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Zhuangzi Chapter 9: Horse's Hooves


	Translated by Nina Correa Horse's hooves can travel across frost and snow, and their hair protects them from chill and cold. They chew grass, drink water, and prance lightly across the land. That's the true nature of a horse. Even if it had access to luxurious terraces and elegant bedrooms, it wouldn't have any use for those things. Then along came Bo Le who said: "I'm good at controlling horses." He got their hearts pumping, whipped them, branded them, broke them in, connected them to bridles and harnesses, corralled them in stables and sheds, and two to three out of ten horses died. He denied them food and water, galloping them and racing them. He lined them up in rows and columns, where they were distressed by banners and ornaments in front of them and threatened by whips and crops from the rear. At that point, more than half of the remaining horses died. A potter announced: "I'm good at controlling clay. My round pieces fit snuggly in the middle of a perfect circle, and my square pieces fit snugly with an L-Square." A carpenter announced: "I'm good at controlling wood. The bent pieces comply with a compass, and the straight pieces comply with a plumb line." Yet, would it be the nature of a tree or clay to want to be shaped to fit a perfect circle, an L-square, a compass or a plumb line? Nevertheless, generation after generation praise those people, saying: "Bo Le was good at controlling horses, and the potter and carpenter are good at controlling clay and wood." This is also true for those who think they're good at controlling the world - they go to excess. In my opinion, those who who think they're good at controlling the world really aren't. Each person has their own constant nature. They weave in order to get clothing and plow the fields in order to get food. This is the virtue by which each of them live. They do what needs to be done without preference, and allow destiny to reveal to them what the heavens require. Therefore, in an age when virtue had been attained, they flowed with the lay of the land and observed things directly. During that time mountains had no paths or tunnels, lakes had no boats or bridges, all living things lived in groups and felt a sense of connection with their communities, birds and beasts grouped together and vegetation flourished. If someone put an animal on a leash it was merely to take a stroll with them. If the branch holding a bird's nest was drawn down it would be merely to delight in looking at it. So, in an age when virtue had been attained, all creatures comfortably lived together, every species of living thing connected with each other, and there was a distaste for making distinctions between what was noble and what was base! Fitting together with this non-knowledge, their virtue didn't fly away. Fitting together with this non-desire would be called being simple and unadorned. Being simple and unadorned, people achieved their own nature. Then along came the Sage, tripping and stumbling to become benevolent, rising on tiptoes to become righteous, and the whole world started to become uncertain. The only music allowed had to be calm and still in order to flood the heart with peace, rituals were used as a means to cull out what was considered bad in people, and the whole world started to become divided. If a log isn't chopped up, what could be used to make sacrificial bowls? If chunks of pure jade aren't broken up, what could be used to make medals and emblems of power? If Dao and De aren't abandoned, who would need to adopt benevolence and righteousness? If one's natural disposition isn't discredited, who would have use for those types of rituals and music? If the five colors aren't unnaturally blended, what could be used to create official patterns? If the five sounds aren't considered unharmonious, what need would there be to follow the six mandated tones? To destroy something's natural shape in order to create tools and utensils is the crime of the craftsman. To make over Dao and De to fit the confines of benevolence and righteousness is the fault of the Sage. As for horses, if they roam freely across the land they eat grass and drink water. When they're happy they entwine their necks and nuzzle each other. When they're angry they rear back and raise their hooves. Horses have instincts about these things. If they're weighed down with saddles and harnesses and forced into rows with blinders on, then a horse's instinct would be to look scornfully at the restraints meant to keep it under control, and pretend to be obedient while secretly planning how to bite through the bridle. Therefore, horses know that they've been abducted, and Bo Le was the one to blame. In the time of He Xu the people stayed at home without being concerned about what they were doing, and went out without being concerned about where they were going. They were happy to have food in their mouths and went about patting their full bellies. The people were able to simply do that. Then along came the Sages, bowing down and humbling themselves to ceremonial music as though they were out to rectify the shape of those in the world, twisting and distorting the concept of benevolence and righteousness as though they were out to comfort the hearts of those in the world, and it was only then that the people began to feel that what they thought of as good was actually crippled and distorted. All sorts of disputes broke out about what was really beneficial, and they couldn't stop. 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