In the books of the Literati In Huai Nan Tse. Cf. p. 89. we find the statement that Kung Kung A legendary being of prehistoric times. struggled with Chuan Hsü A mythical emperor. for the empire, and that out of anger that he was defeated, he knocked against the Pu Chou Mountain, The Pu Chou Mountain forms part of the K`un-lun, which latter is also called "Pillar of Heaven" (T`ien-chu). thereby causing the break-down of the "Pillar of Heaven" and the délabrement of the confines of the earth. But Nü Wa The sister of the mythical emperor Fu Hsi. melted multicoloured stones, and therewith plastered up the blue sky, and cut off the legs of a sea-turtle, which she erected at the four extremities of the universe. However, heaven was not complete in the north-west, therefore sun and moon moved, To wit from east to west. and there was a piece of the earth missing in the south-east, hence all the rivers flowed to the ocean. The ocean is in the east of China. This is a very old tradition, believed by most people. Cf. Lieh Tse V, 5v.; where this old tradition is told with almost the same words. Well educated persons will think it strange, but they have nothing to say against it, or if they have, they are unable to settle the question. They may also be afraid, lest the thing should be really true, and therefore dare not discuss it seriously. According to the laws of nature and from a human point of view, it is all idle talk.

If a man fighting with another for the empire, out of anger that he did not win, knocked against the Pu Chou Mountain, and caused the pillar of heaven to break, and the confines of the earth to be smashed, if his strength was like that, he would have no opponent on earth. With such a force he could engage three armies, and the soldiers would be to him like ants, and their weapons like blades of grass. Why should he, resenting his defeat, strike against Mount Pu Chou?

There is nothing harder and heavier than a mountain. The strength of ten thousand men pushing would not be able to move even a small mountain, and Mount Pu Chou must have been a big one. If it was really the "Pillar of Heaven," it would be a difficult thing to break it. If it was not, then it cannot be admitted that by knocking against the Pu Chou Mountain the "Pillar of Heaven" was broken.---Chuan Hsü in his fight against Kung Kung might have mustered all the soldiers on earth and all the multitudes peopling the land within the seas, he would not have been a match for him. How should Kung Kung not have been victorious?

Moreover, is heaven air or a body? If it be air, it cannot be different from clouds and mist. Then there could be no pillar which might be broken. Since Nü Wa repaired it with stones, it must be a body. If it be so in fact, then it is something like gems and stones. The substance of stones is heavy, a single pillar would not be a sufficient support for a thousand Li. Not even the peaks of the Five Mountains The Five Sacred Mountains of China:---Tai-shan in Shantung, Hêng-shan in Hunan, Hua-shan in Shensi, Hêng-shan in Chili, and Sung-shan in Honan. could prop heaven as pillars.

When Mount Pu Chou was struck, did it support heaven? The mountain was broken by Kung Kung. At that time heaven ought to have fallen down. How could it be raised again, once collapsed, and how could the four poles be erected with cut off legs of a sea-turtle? Some one might say that a sea-turtle was a monster of olden times with immense legs, and that its legs therefore could be erected as the four poles.

Now Pu Chou is a mountain, a sea-turtle an animal. Originally a mountain was serving as pillar of heaven. Kung Kung broke it, and it was replaced by the legs of an animal. Bones become putrified, how could they long stand upright? If the legs of a sea-turtle could support heaven, the body of the turtle must have been of such enormous dimensions, that it would not have had room enough between heaven and earth. How could Nü Wa have killed it, though she was a saint? If she was able to do it, how did she manage it? Provided that the legs could be used as the pillars of heaven, their skin must have been as hard as stone and iron; swords as well as halberds would have been ineffective against it, nor could a sharp arrow, shot from a strong cross-bow, have pierced it.

We see that at present heaven is very high and far distant from the earth. The heaven of to-day is the same with that of antiquity. When Kung Kung damaged it, heaven did not fall down upon the earth. Nü Wa was human; a man may be very tall, he never will reach up to heaven. When Nü Wa was repairing it, on what steps did she climb up, and on what did she stand, while doing her work? Was the heaven of olden days perhaps like the roof of a hall, and not far distant from men, so that Kung Kung could destroy, and Nü Wa repair it? If this was actually so, there would have been many Nü Wa's. Of people living prior to Nü Wa the Human Emperors These are still believed to have been preceded by a dynasty of sovereigns of Heaven, and of sovereigns of Earth, all fabulous beings. were the oldest. Was at the time of the Human Emperors heaven like a canopy?

The commentators of the Yiking say that previous to the separation of the primogenial vapours there was a chaotic and uniform mass, and the books of the Literati speak of a wild medley, and of air not yet separated. When it came to be separated, the pure elements formed heaven, and the impure ones earth. According to the expositors of the Yiking and the writings of the Literati the bodies of heaven and earth, when they first became separated, were still small, and they were not far distant from each other, so much so, that heaven might well have reclined on the Pu Chou Mountain, and that Kung Kung could smash, and Nü Wa repair it.

All beings filled with air grow. Heaven and earth contain air, which develops spontaneously. A great many years have elapsed since their first beginning. Hence it is impossible to calculate the distance between heaven and earth now, whether it be wide or narrow, far or near. What the scholars write about it may so far be correct, the statement, however, that Kung Kung knocked against Mount Pu Chou, broke the "Pillar of Heaven," and smashed the borders of the earth, that with liquified multicoloured stones the blue sky was repaired, and that the legs of a sea-turtle were cut off, and set up as the four poles, is all the same untenable. Even though a mountain might be moved, Kung Kung's force would not suffice to break it. Were at the time, when heaven and earth first separated, the mountains small and men great? How else could they have knocked against a mountain, and broken it?

The repairing of heaven by means of five kinds of stones may at least be discussed. These stones might have worked like mineral drugs curing a disease. Supposing heaven to be a spirit or a human-like living being. But the cutting off of the legs of a sea-turtle and putting them up at the four poles, cannot be mentioned in earnest. It is a long time since Nü Wa. Do the four poles look like the legs of a turtle?

In Tsou Yen's A scholar of the 4th cent. B.C. who wrote on cosmogony and geography. See p. 19. book there is a notice to the effect, that there are nine divisions of the Empire viz. the nine divisions forming the tributary land of Yü. The Nine Circuits of Yü are so to speak but one continent. If in the "Tribute of Yü" The well known chapter of the Shuking. Nine Circuits are mentioned, they are the present Nine Circuits of the Empire. They are situated in the south-east of the earth and bear the name of Ch`ihhsien Literally the "Red Region," . or Shên-chou The "Divine Circuit," . (China). But there are eight continents besides. Each continent is hemmed in by the Four Seas, which are called Pai-hai. Minor Seas, . Beyond the Nine Continents there is still the Great Ocean. Ying-hai, ---

This statement is extraordinary and bewildering to the hearers, but they are unable to make out, whether it be correct or not. Thus it is being handed down by books, which are read, or repeated by word of mouth. Reality and fiction are equally transmitted to posterity, and the world does not distinguish between truth and untruth. People become perplexed, and a discussion is very difficult.

Tsou Yen's knowledge did not surpass that of Yü. When Yü controlled the deluge, Yi acted as his assistant. Cf. p. 330. While Yü was regulating the water, Yi noted all things. He explored the expanse of heaven, and penetrated to the farthest limits of the earth. He distinguished what was beyond the Four Seas, The Four Seas supposed to surround the habitable land i.e. China. and thoroughly investigated the region within the Four Mountains. The Four Sacred Mountains:---Tai-shan, Hêng-shan, Hua-shan and Hêng shan in the East, South, West, and North of ancient China. The Sung-shan in the Centre is omitted. See above p. 251. In the thirty five States he enumerated all the beasts and birds, plants, trees, minerals, stones, waters, and earths, but he did not say that there are still nine continents besides.

Liu An, prince of Huai Nan The Taoist philosopher Huai Nan Tse cf. p. 335. invited scientists like Wu Pei and Tso Wu. His palaces were full of such men, who wrote books on the Taoist doctrine. In the chapter where he treats of the things of the world and the shape of the earth, Chap. IV of Huai Nan Tse's work. he speaks of prodigies and the wonders of foreign lands, he also talks of the peculiarities of the thirty-five countries, but does not mention the existence of Nine Continents.

Tsou Yen did not travel as far as Yü and Yi on earth, and his experience was not greater than that of either Wu Pei or Tso Wu. His talents were not those of a sage, and he did not learn things by a special revelation from heaven. How then could he make such statements? Examined by the light of Yü's "Mountain Book" The "Mountain Book" = Shan-king forms the first five chapters of the "Mountain and Sea Classic" = Shan-hai-king, which tradition ascribes to Yü and his minister Yi, but it is probably not earlier than the 4th or the 3d cent. b.c. and of Huai Nan's chapter on the shape of the earth, his words are utterly wrong.

The Grand Annalist Shi-chi chap. 123, p. 19v. says:---"In the `Chronicle of Yü' This book is now lost. it is said that the Yellow River has its fountain-head in the K`un-lun, which is three thousand and five hundred Li The Shi-chi has 2,500 Li. high. There where sun and moon hide in the K`un-lun, it is full of splendour. On the mountain there is the Jade Spring and the Flower Lake. and . The Shi-chi writes:---"the Sweet Wine Spring and the Jasper Lake": and . Now, after Chang Ch`ien went as envoy to Bactria, Chang Ch`ien started on his famous expedition in 122 b.c. he traced the springs of the Yellow River, but did he see what the Chronicle relates about the K`un-lun? In what it says about the nine divisions, mountains, and rivers the Shuking may be near the truth, These subjects are treated in the chapter entitled the "Tribute of Yü." of the wonderful things to be found in Yü's Chronicle and the `Mountain Book.' The Shi-chi writes:---The Shan-hai-king. I dare not express myself."

"I dare not express myself" means that there is no truth in them. Every one has heard about the height of the K`un-lun, the Jade Spring, and the Flower Lake, but, when Chang Ch`ien went there personally, he found that these things did not exist. In the "Tribute of Yü" mountains, rivers, and wonderful things, precious metals and stones occurring in the Nine Circuits are all enumerated, but there is no reference to the Jade Spring or the Flower Lake on the K`un-lun. In the opinion of the Grand Annalist the reports of the "Mountain Book" and the "Chronicle of Yü" are inventions.

In all things which are difficult to know, it is not easy to find out the truth.

The pole is the centre of heaven. At present the world lies south from the pole of Yü, therefore the heavenly pole must be in the north, heaven must be high there, and more people living in that region. According to the "Tribute of Yü" the east is washed by the ocean, and the west covered with "flying sand." These must be the extreme limits of heaven and earth.

When the sun pricks, his diameter measures a thousand Li. Now, if the sun is observed at his rise from Yin and Chih hsien Chih = must be a misprint, for such a character is not to be found in the dictionaries. We ought to read Mou = . Yin and Mou were two districts of the K`uei-chi circuit comprising Chekiang and parts of Anhui and Fukien under the Han dynasty. Yin was in the south-east of Mou, both situated in the present Ningpo prefecture. (Cf. Kanghi's Dict.) in K`uei-chi on the eastern sea-shore, his diameter appears to be no more than two feet, which proves that the sun is still very far. Consequently there must be more land eastward. This being the case, the assertion about the pole being in the north and about the extension of heaven and earth is not made at random. Tsou Yen's assertion. In this way the statements of Tsou Yen cannot be controverted, and what the "Chronicle of Yü" says on mountains and seas, and Huai Nan Tse's lucubrations on the shape of the earth appear unreliable.

Tsou Yen holds that at present the "land under heaven" I. e. the habitable land or China. lies in the south-east of the earth, and is called Ch`ih hsien or Shên chou. Now, the heavenly pole is the centre of heaven. If at present the "land under heaven" were situated in the south-east of the earth, the pole ought to appear in the north-west. Since in fact it is straight north, the world at present lies south of the pole. In regard to the pole the world cannot lie in the south-east, hence Tsou Yen's statement to this effect is wrong.

If it were in the south-east, it would be near to the sun's rising place, and the light of the rising sun ought to appear bigger. Now, whether looked at from the Eastern Sea or from the Gobi, the size of the sun remains the same. Although the points of observation be ten thousand Li distant, it makes no difference in the size of the sun. That shows that at present the world occupies but a small part of the expanse of the earth.

Loyang is the centre of the Nine Circuits. Loyang is considered the centre of the world i. e. China. Viewed from Loyang the north-pole appears direct north. The shore of the Eastern Sea is three thousand Li distant from Loyang. Seen from there the pole is likewise in the north. By analogy we may safely assume that viewed from the Gobi the pole will also appear in the north. The Eastern Sea and the Gobi are the eastern and western borders of the Nine Circuits, ten thousand Li distant from one another, nevertheless the pole appears always north. The earth must therefore be very small and occupying a narrow space, since one never gets away from the pole.

The principality of Annam (Jih Nan i.e. the South of the Sun) is ten thousand Li distant from Loyang. People who had emigrated there, and came back, when asked, have said that, when the sun culminates, his resting-place cannot be in Annam. If we go ten thousand Li further south, the sun there must reach his south-point. Then the south-point of the sun would be twenty thousand Li distant from Loyang. Now, if we measure the distance of the way made by the sun from Loyang, it cannot be the same, as if we measure from the north-pole, because the pole is still very far from Loyang. Let us suppose that we went thirty thousand Li north. Even then we would not arrive under the pole. But provided we did, then we could say that we had reached the place just beneath the north-pole. Since from there to the south-point there would be fifty thousand Li, there must be fifty thousand Li north of the pole likewise, and under these circumstances there would also be fifty thousand Li from the pole eastward and westward in either direction. One hundred thousand Li from north to south, and one hundred thousand Li from east to west multiplied would give a million square Li. Wang Ch`ung is a better theorist than arithmetician. The square of 100,000 is 10,000 millions, not 1 million. Wang Ch`ung supposes the earth to be an equilateral, rectangular square.

Tsou Yen opines that between heaven and earth there are nine continents like China. At the Chou period the Nine Circuits measured five thousand Li from east to west, and from north to south also five thousand Li. Five times five gives twenty-five, one continent therefore would contain twenty-five thousand square Li, which would be the size of China. The same mistake. The square of 5,000 is 25 millions. 25 million square Li, about 8 million square kilometer is approximately the area of the Eighteen Provinces or China Proper. Twenty-five thousand Li multipiled by nine would give two hundred and twenty-five thousand square Li. Tsou Yen's figure 225,000 square Li (225 millions), which number is based on Tsou Yen's hypothesis that there are nine continents as large as China. may appear too high, but computation and a thorough investigation show us that, on the contrary, it is too low. Wang Ch`ung has calculated a million square Li (10,000 millions). The area of our Earth measures about 510 million square kilometer, not 2,500 millions (= 10,000 million square Li) as results from Wang Ch`ung's calculation.

The Literati say that heaven is air, and therefore not far from man. Consequently it immediately knows, whether they are right or wrong, and whether they possess secret virtues or vices, and also responds to them. This is regarded as a proof of its vicinity. But, if we examine the question critically, we find that heaven's body is not air.

Men are created by heaven, why then grudge it a body? Heaven is not air, but has a body on high and far from men. According to private traditions heaven is upwards of sixty-thousand Li distant from the earth. Huai Nan Tse says 50,000 Li. Some mathematicians reckon the entire circumference of heaven at 365 degrees. Thus the world all round is divided into degrees, and its height measures a certain number of Li. If heaven were really air, air like clouds and mist, how could then be so many Li or so many degrees? Besides we have the "twenty-eight constellations," which serve as resting-places to sun and moon, just as on earth the couriers lodge in postal stations. The postal stations on earth correspond to the solar mansions on heaven. Hence the statement found in books that heaven has a body is not baseless. To him who considers the question, as we have done, it becomes evident that heaven cannot be something diffuse and vague.

The Literati say that the sun, when he becomes visible in the morning, comes forth from darkness, and that, when he disappears in the evening, he re-enters darkness. The Yin fluid of darkness is obscure, they say, therefore the sun disappears in it, and becomes invisible.

In reality the sun neither leaves nor re-enters darkness, but how can we prove that?

Night is darkness; its fluid is also obscure. Night is here taken as something positive, something like a black veil, or dark air, not as the absence of light, which does not cause the disappearance of the sun, but is its consequence. But if a fire is made during the night, its light is not extinguished by the night. The darkness of night is the darkness of the north. The setting sun, which rises in the morning, is the kindled fire. The light of a fire, kindled at night-time, is not extinguished, that shows that, when the sun sets in the evening, a fluid The dark fluid of night. cannot be the cause of his disappearance.

Observing the sun-rise and the sun-set in winter, we remark that, in the morning, he rises in the south-east, and, in the evening, he sets in the south-west. The south-east and the south-west are not the region of the Yin or darkness. According to Chinese symbolism the Yin principle of darkness corresponds to the north. How then can it be said that the sun proceeds from and reverts to darkness? Furthermore, the stars notwithstanding their smallness remain visible, and the sun is extinguished in spite of his greatness? The reasoning of the scholars of to-day is thoughtless and shallow.

They again say that the shortness of the days in winter, and their length in summer are also brought about by the Yin and the Yang. In summer, the Yang fluid abounds, and the Yin fluid falls short. The Yang fluid shines with the same splendour as the sun. Consequently, when the sun comes forth, there is nothing to obscure him. In winter, the Yin fluid is dusky, and overshadows the sun-light. Therefore, although the sun rises, he remains dark and invisible. Thus in winter the days are short. The Yin is paramount, and the Yang is scarce, just the reverse of what takes place in summer.

However, if we consider the question seriously, we will find that the Yin and the Yang are not responsible for the length or the shortness of the days. This is made evident by the northern stars. The Yin of the north is the Yin of the sun. The Yin of the north does not overshadow the sparkling of the stars, why then should the Yin in winter obfuscate the brightness of the sun? Hence those who speak about the Yin and the Yang miss the truth.

As a matter of fact, in summer the sun stands in Gemini, in winter in Aquila. Literally: Tung-ching , the "Eastern Well," and Ch`ien-nu , the "Herdsman." Aquila is far from the pole, therefore the curve described by the sun is short. Gemini being near the pole, the solar curve is long then. In summer the sun proceeds northwards as far as Gemini, in winter southwards as far as Aquila. Therefore the extreme solar points in winter and summer are called "winter" and "summer limit." . The two solstices. Because in spring and autumn those extremes are not reached, one speaks of "vernal" and "autumnal division." . The two equinoxes.

Some people hold that in summer, when the Yang fluid abounds, it is in the south, and that in consequence heaven rises and becomes high. In winter the Yang fluid decays, and heaven sinks down, and becomes depressed. When heaven is high, the course of the sun increases in length, and the days are lengthened; when heaven is low, the solar curve decreases, and the days are short.

Now, if owing to the exuberance of the solar Yang fluid, heaven rises in the south, and the course of the sun is lengthened, the same increase ought to take place in regard to the moon. In summer, when the days are long, the sun rises in the north-east, but the moon in the south-east. In winter, when the days are short, the sun rises in the south-east, whereas the moon rises in the north-east. If in summer heaven were raised in the south, sun and moon ought equally to rise in the north-east, and, if in winter heaven were lowered, sun and moon should both rise in the south-east. It results from this, that in summer heaven does not rise in the south, and that in winter it is not depressed. On the contrary, in summer, when the days are long, the stars from which the sun rises are in the north, and in winter, when the days are short, these stars are in the south.

The following question may be raised. In summer, in the fifth moon, when the days are long, the sun stands in Gemini, which are near the pole, therefore the course of the sun is long. Now, we see that in the fifth moon the sun rises in the sign Yin This cyclical sign denotes ENE¾N on the compass and corresponds to Gemini. and sets in Hsü. Hsü = WNW¾N and Aquarius. The solar curve being so long and far from men, how is it that we see the sun rise in Yin and set in Hsü? When the sun stands in Gemini, he is very near to men. Gemini are near the pole, hence, when the pole turns round, they ought to remain always visible. Turning round with the pole. Provided that Gemini are by the side of the pole, ought we not to have no night, but continuous day? The sun turning round the pole in Gemini and never disappearing.

Some scholars assert that sun and moon have nine different courses, therefore, they say, the sun in his course is near or far, and day and night are long or short.---However, in the fifth month day-time makes up 11/16 and night-time 5/16, and in the sixth month the day is 10/16 and the night 6/16. From the sixth month to the eleventh month every month the day decreases by 1/16. That means that to the course of the sun every month 1/16 is added. In the lapse of a year the sun takes 16 different courses on heaven and not 9 only.

Another idea is that heaven is high in the south and depressed in the north. When the sun rises into the higher region, he becomes visible, and when he sets into the lower one, he disappears. Heaven is believed to be like a reclining umbrella, which is shown by the fact that the pole, as seen from us, is in the north. The pole is the centre of the world. Since it is north from us, heaven must evidently resemble a reclining umbrella.

If to illustrate the shining of the sun the analogy of a reclining umbrella be used, heaven must really have the shape of an umbrella. The polar star in the north of the upper part would correspond to the top of the umbrella, the south in the lower part would be like the stick of the umbrella, but where would that be? An umbrella reclining on the earth cannot turn round, but raise it straight, and it rotates. Now, provided that heaven revolves, its northern edge cannot touch the earth, for how could it revolve, if it knocked against the earth? We see from this that heaven cannot be shaped like a reclining umbrella, and that the sun rising or setting does not follow the elevation, and the depression of heaven.

Some people maintain that the northern edge of heaven sinks down into the earth, and that the sun following heaven enters into the earth. The earth being massive, obscures him, so that men cannot see him. But heaven and earth are husband and wife. They unite in one body, heaven is in earth, and earth joined to heaven. Their fluids mix and produce things. The north is Yin. When both are coupled, and their fluids mingle, it is in the north therefore, The north is Yin, which is synonymous with female, here the female organ. but does heaven revolve in the earth? If not, the earth in the north would be depressed, Viz. by heaven knocking against it in its rotation. and not even.

Let us suppose that heaven really is revolving in the earth. On digging up the earth ten feet deep we find springs. Does then heaven revolving in the earth plunge into the water, and then come out again? If the north were depressed and not level, the Nine Streams The Nine Streams regulated by Yü. See Mayers Pt. II, No. 267. ought to flow north without ever filling it up. In reality heaven does not revolve in the earth, nor does the sun become obscured, because he follows heaven. Heaven is quite as level as earth, and the sun rises, and sets, being turned round along with heaven.

Heaven appears to us in the shape of a bowl turned upside down. Therefore the sun rising and setting looks like coming from and entering into the earth. When the sun rises, he is near, when he sets, he is far, and becomes invisible, hence the term setting or entering. When in his rotation the sun appears in the east, he is near, hence we say that he is rising or coming out. But what proof have we? If you attach a moonlight pearl to the bow over a cart, and turn the cart round, the pearl will also turn.

To men heaven and earth seem to unite at a distance of no more than ten Li. That is the effect of the distance, for they do not come together in fact. When we behold the sun setting, he does not set either, it is also the distance. At the time, when the sun sets in the west, the people living there will perhaps say that he is culminating, and looking from the point, where the sun is setting, eastward to our world, heaven and earth may appear to the beholder joined together. Our world is in the south, See above p. 255. On p. 263 Wang Ch`ung says that our world lies in the south-east of the universe. therefore the sun rises in the east, and disappears in the northern regions. The sun sets in the west and passes through the north, before he rises again in the east. If the sun rose in the north, he would set in the south, To people living in the east of the universe i. e. below the farthest eastern limit reached by the sun in his course, the sun would appear to rise in the north, to culminate in the east, and to set in the south. for everywhere, what is near seems to rise, and what is far, to set. In reality there is no setting, but it is the distance.

If standing on the shore of a big lake, you look out to its limits in the four directions, they are blended with heaven. As a matter of fact, they are not blended, but the distance gives this impression. Through distance the sun seems setting, and through distance the lake seems to be blended with heaven. It is the same in both cases. The lake is bordered by land, but we do not see it, for to the observer it looks, as if it were blended The context requires that we should read blended instead of look out of the text. with heaven. The sun also looks like setting. All this is brought about by distance.

The height of Mount T`ai equals that of heaven, and is lost in the clouds, yet from a distance of one hundred Li the mountain does not appear as big as a clod of earth. At a distance of one hundred Li Mount T`ai disappears, how much more the sun, whose distance from us is counted by ten thousands of Li! The example of the T`ai-shan gives an explanation.

Let a man take a big torch, and walk at night on a level road, where there are no gaps. He will not have walked to a distance of one Li from us, before the light of the fire is gone out. The light becomes invisible for those who look after him. It does not go out, it is the distance. In the same manner the sun revolving westward and disappearing does not set. The great distance makes the sun invisible.

The following question may be asked:---Heaven is level as much as the earth. Now, looking up to heaven and regarding the movements of the sun and the moon, it seems as though heaven were high in the south and low in the north. Because the sun and the moon, which are supposed to be attached to heaven and revolving with it, rise on the southern hemisphere, and go down on the northern. How is that to be explained?

The answer is this:---Our actual world I. e. China. is lying in the southeast. Seen from below, heaven looks, as if it were elevated, and the courses of the sun and the moon are south of us. Now, our world lies beneath the courses of the sun and the moon, therefore it seems to us, as if in their motions they rose in the south, and descended in the north. How shall we account for that?

If heaven were elevated in the south, the southern stars should be elevated likewise. However, we see them going down. Is then heaven again depressed in the south? The celestial bodies which are near appear high, those which are distant, low. To people north of the pole it seems high, and the south they regard as low. The same holds good for the regions east and west of the pole. All regard as high, what is near, and as low, what is far from them.

He who from beneath the Northern Passes In Mongolia. looks up, sees the polar constellation above him. The north of the Hsiung-nu is the border-land of the earth. Seen in the north, heaven still appears high in the north and low in the south, and sun and moon in their courses ascend heaven there also. For a man standing on Mount T`ai it is high, whereas ten Li from its foot it appears low. The height of heaven is like that of Mount T`ai as seen by men.

The four quarters and the centre, which are level, are of the same height, if, therefore, heaven seems to be depressed at the four cardinal points, this must be an illusion caused by the distance. Heaven does not only seem depressed there, but joined to the earth.

Some savants hold that at sunrise and sunset, in the morning and in the evening, the sun is near, and that while in the zenith he is far away. Conversely, others maintain that the sun in the zenith is near, whereas at sunrise and sunset he is a long way off. Those who believe that the sun is near, when he rises or sets, and far off, when he culminates, have remarked the large size of the sun rising or setting, and his smallness at noon. We find that things are large, when they are near us, and small, when seen from a distance. Therefore the rising and setting sun is considered to be near, and the sun in the zenith to be far distant. Those who believe that at sunrise and sunset the sun is far off, and at noon near us, have on the other hand made the observation that at noon the sun is warm, and that he is cool, while rising or setting. When a fire comes near us, we feel hot, whereas, when it is at a distance, we feel cold. Hence the idea that the sun at noon is near, while he is at a distance, when he is rising or setting. This problem is already enunciated by Lich Tse V, 9 who makes two lads expose it to Confucius. They ask the Sage to decide between the two antagonistic views, but he is unable to give a satisfactory reply.

Both views are well-founded, and it has not yet been ascertained, which is right, and which is wrong. If we consider the question seriously, we arrive at the conclusion that the sun in the zenith is near, and at sunrise and sunset far off, as the following experiment will show. Place a pole upright in a room. The room is 30 feet high. The pole placed vertically under the roof-beam knocks against the latter above, and reaches to the bottom below. The beam then is 30 feet distant from the bottom. When the pole is inclined a little sidewards, its top diverges sidewards, and cannot touch the beam anymore, because the distance from the bottom is more than 30 feet.

When the sun is culminating, he just reaches the highest point on heaven, exactly like the pole standing upright so, that the distance from the bottom measures 30 feet. The sun rising or setting is deflected to our right or left like the pole inclining to one side, whereby the distance from the bottom exceeds 30 feet. We learn from this that the sun in the zenith is near, and the rising or setting sun more distant.

Let again a man be seated in the central hall of a house, and another walk on its roof. When he has reached the centre of the house, he is just above the man seated, and the distance from the man on the roof to the man sitting in the house, is 30 feet. When he is at the eastern or the western corner of the roof, his distance from the man in the house is greater than 30 feet.

The sun in the zenith is like the man standing in the middle of the roof, when the sun is just rising or setting, he resembles the man at the eastern or western corner. The sun in the zenith is near us, therefore warm, at the time of his rising or setting, he is far, and consequently cool. However, when the sun stands in the zenith, he is small, whereas at sunrise and sunset he is large. That is because, when the sun is culminating, the brightness of daylight Wang Ch`ung seems to think that daylight is distinct from the light of the sun. makes him appear small, and when the sun is rising or setting, daylight is fading, and he looks larger in consequence. In the same manner a fire looks small at day-time, but big at night. What is shown by fire, can be proved by the stars also. The stars are not visible during the day, because the brightness of the day eclipses them. At night there is no light, and the stars become visible. Now the sun and the moon are stars. When the sun approaches the horizon, and is about to set, his light fades, and he appears bigger.

The scholars argue that in the morning the sun rises from Fu Sang, Fu Sang has been identified with Sakhalin. and in the evening sets in Hsi Liu. Hsi Liu must be the Mongolian Desert. Fu Sang is the eastern region, Hsi Liu the western desert, both are the confines of heaven and earth, and the places where the sun and the moon use to rise and set.

I beg to put the following question:---Every year in the second and the eighth months the sun rises exactly in the east, and sets exactly in the west. At the equinoxes. See above p. 258. We might say then that the sun rises in Fu Sang, and sets in Hsi Liu. But in summer, when the days are long, the sun rises in the north-east, and sets in the northwest. Vid. above p. 259. In winter, when the days are short, the sun rises in the south-east and sets in the south-west. In winter and summer rising and setting take place in four different corners. In which place exactly are Fu Sang and Hsi Liu situated then? The above statement, therefore, is true for spring and autumn, but not for winter and summer. Yet, after all, the sun does not rise in Fu Sang nor set in Hsi Liu for the reason that he revolves with heaven and is visible, when near, and invisible, when far off. While he is in Fu Sang or Hsi Liu, the people there, from their standpoint, will say that the sun is in the zenith. At other times it may appear from Fu Sang and Hsi Liu, as though the sun were rising or setting. When he is above people's heads, they call it noon, when he is on one side, they call it morning or evening. How can the sun under these circumstances rise in Fu Sang, and set in Hsi Liu?

The Literati again assert that heaven is revolving from right to left, From right to left, facing the polar star which remains motionless and round which heaven revolves from east to west (cf. p. 267). and that the sun and the moon in their courses are not attached to heaven, but have each their own movement. It might be objected that, in case the sun and the moon had their proper movements, and were not attached to heaven, the sun would proceed one degree, and the moon thirteen. After their rise, both ought to go on and turn from west to east, how is it that nevertheless they commence to turn westward? They are attached to heaven, and follow its movements during the four seasons. Their movement may be compared to that of ants crawling on a rolling mill-stone. The movements of the sun and the moon are slow, whereas heaven moves very fast. Heaven carries the sun and the moon along with it, therefore they really move eastward, Their own movement being from west to east, opposite to that of heaven. but are turned westward.

Perhaps the following question might be raised:---The sun, the moon, and heaven have their movement each, but the number of degrees which they traverse is not the same. To what can their velocity be compared, if referred to the things of this world?

I would reply that heaven makes one circumvolution every day. The sun moves on one degree equal to 2,000 Li, of which he makes 1,000 during the day-time and 1,000 during the night. The unicorn The Kilin, by Europeans usually called unicorn, whose prototype seems to have been the giraffe. The giraffe gallops like the fastest horse. The swiftest horses are likewise said to make 1,000 Li a day. also runs 1,000 Li during the day, therefore the speed of the sun is very much like the pace of the unicorn.

The moon moves on 13 degrees. 10 degrees being equal to 20,000 Li, and 3 degrees to 6,000, the distance made by the moon in one day and one night is 26,000 Li, which is like the flight of a wild duck.

Since heaven turns round 365 degrees, the multiplication gives 730,000 Li. This movement is very fast, and there is nothing like it. It can be compared to the rotation of a potter's wheel or the speed of an arrow, shot from a cross-bow.

But although the rotation of heaven be so very fast, it appears to us slow, because heaven is so high, and far away, for distant objects in motion look motionless, and things shifting their place, stationary, as the following observation will show. If any body is on board a ship, sailing with the wind, in a river or on sea, her speed is fast, while she is near the shore, and slow, while she is far off. The ship's real speed remains the same, its quickness or slowness merely depending on the distance from which she is seen.

When we look up to heaven, its movement does not appear as quick as that of the unicorn. With the sun over it the unicorn hastens on, but when darkness falls, the sun is in front, why? Because the unicorn is near, whereas the sun is far. Distance conveys the impression of slowness, and proximity that of speed: If a journy extends over 60,000 Li, it is difficult to form an adequate idea of the real movement.

The Literati assert that the sun moves one degree, and heaven 365 during one day and one night, that heaven turns to the left, and the sun and the moon to the right, and that they meet heaven.

The following question may be asked:---The movements of the sun and the moon depend on heaven, they move, attached to heaven, not straight on. How shall we describe it? The Yiking says:---"The sun, the moon, and the stars rely on heaven. Fruits, grasses, and trees rely on earth." Yiking, 30th diagram (Li), Legge's transl. p. 237.---Our text slightly differs. It adds "and the stars," and writes "fruits" instead of "grains." Relying means that they are attached. The movement attached to heaven is like that of men walking round on the earth. The simile is like that of the ants crawling on the rolling mill-stone.

There is the question:---How do we know that the sun does not detach himself from heaven, nor move straight on independently? If the sun could do so, he ought to turn eastward of himself, and not share heaven's movement to the west. The movement of the moon is the same as that of the sun, both being attached to heaven. This is proved by a comparison with the clouds.

The clouds are not attached to heaven, they always remain in their place. Provided the sun and the moon were not attached to heaven, we would expect them to keep their places likewise. From this it is evident that the sun's movement is connected with that of heaven.

