A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (17 page)

The limit of advancement for a given activity is also relative to objective circumstances. When a man eats too much, he suffers. In overeating, what is ordinarily good for the body becomes something harmful. One should eat only the right amount of food. But this right amount depends on one's age, health, and the quality of food one eals.

These are the laws that govern the changes of things. By Lao Tzu they are called the invariables. He says: "To know the invariables is called enlighlen-ment." (Ch. 16.) Again: "He who knows the invariable is liberal. Being liberal, he is without prejudice. Being without prejudice, he is comprehensive. Being comprehensive, he is vast. Being vast, he is with the Truth. Being with the Truth, he lasts forever and will not fail throughout his lifetime." (Ibid.) Human Conduct

Lao Tzu warns us: "Not to know the invariable and to act blindly is to go to disaster." (Ibid.) One should know the laws of nature and conduct one s activities in accordance with them. This, by Lao Tzu, is called "practicing enlightenment. The general rule for the man practicing enlightenment is that if 158 THE SECOND PHASE OF TAOISMrLAO TZU

he wants to achieve anything, he starts with its opposite, and if he wants to retain anything, he admits in il something of its opposite. H one wants to be strong, one must start with a feeling that one is weak, and if one wants to preserve capitalism, one must admit in it some elements of socialism.

Therefore Lao Tzu tells us: The sage, putting himself in the background, is always to the fore.

Remaining outside, he is always there. Is it not just because he does not strive for any personal end, that all his personal ends are fulfilled? (Ch. 7.) Again: He does not show himself; therefore he is seen everywhere. He does not define himself; therefore he is distinct. He does not assert himself; therefore he succeeds. He does not boast of his work; therefore he endures. He does not contend, and for that very reason no one in the world can contend with him. (Ch. 2.2.) These sayings illustrate the first point of the general rule.

In the Lao-tzu we also find: What is most perfeel seems to have something missing, yet its use is unimpaired. What is most full seems empty, yet its use is inexhaustible. What is most straight seems like crookedness. The greatest skill seems like clumsiness. The greatest eloquence seems like stuttering."

(Ch. 45-) Again: Be twisted and one shall be whole. Be crooked and one shall be straight. Be hollow and one shall be filled. Be tattered and one shall be renewed. Have little and one shall obtain. But have much and one shall be perplexed." (Ch. 22.) This illustrates the second point of the general rule.

Such is the way in which a prudent man can live safely in the world and achieve his aims. This is Lao Tzu s answer and solution to the original problem of the Taoists, which was, how to preserve life and avoid harm and danger in the human world. (See end of Ch. 6 above.) The man who lives prudently must be meek, humble, and easily content. To be meek is the way to preserve your strength and so be strong. Humility is the direct opposite of arrogance, so that if arrogance is a sign that a man's advancement has reached its extreme limit, humility is a contrary sign that that limit is far from reached.

And to be content safeguards one from going too far, and therefore from reaching the extreme. Lao Tzu says: "To know how to be content is to avoid humiliation; to know where to stop is to avoid injury. (Ch.

45-) Again: "The sage, therefore, discards the excessive, the extravagant, the extreme." (Ch. 29.) All these theories are deducible from the general theory that reversing is the movement of the Too.

The well—known Taoist theory of wu—wei is also deducible from this general theory. Wu-wei can be translated literally as "having-no-activity" or "non-action." But using this translation, one should remember that the term does not actually mean complete absence of activity, or doing nothing. What it does mean is lesser activity or doing less. It also means acting without artificiality and arbitrariness.

