TEXT View source
# 2022-10-22 - Wisdom of China and India by Lin Yutang
This book was on my high school reading list and i found it at a
garage sale for $1. What a bargain! It is actually an omnibus
collection of many Chinese and Indian classics.
# Hymns From The Rigveda
TEXT Rigveda, wikipedia
## Introduction
I notice among certain European students of Hinduism the constant
insinuation of polytheism with a tone of reproach. That Hindu
monotheism developed in the Upanishads with the Vedanta belief in the
One behind all things is a minor point. It is my belief that it is
entirely unimportant what god one worships, monotheistic or
polytheistic; what is important is that belief should produce the
true spirit of devotion in the life of the worshiper. In modern
terms, what is important is that religion be [effective], that is,
that it produce results, and I may say that modern monotheism is less
[effective] than when men [and women] believed in the spirituality of
trees and rocks, and mountains and rivers.
# The Upanishads
TEXT Upanishads, wikipedia
## Introduction
Personally I have been kept away from many of the world's
masterpieces because in my young days I happened to stumble upon some
bad edition or translation of a certain work.
The Upanishads are strictly speaking the speculations of the Indian
forest sages about the world system, and therefore quite different
from the Hymns of the Rigveda. The entire collection breathes the
spirit of a troubled inquiry into the problems of the reality, the
individual soul, and the world soul behind the phenomena. The
Sankhya philosophers believed that the world consists of two
principles, souls [Purusha] and the material world, the Prakriti, or
Nature, while the Vedanta philosophers believed in one all-comprising
unity. Out of such debates in the forest grew these books. These
questions are vexing in their very nature... Still, as Tagore
rightly points out, the whole approach is too intellectual, and the
final consummation of Vedic philosophy is to be found in the
Bhagavad-Gita, written perhaps two centuries later, when an ardent
devotion to a personal God took the place of these barren
speculations.
# The Lord's Song (The Bhagavad-Gita)
TEXT Bhagavad Gita, wikipedia
## Introduction
The Bhagavad-Gita stands in relation to Hinduism as the Sermon on the
Mount stands in relation to the Christian teachings. It has been
described as the "Essence of the Vedas."
The whole book breathes the Hindu mental and religious atmosphere,
although some of the teachings, such as the emphasis on action and
doing it without regard to selfish benefit but for devotion to God,
and particularly the denial of materialism and emphatic Vedic
assertion of the spirit behind all things, offer viewpoints that are
either present or are greatly needed in the modern world.
The great power of the Gita lies in the fact that it teaches a
"loving faith" or devotion (bhakti) to a personal God, Krishna. The
final message of Krishna is: "Giving up all Dharmas, come unto me
alone for refuge. I shall free thee from all sins; grieve not."
# The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali
TEXT Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, wikipedia
## Introduction
The reason for the popularity of yoga philosophy and its particular
appeal to the modern world is twofold; it arises from the combination
of a system of physical regimen that has something to do with
physical and mental health with a mystic search for inner stability
and the psychic depths of man's soul, which seems to underlie a broad
and deep undercurrent of modern life.
Yoga (meaning "yoke") represents a form of personal discipline, with
the object of "yoking" the body to the soul, and the individual soul
to the universal soul. It begins with a unique and unparalleled
exploration in the region of the involuntary muscles and bringing
them under the control of the mind, and proceeds to the liberation of
the mind from its sense impressions and the deeper residuents and
impediments that not only clog but form the fabric of our
subconscious life...
> There is no supernatural, says the Yogi, but there are in nature
> gross manifestations and subtle manifestations. The subtle are the
> causes, the gross the effects. The gross can be easily perceived
> by the senses; not so the subtle. The practice of Rāja-Yoga will
> lead to the acquisition of the more subtle perceptions. --Swami
> Vivekananda
# The Ramayana
TEXT Ramayana, wikipedia
## Introduction
It is more than a figure of speech to say that the Mahabharata must
be compared, if compared at all, to Home's Iliad, and the Ramayana,
with the Odyssey. To take the Mahabharata, the subject of the epic
was the same, dealing with a long-drawn-out war between the Kurus and
the Panchalas, as Homer dealt with the Trojan War. In magnitude, the
Mahabharata comprises 100,000 couplets, which is the result of
successive accretions in the easy sloka verse-form, while the
Ramayana comprises 24,000 couplets, and is more the unified work of
one writer. In so far as the Ramayana deals with the story of
wanderings of Rama and his wife Sita, it may be said to resemble the
Odyssey. Beyond that, the resemblance ceases...
In modern terms, the Mahabharata may be said to be realistic, and the
Ramayana, idealistic, in their respective handling of human
characters. The subject of the Mahabharata is men and war; the
subject of Ramayana is women and the home. If I judge human nature
correctly, by the preference of fathers for daughters and mothers for
sons, then it is inevitable that Mahabharata is the women's epic,
while Ramayana is the men's.
# The Epic of Rama
[Abridged] Translated by Romesh Dutt
Jabali a learned Brahman and a Sophist skilled in word
Questioned Faith and Law and Duty, spake to young Ayodhya's lord:
"Wherefore, Rama, idle maxims cloud thy heart and warp thy mind,
Maxims which mislead the simple and the thoughtless human kind?
