t     
nourishes  all things1 ,matter 7,wu 7   
bodies them forth1 and ,order 77 gives  
them  perfection4#bf    ,lao-tz1 in     
accordance with popular ,chinese ideas1 
speaks of five  colours1 five sounds1   
and five tastes2#bg and he attributes to
 these  a baneful influence on man1 whom
 he teaches to overcome and nullify     
them as much as possible4 ,all things in
 the world1 moreover1 are  arranged in a
 system of dualism4#bh ,motion is always
 followed by  rest1 and this again by   
motion4 ,long and short1 high and low1  
mutually  succeed each other1 and are   
merely relative terms4 ,solidity gives  
the  object1 and hollowness gives its   
utility1 as in the case of wooden or    
earthen vessels4 ,when a thing is to be 
weakened it must first have  been       
strengthened2 to that from which there  
is to be taken there must  first have   
been given4 ,this dualism will be seen  
to extend into other  regions besides   
the physical world1 and it is needless  

to refer to it  at greater length at    
present4    ,further1 ,lao-tz seems to  
have regarded all existing things as    
having  a set time during which to      
endure4 ,nature engenders them1         
nourishes  them and finally receives    
them back into its bosom4 ,they flourish
  until they attain to the state of     
completeness1 which is soon lost1  and  
then decay and final dissolution        
ensue4#bi ,the tree grows from  the tiny
 sapling to its full maturity1 then     
decays and returns to dark  ,mother     
,nature4 ,the process as conceived and  
sketched by the ancient  sage is        
beautifully described in the words of   
,tennyson--      8,lo6 in the middle of 
the wood1    ,the folded leaf is woo'd  
from out the bud    ,with winds upon the
 branch1 and there    ,grows green and  
broad and takes no care1    ,sun-steep'd
 at noon1 and in the moon    ,nightly   
dew-fed2 and turning yellow    ,falls1  
and floats adown the air4    ,lo6       
sweeten'd with the summer light    ,the 

full-juiced apple1 waxing over-mellow1  
,drops in a silent autumn night4    ,all
 its allotted length of days1    ,the   
flower ripens in its place1    ,ripens  
and fades1 and falls1 and hath no toil1 
,fast-rooted in the fruitful soil40#cj  
,lao-tz's mode of contemplating natural 
phenomena is1 indeed1  altogether much  
more like that of the poetical          
metaphysician than that  of the         
physicist4 ,he does not look upon a     
stream1 for example1 as  composed of    
certain chemical elements in certain    
proportions1 as  running at a calculable
 rapid rate1 carrying with it an        
alarming  amount of mud1 and having in  
each microscopic drop exactly so many   
thousands of animalcul4 ,he thinks of it
 rather as at first a tiny  stream up   
among the hills1 scooping out the hard  
earth1 and slowly  wearing away impeding
 stones1 in order to make a channel for 
its  waters2 as flowing thence down into
 the vale where it gives itself up  to  
enrich the fields2 then as passing on   

thence to join the brimming  river1 and 
finally submit itself to the great      
sea4#ca ,he regards  everything from an 
ethical point of view1 and finds a      
lesson  everywhere4 ,he does not regard 
the study of nature as consisting in    
the investigation of colour1 sound1     
heat1 and such things--the less one  has
 to do with these the better4 ,the study
 should be carried on in  one's own room
 without any adventitious aids4 ,the    
student must  overcome his affections   
and passions before he can attain to a  
knowledge of the great mysteries of     
,nature1 but having once attained  the  
serene heights of desireless existence  
he can know all things4#cb  ,this is no 
doubt a bad way of studying nature1 and 
one which would  never conduct to the   
material benefit of humanity4 ,yet it   
also has its  uses4 ,it helps to make us
 8mingle with the universe10 have a     
lower  appreciation of ourselves1 and   
sympathise affectionately with all  that
 surrounds us4 ,we have abundance of    

room in the world for the two  classes  
of philosophers--those who experiment on
 ,nature with a view to  the material   
progress of mankind1 and those who      
regard her with the  dutiful love of a  
son for a mother4    ,in the teachings  
of ,lao-tz in ,speculative ,physics1 as 
sketched above1  the student of         
philosophy will find many ideas         
resembling others with  which he is     
already more familiar4 ,to those of the 
sages of ,ancient  ,greece it is perhaps
 unnecessary for me to do more than     
refer4 ,with  them as living also in the
 comparative childhood of the world     
,lao-tz  might naturally be supposed to 
have considerable affinity4 ,in the     
,timus of ,plato there is a passage     
which does not accord with the rest  of 
that work1 nor with the spirit of the   
other ,platonic dialogues1 and  which   
bears considerable resemblance to the   
doctrine of ,lao-tz about  the          
primordial all-producing ,nature 7,tao74
 ,the hero of the dialogue1  if such an 

expression may be used1 ,timus himself1 
suddenly leaves the  train of           
imaginative discourse which he had been 
for some time  pursuing about the       
visible universe and the mode in which  
the divine  artificer constructed it1   
and he introduces a new conception1 that
 of  the primeval mother1 formless1     
immortal1 and indestructible4#cc        
,reference has already been made to the 
resemblance between ,lao-tz's  teachings
 and those of ,anaximander1 and ,hegel  
says of the latter's  notion1 that the  
is the principle from which endless     
worlds  or gods originate and into which
 they vanish1 that it sounds quite      
,oriental4#cd ,but not only are         
,lao-tz's speculations on physics like  
those of other ancients1 they resemble  
also those of many modern  philosophers1
 and his theory about the study of      
,nature may well be  compared with that 
of ,schelling4 ,the ,tao itself1 or the 
primordial  existence1 appears under    
various names in the history of         

,philosophy4  ,it is the ,tai-chi 77 or 
,great ,extreme--the ,tai-yi 77 or      
,great  ,unit--the ,anima ,mundi--the   
,absolute--the ,vital                   
,force--,gravity--,caloric--when        
considered as universally active and    
productive4      8,there is but one vast
 universal dynamic1 one mover1 one      
might1     ,variously operant under the 
various conditions it finds2     ,and we
 call that by turns electricity1        
friction1 caloric1 and light1     ,which
 is none of these things1 and yet all of
 them4 ,ask of the waves       and the  
winds1     ,ask of the stars of the     
firmament1 ask of the flowers of the    
field2     ,they will answer you all of 
them1 naming it each by a different     
name4     ,for the meaning of ,nature is
 neither wholly conceal'd nor reveal'd2 
,but her mind is seen to be single in   
her acts that are nowhere the           
same40#ce    ,further1 ,lao-tz          
represents pure or abstract existence as
 identical  with non-existence1 and in  

our own century ,hegel has said that    
,being  and ,non-being are the same4#cf 
,again1 ,lao-tz speaks of the ultimate  
existence as that out of which all other
 existences have proceeded1  and he     
regards it as becoming active and       
producing from having been  inactive and
 quiescent4 ,so many modern philosophers
 have maintained  that ,god made all    
things out of himself2 and in the       
opinion of some  the ,deity became      
personal from being impersonal1 and the 
,infinite  manifested itself as finite  
in the created universe4#cg ,but the    
great  point on which ,lao-tz differs   
from the large majority of modern       
thinkers with regard to the ,first      
,cause is that he never introduces or   
supposes the element of personality2    
consequently will and design are        
excluded from his conception of the     
primordial existence4#ch ,here1 ,i      
think1 he is logically more correct than
 the modern philosopher  referred to    
above1 although his notions may be much 

farther from the  actual truth than     
theirs4 ,again1 when ,lao-tz speaks of  
,nature 7,tao7  as the source whence all
 things spring--as that which informs   
and  cherishes all the world--and as    
that into which all living creatures1   
high and low1 finally return--he says   
what many others have expressed  in     
terms often very similar4 ,i select only
 two or three instances by  way of      
illustration4 ,the ,pythagorean doctrine
 is thus put by ,virgil--      --8deum  
7i4e4 animum7 ire per omnes             
,terrasque tractusque maris clumque     
profundum4    ,hinc pecudes1 armenta1   
viros1 genus omne ferarum1    ,quemque  
sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas2  
,scilicet huc reddi deinde ac resoluta  
referri    ,omnia40#ci    ,strikingly   
similar to ,lao-tz's words are those of 
the ,preacher--8,for  that which        
befalleth the sons of men befalleth     
beasts2 even one thing  befalleth them2 
as the one dieth1 so dieth the other2   
yea1 they have  all one breath2 so that 

a man hath no pre-eminence above a      
beast2 for  all is vanity4 ,all go unto 
one place2 all are of the dust1 and all 
turn to dust again40#dj ,in later times 
,coleridge has said--8,life is  the one 
universal soul1 which by virtue of the  
enlivening ,breath1 and  the informing  
word1 all organised bodies have in      
common1 each after  its kind4 ,this1    
therefore1 all animals possess1 and man 
as an  animal40#da ,more closely        
resembling ,lao-tz's statements on this 
subject1 however1 are the words of ,dr4 
,bchner--8,d'un autre ct  n'oublions pas
 non plus1 que nous ne sommes qu'une    
partie  imperceptible1 quoique          
ncessaire1 du grand tout qui constitue  
le  monde et que nous devons tt ou tard 
perdu notu personalit pour  rentrer dans
 la masse commune4 ,la ,matire dans son 
ensemble est la  mre d'ou tout provient 
et ou tout retourne40#db    ,as we      
proceed we will find other doctrines of 
our author resembling  those of writers 
and thinkers far removed from him in    

time and space4  ,the illustrations     
given and referred to above will suffice
 to show  that1 in speculations about   
,nature and the great mystery of        
existence1  we are little1 if anything1 
superior to 8the ancients40 ,the course 
of speculative philosophy seems to be   
circular--the same truths and  errors   
appearing again and again1 so that as   
,coleridge has said1 8,for  many1 very  
many centuries it has been difficult to 
advance a new  truth1 or even a new     
error1 in the philosophy of the         
intellect or  morals10#dc or1 he might  
have added1 of theoretical physics4 ,is 
it  true1 after all1 that the spirit of 
the long-deceased philosopher  returns  
from the ,elysian fields1 forgetting by 
its ,lethean draught all  the truths and
 realities of the eternal1 ever-the-same
 world1 to  inform again a human body8  
,we know that ,malebranche's character  
was  like that of ,plato4 ,schelling1   
even in external appearance1 resembled  
,socrates2 ,hegel is called the modern  

,proclus2 and the soul of ,lao-tz  may  
have transmigrated into ,emerson4 ,this 
last has been chained to 8a  weight of  
nerves10 and located in circumstances   
altogether unlike  those of its former  
earthly existence1 a fact which would   
account for  many points of unlikeness4 
,the informing spirit1 however1 has     
known no  change in 8its own deep self30
      8,our birth is but a sleep and a  
forgetting2      ,the soul that rises   
with us1 our life's star1    ,hath had  
elsewhere its setting1      ,and cometh 
from afar2    ,not in entire            
forgetfulness    ,and not in utter      
nakedness1    ,but trailing clouds of   
glory do we come    ,from ,god1 who is  
our home40      #a ,see ,ch4 #dj4       
#b ,see ,preface to ,tao-t-ching-chie 4 
#c ,see note in the ,tai-chi-tu-shuo 774
 ,hsing-li-ta-chuan4        ,vol4 ,i4   
#d ,see ,ch4 #bh1 #df4      #e          
,yuan-chien1 c41 p4 #cah4      #f ,ch4  
#dj4 ,compare with this ,aristotle's    
statement1 8,nature spoken        of as 

generation is the path to ,nature40 ,see
 ,essay ,v4 in ,grant's                 
,aristotle's ,ethics1 vol4 #a4      #g  
,see his 1 ,ch4 #he4      #h ,ch4 #b4   
#i ,ch4 #be1 see ,pauthier1 ,chine      
,moderne1 p4 #cei4      #aj ,see ,chs4  
#ba1 #be1 compare ,emerson              
,miscellanies1 p4 #cb4      #aa ,ch4    
#ea4      #ab ,chs4 #f1 #eb4      #ac   
,ch4 #cd4      #ad ,see ,chs4 #cg1 #da1 
#dc4      #ae ,see ,chs4 #cb1 #ci4      
#af ,ch4 #db4      #ag ,see ,wu-chng's  
note to the passage4      #ah ,see the  
note on this passage in the             
,tao-t-ching-chie2 compare         also 
the peculiar interpretation given by    
,ta-chn4      #ai ,mmoire1 c41 p4 #cf4  
#bj ,see ,chs4 #af1 #ci4      #ba ,see  
,chs4 #g1 #e1 #af1 #be4      #bb ,see   
,ch4 #e2 ,julien1 however1 translates   
the passage1 8,l'tre qui         est    
entre le ciel et la terre resemble  un  
souffict de forge10         c4      #bc 
,ch4 #ci4      #bd ,ch4 #bc4      #be   
,ch4 #e4      #bf ,ch4 #ea2 but see the 

different interpretation given by       
,julien4      #bg ,ch4 #ab4      #bh    
,see ,chs4 #b1 #aa1 #bi1 #cf4 ,compare  
,emerson's ,essay on                    
,compensation--,essays1 vol4 i4      #bi
 ,see ,chs4 #af1 #ee4      #cj ,the     
,lotos ,eaters4      #ca ,see ,chs4 #h1 
#gh4      #cb ,see ,chs4 #a1 #dg4       
#cc ,timus1 ch4 xviii4 7,ed4            
,stallbaum74 ,see also ,grote's ,plato1 
,vol4 iii41 p4 #bff-g4 ,timus1 however1 
introduces reason and other             
ideas not consonant with ,lao-tz's      
teachings4      #cd ,geschichte1 c41    
vol4 i1 p4 #bjd4      #ce ,robert       
,lytton's--8,the ,man of ,science40     
#cf ,see ,lewes ,history of ,philosophy1
 vol4 ii41 p4 #ecc 7,new ,edition74     
#cg ,on this subject information will be
 found in ,e4 ,laisset's                
,prcurseurs et ,disciples de ,descartes1
 p4 #baj1 c42 ,hamilton's               
,discussions2 ,lewis ,history of        
,philosophy1 vol4 ii4      #ch ,fichte  
7the elder71 however1 is at one with    

