T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien
Treatise of the Exalted One on Response and Retribution
(Translated from the Chinese by Teitaro Suzuki and Dr. Paul Carus)


INTRODUCTION.

IF the popularity of books must be measured by either the number of copies in which they appear or the devotion of their readers, the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’, i. e., The Treatise of the Exalted One on Response and Retribution, will probably have to be assigned the first place of all publications on the globe. Its editions exceed even those of the Bible and Shakespeare, which of all the books published in the Western world are most numerous, and many millions of devout Chinese believe that great merit is gained by the dissemination of the book.

The ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’ is a work of Taoist piety and ethics. It is not so deep as Lao Tze's Tao-Teh-King, but its moral maxims which are noble and pure, are presented with a more popular directness. The main idea of the title is pressed in the words Kan, and Ying, retribution which mean that in the spiritual realm of heaven there is a response to our sentiments, finding expression in a retribution of our deeds.

T'ai-Shang, literally, the Grandly High or the Exalted One, is a current name of Lao Tze, the old philosopher, author of the Tao-Teh-King, who is revered by Taoists as the great teacher of mankind, the superior man, and the highest authority of religious truth.

Lao Tze's philosophy has percolated into the Chinese nation and we can distinguish three strata: the first represented by the Tao-Teh-King, the second by the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’, and the third by the stories appended to it. The first is profound though partly obscure, the second elevating, yet mixed with those popular notions which belong to the domain of mythology, and the third is devout in tone, but sometimes silly in its details.

The text of the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’ consists of several parts:
(1) an introduction,
(2) moral injunctions,
(3) a description of evil-doers and their penalty,
(4) sayings from various sources, and
(5) the conclusion.

Internal evidence suggests that we have before us a compilation in which we can
distinguish at least three authors of decidedly different characters. The introduction (being itself a compilation) and the passage ‘Punishment of
Evil-Doers’; apparently come from the pen of the final redactor, presumably a
Tao Shih, a Taoist scholar or priest, while the second part, ‘Moral Injunctions’, constitutes the most valuable portion of the book. The third part, ‘The Description of Evil-Doers’, is written by a moralizer, or even denouncer, rather than a moralist. Possibly (nay even probably) he is identical with the final redactor, but scarcely with the author of the ‘Moral Injunctions’. He has incorporated quotations from an unknown Taoist source (e. g., the beautiful passage, and lines from the Buddhist “Dhammapada” .The passage on good words, good thoughts, and good deeds, and also on evil words, evil thoughts, and evil deeds sound like remote but clear echoes of the Zendavesta.

The second part, ‘Moral Injunctions’, reaches the loftiest height of a truly moral and catholic spirit. It is short enough, but with all its conciseness every word of it is noble and deserves a place side by side with the best religious literature of the world. It should be quoted and requoted, learned by heart and acted upon by all mankind. The third part, ‘A Description of Evil-Doers’, is on a lower level. The moral spirit of its author is narrower, more sectarian, nor free from superstitious notions. The introduction of the treatise exhibits the attitude of a disciple,--a faithful devotee, who, however, has merely touched the hem of the Master's garment.

Some passages of the introduction, and perhaps its final redaction, seem to be written by the author of the third part.

The treatise, which is decidedly a work of Taoist devotion, shows obvious influences of Buddhist and Confucian doctrines. Though it is not a canonica
book its authoritative character is universally recognized in China, and it may
be regarded as a typical exposition of the moral convictions of the average
Chinese. It has become the most important guide of the people's conscience.

Though the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’ may not have existed in its present shape before the fifteenth or sixteenth century, it contains passages which are very old, and though we are not prepared to give a detailed analysis of its contents, we will state here that some portions are quite ancient, belonging to the sixth century B. C. This is true not only of the Confucian and Buddhist maxims but also of the first sentence. Rev. James Legge makes the following statement concerning the words, in one of the footnotes of his translation: This paragraph, after the three first characters, is found in “Khwan” under the tenth and eleventh notices in the twenty-third year of Duke Hsiang (549 B. C.),--part of an address to a young nobleman by the officer of Min Tze-ma.

The mythological background of the arguments of the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’ can be characterized as superstitious by those only who know nothing of comparative religion and are not familiar with the fact that the idea of Recording Angels is all but universal in a certain phase of the history of religion.

