The Book of Chuang Tzu (Penguin)
Page 31
Lao Tzu said, ‘Know the masculine but hold to the feminine, become the valley of the whole world. Know your purity but hold to the impure, be a channel for the whole world.’ Most people choose to be first, he chooses to be last and says that he will accept the dregs of the whole world. Most people choose fulfilment; he chooses to be empty. He has never hoarded, so has more than enough; he prefers to be alone, yet has many around him. Living by actionless action, he mocks at ability. While others look for good fortune, he feels free to bend and twist. He says that he only wishes to avoid blame. He considers what is most profound to be the core and takes what is most severe as his guide, and he says that which is strong will break and that which is sharp becomes blunted. He is always open-handed and tolerant with all and seeks no harm to any. This can be called perfection.
Kuan Yin and Lao Tzu! Truly great men of the past!
The blank and the motionless have no form;
change and transformation are never at rest;
what is death?
what is life?
what is the companionship of Heaven and Earth?
where does the spirit of clarity go?
when forgotten, what becomes of it?
All forms of life are gathered around us, yet none of them is our destination. In the past people thought this was the way of the Tao. Chuang Tzu heard of these ideas and was pleased. He taught them using strange and mysterious expressions, wild and extraordinary phrases, and terms which had no precise meaning. He taught what he believed, yet was never partisan, nor did he view things from just one perspective. He saw the whole world as lost in foolishness and thus incapable of understanding anything sensible.
Therefore he used supposed words to offer a constant insight, quotes to have a ring of truth and flowing words to give greater depth. He came and went with the spirit of Heaven and Earth but he never viewed all the forms of life as being beneath him. He did not dispute right and wrong, but dwelt alongside his generation and its ways. Some might consider his writings insignificant, for they are inoffensive and fluent. But though his words are varied, in amongst the twists and turns there is more than might be expected, for there is much which is true and eternal. He travels with the Creative above and he makes friends with those below who view life and death as meaningless and who see neither beginning nor end. His vision of the origin is vast and penetrating, ever expanding and open-minded, unshackled by anything or anybody. It can be said that he is in accord with the Author of the Tao, and soars to the highest heights. Indeed this is so, but he still continues to explore with us the changes and transformations that arise within all, and come from him. His teachings have never been fully appreciated, as they are difficult and subtle.
Hui Shih made many efforts and all his books would fill five carriages, but his Tao was false and confused and what he said never hit the centre. Jumping from idea to idea, he would say things like:
‘The greatest thing has nothing outside it and we call this the great One. The smallest thing has nothing inside it and we call this the smallest One.’
Or:
‘No substance, incapable of being hoarded, yet greater than a thousand miles.’
Or:
‘Heaven is on the same level as Earth and the mountains are equal to the marshes.’
Or:
‘When the sun is in the centre, it is in the decline. That which is born is dying.’
Or:
‘That which is very similar is different from that which is only a little similar and this is called being a little different. All forms of life are similar and all differ. This we call the great similarities and differences.’
Or:
‘The south is limitless but has borders.’
Or:
‘Today I left for Yueh and arrived yesterday.’
Or:
‘That which is joined is separated.’
Or:
‘I know where the centre is of the whole world, north of Yen and south of Yueh.’125
Or:
‘Love embraces all forms of life and Heaven and Earth are of One.’
Hui Shih made these great statements to help the whole world to be more creative in debate and other speakers throughout the world were delighted to follow his lead, saying,
‘An egg has feathers,
a chicken has three feet,
Ying has the whole world,
a dog could be called a sheep,
horses have eggs,
a toad has a tail,
fire is not hot,
mountains emerge from the mouth,
chariot wheels never touch the ground,
eyes cannot see,
pointing is not the same as being there,
being there is not the culmination,
the tortoise is longer than the snake,
a T-square does not work,
a compass doesn’t make circles,
chisels do not fit into handles,
a bird’s shadow never moves,
swift though the arrowhead is, at times it is neither moving nor still,
a dog is not a dog,
a bay horse and a black ox make three,
a white dog is black,
a motherless colt never had a mother,
if you have a pole one foot long and every day you cut off half,
ten thousand generations will not exhaust it.’
These are the sorts of sayings speakers came up with in response to Hui Shih, rattling on in this fashion eternally to the end of their lives.
Huan Tuan and Kung Sun Lung are to be numbered amongst these. They were more vocal than others, overwhelming the hearts of the people and changing their ideas. But they could not subdue people’s hearts, they just encompassed them with argument. Hui Shih drew upon his knowledge every day to argue with these speakers, these talkers from around the world, as can be seen from the examples above.
