 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to find out how you can volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure Translated from the Chinese by Professor Anton Fork From The Book of Li Zhu The Yang Chu Chapter Book 7 With an Introduction by Hugh Cranmer Bien Introduction The period of the warring states of the western Chinese empire, 480 to 230 BC, embraces practically almost all of the philosophies of China, and is curiously coincident with the rise of philosophy in Greece under somewhat similar conditions. Through the capital of Liang and the state of We, came all the philosophers, just as they came to Athens. Here came Mencius, perhaps one of the greatest exponents of Confucianism, a veritable Saint Paul of the Confucian movement, and the chief opponent of Yang Chu. Here came Choying Zhu, most subtle among the Taoist Sophists. Li Qie, the great statesman and lawgiver, Hisan Zhu, the philosopher of the doctrine of original evil, Yuan Zhu, the able follower of Lao Zhu, and Mo Ti, the apostle of brotherly love, whose name is frequently bracketed with Yang Chu and condemnation by Mencius. seldom at any capital in the world attracted so many profound, original, and subtle thinkers as the capital of the state of We, and the third and second centuries before Christ. The spread of Christianity in Eastern Europe and Confucianism in China, ultimately destroyed or diverted the philosophic spirit, substituting religious dogma and rights for philosophic inquiry and reason, and for centuries the philosophies lay buried or perished altogether in the great burning of books in 213 BC, or passed, like Taoism, into the realms of rights and worship, or were preserved only in fragmentary form, like the single chapter of the philosophy of Yang Chu, that remains embedded in the Taoist teachings of Li Su. But in the third and fourth centuries BC, the golden period of Chinese philosophy, the minds of men were turned to the critical examination of life. Philosophers rose, boldly exploring the motives and mysteries of existence, gathered around them disciples, and went from court to court, gaining fresh adherence, and disputing with rival teachers on the most diverse and subtle of subjects. At the court of Liang, in the period of Yang Chu, about 300 BC, the philosophers were treated as guests of the reigning king, who reserved for them lodging in maintenance, and encouraged all who had any pretense to the pursuit of truth and wisdom. Whether or not Yang Chu was actually a native of the Wei State, or whether he came there drawn by the attraction of a critical and unrivaled audience, it is at least certain that he settled there as a small proprietor. He was probably in the reign of King Hui, and continued there till his death, about 250 BC. One may imagine a condition of life, in many respects, somewhat analogous to the life of Epicurus in his famous Athenian garden. To the philosopher of pleasure and contentment came pupils and disciples. Discourses were held in much the same way, as at an identical period, discourses were held in the garden at Athens, and it is to these discourses, memorized and recorded by his favorite pupil, Meng Siu Yang, that we probably owe the single fragment of the teaching of Yang Chu that remains a fragment complete and explicit enough to enable us to form a clear estimate of his teaching and philosophy. Of his personal life, a little is to be gathered from chapter 14, where in an amusing interview with the King of Liang, the philosopher states the simple truth that what is possible and easy to summon is difficult and impossible of attainment to others, and that there is no more real merit in ruling a kingdom well than in guiding a flock of sheep. From this chapter we learn that he lived the customary life of the Chinese gentleman of his day, a wife, a concubine, and a gardener mentioned, and in surroundings quite simple and unpretentious he found, one may imagine, something of pleasure and contentment of his philosophic ideal. From the few authentic anecdotes contained partly in the book of Chang Zhu and Li Zhu, one may gain, but a little more, that he had a brother called Yang Pu, the hero of the delightful story of the dog who failed to recognize his master, and that, like other philosophers of the period, he traveled frequently through other states, taking with him a few chosen disciples, putting up at wayside ends, expounding his philosophy in strange courts, or commenting wittily on the passing adventures of the journey. These few facts present to us life in no way differing from the lives of the majority of the philosophers of his time, both in Greece and China. They tell us little, but they tell us sufficient. They disclose a personality at once profound, even cynical, witty, and singularly clear-sighted, that his philosophy failed to find permit foothold is hardly to be wondered at. His ideas were too daring, too subversive of the accepted order of things to attract the massive people who came, no doubt, to listen to the suave and witty philosopher of happiness and the cult of senses, but returned, one may imagine, with a satisfied readiness to their rights of ancestor worship or the cultivation of their Taoist superstitions. His philosophy had no place for rights. It denied a ruling spirit. It was anti-ideistic. It could disclose no signs and marvels. To the seekers after the Taoist secret of passing invisibly through the air, he offered nothing but the most material and mundane views. To the seekers for guidance, he offered happiness in its most simple form and that at the expense of vulgar self-assertion and self-glorification, his adherents could never have numbered more than a few. Dr. Fork in his extremely interesting introduction to the seventh chapter of Li Ziu, which contains all that remains of the teaching of Yang Chu, compares his philosophy to a study in Scarlet on Black, the Scarlet symbolic of the joy of life, the black of his unyielding pessimism. And at first sight, the comparison is so apt that one is inclined to accept it. One feels curious, almost mephitic, profundity of the sage that stirred the wrath of his Christian commentators almost to the bounds of unseemliness, his bland indifference to virtue, civic and personal, his insistence on life as the only means of separate and individual expression, his negation of self-sacrifice and his contempt of the good, the excellent and the successful, produce at first in the western mind the sense of a moral atmosphere dark and sinister as the cloud from which emerges the evil genie of the East. His teaching is quite detestable, says Dr. Lege, and elsewhere refers to him as the least erected spirit who ever professed to reason concerning the duties of life and man. Balfour, in his Oriental Studies, speaks of the irreproachable Wang Cheng, who is made to utter the most atrocious doctrines, and it is doubtful if anybody who has a preconceived or inherited basis of morality or dogma will cease to agree with the two pinions quoted above. For them, the tower of philosophy from once through many windows strangely tinted opaque or clear, the philosopher's view of the world as a small thing viewed with interest and careful detachment must ever seem something a little aloof, a little repellent. About all philosophy there lingers the haunting sense of the coldness, the dissipation of the philosopher. Marcus Aurelius will always, to most men, seem a little less than perfectly human. Socrates a little more than the perfect doctor in air. The world will always turn for guidance to the idealists like Christ and Buddha rather than to the philosophers like Epictetus and Canada. The Garden of Epicurus has faded from the minds of men. The Garden of Jessamine will forever remain like a picture engraved deeply into their hearts. Unlike the poet, the philosopher has no country, and seldom is this so clearly to be seen as in the fragment of Yang Chiu that contains the essence of his philosophy. Elaborated and subtylized, it forms the basis for the Epicurian philosophy in Greece in the calm summit of its indifference. It attains to the ultimate perfection of the ego realized many centuries later by Max Stirner and is akin in some respects to the Charvaka philosophy in India while lacking the harsh note of combative skepticism which leaves the Indian doctrine less a philosophy than a rebellion and thought. Both philosophies press upon men the importance of happiness during life but while to Yang Chiu the study and cultivation of the senses are all. Piras Pati is content to leave the expression of pleasure in a formula at once singularly empty and tinged with the indifference and cynicism of one to whom the subject is really of little moment while life remains let a man live happily let him feed on G though he runs in debt. When once the body becomes ashes how can it ever return again? The larger view of the Chinese philosopher in reality transcends the philosophy of Piras Pati by that quality of attention to an intense feeling for life which in some respects bring him closer to Epicurus his truer Western prototype though he accepts