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Chapter 6 of 33
庄子
The Great Ancestral Teacher opens by saying: To know how Heaven (the natural Great Way) operates, and also to know how "humanity" acts—this is already the ultimate in knowledge. To know what Heaven does is to live in accordance with nature; to know what humanity does is to use what is known to nourish what is unknown, allowing oneself to live out one's natural lifespan without dying prematurely—this is the pinnacle of knowledge. Yet even this carries a hidden peril: all knowledge must rely on something to be properly grounded, yet that which it relies upon is itself uncertain. How do you know that what we call "Heaven" is not "human," and what we call "human" is not "Heaven"? Therefore, only with the True Person (one who embodies the Way) can there be True Knowledge.
What is a True Person? The True Person of antiquity did not reject scarcity, did not boast of achievement, and did not scheme. Thus, when things passed, there was no regret; when things went well, there was no self-congratulation. Such a person could ascend great heights without trembling, enter water without becoming wet, and enter fire without feeling burned—this is what it means for cognition to rise to the realm of the Way (the fundamental principle and operating law of all things).
The True Person of antiquity slept without dreams, woke without worry, did not seek delicacy in food, and breathed deeply. The True Person's breath reaches to the heels; ordinary people's breath reaches only to the throat [translator's note: this is a philosophical description, not a specific breathing technique]; when arguing, they gasp and sputter, as if their throat were blocked. Those with deep cravings have shallow heavenly luminosity.
The True Person of antiquity did not cling to life, did not loathe death. They were not elated at birth, did not resist death; they came drifting, and went drifting. They did not forget their origin, nor did they insist on a final destination. They accepted life with joy when it came, and returned to the original state when it departed. This is called not using the mind to harm the Way, not using human effort to augment Heaven—this is the True Person. Such a person had focused intent, serene countenance, and a broad, gentle forehead. Cool as autumn, warm as spring, their joy and anger flowed with the four seasons, harmonizing with all things without revealing any limit. Thus, when a sage employs arms out of necessity, they may destroy a state without losing the people's hearts; their grace extends to ten thousand generations, yet it is not out of love for others. Therefore, rejoicing in understanding all things is not sagehood; having partial preferences is not benevolence; deliberately choosing moments is not worthiness; being unable to transcend benefit and harm is not a noble person; seeking fame while losing oneself is not a true scholar; losing one's life without authenticity is not fit to command others. Figures like Hu Bu Xie, Wu Guang, Bo Yi, Shu Qi, Ji Zi, Xu Yu, Ji Tuo, and Shen Tu Di were all commanded by others, adapted to others' comfort, and did not rest in their own comfort.
The True Person of antiquity was upright in appearance yet formed no factions; seemed insufficient yet did not flatter; had edges yet was not obstinate; was open-minded yet not ostentatious; was cheerful as if delighted, moving only out of necessity; had a lustrous countenance and virtuous demeanor; was broad-minded toward the mundane world, yet so lofty as to be unbounded; was silent and sparing of words, as if having forgotten speech. They took punishment (the natural standard of judgment) as their substance, ritual (worldly norms) as their wings, knowledge as their timing, and virtue as their guide. One who takes punishment as substance judges with leniency; one who takes ritual as wings moves through the world; one who takes knowledge as timing responds to affairs out of necessity; one who takes virtue as guide is said to climb heights together with those who have feet—yet the world truly believes they are diligent travelers. Thus, what they liked and disliked were both penetrated and unified; sameness and difference were also penetrated and unified. Unifying with Heaven makes one a companion of Heaven; not unifying with humanity makes one a companion of humanity; when Heaven and humanity do not oppress each other, this is the True Person.
Life and death are fate, as constant as night and day—this is Heaven. There are many things humans cannot participate in or alter; these are the constant conditions of all things. People take Heaven as their father and still cherish their own bodies—how much more the transcendent Way? People solely because a ruler stands above them would die for him—how much more the authentic Way?
