The lofty eminence on which Lao-tzŭ places the God-like man is not greater than that to which Confucius raises him. This person ranks, according to both, with Heaven and Earth, and assists these in their great unceasing labours of producing, nourishing, and ruling the creatures of the universe.[28] With Heaven and Earth he makes a trinity, and is scarcely inferior to them. Like Heaven, which he imitates, he is free from partialities, and is universal in his sympathies.[29] One of the philosophers, Chʽêng, a Confucianist after the most straitest sect, forgets his master’s doctrine in this respect and through excess of orthodoxy actually becomes heterodox.[30] Criticising Lao-tzŭ’s statement that Heaven, Earth, and the God-like man are _pu jen_ (不仁), that is, are without any partialities or particular affection, he says that we may make this remark of Heaven and Earth but not of the God-like man who feels for and compassionates his fellow creatures, and thus is able to enlarge his way of life.[31] This author, however, seems to be here guilty of a _sophisma equivocationis_, as _jĕn_ in the former part of the paragraph is used in a bad sense while in the latter part it has a good sense. The words of the King of Chow to the newly appointed Chief Hu on this subject are very similar to those of Lao-tzŭ—“Great Heaven has no affections—it helps only the virtuous.”[32] So also, as Lao-tzŭ says it is Heaven’s way to take from that which has too much and give to that which wants, the _Shu-ching_ says in like terms “It is virtue which moves Heaven; there is no distance to which it does not reach. Pride brings loss, and humility receives increase:—this is the way of Heaven.”[33] Again, the doctrine of the Tao-tê Ching, that violence and excess cannot endure, appears also in the Confucian works. It occurs, for instance, in the Li-chi, and it is worthy of observation that the illustrious commentator on the passage regards the expression there used as a quotation, but does not know from what work.[34] Had the words been identical there could not have been any possibility of doubt. There is also a common saying among the Chinese, derived from the Yi-ching, that when the sun has reached his meridian he begins to decline, and when the moon has reached her full she begins to wane, thus intimating the fickleness of fortune. This idea is represented in the Tao-tê Ching under a different figure.