第 6 节
作者:      更新:2022-06-15 11:22      字数:9322
  citizenship。      Hide    yourself    under    a   bushel    quickly;    for  if  your    real
  usefulness were known to the world you would soon be knocked down to
  the highest bidder by the public auctioneer。 Why do men and women like
  to advertise themselves so much? Is it not but an instinct derived from the
  days of slavery?
  The virility of the idea lies not less in its power of breaking through
  contemporary        thought     than   in  its  capacity    for  dominating      subsequent
  movements。        Taoism was an active power during                the Shin dynasty; that
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  epoch of Chinese unification from which we derive the name China。                             It
  would be   interesting   had   we   time   to   note   its   influence   on   contemporary
  thinkers;   the   mathemeticians;   writers   on   law   and   war;   the   mystics   and
  alchemists and   the  later  nature…poets   of   the Yangste…Kiang。               We   should
  not even ignore those speculators on Reality who doubted whether a white
  horse   was   real   because   he   was   white;   or   because   he   was   solid;   nor   the
  Conversationalists   of   the   Six   dynasties   who;   like   the   Zen   philosophers;
  revelled in discussions concerning the Pure and the Abstract。                      Above all
  we     should    pay   homage      to   Taoism     for  what    it  has   done    toward     the
  formation   of   the   Celestial   character;   giving   to   it   a   certain   capacity   for
  reserve   and   refinement   as   〃warm   as   jade。〃        Chinese   history   is   full   of
  instances     in   which    the   votaries   of   Taoism;     princes   and    hermits    alike;
  followed   with   varied   and interesting   results   the teachings of   their   creed。
  The tale will not be without its quota of instruction and amusement。 It will
  be   rich   in   anecdotes;   allegories;   and   aphorisms。       We   would   fain   be   on
  speaking terms with the delightful emperor who never died because he had
  never   lived。     We   may  ride   the   wind   with   Liehtse   and   find it   absolutely
  quiet because we ourselves are the wind; or dwell in mid…air with the Aged
  one   of   the   Hoang…Ho;   who   lived   betwixt   Heaven   and   Earth   because   he
  was   subject   to   neither   the   one   nor   the   other。    Even   in   that   grotesque
  apology   for   Taoism   which   we   find   in   China   at   the   present   day;   we   can
  revel in a wealth of imagery impossible to find in any other cult。
  But   the   chief   contribution   of   Taoism   to Asiatic   life   has   been   in   the
  realm of aesthetics。 Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism as
  the 〃art of being in the world;〃 for it deals with the presentourselves。                    It
  is in us that God meets with Nature; and yesterday parts from to…morrow。
  The Present is the moving Infinity; the legitimate sphere of the Relative。
  Relativity seeks        Adjustment; Adjustment is Art。             The art of life lies in a
  constant readjustment to our surroundings。                 Taoism accepts the mundane
  as it is and; unlike the Confucians or the Buddhists; tries to find beauty in
  our   world   of   woe   and   worry。     The   Sung   allegory   of   the Three   Vinegar
  Tasters explains admirably the trend of the three doctrines。                     Sakyamuni;
  Confucius; and Laotse once stood before a jar of vinegarthe emblem of
  lifeand each dipped in his finger to taste the brew。                  The matter…of…fact
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  Confucius       found    it  sour;    the   Buddha     called    it  bitter;  and    Laotse
  pronounced it sweet。
  The   Taoists   claimed   that   the   comedy   of   life   could   be   made     more
  interesting     if  everyone      would     preserve     the   unities。    To     keep    the
  proportion   of   things   and   give   place   to   others   without   losing   one's   own
  position was the secret of success in the mundane drama。                  We must know
  the   whole   play   in   order   to   properly   act  our   parts;   the   conception   of
  totality    must    never   be   lost   in  that  of   the   individual。     This    Laotse