Another question arises:---The sun is fire. On earth fire does not move, why then does the sun move on heaven?

The fluid attached to heaven has motion, that attached to the earth has not. If fire be attached to the earth, the earth does not move, consequently the fire does not move either.

Some one might object, how could water move, if the fluid attached to earth had no motion. The reply is that the water flows eastward into the ocean, because the north-western region is high, and the south-eastern low. It is the nature of water to seek the low places, whereas fire will rise. If the earth were not high in the west, the water would not run eastward either.

We will have to meet another objection as to how men, being attached to the earth, can move, if the fluid attached to the earth is motionless.

Human actions and desires all have an aim. Since purpose is at the root of human nature, man works and strives.

The ancients were plain and simple-minded. Though on the frontier of a neighbouring country they heard the cocks crow and the dogs bark, they never had any intercourse with that country.

Somebody will ask perhaps, why the stars do not move, if the fluid attached to heaven is in motion. I reply that the stars are fixed in heaven. Heaven moves, and since they are turned round along with heaven, they move also.

An opponent might urge that human nature is based on purpose, and therefore acts, but how could heaven move, since its principle is absence of purpose?---Heaven's movement consists in the spontaneous emission of fluid. The fluid being emitted, things are produced of themselves, but the fluid is not emitted on purpose, in order to produce things. Without movement the fluid cannot be emitted, and unless the fluid be emitted, things cannot be created. It is different from the movement of man. The movements of the sun, the moon, and the five planets all consist in the emission of fluid.

The Literati hold that there is a three-legged raven in the sun, and a hare and a toad in the moon. However, the sun is the heavenly fire which does not differ from the fire on earth. In the fire on earth there are no living beings, how could there be a raven in the heavenly fire? There are no living creatures in the fire, when they enter it, they are burnt to death. How could a raven remain unscathed?

The moon is water. Again the misleading symbolism. The moon represents the female principle, Yin, to which water corresponds, whence the naïve deduction is made that the moon is water. There are living beings in the water, but not hares or toads. When a hare or a toad remain long in the water, they inevitably die. The sun and the moon are attached to heaven just as shells and oysters swim in the deep, evidently because they belong to the same fluid. Are perhaps that what we call a hare and a toad, shells or oysters?

And let us ask the Literati whether the raven, the hare, and the toad are living or dead. If they be dead, and remain for a long time in the sun and the moon, they must become charred, decay and putrefy. If they be alive, where are they at the time of a total eclipse of the sun or, when on the last day of a month the moon totally disappears?

The raven, the hare, and the toad must be the fluid of the sun and the moon, as the intestines of man, or the heart, and backbone of animals are the fluid of these creatures. It is still possible to examine the moon, but, when we look at the sun, our eyes are dazzled, and we cannot make out what fluid really pervades the sun, yet we should be able to distinguish an object in the sun, and call it a raven? In fact, we cannot see the entire body of a raven, and we should remark that it has three legs? This is certainly not true.

Moreover, we hear the Literati speak of many animals, why then is there only one raven in the sun, and one hare and a toad in the moon?

The savants maintain that the eclipse of the sun is caused by the moon. They have observed that the eclipses of the sun always fall on the last and the first day of a month. At that time the moon is united with the sun, therefore she must eclipse him, they think. Many eclipses of the sun have occurred during the "Spring and Autumn" period. The Classic records that on the first day of such and such a moon the sun has been eclipsed, but it does not follow that the moon has any thing to do with these eclipses. If the chroniclers had known that the sun was eclipsed by the moon, why have they been silent on this point, and did not speak of the moon?

They say that, when an eclipse of the sun takes place, the Yang is weak and the Yin strong. When a man possesses great strength, he can subdue others in this world. Now, on the last day of a month, the light of the moon is extinguished, and, on the first day of the new moon, it is gone so to say, which is the highest degree of weakness. How could it vanquish the sun, for the eclipse of the sun is said to be caused by the moon? If, in an eclipse of the sun, the moon is believed to eclipse it, where is the moon? The eclipse is not caused by the moon, since the moon herself is destroyed. If we regard the sun from the same point of view as the moon, his light at an eclipse is destroyed of itself.

On an average, an eclipse of the sun occurs every 41 or 42 months, and an eclipse of the moon, every 180 days. These eclipses have their fixed time, and these changes do not always take place. When they happen, it is through the spontaneous action of the fluid. The last and the first day of a month recur very often, but does the moon cause an eclipse then? The sun being in his full, the change is brought about by his shrinking together. Must we suppose something that consumes (eclipses) the sun? What consumes the mountains or the earth, when the mountains collapse and the earth shakes?

Some say that, when the sun is eclipsed, the moon covers him. The sun being above, the moon below, her shadow falls on the sun's body. When the sun and the moon are united, but the moon is above, and the sun below, the moon cannot cover the sun, whereas, when the sun is above, and the moon underneath him, she casts her shadow on him. The light of the moon then covers the light of the sun, hence the expression:---eclipse. The Chinese expression is "to consume," "to eat" ( or ). In the popular belief the sun at an eclipse is being devoured by the "heavenly dog," an idea perhaps derived from India. In Wang Ch`ung's time it must not yet have been current, for otherwise he would most likely not have omitted to mention and controvert it. The shadow of the moon is like that of the clouds which cover the sky in such a way that the sun and the moon are invisible.

Provided that both unite with their extremities, they must eclipse one another, and if both, when they come together, are joined like two pieces fitting one into the other, the sun must disappear as a matter of course. That the sun and the moon meet on the last and the first day of the month is a very common celestial phenomenon, but it is wrong to say that at an eclipse the moon covers the light of the sun for the following reason:---

In case that, when the sun and the moon unite, the moon covers the light of the sun, the edges of the two luminaries must fall together at the beginning of the eclipse, and they must change their places, when the sun comes out again. Now, let us suppose that the sun stands in the east, the moon in the west. The moon moves quickly eastward, where she falls in with the sun. She covers the edge of the sun, and after a short time she passes the sun and proceeds eastward. The western edge of the sun has been covered first, its light must then come back. The eastern edge has not yet been overshadowed, it will be eclipsed next. Thus we see that during an eclipse of the sun the light of the western edge is extinguished, and that, when the sun comes back, the light of the western edge returns. Then the moon goes on, and covers the eastern edge, while the western edge returns. Can we say then that the sun and the moon are joined together, and that one covers and overshadows the other? Wang Ch`ung here speaks of a partial eclipse. That the shadow of the moon in most cases covers only part of the sun cannot invalidate the right view, which Wang Ch`ung rejects on unsufficient grounds.

The scholars assert that the shape of the sun and the moon is quite round. When they look up to them, they appear shaped like a peck, or a round basket. Their shape is a regular circle, they are not like the fluid of a fire seen from afar, for a fluid is not round.---In reality the sun and the moon are not round, they only appear so through the distance, as will be seen from the following:---The sun is the essence of fire, the moon the essence of water. On earth fire and water are not round, why should they be round in heaven alone? The sun and the moon in heaven are like the Five Planets, and the Five Planets like the other stars. The stars are not round, only their radiance appears round, because they are so far from us. This will become evident from the following fact:---During the "Spring and Autumn" period stars fell down in the capital of Sung. Ch`un-ch`iu, Duke Hsi 16th year (Legge, Classics Vol. V, Pt. I, p. 170). When people went near to examine them, they found that they were stones, but not round. Since the stars are not round, we know that the sun, the moon, and the planets are not round either.

The scholars discoursing on the sun, and the mechanics hold that there is only one sun, whereas in the "Tribute of Yü" and in the Shan-hai-king it is stated that there are ten suns. Beyond the ocean in the east there is the "Hot Water Abyss," T`ang-ku. over which rises Fu-sang. The ten suns bathe in the water. There is a huge tree. Nine suns remain in its lower branches, while one sun stays on the upper branch. Shan-hai-king chap. 9, p. 1v. Huai Nan Tse also writes in his book about ten suns which were shining. During the time of Yao the ten suns came out together, and scorched everything, whereupon Yao shot at them. According to other accounts Yao ordered his minister Yi, a famous archer, to shoot at the suns, of which he destroyed nine. Hence they never were seen together any more on the same day. The appearance of ten suns is mentioned in many ancient works:---in Chuang Tse, the Li-sao, the "Bamboo Annals," the Tso-chuan, etc.

Commonly the "celestial stems" The ten cyclical signs. are called suns. From the first to the last stem there are ten suns. There are ten suns, as there are five planets. Intelligent people and disputing scholars are at a loss, how to find out the truth, and do not wish to decide in favour of either opinion. Thus the two antagonistic statements are transmitted without criticism, and neither of the two opinions meets with general approval. Yet, if we examine the question thoroughly, there are not ten suns.

The sun is like the moon. If there be ten suns, are there twelve moons? There are five planets, but the five elements: The five elements are considered to be the substances of the Five Planets, which have been named after them:---Metal Star (Venus), Wood Star (Jupiter), etc. --- metal, wood, water, fire, and earth all burn with a different light. Should there be ten suns, their fluids ought to be different. Now, we do not discover any difference in the light of the sun, and we find that his size is the same at different times. If there were really different fluids, the light would certainly be different. If, on the other hand, the fluid is identical, it must be united into one sun, and there cannot be ten.

We see that with a sun-glass fire is drawn from heaven, the sun being a big fire. Since on earth fire is one fluid, and the earth has not ten fires, how can heaven possess ten suns? Perhaps the so called ten suns are some other things, whose light and shape resembles that of the sun. They are staying in the "Hot Water Abyss," and always climb up Fu-sang. Yü and Yi Cf. p. 330. saw them, and described them as ten suns.

Some people have measured the light of the sun, and calculated his size. They found the diameter to be 1,000 Li long. Provided that the rising sun is the sun on the Fu-sang tree, this tree must overhang 10,000 Li to cover the sun, for the diameter of one sun being 1,000 Li, ten suns will require 10,000 Li.

Heaven is more than 10,000 Li distant from us.

When we look up at the sun, his brilliancy is so dazzling, and his glare so bright, that it becomes unbearable. If the rising sun was the sun from the Fu-sang tree, Yü and Yi would not have been able to recognise him as the sun. A look at one sun would have sufficed to dazzle the eyes, how much more so, if there were ten suns. When Yü and Yi saw the suns, they appeared to them like pecks and round baskets, therefore they called them suns. The fires looked like pecks and baskets, but an object seen at a distance of 60,000 Li appears different from one looked at and examined quite near. Consequently what Yü and Yi saw they took for suns, but were not suns.

Among the things of heaven and earth many resemble one another in substance, yet they are not the same in fact. Beyond the ocean in the south-west there is a pearl-tree. Presumably a coral-tree in the Persian Sea is meant. It has pearls, but they are not fish-pearls. The Chinese imagine that pearls or the produce of fish, not of shells or oysters. The ten suns are like pearls of the pearl-tree. The pearls of the pearl-tree look like pearls, but are not real pearls. Thus the ten suns look like the sun, but are not real suns. Huai Nan Tse having read the Shan-hai-king wrongly asserted that for a Sage ten suns were lighted, and made the random statement that at Yao's time ten suns rose together.

The sun is fire, the "Hot Water Abyss" water. Water and fire annihilate one another. Therefore the ten suns bathing in the "Hot Water Abyss" should have been extinguished and destroyed. Fire burns trees, Fu-sang is a tree. When ten suns rested upon it, it ought to be parched and scorched up. However, in spite of the bath in T`ang-ku the light did not become extinguished, and though the suns ascended Fu-sang, its boughs were not scorched or parched. The ten suns are like the sun which rises to-day, yet they cannot be tested by the five elements. If they were of the same stuff as our sun, viz. fire, they would have been extinguished in water, and have burned the wood of the Fu-sang tree. Since they did not do that, they cannot have been real suns like ours. Hence we infer that they were not real suns.

When Yü and Yi beheld ten suns, it cannot have been nighttime, but must have been day. When one sun rose, the other nine must have been left behind, how could they rise all ten together? The one sun in the upper branches of the Fu-sang tree must have risen prior to the nine others still lingering in the lower branches. It must have been like dawn before the sunrise. As far as the nine suns are concerned, which were still below the horizon.

Furthermore, heaven turns and passes through a certain number of degrees. If the various suns follow this movement, and turn round with heaven, how could they remain in the branches of Fu-sang or in the water of the "Hot Water Abyss?" In case they stay back, they miss the movement, and differences in the movement would bring disharmony. If, therefore, the rising sun be different from the ten suns, they only resemble suns, but are not suns.

"During the `Spring and Autumn' period on the hsin mao day, in the fourth month of summer, in the seventh year of Duke Chuang at midnight the common stars were invisible, and stars fell down like rain." Cf. Ch`un-ch`iu (Legge, Classics Vol. V, Pt. I, p. 79). The seventh year of Duke Chuang of Lu is 686 b.c.

Kung Yang in his commentary asks:---What does "like rain" mean? It is not rain. Then, why use this expression? "The unrevised Ch`un-ch`iu" says, "It rained stars, which previous to approaching to within a foot of the earth departed again." The Sage corrected this, and said, "The stars fell down like rain." A quotation from Kung Yang's commentary to the Ch`un-ch`iu.

"The unrevised Ch`un-ch`iu" refers to the time, when the Ch`unch`iu was not yet revised. At that time the Chronicle of Lu had the following entry:---"The stars fell down like rain. They came near the earth at a distance of over a foot, and then departed again." The Sage is Confucius. Confucius revised it, and said "The stars fell like rain." His idea was that on the earth there are mountains, hills, and high buildings, and he was afraid lest the statement about the stars coming near the earth at a distance of over a foot should not be true. Had the distance of those meteors not been more than one foot from the surface of the earth, they would inevitably have collided with the elevations of the earth, such as mountains, buildings, etc. Therefore Confucius omitted the remark of the original text. Therefore he made an alteration, and said "like rain." Being like rain they came down from above the earth. The stars also fall down from heaven and depart again. On account of this similarity he says "like." Although there was the notice that the stars came near the earth at a distance of over a foot, he merely said "like rain." The expression "falling" which he uses refers to those stars. Though he assigned them their places, and fixed the text, he speaks of the falling stars in the same way as the Chronicle does.

When from the plain we look up at Mount T`ai, and behold a crane on its summit, it appears to us as big as a crow, and a crow, like a sparrow. It is the height of Mount T`ai and its distance which cause us to lose the true estimate of the size of things. The distance of heaven from earth amounts to upwards of 60,000 Li, which is not only the height and the distance of the summit of Mount T`ai. The stars are fixed to heaven. When we examine them, we do not obtain a correct idea of their nature, for the conditions, under which we see them, are still more unfavourable than those, under which we look at the crane or the crow. By calculations we find that the size of the stars must be a hundred Li. Their brilliancy is so strong, that they shed light. If, nevertheless, they appear to us only as big as a phœnix egg, we have lost the true estimate by distance.

Let us suppose that the falling stars are in fact stars falling from heaven, then we would not be able to recognise them as stars, when they approach the earth, because during their fall their size is not the same as that which they have in heaven. The meteors never measure a hundred Li. Now, as long as we see the falling stars in heaven, they are stars, if they are not, they are made up of air. We see ghosts having the semblance of dead people. In reality it is but air condensed into those forms, not real dead people. Thus the falling stars are in reality not shaped like stars. Confucius correctly calls them falling, which means that they are not stars, and rightly characterises them as being like rain, i. e. they are not rain, both features being opposed to the real nature of stars.

The Tso-chuan remarks on the above quoted passage of the Ch`un-ch`iu, "On the hsin-mao day, in the fourth moon during the night the common stars were not visible, because the night was bright. The stars fell like rain i. e. together with rain." This remark that the stars were invisible owing to the brightness of the night tallies with a passage in the Yiking Yiking, 55th diagram (Fêng), Legge's transl. p. 336. to the effect that at mid-day the Dipper A constellation. is visible. If during the day the Dipper is visible, it must be dark, not bright, and if during the night the stars were invisible, the night must have been bright and clear. The facts were different, but the idea is the same, and it is consistent with truth.

The Tso-chuan says "together with rain," which is tantamount to "combined." On the hsin-mao day the night was bright, therefore the stars were invisible, but this brightness shows that there was no rain. The rain fluid is dark and obscure, how could there be brightness than? There being brightness, rain is impossible, how could the stars fall "together with rain?" Consequently the expression "together with rain" is wrong. Moreover, if it be said that the night was so bright, that the stars became invisible, how could the stars falling together with rain be seen?

"On the wu-shên day of the first month in the 16th year of Duke Hsi five stones fell down in Sung." Quoted from the Ch`un-ch`iu (Legge Vol. V, Pt. I, p. 170). The event took place in 643 b.c. The Tso-chuan remarks that they were stars. Since falling stones are called stars, those stars are believed to have become stones by falling. The stars falling in the hsin-mao night were stars, but in reality stones then. If the stars falling in the hsin-mao night were like those stones, the earth had high buildings, which must have been smashed. Although Confucius omitted to mention that the stars came near the earth as far as one foot, there certainly has been a certain distance from the earth, and the historigrapher of Lu, who saw the event with his own eyes, would not have said so at random.

According to the Tso-chuan the stars fell down together with rain. As rain collects on the earth, the stones must have done so likewise, but, since, when they touched the earth, they did not demolish the buildings, it is evident that they were not stars. Besides, on what does Tso Ch`iu Ming base his statement that the stones were stars? When the stones came down, their fall was very light, but why must they have fallen down from heaven?

During the Ch`in epoch three mountains disappeared. Partly they were not dispersed, but collapsed, where they stood, which must have caused a great noise. Perhaps at that time the mountain of the I Ti went off its base, and came down in Sung. When the people of Sung heard the stones fall, they called them stars, and when Tso Ch`iu Ming had examined them, he also gave them this name.

The substance of the stars is identical with that of the various things and like that of the sun and the moon. The so-called Five Planets are the light of the substance of the five elements. The Five Planets and the other stars all have the same light, therefore I am afraid that we miss the truth, if we regard the fixed stars alone as stones. In reality the stars which fell during the hsin-mao night were like rain, but they were not stars, just as the ten suns in the "Hot Water Abyss" resembled the sun, but were not real suns.

The Literati also maintain that the expression that rain comes from heaven means that it positively falls down from heaven. However, a discussion on this subject leads us to the conclusion that rain comes from above the earth, but not down from heaven. Seeing the rain gathering from above, we simply say that it comes down from heaven. As a matter of fact, it comes from above the earth. But how can we demonstrate that the rain comes from the earth, and rises from the mountains? The Commentary to the Ch`un-ch`iu Kung Yang's Commentary, Duke Hsi 31st year. says, "It breaks through the stones one to two inches thick, and gathers. That in one day's time it spreads over the whole Empire, is only the case with the T`ai-shan." The highest peak in Shantung. ---From the T`ai-shan it rains over the whole Empire, from small mountains over one State, the distance depends on the height. As regards the forthcoming of the rain from the mountains, some hold that the clouds carry the rain with them. When the clouds disperse, the water falls down, and is called rain. Thus the clouds are rain, and rain, clouds. When the water comes forth, it is transformed into clouds; they condense, and become rain, and, when they are compressed still more, coagulate into dew. When garments are moistened as with rain, it is not the effect of the clouds, but of the rain which they carry.

Some persons will refer to the Shuking which says, "When the moon follows the stars, there is wind and rain," Shuking, Hung-fan, Pt. V, Bk. IV, 38 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. II, p. 342). and to the Shiking, where we read that "The moon approaches the Hyades, which will bring heavy showers of rain." Shiking Pt. II, Bk. VIII, Ode 8 (Legge Vol. IV, Pt. II, p. 422). They all believe that according to these passages of the two Classics it is not heaven which is causing the rain. How is that?

When the rain comes from the mountains, the moon passes the stars, and approaches the Hyades. When she approaches the Hyades, it must rain. As long as it does not rain, the moon does not approach, and the mountains have no clouds. Heaven and earth, above and below, act in spontaneous harmony. When the moon approaches above, the mountains are heated below, and the fluid unites. The fortuitous connexion between the various fluids and bodies is due to spontaneity. Clouds and fog show that there is rain. In summer it becomes dew, in winter frost. Warm it is rain, cold, snow. Rain, dew, and frost all proceed from earth, and do not descend from heaven.

People reasoning on heat and cold assert that, when the sovereign is pleased, it is warm, and, when he is angry, it is cold. How is that?

Joy and anger originate in the bosom. Subsequently they find their way out, and once outside, are the causes of rewards and punishments, rewards and punishments being the manifestations of joy and anger. When heat and cold are sufficiently strong, things become withered, and men are injured, and that is done by heat and cold, which are said to be the representatives of joy and anger.

Within the course of a few days a sovereign is not always full of joy or anger, which sentiments having broken forth from the bosom, expand and appear as heat and cold outside, thus showing the feelings of the bosom. When the sovereign is pleased or angry, this fluid of his bosom is not changed into heat or cold. Why should the fluid in his bosom be different from the fluid within the territory of a country? The fluid of the bosom is not transformed through joy or anger, how then should heat and cold originate within the territory?

During the time of the Six States, Yen, Chao, Han, Wei, Ch`i and Ch`u, which in 332 b.c. made an offensive and defensive alliance to check the encroachments of the Ch`in State, but by and by the latter overpowered and absorbed them all. and the Ch`in and Han epoch the feudal princes were subjugating one another, armour-clad warriors filling all the roads. The States were investing each other with the greatest animosity, and their leaders thought of nothing else than of vanquishing their enemies. A feeling of universal slaughter pervaded everything. Yet at that time it was not always cold in the Empire. The time of Yü was one of universal peace. The government was good, the people contented, and the sovereign always pleased. In every house they were playing the guitar, singing, beating drums, and dancing. Yet at that time it was not constantly warm in the Empire. Is the feeling of joy and anger evoked by small things only, and does it not care for great ones? How is it so little in accordance with the deeds done?

Near the water it is cold, near the fire warm, the heat and the cold decrease in proportion to the distance, for the quantity of the fluid varies according to the distance. The seat of the fire is always in the south, that of the water in the north, According to ancient natural philosophy. Consequently temperature cannot be the result of the feelings of the sovereign. therefore the northern region is cold, and the southern limit hot.

The fire in a stove, the water in a ditch, and the fluid in the human body are all governed by the same principle. When the sovereign is pleased or angry, this fluid of heat or cold ought to be especially strong in his private apartments, and much less so outside his territory. Now the temperature is the same without and within, consequently it cannot well be the result of the sovereign's joy or anger, and the assertions of our scholars to that effect are futile.

With an emperor a sudden change of the mental fluid takes place in the empire, with princes in their territory, with ministers and high officers in their department, and with common people in their house. Since even ordinary people are liable to such changes, their joy and their anger must also produce such fluids (as heat and cold). The father quarrels with the son, and husband and wife reprove one another. If there ought to be anger, but anger be turned into joy, or if faults be forgiven, and the wrong done hushed up, there would be cold and heat in the same house. This shows us that the sudden changes (of temperature) are not being caused by joy and anger.

Some one will say that there is attraction by affinity. If a man be pleased, he is kind and genial, and in his kindness gives rewards. The Yang principle is giving, and the Yang fluid is warm, therefore the warm fluid corresponds to it. If a man be angry, he is enraged and indignant, and in his rage puts people to death. The Yin principle is cold murder, and the Yin fluid is cold, therefore the cold fluid corresponds to it. "When the tiger howls, the wind blows from the valley, and when the dragon performs its antics, the brilliant clouds rise." A quotation from Huai Nan Tse III, 2, with a slight variation of the text. Their fluids being identical, and their species the same, they attract one another. Hence the saying that with the body one removes the shadow, and that with the dragon one attracts the rain. Therefore during a drought clay figures of dragons are set up and worshipped to attract the rain. Cf. p. 55, No. 47. The rain responds to the dragon and comes, the shadow responds to the body and goes. Viz. with the body. The nature of heaven and earth is spontaneity. In autumn and winter punishments are meted out. Cf. p. 148 Note 7. Smaller misdemeanours are partly pardoned, but the capital punishments cause a bitter cold. The cold comes as an accompaniment of punishment, which shows that they attract one another.

If heat and cold be compared with wind and clouds, and joy and anger refer to the dragon and the tiger, a mutual attraction might be possible, provided that the fluids be the same and the categories similar. An attraction between joy and heat, anger and cold. When the tiger howls, the wind rises from the valley, and when the dragon gambols, the clouds rise within a radius of one hundred Li, but in other valleys and other regions there is no wind nor clouds. Now, sudden changes of temperature take place everywhere, and at the same time. There may be executions within a territory of a hundred Li, but it is cold within a thousand Li, consequently this could not well be considered a proof of a connexion between the two events. Ch`i and Lu were conterminous, and gave rewards and punishments at the same time. Had Ch`i rewarded, while Lu punished, the effects would have been different also. Could then the Ch`i State have been warm, whereas it was cold at the same time in the Lu country?

In former times nobody was more cruel in punishing than Ch`ih Yu and the doomed prince of Ch`in. Ch`in Shih Huang Ti. The subjects of Ch`ih Yu were most perverse and dissolute, and in doomed Ch`in red clad criminals were walking on the roads shoulder to shoulder, and yet at that time it was not always cold in the Empire. On the market of the emperor's capital oxen and sheep were slaughtered every day by hundreds. He who executes man as well as he who kills animals has a wicked heart. Albeit, the air on the market place of the capital cannot always be cold.

One might object that a man is far superior to animals, and that man alone provokes the fluid. However, does the one who puts to death provoke the fluid, or do those who are put to death, cause the change? In the first case, no matter, whether the one who inflicts the death penalty executes a man, or kills an animal, the mind is the same, and in the latter men and beasts are both creatures. They all belong to the ten thousand beings, and would not a hundred mean ones be worth as much as one precious one?

Some people will maintain that a sovereign alone can evoke the fluid, but not common people. If, to set the fluid in motion, a sovereign is required, why does the world make so much of Tsou Yen? Tsou Yen was a commoner, and yet he could move the fluid quite alone, as everybody admits. When Tsou Yen, a scholar of the 4th cent. b.c., had been put into prison upon a trumped up charge, he looked up to heaven and wept. All of a sudden snow began to fall, although it was midsummer. See also p. 194.

When one man is put to death, the air becomes cold, but, when a man is born, does the temperature become warm then? When a general amnesty is granted to the four quarters, and all punishments are remitted at the same time, the fluid of the month and the year does not become warm thereby.

In former years thousands of people have had their houses burnt, so that the flames and the smoke went up to heaven, and the Yellow River broke through its dykes, flooding a thousand Li, so that far and wide there was no bound to the prospect. Fire is identical with the hot fluid, and water with the cold one. At the time of the conflagration or the inundation of the Yellow River it has not been warm or cold. The setting in of heat and cold do not depend on government, I dare say, but eventually heat and cold may be simultaneous with rewards and punishments, and it is for this reason that the phenomenalists A class of scholars, often mentioned in the Lun-hêng, who seem to have devoted themselves to the study of natural phenomena and calamities, such as heat and cold, inundations, droughts, famines, etc. to which, however, they did not ascribe natural, but moral causes, misled by the pseudo-science of the Yiking and similar works. describe them as such.

Spring is warm, summer hot, autumn cool, and winter cold. These four seasons are spontaneous, and do not concern the sovereign. The four seasons are not caused by government, but they say that heat and cold correspond to it. At the beginning of the first month and subsequently at the "commencement of spring" all the punishments have been meted out, and the prisons remains empty. Yet one day it is cold, and one day warm. What manner of punishment is being inflicted, when it is cold, and what kind of rewards are given, when it is warm? We see from this that heat and cold correspond to the time periods of heaven and earth, Of which the Chinese distinguish 24, beginning with li-ch`un "commencement of spring." They count from the days on which the sun enters the first and fifteenth degree of one of the zodiacal signs. and are not made by men.

When people are suffering from a cold or from fever, their actions have no influence upon these diseases. By exposure to the wind, or to bad air their body has become chilly or feverish. By changing their habits, or altering their style of life they do not get rid of their cold or their fever. Although the body is quite near, it cannot bring about a change and a cure. Now a city or a State is much more distant, how should it be possible to regulate their fluids?---When a man has caught cold, he drinks medicine, which soothes his pain, and when, being somewhat weak, he has got fever, he swallows pills, which make him perspire, and thus cure him.

In Yen there was the "Cold Valley" in which the five kinds of grain did not grow. Tsou Yen blew the flute, and the "Cold Valley" could be cultivated. The people of Yen sowed millet in it, and called it "Millet Valley." If this be true that with playing the flute the cold fluid was dispelled, how could this calamity be averted by a change of government or action? Therefore, a cold and fever cannot be cured but with medicine, and the fluid of the "Millet Valley" cannot be transformed but with music.

When Yao was visited with the Great Flood, he ordered Yü to regulate it. Cold and heat are essentially the same as the Great Flood. They are all natural phenomena. Yao did not change his administration or conduct, being well aware that the Great Flood was not the result of government or conduct. Since the Flood was not brought about by government or conduct, we know that heat and cold cannot be caused by government either.

Some one might in disproof quote from the "Various Verifications" of the Hung-fan which says that "excitement is as a rule accompanied by cold, and cheerfulness by tepidity." Shuking, Hung-fan Pt. V, Bk. IV, 34 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. II, p. 340). Accompanied means: followed, tepidity: warmth, and "as a rule:" always. When the sovereign is excited, cold weather always follows, when he is cheerful, warm weather follows. Cold and heat correspond to excitement and checrfulness, how can their connexion with the government be denied? Does the Classic say that excitement causes no cold, and cheerfulness no warmth?

The sovereign being excited or cheerful, cold or heat set in, but by chance and of their own accord. If they corresponded intentionally, it would be like the obtaining of omens by divining with shells, or like the finding of numbers by telling the fortune from straws. People pretend that heaven and earth respond to the questions addressed to them, but, as a matter of fact, it is nothing but chance. Heat and cold respond to excitement and cheerfulness, as omens and numbers are the response to the inquiries of the diviners. Externally they seem to respond, but actually it is hazard. How can we prove that?

The principle of heaven is spontaneity. Spontaneity means absence of purpose. When the two kinds of divination are applied, things may meet eventually, or happen by accident, and perhaps coincide with human affairs. The heavenly fluid is there already, therefore one may speak of a principle. Should it correspond to government, however, there would be no more spontaneity.

Ching Ching Fang, a metaphysician of the 1st cent. b.c., who spent much labour on the elucidation of the Yiking. has distributed the 64 symbols of the Yiking over one year. One symbol rules over 6 days and 1/10. The symbols consist of Yin and Yang. Marked by broken and unbroken lines. The fluid rises and falls. When the Yang fluid rises, it becomes warm, and, when the Yin fluid rises, it becomes cold. According to this theory heat and cold depend on the symbols, but do not correspond to government. In accordance with the "wu-wang" symbol The 25th hexagram of the Yiking. of the Yiking, inundations and droughts have fixed times. All the innumerable calamities and disasters are of the same kind.

I am afraid that the phenomenalists have missed the truth for the following reason:---"The ideal man is endowed with the same virtue as heaven and earth. When man takes the lead, heaven does not disagree with him, and when he follows heaven, he respects heaven's time." Quotation from the Yiking, 1st diagram (Ch`ien). Cf. pp. 98 and 128. The Hung-fan on the other hand says that "excitement is as a rule accompanied by cold, and cheerfulness by tepidity." According to this passage of the Hung-fan the heavenly fluid follows man. The Yiking however only says that, when man takes the lead, heaven does not disagree with him. But why does it add that, when he follows heaven, he respects heaven's time? To follow means that heaven was already cold or hot before, and that man followed with his rewards and punishments afterwards. This statement of men does not agree with the Shuking. That is my first doubt.

Ching determines heat and cold by the Yin and the Yang fluids ascending and descending, whereas the phenomenalists lay all the stress on punishments, joy and anger. The two schools walk different ways. That is my second doubt.

When people determine heat and cold, it may be cold to-day, and warm to-morrow, or at dawn there is plenty of hoar-frost, and in the evening resplendent light, or one morning is rainy, but warm, and another bright and cold. Now rain is Yin, and brightness Yang, and conversely cold is Yin, and warmth is Yang. A rainy day may clear up, and become cold, and a bright day become rainy, and warm. The categories do not correspond correctly. That is my third doubt.

These three doubts are not set at rest, and the principle of spontaneity is not upheld either.

In midsummer thunder and lightning rapidly following each other, split trees, demolish houses, and occasionally kill men. Common people are of opinion that, when the lightning strikes a tree, or demolishes a house, Heaven fetches a dragon, whereas, when a man is killed, they say that it is for his hidden faults. If in eating and drinking people use impure things, Heaven becomes angry, and strikes them dead. The deep rolling sound is the expression of Heaven's anger like the breathing and gasping of angry men. Every one, no matter whether intelligent or stupid, says so. But if we look into the matter, taking human nature as a basis, we find that all this is nonsense.

By a thunder-stroke one fluid is set in motion, and one sound produced. The same force destroys the tree, the house, and the man. A tree is hit, and a dwelling damaged, and at the same time a man may be killed. When a man is slain, a tree may be struck, and a house damaged also. But they assert that, when a tree is struck, and a house damaged, Heaven fetches a dragon, whereas, when it kills a man, it punishes him for his hidden guilt. In that case something inauspicious would clash with the auspicious fetching of the dragon. The dragon is accounted a sacred animal. That both things should happen at the same moment, and with the same sound, would not be proper.

