The Book of Chuang Tzu (Penguin) Read online

  Hui Tzu spoke to Chuang Tzu, saying, ‘I have a big tree, which people call useless. Its trunk is so knotted, no carpenter could work on it, while its branches are too twisted to use a square or compass upon. So, although it is close to the road, no carpenter would look at it. Now, Sir, your words are like this, too big and no use, therefore everyone ignores them.’

  Chuang Tzu said, ‘Sir, have you never seen a wild cat or weasel? It lies there, crouching and waiting; east and west it leaps out, not afraid of going high or low; until it is caught in a trap and dies in a net. Yet again, there is the yak, vast like a cloud in heaven. It is big, but cannot use this fact to catch rats. Now you, Sir, have a large tree, and you don’t know how to use it, so why not plant it in the middle of nowhere, where you can go to wander or fall asleep under its shade? No axe under Heaven will attack it, nor shorten its days, for something which is useless will never be disturbed.’

  CHAPTER 2

  Working Everything Out Evenly

  Master Chi of the Southern District sat leaning forward on his chair, staring up at Heaven and breathing steadily, as if in a trance, forgetful of all around him. Master Yen Cheng Yu stood beside him and said, ‘What is it? Is it true that you can make the body like a shrivelled tree, the heart like cold, dead ashes? Surely the man here now is not the same as the one who was here yesterday.’

  Master Chi said, ‘Yen, this is a good point to make, but do you really understand?

  ‘I have lost myself, do you understand?

  You hear the pipes of the people, but not the pipes of earth.

  Even if you hear the pipes of earth, you don’t hear the pipes of Heaven!’

  ‘Please explain this,’ said Master Yu.

  Master Chi replied,

  ‘The vast breath of the universe, this is called Wind.

  Sometimes it is unmoving;

  when it moves it makes the ten thousand openings resound dramatically.

  Have you not heard it,

  like a terrifying gale?

  Mountains and forests are stormed by it,

  great trees, a hundred spans round with dips and hollows,

  are like noses, like mouths, like ears, like sockets,

  like cups, like mortars, like pools, like gulleys;

  sounding like a crashing wave, a whistling arrow, a screech; sucking, shouting, barking, wailing, moaning,

  the winds ahead howling yeeh,

  those behind crying yooh,

  light breezes making gentle sounds,

  while the typhoon creates a great din.

  When the typhoon has passed, all goes quiet again.

  Have you not witnessed this disturbance settle down again?’

  Master Yu said, ‘What you’ve just described are the notes of the earth, while the notes of humanity come from wind instruments, but you have said nothing about the notes of Heaven.’

  ‘The role of these forces on all forms of living things is not the same,’ said Master Chi. ‘For each is different, using what they need to be, not influenced by any other force!’

  True depth of understanding is wide and steady,

  Shallow understanding is lazy and wandering,

  Words of wisdom are precise and clear,

  Foolish words are petty and mean.

  When we sleep, our spirits roam the earth,

  when awake our bodies are alert,

  whatever we encounter captures us,

  day by day our hearts are struggling.

  Often simple,

  often deep,

  often intimate.

  Minor troubles make them unsettled, anxious,

  Major troubles are plain and simple.

  They fly off like an arrow,

  convinced that they know right from wrong;

  it is like one who makes a sacred promise,

  standing sure and true and on their way to victory.

  They give way, like autumn and winter,

  decaying away with the ebb and flow of each day;

  it is like a stream of water, it cannot be brought back;

  they stagnate, because they are like old blocked drains,

  brought on by old age,

  which makes their minds closed as if near death,

  and there is nothing which can draw their hearts into the power of the yang –

  the life-giving light.

  Joy and anger,

  sadness and delight,

  hope and disappointment;

  faithlessness and certainty,

  forcefulness and sloth,

  eagerness and reticence,

  like notes from an empty reed,

  or mushrooms growing in dampness,

  day and night follow each other before our very eyes and we have no idea why.

  Enough, enough!

  Morning and night exist,

  we cannot know more about the Origin than this!

  Without them, we don’t exist,

  Without us, they have no purpose.

  This is close to our meaning,

  but we cannot know what creates things to be thus.

  It is as if they have a Supreme Guidance, but there is no way of grasping such a One.

  He can certainly act, of that there is no doubt,

  but I cannot see his body.

  He has desires, but no body.

  A hundred parts and nine orifices and six organs,

  are parts that go to make up myself,

  but is any part more noble than another?

  You say I should treat all parts as equally noble:

  But shouldn’t I also treat some as better than others?

  Don’t they all serve me as well as each other?

  If they are all servants, then aren’t they all as bad as each other?

  Or are there rulers amongst these servants?

  There must be some Supreme Ruler who is over them all.

