Wang ch‘ung lun-hêng philosophical essays Traduits et annotés par Alfred forke

It is possible to make somebody speak, who usually does not speak, but impossible that somebody who speaks, should be induced to speak again after death. Even he who spoke before, cannot be caused to speak again. Similarly, when a plant comes _p1.198 forth, its fluid is green, which is, as it were, given it. When the same plant dies, the green colour disappears, or is taken away. Endowed with the fluid, the plant is green, deprived of it, it loses the green colour. After the latter is gone, it cannot be added again, nor can the plant grow green again of its own accord. Sound and colour correspond to one another, and are both derived from Heaven. The brilliant green colour is like a lugubrious cry. The colour of a faded plant cannot become green again, it would, therefore, be a mistake to assume that a dead man’s cry could still be produced of itself.

Man is able to talk, because he possesses vital energy. As long as he can eat and drink, the vital energy is well fed, but no sooner do eating and drinking cease, than the energy is destroyed. After this destruction there are no more sounds possible. When the person is worn out, and cannot eat any more, the mouth cannot speak any further. Death is exhaustion in the highest degree, how could man still speak then ?

There are those who say that the dead smell the sacrificed meat, and eat the air, and that they are thus enabled to speak. The vital force of the dead is that of the living. Let a living being neither eat nor drink, and only inhale the smell of offerings, and feed upon air, and he will die of starvation after no more than three days.

Another opinion is that the vital force of the dead is more powerful than that of the living, and that for this reason it can smell the air, and produce sounds.

The vital force of the living is in their body, that of the dead, out of it. In what do the dead and the living differ, and what difference does it make that the vital fluid is within the body, or outside of it ? Take water, and fill it into a big jug. When the jug breaks, the water flows to the earth, but can the water on the floor be different from that in the jug ? The water on the floor is not different from that in the jug, then why should the vital force outside the body be different from that within ?

Since a man, when dead, does not become a ghost, has no knowledge, and cannot speak, he cannot hurt others either for the following reason. In his anger, a man uses breath, but in order to injure others, he requires strength. To make use of it, his sinews and bones must be strong, then he can hurt others. An angry man may breathe heavily so near to others, that his breath shoots forth against their faces, but though he possess the _p1.199 valour of Mêng Pên ¹, it does them no harm. However, when he stretches out his hand, and strikes, or lifts the foot and kicks, he breaks whatever he hits. The bones of the dead decay, the strength of his muscles is lost, and he does not lift hand or foot. Although the vital fluid be still existent, it is, as if it were, only breathing, and nothing else follows. How then should it do harm to anybody ?

Men and other creatures hurt others by means of knives, which they grasp with their hands and arms, and with their strong and sharp nails or teeth. Now, when a man is dead, his hands and arms waste away, and cannot lift a blade any more, and nails and teeth fall out, and cannot bite any more. How should they do harm to others then ?

When a child is just born, his hands and feet are quite complete, yet the hands cannot grasp, and the feet cannot kick. The fluid has just concreted, but has no strength. Hence it is evident that the vital fluid possesses no strength. The fluid forms the body. As long as the body is still feeble and weak, it cannot do harm to any one, and how much less still, when through death the fluid becomes lost, and the vital spirit is dissolved. Something feeble and weak is uncapable of injuring people, and one asserts that cold bones can do it ? Is the fluid of the dead not lost ? How should it injure anybody ?

Before a hen’s egg is hatched, there is a formless mass in the egg-shell, which, on leaking out, looks like water. After a good hen has covered the egg, the body of the chicken is formed, and when it has been completed, the young bird can pick the shell, and kick. Human death resembles the time of the formless mass. How could a formless fluid hurt anybody ?

A man becomes bold and fierce, so that he can assault others, by eating and drinking. Eating and drinking his fill, he grows stout and strong, bold and fierce, and can do harm to others. While a man is sick, he can neither eat nor drink, and his body becomes worn out and weak. When this weariness and languor reach the highest degree, death ensues. During that time of sickness and languor his enemy may stand by his side, he cannot revile him, and a thief may take his things away, he has no means to prevent him, all on account of his debility and lassitude. Death is the debility and languor in the extreme, how then could a man after death still injure any one ?

_p1.200 If chickens or dogs, which somebody keeps, are stolen, he will, at all events, wax angry, though he be timid, and not very strong, and his anger may be so violent, that he tries conclusions with the robber, and is slain by him. During the time of great anarchy people will use one another as food. Now, provided that the spirit was conscious, it ought to be able to destroy its enemies ¹. A human body is worth more than a chicken or a dog, and one’s own death is of greater consequence than a robbery. The fact that a man is excited over a chicken or a dog, but has no bad feeling against the individual who devoured him, shows that he ² has not the power to hurt any one.

