EXTRAIT

Coincidences

Fate holds sway over happiness and misfortune, being a spontaneous principle and a decree to meet with certain incidents. There is no alien force, and nothing else exercises an overwhelming influence or affects the final result.

The world speaks of Tse Hsü falling upon his sword, and of Ch‘ü Yuan drowning himself. Tse Lan and Tsai P‘i had slandered them to the princes of Wu and Ch‘u, and they died innocently. It just so happened that the lives of the two were to end, that Tse Lan and Tsai P‘i defamed them, and that King Huai and Fu Ch‘ai put faith in their trumped up charges. It so happened that these princes were short-sighted, so that their officers could be slandered. The lives of the two unfortunate men chanced to be naturally of short duration. It world seem as if there were two chances and three coincidences, but, as a matter of fact, there is but fate and nothing else.

When the Hsia and Yin dynasties were just on the verge of ruin, the crimes of Chieh and Chou happened to be rife, and when the stars of the Shang and Chou were just in the ascent, the virtues of T‘ang and Wu happened to be flourishing.

Kuan Lung Fêng met with a violent death, and Chi Tse and Pi Kan both expired in jail. At that time the corruption of Chieh and Chou was at its height, and the spans of the two men were to terminate. The words of Yi Yin were listened to, and the advice of Lü Wang was accepted. That was the period, when T‘ang and Wu were going to rise, and the time, when the two statesmen were to be employed.

The destiny of a subject may be lucky or unlucky, and a virtuous or a vicious sovereign meets with him. Wên Wang’s time was to be glorious, and it was Lü Wang’s fate to become exalted. Kao Tsung’s reign was to be peaceful, and Fu Yüeh’s virtue to chime in with it. Not that Wên Wang and Kao Tsung were born for their two subjects, or that Lü Wang and Fu Yüeh were created for their two sovereigns. The sovereign being wise, and the minister virtuous, they heard of each other’s fame. Everything being adjusted above, and well ordered below, their lots came to be linked together.

When Yen Yuan died, the Master said,

— Heaven is destroying me,

and at the death of Tse Lu he exclaimed,

— Heaven has cursed me.

These were expressions of the grief of Confucius and not in accord with the true principle. Confucius was not predestinated to become an emperor, and the lives of his two disciples were not to be long. The fate allotted to them viz. not to become an emperor and not to live long, was not the same, but their lots coincided, and just happened to be connected.

The wonder of the two dragons had to appear, just when King Li of Chou happened to open the box, and when Pao Sse had to destroy the Chou State, it so happened that the nature which King Yu had obtained proved to be wicked. The two dragons did not induce King Li to commit crimes, nor did Pao Sse beguile King Yu. All these were merely chances and coincidences, which came together of themselves.

The weird ditties of children turned out true, when the extraordinary cockfight took place by hazard, and the prophecy by the mainah was fulfilled, when the calamity happened to befall Chao of Lu. Those ditties did not cause the fighting, nor did the mainah bring about the misfortune of the prince : the date of these events came of itself, and human activity coincided by chance.

It was Yao’s fate to yield the empire to Shun, and Tan Chu’s, to be unprincipled, and when the power over Yü had to pass over to the Hsia dynasty, Shang Chün’s conduct had to be flagitious. The two sons were not induced to wickedness, in order to procure the empire to Shun and Yü. Goodness and badness, right and wrong came together by hazard.

As regards the rising and setting of Mars and the Pleiades, Mars comes out, when the Pleiades are down, and hides, when the Pleiades are visible. It is not the nature of fire that it should counteract the Pleiades, but by chance their times are not the same, and their courses are different.

When the first moon rests in the cyclical sign yin, the constellation K‘uei of Ursa major is opposed to the sign shên. It is not the establishment of yin which causes the ejection of shên, but the revolutions of the two constellations happen to be thus balanced.

When the father dies, the son succeeds him and, when the mother-in-law expires, the daughter-in-law takes her place. The succession of son and daughter are not the causes of the decease of father and mother, but the years of old and young people follow each other of themselves.

