Sacred Books of the East Vol. 40 - Taoism Vol. 2

{fn. 1. It is an abstruse point why only the Yang is mentioned here, and described as ‘strong.'} {fn. 2. It is not easy to see the pertinence of this illustration.} {fn. 3. Hû Wän-ying says, 'With this one word our author sweeps away the teaching of Purgatorial Sufferings.'} {p. 64} broad; the sun and moon would not move, and nothing would flourish:--such is the operation of the Tâo. 'Moreover, the most extensive knowledge does not necessarily know it; reasoning will not make men wise in it;--the sages have decided against both these methods. However you try to add to it, it admits of no increase; however you try to take from it, it admits of no diminution;--this is what the sages maintain about it. How deep it is, like the sea! How grand it is, beginning again when it has come to an end! If it carried along and sustained all things, without being overburdened or weary, that would be like the way of the superior man, merely an external operation; when all things go to it, and find their dependence in it;--this is the true character of the Tâo. 'Here is a man (born) in one of the middle states{fr. 1}. He feels himself independent both of the Yin and Yang{fr. 2}, and dwells between heaven and earth; only for the present a mere man, but he will return to his original source. Looking at him in his origin, when his life begins, we have (but) a gelatinous substance in which the breath is collecting. Whether his life be long or his death early, how short is the space between them! It is but the name for a moment of time, insufficient to play the part of a good Yâo or a bad Kieh in.