Love nor friendship doth a mortal to his kith or kindred own,
Entering on this wide earth friendless, and departing all alone,
Foolishly upon the father and the mother dotes the son,
Kinship is an idle fancy,--save thyself thy kith is none!
In the wayside inn he halteth who in distant lands doth roam,
Leaves it with the dawning daylight for another transient home,
Thus on earth are kin and kindred, home and country, wealth and store,
We but meet them on our journey, leave them as we pass before!
[Supposing these are true, then owning no kin nor country, Rama would
not own rulership of said country either]
[Rama replies:]
...
Tortuous wisdom brings no profit, virtue shuns the crooked way,
For the deed proclaims the hero from the man of spacious lies,
[IOW, a tree is judged by its fruit.]
* * *
To his foes resistless Rama is a lightning from above,
To his friends a tree of shelter, soul of tenderness and love,
Dearer than his love of glory is his love to heal and bless,
Dearer than the crown and empire is his hermit's holy dress,
Brother's love is truest safety, brother's hate is deadliest sin!
Bali turns not from encounter even with his dying breath,
Insult from a foe, unanswered, is a deeper stain than death.
* * *
Love like thine, true-hearted brother, not on earth we often find!
* * *
Valmiki came to the sacrifice, and his pupils, Lava and Kusa, chanted
there the great Epic, the Ramayana, describing the deeds of Rama. In
this interesting portion of the poem we find how songs and poetry
were handed down in ancient India by memory. The boys had learnt the
whole of the Epic by heart, and chanted portions of it, day after
day, till the recital was completed. We are told that the poem
consists of seven books, 500 cantos, and 24,000 couplets. Twenty
cantos were recited each day, so that the recital of the whole poem
must have taken twenty-five days. It was by such feats of memory and
by such recitals that literature was preserved in ancient times in
India.
# Dhammapada
TEXT Dhammapada, wikipedia
Sitting alone, lying down a lone, waking alone without ceasing, and
alone subduing [herself or] himself, let a man [or woman] be happy
near the edge of a forest.
If anything is to be done, let a man [or woman] do it, let [her or]
him attack it vigorously! A careless pilgrim only scatters the dust
of [her or] his passions more widely.
# Three Sermons by Buddha
Yet it is undeniable that the hold of Buddhism upon its millions of
believers rests not upon the desire to enter Nirvana, but upon the
preaching of such common truths as gentleness and kindness, and that
the charm of Buddha's personality is exactly that charm of gentleness
and kindness.
But, as we shall see in the "Fire Sermon," there is one thing in
Buddhism which can never convince the truly modern man [or woman],
and that is the doctrine of the aversion for the body, taught in this
Sermon, as well as elsewhere. So long as any religion teaches
other-wordliness, I do not care whether it teaches a Heaven of the
Pearly Gates or a Nirvana. The body is not bad, that is all there is
to it. The body is transient, but it is not bad. It goes through
old age and death, but it is not bad. Our passions must be brought
under control, but they are not bad in themselves. Our sense
impressions are mere illusions, but they are not bad. This is the
feeling of the modern man [or woman] about the truth of the body.
# Kisā Gotamī
Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind;
on the contrary, [her or] his pain will be greater and [her or] his
body will suffer.
# The Light of Asia (Life of Buddha)
Buddha was opposed to the priestcraft and preached directly to the
people in their spoken tongue instead of in the classical Sanskrit of
the Brahman.
"If life be aught, the savior of a life owns more the living thing
than he can own who sought to slay--the slayer spoils and wastes, the
cherisher sustains..."
Since pleasures end in pain, and youth in age,
And love in loss, and life in hateful death,
And death in unknown lives, which will but yoke
Men to their wheel again to whirl the round
Of false delights and woes that are not false,
Me too this lure hath cheated, so it seemed
Lovely to live, and life a sunlit stream
For ever flowing in a changeless peace;
Whereas the foolish ripple of the flood
Dances so lightly down by bloom and lawn
Only to pour its crystal quicklier
Into the foul salt sea...
How can it be that Brahm
Would make a world and keep it miserable,
Since, if, all-powerful, he leaves it so,
He is not good, and if not powerful,
He is not God?
Then, craving leave, he spake
Of life, which all can take but none can give,
Life, which all creatures love and strive to keep,
Wonderful, dear, and pleasant unto each,
Even to the meanest; yea, a boon to all
Where pity is, for pity makes the world
Soft to the weak and noble for the strong.
Then the World-honored spake: "Pity and need
Make all flesh kin. There is no caste in blood,
Which runneth of one hue, nor caste in tears,
Which trickle salt with all; neither comes man
To birth with tilka-mark stamped on the brow,
Nor sacred thread on the neck.
# The Wisdom of China
## Introduction
The fact is, any branch of knowledge, whether it be the study of
rocks and minerals, or the study of cosmic rays, strikes mysticism as
soon as it reaches any depth. Witness Dr. Alexis Carrel and A.D.
