"Let me take an illustration," said the wheelwright, "from my own trade. In making a wheel, if you work too slowly, you can't make it firm; if you work too fast, the spokes won't fit in. You must go neither too slowly nor too fast. There must be co-ordination of mind and hand. Words cannot explain what it is, but there is some mysterious art herein. I cannot teach it to my son; nor can he learn it from me. Consequently, though seventy years of age, I am still making wheels in my old age. If the ancients, together with what they could not impart, are dead and gone, then what your Highness is studying must be the dregs." This episode of the wheelwright is to be found in the works of Huai Nan Tzŭ, of the 2nd century B.C. He used it to illustrate the opening words of the _Tao-Tê-Ching_; and in _The Remains of Lao Tzŭ_, p. 6, it is stated that he stole it from Chuang Tzŭ without acknowledgment. When that statement was made I had not come to the conclusion, now forced upon me, that the above chapter is not from the hand of Chuang Tzŭ. As one critic remarks, the style is generally admirable; but it is not the style of Chuang Tzŭ. CHAPTER XIV. THE CIRCLING SKY. _Argument_:--The Ultimate Cause--Integrity of TAO--Music and TAO--Failure of Confucianism--Confucius and Lao Tzŭ--Confucius attains to TAO--Illustrations. [This chapter is supplementary to ch. v.] "The sky turns round; the earth stands still; sun and moon pursue one another. Who causes this? Who directs this? Who has leisure enough to see that such movements continue? "Some think there is a mechanical arrangement which makes these bodies move as they do. Others think that they revolve without being able to stop. "The clouds cause rain; rain causes clouds. Whose kindly bounty is this? Who has leisure enough to see that such, result is achieved? "Wind comes from the north. It blows now east, now west; and now it whirls aloft. Who puffs it forth? Who has leisure enough to be flapping it this way or that? I should like to know the cause of all this." We are not told the name of this questioner. Wu Han Chao An ancient worthy. said, "Come here, and I will tell you. Above there are the Six Influences The _Yin_ and _Yang_ principles, wind, rain, darkness, and light; as in ch. xi. Some commentators read, the "Six Cardinal Points," _viz._: N., E., S., W., above, and below. and the Five Virtues. Charity, duty to one's neighbour, order, wisdom, and truth. If a ruler keeps in harmony with these, his rule is good; if not, it is bad. By following the nine chapters of the Lo book, Containing a mystic revelation of knowledge in the form of a diagram, supposed to have been delivered to one of the legendary rulers of China more than 2,000 years before the Christian era. his rule will be a success and his virtue complete; he will watch over the interests of his people, and all the empire will owe him gratitude. This is to be an eminent ruler."