CHUANG TZU. We know very little about Chuang Tzu. According to the Shih chi, his given name was Chou and he was a contemporary of King Hui (369-319 BC) of Wei and King Hsiian of Ch’i. It is also said that his thought was derived from that of Lao Tzu. The Chuang tzu is certainly a very mixed collection. Some of the earliest chapters probably represent the thought of Chuang Tzu while the later chapters probably belong to the Ch’in or even the early Han period. Although Chuang Tzu is always mentioned with Lao Tzu as the other great Taoist thinker, the thought in the more representative parts of the Chuang tzu differs considerably from that of the Lao tzu. Two points in the thought of the Chuang tzu are particularly interest- ing. Firstly, judgements about right and wrong are said to be always made from a point of view, so that not only are different judgements made concerning the same things from different points of view but also it is impossible to decide on the relative merits of these different standpoints. As a solution, the Chuang tzu suggests a higher point of view which is impartial in its attitude towards all the possible points of view. These are treated as equally valid or, if you like, equally invalid. It follows that life is desirable and death undesirable only from the point of view of the living. How then does one know that the reverse is not the case from the point of view of the dead? The result is the position that there is no reason to prefer one view to another. Secondly, the Chuang tzu shows great interest in the problem of whether there is something which is in effective control over mental activities such as sense-perception. This ‘mind’ or ‘soul’ which is the elusive sovereign of the body seems to be thought of as a counterpart to the ‘tao’ which is the equally elusive sovereign of the universe.
HAN FEI TZU. Han Fei Tzu was a member of the royal house of the state of Han. He was said to have studied under Hsün Tzu at the same time as Li Ssu who subsequently became the prime minister of Ch’in. When Han was on the verge of collapse in face of the attack by Ch’in, Han Fei was sent as envoy to Ch’in. Though the King of Ch’in was pleased with him, he was said to have died as a result of the machinations of Li Ssu, who was jealous of his superior talent. In his thought Han Fei combined the teachings of a number of schools to form the system known as Legalist thought. It combined ‘the methods of dealing with the subjects’ advocated by Shen Pu-hai, ‘the rule of law’ advo- cated by Lord Shang and ‘the exploitation of the vantage position of the ruler’ advocated by Shen Tao. Some Taoist ideas are also given a Legalist interpretation.
HAN SHU. Pan Piao began the Han shu but died before he could complete it. His son Pan Ku carried on and all but finished the work. It covered the history of the Western Han Dynasty to Wang Mang. The bibliographical chapter of the Han shu is of the greatest interest and importance to students of ancient Chinese literature. Most of the ancient works came down to posterity through the recension of Liu Hsiang who was entrusted with the task of editing the books in the Imperial library. His son Liu Hsin (d. AD 23) made a catalogue of these books under the title of the Ch’i lüeh (The Seven Summaries). This is no longer extant, but fortunately we have the Han shu bibliographical chapter which was based on the Ch’i lüeh, and it is to this chapter that we owe most of our information about the books in the ancient period.
HSÜN TZU. After Mencius, the most important name in the Confucian school. From the Hsun tzu we can see that the most important points in his teaching are these. Human nature is evil. This means that if men were to follow the dictates of their nature, the result can only be conflict and disorder. As a solution to this problem the sage-kings invented morality. Since morality has no basis in his nature, the only way of making man moral is by sheer habituation. Hsün Tzu draws a clear distinction between what pertains to heaven and what pertains to man. Under the influence of the Taoists, heaven in the Hsün tzu became no more than Nature in its regularity, which is no longer looked upon as having a moral purpose. The greatest contribution of Hsün Tzu lies in his realization that if heaven is nothing but the regular workings of Nature man should no longer model his way of life on Nature but should work out his own salvation. Hence the importance of the clear understanding of the difference between ‘heaven’ and ‘man’.
