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Chapter 24 of 33
庄子
Xu Wugui, through the introduction of a maidservant, sought an audience with Marquis Wu of Wei. The Marquis consoled him, saying, "You must have endured great hardship, living a life of toil in the mountains and forests, and so you have deigned to come see me."
Xu Wugui said, "I have come to console you, my lord. What is there for you to console me about? If you, my lord, wish to satisfy your desires and nurture your inclinations toward likes and dislikes, then your inherent nature (one's true life and inner disposition) would be harmed; if you, my lord, forcibly suppress your desires and restrain your likes and dislikes, then your ears and eyes would suffer. I have come precisely to console you, my lord—what is there for you to console me about?" The Marquis, lost in thought, was momentarily at a loss for words. After a while, Xu Wugui said, "Let me tell you about my method of judging dogs: a dog of inferior quality is satisfied once it is fed, much like a wild cat; a dog of middling quality gazes with focus as if staring at the sun; a dog of superior quality seems to forget its own existence. My skill in judging dogs is less refined than my skill in judging horses. When I judge horses: where they run straight, they align with a measuring line; where they turn, they align with a hook; where they are square, they align with a carpenter's square; where they are round, they align with a compass—these are fine horses of the state, but they do not match the finest horses under heaven. The finest horses under heaven possess a naturally formed substance, vague and indistinct, as if lost, seeming to forget themselves. Such horses gallop beyond the dust, unmatched by any, and their destination is unknown." The Marquis was greatly delighted and laughed aloud. After Xu Wugui left, the maidservant asked, "What exactly did you say, sir, to make my lord so joyful? When I reasoned with my lord, citing the Book of Odes, Book of Documents, Rites, and Music horizontally, and the Golden Tablets and Six Strategies vertically, and recounted countless deeds of service that brought great accomplishments, my lord never once showed a smile. What did you say today that made my lord so happy?" Xu Wugui said, "I merely told him my methods of judging dogs and horses." The maidservant said, "Really?" Xu Wugui said, "Have you not heard of those exiled from the state of Yue? After leaving their homeland for a few days, they are pleased to see an acquaintance; after ten days or a month, they are pleased to see someone they had seen in their country; after a full year, they are pleased to see anyone who resembles a fellow countryman. Is this not the longer one is away from people, the deeper one's longing for them? For those who flee to desolate valleys, where wild grasses choke the paths of weasels, and they dwell alone in an empty place, the sound of human footsteps fills them with joy—how much more so the sound of brothers and relatives chattering nearby! It has been too long since the words of a true person (one embodied in the Dao) have resounded beside my lord!"
Xu Wugui again met Marquis Wu. The Marquis said, "You reside in the mountains and forests, eating acorns and wild chestnuts, taking scallions and leeks as your fare—you have been away from me for a long time! Are you now aged? Do you wish to taste the flavor of wine and meat? Or is my state fortunate enough to share in your beneficence?" Xu Wugui said, "I was born in poverty and lowliness, and I have never dared to crave your lord's wine and meat. I have come to console you, my lord." The Marquis said, "What? Console me about what?" Xu Wugui said, "I console your spirit and your body." The Marquis said, "What do you mean by that?" Xu Wugui said, "Heaven and earth nurture all things impartially; standing in a high place is not noble, and dwelling in a low place is not base. You, my lord, alone as the ruler of a state of ten thousand chariots, yet cause the suffering of the entire populace to satisfy your own desires of ears, eyes, mouth, and nose—then your spirit (inner vitality) will not assent. That spirit delights in harmony and abhors perversity. Perversity is disease, so I console you. Only, I do not know what ailment you, my lord, have contracted." The Marquis said, "I have wished to see you for a long time! I desire to cherish the people, practice benevolence and righteousness, and end warfare—can this be done?" Xu Wugui said, "It cannot. What is called cherishing the people is precisely the beginning of harming them; using benevolence and righteousness to end warfare is precisely the root of generating warfare. If you, my lord, walk this path, I fear it will not succeed. Any achievement of a noted reputation is a tool for creating evil. Though you, my lord, practice benevolence and righteousness, it would nearly be hypocrisy! Where form exists, new forms inevitably arise; where achievement exists, there is inevitably boastfulness; where change exists, it inevitably incites external conflict. You, my lord, must not array grand crane formations between the towers of the city walls, must not muster warhorses at the altar pavilion, must not harbor schemes in your heart while thinking yourself clever, must not overcome others with cunning, must not overcome others with stratagems, must not overcome others with warfare. Killing others' people and annexing others' lands to satisfy private desires and nourish one's own spirit—in such warfare, on which side lies goodness? Where does victory reside? If you, my lord, cannot stop, then cultivate inner sincerity to accord with the reality of heaven and earth, and do not disturb it. If the people can escape death, that is already good; what need has your lord to resort to ending warfare?"