When springs run dry, fish gather together on dry land, moistening each other with dampness and wetting each other with saliva—far better to forget one another in rivers and lakes. Rather than praising Yao and condemning Jie, better to forget both and dissolve into the Great Way.
Heaven and Earth use form to carry me, use life to toil me, use old age to give me ease, use death to give me rest. Thus, one who is good at settling my life is also good at settling my death. Hiding a boat in a valley, hiding a mountain in a deep marsh, one thinks it secure; yet at midnight a mighty force carries it away, and the dim-sighted do not know. No matter how well one hides the small or the great, loss still occurs. But if one hides the world within the world, there is no place for loss—this is the constant reality of all things. People occasionally obtain human form and rejoice; transformations like the human form change in a thousand ways without end, so where is the limit to calculable joy? Thus, the sage wanders in that which cannot be lost and abides with the Way. Treating youth, old age, beginning, and end with equanimity—people still emulate this—how much more the Way, to which all things are tied and from which all change derives?
The Way itself has feeling and sincerity, yet is non-active and formless; it can be transmitted by heart yet cannot be handed over like an object; it can be apprehended yet cannot be seen; it is self-rooted and self-originating, having existed since before Heaven and Earth, from antiquity. It makes ghosts and spirits numinous, and brings Heaven and Earth into being; above the Great Primordial it is not high, below the Six Extremes it is not deep, prior to Heaven and Earth it is not old, more ancient than high antiquity it is not aged. Xi Wei obtained it and could regulate Heaven and Earth; Fu Xi obtained it and could harmonize primordial qi; the Big Dipper obtained it and never errs—enduring without deviation; the Sun and Moon obtained it and run forever without cease; Kan Huai obtained it and could govern Mount Kunlun; Feng Yi obtained it and could roam the great rivers; Jian Wu obtained it and could dwell in the great mountains; the Yellow Emperor obtained it and could ascend the cloudy heavens; Zhuan Xu obtained it and could reside in the Dark Palace; Yu Qiang obtained it and could stand at the North Pole; the Queen Mother of the West obtained it and could dwell at Shaoguang, knowing neither beginning nor end; Peng Zu obtained it, reaching up through the age of Shun and down through the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period; Fu Yue obtained it, assisted Wu Ding to possess the world, and after death rode the Dong Wei star and mounted the Ji Wei constellation, taking his place among the stars.
Nan Bo Zi Kui asked Nü Yu: "You are advanced in years, yet your complexion is like a child's—why?" Nü Yu said: "I have heard the Way." Nan Bo Zi Kui asked: "Can the Way be learned?" Nü Yu said: "No! No! You are not that kind of person. Bu Liang Yi has the talent of a sage but not the Way of a sage; I have the Way of a sage but not the talent of a sage. I wanted to teach him—perhaps he could truly become a sage? Even if not, telling one with the talent of a sage about the Way of a sage is easy. Yet I still held fast and told him—after three days he could put the world outside his mind; having put the world outside, I held fast again—after seven days he could put all things outside his mind; having put all things outside, I held fast again—after nine days he could put life outside his mind; having put life outside, he could then achieve sudden illumination; having achieved sudden illumination, he could then see the Uniqueness (see the Way); having seen the Uniqueness, he could then transcend past and present; having transcended past and present, he could then enter the state of neither dying nor being born. What kills life does not itself die; what gives birth to all things is not itself born. Toward all things, it sends nothing off, welcomes nothing in, destroys nothing, completes nothing. This is called mystic stillness amid disturbance (remaining serene within turmoil). Mystic stillness amid disturbance means achieving stillness after being stirred."
Nan Bo Zi Kui asked: "Where did you hear the Way?" Nü Yu said: "I heard it from the Son of Secondary Ink, who heard it from the Grandson of Recited Praise, who heard it from Sharp-Sighted Understanding, who heard it from Whispered Assent, who heard it from Service in Need, who heard it from Song of Praise, who heard it from Dark Obscurity, who heard it from Vast Emptiness, who heard it from Doubt-Inception." (These are successive symbols, indicating that the Way is transmitted through writing, recitation, insight, practice, and other mediums, ultimately originating from the ineffable "Doubt-Inception.")