,lao-tz on this         point4      #ci 
,georgica4 ,bk4 iv41 vs4 #bba-f4 ,the   
rest of the passage does not            
apply4 ,compare also ,cicero's criticism
 on the ,pythagorean         doctrine1  
in the ,de ,nat4 ,deorum1 ch4 #a1 #aa4  
#dj ,eccles41 ,ch4 iii41 vs4 #ai and    
#bj4      #da ,aids to ,reflection1 p4  
#d4      #db ,force et ,matire1 p4 #ic  
7,french translation74      #dc         
,biographia ,lita41 ch4 #e2 compare also
 the remarkable words of         ,hegel4
 ,geschichte1 c41 ,vol4 i41 p4 #adc4    
,,chapter ,,vi4                         
,,politics4      ,we now breathe a freer
 air--escaped from the trammels of      
,physics1 and  at large in the wide     
spaces of ,politics4 ,here ,lao-tz      
speaks more  plainly and fully1 and it  
is easily seen that he is dealing with  
congenial subjects4 ,to us also his     
political aphorisms will come with  more
 freshness and delight than the         
speculations about things much  more    
beyond his ken with which we were last  

engaged4 ,yet we must not  expect to    
find in the ,tao-t ,ching a treatise on 
,politics1 or a  discourse on the best  
form of government4 ,lao-tz does not    
present to  us a wax figment of his own 
imagination--an ideal republic1 an      
,utopia1  or a ,new ,atlantis4 ,he looks
 to his own country as it was then1     
oppressed and miserable1 and he         
endeavours to recall those in  authority
 to a noble and generous mode of        
government4 ,his standard of  political 
excellence may be ideal1 and some of his
 maxims may be  fanciful1 and even bad2 
still we will find in all a genial human
  philosophy1 which even we of the      
enlightened nineteenth century cannot   
utterly despise4    8,politics10 says   
,sir ,g4 ,c4 ,lewes1 8relate to human   
action so far as it  concerns the public
 interest of a community1 and is not    
merely private  or ethical4 ,human      
action1 thus defined1 consists of--#a1  
the acts and  relations of a sovereign  
government1 both with respect to its own

  subjects and other sovereign          
governments2 #b1 the acts and relations 
of  members of the political community1 
so far as they concern the  government1 
or the community at large1 or a         
considerable portion of  it40#a         
,lao-tz's teachings in politics refer   
more to the former than  to the latter  
of these two divisions4 ,he does not1   
however1 omit to  notice the relations  
of the different members of the state1  
as well to  the government as to each   
other2 but he relegates this subject to 
the  province of ethics4 ,he considers  
the people more in their private        
relations than as bound by legal ties to
 the performance of certain  acts1 and  
the abstaining from certain other acts1 
towards their  fellows4 ,nor is it from 
the political stand-point that he       
contemplates  the nature and            
distribution of wealth1 a subject which 
properly  belongs to politics4 ,these   
and similar matters are all assigned to 
the  private relations of man to the    

,universal ,nature1 and so they will    
come more properly under the head of    
ethics4    ,having premised thus much1  
,i now proceed to set forth ,lao-tz's   
teachings about 8the acts and relations 
of a sovereign government1  both with   
respect to its own subjects and other   
sovereign  governments20 and    #a4 ,of 
the institution of the ,sovereign4--,it 
is to the people that he  assigns the   
original appointment of an emperor1 and 
he gives a  peculiar reason for the     
institution4 ,a bad man still has the   
law of  ,nature 7,tao7 in him2 and he is
 not to be cast aside as a hopeless     
case1 seeing he may be transformed into 
a virtuous man4 ,accordingly  emperors  
and magistrates were appointed1 whose   
duty it was to save1 as  it were1 by    
precept and example1 those who had gone 
astray4#b ,thus  ,lao-tz's idea of the  
sovereign is so far purely ethical4 ,he 
does not  conceive of him so much as the
 judge and ruler of the people as their 
model and instructor4 ,the man whom the 

people elect1 however1 is also  the     
elected of ,heaven4#c ,as in the case of
 ,saul the ,israelites  anointed him    
whom the ,lord had chosen1 so the people
 raise to the  throne him whom ,heaven  
has appointed4 ,princes exercise        
government1  because they have received 
that destiny as their share of the      
,universal ,nature4#d ,they obtain their
 ,one--their individualizing  nature--in
 order that they may rule righteously4  
,sometimes he seems to  use the term    
,shng-jn 77 as synonymous with ,wang 771
 or  ,king4#e ,now the ,shng-jn is the  
man who by his nature is  completely    
virtuous1 perfectly in harmony with the 
ways heaven has  ordained4 ,he is in    
short the stoic ,sapiens1 and whether he
 actually  administer public affairs or 
not1 is still a king4 ,the term ,saint1 
by which ,julien renders this           
expression1 scarcely conveys its full   
meaning2 as the ,shng-jn is not only    
holy1 but also supremely wise4  ,he is  
the ideal or typical man1 who rules ever

 and transforms the  world2 and1 failing
 a better1 ,i shall translate it by the 
expression  godlike man4 ,in ancient    
times1 it was the ,shng-jn1 or godlike  
man1 who was appointed ruler2 and if    
such were the case now1 the world  would
 be in peace and prosperity4 ,the man   
who is destined to become  king will not
 use violence to obtain the honour4#f   
,on the contrary he  will be humble and 
yielding2 and so1 as water wears away   
the hard  opposing rocks1 he will       
finally triumph4 ,in confirmation hereof
  ,lao-tz cites the saying of a godlike 
man3--8,to bear the reproaches of a     
kingdom is to preside over the          
sacrifices to the gods of the land and  
grain 7i4e4 to be prince71 and to bear a
 kingdom's misfortunes  is to be king of
 the whole empire0--words true1 though  
seeming  paradoxical4#g ,lao-tz1        
however1 has a very high opinion of the 
position and dignity of the sovereign4  
,there are four great things in  the    
universe1 and he is one of them2 the    

remaining three being ,nature  7,tao71  
,heaven1 and ,earth#h ,in another place 
he even puts the king  immediately      
before ,heaven4#i    #b4 ,the relations 
of the ruler to his subjects4--,with    
,lao-tz1 as with  all ,chinese writers  
on politics1 the mode in which1         
government ought  to be conducted is a  
supremely important subject4 ,in his    
homely  manner1 he compares the ruling  
of a large kingdom to the cooking of a  
small fish1 or the handling of a fine   
and delicate implement4#aj ,too  much   
cooking spoils the implement4 ,so is it 
with the kingdom4 ,it is an  etherial   
instrument which cannot be wrought      
with--if one works with it  he destroys 
it1 and if one handles it he loses it4  
,the first duty of the ruler is to      
rectify himself--to overcome his        
appetites and passions4#aa ,he must     
cultivate virtue in himself1 and        
proceeding thence he will have it       
cultivated in his family1 and  finally  
in all the empire2 and thus the kingdom 

will remain  established in his family  
for generations to come4#ab ,he must be 
serious and grave#ac in his deportment1 
remembering the greatness of  his       
charge1 and whence it was derived4 ,by  
levity of conduct he will  lose his     
ministers1 and by violent proceedings he
 will lose his  throne4 ,his models     
ought to be the ,earth1#ad which is     
always in  peaceful rest1 and the rulers
 of antiquity1 who followed ,nature     
7,tao74 ,in the early days of innocence 
and simplicity1 subjects only  knew that
 they had rulers1 so lightly lay the    
hand of government on  them4#ae ,then   
came the time when rulers were loved and
 lauded1 then  the time when they were  
feared1 and lastly that in which they   
were  treated with contumely4 ,the      
prince of the present time ought to     
return  as far as possible to the       
primitive ways4 ,he should1 like the    
great  ,universal ,nature1 be free from 
show of action#af--;if he could only    
keep the law of ,nature1 his kingdom    

would1 as a matter of course1 be  in a  
state of order and tranquility--all     
things would submit to  him1 and become1
 of their own accord1 transformed to a  
state of  goodness#ag--;even the demons 
would cease to possess elfish power2 or 
if they still possessed it1 they would  
not use it to the detriment of  men4    
,the prince ought also1 at least        
outwardly1 to be humble and  modest1 not
 arrogating precedence and superiority1 
but rather using  the language of       
self-abasement4#ah    ,in the exercise  
of government ,lao-tz does not allow the
 use of  violence1 and he inveighs nobly
 against military oppression4 ,if the   
prince keep himself from being absorbed 
in worldly interests--do not  confer    
honour and emoluments on brilliant      
parts--nor prize what the  world holds  
valuable--nor make display of that which
 is coveted3 his  example will have such
 virtue that all his subjects will cease
 from  strife and violence1 and live in 
peaceful obedience4#ai ,but if he try   

to have the empire through force1 he    
will fail4 ,he who according to  the    
,law of ,nature 7,tao7 would assist the 
prince will not compel the  empire by   
arms--this sort of thing is wont to have
 its recompense4  ,where the ,general   
pitches his tent1 thorns and briers     
spring up2 and  in the wake of a great  
army there are inevitably bad years4 ,if
 there  be necessity for fighting--and  
only then--he who is wise in ruling will
  strike a decisive blow at the fit     
time1 and then lay down his arms1  not  
glorying in his conquest4 ,fine arms are
 inauspicious implements1  hated by all 
things2 and he who holds to ,nature will
 not continue to  use them4 ,the noble  
man 77 in private life esteems the left 
side1  and in time of war esteems the   
right--the left being symbolic of the   
,yang 77 or preserving principle1 and   
the right of the ,yin 77 or  killing    
principle4 ,arms are inauspicious       
implements--not such as the  noble man  
employs2 he uses them only when he has  

no alternative1 but  he looks on        
superiority with indifference1 and takes
 no glory in  victory4 ,he who glories  
in victory delights in the massacre of  
men1  and such an one cannot have his   
will in the empire4 ,to him who slays a 
multitude of men1 a position of dignity 
is assigned corresponding to  that of   
the chief mourner at a funeral1 viz41   
the right hand side1  which in          
inauspicious matters is the post of     
honour1 just as in  auspicious matters  
the left hand side is the post of       
honour4#bj ,thus  not only is the ruler 
not to use military power to keep his   
subjects  in subjection1 but he is also 
not to drag these latter into war for   
his own aggrandisement4 ,the fighting to
 which ,lao-tz mainly alludes  is that  
of the different principalities of the  
country among  themselves1 and on this  
subject the words of ,pascal may be not 
unaptly  added to those of our          
author3--8,le plus grand des maux est   
les guerres  civiles4 ,elles sont sres  

si on veut rcompenser le mrite2 car tous
  diraient qu'ils meritent4 ,le mal     
craindre d'un sot qui succde par  droit 
de naissance n'est ni si grand ni si    
sr40#ba ,war is the  result1 according  
to ,lao-tz1 of bad government1 of the   
lust of power  and property4 ,if good   
government prevail in a country1 its    
fleet  horses will be employed on the   
farm2 but if ill government prevail1    
and lust and ambition have scope1 feuds 
will continue until war steeds  beget   
war steeds on the plains of the         
frontier4#bb ,whether1  therefore1 for  
the purpose of solidifying the prince's 
power over his  subjects1 or for state  
aggrandisement1 war and all violent     
measures  are interdicted4    ,but not  
only does ,lao-tz thus advise the ruler 
against using military  power in his    
realm2 he also recommends the doing away
 with capital  punishment--indeed with  
all punishment whatever4 ,the people do 
not fear  death1 and how then is it to  
be used to keep them in dread8 ,if the  

people could be made to have a constant 
fear of death1 and some commit  a crime1
 and be apprehended and put to death1   
would any one continue  to venture on   
offending8 ,it is presumptuous then for 
the magistrate to  use capital          
punishment4 ,there is the eternal       
executioner1 and he who  puts to death  
for him is like the man who fells a tree
 for the head  wood-man2 and such an one
 seldom fails to wound his hand4#bc     
,capital  punishment is thus reserved   
for something superhuman to execute2 and
  the earthly magistrate has only to    
endeavour to lead a life free from  the 
appearance of lust and violence4#bd     
,it is by justice that a kingdom is well
 governed1 as by stratagem a  war is    
conducted4#be ,yet the prince must be   
lenient to his people4 ,if  restrictions
 on liberty of action be multiplied1 so 
that his subjects  cannot lift a hand or
 move a foot without incurring guilt1   
they will  be prevented from pursuing   
their industry1 and so become poor4#bf  