The Yellow Emperor went to Mount Jucī to see Da Wei. Fang Ming drove the chariot, Chang Yu accompanied, Zhang Ruo and Xie Peng served as heralds, with Kun Hun and Hua Ji bringing up the rear. In the wilderness of Xiangcheng, the seven sages lost their way and could find no one to ask for directions. They happened upon a youth herding horses and asked him the way, saying, "Do you know Mount Jucī?" The youth said, "I know it." They asked again, "Do you know where Da Wei dwells?" The youth said, "I know." The Yellow Emperor said, "Remarkable, child! Not only do you know Mount Jucī, but you also know Da Wei's whereabouts. May I ask how to govern the world?" The youth said, "Governing the world is nothing more than this, and what more is there to do! In my youth, I roamed within heaven and earth, and at that time happened to contract a dizziness of the eyes. An elder instructed me, saying: 'Ride the chariot of the sun and roam through the wilderness of Xiangcheng.' Now my malady has improved somewhat, and I am about to roam beyond heaven and earth. Governing the world is nothing more than this, and what more is there to do!" The Yellow Emperor said, "Governing the world is truly not your concern, but despite this, may I still ask how to govern it?" The youth declined. The Yellow Emperor asked again. The youth said, "Governing the world—how is it different from herding horses? It is merely a matter of removing what harms the horses!" The Yellow Emperor bowed three times, called him a heavenly teacher, and then withdrew.
Those with strategic minds are not pleased without changes in their thinking; those with eloquence are not pleased without procedures for discussion; those skilled in discernment are not pleased without inquiries that clarify right and wrong: these are all people bound by external things. Those who recruit worldly affairs shine in court; men of middling talent take pride in office; the physically strong boast of handling difficulties; the brave delight in rising to adversity; soldiers take pleasure in battle; recluses in the mountains seek fame; proponents of law promote systems; proponents of rites and music value decorum; proponents of benevolence and righteousness value interpersonal relations. Farmers are uneasy without work in the fields; merchants are uneasy without trade in the market; commoners are diligent with daily tasks; artisans are strong with mechanical skill. When wealth fails to accumulate, the greedy worry; when power is not prominent, the boastful grieve; those who chase external changes delight in upheaval. They act when opportunity arises, yet cannot achieve non-action (not imposing one's will, following nature); these are those who go along with circumstance and cannot transcend external flux. They let their bodies and natures gallop outward, sinking into myriad things, never turning back all their lives—how lamentable!
Zhuangzi said, "If an archer hits the target without a preconceived mark, and one calls him a divine archer, then everyone under heaven would be a Hou Yi—can this be?" Huizi said, "It can." Zhuangzi said, "Under heaven, there is no universally accepted standard of right and wrong; if each person regards what they deem right as right, then everyone under heaven would be a Yao—can this be?" Huizi said, "It can." Zhuangzi said, "Then the Confucians, Mohists, Yang Zhu, Gongsun Long—four schools—plus you, sir, making five, who is actually right? Or are they all like Lu Ju? Lu Ju's disciple said, 'I have learned my master's way! I can boil food in a cauldron in winter and create ice in summer!' Lu Ju said, 'This is merely using yang to attract yang and yin to attract yin—it is not the way I speak of. Let me show you my way.' Thereupon he adjusted the strings of a zither, placed one in the hall and another in the inner chamber, and struck the gong note on one, and the gong note on the other resonated; struck the jue note, and the jue note on the other responded, because their pitches were in tune. If one changed the pitch of a string so that it aligned with none of the five notes, when struck, all twenty-five strings vibrated—this is not because the sound differed, but because it became the master of the tones. What you all say is probably like this!" Huizi said, "Now the Confucians, Mohists, Yang Zhu, and Gongsun Long are debating with me, attacking with words and suppressing with voices, yet none can prove me wrong—what of this?" Zhuangzi said, "There was a man in Qi who sent his son to Song to serve as a gatekeeper without giving him a complete body; he sought a small bell but bound it tightly with ropes; he sought his lost son but never left the city gate to find him—these are all similar flaws! A man in Chu lodged in someone's home yet demanded respect from the gatekeeper; in the dead of night, when no one was about, he fought with a boatman, and before leaving the shore he had already forged a grudge."