Eddington. The nineteenth-century shallow rationalism naïvely
believed that the question "What is a blade of grass?" could be
answered adequately by considering the blade of grass as a purely
mechanical phenomenon. The contemporary scientific attitude is that
it cannot. Since Walt Whitman asked that question with his profound
mysticism, no one has been able to answer it and no scientist will
presume to answer it today.
For what is the Chinese philosophy, and does China have a philosophy,
say, like that of Descartes or Kant, a logically built and cogently
reasoned philosophy of knowledge or of the reality of the universe?
The answer is proudly "No." That is the whole point. So far as any
systematic epistemology or metaphysics is concerned, China had to
import it from India. The temperament for systematic philosophy
simply wasn't there [in China]... They [the Chinese people] have too
much sense for that. The sea of human life forever laps upon the
shores of Chinese thought, and the arrogance and absurdities of the
logician, the assumption that "I am exclusively right and you are
exclusively wrong," are not Chinese faults, whatever other faults
they may have. ... I notice that the scientists who popularize
science and who write it in the language that the common man [or
woman] can understand have a tendency to fall out of favor with the
Royal Academies.
Generally, the reader will find reading Chinese philosophies like
reading Emerson. Egon Friedell's characterization of Emerson's
method and style may serve as a perfect description of all Chinese
philosophers. "His propositions are there, unprepared, indisputable,
like sailors' signals coming out of a misty deep. He is an absolute
Impressionist, in his style, his composition and his thought. He
never propounds his ideas in a definite logical or artistic form, but
always in a natural and often accidental order which they have in his
head. He knows only provisional opinions, momentary truths. He
never sacrifices even a single word, sentence, or idea to the
architecture of the whole. Things like 'order of content,'
'introduction,' 'transitions' do not exist for him. He begins to
develop this or that view, and we think he is going to weave it
systematically, elucidate it from all sides and entrench it against
all possible attack. But then, suddenly, some alien picture or
simile, epigram or aperçu strikes him, full in the middle of his
chain of thought, and the theme thenceforward revolves on a quite new
axis. He calls his essays, 'Considerations by the Way,' but
everything that he wrote might equally be so entitled."
China's peculiar contribution to philosophy is therefore the distrust
of systematic philosophy.
Furthermore, the Chinese can ask a counter question, "Does the West
have a philosophy?" The answer is also clearly "No." We need a
philosophy of living and we clearly haven't got it. The Western man
[or woman] has tons of philosophy written by French, German, English,
and American professors, but still hasn't got a philosophy when he
[or she] wants it. In face, he [or she] seldom wants it. There are
professors of philosophy, but there are no philosophers.
H.G. Wells is suffering from the modern scientific Fact-Cult when he
believes we can reunify knowledge by his plan of a "world
encyclopædia." He seems to think that the gathering and systematic
presentation of data confers upon the scientist a Godlike wisdom,
that facts are cold figures, and the human mind is like an adding
machine, and that if you put all the facts into the machine, you will
automatically draw out the correct, infallible answer and the world
will then be saved. The folly of this conception is beyond belief.
We are suffering not from lack of facts, but rather from too many and
from lack of judgment.
But Confucianism says there is the knowledge of essentials and the
knowledge of externals, the knowledge of externals is the world of
facts, and the knowledge of essentials is the world of human
relationships and human behavior. Confucius says, "Be a good son, a
good brother, and a good friend, and if you have any energy left over
after attending to conduct, then study books."
For scientific materialism must spell determinism and determinism
must spell despair. It is therefore not an accident that the most
admired spirits of our times, not the greatest but the most vogue,
are pessimists. Our international chaos is founded upon our
philosophic despair... Only a robust mind like that of Walt Whitman
who was not afflicted with the scientific spirit and who was close in
touch with life itself and with the great humanity could retain that
enormous love and enormous faith in the common man. It is
interesting to point out that the flowers of New England culture were
so close to the Chinese: Whitman in his mysticism and his love for
this flesh-and-blood humanity, Thoreau in his pacifism and his rural
ideal and Emerson in his insight and epigrammatic wisdom. That
flower can blossom no more because the spirit of industrialism has
crushed it.
# Chuangtse, Mystic and Humorist
TEXT Zhuang Zhou, wikipedia
Taoism is not a school of thought in China, it is a deep, fundamental
trait of Chinese thinking and of the Chinese attitude toward life and
toward society. ... It provides the only safe, romantic release from
the severe Confucian classic restraint, and humanizes the very
humanists themselves. Therefore when a Chinese [person] succeeds, he
[or she] is always a Confucianist, and when he [or she] fails, he [or
she] is always a Taoist. As more people fail than succeed in this
world, and as all who succeed know that they succeed in a lame and
halting manner when they examine themselves in the dark hours of the
night, I believe Taoist ideas are more often at work than
Confucianism.
Chuangtse is therefore important as the first one who fully developed
the Taoistic thesis of the rhythm of life, contained in the epigrams
of Laotse. Unlike other Chinese philosophers principally occupied
with practical questions of government and personal morality, he
gives the only metaphysics existing in Chinese literature before the
coming of Buddhism. ... Certain traits in it, like weeding out the
idea of the ego and quiet contemplation and "seeing the Solitary"
explain how these native Chinese ideas were back of the development
of the Ch'an (Japanese Zen) Buddhism.
