So, then, there can be only one standard of right and wrong. Right, for Mo Tzu, is the practice of mutual all—embracingness, and wrong is the prac-tice of "mutual discrimination." Through appeal to this political sanction, together with his religious one, Mo Tzu hoped to bring all people of the world to practice his principle of all-embracing love.
Such was Mo Tzu's teaching, and it is the unanimous report of all sources of his time that in his own activities he was a true example of it.
MO TZU, THE FIRST OPPONENT OF CONFUCIUS
CHAPTER 6
THE FIRST PHASE OF TAOISM:
YANG CHU
In the Confucian Analects, we are told that Confucius, while traveling from state to state, met many men whom he called yin che, ''those who obscure themselves," and described as persons who had "escaped from the world." (XIV, 39-) These recluses ridiculed Confucius for what they regarded as his vain efforts to save the world. By one of them he was described as the one who knows he cannot succeed, yet keeps on trying to do so." (XTV, 41.) To these attacks, Tzu Lu, a disciple of Confucius, once replied: It is unrigh-teous to refuse: to serve in office. If the regulations between old and young in family life are not to be set aside, how is it then that you set aside the duty that exists between sovereign and subject? In your desire to maintain your personal purity, you subvert the great relationship of society Lthc relation-ship between sovereign and subject]." (Ibid., XVI11, 7.)
The Early Taoists and the Recluses
The recluses were thus individualists who "desired to maintain their per-sonal purity. They were also, in a sense, defeatists who thought (hat the world was so bad that nothing could be done for it. One of them is reported in ihe Analects to have said: "The world is a swelling torrent, and is there anyone to change it? (XVIII, 6.) It was from men of this sort, most of them living far away from other men in the world of nature, that the Taoists were probably originally drawn.
The Taoists, however, were not ordinary recluses who escaped the world, desiring to "maintain their personal purity, ' and who, once in re-tirement, made no attempt ideologically to justify their conduct. On the con-trary, they were men who, having gone into seclusion, attempted to work out a system of thought that would give meaning to their action. Among them, Yang Chu seems to have been the earliest prominent exponent.
Yang Chu s dales are not clear, but he must have lived between the time of Mo Tzu (c. 479-c. 381 B.C.) and Mencius (c. 371-c. 189 B.C.). This is in-
O98 THE FIRST PHASE OF TAOISM:YANG CHU 1
dicated by the fact that though unmentioned by Mo Tzu, he, by the time of Mencius, had become as influential as were the Mohists. To quote Mencius himself: "The words of Yang Chu and Mo Ti fill the world." (Mencius, Illb, 9.) In the Taoist work known as the Lieh-tzu, there is one chapter entitled "Yang Chu," which, according to the traditional view, represents Yang Chu's philosophy. But the authenticity of the Lieh-tzu has been much questioned by modern scholarship, and the view expressed in most of the "Yang Chu chapter is not consistent with Yang Chu's ideas as reported in other early reliable sources. Its tenets are those ol extreme hedonism (hence Forke s title, Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure"), whereas in no other early writings do we find Yang Chu being accused as a hedonist. Yang Chu s actual ideas, unfortunately, are nowhere described very consecutively, but must be deduced from scattered references in a number of works by other writers.
Yang Chu s Fundamental Ideas
The Mencius says: "The principle of Yang Chu is: 'Each one for himself.' Though he might have profited the whole world by plucking out a single hair, he would not have done it.' (Vila, 26.) The Lii -shih Ch un -ch iu (third century B.C.) says: "Yang Sheng valued self." (XVII, 7.) The Han-fei-tzu (also third century) says: There is a man whose policy it is not to enter a city which is in danger, nor to remain in the army. Even for the great profit of the whole world, he would not exchange one hair of his shank....He is one who despises things and values life." (Ch. 50.) And the Huai-nan-tzu (sec-ond century B.C.) says: Preserving life and maintaining what is genuine in it, not allowing things to entangle one's person: this is what Yang Chu estab-lished." (Ch. 13.)