no basis of semi-moral self-interest for life postulates no far-living philosophic deities and gives to a man the solitary satisfaction of his senses and that only for the brief space of his lifetime. It is here that Dr. Fork traces the underlying pessimism of the sage the blackness against which are silhouetted the scarlet pleasures of life but this black pessimism is not real it appears only an illustration of the folly of the desire for fame or of the various means whereby a man closes himself the gateways of happiness it is no part of his philosophy rather it is the antithesis that he dwells upon the shortness of life that he upholds no promise of an afterlife that he depreciates the retarding influence of virtues whereby their practice the full sense of life is dulled and warped does not establish or even condone any pessimistic outlook on life on the contrary a full judgment of life a clear sense of the futility of much that has been accepted as praiseworthy would preclude any philosopher who has once accepted the individual standpoint as the primary and important standpoint from developing a pessimism which would absolutely nullify his philosophy the keynote of this philosophy is disregard of life disregard of death those things exist and are to be accepted from them are to be taken what to each one is good only strife, insatiability, greed, anxiety false striving for virtue or fame are to be avoided as unnecessary and disturbing the primary and the only gift of man is his individuality that is all that he inherits and with him it perishes it is for him to preserve this single gift to the ultimate moment neither striving to exceed nor to renounce all those things that have ministered to this development of individuality are good and all those things that have warped or retarded it are bad whether they be virtue, the desire for fame, for power for regulating the affairs of others or the regulation of one's own conduct and conformity with the views of others by these things the lives of men are dominated and rendered unhappy their life is passed in a state of fever their personalities are warped or destroyed or rendered miserable they pursue chimeras neglecting the happiness that lies at their very feet fainting they fall and perish and are forgotten the clear light of many days brings to them no pleasure the very word pleasure has lost its meaning for them they take nothing from life but disquiet of spirit, anxiety and discontent with each one are certain desires, certain appetites, certain wishes these things are normal and natural they are in themselves the ultimate means whereby personality is fostered and preserved the philosopher viewing life clearly neglecting nothing, fearing nothing regarding nothing pursues his way true to himself, disquiet does not touch him for him the simplest pleasures will suffice for contentment is an axiom of his philosophy relying absolutely upon his senses he comes to understand them and when in the end they begin to fail he renounces the life which has become useless to him and with the sage of way passes into final oblivion this philosophy of the senses enunciated by the philosopher with a calm, smiling carelessness has no real affinity with pessimism naturalism and sensism may find in him certain affinities but pessimism which is primarily at the base of all religions which regard the natural desires and appetites of man as a primary legacy of a nature naturally and originally evil has no exponent in the sage of liang who believing in nature and taking men as he finds them urges them faithfully to follow their natures whether so ever they may lead them it is here that one may find perhaps the real answer to the riddle that has puzzled all the students of the great exponent of Taoism Lei Zhu in whose work the solitary fragment of yangqiu is embedded the Taoist philosophy is the philosophy of naturalism it teaches the following of nature obedience to the laws of nature is the primary axiom of the Taoist philosophy both yangqiu and lii su start from the same point the close and accurate study and observation of nature they postulate existence as a natural thing neither good nor bad in itself to both thinkers and accepted morality is a hindrance he regards as common property a body appertaining to the universe and the things of the universe is a perfect man says yangqiu and this sense of oneness and freedom of nature is so distinctly true to Taoist teaching that one hesitates to accept the apparent complete antagonism between the two teachings the doctrine of universal theft from nature is a purely Taoist doctrine where all things in nature are common property and all things are stolen we steal our very existence from nature says lii su such thefts are unconscious thefts the doctrine of disregard is also largely Taoist in thought the ideal Taoist minimizes desires and cravings they follow their natural instincts feeling neither joy in life nor abhorrence of death thus they came to no untimely ends footnote from Taoist teachings page 38 translated by Lionel Giles and footnote one may compare this with the saying of yangqiu having once come into life disregard it and let it pass mark its desires and wishes and be drifted away to annihilation one may best compare the two teachings by saying that yangqiu is the naturalist philosopher in youth lii su the naturalist philosopher in old age it is at least possible that in the lost works of yangqiu the link that binds him more closely with the Taoist doctrine existed a link that would account for the inclusion of this fragment of his work in the book of lii su it is only an actual theory of conduct as apart from metaphysical speculation that the divergence between the two is most marked in that single sentence dealing with the oneness and freedom of nature we have the solitary expression of metaphysical speculation in the whole of the philosophy of yangqiu but that line of philosophic thought one may conjecture is either a solitary exception or a clue to the puzzle that has perplexed all students of Taoist philosophy but theory of conduct takes up practically the whole of the solitary work of yangqiu that remains and it is this theory of conduct that marks the real divergence between the teaching of yangqiu and that of lii su both viewed all life and nature as it really exists as a natural phenomena governed by certain natural and unavoidable laws and both drew from the same premises deductions of a different character in the world of yangqiu life is dominated and bounded by the senses his philosophy is a sense philosophy to live in accord with the senses man must renounce nothing strive for nothing all his conduct must be guided by his senses nature is not perverse only man where he deflects from nature is perverse where he builds systems of anti-natural morality where he piles up useless riches where he limits or destroys the full expression of individuality to the senses so he evolves a philosophy of life quite logical and quite un-moral in which all life and all expression of life are centered in the senses where the cultivation of the senses is the primary law and the gratification of them by the simplest means the ultimate object here at any rate whatever we may dimly suspect is no metaphysical subtlety the theory is set for us so plainly so uncompromisingly that there is no loophole for escape even epicurus is weak need beside the calmly smiling sage of liang here is no philosophic minister to the senses no subtle qualification pleasure is an actual thing no mere negative phantom all forms of pleasures are swept into his net nothing is bad nothing is evil allow the ear to hear what it likes the eye to see what it likes the nose to smell what it likes the mouth to say what it likes the body to enjoy the comforts it likes to have and the mind to do what it likes the careful study and cultivation of the senses is the true basis of egoistical philosophy and it is logically unassailable it is the basis if not of much modern thought at least of a great deal of modern action and gathers impetuous from its reiterated demand from all classes for a fuller more complete individual expression starting from the same premises Taoist philosopher who is essentially a metaphysician turns aside and plunges into the unknowable Tim life is a force strange, inert, passive, and ficund impermeable, intangible, and mysterious it is to the comprehension of this force that lies at the back of all natural phenomena that the Taoist urges his disciples learn to know Tao, which is the way the way of nature allow yourself to drift, to merge into nature desires and their satisfaction have no part in this philosophy those who excel in beauty become vain says Li Zhu those who excel in strength become violent to such it is useless to speak of Tao hence he who is not yet turning gray will surely err if he but speak of Tao how much less can he put it into practice here is the clear dividing line between the two to Yang Zhu the senses are all their satisfaction everything youth and youth alone can obtain the full satisfaction that the senses demand with age