Odd Stories. VII. The Philosophers Of The Dragon's Bower.
In the reign of King, and in the Dragon's Bower of the beautiful tea-garden of the statesman Kung, had assembled the philosophers Tung, Bang, Sing, Lung, Wing, Hang, with the rich mandarins Bo and Sho. Sipping that exquisite beverage which, as yielded by a choice herb grown only in the flower-sprinkled garden of Kung, has imparted to the Hi-Tea philosophy the peculiar intellectual flavor which distinguishes it from the Lo-Tea doctrine, they discussed the problems of existence. Only a vague, brief record has been preserved of that eventful meeting, so well called by Yung Sing, the poet, “the shock of minds,” and which, it was long maintained by the Hi-Tea school, had solved the mysteries of preordained genesis and circumstantial fixture. The dialogue turned upon that profound saying of the old man of Chow, the wise Lautze—“The Tau which can be tau-ed is not the eternal Tau.” Vainly having sought in his own poor wit the meaning of this sublime sentence, the mandarin Sho begged the six sages, in the grace of their princely hearts, and with the light of their shining minds, to make it clear to his benighted intelligence.
Tung: Tau is the unbounded entity.
Bang: Thunder without sound.
Sing: Unsung music of all things.
Lung: Breath of life without life.
Hang: Justice of accidents.
Wing: Eternal entity of non-entity.
“In short,” added Tung, “the supreme principle Tau is the uncircumscribed limit of universes; the order of disorder; the contradiction which reconciles; the peace into which all storms subside; the mother and father of action; the source of the unworshipped unworshipping worship, and of power beyond dominion.”
The mandarin Sho acknowledged this to be a grand definition of Tau; but, being a collector of the imperial revenues, prayed to be informed of the use and value of Tau in the practical administration of the affairs of men; for to save his worthless life he could not see (begging the favor of the assembled wisdom) how Tau was of any use whatever. “It's of no use,” said Wing; “and there's the beauty of it.”