I have nowhere found any mention of the author of this brief composition, or of its date. The use of Buddhistic expressions in it shows that it cannot have had a very early origin. It belongs to the same category of Tâoist writings as the Khing Käng King, which is the first of these appendixes. Lî Hsî-yüeh says, 'The Treatise is called "the Directory for a Day," as showing that during all the hours (the Tâo) should not be left for a single instant (comp. the words of Confucius at the beginning of the Kung Yung). Let the work be done, and there is sure to be the result promised; only there must be the Purity insisted on both of body and mind. In the second paragraph it is said, "During the twelve hours of the day let the thoughts be constantly fixed on absolute Purity;" and in the last paragraph, "During the twelve hours be always pure and undefiled; "--thus showing what the main teaching of the Great Tâoistic system is, and the pre-eminent place which Purity occupies in the "Directory for a Day." The style is so clear and simple that I have left it without note or comment.' ______________________________ 1. As to what should be done in a day, when the eating and drinking has been arranged, let one sit straight with his mouth shut, and not allow a single thought to arise in his mind. Let him forget everything, and keep his spirit with settled purpose. Let
3. Do not allow any relaxation of your efforts, During all the hours of the day strive always to be
271:1 Accustomed to the phraseology of the Text all his life, the commentator Lî, as has been seen, did not think it necessary to append here any notes of explanation. A few such notes, however, will be welcome to an English reader. 'The twelve hours of the day:'--a Chinese hour is equal to two of our hours, and their twelve to our twenty-four. The twelve hours are named by the twelve branch terms of the cycle. 'The boat-like cup of jade' seems to be a satisfactory rendering of the Chinese characters tâo kwei in the Text, which might be translated 'knife, and jade-symbol.' But Tâo, commonly meaning 'knife,' is in the Shih King (I, v; VII, 2) used of 'a small boat.' In the Khang-hsî Thesaurus, under the phrase, we have the following quotation, as if from Ko Hung's Biographies of Immortals: 'Khän Hsî, a native of the territory of Wû, was studying the Tâo in Shû, when the master Lâo sent a beautiful young lady to him with a tray of gold and a cup of jade filled with medicine, and the message, "This is the mysterious elixir; he who drinks it will not die." And on this he and his wife had each a tâo kwei.' See the account in Ko Hung's work, which is much more diffuse. In the mention of 'the chrismal rite' there is a reference to what Dr. Williams calls 'a kind of Buddhist baptism or holy unction, by sprinkling, which confers goodness,' 'administered to children, idols, &c.' (See under the characters kwân and ting.) 272:1 If we were sure that we had exactly hit the meaning and spirit of every part of this paragraph, it would hardly be worth while to give more space to its illustration. A sufficient number of the best of the Treatises of the later Tâoism have been placed before the reader to show him how different they are from the writings of Lâo and Kwang, and how inferior to them. It might seem as if Kwang-dze, when be ceased to write, had broken the staff of Tâoism and buried it many fathoms in the earth. We can hardly wonder that Confucianists, such as Kû Hsî, should pronounce, 'What the sect of Tâo chiefly attend to is,--the preservation of the breath of life;' and that Buddhists, such as Liû Mî, should say of it, 'Long life being attained, its goal is reached.'Zäh Yung King, or 'Classic of the Directory for a Day.'
Footnotes