Zi Si, Zi Yu, Zi Li, and Zi Lai spoke to one another: "Who can take nothingness as the head, life as the spine, and death as the buttocks? Who knows that life, death, existence, and extinction are one—with him we will be friends!" The four looked at one another and smiled, understanding in their hearts without words, and became friends. Soon Zi Yu fell ill, and Zi Si went to visit. Zi Yu said: "Great indeed! The Creator has made me so bent and crooked!" He was hunched and twisted, his organs displaced, his chin buried in his navel, his shoulders towering above his head, his topknot pointing skyward, his yin and yang qi in disarray—yet his mind was at ease with nothing on his mind. Zi Si asked: "Do you loathe this?" Zi Yu said: "No, why should I loathe it! If the Creator gradually turns my left arm into a rooster, I will use it to crow at dawn; if it turns my right arm into a slingshot, I will use it to shoot birds for roasting; if it turns my buttocks into wheels and my spirit into a horse, I will ride it—why would I need another carriage! Moreover, attaining something is a matter of timing; losing something is a matter of befitting. Resting in timing and dwelling in accordance, grief and joy cannot enter the mind—this is what the ancients called release from the hanging (liberation from the suffering of being suspended upside down). Those who cannot release themselves are bound by external things. Moreover, things cannot overcome Heaven—this has been so for a long time—what is there for me to loathe?"
Soon Zi Lai fell ill, gasping for breath and about to die, with his wife and children weeping around him. Zi Li went to visit and said: "Go! Move away! Do not disturb one who is about to transform!" Leaning against the door, he said to Zi Lai: "Great indeed is transformation! What again will it turn you into? Where will it send you? Will it turn you into a rat's liver? Into an insect's arm?" Zi Lai said: "A child facing its parents goes wherever commanded, east, west, south, or north. Yin and yang toward humans are no different from parents. If they bring me near death and I do not comply, I am merely obstinate—what fault is theirs? Heaven and Earth use form to carry me, use life to toil me, use old age to give me ease, use death to give me rest. Thus, one who is good at settling my life is also good at settling my death. Now, if a great founder casting metal sees the metal leap up and say, 'I must become a Mo Ye sword!' the founder most certainly regards it as inauspicious metal. Now, if once one happens to become human form and says, 'Human! Human!' the Creator would most certainly regard it as an inauspicious being. Now, taking Heaven and Earth as the great furnace and transformation as the great founder—where can one not go?" Having spoken, he fell peacefully asleep, then woke clearly awake.
