was rewarded for his services by a fief at Twan-kan. From Tsung five generations in direct descent are traced, the last of which settled in the state of T'se. From this point again history fails to follow the fortunes of the family and thus is afforded another contrast with the family of Confucius, whose representative at the present day enjoys the title of Duke, and a liberal pension.

But though history contains but scanty references to the life of Laou-tsze, religious records, like the "Aurea Legenda" of Western Hagiology, abound with marvellous tales of his birth and career. By some writers he is declared to have been a spiritual being, and the embodiment of Taou; without beginning and without cause; the ancestor of the original breath; without light, form, sound, or voice; having neither ancestors nor descendants; dark, yet having within himself a spiritual substance; and that substance was truth. According to these, authors, his appearance during the Chow dynasty was only one of his avatars. At the time of the three emperors, he first appeared as a man under the name of Yuen-chungfa-sze, and the intervening period between this and his final birth as Laou-tsze witnessed no fewer than ten incarnations.

Equally bold legend-mongers aver that his mother conceived him in consequence of the emotion she felt at the sight of a falling star; that for eighty-one long years he remained concealed in the womb, and that at length he was born under the shade of a Le, or plum-tree. His appearance at his birth, which was that of an old man with grey hair, gained for him his

name of Laou-tsze, or Old Boy, by which he is still known. With his first breath he was endowed with complete intelligence, and possessed of the power of speech. Pointing to the tree under which his mother had a few minutes before given him birth, he said: "Le [Plum] shall be my surname." Later writers state that as soon as he was born he mounted in the air, like Sâkyamuni, St. Francis of Assisi, Ignatius Loyola, and other saints, and pointing with his left hand to heaven and with his right hand to earth, he said: "In heaven above and on earth beneath Taou alone is worthy of honour." His complexion was

white and yellow; his ears were of an extraordinary size, and were each pierced with three passages. He had handsome eyebrows, large eyes, ragged teeth, a double-ridged nose, and a square mouth; on each foot he had ten toes, and each hand was ornamented with ten lines.

Thus distinguished from the common herd of men, it is not surprising that Yin He, the keeper of the Han-koo kwan, on seeing him approach the pass, should have at once recognised him as being no ordinary man. On the other hand, Laou-tsze, perceiving that Yin He possessed the qualifications of a disciple, willingly consented to abide with him for a while, to instruct him in the principles of Taou. At last the time came when the philosopher announced his departure westward. Yin He begged earnestly to be allowed to accompany him, protesting that he was willing to follow him through fire and water. But Laou-tsze forbade him. "Then," said the disciple, "I pray you, give a record of your philosophy."

Upon which Laou-tsze expounded to him his doctrines, and left him a work in five thousand characters on the subject of Taou (the Way) and Tih (Virtue).

But there was yet another obstacle to his departure to be overcome. The philosopher's servant, Seu keǎ, who had served him for two hundred years without receiving any wages, finding that his master was going to take a journey whither he knew not, suddenly demanded his arrears of pay, which upon calculation were found to amount to 72,000 ounces of silver. Fearing to face his master, he induced an acquaintance to ask Yin He to broach the subject to Laou-tsze. The acquaintance being ignorant of the relation existing between the master and servant, and already deeming in anticipation Seu keǎ to be a rich man, promised him his daughter in marriage. The beauty of the girl added to the persistency of the serving-man, whom Laou-tsze summoned to his presence. "I hired you originally," he said, "to perform the most humble duties; your circumstances were poor, and no one else would employ you. I have given you the talisman of long life, and it is due to this alone that you are now in existence. How have you so far forgotten the benefits I have heaped upon you as to cover me with reproaches? I am now about to set out for the Western Sea [the Caspian]; I intend to visit the kingdoms of Ta T'sin [the Roman empire], of Ke-pin [Cabul], of Teenchoo [India], and of Gan-se [Parthia]; and I order you to act as my charioteer thitherwards. On my return, I will pay you that which I owe you." But Seu keǎ still refused to obey. Whereupon

Laou-tsze ordered him to lean forward and to open his mouth, and instantly there escaped from his lips. the talisman, and at the same moment his body became a heap of dry bones.

At the earnest prayer of Yin He the ungrateful servant was restored to life, and was dismissed with a present of 20,000 ounces of silver. Having nothing further to detain him, Laou-tsze bade farewell to the keeper of the pass, and mounting upon a cloud, disappeared into space.

Some Taouist writers claim Laou-tsze as the author of nine hundred and thirty of the current works on the superstitious vanities of modern Taouism, and add complacently that all other books are unworthy of the same regard, having been secretly added by the followers of Taou in later ages.

As stated above, Sze-ma Tseen makes mention of only one interview between Confucius and Laou-tsze ; but as the main object of the Sage's visit to Chow was to receive instruction from the Keeper of the Archives, it is more than probable that, as stated in the Kea yu, Le-ke, and elsewhere, their intercourse was frequent. On one occasion, Laou-tsze saw Confucius engaged in study, and asked what book he was reading. "The Yih-king [the Book of Changes]," replied Confucius; "the sages of antiquity used to read it also." "The sages were able to read it," answered Laou-tsze; "but you, to what end do you read it? What is the groundwork of the book?" "It treats of humanity and justice," answered the Sage.

"The justice and humanity of the day are no more

than empty names; they only serve as a mask to cruelty, and trouble the hearts of men; disorder was never more rife than at present. The pigeon does not bathe all day to make itself white; nor does the crow paint itself each morning to make itself black. The heaven is naturally elevated, the earth is naturally gross; the sun and the moon shine naturally; the stars and planets are naturally arranged in their places; the plants and trees fall naturally into classes, according to their species. So, sir, if you cultivate Taou, if you throw yourself towards it with all your soul, you will arrive at it. To what good is

humanity and justice? You are like a man who beats a drum while searching for a truant sheep. Master, you only trouble man's nature.”1

age

He would have men

In this passage we have a clear exposition of the leading differences between Confucius and Laou-tsze. Confucius held that the chief requirement of the was the rectification of names. practise humanity and call it humanity; he would have men dutiful to their parents, and call it filial piety; he would have men serve their sovereign with their whole heart, and call it loyalty. Laou-tsze, on the contrary, held that when men professed to be humane, filial, and loyal, it was a sure sign that the substance had disappeared, and that the shadow only remained. The pigeon is not white on account of much bathing, nor does the crow paint itself black. If the pigeon began to bathe itself, and the crow to

'Julien, Introduction to "Le Livre de la Voie et de la Vertu."