The Sacred Books of China

436 Pages·1962·45.525 MB·English

by  James Legge

The Texts of Taoism
The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu
The Writings Chuang Tzu
of
(PART
I)
The Sacred Books China
of
TRANSLATED BY JAMES LEGGE
M"
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Legge, James
The texts of Taoism
299.514 LEGGE
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SAUSALITO PUBLIC LIBRARY
DATE DUE
MAR 2 1 1992
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The
Sacred Books of the East
translated
by various Oriental scholars
and edited by
Max
F. Milller
XXXIX
Vol.
The Texts of Taoism
Translated by James Legge
in two parts
Part I
The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu
The Writings of Chuang Tzu
(Books I-XVII)
Dover Publications, Inc.
New York New York
For bibliographic ease and accuracy the Wade-Giles
Romanization of Chinese has been adopted for the
title page and cover of this book. Within the text,
however, the original transliteration has been re-
tained.
This new Dover edition, first published in 1962,
is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the
work first published by the Oxford University Press
in 1891. The Texts of Taoism, Part I, is Volume
XXXIX of "The Sacred Books of the East," and
Part II is Volume XL of the same series.
Standard Book Number: 486-20990-3
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:62-53181
Manufactured in the United States of America
Dover Publications, Inc.
180Varick Street
New York, N.Y. 10014
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE
xi
INTRODUCTION.
CHAP.
I. Was Taoism older than Lao-jze? i
ThreeReligionsin China. PeculiarityoftheTaoTehA^ing.
II. The Texts of the Tao Teh Atng and ^wang-jze
Shu, as regards their authenticity and.gen.uin.e-
ness, AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF THEM 4
i. The Tao TehA"ing. The evidence ofSze-ma.-Oien,the
historian ; of Lieh-^ze, Han Fei-jze, and other Taoist writers;
and of Pan Ku. The Catalogue of the Imperial Library of
Han and that of the Sui dynasty. The Commentaries of
;
'the old man of the Ho-side,' and of Wang Pi. Division
intoParts and Chapters,andnumberofCharactersintheText.
ii. The Writings ofA"wang-jze. Importance to Taoism of
those Writings. The division of the Books into three Parts.
Their general Title and its meaning.
III. What is the meaning of the name Tao? and the
.12
CHIEF POINTS OF BELIEF IN TAOISM
. . .
Meaningofthename. UsageofthetermThien. Peculiar
usage of it by A"wang-$ze. Mr. Giles's view that the name
1God' is the equivalent ofThien. RelationoftheTao to the
name Ti. No idea of Creation-proper in Taoism. Man is
composed of body and spirit. That the cultivation of the
Tao promotes longevity. Startling results of the Tao; and
how It proceeds by contraries. The paradisiacal state. The
decayofTaoism before the growth ofknowledge. The moral
andpracticalteachingsofLao-jze. Humility; histhreeJewels;
thatgood is to be returned for evil.
IV. Accounts of Lao-jze and .^wang-jze given by
Sze-ma Khiy.h 33
V. On the Tractate of Actions and their Retributions 38
PeculiarstyleandnatureoftheTreatise. Itsdate. Meaning
of the Title. Was the old Taoism a Religion? The A'ang
family. Influence ofBuddhism on Taoism.
CONTENTS.
Vlll
THE TAO TEH
A"ING.
Part I (Chapters i to xxxvii) 45 to 79
Ch. 1. Embodying the Tao, p. 47. 2. The Nourishment of
the Person, pp. 47, 48. 3. Keeping the People at Rest, p. 49.
4. The Fountainless, pp. 49, 50. 5. The Use of Emptiness,
p.50. 6. The Completion ofMaterial Forms, p. 51. 7. Sheath-
ing the Light, p. 52. 8. The Placid and Contented Nature,
pp. 52, 53. 9. Fulness and Complacency contrary to the Tao,
p. 53. 10. Possibilities through the Tao, pp. 53, 54. 11. The
Use ofwhat has no Substantive Existence, pp. 54, 55. 12. The
Repression of the Desires, p. 55. 13. Loathing Shame, p. 56.
14. The Manifestation of the Mystery, p. 57. 15. The Ex-
hibition of the Qualities ofthe Tao, pp. 58, 59. 16. Returning
to the Root, pp. 59, 60. 17. The Unadulterated Influence,
pp.60, 61. 18. The Decay ofManners,p.61. 19. Returning to
the Unadulterated Influence, p. 62. 20. Being Different from
Ordinary Men, pp. 62, 63. 21. The Empty Heart, or the Tao
in its Operation, p. 64. 22. The Increase granted to Humility,
p. 65. 23. Absolute Vacancy,pp.65,66. 24. Painful Gracious-
ness, p. 67. 25. Representations of the Mystery, pp. 67, 68.
26. The Quality of Gravity, p. 69. 27. Dexterity in Using the
Tao, p. 70. 28. Returning to Simplicity, p. 71. 29. Taking no
Action, pp. 71, 72. 30. A Caveat against War, pp. 72, 73. 31.
Stilling War, pp. 73, 74. 32. The Tao with no Name, pp. 74,
75. 33. Discriminating between Attributes, p. 75. 34. The
Task ofAchievement, pp. 76, 77. 35. The Attribute of Bene-
volence, p. 77. 36. Minimising the Light, p. 78. 37. The
