"Have you never seen a well-sweep? You pull it, and down it comes. You release it, and up it goes. It is the man who pulls the well-sweep, and not the well-sweep which pulls the man; so that both in coming down and going up, it does not run counter to the wishes of the man. And so it was that the ceremonial and obligations and laws of the Three Emperors and Five Rulers did not aim at uniformity of application but at good government of the empire. Their ceremonial, obligations, laws, etc., were like the cherry-apple, the pear, the orange, and the pumelo,--all differing in flavour but each palatable. They changed with the changing season. "Dress up a monkey in the robes of Chou Kung, See ch. iv. and it will not be happy until they are torn to shreds. And the difference between past and present is much the same as the difference between Chou Kung and a monkey. "When Hsi Shih A famous beauty of old. was distressed in mind, she knitted her brows. An ugly woman of the village, seeing how beautiful she looked, went home, and having worked herself into a fit frame of mind, knitted her brows. The result was that the rich people of the place barred up their doors and would not come out, while the poor people took their wives and children and departed elsewhere. That woman saw the beauty of knitted brows, but she did not see wherein the beauty of knitted brows lay. In suitability to the individual. Alas! your Master is emphatically not a success." * * * * * Confucius had lived to the age of fifty-one without hearing TAO, when he went south to P'ei, to see Lao Tzŭ. Lao Tzŭ said, "So you have come, Sir, have you? I hear you are considered a wise man up north. Have you got TAO?" "Not yet," answered Confucius. "In what direction," asked Lao Tzŭ, "have you sought for it?" "I sought it for five years," replied Confucius, "in the science of numbers, but did not succeed." "And then?..." continued Lao Tzŭ. "Then," said Confucius, "I spent twelve years seeking for it in the doctrine of the _Yin_ and _Yang_, also without success." "Just so," rejoined Lao Tzŭ. "Were TAO something which could be presented, there is no man but would present it to his sovereign, or to his parents. Could it be imparted or given, there is no man but would impart it to his brother or give it to his child. But this is impossible, for the following reason. Unless there is a suitable endowment within, TAO will not abide. Unless there is outward correctness, TAO will not operate. The external being unfitted for the impression of the internal, the true Sage does not seek to imprint. The internal being unfitted for the reception of the external, the true Sage does not seek to receive. Attempting neither to teach nor to learn.