It must be also plainly understood that he [Chuangtse] was a humorist
with a wild and rather luxuriant fantasy, with an American love for
exaggeration and the big. One should therefore read him as one would
a humorist writes, knowing that he is frivolous when he is profound,
and profound when he is frivolous.
The extant text of Chuangtse consists of thirty-three chapters...
The chapters containing the most virulent attacks on Confucianism
(not included here) have been considered forgery, and a few Chinese
"textual critics" have even considered all of them forgery except the
first seven chapters.
When THIS (subjective) and THAT (objective) are both without their
correlates, that is the very 'Axis of Tao.' And when that axis
passes through the centre at which all Infinities converge,
affirmations and denials alike blend into the Infinite One.
Only the truly intelligent understand this principle of the leveling
of all things into One. They discard the distinctions and take
refuge in the common and ordinary things. The common and ordinary
things serve certain functions and therefore retain the wholeness of
nature. From this wholeness, one comprehends, an from comprehension,
one comes near to the Tao. There it stops. To stop without knowing
how it stops--this is Tao.
If then all things are One, what room is there for speech? On the
other hand, since I can say the word 'one' how can speech not exist?
If it does exist, we have One and speech--two; and two and one--three
from which point onward even the best mathematicians will fail to
reach (the ultimate); how much more then should ordinary people fail?
Hence, if from nothing you can proceed to something, and subsequently
reach three, it follows that it would be still easier if you were to
start from something. Since you cannot proceed, stop here.
The true Sage keeps his knowledge within [her or] him, while men [and
women] in general set forth theirs in arguments, in order to convince
each other. And therefore it is said that one who argues does so
because he [or she] cannot see certain points.
Now perfect Tao cannot be given a name. A perfect argument does not
employ words. Perfect kindness does not concern itself with
(individual acts of) kindness. Perfect integrity is not critical of
others. Perfect courage does not push itself forward.
For the Tao which manifests is not Tao. Speech which argues falls
short of its aim. Kindness which has fixed objects loses its scope.
Integrity which is obvious is not believed in. Courage which pushes
itself forward never accomplishes anything. ... Therefore that
knowledge which stops at which it does not know, is the highest
knowledge.
"How do I know that love of life is not a delusion after all? How do
I know but that he [or she] who dreads death is not as a child who
has lost [her or] his way and does not know [her or] his way home?"
"Granting that you and I argue. If you get the better of me, and not
I of you, are you necessarily right and I wrong? Or if I get the
better of you and not you of me, am I necessarily right and you
wrong? Or are we both partly right and partly wrong? Or are we both
wholly right and wholly wrong? You and I cannot know this, and
consequently we live in darkness."
Human life is limited, but knowledge is limitless. To drive the
limited in pursuit of the limitless is fatal; and to presume that one
really knows is fatal indeed!
The Master came, because it was his time to be born; he went, because
it was his time to go away. Those who accept the natural course and
sequence of things and live in obedience to it are beyond joy and
sorrow. The ancients spoke of this as the emancipation from bondage.
The fingers may not be able to supply all the fuel, but the fire is
transmitted, and we know not when it will come to an end.
... in what consists this fasting of the heart?
Concentrate your will. Hear not with your ears, but with your mind;
not with you mind, but with your spirit. Let your hearing stop with
the ears, and let your mind stop with its images. Let you spirit,
however, be like a blank, passively responsive to externals. In such
open receptivity only can Tao abide. And that open receptivity is
the fasting of the heart.
This chapter deals entirely with deformities--a literary device for
emphasizing the contrast of the inner and the outer man [or woman].
"A man," replied Confucius, "does not seek to see himself in running
water, but in still water. For only what is itself still can instill
stillness into others. ... For the possession of one's original
(nature) is evidenced in true courage. A man will, single-handed,
brave a whole army."
He should not permit likes and dislikes to disturb his internal
economy. But now you are devoting your intelligence to externals,
and wearing out your vital spirit. Lean against a tree and sing; or
sit against a table and sleep! God has made you a shapely sight
[complex and deep], yet your only thought is the hard and white
[abstract attributes of objects].
Correct knowledge is dependent on objects, but the objects of
knowledge are relative and uncertain (changing). We must, moreover,
have true men [and women] before we can have true knowledge.
For what they cared for was ONE and what they did not care for was
ONE also. That which they regarded as ONE was ONE, and that which
they did not regard as ONE was ONE likewise. In that which was ONE,
they were of God; in that which was not ONE, they were of man[kind].
And so between the human and the divine no conflict ensued. This was
to be a true man [or woman].
A boat may be hidden in a creek, or concealed in a bog, which is
generally considered safe. But at midnight a strong man [or woman]
may come and carry it away on [her or] his back. Those dull of
understanding do not perceive that however you conceal small things
in larger ones, there will always be a chance of losing them. But if
you entrust that which belongs to the universe to the whole universe,
from it there will be no escape. For this is the great law of things.