Zi Sang Hu, Meng Zi Fan, and Zi Qin Zhang associated together and said: "Who can interact without intentional interaction, assist in effortless assistance? Who can ascend the cloudy heavens, roam amid the mists, ascend into the boundless, forget life entirely, without end!" The three looked at one another and smiled, understanding in their hearts without words, and became friends. Soon Zi Sang Hu died, and the funeral rites had not yet been performed. Confucius, upon hearing of it, sent Zi Gong to help manage the mourning. Zi Gong saw Meng Zi Fan and Zi Qin Zhang, one composing a song and the other strumming a zither, singing together: "Ah, Sang Hu! Ah, Sang Hu! You have already returned to the authentic—while we remain as humans!" Zi Gong stepped forward and asked: "May I ask—singing in the presence of a corpse, is that in accordance with ritual?" The two looked at each other and smiled: "What would this man know of the true meaning of ritual!" Zi Gong returned and told Confucius: "What kind of people are they? They fail to cultivate themselves, set bodily form completely aside, sing before a corpse without changing expression, and cannot be described. What kind of people are they?" Confucius said: "They are those who roam beyond the confines (of worldly norms); I am one who roams within them. The beyond and the within are irrelevant to each other—my sending you to offer condolences was my own shallowness! They are about to become companions of the Creator, roaming within the single qi of Heaven and Earth. They take life as an appendage, a dangling excrescence, and death as the bursting of an abscess. People like this—how would they understand the distinction between what comes first and what comes after in life and death! They borrow external things to form their bodies, entrust their spirit to the physical frame, forget the liver and gallbladder, discard the ears and eyes, turning over and over without knowing the limits of life and death, wandering aimlessly beyond the dusty world, and roaming freely in the realm of non-action. How could they let themselves be troubled by worldly ritual?" Zi Gong asked: "Then, Master, which side do you follow?" Confucius said: "I am one whom Heaven has sentenced. Nevertheless, together with you, I shall seek the Way beyond the confines." Zi Gong asked: "May I ask how?" Confucius said: "Fish rely on water; humans rely on the Way. Those who rely on water dig ponds for their keep; those who rely on the Way have no affairs and are at peace. Hence it is said: fish forget each other in rivers and lakes, humans forget each other in the arts of the Way." Zi Gong asked: "May I ask about the qi person (the extraordinary one)?" Confucius said: "The qi person is one who is different from the mundane yet equal to Heaven. Hence it is said: Heaven's petty one is the noble person among humans; the noble person among humans is Heaven's petty one."
Yan Hui asked Confucius: "Meng Sun Cai's mother died. When he wept, he shed no tears; in his heart he was not grieved; in mourning he showed no sorrow. Lacking these three, yet he is known throughout Lu as the best at mourning. Is there truly one who gains such renown without the reality? I, Yan Hui, find this strange." Confucius said: "Meng Sun Cai has already exhausted the Way of mourning—he goes deeper than those who know the rites. He merely wishes to simplify but cannot altogether, yet he has already simplified considerably. Meng Sun Cai does not know why life arises, does not know why death comes; does not know whether to rush ahead or lag behind. He conforms to the transformation of things into their natural course, waiting for the unknowable change. Moreover, while transforming, how does he know he is not transfigured? And while without transformation, how does he know it is not already transformed? You and I are merely those whose vision does not burn in this human and the rest of us are only dreamers who have not yet awakened! Though he has startling of physical form, his inner heart suffers no harm; though he moves from one bodily lodging to another, there comes not emotions of grief to power him. Meng Sun Cai alone is awakened—he cries, ch'ing merely going along with the crowd. When people always say "this is meant," know where the term "meant" lacks purpose but should with this? You dream you turn and become a bird, and soar far into the sky. You dream you turn and become the fish alone within murk and deep, through the depth of cloud-filtering the whole of the wide. 'Where's this before! You know I was informed some time ago?' The waking ease comes when language is gone and purpose easy goes rather any plan — acceptance with intention trusting process sets one's point whole into limits and merged with Heaven."
Yi Erzi went to see Xu You. Xu You asked: "What did Yao teach you?" Yi Erzi said: "Yao told me: You must personally practice benevolence and righteousness, and clearly distinguish right from wrong." Xu You said: "And yet you still come to see me? Yao has already tattooed your face with benevolence and righteousness, and cut off your nose with right and wrong. How can you roam the path of unconstrained freedom and following transformation?" Yi Erzi said: "Nevertheless, I wish to roam its edges." Xu You said: "Impossible. The blind cannot appreciate the charm of face or feature; the sightless cannot appreciate the splendor of blue and yellow silk brocade." Committed was the height of wu - renown was fixed amazes sight unimpressed so say : Wuzhuang and Ju Liang. Yi Erzi responded with what I arrange little any or a point how fine. Whether directly who yearn I now say small thought: see what lost these ones mase all teach shaped. For shape marks wait removed ! call me rule I’ve long way among honored from "Guo yì (fix me?" Xu said indeed."