Zhuangzi saw someone to the grave, passing by Huizi's tomb, and turned to his attendants, saying, "There was a man in Ying with a spot of white plaster on the tip of his nose, thin as a fly's wing, who had Carpenter Shi shave it off with an ax. Carpenter Shi wielded the ax like the wind, striking with a sweep, shaving every bit of plaster clean while the nose was entirely unharmed, and the man of Ying stood there with an unchanged expression. Lord Yuan of Song heard of this and summoned Carpenter Shi, saying, 'Try performing it for me.' Carpenter Shi said, 'I could indeed shave it once. But my counterpart has been dead for a long time!' Since you, sir, have died, I have no counterpart left—no one to speak with!"
Guan Zhong was ill, and Duke Huan of Qi asked him, "Your illness is severe, chungfu; if I may speak without reservation, to whom can I entrust the state when you cannot rise again?" Guan Zhong said, "Whom do you wish to give it to?" Duke Huan said, "Bao Shuya." Guan Zhong said, "No. He is pure and incorruptible in character, and a good man; but he does not draw close to those inferior to himself; and once he hears of another's fault, he never forgets it. If he governed the state, he would restrain the ruler above and defy the people below. It would not be long before he offended you!" Duke Huan said, "Then who can?" Guan Zhong replied, "If there is truly no alternative, Xi Peng can. His character does not flaunt in high places, does not make distinctions in low ones, is ashamed not to match the Yellow Emperor, and pities those who do not measure up. To move others with virtue is called a sage; to give property to others is called a worthy. Using virtue to tower over others wins no hearts; using virtue to condescend to others wins all hearts. He does not fret over matters of state, and he does not scrutinize matters of home. If there is truly no alternative, Xi Peng can."
The King of Wu sailed the Yangtze and climbed a mountain where monkeys gathered. The troop of monkeys, seeing him, scattered in panic, fleeing into the deep thorny undergrowth. Only one monkey, unhurried, leaped and scratched, showing off its agility before the king. The king shot it, and it deftly caught the arrow. The king ordered his attendants to shoot together, and the monkey was killed. The king turned to his friend Yan Buyi and said, "This monkey, boasting its agility and trusting its quickness to defy me, came to lose its life. Take this as a caution! Alas, do not treat people with an arrogant bearing!" Yan Buyi returned and studied under Dong Wu, shedding his proud demeanor, renouncing noble pleasures, and cultivating humility. Three years later, the entire state praised him.
Nanbo Ziqi sat leaning on his armrest, gazing up at the sky and exhaling slowly. Yan Chengzi entered, saw him, and said, "Master, you are truly extraordinary. Can the body indeed be made like withered wood, and the mind likewise be made likes dead ashes?" Nanbo Ziqi said, "I once dwelled in a mountain cave. At that time, when Tian He came to see me once, the people of Qi congratulated him three times. I must have revealed something of myself first for him to know; I must have hawked something of myself first for him to come and purchase. If I possessed nothing, how could he know? If I hawked nothing, how could he buy? Alas! I grieve for those who lose themselves; I grieve for those who grieve for others; I grieve for those who grieve for those who grieve for others; from then on, I daily distance myself further."