To have been cast in this human form is to us already a source of
joy. How much greater joy beyond our conception to know that that
which is now in human form may undergo countless transitions, with
only the infinite to look forward to? Therefore it is that the Sage
rejoices in that which can never be lost, but endures always.
Moreover, those who rely on the arc, the line, compasses, and the
square to make correct forms injure the natural constitution of
things. Those who use cords to bind and glue to piece things
together interfere with the natural character of things. Those who
seek to satisfy the mind of man[kind] by hampering it with ceremonies
and music and affecting charity and devotion have lost their original
nature. There is an original nature in things. Things in their
original nature are curved without the help of arcs, straight without
lines, round without compasses, and rectangular without squares; they
are joined together without glue, and hold together without cords.
In this manner all things live and grow from an inner urge and none
can tell how they come to do so. They all have a place in the scheme
of things and none can tell how they come to have their proper place.
From time immemorial this has always been so, and it may not be
tampered with.
Consequently, with the entire world, one cannot furnish sufficient
inducements or deterrents to action. ... the world has lived in a
helter-skelter of promotions and punishments. What chance have the
people left for living the even tenor of their lives?
By means of inaction alone can [one] allow the people to live out the
even tenor of their lives.
See nothing; hear nothing; guard your spirit in quietude and your
body will go right of its own accord.
Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without;
for much knowledge is a curse.
The people of this world all rejoice in others being like themselves,
and object to others being different from themselves. Those who make
friends with their likes and do not make friends with their unlikes,
are influenced by a desire to be above the others. But how can these
who desire to be above the others ever be above the others? Rather
than base one's judgment on the opinions of the many, let each look
after [her or] his own affairs.
# The Book of History
TEXT Book of Documents, wikipedia
## Introduction
I would characterize the Confucian political ideal as strictly
anarchism, in which moral culture of the people making government
unnecessary becomes the ideal. If it is asked why the people of
Chinatown in New York never have any use for the police, the answer
is Confucianism. There never were any police in China for four
thousand years. The people have got to learn to regulate their lives
socially, and not rely upon the law.
The importance of the Book of History (Shu King) is basic. It is to
Confucianism as the Upanishads are to Hinduism. ... Confucius was
strictly a historian, engaged in historical research, and spoke of
himself as a transmitter rather than an innovator. He had a passion
for history.
When the first Ch'in Emperor burned the Confucian books in B.C. 213,
most of them were destroyed. Four years later he died and his great
empire began to crumble and in another three years, B.C. 206, it
collapsed. There were many old scholars still living who had
committed the texts to memory. A simplification of the Chinese
script had taken place during the Ch'in reign by order of Li Sze, and
the scholars began to write down what they remembered in the "Modern
Script."
## Documents of Chinese Democracy (Shu Ching)
(According to the rules for) the regulation of divination, one should
first make up [her or] his mind, and afterwards refer ([her or] his
judgment) to the great tortoise-shell [i-ching]. ... Divination, when
fortunate, should not be repeated.
When the palace is a wild of lust,
And the country is a wild for hunting;
When spirits [alcohol?] are liked, and music is the delight;
When there are lofty roofs and carved walls;--
The existence of any one of these things
Has never been but the prelude to ruin.
# Mencius
TEXT Mencius, wikipedia
## Introduction
Mencius lived in B.C. 372-289 and was thus a contemporary of Plato
... and of Aristotle... Mencius believed in the innate goodness of
human nature, while Hsüntse believed in its badness. Consequently
Hsüntse believed in culture and restraint, while Mencius believed
that culture consisted in seeking and retrieving the original
goodness of man[kind]. "A great man is one who has not lost the
child's heart."
Consequently there was a certain high idealism in Mencius when he
spoke of the "expansive spirit" in us, which he beautifully pinned
down in a phrase, "the air of the early dawn," which every early
riser is familiar with. How to save and keep that air, or spirit, of
the early dawn through the day, or how to guard the warm and good
heart of the child through our life is the moral problem.
# Motse: The Religious Teacher
TEXT Mozi, wikipedia
## Introduction
Among all Chinese philosophers, [Motse] comes closest to the
Christian teachings, for he alone taught universal love as the basis
of society and of peace, showed that Heaven loved the people equally,
and insisted on the belief in the existence of the spirits. ... the
broad-minded should be pleased that what is true can be independently
discovered by the human mind. What should really discourage
[missionaries] is that the Chinese as a nation have rejected this
doctrine after its reaching an enormous influence. [Ever so with
prophets.]
Mencius referred to him as one who "would wear [out] his head and his
heels to benefit the world." He taught and praised altruism,
frugality, and the hard life. Chuangtse said that his followers
"wore coarse garments and walked in sandals, and day and night
without cease lived the hard life as their goal."
The important thing is that both fascism and the doctrine of
universal love collapsed in China and have never been tried again.
Only in this light can we truly appreciate Confucianism.
## Motse
[The way of universal love and mutual aid] is to regard the state of
others as one's own, the house of others as one's own, the persons of
others as one's self.
But the gentlemen of the world would say: "So far so good. It is of
course very excellent when love becomes universal. But it is only a
difficult and distant ideal."