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The core of The Great Ancestral Teacher is the relationship between the "True Person" (真人) and the Dao. Zhuangzi first poses the question with "knowing what Heaven does, knowing what humans do": Can human cognition exhaust Heaven and humanity? His answer is that finite knowledge always requires an indeterminate foundation. Therefore, true knowledge is not objectified "knowing," but a state of existence united with the Dao—only with the True Person is there true knowledge.
Throughout the chapter, the image of the "True Person" is repeatedly carved: not opposing the few, not vaunting achievements, not scheming; not delighting in life, not abhorring death; at peace with the times, compliant with circumstance, with grief and joy unable to enter. The True Person is not a superhuman, but one who has thoroughly dissolved the "egocentric" self. Their inner attitude is: regard birth, aging, sickness, death, gain, loss, fortune, and misfortune all as currents of creation—not contending with Heaven, not using humans to aid Heaven. Zhuangzi uses "When the spring dries up, fish gape moisture at each other—better to forget each other in rivers and lakes" to reveal: relying on faint deliberate effort is inferior to returning to the natural field of the Dao.
The latter half, through fables such as "hiding a boat in a ravine," "hiding the world in the world," "the great smelter casting metal," and "sitting in forgetfulness," further explains: all efforts to "possess and preserve" are futile; true rest lies in surrendering oneself to change itself. The True Person's attitude toward life is not to resist change, but to befriend transformation.
"Ringing Repose" (撄宁) in an Age of Anxiety
Much of modern anxiety comes from "wanting to control everything yet being unable to." Zhuangzi says, "Hide a boat in a ravine, hide a mountain in a marsh; at midnight a strong force carries it away"—we hoard wealth, lock down relationships, maintain health, craft personas, thinking we have hidden them securely enough, but change always carries them off at "midnight." This does not tell people to abandon effort, but to see clearly: true security lies not in "hiding," but in "hiding the world in the world"—placing oneself back into the greater natural order, coexisting with change. Ringing Repose is especially suited to our times: not the absence of disturbance, but stability amid disturbance.
Acceptance of the Body
Zi Yu, afflicted with illness and a deformed body, still says, "Great indeed is the Creator!" He does not deny suffering, but does not turn pain into self-hatred. Modern people are overly anxious about body, appearance, and health. Zi Yu's "if it gradually transforms my left arm into a rooster" offers a humorous and profound perspective: the body is merely a temporary form within change; there is no need to negate an entire life because of a transient shape.
Moral Labels and Spiritual Branding
Xu You says Yao branded Yi Er Zi with "tattooing and nose-cutting" through benevolence and righteousness—a strikingly sharp metaphor. In modern society, various moral codes, ideologies, and standards of success also impose "tattoos on the face and knives on the nose" upon people. Zhuangzi does not oppose benevolence and righteousness per se, but warns against the spiritual violence committed in the name of "benevolence, righteousness, right and wrong." True virtue is "nourishing all things without claiming righteousness, benefiting ten thousand generations without claiming benevolence"—naturally bestowing without labels.
An Eastern Resource for Death Education
Zi Lai, near death while his wife and children weep, says, "The great smelter casts metal; the metal leaps up and says, 'I must become a Mo Ye sword!' The great smelter would surely deem it inauspicious metal." Modern people lack death education; death has been medicalized and isolated, breeding greater fear. Zhuangzi regards death as returning to the furnace for recasting—not a tragic end, but a form of transformation. This cannot erase the grief of losing loved ones, but it can loosen the attachment to an "eternal self."
At peace with the times, compliant with circumstance—grief and joy unable to enter
Exert effort on what can be changed; accept with ease what cannot. Distinguish "timeliness" (时) from "compliance" (顺): attaining is timing, losing is transformation. Modern application: when facing setbacks, ask yourself—"Is this within my influence, or is this something I can only accept?" Direct your energy where it matters, and let go where it does not.
