"Lao-tsze  cultivated  the  Tao  and  its  virtues;
his  school  applied  itself  to  self-effacement,  re-
fusing to  seek  fame.  .  .  .  He  was  an  eminent
man  of  virtue  among  those  who  lived  in
seclusion."*

Although  Confucius  was  evidently  no  adherent
of  the  Taoist  discipline  in  its  rigorous  form,  and
certainly  no  hermit,  yet  we  are  not  entitled  to
admit  that  he  was  not  a  good  Taoist.  The  fact
that  he  piously  visited  Lao-tsze  in  his  retirement

'  Shi  ki,  Chapter  63,  fo.  3.
Holiness  through  Asceticism         133


is  significant ;  moreover,  according  to  two  Classics,
he  explicitly  mentioned  Taoist  retirement  and
indiiferentism  v/ith  high  praise.
"The  very  wise  and  virtuous  man,"  said  he,
'^acts  and  behaves  according  to  the  Tao;  to
abandon  its  rule  of  conduct  when  half-way
advanced  is  impossible  for  me.  The  man  who
is  very  wise  and  virtuous  is  an  adherent  of  the
chung  practice  {i.e.,  he  suppresses  or  regulates
his  passions,  see  p.  109) ;  but  it  is  only  the  holy
man  who  can  withdraw  from  the  world  and
conceal  his  wisdom  without  spite.  The  Tao  of
the  man  of  great  wisdom  and  virtue  extends
everywhere,  even  though  he  lives  in  retirement. '
It  exists  in  concealment,  and  yet  it  becomes
more  and  more  brilliant  day  by  day,  while  the
Tao  of  the  ordinary  man  makes  display,  and
thus  gradually  vanishes  day  by  day.  The  Tao
of  the  man  who  is  eminently  wise  and  virtuous
consists  in  indiff erentism ;  he  is  never  dissat-
isfied with  it.  ^

"Those  who,  with  earnest  faith,  wish  to  learn
the  Tao  of  natural  goodness,  which  protects

'  Chung  yung,  12  and  13.  »  Chung  yung,  33.