This is simply because [they] do not recognize what is to the benefit
of the world, or understand what is its calamity. Now, to besiege a
city, to fight in the fields, or to achieve a name at the cost of
death--these are what men [and women] find difficult. Yet when the
superior encourages them, the multitude can do them. Besides,
universal love and mutual aid is quite different from these. Whoever
loves is loved by others; whoever benefits others is benefited by
others; whoever hates others is hated by others; whoever injures
others is injured by others. Then, what difficulty is there with it
(universal love)?
# The Aphorisms of Confucius
## Introduction
One of the most curious facts of world history is that three of the
world's greatest and most influential thinkers were born within two
decades of each other. Laotse was probably born in B.C. 570, Buddha
in 563, and Confucius in 551.
Among Chinese scholars, Confucianism is known as the "religion of
li," the nearest translation for which would be "religion of moral
order."
Anyway, Confucius said of himself "I transmit and do not create."
From Motse, we learn that half a century after Confucius died, the
Confucian scholars wore a special cap and "talked an ancient
language."
This [Confucian Golden Mean] is the same as the Aristotelian Golden
Mean, a rather sad discovery for ardent students of moral conduct.
It is the discovery that the gentleman can do nothing exciting or out
of the way to distinguish himself except by his indistinguishability
from other gentlemen.
Confucius taught four things:
* literature
* personal conduct
* being one's true self
* honesty in social relationships
Confucius denounced or tried to avoid four things:
* arbitrariness of opinion
* dogmatism
* narrow-mindedness
* egoism
Confucius said, "Wake yourself up with poetry, establish your
character in li, and complete your education in music."
Confucius said, "It is the man [or woman] that makes the truth great,
and not the truth that makes man [or woman] great."
Tsekung asked "Is there one single word that can serve as a principle
of conduct for life?" Confucius replied, "Perhaps the word
'reciprocity' (shu) will do. Do not do unto others what you do not
want others to do unto you."
Confucius said, "Humility is near to moral discipline (or li);
simplicity of character is near to true [humanity]; and loyalty is
near to sincerity of heart. If a [person] will carefully cultivate
these things in [one's] conduct, one may still error a little, but...
won't be far from the standard of true [humanity]. For with humility
or a pious attitude, [one] seldom commits errors; with simplicity of
heart, [one] is generally reliable; and with simplicity of character,
[one] is usually generous. You seldom make a mistake when you start
off from these points."
# The Golden Mean of Tsesze
TEXT Zisi, wikipedia
When the passions, such as joy, anger, grief, and pleasure have not
awakened, that is our CENTRAL self, or moral being (chung). When
these passions awaken and each and all attain due measure and degree,
that is HARMONY, or moral order (ho).
Truth means the fulfillment of our self; and moral law means
following the law of our being. Truth is the substance of material
existence. Without truth there is no material existence.
The fulfillment of our being is moral sense. The fulfillment of the
nature of things outside of us is intellect. These, moral sense and
intellect, are the powers or faculties of our being. They combine
the inner or subjective and the outer or objective use of the mind.
Therefore, with truth, everything is done right.
Thus absolute truth is indestructible. Being indestructible, it is
eternal. Being eternal, it is self-existent. Being self-existent,
it is infinite. Being infinite, it is vast and deep. Being vast and
deep, it is transcendental and intelligent. It is because it is vast
and deep that it contains all existence. It is because it is
transcendental and intelligent that it embraces all existence. It is
because it is infinite and eternal that it fulfills or perfects all
existence. In vastness and depth it is like the Earth. In
transcendental intelligence it is like Heaven. Infinite and eternal,
it is the Infinite itself.
Such being the nature of absolute truth, it manifests itself without
being seen; it produces effects without motion; it accomplishes its
ends without action.
# Chinese Poetry
-----
I cannot come to you. I am afraid.
I will not come to you. These, I have said.
Though all the night I lie awake and know
That you are lying, waking, even so.
Though day by day you take the lonely road,
And come at nightfall to a dark abode.
Yet if so be you are indeed my friend,
Then in the end,
There is one road, a road I've never gone,
And down that road you shall not pass alone.
And there's one night you'll find me by your side.
The night that they tell me you have died.
-----
I would have gone to my lord in his need,
Have galloped there all the way,
But this is a matter concerns the State,
And I, being a woman, must stay.
I watched them leaving the palace yard,
In carriage and robe of state.
I would have gone by the hills and the fields,
I know they will come too late.
I may walk in the garden and gather
Lilies of mother-of-pearl.
I had a plan that would have saved the State.
--But mine are the thoughts of a girl.
The Elder Statesmen sit on the mats,
And wrangle through half the day;
A hundred plans they have drafted and dropped,
And mine was the only way.
-----
A Message to Mêng Hao-Jan
Master, I hail you from my heart,
And your fame arisen to the skies...
Renouncing in ruddy youth the importance of hat and chariot,
You chose pine-trees and clouds; and now, white-haired,
Drunk with the moon, a sage of dreams,
Flower-bewitched, you are deaf to the Emperor...
High mountain, how I long to reach you,
Breathing your sweetness even here!