comes restraint and final renunciation to the Taoist without this restraint and renunciation nothing can be done the way of Tao is closed youth may not enter saved by doing violence to his natural instincts passivity, old age introspection belong to Li Zhu joyousness and contentment to Yang Zhu the whole of his philosophy is sustained by this sense of happiness easily obtained close at hand a happiness that is independent of enforced and uncongenial labor deadening the senses and turning men into unwilling beasts and independent of the burden of riches which in themselves are a direct means of limiting personality Yuan Yixin lived in mean circumstances in Lu while Xikong amassed wealth and way poverty galled the one and riches caused an easiest to the other so poverty will not do nor wealth either enjoy life and take one's ease for those who know how to enjoy life are not poor and he that lives at ease requires no riches the philosopher does not say how this happy condition of life is to be brought about to him it was possibly a corollary to the discovery of the uselessness of wealth for the purpose of happiness there is no taint or suspicion of socialism or any tyranny limiting or defining the action of individuals on the contrary his philosophy is purely individualist and non-authoritarian he visualizes quite clearly a kind of golden age a fabulous pre-existing period in the history of the world where strife for useless power and useless domination and useless fame did not exist where a full knowledge of the importance of living so brief a life as happily as possible alone guided the actions of men in speaking of this period and contrasting it with the later period in which strife and domination and wealth had reduced men to the unhappy condition of manacled slaves he says the ancients knew that all creatures enter but for a short while into life and must suddenly depart in death therefore they gave way to their impulses and did not check their natural propensities they denied themselves nothing they could give pleasure to their bodies consequently as they were not seeking fame but were following their own nature they went smoothly on never at variance with their own inclinations they did not seek posthumous fame they never did anything criminal and of glory and fame rank in position as well as of the span of their life they took no heed he was essentially the philosopher of true egoism as opposed to the false egoism under which at his time the world labored and suffered the egoism that oversteps the limits of the true care and cultivation of self and persists for quite selfish in vain and frequently petty motives and assuming the care and control of others and imposing upon them terms of slavery and hardship terms that limit and ultimately destroy all individuality and reduce men to the level of driven and unwilling slaves a recent writer who lent for a brief space a certain dignity to British letters has appointed out quite truly that selfishness is not living as one wishes to live it is asking others to live as one wishes to live and unselfishness is letting other people's lives alone not interfering with them with this selfishness which is simply the product of a stupid and unreasonable vanity true egoism has nothing whatever in common true egoism is essentially unselfish it suffices for the true egoist to live his own life others he will help and assist when help or assistance is required so in the words of Yang Chu we may give the feverish rest say it to the hungry warmth to the cold and assistance to the miserable but for ourselves we must be content to live our own lives to discover for ourselves the ultimate method of expression for which our lives and natures are suited that this final expression of individuality may be what is called moral or what is called un-moral it is to the sage a matter of complete indifference a certain evenness of temperament a certain sense of contentment and harmony easily attained is suggested by the calm and restrained style of the philosopher Alexandria David and her interesting pamphlet Le Theoriste individualiste Chéoniste speaks of the influence of this curious simplicity of style La singular simplecité d'expression d'essay négateur du sacré and the whole effect of his teaching is essentially quietistic profound and indifferent but the philosopher urges no definite course of conductor life what to one is happiness and pleasure to another will be folly so long as expression whether it be what is called the moral or what is called un-moral is true expression it is of importance only to the individual concerned what intimate form it shall take all forms of pleasure and all forms of happiness are purely relative the warmth of the spring sun rejoices the heart of the old farmer of soon within their palaces in the province of Chang the profligate brothers of Xi-Chan gladdening their senses with delicate wines and women of rare and perfect beauty among the wonderful pavilions at Wei lingers Juan Muxiu counting the days that are left of his youth when songs and gaities shall no longer endure for him and with a coarse fare of hemp stalks crests and duckweed the heart of the peasant of Song is made glad we may communicate our pleasures to others we can never enforce them riches may increase and multiply our desires they cannot add to our happiness they may even take away from it it is only the things few in number that are absolutely necessary and essential to life that are of any real importance and it is just those things for the lack of which most lives are rendered worthless if man could do without food and clothes there would be no more kings and princes it is the struggle in itself so often feudal and wasteful for a bare and meager existence that limits and thwarts the development of personality or hardens it to an extent where it no longer becomes worth developing one may condemn or despise the voluptuary this is purely a question of aesthetics at least however crude however perverse he may seem still he has in his lifetime attempted to express an individuality attempted to achieve some ideal which to him appeared worthy of attainment but the man whose personality is dead who can find no means of expression who from hardship or from success hardly one has lost all that makes life of any value whatsoever is beyond redemption consideration is wasted upon him already he is dead and whether he be rich or poor his existence is no longer of use to himself and may only be a hindrance to others such as these says the philosopher with grim irony are the fugitives of life whether they are killed or live their lives have been regulated by externals urged and repelled by fame and laws they are constantly rendered anxious so they lose the happiest moments of the present and cannot give way to their feelings for one hour on the question of self-sacrifice the philosopher is quite clear life of itself is of no importance save the liver and that only for the brief space of his existence by self-sacrifice there is nothing to be gained save perhaps a little fame and if this be at the expense and to the detriment of personality it is the wrong thing to do from kindness of heart and a real desire to relieve suffering a man may dispose of and give away those things which are not absolutely essential to his existence but to himself his life must be sacred to spoil one's life for the sake of fame or because it is considered a splendid thing to do to commit a wrong against one's self and it is equally wrong that one should be expected to do so if the world requires this ultimate self-sacrifice then the world is wrong and the condition of things that calls for this self-sacrifice is wrong and a chapter devoted to quite clear exposition of this view a chapter which for its dispassionate contempt of obvious and accepted views has been most singled out for a special condemnation Yang Chu takes the extreme case of the sage against the universe and the greater part of the chapter is taken up with the justification of this extreme point of view if the ancients says the philosopher referring to the golden age of his ideal by injuring a single hair he would have rendered a service to the world they would not have done it and had the universe been offered to a single person he would not have accepted it as nobody would damage a single hair and nobody would do a favor for the world the world was in a perfect state to the philosopher self-sacrifice is simply the corollary of a wrong and unbalanced condition of life in a community where neither fame nor self-clarification at the expense of others is desired self-sacrifice would not exist it would be unnecessary where all are happy and all are contented there would be no need for either self-sacrifice or self-aggrandizement that is a simple truth and if by the adoption of a false and selfish egoism and a false and equally selfish racial egoism humanity has reached a point where self-sacrifice has become a good or desirable thing the fault really lies with the vanity and ignorance that have led humanity to this point and have ultimately justified a