They said, "All men have seven holes,--for seeing, hearing, eating, and breathing. Hun Tun alone has none. We will bore some for him." So every day they bored one hole; but on the seventh day Hun Tun died. Illustrating the perils of action. "The empire," says Lao Tzŭ, "is a divine trust, and may not be ruled. He who rules, ruins. He who holds by force, loses." "Men's actions," says Emerson, "are too strong for them." With this chapter Chuang Tzŭ completes the outline of his system. The remaining chapters are either supplementary to the preceding seven, or independent essays upon cognate subjects. CHAPTER VIII. JOINED TOES. _Argument_:--Virtues should be natural, not artificial; passive not active. [Chs. viii to xiii inclusive are illustrative of, or supplementary to, ch. vii.] Joined toes and extra fingers are an addition to nature, though, functionally speaking, superfluous. Wens and tumours are an addition to the bodily form, though, as far as nature is concerned, superfluous. And similarly, to include charity and duty to one's neighbour among the functions of man's organism, is not true TAO. The whole of this chapter is a violent tirade against the leading doctrines of Confucianism. For just as joined toes are but useless lumps of flesh, and extra fingers but useless excrescences, so are any artificial additions to our internal economy but harmful adjuncts to real charity and duty to one's neighbour, Which are the outcome of TAO. and are moreover prejudicial to the right use of intelligence. People with extra keenness of vision muddle themselves over the five colours, exaggerate the value of shades, and of distinctions of greens and yellows for sacrificial robes. Of such was Li Chu. Who could see a pin's point at a distance of 1,000 _li_. He is mentioned by Mencius. People with extra keenness of hearing muddle themselves over the five notes, exaggerate the tonic differences of the six pitch-pipes, and the various _timbres_ of metal, stone, silk, and bamboo, of the _Huang-chung_, and of the _Ta-lü_. Of such was Shih K'uang. The blind musician mentioned in ch. ii. The _Huang-chung_ and the _Ta-lü_ were two of the twelve bamboo tubes, or pitch-pipes, on which ancient Chinese music was based. Six were _male_ or positive, and six _female_ or negative. Hence they are spoken of collectively as six. People who graft on charity, force themselves to display this virtue in order to gain reputation and to enjoy the applause of the world for that which is of no account. Of such were Tsêng and Shih. Tsêng Shên, a famous disciple of Confucius, and Shih Yu, both noted for their high moral characters. People who refine in argument do but pile up tiles or knot ropes in their maunderings over the hard and white, the like and the unlike, wearing themselves out over mere useless terms. Of such were Yang and Mih.