It is well known that both he and
the legal, international, political, and diplomatical adventurers
who had been for a century or more from time to time at his court
had been strongly imbued with the somewhat revolutionary and then
fashionable democratic principles of the new Taoism, as defined by
the philosopher Lao-tsz; but he showed no particular hostility to
orthodox literature until, whilst on his travels, deputations of
learned men, especially in the ritual centres of Lu and Ts'i,
began to suggest to him the re-establishment of the old feudal
system, and to "quote the ancient scriptures" to him by way of
protesting mildly against his too drastic political changes. It
has been explained in Chapter XIII. that in 626 B.C., when his
great ancestor Duke Muh had availed himself of the advisory
services of an educated Tartar (of Tsin descent), this Tartar had
made use of the expression: "The King of the Tartars governs in a
simple, ready way, without the aid of the Odes and the Book as in
the case of China.
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