code of morals philosophically unreasonable and unnecessary it is important to state this quite clearly because the superficial and misleading view of the philosophic meaning of this much abused chapter has provoked a number of commentators to a righteous but quite undue sense of anger which while possibly justified by the curious makeshift view of modern morals has no real bearing upon the philosophic position of the philosopher in the view of the philosopher the care of self for the preservation and expression of personality is the primary and natural duty of all mankind and where this natural care is interfered with warped or thwarted a condition of affairs arises in which injustice, greed and vanity in themselves quite unnecessary things call for antidotes which in themselves are equally unnecessary and so the virtues are born as antidotes to vices that are in themselves the children of ignorance the rest of the chapter is taken up with a disquisition on the relative degrees of self-sacrifice which while interesting from a logical point of view is not of any particular importance as in the chapter with the justification of the two happy voluptuaries Yang Chu here states the extreme case and leaves the qualification to his disciples a certain number of chapters notably chapters 3, 4, 7, 11, 13 and 15 deal fully or in part with an exposition of the conduct of life by a philosophical materialism a materialism which is simply a statement of fact life is a natural and unavoidable phenomena there is no mystery about life says the philosopher we live and we cease to live no matter whether we are virtuous or libertine moral or immoral we share the same fate and speedily are forgotten in tears or silence our personalities perish with us be they bad or be they good and the body of a saint is no better than the body of a thief this is simply a statement and may be accepted or denied it can be pointed out that neither the early Taoists nor the Confucians nor the Buddhists believe in a conscious afterlife and that assuming as he does the ultimate end of life to be a final and unavoidable thing the philosopher is controverting no current belief of his period all deductive philosophy must invariably concern itself with facts and to those facts and by them all philosophy is limited whether man be a single expression of Tao the highest form as yet evolved his destiny is bounded by his life beyond we know nothing if we did, if we were certain all philosophy, all speculation possibly all religion would cease a thousand guesses at the life motive may be made all are uncertain, all are speculative alone the philosopher satisfied with the noble strives to present existence as at least something that may, with care be rendered a little happy a little less uncertain or a little more worthy of the desire to live which is the primary instinct of animals and men if he pursues happiness if he pursues self-sacrifice if he pursues tears if he pursues power and the advanced grandisement of the superman or remains like the Taoist quiescent, submerged in life and content at least he surveys from one among the many windows in the tower of philosophy a land where something better something finer or at least something less miserable is being done where the harshness and striving of life come to him like a distant echo some old drama ill-played and no longer worth recording or a mist that has suddenly lifted and taken with it the vanities and unhappiness of men philosophy can bring no further knowledge of life it can alter the terms by which life is known whatever terms we regard it life remains the same and so it is that the materialist philosopher disregardful of all purely speculative things realizing that the unknowable will for all time remain is concerned solely with the guidance of mankind to his utopia wherein happiness in their lives and having achieved this prepare, uncomplaining to depart this is the real strength of the materialist position that having once proclaimed life is a final and unenduring thing the philosopher must turn to the consideration of what makes most for the happiness in men's lives and if in his opinion happiness is only to be gained by the senses it follows that all life will lead to the cultivation and perfecting of these senses as a means whereby this happiness may be most easily and perfectly obtained a sense of beauty will ultimately take the place now occupied by vanity and aggression because man through the guidance of his senses must ultimately desire what is beautiful that is he will begin by desiring what is actually necessary then what is comfortable and finally what is beautiful a true cultivation of the senses can never degrade mankind it is only by not cultivating or even by thwarting and limiting the senses that man becomes degraded it is quite true that coarse natures will require coarse pleasures these are always attainable too easily attainable in dealing with the question of coarse pleasures Yang Chu does not say that drink is in itself a good or desirable thing or that love of women carried to excess is a laudable and commendable thing what he says is that all inclinations, however gross, however indefensible are preferable to the perverse inclination for interference with others for rule, for power, and authority it is possible for a man to ruin his health by overindulgence by lust for power and command he may ruin the life of a whole nation but a civilization that pursues and cultivates happiness will ultimately raise the ideal of pleasure riches, useless display, orgies self-aggrandizement at the expense of others personal or racial aggressiveness greed, vanity, and insatiability all the things that make life a thing of torment a curtain of black which the faint light of a few virtues can only faintly illuminate will ultimately be assessed at their true value it will be discovered that happiness can be obtained by the most simple of means men will begin to use their senses or at least to try and understand them a little and so each in his separate way will aim at the happiness that lies most surely and easily at his hand that is the materialist utopia it is the final word of materialist philosophy beyond the solitary chapter in the book of Li Zou which contains all the remains of the teaching of Yang Chu there are scattered through the book of Li Zou and the book of Chaing Zou a few possible authentic tales and anecdotes attributed to the philosopher of Liang an illustrative of his teaching these with one exception have already been included in two recently published works on the Taoist philosophers and may be omitted from the present work the single anecdote referred to may be given here as it illustrates in a singularly happy fashion the smiling skepticism of the sage to whom in life the one final and certain thing is death the neighbor of Yang Chu once lost a sheep he began to search for it with all his kin's folk and asked assistants also from the servants of Yang Chu who in astonishment said oh oh why do you require such a large number of persons to seek for a single lost sheep the neighbor replied there are many crossways to pursue and search out on his return he was asked if he had found the sheep and replied that he had given up the search Yang Chu asked him why he had given up the search the neighbor answered among the crossways there were a great many small diverging tracks not knowing which to follow I gave up the search and returned Yang Chu became pensive and wrapped in thought for a whole day he neither smiled nor spoke his disciples astonished at his attitude asked him the reason saying a sheep is an animal of little value furthermore this one did not belong to you master why does its loss disturb you from your usual amiable humor and gaiety Yang Chu made no answer his disciples were unable to understand the significance of his silence and Meng Sun Yang went out and asked sin to say on the subject another day sin to say accompanied by Meng Sun Yang came to Yang Chu and asked him saying once three brothers traveled through the provinces of Qi and Lu they were instructed under the same master and had studied the doctrine of humanity and justice when they came to their father's house their father asked them what was the final conclusion they had arrived at in regard to the doctrine of humanity and justice the one answered the study of humanity and justice teaches me to love and respect my body and to consider of less importance what makes for fame and glory the second said the study of humanity and justice teaches me to sacrifice my body in order to obtain fame and glory the third said the study of humanity and justice teaches me to discover a method of consolating the desire of my body and the desire for fame these three contradictory theories arise from the teaching of the same master which of them is true which of them is false Yang Chu said there was once a man who lived on the banks of the river he had a perfect knowledge of river lore and was an expert swimmer he was a boatman of his state and gained his living managing his boat his gains were considerable and would