Activities are like many other things. If one has too much of them, they become harmful rather than good. Furthermore, the purpose of doing something is to have something done. But if there is overdoing, this results in

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something being over-done, which may be worse than not having the thing done at all. A well—known Chinese story describes how two men were once competing in drawing a snake; the one who would finish his drawing first would win. One of them, having indeed finished his drawing, saw that the other man was still far behind, so decided to improve it by adding feet to his snake. Thereupon the other man said: "You have lost the competition, for a snake has no feet." This is an illustration of overdoing which defeats its own purpose. In the Lao-tzu we read: "Conquering the world is invariably due to doing nothing; by doing something one cannot conquer the world. (Ch. 48.) The term "doing nothing"

here really means "not overdoing."

Artificiality and arbitrariness are the opposite of naturalness arid spontaneity. According to Lao Tzu, Tao is that by which all things come to be. In this process of coming to be, each individual thing obtains something from the universal Tao, and this something is called Te. Te is a word that means power or virtue, both in the moral and non-moral sense of the latter term. The Te of a thing is what it naturally is. Lao Tzu says: All things respect Too and value Te." (Ch. 51.) This is because Too is that by which they come to be, and Te is that by which they are what they are.

According to the theory of "having-no-activity, a man should restrict his activities to what is necessary and what is natural. "Necessary means necessary to the achievement of a certain purpose, and never overdoing. "Natural" means following one's Te with no arbitrary effort. In doing this one should take simplicity as the guiding principle of life. Simplicity (p ' u) is an important idea of Lao Tzu and the Taoists. Tao is the "Uncarved Block" (p u), which is simplicity itself. There is nothing that can be simpler than the unnamable Tao. Te is the next simplest, and the man who follows Te must lead as simple a life as possible.

The life that follows Te lies beyond the distinctions of good and evil. Lao Tzu tells us: If all people of the world know that beauty is beauty, there is ihen already ugliness. If all people of the world know that good is good, there is then already evil." (Ch. 2..) Lao Tzu, therefore, despised such Confucian virtues as human—heartedness and righteousness, for according to him these virtues represent a degeneration from Tao and Te. Therefore he says: "When the Tao is lost, there is the Te. When the Te is lost, there is [the virtue of] humanheartedness. When humanheartedness is lost, there is [the virtue of]

righteousness. When righteousness is lost, there are the ceremonials. Ceremonials are the degeneration of loyalty and good faith, and are the beginning of disorder in the world. (Ch. 3&) Here we find the direct conflict between Taoism and Confucianism.

People have lost their original Te because they have too many desires and too much knowledge. In satisfying their desires, people are seeking for happiness. But when they try to satisfy too many desires, they obtain an opposite result. Lao Tzu says: The five colors blind the eye. The five notes dull the ear.

The five tastes fatigue the mouth. Riding and hunting madden the mind.

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Rare treasures hinder right conduct." (Ch. 12.) Therefore, "there is no disaster greater than not knowing contentment with what one has; no grealer sin than having desire for acquisition." (Ch. 46-) This is why Lao Tzu emphasizes that people should have few desires.

Likewise Lao Tzu emphasizes that people should have little knowledge. Knowledge is itself an object of desire. It also enables people to know more about the objects of desire and serves as a means to gain these objects. It is both the master and servant of desire. With increasing knowledge people are no longer in a position to know how to be content and where to sLop. Therefore, it is said in the Lao—Tzu: When knowledge and intelligence appeared, Cross Artifice began. (Ch.l8.) Political Theory

