Evening star., 1927-09-18
BY WILL DURANT, PHI, D.,

quiet and sensitive souls who want
| above all things else to be let alone;
and his conception of government
was built, like Thoreau's, upon his
hunger for personal independence and
| spiritual peace. He did not seek
pupils. but they came to his retreat,
and to them in proud aphorisms he
taught Tao, the Way.
In the highest antiquity (says
Lao.tse) the people did not know
that they had rulers. In the next
age they loved and praised them.
In the next they feared them. In
the next they despised them.
AS restrictions and prohi-
bitions are multiplied in the empire
the people grow poorer and poorer.
When the people are subjected to
overmuch government the land is
thrown into confusion.
The greater the number Of laws
and enactments, the more thieves
and robbers there will be. There
fore the sage says, $50 long as l
do nothing the peole will work out
their own reformation"
knowledge had no honor in this
philosophy; Lao-tse denounces 1t with
the fervor of Rousseau. If there were
less education, he thought, there
would be fewer rascals. Nothing
could be more disastrous than letting
philosophers rule; they would meddle
with everything. He who tries to
govern a state by wisdom is a scourge
to it," Ability in making theories Is
a sign of incompetence in practice.
"They who know don't talk; they who
talk don't know" (Mr. Shaw would
be chagrined to find how old Is his
opinion of teachers)
knowledge is unnatural, but truth
and happiness are only in natural
things. There is a law, Way or
Tao, in nature; and the secret of
perfection lies in the obedience of
everything to it's own nature and to
the nature of the whole. Leave all
things to their natural course and
do not interfere" do nothing by
self.will, but rather conform to the
Infinite Will and everything will be
done for YOU"
At every turn we find Lao-tse a
remarkable agreement with Christ:
'Requite injury with kindness. To
the good I would be good; to the not
good / would also be good in order
to make them good. With the faith.
full would keep faith; with the un-
faithful would also keep faith in
order that they may become faithful.
He who has no faith in others will
find no faith in them.
Keep behind and you shall be put
in front. He that humbles himself
shall be preserved. He that bends
shall be made straight. He who is
great makes humility his base. He
who, conscious of being strong, is
content to be weak, he shall be the
paragon Of mankind.
ITO know, but to be as not know.
ing, is the height of wisdom. The
sage knows what Is In him, but makes
no display; he respects himself, but
seeks no honor for himself. All
things in nature work silently. They
come into being and possess nothing.
They fulfill theiH1unction and make
no claim. All things alike do their
work and then we see them subside.
When they have reached their bloom
each returns to its origin. Returning
to their origin means rest or fulfill.
ment Of destiny. This reversion is
an eternal law. To know that law is
WISDOM
y X ~
We do not know when Lao.tse died,
but If we may believe Scu.ma Ch'ien,
the old Chinese historian, he lived at
least till SIS Be, when, in his eighty
sixth year, he was visited by teacher
called Kung.fu-tse, who was destined
to become the greatest figure in the
history Of China. The younger man
was then absorbed in historical re.
search and asked Lao.tse to tell him
OF ancient kings and of primitive reli.
gion, to which Lao-tse answered
scornfully:
Those about whom you inquire
have nodded with their bones into
dust. Nothing but their words re.
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