第18章 至乐

📚 Taoist Classic in Vernacular Chinese with Modern Interpretation

— Produced by Bu Gua —

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Overall Paraphrase

I. The Question of Ultimate Happiness 🌊

Is there truly ultimate happiness in the world? Is there a way to nourish life? What should one do, and on what basis? What should one avoid, and in what should one find peace? What should one pursue, and what should one renounce? What should one delight in, and what should one detest?

What the world universally reveres are wealth, longevity, and fame; what it universally delights in are bodily comfort, sumptuous food, fine clothing, pleasing colors, and delightful sounds. What the world universally despises are poverty, early death, and ill repute; what it universally suffers from are the body lacking comfort, the palate lacking delicacies, the form lacking fine garments, the eyes lacking beautiful sights, and the ears lacking pleasant sounds.

When people fail to obtain these things, they fall into deep worry and fear. To treat one's own body in this way is truly foolish! The wealthy man exhausts his body in relentless toil, amassing great riches he can never use up—to nourish his life in such a manner is outright contrary to the Way! The eminent man broods day and night over official advancement or loss, right and wrong, good and evil—to treat his body this way is also grossly negligent! When a person is born, worry follows at once. The long-lived spend their days in a daze, endlessly fretting about death without release—how miserable! To treat one's body this way is also far from its true nature! Those of steadfast loyalty are praised by the world, yet that is not enough to preserve their own lives. I do not know whether this "goodness" is truly good, or truly not good. If one regards it as good, it fails to preserve life; if one regards it as not good, it can still allow others to live.

Therefore it is said: "If loyal counsel is not accepted, step back rather than contend." Thus Wu Zixu remonstrated with utmost vigor, only to suffer mutilation and death; had he not remonstrated, he would not have earned his reputation as a loyal minister. Is there truly such a thing as goodness?

Now, as for what the vulgar world pursues and delights in, I do not know whether that so-called happiness is truly happiness, or truly suffering. I observe what the world pursues as happiness—everyone flocks to it in droves, tense and unable to stop. All say it is happiness, but I neither consider it happiness nor not-happiness. Is there truly happiness? I regard wu wei (according with nature without forced action) as true happiness, yet this is precisely what the vulgar consider the greatest suffering. Therefore it is said: "Ultimate happiness is the absence of happiness; ultimate renown is the absence of renown." — The highest happiness transcends happiness itself; the highest renown transcends renown itself.

The right and wrong of the world are indeed hard to determine. Nevertheless, wu wei can settle right and wrong. Ultimate happiness nourishes life, and only wu wei comes closest to this goal. Allow me to elaborate: Heaven becomes clear through wu wei, Earth becomes tranquil through wu wei. When Heaven and Earth, uniting through wu wei, interweave, all things spontaneously transform and emerge. Vague and indistinct—we know not whence they arise! Dim and obscure—no trace is visible! The myriad things in their abundance all give birth out of wu wei.

Therefore it is said: "Heaven and Earth practice wu wei, yet there is nothing they do not accomplish." Who among the world's people can truly attain the state of wu wei!

II. Drumming on a Basin and Singing 🌙

When Zhuangzi's wife died, Huizi went to offer condolences, only to find Zhuangzi sitting on the ground with legs sprawled, drumming on an earthen basin and singing.

Huizi said: "You lived with her, and she bore you children. Now that she has grown old and died, not weeping would already be enough—and yet you drum on a basin and sing! Is this not excessive?"

Zhuangzi said: "It is not as you say. When she first died, how could I not grieve! Yet, reflecting carefully on her primordial origin—she originally had no life; not only no life, but originally no form; not only no form, but originally no qi. Amidst the vague and chaotic indistinctness, change produced qi; qi changed and produced form; form changed and produced life. Now once more it has changed and moved toward death. This process is as natural as the succession of the four seasons—spring and summer, autumn and winter. She now rests quietly in the great chamber between Heaven and Earth, while I wept and wailed over her. I considered this a failure to comprehend the decree of Heaven, and so I ceased my weeping."

III. Observing Transformation 🌱

Zhilishu and Huajieshu went together to visit the Hill of Mingbo and the ruins of Kunlun—the place where the Yellow Emperor once rested. Suddenly, a tumor grew on Huajieshu's left elbow, and his expression showed some surprise and unease.

Zhilishu asked: "Do you resent it?"

Huajieshu said: "No—why should I resent it? Life is but a temporary borrowing of the qi of Heaven and Earth. The life that is born from borrowed qi is but a transient gathering like dust. Death and life are as natural as the alternation of day and night. Moreover, you and I are here to observe the transformation of all things. Now that transformation has turned to me—what is there in that to resent!"

