Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39.

Plato scholars will note that the famous dialogue "Parmenides," discussing the problem of the one and the many, may fitly be compared with Lao-tze's exposition of the nature of oneness, the poetical portion of which sounds like a philosophical rhapsody.

The simile that the carriage does not consist of its parts, but it a definite combination of its parts, is also used in the Buddhist book, "Questions of King Milinda," written several centuries after Lao-tze.

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The last line in section 7, Ta fang wu yü (literally, "Greatest square has no corner") should be compared with the same sentiment in Chapter 45, ta chih joh ch‘ü ("greatest straightness seems curved").