,the levying of excessive taxes#bg by   
those in authority for the  indulgence  
of their sensual appetites1 also        
impoverishes a people1 and  accordingly 
in government there is nothing like     
economy4#bh ,to keep  the court in      
affluence while the fields are          
weed-grown and the public  granaries    
exhausted2 for the rulers to have       
expensive clothing1 sharp  swords1      
sumptuous food and excessive wealth1 is 
to glory in plunder1  but not to follow 
,nature4 ,nor may the prince break his  
word with  subjects--as want of faith in
 him is followed by want of faith in    
them4#bi    ,it is not necessary for the
 ruler to explain the nature and method 
of  his government4 ,on the contrary he 
ought to keep his counsels and his      
conduct secret4 ,inasmuch as the fish   
cannot with impunity leave its  element1
 so the sharp engines of government may 
not be displayed4#cj  ,when the laws are
 numerous and obtrusively exhibited1 the
 people  become thieves and robbers2 but

 when they are not so1 the people       
continue decent and orderly4#ca ,thus it
 is better that the rulers  keep the    
populace in a state of ignorance and    
stupidity4#cb ,the  ancient kings went  
on this principle1 and had peaceful     
reigns4#cc ,in  his own time ,lao-ts    
considered that the difficulty of       
keeping the  people well governed arose 
from their being too knowing4 ,he would 
accordingly like to see them recalled to
 the ways of primitive  simplicity1 so  
that their arms would be unworn1 and    
their boats and  cars unused4 ,he would 
like to have the people return to the   
manners  of the times when knotted cords
 were still the symbols of words1  and  
would have them relish their food1 enjoy
 their clothes1  feel comfortable in    
their homes1 and delight in their social
  institutions4#cd ,he would have them  
brought to think seriously of  death1 so
 that they would end their days in their
 own country and  never leave it for    
another1 even though it were so near    

that the  respective inhabitants could  
hear the cackling of the fowls and the  
barking of the dogs in the two places4  
,thus1 while the prince keeps  his      
subjects simple and ignorant1 he must   
have their bodily wants  supplied4 ,the 
godlike man when he rules empties the   
minds of the  people1 and fills their   
stomachs2 weakens their wills1 and      
strengthens  their bones 7that is1 their
 animal power74#ce ,he treats them as   
children1 and is always kind1 postponing
 his own comfort to their good4    ,the 
mode in which the ruler is to obtain    
respect and esteem from his  subjects is
 by deporting himself humbly towards    
them1 and he must  never arrogate       
greatness to himself4#cf ,his conduct   
should be calm  and unostentatious1     
while inwardly he is anxious2 and his   
gravity and  quietness of deportment    
ought never to be departed from4 ,the   
prince is  to save his people1 as it    
were1 by setting before them an example 
of  humility1 forbearance1 and all the  

other virtues which save a country  from
 being imbroiled in wars and            
rebellions--he is to be of one heart    
and one mind with them1 and have no will
 independent of theirs4#cg    ,these are
 the principal duties of the king to his
 people as indicated  or conceived of by
 ,lao-tz--the king being in his         
contemplation an  absolute sovereign4 ,i
 shall now add1 as a comment1 the views 
on this  subject set forth by two other 
authors in widely different             
circumstances4 ,the writer of           
,deuteronomy says3--8,when thou art come
  into the land which the ,lord thy ,god
 giveth thee1 and shalt possess  it1 and
 shalt dwell therein1 and shalt say1 ,i 
will set a king over me1  like as all   
the nations that are about me2 thou     
shalt in any wise  set him king over    
thee1 whom the ,lord thy ,god shall     
choose2 one  from among thy brethren    
shalt thou set king over thee2 thou     
mayest not  set a stranger over thee1   
which is not thy brother4 ,but he shall 

not  multiply horses to himself1 nor    
cause the people to return to ,egypt1   
to the end that he should multiply      
horses3 999999 ,neither shall he        
multiply wives to himself1 that his     
heart turn not away1 neither shall  he  
greatly multiply to himself silver and  
gold1 c4 999999 ,that his heart  be not 
lifted up above his brethren1 and that  
he turn not aside from  the commandment 
to the right hand or to the left2 to the
 end that  he may prolong his days in   
his kingdom1 he1 and his children1 in   
the  midst of ,israel40#ch    ,the other
 writer is the philosopher of           
,malmesbury4 ,after establishing  for   
the king a title as extravagantly high  
as any oriental flatterer  could have   
done1 he proceeds to prescribe his      
duties to his people4  ,these are summed
 up in the sentence1 8,the safety of the
 people is the  supreme law0--according 
to the old maxim1 8,salus populi suprema
 lex40  ,under this are included both   
spiritual and temporal benefits2 but the

  difficulty about the former is left in
 suspense4 ,of the latter he            
says3--8,the benefits of subjects       
respecting this life only1 may be       
distributed into four kinds--#a1 ,that  
they be defended against foreign        
enemies2 #b1 ,that peace be preserved at
 home2 #c1 ,that they be enriched1  as  
much as may consist with public         
security2 #d1 ,that they enjoy a        
harmless liberty40#ci    #c4 ,the next  
point to be considered is the relation  
of a government to  the neighbouring    
states4 ,on this subject ,lao-tz has    
very little to  say1 and what he does   
say concerns only the small feudal      
dependencies  of the kingdom of ,chow4  
,all the world--that is1 all the world  
known--was the king's2 but holding under
 him1 at this time indeed only          
nominally for the most part1 were chiefs
 of smaller and larger  provinces and   
principalities4 ,it is of this1 in their
 relations to  each other and to their  
titular superior1 that ,lao-tz makes    

mention4    ,the different states in    
their mutual intercourse ought to be    
guided by  courtesy and forbearance4    
,the great kingdom is the reservoir of  
the  small principalities1#dj and ought 
to remain in dignified peace1  while    
these come to give in their allegiance1 
as the little streams  from the         
mountains flow to the placid lake or    
smoothly-flowing river  as their king4  
,the large state ought thus to remain   
lowly and humble  towards the small one1
 and not act towards it in an arrogant  
or  violent manner4 ,when a large       
kingdom abases itself to a small        
principality1 and when a small state    
abases itself to a large one1 it        
obtains service 7and protection7 under  
that large one4 ,it is for this  purpose
 that the small state submits2 and the  
large kingdom annexes  the small states 
for the purpose of uniting and          
maintaining the people4    ,it is fit   
that the large state should always act  
humbly and meekly1  and that the small  

states should own its supremacy2 there  
will thus be  no need of fighting4      
,there is no greater misfortune in the  
world than  to take up a quarrel on a   
slight pretext4#da ,as the soldiers say1
 it  is much better to bear than to make
 the attack--to yield considerably  than
 to advance a little4 ,that is1 it is   
better to have one's own  territory     
invaded than to make aggression on that 
of another4 ,the king  who is yielding  
and compliant is sure to be ultimately  
victorious4 ,if1  however1 a prince must
 go to war1 whether to defend his own   
dominions1  or at the bidding of his    
sovereign1 he must show clemency4 ,it is
 the  tender hearted who gains the      
victory in the pitched battle1 and who  
succeeds in keeping the beleaguered     
city4    ,by words like these the       
philosopher endeavoured to dissuade the 
princes and barons of his time from the 
border warfare in which they  were      
perpetually engaged4 ,the mutual        
aggressions and reprisals of  these     

chiefs were in his days desolating the  
kingdom and gradually  reducing it to   
the condition favourable to the         
production of a tyrant4  ,a few         
centuries after ,lao-tz's death the man 
arose who made himself  king over all   
the empire 771 but he was very unlike   
the king  depicted by ,lao-tz and       
,confucius and ,mencius4    #d4 ,on the 
latter of the two departments into which
 ,sir ,g4 ,c4 ,lewes  divides ,politics1
 namely1 the relations of the subjects  
to their ruler  and to each other1      
,lao-tz1 as ,i have already intimated1  
does not  dilate4 ,with him the         
inhabitants of a kingdom are divided    
into the  ruling and the ruled4 ,the    
former class comprises the king and the 
several ministers whom he of his        
sovereign pleasure appoints to  various 
posts2 and the latter comprises all the 
rest of the  population4 ,now the       
relation in which the common people     
stand to the  ruler resembles that of   
children to a father4 ,they have no part

 or lot  in the administration of       
government4 ,they are regarded1 not as  
individuals1 but as masses4 ,they are   
the 8hundred surnames10 or 8the         
people10 and the ruler of supreme virtue
 and wisdom--the godlike  man--regards  
them all impartially as so many         
straw-made dog-effigies1  creatures made
 to be used4 ,the subjects imitate their
 king or chief2  and as he is1 so are   
they2 and excellence in him is followed 
by  excellence in them4 ,the relations  
of the members of the community to  each
 other are referred1 as has been stated1
 to the province of ethics4    ,from the
 above sketch of the political          
sentiments contained in the  ,tao-t     
,ching1 ,i hope it has been seen that   
the author was not an  utterly vain     
dreamer and theoriser1 at least on these
 matters4 ,it  would be very easy to    
show how many of the ,confucianist      
doctrines in  politics closely resemble 
those of ,lao-tz2 though others1 also1  
are  diametrically opposite4 ,the       

teachings of the latter sage1 in point  
of  practicability at least1 are not far
 removed from those of the former4      
,in many points ,lao-tz seems to us to  
be giving bad advice to the  ruler1 and 
his general notions about a state are   
very unlike those to  which we are      
accustomed4 ,that the people should be  
kept ignorant1  advancement in          
mechanical skill discountenanced1 and   
that the  standards of political        
excellence should be the ideal sages of 
an  ideal antiquity1 are doctrines to   
which we would refuse to adhere1 and    
which we would condemn1 as savouring of 
despotism4 ,yet ,lao-tz's  conception of
 the ruler is not of him as a despot1   
but rather as a  sort of dictator during
 good conduct4 ,he is raised to his high
  position by the concurrent wishes of  
heaven and the people1 and on his       
observance of the duties of his office  
depends his stability on the  throne4   
,it is interesting and instructive to   
compare ,lao-tz's ideas  on politics    

with those of ,machiavelli1 who somewhat
 resembles him  also in his fortunes4   
,each lived in times of national        
disaster and  misery and each wished for
 peace in the land4 ,each longed to see 
one  ruler installed1 and honoured with 
absolute power4 ,during life neither    
seems to have been appreciated by his   
fellows2 and after death so ill  were   
the merits of both recognised1 that the 
abbreviated form of the  ,christian name
 of the one became1 as some suppose1 a  
familiar term for  the original         
,devil2#db and the other has been       
confounded by his  enemies with         
charlatans and impostors4 ,the counsels 
which each gave to  the chiefs of the   
time were those which he deemed useful  
and  practicable1 though in many cases1 
if judged by a general standard1  they  
must be condemned4 ,the patriotic fire  
of the ,florentine ,secretary  led him  
to make rather reckless statements about
 the license allowed  to the man who    
makes and keeps himself an absolute and 

independent  prince4#dc ,so the ,chinese
 moralist1 deprecating the evils wrought
 in  his country by unprincipled but    
clever and ambitious men1 recommends a  
general state of ignorance4 ,the serpent
 wisdom of the professional  statesman1 
however1 is far removed from the        
guileless simplicity of  the            
philosopher4 ,the latter abhors the idea
 of war1 and recoils from  the thought  
of force and ostentation2 but the       
former1 with more  earthly prudence1    
recommends above all things a good      
native army1  serviceable military      
skill1 and splendid enterprises4#dd     
,machiavelli  allows the prince to break
 his word when it suits him for state   
purposes#de 7unless this be ironical71  
but ,lao-tz requires of the  king good  
faith1 at least to his subjects4 ,each  
of them advises that  the ruler should  
be1 or at least appear to be1 clement   
and liberal1  sparing of the people's   
possessions and a fosterer of their     
material  prosperity4#df ,many other    

points of similarity or contrast in the 
political opinions of these two eminent 
men might be adduced1 but the  above    
must suffice as examples4    ,when we   
read ,lao-tz's sentiments about         
taxation1 over-legislation1  penal      
retributions and excessive governmental 
interference1 and  remember that these  
same subjects are still eagerly debated 
among  ,western philosophers and        
statesmen1 we must ascribe to the       
,chinese  sage a remarkable amount of   
what ,humboldt calls the presentiment of
  knowledge4 ,what he1 however1 could   
sketch only in faint outline on  these  
subjects1 has been broadly discussed in 
later and more  auspicious times by men 
like ,adam ,smith1 ,bentham1 ,emerson   
and ,j4 ,s4  ,mill4 ,if we now cannot   
but condemn his ignoring the            
individuality of  each member of the    
state1 his discouraging progress in the 
mechanical  arts1 and his magnifying the
 kingly office1 we must remember that   
there are still among us1               

notwithstanding the experience and      
struggles of centuries1 almost as great 
barriers to the enjoyment of  personal  
liberty as were those which ,lao-tz     
recommends4 ,large  standing armies at  
the call of one man--8incognoscibility0 
of the                                  
laws--bribery--gerrymandering--and1     
above all1 the power of the many--are   
still great retarders of human freedom  
and prosperity4 ,that such  things      
exist1 even though the voice of the     
philosopher is always  against them1    
should make us indulgent towards the    
mistaken notions of  a man who lived    
#b1ejj years ago4      #a ,treatise on  
the ,methods of ,observation4 ,reasoning
 in ,politics1        vol4 #a1 p4 #dd4  
#b ,see ,ch4 #fb4 ,in ,pi-yuan's        
edition1  is the reading1 instead       
of  of the ordinary texts4      #c ,see 
,wu-ch#8ng's note to ch4 #fb 7#eb in his
 edition74      #d ,ch4 #ci4      #e    
,see ,chs4 #c1 #e4 ,compare ,emerson    
7,essays1 ,vol4 #b1 pp4 #bjh-i74      #f

 ,ch4 #bi4      #g ,ch4 #gh4      #h    
,ch4 #be4 ,we must remember that this   
passage is susceptible of a             
metaphorical meaning4 ,see              
,tao-t-hsing-ming-chin-hs4      #i ,ch4 
#af4      #aj ,chs4 #fj1 #bi1 #fd4      
#aa ,chs4 #eg1 #ac4      #ab ,ch4 #ed4  
#ac ,ch4 #bf4 ,for 1 another reading is 
--that is1 the         gravity which    
brings esteem4      #ad ,ch4 #be4 ,for  
here some editions have  man4      #ae  
,ch4 #ag4 ,this chapter1 however1 is    
susceptible of a totally                
different interpretation1  being        
regarded as meaning the         highest 
authority4 ,for  also some read 1 not4  
#af ,ch4 #dh4      #ag ,chs4 #cg1 #cb4  
#ah ,chs4 #ff1 #fh1 #ci4      #ai ,ch4  
#b4      #bj ,chs4 #cj1 #ca4      #ba   
,penses1 ,art1 ,,vii4      #bb ,ch4 #df4
      #bc ,ch4 #gd4      #bd ,ch4 #eg4  
#be ,chs4 #eg1 #h4      #bf ,do4        
,compare ,hobbes 7,vol4 #b1 pp4 #agh-i1 
,molesworth ,ed474      #bg ,ch4 #ge4   
#bh ,chs4 #ei1 #ec4      #bi ,ch4 #ag4  