The treatise has its shortcomings, both in form and contents. Its materials are not systematically arranged, and side by side with maxims of highest morality we find such trivial injunctions as the one that we should not cook food with rotten sticks. Further, the idea of retribution is upon the whole conceived to work in a mechanical and external way, being doled out in exact proportions of merit and demerit. Yet, after all, if we consider the significance of its main idea, who will deny that there is a retribution which, though not meted out with a tape measure, is after all unfailing? We will judge mildly, if we consider that even in the Lord's Prayer God is asked to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors;--a passage which sounds more mercantile in the original which means ‘Let off to us our debts as also we let off our debtors.’ The suggestion is made here as well as in our Chinese treatise, that as our dealings are, so Heaven and God will deal with us; and considering all in all, the underlying idea is true.

There is another weak point in the religious notions of our treatise, viz., the belief in demons which in the stories involves the superstition of obsession. But let us remember that the New Testament is full of it, and the era of witch persecution in Europe which is the worst aspect of obsession, is about simultaneous with the date of the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’.

The Chinese may not as yet have passed entirely the stage of childhood diseases, but let us remember that the European race too had its measles.

Without being blind to the shortcomings of our Treatise on Response and Retribution, considered as a whole, we cannot deny that its general tendency is noble, and true,--and, we may add, also practical.

Practical it is, and practical means that it is as exactly adapted to the life and views of the people of its origin as if it had been prepared for them and dictated to its author by Divine Providence. From this point of view we may say that it is a work of prophetic inspiration.

The shortcomings of the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’ appear to greater disadvantage in the stories which are appended to its moral maxims. Here the doctrine of the Exalted One reaches the broad strata of the masses, but even in this form a presentation of religious notions is needed so as to render its moral maxims intelligible among the superstitious. Perhaps we should say vice versa, that we see here how the uneducated assimilate a religious doctrine to their special wants. Every one has the religion he deserves, because every one adapts himself to his own spiritual needs.

The first translation of the ‘Tai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’, made by a Western scholar, is Stanislas Julien's Le livre des recompenses et des peines, printed at Paris for the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. It contains the Chinese text of the book and in addition to the French translation of the main text, a French translation of the glosses and stories of the Chinese commentator, which swell the work to a volume of considerable size. The English version of Prof. Robert K. Douglas is a translation of extracts from this French edition made by M. Julien. It appeared in his excellent little volume “Confucianism and Taouism”, in the series of Non-Christian Religious Systems, published by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1839. Finally Prof. James Legge has translated our treatise in the Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XL, pp. 233-246, under the title ‘T'ai Shang, Tractate of Actions and their Retributions’.


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Our text and illustrations of the stories are facsimile reproductions taken (with the exception of one picture) from a collection of Chinese texts made in Japan by Chinese scribes and artists. The scribe calls himself Lai Ho Nien of Kwei Ping. Stanislas Julien's text agrees pretty closely with ours--closely enough to render any further comments redundant. The stories appended to the main body of the book seem to differ considerably in different editions. At any rate they vary greatly in the French and Japanese versions at our disposal. They are of inferior worth and we deem it sufficient to have them here represented in extracts.

The present translation of the ‘T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien’ is a product of the common labors of Mr.Teitaro Suzuki and the Editor. Mr. Suzuki, who among the scholars of Eastern Asia living in our midst is one of the best authorities on the religious texts of ancient China, has gathered the necessary information concerning the lexicographical, grammatical, and archaeological meaning of the text; while the Editor is responsible for the arrangement of the whole, together with the final version of the English text in both the verbatim translation which is intended to be lexicographically exact, and the translation proper which is meant to offer a readable English version.


* * * * * * *

Our frontispiece is a picture of the great philosopher Lao Tze whom the Taoists call “T'ai Shang”, The Most Exalted One; or more fully “T'ai Shang Lao Chün”, i. e., The Most Exalted Ancient Master. The artist represents him with a little square cap usually worn by the common people and dressed, not in silk, but in rough woolen garments; for we know that he practised the simplicity which he preached. But, in contrast to this simple exterior, his countenance indicates a rare depth of thought and his eyes beam with benevolence. We have set above the picture a quotation from his great book, the “Tao-Teh-King” (Chapter 70) which reads:
Shang jan pei hö, hwai yü
“A saint wears wool, but in his bosom are jewels.”