In fhe above quotations, the Yang Sheng of the Lii—shih Ch un-ch iu has been proved by recent scholars to be Yang Chu, while the man who "for the great profit of the whole world, would not exchange one hair of his shank" must also be Yang Chu or one of his followers, because no other man of that time is known to have held such a principle. Putting these sources together, we can deduce that Yang Chu's two fundamental ideas were: "Each one for himself, and the despising of things and valuing of life. Such ideas are precisely the opposite of those of Mo Tzu, who held the principle of an all-embracing love.
The statement of Han Fei Tzu that Yang Chu would not give up a hair from his shank even to gain the entire world, differs somewhat from what Mencius says, which is that Yang Chu would not sacrifice a single hair even in order to profit the whole world. Both statements, however, are consistent with Yang Chu s fundamental ideas. The latter harmonizes with his doctrine
* See Anton Forke, Yang Chit's Garden of Pleasure, and James Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol II, Prolegomena, pp. 91-9-
IOO THE FIRST PHASE OF TAOISM:YANG CHU
of "each one for himself ; the former with that of "despising things and valu-ing life." Both may be said to be but two aspects of a single theory.
Illustrations of Yang Chu s Ideas
In Taoist literature, illustrations may be found for both the above men-tioned aspects of Yang Chu's ideology. In the first chapter of the Chuang-tzu, there is a story about a meeting between the legendary sage—ruler Yao and a hermit named Hsu Yu. Yao was anxious to hand over his rule of the world to Hsu Yu, but the latter rejected it, saying: You govern the world and it is already at peace. Suppose I were to take your place, would I do it for the name? Name is but the shadow of real gain. Would I do it for real gain? The tit, building its nest in the mighty forest, occupies but a single twig. The tapir, slaking its thirst from the river, drinks only enough to fill its belly. You return and be quiet. F have no need of the world." Here was a hermit who would not take the world, even were it given to him for nothing. Certainly, then, he would not exchange it for even a single hair from his shank. This illustrates Han Fei Tzu' s account of Yang Chu.
In the above mentioned chapter titled "Yang Chu" in the Lieh-tzu, there is another story which reads: Ch in Tzu asked Yang Chu: If by plucking out a single hair of your body you could save the whole world, would you do it? Yang Chu answered: The whole world is surely not to be saved by a single hair. Ch in Tzu said: But supposing it possible, would you do it? Yang Chu made no answer. Ch in Tzu then went out and told Meng-sun Yang. The latter replied: ' You do not understand the mind of the Master. I will explain it for you. Supposing by tearing off a piece of your skin, you were to get ten thousand pieces of gold, would you do it?' Ch' in Tzu said: I would. Meng—sun Yang continued: Supposing by cutting off one of your limbs, you were to get a whole kingdom, would you do it? For a while Ch in Tzu was silent. Then Meng-sun Yang said: ' A hair is unimportant com-pared with the skin. A piece of skin is unimportant compared with a limb. But many hairs put together are as important as a piece of skin. Many pieces of skin put together are as important as a limb. A single hair is one of the ten thousand parts of the body. How can you disregard it?' " This is an illustration of the other aspect of Yang Chu s theory.
In the same chapter of the Lieh-tzu, Yang Chu is reported to have said: "The men of antiquity, if by injuring a single hair they could have profited the world, would not have done it. Had the world been offered to them as their exclusive possession, they would not have taken it. If everybody would refuse to pluck out even a single hair, and everybody would refuse to take the world as a gain, then the world would be in perfect order. We cannot be sure that this is really a saying of Yang Chu, but it sums up very well the Iwo aspects of his iheory, and the political philosophy of the early Taoists.
IO2. ' THE FIRST PHASE OF TAOISM:YANG CHU
Yang Chu s Ideas as Expressed in the Lao-tzu and Chuang—tzu
Reflections of Yang Chu's main ideas can be found in portions of the Lao-tzu and some chapters of the Chuang—lzu and the Lil—shih Ch un—ch i— u. In the latter work there is a chapter titled "The Importance of Self," in which it is said: Our life is our own possession, and its benefit to us is very great. Regarding its dignity, even the honor of being Emperor could not compare with it. Regarding its importance, even the wealth of possessing the world would not be exchanged for it. Regarding its safety, were we to lose it for one morning, we could never again bring it back. These three are points on which those who have understanding are careful." (I, 3.) This passage ex-plains why one should despise things and value life. Even an empire, once lost, may some day be regained, but once dead, one can never live again.