#cj ,chs4 #cf1 #eh4      #ca ,ch4 #eg4  
#cb ,chs4 #aj1 #ai4      #cc ,chs4 #fe1 
#c4      #cd ,ch4 #hj4      #ce ,ch1 #c4
 ,wu-ch#8ng's note4 ,julien1 however1   
translates 8il vide         son cur1 c40
 ,both translations are in harmony with 
the other         teachings of ,lao-ts4 
#cf ,chs4 #ci1 #db4      #cg ,ch4 #di4  
#ch ,ch4 xvii41 vs4 #ad to #bj4      #ci
 ,hobbes' ,works1 7,molesworth's        
edition71 ,english1 ,vol4 #b1 p4 #afi4  
,compare also ,bacon's ,essay on        
,seditions and ,troubles 7,works1       
,vol4 #f1 p4 #djf1 c4 ,ellis and        
,spedding's ,ed474      #dj ,chs4 #fa1  
#ff4      #da ,ch4 #fi4      #db ,see   
,macaulay's ,essays1 ,vol1 ,i41 ,essay  
#b4      #dc ,see ,the ,prince1 chs1 #h1
 #agh4      #dd ,see ,the ,prince1 ch4  
#ad4      #de ,do4 ch4 #ah4      #df    
,ch4 #af1 c4                            
,,chapter ,,vii4                        
,,ethics4      ,lao-tz's notions on     
ethics are fortunately set forth with   
much more  fulness than on any other    

department of knowledge1 and in giving a
  brief account of them one is rather   
encumbered by the abundance of          
aphorisms than perplexed by their       
paucity4 ,in saying this1 however1 ,i   
do not mean to intimate that the        
philosopher has elaborated a system  of 
speculative or practical morality1 or   
that he has given full and  explicit    
statements about the moral sense and    
many other subjects  familiar to the    
student of western ethics4 ,on several  
of these points  he is absolutely       
silent1 and his notions about others are
 expressed  darkly and laconically1 and 
only occasionally in a connected manner4
  ,we must1 however1 make the most we   
can of the obscure text and  discordant 
commentaries1 in order to learn at least
 an outline of what  our author taught4 
,in the first place1 ,lao-tz seems to   
have believed in the existence of  a    
primitive time1 when virtue and vice    
were unknown terms4#a ,during  this     
period everything that man did was      

according to ,nature 7,tao71 and  this  
not by any effort on man's part1 but    
merely as the result of his  existence4 
,he knew not good or evil1 nor any of   
the relative virtues  and vices which   
have since obtained names4 ,this was the
 period of  ,nature in the world's      
history1 a period of extreme simplicity 
of  manners and purity of life          
corresponding to the ,garden-of-,eden   
state  of the ,hebrews1 before man      
perceived that he was unclothed1 and    
became  as a ,god knowing good and evil4
 ,to this succeeded the period of       
,virtue  77 in two stages or degrees4   
,the higher is almost identical with the
  state of ,nature1 as in it also man   
led a pure life1 without need of  effort
 and without consciousness of goodness4 
,of the people of this  period we may   
speak as the      8,saturni gentem1 haud
 vinclo nec legibus quam1     ,sponte   
sua1 veterisque dei se more tenentem40#b
    ,in the next and lower stage life   
was still virtuous1 though  occasionally

 sliding into vice1 and unable to       
maintain the stability  of unconscious  
and unforced excellence4#c ,then came   
the time when  humanity and equity      
appeared1 and when filial piety and     
integrity made  themselves known4#d     
,these were degenerate days when man was
 no more  8,nature's priest0 and when   
the 8vision splendid0 had almost ceased 
to  attend him4 ,finally came the days  
when craft and cunning were  developed1 
and when insincerity arose4 ,propriety  
and carefulness of  external deportment 
also1 according to ,lao-tz1 indicated a 
great  falling away from primitive      
simplicity the beginning of trouble2 and
  he1 accordingly1 speaks of them rather
 slightingly4 ,this is a point on  which
 ,confucius seems to have been of a very
 different opinion1  although he had    
studied the ceremonial code under       
,lao-tz4    ,such is1 according to the  
,tao-t ,ching1 the mode in which the    
world  gradually became what it is at   
present4 ,the book does not contain any 

express statement of opinion as to      
whether each human creature is born     
with a good or a bad nature4 ,from      
various passages in it1 however1 we  are
 authorised in inferring that ,lao-tz   
regarded an infant as good by  nature4  
,its spirit comes pure and perfect from 
the ,great ,mother1 but  susceptible to 
all the evil influences which operate   
upon it and lead  it astray4    ,the    
standard of virtue to which ,lao-tz     
refers is ,nature 7,tao71 just  as      
another old philosopher says1 8in hoc   
sumus sapientes1 quod naturam  optimam  
ducem1 tanquam deum1 sequimur eique     
paremus40#e ,by our  philosopher1       
however1 ,nature is not regarded as     
personified and  deified1 but is        
contemplated as the eternal1            
spontaneous1 and  emanatory cause4 ,the 
manifestation of complete virtue comes  
from  ,nature only4#f ,this is the guide
 and model of the universe1 and it      
itself has spontaneity as guide1 that   
is1 it has no guide whatever4  ,all     

creatures and man among them1 must      
conform to it or they miss the  end of  
their existence and soon cease to be4   
,as ,tao1 however1 is very  indefinite  
and intangible1 ,lao-tz holds it out to 
mortals as their  guide chiefly through 
the medium of certain other ideas more  
easily  comprehended4 ,thus ,heaven1    
corresponding somewhat to our notions of
  providence1 imitates ,nature1 and     
becomes to man its visible              
embodiment4#g ,in its perfect           
impartiality1 its noiseless working1 its
  disinterested and unceasing           
well-doing1 it presents a rule by which 
man should regulate his life4#h ,not    
less are the material heavens  above him
 a model in their unerring1 and         
spontaneous obedience to  ,nature1 and  
in their eternal purity4 ,the ,earth#i  
also1 with her calm  eternal repose1 and
 the great rivers and seas1 are types of
 the  far-off olden times1 whose        
boundless merit raised them to the      
height  of fellow-workers with ,nature1 

and to whom all things once paid a      
willing homage1 are patterns for all    
after ages4#aj    ,of a personal deity  
above all these our author makes no     
mention1 nor  can it be inferred with   
certainty from his book whether he      
believed in  the existence of such a    
being4 ,in one place he speaks of       
,nature 7,tao7  as being antecedent to  
the manifestation of ,ti 771 a word     
which the  commentators usually explain 
as meaning lord or master of heaven4#aa 
,the learned ,dr4 ,medhurst translates  
the passage in question thus1 8,i  do   
not know whose son it 7viz41 ,tau7 is2  
it is prior to the 7,supreme7  ,ruler of
 the visible 7heavens740 ,i do not      
understand how1 after this1  the same   
author can state that the ,taoists1 that
 is1 with ,lao-tz at  their head1       
understand the word ,ti 8in the sense of
 the ,supreme  ,being40#ab ,ghosts and  
,spirits 7 and 7 are referred to in the 
,tao-t ,ching1 but these are very       
subordinate beings capable of being     

controlled by the saints of the earth4  
,lao-tz refers1 however1 as has  been   
seen1 to a supernatural punisher of     
crime2 and in several  passages he      
speaks of heaven in a manner very       
similar to that in which  we do when we 
mean thereby the ,deity who presides    
over heaven and  earth4#ac ,yet we must 
not forget that it is inferior and      
subsequent  to the mysterious ,tao1 and 
in fact produced by the latter4 ,i      
cannot1  accordingly1 agree with the    
learned ,pauthier when he writes thus   
about  the ,sixteenth ,chapter of the   
,tao-t ,ching--8,ce chapitre renferme   
lui  seul les lments d'une religion2 et 
il n'est pas tonnant que les            
,sectateurs de ,lao-tseu1 si habiles1   
comme tous les ,asiatiques1  tirer  d'un
 principe pos toutes les consquences qui
 en dcoulent  logiquement1 aient tabli  
un culte et un sacerdoce avec les       
doctrines  du philosophe2 car ds        
l'instant qu'un ,dieu suprme est annonc1
 que  les bonnes actions et la          

connaissance que l'on acquiert de lui   
sont  les seuls moyens pour l'homme de  
parvenir a l'ternelle flicit dans  son  
sein1 il est bien vident qu'il faut des 
mdiateurs entre ce ,dieu  et l'homme    
pour conduire et clairer les            
intelligences ignorantes et             
faibles40#ad ,tao with ,lao-tz is not a 
deity1 but is above all  deities1 and1  
as has been seen1 it is not always      
represented  unchangeable4 ,on the      
contrary1 regarded from one point of    
view the ,tao  is in a state of constant
 change--8twinkling restlessly10 to use 
an  expression from ,wordsworth4 ,only  
when considered as the existence  which 
was solitary in the universe and        
eternal1 is it spoken of as  unchanging4
 ,long after ,lao-tz's time ,tao was1   
indeed1 raised or  rather degraded to be
 a deity1 but the theories of later     
,taoists are  seldom the logical        
developments of the doctrines of        
,lao-tz1 and in  this they err widely4  
,of virtue in the abstract little is    

said by our author1 but we know  that   
his idea of it was that it consisted in 
following ,nature 7,tao74  ,he          
generally1 however1 speaks of it in the 
concrete as the perfect  nature of the  
world or man and the other creatures of 
the universe4  ,sometimes indeed he     
refers to ,t1 ,virtue1 as if it were a  
mysterious1  independent existence and  
not an inherent quality4 ,at other times
 he  seems to regard good and bad as    
merely relative terms1 the existence  of
 the former implying and indeed causing 
the existence of the latter1  and vice  
versa4    ,descending from these        
generalities1 however1 we now come to   
the  consideration of ,lao-tz's         
conception of the ideal sage4 ,the      
virtues  which characterise the perfect 
man1 and which all should endeavour to  
possess1 are described in the ,tao-t    
,ching with greater or less  fulness4   
,among the most important of these is   
the negative excellence  of an absence  
of the bustling ostentation of goodness4

 ,not to be fussy  or showy1 but to do  
one's proper work and lead a quiet life 
without  meddling in the concerns of    
others1 are virtues which to ,lao-tz    
seemed of transcendent importance1 the  
expression which ,i interpreted  as     
meaning absence of ostentation or bustle
 is wu-wei 774#ae  ,many ,chinese       
commentators seem to regard this as     
equivalent to  nothingness1             
non-existence1 or absolute inaction2 so 
,julien also  translates it usually by  
8non-agir40#af ,though1 however1 the    
words  have in many places these        
meanings1 yet there are several passages
  which seem to require the explanation 
given above1 and which is also  in      
harmony with the general tenor of the   
book4 ,man's guide is ,nature  7,tao71  
and it works incessantly but without    
noise or show4 ,so also it  is not an   
inactive life that ,lao-tz commends1 but
 a gentle one1 and  one which does not  
obtrude itself on the notice of the     
world4 ,the man  who would follow       

,nature must try to live virtuously     
without the  appearance of so doing2 he 
must present a mean exterior while under
 it  he hides the inestimable jewel4#ag 
,the advice which ,sir ,thomas ,browne  
gives is very like the teaching of      
,lao-tz4 8,be substantially great in    
thyself1 and more than thou appearest   
unto others2 and let the world  be      
deceived in thee1 as they are in the    
lights of heaven40#ah ,again1  the man  
who follows ,nature is wise but wears   
the mask of  ignorance#ai--to the world 
he appears silly and stupid1 but in his 
breast are deep stores of wisdom4 ,so   
also he does good without the  show of  
doing it2 he helps in the amelioration  
of his fellows1 and  indeed of all      
things in the world1 without talking or 
making any  display4#bj ,he does his    
alms not before men but in secret and   
without  a preluding trumpet4 ,those are
 rare who can instruct others without   
the necessity of talking1 and benefit   
them without making a show2 but  in     

striving to attain to this excellence   
man is aiming at the  perfection of     
,nature4#ba ,the art of living thus is  
an art made by  ,nature--the silent1    
informing1 universally-operant spirit4  
,by ,nature  7,tao7 the passions and    
other impediments to virtue are lessened
 more  and more until man attains to    
that state of perfection in which he    
acts naturally and so can do all        
things4#bb    ,the virtue of humility is
 one of which ,lao-tz speaks very       
highly4  ,water is always with him the  
type of what is humble2 and the godlike 
man1 like it1 occupies a low position1  
which others abhor but in which  he can 
profit all around him4#bc 8,the         
supremely virtuous is like  water10 are 
words taken from the ,tao-t ,ching1 and 
frequently  inscribed on rocks and other
 objects4 ,such a man does not claim    
precedence or merit1 nor does he strive 
with any one4#bd ,he never  arrogates   
honour or preferment1 yet they come to  
him2#be and he is  yielding and modest1 

yet always prevails in the end4 ,when   
success is  obtained1 and his desire    
accomplished1 he modestly retires4      
,pride1 on  the other hand1 and vaulting
 ambition1 always fail to attain the    
wished-for consummation4#bf ,so also the
 man who is violent and  headstrong     
generally comes to a bad end4#bg ,some  
of the commentators1  however1 seem to  
take this humility in a bad sense1 and  
they would  make us believe that the    
quality as recommended by ,lao-tz is not
  virtue but rather a vice1 as partaking
 of the nature of a trick or  artifice4 
,the historical instance which they most
 frequently quote as  illustrating the  
success of this humility is the career  
of the famous  ,chang ,tz-fang 771 a    
sort of political ,uriah ,heep4    ,to  
continence also ,lao-tz assigns a high  
place4 ,the total exemption  from the   
power of the passions and desire is a   
moral pre-eminence to  which man should 
seek to attain--      8,for not to      
desire or admire1 if a man could learn  

it1 were more     ,than to walk all day 
like the ,sultan of old in a garden of  
spice40    ,it is the body1 with its    
inseparably connected emotions and      
passions1  which is the cause of all the
 ills that attend humanity2#bh and he   
who would return to the state of        
original innocence must overcome his    
body4#bi ,to be without desires is to be
 at rest1 and if man were  freed from   
the body he would have no cause for     
fear4 ,to keep the  gateways of the     
senses closed against the sight1 sounds 
and tastes  which distract and mar the  
soul within1 is the simple metaphor     
which  ,lao-tz uses to express this     
overcoming of self4#cj ,this conquest he
  puts above every other4 ,he who knows 
others is learned1 but he who  knows    
himself is enlightened2 he who overcomes
 others has physical  force1 but he who 
overcomes himself has moral strength4#ca
 ,the  disastrous consequence of        
yielding to the bodily appetites is     
beautifully illustrated by a metaphor   

