Effort said to Destiny:
I have purposely avoided the familiar modern terms, Fate and Free will, which
might seem to furnish the best equivalent to li and ming. Li is the ordinary
word for 'strength' or 'force,' and here indicates human effort exerted in some
definite direction (the German 'streben') as opposed to the blind and
unconscious workings of Nature or Tao.
'Your achievements are not equal to mine.' 'Pray what do you achieve in the
working of things,' replied Destiny, 'that you would compare yourself With me? 'Why,'
said Effort, 'the length of man's life, his measure of success, his rank, and
his wealth, are all things which I have the power to determine.' To this,
Destiny made reply: 'P'êng Tsu's wisdom did not exceed that of Yao and Shun,
yet he lived to the age of eight hundred. Yen Yüan's ability was not inferior
to that of the average man, yet he died at the early age of thirty-two. The
virtue of Confucius was not less than that of the feudal princes, yet he was
reduced to sore straits between Ch'ên and Ts'ai.
See The Sayings of Confucius, p. 115.
{p. 91}
The conduct of Chou, of the Yin dynasty, did not surpass that of the Three Men
of Virtue, yet he occupied a kingly throne.
Wei Tzu, Chi Tzu and Pi Kan were all relatives of Chou Hsin, by whose orders the
last-named was disembowelled.
Chi Cha would not accept the overlordship of Wu, while T'ien Hêng usurped sole
power in Ch'i. Po I and Shu. Ch'i starved to death at Shou-yang, while Chi Shih
waxed rich at Chan-ch'in. If these results were compassed by your efforts, how
is it that you allotted long life to P'êng Tsu and an untimely death to Yen
Yüan; that you awarded discomfiture to the sage and success to the impious,
humiliation to the wise man and high honours to the fool, poverty to the good
and wealth to the wicked? 'If, as you say,' rejoined Effort, 'I have really no
control over events, is it not, then, owing to your management that things turn
out as they do? Destiny replied: 'The very name "Destiny"
Something already immutably fixed.
shows that there can be no question of management in the case. When the way is
straight, I push on; when it is crooked, I put up with it. Old age and early
death, failure and success, high rank and humble station, riches and
poverty--all these come naturally and of themselves. How can I know anything
about them?
'Being what it is, without knowing why--that is the
{p. 91}
meaning of Destiny. What room is there for management here?
* * *
Yang Chu had a friend called Chi Liang, who fell ill. In seven days' time his
illness had become very grave; medical aid was summoned, and his sons stood
weeping round his bed. Chi Liang said to Yang Chu: 'Such excess of emotion shows
my children to be degenerate. Will you kindly sing them something which will
enlighten their minds? Yang Chu then chanted the following words:
'How can men be aware of things outside God's ken? Over misfortune man has no
control, and can look for no help from God. Have doctors and wizards this
knowledge that you and I have not?
The sons, however, did not understand, and finally called in three physicians,
Dr Chiao, Dr Yü and Dr Lu. They all diagnosed his complaint; and Dr Chiao
delivered his opinion first: 'The hot and cold elements of your body,' he said
to Chi Liang, 'are not in harmonious accord, and the impermeable and
infundibular parts are mutually disproportionate. The origin of your malady is
traceable to disordered appetites, and to the dissipation of your vital essence
through worry and care. Neither God nor devil is to blame. Although the illness
is grave, it is amenable to treatment.' Chi Liang said: 'You are only one of the
common ruck,' and speedily got rid of him. {p. 93} Then Dr Yü came forward and
said: 'You were born with too little nervous force, and were too freely fed with
mother's milk. Your illness is not one that has developed in a matter of
twenty-four hours; the causes which have led up to it are of gradual growth. It
is incurable.' Chi Liang replied: 'You are a good doctor,' and told them to give
him some food. Lastly, Dr Lu said: 'Your illness is attributable neither to God,
nor to man, nor to the agency of spirits. It was already fore-ordained in the
mind of Providence when you were endowed with this bodily form at birth. What
possible good can herbs and drugs do you? 'You are a heaven-born physician
indeed!' cried Chi Liang; and he sent him away laden with presents.
Not long after, his illness disappeared of itself.
* * *
Duke Ching of Ch'i was travelling across the northern flank of the Ox-mountain
in the direction of the capital. Gazing at the view before him, he burst into a
flood of tears, exclaiming: 'What a lovely scene! How verdant and luxuriantly
wooded! To think that some day I must die and leave my kingdom, passing away
like running water! If only there were no such things as death, nothing should
induce me to stir from this spot.' Two of the Ministers in attendance on the
Duke, taking their cue from him, also began to weep, saying: 'We, who are
dependent on your Highness's bounty, whose food is of
{p. 94}
an inferior sort, who have to ride on broken-down hacks or in creaking
carts--even we do not want to die. How much less our sovereign liege!'
Yen Tzu, meanwhile, was standing by, with a broad smile on his face. The Duke
wiped away his tears and, looking at him, said: 'To-day I am stricken with grief
on my journey, and both K'ung and Chü mingle their tears with mine. How is it
that you alone can smile? Yen Tzu replied: 'If the worthy ruler were to remain
in perpetual possession of his realm, Duke T'ai and Duke Huan would still be
exercising their sway. If the bold ruler were to remain in perpetual possession,
Duke Chuang and Duke Ling would still be ruling the land. But if all these
rulers were now in possession, where would your Highness be? Why, standing in
the furrowed fields, clad in coir cape and hat!
The ordinary garb of a Chinese peasant in wet weather.
Condemned to a hard life on earth, you would have had no time, I warrant, for
brooding over death. Again, how did you yourself come to occupy this throne? By
a series of successive reigns and removals, until at last your turn came. And
are you alone going to weep and lament over this order of things? That is pure
selfishness. it was the sight of these two objects--a self-centred prince and
his fawning attendants--that set me quietly laughing to myself just now.'
Duke Ching felt much ashamed. Raising his goblet,
{p. 95}
he fined himself one cup, and his obsequious courtiers two cups of wine apiece.
* * *
There was once a man, Tung-mên Wu of Wei, who when his son died testified no
grief His house-steward said to him: 'The love you bore your son could hardly be
equalled by that of any other parent. Why, then, do you not mourn for him now
that he is dead? 'There was a time,' replied Tung-mên Wu, 'when I had no son,
yet I never had occasion to grieve on that account. Now that my son is dead, I
am only in the same condition as I was before my son was born. What reason have
I, then, to mourn?
There is a story of Plutarch consoling his wife in exactly similar terms after
the death of their daughter.
The husbandman takes his measures according to the season, the trader occupies
himself with gain, the craftsman strives to master his art, the official pursues
power. Here we have the operation of human forces.
Or 'effort'. See p. 97.
But the husbandman has seasons of rain and seasons of drought, the trader meets
with gains and losses, the craftsman experiences both failure and success, the
official finds opportunities or the reverse. Here we see the working of Destiny.
{p. 96}