28 THE OPERATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS 



Confucius. He replied ; ' Hui can forego Etiquette and Music. ' ' 

 Confucius said : ' ' Good, but your progress is not yet complete. ' ' 



THESE ARE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE SAGE'S 

 TEACHING. THE ABOLISHMENT OF THE SAGE THE 

 ELIMINATION OF SAGACITY IMPLIES ENTRANCE 

 INTO THE STATE OF NON-ACTION. 



Another day Hui saw Confucius and said : "Hui has made pro- 

 gress. " "In what way, ' ' asked Confucius. ' ' I have dispended 

 with Jen and I, Benevolence and Justice" answered Hui. Con- 

 fucius said "Very good," there is yet room to advance. Yet 

 another day on seeing Confucius, Hui said, "I can sit without 

 being conscious of mv bod v. I have reached the abstraction 

 of the Tao." Confucius suddenly asked, "What do you mean 

 by sitting in a state of abstraction." Yen Hui replied : "Lose 

 all sense of the physical body: be detached from sentiency. 

 be separated from this outward form, abandon knowledge: 

 thus situated penetrate within the spiritual flux (or essence) ; 

 passivity is what I mean by sitting in a state of insensibility." 

 Chung Ni replied, "Penetration into these implies a state 

 without shan goodness, virtue : the state of spiritual pos- 

 sivitity or flux implies a state without the constant principles 

 and maxims of the Sages. You have entered sainthood be- 

 fore me. " I must beg to fellow after you. Lao Tzu says : 



CLOTHED WITH THOUGHT AND ANIMAL SPIRITS : 

 EMBRACING UNITY OF THE TAO AND ABLE TO ABIDE 

 IN IT WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, THE UNDIVIDED 

 VITAL BREATH ABSOLUTELY IN A STATE OF. 

 FLUIDITY AND IN A PERFECT STATE OF YIELDING- 

 NESS SIMILAR TO THAT OF AN INFANT CHILD. 

 BEING IN SUCH A STATE IS TO BE IN THE TAO. 



(40) A false move. — Duke Mu of Ts'u mobilised his 

 troops for a surprise attack on Cheng. Ch'ien Hsu disagreed 

 with the proposal, on the grounds that to be successful, the 

 chariots must not be over 100 li away, and the infantry not 

 over 30 li from the objective ; that the plans must be secret 

 and not divulged; the soldiers keenness must not have lost 

 its edge (as they would after long marches) ; the commissariat 

 must not be depleted : the people must not be exhausted ; 

 but all by uniting their keen spirit and abounding strength 

 in the object, attack the enemy, and overawe him. "But in 

 the case before us," he said "the distance is several thousand 

 li : the territories of several Feudal Princes must be crossed 

 to make this surprise attack. l r our servant wonders whether 

 the King would not reconsider the plan." But Duke Mu 

 refusing the advice, Ch'ien Hsu in sending forth the troops 

 wore mourning, hemp garments and wept. 



The army on its march had to pass through Chou and 

 was met on the east of it by a trader from Cheng Hsuan, 