Prior to its casting off its exuviæ, a cicada is a chrysalis. When it casts them off, it leaves the pupa state, and is transformed into a cicada. The vital spirit of a dead man leaving the body may be compared to the cicada emerging from the chrysalides. As cicada it cannot hurt the chrysalides. Since it cannot do so, why should the vital spirit of a dead man hurt living bodies ?

The real nature of dreams is very doubtful. Some say that, while people are dreaming, their vital spirits remain in their bodies, and produce lucky or unlucky visions. Others hold that the vital spirit communicates with men and other creatures. Now, if it really remains in the body, the vital spirit of the dead must do the same. If, however, the spirit mixes with men, people may dream that they have killed somebody. Having killed somebody, they are perhaps themselves murdered by somebody else. But if, on the following day, they look at the body of that person, or examine their own, they will find no trace whatever of a wound inflicted by a sword. Dreams are caused by the vital spirit, and this spirit is identical with the vital spirit of the dead. The vital spirit of dreams cannot injure people, therefore the spirit of the dead cannot do so either.

When the fire burns, the caldron boils, and when the boiling stops, the steam ceases. All depends on the fire. When the vital spirit is incensed, it can do harm, not being angry, it cannot injure people. The fire blazing in the stove, the kettle bubbles, and the steam rises. When the vital force is enraged in the bosom, there is an innervation of strength, and the body is hot. Now, when a man is about to die, his body is cold and chilly. The cold and chilliness increase, until at last he expires. At the time _p1.201 of death, the vital spirit is not irritated, and after the death of the body it is like the hot water taken from the caldron, how should it hurt people ?

Things have a certain relation to man. When a man becomes insane, and one knows the proper thing, his malady may be cured by applying this thing as a remedy. As long as a thing is alive, its vital spirit adheres to its body, and consequently can change its form, and enter into close connection with man. After it has died, its body rots, and the vital spirit is dispersed. In default of a substratum it cannot undergo any more changes. The human vital spirit is like that of things. While they are alive, their spirit may become sick, when they die, it evaporates and disappears. Men are like things in this respect, when they die, their vital spirit also becomes extinguished, how could it still do any mischief ?

Should anybody object by saying that men are much more precious than things, and that their vital spirit is different, we can reply that, as a matter of fact, things can be metamorphosed, but man cannot, and that so far his vital spirit is on the contrary inferior to that of things, whose essence surpasses that of man.

Water and fire drown and burn. All that can injure man must be a substance belonging to one of the five elements. Metal hurts man, wood beats him, earth crushes him, water drowns him, and fire burns him. Is the vital spirit of the dead a substance like the five elements ? Does it injure people, or is it not a substance ? It cannot injure people. Not being a substance, it must be a fluid. Of the fluids which injure man that of the sun is the most virulent. Does the fluid of a man, when he dies, become virulent ? Can it injure people or not ? It cannot injure people.

Thus we hold that the dead do not become ghosts, are not conscious, and cannot hurt people. Consequently, it is evident that the ghosts, which are seen, are not the vital force of dead men, and that, when men have been hurt, it cannot have been done through this vital force.

CHAPTER XVI

False Reports about the Dead

63. XXI, I. Sse-wei

I say that man is created as one of the ten thousand creatures. When these creatures die, they do not become ghosts, why then must man alone become a ghost after death ? If it be owing to his superiority that man can become a ghost, then all the dead ought to be transformed into ghosts, wherefore then did the Earl of Tu and Chuang Tse Yi alone become ghosts ? If those who have innocently suffered can become ghosts, there have been a great many ministers thus wronged. Men like Pi Kan and Tse Hsü ⁴ did not become ghosts. Now, the Earl of Tu and Chuang Tse Yi were immoral. Full of spite and hate, they assassinated their sovereigns, out of revenge. There is no crime worse than the assassination of one’s sovereign. Those who were deemed worthy to become ghosts, would again have to be executed. Therefore the Earl of Tu and Chuang Tse Yi would certainly not have dared to commit such a crime.

Princes have great power, and their officers, guards, and underlings are very numerous. Had the two ministers killed the two princes, their deaths would have been avenged. Therefore no intelligent man would have made such a scheme, or committed such an act in his wrath. If the two ministers were spirits, they must have been aware that the deaths of the two princes would be avenged upon them, and, if they were not aware of it, then they were not spirits either, and not being spirits, how could they have injured anybody ? In the world many things seem real, which are not, and there are many falsehoods, which are taken for truths. Thus the stories of the Earl of Tu and Chuang Tse Yi have been handed down.

