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While Tian Zi Fang (Master at plowing straight fields) was sitting in attendance to Marquis Wen of Wei, he mentioned a person named Xi Gong (Irrigation Worker) several times. Marquis Wen said: "Is Xi Gong your teacher?" Zi Fang said: "No. He's one of my friends from the village. When he speaks about Dao I find that I usually agree with him, so I don't have a problem mentioning what he says." Marquis Wen said: "I see. So, are you without a teacher?" Zi Fang said: "I have one." "Who is your teacher?" Zi Fang said: "Dong Guo Shun Zi (Mr. Guard of the Eastern Wall)." Marquis Wen said: "If he's your Master, why haven't you spoken about him?" Zi Fang said: "He may be a person, but even though he has the appearance of a person he's as empty as the heavens. By following along with situations he nurtures what's genuine. With an unbiased attitude he tolerates all things. If something is without their own Dao, he rectifies their ability to be tolerant so as to awaken them. He leaves people to do their own thinking and takes off. A common person like me wouldn't be able to communicate much about him." After Zi Fang left Marquis Wen became so dumbfounded he couldn't say a word for the rest of the day. When he summoned his ministers to come stand in front of him, he said to them: "It's so far away - the perfected virtue of a truly considerate person. At first I thought I understood the words of the sages and thought I'd reached true benevolence and righteousness in my behavior. Once I heard about Zi Fang's teacher, my whole appearance seemed to fall apart and I didn't want to move. My mouth seemed to be clamped shut and I didn't want to speak. What I was studying before turns out to be like I was actually just stuffing clods of soil in my ears. And my involvement in the state of Wei keeps adding more junk into my ears." When Wen Bo Zue Zi (Master at Warming Up a Frigid Authority Figure) was on his way to the state of Qi, he stayed over for a while in the state of Lu. A citizen of Lu requested an audience with him, but Wen Bo Zue Zi said: "I can't do that. I've heard that the gentlemen of the Middle Kingdom are clear about rituals and righteousness but are very narrow minded when it comes to matters of the heart. I don't want to meet with someone like that." After he had been to Qi, he stopped off in Lu on the way back and the same person requested an audience with him again. Wen Bo Zue Zi said: "The last time I was here he begged to see me, and now he's begging to see me again. There must be something startling he wants to tell me." After he went out and saw the guest, he came back in and sighed. He saw the guest the next day as well, and again sighed when he came back in. His servant said: "Every time you see this guy you come back in and sigh. Why is that?" "As I told you before, the people in the Middle Kingdom are clear about rituals and righteousness but are very narrow minded when it comes to matters of the heart. The first time he came to see me he advanced and retreated as though he was following a specific set of rules - almost like he was measuring each step and movement. He seemed calm and unhurried like a dragon, or maybe his movements were more like a tiger. He ended up criticizing me like a son would, then trying to guide me like a father. That's why I sighed." Zhong Ni (Confucius) came to pay a visit on him as well, but didn't say a word to him. Zi Lu (a disciple of Confucius) said: "I know you've been wanting to see Wen Bo Zue Zi for a long time. When you saw him you didn't say a word. Why is that?" Zhong Ni said: "Whatever I had thought about this person, when I saw him with my own eyes and realized he exists with Dao, I couldn't allow myself to utter a sound." Yan Yuan asked Zhong Ni (Confucius): "When you take a step, I also take a step. When you speed up a bit, I also speed up a bit. When you start trotting, I also trot. But when you run like a rabbit kicking up the dust behind you, I just seem to be stuck behind staring after you." His Master said: "Hui, what do you mean by that?" "By 'When you take a step, I also take a step' I mean what you speak about I also speak about. By 'When you speed up a bit, I also speed up a bit' I mean what you debate about I also debate about. By 'When you start trotting, I also trot' I mean what you say about Dao I also say about Dao. And by 'When you run like a rabbit kicking up the dust behind you, I just seem to be stuck behind staring after you' I mean you don't need to say a word but you're trusted; you don't try to be like others but they gather around you; without even lifting a finger people come up and gush all over you. All I'm saying is that I don't have a clue why this is so." Zhong Ni said: "Why don't we take a closer look at this together? The saddest thing is the death of the heart, and the sadness over the death of a person can only take second place to that. When the sun rises in the east and starts moving to the west, there's not a living thing that doesn't respond to it. Anything that has eyes and feet waits for that to happen and then proceeds with their workday. When the