it, yet the world knows not its foster-mother. A distinction, however, is made—the nameless is said to be the origin of heaven and earth, while the named is the mother of the myriad objects which inhabit the earth. Though there is nothing done in the universe which is not done by Nature, though all things depend on it for their existence, yet in no case is Nature seen acting.[14] It is in its own deep self a unit—the smallest possible quantity—yet it prevails over the wide expanse of the universe, operating unspent but unseen.[15] We now come to the generations of the heavens and the earth, and their history is thus given by Lao-tzŭ.[16] Tao generated One, One generated Two, Two generated Three, and Three generated the material world. That is, according to the explanation given by some, Nature (Tao) generated the Yin-chʽi (陰氣), the passive and inferior element in the composition of things; this in its turn produced the Yang-chʽi (陽氣), the active and superior element; which again produced Ho (和), that is, that harmonious agreement of the passive and active elements which brought about the production of all things.[17] Another explanation is that Tao considered as Non-existence produced the Great Extreme (Tʽai-chi 太極), which produced the passive and active elements; then Harmony united these two and generated the universe.[18] Of this section of the Tao-tê Ching Rémusat observes—“En effet, Lao-tseu explique, d’une manière qui est entièrement conforme à la doctrine Platonicienne, comment les deux principes, celui du ciel et celui de la terre, ou l’air grossier et l’ether, sont liés entre eux par un _Souffle_ qui les unit et qui produit _l’harmonie_. Il est impossible d’exprimer plus clairemeut les idées de Timée de Locres, dont les termes semblent la traduction du passage Chinois.”[19] The doctrines, however, on the formation of the world put into the mouth of Timæus, and the ideas of Lao-tzŭ on this subject, seem to me to have very little in common. The Greek philosopher makes a personal deity the artificer of the universe, fashioning the world out of the bright and solid elements, fire and earth, which he unites by means of air and water, thus forming a friendship and harmony indissoluble by any except the author. The _harmony_ of Lao-tzŭ, on the other hand is, if we understand him aright, only the unconflicting alternation of the two cosmical elements, and there is no divine Demiurg in his system. There is, however, a statement in the Timæus which resembles Lao-tzŭ’s statement on this subject, and to which we will refer hereafter.