Next day a third interview took place, and as they were leaving, Chi Han said to Lieh Tzŭ, "Your teacher is never one day like another. I can tell nothing from his physiognomy. Get him to be regular, and I will then examine him again." This being repeated to Hu Tzŭ as before, the latter said, "I showed myself to him just now in a state of harmonious equilibrium. Where the whale disports itself,--is the abyss. Where water is at rest,--is the abyss. Where water is in motion,--is the abyss. The abyss has nine names. These are three of them." Alluding to three phases of TAO as manifested at the three interviews above described, TAO being the abyss. Next day the two went once more to see Hu Tzŭ; but Chi Han was unable to stand still, and in his confusion turned and fled. "Pursue him!" cried Hu Tzŭ; whereupon Lieh Tzŭ ran after him, but could not overtake him, so he returned and told Hu Tzŭ that the fugitive had disappeared. "I showed myself to him just now," said Hu Tzŭ, "as TAO appeared before time was. I was to him as a great blank, existing of itself. He knew not who I was. His face fell. He became confused. And so he fled." Upon this Lieh Tzŭ stood convinced that he had not yet acquired any real knowledge, and at once set to work in earnest, passing three years without leaving the house. He helped his wife to cook the family dinner, and fed his pigs just like human beings. He discarded the artificial and reverted to the natural. He became merely a shape. Amidst confusion, Of this material world. he was unconfounded. And so he continued to the end. By Inaction, fame comes as the spirits of the dead come to the boy who impersonates the corpse. See ch. i. In the old funeral rites of China, a boy was made to sit speechless and motionless as a corpse, for the reason assigned in the text. By Inaction, one can become the centre of thought, the focus of responsibility, the arbiter of wisdom. Full allowance must be made for others, while remaining unmoved oneself. There must be a thorough compliance with divine principles, without any manifestation thereof. Non mihi res, sed me rebus, subjungere conar. All of which may be summed up in the one word _passivity_. For the perfect man employs his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing: it refuses nothing. It receives, but does not keep. And thus he can triumph over matter, without injury to himself. Without the wear and tear suffered by those who allow their activities free play. * * * * * The ruler of the southern sea was called Shu. The ruler of the northern sea was called Hu. The ruler of the central zone was called Hun Tun. This term is generally used to denote the condition of matter before separation and subdivision into the phenomena of the visible universe. Shu and Hu often met on Hun Tun's territory, and being always well treated by him, determined to repay his kindness.