In addition to the illustrations which are inserted in the stories to which they belong, the present edition of the ‘Kan-Ying P'ien’ is adorned by a few apposite sketches and ornamental designs. Facing page 1, the fly leaf of the Introduction, we have the Chinese characters which denote the five blessings. These are, (1) longevity, (2) riches, (3) peacefulness and serenity, (4) love of virtue, and (5) [at an advanced] age a [happy] consummation of life.

The gate of honor which appears on page 48, bears an inscription which reads:
“The Tao” (i. e., divine reason) penetrates the past and the present in other
words, it is eternal.

The inscription of the gate represented on page 80 reads: Virtue harmonizes
heaven and earth.

The design on the book cover bears the conventionalized form of the longevity
symbol so popular among the Chinese.

The numbers of the words in the Chinese text (twelve hundred and seventy-seven characters in all not counting the heading nor the scribe's signature) are written underneath each column of both the Chinese text and the verbatim translation, and follow also the corresponding paragraphs of the English version.

Each footnote figure following the word to which it refers, is inserted in both the verbatim translation and the English text.

In those places where a word-for-word translation of the text would demand another order in English than obtains in the original Chinese, we have numbered the words as they would read in English.

The italicized headings of the several parts are placed within parentheses, because they are not in the original text and have been made by the Editor of the English version solely for the convenience of English readers.

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(Introduction.)

THE Exalted One says:
Curses and blessings do not come through gates,
but man himself invites their arrival.

The reward of good and evil is like the shadow accompanying a body,
and so it is apparent that heaven and earth are possessed of crime-recording spirits.

According to the lightness or gravity of his transgressions, the sinner's term of life is reduced. Not only is his term of life reduced, but poverty also strikes him.
Often he meets with calamity and misery. His neighbors hate him. Punishments and curses pursue him. Good luck shuns him. Evil stars threaten him; and when his term of life comes to an end, he perishes.

Further, there are the three councilor, spirit-lords of the northern constellation, residing above the heads of the people, recorders of men's crimes and sins, cutting off terms of from twelve years to a hundred days.

Further, there are the three body-spirits that live within man's person. Whenever Kêng Shên day comes, they ascend to the heavenly master and inform him of men's crimes and trespasses.

On the last day of the month the Hearth Spirit, does the same. Of all the offences which men commit, the greater ones cause a loss of twelve years, the smaller ones of a hundred days. These their offences, great as well as small, constitute some hundred affairs, and those who are anxious for life everlasting, should above all avoid them.



(Moral Injunctions.)

The right way leads forward; the wrong way backward.
Do not proceed on an evil path.
Do not sin in secret.
Accumulate virtue, increase merit.
With a compassionate heart turn toward all creatures.
Be faithful, filial, friendly, and brotherly.
First rectify thyself and then convert others.
Take pity on orphans, assist widows; respect the old, be kind to children.
Even the multifarious insects, herbs, and trees should not be injured.
Be grieved at the misfortune of others and rejoice at their good luck.
Assist those in need, and rescue those in danger.
Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and regard your neighbor's loss
as your own loss.
Do not call attention to the faults of others, nor boast of your own excellence.
Stay evil and promote goodness.
Renounce much, accept little.
Show endurance in humiliation and bear no grudge.
Receive favors as if surprised.
Extend your help without seeking reward.
Give to others and do not regret or begrudge your liberality.




(Blessings of the Good.)

Those who are thus, are good: people honor them; Heaven's Reason gives them grace; blessings and abundance follow them; all ill luck keeps away; angel spirits guard them. What ever they undertake will surely succeed, and even to spiritual saintliness they may aspire.

Those who wish to attain heavenly saintliness, should perform one thousand three hundred good deeds, and those who wish to attain to earthly saintliness should perform three hundred good deeds.




(A Description of Evil-Doers.)