  Though it is doubtful that you can find his true form,

  and even if it were possible,

  is it not meaningless to his true nature?

  When someone is born in this body, doesn’t life continue until death?

  Either in conflict with others or in harmony with them,

  we go through life like a runaway horse, unable to stop.

  Working hard until the end of his life,

  unable to appreciate any achievement,

  worn out and incapable of resting,

  isn’t he a pathetic sight?

  He may say, ‘I’m still alive,’ but so what?

  When the body rots, so does the mind – is this not tragic?

  Is this not ridiculous, or is it just me that is ridiculous and everyone else is sane?

  If you allow your mind to guide you,

  who then can be seen as being without a teacher?

  Why is it thought that only the one who understands change and whose heart approves this can be the teacher?

  Surely the fool is just the same.

  But if you ignore your mind but insist you know right from wrong, you are like the saying,

  ‘Today I set off for Yueh and arrived yesterday.’

  This is to claim that what is not, is;

  That what is not, does exist –

  why, even the holy sage Yu cannot understand this,

  let alone poor old me!

  Our words are not just hot air. Words work because they say something, but the problem is that, if we cannot define a word’s meaning, it doesn’t really say anything. Is it possible that there really is something here? Or does it really mean nothing? Is it possible to make a proper case for it being any different from the chirruping of chicks? How is it that we have the Tao so obscured that we have to distinguish between true and false? What has clouded our words so that we can have both what is and what is not? How can it be that the Tao goes off and is no longer? How can it be that words are found but are not understood? When the Tao is obscured by pettiness and the words are obscured by elaboration, then we end up having the ‘this is, this is not
’ of the Confucians and Mohists, with what one of them calls reality being denied by the other, and what the other calls real disputed by the first. If we want to confound what they call right and confirm what they call wrong, we need to shed light on both of them.

  Nothing exists which is not ‘that’, nothing exists which is not ‘this’. I cannot look at something through someone else’s eyes, I can only truly know something which I know. Therefore ‘that’ comes out of ‘this’ and ‘this’ arises from ‘that’. That is why we say that ‘that’ and ‘this’ are born from each other, most definitely.

  Compare birth with death, compare death with life; compare what is possible with what is not possible and compare what is not possible with what is possible; because there is, there is not, and because there is not, there is.

  Thus it is that the sage does not go down this way, but sheds the light of Heaven upon such issues. This is also that and that is also this. The ‘that’ is on the one hand also ‘this’, and ‘this’ is on the other hand also ‘that’. Does this mean he still has a this and that? Does this mean he does not have a this and that?

  When ‘this’ and ‘that’ do not stand against each other, this is called the pivot of the Tao. This pivot provides the centre of the circle, which is without end, for it can react equally to that which is and to that which is not. This is why it is best to shed light on such issues. To use a finger to show that a finger is not a finger, is not really as good as using something that is not a finger to show that a finger is not a finger; to use a horse to show a horse is not a horse is not as good as using something other than a horse to show that a horse is not a horse. Heaven and Earth are as one as a finger is, and all of creation is as one as a horse is.

  What is, is, what is not, is not.

  The Tao is made because we walk it,

  things become what they are called.

  Why is this so? Surely because this is so.

  Why is this not so? Surely because this is not so.

  Everything has what is innate,

  everything has what is necessary.

  Nothing is not something,

  nothing is not so.

  Therefore, take a stalk of wheat and a pillar,

  a leper or a beauty like Hsi-shih,

  the great and the insecure,

  the cunning and the odd:

  all these are alike to the Tao.

  In their difference is their completeness;

  in their completeness is their difference.

  Through the Tao they are all seen as one, regardless of their completeness or difference, by those who are capable of such extended vision. Such a person has no need for distinctions but follows the ordinary view. The ordinary view is firmly set on the ground of usefulness. The usefulness of something defines its use; the use is its flexibility; its flexibility is its essence and from this it comes to a stop. We stop but do not know why we stop, and this is called Tao.

  To tax our spirits and our intellect in this way without realizing that everything is the same is called ‘Three in the Morning’. And what is ‘Three in the Morning’? A monkey trainer was giving out acorns and he said, ‘In the morning I will give you each three acorns and in the evening you will get four.’ The monkeys were very upset at this and so he said, ‘All right, in the morning you will get four and in the evening, three.’ This pleased the monkeys no end. His two statements were essentially the same, but got different reactions from the monkeys. He gained what he wanted by his skill. So it is with the sage, who manages to harmonize right and wrong and is content to abide by the Natural Equality of Heaven. This is called walking two roads.

  The men of old understood a great deal. How much?

