Chuang Tzu

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.
Tke 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. Eventu-ally, 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.' 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 Tzu 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.'

Lao Lai Tzu said, 'This is Confucius. Call him over here.'

Confucius came. Lao Lai Tzu said, 'Confucius! Rid yourself of your pride and that smug look on your face and you could then become a nobleman.'

Confucius bowed and retreated and then a look of astonishment came over his face and he asked, 'Do you think I could manage this?'

Lao Lai Tzu said, 'You can't bear the sufferings of this one generation, therefore you go and cause trouble for ten thousand generations to come. Do you set out to be this miserable, or don't you realize what you are doing? You insist that people should only be joyful in a way you prescribe. The infamy of this will follow you all your life. This is the action of a nondescript type of person, one who wants to rule through fame, who enjoys plotting with others, praising Yao and criticizing Chieh, when really you should just forget them and silence your tendency to glorify. What is wrong cannot but harm and what is active cannot fail to be wrong. The sage is cautious and hesitates before any action, and so always succeeds. But really, what can I say about your actions? For ultimately they are only bragging!'

The Lord Yuan of Song dreamt in the middle of the night that a man with dishevelled hair peered in at him through the side door and said, 'I have come from the depths of Tsai Lu and was on my way from the clear Yangtze as an ambassador to the Lord of the Yellow River, when a fisherman called Yu Chu caught me.'

Immediately Lord Yuan woke up and asked a diviner to find out what this meant.

'This is a sacred turtle,' said the diviner.

'Is there a fisherman called Yu Chu?' asked the Lord.

'There is,' he was told.

The Lord said, 'Command that Yu Chu comes here.'

Next day, Yu Chu arrived and the ruler asked him, 'What have you caught recently?'

He replied, 'I have caught a white turtle in my nets recently. It is about five feet in circumference.'

'Present your turtle,' said the ruler.

When the turtle came, the ruler couldn't decide whether to kill it or keep it. His heart was troubled, so he asked the diviner, who said, 'Kill the turtle and use it to make divinations and receive an oracle.' So the turtle had its shell removed and seventy-two holes drilled into its shell for divination. Not one of them failed to offer a good oracle.

Confucius said, 'The sacred turtle could manifest itself in a dream to Lord Yuan but could not escape the nets of Yu Chu, It had sufficient wisdom to give seventy-two correct divinations, but it could not escape having its vital organs cut out. This k how it is, wisdom has its limits and even spirituality has something beyond its reach. Even perfect wisdom can be defeated by a multitude of scheming people.

'Fish seem not to fear nets, they only seem to fear pelicans. Rid yourself of petty knowledge and allow great wisdom to enlighten you. Rid yourself of goodness, and goodness -will naturally arise. When a child is born, it needs no great teacher; nevertheless it learns to talk as it lives with those who talk.'

Hui Tzu argued with Chuang Tzu and said, 'What you say is useless!'

'You have to understand what is useless, then you can talk about what is useful,' said Chuang Tzu. 'Heaven and Earth are vast indeed and yet human beings only use the tiny part of the universe on which they tread. However, if you dug away beneath your feet until you came to the Yellow Springs, could anyone make use of this?'

'Useless,' said Hui Tzu.

'So indeed it is true that what is useless is clearly useful,' said Chuang Tzu.

Chuang Tzu continued, 'If someone has the itch to travel, what can stop him? But if someone does not wish to travel, then what can make him? The one who hides in conformity or die one who is distant and seeks oblivion, both fail to achieve perfect understanding and Virtue! They stumble and fall but do not recover. They crash ahead like fire and never look back. Even if they are a ruler with ministers, this too passes. These titles change with each generation and neither is better than the other. It is said that the perfect man leaves no trace of his actions.

'To respect the past and despise the present, this is what scholars do. Even the followers of Chi Hsi Wei, who view this generation in that way, are swept along without choice. Only the perfect man is able to be in the world and not become partisan, can follow others and not get lost. He does not absorb their teachings, he just listens and understands without any commitment.

'The eye that is penetrating can see clearly;
the ear that is acute hears well;
the nose that discriminates distinguishes smells;
the mouth with a keen sense of taste enjoys the flavours;
the heart that feels deeply has wisdom
and the wisdom that cuts to the quick is Virtue.

'Through all that is, the Tao will not be blocked, for if it is blocked, it gasps, and if it gasps, chaos breaks through. Chaos destroys the life in all. Everything that lives does so through breath. However, if breath will not come, this cannot be blamed on Heaven. Heaven seeks to course breath through the body day in and day out without ceasing: it is humanity which impedes this. The womb has its chambers and the heart has its Heavenly journey. However, if rooms are not large enough, then mother-in-law and wife will argue. If the heart does not wander in Heaven, then the six openings of sensation will compete with each other. The great forests, the hills and mountains surpass humanity in their spirit because they cannot be overcome.

'Virtue overflows into fame and desire for fame overflows into excess. Plans arise from a crisis and knowledge comes through argument. Obstinacy fuels resolution and official actions arise from the desires of all. When spring comes, the rains come along with the sunshine, the plants surge into life and harvesting tools are made ready again. Half of all that has fallen begins to sprout, and no one knows why for sure.

'Quietude and silence are healing for those who are ill;
massage is beneficial to the old;
peaceful contemplation can calm the distressed.
To be sure, it is only the disturbed person who needs these.
Someone who is at ease and is untroubled by such things has no need of this.
The sage reforms everything below Heaven, but the spiritual man does not enquire how.
The worthy person improves his generation, but the sage does not enquire how.
The ruler governs the country, but the worthy person does not enquire how.
The petty man makes do in these times, but the ruler does not enquire how.

'The gatekeeper of Yen Gate had a father who died and the gatekeeper was praised for the extremities of self-deprivation he inflicted on himself, and was honoured by the title of Model Officer. Some others in the area also underwent such extremities, and half of them died. Yao offered the country to Hsu Yu and Hsu Yu fled from him. Tang offered the kingdom to Wu Kuang and Wu Kuang became angry. Chi To heard this and retreated with his followers to the waters of the Kuan, where the local nobles came and commiserated with him for three years. For the same reason, Shen Tu Ti threw himself into the Yellow River. A fish trap is used to catch fish, but once the fish have been taken, the trap is forgotten. The rabbit trap is used to snare rabbits, but once the rabbit is captured, the trap is ignored. Words are used to express concepts, but once you have grasped the concepts, the words are forgotten. I would like to find someone who has forgotten the words so I could debate with such a person!'