provide for the maintenance of a hundred persons those who desired instruction under his direction came to him bringing a sack of grain and became his pupils quite half among them drowned themselves in coming to him they had the intention of learning to swim a lot of drowning themselves and then the successes and failures were equal since half learnt to swim and half were drowned which among them do you think were right and which were wrong sin to say kept silence but Meng Zun Yang took him up saying well is this not right it is because your question was put in so vague a fashion that the answer of the master is so evasive meanwhile I am in greater darkness than before sin to say replied because the large roads divide into innumerable small pathways and tracks the sheep was lost the aspects of wisdom being multiplied many students lose themselves it does not matter if at the beginning all start from the same aspect of wisdom there are always divergences at the end the single thing that re-establishes equality is death and the annihilation of personality at death it is indeed pitiable that you an ancient disciple of the master and a student of the master's doctrine should not comprehend the meaning of his parables here with all the grace and charm of a humor that is quite peculiar to the materialist sage of Liang Yang Chu points out with one basis to all philosophies the rest is entirely a question of personality that from the solid premises of life thought and all the phenomena of existence innumerable deductions may be drawn all diverging, all opposed, all false, and all true what remains when the din and the shouting have died away is the solitary fact that we live and we die and whether we live comfortably or uncomfortably whether we do good or ill whether we achieve happiness or unhappiness whether pursue, wisdom, or achieve the pleasure of moment is a matter of absolute unimportance the end comes and forgetfulness swallows us up at the most we may look back regretfully upon a few quite happy days and memory may bring us a transient and ephemeral sense of happiness these are the things we have gained from life the things that are hidden away in the secret drawer of the treasure chest of our life the single, true, and perfect expression of personality that the fates and human selfishness have allowed us the sheep of the neighbor of Liang Chu are still lost amid the thousand branching pathways of thought and the wisdom of conflicting philosophies life still remains the simple thing that man has made so complex and the ideal of life is still the ideal of happiness and to each one happiness must come with different features and in a different guise alone we are sure of this that it was happiness that touched us and to that moment of happiness all our lives have let up and here the philosopher draws down the heavy curtain of death life should be happy says he if men made happiness their business if it is unhappy it is because men search for other things and so their lives are unhappy if men desired happiness for themselves they would be content with the happiness that the senses afforded them that they struggle, that they rob, and slay, and maim may be a survival of the old tradition of aboriginal times the tradition of bloodshed, repine, and self aggrandizement when expression found its only vent in slaughter and violence but the pursuit of happiness, solitary and profound and yet strangely simple is to the philosopher the ultimate and final end that men should pursue when they have shaken off the old fetters of pride and arrogance of racer personality and the scales have fallen from their eyes for life at best can afford but happiness and to all death comes alike and no philosophy, however transcendent, however fine can alter this solitary and immutable law of life happiness from simple means in life and death to end it all is the basis of the philosophy of yangqiu you cannot avoid life and the pursuit of wisdom avails not to close the final doorway all wisdom like all happiness is relative in life you must achieve your own happiness neither wisdom nor virtue nor wrongdoing nor gain at the expense of others can help you alone and unaided you must pursue the way of your own happiness a happiness that can be rarely communicated and still more rarely shared the final solution of happiness must come through you let it suffice for you hu cranmer bing note the author is indebted to professor Anton Fork for his permission to use his translation of yangqiu which appeared in the journal of the Peking Oriental Society and introduction this recording is in the public domain this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to find out how you can volunteer contact LibriVox.org yangqiu's garden of pleasure from the book of Li Zhu the yangqiu chapter translated from the Chinese by professor Anton Fork chapter one The Vanity of Fame yangqiu, when traveling in Lu put up at Meng Sun Yang's Meng asked him a man can never be more than a man why do people still trouble themselves about fame yangqiu answered if they do so their object is to become rich Meng but when they have become rich why do they not stop yangqiu, they aim at getting honors Meng why then do they not stop when they have got them yangqiu on account of their death Meng but what can they desire still after their death yangqiu they think of posterity Meng how can their fame be available to their posterity yangqiu for fame's sake they endure all kinds of bodily hardship and mental pain they dispose of their glory for the benefit of their plan and even their fellow citizens profit by it how much more so do their descendants how be it it becomes those desirous of real fame to be disinterested and disinterestedness means poverty and likewise they must be unaustentatious and this is equivalent to humble condition how then can fame be disregarded and how can fame come of itself the ignorant while seeking to maintain fame sacrifice reality by doing so they will have to regret that nothing can rescue them from danger and death and not only learn to know the difference between ease and pleasure and sorrow and grief chapter 2 real and false greatness yangqiu said kuan ching build his post as a minister of chi'i in the following way when his sovereign was wanton he was wanton too when his sovereign was prodigal he was also prodigal he met his wishes and obeyed him following the right path he made the kingdom prosper but after the king's death he was only mr. kuan again kuan ching was minister of chi'i he behaved as follows when his sovereign was overbearing he was condescending when his sovereign collected taxes he distributed money thus the people admired him and in consequence he entered into the possession of the kingdom of chi'i his descendents still hold it to this day if anybody has real greatness he is poor if his greatness is spurious he is rich yangqiu said the really good man is not famous if he be famous he is not really a good man for all fame is nothing but falsehood of old yao and shun pretended to yield the empire to suyu and shuan chun but they did not lose it and enjoyed happiness for a hundred years po yo and su chi'i really abdicated on account of the prince ku chu and lost their kingdom at last finally dying of starvation on the mountain of shou yang this is the difference between real and false footnotes kuan chang died 645 bc tian became king of chi'i 370 bc the prince of ku chu the father of these two brothers had appointed the younger brother shu chi'i to be his successor the latter not wishing to deprive his brother and the former not desiring to act against his father's will both left the principality and died in poverty and footnotes chapter 3 the brevity of conscious life yangqiu said 100 years is the limit of a long life not one in a thousand ever attains to it yet if they do still unconscious infancy and old age take up about half this time the time he passes unconsciously while asleep at night and that which is wasted through awake during the day also amounts to another half of the rest again pain and sickness sorrow and fear fill up about a half so that he really gets only 10 years or so for his enjoyment and even then there is not one hour free from some anxiety what then is the object of human life what makes it pleasant comfort and elegance, music and beauty yet one cannot always gratify the desire for comfort and elegance nor incessantly enjoy beauty and music besides being warned and extorted by punishments and rewards urged forward and repelled by fame and laws men are constantly rendered anxious striving for one vain hour of glory and providing for the splendor which is to survive their death they go their own solitary ways analyzing what they hear with their ears and see with their eyes and carefully considering what is good for body and mind so they lose the happiest moments of the present and cannot really give way to these feelings for one hour how do they really differ from chained criminals the ancients knew that all creatures enter but for a short while into life and must suddenly depart in death therefore they gave way