HUAI NAN TZU. Liu An, a grandson of the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, was made Prince of Huai Nan in 164 BC, ten years after his father, who held the same title, starved himself to death on being banished by Emperor Wen for his part in an unsuccessful rebellion. Liu An, following in the footsteps of his father, cast covetous eyes on the Imperial throne and when his plot came to light committed suicide (in 122 BC) rather than face the death sentence. The Huai nan tzu was compiled by scholars he gathered around him at his court. Its value and that of the Lit shih ch’un ch’iu before it cannot be put too high. When most ancient Chinese works are of uncertain date, these two stand out as landmarks of certainty. Moreover, the views of earlier thinkers whose works are no longer extant are often incorporated in these two works. In this respect, the Huai nan tzu is even more important than its predecessor, which it surpasses in philosophical interest. This rich mine of information has, however, scarcely been tapped.
KUAN TZU. A work attributed to Kuan Chung, the most illustrious statesman in the Spring and Autumn period through whose efforts Duke Huan of Ch’i (685-643 BC) became the acknowledged leader of the feudal lords, but in fact a collection of heterogeneous materials which vary widely in nature as well as in date.
LI EH TZU. Lieh Tzu is a rather nebulous figure, and the present work named after him is a late compilation, though the compiler made use of a great deal of material which was genu- inely early. The argument from the existence of Lieh Tzu who is himself problematical to that of Lao Tzu is of no value at all.
LÜ SHIH CH’UN CH’IU. A work compiled by the scholars in the service of Lii Pu-wei, the prime minister of Ch’in from 249 to 237 BC, with a postface dated 240 BC. It was meant to be a compendium of all knowledge that mattered and is therefore a useful source for the views of schools of thought whose represent- ative works are no longer extant.
MENCIUS. The most illustrious thinker in the Confucian school. Like Confucius, he spent many years travelling in differ- ent states trying to persuade rulers to follow his philosophy but met with little success. He is best known for his theory that human nature is good. This means that man is born with the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, naturally ap- proves of the former and disapproves of the latter, and feels ashamed when he fails to do what is his duty. This aimed, on the one hand, at countering the theory current in his day that human nature consists merely of appetites and, on the other, at re- interpreting the traditional view subscribed to by the Confucians that morality was decreed by heaven. Mencius successfully broke down the rigid distinction and opposition between human nature and heavenly decree. Morality is as much part of human nature as appetites, and appetites are as much part of heavenly decree as morality. Another of the views of Mencius is worth noting. The function of the ruler is the furtherance of the good of the people. If a ruler tyrannizes over the people he is no longer a ruler but just ‘a fellow’ and the people have the right to revolution.
MO TZU. We know very little about Mo Tzu. From the Shih chi we learn only that his given name was Ti and his surname was Mo, that he was an officer of the state of Sung and was, according to one view, contemporary with, but according to another later than, Confucius. The most basic tenet of his teach- ings is ‘love without discrimination’ which is the ‘will of heaven’. He was an extreme utilitarian. Everything that is of no obvious utility to the people is to be given up. This includes war, elaborate burial, prolonged mourning, and the performance of music. He was a considerable mechanic and was able to devise tools of defensive warfare. One extremely interesting part of the Mo tzu is the six chapters devoted to the discussion of topics of a scientific and logical nature. These probably belonged to a later period but there is no doubt that they were the work of the Mohist school. Unfortunately, the text, through centuries of neglect, is exceedingly corrupt.
THE PASS. In the story of the westward journey of Lao Tzu the Pass he was supposed to have gone through has been variously identified as the Han Ku Pass and the San Pass, but it is most probably the former which is to the south of Ling Pao Hsien in the modern province of Honan.