It has been argued that the rolling is the sound of Heaven's growling. That would be appropriate for the punishment of the guilty, but out of place for fetching dragons. In meting out punishment, Heaven may be angry, but, when it fetches a dragon, what fault has it, that it should be irritated like that? Provided that the dragon be a spirit, then Heaven in fetching it, ought not to be angry. If, however, a dragon has faults, which are to be atoned for like those of man, Heaven would kill it, but why must it still fetch it? While destroying a man, Heaven may be in wrath, but, when it fetches a dragon, what wrong has the dragon done, that Heaven should be so enraged at it? Having smitten a man, Heaven does not fetch him. If under the same circumstances it does so with a dragon, what difference is there between human guilt and that of dragons? If both are put to death, where does a difference come in? We can no more accept the assertion that Heaven fetches dragons, than approve of the idea that the guilty meet with their dues for the following reasons:

When the thunder instantaneously follows upon the lightning, and a man falls to the ground dead, the rolling sound is close above his head, which brings about his death. But is the rolling really Heaven's anger? If so, in its wrath, it would kill a man by the angry breath of its mouth. But how can the angry breath of a mouth kill a man? On examining the body of a man, who has been struck by a thunderbolt, one discovers traces of burning. Provided that Heaven used its mouth in its anger, could its angry breath become fiery then?

Moreover, the mouth is connected with the body, and its movements must be the same as those of the body. When lightning strikes, the sound is on the earth, and, when the work of destruction is done, it is again in the sky. Now, the moment, when the sound is on the earth, the mouth must approach it, and the body do the same. But, if at a thunder-clap we look up to Heaven, we do not see it descending. Since we do not see it come down, the rolling sound cannot be the expression of Heaven's anger.

Heaven's anger cannot be different from that of man. When an angry person comes near anybody, his voice sounds loud, when he is for off, his voice seems low. Now, Heaven's voice is near, but its body far away. Therefore, anger is out of the question.

When the peals of thunder rapidly succeed one another, the sound may be in the East, the West, the North or the South. Provided that Heaven be angry and move its body, then, if its mouth is in an eastern, western, northern, or southern direction, looking up we ought to see Heaven in one of these directions likewise.

Some one might object that Heaven really was in one of these directions, but could not be seen by man owing to the obscurity, caused by the clouds and the rain. Yet over a distance of a thousand Li there are not the same winds, and within a hundred Li there is not the same tempest. As the Yiking has it:---"A hundred Li are frightened by the concussion." Yiking Book V, Chên Hexagram (No. 51). The region where the thunderstorm is raging, is darkened by the thunder-clouds and the rain, but beyond a hundred Li, where no rain is falling, one ought to see Heaven moving eastward, westward, north- or southward. The mouth being joined to Heaven, Heaven must follow it. Whenever the mouth moves, the entire Heaven must shift its place also, and it is not only where the tempest rages, that Heaven follows the movements of its mouth.

And who is it, whom we believe to be angry? The Spirit of Heaven or the dark blue sky? If we say, the Spirit of Heaven, an angry spirit can give no sound, and, if we say, the dark blue sky, its body cannot become angry, for anger requires a mouth.

Heaven and Earth are like husband and wife, they are father and mother of mankind. Now, let a son have committed a fault, and his father in a fit of passion beat him to death, would not his mother weep for him? When Heaven in its wrath slays a man, Earth ought also to cry over him, but one only hears of Heaven's anger, and never of Earth's crying. If Earth cannot shed tears, Heaven cannot be angry either.

Furthermore, anger must have its counterpart in joy. Men have hidden faults, but they have also latent virtues. Hidden faults in a man call forth Heaven's anger, which prompts it to kill him, but in case of latent virtues Heaven ought also to requite him with good. If the rolling sound is regarded as an expression of Heaven's anger, Heaven, when pleased, ought to give a hearty laugh.

Men are pleased or angry, therefore the same is said of Heaven. We try to get a conception of Heaven by ascribing human qualities to it. The source of this knowledge of Heaven is man. If man would feel no anger, there is no reason either, why Heaven should. Since our knowledge of Heaven is derived from that of man, human nature in its entirety must be taken as basis. A man, when angry, breathes heavily, when pleased, he sings and laughs. We much less often hear of Heaven's joy, than of its anger, and much more seldom see it reward, than punish. Is Heaven always irritated and never content? Does it mete out punishment pretty freely, but is rather sparing of its rewards? How does its anger and vindictiveness become manifest, whereas there are no instances of its joy and liberality?

When lightning strikes, it hits a tree, damages a house, and eventually kills a man. This is looked upon as Heaven's anger. But not unfrequently a thunder-clap is without effect, causing no damage, and destroying no human life. Does Heaven in such a case indulge in useless anger? A sovereign's joy and anger are not in vain. Being pleased or angry, he will certainly reward or punish. Useless anger without punishment would be unbecoming in Heaven. Doing something unseeming, it would lose its dignity thereby. That is not Heaven's way.

The writers on government hold that cold and heat coincide with joy and anger. When the sovereign is pleased, ths weather is mild, when he is angry, it is cold. Then on the day of a thunderstorm the temperature ought to be cold.

Before Han Kao Tsu was born, Dame Liu The mother of the emperor Kao Tsu. Cf. p. 177. while sleeping on the banks of a big pond had intercourse with a spirit in her dream. At that time there was thunder and lightning, and a great darkness. Heaven was just then emitting its fluid, and ought to have been pleased, Heaven as a spirit was just then engendering Han Kao Tsu, the Son of Heaven. why was it irritated and thundering?

If striking and breaking is construed as a sign of Heaven's anger, and not striking or breaking as a sign of Heaven's joy, the rolling noise would not be appropriate in both cases. In the case of joy as well as of anger. Man expresses joy and anger by different sounds, if Heaven used the same sound for two different purposes, there would be a fundamental difference between him and man. From what circumstance then could we infer Heaven's anger?

To give other persons impure things to eat is a small offence. For Heaven to chastise such small offenders in person with its own most precious body, would be derogatory to its majesty. Exalted persons do not punish personally, therefore does the emperor not execute the criminals with his own hand. Heaven is more exalted than the emperor. If it punished small misdemeanours itself, its virtue would be inferior to that of the emperor.

Heaven's sentiments must be similar to man's feelings. When a prince punishes the wicked, he upon first hearing of their crime, becomes furious and condems them, but when it comes to taking their lives, he commiserates and pities them. Therefore the Analects say "When you have found out the truth, be grieved and pity them, and do not feel joy." Analects XIX, 19. The criminal judge Yang Fu having consulted the philosopher Tsêng Tse on the duties of his office, the latter advised him to pity the offenders, whose misdeeds were perhaps a consequence of bad administration. Chou was utterly depraved, yet, when Wu Wang was going to put him to death, he deplored and pitied him. Thus in the Shuking he says:---"I commanded the wild tribes, but I am sorry for you." This passage is not to be found in our text of the Shuking. A sovereign puts the bad to death, but with a feeling of commiseration, whereas Heaven in punishing misdemeanours, strikes people dead in its rage. Thus Heaven would be less merciful than man.

Rain is believed to be a fluid emitted by Heaven. Put forth by Heaven, it becomes moistened, and gives the rain. When the rain saturates everything, one speaks of timely showers. Unless he be in good humour, man does not show kindness, and unless it be pleased, Heaven does not pour down rain. If thunder be taken for an expression of Heaven's anger, then rain must be a sign of its joy. When there is thunder, it is always accompanied by rain. One must suppose, therefore, that Heaven is at the same time grumbling and laughing. A sovereign does not mete out rewards and punishments on the same day. Should Heaven's anger and joy coincide in time, Heaven and man would not be in harmony, and their ways of rewarding and punishing quite different. Moreover, anger and joy are both fitful. To fly into a fit of passion out of disgust at man's conduct, to punish him for his offence, and, in doing so, to be guided by passion, would be unwortly of Heaven.

Regarding a thunderstorm in winter, people assert that the Yang fluid has lost its force. When it thunders in spring, they say, it comes out, but when there is a tempest in summer, instead of owning that then the fluid has its greatest force, they speak of Heaven's anger. Of course that is nothing but idle talk.

Man is a creature between Heaven and Earth. Other creatures are likewise creatures. What other creatures eat and drink, Heaven does not know, and it should be aware of what man eats and drinks? All beings are to Heaven like children. The kindness and love of father and mother to all their children are the same. Why then does Heaven watch the nobler and more intelligent being so closely, but takes no heed of the humbler and less gifted ones? Why does it pry into all that man does, but ignores other creatures?

Dogs and pigs eat human excrements, yet Heaven does not kill them for that. Provided that Heaven restricts only man on account of his superiority, then, if rats contaminate his drink or food, and man unwittingly eat it by mistake, Heaven does not destroy the rats. If Heaven can pardon the rats, it can do the same for man. Man may by mistake give others impure things to eat, and those unaware of it, may eat them. But they will never offer rotten things on purpose. Should they do so, the others would not take them.

The Empress Lü Hou The first wife of Han Kao Tsu, who usurped the imperial power, and reigned under her own name against all custom from 187-179 b.c. Her son, the Emperor Hui Ti, whose nominal reign lasted from 194-187 b.c., was nothing but a puppet in her hands. Lü Hou was a fiend in human shape, who had always some poison ready for her enemies. One of her first acts, after she came to power, was to wreak her vengeance on her rival, Lady Ch`i, a concubine of Han Kao Tsu, who had attempted to have her own son made heir-apparent in place of Hui Ti, the son of Lü Hou. Hui Ti, a very kind-hearted, but weak sovereign did all in his power to shield his half-brother from the wrath of his mother, who poisoned him all the same. cut off Lady Ch`i's hands, tore out her eyes, and placed her in a privy as a human swine. Then she called people, and showed them her victim. All felt sick at heart. When the emperor Hui Ti saw her, he fell sick, and did not rise again. This story is abridged from the Shi-chi chap. 9, p. 3. Lü Hou acted on purpose, but Heaven did not punish her. If on the other hand Heaven strikes people dead for a mere inadvertence without mercy or regard for the faults, its government is tyrannical.

When men eat something impure, they do not discover it by the taste. If they feel it, after having swallowed it, they call it a pollution of their bowels. When Lady Ch`i was put into the cess-pool, her whole body was disgracefully soiled, which is nothing else than impurity, for the body does not differ from the bowels. To care for the intestines, but disregard the body, to resent impurity, but not to feel the afore-mentioned horrible disgrace, would not be like Heaven.

The news that anybody has eaten something unclean does not disturb people's minds, whereas all that saw Lady Ch`i felt sick at heart. Man being hurt, Heaven must feel pity too. Commiserating Lady Ch`i, it must hate Lü Hou. Notwithstanding, when Lü Hou died, she was not struck by a thunderbolt.

The Taoist Liu Ch`un made a fool of the king of Ch`u, Ying, and caused him to eat some dirty stuff. Liu Ch`un died later on, but it needed no lightning to make him die.

In the 6th month of summer of the year 79 a.d. Chin Chuan of K`uei-chi A city in Chekiang. was killed by lightning. Of the sheep which he used for his daily meals, five died together with him. What hidden faults had these animals, that the lightning killed them?

Boatmen sometimes pollute a stream up-river, while other people drink its water down-river. Yet the boatmen do not die by lightning.

The Spirit of Heaven dwells in heaven just as a king in his residence. A king lives behind many gates, therefore the Spirit of Heaven must stay in some secluded place likewise. As the king has his palaces and halls, Heaven also has the T`ai-wei, Tse-kung, Hsüan-yuan and Wên-ch`ang mansions. Names of constellations.

A king being far away from men does not know their occult crimes. How could the Spirit of Heaven in his four palaces see the secret misdeeds of men? If a king hears of the faults of his subjects, he learns it through others. If Heaven becomes cognizant of the crimes of men, it must have it from its angels. In case the spirits are Heaven's informants as to crimes, it must also entrust the spirits with retributive justice. Such being the case, the so-called anger of Heaven is not that of Heaven, but of the spirits.

A king inflicts capital punishment in autumn, In China the regular executions take place in autumn. Heaven kills in summer. Thus the king in meting out justice, does not observe the time of Heaven. As Heaven's anointed he should in executions also imitate the example of majestic Heaven. Heaven chooses summer for killing, whereas the king executes in autumn. Heaven and man are thus at variance, which would never do for Heaven's deputy.

Some people will argue that giving impure things to eat or drink is a great crime before Heaven, which in killing the culprit does not pay attention to time. It destroys the guilty on the spot, and does not delay judgment until autumn. Great crimes in the eyes of kings are high-treason, rebellion, and lawlessness, whereas Heaven considers the offering of unclean things to others as food or drink as a serious offence. The crimes condemned by Heaven are of different gravity. Were the light and the serious ones all equally dealt with, the king would have to imitate Heaven's government, and put to death every one, who had given others unclean things to eat or drink. When the holy emperors were ruling, they had not such a penalty. That would mean that the holy emperors were remiss, and had forgotten this punishment. A deduclio ad absurdum from a Chinese point of view, for the holy emperors, Yao, Shun, and the like, were perfect, and could not have omitted to punish serious misdeeds.

It may be said that the ghosts have power over what is secret, and that a king's sway extends over what is public only. Secret faults are wrapt in darkness and invisible to man, therefore spirits must be employed to watch over them. I reply, there being not only one secret fault, why are not all the offenders put to death? To fix upon one single offence would not be a just retribution for hidden sins.

Heaven vents its anger, before the sun returns, and an outburst of human ire takes less than the time one needs to turn round upon one's heels. This seems to be an old adage. However, secret crimes of men often become manifest in winter and not exclusively in summer. If he who misconducts himself in winter, is not struck by thunder forthwith, but must wait till summer, Heaven's wrath cannot be quicker than a revolution of the sun.

When painters represent the thunder, it is like so many joined drums, heaped together. They also paint a man having the semblance of an athlete and call him "the Thunderer" (Lei Kung). With his left hand they give him joined drums to pull, in his right hand he brandishes a hammer, as though he were going to strike. It means that the rolling sound of thunder is produced by the knocking together of the united drums, and that the sudden crashing noise is the blow of the hammer. When a man is killed, he is struck with the drums and the hammer at the same time.

People also believe in this, and nobody objects. But if we get at the bottom of it, we find that these pictures are pure fictions. Thunder is either a sound or a fluid. How can a sound or a fluid brandish a hammer, or pull drums, and have the shape of joined drums? If the thunder can really swing or pull these things, it must be a creature. That which, when knocked together, produces sounds, can be either a drum or a bell. Should the rolling sound be produced by drums or bells? In that case, bells and drums could not hang free in the air, they would require a frame with vertical and cross-beams. Suspended between, they could be sounded. Now, the bells and drums have nothing to hang upon, and the feet of the Thunderer nothing to walk upon, how then should the thunder be produced?

Somebody might object that for this very reason there must be a spirit, for, if in order to produce thunder a frame were required, or a support for the feet, it would be quite human, and by no means spirit-like.

I hold that spirits are diffuse and incorporeal. Departing or coming in they need no aperture, nor have they any hold above or below. Therefore one calls them spirits. Now the Thunderer has a body, and for the thunder there are instruments, how can he be deemed a spirit? If the Thunderer were incorporeal, his semblance could not be drawn, and, if he possesses a body, he does not deserve the name of a spirit.

People talk of the dragon spirit rising to heaven. But whoever thoroughly examines the question, discredits this idea. Men sometimes see the shape of a dragon, and owing to this circumstance they paint the shape of a dragon rising to heaven. The best proof that, as a fact, there is no spirit is, that it can be pictorially represented.

My opponents will argue: "Men also see apparitions of ghosts. Are they not spirits?" I say: "If men see ghosts sometimes, has anybody already seen the Thunderer? Ghosts are called spirits, but they walk about on earth like men. The Thunderer, however, does not rest his head in heaven, nor walk on earth with his feet. How can he, therefore, be a thunderer?"

All flying creatures have wings. Those who can fly without wings are styled genii. In representing the forms of genii men give them wings. Provided the Thunderer is like the genii, he ought to have wings equally. If, in case the Thunderer does not fly, the painters pretend that he can fly, they are wrong, and if he really could fly, but had no wings, it would be wrong likewise. Thus the pictures of the Thunderer's outward appearance, made by painters, are merely fancy work.

Those who argue about thunder aver that it is Heaven's angry snorting, whereas those who sketch it, contend that the Thunderer in his anger pulls the joined drums. If it is really as the critics say, the painters are wrong, and if they are right, the critics must be in error. The two classes are antagonistic. If both their views were taken as genuine, there would he no difference of right and wrong, and in default of that, no real right and wrong. Doubts would not be settled, and fallacies would triumph.

The Liki speaks of a goblet with the thunder carved upon it. Neither the Liki nor the Chou-li contains such a passage, as far as I could make out. On the old sacrificial bronze vases, called tsun = goblets, clouds and thunders i. e. coiled up clouds were represented. The thunder ornament is the Chinese Meander. Specimens of these goblets can be seen in the Po-ku-t`u-lu chap. 7. One thunder rushes forth, the other reverts, one is coiled up, the other stretched forth. Their friction would give a sound. They look as if they were colliding, piled up in a grotesque and phantastic way. This form represents the thunder. When through friction the air breaks, there is a rolling sound, the sound of friction. A sudden crash is the sound of the shooting forth of the air. When this shooting air hits a man, he dies.

In fact thunder is nothing else than the exploding solar fluid. How do we know?---In the first month the Yang fluid begins to be roused, consequently we have the first thunder during the first moon. In the fifth month Yang is at its cynosure, therefore at that time thunder rapidly follows upon thunder. In autumn and winter Yang declines, therefore thunder ceases during these seasons. In the midst of summer the sun reigns supreme, but the Yin fluid endeavours to get the upperhand. In this dispute of the Y-ang and the Yin fluids it comes to frictions, and these frictions lead to explosions and shooting, which are destructive. A man struck by these forces is killed, a tree split, and a house demolished. A person under a tree or in a house may also by chance be hit and killed.

To test the justness of this statement take a basin full of water, and throw it on a fire, used for melting purposes. The vapour will explode with a puff like the sound of thunder. Should any one be too near, his body will be burned. Heaven and earth are like a great furnace, the Yang fluid is an immense fire, clouds and rain are huge masses of water. When they struggle, explode and shoot, the effects must be most violent, and a man hit and injured cannot but die.

When founders melt iron, they make a mould of earth, into which the liquid iron runs down. Else it bursts out, flows over, and spurts. Hitting a man's body, it burns his skin. The fiery Yang fluid is not only as hot as liquid iron, the exploding Yin fluid has not merely the wetness of earth and clay, und when the Yang fluid hits a man, it does not simply cause the pain of burning.

Thunder is fire. A man burned by this fluid must show traces of it. If those traces of burning look like written characters, people seeing them use to say that Heaven has written the man's guilt to make it known to the whole world. This is also unreasonable.

If Heaven destroys men with its thunder, after they have perpetrated their misdeeds, he ought to make their wickedness quite public, with a view to frightening for the future, and write the characters clearly, but not quite indistinctly, as it does. When the "Plan" came out of the Yellow River, The "Plan" appeared to the Emperor Huang Ti in the Yellow River. A big fish carried it on its back. Huang Ti received the Plan, which consisted of a combination of symbolical lines and diagrams like the Pa-kua. and the "Scroll" emerged from the Lo, The "Scroll" was carried by a dragon-horse, which rose from the waters of the Lo, a tributary of the Yellow River, at Fu Hsi's time. From the mystic signs on this "Scroll" the emperor is reported to have derived the Eight Diagrams and the first system of written characters, which took the place of the knotted cords, quipos, then in use. Heaven and Earth produced them for men to read and take note of. The writing on people killed by thunder is also Heaven's work. Why is it so difficult to understand?

Let us assume that the human skin is not fit to be written upon. The wife of Duke Hui of Lu, 767-721 b.c. Ch`ung Tse was daughter to Duke Wu of Sung. 764-746 b.c. When she was born, she had a writing on her palm to the effect that she was to be duchess of Lu. The writing was distinct and intelligible. Therefore Ch`ung Tse was married to Lu. The thunder's handwriting not being clear, it cannot serve as a deterrent for the future. Ergo the burnt spots are not characters engraved by Heaven.

Sometimes people exaggerate things that really exist, sometimes they invent things that have no real basis at all. Imposed upon by fallacies, they indulge in fabricating wonders and miracles as the following arguments will prove:---

1. Thunder is fire. When a man dies struck by thunder, one discovers upon examining his body, if the head be hit, that the hair is singed, and if the body be struck, that the skin is charred. Coming near the body, one scents the smell of burning. 2. Taoist experimentalists hold that a stone heated by a thunder-clap, becomes red. If it be thrown into a well, the stone being burning hot, the well cool, an explosion ensues with a loud detonation like thunder. 3. When somebody takes cold, the cold fluid enters his stomach. The stomach being as a rule warm within, the warmth and the cold struggle together, and the exploding air gives a thunder-like sound. 4. In a thunder-storm brilliant lightnings appear every now and then like the glares of big fires. 5. When the lightning strikes, it often burns man's houses and buildings, or grass and trees.

Those who declare thunder to be fire have these five arguments, those who prentend that thunder is Heaven's anger, not a single one. Therefore this latter assertion is without any foundation.

However, it might be objected that there is a passage in the Analects to the effect that, when thunder followed thunder, and the storm raged, Confucius used to be deeply impressed. Quoted from Analects X, 16. The Liki says, "when a strong wind blows, and the thunder-claps quickly follow each other, and rain falls in torrents, a superior man will be deeply moved. Though it be night, he will rise, don his clothes and cap, and sit up" Quoted from the Liki Book VI Yü-tsao (Legge, Sacred Books Vol. XXVIII, p. 5). in awe of Heaven's anger, fearing lest its punishment should reach him. If thunder were not the expression of Heaven's anger, nor its striking a punishment of the guilty, why should a good man be frightened by thunder, put on his official robe, and sit straight?

The Master Confucius in the passage quoted from the Analects. means that the relation of Heaven to man is similar to that of father and son. The father being moved, the son cannot remain indifferent. Therefore, when Heaven is moved, man must be likewise. Being in harmony with Heaven, he proves that he does not act in opposition to it.

Man suddenly hearing a dog bark outside the house, will be startled, and with trembling limbs harken to find out, what it means. How much more so, when he hears Heaven assuming an extraordinary voice like the noise made by the quick rolling of heavy carts!

The remark in the Analects and the observation of the Liki both refer to the wise man. The wise man displays the utmost care in all his doings and knows that he has no guilt, just like sun and moon, which, when eclipsed, have not clandestinely given impure food to men. Examining his heart, he feels no fear, wherefore should he be afraid of thunder? If he is not afraid, his excitement can be no proof of Heaven's anger, because he fears nothing for himself. Should he really be afraid of thunder, even that would not suffice to prove the punishment of hidden crimes, for people struck by lightning are mostly quite innocent. The wise man apprehends that he might be hit by chance. Therefore he is anxious and alarmed. But this alarm of the wise man cannot be put forward to demonstrate that thunder is Heaven's anger. It shows, on the contrary, that thunder strikes at random. Because it hits at random, and does not punish the guilty, people are afraid. If thunder actually punished the guilty, the wicked ought to stand in awe, and the wise had no cause for apprehensions.

The king of Sung asked T`ang Yang saying "I have killed a great number of people, yet all the officials are still quite fearless. What is the reason?"

T`ang Yang replied:---"Those that Your Highness has punished were exclusively bad characters. If the bad are called to account, why should the good be frightened? If Your Highness wishes all the officials to be in awe, the best way is to make no distinction between good and bad, and chastise them all occasionally. Then all the officialdom will be afraid." Quoted from Hsün Tse.

The king followed his advice, and all the functionaries became frightened, whereupon the king of Sung turned very angry. Owing to the indiscriminate punishments of the king of Sung, the whole people of Sung got greatly alarmed. Because thunder and lightning strike indiscriminately, a wise man becomes agitated. His alarm is like the great fright of the kingdom of Sung.

Sometimes the following question is considered:---Between heaven and earth there are the ten thousand beings with their characteristic nature. In the animal kingdom we find adders and vipers, bees and scorpions, which are poisonous. When their bite or sting has hurt a human body, the sickness which they cause must be most carefully treated, for without timely help, the virus spreads through the whole body. In the vegetable kingdom we have croton oil beans and wild dolichos, which, when eaten, cause a stomach-ache, and in large doses kill a man. What manner of fluid have these created beings received from heaven? The ten thousand beings, when created, are endowed with the original fluid. Is there any poison in the original fluid?

Poison is the hot air of the sun; when it touches a man, he becomes empoisoned. If we eat something which causes us such a pain in the stomach, that we cannot endure it, that which proves so unendurable is called poison. The fiery air of the sun regularly produces poison. This air is hot. The people living in the land of the sun are impetuous. The mouths and tongues of these impetuous people become venomous. Thus the inhabitants of Ch`u and Yüeh Hukuang and Chekiang. are impetuous and passionate. When they talk with others, and a drop of their saliva happens to fly against their interlocutors, the arteries of the latter begin to swell and ulcerate.

The Southern Circuit Hupei. is a very hot region. When the people there curse a tree, it withers, and, when they spit upon a bird, it drops down. Wizards are all able to make people ill by their prayers as well as to avert their misfortunes. They hail from Kiang-nan, The country south of the Yangtse, now the provinces Kiangsu, Kiangsi, and Anhui. and are imbued with the hot fluid. Poison is the fluid of the sun, therefore it burns like fire, when somebody is aspersed by it. When people bitten by a viper cut out the flesh, as sometimes they do, and put it on the ground, it burns and bubbles up, which shows that there is a hot fluid in it. At the four cardinal points are border-lands, but the south-eastern corner alone has broiling hot air, which always comes forth in Spring and Summer. In Spring and Summer the sun rises in the south-eastern corner, which is the proper sphere of the sun.

When the air of other things enters into our nose or eyes, they do not feel pain, but as soon as fire or smoke enter into our nose, it aches, and, when they enter into our eyes, they pain us. This is the burning of the hot air. Many substances can be dissolved, but it is only by burning fire that they are scorched.

Eating sweets is not injurious to man, but, when for instance he takes a little too much honey, he has symptoms of poisoning. Honey is a secretion of the bee, and the bee is an insect belonging to the Yang fluid.

If a man without having hurt himself against anything in his movements feels a sudden pain in his body, for which there is no apparent reason, and if those parts of his body which pain him show marks of flogging so to speak, he suffers from lumbago. This lumbago, they say, is caused by devils who are beating the person. Devils are supernatural apparitions produced by the sun. If the disease be less acute, one calls it sciatica, and uses honey and cinnabar to cure it. Honey and cinnabar are substances belonging to the Yang fluid. This cure is homeopathic. As an antidote against a cold one uses cold, and against fever one uses heat. Since to cure sciatica they take honey and cinnabar, it shows us that sciatica is the effect of the Yang fluid and of the diffusion of a poison.

Poisonous air is floating between heaven and earth. When a man comes into touch with it, his face begins to swell, a disease which people call a sun-stroke.

Men who have seen ghosts, state that they have a red colour. The supernatural force of the sun must, of course, have this colour. Ghosts are burning poison; the man whom they assault, must die. Thus did Earl Tu shoot King Hsüan of Chou dead. Cf. p. 202. The paraphernalia of these demons of death are like the fire of the sun. The bow as well as the arrow of Tu Po were both red. In the south they term poison "small fox." The apparition of Earl Tu had a bow in his hand, with which he shot. The solar fluid was kindled simultaneously, and, when it was thus intensified, it shot. Therefore, when he hit the king, he seemed provided with bow and arrow.

When heat is pent up, and the temperature increased, the poison in the blood is stirred up. Therefore eating the liver of a race horse will cause a man's death, the fluid pent up in the liver having been chafed. During the dog-days, when a scorching heat prevails, people die by insolation; the extreme heat has been turned into poison. We perspire, while running, near a stove, in the sunshine at noon, and, when we are feverish. The four causes have been different, but they all engender perspiration. The heat is the same, and it has been equally pent up.

Fire is a phenomenon of the sun. All created beings of the world are filled with the solar fluid and after their creation contain some poison. Reptiles and insects possessing this poison in abundance become vipers and adders, bees and scorpions, plants become croton seeds and wild dolichos, fishes become porpoises and "to-shu" Kang-hi quotes this passage, but does not say what kind of a fish the "to-shu" is. It may be a variety of the shu, which seems to be a kind of sturgeon. fish. Consequently men eating a porpoise liver die, and the bite of a "to-shu" is venomous. Fishes and birds are related, therefore birds can fly, and fishes too; birds lay eggs, and fishes also. Vipers, adders, bees, and scorpions are all oviparous and have a similar nature.

Among mankind bad characters take the place of these creatures. Their mouths do mischief. The bad men of the world are imbued with a poisonous fluid. The poison of the wicked living in the land of the sun is still more virulent, hence the curses and the swearing of the people of southern Yüeh produce such wonderful results.

A proverb says, "Many mouths melt metal." The mouth is fire. Fire is the second of the five elements, and speech the second of the five actions. Cf. Shuking (Hung-fan) Pt. V, Bk. IV, 5-6. There is an exact correspondence between speech and fire, therefore in speaking of the melting of metal one says that the mouth and the tongue melt it. They do not speak of pulling out wood and burning it, but expressly refer to the melting of metal. Metal is overcome by fire, fire and mouth belong to the same class. Another instance of Chinese symbolism, which they mistake for science.

Medicinal herbs do not grow in one place only. T`ai Po left his country and went to Wu. Cf. p. 120. The melting of metal does not take place in one foundry alone. People speak very much of T`ang-chi in Ch`u. A place in Honan celebrated for its foundries. Vid. p. 377. The warm air on earth has its regions. One dreads to go into the southern sea, for the secretary falcon lives in the south, and he who drinks anything that has been in contact with it, must die. Chên = secretary falcon has become a synonym for poison.

Shên appertains to the dragon and ssĕ to the snake. Shên and ssĕ The fifth and the sixth of the Twelve Branches (Duodenary Cycle of symbols). are placed in the south-east. The dragon is poisonous, and the snake venomous, therefore vipers are provided with sharp teeth, and dragons with an indented crust. Wood engenders fire, and fire becomes poison. Hence the "Green Dragon" holds the "Fire Star" in its mouth. The "Green Dragon" is the quadrant or the division of the 28 solar mansions occupying the east of the sky. The "Fire Star" is the Planet Mars. Mars in the quadrant of the "Green Dragon" forebodes war i. e. poison; nothing but inane symbolism. (Cf. Shi-chi chap. 27, p. 6v.)

Wild dolichos and croton seed both contain poison, therefore the dolichos grows in the south-east, and croton in the south-west. The frequence of poisonous things depends on the dryness and the humidity of the soil, and the strength of the poison is influenced by the locality, where they have grown. Snakes are like fish, therefore they grow in the grass and in marshes. Bees and scorpions resemble birds and are born in houses and on trees. In Kiang-pei The country north of the Yangtse, now the northern parts of the provinces Kiangsu and Anhui. the land is dry; consequently bees and scorpions abound there. In Kiang-nan the soil is wet, hence it is a breeding place for great numbers of snakes.

Those creatures growing in high and dry places are like the male principle. The virile member hangs down, therefore bees and scorpions sting with their tails. Which hang down likewise. The creatures living in low and wet places resemble the female principle. The female organ is soft and extensible, therefore snakes bite with their mouths. Which are soft and extensible.---To such ineptitudes even the most elevated Chinese minds are led by their craze of symbolisation. Poison is either concealed in the head or the tail, whence the bite or the sting becomes venomous, or under the epidermis so that the eating causes stomach-ache, or it lies hidden in the lips and the throat, so that the movement of the tongue does mischief. The mischief done by the tongue in speaking, which is not only compared to, but identified with poison.

The various poisons are all grown from the same fluid, and however different their manifestations, internally they are the same. Hence, when a man dreams of fire, it is explained as altercation, and, when he sees snakes in his dreams, they also mean contention. Fire is an emblem of the mouth and the tongue; they appear in snakes likewise, which belong to the same class, have sprung from the same root, and are imbued with the same fluid. Thus fire is equivalent to speed, and speech to bad men. When bad men say strange things, it is at the instigation of their mouths and their tongues, and the utterances of mouth and tongue are provoked by the influence heaven has exercised upon the persons in question. Consequently the second of the five actions is called speech. "The objectionable manifestation of speech is presemptuous error, symbolized by constant sunshine." Shuking (Hung-fan) Pt. V, Bk. IV, 34. Presumptious error is extravagant and shining. In the same manner snakes are gaudily ornamented. All ornaments originate from the Yang, which produces them, as it were. Sunshine is followed by talk, which accounts for the weird songs so often heard. Cf. p. 246 and above p. 300.

The magical force engenders beauty, but the beautiful are very often vicious and depraved. The mother of Shu Hu A half-brother of Shu Hsiang. His mother was a concubine of Shu Hsiang's father. was a beauty. Shu Hsiang's An officer of Chin. mother knew her, and would not allow her to go to the chamber of her husband. Shu Hsiang remonstrated. "In the depths of mountains and in vast marshes dragons and snakes really grow," said his mother. "She is beautiful, but I am afraid, lest she give birth to a dragon or a snake, which would bring mishap upon you. Being an exceptional woman by her beauty, she would give birth to an extraordinary son---a dragon, and it would be dangerous for an ordinary man like her son Shu Hsiang to be a blood relation of such an extraordinary person, since fate likes to strike the exalted. You are of a poor family. In the States great favours are sometimes given, but what can the recipient of such favours do, when he is being slandered by malicious people. How should I be jealous of her?"

She then allowed her to go to her husband's couch, and she begot a son, named Shu Hu. Owing to his beauty and hero-like strength Shu Hu became a favourite of Luan Huai Tse; Quoted from the Tso-chuan, Duke Hsiang, 21st year (551 b.c.). however, when Fan Hsüan Tse expelled Luan Huai Tse, Two noblemen of Chin, cf. p. 206. he killed Shu Hu, and so brought misfortune upon Shu Hsiang.

The recesses of mountains and vast marshes are the places where dragons and snakes breed. Shu Hu's mother was compared to them, for under her charms the poison lay hidden. She bore a son, Shu Hu, whose beauty consisted in his hero-like strength. This strength grew from his beauty, and the disaster came from his strength.

Fire has splendour, and wood has a pleasant appearance. Dragons and snakes correspond to the east. Wood contains the essence of fire, hence its beautiful colour and graceful appearance. The gall being joined to the liver, courage and strength are produced. The force of the fire is violent, hence the great courage; wood is hard and strong, hence the great strength. When there is any supernatural apparition produced, it is through beauty that it brings about misfortune, and through courage and strength that it injures like poison. All is owing to beauty.

