Book II.
*5. Chap. I. Hsing-ou [OMITTED] (On Chance and Luck).
Happiness and misfortune are not the outcome of man's good
or bad actions, but chance and luck. Some have good luck, others
bad. Good and bad fortune are not distributed in a just way,
according to worth, but are mere chance. This is true of man
as well as of other beings. Even Sages are often visited with
misfortune.
*6. Chap. II. Ming-yi [OMITTED] (What is meant by Destiny?).
The school of Mé Ti denies the existence of Destiny. Wang
Ch`ung follows the authority of Confucius. There are various kinds
of destinies. The length of human life is regulated by the fluid
of Heaven, their wealth and honour by the effluence of the stars,
with which men are imbued at their birth. Wang Ch`ung rejects
the distinction of natural, concomitant, and adverse fate, but admits
contingencies, chances, and incidents, which may either agree with
the original fate and luck, or not. The fate of a State is always
stronger than that of individuals.
*7. Chap. III. Wu-hsing [OMITTED] (Unfounded Assertions).
At birth man receives the vital fluid from Heaven. This
fluid determines the length of his life. There are no means to
prolong its duration, as the Taoists pretend. Some examples from
history are shown to be untrustworthy. At death everything ends.
The vital force disperses, and the body is dissolved.
*8. Chap. IV. Shuai-hsing [OMITTED] (The Forming of Characters).
There are naturally good, and there are naturally bad characters,
but this difference between the qualities of low and superior
men is not fundamental. The original fluid permeating all is the
same. It contains the germs of the Five Virtues. Those who are
endowed with copious fluids, become vrituous, those whose fluid
is deficient, wicked. But by external influences, human nature can
turn from good into bad, and the reverse. Bad people can be improved,
and become good by instruction and good example. Therefore
the State cannot dispense with instructions and laws.
*9. Chap. V. Chi-yen [OMITTED] (Auspicious Portents).
Auspicious portents appear, when somebody is destined to
something grand by fate, especially, when a new dynasty rises.
These manifestations of fate appear either in the person's body,
or as lucky signs in nature, or under the form of a halo or a
glare. A great variety of instances from ancient times down to
the Han dynasty are adduced in proof.
