Taoist Texts

851 pages

A CHAPTER FROM THE HUNG LIEH CHUAN, BY HUAI-NAN TSZE, PRINCE OF KUANG LING. (History of Great Light)
NOW TAO is that which covers Heaven and supports Earth; it is co-extensive with the four quarters, and spreads to the eight points; its…
A Chinese Home Mission Publishing Company
There are Bible societies in Europe and America, the contributors to which deem it meritorious to publish and propagate the canonical books…
A Description of Evil-Doers
Yet[28] there are some people whose behavior is unrighteous. (317-322) Their deportment is irrational.[29] (323-326) In evil they…
A Ruffian's Reform
Wu Chien-Chiu of Shan-Yu had wonderful muscular strength, and nobody in his town could beat him at boxing or fencing. He became so…
A Simile
Those who seize property, are, to use an illustration, like those who relieve their hunger by eating tainted meat,[63] or quench their…
A Visit to Hell
Ch'üan Ju-Yü of Pu-Hai was a poor man, but he was never tired of doing every good and charitable work in his power. He also employed…
BEGINNING AND REALITY
| Unheard the dews around me fall, And heavenly influence shed: And silent on this earthly ball Celestial footsteps tread. | | Night moves…
Blessings of the Good
Those who are thus, are good: people honor them; Heaven's Reason[24] gives them grace[25]; blessings and abundance follow them; all ill…
Book I: Cosmogony
Our Master Lieh Tzu dwelt on a vegetable plot in the Chêng State for forty years, and no man knew him for what he was. The Prince, his…
Book II: The Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor sat for fifteen years on the throne, and rejoiced that the Empire looked up to him as its head. He was careful of his…
Book III: Dreams
In the time of King Mu of Chou, there was a magician who came from a kingdom in the far west. He could pass through fire and water…
Book IV: Confucius
This is a translation of excerpts from the *Lieh Tzu* (Liezi), an ancient Chinese Taoist philosophical text, presented here with scholarly…
Book V: The Questions of Pang
T'ang of Yin questioned Hsia Ko, saying: 'In the beginnings of antiquity, did individual things exist?' 'He suspected that there was only…
Book VI: Effort and Destiny
Effort said to Destiny: I have purposely avoided the familiar modern terms, Fate and Free will, which might seem to furnish the best…
Book VII: Causality
In the course of Lieh Tzu's instruction by Hu-ch'iu Tzu-lin, the latter said to him: 'You must familiarize yourself with the theory of…
CHAPTER I THE VANITY OF FAME
YANG CHU, when travelling in Lu, put up at Meng Sun Yang's. Meng asked him: "A man can never be more than a man; why do people still…
CHAPTER II REAL AND FALSE GREATNESS
YANG CHU said: "Kuan Ching filled his post as a minister of Ch’i in the following way. When his sovereign was wanton he was wanton too…
CHAPTER III THE BREVITY OF CONSCIOUS LIFE
YANG CHU said: "One hundred years is the limit of a long life. p. 39 Not one in a thousand ever attains to it.
CHAPTER IV DEATH THE EQUALISER
YANG CHU said: "That in which all beings differ is life, that in which they are all alike is death. "During life there is the difference of…
CHAPTER IX THE HAPPY VOLUPTUARIES
TSE-CHAN was Minister in Cheng, and governed for three years, and governed well.1 The good people complied with his injunctions, and the…
CHAPTER V FALSE VIRTUES
YANG CHU said: "Po Yi was not without desire, for being too proud of his purity of mind, he was led to death by starvation. "Chan-Chi2 was…
CHAPTER VI THE IDEAL LIFE
YANG CHU said: "Yuan Hsie lived in mean circumstances in Lu, while Tse Kung1 amassed wealth in Wei. "Poverty galled the one, and riches…
CHAPTER VII DUTY TO THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
YANG CHU said: "There is an old saying, 'We must pity the living and part with the dead.' This is a good saying. "Pity does not merely…
CHAPTER VIII THE ART OF LIFE