SHIH CHI. Ssu-ma Ch’ien succeeded his father as official Historian in 108 BC at the age of thirty-eight, and devoted himself to the preparation of material for the writing of a general history of China, as this was the unrealized ambition of his father. This resulted in the Shih chi which he finished about 90 BC after he had suffered the most humiliating punishment at the hands of Emperor Wu in 98 BC. This work has exercised tremendous influence on subse- quent historiography. It set the pattern for all the later so-called ‘official histories’. The Shih chi consists mainly of biographies, though it contains a number of tables and there are chapters on various general topics like ‘rites’, ‘the calendar’, ‘astronomy’, ‘irrigation’, and ‘public finance’. He drew on a large number of works, archives of his own office and oral tradition which he diligently collected in his travels. In cases where he was able to judge he chose what he believed to be reliable. But he did not reject what was no more than doubtful where he had no grounds for choice. This would account for the inclusion .of so much legend in the biography of Lao Tzu.
SUNG K’ENG. The only thing we know for certain about Sung K’eng’s views is to be found in the Hstin tzu. He is there represented as saying that man does not by nature desire a great deal. As strife is the result of covetousness, if only men could be brought to realize that they do not in fact desire a great deal, there would be no strife. He also believes that there is no disgrace in being insulted. People fight because they feel disgraced, and if they could realize that there is no disgrace in being insulted, they would not be inclined to fight. These views seem rather paradox- ical, but these might not have been presented in their best light by the Hsün tzu which is critical of them. At any rate, they do show that there is some affinity between the views of Sung K’eng and the austere and pacifist views held by the Mohists.
TAOISM. The English term ‘Taoism’ is ambiguous. It is used to translate both the Chinese term ‘tao chia (the school of the tao)’ and ‘tao chiao (the Taoist religion)’. In the present work, Taoism is used only in the former sense, though the more popular schools of Taoist thought in the early Han probably had considerable affinity with the views of the later devotees of the Taoist religion which came into being towards the end of the Eastern Han.
TE. Apart from the special Taoist use of the word (see p. xxxvii), the word has a number of conventional meanings. Firstly, it means ‘moral virtue’ secondly, it means ‘bounty’; thirdly, it means ‘to be grateful’ or ‘to be conscious that others ought to be grateful to oneself.
T’IEN. This term means both ‘heaven’ and the ‘skies’. Because of this, there is a tendency in Chinese thought not to distinguish the two.
WANG PI (AD 226-49). A brilliant thinker who, in spite of the fact that he died at the early age of twenty-three, has exercised tremendous influence on subsequent thought. He has left a commentary on the Book of Changes and one on the Lao tzu. In the former he gave a philosophical, rather than numerological, interpretation, and this commentary of his was accepted into the corpus of ‘official commentaries’ on the Confucian classics in T’ang times. His commentary on the Lao tzu is equally important because it is the earliest extant philosophical commentary on the work. He is also responsible for the tendency to find an affinity between the two works.
YIN, YANG. It is probable that the two terms originally meant ‘sunless’ and ‘sunny’. For instance, the southern side of a mountain is yang and the northern side yin, while the southern side of a river is yin and the northern side yang. Then they came to mean ‘female’ and ‘male’. Finally, they became general terms for the fundamental and opposite forces or principles of nature. In the commentaries on the Book of Changes, yang was used to describe the continuous, and yin the broken, line in a hexagram. The fact that yin and yang became important philosophical terms is not unconnected with the fact that at the same time the Book of Changes was transformed from a manual for divination to a work of profound philosophical significance.
NOTES
I
1. Read
II
1. Read .
2. Take as a loan for . See Kao Heng, Lao tzu cheng ku, pp. 7-8.
IV
1. Emend to .
2. For this interpretation of the line, cf. the line ‘‘ in the poem Tseng Feng Wen-p’i ch’ien Ch’ih-ch’iu ling by Lu Chi (see the Wen hsiian, chiian 24). It is obvious that Lu Chi treats the two phrases as synonymous.
V
1. Read as . I owe this suggestion to Professor Hsu Fu- kuan.
VIII
1. It is probable that this line is an interpolation. Of the seven lines in this section, this is the only one that fails to rhyme. If this line is removed, the remaining lines fall neatly into two sets of three rhyming lines.
