The Book of Chuang Tzu (Penguin)

by Chuang Tzu

  ‘Just seek to discover the Tao!’

  Hui Tzu heard this and brought Tai Chen Jen to see the ruler. Tai Chen Jen said, ‘There is a creature known as the snail, do you know this, Sire?’

  ‘For sure,’ he said.

  ‘It has on its left horn a kingdom called Provoke and on its right horn one called Foolish. These kingdoms are often arguing over territory and fighting. The dead are heaped up in multitudes with the defeated army fleeing – but within a few days they are back.’

  The ruler said, ‘Ha! What is this empty chatter about?’

  ‘I just want to show Your Majesty what this is about. When you contemplate the four directions and up and down, Sire, is there any limit to them?’

  The ruler said, ‘No limit.’

  ‘When the heart has wandered through unlimited realms, do you know how to return to this kingdom in such a way that its troubles seem to be insignificant?’

  The ruler said, ‘Certainly.’

  ‘In the centre of these lands through which one wanders, is the state of Wei, and in the centre of this state of Wei is the capital, Liang, and at the centre of this capital Liang is the King. Is there really any difference between the King and the Foolish kingdom?’

  The ruler said, ‘No difference.’

  After his visitor had departed, the ruler sat, dumbfounded, as if lost to the world.

  Then Hui Tzu came to see him and the ruler said, ‘That visitor, he is a great man, a sage cannot equal him.’

  Hui Tzu said, ‘If you blow a flute, you get a good sound, but if you blow on the pommel of your sword, you get a wheezing noise. Yao and Shun are often praised by people, but if you talk about them in front of Tai Chien Jen, then it sounds like one little wheeze.’

  Confucius travelled to Chu and stayed at a tavern on Ant Hill. In the neighbouring house, the husband, wives and servants, male and female, climbed on to the roof to see him. Tzu Lu said, ‘What are those people doing up there?’

  Confucius said, ‘They are followers of a sage. He is hidden among the people, hidden away in the fields. Fame no longer interests him, but his resolve is unlimited. His mouth speaks words, but his heart offers none. He is not at ease with this generation and his heart is not concerned with it. He is like someone who has drowned on dry land. I imagine he is Liao of the Southern Market?’

  Tzu Lu wanted to bring him over.

  Confucius said, ‘Stop! He knows that I comprehend all this and he knows I am travelling to Chu. He assumes that I will seek promotion from the King of Chu and thus he views me as a time-server. Someone like him is embarrassed just hearing the words of a time-server, let alone being seen with him! And why do you believe he is still around?’

  Tzu Lu went and looked and found the house empty.

  The border guard at Chang Wu said to Tzu Lao, ‘The ruler of a state must not be careless, nor should he be careless with the people. Previously when plouhing my fields, I was careless, and the result was a poor crop. When weeding, I was thoughtless, and the result was a diminished harvest. In recent years I changed my ways, I ploughed deep and was careful to bury the seed. My harvests are now plentiful and therefore I have all I need all year round.’

  Chuang Tzu heard this and said, ‘People today, when looking after themselves and caring for their hearts, are very much like this border guard’s description. They ignore Heaven, wander from their innate nature, dissolve their real being, extinguish their spirit and follow the common herd. So it is that someone who is careless with their innate nature causes evil and hatred to arise, affecting their innate nature like rank weeds and bushes. These weeds and bushes, when they first appear, seem helpful and supportive, but slowly they affect the innate nature. They become like a mass of suppurating sores which break out in scabs and ulcers, oozing pus from this disease. This is how it is.’

  Po Chu studied under Lao Tzu and said, ‘I would like to be allowed to wander the world.’

  Lao Tzu said, ‘No! Everywhere under Heaven is the same.’

  He asked again and Lao Tzu said, ‘Where will you go first?’

  ‘I will start with Chi.’