# Six Chapters of a Floating Life
## Introduction
... in this simple story of two guileless creatures in their search
for beauty, living a life of poverty and privations, decidedly
outwitted by life and their cleverer fellowmen, yet determined to
snatch every moment of happiness and always fearful of the jealousy
of the gods, I seem to see the essence of a Chinese way of life as
really lived by two persons who happened to be husband and wife. Two
ordinary artistic persons who did not accomplish anything
particularly noteworthy in this world, but merely loved the beautiful
things in life, lived their quiet life with some good friends after
their own heart--ostensibly failures, and happy in their failure.
They were too good to be successful, for they were retiring,
cultivated souls... Was it morally wrong for a woman to disguise
herself as a man or to take a passionate interest in a beautiful
sing-song girl? If so, she could not have been conscious of it. She
merely yearned to see and know the beautiful things in life,
beautiful things which lay not within the reach of moral women in
ancient China to see...
## Chapter 1, Wedded Bliss
I was born in 1763... on the twenty-second day of November. The
country was then in the heyday of peace and, moreover, I was born in
a scholars' family... So altogether I may say that the gods have been
unusually kind to me.
I am by nature unconventional and straightforward, but Yün was a
stickler for forms, like the Confucian schoolmasters. Whenever I put
on a dress for her or tidied up her sleeves, she would say "So much
obliged" again and again, and when I passed her a towel or a fan, she
must receive it standing up.
On the seventh night of the seventh moon of that year [1780], Yün
prepared incense, candles, and some melons and fruits, so that we
might together worship the Grandson of Heaven... The seventh day of
the seventh moon is the only day in the year when the pair of
heavenly lovers, the Cowherd ("grandson of heaven") and the Spinning
Maiden are allowed to meet each other across the Milky Way.
"If you are in love with a thing, you will forget its ugliness," said
Yün.
... Yün said: "A woman is an incarnation of the feminine principle,
and so are pearls. For a woman to wear pearls would be to leave no
room for the male principle. For that reason I don't prize them."
## Chapter 2, The Little Pleasures of Life
To burn incense in a quiet room is one of the cultivated pleasures of
a leisurely life. Yün used to burn aloes-wood and shuhsiang [a kind
of fragrant wood from Cambodia.] She used to steam the wood first in
a cauldron thoroughly, and then place it on a copper wire net over a
stove, about half an inch from the fire. Under the action of the
slow fire, the wood would give out a kind of subtle fragrance without
any visible smoke.
My friends knew that I was poor, and often helped pay the expenses in
order that we might get together and talk for the whole day. I was
very keen on keeping the place spotlessly clean, and was besides,
fond of free and easy ways with my friends.
The whole day long, we were occupied in discussing poetry or painting
only. These friends came and went as they pleased, like swallows
beneath the eaves. Yün would take off her hair-pin and sell it for
wine without a second's thought, for she would not let a beautiful
day pass without company. To-day these friends are scattered to the
four corners of the earth like clouds dispersed by a storm, and the
woman I loved is dead, like broken jade and buried incense. How sad
indeed to look back upon these things!
Among the friends at Hsiaoshuanglou, four things were tabooed:
firstly, talking about people's official promotions; secondly,
gossiping about lawsuits and current affairs; thirdly, discussing the
conventional eight-legged essays for the imperial exams; and
fourthly, playing cards and dice. Whoever broke any of these rules
was penalized to provide five catties of wine. On the other hand,
there were four things which we all approved: generosity, romantic
charm, free and easy ways, and quietness.
There are two places in Soochow called the South Garden and the North
Garden. We would go there when the rape flowers were in bloom, but
there was no wine shop near by where we could have a drink. If we
brought eatables along in a basket, there was little fun drinking
cold wine in the company of the flowers. Some proposed that we
should look for something to drink in the neighborhood, and others
suggested that we should look at the flowers first and then come back
for a drink, but this was never quite the ideal thing, which should
be to drink warm wine in the presence of flowers. While no one could
make any satisfactory suggestion, Yün smiled and said, "Tomorrow you
people provide the money and I'll carry a stove to the place myself."
"Very well," they all said. When my friends had left, I asked Yün
how she was going to do it. "I am not going to carry it myself," she
said. "I have seen wonton sellers in the streets who carry along a
stove and a pan and everything we need. We could just ask one of
these fellows to go along with us. I'll prepare the dishes first,
and when we arrive, all we need is just to heat them up, and we will
have everything ready including tea and wine."
"But what about the kettle for boiling tea?"
"We could carry along an earthen pot," she said, "remove the wonton
seller's pan and suspend the pot over the fire by a spike. This will
then serve us as a kettle for boiling water, won't it?"
I clapped my hands in applause. There was a wonton seller by the
name of Pao, whom we asked to go along with us the following
afternoon, agreeing to pay him a hundred cash, to which Pao agreed.