Indeed, Hui Shih’s style of speaking illustrates that he thought himself the very best, saying that Heaven and Earth are also equal! Shih certainly maintained his vigour, but unfortunately he had no real skill.
In the south there was a man with very odd views called Huang Liao, and he enquired why Heaven and Earth didn’t fall or collapse, where the wind and rain come from, likewise the thunder and lightning. Hui Shih didn’t try to avoid these questions and, without pausing to think, he charged right in and gave answers to everything affecting all the forms of life, without ceasing, with no end of words. Nevertheless, he feared he hadn’t said enough, so he began embroidering his answers with fantastic theories. If he spoke contrary to what others thought, he saw this as confirmation of the veracity of what he said and was delighted at the fame he gained. In this he was indeed like all other such speakers. He was weak in terms of true Virtue and forceful in his engagement with what is external. He trod a dark and confused path.
From the perspective of the Tao of Heaven and Earth, we can see that Hui Shih’s ability was simply like the buzzing of a mosquito or gnat. What was the real use of it? Certainly, he can be credited with founding one school of thought, though to be honest I have to say he needed to follow the Tao more! Hui Shih found no sense of achievement in doing this. Instead he persisted in trying endlessly to diagnose all the forms of life, until finally all he is remembered for is his fame as a debater! Poor old Hui Shih! With all that talent he never obtained any significant achievement. Racing after the multitude of things in this world and never returning, he was indeed like someone who tries to have the last word with an echo, or who tries to show that you can outrun your shadow.
What a shame!
1. The Illustrated Tao Te Ching, translated by Man Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay, Element Books, 1993, p. 27.
2. Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, Cambridge University Press, 1956, volume II, p. 35.
3. The Illustrated Tao Te Ching, p. 137.
4. Mythological figure, reputed to have lived to a great age.
5. The greatest of
the Sacred Mountains of China, believed to be the birthplace of creation and humanity.
6. Philosopher who taught simple living and pacifism.
7. One of the three great ‘Taoist’ writers, along with Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.
8. One of the five original Emperors of Chinese mythology and pre-history. A model of Confucian wisdom.
9. A hermit who, according to legend, refused to take over the kingdom.
10. A critic of Confucius, known as ‘the Madman of Chu’.
11. Shun took over the kingdom from Yao and is another model ruler.
12. A famous musician.
13. This passage plays on the use of positive and negative signifiers in Chinese characters.
14. The greatest of the five original Emperors of Chinese mythology, a symbol of wisdom and civilization.
15. Two very ancient forms of music.
16. Amputation of one foot was a common form of punishment for criminals.
17. The favourite follower of Confucius.
18. Chieh is the archetypal evil ruler who murdered his ministers when they tried to control him.
19. Pi Kan tried to restrain the last Shang Emperor’s excesses.
20. Two primordial founder figures. Fu Hsi is credited with discovering the eight Trigrams and with inventing writing.
21. A book of rules and proverbs.
22. Figures from the history of the fifth century BC.
23. Prime Minister of Cheng, died 522 BC.
24. The most famous archer of Chinese mythology.
25. Mutilated as a punishment for crime.
26. A formal title for the Emperors, marking their special relationship with Heaven.
27. A disciple of Confucius.
28. Historical figures who were either reformers or upholders of the status quo, but who were all killed or committed suicide.
29. The following characters are all from the earliest myths of China.
30. Primal mother figure, an early Heavenly goddess, later adopted as a major deity in Taoism.
31. A famous sword belonging to King Ho Lu (c. 500 BC) of Wu.
32. One of the five original Emperors of mythology, a model of Confucian piety.
33.A mythological ruler of antiquity.
34. The five vital organs of early Chinese medicine are the liver, lungs, heart, kidneys and spleen, and are linked to the five elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal.
35. Models of benevolence and righteousness in Confucian teachings.
36. Yang taught hedonism, while Mo Tzu taught love of all.
37. Hsia, Shang and Chou (2200–600 BC).
38.2255 BC.
39. Ruler who abdicated to his brother and then refused to serve an unjust ruler, so dying of starvation.
40. Famous for his wickedness.
41. A famous trainer of horses.
42. Mythological ruler of ancient China.
43. Advisers who tried to reform their rulers and were executed for their pains.
44. At a great feast in Chu the Lord of Lu gave poor-quality wine, while the Lord of Chao (whose capital was Han Tan) gave good wine. The steward, having some desire for mischief, swapped them. The ruler of Chu took offence at the poor wine, attacked Chao and sacked Han Tan.
