There  is  among  the  Classics  a  most  interesting
Universistic  treatise,  entitled  Yueh  ling,  or  "Re-
scripts for  the  Months  " ;  it  is  one  of  the  many  books
of  the  Li  ki.  It  may  be  described  as  a  text-book
for  rulers  and  their  subjects,  enabling  them,  by
carefully  following  its  directions,  to  adapt  their
conduct  to  the  Tao  or  Order  of  the  World  which  is
in  the  main  the  annual  round  of  Time.  It  was
composed  by  Lu  Puh-wei,  the  prime  minister  of
Shi  Hwang,  who  evidently  used  certain  documents
the  age  of  which  cannot  be  determined.  In  this
curious  handbook  for  the  Tao  of  Man  we  find  the
following  lines :

*'In  the  month  of  midsummer  the  growth
of  the  days  reaches  the  ultimate  point,  and  the
Yin  and  the  Yang  commence  their  annual  strug-
gle, so  that  the  principles  of  death  and  produc-


Holiness  through  Asceticism         137


tion  separate.  Men  eminent  for  virtue  and
wisdom  {kiiin-tsze)  then  fast ;  they  conceal  them-
selves somewhere  in  their  dwellings,  where  their
desires  are  stilled,  where  they  do  nothing  with
precipitation,  and  banish  music  and  lust.  No-
body may  enter  there;  they  must  take  the
smallest  possible  quantity  of  savoury  food,  and
have  no  well-tasting  mixtures  brought  to  them.