  When he arrived in Chi he saw the corpse of a criminal. He lugged the body about to put it into the proper ritual position, took off his robes and covered the body, crying to Heaven and saying, ‘My son, my son! Everyone under Heaven is in great trouble, and you, my son, have found this out earlier than the rest of us. It is said, “Don’t steal, don’t murder.” However when praise and failure have been defined, suffering appears. When goods and fortunes have been amassed, argument appears. To establish things that bring suffering, to amass what brings argument, to cause distress and restlessness to others, one asks how is this possible?’

  The scholar rulers of old saw their success in terms of the people and saw their failures in terms of themselves. They viewed the people as right and themselves as wrong. Thus, if even one person suffered, they would accept this as being their responsibility and retire. This is certainly not the case today. Today’s rulers hide what should be done and then blame the people when they don’t understand. They make the problems greater and punish those who cannot manage. They push people to the limit and execute those who can’t make it. When people realize that they simply haven’t the energy, they use pretence. When every day there is so much falsehood, how can the scholars and the people not become compromised! When strength is lacking, deceit is used; when knowledge is lacking, deception is used; when material goods are lacking, theft is used. But who really is to blame for these thefts and robbery?’

  Chu Po Yu had lived for sixty years and he changed at sixty. He had never questioned that he was right, but he came to change his views and saw that from the beginning he had been wrong. Now it was not possible to know whether what he had been saying for fifty-nine years was right or wrong. All forms of life are born, yet it is not possible to see their source. They all go forth, but it is not easy to see by which gate. People all respect what they understand as knowledge, but they do not understand what their knowledge does not understand and so gain understanding. So isn’t this simply great confusion? Well, well! There is no way out of that. This comes from saying definitely this, definitely that, doesn’t it?

  Confucius asked the Great Historians, Ta Tao, Po Chang Chien and Hsi Wei, ‘Duke Ling of Wei enjoyed wine, women and song, and didn’t look after the affairs of his kingdom, going off hunting with nets and bows, not attending to the sessions with the other lords. Why then is he called Duke Ling?’

  Ta Tao said, ‘Because this was so, he was titled so.’

  Po Chang Chien said, ‘This Duke Ling had three wives and he bathed with them in the same bathtub. However, when Shih Chiu appeared before him with imperial gifts, he himself would serve him. Duke Ling was corrupt in the first case and yet, when he saw a worthy man, he behaved quite correctly. This was the reason he was called Duke Ling.’

  Hsi Wei said, ‘Duke Ling died and divination was made to see whether he should be buried in the family tomb, but the oracle said no. When divination was made to see if he should be buried on Sand Hill, the oracle was good. When they dug down, they discovered a stone tomb. After cleaning it and looking carefully at it they found an inscription which said: ‘Do not rely upon your descendants, Duke Ling will take this for himself.’ It’s obvious, therefore, that Duke Ling was called Ling long before he was born. However, you can’t expect these two to know anything about all this!’

  Little Knowledge asked Great Official Accord, saying, ‘What do people mean when they say Talk of the Villages?’

  Great Official Accord said, ‘Talk of the Villages refers to the union of the ten surnames and hundred names into one code of living. What is different is united to form a commonality. What is in common is broken up to form the differences. If you point to different parts of a horse you do not have “a horse”. However, if you have the whole animal in all its parts standing before you, you have a horse. In this way the hills and mountains arise, little layer upon little layer,
and so become lofty, and the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers have become great through the conjoining of small streams.

  ‘The great man shows his greatness by combining all the common aspects of humanity. So, when ideas come to him from outside, he can receive them but does not cling to them. Likewise, when he brings forth some idea from within himself, they are like guides to those around but they do not seek to dominate.

  ‘The four seasons each have their own original life,

  and Heaven does not discriminate,

  so the cycle is fulfilled.

  The five government offices have different roles,

  but the ruler does not discriminate,

  so the state is well run.

  The great man does not discriminate

  between war and peace,

  so his Virtue is perfect.

