TAOISM 文化阅读.docx

TAOISM 文化阅读.docx

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TAOISM文化阅读

TAOISM

Chinaispopularlysupposedtohavethreereligions,—Confucianism,Buddhism,andTaoism.

Thefirstisnot,andneverhasbeen,areligion,beingnothingmorethanasystemofsocialandpoliticalmorality;thesecondisindeedareligion,butanalienreligion;onlythelast,andtheleastknown,isofnativegrowth.

TheChinesethemselvesgetovertheverbaldifficultybycallingthesetheThreeDoctrines.

Therehavebeen,atvariousepochs,otherreligionsinChina,andsomestillremain;theabove,however,istheclassificationcommonlyinuse,allotherreligionshavingbeenregardeduptorecenttimesasdevoidofspiritualimportance.

MahommedanismappearedinChinain628A.D.,andistheretothisday,havingmorethanoncethreatenedthestabilityoftheEmpire.

In631theNestorianChristiansarrived,tobecomelateronaflourishingsect,thoughalltraceofthem,beyondtheirfamousTablet,haslongsincevanished.

IthasalsobeenestablishedinrecentyearsthattheZoroastrians,andsubsequentlytheManichaeans,wereinChinaintheseearlycenturies,butnothingnowremainsofthemexceptthename,aspeciallyinventedcharacter,whichwasequallyappliedtoboth.

InthetwelfthcenturytheJewshadasynagogueatK’ai-fengFu,inCentralChina,butitisnotabsolutelycertainwhentheyfirstreachedthecountry. Somesay,immediatelyaftertheCaptivity;othersputitmuchlater. In1850severalHebrewrollsofpartsofthePentateuch,inthesquarecharacter,withvowel-points,wereobtainedfromtheabovecity. TherewerethennoprofessingJewstobefound,butinrecentyearsamovementhasbeensetonfoottorevivetheoldfaith.

RomanCatholicismmaybesaidtohaveexistedinChinasincethecloseofthesixteenthcentury,thoughtherewasactuallyanArchbishopofPeking,JeandeMontecorvino,whodiedtherein1330.

InthelastyearoftheeighteenthcenturythefirstProtestantmissionaryarrived. ThefirstAmericanmissionariesfollowedin1830. TheyfoundChina,asitisnow,nominallyundertheswayoftheThreeDoctrines.

SomuchhasbeenwrittenonConfucianism,andsomuchmoreonBuddhism,thatIproposetoconfinemyselfentirelytoTaoism,whichseemstohaveattractedtoolittletheattentionofthegeneralpublic. Infact,aquiterecentwork,whichprofessestodealamongotherthingswiththehistoryofChina,omitsalldiscussionofthisparticularreligion.

TaoismisthereligionofTao;astowhatTaois,orwhatitmeans,wearetolduponthehighestauthoritythatitisquiteimpossibletosay. Thisdoesnotseemaveryhopefulbeginning;but

  “eventheweariestriver

   Windssomewheresafetosea,”

andIshallthereforemakeanefforttosetbeforeyouaclue,which,Itrust,willleadtowardatanyrateapartialelucidationofthemystery.

Atsomeunknownperiodinremoteantiquity,thereappearstohavelivedaphilosopher,knowntoposterityasLaoTzu,whotaughtmen,amongotherthings,toreturngoodforevil. Hisparentage,birth,andlifehavebeenoverloadedinthecourseofcenturieswithlegend. Finally,heissaidtohaveforeseenanationalcataclysm,andtohavedisappearedintotheWest,leavingbehindhimabook,nowcalledtheTao-Te-Ching,which,formanyreasons,hecouldnotpossiblyhavewritten.

ThelittlewereallyknowofLaoTzuisgatheredfromtraditionalutterancesofhis,scatteredhereandthereintheworksoflaterdisciplesofhisschool. Manyofthesesayings,thoughbynomeansallofthem,withmuchothermatterofatotallydifferentcharacter,havebeenbroughttogetherintheformofatreatise,andtheheterogeneouswholehasbeenascribedtoLaoTzuhimself.

BeforeproceedingwithourexaminationofTao,itisdesirabletoshowwhythisworkmaysafelyberegardedasaforgeryofalaterage.

Attemptshavebeenmade,bythesimpleprocessofinterpolationinclassicaltexts,toprovethatLaoTzulivedinthesamecenturyasthatinwhichConfuciuswasborn;andalsothat,whentheformerwasaveryoldman,thetwosagesmet;andfurtherthattheinterviewsendedverymuchtotheastonishmentofConfucius. Allthis,however,hasbeensetasidebythebestnativescholarshipeverproducedinChina,astheworkoflaterhands.

Further,therewasanotherphilosopherofthesamename,whoreallywascontemporarywithConfucius,anditisheldbymanyChinesecriticsthatthetwohavebeenconfused,perhapswithmaliceaforethought.

WecanonlysayforcertainthatafterLaoTzucameConfucius—atwhatintervalwedonotknow. Now,inalltheworksofConfucius,whetheraswriteroraseditor,andthroughoutallhisposthumouslypublishedDiscourses,thereisnotasinglewordofallusioneithertoLaoTzuortothistreatise. Theallegedinterviewshavebeenleftaltogetherunnoticed.