The following day my friends, who were going to see the flowers,
arrived. I told them about the arrangements, and they were all
amused at Yün's ingenious idea. We started off after lunch,
bringing along with us some straw mats and cushions. When we had
arrived at the South Garden, we chose a place under the shade of
willow trees, and sat together on the ground. First we boiled some
tea, and after drinking it, we warmed up the wine and prepared
dishes. The sun was beautiful and the breeze was gentle, while the
yellow rape flowers in the field looked like a stretch of gold, with
people in blue gowns and red sleeves passing by the rice fields and
butterflies flitting to and fro--a sight which could make one drunk
without any liquor. Very soon the wine and dishes were ready and we
sat together on the ground drinking and eating. The wonton seller
was quite a likable person and we asked him to join us. People who
saw us thus enjoying ourselves thought it quite a novel idea. Then
the cups, bowls, and dishes lay about in great disorder on the ground
while we were already slightly drunk, some sitting and some lying
down, and some singing or shouting. When the sun was going down, I
wanted to eat congee, and the wonton seller bought some rice and
cooked it for us. We then came back with a full belly.
"Did you enjoy it today?" asked Yün.
"We could not have enjoyed it so much, had it not been for Madame!"
all of us exclaimed. Then merrily we parted.
## Chapter 3, Sorrow
My wife and I often had to pawn things when we were in need of money,
and while at first we managed to make both ends meet, gradually our
purse became thinner and thinner.
[Yün became ill and bed-ridden.] Yün had given birth to a
daughter, named Ch'ingchün, who was then fourteen years old. We
also had a son named Fengsen, who was then twelve... I was out of a
job for many years, and had set up a shop for selling books and
paintings in my own home. The income of the shop for three days was
hardly sufficient to meet one day's expenses, and I was hard pressed
for money and worried all the time. For this reason, Yün swore that
she would never see any doctor or take any medicine.
"... The illness is now deep in my system and no doctor will be of
any avail, and you may just as well spare yourself the expense. As I
look back upon the twenty-three years of our married life, I know
that you have loved me and been most considerate to me, in spite of
all my faults. I am happy to die with a husband and understanding
friend like you and I have no regrets. Yes, I have been as happy as
a fairy at times, with my warm cotton clothing and frugal but full
meals and the happy home we had."
Then Yün held my hand and was going to say something again, but she
could only mumble the words "Next incarnation!" half audibly again
and again. Suddenly she began to feel short of breath, her chin was
set, her eyes stood wide open, and however I called her name, she
could not utter a single word. Two lines of tears began to roll down
her face. After a while, her breath became weaker and her tears
gradually dried up and her spirit departed from this life for ever.
This was on the thirteenth of the third moon, 1803. A solitary lamp
was shining then in the room, and a sense of utter forlornness
overcame me. In my heart opened a wound that shall be healed
nevermore!
After Yün's death, I thought of the poet Lin Haching who "took the
plum-trees for his wives and a stork for his son," and I called
myself "Meiyi," meaning "one bereaved of the plum-tree."
I then said good-bye to my mother and went to tell Ch'ingchün that I
was going to a mountain to become a Taoist monk.
## Chapter 4, The Joys of Travel
I am by nature fond of forming my own opinions without regard to what
others say. For instance, in my criticism of painting and poetry, I
would value highly certain things that others look down upon, and
think nothing of what others prize very highly. So it is also with
natural scenery, whose true appreciation must come from one's own
heart or not at all.
[Chapters 5 and 6 are missing]
# Family Letters of a Chinese Poet
What I hate the most is to have caged birds; we enjoy them while they
are shut up in prison. What justification is there that we are
entitled to thwart the instincts of animals to please our own nature?
God also loves them dearly in his heart, and we who are supposed to
be the crown of all creation cannot even sympathize with God's heart.
How then is the animal world going to have a place of refuge?
... I always love birds, but there is a proper way of doing it. One
who loves birds should plant trees, so that the house shall be
surrounded with hundreds of shady branches and be a country and a
home for birds. ... How shall the keeping of a bird in a cage... be
compared with it in generosity of spirit and kindness?
# The Epigrams of Lusin
TEXT Lu Xun, wikipedia
People hate Buddhist monks and nuns, Mohammedans, and Christians, but
no one hates a Taoist. To understand the reason for this is to
understand half of China.
Both talking and writing are the signs of those who have failed.
Those who are engaged in fighting the evil forces have no time for
these, and those who are successful keep quiet.
# One Hundred Proverbs
All the universe is an inn; search not specially for a retreat of
peace: all the people are your relatives; expect therefore troubles
from them.
Keep your mind busy to accomplish things; keep your mind open to
understand things.
Of the things that are good, only study is good without accompanying
evil; the love of mountains and rivers is good without accompanying
evil; taking pleasure in the moon, the breeze, flowers, and bamboos
is good without accompanying evil; sitting in upright posture in
silence is good without accompanying evil.
The sun and moon shoot past like a bullet in our floating life; only
sleep affords a little extension of our span of life. ... As for
seeing novel things in our sleep--traveling abroad and being able to
walk without legs and fly without wings--it provides us with a little
fairyland.
author: Lin, Yutang, 1895-1976
TEXT detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Lin_Yutang
LOC: PK2978.E5 L5
HTML source: https://archive.org/details/wisdomofchinaand035380mbp
tags: ebook,spirit
title: Wisdom of China and India
# Tags
DIR ebook
DIR spirit