_Argument_:--Greatness and smallness always relative--Time and space infinite--Abstract dimensions do not exist--Their expression is concrete--Terms are not absolute--Like causes produce unlike effects--In the unconditioned alone can the absolute exist--The only absolute is TAO--Illustrations. [This chapter is supplementary to chapter ii. It is the most popular of all, and has earned for its author the sobriquet of "Autumn Floods."] It was the time of autumn floods. Every stream poured into the river, which swelled in its turbid course. The banks receded so far from one another that it was impossible to tell a cow from a horse. Then the Spirit of the River laughed for joy that all the beauty of the earth was gathered to himself. Down with the stream he journeyed east, until he reached the ocean. There, looking eastwards and seeing no limit to its waves, his countenance changed. And as he gazed over the expanse, he sighed and said to the Spirit of the Ocean, "A vulgar proverb says that he who has heard but part of the truth thinks no one equal to himself. And such a one am I. "When formerly I heard people detracting from the learning of Confucius or underrating the heroism of Poh I, See ch. vi. I did not believe. But now that I have looked upon your inexhaustibility--alas for me had I not reached your abode, I should have been for ever a laughing-stock to those of comprehensive enlightenment!" The Spirit of a paltry river learns that the ripple of his rustic stream is scarcely the murmur of the world. To which the Spirit of the Ocean replied, "You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog,--the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect,--the creature of a season. You cannot speak of TAO to a pedagogue: his scope is too restricted. But now that you have emerged from your narrow sphere and have seen the great ocean, you know your own insignificance, and I can speak to you of great principles. "There is no body of water beneath the canopy of heaven which is greater than ocean. All streams pour into it without cease, yet it does not overflow. It is constantly being drained off, yet it is never empty. Spring and autumn bring no change; floods and droughts are equally unknown. And thus it is immeasurably superior to mere rivers and brooks,--though I would not venture to boast on this account, for I get my shape from the universe, my vital power from the _Yin_ and _Yang_. In the universe I am but as a small stone or a small tree on a vast mountain. And conscious thus of my own insignificance, what is there of which I can boast?