  illustrates   by   his   favourite   metaphor   of   the   Vacuum。      He   claimed   that
  only in vacuum lay the truly essential。           The reality of a room; for instance;
  was to be found in the vacant space enclosed by the roof and the walls; not
  in the roof and walls themselves。           The usefulness of a water pitcher dwelt
  in the emptiness where water might be put; not in the form of the pitcher
  or the material of which it was made。               Vacuum is all potent because all
  containing。      In vacuum alone motion becomes possible。                 One who could
  make   of   himself   a   vacuum   into   which   others   might   freely   enter   would
  become   master   of   all   situations。     The   whole   can   always   dominate   the
  part。
  These Taoists' ideas have greatly influenced all our theories of action;
  even to those of fencing and wrestling。             Jiu…jitsu; the Japanese art of self…
  defence; owes its   name   to   a  passage  in the Tao…teking。           In   jiu…jitsu  one
  seeks   to   draw   out   and   exhaust   the   enemy's   strength   by   non…resistance;
  vacuum;      while    conserving     one's  own    strength    for  victory   in  the   final
  struggle。     In   art   the   importance   of   the   same   principle   is illustrated   by
  the   value   of   suggestion。    In   leaving   something   unsaid   the   beholder   is
  given     a  chance     to  complete     the   idea   and   thus   a   great   masterpiece
  irresistably rivets your attention until you seem to become actually a part
  of it。   A vacuum is there for you to enter and fill up the full measure of
  your aesthetic emotion。
  He whohad made himself master of the art of living was the Real man
  of the Taoist。      At birth he enters the realm of dreams only to awaken to
  reality   at  death。    He    tempers     his  own    brightness      in  order   to  merge
  himself into the obscurity of others。          He is 〃reluctant; as one who crosses
  a   stream    in  winter;    hesitating    as  one   who     fears  the   neighbourhood;
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  respectful;      like   a  guest;    trembling;     like   ice   that   is  about     to  melt;
  unassuming;   like   a   piece   of   wood   not   yet   carved;   vacant;   like   a   valley;
  formless; like troubled waters。〃            To him the three jewls of life were Pity;
  Economy; and Modesty。
  If   now     we   turn   our    attention    to  Zennism      we    shall   find   that   it
  emphasises   the   teachings   of   Taoism。         Zen   is   a   name   derived   from   the
  Sanscrit word Dhyana; which signifies meditation。                   It claims that through
  consecrated        meditation       may     be    attained     supreme       self…realisation。
  Meditation   is   one   of   the   six   ways   through   which   Buddhahood   may   be
  reached; and the Zen sectarians affirm that Sakyamuni laid special stress
  on this method in his later teachings; handing down the rules to his chief
  disciple   Kashiapa。        According   to   their   tradition   Kashiapa;   the   first   Zen
  patriarch;   imparted   the   secret   to   Ananda;   who   in   turn   passed   it   on   to
  successive   patriarchs   until   it   reached   Bodhi…Dharma;   the   twenty…eighth。
  Bodhi…Dharma   came           to   Northern    China     in   the  early   half   of  the  sixth
  century     and    was   the   first  patriarch    of   Chinese     Zen。    There     is  much
  uncertainty about         the history of these patriarchs and their doctrines。               In
  its philosophical aspect early Zennism seems to have affinity on one hand
  to   the   Indian   Negativism   of   Nagarjuna   and         on   the   other   to  the   Gnan
  philosophy formulated by Sancharacharya。 The first teaching of Zen as we
  know it at the present day must be attributed to the sixth Chinese patriarch
  Yeno(637…713);   founder   of   Southern   Zen;   so…called   from   the   fact   of   its
  predominance   in   Southern   China。           He   is   closely   followed   by   the   great
  Baso(died   788)   who   made   of   Zen   a   living        influence   in   Celestial   life。
  Hiakujo(719…814) the pupil of Baso; first instituted the Zen monastery and
  established a ritual and regulations fo