to their impulses and did not check their natural propensities they denied themselves nothing that could give pleasure to their bodies consequently as they were not seeking fame they were following their own nature they went smoothly on never at variance with their inclinations they did not seek posthumous fame they never did anything criminal and of glory and fame rank and position as well as the span of their life they took no heed Chapter 4 Death The Equalizer Yang Chu said that in which all beings differ is life and in which they are alike is death during life there is the difference of intelligence and dullness honor and meanness but in death there is the equality of rottenness and putrification neither can be prevented although intelligence and dullness honor and meanness exist no human power can affect them just as rottenness and putrification cannot be prevented human beings cannot make life and death intelligence and stupidity honor and meanness what they are for all beings live and die equally are equally wise and stupid honorable and mean some die at the age of 10 some at 100 the wise and benevolent die as the cruel and imbecile in life there are known as Yao and Xun but dead there are so many bones which cannot be distinguished but if we hasten to enjoy our life we know time to trouble about what comes after death Footnote Yao and Xun the two model emperors of antiquity and footnote Chapter 5 False Virtues Yang Chu said Po Yi was not without desire for being too proud of his purity of mind he was led to death by starvation Chan Qi was not passionless for being too proud of his virtue he happened to reduce his family those who in pursuit of purity and virtue do good in a false way resemble these men Footnote Chan Qi the proper name of Bu Xie Hui an official in the state of Lu famous for his continents which prevented him from getting children so that he reduced his family and footnote Chapter 6 The Ideal Life Yuan Xi lived in mean circumstances in Lu while Se Kung amassed wealth and Wei poverty galled the one and riches caused uneasiness to the other so poverty will not do nor wealth either but what then will do I answer enjoy life and take one's ease for those who now how to enjoy life are not poor and he that lives at ease requires no riches Footnote Se Kung was a disciple of Confucius and footnote Chapter 7 Duty to the Living and the Dead Yang Chu said there is an old saying we must pity the living and the heart with the dead this is a good saying pity does not merely consist in an unusual feeling so we may give the feverish rest saity to the hungry warmth to the cold and assistance to the miserable but for the dead when we have rightly bewailed them to what use is it to place pearls and jewels in their mouths or to dress them in state robes or offer animals in sacrifice or to expose effigies of paper Chapter 8 The Art of Life Yan Ping Zhong asked Guan Yi Wu as to cherishing life Footnote Both famous statesmen of antiquity in the service of the dukes of Qi and footnote Guan Yi Wu replied it suffices to give it its free course it suffices to give it its free course it suffices to give it its free course either checking nor obstructing it Yan Ping Zhong said and as to details Guan Yi Wu replied allow the ear to hear what it likes the eye to see what it likes the nose to smell what it likes the mouth to say what it likes the body to enjoy the comforts it likes to have and the mind to do what it likes Now what the ear likes to hear is music music is music music is music what the ear likes to hear is music and the prohibition of it is what I call obstruction to the ear what the eye likes to look at is beauty and it's not being permitted to regard this beauty I call obstruction of sight what the nose likes to smell is perfume and it's not being permitted to smell I call obstruction to scent what the mouth likes to talk about is right and wrong and if it is not permitted to speak I call it obstruction of the understanding the comforts the body enjoys to have are rich food and fine clothing and if it is not permitted then I call that obstruction of the senses of the body what the mind likes is to be at peace and it's not being permitted to rest I call obstruction of the mind's nature all these obstructions are a source of the most painful vexation morbidly to cultivate this cause of vexation unable to get rid of it and so have a long but very sad life of a hundred a thousand or ten thousand years is not what I call cherishing life but to check this source of obstruction and with calm enjoyment to await death for a day a month or a year or ten years is what I understand by enjoying life Quan Yi Wu said since I have told you about cherishing life please tell me how it is with the burial of the dead Yan Ping Chung said burying the dead is but of very little importance what shall I tell you about it Quan Yi Wu replied I really wish to hear it Yan Ping Chung answered what can I do when I'm dead they may burn my body or cast it into deep water or inter it or leave it uninterred or throw it wrapped up in a mat into some ditch or cover it with princely apparel and embroidered garments and rested in a stone sarcophagus all that depends on mere chance Quan Yi Wu looked round at Pao Shu Long Xie and said to him both of us have made some progress in the doctrine of life and death Chapter 9 The Happy Voluptuaries Se Chan was minister in Chang and governed for three years and governed well Footnote The famous minister of Chang Kun Sun Chao who lived about B.C. 550 and footnote The good people complied with his injunctions and the bad were in awe of his prohibitary laws So Chang was governed and the princes were afraid of it Se Chan had an older brother Kun Sun Chao and a younger Kun Sun Mu The former was fond of feasting in the ladder of gallantry In the house of Kun Sun Chao a thousand barrels of wine were stored and yeast piled up in heaps Within a hundred paces from the door the smell of drugs and liquor offended people's noses He was so much under the influence of wine that he ignored the feeling of remorse was unconscious of the safe and dangerous parts of the path of life what was present or wanting in his house the near or remote degrees of relationship the various degrees of relationship the joy of living and the sadness of death footnote the nine degrees of relationship are counted from great great grandfather to great great grandson and footnote water fire and swords might also touch his person and he would be unaware of it Within the house of Kun Sun Mu there was a compound of about 30 or 40 houses which he filled with damsels of exquisite beauty How much was he captivated by their charms that he neglected his relatives and friends broke off all family intercourse and retiring into his intercourt turned night in today Within three months he only came forth once and yet he still did not feel contented was there a pretty girl in the neighborhood he would try to win her with bribes or allurements and only desisted with the impossibility of obtaining desires Sei Chan pondering over these things self-loathe but took himself to Tang Hsieh to consult him and said I have heard that the care for one's own person has its influence on the family and the care taken of a family influences the state that is to say starting from the nearest one reaches to what is distant I have taken care of my kingdom but my own family is in disorder and this way is not the right one what am I to do what measures am I to take to save these two men Tang Hsieh replied I have wondered for a long while at you but I did not dare to speak to you first why do you not always control them administer exhortations based on the importance of life and nature or admonitions regarding the sublimity of righteousness and proper conduct Sei Chan did as Tang Hsieh advised and taking an opportunity of seeing his brothers said to them that in which man is superior to beasts and birds are his mental faculties through them he gets righteousness and propriety and slow glory and rank fall to his share you are only moved by what excites your sense and indulge only in licentious desires endangering your lives and natures hear my words repent in the morning and in the evening you will already have gained the wage that will support you Chao and Mu said long ago we knew it and made our choice nor had we to wait for your instructions to enlighten us it is very difficult to preserve life and easy to come by one's death yet who would think of awaiting death which comes so easily on account of the difficulty of preserving life you value proper conduct and righteousness in order to excel before others and you do violence to your feelings in nature and striving for glory that to us appears to be worse than death our only fear is less wishing to gaze our fill at all the beauties of this one life and to exhaust all the pleasures of the present years the repletion of the belly should prevent us from drinking what our palate delights in or the slackening of our strength not allow us to revel with pretty women we have no time to trouble about bad reputations or mental dangers