  All the forms of life are different,

  but the Tao does not discriminate,

  so it has no name.

  Being nameless, it is also actionless action,

  yet all life occurs.

  The seasons end and begin;

  the generations change and transform.

  Inauspicious and auspicious fortune falls upon you,

  sometimes unwelcomed,

  other times welcomed.

  Settle into your own views,

  argue with others,

  at times condemn those who are upright,

  then those who are bent.

  You should be like a great marsh land

  with space for a hundred kinds of trees.

  Or be like a great mountain

  where the trees and grasses rest on the same ground.

  This is what is meant by Talk of the Villages.’

  Little Knowledge said, ‘Surely, if we call this the Tao, that will be enough?’

  Great Official Accord said, ‘Certainly not. For example, if we add up all that is, it definitely exceeds the conventional description of ten thousand things. However, we use the term “ten thousand things” as a way of saying that the number of things is very large. So also we use “Heaven and Earth” to describe great things, and “yin and yang” as original breaths of life which are vast, and the term “Tao” as being that term which covers them all. If we use this term to cover everything, there is no problem. However, if we try to go further and define this term by comparing it to what can be discerned, then we would be like those who call a dog and a horse by the same name, even though they are so different.’

  Little Knowledge said, ‘Within the limits of the four compass points and the six boundaries, where do the ten thousand things all have their origin?’

  Great Official Accord said, ‘Yin and yang reflect each other, oppose each other and control each other. The four seasons follow each other, give birth to each other and finish each other off. Good and evil, rejection and reception thus arose in definition against each other, giving rise to the distinction between male and female. People change from security to insecurity; auspicious and inauspicious fortune are born. Relaxation and tension are side by side. Collecting and scattering emerge and round it all off. These names and their developments can be examined and their actions recorded exactly. The notions of following in orderly sequence, of interaction, of returning when the limit has been reached, of starting again when they end, all this is inherent in things. Words can define them and knowledge can comprehend them, but that is all that can be said of things. The one who seeks the Tao does not try to go beyond this nor try to find the source. Quite simply, this brings all discussion to a close.’

  Little Knowledge said, ‘Chi Chen’s point that there is no cause and Chieh Tzu’s argument that there is a cause are two different perspectives. So which one is right and which one is mistaken?’

  Great Official Accord said, ‘Chickens cackle and dogs bark: this is what people know. However, even though they have this level of understanding, they can’t explain how the chicken and dog have such different voices, nor can they conceive of what the future might be. We can examine and define to such a point that what is left is minute, or we can make it so great that we can’t take it in. So whether you say there is a cause or there is not, you are still trapped in relative terms and so you’re in error. If there is a cause, then that is true, if there is no cause, then there is nothing. If there is a name, there is reality and they really exist, if there is no name, there is no reality and no thing.

  ‘It is possible to describe, to say, but these words take you away from its reality. Before things are born, they cannot stop being born, and once dead, they cannot resist going. Death and birth are not far apart, but what causes them is beyond our sight. Notions of a cause or no cause are irrelevant. I search for their historic roots but they disappear into the past. I look for the end of the future, but it never ceases to arrive. Infinite, unlimited, there are no words for this. To try to define it is to place it in the same category as “Is there a cause or is there not?” These are just words and they begin and end with things.

  ‘The Tao does not have an existence, nor does it not have an existence. By using the title “Tao”, we use a limited term. “Is there a cause or is there not?” are therefore words of very minor significance. Do they have anything to do with the great work? If what you say is of significance, then all day long you can discuss the Tao. If what you say is insignificant, you can talk all day long and all you will discuss is minor issues. The Tao takes us to the edge and neither words nor silence are able to describe this. No words, no silence, this is the highest form of debate.’