The Lao-tzu contains passages expressing the same idea. For example: He who in his conduct values his body more than he does the world, may be given the world. He who in his conduct loves himself more than he does the world, may be entrusted with the world." (Ch. 13.) Or: "Name or person, which is more dear? Person or fortune, which is more important? (Ch. 44-) Here again appears the idea of despising things and valuing life.
In the third chapter of the Chuang-tzu, titled "Fundamentals for the Cul-tivation of Life, we read: When you do something good, beware of reputa-tion; when you do something evil, beware of punishment. Follow the middle way and take this to be your constant principle. Then you can guard your person, nourish your parents, and complete your natural term of years." This again follows Yang Chu s line of thought, and, according to the earlier Taoists, is the best way to preserve one's life against the harms that come from the human world. If a man s conduct is so bad that society punishes him, this is obviously not the way to preserve his life. But if a man is so good in his conduct that he obtains a fine reputation, this too is not the way to preserve his life. Another chapter of the Chuang-tzu tells us: "Mountain trees are their own enemies, and the leaping fire is the cause of its own quenching. Cinnamon is edible, therefore the cinnamon tree is cut down. Ch'i oil is useful, therefore the ch'i tree is gashed." (Ch. 4.) A man having a reputation of ability and usefulness will suffer a fate just like that of the cinnamon and ch'i Irees.
Thus in the Chuang-tzu we find passages that admire the usefulness of the useless. In the chapter just quoted, there is the description of a sacred oak, which, because its wood was good for nothing, had been spared the ax, and which said to someone in a dream: "For a long time I have been learning to be useless. There were several occasions on which I was nearly destroyed, but now I have succeeded in being useless, which is of the greatest use to me. If I were useful, could I have become so great? Again it is said that "the world knows only the usefulness of the useful, but does not know the usefulness of the useless." (Ch. 4.) To be useless is the way to preserve one'
IO4 , THE FIRST PHASE OF TAOISM:YANG CHU
s life. The man who is skillful in preserving life must not do much evil, but neither must he do much good. He must live midway between good and evil. He tries to be useless, which in the end proves of greatest usefulness to him.
Development of Taoism
In this chapter we have been seeing the first phase in the development of early Taoist philosophy. Altogether there have been three main phases. The ideas attributed to Yang Chu represent the first. Those expressed in the greater part of the Lao-tzu represent the second. And those expressed in the greater part of the Chuang—lzu represent the third and last phase. I say the greater part of the Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, because in the Lao-tzu there are also to be found ideas representing the first and third phases and in the Chuang-tzu ideas of the first and second phases. These two books, like many others of ancient China, are really collections of Taoist writings and sayings, made by differing persons in different times, rather than the single work of any one person.
The starting point of Taoist philosophy is the preservation of life and avoiding of injury. Yang Chu s method for so doing is to escape. This is the method of the ordinary recluse who flees from society and hides himself in the mountains and forests. By doing this he thinks he can avoid the evils of the human world. Things in the human world, however, are so complicated that no matter how well one hides oneself, there are always evils that cannot be avoided. There are times, therefore, when the method of "escaping' does not work.
The ideas expressed in the greater part of the Lao-tzu represent an at-tempt to reveal the laws underlying the changes of things in the universe. Things change, but the laws underlying the changes remain unchanging. Tf one understands these laws and regulates one's actions in conformity with them, one can then turn everything to one s advantage. This is the second phase in the development of Taoism.
Even so, however, there is no absolute guarantee. In the changes of things, both in the world of nature and of man, there are always unseen elements. So despite every care, the possibility remains that one will suffer injury. This is why the Lao-tzu says with still deeper insight: "The reason that I have great disaster is that I have a body. If there were no body, what disaster could there be? " (Ch. 13.) These words of greater understanding are developed in much of the Chuang-tzu, in which occur the concepts of the equalization of life with death, and the identity of self with others. This means to see life and death, self and others, from a higher point of view. By seeing things from this higher point of view, one can transcend the existing world. This is also a form of escape ; nol one, however, from society to mountains and forests, but rather from this world to another world. Here is the third and last phase of development in the Taoism of ancient times.