Yet there are some people whose behavior is unrighteous.
Their deportment is irrational.
In evil they delight.
With brutality they do harm and damage.
Insidiously they injure the good and the law-abiding.
Stealthily they despise their superiors and parents.
They disregard their seniors and rebel against those whom they serve.
They deceive the uninformed.
They slander their fellow-students.
Liars they are, bearing false witness, deceivers, and hypocrites; malevolent exposers of kith and kin; mischievous and malignant; not humane; cruel and irrational; self-willed.
Right and wrong they confound. Their avowals and disavowals are not as they ought to be.
They oppress their subordinates and appropriate their merit.
They cringe to superiors to curry favor.
Insentient to favors received, they remember their hatred and are never satisfied.
They hold in contempt the lives of Heaven's people.
They agitate and disturb the public order.
They patronize the unscrupulous and do harm to the inoffensive.
They murder men to take their property, or have them ousted to take their places.
They slay the yielding and slaughter those who have surrendered.
They malign the righteous and dispossess the wise.
They molest orphans and wrong widows.
Disregarders of law they are, and bribe takers. They call crooked what is straight, straight what is crooked, and what is light they make heavy.
When witnessing an execution, they aggravate it by harshness.
Though they know their mistakes they do not correct them; though they know the good they do not do it.
In their own guilt they implicate others.
They impede and obstruct the professions and crafts.
They vilify and disparage the holy and the Wise.
They ridicule and scorn reason and virtue.
They shoot the flying, chase the running, expose the hiding, surprise nestlings, close up entrance holes, upset nests, injure the pregnant, and break the egg.
They wish others to incur loss.
They disparage others that achieve merit.
They endanger others to save themselves.
They impoverish others for their own gain.
For worthless things they exchange what is valuable.
For private ends they neglect public duties.
They appropriate the accomplishments of their neighbor and conceal his good qualities. They make known his foibles and expose his secrets.
They squander his property and cause divisions in his family.
They attack that which is dear to others.
They assist others in doing wrong.
Their unbridled ambition makes for power, and through the degradation of others they seek success.
They destroy the crops and fields of others.
They break up betrothals.
Improperly they have grown rich, and withal they remain vulgar.
Improperly they shirk without shame.
They claim having done acts of favor and disclaim being at fault.
They give away evil in marriage and they sell wrongs.
They sell and buy vainglory.
They conceal and keep a treacherous heart.
They crush that which is excellent in others.
They are careful in hiding their shortcomings.
Being on a high horse they threaten and intimidate.
With unrestrained barbarism they kill and stab.
Recklessly they cut cloth to waste.
Without festive occasions they prepare cattle for food.
They scatter and waste the five cereals.
They trouble and annoy many people.
They break into others' houses to take their property and valuables.
They misdirect the water and light fires to destroy the people's homes.
They upset others' plans so as to prevent their success.
They spoil a worker's utensils to hamper his efficiency.
When seeing the success and prosperity of others they wish them to run down and fail.
Seeing the wealth of others, they wish them bankrupt and ruined.
They cannot see beauty without cherishing in their hearts thoughts of seduction.
Being indebted to others for goods or property, they wish their creditors to die.
When their requests are not granted they begin to curse and wax hateful.
Seeing their neighbor lose his vantage they gossip of his failure.
Seeing a man imperfect in his bodily features they ridicule him.
Observing the talent and ability of a man worthy of praise, they suppress the truth.
They use charms for the sake of controlling others.
They employ drugs to kill trees.
Ill-humored and angry they are towards teachers and instructors.
They resist and provoke father and elders.
With violence they seize, with violence they demand.
They delight in fraud, they delight in robbery, they make raids and commit depredations to get rich.
By artful tricks they seek promotion.
They reward and punish without justice.
They indulge in comforts and enjoyments without measure.
They harass and tyrannize over their subordinates.
They terrify and threaten to overawe others.
They accuse heaven and find fault with man.
They blame the wind and rail at the rain.
They stir up party strife and law suits.
Unprovoked they join factious associations.
They rely on their wives' and other women's gossip.
They disobey the instructions of father and mother.
They take up the new and forget the old.
Their mouth asserts what their heart denies.
Shamelessly greedy they are for wealth.
They deceive their father and their superiors.
They invent and circulate vile talk, traducing and slandering innocent men.
They slander others, yet themselves feign honesty.
They rail at spirits and claim to be right themselves.
They reject a good cause and espouse a wrong cause, spurning what is near,
longing for the distant..
They point at heaven and earth to make them witnesses of their mean thoughts.
They even call on bright spirits to make them witness their degrading deeds.
When they ever give charity they regret it afterwards.
They borrow and accept without intention to return.
Beyond their due lot they scheme and contrive.
Above their means they plot and plan.
Their lusty desires exceed all measure.
Their heart is venomous while they show a compassionate face.
With filthy food they feed the poor.
With heresies they mislead others.
They shorten the foot, they narrow the measure, they lighten the scales, they
reduce the peck.
They adulterate the genuine, and they seek profit in illegitimate business.
They compel respectable people to become lowly.
They betray and deceive the simple-minded.
They are greedy and covetous without satiety.
They curse and swear to seek vindication.
Indulging in liquor they become rebellious and unruly.
With the members of their own family they are angry and quarrelsome.
As husbands they are neither faithful nor kind.
As wives they are neither gentle nor pliant.
As husbands they are not in harmony with their wives; as wives they are not respectful to their husbands.
As husbands they delight in bragging and conceit.
Always as wives they practice jealousy and suspicion.
As husbands they behave unmannerly toward their wives and children.
As wives they lack propriety to their father-in-law and their mother-in-law.
They make light of the spirit of their ancestor.
They disobey and dislike the commands of their superiors.
They make and do what is not useful.
They harbor and keep a treacherous heart.
They curse themselves, they curse others.
They are partial in their hatred and partial in their love.
They step over the well and they step over the hearth.
They jump over the food and jump over a person.
They kill the baby and cause abortion of the unborn.
They do many clandestine and wrong deeds.
The last day of the month and the last day of the year they sing and dance.
The first day of the month, the first day of the year, they start roaring and scolding.
Facing the north, they snivel and spit; facing the hearth, they sing, hum and
weep.
Further, with hearth fire they burn incense, and with filthy fagots they cook their food.
In the night they rise and expose their nakedness.
On the eight festivals of the seasons they execute punishment.
They spit at falling stars and point at the many-colored rainbow.
Irreverently they point at the three luminaries; intently they gaze at the sun and at the moon.
In the spring they hunt with fire.
Facing the north, they use vile language.
Causelessly they kill tortoises and snakes.




