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

The name of the Treatise, when given at full length, is--'The True Classic of the Pivot of Jade, delivered by the Heaven-Honoured One, Who produces Universal Transformation by the Sound of His Thunder.' To this personage, as Wylie observes, the Tâoists attribute a fabulous antiquity, but there is little doubt that the author was a Hsüan-yang Dze, about the time of the Yüan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1367). From the work of Wang Khî (ch. 243), we learn that this Hsüan-yang Dze was the denomination of Au-yang Yü-yüen, a scion of the famous Âu-yang family. What he says is to the following effect:-- _____________________ 1. The Heaven-honoured One says, 'All you, Heaven-endowed men, who wish to be instructed {p. 266} about the Perfect Tâo, the Perfect Tâo is very recondite, and by nothing else but Itself can it be described. Since ye wish to hear about it, ye cannot do so by the hearing of the ear:--that which eludes both the ears and eyes is the True Tâo; what can be heard and seen perishes, and only this survives. There is (much) that you have not yet learned, and especially you have not acquired this! Till you have learned what the ears do not hear, how can the Tâo be spoken about at all?'{fr. 1_1} {fn. 1_1. 'Heaven-honoured (Thien Zun)' is a title given by the Tâoists to the highest objects of their reverence and worship. Chalmers translates it by 'Celestial Excellency,' and observes that it is given to 'all the Three Pure Ones;' but its application is much more extensive, as its use in this Treatise sufficiently proves. No doubt it was first adopted after the example of the Buddhists, by whom Buddha is styled 'World-honoured,' or 'Ever-honoured' (Shih Zun).