Free and Easy Wandering

Free and Easy Wandering

In the northern depths there is a fish; its name is Kun. The Kun is so vast that no one knows how many thousand li it spans. It transforms into a bird; its name is Peng. The back of the Peng—no one knows how many thousand li it spans. When it rises in fury, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. This bird, when the seas stir, will journey to the southern depths. The southern depths are the Celestial Pool.

Qi Xie is a recorder of marvels. His account says: "When the Peng journeys to the southern depths, the waters churn for three thousand li. It rides the whirlwind upward ninety thousand li, and it departs on the breath of the six months." The mist that rises, the dust that floats—living creatures breathe and set each other in motion. The deep blue of the sky—is that its true color, or is it that the distance is so vast it has no limit? When the Peng looks down from above, it too must see nothing more.

Now, if water is not deep enough, it lacks the buoyancy to bear a great vessel. Pour a cup of water upon a hollow in the floor, and a mustard seed will serve as a boat; place the cup in it and it will stick—the water is too shallow and the boat too large. If the wind is not deep enough, it lacks the force to bear great wings. Therefore, at ninety thousand li, the wind is beneath it, and only then does it ride the wind upon its back, bearing the blue sky, with nothing to impede it—and only then does it set its course south.

The cicada and the little dove laugh at it, saying: "We dart upward, strike the elms and sandalwood trees, and sometimes, when we don't quite make it, we fall to the ground. Why must anyone go ninety thousand li to head south?" Those who go into the nearby woods take three meals with them and return with their stomachs still full. Those who travel a hundred li must pound grain for the night. Those who travel a thousand li must gather provisions for three months. What do these two creatures know? Small knowledge does not reach great knowledge; the short-lived does not reach the long-lived. How do I know this is so? The morning mushroom knows nothing of the new and full moons; the cicada knows nothing of spring and autumn—these are short-lived. In the south of Chu there is a dark spirit that counts five hundred years as one spring and five hundred years as one autumn. In ancient times there was a great chun tree that counted eight thousand years as one spring and eight thousand years as one autumn. Yet Peng Zu, who is famous today for his great age, everyone tries to match him—is that not pitiable!

This is what Tang asked Ji about. In the far north, where no plant grows, there is a dark sea—the Celestial Pool. There is a fish there, whose width is several thousand li, and no one knows how long it is; its name is Kun. There is a bird there, whose name is Peng. Its back is like Mount Tai; its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. It rides the whirlwind and the cyclone upward ninety thousand li, breaks through the clouds and mists, bears the blue sky, and then turns south, bound for the southern depths. A marsh sparrow laughs at it, saying: "Where is he going? I spring upward and come down after no more than a few fathoms, fluttering among the weeds and rushes—this too is the perfection of flight! So where is he going?" This is the difference between small and great.

Thus, those whose knowledge fits a single office, whose conduct suits a single village, whose virtue pleases a single ruler, and who are trusted by a single state—they view themselves in just this way, and yet Song Rongzi would laugh at them. For even if the whole world praised him, he would not be spurred to greater effort; even if the whole world condemned him, he would not be discouraged. He had fixed the boundary between the inner and the outer, and distinguished the limits of glory and disgrace—and that was all. In the world he was not anxiously seeking. And yet, still, he had not attained the fullness of self-cultivation. Lie Zi could ride the wind and go forth, gliding wondrously, returning only after fifteen days. In the pursuit of good fortune he was not anxiously seeking. Though he could dispense with walking, he still depended on something. But one who rides upon the true nature of Heaven and Earth and harnesses the transformations of the six energies to roam in the infinite—what does he depend on? Therefore it is said: "The perfected person has no self; the spirit person has no merit; the sage has no name."

Yao offered the world to Xu You, saying: "When the sun and moon have come out, yet the torch is not extinguished—how hard it is to shine against their light! When the seasonable rains have fallen, yet one still irrigates the fields—how laborious it is to try to add to the moisture! If you, Master, were established, the world would be well ordered. Yet I continue to occupy the seat. I see my own deficiency. I beg leave to yield the world to you." Xu You said: "You have governed the world, and the world is already well governed. If I were to take your place, would I be doing it for a name? But a name is the guest of substance—would I be playing the guest? The wren nests in the deep woods and needs no more than one branch; the mole drinks from the river and takes no more than a full belly. Go home and rest, my lord! I have no use for the world. Though the cook may not be managing the kitchen, the priest of the sacrifice does not leap over the vessels and take his place."