familiar to us in a ,taoist book  to    
which ,i have already referred4 ,the    
people of the world following  their    
desires strive for reputation1 grasp at 
gain1 covet wine1 and  lust after       
beauty--they take the bitter for the    
pleasant and the false  for the         
real--day and night they toil and moil1 
morn and even they fret  and care1 nor  
desist even when their vital energies   
are almost  exhausted4 ,like the moth   
which extinguishes its life in the      
dazzling  blaze of the lamp or the worm 
which goes to its own destruction in the
  fire1 these men do not wait for the   
command of the king of ,death1 but  send
 themselves to the grave4#cb            
,associated with continence is the      
virtue of moderation1 which also  must  
form part of the good man's character4  
,to be content is to be  rich and brings
 with it no danger or shame1 while there
 is no greater  calamity than not to    
know when to be satisfied4#cc ,he who   
knows where  to stop will not incur     

peril1 nor will he ever indulge in      
excess4 ,to  fill a cup while holding it
 in the hand is not so good as to let it
  alone1 or1 as we say1 it is hard to   
carry a full cup even4#cd ,too  sharp an
 edge cannot be kept on a tool1 and a   
hall full of gold and  precious stones  
cannot be defended2 and he who is wanton
 in prosperity  leaves a legacy of      
misfortune4 ,various other metaphors are
 used to  inculcate the necessity of    
following the mean1 and abstaining from 
extravagance4 ,the man who erects       
himself on tiptoe cannot continue so1   
nor can he who takes long strides       
continue to walk4#ce ,the  intelligent  
and good man will be moderate in all    
things1 not desiring  to be prized like 
jade or slighted like a stone4#cf    ,it
 is also a characteristic of the truly  
virtuous man that he is  always1 and    
especially in privacy1 grave and        
serious1 and not  unmindful of his weak 
points4 ,he who knows his strength and  
protects  his weakness at the same time 

will have all the world resorting to him
  for instruction and example2 eternal  
virtue will not leave him1 and he  will 
return to the natural goodness of       
infancy4#cg ,many things fail  when the 
goal is nearly attained1 but the godlike
 man is careful about  the end no less  
than about the beginning4#ch ,so also   
were the sages  of antiquity whose      
cautious1 hesitating character is       
portrayed in  outline as a model for    
others4#ci    ,mercy is another virtue  
to which ,lao-tz attaches considerable  
importance4 ,nor is the quality of      
mercy1 as he represents it1 strained    
within any narrow compass4 ,on the      
contrary1 it flows not only over all    
mankind1 but even to the entire world4  
,as has been seen1 ,lao-tz would  have  
all capital punishment reserved for a   
supernatural agent to  execute1 and he  
would have the correction of wickedness 
effected by  the quiet influence of a   
good example4 ,he goes farther than     
this1  however2 for he will have us to  

abstain from even judging others--from  
dividing men into the righteous and the 
sinners4#dj ,it is ,heaven  alone which 
is to determine the moral worth of human
 creatures1 and  give to each his meed4 
,and we must not even assign worldly    
misfortunes  to the displeasure of      
,heaven--must not say that the eighteen 
on whom  the tower of ,siloam fell were 
greater sinners than the other residents
  in ,jerusalem4 ,the good man must not 
only not think too harshly of the  man  
who is not good1#da but he must even    
love him1 and must reward  ill will by  
virtue--the ne plus ultra of generosity1
 as one of the  commentators            
observes4#db ,so also the feeling of    
compassion will  cause the good man to  
keep his good qualities in the back     
ground1 and  not excite the evil        
passions of the bad man by displaying   
them  obtrusively before him4 ,after a  
great dispute has been adjusted some    
grudge is sure to remain1 so to live    
peaceably is to be regarded as          

virtuous4#dc ,the good man keeps his    
proof of an agreement1 but he  does not 
claim from the other party to it the    
fulfillment of the  agreement1 that is1 
he will not sue him at a court of law4  
,this spirit  of mercy and compassion   
ought not only to prevail in private and
  social life1 but it ought to extend   
also to the seat of power and even  to  
temper the fierce passions of warfare4  
,then from the circle of  humanity      
,lao-ts looks abroad over the ample     
spaces of nature1 and  extends to them  
also a kindly sympathy4 ,the good man   
never injures  anything in the world2 on
 the contrary he saves the inferior     
creatures and assists them in their     
ever-renewed operations of coming  into 
existence1 growing1 and returning to    
their original source4#dd  ,did the     
whole creation in his eyes1 too1 groan  
and travail in pain8    ,of courage1    
truth1 honesty1 and several other       
virtues ,lao-tz does not  make much     
mention4 ,he seems also to think lightly

 of conventional  humanity and equity1  
but ,han ,wn ,kung says this was because
 he had a  low conception of these two  
virtues4 ,according to the figure used  
by  ,han1 ,lao-tz was as a man sitting  
at the bottom of a well and  pronouncing
 the sky to be of small dimensions4#de  
,he teaches1  however1 the mutual       
dependence of man upon man1 and the     
consequent  necessity of the interchange
 of good offices4 ,the good man gives   
and  asks not--does good and looks not  
for recompense4 ,he who is virtuous is  
master of him who is not virtuous1 but  
respect and affection must  exist       
between them4 ,the ruler and the ruled  
also are mutually  dependent1 and they  
too must reciprocate kindness and       
forbearance4    ,lao-tz repeatedly      
condemns the vices of much and fine     
talking4 ,the  wise man1 he says1 does  
not talk1 and to do without audible     
words is  to follow ,nature4#df ,man    
ought to be silent in his actions as is 
the  all-working ,nature4 ,faithful     

words1 are not fine1 and fine words are 
not faithful2 the virtuous man is not   
argumentative and vice versa4    ,to    
learning and wisdom our author does not1
 ,i think1 assign a  sufficiently high  
place1 but seems rather to condemn      
them4#dg  ,learning adds to the evils of
 existence1 and if we could put it away 
we would be exempt from anxiety4 ,the   
ancient rulers kept the people  ignorant
 and they had good government--so the   
people ought still to be  kept in       
ignorance4 ,but perhaps ,lao-tz refers  
to the faults of those  persons who     
drink only slightly of the ,pierian     
spring and then boast  of what they     
acquire1 thereby doing injury to        
themselves and to  society4 ,it would1  
however1 have been better if he had     
distinguished  between the pretenders to
 knowledge1 and those who have drunk    
deeply  at the fountain of wisdom by    
assigning to intellectual worth its     
proper importance4#dh    ,lao-tz1 as has
 been seen1 is not unmindful of the     

infirmity of noble  minds which expects 
a recompense for a virtuous life4 ,nor  
are the  inducements which he holds out 
of a slight or unworthy nature4 ,on the 
contrary1 they are to souls which have  
begun to delight in the path of  virtue1
 and also to those still walking in     
8error's wandering wood10  calculated to
 have a great effect4 ,the desires and  
appetites must all  be overcome and self
 must be subdued1 but to him who obtains
 the  victory there remain grand prizes4
 ,the gateways of knowledge are open  to
 him1 and he can contemplate the        
mysterious operations of  nature4#di    
,fame and greatness come to him         
unsolicited1 and the years  of his life 
are increased4 ,having the guileless    
purity of an  infant--becoming like a   
little child--he will enjoy an exemption
 from  the fear of noxious animals and  
wicked men4#ej ,fierce beasts cannot    
gore or tear him1 nor the soldier wound 
him in battle1 that is1 having  perfect 
love towards all things he will not fear

 harm from any4#ea  ,the godlike man    
does not use his neighbour as a foil to 
set off his  own excellence1 but rather 
assimilates himself to all4 ,thus he    
comes  into intimate union with his     
fellow creatures and is set on high     
without incurring any ill-will4 ,he     
lives not for himself but for  others1  
and his life is prolonged by so doing4  
,he does not amass for  himself1 nor    
does he bury his talent in the barren   
ground of itself4  ,he spends it in the 
service of his fellows and it comes back
 to him  with interest4#eb ,the more he 
serves the more he has wherewith to     
serve1 and the more he gives the richer 
he becomes4 ,it is almost  surprising to
 find this thought thus expressed by    
,lao-tz1 and the  words of one of his   
disciples1 following out the idea1 are  
somewhat  remarkable--8,there is also   
accumulation which causes deficiency1   
and a  non-hoarding which results in    
having something over40#ec ,there are   
several passages in the ,tao-t ,ching   

besides the above1 which might be       
included among the 8testimonia anim     
naturaliter ,christian40  ,humility1    
charity1 and the forgiveness of injuries
 which are sometimes  spoken of as      
purely ,christian virtues are certainly 
inculcated by  ,lao-tz4#ed ,but to      
return to our subject4--,man's life     
ought thus to be  continued opposition  
to self1 gaining more and more control  
over it1  until the passions cease to   
trouble and self is perfectly           
vanquished4  ,then comes the end which  
crowns the work4 ,when the fleshly      
appetites  have been subdued1 and the   
spirit has attained that state in which 
it is         --8equable and pure2      
,no fears to beat away--no strife to    
heal--    ,the past unsighed for1 and   
the future sure10      then comes death4
 ,and what after death8 ,man returns to 
,nature1 which  delights to receive him1
 and identifies him with her own        
mysterious  self4 ,hither1 too1 come all
 the myriad things which had once       

emanated  from the womb of the same     
all-producing mother4 ,this in reality  
means  that man and all other creatures 
return to nothingness4 ,this is the     
dreamless sleep wherewith our life is   
rounded--this is the end of all  our woe
 and misery1 to be         --8,swallowed
 up and lost    ,in the wide womb of    
uncreated night    ,devoid of sense and 
motion40    ,there is at least one      
passage in which ,lao-tz seems to speak 
of a  life after death1#ee but this     
passage presents great difficulties1    
and perhaps refers only to the 8fancied 
life in others' breath0 by  which a man 
though dead is not lost4 ,that man loses
 his individuality  and that he loses   
his existence are two doctrines strongly
 opposed to  ,lao-tz4 ,the individual is
 everything with the one1 nothing with  
the  other4#ef ,as to the immortality of
 the soul1 this is a doctrine of  which 
many other excellent philosophers before
 the rise of  ,christianity had little  
or no conception4 ,we are wont to regard

 the  theory of the soul's mortality as 
dismal and hopeless2 yet ,lao-tz  holds 
out the hope of annihilation or at least
 of absorption into  universal ,nature  
as the highest reward for a life of     
untiring virtue4  ,few1 he says1        
understand the matter2 and few as yet   
even understand  the meaning of the     
immortality of the soul4 ,the belief    
that the soul  is mortal no less than   
the opposite belief seems to lead to the
  possession of a calm1 contented       
spirit1 and an indifference to the      
things of this life4 ,the strange but   
eloquent words of the  ,hydriotaphia on 
this subject will form the closing      
sentence of this  chapter3--8,and if any
 have been so happy as truly to         
understand  ,christian annihilation1    
ecstasies1 exolution1 liquefaction1     
transformation1 the kiss of the spouse1 
gustation of ,god1 and  ingression into 
the divine shadow1 they have already had
 an handsome  anticipation of heaven2   
the glory of the world is surely over1  

and the  earth in ashes unto them40#eg  
#a ,see chs4 #b1 #ch1 and compare the   
words of ,pascal--8la vraie morale      
se moque de la morale1 c'est a dire que 
la morale du jugement se        moque de
 la morale de l'esprit qui est sans     
rgle40 ,penses1        ,art4 xxv41 #ef4 
#b neid1 ,b4 #g1 vs4 #bjc-d4      #c    
,compare ,carlyle1--8,already to the    
popular judgment1 he who        talks   
much about virtue in the abstract1      
begins to be suspect10        c4 ,essay 
on ,characteristics4 ,so also ,emerson  
writes--8,our moral        nature is    
vitiated by any interference of our     
will40 ,essays1        ,vol4 ,i41 p4    
#aai4      #d ,see chs4 #ah1 #ch4       
#e ,the words of ,cato in ,cic4 ,de     
,senectute4      #f ,compare ,emerson3  
8,the ,supreme ,critic on the errors of 
the past        and the present1 and the
 only prophet of that which must be1 is 
that great ,nature in which we rest1 as 
the earth lies in the soft        arms  
of the atmosphere2 that ,unity1 that    

,oversoul1 within which        every    
man's particular being is contained and 
made one with all        others2 that   
common heart1 of which all sincere      
conversation is        the worship1 to  
which all right action is submission2   
that        overpowering reality which  
confutes our tricks and talents1 and    
constrains every one to pass for what he
 is1 and to speak from his              
character1 and not from his tongue1 and 
which evermore tends to        pass into
 our thought and hand1 and become       
wisdom1 and virtue1 and        power and
 beauty40 ,essays1 ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #bdd4  
#g ,chs4 #cj1 #ee4      #h ,chs4 #g1    
#gg4      #i ,ch4 #be4      #aj ,chs4   
#ae1 #fh4 ,compare the saying of ,sir   
,t4 ,browne--8,live by         old      
ethicks and the classical rules of      
honesty40      #aa ,ch4 #d4 ,the word   
hsiang  is also explained here as       
meaning         probably or it seems2   
the equivalent of yu 774      #ab       
,dissertation on the ,theology of the   