Generous wine is a poison; one cannot drink much of it. The secretion of the bees becomes honey; one cannot eat much of it. A hero conquers an entire State, but it is better to keep aloof from him. Pretty women delight the eyes, but it is dangerous to keep them. Sophists are most interesting, but they can by no means be trusted. Nice tastes spoil the stomach, and pretty looks beguile the heart. Heroes cause disasters, and controversialists do great harm. These four classes are the poison of society, but the most virulent poison of all is that flowing from the mouths of the sophists.

When Confucius caught sight of Yang Hu, A powerful, but unworthy officer in Lu. he retreated, and his perspiration trickled down, for Yang Hu was a glib-tongued man. The poison from a glib tongue makes a man sick. When a man has been poisoned, he dies alone, whereas a glib tongue ruins a whole State. Thus we read in the Shiking: Shiking Pt. II, Bk. VII, 5. ---"Endless are the slanderous reports. They threw four States Modern commentators explain the expression as meaning "the four quarters of the empire." into confusion." Four States were thrown into confusion, how much more would be a single individual. Therefore a man does not fear a tiger, but dreads the calumniator's mouth, for his mouth contains the worst poison.

It is a common belief that fate is difficult to foresee. Far from it, it can easily be known, and by what means? By means of the body and its bones. As man derives his destiny from heaven, it becomes visible in his body. An inquiry into these manifestations leads to the knowledge of fate, just as from a look at measures one learns their capacity. By manifestations I understand the osseous configurations.

According to tradition Huang Ti had a dragon face, Chuan Hsü was marked with the character Wu . on his brow, Ti Ku had a double tooth, Yao's eye-brows had eight colours, Shun's eyes double pupils, Yü's Huang Ti, Chuan Hsü, Ti Ku, Yao, Shun, and Yü are mythical or half legendary rulers of old China. ears three orifices, T`ang had double elbows, Wên Wang four nipples, Wu Wang's T`ang, Wên Wang, and Wu Wang are the founders of the Shang and Chou dynasties. spine was curbed backwards, Chou Kung Tan, Duke of Chou, a younger brother of Wu Wang, whom he helped to win the throne. was inclined to stoop forward, Kao Yao A minister of Shun. had a horse's mouth, Confucius' arms were turned backwards. Like the wings of a bird. These Twelve Sages either held the positions of emperors and kings, or they aided their sovereigns, being anxious for the welfare of the people. All the world knows this, and the scholars speak of it.

These reports being given in the Classics and Annals can be relied upon. The light literature, such as journals, letters, and memoirs which the Literati do not read, afford a great many more instances: T`sang Hsieh had four eyes and became one of Huang Ti's officials. Ch`ung Erh, prince of Chin, Ch`ung Erh reigned as marquis of Chin from 634-626 b.c. had a double rib, and became the foremost of all the feudal lords. Su Ch`in A famous statesman who in 333 b.c. succeeded in forming a league of the Six States: Yen, Chao, Han, Wei, Ch`i, and Ch`u against Ch`in. with a bone on his nose obtained the premiership in all the Six Kingdoms. Chang Yi A celebrated politician of the 4th century b.c., in early life a fellow-student of Su Ch`in. having a double rib was also made a minister in Ch`in and Wei. Hsiang Yü, who owing to his double pupils was regarded as a descendant of the Emperor Shun, shared the empire with Kao Tsu. Ch`ên P`ing, A partisan of the founder of the Han dynasty, Kao Tsu, one of the Three Heroes, who in early youth lived in great poverty and subsequently rose to the highest honours. a poor fellow who had not enough to eat and drink, had nevertheless a very fine appearance, which surprised every one so much, that they exclaimed: what on earth does Ch`ên P`ing eat to become such a portly man. Han Hsin Another adherent of Han Kao Tsu, also one of the Three Heroes, the third being Chang Liang. He was to be executed for treason, but was pardoned. was rescued from the axe of the executioner, when he caught the eye of the duke of T`êng, and was pardoned also on account of his extraordinary appearance. Fine looks and stateliness can be characteristics as well. As anomalous features.

Kao Tsu had a high nose, a dragon face, a fine beard and 72 black spots on his left leg. This passage occurs in the Shi-chi chap. 8, p. 2, which treats of Han Kao Tsu. Lü from Shan-fu A place in Shantung. was skilled in prognosticating from looks. When he saw Kao Tsu's carriage, he thought him very remarkable, and therefore gave him his own daughter, the later empress Lü Hou, to wife. Afterwards she gave birth to Prince Hsiao Hui He succeeded his father Kao Tsu in 194 b.c. and to the princess Yuan of Lu. Kao Tsu was first a headborough on the river Sse. A river in Shantung. Then he gave up his post, and took to farming, again living with Lü Hou and his two children on his farm, when an old man passed by, and asked for a drink. In return he divined Lü Hou's fate by her features saying: "Madam, you belong to the great folks of the empire." Called upon to foretell the fortune of her two children, he said in regard of Hsiao Hui: "The cause of your greatness, Madam, will be this son," and with respect to Yuan of Lu: "You are all noble." When the old man had left, Kao Tsu came home from abroad. Upon being informed by Lü Hou of what had taken place, he ran after the old man, and stopped him, wishing to hear his own fortune too. The old fellow rejoined: "Before, the lady and her children bore a resemblance to you in their looks, but your mien is so grand, that words fail me to describe it." Cf. Shi-chi loc. cit. which slightly differs. Afterwards the empire devolved upon Kao Tsu, as the old man had foretold.

If we draw a general principle from this, we find that members of the same family all show their nobility in their appearance. Belonging to the same caste and animated by a similar spirit, they must necessarily have some kindred traits in their mental and physical qualities. It however happens that two persons of different classes and incongruous minds meet together. A grandee, when marrying, gets a great lady for his wife, and a gentlewoman also finds a noble lord. If two individuals meet despite discrepancies of appearance, a sudden death ensues. In case they have not yet come into contact, one party is overtaken by death previously.

Wang Mang's aunt Lady Chêng was bespoken in marriage. When the moment came for her to go, the bridegroom suddenly died. The same thing happened a second time. Then she was given away to the Prince of Chao, but the Prince had not yet taken her, when he breathed his last. Nan Kung Ta Yu of Ch`ing-ho A city in Shantung; Playfair No. 1642. met with Lady Chêng's father, the Honourable Chih, with whom he was acquainted, and prognosticated her fate saying: "She is so exalted, that she will become the mother of the empire." At that time Hsüan Ti 73-48 b.c. was emperor and Yuan Ti heir-apparent. Through the governor of the principality of Wei, Chih then gave her in marriage to the heir-apparent, who was very pleased with her, and became father to a son of the name of Chün Shang. At the death of Hsüan Ti the heir-apparent ascended the throne, Lady Chêng was made empress, and Chün Shang heir-apparent. When Yuan Ti 48-32 b.c. died, the heir-apparent assumed the reins of government and became the emperor Chêng Ti, 32-6 b.c. and Lady Chêng became empress-dowager and thus mother of the empire. Lady Cheng had something in her features indicative of her future imperial motherhood. The two men to whom she was betrothed first, and the Prince of Chao had no marks showing that they would be fathers of the empire, therefore the two died, before the marriage could take place, and the prince expired. The two fiancés and the Prince of Chao were not predestinated for imperial sway, and Lady Chêng was apparently no match for them.

The prime minister Huang T`se Kung, Huang T`se Kung was prime minister of the emperor Hsüan Ti, died 51 b.c. who was originally a border warden in Yang-hsia, In Honan. travelled with a soothsayer in the same carriage, when they perceived a woman seventeen or eighteen years old. The fortune-teller pointed to her and said:---"This woman will be raised to high honours, and become consort to a marquis." Huang T`se Kung stopped the carriage, and looked at her carefully. The fortune-teller said:---"If this woman will not become noble, my divination books are of no use." Huang T`se Kung inquired about her, and learned that she was from the next village, a female belonging to the Wu family. Thereupon he married her, and afterwards really gained high honours, was given the post of a prime minister, and created a marquis. A parallel passage occurs in the Han-shu, quoted in the T`ai-p`ing yü-lan 729 p. 4. Since Huang T`se Kung won wealth and honour, his wife had to be on a par with him. Consequently, when they were brought together, they both became illustrious. Had Huang T`se Kung's fate been mean, he would not have got that woman as a consort, and had they not tallied together as man and wife, they would have had the same misfortune as the two persons above mentioned and the Prince of Chao. If an entire family has a glorious destiny, then later on every thing turns to their honour and advantage, whereas in case of incongruity of osseous structure and physical shape they will be separated and die, and cannot enjoy great happiness long.

In noble families even servants and slaves as well as cattle and horses which they rear are not like the common ones. From the looks of the slaves one sees that they do not easily die. The cattle and horses often produce young. The seeds in the fields grow up luxuriantly, and quickly put forth ripe grains. In commerce those sort of people manage to get excellent merchandise, which sells without delay. Those who know fate, find out the great folks amidst low people, and discern the miserable among the magnates. Judging from the osseous structure and distinguishing the lines on the skin, they discover man's fate, which always confirms their predictions.

Viscount Chien of Chao 516-457 b.c. bade Ku Pu Tse Ch`ing tell the fortunes of his sons. He found none of them lucky, until he came to the son of the slave-girl Chai, Wu Hsü, whom he declared to be a peer. Wu Hsü had an excellent character, and was stamped a nobleman to boot. Later on Viscount Chien put the heir-apparent aside, and raised Wu Hsü, who afterwards became Viscount Hsiang. 457-425 b.c. Cf. p. 226 and Shi-chi chap. 43, p. 8 seq.

A soothsayer said of Ch`ing Pu A military adventurer of the 2nd century b.c. His surname was originally Ying Pu. It was changed into the sobriquet Ch`ing Pu "Branded Pu", after he had been branded in his early life. He made his escape, joined in the rebellions which led to the rise of the Han dynasty, and was rewarded with the title and the fief of a "Prince of Kiukiang." Mayers Reader's Manual No. 926. that he would be tortured, but then become prince, and he really was made a prince after having suffered punishment. Quotation from Shi-chi chap. 91, p. 1.

The father of Wei Ch`ing, Cf. p. 169. Chêng Chi had illicit intercourse with a maid of the princess Yang Hsin, Wei. Wei Ch`ing was born in the Chien-chang Palace. A convict read his destiny in his features and said "He is noble, and will be invested with the rank of a marquis." Wei Ch`ing replied:---"For a slave it is quite enough not to be whipped or reviled. How could he dream of a marquisate?" Quoted from the Shi-chi chap. 111, p. 1 v. Afterwards Wei Ch`ing entered the army as an officer. Having distinguished himself in several battles, he rose in rank, and was promoted, till he was made generalissimo with the title of marquis of ten thousand families.

Before Chou Ya Fu Cf. Giles Biogr. Dict. No. 426, where the end of Chou Ya Fu is told a little differently. became a marquis, Hsü Fu predicted his fortune saying:---"Within three years hence Your Honour will be a general and minister, and have the control of the empire. You will rank so high, that among your fellow officials there will not be your equal. But nine years later, you will die of starvation."--- Chou Ya Fu replied laughing, "My elder brother already inherits the title of marquis. When the father dies, the son succeeds to his title. Why do you hint at my becoming marquis? But should I really attain to this dignity, as you say, how can you pretend that I shall die of starvation? Explain this to me." Hsü Fu pointed to the perpendicular lines converging at the corner of his mouth, and said, "This means death by starvation."---Three years passed. His brother, marquis Shêng of Chiang The capital of the Chin State in Shansi, the modern Chiang-chou. was punished for an offence. Wên Ti Han Wên Ti 179-156 b.c. was in favour of the marquis of Chiang's son. The wise councillors proposed Chou Ya Fu, who thereupon was created marquis of T`iao Another ancient city in Shansi not far from Chiang. and succeeded the marquis of Chiang. During the six later years of Wên Ti's reign the Hsiung-nu invaded the Chinese territory, and Chou Ya Fu became general. When Ching Ti Han Ching Ti 156-140. assumed the government, Chou Ya Fu was appointed prime minister. Later on he retired on account of sickness. His son bought from the imperial arsenal five hundred mail-coats, which he wanted for his father's funeral. The coolies employed at the job were irritated against him for not having received their money. Knowing that fiscal property had been clandestinely purchased, out of spite they denounced Chou Ya Fu's son to the throne. Ching Ti gave orders for trying and torturing Chou Ya Fu, who did not eat for five days, spat blood, and died. Quotation in a abridged form from Shi-chi chap. 57, p. 6v. seq.

Têng T`ung took the fancy of Wên Ti, who held him in higher esteem than a minister, presented him with enormous sums of money, and treated him almost as his equal. Têng T`ung was a minion of the Emperor Wên Ti. A fortune-teller predicted his destiny. The verdict was that he would become poor and miserable and die of starvation. When Wên Ti died, and Ching Ti had mounted the throne, Têng T`ung was punished for unlawful coinage. On examination Ching Ti found Têng T`ung already dead. He stopped at the deceased man's house, but did not discover a single cash. Cf. Têng T`ung's biography in Shi-chi chap. 125, p. 2.

The prime minister Han Han An Kuo, 2nd cent. b.c. when a youngster borrowed 50 cash from a fortune-teller, and together with him entered the Imperial Academy. The fortune-teller divined the successes of the scholars in the academy. Pointing at I Kuan Died 112 b.c. he intimated that this youth would rise so high as to become a chief minister of state. Han sent the fortune-teller with his card to I Kuan, with whom he contracted the most intimate friendship. He exerted himself to the utmost in order to show his reverence. For the purpose of living together with I Kuan he moved his residence, and drew as near as possible. I Kuan was sick, Han nursed him like a servant. His kindness towards I Kuan was greater than towards those of his own blood. Later on his name became famous all over the world. I Kuan obtained the post of a secretary of state. The local officials had to obey his orders. He recommended his friend to the throne for an appointment at the court. Han subsequently was promoted to the post of a prime minister.

The convict, Hsü Fu and the men who told the fortunes of Têng T`ung and I Kuan can be considered as soothsayers who knew fate. These sort of people examine the symptoms of the physical frame, and perceive wealth and honour, poverty and disgrace, just as we on seeing plates, know the use thereof. Fine vessels are used by the higher classes, coarse ones with the same certainty find their way to the poor. Sacrificial vases and tripods are not put up in outer buildings, and gourds are not to be found in the principal hall. That is a matter of course. That noble bones do not meet with the hardships of the poor, and that wretched features never share the joys of the grand, is on the same principle.

Vessels used as measures may contain a peck or a picul. Thus between the human ranks there is a difference of high and low. If vessels are filled over their size, their contents runs out, and is lost. If the limit of a rank is surpassed, the holder perishes. By making in our discussion of fate this comparison with a vessel, in order to ascertain the nature of anthroposcopy, we arrive at the conclusion that fate is lodged in the corporeal form.

But not only are wealth and honour, poverty and wretchedness visible in the body, pure and base conduct have also their phenomena. Pre-eminence and misery are the results of fate, pure and base conduct depend on character. As there is a method determining fate by the bones, there is also such a science doing the same for the character. But, whereas there are famous soothsayers, it is not known that a science determining the character by the features exists.

Fan Li A native of the Yüeh State, and minister of King Kou Chien of Yüeh, in modern Chekiang, 5th cent. b.c. left Yüeh. From Ch`i An old State in Shantung. he despatched a letter to the high officer Chung reading as follows:---"When the flying birds are all exterminated, the good bow is put away. When the cunning hare is dead, one cooks the greyhound. The king of Yüeh has a long neck and a mouth like a beak. One may share hardships, but not enjoy happiness with him. Why do you not leave him?" The officer Chung could not leave, but he pretended sickness, and did not go to court, whereupon the king sent him a sword, by which he died. Quoted from the Shi-chi chap. 41, p. 6 v. The last clause is abridged.

Wei Liao, Wei Liao wrote a work on the art of war. a native of Ta-liang, An ancient name of K`ai-fêng-fu. proposed to Ch`in Shih Huang Ti The first emperor of the Ch`in dynasty 221-209 b.c. a scheme to conquer the empire. Ch`in Shih Huang Ti accepted his proposal and conferred upon him the highest distinctions, giving him the same dresses and the same food as he had himself. Wei Liao said, "The king of Ch`in Shih Huang Ti's kingdom in Shensi. has a high nose, long eyes, the chest of a vulture, the voice of a jackal, the look of a tiger, and the heart of a wolf. He knows no kindness. As long as he is hard up, he is condescending, but, when he has got what he wanted, he despises men. I am a simple citizen, yet he always treats me with great condescension. Should I really serve the king of Ch`in, he would gain his ends, and the whole world would be robbed. I can have no dealings with him." Thus he went away. Quoted in an abridged form from the Shi-chi chap. 6, p. 6 seq.

Fan Li and Wei Liao correctly determined future events by observing the outward signs of character. Things really happened, as they had foretold from the features. It is evident, therefore, that character and destiny are attached to the body.

The instances quoted in the popular literature are universally regarded as true. Besides there are a great many cases in olden and modern times not much heard of, which are all well founded. The spirit comes from heaven, the body grows on earth. By studying the body on earth one becomes cognizant of the fate in heaven, and gets the real truth.

Confucius is reported to have examined T`an T`ai Tse Yü, A disciple of Confucius, extremely ugly, but very talented. Cf. Analects VI, 12. and T`ang Chü A famous physiognomist 3rd cent. b.c. to have divined for T`sai Tsê, A native of Yen, who first studied physiognomy with T`ang Chü and later on was appointed minister by King Ch`ao Hsiang of Ch`in (305-249 b.c.). and that both of them were mistaken. Where did their error come from? The signs were hidden and too delicate. The examination may have for its object the interior or the exterior, the body or the voice. Looking at the outside, one perhaps misses the inside, and occupied with the body, one forgets the voice.

When Confucius came to Chêng, In Honan. he lost his disciples. He stood by himself near the east gate of Chêng. Some man of Chêng asked Tse Kung A disciple of Confucius. saying:---"There is a man near the east gate with a head like that of Yao, a neck like that of Kao Yao, and shoulders resembling those of Tse Ch`an. The appellation of Kung Sun Ch`iao, a famous minister of the Chêng State in the 6th cent. b.c. But from his waist downward he is by three inches shorter than Yü. He is worn out like a stray dog." Tse Kung informed Confucius. Confucius laughed heartily and said, "My appearance, never mind, but like a stray dog! just so, just so." A quotation from Shi-chi chap. 47, p. 12 v. Cf. Legge, Analects, Prolegomena p. 78.

In the matter of Confucius' appearance the man of Chêng was wrong. He was not clever, and his method was very superficial. Confucius made a mistake with Tse Yü, and T`ang Chü was in the wrong with T`sai Tsê, as the man of Chêng in looking at Confucius did not apprehend his real appearance. Judging from his mien Confucius was deceived with Tse Yü, and going by words he was in error in regard of Tsai Yü. One of the disciples of Confucius, whose character was not quite on a level with his fluency of speech, wherefore the Master said of him, "In choosing a man for his gift of speech, I have failed as regards Tsai Yü."

The fate which every one receives is of two kinds, one determines those events which he must encounter, the other is the fate of strength and weakness, of long or short life. The events to be encountered are war, fire, crushing, and drowning, etc.; strength and long life, weakness and short life are connected with the copiousness and scarcity of the received fluid. War and fire, crushing and drowning can supervene, therefore there is not necessarily a period of invariable length for what has been received as fate. What has been received as fate is the vital fluid or life. The length of life depends on the quality of this fluid, but it can be shortened by accidents, such as war, fire, etc. coming from abroad, before vitality is exhausted, and death would ensue under normal conditions.---The Chinese word used here, means "fate" as well as "life."

If the limit of strength and long life be a hundred years, then the fluid of those who do not reach a hundred years must be insufficient.

When the fluid is copious, the body becomes strong, and the body being strong, life lasts long. On the other hand, when the vital force is scanty, the body is weak, and with a weak body life is short. A short life is accompanied by much sickness. If the span be short, people die soon after they are born, and are annihilated, before they are fully developed. That is because their vital fluid is too little and too weak.

Those imbued with a copious and a strong fluid do not all at once end their lives. If people do not meet with any accidents, and, leading a quiet life, become exhausted and worn out, until they die for want of vitality, it is owing to the insufficiency of their vital fluid, which they have completely used up. Their fate is similar to that of those who expire soon after their birth and are cut off, before they have grown up. In all these cases the deficiency of the fluid is the reason, why those persons do not live a hundred years.

The fluid which fills men is either full and abundant---then they are strong and vigorous, or scanty and poor---then they are weak and feeble. Imbued with a full quantity, they are strong, and live long, filled with a small dose, they are weak, and lose their bodies.

When Heaven and Earth produce things, sometimes these things do not grow to their full growth, and when father and mother engender a child, sometimes its full development is checked. It happens that a plant bears a fruit, but that this fruit withers, dies, and drops, and it also happens that people have a son who is killed in his youth. Had this fruit not withered, it would also have completed one year, and had the son not been killed, he would likewise have lived a hundred years. The decay of the fruit and the death of the son are brought about by the weakness of their vital force. Although their forms be complete, their feeble fluid does not suffice to fill them.

When the cries of a new-born infant are shrill and piercing, it will live long, when they are whining and pitiful, it will die young. Why? Because, when the new-borns receive their fate of longevity or short life, the greater or smaller quantity of their fluid forms their nature. And this nature becomes manifest by the way in which the new-borns cry. Strong babies have strong voices, weak ones give only a whine.

When a mother nurses her child at longer intervals, it will be fit for life, whereas, when she nourishes it very frequently, it will die. Why? Because the nursing at intervals shows that the fluid is copious, and the child is strong. The frequent suckling proves the insufficiency of the vital fluid and the weakness of the baby.

A fondling is a son anterior to whom another son has already been brought up and died. They say that such a fondling cannot live, and call it a fondling. The idea is that, another son having already died, the mother is too anxious about the new one, and spoils his nature. The former son is dead, and the fondling is doomed, because he is nursed much too often. His fluid being too feeble, he cannot thrive. Though he may grow up, he is too easily affected by external influences. He will always be the first to catch a disease, and his alone will prove incurable.

A fate of a hundred years is the proper one. Those who cannot complete a hundred years, though they have no proper fate, still have a fate. In the same manner the proper height of the human body is ten feet. On the Chinese foot see p. 320 Note 1. Therefore a man is called chang-fu, Wang Ch`ung explains the term chang-fu "young man" as originally meaning a man of ten feet = chang. and chang-jen is an honorary designation for an old gentleman and an old lady. . A husband thus addresses his father and mother-in-law. A man not measuring ten feet has not the proper height, but nevertheless he possesses a body. A body cannot be declared to be no body because of its falling short of ten feet. And so fate cannot be said to be no fate on account of its not coming up to a hundred years.

Heaven does not distribute long and short fates, of which every one would obtain either. We may say that man receives his fate in his fluid from Heaven, which is the same, whether he finishes it sooner or later. There is a saying to the effect that, if somebody aspires to royalty and does not succeed, this pretender can remain a leading prince. Leading princes are unsuccessful pretenders to royalty. A pretender should rise to royalty, as a long life ought to come up to a hundred years. Unable to become a king, he retires and continues a leading prince, and thus he who cannot attain to a hundred years resigns himself to a premature death.

A king and a pretender do the same, but are given different names, the one an honourable, the other a contemptible one. A long and a short life are caused, as it were, by the same fluid, but they are of different duration, either long or short. How do we know that he who does not live a hundred years, and dies an untimely death, possesses a fate of a hundred years all the same? Because his bodily frame is as big and as tall as that of others. A body that has lived a hundred years does not differ from another of fifty years. The bodies not being different, the vital fluids cannot differ either. Birds and animals have other bodies than man, hence the length of their lives must differ from the human.

How can we prove that human life, if it be long, lasts a hundred years? There are such cases in the world, and the Literati say that during the time of universal peace people used to be very tall, and live about a hundred years, which was the effect of the harmonious fluid. In the Canon of Yao, Yao syas, "I have been seventy years on the throne." Quotation from the Shuking Pt. I, chap. III, 12 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. I, p. 25). He wished to abdicate, and found Shun. Shun was tried and had occupied the throne thirty years, The Shi-chi chap. 1, p. 20 (Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. I, p. 69) writes twenty years. when Yao retired owing to his old age. Eight years afterwards he expired. Ninety-eight years had elapsed until his decease. In that case Shun cannot have reigned for him longer than 20 years, for 70 + 20 + 8 = 98. But he must already have lived, before he ascended the throne. Counting all these numbers together we arrive at an aggregate sum of over a hundred years.

It is further stated that "Shun was thirty years old, that he was tried thirty years, and that he was on the throne fifty years, when he went on high and died," Quotation from the Shuking (Shun-tien) Pt. II, Bk. I, chap. VI, 28 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. I, p. 51). which makes just one hundred years. The computation gives 110 not 100 years. We should read "he was tried twenty years" instead of thirty, the reading adopted in the Shi-chi and defended by several old commentators. Cf. Legge's notes to the passage and Chavannes loc. cit. p. 91 Note 2.

Wên Wang said to Wu Wang, "I am a hundred years, and you are ninety. I will give you three years of mine." Wêng Wang was ninety-seven years old, when he died, and Wu Wang ninetythree, when he departed. Quoted from the Liki, Wên Wang shih-tse (Legge, Sacred Books Vol. XXVII, p. 344). The commentators are at a loss, how to explain that Wên Wang was only ten years older than his son, Wu Wang, and how he could give him some of his years.

The Duke of Chou was a younger brother of Wu Wang. Between brothers there is generally no greater difference than ten years. After the death of Wu Wang, Chou Kung became regent. Seven years later he returned the government, and retired owing to old age. That would make about a hundred years. The Duke of Shao was an elder brother of the Duke of Chou. At the time of King K`ang 1078-1053 b.c. he was still Senior Tutor, which would make more than a hundred years.

Sages are endued with the harmonious fluid, therefore the years of their destiny have the proper number. The harmonious fluid is conducive to a tranquil government. Therefore during the age of universal peace the number of tall and long-lived persons was particularly great. One hundred years is the proper number of years of a long human life, as autumn is the proper time for the fate of plants, since plants live until autumn, when they die.

Plants perishing before or after autumn are similar to men whose life either exceeds or falls short of a hundred years. The time before or after autumn corresponds to more or less than a hundred years. Some plants fade already after they have pierced the earth, as men may die soon after their birth. Other plants may pass the autumn without withering just like men whose years may eventually be from one hundred to three hundred.

It is on record that Lao Tse lived over two hundred years. Sse Ma Ch`ien mentions this report in his biography of Lao Tse (Shi-chi, chap. 63, p. 3). Some said that Lao Tse became over 160 years old, others that he lived over 200 years, prolonging his life by the practice of virtue. The Duke of Shao became one hundred and eighty years old. Kao Tsung The Shuking Pt. V, Bk. XV, 5 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. II, p. 467) expressly states that Kao Tsung = Wu Ting enjoyed the throne for fifty and nine years, not for a hundred. He reigned from 1324-1266 b.c. reigned one hundred years, and King Mu of the Chou dynasty likewise one hundred. Thus the Shuking (Lü-hsing) Pt. V, Bk. XXVII, 1 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. II, p. 588) as Wang Ch`ung and others understand the passage (On Legge's different view cf. his notes). According to the Shi-chi King Mu's reign lasted but 55 years. It is usually reckoned from 1001-947 b.c. Including the time before his ascension, there must have been upwards of one hundred and thirty-four years altogether.

The Literati pretend that Sages are not born from human sperm, but that they are endowed with a special essence from Heaven. The mother of Yü swallowed pearl-barley, . and gave birth to Yü, This legend is mentioned in the Wu Yüeh Ch`un-ch`iu, the Chronicle of Wu and Yüeh, by Chao Yeh of the 1st cent. a.d. whence the Hsia dynasty has its surname Sse. . Hsieh's mother consumed a swallow's egg, and was delivered of Hsieh, Cf. Chap. XXXVII. The Shiking Pt. IV, Bk. III, Ode 3 only says that Heaven commissioned the swallow to descend and give birth to Hsieh (Legge Vol. IV, Pt. II, p. 636). whence the Yin dynasty derived its surname Tse. , which also may signify an egg. The mother of Hou Chi walked in the foot-steps of a giant, . and bore Hou Chi, Chiang Yuan, the mother of Hou Chi "trod on the toe-print made by God" says the Shiking, Pt. III, Bk. II, Ode 1 (Legge Vol. IV, Pt. II, p. 415). whence the Chou received their surname Chi. . Yü, Hsieh, and Hou Chi are the ancestors of the Three Dynasties:--- Hsia, Yin, and Chou. The Shuo-wên observes that because the mothers of these Sages were moved by Heaven, Son of Heaven became a term for a Holy Emperor. The Shiking says, "There was no rending and no tearing, thus Hou Chi was born." Shiking Pt. III, Bk. II, Ode I, 2.

They further state that Yü and Hsieh were born unnaturally, issuing from their mother's back, and that Hou Chi was born naturally. There was no rending and no tearing, the mother's body did not suffer, hence the expression:---no rending and no tearing. The descendants of those born unnaturally die an unnatural death, while the descendants of those born naturally die naturally. Therefore Chieh and Chou The last emperors of the Hsia and the Yin dynasties. were executed, and Nan Wang The last reigning emperor of the house of Chou (314-256 b.c.), who in 256 had to surrender 36 cities to the King of Ch`in and in the same year died as a prisoner of Ch`in. was deprived of his cities. These words seem to be self-consistent, therefore people believe them, and since, in addition evidence is given to establish their truth, they rely on these

The Chan-shu A book of prophecies wrongly ascribed to Confucius. also relates of the mother of Yao, Ching Tu, that she conceived from a red dragon, when she went out into the country, and gave birth to Yao. From the chronicle of Kao Tsu Shi-chi chap. 8, p. 2. we learn that dame Liu was reposing on the banks of a large lake. In her dream she met with a spirit. At that time there was a tempest with thunder and lightning and a great darkness. T`ai Kung The father of Kao Tsu. went near, and perceived a dragon above her. She became enceinte and was delivered of Kao Tsu. These instances of the supernatural action of spirits are not only narrated but also written down, and all the savants of the day swear by them. A thorough investigation, however, will show their futility.

The statement of the Shiking that there was no rending and no tearing viz. that the mother's body was much affected may be true, but the assertion that Yü and issued from their mother's back is irrational. When cicadas are born, they break forth from the back of the larvæ. Did Heaven in generating those sages follow the law of the larvæ?

Hares conceive by licking the pubescence of plants. When the leveret is born, it issues from the mouth of the hare. Since the mother of Yü swallowing the barley and that of Hsieh, who consumed the swallow's egg, were like hares the pubescence, their sons ought likewise to have issued from their mouths, and not from their backs. Consequently the statement about the back is preposterous.

In the world many persons die a sangninary death by the sword, and it is not necessary that their first ancestor should have had an unnatural birth. When the Ch`in lost the empire, Yen Yüeh The son-in-law of the powerful eunuch Chao who contrived the death of the emperor. Cf. Chavannes, Méin. Hist. Vol. II, p. 213 . beheaded Hu Hai, The Emperor Erh Shih Huang Ti, son of Huang Ti, 209-206 b.c. and Hsiang Yü Cf. p. 178. executed Tse Ying. A child which occupied the throne 65 days only. Was the forefather of the Ch`in, Po Yi The forester of the Emperor born unnaturally? Ergo the thesis of natural and unnatural births based on the ancestors of the Three Dynasties is erroneous.

Moreover, pearl-barley is a plant, a swallow's egg a bird, and a giant's foot-prints are earth. These three things are bodies, but not a fluid, how could they procreate a man? With regard to Sages people suppose that they receive the essence of Heaven, which is an exceptionally fine fluid, wherefore their doings are so different from those of the masses. Now the progenitors of the Three Dynasties are born from a plant, a bird, and earth. Could these be regarded as very fine essences?

Since among the productions of Heaven and Earth man is the noblest, the others are common. Now, if the essence of those common things should be the sperm for the noblest creature, man, how could it be very fine?

Let us suppose that a pigeon or a sparrow emitted their fluid into a wild goose or a wild swan, it would never produce an egg. Why? Because a pigeon and a sparrow are too small, compared with a wild goose and a wild swan. Now, the body of a swallow measures but five inches, and the stalk of pearl-barley not more than several feet. How could the two women who swallowed the egg and the grain have begot a creature of seven feet? Man measures seven feet according to the measurement of the Chou epoch, when 1 foot was like 20 cm., and 7 feet = 1,40 m.

Supposing that one melts the copper required for a tripod and pours it into the mould of a cash, it is plain that one could not produce a tripod. Now the giant is the Spirit of Heaven, therefore his foot-prints were so big. The Shiking loc. cit. explicitly states that the foot-prints were made by God. The man with the huge foot-prints is like the molten copper for a tripod, and Chiang Yuan's The name of Hou Chi's mother. body like the mould of a cash. Should the giant emit his fluid into Chiang Yuan, her body would be much too small to receive the whole essence, and without this whole essence Hou Chi could not have been born.

If Yao and Kao Tsu were really the sons of dragons, their nature as sons ought to have been similar to that of their dragon fathers. Dragons can ride on the clouds, and Yao and Kao Tsu should have done the same.

All plants growing from earth resemble their own species, but not earth, for they are not produced by earth, which merely nourishes and feeds them. A mother with child is like the earth feeding plants. The mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu received the emissions of the dragons, as earth receives the seeds of plants. Since growing plants are similar to their own species, the two emperors also should have been like dragons.

Of animals with blood males and females pair. When they come together and see one of their own kind, their lust is excited, they wish to satisfy it, and then are able to emit their fluid. Should a stallion see a cow, or a male sparrow a hen, they would not couple, because they belong to different species. Now, dragons and man are of a different species likewise. How then could a dragon be moved by a human being so as to impart its fluid?