When Confucius went to Chu, the King of Chu entertained him. Sunshu Ao stood holding a goblet. Shinanyi Liao received the wine and paid respects, saying, "People of ancient times! Spoke words on such an occasion." Confucius said, "I have heard of wordless speech (expression without reliance on language) but have never divulged it to anyone; today I will speak of it: Shinanyi Liao played with pellets and resolved the peril of two families; Sunshu Ao slept peacefully, holding a feathered fan, and the people of Ying ceased their warfare; I wish I had a mouth three feet long." What they spoke of is called the way that is not a way; this is called argument without words (debate without speech). Therefore, virtue (the innate nature received from the Dao) is subsumed under the "One" that the Dao unifies, and language stops where knowledge cannot reach—this is the utmost. That "One" subsumed by the Dao cannot be equaled by virtue. What knowledge cannot reach cannot be exhausted by argument. Striving for name like Confucians and Mohists invites disaster. Thus the sea does not refuse the waters flowing eastward—this is the greatness of the greatest. The sage encompasses heaven and earth, grace reaching all under heaven, yet the world does not know who he is. Therefore, he has no title in life, no posthumous name in death, does not accumulate wealth, does not establish renown—this is called the Great Person (one who is one with the Dao). A dog is not called a fine dog because it barks well; a person is not called worthy because he speaks well—how much less for achieving greatness! Achieving greatness is not yet great—how much less for achieving virtue! As for the completeness of the great, nothing surpasses heaven and earth. Yet what does heaven and earth seek, that it attains such completeness! One who knows completeness seeks nothing, loses nothing, discards nothing, and does not let external things alter himself. Returning to oneself without end, following the ancient way without fading—this is the sincerity of the Great Person.
Ziqi had eight sons. He called them forward and arranged them in a row, inviting Jiu Fang Yin to say, "Judge my sons for me and see which one possesses fortune." Jiu Fang Yin said, "Kun has the most fortune." Ziqi, startled, said, "In what way fortuitous?" Jiu Fang Yin said, "Kun will eat with a ruler and live out his life." Hearing this, Ziqi's tears flowed freely, saying, "How has my son come to this state?" Jiu Fang Yin said, "Eating with a ruler spreads grace to the three clans, let alone the parents! Now that, at hearing this, you weep, you are rejecting fortune. The son is fortune, yet the father is ill-boding." Ziqi said, "Yin, how can you understand this reason. Is Kun truly fortunate? It is merely that wine and meat are in sufficient supply, entering nose and mouth; but how do you know whence these come! I have never been a shepherd, yet a sheep appeared in the southwest corner of my house; I have never delighted in hunting, yet a quail appeared in the southeast corner of my house—if this does not seem strange, then what would? I roam with my son, in journeying between heaven and earth. I seek joy with him from heaven and seek food with him from earth. I do not share undertakings with him, do not plan with him, do not play tricks with him. I ride with him upon the sincerity of heaven and earth and do not let external things disrupt; I follow the natural with him and do not pander to the necessities of the world. Now there is recompense from the world! Whenever there are strange omens, there are inevitably strange deeds. Dangerous! This is not the fault of my son and me; it is surely allotted by heaven! I weep therefore." Before long, Kun was sent to Yan, but on the road he was seized by bandits. The bandits reasoned that it was difficult to sell him whole, and easier to be gained after cutting off his feet. Thus they cut off his feet and sold him in Qi, where he happened to work on Qu Gong's street, and in this way ate meat for a lifetime.
Nie Que met Xu You and asked: "Where are you going?" Xu You said: "I am fleeing from Yao." Nie Que said: "What do you mean?" Xu You said: "Yao tirelessly promotes benevolence and righteousness, and I fear he will be ridiculed by the world. In later generations, I am afraid there will be cases of people eating people! The common people are not difficult to gather—love them and they become close, benefit them and they come, praise them and they become diligent, impose what they detest upon them and they scatter. Love and benefit arise from benevolence and righteousness, but those who truly abandon benevolence and righteousness are few, while those who exploit them are many. The practice of benevolence and righteousness only becomes hypocrisy, and it becomes a tool for the greedy. Therefore, governing the world by the judgment of one person is as hasty as making a decision in a glance. Yao knows that the worthy benefit the world, but he does not know that the worthy also harm it. Only those who stand beyond the worthy can understand this truth."