They say that autumn’s breath blights grain and grass. They cannot stand it, and fade away and die. This idea is wrong : Plants germinate in spring, grow in summer, and ripen in autumn. Then they just wither and die spontaneously. The Yin fluid then happens to be in abundance and falls in with them. Whence do we know this ?

Some plants do not die in autumn, their vitality not yet being exhausted. Man lives a hundred years ere he breathes his lest, and plants live one year before they die. If people aver that at death the Yin fluid destroys them, what kind of fluid does man encounter when his life ceases ? Some perhaps may return that ghosts kill him. If, when man expires, ghosts appear, and when plants die, cold air supervenes, all this would be mere accident. Men see ghosts before their end, but some perceive them without dying. Plants meet cold when they die, but it happens also that they encounter cold and yet do not wither.

Those who are crushed by a falling building, or buried under a collapsing bank, are not killed by the essence of the house or the fluid of the bank. The house was old, and the bank in decay. Unfortunate men happened to be on the spot just at the moment when the down-fall took place.

The moon fades in heaven, and shells shrink in the sea. The wind follows the tiger, and the clouds accompany the dragon. Belonging to the same sort and permeated by a similar fluid, their natures can mutually affect one another. When, however, creatures and things fall in together, and good or bad luck happen simultaneously, there is no influence exercised by one fluid upon another.

The worst penalty which can be inflicted on a murderer, is capital punishment. The punishment of the murderer must be heavy, and the life of him who has to die, must be cut off. Therefore the destruction coming down from above, first aims at the life of the criminal. When, however, a holy emperor displays his virtue, those having good luck first enjoy it. And then, if a kind edict be issued in the palace, the culprit who has still long years to live comes out of jail. In that case Heaven has not prompted the holy emperor to issue such an edict for the sake of the culprit whose time of death has not yet come. The holy emperor happened to promulgate an act of grace, and the prisoner by chance escaped death.

It is like man’s sleeping at night, and rising in the morning. At night the light of the moon fades, it is impossible to work, and man’s forces are likewise exhausted, so that he desires rest. When the morning sun shines brightly, he awakes from his slumbers, and his power is restored as well. Heaven does not make him work during the day, and repose at night. Working goes along with the day, and rest corresponds to the night.

The wild geese assemble at Kuei-chi, having left the cold region of Chieh-shih. When they arrive they find the fields of the people just ready. Walking about them, they feed on grass and corn. When the corn has been eaten, and the food been used up, the spring rains then just set in. Then they leave the hot climes for the north, returning again to Chieh-shih.

The elephants tilling the tumulus acted in the same manner. It is on record that Shun was buried in Ts‘ang-wu, and that elephants became his labourers, and that Yü was interred at Kuei-chi, and had crows as tenants. This is an untruth and an absurd statement.

When a husband has the physiognomy of a short-lived man, the wife he marries must soon become a widow, and when such a woman who is soon to be widowed marries, she falls in with a husband who dies young. There is a common belief that, in case males and females die prematurely, the husband injures his wife, and the wife does harm to the husband. There can be no question of mutual injury, it is all the outcome of fate, which works spontaneously.

Provided that a flame be quenched by water, then we are justified in speaking of water injuring fire. But when fire just goes out of its own accord, and water happens to pour down on it spontaneously, we must say that both have destroyed themselves and did not injure one another. Now the untimely death of males and females is not analogous to the quenching of fire by water, but may be compared to the two elements extinguishing and pouring down of themselves.

The son injuring his father and the younger brother ruining the elder are on the same line. Since they are living under the same roof, their fluids come into contact. They become weak and sickly and pine away until they give up their ghost, but how can this be called injury ? It also happens that somebody dies abroad, more than a thousand Li away, by sword or fire, crushed or drowned. There cannot have been a collision of fluids ; how could any harm have been produced ?