Exercise ofGovernment, p. 79.
Part II (Chapters xxxviii to lxxxi) 80to 124
Ch. 38. About the Attributes of the Tao, pp. 80, 81. 39.
The Origin of the Law, pp. 82, 83. 40. Dispensing with the
Use (of Means), pp. 8^, 84. 41. Sameness and Difference,
pp.84, 85. 42. The Transformationsofthe Tao,p. 85. 43. The
Universal Use (of the Action inWeakness of the Tao)., p. 87.
44. Cautions,pp.87,88. 45. Great or OverflowingVirtue,p.88.
46. The Moderating of Desire or Ambition, pp. 88, 89. 47.
Surveying what is Far-off, p. 89. 48. Forgetting Knowledge,
p. 90. 49. The Quality of Indulgence, p. 91. 50. The Value
set on Life, pp. 92, 93. 51. The Operation (of the Tao) in
Nourishing Things, pp. 93, 94. 52. Returning to the Source,
pp. 94,95. 53. Increase ofEvidence, pp. 96, 97. 54. The Culti-
vation (ofthe Tao), and the Observation (ofits Effects), pp. 97,
98. 55. The Mysterious Charm, p. 99. 56. The Mysterious
CONTENTS. IX
Excellence, p. ioo. 57. The Genuine Influence, pp. ioo, 101.
58. Transformation according to Circumstances, pp. ioi, 102.
59. GuardingtheTao,pp. 102, 103. 60. Occupying the Throne,
pp. 103, 104. 61. The Attribute ofHumility, pp. 104, 105. 62.
Practising the Tao, pp. 105, 106. 63. Thinking in the Begin-
ning, pp. 106, 107. 64. Guarding the Minute,pp. 107, 108. 65.
Pure, unmixed Excellence,pp. 108, 109. 66. PuttingOne's Self
Last, p. 109. 67. Three Precious Things,p. no. 68. Matching
Heaven, pp. in, 112. 69. The Use of the Mysterious (Tao),
p. 112. 70. The Difficulty of being (rightly) Known, pp. 112,
113. 71. The Disease of Knowing, p. 113. 72. Loving One's
Self, p. 114. 73. Allowing Men to take their Course, p. 116.
74. Restraining Delusion, p. 117. 75. How Greediness In-
jures, pp. 117, 118. 76. A Warning against (Trusting in)
Strength, pp. 118, 119. 77. The Way of Heaven, p. 119. 78.
Things to be Believed, p. 120. 79. Adherence to Bond or
Covenant, p. 121. 80. Standing Alone, p. 122. 81. The Mani-
festation ofSimplicity, p. 123.
THE WRITINGS OF 7TWANG-3ZE.
INTRODUCTION.
PAGE
Brief Notices of the different Books .127
. . .
PART
I.
BOOK
I. i. Hsiao-yao Yu, or Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease . 164
II. ii. Kh\ Wu Lun, or the Adjustment of Controversies . 176
III. iii. Yang Shang A"u,or Nourishing the Lord ofLife. .198
IV. iv. Zan A^ien Shih, or Man in the World,Associated with
other Men 203
V. v. Teh Khxxng Fu, or the Seal ofVirtue Complete . . 223
VI. vi. Ta 3ung Shih, or the Great and Most Honoured
Master . . 236
VII. vii. Ying Ti Wang, or the Normal Course for Rulers and
Kings 259
PART
II.
VIII. i. Phien Mau, orWebbed Toes 268
IX. ii. Ma Thi, or Horses's Hoofs 276
X. iii. Khu Kh\eh, or Cutting Open Satchels . . .281
XI. iv. 3ai Yu, or Letting Be, and Exercising Forbearance . 291
CONTENTS.
BOOK PAGE
XII. v. Thien Ti, or Heaven and Earth . 307
XIII. vi. Thien Tao, or the Way ofHeaven 33o
XIV. vii. Thien Yiin, or the Revolution ofHeaven 345
XV. viii. Kho f, or Ingrained Ideas . 363
XVI. ix. Shan Hsing, or Correcting the Nature. 368
XVII. x. Khm Shui, or the Floods ofAutumn . 374
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Transla-
tions ofthe Sacred Books of the East 393
CORRIGENDUM ET ADDENDUM.
On page 58, for the third and fourth—sentences of the explanatory note to
ChapterXIV, substitute the following: Itwasbut an interesting fancy of the
ingeniouswriter, and the elaborateendeavour ofVictorvon Strauss tosupport
itin 1870 has failed to make me think more favourably ofit.
Dr. Edkins, in an article in the China ReviewforJuly and August, 1884,
takesa differentview of the chapter. He reads the monosyllables t, Hi, and
Wei according to his view of the old names of the Chinese characters, and
calls them Ai, Kai, and Mai, con—sideringthem to be representative of one or
three names of God. He says: 'I am inclined to find here marks of the
presence of Babylonian thought .... We have not the original words forthe
first trinity of the Babylonian religion. They are in the Assyrian or Semitic
form Ami, Bel, Nuah. In Accadian theywere Ilu, Enu, Hia. Of these
Ilu was the supreme God, source of Chaos, in Chinese Hwun tun or Hwun
lun. Inthischaos all formswere confounded as is the casewith theTaoist
chaos. Bel orEnu isthewordwhich separatesthe elementsofchaos. Nuah
or Hia is the light of God which penetrates the universe, and maintainsthe
orderestablished by theword. It wasthis Trinity of God, in the language of
some intermediate nation, which Lao-tsze appears to have had in view in the
various passages where he speaks of the original principle of the universe
in atriple form.'
This reading of our chapter is not more satisfactory to me than that of
Remusat; and I am content, in myinterpretation of it, to abide bythe aids of
Chinese dictionaries and commentators of reputation who have made it their
study.