Argument:—Influence of virtue concealed—The true Sage a negative quantity—The great, the small, the infinite—Crime and Capital—Rulers and their vices—What is Society? Predestination or Chance? Illustrations.

When Tsê Yang visited the Ch'u State, I Chieh

An official of Ch'u.

spoke of him to the prince; but the latter refused an audience.

Upon I Chieh's return, Tsê Yang went to see Wang Kuo,

A local Sage.

and asked him to obtain an interview with the prince.

"I am not so fitted for that," replied Wang Kuo, "as Kung Yüeh Hsiu."

A hermit.

"What sort of a man is he?" enquired Tsê Yang.