Practice "twofold forgetting"
Rather than taking sides, labeling, and seeing everything in black and white, "forget both and transform with the Dao." In interpersonal conflict, first set aside the fixity of "I am right, you are wrong," and see the larger system and context.
The modern version of "sitting in forgetfulness"
This does not require actually "dropping limbs and expelling intellect," but rather carving out time each day to set down identity, roles, goals, and evaluations, returning to simple breath and presence. In times of information overload and social fatigue, sitting in forgetfulness reminds us: you are not your social media, your job title, or others' assessments.
Give relationships room as rivers and lakes
"Moistening each other with spit" is moving, but Zhuangzi says, "better to forget each other in rivers and lakes." In intimate relationships, excessive dependence and mutual-rescue intensity often yield less than each person having expansive life space. A healthy relationship is "forgetting each other in rivers and lakes," not "spitting on dry land."
Facing aging and illness
The body changes, life wanes—such is "the nature of things." Practice viewing bodily change as a natural process rather than a collapse of self-worth. This does not preclude medical care, but means maintaining inner integrity beyond it.
The True-Knowledge Loop and the Primacy of Existence
Zhuangzi says "only with the True Person is there true knowledge," yet true knowledge seems to be a condition for becoming a True Person, forming a loop. In fact, Zhuangzi is saying: cognitive elevation cannot be separated from transformation of one's way of being. It is not that one first knows a truth and then becomes a True Person; rather, by becoming a True Person in lived practice, cognition naturally becomes clear. This is especially insightful for our era of "knowledge oversupply and experiential poverty."
The Tension Between the Conventional and the Transcendent
Confucius is portrayed in The Great Ancestral Teacher as an honest "person of the conventional world": he knows the realm of the transcendent but does not pretend to have arrived. He says, "Qiu is Heaven's punished one," yet still joins Zigong in common life. This shows that the highest life wisdom is not either/or, but doing worldly things within the world while maintaining reverence and aspiration toward the transcendent.
Do Fate and Freedom Contradict Each Other?
Zi Sang finally says, "That I have come to this extremity—it is fate!" which seems fatalistic. But combined with Zi Yu's "at peace with the times, compliant with circumstance, grief and joy unable to enter," one finds that Zhuangzi's "fate" is not about lying flat, but about ceasing wasteful battle with the irresistible. Accepting fate is not abandoning freedom, but redirecting freedom from "changing external circumstances" to "changing one's inner attitude toward circumstances." This freedom is more internal and more inalienable.
The Sayable and Unsayable Dao
"The Dao can be transmitted but not received; can be attained but not seen." The entire chapter uses numerous fables and metaphors, yet concludes with Zi Sang's lament "It is fate!" This hints that the teaching of the Dao is not knowledge transmission, but transmission of mind-state. The lineage of "grandson of secondary writings, descendant of recitation" suggests that even with texts, recitations, and insights, one must ultimately return to "suspending at the beginning"—that indefinable origin.
Related Concepts:
Dao (fundamental principle of the universe), De/Virtue (the Dao's manifestation in all things), True Person (one who embodies the Dao), Ringing Repose (tranquility amid disturbance), Suspended Release (release from hanging upside down), Sitting in Forgetfulness (forgetting self to unite with the Dao), Creation/Transformation (the procession of great change), Ming/Fate (natural necessity). These eight concepts can be seen as the chapter's "eight-character outline."
Further Reading:
Zhuangzi·Free and Easy Wandering (wandering in the limitless)
Zhuangzi·On the Equality of Things (twofold forgetting, equalizing things)
Zhuangzi·In the Human World (fasting of the mind)
Zhuangzi·Signs of Virtue Complete (physical form and inner virtue)
Laozi, chapters 1, 25, 40 (Dao ontology)
Zhuangzi·Knowledge Traveling North (the Dao in all things)
Bu Gua Reminder: This content is based on classical Daoist texts and is provided solely for traditional cultural learning and life reflection; it does not constitute religious, medical, or investment advice.