sun comes out that's the time for reaping and gathering. When the sun goes away things vanish with it. All living things are the same way - there is waiting for death and there is waiting for birth. I received this particular form and it won't change much until it finally gets used up. I move about rendering service to all sorts of things day and night without pause, but I don't know where I'll end up. What's smoldering in me as my shape keeps evolving, not even one who could predict the future would be able to spy that out in advance. All I can do is move with what happens on this day. "For our whole lives you and I have linked our arms together, yet something has been lost along the way. Can't we share in this sorrow together? You've made the mistake of adopting for yourself that which I found worked for me. Each of us tried our best, but you keep asking for more than what you already have, which is like looking to find a horse in an empty stall. I can be of the most help to you by forgetting about my affection for you, and you can be of the most help to me by forgetting about your affection for me. Although this is true, you might wonder how that wouldn't cause more anxiety. Although we might take part in this type of forgetfulness, the thing we'll never forget is to live our own lives." Kong Zi (Confucius) went to visit Lao Dan (Laozi). Lao Dan had just finished washing his hair and had spread it out across his shoulders to dry. He was so removed from what was happening around him that he appeared to be non-human. Kong Zi waited for an appropriate time to approach, and after a short time he made his presence known and said: "Am I in a daze? Or is this truly so? As I approached just now, your physical form appeared to be like a hollowed out old withered tree trunk. You seemed to have left everything behind, separated yourself from the rest of humanity and had established yourself in solitude." Lao Dan said: "I was letting my heart wander where all things began." Kong Zi said: "What do you mean by that?" "My heart is so bound up with it that I can't put my thoughts together. My mouth is so restricted that I can't find the words. But since you asked, I'll try to explain the experience to you. The ultimate Yin is deeply solemn. The ultimate Yang is expansively brilliant. What's deeply solemn rises up to the heavens, and what's expansively brilliant shines down on the earth. They both join together in supreme harmony and all things are born. Perhaps there's something that regulates all this, but no one has ever seen such a thing. Reducing and multiplying, filling and emptying, at once dark and at once bright, the sun transforming throughout the day and the moon changing during a month - each day progresses into the next, but no one sees that as a result of anything specific. In birth there is sprouting, and in death there is returning. From beginning to end everything is in the process of reversing itself but there seems to be no reason for it, and no one knows where it will all end. What else but this could be the ancestor from which we all come into being!" Kong Zi said: "May I ask what your wandering in this is like?" Lao Dan said: "To be able to grasp this is ultimate beauty and ultimate joy. Grasping ultimate beauty and wandering in ultimate joy, one could be called an ultimate person." Kong Zi said: "I'd like to hear your method for doing this." "Beasts who eat grass don't suffer if you change where they graze. Insects who live in water don't suffer if you change their water. That's because a small alteration is made, but they haven't lost their greater aspects. So happiness, anger, sorrow and joy at what's happened to them don't arise or cause them anguish. As for what's in this world, all living things have some way in which they're united. Grasp what it is that unites them and see that they're all the same, then your four limbs and the hundred parts of your body will become like dust and dirt. Death and birth, beginnings and endings will become like days and nights, and nothing will be able to distract you from your path. Even less so would the idea of gain or loss and misfortune or blessings! Someone who can abandon the idea that they're enslaved as though they were knocking off a piece of caked mud from their shoe knows that their body is much more valuable than merely being a slave. Our true value lies in who we are and not in what was lost due to some changes we went through. We could go through ten thousand transformations and not even begin to reach the end, so what could possibly be sufficient to cause grief to our hearts? One who's already connected to Dao is relieved of all that." Kong Zi said: "Master, your virtue is on a par with the heavens and the earth, but you still borrow concepts so as to cultivate your mind. Of all the well rounded people in the past, I doubt if any of them could avoid doing that." Lao Dan said: "That's not so. The gurgling of water isn't because it's actually doing anything, but simply because that's what naturally arises from it. The virtue of a perfected person isn't due to cultivation, but things aren't able to resist it. It's like the