From these theories Lao Tzu deduces his political theory. The Taoists agree with the Confucianists that the ideal state is one which has a sage as its head. It is only the sage who can and should rule. The difference between the two schools, however, is that according to the Confucianists, when a sage becomes the ruler, he should do many things for the people, whereas according to the Taoists, the duty of the sage ruler is not to do things, but rather to undo or not to do at all. The reason for this, according to Lao Tzu, is that the troubles of the world come, not because there are many things not yet done, but because too many things are done. In the Lao-tzu we read: The more restrictions and prohibitions there are in the world, the poorer the people will be. The more sharp weapons the people have, the more troubled will be the country. The more cunning craftsmen there are, the more pernicious contrivances will appear. The more laws are promulgated, the more thieves and bandits there will be." (Ch. 57-) The first act of a sage ruler, then, is to undo all these. Lao Tzu says: Banish wisdom, discard knowledge, and the people will be benefited a hundredfold. Banish human -heartedness, discard righteousness, and the people will be dutiful and compassionate. Banish skill, discard profit, and thieves and robbers will disappear." (Ch.19.) Again: "Do not exalt the worthies, and the people will no longer be contentious. Do not value treasures that are hard to get, and there will be no more ibieves. If the people never see such things as excite desire, their mind will not be confused. Therefore the sage rules the people by emptying their minds, filling their bellies, weakening their wills, and toughening their sinews, ever making the people without knowledge and without desire." (Ch. 3.) The sage ruler would undo all the causes of trouble in the world. After that, he would govern with non-action. With non-action, he does nothing, yet everything is accomplished. The Lao-tzu says: "I act not and the people of themselves are transformed. I love quiescence and the people of themselves go straight. I concern myself with nothing, and the people of them — 164 THE SECOND PHASE OF TAOISMrLAO TZU

selves are prosperous. I am without desire, and the people of themselves are simple. (Ch. 57-)

"Do nothing, and there is nothing that is not done." This is another of the seemingly paradoxical ideas of the Taoists. In the Lao-tzu we read: Tao invariably does nothing and yet there is nothing that is not done. (Ch. 37-) Tao is that by which all things come to be. It is not itself a thing and therefore it cannot act as do such things. Yet all things come to be. Thus Tao does nothing, yet there is nothing that is not done. It allows each thing to do what it itself can do. According to the Taoists, the ruler of a state should model himself on Tao. He, too, should do nothing and should let the people do what they can do themselves. Here is another meaning of wu—wei (non-action), which later, with certain modifications, become one of the important theories of the Legalists (Fa chia).

Children have limited knowledge and few desires. They are not far away from the original Te. Their simplicity and innocence are characteristics that every man should if possible retain. Lao Tzu says: Not to part from the invariable Te is to return to the state of infancy." (Ch. 18.) Again: "He who holds the Te in all its solidity may be likened to an infant. (Ch. 55-) Since the life of the child is nearer to the ideal life, the sage ruler would like all of his people to be like small children. Lao Tzu says: "The sage treats all as children." (Ch.49.) He "does not make them enlightened, but keeps them ignorant." (Ch.

65. )

"Ignorant here is a translation of the Chinese yu, which means ignorance in the sense of simplicity and innocence. The sage not only wants his people to be yu, but wants himself to be so too. Lao Tzu says: Mine is the mind of the very ignorant." (Ch. 20.) In Taoism yu is not a vice, but a great virtue.

But is the yu of the sage really the same as the yu of the child and the common people? Certainly not. The yu of the sage is the result of a conscious process of cultivation. It is something higher than knowledge, something more, not less. There is a common Chinese saying: Great wisdom is like ignorance. The yu of the sage is great wisdom, and not the yu of the child or of ordinary people. The latter kind of yu is a gift of nature, while that of the sage is an achievement of the spirit. There is a great difference between the two. But in many cases the Taoists seemed to have confused them. We shall see this point more clearly when we discuss the philosophy of Chuang Tzu.

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CHAPTER 10

RD PHASE OF TAOISM: CHUANG TZU

CHUANG CHOI), better known as Chuang Tzu (c. 369-c. 2-86), is perhaps the greatest of the early Taoists. We know little of his life save that he was a native of the little state of Meng on the border between the present Shantung and Honan provinces, where he lived a hermit's life, but was nevertheless famous for his ideas and writings. It is said that King Wei of Ch'u, having heard his name, once sent messengers with gifts to invite him to his state, promising In make him chief minister. Chuang Tzu, however, merely laughed and said to them: "...Co away, do not defile me....I prefer the enjoyment of my own free will. (Historical Records, ch. 63-)