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p. vii

CONTENTS.

 

PAGE

PREFACE

xi

INTRODUCTION.

 

CHAP.

 

I. WAS TAOISM OLDER THAN LAO-DZE?

1

Three Religions in China. Peculiarity of the Tâo Teh King.

 

II. THE TEXTS OF THE TÂO TEH KING AND KWANG-DZE SHÛ, AS REGARDS THEIR AUTHENTICITY AND GENUINENESS, AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF THEM

4

i. The Tâo Teh King. The evidence of Sze-mâ Khien, the historian; of Lieh-dze, Han Fei-dze, and other Tâoist writers; and of Pan Kû. The Catalogue of the Imperial Library of Han; and that of the Sui dynasty. The Commentaries of 'the old man of the Ho-side,' and of Wang Pî. Division into Parts and Chapters, and number of Characters in the Text.

 

ii. The Writings of Kwang-dze. Importance to Tâoism of those Writings. The division of the Books into three Parts. Their general Title and its meaning.

 

III. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE NAME TAO? AND THE CHIEF POINTS OF BELIEF IN TAOISM

12

Meaning of the name. Usage of the term Thien. Peculiar usage of it by Kwang-dze. Mr. Giles's view that the name 'God' is the equivalent of Thien. Relation of the Tâo to the name Tî. No idea of Creation-proper in Tâoism. Man is composed of body and spirit. That the cultivation of the Tâo promotes longevity. Startling results of the Tâo; and how It proceeds by contraries. The paradisiacal state. The decay of Tâoism before the growth of knowledge. The moral and practical teachings of Lâo-dze. Humility; his three jewels; that good is to be returned for evil.

 

IV. ACCOUNTS OF LAO-DZE AND KWANG-DZE GIVEN BY SZE-MÂ KHIEN

33

V. ON THE TRACTATE OF ACTIONS AND THEIR RETRIBUTIONS

38

Peculiar style and nature of the Treatise. Its date. Meaning of the Title. Was the old Tâoism a Religion? The Kang family. Influence of Buddhism on Tâoism.

 

p. viii

THE TÂO TEH KING.

 

 

PAGE

PART I (Chapters i to xxxvii)

45 to 79

Ch. 1. Embodying the Tâo, p. 47.
2. The Nourishment of the Person, pp. 47, 48.
3. Keeping the People at Rest, p. 49.
4. The Fountainless, pp. 49, 50.
5. The Use of Emptiness, p. 50.
6. The Completion of Material Forms, p. 51.
7. Sheathing the Light, p. 52.
8. The Placid and Contented Nature, pp. 52, 53.
9. Fulness and Complacency contrary to the Tâo, p. 53.
10. Possibilities through the Tâo, pp. 53, 54.
11. The Use of what has no Substantive Existence, pp. 54, 55.
12. The Repression of the Desires, p. 55.
13. Loathing Shame, p. 56.
14. The Manifestation of the Mystery, p. 57.
15. The Exhibition of the Qualities of the Tâo, pp. 58, 59.
16. Returning to the Root, pp. 59, 60.
17. The Unadulterated Influence, pp. 60, 61.
18. The Decay of Manners, p. 61.
19. Returning to the Unadulterated Influence, p. 62.
20. Being Different from Ordinary Men, pp. 62, 63.
21. The Empty Heart, or the Tâo in its Operation, p. 64.
22. The Increase granted to Humility, p. 65.
23. Absolute Vacancy, pp. 65, 66.
24. Painful Graciousness, p. 67.
25. Representations of the Mystery, pp. 67, 68.
26. The Quality of Gravity, p. 69.
27. Dexterity in Using the Tâo, p. 70.
28. Returning to Simplicity, p. 71.
29. Taking no Action, pp. 71, 72.
30. A Caveat against War, pp. 72, 73.
31. Stilling War, pp. 73, 74.
32. The Tâo with no Name, pp. 74, 75.
33. Discriminating between Attributes, p. 75.
34. The Task of Achievement, pp. 76) 77.
35. The Attribute of Benevolence, p. 77.
36. Minimising the Light, p. 78.
37. The Exercise of Government, p. 79.

 

PART II (Chapters xxxviii to lxxxi)

80 to 124

Ch. 38. About the Attributes of the Tâo, pp. 80, 81.
39. The Origin of the Law, pp. 82, 83.
40. Dispensing with the Use (of Means), pp. 839 84.
41. Sameness and Difference, pp. 84, 85.
42. The Transformations of the Tâo, p. 85.
43. The Universal Use (of the Action in Weakness of the Tâo), p. 87.
44. Cautions, pp. 87, 88.
45. Great or Overflowing Virtue, p. 88.
46. The Moderating of Desire or Ambition, pp. 88, 89.
47. Surveying what is Far-off, p. 89.
48. Forgetting Knowledge, p. go.
49. The Quality of Indulgence, p. 91.
50. The Value set on Life, pp. 92, 93.
51. The Operation (of the Tâo) in Nourishing Things, pp. 93, 94.
52. Returning to the Source, pp. 94, 95.
53. Increase of Evidence, pp. 961 97.
54. The Cultivation (of the Tâo), and the Observation (of its Effects), pp. 97,
98. 55. The Mysterious Charm, p. 99.
56. The Mysterious Excellence, p. 100.

