‘I first performed the music which would induce awe, and because of this awe, fear arose like some spectre. Next I came up with weariness and this weariness brought on compliance in you. I ended with confusion and this made you feel stupid. But this stupidity reveals the Tao, the Tao that can be carried with you, wherever you are.’
Confucius was travelling in the west, in Wei State. Yen Yuan asked musician Chin, ‘What do you think of the way my Master proceeds?’
Musician Chin replied, ‘It’s a shame! It seems likely to end in problems!’
‘Why’s that?’ said Yen Yuan.
‘The straw dogs,57 before they are set out for the sacrifice, are kept in a basket which is covered by a beautifully designed embroidery. Meanwhile, the representatives of the dead and the official in charge of the rituals pray and prepare themselves to fetch the straw dogs. However, once they have been presented, they are just trampled on, head and back, by those around. The left-over bits are swept up and burnt by the grass-cutters. That’s all they’re worth by then. If anyone takes them and puts them back in their baskets, covers them again with the embroidery and then hangs around or even lies down beside them to sleep, he will either have fearful dreams or, more likely, constant nightmares.
‘Now your Master seems to have picked up some straw dogs originating from previous kings and has summoned his followers to lie down and sleep beneath them. The result was that the tree was chopped down in Sung; he was forced out of Wei; he got into considerable problems in Shang and Chou. Aren’t these events like bad dreams? He was besieged in Chen and Tsai, and for seven days he had no cooked food, leaving him suspended between death and life. Aren’t these events like nightmares?
‘If you’re travelling by water, using a boat is a good idea: if you’re travelling by land, try using a carriage. The boat is fine for travelling by water, but if you try and drag it across the land, you can try for a whole lifetime but it is unlikely to go very far. Are not the past and the present like water and land? Are not the states of Chou and Lu like the boat and carriage? To try nowadays to behave in Lu as if you were in Chou is like trying to drag the boat across the land: a great deal of effort for no return, and harmful to one’s self as well. Anyone who tries to do so does not understand that the efforts and the works of one age cannot, without great contortions, be made to fit another age.
‘Have you never seen a well-pump in action? Pull it up, down it goes, let go and up it comes. So, people pull it, it is not the pump that is pulling the people. Thus, whether it rises or falls, the well-pump itself cannot be blamed by people. Therefore, it is the same with the rituals and prescriptions of the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors,58 who gained their reputation not from being the same, but through their ability to govern. As a result we can compare the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors to haws, pears, oranges and lemons. Their taste is quite distinct but all can enjoyably be eaten.
‘So it is with rituals and prescriptions – they change according to the age. Now, take a monkey and dress it up to look like the Duke of Chou and the poor monkey will struggle and bite until he has got rid of the clothes. Look carefully and you will see that the past and present are like the monkey and the Duke of Chou. Take the case of Hsi Shih, the famous beauty, whose heart was troubled and so she often frowned on those around her. An ugly woman of the area saw the beauty of Hsi Shih, went home, lamented, and frowned on those around her. As soon as they saw her, the wealthy people in the area slammed their gates shut and refused to venture out! When the poor people saw her, they rushed to gather up their women and children and fled! This poor woman knew that a frown could be beautiful but she did not know why a frown could be beautiful. Poor soul!
‘It’s all up for your Master!’
Confucius had pottered along for fifty-one years and had never heard anyone speak of the Tao until he went south to Pei and went to see Lao Tzu.
Lao Tzu said, ‘So you’ve come then, Sir? I have heard of you, that you are the wise man of the north. Have you, Sir, followed the Tao?’
‘I have not yet followed it,’ replied Confucius.
‘Well, Sir, where have you looked?’
‘I looked for it in what can be measured and regulated, but even after five years I still haven’t been able to find it.’
‘So, Sir, what did you do then?’ asked Lao Tzu.
‘I looked for it in yin and yang, but ten, twelve years went by and I still couldn’t find it.’
‘Obviously!’ said Lao Tzu. ‘If the Tao could be served up, everyone would serve it up to their lords. If the Tao could be offered, there is no one who would not offer it to their parents. If the Tao could be spoken of, there is no one who would not speak of it to their brothers and sisters. If the Tao could be passed on, there is no one who would not pass it on to their heirs. However, it obviously cannot be so and the reason is as follows.
‘If there is no true centre within to receive it,
it cannot