45. All mythological rulers or sages of antiquity.
46. Traditionally, this position and direction was only taken by Emperors.
47. The sun.
48. The moon.
49. Chi – the breath which animates all life and, when used up, causes death.
50. Confucius’ own name.
51. At the annual re-enactment of the Chou conquest of the Shang in the twelfth or eleventh century BC.
52. Name for the model Emperor Shun.
53. The three armies are the standard subdivisions of a feudal state, and the five weapons are the spear, halberd, axe, shield and bow.
54. The five sentences are branding or tattooing, cutting off the nose, cutting off the feet, castration and execution.
55. It is unclear what the twelve were, but they certainly include the Six Classics of Confucianism.
56 Fire, wood, earth, metal, water.
57. Models used at sacrifices to distract evil spirits, which were thrown away afterwards.
58. The two main categories of mythological early rulers of China. The Three August Ones were Fu Hsi, Nu Kua and Shen Nung. The Five Emperors were the Yellow Emperor, Chuan Hsu, Kao Hsin, Yao and Shun.
59. This paragraph describes the last rulers of the Three Dynasties and their successors or usurpers.
60. The Three Kings were the founders of the Three Dynasties Hsia, Shang and Chou.
61. King Ki Kuai of Yen was urged to imitate Yao and to abdicate. He did this in 316 BC and Tzu Chi, his minister, took over, but it was a disaster.
62. He launched an assault on his relatives, who ruled Chu, trying to emulate the Dynastic founders Tang (of the Shang) and Wu (of the Chou), but he failed.
63. Apparently they thought he was an enemy of theirs called Yang Huo.
64. A philosopher ridiculed by Chuang Tzu as one who argues about the difference between ‘hard’ and ‘white’.
65. Author of a ‘Taoist’ text, now lost.
66. Traditional title for the remarkable flourishing of different schools of philosophy between the sixth and fourth centuries BC.
67. Used for divination and oracles.
68. Wu Tzu Hsu tried to alert his master the King of Wu that a neighbouring kingdom would invade. In the end the King grew to distrust Tzu Hsu and made him commit suicide in 484 BC.
69. All symbols or places of immortality.
70. Minister of Chi c. 650 BC, admired by Confucius.
71. Sometimes counted as two of the Three August Ones, but more often as mythological progenitors of the Chinese and their civilization.
72. This entire paragraph assumes traditional Chinese notions of how different species emerge as transmutations of other species.
73. Despotic ruler of Chi 684–643 BC.
74. Chief Minister of Duke Huan, who held him in very high esteem.
75. In the Chinese, all the ghosts have specific names, which I have omitted to make the paragraph easier to read!
76. Historical figure, c. 569 BC.
77 Formal ritual music.
78 Hsiung I Liao of Chu lived c. 480 BC.
79 Ai of Lu.
80. Symbol of authority as a minister.
81. Prince Pi Kan was murdered by the despot Chou, last ruler of Shang. This action was considered one of the reasons why the Shang Dynasty fell.
82. A remarkable politician who won freedom for the state of Wei, c. 400 BC.
83. A seventh-century BC minister who was taken prisoner when his state fell. He became a slave on a farm, but eventually rose to power again.
84. His family tried to kill him, but he would not seek revenge when in power.
85. Father of Wu who founded the Chou Dynasty. According to tradition, King Wen wrote the commentaries on the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching.
86. The heart and mind.
87. Ping is the title of the philosopher Kung Sang Lung.
88. A gatekeeper who could not run away was more valuable, so they were deliberately mutilated.
89. Chief Minister of Chi who actually controlled the state, but was admired for his respect for the hermit Tzu Chi.
90. Both men displayed coolness in times of trouble, and by their calm actions, not saying a word, stared down trouble.
91. The beak refers to the chattering of birds – noisy conversation.
92. i.e., things come to me, although I have done nothing to deserve them.
93. Slaves were usually doormen, and one who could not run away was the most valuable.
94. King of Yueh who was overthrown by invaders and retreated to the mountain with his minister Chung. They won back the kingdom, but the King then feared Chung and made him commit suicide.
95. Pretended to be mad in order to escape the wr
ath of Chou, the last Shang Emperor.
96. A crony of Chou.
97. A model of filial piety, persecuted by his stepmother.
98. Another model of filial piety, hated by his father.
99. A jewel was placed in the mouth of a corpse to help pay its way through the Underworld.