IX
1. For a detailed discussion of the vessel, see my article ‘On the term “ch’ih ying” and the story concerning the so-called “tilting vessel”‘, Symposium on Chinese Studies commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the University of Hong Kong 1911-1961, Vol. III, 1968, Hong Kong.
X
1. Read .
2. Read.
3. Read
4. Read
XV
1. Read
2. Read .
3. Read
4. Read
XVI
1. The passage beginning with ‘to kingliness’ seems to be an interpolation as it has no rhymes.
XVII
1. Read as - For this meaning of y«, see the line ‘Hesitant, as if in fear of his neighbours’ (section 35).
XVIII
1. Take , as synonymous with . Kao is most probably right in thinking that the text should read , as this line should rhyme with the last line in the chapter (op cit., pp. 42-3).
XIX
1. See the first sentence of the previous note.
2. Read
XX
1. Read as .
XXI
1. Transpose and for the sake of the rhyme.
2. Read
XXIII
1. Omit
XXIV
1. Read .
XXVI
1. Read .
2. Read .
3. Read
XXX
1. Read
2. Emend to .
XXXI
1. Emend to
XXXVIII
1. Read in both cases.
XXXIX
1. Insert -
2. Read .
3. Omit , and read
XLI
1. Emend to .
2. Read .
XLIII
1. It is probable that the text should read instead of , in which case the translation should read ‘the deed that consists in no action’. Cf. section 6.
XLVI
1. Insert , following the reading in the Han shih wai chuan.
2. Omit ; .
XLVII
1. Although it makes no difference to the sense, the reading should probably be because of the rhyme.
2. There seems to be a line missing with which this line rhymes.
XLIX
1. Insert
L
1. Read
LI
1. Omit .
LII
1. Read .
2. Read ‘ (following one’s discernment)’ in section 61a.
LV
1. Read .
2. Judging from the internal rhyme, (the union of)’ must have been a gloss which crept into the text.
3. Read, or, alternately, take as a corruption of as suggested by Yü Yüeh.
LIX
1. This, in line with the next line, should read (the possession of the mother of the state)’ as well.
LXI
1. Read instead of .
> 2. Transfer to after . Although this does not make any substantial difference to the sense, it restores the rhyme with the next line. This is borne out by the wording of the Ho Shang commentary.
LXII
1. Read .
LXIV
1. There seems to be a line missing with which this line rhymes.
LXV
1. Omit .
LXVIII
1. Omit .
LXIX
1. In view of the rhyme, this line should probably come immediately after ‘This is known as’ as suggested by Kao (op. cit., p.139).
LXXV
1. Omit and read for
LXXVI
1. Omit .
2. These two lines are quoted in the Huang ti chapter of the Lieh tzu and the Yuan tao chapter of the Huai nan tzu as
A weapon when strong is destroyed;
A tree when strong is felled.
But in view of the rhyme between there is no reason to suppose that the Lao tzu text should be emended according to the other two works.
LXXVIII
1. Read .
* For Chinese terms, proper names, and titles of books, see Glossary.
* For a detailed discussion of the Lao tzu and its author see Appendices 1 and 2.
* Thc sage in the Taoist sense is to be distinguished from the sage in the conventional sense whose extermination is said to benefit the people a hundredfold (XIX, 43).
* ‘The Dialogue between Yang Chu and Chyntzyy’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. XXII (1959), pp. 291-9.
* See my article, ‘The Treatment of Opposites in Lao Tzu’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. XXI (1958), pp. 344-60.
* In translating from the Chinese it is often impossible to avoid using the pronouns ‘it’ and ‘they’ and their derivatives without any clear reference, whether these are expressed in the Chinese or only implied. In the present work ‘it’ used in this way sometimes refers to ‘the way’ and ‘they’ to ‘the myriad creatures’.