,chinese1 c41 p4 #bdf4      #ac ,chs4   
#gc1 #gg4      #ad ,chine1 pp4 #aaf-g4  
#ae ,see chs4 #b1 c4 ,wei 77 sometimes  
means to esteem4 and         ,wei-wu-wei
 would then mean to esteem without      
appearing to do         so4 ,compare    
,sh-wu-shi 771 ,shang-t pu-t 771 c4     
#af ,in this he is often followed by    
,mr4 ,chalmers4 ,pauthier also so       
translates the expression4      #ag ,see
 chs4 #da1 #gj4      #ah ,christian     
,morals1 ,section xix4      #ai ,so     
,celsus represents the early ,christians
 as saying--8,wisdom is a         bad   
thing in life1 foolishness is to be     
preferred40 ,neander1         ,ch4      
,hist41 ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #afd 7,amer4      
,translation74      #bj ,see chs4 #de1  
#ga1 #gg4 ,compare the statement        
attributed to ,gotama         ,buddha4  
8,great ,king1 ,i do not teach the law  
to my pupils1 telling         them1 ,go1
 ye saints1 and before the eyes of the  
,brahmans and         householders      
perform1 by means of your supernatural  

powers1         miracles greater than   
any man can perform4 ,i tell them1 when 
,i         teach them the law1 ,live1 ye
 saints1 hiding your good works1 and    
showing your sins40 ,chips from a       
,german ,workshop1 ,vol4 ,i41         p4
 #bdi2 translated from ,burnouf1        
,introduction  l',histoire du           
,buddhisme ,indien1 p4 #agj4      #ba   
,compare ,emerson--8,the man may teach  
by doing1 and not otherwise4         ,if
 he can communicate himself he can      
teach1 but not by word40         ,essay 
,,iv41 ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #acf4      #bb ,ch4
 #dh4 ,wu-wei here may have another     
meaning4 ,wu-chng and         ,julien   
regard it as meaning inaction1 and make 
it synonymous         with ,wu-shi4 ,see
 ,mr4 ,chalmers' extraordinary          
translation of         this chapter4    
#bc ,chs4 #h1 #gh4      #bd ,chs4 #bb1  
#cd1 #ff4      #be ,compare the saying  
of ,solomon1--8,before honour is        
humility40         ,proverbs1 xviii4    
#ab4      #bf ,see chs4 #ib1 #bd4       

#bg ,ch4 #db4      #bh ,ch4 #ac4        
#bi ,ch4 #cg4      #cj ,chs4 #eb1 #ef4  
#ca ,ch4 #cc4 ,compare the words of ,sir
 ,t4 ,browne3--8,rest not in an         
ovation1 but a triumph over thy         
passions40 ,christian ,morals1          
sect4 #b4 ,so also ,solomon--8,he that  
is slow to anger is better         than 
the mighty2 and he that ruleth his      
spirit than he that         taketh a    
city40 ,proverbs1 xvi4 #cb4 ,compare    
also ,horace's ,ode to         ,sallust1
 vs4 #i1 c4      #cb 4 ,ch4 #b1 p4 #aa4 
#cc ,see ,chs4 #cc1 #dd1 #df1 #bi1 #cb4 
#cd ,ch4 #i4 ,compare ,horace's         
advice3--8,quod satis est cui contigit1 
hic nihil amplius optet40      #ce ,ch4 
#bd4      #cf ,ch4 #ci4      #cg ,chs4  
#bf1 #bh4      #ch ,chs4 #fc1 #fd4      
#ci ,ch4 #ae4      #dj ,chs4 #ai1 #gc4  
#da ,ch4 #bg4 ,the word shan 771        
however1 rendered good1 is also         
susceptible of the interpretation clever
 or expert4 ,see         ,wu-chng's note
 7ch4 #bb in his edition74      #db ,ch4

 #fc4 ,in the ,kan-ying-pien 77 it is   
said 8,look on the         acquisitions 
of others as if they were yours1 and the
 losses of         others as if they    
were yours40 ,ch4 #b4 ,in this book are 
taught         many other excellent     
lessons which are apparently derived    
from         the ,tao-t ,ching4      #dc
 ,ch4 #gi4      #dd ,see chs4 #bg1 #fd4 
,so the ,kan-ying-pien says3--8,the tiny
 insects         and plants and trees   
may not be injured40      #de ,works1   
ch4 #aa 4      #df ,chs4 #bc1 #ef4      
,compare 8,let us be silent1 for so are 
the gods40         ,also the words of   
the ,tatler3--8,silence is sometimes    
more         significant and sublime    
than the most noble and most expressive 
eloquence1 and is on many occasions the 
indication of a great         mind40    
,no4 #acc4      #dg ,chs4 #fe1 #bj1 #dh4
      #dh ,compare ,emerson1 ,essays    
vol4 i41 p4 #bfa-b4      #di ,ch4 #a4   
,chalmers1 however1 translates--8,in    
eternal non-existence1                  

therefore1 man seeks to pierce the      
primordial mystery1 and in              
eternal existence1 to behold the issues 
of the ,universe40 ,see         also the
 ,german translation given in ,hegel1   
,geschichte1 c4         ,vol4 i41 p4    
#adb4      #ej ,chs4 #g1 #ei4      #ea  
,chs4 #ej1 #ee4      #eb ,see chs4 #ff1 
#g1 #ha4      #ec ,quoted by ,wu-chng in
 a note to ch4 #ha4      #ed ,compare   
,pauthier1 ,chine1 p4 #aag4      #ee    
,ch4 #bc4 ,see ,pauthier4 ,chine        
,moderne1 ps4 #cef-g4      #ef ,emerson1
 however1 also speaks of the 8individual
 soul mingling         with the         
,universal ,soul40 ,essays4      #eg    
,ch4 #e4                                
,,chapter ,,viii4                       
,,lao-,,tz ,,and ,,confucius4      ,it  
is not unusual for foreigners no less   
than for ,chinese to speak of  ,lao-tz  
and ,confucius as having lived on very  
bad terms with each  other and as having
 been diametrically opposite in their   
teachings4  ,one ,chinese scholar who   

ought to have known much better sins    
very  badly in this respect4 ,the       
excellent little book of ,mr4 ,edkins on
 the  ,religious ,condition of the      
,chinese contains the following3        
8,contemporary with ,confucius1 there   
was an old man afterwards known as      
,laou-tsoo1 who meditated in a          
philosophic mood upon the more profound 
necessities and capacities of the human 
soul4 ,he did so in a way that          
,confucius1 the prophet of the          
practical1 could not well comprehend4   
,he  conversed with him once1 but never 
repeated his visit1 for he could  not   
understand him4 ,laou-tsoo recommended  
quiet reflection4 ,water that  is still 
is also clear1 and you may see deeply   
into it4 ,noise and  passion are fatal  
to spiritual progress4 ,the stars are   
invisible  through a clouded sky4       
,nourish the perceptive powers of the   
soul in  purity and rest40#a ,others    
have expressed a similar opinion and    
with  no more accuracy4 ,this view1     

however1 is not strictly correct4 ,as   
has  been seen1 ,confucius was a        
disciple of ,lao-tz1 and there is no    
evidence to prove that any other than   
friendly relations existed  between     
them4 ,a ,confucianist philosopher has  
somewhere remarked that  ,confucius and 
,lao-tz were not the authors of opposite
 systems and  founders of rival schools 
of philosophy1 and the observation is   
quite  correct4 ,it was not until long  
after the two sages were dead that the  
followers of the one came to look on    
those of the other as heretics  and     
enemies4 ,not only1 however1 did        
,confucius himself live in  friendship  
with his instructor1 so far as we know1 
but he also imbibed  not a few of his   
tenets4 ,the influence of ,lao-tz on his
 disciple1 and  the amount of similarity
 between the doctrines of the two are   
subjects  well deserving a serious      
study4 ,that they differ widely on many 
points  is a fact known to everybody1   
but few1 so far as my knowledge extends1

  have studied the affinities between   
them4 ,to a thorough-going              
,confucianist the mere idea of doing    
such a a thing is horrible1 and  the    
,temple of ,literature closed against   
the reception of the tablets  of the    
rare individuals who have essayed the   
task1 deters the after  generations4 ,by
 one1 however1 not anxious about his    
posthumous tablet1  and who takes       
pleasure in finding how near the        
divergent lines of  orthodoxy and       
heterodoxy may be found to have         
originally converged1  the work may be  
attempted without any misgivings4 ,the  
present writer  can do nothing more than
 merely try to sketch a few of the      
features of  resemblance between the    
teachings of the two sages in           
speculative  ,physics1 ,politics and    
,ethics1 following the division adopted 
above4    ,the theories of ,lao-tz and  
,confucius on the physical world being  
probably merely the popular and         
traditional notions of the time1 might  

naturally be expected to have not a     
little in common4 ,for example1 the     
emanation of the visible universe1      
including also all that makes up  man1  
from an eternal existence at once       
material and immaterial1 seems  to have 
been an old idea with the ,chinese1 and 
it is found in the  teachings of both   
the sages4 ,thus1 as has been seen1 the 
,tai-chi  77 or ,grand ,extreme1 as it  
is translated1 is only ,tao under       
another name4 ,indeed ,confucius uses   
the latter word in this  connection very
 much after the manner of ,lao-tz4 ,in  
the appendix to  the ,yi-ching 77 it is 
stated that what is antecedent to       
external  form is called ,tao2 and in   
another passage it is said that one     
passive and one active element 7one ,yin
 and one ,yang7 are called  ,tao4#c ,in 
the ,li-chi 77 ,confucius says to       
,tz-kung that ,tao is  that which the   
whole world1 7 may also mean the        
empire71  esteems4#d ,other writers     
also1 such as the author of the preface 

to  the ,yi-ching1 distinctly assert    
that the two terms ,tai-chi and ,tao    
have the same signification4 ,lao-tz's  
doctrine of dualism also1 and  his      
theory that contraries produce each     
other are found explicitly  taught in   
the ,confucian classics4 ,thus the      
,yi-ching says that hard and  soft      
alternately thrust each other forth1#e  
and in another passage it  is said that 
the ,yin and the ,yang1 or the passive  
and active elements  or powers of       
nature1 generate each other4 ,again     
,lao-tz teaches that  all the operations
 of ,nature 7,tao7 and ,heaven and earth
 are carried on  without any show of    
effort1 silently and quietly4 ,so also  
does  ,confucius teach4 ,in the ,li-chi1
 for example1 he says that the          
,tien-tao or ,way of ,heaven is to be   
without exertion and yet have the  world
 completed4#f ,in the ,chung-yung a     
similar observation is made  respecting 
,chng 77 which ,legge translates        
8sincerity0 but which is  evidently     

another designation of ,tao1 as ,mr4    
,meadows long ago  stated4#g ,further1  
it is almost unnecessary to state that  
in the  quinary classification of such  
things as tastes and colours our two    
sages perfectly agree4 ,not only1       
however1 do we find the same ideas on   
these matters in ,confucian classics and
 the ,tao-t ,ching but we also  not     
seldom find in them similar forms of    
expression4#h ,thus1 for  instance1 the 
poetical metaphor by which ,lao-tz      
speaks of the sea and  the great rivers 
as being kings to the small streams     
which flow into  them is found in the   
,shu ,king and the ,shi ,khing4 ,in the 
former the  ,chiang 77 and ,han 77 are  
described as proceeding to the sovereign
  ,court of the ,sea1#i and in the      
latter it is written that the full  tide
 flows back to pay court to the sea1 but
 the people of the country  forget their
 allegiance4 ,it may be mentioned that  
we ourselves speak  of tributary        
streams1 and ,tennyson has expressed the

 ,chinese idea  fully in the words      
8,flow down1 cold rivulet1 to the sea1  
,thy tribute wave deliver40    ,coming  
now to ,politics we find that on        
,government and other matters  connected
 with the ,state1 the ,confucian        
writings contain many opinions  closely 
resembling those of ,lao-tz4 ,thus in   
the ,lun-y1 ,book xv41  ,confucius is   
represented as saying--8,may not ,shun  
be instanced as  having governed        
efficiently without exertion8 ,what did 
he do8 ,he did  nothing but gravely and 
reverently occupy his imperial seat40   
,here the  very expression of the ,tao-t
 ,ching is used----and ,dr4 ,legge has1 
,i think1 rightly translated wu-wei by  
8without exertion40#aj ,so also  in the 
,shu ,king it is said of ,king ,wu1     
after his war with ,shou was  finished1 
that 8he had only to let his robes fall 
down1 and fold his  hands1 and the      
empire was orderly ruled40#aa ,other    
passages in the  ,lun-y show us that    
,confucius also disliked war1 and the   

petty  squabbles into which the         
ambitious feudal chiefs of his time were
  constantly falling4 ,again1 ,lao-tz   
has been greatly reproached by          
,confucianists and others for declining 
to continue in office under the  kings  
of ,chow1 but he went little farther in 
this respect than his  more fortunate   
disciple who was more earthly wise      
though less  politically consistent4    
,each kept his precious gem secreted for
 years1  but there was this difference1 
that ,confucius was eager for a bidder  
who would please him1 and ,lao-tz seeing
 there was no chance of a  suitable     
bidder preferred to keep his gem4 ,not  
only1 however1 did  ,confucius himself  
abstain for a considerable time from    
active official  life1 but he also      
commended those of the past and some of 
his  contemporaries who had retired into
 privacy during evil times1 and his     
approbation of ,ning-wu's conduct is    
expressed in language worthy of         
,lao-tz4#ab ,besides1 ,confucius had the

 utmost contempt for the  mandarins and 
chiefs of his time1 and regarded them as
 either utter  villains or as mere      
nobodies4#ac ,again1 just as ,lao-tz    
teaches that  the ruler must first      
correct himself1 making the purity of   
his own  inner life his first and       
greatest care and then cultivating moral
  excellence in his family1 so          
,confucius repeatedly teaches the same  
doctrine and illustrates it by the      
example of the ancients4 ,like ruler    
like people1 is a maxim with him4 ,if   
the sovereign be wicked the  people also
 will be wicked1 and if he be good they 
also will be  good4#ad ,lao-tz says that
 government must be conducted by        
uprightness or rectitude 774 ,so        
,confucius says that to govern means  to
 rectify1 and in another passage he     
depicts the evil results of a           
government which is not conducted in    
uprightness4 ,another political         
doctrine which is stated expressly in   
the ,tao-t ,ching is that capital       

punishment is the work of a superhuman  
agent and that no one on earth  can     
safely act as proxy for that agent4     
,through all the ,confucian  writings   
also there runs the idea that it is     
,heaven or the ,upper ,ruler  that is   
offended with wicked states1 rebellious 
chiefs1 or oppressive  rulers1 and that 
all national rewards and punishments    
come from the  same source4 ,confucius1 
however1 and his followers seem to have 
believed that the virtuous neighbouring 
state1 the pious sovereign1 or  the     
successful rebel received a ,heavenly   
edict to annex the wicked  territory1   
slay the mutinous chief1 or dethrone the
 impious prince--a  political idea not  
confined to ancient times or to ,china4 
,yet there  are several passages in the 
,classics which seem to represent       
,confucius1 too1 as forbidding1 or at   
least disapproving of1 capital          
punishment4 ,thus in the ,lun-y he is   
made to say to ,chi-kang1 who had  asked
 him about slaying the bad in order to  

perfect the good--8,why use  capital    
punishment at all8 ,do you desire virtue
 and the people will be  virtuous4 ,the 
moral character of the ruler is to that 
of his subjects  as wind is to          
grass--when the wind blows the grass    
bends40#ae ,and in  another passage he  
is represented as approving of an old   
saying that  after good government for a
 hundred years capital punishment might 
be  dispensed with4#af ,another maxim of
 the ,tao-t ,ching also inculcated  by  
,confucius is this--that the sovereign  
ought to anticipate and be  prepared for
 reverses of fortune--that he ought to  
devise measures for  repressing         
rebellion while as yet there is no sign 
of disturbance2  this1 says the ,shu    
,king1 was the method pursued by the    
ancient  rulers4#ag ,so also both sages 
taught that the ruler should always be  
grave and serious1 mindful of the solemn
 charge which he has received  from     
,heaven4#ah ,in the ,confucian writings1
 again1 no less than in the  ,tao-t     