Some say For details cf. Shi-chi chap. 4, p. 25 (Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. I, p. 281) which quotes a passage from the Kuo-yü, and Lun-hêng Bk. V, p. 1v. (I-hsü). that, when the Hsia dynasty was near its downfall, two dragons fought together in the court, and spat their saliva on the ground. When the dragons had disappeared, their saliva was preserved in a casket, until King Yu of the Chou 781-771 b.c. dynasty opened it. Then the saliva of the snakes changed into a black lizard, which slipped into the seraglio, where it had intercourse with a palace girl. The result was the birth of Pao Sse. The famous favourite of King Yu, who ruined the empire by her extravagance.

A black lizard belongs to another class than man, how could it become enamoured with a palace girl, and emit its fluid? The intercourse with the black lizard was vicious, therefore Pao Sse caused disasters, and overthrew the Chou dynasty. When different species recklessly mix together, their offspring becomes unprincipled and mischievous. Now, the mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu had illicit intercourse, With two dragons. why did the two emperors become wise and sage men, and were quite different from Pao Sse?

They say that Viscount Chien of Chao was sick and for five days did not know anybody. When he awoke, he said, "I have been to God's abode. There appeared a brown bear. God bade me shoot it; I hit the animal, and it died. Then came a spotted bear; I hit it also, and it died. After the two bears had died, I asked a ghost on the road. The ghost said:---"The brown and the spotted bears are the forefathers of two ministers of Chin." See p. 225, where this story is told in detail.

Bears are animals, and as such of a different class from man. How should they become of the same class and the ancestors of the two ministers? The time, when the ancestors of the two ministers, the brown and the spotted bears, killed by Viscount Chien, were doomed to die, was one of luck for the Viscount Chien. He saw them as in a dream. They were empty semblances and must not have been real. Should they really have existed, then perhaps the two bears were first metamorphosed into human beings, before they engendered the two ministers.

Niu Ai, Duke of Lu, was changed into a tiger during a sickness. Cf. p. 326. Man can be transformed into an animal, as animals can become men. Probably the black lizard, which entered the harem, was also first changed into a man.

Between heaven and earth it does not happen that creatures of a different species mix and couple. Should Heaven have the same law as man, their likes and dislikes would also be similar. Man does not like different species, therefore Heaven would not consort with such either. Although man is created by Heaven, he is like the lice which are produced on man. Man does not love those lice, for what reason then should Heaven desire to beget through man? Different classes have different natures, and their sentiments and desires do not agree. Heaven and Earth are husband and wife. Heaven emits its fluid into Earth and produces the various things. Man is born by propagation. If Sages are formed of a very fine essence, yet they receive the fluid from their fathers, and are not endowed with a special essence from Heaven.

Should the recipients of a special essence become Sages, Hsieh and Hou Chi are not Sages, and, if it be necessary that all Sages should have received a special fluid, the Twelve Sages Cf. p. 304. did not all meet this requirement. What fluid did the mothers of Huang Ti, Ti K`u, Chuan Hsü and Shun receive, and what did the mothers of Wên Wang, Wu Wang, Chou Kung, and Confucius swallow to become pregnant?

Perhaps the surnames of the Three Dynasties:---Sse, Tse, and Chi gave the impetus to the invention of those unfounded and marvellous stories, as the legend of Huang Ti's ascension to heaven originated from the local name of Ting-hu. For this legend vid. p. 332. Not only are they irrational, but those names are also misinterpreted. When T`sang Hsieh A minister of Huang Ti, cf. p. 244. invented writing, he made the signs agree with the ideas. Chiang Yuan walked into the foot-prints of a giant. "Foot-print" (chi = ) means a "basis" (chi = ), therefore the surname should be "his" (ch`i = ) with "earth" (tu = ) below, but it is "woman" (nü = ) with "chin" (i = ) at its side. This is not the character chi = or chi = nor in accordance with the circumstances, The surname Chi = does not point to the foot-prints which Chiang Yuan is believed to have walked upon. whence their truth becomes very doubtful.

Judging by the surname Chi of the Chou of those of the Hsia and Yin, we arrive at the conclusion that Tse and Sse have nothing to do with a swallow's egg or pearl-barley. May be that the mothers of Yü, Hsieh, and Hou Chi were just going to conceive, when they happened to swallow a grain of pearl-barley and a swallow's egg, or walked upon the foot-prints of a giant. The world is fond of the marvellous, a propensity which has been the same in ancient and modern times. Unless they see wonders, people do not believe that a person possesses extraordinary faculties. Thus they explain surnames according to their preconceived ideas. The world puts implicit faith in these explanations, and they are therefore regarded as true. Sages have repeatedly uttered their doubts, but they could not solve them, and the shallow discussions of the scholars of the day cannot discriminate between right and wrong.

The literati, who approve of all that is old, have put forward those arguments. The Shiking says that there was no rending and no tearing, which means to say that by Hou Chi's birth the body of his mother was not much affected. From this the literati, perverting the right principles, have derived the story of the unnatural birth of Yü and Hsieh. The fecundation by the dragon and the dream of the meeting with the spirit are of the same nature. The mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu were just about to become enceinte, when they met with a thunder-storm and a dragon carrying clouds and rain along. People seeing these phenomena then told the stories.

A dream that one meets with a dragon is an augury of the birth of a wise son. Is a dream of a meeting with ghosts not like a dream of a rendez-vous with a spirit? How could it be real? When the mother had intercourse with the dragon in the wilds, and when the dragon appeared on high, Yao and Kao Tsu perchance received their destiny of wealth and honour, for a dragon is an auspicious animal, and to meet it appearing above is a lucky omen and a sign that fate has been received.

When the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti saw the light in the Chi-yang palace, a phœnix alighted on the ground, and an auspicious grain grew in one room. Cf. p. 180. When Sages are born, and strange birds and auspicious things appear as portents, strange and auspicious things become visible indeed. If, however, we are to regard the children born then as the offspring of those things, should we consider the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti as the essence of the auspicious blade or the fluid of the phœnix?

According to the chapters on the pedigree of the Emperors Chap. 2-4 of the Shi-chi. and the Genealogical Tables of the Three Dynasties Chap. 13 of the Shi-chi. Yü was the son of Kun, and Hsieh and Hou Chi were both sons of the Emperor K`u, their mothers being second wives of K`u. Yao also was a son of the Emperor K`u. Why then must the wives of kings and emperors walk into the country? Although the ancient times are noted for their simplicity, yet there were already certain rules of propriety established. And why did these ladies bathe in the rivers? As the mother of Hsieh did, when she swallowed the egg, cf. chap. XXXVII. It follows that the assertion about the Sages receiving a special fluid from Heaven and their mothers becoming pregnant by swallowing something is a fallacy.

As a matter of fact Sages have their prototypes among their ancestors; being as virtuous as Wên Wang and Wu Wang, they still find their peers. Confucius, playing the flute, knew that he was a descendant of the Yin, We learn from Lun-hêng Bk. XXIV, p. 3 that it was against the custom to make music on the anniversaries of the downfall of the Hsia and Yin dynasties, as one did not write on the death day of T`sang Hsieh, the inventor of writing. I infer from this that the last emperors of the Hsia and Yin dynasties were famous for their music, and that Confucius feeling in himself a talent for music imagined that he was a descendant of the Yin emperors. and Hsiang Yü, having double pupils, was cognisant of his being a scion of Shun. Shun had double pupils as well, vid. p. 304. The Five Emperors and Three Rulers had all Huang Ti as their ancestor. He was a Sage, who first received a grand destiny. Therefore all his descendants became emperors and rulers. At their births there were miracles of course, which, if they did not appear in things, became manifest in dreams.

Men receive the vital fluid from heaven at their birth, and are all given a fate fixing the length of their lives, in accordance to which their bodies exist for a longer or shorter period. Just so vases are formed out of clay by the potter, and plates from copper by the founder. As the shape of a vessel, once completed, cannot be made smaller or bigger, thus the duration of the corporeal frame having been settled, cannot be shortened or prolonged. The said fluid forms the constitution, which determines fate and shapes the body. The fluid and the material body pervade each other. Life and death correspond to fixed periods. The body cannot be transformed, and likewise fate cannot be lengthened or shortened. We may elucidate the question as to the duration of human life by observing the potter and founder.

Some one might object saying, "True, if a potter uses his stuff to make a vase, this vase, after its completion, lasts, until it breaks, but cannot be formed anew. If, however, a founder casts a plate out of copper, although it be finished, it can be melted again, and be made into a cup or, if that is not possible, into a vessel. Although men, who owe their spirits to heaven, all have a destiny fixing their span, by which their bodies are regulated, they can, if they know the right way and an effective elixir, change their bodies and prolong their lives all the same."

I reply, "If a founder recasts a finished vessel, he must first liquefy it in fire, before he is able to enlarge or diminish, extend or shorten it. If a man desiring to protract his years, should wish to be like the copper vessel, there must be some sort of a furnace with coal, where the change and the transmutation of his body could take place. The body having been changed, the lifetime might also be extended. How could men, in order to change their bodies, undergo a smelting process like a copper vessel?"

The Li Ki states, "When the water pours down, one does not offer fish or turtles for food." Li Ki chap. 1, No. 1 (Chü-li), p. 20v. (Legge's translation Vol. I, p. 84.) Various reasons have been assigned by the commentators for this rule. They say, in opposition to Wang Ch`ung, that during heavy rain-falls fish are so easily got as not to be valuable, or that then they are muddy and not fit for eating. This last reason seems the most plausible. Why? Because, when the rain water rushes down, snakes and reptiles are changed and become fish or turtles. Since they give up their original real nature and are transformed only for a while, the servants take care and dare not offer them to their masters for food. Would men desirous of having their bodies transmuted, be satisfied with a change like that of reptiles and snakes? Those reptiles which are liable to a change are worse off than those which do not change at all. Before they change, they are not eaten by men, but, when they have been transformed into fish and turtles, men eat them. Being eaten, their long lives are cut short, and that is not what people desire.

Years and months change, and the intrinsic fluid may transform one species into another. Frogs become quails, and sparrows turn into clams. Man longing for bodily transformation would like to resemble quails and crabs. These are in the same plight as fish and turtles. Man fishes for crabs and eats them, when he catches them. Although without a metamorphose of the body, life cannot be lengthened, this result To become like a quail or a crab. cannot be aimed at.

Duke Niu Ai of Lu was laid up with a malady for seven days, when he was transformed into a tiger. Quoted from Huai Nan Tse, who adds that the tiger devoured his brother, when he opened the door. Kun A legendary minister of Yao and father to Great Yü. when banished to Mount Yü-shan turned into a moose. Do those who seek transformation desire to become a tiger like Niu Ai, or a moose like Kun? The life of a tiger or a moose is not longer than the human. In this world the human nature is the noblest of all, therefore the transmutation of a man into a bird or a beast cannot be desirable. It would be a great boon, if an old man could be transformed into a youth, or if at least the white hair could turn black again, the lost teeth grow once more, and the animal forces be strengthened, so that the person could jump about, devoid of all decrepitude. This would be grand indeed! Where would be the advantage of a transformation, if life were not prolonged thereby?

If a thing is transformed, its concomitant fluid, as it were, favours the change. Human work may produce new forms, it is not Heaven which transforms things in order to prolong their duration. No more can a transformation be brought about by eating divine herbs or wonderful drugs. A man constantly using cordials can thereby merely strengthen his constitution and add to his years. A sudden transmutation is not caused by the real heavenly fluid or the true nature, with which men are endowed. Heaven and earth do not change, sun and moon are not transformed, and the stars do not disappear. Such is their real nature. As man has received part of their real fluid, his body cannot be transformed either: men do not sometimes become women, or women men. A high mound may be turned into a valley, or a deep ravine into a hill. But then the change keeps pace with human labour, it is a change by labour, not by inherent nature.

At the rise of the Han dynasty, an old man presented Chang Liang An adherent of the founder of the Han dynasty. The Taoists have claimed him as one of their patriarchs and mystics. See p. 235. with a book, and then was transformed into a stone. Therefore the essence of a stone was a propitious omen for the rising Han. Similarly the essence of the River The Yellow River. became a man who gave a jade-badge to the envoy of Ch`in, which was an unlucky augury, indicating the downfall of Ch`in. This event is told in detail on p. 233.

The silkworm feeds on mulberry leaves, when it grows old, it sets to spinning, and becomes a cocoon, and the cocoon again is changed into a moth. The moth has two wings, and in its altered form widely differs from the silkworm. Grubs change into chrysalisses, and these turn into crickets. The crickets are born with two wings, and are not of the same type as grubs. A great many of all worms and insects alter their shapes and transform their bodies. Man alone is not metamorphosed, being the recipient of the real heavenly fluid. Born as a child, he grows into a man, and, when he is old, into greybeard. From birth to death there is no metamorphose, for such is his original nature. Creatures which by their nature are not transformed, cannot be induced to do so, whereas those which must pass through a metamorphose, cannot forego it. Now, the length of life of those transformed creatures does not compare favourably with that of non-transformed ones. Nothing would be said, if a man desirous of a metamorphose could thereby prolong his years, but if he only changes his body without increasing his years, he would be merely on a level with crickets. Why should he like this?

Dragons are reptiles which appear sometimes, and then again become invisible, and which sometimes are long and sometimes short. It is in their nature to undergo transformations, but not for good, since after a short while, they relapse into their previous state. Ergo, every thing considered, we find that the human being, endowed with an unchangeable body, is not liable to metamorphoses, and that his years cannot be prolonged.

Kao Tsung Posthumous name of the Shang emperor Wu Ting, 1324-1265 b.c. having witnessed the abnormal growth of a paper mulberry, A paper mulberry tree grew in the court of the Emperor, which had two spans of circumference on the second day already. This was, of course, regarded as a portent. Cf. Lun-hêng Bk. V, p. 1 (Yi Hsü) where the legend is told in full. is reported to have repented of his faults, changed the style of government, and enjoyed happiness for one hundred years. According to the Shuking Pt. V, Bk. XV (Legge Vol. III, Pt. II, p. 467) Kao Tsung reigned 59 years This is not correct. Of Duke Ching of Sung 515-451 b.c. it is said that on his having uttered three excellent maxims, the planet Mars left out three solar mansions, and twenty one years were added to the duke's life, This story is told in full in Lun-hêng Bk. IV, p. 9v. which seems quoted from Huai Nan Tse XII, 11v. The planet Mars being in the constellation of the "Heart," the astrologer Tse Wei informed the Duke that Heaven was going to inflict a punishment upon him, advising him, however, to shift this misfortune on his prime minister, or on his people, or on the year. The prince thrice declined to allow others to suffer in his stead, giving his reasons for each refusal. These are the three good maxims of our text. Tse Wei then changed and congratulated the Duke, saying that Heaven had heard the three excellent sentiments uttered by him, that the same night it would cause Mars to pass through three solar mansions, and that it would add twenty-one years to his life, each mansion consisting of seven stars and each star representing one year. which is likewise unfounded. Duke Mu of Ch in 658-619 b.c. is believed to have been rewarded by God Shang Ti, the supreme being, God. with nineteen extra years on account of his conspicuous virtue, an untruth too. Ch`ih Sung A magician of the time of Shên Nung. and Wang Ch`iao, A prince of Chin 571 b.c., who became a Taoist and an immortal. He was seen riding through the air upon a white crane. Mayers, No. 801. they say, became genii by their love of Tao, and lived on without dying, also a falsehood.

Let us suppose that a man is born, gets a body, and is given the name A, then he always preserves this body called A through his whole life up to his death. Adherents of Tao are said to have become genii, but it never has happened that A was transformed into B; neither can the body pass through a metamorphose, nor years be added. Wherefore? Because of the body, the vital force, and the constitution, which are from heaven. The body being spring, the vital force is summer. The meaning is, as summer is preceded by spring, thus the body exists, before it is informed by the vital force. Man's lifetime is the outcome of his vitality. The body follows the vital force in its actions. If the vital force and the constitution are not the same, there must be a diversity in the bodies also. The life of an ox is half as long as that of a horse, and a horse lives half as long as man. Therefore, the outward forms of the ox and the horse must be different from the human. Having obtained the shape of an ox or a horse, one cannot but get their spans too. As oxen and horses do not change into men, their lifetime is also shorter than that of human beings.

Because of Kao Tsung and the like it is not stated that they underwent a transmutation, but simply that their lifetime was lengthened, people put faith in these reports. The force pulsating in the veins of the body is like rice hoarded up in a sack. The bulk of a picul sack also corresponds to a picul. If rice be taken away or more added, the sack appears smaller or bigger. The vital force determines the length of the human life. It is like the rice, and the body like the sack. In order to increase or diminish the lifetime, the body too must become bigger or thinner, it cannot remain the same. Should anybody think the human body to be quite different from a sack, and that the vital force cannot well be compared to rice, we may still take another illustration from a gourd. The juice of a gourd is like the human blood, its pulp like flesh. Now, let a man take away or add some juice but so that the gourd's form remains unaltered; he will be unable to perform this. It being impossible to man to diminish or to replenish the juice of the gourd, how can Heaven extend or curtail the human span? As the human life can neither be lengthened nor shortened, who could have done such a thing in the case of Kao Tsung and others, so that we might speak of an increase of years? The assertion that Kao Tsung and others were metamorphosed, and their years increased would after all be credible, but the statement advanced now that their years were prolonged, no mention being made of any transformation of their bodies, is past all belief for the following reason:

Man receives the vital force from Heaven. When it is complete, the body is informed. During life both work harmoniously together up to the last, death. Since the body cannot be transformed, the years cannot be increased either. As long as man lives, he can move, but when he dies, he collapses. At death the vital force vanishes, and the body is dissolved and decomposed. As a man, while in possession of life, cannot be metamorphosed, how should his years be prolonged?

What changes on the body from birth to old age is the hair and the skin. The youth's hair is black, the aged man's, white. Later on, it turns yellow. But this change concerns the hair alone, not the body. A youngster has a white skin, an old man a dark one, which, later on, becomes blackish, as if covered with dust. Respecting the yellow hair and the dusty skin the Li-ki says: "We will have yellow hair and wizened faces indefinitely." This verse does not occur in the Liki, but in the Shiking Pt. IV, Bk. III, Ode II (Legge, Classics Vol. IV, Pt. II, p. 635):---"He (the ancestor) will bless us with the eyebrows of longevity.---We will have yellow hair and wizened faces indefinitely." If the hair changes, people reach an old age and die late. Despite this, bones and flesh do not change; the limit of life being reached, death ensues.

From amongst the five elements earth alone admits of several transformations. Moistened with water, it can be shaped into a horse, and this again be altered into a human being, but be it noted that it must not yet have been put in a kiln and burned. If, after having been modelled as a utensil, it has already been hardened by burning in the kiln, a new transformation is out of the question. Now, man may be thought of as having been baked and moulded in the furnace of Heaven and Earth. How can he still undergo a change after his shape has been fixed?

In representing the bodies of genii one gives them a plumage, and their arms are changed into wings with which they poise in the clouds. This means an extension of their lifetime. They are believed not to die for a thousand years. These pictures are false, for there are not only false reports in the world, but also fancy pictures. However, man in reality does not belong to the class of crickets and moths. In the thirty-five kingdoms beyond the sea there live plumigerous and feathered tribes. Feathered relates to their pinions. Fore more details see the Shan-hai-king. These people are the produce of their soil, it cannot be said that their bodies were covered with plumage and feathers through the influence of Tao. Yü Great Yü 2205-2197. and Yi A minister of Yü. visited Hsi Wang Mu, A Taoist goddess. Cf. my article "Mu Wang und die Königin von Saba" in the Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin Vol. VII, 1904. but she is not reported to have had a plumage or feathers. There are also immortals in foreign countries, but they are not described as having a plumage and feathers, and, conversely, the plumigerous and feathered tribes are not said to be immortal. As plumage and feathers are not ascribed to the immortals, these attributes cannot imply immortality. How then can it be inferred that the genii must live for ever, because they have wings?

In the books of the Literati it is stated that The following story is taken from the Shi-chi, chap. 28, p. 28v., where an official relates it to Han Wu Ti. Cf. Chavannes, Mêm. Hist. Vol. III, p. 488. Huang Ti exploited the copper mines of Mount Shou, In Shansi Province, near P`u-chou-fu. and out of the ore cast tripods at the foot of the Ching Mountain. This mountain lies in Shensi, near Hsi-an-fu. When the tripods were completed, a dragon with a long beard came down, and went to meet Huang Ti. Huang Ti mounted the dragon. His whole suite including the harem, over seventy persons in all, mounted together with him, whereupon the dragon ascended. The remaining smaller officials, who could not find a seat on the dragon, all got hold of the dragon's beard, which they pulled out. Huang Ti's bow fell down. The people gazed after him, until he disappeared in the sky. Then they hugged his bow, and the dragon's beard, and moaned. Therefore later ages named the place Ting-hu (Tripod Lake) The context requires "Tripod beard," but we read instead of . A place, called "Tripod lake" actually exists in Honan (Playfair Cities and Towns No. 7329). This name has perhaps been the origin of the legend, as Wang Ch`ung suggests (cf. above p. 322). In ancient times only the phonetic part of a character was often written, and the radical left out. Thus could stand for "beard" as well as for "lake." Our text has the "beard." and the bow of the emperor Wu-hao (Raven's Cry). Some commentators hold that the name Wu-hao = Raven's Cry refers to the lament of the people, others that it was the name of a tree well fit for the fabrication of bows.

The Grand Annalist in his eulogy on the Five Emperors Huang Ti, Chuan Hsü, K`u, Yao, and Shun. According to other writers the Five Emperors are:--- T`ai Hao, Yen Ti, Huang Ti, Shao Hao, and Chuan Hsü. also says that having performed the hill-sacrifice Huang Ti disappeared as a genius, and that his followers paid their respect to his garments and cap, and afterwards buried them. Shi-chi chap. 28, p. 30v. When Ch`in Shih Huang Ti had sacrificed on the tomb of Huang Ti upon Mount Chiao, he asked, how Huang Ti could be an immortal, and yet be buried there. Then somebody replied that Huang Ti had ascended to heaven as a genius, and that only his garments and cap were left and interred. I say that this is not true.

What does Huang Ti really mean? Is it an appellative or a posthumous title? Being a posthumous title it must be some praise bestowed upon him by his subjects, for this kind of title is a glorification of what the deceased has done during his life-time. Huang Ti was a votary of Tao, The fundamental principle of Taoism. The Taoists have always claimed Huang Ti as one of theirs. Hence the legend of his ascension to heaven. and subsequently, as they say, rose to Heaven. If his subjects wanted to honour him, they ought not to have styled him Huang, but ought to have given him a title implying his ascension as an immortal.

According to the rules for honorary titles the pacification of the people would be called Huang, which means that he who is styled so kept the people at peace, This seems to me a fancy etymology. Huang is "yellow," but never means "to pacify." The "Yellow Emperor" was called yellow from the colour of the earth, over which he ruled. Thus the name is generally explained, whether correctly is doubtful. but the word does not denote the acquisition of Tao. Among the many emperors those given to arts and literature were called Wên i. e. Scholarly, those fond of War Wu i. e. Warriors. Both designations had their real basis. They served to exhort others to do the like.

If at the time of Huang Ti posthumous titles were not yet given according to qualities, of what generation were those who first called him Huang Ti? Huang Ti's own subjects must have known their prince, and later generations could trace his doings. Although our doubts about the existence of appellatives and posthumous titles at Huang Ti's time may not be set at rest, at all events it is evident that Huang cannot mean an Immortal who rose to Heaven.

A dragon does not rise to Heaven. If Huang Ti rode on a dragon, it is clear that he could not have ascended to Heaven either. When a dragon rises, clouds and rain appear simultaneously and carry it along. As soon as the clouds disperse, and the rain stops, the dragon comes down again, and re-enters its pond. Should Huang Ti really have ridden on a dragon, he would afterwards have been drowned with the dragon in the pond.

Huang Ti was interred in the Chiao Mountain, Some say that this mountain is situated in the province of Kansu, others more eastward in the province of Shensi. Vid. Shi-chi chap. 1, p. 8. and still they say that his officials buried his garments and cap. If he actually went up to Heaven on a dragon, his garments and cap cannot have separated from his body, and if he became a genius after the hill sacrifice and vanished, he cannot have left his garments and cap behind either. Did Huang Ti really become a genius, who could not die, but rose to Heaven, his officers and people must have seen it with their own eyes. Having thus witnessed his ascension to Heaven, they decidedly knew that he did not die. Now, to bury the garments and cap of somebody, who did not die, would have been, as if he had died. Such a thing would not have been in accordance with the feelings of the officials, who were aware of the real state of affairs, and could distinguish between life and death.

It is on record that the seventy-two sovereigns who ascended Mount T`ai, China's most sacred mountain in Shantung. had troubled and toiled, worrying themselves over the state of the empire. Subsequently their efforts were crowned with success, and things settled, so that universal peace reigned throughout the land. When there was universal peace, the whole empire enjoyed harmony and tranquillity. Then they ascended the T`ai-shan, and performed the hill-sacrifices. Now, the pursuit of Tao and the struggle for immortality are different from the vexations of official life and business. He whose thoughts all centre in Tao, forgets worldly affairs, because to trouble about them would injure his nature. Taoism inculcates contemplation and quietism, and abhors an active life. They say that Yao looked dried up and Shun withered. Their hearts were sorrowful, and their bodies feeble and care-worn. If Huang Ti brought about universal peace, his appearance must have been similar to that of Yao and Shun. Since Yao and Shun did not attain to Tao, it cannot be true that Huang Ti rose to Heaven. Only he who possesses Tao, becomes immortal, and can ascend to heaven. If the model emperors Yao and Shun did not attain to Tao, why should Huang Ti, provided that he worked as hard as Yao and Shun. If Huang Ti in his pursuit of Tao neglected all wordly affairs, his mind would have been equanimous, and his body fat and strong. Then he would have been quite different from Yao and Shun, and consequently his achievements could not have been the same. In that case the universe would not have enjoyed universal peace. Without the universal peace his sacrifice on the mountain would not have taken place. The hill-sacrifice, was not performed, unless the empire enjoyed peace, and peace could not be secured without hard work. Hard work precluded a Taoist life, and without Tao, Huang Ti could not ascend on high.

The Five Emperors and Three Rulers were all remarkable for their wisdom and virtue, Huang Ti not more than the others. If all the sages became genii, Huang Ti would not be one alone, and if the sages did not become genii, why should Huang Ti alone be a genius? People seeing that Huang Ti was very partial to magical arts, which are practised by genii, surmised that he was a genius.

Moreover, on finding the name of "Ting-hu" "Tripod beard" The text says "Tripod lake." Cf. above p. 332. they said that Huang Ti exploited the copper of Mount Shou, and cast it into tripods, and that a dragon with a floating beard came to meet him. This explanation would be on the same line with that of the K`uei-chi Mountain. . In the province of Chekiang. The purport of the name of this mountain is said to be that the emperor Yü of the Hsia dynasty on a tour of inspection held a meeting () and a review () on this mountain, whence its name K`uei-chi. This etymology is given by Sse Ma Ch`ien, Shi-chi chap. 2, p. 26. Yü went to K`uei-chi for the purpose of regulating the water courses, but not on a tour of inspection, just as Huang Ti was addicted to magic, but did not ascend to heaven. There was no such thing like a meeting or a review, as there was no casting of tripods, nor a dragon with a long beard. There is a village called Shêng-mu "Vanquish mother." Does that mean that there was really a son who vanquished his mother? A city is called Chao-ko "Morning song." Are we to infer that the inhabitants of that city used to sing, when they rose in the morning?

The books of the Literati relate that the Prince of Huai-nan Liu An, Prince of Huai-nan, commonly known as Huai Nan Tse, a Taoist philosopher and alchymist of the 2nd cent. b.c. He was a prince of the imperial family of the Han emperors. His principality was situated in Anhui. in his study of Taoism assembled all the Taoists of the empire, and humbled the grandeur of a princedom before the expositors of Taoist lore. Consequently, Taoist scholars flocked to Huai-nan and vied with each other in exhibiting strange tricks and all kinds of miracles. Then the prince attained to Tao and rose to heaven with his whole household. His domestic animals became genii too. His dogs barked up in the sky, and the cocks crowed in the clouds. That means that there was such plenty of the drug of immortality, that dogs and cocks could eat of it, and follow the prince to Heaven. All who have a fad for Taoism and would learn the art of immortality believe in this story, but it is not true.

Man is a creature. His rank may be ever so high, even princely or royal, his nature cannot be different from that of other creatures. There is no creature but dies. How could man become an immortal? Birds having feathers and plumes can fly, but they cannot rise to Heaven. How should man without feathers and plumes be able to fly and rise? Were he feathered and winged, he would only be equal to birds, but he is not; how then should he ascend to heaven?

Creatures capable of flying and rising, are provided with feathers and wings, others fast at running, have hoofs and strong feet. Swift runners cannot fly, and flyers not run. Their bodies are differently organised according to the fluid they are endowed with. Now man is a swift runner by nature, therefore he does not grow feathers or plumes. From the time he is full-grown up till his old age he never gets them by any miracle. If amongst the believers in Taoism and the students of the art of immortality some became feathered and winged, they might eventually fly and rise after all.

In case the nature of creatures could be changed, it ought to be possible that metal, wood, water, and fire were also altered. The elements of which the bodies of all creatures are composed cannot be transformed, therefore those creatures cannot change their nature. Frogs can be changed into quails, and sparrows dive into the water and become clams. These metamorphoses are mentioned in ancient works, and believed by the Chinese up to the present day. Cf. p. 326. It is the upshot of their spontaneous, original nature, and cannot be attained by the study of Tao. Lest the Taoists should be put on a level with the aforesaid animals, I say that, if men could have all the necessary feathers and plumage, they might ascend to heaven.

Now, the growth and development of creatures is not abrupt, and its changes are not violent, but gradually brought about. If the Taoists and students of immortality could first grow feathers and plumes several inches long, so that they could skim over the earth, and rise to the terraces of high buildings, one might believe that they can ascend to heaven. But they do not show that they are able to fly even a small distance. How can they suddenly acquire the faculty of flying such a long way through the study of their miraculous arts without any gradual progress? That such a great result might be really effected by means of feathers and wings cannot be ascertained.

The human hair and beard, and the different colours of things, when young and old, afford another cue. When a plant comes out, it has a green colour, when it ripens, it looks yellow. As long as man is young, his hair is black, when he grows old, it turns white. Yellow is the sign of maturity, white of old age. After a plant has become yellow, it may be watered and tended ever so much, it does not become green again. When the hair has turned white, no eating of drugs nor any care bestowed upon one's nature can make it black again. Black and green do not come back, how could age and decrepitude be laid aside?

Yellow and white are like the frying of raw meat, and the cooking of fresh fish. What has been fried, cannot be caused to become raw again, and what has been cooked, to become fresh. Fresh and raw correspond to young and strong, fried and cooked, to weak and old. Heaven in developing things can keep them vigorous up till autumn, but not further on till next spring. By swallowing drugs and nourishing one's nature one may get rid of sickness, but one cannot prolong one's life, and become an immortal. Immortals have a light body and strong vital energy, and yet they cannot rise to heaven. Light and strong though they be, they are not provided with feathers and wings, and therefore not able to ascend to heaven.

Heaven and earth are both bodies. As one cannot descend into the earth, one cannot ascend into heaven. Such being the case, where would be a road leading up to heaven? Man is not strong enough to enter and pass through heaven's body. If the gate of heaven is in the North-west, all people rising to heaven must pass by the K`un-lun Mountain. The State of Hwai Nan Tse being situated in the South-east of the earth, he must, if he really ascended to heaven, first have gone to K`un-lun with all his household, where he would have found an ascent. Provided the Prince of Huai-nan flew straight across the land to the north-western corner, flapping his wings, then he must have had feathers and wings. But since no mention is made of his passing by the K`un-lun, nor of feathers and wings growing out of his body, the mere assertion of his ascension cannot be but wrong and untrue.

Liu An, prince of Huai-nan, lived contemporaneously with the emperor Hsiao Wu Ti. 140-86 b.c. His father Liu Chang was banished to Yen-tao The modern Ya-chou-fu. in Shu An old kingdom in Ssechuan. for some offence, but died on the road, when he arrived at Yung-chou. One of the Nine Provinces, into which Yü divided the Empire, comprising Shensi and Kansu. Liu An, who succeeded him in his princedom, bore a grudge against the emperor for having caused his father's death in exile, and thought of making rebellion. He attracted all sorts of schemers, and intended great things. Men like Wu Pei filled his palaces, busy in writing books on the Taoist arts, and publishing essays on the most miraculous subjects. They were bustling about and putting their heads together.

In the "Memoir of the Eight Companions" The eight principal Taoist associates of Huai Nan Tse, one of which was Wei Pu. they wished to prove supernatural forces, as if they had attained to Tao. But they never reached it, and had no success. Then Huai Nan Tse plotted a rebellion together with Wu Pei. The scheme was discovered, and he committed suicide or, as some say, was done to death. Whether this be the case, or whether he committed suicide is about the same. But people finding his writings very deep, abstruse, and mysterious, and believing that the predictions of the "Pa-kungchuan" had been fulfilled, divulged the story that he had become a genius, and went up to heaven, which is not in accordance with truth.

It is chronicled in the books of the Literati The following story is taken from Huai Nan Tse. that Lu Ao, A traveller of the 3rd cent. b.c. when wandering near the "Northern Sea," This expression can mean the Gobi. passed the "Great North," and through the "Dark Gate" The "Great North" and the "Dark Gate" are Taoist fancy names. entered upon the Mongolean It is interesting to note the name Mongol here. The last character is written now. The Mongols were already known to the Chinese under their actual name in the second century b.c., when they were living in the north of China. plateau. There he beheld an individual with deep eyes, a black nose and the neck of a wild goose. Lifting his shoulders, he soared up, and rapidly came down again, gamboling and disporting all the time against the wind. When he caught sight of Lu Ao, he suddenly took down his arms, and sought refuge under a rock. Lu Ao saw him there resting on the back of a tortoise and eating an oyster.