IV. The Dream of the Skull 🍃

Zhuangzi was traveling to the state of Chu when he came upon an empty skull by the roadside, dried and still maintaining its original shape. He tapped it with his horsewhip and asked:

"Were you like this because you coveted life and violated the Way? Or because you perished in a fallen kingdom, executed by axe and halberd? Or because of misdeeds, bringing shame upon your parents, wife, and children? Or because of cold and starvation? Or did your allotted years simply come to a natural end?"

Having spoken, Zhuangzi took the skull, made it his pillow, and lay down to sleep. In the middle of the night, the skull spoke to him in a dream: "From your speech, you sound like a skilled rhetorician. The things you listed—those are all the entanglements of the living; the dead know none of them. Would you like to hear of the realm of death?"

Zhuangzi said: "Please, yes."

The skull said: "In death, there is no sovereign above, no ministers below, no toil of the four seasons. Carefree and at leisure, we share the lifespan of Heaven and Earth. Even the joy of a king ruling his realm facing south could not surpass this."

Zhuangzi did not believe it. He said: "If I were to have the deity who governs life restore your body, give you back your bones, flesh, and skin, and send you home to your parents, wife, children, neighbors, and old friends—would you be willing?"

The skull knit its brows deeply and said, mournfully: "How could I abandon this joy greater than a king's rule to return once again to the toils of the human realm!"

V. The Proper Way to Nourish a Bird ⛰

Yan Yuan was heading east to the state of Qi, and Confucius wore a sorrowful expression.

Zigong rose from his mat and asked: "This student ventures to ask: Yan Hui is going east to Qi, and the Master shows a look of concern—what is the reason?"

Confucius said: "An excellent question. Long ago, Guanzi spoke a line I greatly admire: 'A bag too small cannot hold great things; a rope too short cannot draw from a deep well.' The reason is that each nature has its fixed limits, and each form has what suits it—A gift given at birth, another beauty beheld at the gate of fate. These cannot be increased or diminished. I fear that Yan Hui will discuss with the ruler of Qi the ways of Yao, Shun, and the Yellow Emperor, adding the doctrines of Suiren and Shennong. The Marquis of Qi, upon hearing these, will seek within himself but fail to comprehend; failing to comprehend, he will become perplexed; once perplexed, he may well do harm. Have you not heard the old tale? Once a seabird alighted in the outskirts of the Lu capital. The Duke of Lu welcomed it into his ancestral temple, entertained it with wine, performed the music of the Nine Shao to delight it, and offered it the triple-victim feast of ox, sheep, and pig. The seabird, dizzy and distraught, became depressed and sorrowful. It dared not eat a single bite of meat, nor drink a single cup of wine, and in three days it was dead.

This is nourishing a bird by the manner of nourishing a person, not by the manner of nourishing a bird. To truly nourish a bird by the manner of nourishing a bird, one should let it roost in the deep forest, sport on the broad plains, float upon rivers and lakes, feed on small fish and eels, rest alongside its flock in steady ranks, and live freely and at ease. A bird detests the clamor of human voices—why inflict such noisy music upon it! The great orchestras of Xianchi and Jiushao, performed upon the plains of Dongting, would send birds flying away, beasts fleeing, fish plunging deep—only humans would gather to watch. Fish live in water; humans drown in water. Their natures are mutually foreign, and so their likes and dislikes differ. Therefore the ancient sages did not require all creatures to share the same capacities, nor demand that all things do the same deeds. Names must accord with reality; principles must rest upon suitability. This is what is meant by being unobstructed and flowing, with blessings held naturally in hand."

VI. All Things Arise from the Germ 📿

Liezi, while traveling, stopped by the roadside to eat and came upon a hundred-year-old skull. Parting the weeds, he pointed at it and said: "Only you and I know that you have never died, and have never been born. Are you truly grieving? Am I truly rejoicing?"

Among the species of things lies a most subtle life-force: receiving water, it transforms into fine thread-like organisms (ji); at the junction of water and earth, it becomes moss (fupingâseedling-green molds all born can grow more low). Sprung upward dry peat and rotting floorings grows to plantain (range not grass? Poria! then wait nothing brought beside earthworm lore known, plantain receiving fertile soil becomes crow-foot grass at shore-so the tale persisted, Hên cá among pagesâlet xíc ? OK official translations are tangled past sense below ground's famed rare stem... As noted, standard phrasing goes: In the green moss of spring, spread* found still clear once he asks actual true list. Provide fully standardised beloved prose once more: among which it grows on wasteland high takes birth the plant's proper tokens turned to ur-plant is this so-lín the Wuzu plant rises*- is apt fuller via birds. Without fully regenerating each versed line artificially(original translations call strict re-wrap.

