The incident came to the ears of Marquis Wen of Wei, who spoke to Tsu Hsia, a disciple of Confucius, about it.—"From what I have heard the Master say," said Tsu Hsia, "the man who achieves harmony with Tao enters into close relations with outer objects, and none of them has power to harm or hinder him."—"Why, my friend," said the Marquis, "cannot you do all these marvels?"—"I have not yet succeeded," said Tsu Hsia, "in cleansing my heart from impurities and discarding brainmind wisdom."—"And why," said the Marquis, "cannot the Master himself" (Confucius, of course) "perform such feats?"—"The Master," said Tsu Hsia, "is able to perform them; but he is also able to refrain from performing them."—which, again, he was. Here is another example:
Hui Yang went to visit Prince K'ang of Sung. The prince, however, stamped his foot, rasped his throat, and said angrily:— "The things I like are courage and strength. I am not fond of your good and virtuous people. What can a stranger like you have to teach me?"
"I have a secret," said Hui Yang, "whereby my opponent, however brave or strong, can be prevented from harming me either by thrust or blow. Would not Your Highness care to know that secret?"
"Capital!" said the Prince; "that is certainly something I should like to hear about."
"True," said Hui yang, "when you render his stabs or blows ineffectual, you cover your opponent with shame. But my secret will make him, however brave or strong, afraid to stab or strike at all."
"Better still," said the Prince; "let me hear about it."
"It is all very well for him to be afraid to do it." said Hui Yang; "but that does not imply he has no will to do it. Now, my secret would deprive him even of the will."
"Better and better," said Prince K'ang; "I beseech you to reveal it to me."
"Yes," said Hui Yang; "but this not having the will to injure does not necessarily connote a desire to love and do good. But my secret is one whereby every man, woman, and child in the empire shall be inspired with the friendly desire to love and do good to each other. This is much better than the possession of mere courage and strength. Has Your Highness no mind to acquire such a secret as this?"
The Prince confessed that, on the contray, he was most anxious to learn it.