  CHAPTER 26

  Affected from Outside

  It is not possible to determine what will affect us from outside us. For example, Lung Feng was executed, Pi Kan was sentenced to death, Prince Chi95 pretended to be mad, E Lai96 was murdered and Chieh and Chou both perished. All rulers want their ministers to be loyal, but such loyalty may not always be sincere. So Wu Yun was cast into the Yangtze and Chang Hung died in Shu, where the people preserved his blood for three years, by which time it had become green jade. All parents want their children to be filial, but filial sons are not necessarily so from love. This is why Hsiao Chi97 was distressed and Tseng Shen98 was sad.

  If wood rubs against wood, it starts to burn.

  When metal is heated, it melts.

  When yin and yang go wrong,

  Heaven and Earth are hugely disturbed.

  Then comes the crash of thunder,

  and fire from the midst of the rains

  which destroys the great trees.

  Gaining and losing,

  the people are caught between them both

  and there is no way out.

  Trapped and entombed,

  they can never complete anything.

  Their hearts are strung out

  as if suspended between Heaven and Earth,

  sometimes comforted,

  sometimes frightened,

  plagued with problems.

  Gain and loss rub against each other

  and start fires beyond number

  that burn up the balances of the heart in most people.

  The moon cannot contain such fires.

  All is destroyed,

  the quest for the Tao ends.

  Chuang Tzu’s family were poor so he went to borrow some rice from the Marquis of Chien Ho. The Marquis of Chien Ho said, ‘Of course. I am about to receive the tax from the people and will give you three hundred pieces of gold – is that enough?’

  Chuang Tzu flushed with anger and said, ‘On my way here yesterday I heard a voice calling me. I looked around and saw a large fish in the carriage rut. I said, “Fish! What are you doing there?” He said, “I am Minister of the Waves in the Eastern Ocean. Sire, do you have a measure of water you could give me?” Well, I told him, “I am going south to visit the Kings of Wu and Yueh and after that I would redirect the course of the Western River so it will flow up to you. Would that do?” The large fish flushed with anger and said, “I am out of my very element, I have nowhere
to go. Give me just a little water and I can survive. But giving me such an answer as that means you will only ever find me again on a dried fish stall!”’

  Prince Jen had a great fish-hook and a vast line. He baited the hook with fifty bulls, sat down on Mount Kuai Chi and cast his line into the Eastern Ocean.

  Morning after morning he cast his line, but after a whole year he had still caught nothing. Finally, a great fish was hooked which dived into the depth, dragging the great fish-hook down with him. Then it turned and rushed to the surface and shot out, shaking its fins and churning up the sea so the waves rose like mountains and the waters turned white with its fury. The noise was like gods and demons fighting and terror spread over a thousand miles. Eventually, Prince Jen landed the fish and cut it and dried it. From Chih Ho in the east to Tsang Wu in the north, everyone had more than he could eat.

  Ever since, those with little talent in later generations have told and retold this story, never ceasing to amaze people. If people take their rod and line and set off to fish in marshes and ditches, looking for minnows and sprats, then they will have some difficulty in catching a big fish. Those who make much of their little notions and strut around in front of officials are a long way off being companions of the greater comprehension. Indeed, if someone has never heard of Prince Jen, he is far from being competent to be one of this generation who rule the world.

  A group of Literati students of the Odes of Ritual were robbing a grave. The main scholar in charge said, ‘The sun is rising in the east, how’s it going?’

  The younger Literati said, ‘We haven’t got his clothes off him yet, but there’s a pearl in his mouth.99 As the Odes say,

  ‘Green, green the grain

  Dwelling on the slopes of the mound.

  If during life you give nothing,

  At death, does he deserve a jewel?’

  So saying, they pulled back his beard and moustache and then one of them carefully prised open the mouth so as not to damage the pearl.

  A follower of Lao Lai Tzu100 was gathering firewood, when he chanced to meet Confucius. On his return he said, ‘There is a man who has a long body and short legs, a slightly humped back and his ears far back. He seems like one who is preoccupied with all the troubles within the four oceans. I don’t know who he is.’