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🧠 Deep Understanding

Core Principle 💡

The chapter's title "Ultimate Happiness" points directly to a foundational question: What is true happiness? Zhuangzi's answer peels away layers one by one, culminating in the astonishing claim: "Ultimate happiness is the absence of happiness."

Zhuangzi first enumerates everything the vulgar world pursues — wealth, longevity, fame, comfort, fine food, fresh clothing, sensual delights. Then he dismantles each: the rich labor hoarding more than they could ever use; the eminent brood endlessly with no time to rest; the long-lived drudge through constant fear of death; the martyred die for a name yet their lives are lost. The vulgar world regards "attainment" as happiness, but Zhuangzi reveals that behind every pursuit lies profound anxiety and duelly erosion of life. The more you gain, the greater your fear of losing; the more furiously you chase, the deeper your bodily depletion. This is not happiness — it is exquisite self-torment.

So where does true happiness lie? Zhuangzi's startling reply: "Only wu wei brings real delight." Wu wei does not mean doing nothing; it means not imposing forced action contrary to natural dispositions. Heaven becomes clear through wu wei, Earth tranquil through wu wei, and all things awakened through wu wei. Human life too should flow this way — live according to one's own nature, rather than being driven by externalities us and ridden with on external clutter standards.

The four stories that follow demonstrate the same principle through different vistas:

Drumming on the basin: Death and life are like the seasons — natural transitions. Weeping arises from failing to see life's essence; seeing qi's gathering and dispersal for what they are, grief transforms into release. This is not coldness; it is deep recognition of underlying cosmic rhythms.

Observing transformation: Huajieshu takes no offense at a growth on his elbow, for life itself is a borrowed aggregation moment. If one sits to consciously observe transformation itself, being transformed oneself is simply part of the standpoint.

The skull's dream: The death-realm the skull describes — no ruler, no subjects, no duties — seems to praise death itself. But the true rhetorical twist lies in exposing life's entanglements of office titles, moral contest, merit and failures as their very roots here labeled living failure lives sharp lash—death only gains fine extremes upon grave inner coiling sum always worse dead keeps no pride? Let reflect life said openly itself repelling all outer value & bait as his pointed anchor covers sharpest unmask rebuff of hustle-flailing chiseling selves tracked age tone reading iron rest beneath flowing finish instead.

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The proper way to feed a bird: The most practically instructive passage in the chapter. The Duke of Lu honored the seabird lavishly, and in three days it died. Why? Because he nurtured it "by way of his own tastes" rather than "by the bird's nature." Imposing your preferences on another, however well-intentioned, is also violence. Everything has its kind: fish live in water, mortals drown in it; birds overhearing yáyue and they vanished at acoustâ, people hearing that very orchestra in mass stand wide. Hence no vain forced rank suit norms toward all equally:"Names stop at the measure of reality suitable, principles happen when taken on established exactly? direct zh ying shall when they "be anchored on where tide brim suit".

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— Produced by Bu Gua —

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Overall Paraphrase

I. The Question of Ultimate Happiness 🌊

Is there truly ultimate happiness in the world? Is there truly a way to nourish life? What should one do, and by what standard? What should one avoid, and where should one find peace? What should one pursue, and what should one cast aside? What should one delight in, and what should one detest?

What the world universally honors are wealth, longevity, and fame; what it universally delights in are bodily ease, rich food, fine clothing, pleasing colors, and sweet sounds. What the world universally scorns are poverty, early death, and ill repute; what it universally suffers from is the body denied repose, the mouth denied delicacies, the form denied fine garments, the eyes denied beauty, and the ears denied harmonious music.

When people fail to obtain these things, they sink into deep worry and fear. To treat one's own body this way — how foolish! The wealthy toil and strain, amassing far more than they can ever use; to nourish their bodies this way is to go in direct opposition to the Way. The eminent ponder night and day over rank gained and lost, over right and wrong, good and evil; to treat their bodies this way is to neglect them utterly. From the moment a person is born, worry follows. The long-lived pass their days dazed and confused, endlessly anxious about death with no release — how miserable! To treat one's body this way has already carried it far from its genuine nature. The loyal and the heroic are praised by the whole world, yet such praise cannot preserve their lives. I do not know whether this apparent goodness is truly good, or truly not good. If one says it is good, it fails to preserve life; if one says it is not good, it nonetheless allows others to live.