Lu Ao accosted him saying, "Sir, I believe that, because I have given up what the world desires, separating from my kindred and leaving my home, in order to explore what is outside of the six cardinal points, To wit the four quarters, above and below. you will condemn me. I began travelling in my youth. When I had grown up, I did not care for the ordinary duties of man, but managed to travel about. Of the four poles the "Greath North" is the only one which I have not yet seen. Now unexpectedly I find you here, Sir. Shall we not become friends?"

The stranger burst out laughing and said, "Why, you are a Chinaman. You ought not to come as far as this. Yet sun and moon are still shining here. There are all the stars, the four seasons alternate, and the Yin and the Yang are still at work. Compared to the "Nameless Region" this is only like a small hill. I travel south over the "Weary Waste," and halt north in the "Hidden Village." I proceed west to the "Obscure Hamlet," and pass east through the "Place of Dimness." There is no earth beneath, and no heaven above. Listening one does not hear, and to the looker-on the objects flit away from sight. Beyond that region there is still shape. Where that ends, one advances ten million Li by making one step. I could not yet get there. You, Sir, reached only this place in your travels, but speak of exploring. Is not that an exaggeration? But, please, remain. I have to meet Han Man This is probably the name of a genius. on the ninth heaven, According to the belief of the Taoists there are nine superposed stages or spheres of the heavens. and cannot stay longer."---The stranger then raised his arms, gave his body a jerk, and off he went into the clouds.

Lu Ao stared after him, until he became invisible. His heart was full of endless joy and at the same time he was grieved, as though he had lost somebody. "Compared with you, my master, said he, I am nothing more than an earth-worm is to a wild goose. Crawling the whole day, I do not advance more than some feet, but myself consider it far. It is pitiable indeed."---

Such as Lu Ao held that dragons alone have no wings, and when they rise, ride on the clouds. Had Lu Ao said that the stranger had wings, his words might be credible. But he did not speak of wings, how could the other then ascend to the clouds?

Those creatures which with agility rise into the clouds, do not take human food or human drink. The dragon's food is different from that of snakes, hence its movements are not the same as those of snakes. One hears that the Taoists drink an elixir made of gold and gems and eat the flowers of the purple boletus. These extremely fine stuffs make their bodies light, so that they become spirits and genii. The stranger ate the flesh of an oyster. Such is the food of ordinary people, by no means fine, or rendering the body light. How could he then have given himself a jerk and ascended to heaven?

I have heard that those who feed on air do not take solid food, and that the latter do not eat air. The above mentioned stranger ate something substantial. Since he did not live on air, he could not be so light, that he might have risen on high.

May be that Lu Ao studying Tao and trying hard to become an immortal, travelled to the Northern Sea. Having left human society, and gone far away, he felt that he did not succeed in acquiring Tao. He was ashamed and afraid, lest his fellow-countrymen should criticize him. Knowing that things would certainly turn out so, that every body would reproach him, he invented the extravagant stories. He said that he met with a stranger. The meaning of the whole story is that his efforts to become immortal were not successful, and that time had not yet come.

In the case of Liu An, Prince of Huai-nan, who suffered death as a punishment of rebellion, all people heard of it, and at that time saw it, and yet the books of the Literati say that he obtained Tao, and disappeared as a genius, and that his cocks and dogs went up to heaven also. We cannot be surprised then that Lu Ao, who alone went to a far-off country, leaving no trace, should speak obscure and mysterious words. His case is similar to that of Hsiang Man Tu In the "Water Classic" Hsiang Man Tu is called Hsiang Ning Tu . of P`u-fan The modern P`u-chou-fu in Shansi. in Ho-tung. A circuit comprising the southern part of Shansi.

Hsiang Man Tu was a follower of Tao and a student of spiritism. He abandoned his family, and went away. When after three years absence he came back, his people asked him, what had happened to him. Hsiang Man Tu replied "I have no clear recollection of my departure, but I suddenly found myself as if lying down. Several genii appeared, who took me up to heaven, until we were at some few Li's distance from the moon. I saw that above and beneath the moon all was dark, so that I could not distinguish East and West. Where we stopped near the moon, it was bitter cold. I felt hungry, and wished to eat, when a genius gave me a cupful of morning-red to drink. After having taken one cup, one does not feel hunger for several months. I do not know, how many years or months I stayed there, nor what fault I committed, for suddenly I found myself asleep again, and brought down to this place."

The Ho-tung people gave him the surname of "Fallen Angel." But dealing thoroughly with the subject, we find that this story is impossible. If Hsiang Man Tu could rise to heaven, he must have become a genius. How could he return after three years' time? If a man leaves his kindred, and ascends to heaven, his vital fluid and his body must have undergone a change. Now, all creatures that have been metamorphosed, do not return to their previous state. When a chrysalis has changed into a cricket, and received its wings, it cannot be transmuted into a chrysalis again. All creatures that fly up, have wings. When they fly up, and come down again, their wings are still there as before. Had Hsiang Man Tu's body had wings, his tale might be reliable, but since it had not, his talk is futile and not more trustworthy than Lu Ao's.

Perhaps it was known at his time that Hsiang Man Tu was a fervent believer in Tao, who stealthily left his home, and wandered about in distant lands. At last, when he achieved nothing, and felt his strength exhausted, and his hope gone, he stealthily returned home, but being ashamed, if he had nothing to say, he told the story of his ascension to heaven, intimating thereby that Tao could be learned, and that there really were genii, and that he himself was degraded for some fault, after having reached the goal, first rising to heaven, and then coming down again.

The books of the Literati contain the statement that the king of Ch`i being dangerously ill, a messenger was sent to Sung to fetch Wên Chih. A famous doctor, who cannot have lived later than the 4th cent. b.c., for he is mentioned in Lieh Tse. When he arrived and saw the king's sickness he said to the heir-apparent: "The king's illness can certainly be cured, but when it has been, the king is sure to kill me."

The heir-apparent inquired what for, Wên Chih replied, "Without anger the king's illness cannot be cured, but when the king gets angry, my death is certain."

The heir-apparent bowed his head, and entreated him saying, "Should you cure the king's sickness, myself and my mother are going to forcibly restrain the king at the cost of our lives. The king will certainly please my mother. We are wishing that you, master, shall have no trouble"

Wên Chih gave his consent and said that he was prepared to die. The king with his eldest son fixed a time. Thrice the physician was expected, but did not come so, that the king of Ch`i was already very angry. When he came at last, he did not put off his shoes, but walked upon the bed and tread upon the sheets. He asked the king about his sickness, but the king was so furious, that he did not speak with him. Then he said something which but aggravated the king's wrath. The king abused him, and rose up, and his disease was gone. He was so enraged and so little pleased, he wished to boil Wên Chih alive. A parallel passage of this story occurs in the Lü-shih-ch`un-ch`iu. The heir-apparent and the queen forthwith interfered, but could obtain nothing. Wên Chih was actually boiled alive in a cauldron: After three days' and three night's cooking, his appearance had not yet changed. Wên Chih said, "If one really is anxious to kill me, why does one not put on the lid to intercept the Yin and the Yang fluids."

The king had the lid put on, whereupon Wên Chih died. Wên Chih was a Taoist, in water he was not drowned, and in fire he did not burn. That is what the Taoists say of themselves. Hence he could remain three days and three nights in the kettle without changing colour.

This is idle talk. Wên Chih was boiled three days and nights without changing colour. If then only in consequence of the lid being put on he was choked and died, this proves that he was not in possession of Tao. All living and breathing creatures die, when deprived of air. When they are dead and boiled, they become soft. If living and breathing creatures are placed in vessels with a lid on, having all their fissures carefully filled, so that the air cannot circulate, and their breath cannot pass, they die instantaneously. Thrown into a kettle with boiling water, they are also cooked soft. Why? Because they all have the same kind of body, the same breath, are endowed by heaven with a similar nature, and all belong to one class. If Wên Chih did not breathe, he would have been like a piece of metal or stone, and even in boiling water not be cooked soft. Now he was breathing, therefore, when cooked, he could not but die.

If Wên Chih could speak, he must have given sounds, which require breathing. Breathing is closely connected with the vital force, which resides in bones and flesh. Beings of bones and flesh being cooked, die. To deny that is the first untruth.

Provided that Wên Chih could be cooked without dying, he was a perfect Taoist, similar to metal or stone. To metal or stone it makes no difference, whether a lid be put on, or not. Therefore, to say that Wên Chih died, when the lid was put on, is a second untruth.

Put a man into cold water, which is not hot like boiling water, and he will die for want of breath after a short interval, his nose and mouth being shut out from the outer air. Submerged in cold water, a man cannot remain alive, how much less in bubbling, boiling water, in the midst of a violent fire? To say that Wên Chih survived in the boiling water is a third untruth.

When a man is submerged in water, so that his mouth is not visible outside, the sound of what he says is inaudible. When Wên Chih was cooked, his body was certainly submerged in the kettle, and his mouth invisible. Under those circumstances one could not hear, what he said. That Wên Chih should have spoken is the fourth untruth.

Had a man who after three days' and three nights' cooking died, not changed colour, even ignorant people would have been amazed. If the king of Ch`i was not surprised, the heir-apparent and his ministers should have noticed this wonderful fact. In their astonishment at Wên Chih they would have prayed that he be taken out, granted high honours, and be venerated as a master, from whom one might learn more about Tao. Now three days and three nights are mentioned, but nothing is said about the officials asking for his release. That is the fifth untruth.

At that time it was perhaps known that Wên Chih was actually cooked; and that his death was caused by it. People noticing that he was a Taoist, invented the story that he lived a subtle life, and did not die, just as Huang Ti really died, whereas the reports say that he rose to heaven, and as the prince of Huai-nan suffered the punishment of rebellion, whilst the books say that he entered a new life. There are those who like to spread false reports. Hence the story of Wên Chih has been propagated until now.

There are no instances of any one having obtained Tao, but there have been very long-lived persons. People remarking that those persons, while studying Tao and the art of immortality, become over a hundred years old without dying, call them immortals, as the following example will show.

At the time of Han Wu Ti 140-85 b.c. there lived a certain Li Shao Chün, who pretended that by sacrificing to the "Hearth" and abstaining from eating grain he could ward off old age. He saw the emperor, who conferred high honours upon him. Li Shao Chün kept his age and the place where he was born and had grown up secret, always saying that he was seventy old, and could effect that things did not grow old. On his journeys he visited all the princes around, and was not married. On hearing that he could manage that things did not age, people presented him with much richer gifts than they would otherwise have done. He had always money, gold, dresses, and food in abundance. As people believed that he did not do any business, and was yet richly provided with everything, and as nobody knew, what sort of a man he really was, there was a general competition in offering him services.

Li Shao Chün knew some clever manœuvres and some fine tricks, which did not fail to produce a wonderful effect. He used to feast with the Marquis of Wu-an. A district in Honan. The name of the Marquis was T`ien Fên. In the hall there was a man of over 90 years. Li Shao Chün indicated to him the places which his grand-father frequented, when shooting. The old man knew them, having visited them as a child with his father. The whole audience was bewildered.

When Li Shao Chün saw the emperor, the emperor had an old bronze vase, about which he asked him. Li Shao Chün replied that in the 15th year The Shih-chi says the tenth year. of the reign of Duke Huan of Ch`i Duke Huan of Ch`i reigned from 683-641 b.c. The 15th year of his reign was 669. it was placed in the Po-ch`in hall. The inscription was examined, and it was found out that it was indeed a vessel of Duke Huan of Ch`i. The whole Court was startled, and thought that Li Shao Chün was several hundred years old. This story of Li Shao Chün is quoted from the Shi-chi chap. 28, p. 21. After a long time he died of sickness.

Those who now-a-days are credited with the possession of Tao are men like Li Shao Chün. He died amongst men. His body was seen, and one knew, therefore, that his nature had been longevous. Had he dwelt in mountain-forests or gone into deserts, leaving no trace behind him, he would have died a solitary death of sickness amidst high rocks. His corpse would have been food for tigers, wolves, and foxes, but the world would again have believed him to have disappeared as a real immortal.

The ordinary students of Tao have not Li Shao Chün's age. Before reaching a hundred years they die like all the others. Yet uncultured and ignorant people still hold that they are separated from their bodies, and vanish, and that, as a matter of fact, they do not die.

What is understood by separation from the body? Does it mean that the body dies, and the spirit disappears? Or that the body does not die, but drops its coil? If one says that the body dies, and the spirit is lost, there is no difference from death, and every one is a genius. And if one believes that the body does not die, but throws off its coil, one must admit that the bones and the flesh of all the deceased Taoists are intact and in no wise different from the corpses of ordinary mortals.

When the cricket leaves its chrysalis, the tortoise drops its shell, the snake its skin, and the stag its horns, in short, when the horned and skinned animals lose their outward cover, retaining only their flesh and bones, one might speak of the separation from the body. But even if the body of a dead Taoist were similar to a chrysalis, one could not use this expression, because, when the cricket leaves the chrysalis, it cannot be considered as a spirit with regard to the chrysalis. Now to call it a separation from the body, when there is not even a similarity with the chrysalis, would again be an unfounded assertion missing the truth.

The Grand Annalist was a contemporary of Li Shao Chün. Although he was not amongst those who came near to Li Shao Chün's body, when he had expired, he was in a position to learn the truth. If he really did not die, but only parted with his body, the Grand Annalist ought to have put it on record, and would not have given the place of his death.

The reference to the youth of the nonagenarian in the court would prove Li Shao Chün's age. Perhaps he was fourteen or fifteen years old, when the old man accompanied his grandfather as a boy. Why should Li Shao Chün not know this, if he lived 200 years? Why 200 years? Li Shao Chün would have known the nonagenarian's grandfather, if he was about ninety years old himself.

Wu Ti's time is very far from Duke Huan, when the bronze vase was cast, The interval is upwards of 500 years. and Li Shao Chün cannot have seen it. Perhaps he heard once that in the palace there was an old vessel, or he examined the inscription beforehand to speak upon it, so that he was well-informed, when he saw it again. When our amateurs of to-day see an old sword or an antique crooked blade, they generally know where to place it. Does that imply that they saw, how it was wrought?

Tung Fang So is said to have also been possessed of Tao. His name was Chin, his style Man Ch`ien, but he changed his names and for a time took office with the Han dynasty. Outwardly he was considered an official, but inwardly he passed to another existence.

This is wrong too. Tung Fang So lived together with Li Shao Chün under the reign of Wu Ti, and must have been known to the Grand Annalist. Li Shao Chün taught Tao and a method to keep off old age by means of sacrificing to the "Hearth." He determined the period of a tripod cast under Duke Huan of Ch`i, and knew the places frequented, when hunting, by the grandfather of a nonagenarian, and yet he did not really attain to Tao. He was only a long-lived man, who died late. Moreover, Tung Fang So was not as successful as Li Shao Chün in magical arts, wherefore then was he credited with the possession of Tao? Under Wu Ti there were the Taoists Wên Ch`êng and Wu Li and others of the same type, who went on sea in search of the genii and to find the physic of immortality. Because they evidently knew the Taoist arts, they were trusted by the Emperor. Tung Fang So undertook no mission on sea, nor did he do anything miraculous. If he had done, he would only have been a man like Li Shao Chün or on a level with Wên Ch`êng and Wu Li. Nevertheless he had the chance to be credited with the possession of Tao. He again resembled Li Shao Chün, insomuch as he made a secret of his birth place, and the courtiers did not know his origin. He exaggerated his age. People finding that he looked rather strong and young and was of phlegmatic temper, that he did not care much for his office, but was well versed in divination, guessing, and other interesting plays, called him therefore a man possessed of Tao.

There is a belief that by the doctrine of Lao Tse one can transcend into another existence. Through quietism and dispassionateness one nourishes the vital force, and cherishes the spirit. The length of life is based on the animal spirits. As long as they are unimpaired, life goes on, and there is no death. Lao Tse acted upon this principle. Having done so for over a hundred years, he passed into another existence, and became a true Taoist sage.

Who can be more quiet and have less desires than birds and animals? But birds and animals likewise age and die. However, we will not speak of birds and animals, the passions of which are similar to the human. But which are the passions of plants and shrubs, that they are born in spring, and die in autumn? They are dispassionate, and their lives do not extend further than one year. Men are full of passions and desires, and yet they can become a hundred years old. Thus the dispassionate die prematurely, and the passionate live long. Hence Lao Tse's theory to prolong life and enter a new existence by means of quietism and absence of desires is wrong.

Lao Tse was like Li Shao Chün. He practised his theory of quietism, and his life happened to be long of itself. But people seeing this, and hearing of his quietism, thought that by his art he passed into another existence.

The idea prevails that those who abstain from eating grain, are men well versed in the art of Tao. They say e. g. that Wang Tse Ch`iao A magician of the 6th cent. B.C., son of King Ling of the Chou dynasty. He is reported to have been seen riding on a white crane through the air as an immortal. and the like, because they did not touch grain, and lived on different food than ordinary people, had not the same length of life as ordinary people, in so far as having passed a hundred years, they transcended into another state of being, and became immortals.

That is another mistake. Eating and drinking are natural impulses, with which we are endowed at birth. Hence the upper part of the body has a mouth and teeth, the inferior part orifices. With the mouth and teeth one chews and eats, the orifices are for the discharge. Keeping in accord with one's nature, one follows the law of heaven, going against it, one violates one's natural propensities, and neglects one's natural spirit before heaven. How can one obtain long life in this way?

If Wang Tse Ch`iao had got no mouth, teeth, or orifices at birth, his nature would have been different from that of others. Even then one could hardly speak of long life. Now, the body is the same, only the deeds being different. To say that in this way one can transcend into another existence is not warranted by human nature.

For a man not to eat is like not clothing the body. Clothes keep the skin warm, and food fills the stomach. With a warm epidermis and a well-filled belly the animal spirits are bright and exalted. If one is hungry, and has nothing to eat, or feels cold, and has nothing to warm one's self, one may freeze or starve to death. How can frozen and starved people live longer than others?

Moreover, during his life man draws his vital force from food, just as plants and trees do from earth. Pull out the roots of a plant or a tree, and separate them from the soil, and the plant will wither, and soon die. Shut a man's mouth, so that he cannot eat, and he will starve, but not be long-lived.

The Taoists exalting each other's power assert that the "pure man" eats the fluid, that the fluid is his food. Wherefore the books say that the fluid-eaters live long, and do not die, that, although they do not feed on cereals, they become fat and strong by the fluid.

This too is erroneous. What kind of fluid is understood by fluid? If the fluid of the Yin and the Yang be meant, this fluid cannot satiate people. They may inhale this fluid, so that it fills their belly and bowels, yet they cannot feel satiated. If the fluid inherent in medicine be meant, man may use and eat a case full of dry drugs, or swallow some ten pills. But the effects of medicine are very strong. They cause great pain in the chest, but cannot feed a man. The meaning must certainly be that the fluid-eaters breathe, inhaling and exhaling, emitting the old air and taking in the new. Of old, P`êng Tsu The Chinese Methusaleh, who is believed to have lived over 800 years, and to have been a great grandson of the legendary Emperor Chuan Hsü 2514 B.C. used to practise this. Nevertheless he could not live indefinitely, but died of sickness.

Many Taoists hold that by regulating one's breath one can nourish one's nature, pass into another state of being, and become immortal. Their idea is that, if the blood vessels in the body be not always in motion, expanding and contracting, an obstruction ensues. There being no free passage, constipation is the consequence, which causes sickness and death.

This is likewise without any foundation. Man's body is like that of plants and trees. Plants and trees growing on the summits of high mountains, where they are exposed to the squalls of wind, are moved day and night, but do they surpass those that are hidden in mountain valleys and sheltered from wind?

When plants and trees, while growing, are violently shaken, they are injured, and pine away. Why then should man by drawing his breath and moving his body gain a long life and not die? The blood arteries traverse the body, as streams and rivers flow through the land. While thus flowing, the latter lose their limpidity, and become turbid. When the blood is moved, it becomes agitated also, which causes uneasiness. Uneasiness is like the hardships man has to endure without remedy. How can that be conducive to a long life?

The Taoists sometimes use medicines with a view to rendering their bodies more supple and their vital force stronger, hoping thus to prolong their years and to enter a new existence.

This is a deception likewise. There are many examples that by the use of medicines the body grew more supple and the vital force stronger, but the world affords no instance of the prolongation of life and a new existence following.

The different physics cure all sorts of diseases. When they have been cured, the vital force is restored, and then the body becomes supple again. According to man's original nature his body is supple of itself, and his vital force lasts long of its own accord. But by exposure to wind and wetness he falls a victim to hundreds of diseases, whence his body becomes heavy and stiff, and his force is weakened. By taking an efficacious remedy he restores his body and the vital force. This force is not small at the outset, or the body heavy, and it is not by medicine that the force lasts long, or the body grows supple and light. When first received, Viz. received by man at his birth, when Heaven endows him with a body and the vital fluid. they already possess those qualities spontaneously. Therefore, when by medicines the various diseases are dispelled, the body made supple, and the vital force prolonged, they merely return to their original state, but it is impossible to add to the number of years, let alone the transition into another existence.

Of all the beings with blood in their veins there are none but are born, and of those endowed with life there are none but die. From the fact that they were born, one knows that they must die. Heaven and Earth were not born, therefore they do not die. The Yin and the Yang were not born, therefore they do not die. Death is the correlate of birth, and birth the counterpart of death. That which has a beginning, must have an end, and that which has an end, must necessarily have had a beginning. Only what is without beginning or end, lives for ever and never dies. This the Taoists say of their fundamental principle. "Tao is without beginning, without end," says Chuang Tse chap. 17, p. 13, and thus the Taoists which have become one with Tao, are immortal.

Human life is like water. Water frozen gives ice, and the vital force concentrated forms the human being. Ice lasts one winter, then it melts, man lives a hundred years, than he dies. Bid a man not to die, can you bid ice not to melt? All those who study the art of immortality and trust that there are means, by which one does not die, must fail as sure, as one cannot cause ice never to melt.

When in midsummer during a thunder-storm lightning strikes a tree or demolishes a house, it is a common saying that Heaven fetches the dragon, which is believed to hide in the tree, or to be concealed in the house. The lightning striking the tree, or demolishing the house, the dragon appears outside. On its appearance, it is seized upon by the thunder, and carried up to Heaven. The unintelligent and the learned, the virtuous and the wicked are all agreed upon this, but trying to get at the truth, we find that it is idle talk.

Why should Heaven fetch the dragon? Provided that the dragon be a spirit and Heaven's envoy, as a virtuous minister is the deputy of his sovereign, then it ought to report itself at a fixed time, and would not have to be fetched. If, on the other hand, the dragon sneaks away, and does not come back, it does not behave like a spirit, and would be of no use to Heaven.

According to the dragon's nature its real abode is Heaven. Being there it certainly must have offspring. There would be no reason, why it should be on earth again. If there are rising and descending dragons, the latter class might bear its offspring on earth, and Heaven fetch it, when grown up. People call a tempest an expression of Heaven's anger, but in fetching the scion of a dragon it cannot be angry.

Further the dragon generally lives in ponds, not in trees or houses. Whence do we know that? Shu Hsiang's A minister in Chin, 6th cent. b.c. mother said: "In the depths of mountains and in vast marshes dragons and snakes really grow." Quoted from the Tso-chuan, Duke Hsiang 21st year (Legge, Classics Vol. V, Pt. II, p. 491). The mother of Shu Hsiang spoke these words in a figurative sense, with reference to Shu Hsiang's half-brother, and his beautiful mother, a concubine of her husband. Cf. p. 302. And in books we read, "Where the mountains are highest, the rain clouds rise, and where the water is deepest, the different species of dragons are born." A parallel passage, worded a little differently, occurs in Hsün Tse. The annals go on to say that, when Yü crossed the Yangtse, a yellow dragon carried his boat on its back, This fact is recorded in the Lü Shih ch`un-ch`iu and in Huai Nan Tse VII, 8v. Vid. also Lun-hêng Bk. V, p. 4 (Yi-hsü). and that, when Ching Tse Fei went over the Huai, two dragons swam round his ship. Near the Eastern Sea The Yellow Sea, east of China. there lived Lu Chiu Hsin, a bold and strong man. When he once passed the Spirit Pool, he ordered his charioteer to give his horse to drink there, but when it drank, it sank down. Lu Chiu Hsin got angry, drew his sword, and went into the pool in pursuit of his horse. He then beheld two dragons just in the act of devouring his horse. Sword in hand, he slew the two dragons. This story is narrated in the Han-shih-wai-chuan 150 b.c. and the Po-wuchih, where the hero is called Tsai Chiu Hsin however. Hence it is evident that the dragons called "chiao" . and the others always live in the water of pools, and not on trees or in houses.

Living in deep water dragons belong to the same category as fish and reptiles. Why should fish and reptiles ascend to Heaven, and what could Heaven use the dragon for, if it fetched it up? If the Spirit of Heaven should ride on the dragon, a spirit is something diffuse and incorporeal. Entering and departing, it needs no aperture, neither would it require a dragon to ride upon. Should the genii mount the dragon, then Heaven would fetch it for their sake. But the genii are imbued with the fluid of Heaven, and their bodies are so light, that they can fly up like wild geese. Therefore, why should they ride upon dragons?

People in general say that Huang Ti ascended to Heaven on a dragon. This statement is as inane as the other, made now-adays, that Heaven fetches the dragon. If the dragon is said to rise to Heaven, it implies a dragon spirit, because only a spirit can soar on high, this being in fact a characteristic feature of spirits.

Among the creatures produced by Heaven and Earth man being the noblest, the dragon must be inferior. If the noblest are not spirits, can the inferior be so? Let us suppose that the nature of dragons be such, that some of them are spirits, the others not, and that the spirits rise to Heaven, while those that are not spirits, cannot: are turtles and snakes likewise partly spirits and partly not, and can the turtle spirits and the snake spirits ascend to Heaven?

Moreover, what essence is the dragon endowed with, that it should alone be a spirit? Heaven has the four constellations of the Blue Dragon, the White Tiger, the Scarlet Bird, and the Black Tortoise. Earth also has dragons, tigers, scarlet birds, and turtles. The essence of the four constellations pouring down, produces those four animals. The tiger, the scarlet bird, and the turtle not being spirits, wherefore should the dragon alone be a spirit?

Man ranks first among the naked creatures, as the dragon is the foremost of the scaly animals. Both take the first place among their kindred. If the dragon is believed to ascend to Heaven, does man rise to Heaven likewise? If under the above respect the dragon is on the same level with man, but alone credited with the faculty of ascending to Heaven, the dragon must be supposed to be a spirit.

The world also says that the sages being spirits, have the gift of prophecy, as they say that the dragon spirits are able to soar to Heaven. The divination of the sages thus being accounted for, it is but natural that the special talent of the dragon should be found in its power to rise to Heaven.

That which amidst Heaven and Earth is vague and unsubstantial as the vapours of cold and heat, wind and rain, has the nature of a spirit. Now the dragon has a body, having a body, it moves about, moving about, it eats, and eating, it has the nature of other creatures. According to the organisation of Heaven and Earth whatever possesses a body, moves about, and eats, cannot be a spirit. How so?

The dragon has a body. One finds in books the statement, that out of the three hundred scaly animals the dragon is the first. Being the first of the scaly animals, how can it be without a body?

Confucius said that the dragon fed in limpid places, and lived there, that the tortoise fed in limpid places, and lived in the mud, and that the fish fed in the mud, and lived in clear water. He did not attain to the dragon himself, but was neither equal to the fish, he was only to be compared to the tortoise, which takes the middle rank.

The Shan-hai-king The "Mountain and Sea Classic," the oldest geographical work of the 4th or the 3rd cent. b.c. relates that beyond the four seas there are men riding on dragon snakes. As a rule, dragons are pictorially represented with a horse's head and a snake's tail. Hence they must be hybrids between the horse and the snake.

Shên Tse The Taoist philosopher Shên Tao of the 5th cent. b.c., of whose works only fragments are left. informs us that the flying dragons mount the clouds, and that the soaring serpents ramble through the fog. When the clouds disperse, and the rain ceases, they are like earthworms and ants.

Han Fei Tse Cf. p. 170. teaches that the dragon is a reptile, which obeys a call, and allowes itself to be patted and mounted. But under its throat it has a protruding scale over a foot long. If a man knocks against it, the dragon always kills him.

In short, the dragon is compared with earthworms and ants, and it is further said to be a reptile, which can be patted and mounted. It must therefore have something in common with snakes and horses.

It is reported that when Chou Chou Hsin, the last emperor of the Shang dynasty. used ivory chopsticks, Ivory chopsticks are very common in China now, and no luxury. Chi Tse Viscount Chi, one of the foremost nobles under Chou Hsin, 12th cent. b.c. burst into tears. He wept, commiserating his excesses. There being ivory chopsticks, there must have been jade cups also. These jade cups and ivory chopsticks were certainly used to hold and to seize dragon liver and unborn leopard. Dragon liver and unborn leopard would seem to have been considered great delicacies. Dragon liver was eatable, but a dragon hard to be found. This being the case, the emperor would frown upon his subordinates. That would bring them into distress, therefore Chi Tse's sympathy.

If the dragon were a spirit, its body could not be killed, and its liver not be eaten. The livers and the unborn young of birds and animals are not the same. Dragon liver and unborn leopard being specially mentioned, man must have eaten them, and thereby learned to appreciate their excellent taste.

During the epoch of Spring and Autumn, The historical period comprised by the Ch`un-ch`iu (Spring and Autumn) between 722 and 481 b.c. a dragon appeared in the outskirts of Chiang. A principality in Shansi. Viscount Hsien of Wei A feudal lord under Duke Ch`ou of Chin in Shansi, 530-524 b.c., whose successors became marquises, and at last kings of Wei. interrogated T`sai Mê The grand historiographer. saying, "I heard say that of all creatures none is as intelligent as the dragon, which therefore cannot be caught alive. Is it true what they say about its cleverness?" The other replied, "Those that say so, really do not know. As a fact, the dragon is not intelligent. Of old, dragons were domesticated, therefore the empire had its families of Dragon Keeper (Huan Lung) and its Master of the Dragons (Yü Lung)." The family names Huan Lung and Yü Lung, which literally mean Dragon Keeper and Master of the Dragons, have probably given rise to this queer story.

Viscount Hsien observed that of these two he had heard also, but did not know their origin, and why they were called so. Ts`ai Mê said, "In olden time there was Shu Sung The Lun-hêng calls the man Shu Sung. In the Tso-chuan his name is Shu An. of Liao. A small State. One of his distant descendants, Tung Fu was very fond of dragons. He could find out their tastes and likings, so as to be able to supply them with food and drink. Many dragons came to him, and were thus bred by him. With them he waited upon Shun, who bestowed upon him the family name of Tung, and the clan-name of Dragon Keeper (Huan Lung), and invested him with Tsung-ch`uan. The Tsung-J family were his descendants. Thus dragons were reared at the time of the emperor Shun."

"During the Hsia time K`ung Chia The emperor K`ung Chia 1879-1848 b.c. was obedient to God, who presented him with a team of dragons from the Yellow River and the Han, there being a male and a female from each. K`ung Chia was at a loss how to feed them, for no member of the Huan Lung family was to be found. But among the remains of the T`ao T`ang T`ao T`ang was the princedom of the emperor Yao in Shansi, whose descendants took their clan name therefrom. family, which had perished, was one Liu Lei, who had learned the art of rearing dragons from the Huan Lung family. With that he served K`ung Chia, and was able to give food and water to the dragons. The Hsia ruler was so pleased with him, that he conferred upon him the clan-name of Master of the Dragons (Yü Lung). He took the place of the descendants of Shih Wei." A noble who flourished under the Shang dynasty.

"When one female dragon died, he secretly had it chopped up, and offered the meat to the ruling emperor of the house of Hsia as food. The emperor had it cooked, and asked for more. Then Liu Lei became frightened, because he could not procure it, and emigrated to Lu-hsien. The modern Lu-shan-hsien in Honan. The Fan family were his descendants."---

Viscount Hsien asked, why there were no dragons to-day. Ts`ai Mê replied, "Such animals have their officials, who know their treatment, and think of them day and night. When they suddenly lose their post, the dragons die. The cashiered functionaries do not feed them any more. As long as the competent officials do their duty, there are always animals coming to them, but, when they are neglected, they lie down listless, and their production is stopped." This conversation between Viscount Hsien and T`sai Mê on the rearing of dragons in ancient times is literally culled from the Tso-chuan, Duke Ch`ao 29th year. Cf. Legge, Ch`un-ch`iu Pt. II, p. 731. ---

Thus we may say that dragons can be reared and eaten. What can be eaten, is certainly not a spirit. When the proper officials are not at hand, nor men like Tung Fu and Liu Lei, the dragons abscond, and hide themselves, and appear but rarely. When they once come out, they also ride on the clouds, a course, man can never take, and are then regarded as spirits. As long as there are the proper officials, or the proper men, the dragon is like an ox. Why should they be spirits?

Taking into consideration what the Shan-hai-king says, the evidence of Shên Tse and Han Fei Tse, the usual pictorial representations, the despair of Chi Tse, and the information given by Ts`ai Mê, we see that the dragon cannot be a spirit, nor rise to Heaven, and it is evident that Heaven does not fetch it with thunder and lightning.

The common belief that the dragon is a spirit, and rises to Heaven, is preposterous. But there is a reason for it. In light literature we meet with the statement that without a tree one foot high the dragon cannot ascend to Heaven. They speak of ascending to Heaven, and of a tree one foot high, implying that the dragon rises to Heaven from within the tree. The authors of this sort of literature are uncultured people. They have observed that at the same time, when the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes up, the dragon rises, and when thunder and lightning strike a tree, the dragon happens to be close to the tree, just like thunder and lightning. When they are gone, the dragon rises on high likewise. Therefore they pretend that it ascends to Heaven from within the tree. As a matter of fact, the thunder and the dragon are of the same kind, and mutually attract one another, when set in motion by the forces of nature.