 

p. ix

57. The Genuine Influence, pp. 100, 101.
58. Transformation according to Circumstances, pp. 101, 102.
59. Guarding the Tâo, pp. 102, 103.
60. Occupying the Throne, pp. 103, 104.
61. The Attribute of Humility, pp. 104, 105.
62. Practising the Tâo, pp. 105, 106.
63. Thinking in the Beginning, pp. 106, 107.
64. Guarding the Minute, pp. 107, 108.
65. Pure, unmixed Excellence, pp. 108, 109.
66. Putting One's Self Last, p. 109.
67. Three Precious Things, p. 110.
68. Matching Heaven, pp. 111, 112.
69. The Use of the Mysterious (Tâo), p. 112.
70. The Difficulty of being (rightly) Known, pp. 112, 113.
71. The Disease of Knowing, p. 113.
72. Loving One's Self, p. 114.
73. Allowing Men to take their Course, p. 116.
74. Restraining Delusion, p. 117.
75. How Greediness Injures, pp. 117, 118.
76. A Warning against (Trusting in) Strength, pp. 118, 119.
77. The Way of Heaven, p. 119.
78. Things to be Believed, p. 120.
79. Adherence to Bond or Covenant, p. 121.
80. Standing Alone, p. 122
81. The Manifestation of Simplicity, p. 123.

 

THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-DZE.

 

 

INTRODUCTION.

 

 

 

 

 

BRIEF NOTICES OF THE DIFFERENT BOOKS

 

 

PART I.

 

BOOK

 

 

I. i.

Hsiâo-yâo Yû, or Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease

164

II. ii.

Khî Wû Lun, or the Adjustment of Controversies

176

III. iii.

Yang Shang Kû, or Nourishing the Lord of Life.

198

IV. iv.

Zän Kien Shih, or Man in the World, Associated with other Men.

203

V. v.

Teh Khung Fû, or the Seal of Virtue Complete

223

VI. vi.

Tâ Zung Shih, or the Great and Most Honoured Master

236

VII. vii.

Ying Tî Wang, or the Normal Course for Rulers and Kings

259

 

PART II.

 

VIII. i.

Phien Mâu, or Webbed Toes

268

IX. ii.

Mâ Thî, or Horses's Hoofs

276

X. iii.

Khü Khieh, or Cutting Open Satchels

281

XI. iv.

Zâi Yû, or Letting Be, and Exercising Forbearance

291

p. x

BOOK

 

PAGE

XII. V.

Thien Tî, or Heaven and Earth

307

XIII. vi.

Thien Tâo, or the Way of Heaven

330

XIV. vii.

Thien Yün, or the Revolution of Heaven

345

XV. viii.

Kho Î, or Ingrained Ideas

363

XVI. ix.

Shan Hsing, or Correcting the Nature

368

XVII. X.

Khiû Shui, or the Floods of Autumn

374

 

 

 

 

Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East

393

 

CORRIGENDUM ET ADDENDUM

On page 58, for the third and fourth sentences of the explanatory note to Chapter XIV, substitute the following:--It was but an interesting fancy of the ingenious writer, and the elaborate endeavour of Victor von Strauss to support it in 1870 has failed to make me think more favourably of it.

Dr. Edkins, in an article in the China Review for July and August, 1884, takes a different view of the chapter. He reads the monosyllables Î, Hî, and Wei according to his view of the old names of the Chinese characters, and calls them Âi, Kâi, and Mâi, considering them to be representative of one or three names of God. He says:--'I am inclined to find here marks of the presence of Babylonian thought . . . . We have not the original words for the first trinity of the Babylonian religion. They are in the Assyrian or Semitic form Anu, Bel, Nuah. In Accadian they were Ilu, Enu, Hia. Of these Ilu was the supreme God, source of Chaos, in Chinese Hwun tun or Hwun lun. In this chaos all forms were confounded as is the case with the Tâoist chaos. Bel or Enu is the word which separates the elements of chaos. Nuah or Hia is the light of God which penetrates the universe, and maintains the order established by the word. It was this Trinity of God, in the language of some intermediate nation, which Lâo-tsze appears to have had in view in the various passages where he speaks of the original principle of the universe in a triple form.'

This reading of our chapter is not more satisfactory to me than that of Rémusat; and I am content, in my interpretation of it, to abide by the aids of Chinese dictionaries and commentators of reputation who have made it their study.


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