OnehundredyearsafterConfuciuscameMencius,China’ssecondsage. Inallhispagesofpoliticaladvicetofeudalnobles,andallhisconversationswithhisdisciples,muchmorevoluminousthantheDiscoursesofConfucius,thereisequallynoallusiontoLaoTzu,nortothetreatise.

IthasbeenpointedoutbyaneminentChinesecriticofthefifteenthandsixteenthcenturies,thatMenciusspenthislifechieflyinattackingthevariousheterodoxsystemswhichthenprevailed,suchastheextremealtruisticsystemofMoTiandtheextremeegoisticsystemofYangChu;anditisurged—inmyopinionwithoverwhelmingforce—thatiftheTao-Te-ChinghadexistedinthedaysofMencius,itmustnecessarilyhavebeenrecognisedandtreatedasamischievouswork,likelytoalienatemen’smindsfromtheoneperfectandorthodoxteaching—Confucianism.

ChuangTzu,aphilosopherofthefourthcenturyB.C.,devotedhimselftoelucidatingandilluminatingtheteachingofLaoTzu. Hiswork,whichhassurvivedtothepresentday,willshortlyoccupyourattention. ForthemomentitisonlynecessarytosaythatitcontainsmanyoftheMaster’straditionalsayings,butneveroncementionsatreatise.

InthethirdcenturyB.C.therelivedanotherfamousTaoistwriter,HanFeiTzu,whodevotesthebestpartoftwowholesectionsofhisworktoexplainingandillustratingthesayingsofLaoTzu. Yethenevermentionsthetreatise. HedealswithmanysayingsofLaoTzunowtobefoundinthetreatise,buthedoesnottakethemintheorderinwhichtheynowstand,andheintroducesseveralotherswhichdonotoccuratallinthetreatise,havingapparentlybeenoverlookedbythecompiler.

InthesecondcenturyB.C.therelivedanotherfamousTaoistwriter,Huai-nanTzu,whodevotesalongchaptertoillustratingthedoctrinesofLaoTzu. Henevermentionsabook.

OnehundredyearsB.C.comesthehistorianSsu-maCh’ien,whosebrilliantwork,thefirstoftheDynasticHistories,Ihavealreadyhadoccasiontobringtoyournotice. InhisbriefmemoirofLaoTzu,hedoesmentionabookinfivethousandandmorecharacters;buthementionsitinsuchawayastomakeitclearbeyondalldoubtthathehimselfcouldneverhaveseenit;andmoreover,inadditiontothefactthatnodateisgiven,eitherofthebirthordeathofLaoTzu,theaccountissotingedwiththesupernaturalastoraiseastrongsuspicionthatsomepartofitdidnotreallycomefromthepenofthegreathistorian.

AbouttwohundredyearslaterappearedthefirstChinesedictionary,alreadyalludedtoinapreviouslecture. Thisworkwasintendedasacollectionofallthewrittencharactersknownatdateofpublication;andwecanwellimaginethat,withLaoTzu’sshorttreatisebeforehim,therewouldbenodifficultyinincludingallthewordsfoundtherein. Such,however,isnotthecase. Therearemanycharactersinthetreatisewhicharenottobefoundinthedictionary,andinoneparticularinstancetheomissionisveryremarkable.

Muchotherinternalevidenceagainstthegenuinenessofthisworkmightherebeadduced. Iwillcontentmyselfwithasingle,andaludicrous,item,whichshowshowcarelesslyitwaspiecedtogether.

SentencesoccurintheTao-Te-Chingwhichpositivelycontain,inadditiontosomeactualwordsbyLaoTzu,wordsfromacommentator’sexplanation,whichhavebeenmistakenbytheforgerforapartofLaoTzu’sownutterance.

AddtothisthestrikingfactthatthegreatmassofChinesecriticalscholarshipisentirelyadversetotheclaimsputforwardonbehalfofthetreatise,—amanwhobelievesinitasthegenuineworkofLaoTzubeinggenerallyregardedamongeducatedChineseasanamiablecrank,muchasmanypeoplenowregardanyonewhocreditstheplaysofShakespearetoLordBacon,—andIthinkwemaysafelydismissthequestionwithoutfurtherado.

ItwillbemoreinterestingtoturntoanysayingsofLaoTzuwhichwecanconfidentlyregardasgenuine;andthosearesuchasoccurinthewritingsofsomeofthephilosophersabove-mentioned,fromwhichtheywereevidentlycollectedbyapiousimpostor,and,withtheaidofunmistakablepadding,werewovenintothetreatise,ofwhichwemaynowtakealongleave.

LaoTzuimaginedtheuniversetobeinformedbyanomnipresent,omnipotentPrinciple,whichhecalledTao. NowthiswordTaomeansprimarily“aroad,”“away”;andLaoTzu’sPrinciplemaythereforebeconvenientlytranslatedby“theWay.”

Fearing,however,someconfusionfromtheuseofthisterm,thephilosopherwascarefultoexplainthat“thewaywhichcanbewalkeduponisnottheeternalWay.” ButhenevertellsusdefinitelywhattheWayis. Inoneplacehesaysitcannotfindexpressioninwords;inanotherhesays,“Thosewhoknowdonottell;thosewhotelldonotknow.”

Thelattersayingwasusedbyafamouspoetasaweaponofridiculeagainstthetreatise. “Ifthosewhoknow,”heargued,“donottell,howcomesitthatLaoTzuputhisownknowledge