p. [41]: For Confucius see H. G. Creel, Confucius, New York 1949. I do not, however, follow his interpretation, but rather the ideas of Hu Shih, O. Franke and others.
p. [42]: For "chün-tzu" and its counterpart "hsiao-jen" see D. Bodde and Ch'en Meng-chia.
p. [43]: I rely strongly here upon O. Franke and Ku Chieh-kang and upon my own work on eclipses.
p. [44]: I regard the Confucian traditions concerning the model emperors of early time as such a falsification. The whole concept of "abdication" has been analysed by M. Granet. The later ceremony of abdication was developed upon the basis of the interpretations of Confucius and has been studied by Ku Chieh-kang and Miyakawa Hisayuki. Already Confucius' disciple Meng Tzŭ, and later Chuang Tzŭ and Han Fei Tzŭ were against this theory.—As a general introduction to the philosophy of this period, Y. L. Feng's History of Chinese Philosophy, London 1937 has still to be recommended, although further research has made many advances.—My analysis of the role of Confucianism in society is influenced by theories in the field of Sociology of religion.
p. [45]: The temple in Turkestan was in Khotan and is already mentioned in the Wei-shu chapter 102. The analysis of the famous "Book on the transfiguration of Lao Tzŭ into a Western Barbarian" by Wang Wei-cheng is penetrating and has been used here. The evaluation of Lao Tzŭ and his pupils as against Confucius by J. Needham, in his Science and Civilization in China, Cambridge 1954 et sqq. (in volume 2) is very stimulating, though necessarily limited to some aspects only.
p. [47]: The concept of wu-wei has often been discussed; some, such as Masaaki Matsumoto, interpreted the concept purely in social terms as "refusal of actions carrying wordly estimation".
p. [49]: Further literature concerning alchemy and breathing exercises is found in J. Needham's book.
Chapter Four
p. [51]: I have used here the general frame-work of R. L. Walker, but more upon Yang K'uan's studies.