heavens being high of itself; the earth being low of itself; the sun and moon being bright of themselves. What would they cultivate!" When Kong Zi left, he went and told Yan Hui: "My relationship with Dao is like a chicken still marinating in vinegar. The Master subtly fermented me and turned me out of my pot, as I hadn't been aware of the great perfection of the heavens and earth." Zhuangzi was visiting Duke Ai of Lu. Duke Ai said: "There are a lot of Ru scholars in Lu, but few of them can become helpful to me." Zhuangzi said: "There are few Ru in Lu." Duke Ai said: "All over the state of Lu there are those wearing the garb of Ru, so how can you say there are few of them?" Zhuangzi said: "Talk has been going around that those who are Ru wear round hats to show they know the seasons of the heavens, wear square shoes to show they know the configuration of the earth, and hang round jade discs from their sashes to show they can make decisive decisions about affairs. A cultured person who's found the Way doesn't necessarily wear a specific garb, and someone who wears a specific garb hasn't necessarily found the Way. Since you don't seem to think this is so, why don't you make this proclamation throughout the state: 'Those who haven't found the Way, but wear the garb insinuating they have, will be found guilty and put to death.' " Thereupon Duke Ai made the proclamation, and within five days a person couldn't be found in Lu wearing the garb of a Ru. There was only one elderly man who continued to wear a Ru's garb and came to stand at the Duke's gate. The Duke promptly invited him in and asked him about the affairs of state, and though they dealt with a thousand issues and tens of thousands of possibilities, he didn't falter. Zhuangzi said: "In the whole state of Lu there's only one person who's actually a Ru. Can that be called a lot?" High rank and a hefty salary didn't enter into the mind of Bai Li Xi. When he fed grain to the cattle, the cattle got fat, so Duke Mu of Qin paid no attention to his lowly status and assigned him to a governmental position. The clansman of Yu (Shun) didn't let the ideas of death or life enter his mind, and that in itself was enough to influence others. Lord Yuan of Song (Duke Yuan) ordered that a scroll be painted. A large crowd of scribes arrived, received the instructions, and immediately started wetting their brushes with saliva and preparing their ink blocks. Half of them were excluded pretty quickly. One scribe arrived late and sauntered up in a very relaxed manner without hurrying at all. He received his instructions and immediately turned around and returned to his quarters. The Duke sent someone to go see what he was up to, and by the time they found him he'd taken off his clothing and was sitting there naked drawing on his tablet. Lord Yuan said: "He'll do. This one is truly an artist." While King Wen was in the state of Zang he spotted an elderly man fishing. Even though he appeared to be fishing, he didn't seem to be intent on catching anything. One who doesn't hold on to the idea of catching anything but keeps on fishing will constantly be fishing. King Wen wanted to raise his status and award him the government, but he was afraid his ministers and family members would raise a ruckus about that. He figured it would be best to give up on the idea and leave the man alone, but he couldn't bear the thought that the common people would be deprived of this glimpse of the heavens. So the next morning he summoned his highest advisers and said to them: "Last night I dreamed about a kindly person with a dark complexion and the stubble of a beard. He was riding a piebald horse with red symbols on its hooves. He yelled at me: 'Retire to your home and turn over the government to the old man from Zang so that the people will be cured of their ills!' " All the advisers replied at once: "That was your deceased father." King Wen said: "Maybe so. Why don't we consult the oracle on the matter." The advisers all said: "Since you received an order from your deceased father, you can't possibly ignore it. What would be the point in consulting the oracle?" Satisfied, they welcomed the elderly man from Zang and turned over the government to him. The old laws were upheld, but no new ones were added. Three years later King Wen made an inspection tour of the state. He found that the established ranks of soldiers were in disarray and the hierarchal groups had disbanded, the commanding officers didn't pursue power, and that the surrounding states didn't dare bring their own weights and measures into the state. Since the established ranks of soldiers were in disarray and the hierarchal groups had disbanded, they were all given the same status. Since the commanding officers didn't pursue power, they showed the same devotion to every task. Since the surrounding states didn't dare bring their own weights and measures into the state, the various officials weren't confused about to whom they had to show preference. King Wen at that point considered the man to be the greatest of teachers, and facing north (the position of subservience) asked him: "Can this type of government be