*

[Duke Hui of Chin removed the crown-prince Shên Shêng ¹ from his grave, and had him re-interred. When in autumn his charioteer Hu Tu went to Hsia-kuo ², he met the crown-prince there. The crown prince stepped upon his carriage, and spoke to him saying,

— I have been told that spirits enjoy only the offerings of their own kindred, and that people do not sacrifice but to their own clan. Would the sacrifice to Your Highness not be terminated then ? Besides the people of Chin are not responsible. Their punishment would be unjust, and there would be the cessation of the sacrifice. Your Highness should take this into consideration.

The crown-prince said,

— Well, I will pray again. Seven days hence, there will be a wizard west of the New City, through whom you shall have an interview with me.

After Hu Tu had agreed to it, he vanished. At the fixed time, Hu Tu went to the hut of a wizard on the west _p1.204 side of the New City, and had a second interview with Shên Shêng. Shên Shêng told him

— God has promised to punish the guilty one. He will slay him in Han.] ⁴

Four years later Duke Hui fought with Duke Mu of Ch‘in in the Han territory ⁵, and was taken prisoner by Duke Mu, exactly as had been predicted. What else was this than the work of a spirit ?

This story bears a great resemblance to those of the Earl of Tu and Chuang Tse Yi. How can we show that ? The removal of a grave is a private grievance. God is a public spirit. Would a public spirit take heed of a complaint addressed to him on a private grievance ? God is said to have promised to give Chin over to Ch‘in. Hu Tu thought that this could not be. Shên Shêng following Hu Tu’s words, was quite right, and therefore God’s promise to Shên Shêng was wrong. It is evident that a spirit which as God would be inferior to Hu Tu, cannot be God.

Furthermore, a subject dares not implore a sovereign to consider his private affairs. A sovereign has such an exalted position in comparison with a humble subject, that the latter does not venture to trouble him with things that do not concern him. And was the distance between Shên Shêng and God not still greater than between a subject and his sovereign ? He would not have vented his anger against Duke Hui for having removed his grave in the august presence of God.

Li Chi ² caused the death of Shên Shêng by her slander, and Duke Hui removed his corpse from his grave. The removal of a corpse is less wicked than a murder, and the guilt of Duke Hui less than that of Li Chi. If Shên Shêng prayed for the punishment of Duke Hui, and not for the death of Li Chi, then he resented the removal of his grave, but was not grieved at his own death.

By the advice of Li Sse, Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti burned the books of poetry and history, and subsequently buried the scholars alive. The grievances of the literati against him were not of a less serious character than those of Shên Shêng, and the misery of being buried alive, much more pitiful than the removal of a corpse. Yet the dead scholars of Ch‘in did not implore God, nor appear in the shapes of ghosts, and those savants did not conjointly accuse Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti of viciousness, and Li Sse of depravity.

— I am benevolent like my ancestors, have many talents and abilities, and can serve the spirits. The great-grandson so-and-so has not as many talents or abilities as Tan, and cannot serve the spirits ¹.

By spirits the three princes are meant. The dead are unconscious, and cannot become spirits, they say. However, the Duke of Chou was a sage ; the words of a sage are true, and he finds out the reality of things that seem dark. Such being the case, the three princes must have been spirits.

I ask, can men really become spirits or not ? Provided, they can, then one must know the opinions of the three princes, and not solely inquire, whether they were ghosts. The Duke of Chou asked for Heaven’s commands, and the annalist composed the prayer. When the prayer was completed, and the address finished, the Duke of Chou did not know, whether the three princes gave their assent, and how. Upon this he consulted three tortoises. All three bearing lucky signs, he was pleased. He was able to know that the three princes were conscious and spirits, but not, whether they assented or not. To find out the truth, he was obliged to still consult the three tortoises. Yet in order to determine in an unmistakable way, whether they were spirits or not, it should have been possible to interrogate them. The question, whether the dead had knowledge or not, depended on the other, whether they could give their approval or not. If the Duke of Chou could know that the three princes did not grant his request, then the statement that they were ghosts is reliable, but if he could not, then his statement that the three princes were ghosts, would not have any more weight than one made by ordinary people. His knowledge would not reach further than that of the generality, and be inadequate to show us the real state of the dead.