There are those who are smug and self-satisfied, those who are parasitic and clinging, those who are weary and burdened. Those who are smug and self-satisfied—having learned a single saying from one teacher—delight in themselves, thinking they have enough, yet they do not know they have never truly possessed anything. Hence they are called smug. Those who are parasitic and clinging are like lice on a pig, choosing the sparse long bristles, imagining themselves dwelling in spacious palaces and great gardens. Within the curved crevices of the hoofs, between the udder and the legs, they consider themselves in secure dwellings and convenient places. They do not know that the butcher one day waves his arms, spreads straw, and sets fire, and they are scorched along with the pig. This is following circumstances in, following circumstances out—this is what is called parasitic. Those who are weary and burdened—such is Shun. Mutton does not envy ants, but ants envy mutton, for mutton has its rank smell. Shun had rank-smelling deeds, and the people delighted in him, so each of his three migrations became a capital; by the time he reached Deng, more than a hundred thousand households had gathered. When Yao heard that Shun was worthy, he raised him from desolate places, saying: "I hope to receive the blessings he brings." Shun was raised from desolate places, but his years were already advanced, his intelligence had already declined, yet he could not retire and return home—this is what is called weary and burdened. Therefore the Spirit Man (one united with the Dao, transcendent beyond things) detests crowds gathering; when crowds gather there is no harmony, and without harmony there is no benefit. So there is no special closeness, no special distance, embracing virtue, nurturing harmony, to accord with the world—this is called the True Person. Toward ants, abandon cleverness; toward fish, let them be natural; toward sheep, set aside intention. Respond with eyes to eyes, with ears to ears, with the mind to the mind. If this is so, their uprightness is like the marking cord, their transformations follow accordance. The True Persons of ancient times! They treated others with the heavenly, and did not use the human to interfere with the heavenly—the True Persons of ancient times!
Attain it and you live; lose it and you die; attain it and you also die; lose it and you also live: this is what medicines are. Indeed, jin grass, bellflower, chicken's foot, and pig's ginseng—each of these herbs becomes the chief remedy at different times—how could one exhaustively describe them all!
Gou Jian, with three thousand armor-clad men, withdrew and held fast on Mount Kuaiji. Only Wen Zhong understood how to find survival within destruction, yet Wen Zhong did not understand the cause of his own grievous troubles.
Therefore it is said: The owl's eyes have their proper place; the crane's legs have their fitting length—to cut them off is grieving.
Therefore it is said: When the wind blows across the river, the river waters diminish; when the sun shines upon the river, the waters also diminish. If the wind and sun should stand guard together over the river, the river would not feel disturbed, for it has its source to replenish it continuously. Thus, water securing itself to the earth is considerate of its own constancy. Shadows securing themselves to forms depends on what sustains them; things adhere to things in the same way. So the eye intimates danger from its functions, the ear intimates the peril of what it does, the mind holds danger from the way it grasps outward things—means: Every sense finds its peril; its functions leave residuary changes which cannot be mended once hardened. Thus the accumulation of misfortune is gradual. What guides things must provide the contrary use; in flourishing each, its loss must plot around us waits upon use… those who make what they pursue most timely do not understand. Many decline without inquiry—that is grieving! So there are states that perish and murder among the people repeated endlessly without anyone inquiring into this truth. Therefore, when a foot treads ground, place the sole upon the area of actual stepping—but the step keeps walking by relying always on ground not yet stepped on. Human knowledge brings us but scantly along without traversing other undone deeper paths: we miss the way of Heaven that confers both scope; hence said so: for knows nothing sees through the highest heaven; stepping forth entire compacts shadow: in due and careful timing bind lands only thus exact. To rule, know the Great One; likewise gain the Great Light; likewise yield the open-voiced; greatest resonance compels things all; keep correspondence: order plain sustain form till it dies; wait for needed perfection when it stands; all fulfilled thus.
To know the Great One, to know the Great Yin, to know the Great Eye, to know the Great Evenness, to know the Great Square, to know the Great Trust, to know the Great Stillness—this reaches the utmost! The Great One pervades it; the Great Yin dissolves it; the Great Eye beholds it; the Great Evenness follows it; the Great Square embodies it; the Great Trust verifies it; the Great Stillness preserves it. In extremity, there is the heavenly; in accordance, there is illumination; in obscurity, there lies the pivot; in commencement, there is the other end. Therefore, dissolving seems like not dissolving, knowing seems like not knowing, not knowing, and then one knows. To inquire into it—one cannot set a boundary, nor can one be without boundary. Amidst multifarious changes there is reality; past and present do not replace each other, yet it cannot be diminished—can this not be called a great overarching generalization! Why not inquire into this truth—what more is there to be deluded about! He who dispels delusion with non-delusion and returns to non-delusion—this is the highest non-delusion.
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This content is based on classical Daoist ancient texts and is provided solely for traditional cultural study and life reference. It does not constitute religious, medical, or investment advice.