Jian Wu asked Lian Shu, saying: "I heard a speech from Jie Yu—vast and without measure, going forth and never returning. I was terrified by his words, as if they were the Milky Way without end, wildly at odds with what is human." Lian Shu said: "What did he say?" Jian Wu said: "He said: 'On Mount Gu Ye there dwells a spirit person. His skin and flesh are like ice or snow; his manner is graceful and innocent as a virgin. He does not eat the five grains but inhales the wind and drinks the dew. He rides the clouds and mists, drives flying dragons, and roams beyond the four seas. When his spirit is concentrated, it keeps creatures free from pestilence and the harvests ripen year after year.' I thought this was wild talk and refused to believe it." Lian Shu said: "Just so. The blind cannot share in the beauty of patterned silks; the deaf cannot share in the sound of bells and drums. Is it only the body that can be deaf and blind? The mind also can be. His words—they are like such a one. This person, his virtue, will embrace all things of the world. The age cries out for order, yet why should he wear himself out with the affairs of the world? For this person, nothing can harm him. Though the floods reach the sky, he will not drown; though the great drought melts metal and stone and scorches the hills, he will not be burned. From his very dregs and husks he could mold and cast Yao and Shun—why should he concern himself with mere things?"

A man of Song traded ceremonial caps in Yue, but the Yue people cut their hair and tattooed their bodies and had no use for them. Yao governed the people of the world and brought order within the seas. He went to see the four sages on Mount Gu Ye, on the north side of the Fen River, and in a daze he forgot his world.

Hui Shi said to Zhuangzi, "The King of Wei gave me the seeds of a large gourd. I planted them and they grew to yield a capacity of five shi. When I used it to hold water, its strength was insufficient to support the weight. When I split it to make a dipper, it was too shallow and had no capacity. It was not that it was not enormously large, but I considered it useless and smashed it."

Zhuangzi said, "Sir, you are certainly clumsy at making use of the large. There was a man of Song skilled in making a medicine to prevent chapped hands, and his family had been engaged for generations in rinsing silk floss. A stranger heard of it and offered to buy the formula for a hundred pieces of gold. The man gathered his clan and said, 'We have been rinsing silk floss for generations, and have earned no more than a few pieces of gold. Now in a single morning we can sell the technique for a hundred pieces of gold. Let us give it to him.' The stranger obtained it and spoke of it to the King of Wu. When Yue raised trouble, the King of Wu put him in command of the troops. In winter, he fought a naval battle with the men of Yue and inflicted a great defeat upon them. The King granted him a fief and a title. The power to prevent chapped hands was the same in all cases. One man received a fief, while another could not escape rinsing silk floss—the difference lay in the use to which it was put. Now you have a gourd of five shi capacity. Why not think to lash it as a large flask and float it upon the rivers and lakes? Instead, you worry that it is too shallow and has no capacity—sir, you still have a heart muddled with brambles!"

Hui Shi said to Zhuangzi, "I have a large tree. People call it a shu. Its trunk is swollen and knotted, unsuitable for a carpenter's ink line. Its small branches are twisted and curved, unsuitable for compass and square. Set it up by the road, and no craftsman would give it a second glance. Now your words, sir, are large and useless, and all alike reject them."

Zhuangzi said, "Have you alone not seen the wildcat or the weasel? Crouching low in waiting for its prey, it darts east and west, leaping high and low without hesitation, only to fall into the trap and die in the snare. Now the yak—its size is like a cloud hanging from the sky. It is indeed capable of being large, yet it cannot catch mice. Now you have a large tree and are troubled by its uselessness. Why not plant it in the land of Nothing-at-all, in the vastness of the wilds? There you may wander at ease beside it, free of striving; there you may lie down and sleep beneath it. It will not be cut short by axe or hatchet, nor will anything harm it. Being of no use to the world, how could it suffer any distress or hardship?"