Chinese Freemasonry.

carve other people . He is chaste , but does not chasten others . He is strai ght , but does not straighten others . He is enli ghtened , but does not dazzle others . " That Lau-tzse regarded the possession of Tau as the most precious privilege in the world is manifest by his words : " Tau is the hidden sanctuary of all things , the good man ' s jewel , the bad man ' s guardian . For what did the ancients so much prize this Tau ? Was it not because it was found at once

without searching , ancl by it those who hacl sinned might be pardoned ? Therefore it is the most estimable thing in the world . " And Lau-tzse actually speaks of " holding out'' this Tau as a visible token , so that we may fairl y presume that an emblem was given to the initiates . The three precious things which he holds fast ancl prizes are compassion , economy and humility . " Being compassionateI canthereforebe brave . Being economicalI cantherefore

, , , , , , be liberal . Not daring to take the precedence of the world , I can , therefore , become the chief of all the perfect ones . " And he beautifully adds , " When heaven would save a man it encircles him with compassion . " In another place he expressly refers to the Great Architect . Speaking of capital punishment , he observes : " Now , for any man to act the executioner ' s part , I say , it is hewing out the Great Architect ' s work for him . And he who

undertakes to hew for the Great Architect rarel y fails to cut his hands . " This reference to the Great Architect is most important , as it distinctly implies a belief in the existence of a personal God , which is the fundamental landmark of Freemasonry in all ages ; ancl it is the more remarkable as the Chinese of the outer world—the non-initiates as I may call them—have no equivalent exactl y answering to our word God , but use the word Tien indifferently for God and heaven .

The seventy-seventh section says : " The Tau of heaven may be compared to the extending of a bow ; it brings clown the high ancl exalts the low . It takes from those who have overmuch , ancl gives to those who have not enough . The Tau of heaven takes away where there is too much , ancl makes up where there is deficiency . Not so the Tau of man . Man takes from those who have not enough , to serve those that have too much . Who is the man that having

an overplus can serve the world with it ? It is only he who has Tan . This is the reason why the sage acts ancl expects nothing ; completes his meritorious work ancl holds no place . He does not wish to show his worth . —( Section lxxviii . ) He who bears the reproach of his country shall be called the lord of the land ; he who bears the calamities of his country shall be called the king of the world . —( Section Ixxxi . ) The sage does not lay up treasures . The

more he does for others the more he has of his own . The more he gives to others the more he is increased . This is the Tau of heaven , which benefits and does not injure . This is the Tau of the sage , who acts but does not strive . "

It is a singular coincidence , at least , worthy of notice , that the Tcvit , Teh King has been at a very remote period divided into exactly eighty-one sections , a number of great importance in Freemasonry when analyzed or when expressed as a whole number . This was clone b y some unknown follower of Lau-tzse , and although it may have no direct occult bearing , is still a curious number suggestive of design rather than accident .

We have now rapidly surveyed the whole tractate of the ancient philosopher , and though we may fail , as is most natural , to perceive what the ancient ritual of these Chinese initiates may have been , sufficient is indicated by various passages to show that , in essence , the morality of the Tcwt-ists was that of the modern Freemasons , and that , however different the reli gion of the ancient Chinesetheir ethics were derived from sources as pureancl perhaps

, , more pure , than those of the occidental nations of antiquity . It is much to be questioned at the present clay whether we are really acquainted with the thousandth fraction of what the primitive sages of China knew . And all human institutions have only one basis in human consciousness , so more