therefore for you to argue with us and disturb our minds merely because you surpass others in ability to govern and to try and allure us with promises of glory and appointments is indeed shameful and deplorable but we will now settle the question with you see now if anybody knows how to regulate external things the things do not have necessity become regulated and his body still has to toil and labor but if anybody knows how to regulate internals the things go on alright and the mind obtains peace and rest your system of regulating external things will do temporarily and for a single kingdom we are not in harmony with the human heart while our method of regulating internals can be extended to the whole universe and there would be no more princes and ministers we always desired to propagate this doctrine of ours and now you would teach us yours say Chan in his perplexity found no answer later on he met and informed Tanghisi Tanghisi said you are living together with real men without knowing it who calls you wise Chang has been governed by chance and without merit of yours chapter 10 the joyous life of Tuangmu Xu Tuangmu Xu of Wei was descended from Seicun he had a patrimony of 10,000 gold pieces indifferent to the chances of life he followed his own inclinations what the heart delights in he would do and delight in with his walls and buildings pavilions, verandas, gardens parks, ponds and lakes wine and food carriages, dresses women in attendance he would emulate the princes of Qi and Xu and luxury whenever his heart desired something or his ear wished to hear something his eye to see or his mouth to taste he would procure it at all costs though the thing might only be had in a far off country and not in the kingdom of Qi when on a journey the mountains and rivers might be ever so difficult and dangerous to pass and the roads ever so long he would still proceed just as men walk a few steps 100 guests were entertained daily in his palace in the kitchens there were always fire and smoke and the vaults of his hall and peristyle incessantly resounded with songs and music the remains from his table he divided first among his clansmen what they left was divided among his fellow citizens and what these did not eat was distributed throughout the whole kingdom when Tuan Mu Xu reached the age of 60 and his body and mind began to decay he gave up his household and distributed all his treasures pearls and gems carriages and dresses concubines and female attendants within a year he had disposed of his fortune and to his offspring he had left nothing when he fell ill he had no means to buy medicines in a stone lancet and when he died there was not even money for his funeral all his countrymen who had benefited by him contributed money to bury him and gave back the fortune of his descendants when Qin Ku Li heard of this he said Tuan Mu Xu was a fool who brought disgrace to his ancestor when Tuan Kang Sheng heard of it he said Tuan Mu Xu was a wise man his virtue was much superior to that of his ancestors the common sense people were shocked at his conduct but it was in accord with the right doctrine the excellent man of Wei only adhered to propriety they surely had not a heart like his footnote Qin Ku Li is said to have been a pupil of the philosopher Mei Ti and footnote chapter 11 the folly of desire for long life Meng Sun Yang asked Yang Chu there are men who cherish life and care for their bodies with the intention of grasping immortality is that possible Yang Chu replied according to the laws of nature there is no such thing as immortality Meng Sun Yang yet is it possible to acquire a very long life Yang Chu according to the laws of nature there is no such thing as a very long life neither can life be preserved by cherishing or the body benefitted by fostering Meng Sun Yang what would be a long life all things were the same as they are now the five good and bad passions were of old as they are now so also the safety and peril of the four limbs grief and joy for things of this world were of old as they are now and the constant change of peace and revolution having seen and heard all these things one would already be worried of it at the age of a hundred how much more after a very long life Meng Sun Yang if it be so a sudden death would be preferable to a long life therefore we ought to run onto a pointed sword or jump into deep water to have what our heart yearns for Yang Chu no having once come into life regard it and let it pass with its desires and wishes and so wait death when death comes disregard it and let it come mark what it brings you and be drifted away to annihilation if you pay no regard to life and death and let them be as they are how can you be anxious lest our life should end too soon Chapter 12 self-sacrifice grandizement Yang Chu said Po Cheng Se Kao would not part with the hair of his body for the benefit of others he quitted his country and became a plowman the great you did not profit by his own body which grew quite emaciated if the ancients by injuring a single hair could have rendered a service to the world he would not have done it and the universe then offered to a single person he would not have accepted it as nobody would damage even a hair and nobody would do a favor for the world the world was in a perfect state Cheng Se asked Yang Chu if by pulling out a hair of your body you would aid mankind would you do it Yang Chu answered surely not to be helped by a single hair Cheng Se said but supposing it possible would you do it Yang Chu gave no answer thereupon Cheng Se told Meng Sun Yang who replied I will explain the master's meaning supposing for tearing off a piece of your skin you were offered 10,000 gold pieces would you do it Cheng Se said I would Meng Sun Yang again asked supposing for cutting off one of your limbs you were to get a kingdom would you do it Cheng Se was silent see now said Meng Sun Yang a hair is unimportant compared with the skin and the skin also is unimportant compared with a limb however many hairs put together form skin and many skins form a limb therefore though a hair is but one among the many molecules composing the body it is not to be disregarded Cheng Se replied I do not know how to answer you if I were to ask Lao Tze and Quan Yin your opinion would be found right and so also if I were to consult Great Yu and May T Meng Sun Yang upon this turned round to his disciples and spoke of something else footnotes Po Cheng Se Cao was a Taoist of the time of Yao the Great Yu controller of the Great flood which tasks so occupied him that he entirely forgot his own wants Quan Yin the Taoist philosopher and footnotes Chapter 13 The Vanity of Reputation Yang Chu said the world praises Xuanyu Duke Chao and Confucius and condemns Qi and Chao now Xuun had to plow Ho Yang and to burn tiles in Lei Tze his four limbs had no rest and rich food and warm clothing were unknown to him his parents and kinsfolk did not love him and his brothers and sisters did not bear him affection in his 13th year he was obliged to marry without telling his parents when he received the empire from Yao he was already an old man and his mental powers were declining his son Shang Chun having no talents he left the imperial dignity to you still he had to toil and slave till he died of all mortals he was the most pitiable and miserable Kun's services and regulating the water and earthworks being impracticable he died on Mount Yun Shan Yu his son continued the task served his enemy and spent all his energy on the earthworks when a son was born to him he could not take him in his arms nor in passing his door did he enter his whole body became withered his hands and feet hardened by toil when Xuun yielded the empire to him he still lived in a small house and wore only an elegant sash and coronet he also had to toil and slave till he died of all mortals he was the most overworked and fatigued when King Yu died Cheng was still of tender age and Duke Chao became Prince Regent the Duke of Chao was dissatisfied and spread evil rumors about Chao throughout the empire Chao stayed three years in the east caused his elder brother to be beheaded and his younger to be banished and nearly lost his own life till he died he had to toil and slave of all mortals he was the most menaced and terrorized Confucius was well acquainted with the principles of the old emperors he accepted the invitations of the princes of his time but a tree was felled over him and soon and his footprints were wiped out in way in Shang and Chao he came to distress was assaulted in Chen and Sai humiliated by Qi and insulted by Yang Hu till he died he had to toil and slave of all mortals he was the most harassed and worried all these four sages while alive had not one day's pleasure and after their death a reputation lasting many years yet reputation cannot bring back reality you praise them and they do not know it and you honor them and they are not aware of it there is now no distinction between them and a clot of earth Qi availed himself of the wealth of many generations and attained to the honor of facing south as king his wisdom was sufficient