latter, the following illustration is given by a commentator. Two men
meeting in the street, one said to the other, "How fat you have grown!"
"Yes," replied his friend, "I have lately won a battle." "What do you
mean?" inquired the former. "Why, you see," said the latter, "so long
as I was at home, reading about ancient kings, I admired nothing but
virtue; then, when I went out of doors, I was attracted by the charms
of wealth and power. These two feelings fought inside me, and I began to
lose flesh; but now love of virtue has conquered, and I am fat."

The teachings of the Old Philosopher were summed up in the word _Tao_,
pronounced as _tou(t)_, which originally meant a road, a way; and
as applied to doctrines means simply the right way or path of moral
conduct, in which mankind should tread so as to lead correct and
virtuous lives. Later on, when Buddhism was introduced, this Taoism,
with all its paradoxes and subtleties, to which alchemy and the
concoction of an elixir of life had been added, gradually began to lose
its hold upon the people; and in order to stem the tide of opposition,
temples and monasteries were built, a priesthood was established in
imitation of the Buddhists, and all kinds of ceremonies and observances
were taken from Buddhism, until, at the present day, only those who know
can tell one from the other.

Although alchemy, which was introduced from Greece, via Bactria, in the
second century B.C., has long ceased to interest the Chinese public, who
have found out that gold is more easily made from the sweat of the
brow than from copper or lead; and although only a few silly people now
believe that any mixture of drugs will produce an elixir of life, able
to confer immortality upon those who drink it; nevertheless, Taoism
still professes to teach the art of extending life, if not indefinitely,
at any rate to a considerable length. This art would probably go some