The Yiking says that the clouds follow the dragon, and the wind the tiger. It is further stated that, when the tiger howls, the wind passes through the valley, and that the variegated clouds rise, when the dragon gambols. Yiking Book I, Ch`ien hexagram (No. 1). See also p. 279 Note 2. There is a certain manner of sympathy between the dragon and the clouds, and a mutual attraction between the tiger and the wind. Therefore, when Tung Chung Shu A scholar of the 2nd cent. b.c. See p. 39. offered the rain sacrifice, he put up an earthen dragon with a view to attract the rain.

When the summer is at its height, the sun reigns supreme, but the clouds and the rain oppose it. The sun is fire, clouds and rain being water. At the collision with water, fire explodes, and gives a sound, which is the thunder. Upon hearing the sound of thunder, the dragon rises, when it rises, the clouds appear, and when they are there, the dragon mounts them. The clouds and the rain are affected by the dragon, and the dragon also rides on the clouds to Heaven. Heaven stretches to the farthest distance, and the thunder is very high. Upon the clouds dispersing, the dragon alights again. Men seeing it riding on the clouds, believe it to ascend to Heaven, and beholding Heaven sending forth thunder and lightning, they imagine that Heaven fetches the dragon.

The scholars of to-day reading the Yiking and the historical records, all know that the dragon belongs to the same class as the clouds. They adhere to the common gossip without knowing, what it means. Besides they look upon the light literature as an authority. Thus they say that Heaven fetches the dragon.

Heaven does not do that, nor does the dragon rise to Heaven. When Lu Chiu Hsin slew the two serpents, he dragged them out with his hands by the tail, but the moment they were out of the pool, a thunder-bolt fell. Serpents are a species similar to dragons. When serpents or dragons make their appearance, clouds and rain arrive, upon their arrival there is thunder and lightning. If Heaven really fetched the dragon for its own use, what benefit would it have from dead serpents?

Fish, though living in the water, yet follow the clouds and the rain flying, and riding on them ascend to Heaven. The dragon belongs to the class of fish, it rides on thunder and lightning in the same way as the fish fly. For following the clouds and the rain, fish are not considered to be spirits, the dragons alone are called spirits because of their riding on thunder and lightning. This common belief is contrary to truth.

All the creatures in the world have their peculiar vehicles:--- The water serpents ride on the fog, the dragons on the clouds, and birds on the wind. To call the dragon alone a spirit, because it is seen riding on the clouds, would not be in accordance with its real nature, and would only detract from its skill.

But the reason why the dragon is looked upon as a spirit is, because it can expand and contract its body, and make itself visible or invisible. Yet the expansion and contraction of the body and its visibility and invisibility do not constitute a spirit.

Yü Jang A native of the Chin State, 5th and 6th cent. b.c. He twice made an attempt upon the life of Viscount Hsiang of Chao to avenge the death of his master, the Earl of Chih, whom Hsiang had slain. Both attempts failed. The second time he disguised himself in the way described here. swallowed charcoal and varnished his body, so that he got ulcers, and nobody recognised him. Tse Kung A disciple of Confucius. burned off his beard, and took the semblance of a woman, so that nobody knew him. When the dragon transforms itself and absconds, men are also unable to perceive it, such is its skill in metamorphosing and hiding itself.

Much in the nature of creatures is spontaneous:---The rhinopithecus A kind of monkey in western China. knows the past, This probably means that monkeys have an excellent memory. magpies foresee the future, Magpies are believed to know, whether the next year will be very stormy, for in that case they build their nests near the ground. Moreover, they announce future joy, hence their popular name "birds of joy." and parrots can talk. These three peculiarities may be compared to the transformations, which are in the nature of dragons. If by astuteness one could become a spirit, Yü Jang and Tse Kung would be spirits.

Confucius said, "The roving animals can be ensnared, the flying birds be shot with an arrow. As regards the dragon, I do not know, whether it can ride on the wind and the clouds, and thus rise on high. To-day I saw Lao Tse. Should he perhaps be like a dragon?" A quotation from the Biography of Lao Tse in the Shi-chi chap. 63, p. 2v.

Provided that the dragon rises, mounted on a cloud, and, when the cloud disperses, comes down again, then the class of creatures, to which it belongs, might be ascertained, and all about its celestial and terrestrial state known. Yet they say that Confucius did not know. A sage like Confucius ignored the nature of dragons. How much less can common people know, whose learning is deficient, who are biassed in favour of the marvellous, and whose minds are unable to decide, what is possible and what not. That they should call the dragon a spirit, which rises to Heaven can therefore be no matter for surprise.

The scholars in their essays claim for themselves the faculty of knowing the phœnix and the unicorn, when they see them. They, of course, rely on the pictures of the phœnix and the unicorn. Besides there is a passage in the Ch`un-ch`iu concerning the capture of a unicorn to the effect that it was a sort of a deer with a horn. The last paragraph of the Ch`un-ch`iu, Duke Ai 14th year, merely mentions the capture of a lin. That it was a deer with one horn is recorded in the "Family Sayings" of Confucius. See Legge's transl. Vol. II, p. 834, Note. Hence a deer with a horn must be a unicorn. When they see a bird like a phœnix, they take it for a phœnix.

Huang Ti, Yao, Shun, and the sovereigns of the Chou dynasty, when it was flourishing, all caused the phœnix to make its appearance. Under the reign of Hsiao Hsüan Ti 73-48 b.c. a phœnix alighted in the Shang-lin park, and afterwards also on a tree at the east-gate of the Chang-lo palace. It was five feet high, and had a beautiful variegated plumage. The unicorn caught by the people of Chou resembled a deer, and had a horn; the unicorn of Wu Ti was also like a deer with a horn. If there be a huge bird with a variegated plumage, or an animal shaped like a deer having one horn on its head, it is possible, they fancy, to determine, whether it be a phœnix or a unicorn, by referring to drawings and pictures, and to ancient and modern traditions.

Now the phœnix is the holy bird, and the unicorn the holy animal as the Five Emperors, the Three Rulers, Kao Yao, and Confucius are the holy ones among men. The Twelve Holy Men Cf. p. 304. vary considerably in their appearance, can we then call a deer with a horn a unicorn, or a bird resembling a phœnix by this name? Between the hair and the colour of the holy birds and the holy animals there is as much difference as between the osseous structure of the twelve holy men.

The horn is like the character "wu" worn on the front. Chuan Hsü had this character on his brow, but Yao and Shun were not necessarily marked in the same way. If the unicorn caught in Lu had a horn, it does not follow anyhow that the unicorns observed later on had all a horn. Should we be desirous to learn to know the unicorn of the present day by using the unicorn caught in Lu as a prototype, we may be sure to fail in our endeavour. The fur, the bones, and the horn vary. Notwithstanding their difference, there may be a certain resemblance, but that does not mean identity.

Shun had double pupils, and Wang Mang also, Duke Wên of Chin had his ribs all in one piece, and Chang Yi likewise. If a resemblance be based on the osseous structure, the hair and the complexion, then Wang Mang The usurper. was a Shun, and Chang Yi A political adventurer, cf. p. 115. a Duke Wên of Chin. An enlightened sovereign, cf. p. 162.

Yu Jo in Lu bore a striking resemblance to Confucius. After the death of the latter, his disciples all made Yu Jo sit down and questioned him on some points of the doctrine, but Yu Jo could not answer. Why? Because there was only a likeness of his external appearance, whereas his mind was different. Thus, variegated birds and animals with one horn may sometimes look like a phœnix or a unicorn, but, as a matter of fact, they are not real ones. Therefore it is a mistake to distinguish a phœnix or a unicorn by their shape, their hair, or their colour.

In this manner did Yen Yuan Disciple of Confucius. almost equal Confucius, but he was not like him, whereas Yu Jo, quite an ordinary type of man, looked like a sage. Consequently a real phœnix or a real unicorn may perhaps not look like it, in its outward shape and, on the other hand, quite common birds and animals resemble the real phœnix and unicorn by their hair and colour. How can they be distinguished? The literati who maintain that they are able to recognise a phœnix or a unicorn, when they see them, must also say of themselves that they know a holy man, when they perceive him.

Kao Yao had a horse mouth, and Confucius' arms were turned backwards. Cf. p. 304. If, later on, their wisdom far exceeded that of other people, still they could not be called sages on account of the horse mouth or the concave forehead, for as the features of the Twelve Holy Men differed from those of former sages, they cannot be characteristic either for future sages. The configuration of the bones differs, as do their names and their physical frame; and they are born in different places. Therefore, how could a sage be known, provided that one were born again?

Huan Chün Shan Huan Tan = Huan Chün Shan lived in the 1st cent. b.c. and a.d. He was a man of wide learning. Of his works the "Hsin-lun" "New Reflections" have been preserved. said to Yang Tse Yün, The Confucian philosopher, cf. p. 391. "If in future generations there should be again a man like the sages, people would be well aware that his talents surpassed theirs by far, but they would not be able to know, whether he really was a holy man or not." Yang Tse Yün replied, "So it is, indeed."

It is difficult to know a sage. Even men like Huan Chün Shan and Yang Tse Yün, who could judge the excellence and the attainments of a sage, felt incompetent. The scholars of the age represent mediocrity. The knowledge of mediocrity consists in the combination of ordinary observations, but we can be sure that, on seeing a sage, they would not be in a position to recognise him as such. Being unable to recognise a sage, they could not know a phœnix or a unicorn either. Why must people at the present day, who are speaking of the phœnix and the unicorn, pretend that they have such a knowledge?

In former generations people used the words phœnix and unicorn merely upon hearing of the queerness of a bird or an animal. If those had a peculiar plumage or horn, and if they did not fly at random, or wildly roam about, struggling for their food with other birds or animals, they were called phœnix or unicorn. The knowledge which the men of to-day have of the sages is of very much the same kind. They have been told that sages are wonderful men. Therefore, when a man's body shows some peculiarity of the bones, and his wisdom is profound and extensive, they call him a sage. Those who really know what a sage means, do not give that name at first sight, and when they have heard a man for the first time. They first bow to him, hear his lectures, and receive his instruction, and afterwards learn to know him. This will become more clear from the following facts.

When Tse Kung had served Confucius one year, he thought himself to be superior to Confucius, after two years he thought himself to be his equal, but after three years he had learned that he could never come up to him. During the space of one and two years, he did not yet know that Confucius was a sage, and it was not until three years had elapsed, that he became aware of it. If Tse Kung required three years to find this out, our scholars must be in error, when they imagine they know a sage, for they are less gifted than Tse Kung, they see a sage, but do not study under him, nor have they three years intercourse with him, a sudden glance is all they rely upon.

In Lu, Shao Chêng Mao Shao Chêng Mao, a high officer of Lu, was later on executed by Confucius for high treason, when Confucius was assistant-minister (Shi-chi chap. 47, p. 9v.). Some say that Shao-chêng is the official title and Mao the cognomen. Shao-chêng might mean a subdirector, or an assistant-judge. (Cf. Huai Nan Tse XIII, 22 comm.) See also Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. V, p. 326, Note 7. was placed on a level with Confucius. The school of Confucius was three times full, and three times empty. Only Yen Yuan did not leave him. Yen Yuan alone knew that Confucius was a sage. The other pupils abandoned Confucius, and returned to Shao Chêng Mao. Not only did they not understand the sagehood of Confucius, but they did not even know Shao Chêng Mao. The disciples were all imposed upon, so that Tse Kung asked Confucius saging, "Shao Chêng Mao is a famous man in Lu, how can you know more about government than he?" Confucius replied, "Tse Kung! You had better leave this, for you are not up to it."

Only the intelligent can distinguish the artificial. Since a man like Tse Kung was unable to know a sage, it is nonsense, if our scholars claim to know a sage upon seeing him. From their inability to know a sage we may infer that they do not know a phœnix or a unicorn either.

Let us suppose that a phœnix has long and broad feathers, and that the body of a unicorn is high and big. Then the beholder would regard them as a big bird or a huge animal, but by what should he distinguish them? If their big size were to be taken as a criterion, then one ought to know a sage by his size also. During the "Spring and Autumn" Period there arrived a bird and remained, but it could not be considered a phœnix, and, when the tall Ti Cf. Chap. XXXIX. made their appearance, they could not be taken for sages either. The phœnix and the unicorn being like other birds or animals, what can people do to know them?

Should these creatures not live in China and come across the desert, they would be like the "mainah," Acridotheres cristatellus. which is not a Chinese bird; nor would the phœnix and the unicorn be Chinese animals then. Why then do the Literati decry the "mainah," and applaud the phœnix and the unicorn, if none of them is of Chinese origin?

Some one may say that, when at the time of Hsiao Hsüan Ti a phœnix alighted in the Shang-lin park, Vid. p. 359. flocks of birds crowded around it on the trees, thousands and ten thousands. They reverently followed the phœnix, because it surpassed all the other birds by its size as well as by the holiness of its spirit. Provided that a large bird around which, when it alights, all the multitudes of birds gather, is a phœnix, then we would know what a phœnix really is. Now the phœnix has the same character as the unicorn. If, when a phœnix appears, all the birds follow it, then all the animals ought to accompany the unicorn, when it shows itself, likewise. But in regard to the unicorn of the "Spring and Autumn" no mention is made of all the animals following it. Hsüan Ti and Wu Ti both got a unicorn, but nothing is said about animals accompanying it.

Should anybody be of opinion that the train of the unicorn disperses, when it is caught by man, whereas the phœnix is never caught, and that the birds following it become visible, when it is flying about, I refer to the Shuking. There we read that, when the nine parts of the imperial music were performed, the male and female phœnix came gambolling. Shuking, Yi-chi Pt. II, Bk. IV, 9 (Legge Vol. III, Pt. I, p. 88). The Ta-chuan . This must be the name of an ancient work. speaks of a phœnix on the trees, but does not mention that flocks of birds were following it. Was the phœnix attracted by Hsüan Ti of another kind perhaps?

One might suggest that this is an omission on the part of the chronicler, that under Yü's reign the phœnix was really accompanied by other birds, that the time of remote antiquity is so far away, that the chroniclers might well have omitted to mention it, and that the text of the Classics cannot be a proof. Of course, it may happen that something has really taken place, which the historians have dropped, but, in the same way, it can be the case that something really never happened, and was invented by the historians. Therefore it is difficult to find out the truth from the text of the works of the Literati, and our attempts to know a phœnix from its following are in vain.

Moreover, there are cunning fellows among men, who succeed in winning followers, as there are wily birds, which assemble others around themselves. Was the phœnix of the time of Yü honest then, and that of Hsüan Ti's time a trickster? How is it possible that they were both endowed with the virtue of holy men, and that still their actions should be so dissimilar?

A bird may perhaps be a phœnix, although there are no birds following it, or it may not be a phœnix, notwithstanding the great number of birds flocking around it. The superior man leads a pure life. He preserves his integrity, and does not care to have many adherents. In his doings and dealings he has not many followers. A cunning intriguer, on the other hand, uses all his energy, and bustles about so much, that the scholars gather around him like clouds. The phœnix is like the superior man. If the number of followers were to decide, whether a bird is a phœnix or not, then a cunning impostor ought to be considered a superior man.

The more refined a song is, the fewer are the persons who can sing to the tune, and the more disinterested one's actions are, the fewer are one's sympathisers. The same holds good for birds and animals. To find out a phœnix by the number of its followers would be like calling a song a good one, because it can be sung by many.

The dragon belongs to a similar class of animals as the phœnix. Under the reign of Hsüan Ti 73-48 b.c. a yellow dragon came out at Hsin-fêng, A locality in Shensi province. but the snakes did not accompany it. The "spirit bird" and the "luan" take a prominent place among the common birds. Although their goodness and their holiness be not as developed as that of the phœnix, still they ought to have a suite of at least some ten birds.

Hsin Ling and Mêng Ch`ang The princes of Hsin Ling and of Mêng Ch`ang, cf. chap. XL. entertained three thousand guests, and were called wise and superior men. The Han general Wei Ch`ing Vid. p. 308. and the general Ho Ch`ü Ping A celebrated commander, who gained many brilliant victories over the Hsiung-nu. Died 117 b.c. had not a single guest in their houses, famous generals though they were. The Grand Annalist notes that robber Chê, in spite of all his misdeeds, had several thousand partisans, whereas Po Yi and Shu Ch`i Cf. p. 168. lived in concealment on Mount Shao-yang.

The actions of birds and animals are like those of man. A man may win the crowd, but that is not sufficient to characterize him as a wise man. Thus the fact that other birds follow it, is not a sufficient testimony for a phœnix either.

Some say that the phœnix and the unicorn are omens of universal peace, and that at a time of universal peace one sees them arrive. However, they also appear, when there is not universal peace. By their quaint plumage and extraordinary bones they distinguish themselves from the ordinary birds and animals, and can be known. Provided that the phœnix and the unicorn usually arrive at a time of general peace, then the unicorn of the Spring and Autumn period must have disliked to appear during the reign of Confucius. When the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti 25-58 a.d. was born in the Chi-yang palace, a phœnix came down. Kuang Wu Ti's birth fell in the time of Chêng Ti 32-6 b.c. and Ai Ti, 6 b.c.-1 a.d. by no means a time of universal peace, nevertheless the phœnix made its appearance. If it did so, because it knew Kuang Wu Ti's wisdom and virtue, then it was an omen of the birth of a holy emperor, but not a sign of universal peace. Lucky omens may correspond to universal peace or happen to mark a special birth. It is difficult to find out the real cause. Therefore it would not be proper to think of a period of universal peace only.

Some say that the phœnix and the unicorn are born as members of a certain species of animals, just as the tortoise and the dragon belong to a certain species. For this reason a tortoise will always beget a tortoise, and a dragon will always beget a dragon. In shape, colour, and size the offspring does not differ much from the progenitors. Why should it not be possible for us to know these animals, seeing the father and beholding the son and the grand-son?

For the following reason. Common creatures have their species, but ominous creatures have not; they are born by accident. Therefore they say that the tortoise and the dragon are endowed with virtue. How can people distinguish a spiritual tortoise or a divine dragon, when they perceive them?

At the time of King Yuan of Sung 530-515 b.c. fishermen caught a spiritual tortoise in their nets, but they did not know that it was a spirit. The scholars of our days are like those fishermen. Since the fishermen did not know a spiritual tortoise, we may be sure that the people of to-day do not know a divine dragon either.

Sometimes a dragon is like a snake, and sometimes a snake resembles a dragon. Han Fei Tse remarks that a horse resembling a stag is worth one thousand chin. An excellent horse resembles a stag, and a spiritual dragon sometimes looks like a snake. If those creatures really belonged to a certain species, there would be no discrepancy in shape or colour.

During the time of Wang Mang 9 b.c.-23 a.d. there was an enormous bird, as big as a horse, with variegated plumage adorned with dragon like ornaments, which, together with several ten other birds, alighted in Ch`i-bsien in the State of P`ei. In modern Anhui. The phœnix, which during the time of Hsüan Ti sat down on the ground, was 5 feet high, which would correspond to the size of a horse afore-mentioned. Its plumage was multicoloured, which would be like the variegated colour with dragon ornaments, and the several tens of birds would be like the flocks of birds all alighting at the same time. If at Hsüan Ti's time it was a phœnix in shape and colour, accompanied by all the other birds, how do we know that it was one? Provided it was, then the bird attracted by Wang Mang was a phœnix likewise. That being the case, it cannot have been an omen, since Wang Mang caused its appearance, and if it was not a phœnix, how is it that in shape and colour and, as regards the following, it was exactly like it?

All ominous things originate from a propitious fluid. Born in an ordinary species, they have their peculiar character, and therefore become omens. Thus the arrival of a phœnix is like the appearance of the "red crow." A propitious bird which appeared to Wu Wang, cf. p. 130. If the phœnix is said to belong to a species, is there a distinct species of "red crows" also?

As regards the auspicious grain, the wine springs, and the sweet dew, the auspicious grain grows amidst other grain, but it has its peculiar spikelets, wherefore it is called auspicious grain. The wine springs and the sweet dew flow forth sweet and nice. They come from sources and dew, but there is not a special kind of sweet dew in heaven, or a certain class of wine springs on earth. During the just reign of a wise ruler the sweet dew falls down, and the wine comes up.

The "felicitous plant" The felicitous plant, "ming chia" , was found in the court-yard of the emperor Yao. With the waxing moon it grew one new leaf every day, with the waning moon one leaf dropped every day. and the "vermilion grass" also grow on earth along with other plants, but they do not always sprout from the same root. They come forth for a certain time, and after ten days or a month they wither and fall off. Hence they are considered as omens. The phœnix and the unicorn are omens as well. Why should they form a distinct species?

When there was perfect peace under the Chou dynasty, the people of Yüeh-ch`ang . In chap. XL we read Yüeh-shang , which were a people near the Annamese frontier. brought white pheasants as a present. These white pheasants were short-lived and of white colour, but there was not a special class of white pheasants. When the people of Lu caught a deer with one horn, and called it a unicorn, it descended perhaps from a deer, and there was no species of unicorns.

Accordingly the phœnix is perhaps also born from a snow goose or a magpie, but differing so much from the majority of birds by its quaint plumage and peculiar feathers, it is given the name phœnix. Wherefore must it belong to quite another class than the other birds?

Yu Jo See above p. 360. said, "The position the unicorn takes among quadrupeds, the phœnix takes among flying birds, Mount T`ai among hills, and the Yellow River and the Ocean among water-courses." Consequently the phœnix and the unicorn are to be classed together with birds and animals, only their shape and colour is exceptional. They cannot constitute a separate class. Belonging to the same category, they have their anomalies, by these anomalies they fall out of the common run, and owing to this irregularity the distinction becomes difficult.

Yao begot Tan Chu, and Shun, Shang Chün. Shang Chün and Tan Chu belonged to the same species as Yao and Shun, but in body and mind they were abnormal. Kun begot Yü, and Ku Sou, Shun. Shun and Yü were of the same class as Kun and Ku Sou, but differed from them in wisdom and virtue. If we try to sow the seed of auspicious grain, we cannot reap auspicious grain thereby, but we may frequently find millet with abnormal stalks or ears. People beholding Shu Liang Ho could not know that he was the father of Confucius, nor could they see in Po Yü the son of Confucius. The father of Chang T`ang Chang T`ang lived at the beginning of the 1st cent. a.d. Vid. chap. XXXVIII. was 5 feet high, Chang T`ang himself 8, and his grand-son 6. The phœnix of Hsiao Hsüan Ti measured 5 feet. The bird from which it was born perhaps measured but 2 feet, and the own offspring of the phœnix only 1 foot, for why should a species be quite stereotype? Since classes and species are not stereotype, Tsêng Hsi had a son, Tsêng Shên, Tsêng Tse, the well known disciple of Confucius, cf. p. 164. whose character was unique, and Yen Lu was father to Yen Hui, who outshone every one in ancient and modern times. A thousand Li horse must not be the colt of a unicorn, and a bird may be benevolent and wise without being the fledgeling of a phœnix.

The brooks on the mountain tops are not connected with rivers and lakes, still they are full of fish. The generative power of the water has produced them independently. On the terraces of ruined palaces and crumbling halls grows grass, sent forth by the force of the soil of itself. The fish in the brooks and the grass on the terraces of the halls have no progenitors of their own species. In the same manner an omen corresponding to something happens spontaneously, there is not a special class for it in the world.

An omen corresponds in the same way, as a calamitous event supervenes. The omen corresponds to something good, a calamity to something bad. Good and bad are opposites, it is true, but the corresponding is the same. As a calamitous revolution does not belong to a class, an omen corresponding to something has no species. The fluids of the Yin and the Yang are the fluids of Heaven and Earth. Falling in with something good, they harmonize with it, and meeting something bad, they suddenly turn. Do Heaven and Earth in addition to the government which they exercise over good and evil still produce a harmonious and a suddenly changing fluid? By no means:---when an omen corresponds to something, it is not of a certain class or category, but it comes forth along with something good, and grows from the harmony of the fluids.

Sometimes during a peaceful administration and, while the fluids are in harmony, various creatures undergo a metamorphosis. In spring e. g. the eagle changes into a pigeon, and in autumn the pigeon becomes an eagle. Snakes, mice, and the like are transformed into fish and turtles, frogs into quails, sparrows into clams. Cf. p. 336 Note 2. These creatures change in accordance with their fluids. Their existence cannot be denied. Huang Shih I. e. "Yellow Stone." became an old man, presented Chang Liang with a book, and then became a stone again. The Literati know this. Perhaps at the time of universal peace, when all the fluids are in harmony, a deer might be transmuted into a unicorn, and a snow-goose into a phœnix. In this way the nature of animals would be changed at times, but there would not be a stereotype species.

Pao Sse The favourite consort of the Emperor Yu Wang, 781-771 b.c. was the daughter of a black lizard, and born from the saliva of two snakes. On this legend, see p. 321. Two ministers of Chin were the progeny of a brown and a spotted bear. Fan Wên Tse and Ch`ung Hang Chao Tse, cf. p. 225. The stories about the eating of the swallow's egg, The mother of Hsieh, the ancestor of the Yin dynasty swallowed an egg dropped by a swallow, and thereupon conceived. Cf. p. 318. and the pearl-barley, The mother of Great Yü is said to have conceived after having eaten pearl-barley. See p. 318. and the walking upon an enormous foot-print Vid. p. 318. are likewise accepted by the people of to-day, why then shall the omens belong to a stereotype species? If we consider the question from the point of view that creatures have not a well-defined species, nor men a separate class, and that a body can be metamorphosized, then the phœnix and the unicorn are not born from an unchangeable species. But wherefore must they be alike then in shape and colour?

We read in the chapter on omens in the Liki There is no chapter on omens, "Jui-ming," in the Liki now. that the male phœnix is called "Fêng" and the female "Huang," and that the male sings "chi, chi," and the female "tsu, tsu." A similar passage occurs in the Han-shih-wai-chuan (T`ai-p`ing-yü-lan) 2nd cent. b.c. In the Shiking we find the following verses:---"The oil tree is growing on yonder high hill, and the male and female phœnix is singing there in the morning sun-shine. Luxuriant and flourishing is the tree, "yung, yung, chieh, chieh" sing the phœnixes. Shiking Pt. III, Bk. II, Ode VIII (Legge Vol. IV, Pt. II, p. 494). ---The chapter on omens as well as the Shiking describe the singing of the phœnix the one as "chi chi, tsu tsu," the other as "yung, yung, chieh, chieh." These sounds differ. Provided that they are really like this, then the shape of the birds cannot be the same, and if it is, then there is a discrepancy between the Shiking and the Liki. Consequently the common traditions about the singing of the phœnix are suspicious.

Of the unicorn caught in Lu it is said that it was a deer with a horn, that means that its colour was like that of a deer. The colour of a deer is invariable, as the colour of birds is. At the time of Wu Wang a stream of light appeared in the form of a crow. Its colour is said to have been red. Red not being the colour of crows, it is expressly stated that the colour was red. If the unicorn resembled a deer, but had a different colour, it would certainly have been added that its colour was white or black. Now the colour was the usual one, therefore they merely say that it was a deer. A deer is hornless. China possesses several varieties of hornless deer. Since the deer in question was different from the ordinary ones in this respect, it is said that it had a horn. In this manner the unicorn caught in Lu was shaped like a deer.

During the time of Wu Ti a hunting party in the west caught a white unicorn with one horn and five feet. The horn was then as in other cases, but the reference to the five feet shows that it had not the same number of legs. The unicorn found in Lu is described as a deer. The colour not being mentioned, it must have been a deer of no unusual colour. Wu Ti is reported to have got a white unicorn. White colour does not agree with a unicorn. The statement that a unicorn is a deer, means therefore that it is an ordinary one, whereas the allegation that it is a white unicorn, shows that its colour is unusual.

Under the reign of Hsiao Hsüan Ti the Chiu-chên A tribe in Annam. sent as a tribute a unicorn shaped like a deer, but with two horns. It thus differed from the unicorn of Hsiao Wu Ti, to which one horn is ascribed. During the Spring and Autumn Period the unicorn was like a deer, that of the emperor Hsüan Ti is described as resembling a stag. A stag is double the size of a deer, and differently shaped. The unicorns which appeared under the reigns of those three emperors vary very much, as regards the colour of their hair, the horn, the feet, and the size of the body. If we infer the future from these instances, it is quite evident that the unicorns eventually appearing at the present time will not be like those of former generations. In this respect the unicorn is like the phœnix. The unicorns varied at different periods in shape and colour. If we were to start from the phœnix seen at the time of Hsüan Ti, measuring five feet and being multicoloured, and to foretell the future from the past, it would be a mistake to maintain that a phœnix appearing later on must be like that one. There can be no doubt that phœnixes and unicorns, which will appear later on, will not resemble those observed formerly. How can the scholars assert that on seeing them they would know them?

When the people of Lu caught the unicorn, they dared not straightway call it a unicorn, but said that it was a horned deer. At that time in fact they did not know it. Wu Ti called upon the censor Chung Chün to give his opinion about the unicorn. Chung Chün replied that it was a wild animal with joined horns, showing that the whole empire had grown from the some root. He did not at once style it a unicorn, but declared it to be a wild animal. Chung Chün had his doubts as well, and did not know it. The knowledge of the scholars of our age does not exceed that of the people of Lu or of Chung Chün. Should they see a phœnix or a unicorn, they would certainly have the same doubts as the latter.

How is it possible to find out a phœnix and a unicorn among uncommon birds and animals? If shape and colour be taken as a criterion, they are not always alike. If there be a big train of birds and animals following them, this is not always a proof of their excellence. If their rarity be regarded as a characteristic, there is the "mainah" also, and if importance be attached to peculiarities, then sages as well as wise men have strange physical features. Both sages and wise men are abnormal, and there is no means to distinguish between them.

Taking wisdom and sageness as a starting point, we find that sage birds and sage animals do not possess more peculiarities than ordinary birds or common animals. The wisdom of sage or wise men may be quite extraordinary, whereas their bones show no anomaly. Thus sage and wise birds and animals can be endowed with benevolence, honesty, unselfishness, and purity, though there be nothing remarkable in their physical constitution. Sometimes there are rich and noble persons who have not the body of a sage, and the osseous structure of many points to wealth and honour, who do not prove to be sage or wise. Accordingly some birds are multicolour, and some animals have a horn, but are devoid of benevolence or sageness. How do we know then but that the phœnixes and unicorns, seen in olden days, were common birds or animals, and the magpies and deer seen at present are phœnixes and unicorns? The present holy age is the result of the reforms emanating from Yao and Shun, why should no benevolent or wise creatures be born?

It may happen that phœnixes and unicorns are mixed with snow-geese, magpies, deer or stags, so that our people cannot distinguish them. When precious jade was hidden in a stone, the governor of the king of Ch`u did not know it, which distressed the owner so much, that he wept tears of blood. Cf. p. 113. Perhaps nowa-days the phœnixes and unicorns also hide their benevolent and wise heart under a common plumage and ordinary fur, and have neither a single horn nor five colours as a distinctive mark, so that our people know them no more, than the jade in the stone was known. How can we prove that? By a reference to the plants, which at the commencement of the Yung-p`ing period Style of the reign of the Emperor Ming Ti, 58-76 a.d. were always presenting omens. When the emperor Hsiao Ming Ti was manifesting his kindness, all sorts of omens happened at the same time. At the Yuan-ho and Chang-ho epochs, Styles of the Emperor Chang Ti, 84-87 and 87-89. when Hsiao Chang Ti's virtue was shining, perfect harmony pervaded the world, and auspicious omens and strange things corresponded. Phœnixes and unicorns came forth one after the other, and were observed on many occasions, much more than at the time of the Five Emperors. This chapter was already completed, therefore I could not mention it then. This chapter must have been written prior to 84 a.d., so that the auspicious reign of the Emperor Chang Ti could not yet be referred to. The author made this addition later i. e. after 89, for it was not before this year that the emperor received his posthumous title Hsiao Chang Ti.

It might be objected that arguing on omens, I have declared that the phœnix and the unicorn are hard to know, and that the omens of our age cannot be distinguished, whether, therefore, the phœnixes and the unicorns attracted now by Hsiao Chang Ti could not be known?---I say that according to the "Records on the Five Birds" By the Five Birds perhaps the Five Phœnixes "Wu Fêng," five different kinds of phœnixes, which differ by their colours, are meant. The "Fêng" is red, the "Yuan chu" yellow, the "Luan" blue, the "Yü tsu" purple, and the "Ku" white. Whereas "Fêng" and "Luan" are still used as names for the phœnix, one understands by "Yuan chu" a kind of peacock or pheasant, by "Yü-tsu" a kind of duck, and by "Ku" the snow-goose or swan. there are big birds in the four regions and the centre which, when they roam about, are accompanied by all the other birds. In size, and the colour of the plumage they resemble a phœnix, but are difficult to know indeed.

Since the omens of our age do not allow of distinction, how can we find them out? By the government of the empire. Unless the virtue of the reigning emperor equalled that of Yü, we would not perceive phœnixes and unicorns with our own eyes. The omens of Yü were undoubtedly genuine, and Yao's excellence is evident. Under Hsiao Hsüan Ti the world enjoyed a still more universal peace than at the time of Yao and Shun, as far as ten thousand Li, people were anxious for reforms and progress, and the moral laws found an echo everywhere. Affected by this state of things, the benevolent birds and animals made their appearence, only the size, the colour of the hair, the feet and the wings of those auspicious creatures were not always the same. Taking the mode of government and the intelligence of the rulers as a criterion for the various omens, we find them all to be genuine. That means that they are hard to know, but easy to understand.

The sweet dew may also serve us as a key. The sweet dew is produced by the harmonious fluid, it has no cause in itself which could make it sweet; this can only be done by the intervention of the harmonious fluid. When the harmonious fluid appears, the sweet dew pours down, virtue permeates everything, and the various omens come forth together. From the Yung-p`ing down to the Chang-ho period the sweet dew has continually been falling. Hence we know that the omens are all true, and that phœnixes and unicorns are likewise all genuine.

