| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Passionate Pilgrim by William Shakespeare: A woman I forswore; but I will prove,
Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee:
My vow was earthly, thou a heavenly love:
Thy grace being gain'd cures all disgrace in me.
My vow was breath, and breath a vapour is;
Then, thou fair sun, that on this earth doth shine,
Exhale this vapour vow; in thee it is:
If broken, then it is no fault of mine.
If by me broke, what fool is not so wise
To break an oath, to win a paradise?
IV.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: 2. He who does not fail in the requirements of his position, continues
long; he who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity.
34. 1. All-pervading is the Great Tao! It may be found on the left
hand and on the right.
2. All things depend on it for their production, which it gives to
them, not one refusing obedience to it. When its work is
accomplished, it does not claim the name of having done it. It
clothes all things as with a garment, and makes no assumption of being
their lord;--it may be named in the smallest things. All things
return (to their root and disappear), and do not know that it is it
which presides over their doing so;--it may be named in the greatest
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: the wind, to which the Chinese love to compare her. Her waist is
a "willow waist" in poetry, and her "golden lilies," as her tiny
feet are often called, are not more than two or three inches
long--so small that it not infrequently requires the assistance
of a servant or two to help her to walk at all. And though she
may not need them she affects to be so helpless as to require
their aid.
Until very recently education was discouraged rather than sought
by the Manchu lady. Many of the princesses could not read the
simplest book nor write a letter to a friend, but depended upon
educated eunuchs to perform these services for them. The Chinese
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