  In the beginning they did not know that anything existed; this is virtually perfect knowledge, for nothing can be added. Later, they knew that some things existed but they did not distinguish between them. Next came those who distinguished between things, but did not judge things as ‘being’ or ‘not being’. It was when judgements were made that the Tao was damaged, and because the Tao was damaged, love became complete. Is anything complete or damaged? Is anything not complete or damaged? There is completion and damage, just as Chao Wen12 played the lute. There is nothing which is complete or damaged, just as Chao Wen did not play the lute.

  Chao Wen played the lute,

  Shih Kuang conducted,

  Hui Tzu debated.

  The understanding of these three was almost perfect and they followed it to the end of their years. They cared about this because it was different, and they wanted to teach others about it. But it was not possible to make things clear, though they tried to make things simple. They ended up instead with the folly of the ‘hard’ and the ‘white’.

  Wen’s son ended up continuing to play Wen’s lute and achieved nothing for himself. If someone like this is called complete, then am I not also? And if someone like this is called incomplete, then surely neither I nor anyone else has ever been complete. Also, by the light shining out of chaos, the sage is guided; he does not make use of distinctions but is led on by the light.

  Now, however, I have something to say. Do I know whether this is in the same sort of category as what is said by others? I don’t know. At one level, what I say is not the same. At another level, it most definitely is, and there is no difference between what I say and what others say. Whatever the case, let me try and tell you what I mean.

  There is the beginning; there is not as yet any beginning of the beginning; there is not as yet beginning not to be a beginning of the beginning. There is what is, and there is what is not, and it is not easy to say whether what is not, is not; or whether what is, is.

  I have just made a statement, yet I do not know whether what I said has been real in what I said or not really said.

  Under Heaven there is nothing greater than the tip of a hair, but Mount Tai is smaller; there is no one older than a dead child, yet Peng Tsu died young.

  Heaven and Earth and I were born at the same time, and all life and I are one.

  As all life is one, what need is there for words? Yet I have just said all life is one, so I have already spoken, haven’t I? One plus one equals two, two, plus one equals three. To go on from here would take us beyond the understanding of even a skilled accountant, let alone the ordinary people. If going from ‘nothing’ to ‘some-thing’ we get to three, just think how much further we would have to go if we went from ‘some-thing’ to something!13

  Don’t even start, let’s just stay put.

  The great Tao has no beginning, and words have changed their meaning from the beginning, but because of the idea of a ‘this is’ there came to be limitations. I want to say something about these limitations. There is right and left, relationships and their consequences, divisions and disagreements, emulations and contentions. These are known as the eight Virtues.

  The sage will not speak of what is beyond the boundaries of the universe – though he will not deny it either. What is within the universe, he says something about but does not pronounce upon. Concerning the record of the past actions of the kings in the Spring and Autumn Annals, the sage discusses but does not judge. When something is divided, something is not divided; when there is disagreement there are things not disagreed about.

  You ask, what does this mean? The sage encompasses everything, while ordinary people just argue about things. This is why I say that disagreement means you do not understand at all.

  The great Way is not named,

  the great disagreement is unspoken,

  great benevolence is not benevolent,

  great modesty is not humble,

  great courage is not violent.

  The Tao that is clear is not the Tao,

  speech which enables argument is not worthy,

  benevolence which is ever present does not achieve its goal,

  modesty if flouted, fails,

  courage that is violent is pointless.

  These five are fine: they are, as it were, round
ed. But if they lose this they can become awkward. This is why the one who knows how to stop at what he knows is best. Who knows the argument that needs no words, and the Tao that cannot be named? To those who do, this is called the Treasury of Heaven. Pour into it and it is never full; empty it and it is never empty. We do not know where it comes from originally, and this is called our Guiding Light.

  In the olden days Yao said to Shun, ‘I want to attack Tsung, Kuai and Hsu Ao. I have wanted to do this since I became king. What do you think?’

  Shun replied, ‘These three rulers are just primitives living in the backwoods – why can’t you just forget them? In ancient times, ten suns rose and all life was illuminated. But how much more does Virtue illuminate life than even these suns!’

  Yeh Chueh said to Wang Ni, ‘Do you know, Master, what everything agrees upon?’

  ‘How can I possibly know?’ said Wang Ni.

  ‘Do you know, Master, what you do not know?’

  ‘How can I know?’ he replied.

  ‘Then does nothing know anything?’

  ‘How could I know that?’ said Wang Ni. ‘Nevertheless, I want to try and say something. How can I know that what I say I know is not actually what I don’t know? Likewise, how can I know that what I think I don’t know is not really what I do know? I want to put some questions to you:

  ‘If someone sleeps in a damp place, he will ache all over and he will be half paralysed, but is it the same for an eel? If someone climbs a tree, he will be frightened and shaking, but is it so for a monkey? Out of these three, which is wisest about where to live?

  ‘Humans eat meat, deer consume grass, centipedes devour snakes and owls and crows enjoy mice. Of these four, which has the best taste?