Moreover, by what means did the Duke of Chou obtain Heaven’s commands, by his perfect sincerity, or by the correctness of his address ? If it was by his perfect sincerity, then his prayer was said with sincerity, and he did not care, whether his address to _p1.206 attract the spirits was correct or not. Tung Chung Shu’s method of praying for rain consisted in putting up a dragon, made of earth, with a view to affecting the fluid. An earth dragon was not a real dragon, and could not attract rain. While making use of it, Tung Chung Shu showed perfect sincerity, and did not mind, whether the dragon was genuine or fictitious. The Duke of Chou’s prayer for Heaven’s commands was like Tung Chung Shu’s prayer for rain. The three princes were not ghosts, as a heap of earth was not a dragon.

*

Hsün Yen of Chin ² invaded Ch‘i, but had to return, before the campaign came to a close, for he was taken ill with ulcers, and a sore broke out on his head. When he reached the Cho-yung territory, his eyes protruded from their sockets, and when his death ensued, he went on staring, and his mouth could not receive anything. Fan Hsüan Tse washed him, and said by way of consolation,

— We shall certainly serve Wu as we did Your Lordship,

but he still continued staring. Fan Hsüan Tse observing that he did not close his eyes, fancied that he was grieved for his son Wu, for nothing gives greater pain to human feelings than the thought of the fate of one’s children. Therefore, he spoke of Wu to comfort him, but this was not the cause of his resentment, for he went on staring. Luan Huai Tse remarked,

— Is it perhaps, because he did not complete his designs in Ch‘i ?,

and he again comforted him by saying,

— Your Lordship died an untimely death. I swear by the Yellow River to carry out your designs in Ch‘i.

Upon this, he closed his eyes, and received the gem into his mouth ¹. It was the incompleteness of his invasion of Ch‘i which Hsün Yen regretted. Luan Huai Tse found it out, therefore the dead man closed his eyes, and received the gem into his mouth. Fan Hsüan Tse missed it, therefore his eyes remained wide open, and his mouth was locked.

I say that Hsün Yen’s death by sickness was very painful, so that his eyes protruded. When his eyes came out, he firmly closed his mouth, and therefore could not receive anything in it. Immediately after death the fluid was still strong, and the eyes protruded owing to the pain caused by the disease. Fan Hsüan Tse soothed him too soon, therefore the eyes did not close, and the mouth not open. A short while afterwards, the fluid was weakened. _p1.207 Consequently, when Luan Huai Tse comforted him, his eyes closed, and his mouth received the gem. This was a sequence of Hsün Yen’s sickness, and the soul of the deceased did not manifest his resentment in his mouth and his eyes.

All people have something to regret, when they die. A generous character regrets that he could not accomplish all the good works he intended, a scholar that his researches had still so many lacunæ, a husbandman that he did not reap the grain he had sown, a merchant that he did not make a fortune, an official that he did not obtain the highest posts, and a brave that his attainments were not yet perfect. Every one on earth who has desires, has something to regret. If in every case regrets be considered the cause of the non-closing of the eyes, then all the dead on earth could not shut their eyes.

The souls of the dead are dissolved, and cannot hear any more what men say. This inability to hear what others say is called death. If after their separation from the body they became ghosts, and kept near to men, their connection with the body would already have been severed, and, though people addressed them, it would be impossible for them to again enter the body, and close the eyes, or open the mouth. If they could enter the body, and through the corpse express their dissatisfaction, then the inevitable consequence would be that they must have been preserved together with the body. Ordinary people hold that the spirits of the dead can, so to speak, re-animate the bodies, and show themselves so, that corpses would be like living men, which is a great mistake.

King Ch‘êng of Ch‘u ¹ set aside the heir-apparent Shang Chên, and wished to put Prince Chih in his place. When Shang Chên heard of it, he surrounded the king with the palace guards, and made him prisoner. The king desired to eat bear’s paws, before he was put to death, but Shang Chên did not grant this request, and the king died by strangulation. Shang Chên gave him the posthumous title Ling, but the king did not shut his eyes. Then he called him Ch‘êng, and he closed his eyes ². This circumstance that he closed his eyes on being called Ch‘êng, but not on being called Ling, proves that King Ch‘êng had consciousness. The posthumous title Ling displeased him, therefore he did not shut his eyes. When it was altered into Ch‘êng, his hurt feelings were mollified, whereupon he closed his eyes. His spirit heard people consult, and saw _p1.208 them change the title. This gave him such satisfaction, that he closed his eyes. They were not sick, and nobody soothed him. The eyes opened, and closed of their own accord ; if that was not spiritual, what else was it ?