Synopses & Reviews
WISDOM OF THE EAST MUSINGS OF A CHINESE MYSTIC SELECTIONS FROM THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHUANG TZU WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY LIONEL GILES, M. A. OxoN. ASSISTANT AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1906 CONTENTS NOTE . . . -. . . . -. 7 INTRODUCTION 11 THE DOCTEINE OF RELATIVITY ... 37 THE IDENTITY OF CONTRARIES .... 42 ILLUSIONS 48 THE MYSTERIOUS IMMANENCE OF TAO, . .51 THE HIDDEN SPRING 60 NON-INTERFERENCE WITH NATURE ... 66 PASSIVE VIRTUE 69 SELF-ADAPTATION TO EXTERNALS .... 77 IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL 82 THE SAGE, OR PERFECT MAN .... 86 RANDOM GLEANINGS 93 PERSONAL ANECDOTES . . . . ., 109 5 NOTE rip HE extracts in tMs volume are drawn, with one or two very slight modifications, from the translation by Professor H. A, Giles Quaritch, 1889, EDITORIAL NOTE object of the editors of this series is a JL very definite one. They desire above all things that, in their humble way, these books shall be the ambassadors of good-will and understanding between East and West, the old world of Thought, and the new of Action. In this endeavour, and in their own sphere, they are but followers of the highest example in the land. They are confident that a deeper know ledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy of Oriental thought may help to a revival of that true spirit of Charity which neither despises nor fears the nations of another creed and colour. Finally, in thanking press and public for the very cordial reception given to the Wisdom of the East series, they wish to state that no pains have been spared to secure the best specialists for the treatment of the various subjects at hand, L. CRANMER-BYNa S. A, KAPADIA ix 4, HAEOOTTBT BUILDINGS, INNER TEMPLE, LONDON. IUWGS OE A CHHESEIT8TIO INTRODUCTION A LTHOUGH Chinese history can show no ---authentic contemporary record prior to the Chou dynasty, some eleven hundred years before Christ, there is no doubt that a high pitch of civili sation was attained at a much earlier period. Thus Lao Tzu was in no sense the first humanising instructor of a semi-barbaric race. On the con trary, his was a reactionary influence, for the cry he raised was directed against the multiplication of laws and restrictions, the growth of luxury, and the other evils which attend rapid material progress. That his lifetime should have coin cided with a remarkable extension of the very principles he combated with such energy is one of the ironies of fate. Before he was in Ms grave another great man had arisen who laid unex ampled stress on the minute regulation of cere 12 MUSINGS OF A CHINESE MYSTIC monies and ritual, and succeeded in investing the rules of outward conduct with an importance they had never hitherto possessed. If Lao Tzu then had revolted against the growing artificiality of life in his day, a return to nature must have seemed doubly imperative to his disciple Chuang Tzu, who flourished more than a couple of centuries later, when the bugbear of civilisation had steadily advanced. With chagrin he saw that Lao Tzus teaching had never obtained any firm hold on the masses, still less on the rulers of China, whereas the star of Confucius was unmistakably in the ascendant. Within his own recollection the propagation of Confucian ethics had received a powerful impetus from Mencius, the second of Chinas orthodox sages. Now Chuang Tzu was imbued to the core with the principles of pure Taoism, as handed down by Lao Tzu. He might morefitly be dubbed the Tao-saturated man than Spinoza the God intoxicated. Tao in its various phases pervaded his inmost being and was reflected in all his thought. He was therefore eminently qualified to revive his Masters ringing protest against the materialistic tendencies of the time. Chuang Tzus worldly position was not high. We learn from Ssu-ma Chlen that he held a petty official post in a small provincial town. But his literary and philosophical talent must soon have brought him into repute, for we find him