All things endure for a set time, and then perish. Together they came into being, and to each is allotted a certain period of growth and maturity; but when the highest point of vigor has been reached, it straightway becomes old and returns home to its root. “This is said to be a reversion to destiny.” Emptiness is the only thing which endures, and this is at the same time of the highest use. The space between Heaven and earth, for example, may be likened to a pair of bellows, which, though it is empty, never collapses, and which, the more it is exercised, the more it brings forth. So also with the wheel of a carriage, or an earthen vessel, or the windows and doors of a house. In each case it is the non-existing or empty part which is useful. The spokes and nave of the wheel, the walls of the earthen vessel, and the frames of the doors and windows are advantageous, but the use of each depends on the part which is empty. “So, then, existence may be said to correspond to gain, but non-existence to use.” When a thing is to be weakened, it must first be strengthened; when it is about to be brought low, it must first be raised up; and that which is to be taken away from it must first be given to it. [Illustration: A CENSER, FROM A TAOIST TEMPLE.] In the superiority of non-existence over existence lies the lesson which, above all others, Lao-tsze desired to impress on man. The great concern of all men in all ages has been to take care of the things of the body, and to neglect the cultivation of the inner man; to seek after the gratification of sense, and to forget the importance of the soul. And what is the result? The five colors, which so delight the eyes, not unfrequently produce blindness. The five sounds which so enchant the ear are often the cause of deafness. A man’s palate, which at first revels in the five tastes, soon loses all sense of flavor. The pursuit of pleasure or of ambition is equally deceptive. Riding and hunting will drive a man mad, and things hard to procure bring evil upon their possessors. “Therefore, the sage makes provision for the inner man, and not for his eyes. He puts aside the one, that he may take the other in hand.” He remembers that rest is the lord of motion, and never allows himself to depart from a state of quietude and gravity. THE BOOK OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.