to restrain his many subjects and his power great enough to shake the land within the four seas he indulged in what was agreeable to his eyes and ears and fulfilled his heart's desires he was gay and married till death of all mortals he was the most reckless and dissipated Chao also availed himself of the wealth of many generations and became king everything yielded to his will abandoning himself to desires through the long night he indulged in debauchery in his surroglio nor did he embitter his life with propriety and righteousness he was married and gay till he was put to death of all mortals he was the most licentious and extravagant these two villains while alive took delight in following their own inclination and desires and after death were called fools and tyrants yet reality is nothing that can be given by reputation ignorant of censure and unconscious of praise they differed in no respect from the stump of a tree or a clot of earth the four sages though objects of admiration were troubled up to their very end and were equally in a life doomed to die the two villains though detested and hated by many remained in high spirits up to the very end and they too were equally doomed to die Chapter 14 Difficulty and Ease of Government Yang Chu had an audience with the King of Liang Yang Chu said to govern the world is as easy as to turn round the palm of the hand the King of Liang said you have a wife and a concubine master but are unable to govern them you have a garden of three acres but are unable to weed it how then can you say that governing the world is like turning round the palm of the hand Yang Chu said observe your majesty the shepherds one allows a boy only five feet high to shoulder a whip and drive a hundred sheep he wants them to go eastward and they obey him or westward and they obey him now let Yao drag a sheep and Shen follow with a whip and they will never advance a yard fishes that swallow ships do not enter into small rivers wild geese that soar high do not light on low marshes but are born over in their flights the note C and D do not harmonize with brisk and lively airs for the sound is too different thus a man who manages important matters does not trouble himself about trifles and he who accomplishes great deeds does no small ones that was my meaning chapter 15 all things pass Yang Chu said the memory of things of highest antiquity is faded who recollects them of the time of the three generations of emperors something is preserved but the rest is lost of the five rulers something is still known and the rest is only guessed at of the events during the time of the three emperors some are veiled in deep obscurity and some are clear yet out of a hundred thousand not one is recollected of the things of our present life some are heard others seen yet not one out of ten thousand is recollected it is impossible to calculate the number of years elapsed from thirty to the present day only from downward there are more than three hundred thousand years every trace of intelligent and stupid men of the beautiful and ugly successful and unsuccessful right and wrong is effaced and whether quickly or slowly is the only point of difference if anybody cares for one hour's praise so much that by torturing his spirit and body he struggles for a name lasting some hundred years after his death can the halo of glory revive his dried bones or give it back the joy of living footnotes the three generations of emperors namely those of heaven those of the earth and the human emperors forming the first fabulous epic of Chinese history the five rulers are Fuhisi, Shen, Nung Huang, Di Yao, and Shun the three emperors are Yu, Tang and Wen Wang the founders of the first three dynasties and footnotes chapter sixteen the nature of man Yang Chu said men resemble heaven and earth and that they cherish five principles footnote the moral life of man is based on five principles virtues benevolence uprightness propriety knowledge and good faith and footnote of all creatures, man is the most skillful he has the skills and teeth do not suffice to procure him maintenance and shelter his skin and sinews do not suffice to defend him through running he cannot attain profit nor escape harm and he has neither hair nor feathers to protect him from the cold and heat he is thus compelled to use things to nourish his nature to rely on his intelligence and not to put his confidence in brute force therefore intelligence is appreciated and brute force despised because it encroaches upon things but I am not the owner of my own body for I, when I am born must complete it nor do I possess things for having got them I must part with them again the body is essential for birth but things are essential for its maintenance if there were a body born complete I could not possess it and I could not possess things not to be parted with for possessing a body or things would be unlawfully appropriating a body belonging to the whole universe and appropriating things belonging to the universe which no sage would do he who regards his common property a body appertaining to the universe and the things of the universe is a perfect man and that is the highest degree of perfection chapter 17 the four chimeras yang cheu said there are four things which do not allow people to rest long life reputation rank riches those who have them fear ghosts fear men power and punishment they are always fugitives whether they are killed or live they regulate their lives by externals those who do not set their destiny at defiance do not desire long life and those who are not fond of honor do not desire reputation those who do not want power desire no rank those who are not avaricious have no desire for riches of this sort of men it may be truthfully said that they live in accordance with their nature in the whole world they have no equal they regulate their lives by inward things there is an old proverb which says without marriage in an official career a man could be free from half of his yearnings if man could do without clothes and food there would be no more kings or subjects chapter 18 all pleasures are relative a common saying of the chow time is can a husband men sit down and rest at dawn he sets out and at night returns this he considers to be the perpetual course of human nature he eats coarse fare which seems to him to be great delicacies his skin and joints are rough and swollen and his sinew and joints thickened and swollen if he could live for one day clothed in smooth furs in a silk intent orchids and oranges he would grow sick at heart and his body would grow weak and his interior fire caused him to fall ill if on the other hand the prince of shang or lu were to try to cultivate the land like the farmer it would not be long before they were both utterly worn out yet each one says in the world there is nothing better than these our comforts and delights there was one old farmer of soon who never wore anything else then course hempen clothes even for the winter he had no others in spring when cultivating the land he warmed himself in the sunshine he did not know that there were such things as large mansions in winter apartments brocade and silk furs of fox and badger in the world turning one day to his wife he said people do not know how pleasant it is to have warm sunshine on the back I shall communicate this to our prince and I am sure to get a rich present a rich man of the village said to him once there was a man fond of big beans hemp stocks, crests and duckweed he told the village elder of them the village elder tasted them and they burnt his mouth and gave him pains in his stomach everybody laughed and was angry with the man who felt much ashamed such a man do you resemble chapter 19 the wisdom of contentment yang chew said how can a body possessing the four things a comfortable house fine clothes, good food and pretty women still long for anything else he who does so has an insatiable nature an insatiableness is a worm that eats body and mind loyalty cannot set the sovereign at ease but perhaps may imperil one's body righteousness cannot help the world but perhaps may do harm to one's life the sovereign's peace not being brought about by loyalty the fame of the loyal dwindles to nothing in the world deriving no profit from righteousness the fame of the righteous amounts to not how the sovereign in subjects can alike be said at ease and how the world and I can simultaneously be helped is set forth in the dictum of the ancients you say said he who renounces fame has no sorrow Lao Tse said fame is the follower of reality now however as people pursue fame with such frenzy does it not really come of itself if it is disregarded at present fame means honor and regard lack of fame brings humbleness and disgrace again ease and pleasure follow up on honor and regard sorrow and grief attend humbleness and disgrace sorrow and grief are contrary to human nature ease and pleasure and accord with it these things have reality footnote you say a philosopher reputed to have lived bc 1250 and footnote and yang choose garden of pleasure this recording is in the public domain