YEN-PING-CHUNG asked Kuan-Yi-Wu1 as to cherishing life. Kuan-Yi-Wu replied: "It suffices to give it its free course, neither checking nor…
CHAPTER X THE JOYOUS LIFE OF TUAN-MU-SHU
TUAN-MU-SHU of Wei was descended from Tse-Kung. He had a patrimony of ten thousand gold pieces. Indifferent to the chances of life, he…
CHAPTER XI THE FOLLY OF DESIRE FOR LONG LIFE
MENG-SUN-YANG asked Yang Chu: "There are men who cherish life and care for their bodies with the intention of grasping immortality. Is that…
CHAPTER XII SELF-SACRIFICE AND SELF-AGGRANDISEMENT
YANG CHU said: "Po-chêng-tse-kao1 would not part with a hair of his body for the benefit of others. He quitted p. 53 his country and became…
CHAPTER XIII THE VANITY OF REPUTATION
YANG CHU said: "The world praises Shun-Yu, Duke Chow, and Confucius, and condemns Chieh and Chow. Now Shun had to plough in Ho-yang and to…
CHAPTER XIV DIFFICULTY AND EASE OF GOVERNMENT
YANG CHU had an audience with the King of Leang. Yang Chu said: "To govern the world is as easy as to turn round the palm of the hand." The…
CHAPTER XIX THE WISDOM OF CONTENTMENT
Sacred-Texts Taoism Index Previous YANG CHU said: "How can a body possessing the four things, a comfortable house, fine clothes, good food…
CHAPTER XV ALL THINGS PASS
YANG CHU said: "The memory of things of highest antiquity is faded. Who recollects them? Of the time of the three generations of Emperors1…
CHAPTER XVI THE NATURE OF MAN
YANG CHU said: "Men resemble heaven and earth in that they cherish five principles.1 Of all creatures, man is the most skilful. His nails…
CHAPTER XVII THE FOUR CHIMERAS
YANG CHU said: "There are four things which do not allow people to rest: "Long life. Reputation. Rank.
CHAPTER XVIII ALL PLEASURES ARE RELATIVE
A COMMON saying of the Chow time is: "Can a husbandman sit down and rest? "At dawn he sets out, and at night returns. "This he considers…
CONTENTS.
Conclusion
Therefore, blessed is the man who speaketh what is good, who thinketh what is good, who practiceth what is good. If but each single day he…
Contents.
ELUCIDATIONS AND ANALYSES
The Cosmic Spirit. Dissertation 1. Pp.
ENDEAVOUR AND DUTY.
"To tell you the truth, Cephalus, I replied, I delight in conversing with very old persons. For as they have gone before us on the road…
Editorial Note
The object of the Editor of this series is a very definite one. He desires above all things that these books shall be the ambassadors of…
Explanatory Notes
1. T'ai-Shang, "the Exalted One," also called T'ai Shang Lao Chün, "the Exalted Ancient Master," is an honorary appellation of Li Er, who…
FREEDOM OF LIFE
Liberty is a prominent question in this philosophy. There is more implied than what is openly expressed. The Imperial Authority…
GENERALSHIP AND PREVENTION OF ANARCHY
Sacred-Texts Taoism Index Previous Next p. 181 GENERALSHIP AND PREVENTION OF ANARCHY | " | No more the thirsty entrance of this soil Shall…
Good Spirits in Attendance
Yuen, having conceived a violent hatred against an acquaintance, set out one morning, knife in hand, with the purpose of killing him. A…
Good and Evil Spirits
If a man's heart be awakened to the good, though the good be not yet accomplished, good spirits verily are already following him…
INFLUENCE OF THE COSMIC SPIRIT ON THE UNIVERSE
If the philosopher says that mental phenomena cannot be accounted for wholly in physiological terms, and that the behaviour of living…
INTRODUCTION.
Editor of the North-China Herald; Author of Waifs & Strays from the Far East, The Divine Classic of Nanhua, Idiomatic Dialogues in the…
INTRODUCTION.
IT occasionally happens that a sudden ray of clear and valuable light is thrown upon a long-disputed subject from a source the very…
Index.
Abstinence, commendable, 20. Age of the Yin Chih Wen, 12. Angel, 43.
Introduction.
THE Yin Chih Wen is a religio-ethical tract, which, in spite of its popularity all over the Middle Kingdom, has not as yet, so far as we…

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