about that time from Greece. The author, whoever he may have been,
poses as a disciple of Lao Tz[)u]; but the speculations of Lao Tz[)u],
as glorified by Chuang Tz[)u], were then rapidly sinking into vulgar
efforts to discover the elixir of life. It is very difficult in many
cases of this kind to decide what books are, and what books are not,
partial or complete forgeries. In the present instance, the aid of the
_Shuo Wen_, a dictionary of the 1st century A.D. (see below), may be
invoked, but not in quite so satisfactory a sense as that in which it
will be seen lower down to have been applied to the _Tao Te Ching_.
The _Shuo Wen_ contains a quotation said to be taken from _Huai-nan
Tz[)u]_; but that quotation cannot be found in the work under
consideration. It may be argued that the words in question may have
been taken from another work by the same author; but if so, it becomes
difficult to believe that a book, more than two hundred years old,
from which the author of the _Shuo Wen_ quoted, should have been
allowed to perish without leaving any trace behind. China has produced
its Bentleys in considerable numbers; but almost all of them have
given their attention to textual criticism of the Confucian Canon, and
few have condescended to examine critically the works of heterodox
writers. The foreign student therefore finds himself faced with many
knotty points he is entirely unable to solve.

Wang Ch'ung.

Of Wang Ch'ung, a speculative and materialistic philosopher, A.D.
27-97, banned by the orthodox for his attacks on Confucius and
Mencius, only one work has survived. it consists of eighty-four essays
on such topics as the nature of things, destiny, divination, death,
ghosts, poisons, miracles, criticisms of Confucius and Mencius,
exaggeration, sacrifice and exorcism. According to Wang Ch'ung, man,
endowed at birth sometimes with a good and sometimes with an evil
nature, is informed with a vital fluid, which resides in the blood and
is nourished by eating and drinking, its two functions being to
animate the body and keep in order the mind. It is the source of all
sensation, passing through the blood like a wave. When it reaches the
eyes, ears and mouth, the result is sight, hearing and speech
respectively. Disturbance of the vital fluid leads to insanity.
Without the fluid, the body cannot be maintained; without the body,
the fluid loses its v