The aunt of Wang Mang, Lady Chêng, was bespoken in marriage to two gentlemen, who both died, and when she was on her way to Chao, its prince also passed away. Before her fluid could have reached them, she destroyed three persons from afar, what a pity !

Huang Ts‘e Kung married the daughter of a sorcerer in the neighbourhood, after a soothsayer had pronounced her mien to be noble. Therefore Huang Ts‘e Kung rose to the rank of a prime minister. As a matter of fact, this was not so. Huang Ts‘e Kung was predetermined to become a nobleman, when, on a journey, he encountered the woman. She was likewise to be exalted, therefore she entered Huang Ts‘e Kung’s house. It was a coincidence, and they met at the proper time.

Luckless people make no profit as merchants, and as agriculturists reap no grain. Their nature does not spoil the merchandise, but their fate prevents the grain from growing. Predestinated for poverty, they deal in unprofitable goods, and hampered with bad luck, they plant seed which does not bear fruit.

The world says that dwellings are propitious or unpropitious, and that in moving, special attention should be paid to the year and the month. This is not a correct statement of facts. The ways of Heaven are difficult to know, but provided that an unlucky fellow, or a doomed family build a house, they simply will select a site of ill omen, and when they change their residence, they just happen to choose a calamitous year or month which should be avoided. When an entire family thus rushes into disaster, so that its ten odd members all perish, unable to do anything against it, they all must be persons whose prosperity is shattered and whose fate put an end to them.

The same reasoning holds good concerning the promotion and translation of officials. When the time of their removal has come, their sovereign lends an ear to slanderous reports, and when it is time that they should advance, some excellent man recommends them. When a scholar is about to take office, some superior man assists virtue, and when he is going to be dismissed, some villain has defamed talent.

Kung-Po Liao impeached Tse Lu to Chi Sun. Confucius said,

— It is fate.

Tsang Ts‘ang of Lu slandered Mencius in the presence of Duke P‘ing, and Mencius remarked that it was Heaven. As long as the time for a new doctrine has not yet come, one meets with backbiters, and before Heaven lends its help, the talk of malicious people prevails. Therefore Confucius spoke of fate, and did not cherish enmity against Kung-Po Liao ; and Mencius referring to Heaven did not bear a grudge against Tsang Ts‘ang. They clearly saw that time and fate must be spontaneous.

This is true of the success of a ruler introducing reforms as well. If he is to become illustrious, there happens to be a time of peace, and when there is to be a time of rebellion, his prosperity will be ruined. The time of peace and revolution, victory and defeat is like the progress and the reverses, the good and bad fortune of an individual, which are encountered by chance.

The appearance of wise and sage men at various times falls under the same law. A pious emperor soars up like a dragon all at once, and an able help-mate is found out and instated in the very nick of time. People imagine that because Han Hsin and Chang Liang supported the king of Han, Ch‘in was wiped out and Han came to power, insomuch as Kao Tsu won the crown. It was Han Kao Tsu’s destiny to become emperor by himself at a time, when Han Hsin and Chang Liang were to flourish by themselves. Thus both sides met. If they had sought each other on purpose, and for this reason Han Kao Tsu rose in Fêng and P‘ei, among the young folks there many had physiognomies indicative of wealth and honour, yet Heaven did not aid Kao Tsu through them.

Whether fate and physiognomies be grand or mean, there is only a casual coincidence. Viscount Chien of Chao deposed his heir-son Po Lu and raised Wu Hsü, the son of a concubine. Wu Hsü happened to be intelligent, and he was predestined to become prince of Chao to boot. People say that Po Lu was depraved and not equal to Wu Hsü. Po Lu was doomed to baseness, moreover his mind was muddled.

The scholar Han An Kuo rose to be Minister of State. They say that he owed this to I K‘uan, but that is not the case. High honours were in store for the Minister, and by hazard he fell in with I K‘uan.

Chao Wu hidden in the pantaloons did not cry the whole day. Nobody shut his mouth or prevented him from giving a round, but it was his lot to live, therefore he chanced to escape by sleeping.