H 28 DESTINY, FATE 



<iiles "has been widely popularised in Chinese every-day life. 

 Its details have been pictorially expressed in a wood-cut, 

 with the addition of a tiger about to spring on a man, and 

 a well is nearby into which both will tumble. A legend at 

 the side reads — 'All is Destiny.' This little incident aptly 

 illustrates the Chinese idea of destiny. 



Again we read in Chuang Tzu, "He who comprehends 

 the Greater Destiny becomes himself a part of it. He who 

 comprehends the Lesser Destiny resigns himself to the 

 inevitable." The greater destiny possibly implies a belief in 

 the foresight of an unseen Power, approaching the Christian 

 idea of Providence. The Lesser Destiny is more of a belief 

 in blind fate. 



Again Chuang Tzu says, "Life and death belong to 

 Destiny. Their sequence like day and night is of God, beyond 

 the interference of man, an inevitable law." (Giles, p. 74). 



Again we read in Chuang Tzu, that Tzu Sang was very 

 ill, and his friend went to see him one day. On arriving at 

 the door he heard the sick man singing and lamenting, 

 saying, 



O father ! mother ! Heaven ! O man ! 



His friend asked him what he meant by this, and the 

 sick man replied: "I was trying to think who could have 

 brought me to this extreme, but I could not guess. My 

 father and mother would hardly wish me to< be poor. Heaven 

 -covers all equally, Earth supports all equally. I was seeking 

 to know who it was who made me poor, but without success. 

 Surely then I am brought to* this extreme by Destiny. 

 (Giles, p. 90). As Emerson says, "The word Fate or Destiny 

 expresses the sense of mankind in all ages — that the laws of 

 the world do not always befriend, but often hurt and crush 

 us, " (Giles, in loc). What is this Destiny ? Chuang Tzu tries 

 to give a philosophical explanation of it in the words, "At 

 the beginning of the. beginning even nothing did not exist. 

 Then came the period of the Nameless. When One, i.e. 

 The Tao came into existence, there was one but it was form- 

 less. When things got that by which they came into exist- 

 ence, it was called their (Virtue or) endowment of energy. 

 That which was formless, but fluid, yet without interstices 

 or separation 1 between its own parts was called Destiny. 2 



1 The breaks of Science? 



3 The introductory part to Essay 2, Huai Nan-tzu — dealing with 

 Origins and Reality endeavours to give a similar interpretation but in 

 obscure and difficult language. 