(Punishments for Evil-Doers.)

For all these crimes the councilors of destiny deprive the guilty, according to the lightness or gravity of the offence, of terms from twelve years to a hundred days, and when the lease of life is exhausted they perish.

If at death an unexpiated offence be left, the evil luck will be transferred to children and grandchildren.

Moreover, all those who wrongly seize others' property may have to compensate for it, with wives or children or other family members, the expiation to be proportionate up to a punishment by death.

If the guilt be not expiated by death, they will suffer by various evils, by water, by fire, by theft, or by robbery, by loss of property, by disease and illness, and by ill repute, to compensate for any unlawful violence of justice.

Further, those who unlawfully kill men will in turn have their weapons and arms turned on them; yea, they will kill each other.





(A Simile.)

Those who seize property, are, to use an illustration, like those who relieve their hunger by eating tainted meat, or quench their thirst by drinking poisoned liquor. Though they are not without temporary gratification, death will anon overcome them.




(Good and Evil Spirits.)

If a man's heart be awakened to the good, though the good be not yet accomplished, good spirits verily are already following him.

If a man's heart be awakened to evil, though evil be not yet accomplished, evil spirits verily are already following him.






(Quotations.)

Those who have hitherto done evil deeds should henceforth mend and repent.

If evil be no longer practiced and good deeds done, and if in this way a man continues and continues, he will surely obtain happiness, and felicity. He will, indeed, so to speak, transform curses into blessings.




(Conclusion.)

Therefore, blessed is the man who speaketh what is good, who thinketh what is good, who practiceth what is good. If but each single day he would persevere in these three ways of goodness, within three years Heaven will surely shower on him blessings.

Unfortunate is the man who speaketh what is evil, who thinketh what is evil, who practiceth what is evil. If but each single day he would persevere in these three ways of evildoing, within three years Heaven will surely shower on him curses.

Why shall we not be diligent and comply with this? ‘