extended to the whole world?" The elderly man from Zang got a confused look on his face and didn't respond. He simply gave a blank stare and left. In the morning he paid his respects to the court, and at nightfall he went out for a walk. He was never heard from again for the rest of his life. Yan Yuan asked Zhong Ni (Confucius): "What was wrong with King Wen? And why did he come up with that dream?" Zhong Ni said: "Shush! Watch your words! King Wen did his best, and who are you to criticize him? It was right for him to follow that course and do what he had to do." Lie Yu Kou (Lie Zi) was showing Bo Hun Wu Ren (Professor Confused Nonentity) his skill at archery. He drew the bow to its full extent, had a cup of water placed on his elbow, and released the string. As soon as the arrow had reached its mark, he was releasing a second arrow and then a third, and all of them lodged in the same place. The whole time he stood as still as a statue. Bo Hun Wu Ren said: "What you've displayed is the shooting skill of archery, but not the shooting skill of non-archery. Do you think you could climb to the top of a high mountain, hiking over rocky cliffs to a place eight hundred feet above a deep valley, and be able to shoot as well from there?" Wu Ren then led him up to the top of a high mountain, hiking over rocky cliffs to a place eight hundred feet above a deep valley. Wu Ren turned his back to the edge of the cliff, slowly moving his feet until he was standing with his heels extending over the edge, and motioned for Yu Kou to join him. Yu Kou dropped to the ground, sweat streaming, and dug in his heels. Bo Hun Wu Ren said: "As for the perfected person, he can rise straight up to the clear blue sky, descend and submerge himself in the deepest core of the earth, freely roam to the ends of the world, and his expression wouldn't change a bit. Now you're experiencing so much fear that your eyes are a dead give away, and it appears that the very core of yourself is in great danger!" Jian Wu asked of Sun Shu Ao: "Three times you were appointed chief minister but you didn't act like that was any big deal. Three times you were removed from office but you didn't show any signs of regret. At first I thought you were just pretending, but now that I'm looking at you face to face I can see you're filled with a true zest for life. How can you be so acceptingly adaptable to what comes your way?" Sun Shu Ao said: "Am I really more exceptional than others? I simply accept what comes since I can't refuse it. And if it goes I can't stop it. I consider any gains or losses that come my way aren't due to anything I've done, so there's nothing to worry about, and that's about it. Is my being this way something that makes me more exceptional than others? I don't know if I'm this way due to outside influences or if it's due to just being myself. If it's due to outside influences, then I've lost myself. If it's due to being myself, then I've lost outside influences. I'm about to go loitering while watching everything happening around me. What leisure time do I have to wonder about whether people hold me in high regard or think of me as a loser!" Zhong Ni (Confucius) heard about this conversation and said: "The perfected ones of the past didn't allow those with knowledge to criticize them, didn't allow those who were beautiful to lead them astray, didn't allow robbers to bring them misfortune, nor would they allow Fu Xi or Huang Di to entice them with friendship. Departure from life is an extreme, but since even that wasn't able to change who they really were, neither would positions of honor and rank! For one who's like that, their spirit could pass through a huge mountain without coming upon an obstacle, could enter into a deep pit of water without getting wet, and could face all sorts of material hardships without seeing it as a difficulty. Being so filled up with the heavens and the earth, what they'd already given to others brought them more than what they previously had." The King of Chu was sitting with the Marquis of Fan. (Note: Fan was a small state eventually taken over by the larger state of Chu.) In a short while, one by one, three of the King's ministers came and announced: "The state of Fan has been destroyed." The Marquis of Fan said: "The state of Fan has been destroyed, but that's not sufficient enough to have made me cease to exist. If Fan's destruction isn't enough to have made me cease to exist, then the existence of Chu isn't enough to ensure anyone's survival. From this point of view, then Fan hasn't necessarily been destroyed, and Chu hasn't necessarily survived." (Note: At that time it was customary for the ruler of a conquering state to put to death the officials of the state which had been taken over, since there was a fear of retribution by the ousted officials.) | Zhuangzi Translation | Glossary/Index A to N | Glossary/Index P to Z | ZZ Links | ZZ Books | | Return Home | Laozi's Dao De Jing | Your Dao De Jing | Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) | Links | Meditation | Dao (Tao) is Open Forum | Book List | Other Stuff | |
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