,ching1 rulers are forbidden to covet   
and strive for rare and  outlandish     
objects1 such things having a tendency  
to stir up strife  and lead the heart   
astray4#ai ,further in the high         
pre-eminence  assigned to the sovereign1
 ,confucius is of the same mind with    
,lao-tz4  ,as the latter ranks him with 
,heaven and ,earth1 so also does the    
former4#bj ,in the opinion of each he   
reigns by divine right1 and is  himself 
indeed at least half divine4 ,son of    
,heaven is a frequent  designation of   
him in the ,classics4 ,confucius indeed 
in some places is  much more wildly     
extravagant in his statements about the 
sovereign  than we would be inclined to 
expect4 ,finally1 to both sages the     
great  and paramount consideration for a
 prince or chief seemed to be the  peace
 and prosperity of his people4 ,light   
taxes1 few legal  restrictions1 and a   
general kind treatment are strongly     
recommended by  both4#ba ,they differ1  
however1 in this respect that while     

,lao-tz  overlooks or slights education1
 ,confucius regards it as of great      
importance2 but few who know the nature 
of the education which  ,confucius      
recommended to his son of carp-derived  
name1 but which he  did not give him1   
would be disposed to regret the want of 
it in a  ruler or magistrate4    ,it now
 remains to speak of the ,ethical       
teachings of ,lao-tz and  ,confucius1   
and here also we find considerable      
similarity1 only a few  instances of    
which can now be indicated4 ,as         
,confucius disclaimed the  distinction  
of being original in his views1 ,i am   
much inclined to  believe that the      
resemblance between the doctrines of the
 classics and  those of the ,tao-t      
,ching often point to a borrowing on the
 part of  the former from the latter4   
,the low place which is assigned to     
intellectual and mechanical             
accomplishment in this work seems to be 
wrong1 and ,confucius would scarcely go 
so far4 ,he too1 however1 places  virtue

 above wisdom1 and seems sometimes to   
think that perfect virtue  ensures to   
its possessor other and less noble      
qualities4 ,he is not  unmindful of the 
value of intellectual acquirements and  
assigns to  them considerable           
importance4 ,it must be remembered      
besides that the  accomplishments of    
which ,lao-tz speaks disparagingly are  
those  more for show than utility1 and  
that in this respect ,confucius  is at  
one with him4 ,the vice of talking      
specious and flattering words  is       
condemned by the one as strongly as by  
the other4 ,artful words and  a clever  
appearance are seldom virtuous1 is a    
sentence which ,confucius  is           
represented as repeating on several     
occasions4#bb ,in the ,yi-ching  it is  
said that the good man talks little and 
the violent man talks  much4#bc ,here it
 is worthy of notice that the word which
 is opposed  to chi 771 good1 is not    
hsiung 771 wicked1 but tsao 771 a  word 
which means fierce or violent4 ,indeed  

,confucius insists on the  gentle life  
no less earnestly than ,lao-tz1 although
 he is not always  consistent4 ,he also 
recommends abstinence from litigation4  
,like  ,lao-tz he teaches that the man  
of extensive influence ought to abase   
himself before others--ought to yield   
and never wrangle4#bd ,on some          
occasions ,confucius is represented as  
holding the maxim that what a  man would
 not desire another to do to him he     
should not do to  others1#be while he is
 also represented as objecting to the   
words of  ,lao-tz that injury should be 
repaid by kindness4#bf ,but on the other
  hand he makes it one of the           
characteristics of the ,chn-tz 77 or    
noble man1 that he does not strive1 and 
a yielding1 forbearing  disposition is  
one of the virtues which admiring       
disciples have  assigned to 8the        
,master0 himself4 ,in connection with   
this it may be  mentioned that the      
,confucian writings are as bitter as the
 ,tao-t  ,ching against the show and    

consciousness of being virtuous4 ,the   
words  of the ,emperor ,shun to ,y as   
recorded in the ,shu ,king are very like
  those of ,lao-tz1 8,without any       
prideful presumption1 there is no one   
in the empire to contest with you the   
palm of ability2 without any  boasting1 
there is no one in the empire to contest
 with you the claim  of merit40#bg      
,the lofty eminence on which ,lao-tz    
places the ,god-like man is not  greater
 than that to which ,confucius raises   
him4 ,this person ranks1  according to  
both1 with ,heaven and ,earth1 and      
assists these in their  great unceasing 
labours of producing1 nourishing1 and   
ruling the  creatures of the            
universe4#bh ,with ,heaven and ,earth he
 makes a  trinity1 and is scarcely      
inferior to them4 ,like ,heaven1 which  
he  imitates1 he is free from           
partialities1 and is universal in his   
sympathies4#bi ,one of the philosophers1
 ,chng1 a ,confucianist after  the most 
straitest sect1 forgets his master's    

doctrine in this respect  and through   
excess of orthodoxy actually becomes    
heterodox4#cj  ,criticising ,lao-tz's   
statement that ,heaven1 ,earth1 and the 
,god-like  man are pu jen 771 that is1  
are without any partialities or         
particular affection1 he says that we   
may make this remark of ,heaven  and    
,earth but not of the ,god-like man who 
feels for and compassionates  his fellow
 creatures1 and thus is able to enlarge 
his way of life4#ca  ,this author1      
however1 seems to be here guilty of a   
sophisma  equivocationis1 as jn in the  
former part of the paragraph is used  in
 a bad sense while in the latter part it
 has a good sense4 ,the words  of the   
,king of ,chow to the newly appointed   
,chief ,hu on this subject  are very    
similar to those of ,lao-tz--8,great    
,heaven has no  affections--it helps    
only the virtuous40#cb ,so also1 as     
,lao-tz says  it is ,heaven's way to    
take from that which has too much and   
give to  that which wants1 the          

,shu-ching says in like terms 8,it is   
virtue  which moves ,heaven2 there is no
 distance to which it does not reach4   
,pride brings loss1 and humility        
receives increase3--this is the way of  
,heaven40#cc    ,again1 the doctrine of 
the ,tao-t ,ching1 that violence and    
excess  cannot endure1 appears also in  
the ,confucian works4 ,it occurs1 for   
instance1 in the ,li-chi1 and it is     
worthy of observation that the          
illustrious commentator on the passage  
regards the expression there  used as a 
quotation1 but does not know from what  
work4#cd ,had the  words been identical 
there could not have been any           
possibility of  doubt4 ,there is also a 
common saying among the ,chinese1       
derived from  the ,yi-ching1 that when  
the sun has reached his meridian he     
begins to  decline1 and when the moon   
has reached her full she begins to wane1
  thus intimating the fickleness of     
fortune4 ,this idea is represented in   
the ,tao-t ,ching under a different     

figure4    ,in many passages of the     
books which go by his name1 ,confucius  
is made  to impress on his disciples the
 necessity of attending to what is      
unseen and internal1 and taking it for  
granted that the visible and  external  
will follow as a natural consequence4#ce
 ,in this too he is  nearly like to     
,lao-tz4 ,one passage of the ,lun-y even
 speaks of ,li  771 or the full         
complement of external virtues1 on which
 ,confucius  generally lays great stress
 as something to be postponed to the    
genuine qualities of the heart4#cf ,the 
whole of the thirty-third  chapter of   
the ,chung-yung may be regarded as a    
sort of commentary on  what ,lao-tz has 
said on this and some other topics4 ,the
 passages  quoted in this chapter from  
the ,shi-ching are merely texts which   
have  not the slightest reference to the
 homilies on them except in one or  two 
cases4    ,further1 as ,lao-tz believed 
in a long-past time of simplicity and   
purity1 so also did ,confucius1 and his 

love for antiquity and his  esteem for  
the ancient sages were perhaps even     
greater than those of  ,lao-tz4#cg ,of  
the five characteristics given of the   
old kings who  had kept good government 
in their kingdoms the first is that they
  honoured those who had ,te 771 that   
is1 their perfect inborn nature1  and   
this is explained to mean those who     
approach ,tao4 ,both sages  represent   
the ancients as solid and not showy1 as 
wanting in  intellectual arts but       
perfect in simple virtue4 ,they should  
be1 both  thought1 in the conduct of    
life no less than in affairs of ,state  
the  models for all after generations4  
,turn to the good old paths wherein  our
 forefathers walked who were better than
 we1 is what ,lao-tz and  ,confucius    
equally teach4 ,go back1 says the       
latter1 to the days of ,yao  and ,shun1 
and ,y1 and kings ,wn and ,wu1 and ,duke
 ,chou1 and make them  your patterns in 
all things even as they made ,heaven    
theirs4 ,ascend  still further1 says    

,lao-tz1 and follow the lives of those  
primitive  worthies who died before the 
arts and vices of civilisation had      
appeared on the earth4    ,what the     
inducements are which ,lao-tz holds out 
to a life of  self-subduing and virtue  
has been seen already1 and those which  
the  ,confucian books hold out to such a
 life are very similar4#ch ,an  insight 
into the mysteries of ,providence1      
length of years1 a peaceful  death1 and 
a good name among men are the chief     
rewards for such a  life4 ,confucius in 
one place is represented as making      
perfect  knowledge precede              
self-purification4#ci ,this1 however1 is
 not1 ,i  think1 in accordance with the 
general spirit of his teachings1 and if 
he ever did make the statement reported 
it is probably only one of  those       
nonsensical utterances which he seems to
 have occasionally made1  solely for the
 purpose of having a long string of     
short sentences4 ,the  statement in     
question is even on ,chu-hsi's          

interpretation absurd and  impossible4  
,in their views about death1 also1 our  
two sages seem to have been much  alike4
 ,they do not refer to a state of       
existence hereafter1 and they  seem to  
have regarded the grave as the end of   
man1 so far as his  consciousness of    
being was concerned1 at least4 ,on this 
subject1  however1 we must speak with   
caution as the utterances of both are   
few  and dark4    ,a few general        
observations will now conclude these    
rather disjointed  remarks about the    
points of similarity in the ,tao-t      
,ching and the  ,confucian classics4    
,the ,chung-yung1 or ,constant ,mean1   
called by ,dr4  ,legge the ,doctrine of 
the ,mean1 amplifies and illustrates    
several of  ,lao-tz's teachings1 and    
every reader of the book must have      
observed  the frequency of the          
occurrence of the word ,tao in it4 ,the 
expression  ,chung-yung is1 indeed1     
sometimes almost convertible with this  
word1  and ,confucius speaks of keeping 

it in terms very similar to those  which
 ,lao-tz uses about ,tao4 ,again1 the   
,li 77 of the ,li-chi1 ,lun-y1  and     
other works is a word of far wider and  
deeper signification than  our          
translations usually represent4 ,it     
seems often to indicate the  carrying   
out of the theoretical ,tao into        
practical life4#dj ,several  passages in
 the classic1 named from the word1 might
 be cited in  support of the above view1
 and in one remarkable sentence1        
,confucius  says that ,li must have had 
its origin in the 8,great ,one40#da ,the
  ,shu-ching1 or ,classic of historical 
excerpts1 contains1 as has been  seen1  
many doctrines and sayings similar to   
those of the ,tao-t ,ching1  and a      
similar remark applies to the           
,yi-,ching1 especially to its  appendix4
 ,the collection of early moral and     
immoral ballads usually  dignified by   
the title ,shi-ching or ,classic of     
poetry1 as might have  been expected1   
does not throw much light on the        

influence exercised by  ,lao-tz over    
,confucius or the similarity of their   
teachings1 and the  same is true of the 
,chun-chiu 77 or ,annals of his ,dynasty
 by  ,confucius4 ,descending to ,mencius
 we find in the sayings recorded of  him
 many doctrines very like some of       
,lao-tz's1 and it is a remarkable  fact 
that he never refers to the latter      
either in praise or in  dispraise4      
,later ,confucianists have regarded     
their ,master as a born  sage1 and they 
would generally scout the idea that he  
was under  serious obligations to any   
one1 and to ,lao-tz in particular4      
,while noticing the many points of      
affinity between ,lao-tz and            
,confucius1 we ought not to forget that 
there are at the same time  great and   
important differences between them4 ,the
 type of mind of the  former does not   
very much resemble that of the latter4  
,lao-tz is  chiefly synthetic and       
,confucius analytic in tendency4 ,the   
former likes  to sum up particular      

virtues and existences1 and refer them  
to one  all-embracing idea4 ,the latter 
shows how one great principle branches  
off and becomes separated into many     
secondary odes and finally  permeates   
all things4 ,the one is a philosopher at
 home1 and the other  a schoolmaster    
abroad4 ,the relation between the two   
may in some  respects be compared to    
that between ,plato and ,aristotle1 if  
it be  lawful to compare small things   
with great4 ,the character of ,plato's  
mind also somewhat resembles that of    
,lao-tz1 while ,aristotle is very       
faintly foreshadowed in ,confucius4 ,he 
was a disciple of ,plato and yet  he    
came to differ very widely from his     
master1 but not more than  ,confucius   
did from ,lao-tz4 ,in both cases the    
disciple became more  practical and less
 theoretical than his master4 ,yet it   
must be borne  in mind that many of     
,confucius' teachings in politics and   
morals are  either nonsensical or at    
least vague and incomprehensible1 and   

that  ,lao-tz's general theories are not
 seldom applicable to particulars  and  
the actual world4      #a ,page #i4     
#b ,vol4 ii41 ,appendix1 ch4 #ab4       
#c ,vol4 ii41 ,appendix1 ch4 #e4      #d
 ,ch4 #aj1 page #fe1 compare also the   
,chung-,yung1 ch4 #bg4      #e ,vol4    
ii41 ,appendix1 ch4 #b4      #f ,ch4 #i1
 p4 #f4 ,see also the remarks of        
,callery in his note to this            
passage4 ,li-ki1 p4 #adb4      #g       
,chinese ,classics1 vol4 i41 p4 #bhb    
#c-d4 ,the ,chinese and their           
,rebellions1 p4 #cea4      #h ,compare  
,yi-ching1 ,vol4 ii41 ,appendix1 ch4    
#aa1 with the ,tao-t        ching1 ch4  
#f4      #i ,legge's ,shu1 vol4 i41 p4  
#aac4      #aj ,chinese ,classics1 vol4 
#a1 p4 #aei4      #aa ,legge's ,shu     
,king1 vol4 ii41 p4 #caf4      #ab      
,legge's ,ch4 ,classics1 vol1 i41 p4    
#dd4      #ac ,see for instance ,legge1 
,ch4 ,classics1 vol4 i41 p4 #acf4       
#ad ,see ,legge1 vol4 i41 ps4 #abb1     
#acj2 also the ,li-chi1 ch4 #d1 p4 #eb4 