Speaking of human nature one must distinguish good and bad characters. The good ones are so of themselves, the wicked can be instructed and urged on to do good. A sovereign or a father seeing that his subjects or sons have good characters, provides for them, exhorts them, and keeps them out of the reach of evil. If the latter come into contact with it, they assist and shield them, and try to win them back to the cause of virtue. It is by the transition of virtue into wickedness and of wickedness into virtue that the characters are formed.

The duke of Shao admonished King Chêng saying:---"Now you for the first time carry out Heaven's decree. Oh! you are like a youth with whom all depends on his first years of life." Shuking, The Announcement of Shao V, Bk. XII, 18-19. Wang Ch`ung reads "alas!" instead of .

By youth is meant the age up to fifteen. If a youth's thoughts are directed towards virtue, he will be virtuous to the last, but if his propensities tend to badness, he will end badly.

The Shiking says "What can that admirable man be compared to?" Shiking I, Bk. IV, Ode IX, 2 where we read now "what can he give?" instead of "what can he be compared to?" The Tso-chuan answers, "He is like boiled silk; dyed with indigo, it becomes blue; coloured with vermilion, it turns crimson." A youth of fifteen is like silk, his gradual changes into good or bad resembling the dying of boiled silk with indigo and vermilion, which gives it a blue or a red colour. When these colours have once set, they cannot be altered again. It is for this reason that Yang Tse Yang Chu, the philosopher of egoism. The story referred to here is told in Lieh Tse VIII, 10v. A sheep had been lost on by-roads. When Yang Chu heard of it, he became thoughtful and changed countenance. No mention is made of his having wept. Wang Ch`ung seems to have quoted from Huai Nan Tse XVII, 25 v, who expressly mentions Yang Tse's weeping. wept over the by-roads and Mê Tse Mê Ti, the philosopher of altruism. We read in his works:---Mê Tse chap. 3, p. 4 (What colours) and in the Lü-shih-ch`un-ch`iu chap. 2, No. 4, p. 8 (Colouring) that Mê Tse witnessing the dying of silk said, heaving a sigh, "Dyed blue, it turns blue, and dyed yellow, it turns yellow" and then he goes on to explain, how man also takes the colour of his environments, especially of those with whom he has intercourse, wherefore "colouring" is a very serious affair. Nothing is said about his having shed tears. over boiled silk. They were sorrowful, because men having gone astray from the right path cannot be transformed any more. Human nature turns from good into bad, and from bad into good only in this manner. Creepers growing amidst hemp, stand upright without support by themselves. White silk yarn placed amongst dark, becomes black without boiling. Creepers are not straight by nature, nor is the black colour an attribute of silk yarn. The hemp affording support, and the dark silk lending the colour, creepers and white silk become straight and black. Human nature bears a resemblance to creepers and silk yarn. In a milieu favourable to transformation or colouring, it turns good or bad.

Wang Liang and Tsao Fu were famous as charioteers:---out of unruly and vicious animals they made good ones. Had they only been able to drive good horses, but incapable of breaking bad ones, they would have been nothing more than jockeys and ordinary equerries. Their horsemanship would not have been remarkable nor deserving of world-wide fame. Of Wang Liang the saying goes that, when he stepped into a chariot, the steeds knew no exhaustion.

Under the rule of Yao and Shun people were neither seditious nor ignorant. Tradition says that the people of Yao and Shun might have been invested with fiefs house by house, So excellent were they all. whereas those of Chieh Kuei The last emperor of the Hsia dynasty, the type of a tyrant. were worthy of death door by door. The people followed the way prescribed by the three dynasties. That the people of the holy emperors were like this, those of the wicked emperors otherwise, was merely the result of the influence of their rulers, not of the people's original nature.

The covetous hearing of Po Yi's Po Yi and Shu Ch`i, two brothers famous for their disinterestedness in refusing to ascend the throne of their father, lest the other should be deprived of it. Mayers No. 543. fame became disinterested, and the weak resolute. The news of Liu Hsia Hui's An official of the State of Lu famous for honesty and upright character, often mentioned by Confucius. reputation made the niggardly generous and the mean liberal. If the spread of fame alone could bring about such changes, what then must be the effect of personal intercourse and tuition?

The seventy disciples of the school of Confucius were each of them able to creditably fill the post of a minister of state. Conforming to the holy doctrines, they became accomplished scholars, and their knowledge and skill grew tenfold. This was the result of teaching; thus latent faculties were gradually developed. Before they joined Confucius' school, they sauntered about in the streets as quite ordinary and in no wise exceptional people. The most ungovernable of all was Tse Lu, who is generally reported to have been a common and unsteady individual. Before he became Confucius' pupil, he wore a feather hat and a pig skin belt. He was brutal and unmannerly. Whenever he heard some reading, he tossed up his feather hat, pulled his belt, and uttered such a yell, that he deafened the ears of the worthies and sages. Such was his wickedness. Confucius took him under his guidance. By degrees he polished and instructed him. The more he advanced in knowledge, the more he lost his fierceness, and his arrogance was broken. At last he was able to govern a state, and ranked in the four classes. The four classes, into which the ten principal followers of Confucius were divided. Cf. Analects XI, 2. This is a shining example of how a man's character was changed from bad into good.

Fertility and sterility are the original nature of the soil. If it be rich and moist, the nature is good, and the crops will be exuberant, whereas, if it be barren and stony, the nature is bad. However, human efforts:---deep ploughing, thorough tilling, and a copious use of manure may help the land, so that the harvest will become like that of the rich and well watered fields. Such is the case with the elevation of the land also. Fill up the low ground with earth, dug out by means of hoes and spades, and the low land will be on a level with the high one. If these works are still continued, not only will the low land be on a level, but even higher than the high land. The high ground will then become the low one. Let us suppose that the human natures are partly good, partly bad; as the land may be either high or low. By making use of the good effects of education goodness can be spread and generalized. Reformation being pushed on and instruction persevered in, people will change and become still better. Goodness will increase and reach a still higher standard than it had before, just as low ground, filled up with hoes and spades, rises higher than the originally elevated ground.

T`se A disciple of Confucius, whose full name was Tuan Mu T`se alias Tse Kung, possessed of great abilities. He became a high official. though not predestinated thereto, made a fortune. His capital increased without a decree from Heaven which would have him rich. The accumulation of wealth is due to the cleverness of the rich men of the time in making a fortune. Through this ability of theirs they are themselves the authors of their growing wealth without a special decree from Heaven. Similarly, he who has a wicked nature changes his will and his doings, if he happens to be taught by a Sage, although he was not endowed with a good character by Heaven.

One speaks of good swords for which a thousand chin The name of the ancient copper coins, which first were called "metal," not "gold," as may be seen from the works on coinage. are paid, such as the Yü-ch`ang This sword is said to have been fabricated by the famous blade-smith Ou Yeh in the kingdom of Yüeh. sword of T`ang-ch`i A place in Honan. and the T`ai-a sword This sword is the work of Ou Yeh of Yüeh and Kan Chiang of Wu, both celebrated sword-cutlers, who wrought it for the King of Ch`u. of Lung-ch`üan. A place most likely in Chekiang, called "Sword river" under the Sung dynasty. Playfair, Cities No. 4650. Their blade is originally nothing more than a common piece of iron from a mountain. By the forger's smelting and hammering they become sharp-edged. But notwithstanding this smelting and hammering the material of good swords is not different from others. All depends on excellent workmanship and on the blade-smith's ability in working the iron. Take a sword worth only one chin from Tung-hsia, heat it again, and forge it, giving it sufficient fire, and smoothing and sharpening its edge, and it will be like a sword of a thousand chin. Iron and stones are made by Heaven, still being worked, they undergo a modification of their substance. Why then should man, whose nature is imbued with the five virtues, despair of the badness of his character, before he has been thoroughly worked upon by Worthies and Sages?

The skillful physicians that in olden days were held in high esteem, knew the sources where virulent diseases sprang from, and treated and cured them with acupuncture and medicines. Had they merely known the names of the complaints, but done nothing besides, looking quietly on, would there have been anything wonderful in them? Men who are not good have a disease of their nature. To expect them to change without proper treatment and instruction would be hopeless indeed.

The laws of Heaven can be applied in a right and in a wrong way. The right way is in harmony with Heaven, the wrong one owes its results to human astuteness, but cannot in its effects be distinguished from the right one. This will be shown by the following. Among the "Tribute of Yü" The Tribute of Yü, Yü-kung, is also the name of a book of the Shuking. are mentioned jade and white corals. Cf. Shuking Pt. III, Book I (Legge, Classics Vol. III, Pt. I, p. 127). These were the produce of earth and genuine precious stones and pearls. But the Taoists melt five kinds of stones, and make five-coloured gems out of them. Their lustre, if compared with real gems, does not differ. Pearls in fishes and shells are as genuine as the jade-stones in the Tribute of Yü. Yet the Marquis of Sui A principality in Hupei. made pearls from chemicals, which were as brilliant as genuine ones. The time of this Marquis of Sui is unknown. His pearls are very famous in Chinese literature. According to one tradition the Marquis found a wounded snake, and cured it. Out of gratitude the snake presented him with a precious pearl, which shone at night. Wang Ch`ung makes the Marquis produce artificial pearls himself. This is the climax of Taoist learning and a triumph of their skill.

By means of a burning-glass one catches fire from heaven. Of five stones liquefied on the Ping-wu A number of the sexagenary cycle used for the designation of years, months, and days. day of the 5th moon an instrument is cast, which, when polished bright, held up against the sun, brings down fire too, in precisely the same manner as, when fire is caught in the proper way. Now, one goes even so far as to furbish the crooked blades of swords, till they shine, when, held up against the sun, they attract fire also. Crooked blades are not burning-glasses; that they can catch fire is the effect of rubbing. Now, provided the bad-natured men are of the same kind as good-natured ones, then they can be influenced, and induced to do good. Should they be of a different kind, they can also be coerced in the same manner as the Taoists cast gems, Sui Hou made pearls, and people furbish the crooked blades of swords. Enlightened with learning and familiarized with virtue, they too begin by and by to practise benevolence and equity.

When Huang Ti fought with Yen Ti Yen Ti is usually identified with Shên Nung and said to have been his predecessor, but we do not learn that he fought with Huang Ti for the empire. for the empire, he taught bears, leopards, and tigers to combat for him in the wilds of Fan-chüan. After three battles he gained his end, and Yen Ti was routed.

Yao yielded the empire to Shun. Kun, According to Kang Hi, Kun = would be the same as Kun, Yao's Minister of Works, who in vain endeavoured to drain the waters of the great flood. His son Yü, who subsequently became emperor, succeeded at last in regulating the water courses. Here we seem to have a different tradition. one of his vassals, desired to become one of the three chief ministers, but Yao did not listen to this request. Thereupon Kun became more infuriated than even ferocious animals are, and wished to rebel. The horns of animals, all in a line, served him as a rampart, and their lifted tails were his banners. They opposed and tackled their foe with the utmost determination and energy.---If birds and beasts, which are shaped otherwise than man, can nevertheless be caused to fight, how much more so man's own kindred? Proceeding on this line of argument we have no reason to doubt that (by music) the multitudinous animals were made to dance, the fish in the ponds to come out and listen, and the six kinds of horses Six kinds of horses were distinguished in the studs of the Chou emperors, according to their height. Tcheou Li (Chou Li), trad. par Biot, Vol. II, p. 262. to look up from their fodder. There are many myths illustrative of the power of music. Hu Pa, , played the guitar, so that the fish came out to listen, and Po Ya, , played the lute in such an admirable way, that the horses forgot their fodder, and looked up to harken. Han-shih-wai ch`uan, quoted by the P`ei-wên-yün fu chap. 96 under .

The equalization of what varies in different categories as well as the differentiation of what is the same in similar classes, does not depend on the thing itself, but is man's doing.

It is by instruction that living beings are transformed. Among the Three Miao tribes The aborigines of China. some were honest, some disreputable. Yao and Shun made them all alike by conferring the boon of instruction upon them.

Suppose the men of Ch`u and Yüeh They were settled in modern Hukuang and Chekiang. to settle down in Chuang or Yü. An allusion to Mencius Bk. III, Pt. II, chap. 6, where the difference of the dialects of Ch`i and Ch`u is pointed out. Chuang and Yü were two quarters in the capital of Ch`i. Having passed there months and years, they would become pliant and yielding, and their customs changed. They say that the people of Ch`i are soft and supple, those of Ch`in unsteady and versatile, of Ch`u lively and passionate, of Yen The Ch`i State was in northern Shantung, Ch`in in Shensi, and Yen in Chili. The characteristic of the inhabitants of these provinces is partly still true to-day. dull and simple. Now let us suppose that people of the four States alternately went to live in Chuang and Yü for a certain time, the prolonged stay in a place remote from their country would undubitably bring about a change of their character.

A bad natured man's heart is like wood or stone, but even wood and stone can be used by men, why not what really is neither wood nor stone? We may hope that it will still be able to understand the precepts of superior men. Only in the case of insanity, when a person sings and weeps in the streets, knowing neither east nor west, taking no heed of scorching heat or humidity, unaware of his own madness and unconscious of hunger and satiety, nature is deranged and upset, and there is no help. As such a man sees nothing before him, he is afraid of nothing.

Therefore the government does not abolish the officers of public instruction or dispense with criminal judges, wishing thereby to inculcate the observance of the moral laws. The schools guide people at first, the laws control and restrain them later on.

Even the will of a Tan Chu might be curbed; the proof is that the soldiers of a big army are kept in order by reproofs. Men and officers are held in check to such an extent, that they look at death as a return.

Ho Lu King of the Wu State, 514-496 b.c. put his soldiers to the test by the "Five Lakes." Another name of the T`ai-hu lake in Kiangsu, which consisted of five lakes, or five connected sheets of water. They all cut their arms with swords, that the blood trickled down to the ground. Kou Chien The ruler of the Yüeh State, 496 b.c., who overthrew the kingdom of Wu. also gave his men a trial in the hall of his inner palace. Those who jumped into the fire and perished, were innumerable. Human nature is not particularly fond of swords and fire, but the two rulers had such a power over their men, that they did not care for their lives. It is the effect of military discipline to make light of cuts and blood.

Mêng Pên A hero of enormous strength in the Chou epoch. was bold, but on hearing the order for the army he became afraid. In the same way the officers who were wont to draw their swords to fight out, whose merits were first, went through all the ceremonial, and prostrated themselves (before the emperor), when Shu Sun T`ung An official of great power under Han Kao Tsu, who subdued the arrogance and superciliousness of the princes and nobles by the ceremonial they were made to undergo at an audience before the new emperor. Shi-chi chap. 99, p. 7v. had fixed the rites. Imperious and overbearing first, they became obedient and submissive. The power of instruction and the influence of virtue transform the character. One need not sorrow that a character is bad, but it is to be regretted, if it does not submit to the teachings of the sages. Such an individual owes his misfortune to himself.

Beans and wheat are different from rice and millet, yet their consumption satisfies the appetite. Are the natures of low and superior men then of a different kind? They resemble the Five Grains, Hemp, millet, rice, wheat, and beans. all have their use. There is no fundamental difference between them, only their manifestations are unlike. The fluid men are endowed with, is either copious or deficient, and their character correspondingly good or bad. The wicked have received but a small dose of kindness, the irascible, plenty of temper. If kindness be unsufficient, people do wrong, and there is not much hope for an improvement. With plenty of temper, people become violent, and have no sense of justice. Moreover, their feeling of sympathy is defective, joy and anger do not happen at the proper time, and they have baseless and irreasonable fears. Reckless men like that commit outrages, therefore they are considered bad.

Man has in his body the Five Qualities The Five Cardinal Virtues:---benevolence, justice, propriety, knowledge, and truth. and the Five Organs. The heart, the liver, the stomach, the lungs, and the kidneys. If he got too little of them, or if they are too small, his actions do not attain to goodness. Human character, to wit the Five Qualities, depends on the volumen of the original fluid, the vital force, which shapes the Five Organs. According as they are bigger or smaller, the nature of the individual is different. This idea finds expression in the Chinese language. A man with a big heart, , is generous and liberal, with a small heart, , mean. The fluid of the stomach, , is equivalent to anger. Man himself is either accomplished or deficient, but accomplishment and deficiency do not mean a difference of organisation. Use leaven in big, or in small quantities, and the result will be similar. In rich as well as in poor wine there is the same leaven. Good men as well as bad ones are permeated by the same original fluid. According to its greater or smaller volumen the mind of the individual is bright or dull.

Hsi Mên Pao would tighten his leathern belt, whenever he wanted to relax himself. Tung An Yü loosened his girdle strings, when he was going to rouse himself. Cf. p. 122. Yet neither passion nor indolence is the right medium. However, he who wears a belt or a girdle on his body is properly dressed. When the question arises, how deficiencies can be made good by means of belts and strings, the names of Hsi Mên Pao and Tung An Yü must be mentioned together. In both cases the belt or girdle is the same indispensible part of a gentleman's toilet, but the use made of it, and the results achieved, are quite different. The same may be said of human nature.

Houses of poor, wretched people are not in a proper state. They have holes in the walls under the roof, to which others take objection. When rich and well-to-do people build houses, they have the walls made in a way, that they find there real shelter. The whole house is in good repair, and nobody could say anything against it. Human nature is like those houses. They are all houses, and serve the same purpose, but some are in good repair, others in a wretched state.

In Wei An ancient State in North Honan and South Chili. the land was divided in lots of a hundred mow, in Yeh The modern Chang-tê-fu. alone the lots measured two hundred mow. Hsi Mên Pao irrigated his land with water from the Chang A large tributary of the river Wei in Honan, near Chang-tê-fu. and made it so fertile, that it yielded one bushel A Chung, an ancient measure equal to 4 pecks = 1 bushel, as some say. According to others it would be as much as 34 pecks. per mow. Man's natural parts are like the fields of Yeh, tuition and education, like the water from the Chang. One must be sorry for him that cannot be transformed, but not for a man whose character it is difficult to govern.

In the streets of the city of Loyang The capital of the Chou dynasty in Honan, the modern Honanfu. there was no water. It was therefore pulled up from the Lo by watermen. Probably with pump-works. If it was streaming quickly day and night, it was their doing. From this point of view kindness and justice must increase manifold in him who comes into close contact with an excellent man. The excellent man is like the river Lo. Streams of kindness and justice part from him. Mencius' mother changed her domicile, for she had ascertained this truth. She changed her domicile for the purpose of saving her son from the bad influences of the neighbourhood.

Water amongst men is dirty and muddy, in the open country it is clear and limpid. It is all the same water, and it flows from the confines of heaven; its dirtiness and limpidity are the effects of its environments.

Chao T`o, king of the southern Yüeh, was originally an honourable man of the Han State, Chao T`o went to Yüeh, modern Kuang-tung, as general of Ch`in Shih Huang Ti, and subsequently became king of the southern barbarians, whose customs he adopted. Lu Chia was sent to him by the first emperor of the Han dynasty to receive his declaration of allegiance. but he took to the habits of the southern barbarians, disregarded the imperial commands, dressed his hair in a tuft, and used to squat down. He was so fond of this, as if it had been his nature. Lu Chia spoke to him of the virtues of the Han, and impressed him with their holy power, so that he suddenly rose up, and felt remorse. He received the commands of his sovereign, and communicated them to the savages. Against his hair-dress and to his squatting he felt something like a natural repugnancy. First he acted in the aforesaid manner, afterwards thus. It shows what force instruction also has, and that nature is not the only factor.

Natural feelings and natural disposition are the basis of human activity, and the source from which morals and music spring. Morals impede, and music checks the excesses of original nature. The natural disposition may be humble, modest, and yielding. The moral laws are enforced with a view to generalizing such praiseworthy qualities. The natural feelings may be good or bad, cheerful or angry, mournful or merry. Music is made in order to make every one behave respectfully. What morals and music aim at are the natural feelings and natural disposition.

The ancient literati and scholars who have written essays have all touched upon this question, but could not give a satisfactory answer. The philosopher Shih Tse His full name is Shih Shê. He was one of the seventy disciples of Confucius and a writer. The Catalogue of the Han-shu chap. 30 mentions twenty-one chapters of his pen. Faber in his Doctrines of Confucius p. 29 states that the title of the lost work of Shih Shê was "yang-shu" , and that he is said to have been a disciple of Ch`i Tiao K`ai, whom vide. of the Chou time held that human nature is partly good and partly bad, that, if the good nature in man be cultivated and regulated, his goodness increases, and if his bad nature be, his badness develops. Thus in the human heart there would be two conflicting principles, and good and evil depend on cultivation. Accordingly, Shih Tse composed a chapter on cultivation.

Fu Tse Chien, Ch`i Tiao K`ai; and Kung Sun Ni Tse All disciples of Confucius, whose writings were still extant during the Han dynasty, but are now lost. According to Liu Hsin's Catalogue Fu Tse Chien alias Fu Pu Ch`i wrote 16 chapters, Ch`i Tiao K`ai 12, and Kung Sun Ni Tse 28. also discuss this subject in very much the same way as Shih Tse, all declaring that nature is partly good, partly bad.

Mencius wrote a chapter on the goodness of nature, Mencius Bk. VI, Pt. I. contending that all men are originally good, and that the bad ones are corrupted by the world. Men, he says, are created by heaven and earth; they are all provided with a good nature, but when they grow up and come into contact with the world, they run wild, and are perverted, and their wickedness increases daily. According to Mencius' opinion, man, when young, would be invariably good.

Wei Tse The Viscount of Wei, a kinsman of prince Chou i. e. Chou Hsin, the last emperor of the Shang dynasty, who lost the throne through his wickedness and tyrany (1154-1122 b.c.). said, "I have formerly remarked, that as a child the prince (Chou) did not show off."

When Chou was a child, Wei Tse observed that he had no good character. Inclined to evil, he did not eclipse the common people, and when he had grown up, he caused endless revolutions. Therefore Wei Tse's remark.

When Yang-Shê Shih-Wo The Yang Shê family was very powerful in the Chin State. Lady Shu had married one Yang Shê and was thus related to Yang-Shê Shih-Wo. was born and Lady Shu saw him, and upon entering the hall heard him cry, she went back and said, "His voice is that of a wolf. He has a reckless character, destitute of all affection. But for him the Yang Shê family would not perish." Afterwards she declined to see him. When he had grown up, Ch`i Shêng made a rebellion, in which Shih-Wo took part. The people killed him, and the Yang Shê family was extinguished thereby. This took place in the Chin State in 513 b.c.

Chou's wickedness dated from his childhood, and Shi-Wo's rebellion could be foretold from the new-born's whine. As a newborn child has not yet had any intercourse with the world, who could have brought about his perversion?

Tan Chu was born in Yao's palace, and Shang Chün in Shun's hall. Under the reign of these two sovereigns, the people house by house were worthy of being entrusted with fief. Those with whom the two might have mixed, were most excellent, and the persons forming the suit of the two emperors, were all most virtuous. Nevertheless, Tan Chu was haughty, and Shang Chün brutal. Both lacked imperial decorum to such a degree, that they were set up as a warning to coming generations.

Mencius judges men by the pupils of their eyes. If the heart be bright, says he, the pupils are clear, if it be dark, the pupils are dim. Mencius Bk. IV, Pt. I, chap. XV. However, the clearness and dimness of the eyes reaches back to as far as man's birth. These differences are due to the different fluids received from heaven. The eyes are not clear during childhood, or dimmed, when man grows, and associates with other people. Nature at first is spontaneous, goodness and badness are the outcome of different dispositions. What Mencius says about original nature is not true.

Yet something may have contributed to the idea of the goodness of nature. A man may be benevolent or just, it is the wonderful proficiency of his nature, as in his locomotion and movements he shows his extraordinary natural ability. But his colour, whether white or black, and his stature, whether long or short, remain unchanged until old age and final death. Such is his heavenly nature. The spiritual nature may be transformed, but not the physical one. Human nature is so wonderful, that even originally bad people may by much training become benevolent and just. Mencius seeing these wonderful results was misled into the belief that human nature was originally good.

Everybody knows that water, earth, and other substances differ in their natures, but people are not aware that good and evil are due to different natural dispositions. A one year old baby is not inclined to violent robbery. After it has grown up, its greed may gradually develop, and lead to ferocity and aggressiveness.

Kao Tse, a contemporary of Mencius denies the difference of goodness and badness in nature, comparing it to flowing water which led to the east, runs eastward, and to the west, westward. As water cannot be divided according to its eastern or western direction, a division of men into good and bad ones is untenable. Mencius Bk. VI, Pt. I, chap. II. Therefore Kao Tse asserts that human nature is similar to the nature of water. Such being the case, water may well be used as an illustration.

Nature is as metal is metal, and wood, wood. A good man has a natural bent towards goodness, and a wicked man to wickedness. Man is endowed by heaven with a spontaneous mind, and has received a uniform disposition. Either good or bad, not partly good and partly bad. Therefore portents appear at the time of birth, from which man's goodness and badness can be discovered.

People with whom no difference of good and bad exists, and who may be pushed one or the other way, are called average people. Being neither good nor bad, they require instruction in order to assume a certain type. Therefore Confucius says that with people above the average one can discourse on higher subjects, but that with those under the average one cannot do so. Analects II, 19. Kao Tse's comparison with channelled water applies only to average people, but does not concern extremely good or extremely bad persons. According to Confucius people are nearly related to one another by character, but become very different by habit. Analects XVII, 2. The character of average people is the work of habit. Made familiar with good, they turn out good, accustomed to evil, they become wicked. Only with extremely good, or extremely bad characters habit is of no avail. Therefore Confucius holds that only highly cultured and grossly ignorant people cannot be changed. Analects XVII, 3. Their natures being either good or otherwise, the influence of sages, and the teaching of wise men is impotent to work a change. Since Confucius, the Nestor in wisdom and virtue, and the most eminent of all philosophers, asserts the unchangeability of highly cultured and grossly ignorant people, we may conclude that Kao Tse's sayings are not correct.

However, there is some foundation for Kao Tse's view. The Shiking Shiking I, Bk. IV, Ode IX, 2. Vid. above p. 374. says:---"What can that admirable man be compared to?" The Tso-chuan answers:---"He is like boiled silk; dyed with indigo it becomes blue, coloured with vermilion it turns crimson." Leading water eastward or westward is like dyeing silk blue or red. Tan Chu and Shang Chün were also imbued with Yao and Shun's doctrines, but Tan Chu remained haughty, and Shang Chün cruel. The extremely bad stuff they were made of did not take the blue or the red colour.

In opposition to Mencius, Sun Ching One of the Ten Philosophers, whose work has come down to us. He lived in the 3rd cent. b.c. His original surname Hsün --- hence Hsün Tse --- was changed into Sun under the reign of the Emperor Hsüan Ti of the Han dynasty, 73-48 b.c., whose personal name was Hsün. Cf. Edkins, "Siün King the Philosopher" in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Shanghai Vol. XXXIII, p. 46. wrote a chapter on the wickedness of nature, supposing human nature to be wicked, and its goodness to be ficticious. Wickedness of nature means to say that men, when they are born, have all a bad nature, and ficticiousness that, after they have grown up, they are forcibly induced to do good. According to this view of Sun Ching, among men, even as children, there are no good ones.

Chi as a boy amused himself with planting trees. When Confucius could walk, he played with sacrificial vessels. When a stone is produced, it is hard, when a fragrant flower comes forth, it smells. All things imbued with a good fluid develop accordingly with their growth. He who amused himself with tree planting, became the minister of T`ang, Viz. of Yao who reigned at T`ang, in Chili. and the boy who played with sacrificial vessels, the sage of Chou. Things with a fragrant or stony nature show their hardness and fragrance. Sun Ching's opinion is, therefore, incompatible with truth, yet his belief in the wickedness of nature is not quite without foundation:

A one year old baby has no yielding disposition. Seeing something to eat, it cries, and wants to eat it, and beholding a nice thing, it weeps, and wants to play with it. After it has grown up, its propensities are checked, and its wishes cut down, and it is compelled to do good.

Liu Tse Chêng A famous author, more generally known by the name Liu Hsiang, 80-9 b.c., whose works we still possess. objects that in this case heaven would have no fluid. Where would the first good deed come from, if the Yang and the Yin principles and good and evil were not counterbalancing each other?

Lu Chia A politician and scholar of the 3rd and 2nd cent. b.c., author of the "New Words" , the same as mentioned above p. 383 as envoy to the king of the southern Yüeh. says that, when heaven and earth create men, they predispose them in favour of propriety and justice, that man can see what for he has received life and act accordingly, which accordance is called virtue. Lu Chia thinks that the human mind is turned towards propriety and justice, and that man also can discover what for he has come into life. However, the right-minded do good of their own accord without waiting for this discovery, and the evil-minded disregard propriety and defy justice, although they see quite clearly in the matter. It is impossible that justice should win them to the good cause. Thus the covetous can speak very well on disinterestedness, and the rebels on good government, robber Chê Cf. p. 139. condems theft and Chuang Chiao Another outlaw. stigmatises lawlessness. They have a clear conception of themselves, and know how to talk on virtue, but owing to their vicious character they do not practise what they say, and the good cause derives no benefit from it. Therefore Lu Chia's opinion cannot be considered the right one.

Tung Chung Shu An author of the 2nd cent. b.c. who wrote the "Dew of the Spring and Autumn" which is still extant. having read Mencius and Sun Ching's writings, composed himself an essay on natural feelings and natural disposition, in which he says:---Heaven's great principles are on one side the Yin, on the other the Yang. The great principles in man are on one side the natural feelings, on the other natural disposition. The disposition comes out of the Yang, the feelings out of the Yin. The Yin fluid is base, the Yang fluid humane. Who believes in the goodness of nature sees the Yang, who speaks of its wickedness the Yin. That is, Tung Chung Shu means to say that Mencius saw only the Yang, and Sun Ching the Yin.

The opinions of the two philosophers may well thus be distinguished, but as regards human nature, such a distinction does not hold good. Goodness and badness are not divided in this way. Natural feelings and natural disposition are simultaneously produced by the Yin and the Yang combined, either more or less copiously. Precious stones growing in rocks are partly of a single colour, partly multicoloured, how can natural feelings or natural disposition growing in the Yin and Yang be either exclusively good? What Tung Chung Shu says is not correct.

Liu Tse Chêng teaches that the natural disposition is formed at birth, that it is inherent to the body and does not come out, that on the other hand natural feelings arise from the contact with the world, and manifest themselves outwardly. That which manifests itself outwardly, he calls Yang, that which does not appear, he calls Yin Thus Liu Tse Chêng submits that the natural disposition is inherent to the body, but does not come out, whereas the natural feelings unite with external things, and appear outwardly. Therefore he designates them as Yang. The natural disposition he designates as Yin, because it does not appear, and has no communication with the outer world. Liu Tse Chêng's identification of natural feelings with Yang and disposition with Yin leaves the origin of these qualities quite out of the question, insomuch as the Yin and the Yang are determined in an off-hand way by outward manifestation and non-appearance. If the Yang really depends on outward manifestation, then it may be said that natural disposition also comes into contact with external things. "In moments of haste, he cleaves to it, and in seasons of danger he cleaves to it." A quotation from Analects IV, 5, where we read that the superior man always cleaves to benevolence. The compassionate cannot endure the sight of suffering. This non-endurance is au effluence of benevolence. Humility and modesty are manifestations of natural disposition. These qualities have all their external objects. As compassion and modesty manifest themselves outwardly, I am afraid that the assertion that natural disposition is something inside without any connection with external things, cannot be right. By taking into consideration merely outwardness and inwardness, Yin and Yang, without reference to the goodness and badness of nature, the truth cannot be known. As Liu Tse Chêng has it, natural disposition would be Yin, and natural feelings Yang, but have men not good as well as bad passions?

From Mencius down to Liu Tse Chêng the profoundest scholars and greatest thinkers have propounded a great many different views without, however, solving the problem of original nature in a satisfactory way. The arguments of the philosophers Shih Tse, Kung Sun Ni Tse, and others of the same class Who maintain that human nature is partly good and partly bad. alone contain much truth. We may say that it is easy to understand the subject, but the difficulty is to explain the principle. Style and diction may be ever so brilliant and flowery, The text has which looks like a name:---the Record of Fêng Wên Mao. The fact, however, that a philosopher of the name of Fêng Wên Mao is unknown, and the symmetry of the context leads me to the conclusion that instead of we should read and translate, as I have done. and the conceptions and arguments as sweet as honey, all that is no proof of their truth.

As a matter of fact, human natural disposition is sometimes good, and sometimes bad, just as human faculties can be of a high or of a low order. High ones cannot be low, nor low ones high. To say that human nature is neither good nor bad would be the same as to maintain that human faculties are neither high nor low. The original disposition which Heaven gives to men, and the destiny which it sends down, are essentially alike. By destiny men are honoured or despised, by nature good or bad. If one disputes the existence of goodness and badness in human nature, he might as well call in question that destiny makes men great or miserable.

The nature of the soil of the Nine Provinces In prehistoric times China was divided into nine provinces, hence the term the Nine Provinces has become a synonym of China. is different in regard to goodness and badness. It is yellow, red, or black, of superior, average, or inferior quality. The water courses are not all alike. They are limpid or muddy, and run east, west, north or southward. Man is endowed with the nature of Heaven and Earth, and imbued with the spirit of the Five Qualities. Cf. p. 381 Note 2. He may be benevolent or just, it is the wonderful proficiency of his nature. In his locomotion and movements he may be majestic or agile, it is his extraordinary natural ability. But his colour, whether white or black and his stature, whether long or short, remain unchanged until old age and final death. Such is heavenly nature. The last sentences are repeated from p. 386.

I am decidedly of opinion that what Mencius says on the goodness of human nature, refers to people above the average, that what Sun Ching says on its badness, refers to people under the average, and that, if Yang Hsiung teaches that in human nature goodness and badness are mixed together, he means average people. Bringing people back to the unchanging standard and leading them into the right way, one may teach them. But this teaching alone does not exhaust human nature.