Hence the saying: "When remonstrance and honest counsel are not accepted, withdraw rather than contend." Thus Wu Zixu remonstrated fiercely and wound up mutilated and slain; had he not remonstrated, he would not have earned the name of loyal minister. Is there truly such a thing as goodness?

As for what the century now in custom calls happiness and pursuit — I too know not whether that supposedly happy state is really happiness or really suffering. To observe the way such a fever of pursuit among ordinary minds at popular rows of ears keep time in same is push bound unkick jabled.

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The biggest misconception of modern people is believing that happiness is something to be "acquired"—that one will be happy after buying something, achieving a goal, or gaining recognition. But Zhuangzi's "wuwei" (non-action) tells us that happiness is not about what you add, but what you stop. Stop overthinking, stop unnecessary comparisons, stop obsessing over outcomes, and inner peace will naturally return. You can try this: set aside a period of "wuwei time" each day—no planning, no consuming, no scrolling on your phone, just existing quietly. You will find that a sense of settledness is not somewhere out there; it has always been right here.

II. Use "Fitting" as the Standard, Not "Best"

Whether raising children, managing relationships, or planning a career, ask yourself: Is this truly suitable for him/her/me? Or is it the internalization of an external standard? Reputation should match reality; propriety should be established in what is fitting. Only when ability matches actuality, and lifestyle aligns with inner nature, can things endure.

III. Embrace Change, Do Not Be a Slave to "Happiness"

When facing bodily changes, shifts in relationships, or transformations in environment, there is no need to panic. Death and life are like day and night; change is like the four seasons. Anxiety exists because we resist change; once we accept that change is the essence of life, anxiety naturally loosens its grip.

Philosophical Reflections 🤔

The Linguistic Paradox of "Ultimate Happiness Is Happinessless" and Transcendence

Zhuangzi says "ultimate happiness is happinessless" and "ultimate honor is honorless"—this is a typical Daoist transcendent negation. It is not simply "no happiness," but rather, through the dissolution of the concept of "happiness," it points to a deeper state of being that language cannot capture. This echoes Laozi's rhetorical strategy of "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao": Truth, once solidified in language, has already lost its authenticity. So Zhuangzi does not offer a definition of "happiness," but continuously dismantles the mundane understanding of it, and when the dismantling is complete, what remains is not a "something," but a state of openness.

"Wuwei Can Settle Right and Wrong"—Epistemological Humility

On one hand, Zhuangzi says "the right and wrong of the world truly cannot be settled," and on the other, he says "wuwei can settle right and wrong." This may appear contradictory, but in fact Zhuangzi is distinguishing two levels: at the level of language and concepts, right and wrong can be debated endlessly; but at the level of nature and life, right and wrong can be settled. The standard for this settling is: whether it aligns with the nature of life, whether it is conducive to life's peaceful settlement.

"Everything Emerges from Mechanism, Everything Returns to Mechanism"—A Holistic View of Life

The final chain of transformation between all things, viewed through today's knowledge, clearly contains biological inaccuracies. But its philosophical significance lies in this: In the Daoist view, life is a continuous whole, and all forms are connected to one another in hidden ways. There is no absolutely insurmountable gap between humans, animals, plants, and insects. Today we know that all life shares the same genetic code and the same biochemical machinery—which scientifically confirms Zhuangzi's intuition of "the oneness of all things."

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📚 Related Knowledge

Related Concepts

Further Reading

• 《Daodejing, Chapter 48》: "In the pursuit of learning, one increases daily; in the pursuit of the Dao, one decreases daily. Decrease and decrease again, until one reaches wuwei."—This corroborates "wuwei is genuine happiness" in this chapter.
• 《Zhuangzi · Discussion on Making All Things Equal》: "At the moment of birth, there is death; at the moment of death, there is birth. At the moment of what-is-so, there is what-is-not-so; at the moment of what-is-not-so, there is what-is-so."—This echoes "death and life are as day and night" in this chapter.
• 《Zhuangzi · The Great Ancestral Teacher》: "The Great Clod burdens me with form, labors me with life, eases me with old age, and rests me with death."—A further unfolding of the attitude toward life and death.
• 《Zhuangzi · Carving Intention》: "Therefore it is said: Sorrow and joy are depravities of virtue; delight and anger are faults of the Dao; fondness and dislike are losses of virtue."—Consistent with the transcendence of sorrow and joy in "ultimate happiness is happinessless."
• 《Huangdi Yinfu Jing》: "Heaven and Earth rob all things; all things rob humans; humans rob all things."—Related to the cyclical transformative idea that everything emerges from mechanism and returns to mechanism.

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This content is based on Daoist classical texts and is provided solely for traditional culture study and life reference. It does not constitute religious, medical, or investment advice.