#ae ,legge1 c41 vol4 i41 p4 #abb4       
#af ,legge1 c41 vol4 i41 p4 #aca4       
#ag ,legge's ,shu ,king1 vol4 ii41 p4   
#ebe4 ,vol4 i41 p4 #beg4      #ah       
,legge's ,shu ,king1 vol4 i41 p4 #gd1   
also vol4 ii41 p4 #ecb4      #ai        
,legge's ,shu ,king1 vol4 i41 p4 #cdi4  
,vol4 ii41 p4 #egd4      #bj ,see       
,li-chi1 ch1 #h1 p4 #gj4      #ba ,legge
 ,shu ,king1 c41 vol4 i41 p4 #aeh4      
#bb ,see ,legge1 ,ch4 ,classics1 vol4   
i41 #aff and p4 #c4 ,compare also the   
memorable words in the ,li-chi1 ch4 #i1 
p4 #dhi4      #bc ,vol4 ii41 ,appendix1 
,part #b1 ch4 #ab4      #bd ,see ,legge 
,ch4 ,classics1 vol4 i1 p4 #ba4      #be
 ,see ,legge1 vol4 i41 p4 #afe4      #bf
 ,see ,legge1 vol4 i41 p4 #aeb4      #bg
 ,legge's ,shu ,king1 vol4 i41 p4 #fj4  
,see also ,dr4 ,legge's note on         
the passage4 ,see also do4 p4 #beg4     
#bh ,see ,li-chi1 ch4 #d1 p4 #eb4       
#bi ,see ,legge's ,chinese ,classics1   
vol4 i41 p4 #ad4      #cj ,see the 1    
ch41 #ag1 p4 #b4      #ca ,a quotation  

from the ,lun-y1 ,b4 xv1 ch4 #bh4       
#cb ,legge's ,shu king1 vol4 ii41 p4    
#dij4 ,see also1 vol4 i41 p4 #bji4      
#cc ,legge's vo,l i41 p4 #fe4 ,reference
 is apparently made to the              
,yi-ching where  and  are two of the    
,diagrams4 ,it is a         wonder that 
this escaped ,dr4 ,legge's notice4      
#cd ,see ,li-chi1 ch4 #a1 p4 #a1 and    
,chu-hsi's note4      #ce ,compare on   
this1 other topics mentioned by ,lao-tz1
 the character         of the  in the   
,li-chi1 ch4 #aj4      #cf ,legge's ,ch4
 ,classics1 vol4 i41 p4 #ba4      #cg   
,see ,legge's ,shu1 c41 vol4 ii41 p4    
#dia4      #ch ,for the duty of         
self-denial at certain times see the    
,li-chi1         ch4 #c1 p4 #ec1 and    
,callery's ,li-ki1 p4 #ca4      #ci ,the
 ,great ,learning4 ,see ,legge's ,ch4   
,classics1 vol4 i41 p4 #bbb4      #dj   
,in the ,li-chi1 ,confucius says that as
 a parrot does not cease to         be a
 bird though it can speak1 so though    
creatures have the         appearance of

 men1 yet if they have not ,li they are 
not men4         ,ch4 #a41 p4 #d4       
#da ,li-chi1 ch4 #d1 p4 #fj4            
,,chapter ,,ix4                         
,,conclusion4      ,it would be a very  
interesting study to examine the points 
of  similarity and difference in the    
writings of the early ,buddhists and    
the teachings of ,lao-tz2 but this      
cannot be attempted here4 ,there is  one
 circumstance1 however1 to which ,i     
shall allude1 that is1 the  resemblance 
of the ,buddhist ,bodhisattva 7,pusa7   
,mandjusri to ,lao-tz4  ,the ,nepaulese 
traditions about this ,pusa also make   
him to be a  foreigner and to have come 
to their country from ,china1 though    
other  accounts represent him as        
returning from the latter country to his
  home in ,nepaul4 ,a full and very     
interesting account of ,mandjusri1 or   
8,madjuri10 as ,burnouf writes it1 will 
be found in that accomplished  scholar's
 8,le ,lotus de la bonne ,loi40#a       
,rmusat and ,pauthier insist  on the    

western origin of ,lao-tz's doctrines1  
and there are certainly  not a few      
points of resemblance between them and  
some of the early  ,indian systems of   
religion and philosophy4 ,of these the  
doctrine of  annihilation1 or at least  
of final absorption1 is one of the most 
striking4    ,another interesting study 
in connection with ,lao-tz would be to  
trace  the history of his opinions among
 succeeding generations4 ,this would    
however1 be in great degree a painful   
study4 ,the metaphysical work of        
,chwang-tz1 wild and extravagant though 
it be occasionally1 is worthy  of being 
read1 and ,m4 ,julien has kindly        
promised to translate it for  us4       
,lie-tz and several others of his       
followers are also worth  reading1 but  
the great majority of so called ,taoist 
books are utterly  despicable at least  
in our eyes4 ,mr4 ,edkins says of the   
8,taoist  system0--8,its appeal is made 
to the lower wants of the ,chinese4 ,it 
invents divinities to promote the       

physical well-being of the people4  ,the
 gods of riches1 of longevity1 of war1  
and of particular disease1  all belong  
to this religion40#b ,the pure and      
spiritual sayings  uttered by ,lao-tz   
have been taken in a gross sense and    
perverted by  thoughtless1 faithless    
people1 who would have a meritorious    
life  consist solely in external acts1  
thus entirely reversing their  master's 
precepts4 ,he spoke of length of days to
 be desired as the  result of a calm and
 philosophic life1 but degenerate       
followers sought  for many years1 in    
ways shameful to relate4 ,they changed  
his plain and  simple language into     
euphuistic terms which cause them to be 
reproached4 ,the ,taoists1 says one     
author1 call the chattering of their    
teeth the ,heavenly drum1 they swallow  
their spittle and call it the  ,fairy   
,spring1 they speak of horse's excrement
 as magical fuel and of  rats as        
vivifying medicine4 ,by such means they 
think they can attain  ,tao1 but1 as the

 writer asks1--can they attain it8#c    
,though his doctrines1 however1 have    
become greatly corrupted and  perverted 
the greatness of ,lao-tz himself has not
 diminished4 ,from  the time of the     
,empress 77 of the ,west ,hans1 near the
 end of the ,chou  dynasty1 the         
beginning of his honour dates1 and from 
the time of the  ,chin and ,liang       
dynasties down to the ,great ,tang      
dynasty1 his  doctrines and his name    
were glorified4#d ,he was promoted to be
 a  ,god1 and wonderful things were     
invented about him and the ,tao of      
which he spoke so much4 ,one of the     
,tang emperors conferred on him the     
sublime title--,great ,ruler of the very
 exalted mysterious ,beginning4  ,nor   
has he remained without honour among    
outside barbarians4  ,cunningham        
says3--8,he 7,lao-tz7 was therefore a   
contemporary of ,sakya  ,muni1 by whom  
he is said to have been worsted in      
argument4 ,by the  ,tibetan ,buddhists  
he is called ,sen-rabs2 but this perhaps

 signifies  nothing more than that he   
was of the race or family of ,sena4 ,his
 faith  continued paramount in ,great   
,tibet for nine centuries1 until        
,buddhism  was generally introduced by  
,seong-,stan in the middle of the       
seventh  century40#e ,it seems to me    
more than doubtful1 however1 whether    
these  ,tirthikas of ,india1 to whom    
,cunningham alludes as the adherents of 
,lao-tz's faith1 can be regarded as     
such4 ,a large and influential  school  
could not be established in so short a  
time as elapsed between  the time when  
,lao-tz flourished and the time of      
,buddha's preaching1  if indeed any time
 whatever elapsed4 ,it is perhaps       
sufficient to  observe that there is a  
considerable amount of similarity       
between the  tenets imputed to the      
,tirthikas and those of the ,chinese    
philosopher4    ,the followers of       
,lao-tz spread his fame among the       
,japanese islands  also1 where ,sinto or
 ,shn-tao1 that is the ,spiritual ,tao1 

was known  before ,buddhism was         
introduced4 ,sir ,r4 ,alcock1 however1  
says--8,that  there was an indigenous   
religion as old as their 7the ,japanese7
  history1 one formed by and for        
themselves in long-past ages1 the       
,sintoo1 which survives to this day2    
that some ten or fifteen centuries  ago 
or more1 this was overlaid by the       
,confucian doctrines--a code of  moral  
ethics1 not a religion in the proper    
sense of the term--and about  the       
seventh century both were in great      
degree supplemented by the  ,buddhist   
faith derived from ,china1 we do know   
with tolerable  certainty4 ,but this is 
nearly the sum40#f ,mr4 ,edkins has     
given a  short but very interesting     
account of ,taoism in ,japan1 derived   
principally from ,kmpfer4 ,it is        
somewhat remarkable that as the         
,japanese have their spiritual chief or 
,mikado so the ,chinese ,taoists  also  
have one1 and each is supposed to be a  
present deity having a  sacred title    

derived through many ages4 ,the ,chinese
 chief1 however1 is  a much less        
powerful and important personage than   
the ,mikado4 ,the  first of the ,taoist 
patriarchs in ,china was ,chang         
,tao-ling 77 who  lived in the time of  
the ,han dynasty4#g ,lao-tz appeared to 
him on  the ,stork-cry ,hill and told   
him that in order to attain the state of
  immortality which he was seeking he   
must subdue a number of demons4         
,tao-ling in his eagerness slew too     
many1 and ,lao-tz told him that  ,shang 
,ti required him to do penance for a    
time4 ,finally1 however1 he  was allowed
 to become an immortal1 and the         
spiritual chiefdom of the  ,taoists was 
given to his family for ever4 ,the      
descendants of ,tao-ling  reside at the 
,dragon-tiger ,hill near ,kwei-hsi in   
the province of  ,kiangsi4 ,it is       
apparently about this ,chang ,tao-ling  
that ,edkins  says--8,chang1 one of the 
genii of ,taouist romance1 is believed  
to be  identical with the star cluster  

of the same name1 and he is  represented
 by painters and idol-makers with a bow 
in his hands1  shooting the heavenly    
dog40#h ,one title of this spiritual    
chief in  ,china is ,tien-shi1 or       
,heavenly ,teacher and the original     
patriarch  seems to be worshipped in    
,japan under this name4 ,commodore      
,perry says  that of the two and twenty 
shrines in the kingdom which command the
  homage of pilgrimage1 8the great and  
most sacred one is that of the          
,sun-goddess1 ,ten-sio-dai-sin1 at      
,isye40 ,previously he had stated--8,it 
is said that the only object of worship 
among the ,sintoos is the  ,sun-goddess1
 ,ten-sio-dai-zin1 who is deemed the    
patron divinity of  ,japan 999999 ,the  
,mikado is supposed to be her lineal    
descendant40#h ,why1  however1 the deity
 should be a female and a ,sun-goddess  
,i do not  understand4    ,we must now  
bid farewell to ,lao-tz4 ,the study of  
his work and his  life1 as also of the  
fortunes of his doctrines1 is a         

difficult task  but not without interest
 and instruction1 and the writer is     
afraid he  has lingered too long over   
it4 ,he hopes1 however1 that his efforts
  will even in a very small degree help 
to raise ,lao-tz to the place in  the   
history of ,philosophy1 and in the      
history of the benefactors of  humanity1
 to which he is fairly entitled4      #a
 ,page #dih1 c4      #b ,religious      
,condition1 c41 p4 #fh4      #c ,see the
 ,yuan-chien1 c41 ch4 #cai4      #d ,see
 ,chu-hsi's ,tsa-cho1 ch4 #i4      #e   
,ladak1 p4 #ceh4      #f ,the ,capital  
of the ,tycoon1 vol4 ii41 p4 #beh       
#g ,see for this man the  ch4 #h4       
#h ,religious ,condition1 c41 p4 #adj4  
#i ,american ,expedition to ,japan1 ps4 
#bd-e4                                  
,,finis4                                
,,transcriber',s ,,notes     #a4        
,obvious minor typographical errors have
 been silently corrected4   #b4         
,hyphenation of words and titles has    
been standardized to the most           

commonly used version for a given part  
of speech4   #c4 ,spelling has been     
standardized except in the case of      
direct quotes      of other writers4    
#d4 ,footnotes have been renumbered and 
placed at the end of each      chapter4 
#e4 ,chinese romanization standardized  
to use the ,unicode reversed      comma 
to mark aspirated stops in initial      
consonants4